Doctor Whooves- Through The Cracksby LemonDrizzleChaptersOut With A BangThe Mad Colt And The CubeAll The Rage In The UniverseOf Memories And Pear PiesThe Timelord And The PlasmavoreTo Save A PrincessThrough The Looking Lens: Part 1Through The Looking Lens: Part 2Epilogue: Everywhere and AnywhereTeaserOut With A BangChapter 1- Out with a bang He watched her approach slowly as he sat in the confines of The Pandorica. The box buzzed and fizzed and sparked around him, his alterations beginning to take effect already. He could feel the very machine powering up, he could feel the heat from the imitating star, the exploding TARDIS beating down on his surroundings. He could feel the Earth spinning and shifting and its speed. He could feel his end and his beginning and the spaces in between as slowly, painstakingly slowly she approached him. The red hair that he had come to love flaring up in the light of his beloved, magnificent, burning TARDIS. The pale skin that seemed to shine amidst the filtered light, the orange scarf wrapped carefully around her neck as she stumbled towards him. He knew what he must look like to her, the Dalek had very nearly killed him before he had reached his ready made prison and, he realized he must look to be on Death's Doorstep. Pale, cold skin. Sweat laced brow. He smiled softly as he cast a glance down at his treasured bowtie. At least if I am to go, The Doctor thought humouredly, I am going to go out in style. Finally, finally she was here. Before him, the impossible, maddening, brilliant Amelia Pond. He could still remember their very first meeting, the girl and the madman with the box. How queer he must have looked, fish fingers and custard in hand. Not once had she fled, not once had she been afraid of him. The Doctor chose his companions well and she had started to become an incredible, brilliant, mind-boggling companion. Rory was alright too. However, the incident with the ponytail had left him quite puzzled over the mental condition of Rory. Fezzes and bow-ties are cool, ponytails are quite the opposite. Amelia Pond was before him now, tears sparkling in her eyes and stuttered breathing betraying her emotions. “..Hi” Quiet, hushed and bordering on breaking down, Amy Pond started the horrifying ordeal of saying goodbye to the man who had sauntered into her life, shown her the stars, comforted her when she was afraid and who was, without a doubt, the greatest friend she had ever had the luck to stumble upon. He looked up once more, joy and untethered emotions rolling across his old and yet seemingly timeless face. Pale as a snow covered tundra, a soft, free smile flickered across his face as he beheld the friend before him. The one who had sauntered into his life, who had shown him up time and time again and who had proven herself to be greater then he, more caring and considerate and just...more human. “Amy Pond. The girl who waited, all night in her garden.” The Doctor spoke softly and yet his voice carried across the room. His eyes glanced into hers, intent on her and her alone. No longer worried with the end of the universe, nor with his final goodbyes. “Was it worth it?.” “Shut up. of course it was” Amy spoke, nearly as quiet as The Doctor and with a hint of annoyance that seemed to bite into him. “You asked me why I was taking you with me and I said "No reason." I was lying.” The Doctor spoke now in an almost sorry tone, his breathing coming in harsh gasps between his clenched teeth. He'd have to go soon, just one more goodbye to make, one more reason to remain for as long as possible. “It's not important” “Yeah. It's the most important thing left in the Universe. It's why I'm doing this. Amy, your house is too big. That big, empty house, just you.” Admittance was never an easy thing for people to accept. Once someone had lied to you for so long and you had grown accustomed to it, only to have it thrown out of the window at the last minute it hurts. Oh and did it hurt Amy. She wasn't picked because of who she was, she was picked because of what she was, how she lived. And that stung. She steeled herself, even in The Doctor's final moments she wasn't going to let him have the last remark. “And Aunt Sharon.” “ Where were mom and dad? Where was everybody who lived in that big house?” She wanted him to shut up, to stop talking to her in that tone. That knowing tone. That tone which she had come to love and hate, loathe and tolerate. The tone that whispered, I'm smarter then you, I know so much and you know so little. “ I lost my mom and dad.” And it was at that moment that Amy started to feel that something was wrong. She had just said something, some horrible thing that should have brought tears to her eyes or at least a lump to her throat. And yet she had said it as easily as reciting a shopping list. “How? What happened to them? Where did they go?” “ I— I don't...” Amy could feel every hair on her body stand on end, every minute detail of every tapestry around her. She took in every detail of The Pandorica and of The Doctor as she scrabbled mentally for the idea of what happened to her parents, who they were, what they looked like. Barely retaining a sob, Amy's will and confidence and esteem crumbled as she realized that she couldn't remember them, not at all. What kind of daughter was she to forget her parents like this!? What was wrong with her? How sickened would they be if th- “It's okay, it's okay. Don't panic. It's not your fault.” The Doctor had watched Amy's eyes as her world of reason and logic slowly began to topple as it dawned on her. Of course, he had to intervene. It was not The Doctor's duty to leave a girl to wallow in self loathing before him, in fact it was his duty to help those in need. And right now, Amy was in dire need. “I don't even remember.” “There's a crack in time in the wall of your bedroom. And it's been eating away at your life for a long time now. Amy Pond. All alone. The Girl Who Didn't Make Sense. How could I resist?” “ I'm not going to just forget.” The Doctor smiled a happy, content smile as he looked upon her, righteous to the end. Even intent on breaking the regime of the collapse of time just so she could remember. If there was one person, one singular person who could remember what they had been through it would be her. “Nothing is ever forgotten. Not really. But you have to try.” A loud voice, a voice that he would have so liked to grow accustomed to, to love even. A voice that would have surely meant a great deal to him in the future, had he had a future now. River Song called through to them, interrupting their saddening conversation. “ Doctor! It's speeding up!” “It's going to be a very Big Bang, Big Bang II. Try to remember your family and they'll be there.” “How can I remember them if they never existed?” The Doctor smiled merrily at her obliviousness. She didn't understand, all this time it was all about her. Even now it confused him to no end on how she had managed to break the time-memory seal around the cracks in order to recreate Rory, even if she didn't remember him at first, but it was that sort of thing that made her fantastic. “Because you're special. That crack in your wall, all that time. The universe pouring into your head. You brought Rory back. You can bring them back too. You just remember. They'll be there.” “You won't...” “You'll have your family back. You won't need your imaginary friend anymore.” Now the tears began to trickle down her cheeks. Soon, like the heavens opening themselves, tears began to stream down her face in a way that very nearly broke The Doctor's hearts. Still, he forced a strong smile. “Amy Pond. Crying over me, eh? Guess what?” “What?” The Doctor smirked once, triumphantly. “Gotcha.” The doors to The Pandorica sealed shut, light blaring out from the crack in between the now closed, heavy duty doors. The symbols on the side began to light up in a luminous green circle, lightning struck the accursed prison of the last Timelord again and again. The Pandorica rose, shakily at first and then with more speed. Spinning and spinning and spinning, it hovered in the air for a split second. And then it erupted upwards, blasting through the ceiling and started to hurtle towards the now burning, smouldering, failing blue box that held the power of a star. Faster and faster The Pandorica spun, closing the distance in a matter of seconds, barely giving The Doctor enough time to write his last message to those watching below. Closing his eyes, The Doctor felt the rush and the adrenaline pumping through his age old veins as he plunged into the cascade of fire and heat and sweltering, unquenchable flames that had been and still was his TARDIS. Geronimo! The Doctor struck the TARDIS with The Pandorica in a resounding crack, a crack that drew in every aspect, every molecule and atom around it and then released it in an explosion that tore the seams of reality asunder. Just as quickly, The Pandorica had worked its magic, new life exploding forth from the time machine and the magical cell that should have held The Doctor. Stars perished, matter dispersed, coalesced, formed into intricate woven patterns, formed into worlds that had fallen to the endless cracks in time. Life sprung up across the universe, evolution passing by in a matter of seconds as the life hidden within The Pandorica exploded outwards dramatically. Races reborn, the Ood, voice of the universe brought back to life. The Daleks, scourge of the universe being tossed through the endless fields of molecular reconstruction. Stars burst brightly across the complexion of the sky, the sun fading into existence with a bright glow. The human race, all seven billion of them formed from bacteria, to ape, to man in a matter of nanoseconds, turning to each other as the final folds of the universe began to sew back together. One single shard of the imploded TARDIS striking The Pandorica with a high, mettalic shlik carving into the metal of the life bearing cube. The cracks shrinking, faster and faster until more and more began to disappear with a loud pop. The universe reborn, the Big Bang 2 taking effect and the consequences couldn't have been greater. Still he spun, endless spinning as The Pandrica began to glow with an unnatural light, the light of the silence and the end, the void between worlds beckoning it forward. However, things do not always go as The Doctor has planned. The Pandorica, nearly claimed by the light that had torn the universe into segments shot forward, straight into the pathway of the final, closing tear in time, plunging itself and The Doctor past the endless void and into somewhere new. Fantastic white light flared across the surface of The Pandorica as it increased its dizzying spin, travelling across the skin of the universe before smashing through into a new one, the tear closing itself behind the illuminating, mythical box. Fire belched from the rear of The Pandorica as it flew through this new space, new worlds and stars and galaxies floating past it as it blazed its way across the endless space before it. In the distance, a planet vaguely reminiscent of Earth came into view. A blue planet with great patches of green and brown that seemed to stretch and roll on for millions of miles in all directions. It was here that the Pandorica began to fall, its incredible speed diminishing as it was sucked into the gravitational pull of the new planet. And so The Pandorica began to shriek and groan as it plummeted towards the planets surface. The Doctor was more confused then he had ever been before and, oh boy, had he been confused before. By now the endless light should have reached the box, destroyed it and all of its atoms and then taken him with it. However, something had gone “wrong” with the plan. He could feel himself spinning, travelling further and further then ever before. Most importantly he could feel the distinctive pull of a planet, reaching its hand towards The Pandorica and, grasping it firmly, pulling it towards itself. And so The Doctor did the only thing he could think to do, he screamed like an infant as he felt the atmosphere of this new planet mould around The Pandorica, pulling them into a high velocity decline. [.] Twilight Sparkle, librarian of the Ponyville library, bearer to the Element of Magic and the personal student of Celestia herself chomped down on her bottom lip in concentration. The spell that she was attempting, a “mind to matter” spell that allowed the wielder to create simple objects from thin air, was an incredibly hard spell to master. She had heard of times when foolish unicorns had tried to create gold and silver and ended up turning themselves into copper statues. However, she was Twilight Sparkle, regarded nationwide as the most powerful young unicorn of her time and, as such, she wouldn't allow a simple creation spell to beat her. Frowning, sweat lacing her lavender brow and her mane sticking up in odd turns and twists, Twilight began to concentrate her magic. She could feel the power, the build up, the joy she would feel when she managed to accomplish the task. She would be regarded nationwide as a genius! Celestia herself would visit and ask her to recite the scientific discovery and the tale of her ability to finish such a complex, powerful spell. She could hear them now, her friends, all five of them cheering her on, yelling her name, making sounds of whistled wind falling through the sky at velocities that should be unreachable. Wait, that's not right. Twilight thought to herself, temporarily disregarding her spell in order to listen to the rapid sound of a heavy object approaching, the sound resonating from the sky above her. Odd, she thought to herself once more, I swear I hear screaming. She got up from her desk, which was littered with quills and diagrams depicting the completion and steps towards her matter spell including, to Twilight's horror, having to find and boil the eggs of a certain particularly smelly newt. Slowly, she made her way to her bedroom window, the sounds of rapid approach now increased ten fold. And her eyes widened and her pupils turned to slits as she beheld the sight before her. Flying through the air, spinning and burning was a large metal box with what appeared to be glowing green hieroglyphs on the sides, forming a circle of hidden text. What surprised Twilight the most though, was that the screaming seemed to be coming from the odd box itself. She continued to watch as this metallic box blasted through clouds, dispersing them in to steam vapour at the touch of its molten hot surface. The decline increased, the box falling faster and faster and faster towards the ground. Watching its descent, Twilight gasped as she calculated with the efficiency of a scientific stud that this mysterious box was about to collide with the Everfree Forest. And collide the box did. Ramming into the heavily forested ground, The Pandorica created a seemingly catastrophic explosion which consisted mainly of dust and dirt and gravel being kicked up around its final destination. The box pushed forward into the ground creating a massive crater around it as the forest itself seemed to bend inwards towards this mysterious newcomer from the skies. The crash and boom of The Pandorica could be heard for miles and miles, the resonating crack being distinguished by Twilight's ears even after the box had vanished into the tree-line of the Everfree. The Pandorica lay there for a while, simply allowing steam and heat to waft off of it in great waves of vapour that looked almost like London smog. Finally, its last mechanism started to function as the twin doors of The Pandorica hummed and clanked and whirred as they began to slowly, slowly open. The shriek of metal on metal, the melting metal that connected to two doors together was snapped swiftly as the heat wafted away. Finally, the doors themselves slid open fully, allowing the sunlight of this new planet to flood into the box and sear into The Doctor's brain. [.] The Doctor opened his eyes, fluttering eyelids twitching spasmodically every few seconds. The sight before him caused the breath to catch in his throat, his eyes to widen and enlarge further and further and his bow-tie to, very nearly, pop off out of sheer shock. Then The Doctor uttered his first coherent words since his goodbye to his flame haired companion. “I have hooves!” The Mad Colt And The CubeThe Mad Colt And The Cube Prior to the Big Bang 2 Delicious. It looked out over the clustered huddle of slow moving, slouching creatures before it, its eyes darting around the meandering groups of fleshy displays. The bipedal, lumbering ugly apes that moved forward painfully slowly, scratching and picking at themselves when they thought no one was looking. It could smell them from where it stood in the shadows, watching and waiting. Oh, they stunk. The smell clinging to the inside of its nose, weeks of washing and smelling the Pervillian Perfume Plants would not be enough to rid it of that horrid smell. The smell of grease and sweat and meat and fat. The smell of fear and stress and happiness and anger and guilt. The smell of progress and evolution and theory and logic and reason. The unmistakeable, unmissable, unbelievable smell of humans. Delicious. It licked its cracked lips in the darkened corner of the library, the window it was looking through was dusty, dirty and smeared with grime and filth that these humans had yet to clean. It served its purpose though, allowing a wide view towards the cobbled street that held its next potential feeding source. It hadn't fed in such a long, long time. It felt dry and withered and weak, the tireless energy that had once rushed through its pale, translucent veins was merely a memory, a thing of the past. Soon though, soon that memory would be relived. Soon it would feel the power, the control over another being. Soon it would be able to feast and drain and feast and drain and feast and dra- Enough of that, it chided to itself as it went back to staring at the humans, its wandering mind immediately darting back into the present, disregarding the future. Delicious. Slowly, incredibly, unbearably slowly it started to move forward. It hobbled away from the window, its age old legs quivering slightly with just the mere strain of moving. This body did not have long left, it was diminishing. Blast this body, it grumbled to itself once more, so frail, so feeble. Soon though, oh yes very soon I shall have another. It smiled, a cruel, evil, dark smile that signified a life of evil, a life of cruelty and of darkness but most shockingly, a life of simply not caring about any of those things. A life of a true monster, a dark criminal. Achingly, it crept towards the old, wooden peeling door that signified the entrance and exit of the tatty, dank library. The notches in the wood clearly showed sign of use and abuse, of desperate children slamming the door and of impatient humans storming out in a huff after looking at the slightly too long line. Such despicable creatures,it thought in a putrid voice, such impatience, such ignorance. Oh yes, it would be a pleasure to take one of them after all they have done to me. They'd shot it, shot it, right out of the skies. It had been running, running from the light that had claimed its people, from the light that was spreading across the universe. Such a terrible, terrible light. A crack in time through which lay everything and yet nothing. A crack that had swallowed its world as it made its escape, taking the last shuttle across the icy realms of space. It could still remember that light and yet that was the only true thing that it could really remember about its past. No idea of a mother, no idea of its people, no idea of the stars that had once littered the sky. That crack had absorbed its past and whilst it knew this, it meant nothing. This couldn't be fixed, his memory couldn't be returned. It was too far gone now. It had fled over worlds and stars and galaxies. Over cosmos's and asteroids and centaurs. Its ship had flown too close to this “Earth” though. Such a dull name, may as well have called it dirt. The aliens of this world had been scared and had shot it down, retaliating even though it had done nothing to them. Nothing. It had fled and they had chased it. Nearly caught it even but it had been chased by far worse then these intergalactic morons. It had found a host, a weak, frail host but a host nonetheless and it had absorbed. It had felt the eyes on it as it left the building from which it had just fed. It had seen the eyes harden when he cried out in the voice of the elderly lady he had absorbed that “there was something in there”. It had seen its chasers, its persecutors run into the building, it had smiled as it had followed them in and, with the ease of snapping twigs, broke the necks of all three men. They never saw it coming, the little old lady with the strength of a bull. Feeding off a corpse is impossible and with such activity it had already begun to kill its host body. That is what had led it into the city four hours ago, a search for a new host. A search for new meat. It was out on the street now, its eyes darting to and from human to human, the bloodhound like nose and the eyes that saw more then all of these pitiful humans combined began to narrow down the list of potential meals. Too fat, too short, too skinny, too hairy,the list droned on and on as its eyes darted everywhere at once, too ginger, oh, what do we have here? There, directly ahead. A male of the species, a tall broad specimen with black hair that flowed down to his shoulders. He looked to be about eighteen years old, muscular and, even better, all on his lonesome. He was wearing those tacky, earth clothing that had the images of so many big named “labels” on them. As if it cared what it would be wearing soon. The thrill of the hunt had taken over and now there was only one thing on its mind. Delicious. It stumbled towards the target, saliva bubbling in its human mouth, making it wince in disgust as it felt the gums of the women begin to bleed as he ground his teeth together in ecstasy. Soon, so very, very soon. It strolled up to the man and tapped him on one muscular shoulder with one of its dainty, shrivelled prunelike finger. The prey turned quickly, spinning around with a broad grin, obviously expecting someone else. His face fell pretty quickly but a small smile reappeared just as quickly as he caught sight of the elderly women in front of him. How it wished it could savour that feeling of disappointment that had radiated off of the human at that point, it would have made for a delicious dessert, Alas, there was a job to perform. “I'm sorry to disturb you young man... Such a weak, snivelling voice. Bah, I had to pick the weak woman ...but this very scary, lanky man just took my wallet and rushed into that alley... The alley that only went one direction, oh the perfect place, the perfect crime ...would you help me find him? A picture of my deceased husband is in there and I just-I can't...” Oh, how easy it was to play the old women act. Cry and wobble and sniffle and everyone would fall at your feet like royalty. The young man had been frowning whilst listening to the tale that it had conjured up in moments and as soon as it had stopped talking, he had immediately agreed to help out. He flexed his muscles menacingly once and put a dark, deep-set frown on his face that nearly made it burst into fits of hysterical laughter. This puny human was trying to act big and tough and...pfft, scary! “Lead the way ma'am, I'll sort him out for ya” The voice that emanated from the man was quite deep, certainly another useful tool for it. After all, who would take a tall, muscular man seriously if he had the voice of a ten year old on helium? It needed someone with which it could strike fear into the hearts of others. It needed someone strong and useful and deadly. It hobbled away, slinking down a shadowed alley. It was dark here, so very, very dark. The walls were close together, barely allowing it to walk shoulder to shoulder with the unsuspecting victim. The unpleasant waft of rubbish snaked its way through their noses, the smell of decay and rottenness seeping into their clothes. The noises of the bustling street were dulled now, replaced by the echoing sound of their footsteps striking the slimy, greasy ground. Shadows twisted around the alley, coating the elderly women in great sheets of darkness. The man paused for a minute as they reached the end of the alley, glancing around him. Searching for the imaginary perpetrator, eyes grazing across potential hiding areas. “I'm sorry Miss but he must have gotten away. Are you sure he went dow-” The man had started to turn after his search had finished, speaking in an apologetic whisper before it struck and silenced him. It snaked its elderly leg out with a speed that defied the old bones, causing some of its bodies muscles to tear. Its foot caught the man hard in the knee, bending in backwards as he went down, screaming in pain. His voice was swiftly silenced as it reached down and, with the ease of lifting up a piece of paper, grasped his throat and slammed him into one of the gritty walls. Dazed, the man crumpled to the ground as the now menacing elderly lady slunk towards him, clutching her injured leg as she reached him. Slowly, it brought its seemingly fragile hand down and wrapped its seemingly feeble fingers around his throat. “I would say that I am sorry” it said viciously, reaching into the pockets of its dull, grey trousers to grasp the, once more, seemingly weak object that it had kept hidden there, “but I'd be lying.” It pulled its hand out of its pockets, a long, thin, white tube clutched in its bony hand. Carefully, it pushed the straw down to the neck of the now confused man, whose eyes were wide in unbelievable terror. “If it comforts you in any way, I did pick you to feed upon out of all those other disgusting creatures. Feel blessed, you're to be my new host” it whispered softly, lowering its wrinkled head towards the man's ear, breathing the sour breath of the elderly across his cheek. Then, almost ruthlessly, it plunged the plastic straw into the man's neck. And there it began to drink its fill. Delicious. Its skin bubbled gruesomely as it drunk more and more of the now weak and faint humans blood. The previous host body seemed to cave inwards as the real creature behind the body of the old women was revealed in such a terrible travesty that it caused its prey to squirm pitifully against it in terror. It had a white, translucent body that seemed to wobble and stretch like cold, ghastly white jelly. Long, thin, squiggly arms and legs snaked out from the similarly long, thin torso. The phantasmal arms ended in clawed, sharp talons that almost seemed to resemble that of an eagle. The feet had the same predatory aspect to them, large nails that clicked slightly against the floor of the alley. The face was a thing of nightmares, large bulbous black eyes with no pupils stared terrifyingly forward. Small slits were carved into the creatures flesh where the nose and ears should be, resembling the slice of a cats claws in flesh. The mouth was wide and gaping and dark, so dark. There were no teeth, no tongue, nothing but darkness resided in the mouth of the monstrosity that was feeding upon the man. Dark red blood pumped sluggishly through the opaque veins that wriggled within the body, colour flooding the white body. Just as quickly, its true form had vanished. Fading slowly into view, skin bubbling and popping, the body of the man began to take shape around its body. Long, black hair sprouted from the white, bald head. The translucent skin turned into a soft, pink hue. Muscles and clothing flew and morphed around it, coating the body in cheesy, brightly coloured fabrics. Finally, the large, bulbous eyes began to shrink into its new head, forming bright blue eyes that shone with an evil gleam. It took one last, long drag of the humans blood supply, draining every millimetre of previous crimson blood from him. The once strong, muscular, handsome man had now been shrivelled and killed, dead eyes staring lifelessly forward. His skin hugged his body like a tight, latex suit, bones clearly visible beneath the tightly wrapped skin. The now fully replenished plasmavore stood up from its meal, the straw coming out of the drained neck with a soft popping noise. It closed its eyes in pleasure as it felt the energy and the revival and the renewed power course through its new body. It felt strong again, complete. It opened its eyes once more to glance down at the hideous body of the host body. Every time it would drain its victims, what was left would be merely skin and bones and it took an odd, perverse sense of pleasure in seeing a creature brought that way by its very own hands. Something wasn't right though, in fact something was terribly, terribly wrong. Where the body had lain before now stretched with a large, white, shining crack in the fabric of reality. The pull of the tear was horrendous, the large deformed crack drawing the plasmavore towards it as the gravitational force beckoned it forward. It desperately clawed the walls for any nooks or crannies that it could grip onto. It found none. It was dragged across the floor, shrieking unholy curses and slander as it felt the final light beginning to engulf its new body. Cruel fate, giving it the opportunity of a whole new body, only to tear it away from him with a sadistic laugh. When an object is pulled into the tear, only one thing really happens. Complete molecular decommission. Every molecule, every atom, every trace of an atom, every knowledge of the atoms are torn apart and blown across the now endangered, tear stained universe. However cruel fate may be though, it had chosen this day to play a different card. Seconds before the plasmavore fell into the tear in time, The Pandorica collided with the TARDIS in an engulfing blast of pure power. Molecular decommission takes a nanosecond of a nanosecond to come into effect, a time so short that no way of measuring it had been founded. However, molecular reconstruction takes exactly the same, speedy, unbelievably fast amount of time to occur. So just as The Pandorica worked its magic and renewed life around the universe, the tear in time began to de-construct the molecules of a certain, unhappy plasmavore. The effect of two powers, of life and death, provided a response in the universe that should never have occurred. The plasmavore had died and been reborn in the same nanosecond of a nanosecond, an impossibility in itself. A life born from its own death. The cracks began to close rapidly, just as the plasmavore began its reconstruction process, shutting down just as the unlucky creature was seemingly reborn. Lives are not merely forgotten though, the plasmavore would not simply cease to be now that the crack had been closed. When an event of such astounding magnitude, the Big Bang 2 for example, occurs then the reactions are bound to be astronomical. You see, instead of the belittled plasmavore being sucked into the dark, never ending void of the space in between, the area reserved for The Doctor and The Pandorica, it was instead grasped and pulled by the hand of another universe. This new, kind, protective universe pulled it through a newly created crack in time, de-constructing the now very disgruntled plasmavore. These sort of things do not happen at random, nor by coincidence. This new creature, the as of yet de-constructed plasmavore, was not merely going to be placed randomly along the universe, ditched at the nearest settlement. No, the universe pulled together the strings of convergence, twining the life of this creature from the other universe with a similar object from the other universe. The only other object that had followed it through from the other, now saved universe. The only two objects to have been forced into the new universe were sewn together in a thread of abnormality, of bonds that stretched deep. And so the lines of convergence began to draw closer as the first universal object forced its way through the final time tear and into the new universe. Pulling them together, the new universe combined the lives of the now spinning, burning Pandorica to the molecules and atoms of the plasmavore. So when The Pandorica spun and burnt and crashed down upon Equestria, something new happened. Something forced by the rules and regulations of the new universe. The lines of convergence drew together in a resounding and yet un-hearable crack, the two lives that had conjoined now landing upon the massive, terra-formed planet. As The Pandorica's doors opened, the light of the sun shining into it, the plasmavore's atoms and molecules swirled together and joined as one. The plasmavore fell into Equestria having being dragged across the darkness of space, having been killed and reborn and killed and reborn too many times. Oh, and it was so very, very hungry. [.] “Fascinating..” The Doctor stood outside of The Pandorica now, his equine limbs having put up a valiant struggle to take away the ability to merely function correctly, very nearly robbing him of movement . He had triumphed however, though it may have taken him multiple attempts to get standing on all four legs and, even then, he had fallen over more times then he cared to remember whilst attempting to walk forwards. A humbling experience indeed, like a baby talking its first steps. A really big, hairy baby. The Doctor took the time to check over his new body, a routine that he had grown accustomed to in all his years of regenerations. He had seen many, many wonderful, terrifying, mind boggling things in his nine hundred and three years of life and yet this took the cake, the table and every single present that covered the table. “Hooves eh? Ooooh, look at this! I have brown fur. Brown fur! Its not the ginger that I wanted but who am I to judge! Oh, I have a new set of teeth as well, all molars by the feel of things. Quite a peculiar taste it seems, oats and..grass I believe. Oh my, oh my, oh my. I can touch my nose, with my tongue. Not a nose Doctor, c'mon, you're an equine now, start thinking like one. Its a muzzle if my anatomy lessons served me true. Now, what's this? Hair! A mane! Oh dear lord, I have a ponytail as well. Oh, Rory would be gob-smacked if he saw me now. Actually, I'm pretty sure anyone would be gob-smacked were they to see me now. Powerful hindlegs by the feel of things. I'm not sure whether I can really accept this yet but by the feel of these new muscles, I am one body building, hunk of a...colt? Yes, colt seems about right. Or is it stallion? Meh, it doesn't really matt-ah-ha-ha-ha. A tattoo, aww, I love a good tattoo,when was the last time I had one again, was it Third? Yeah, I do believe it was Third. Hmm, an hourglass, eh? Seems a bit to suspicious to be a mere coincidence. It seems almost etched onto me, perhaps not just any old tattoo. Oh, oh, oh, whatta my eyes look like!?” The Doctor put on a sudden burst of speed, trying to get into view of the metal of the new gleaming Pandorica, hoping to catch his reflection in the polished metal. However, putting on a burst of speed with a whole new body is a very difficult thing to accomplish correctly. The Doctor, after a mere second of his crazed burst of enthusiasm, tipped forward and fell flat on his face, muzzle crunching up against the hard, dusty dirt floor with a loud thwack. Water splashed up against his new fuzzy face as he groaned from the unexpected encounter with the ground, the puddle he had nearly dived into soaking the fur of his fluffy, soft, caramel brown chest. The Doctor's eyes creaked open before he gaped in astonishment at the sight reflected from the small collection of water before him. “My eyes are huge! Look at them, they've taken up nearly all of the space on my face. Ah, what a lovely, striking blue colour they are though. I've always liked blue I suppose, its such a calm colour. Oh, my mane. Its styled so perfectly, so majestically. I hate it, its too...formal. Yes formal.” The Doctor reached up with one of his front hooves and rustled his mane until it resorted back to its original, messy, scribble of hair that he had grown so used to. He peeked down at his reflection once more before letting out a loud laugh as he desperately tried to clutch at his neck with his hooves. “My bow-tie!. Oh, my beloved bow-tie, you're still here. Wait, if you're still here then where are the rest of my clothes? Ooooh dear, I didn't really notice the whole nudity thing before but now that I mention it, I am most certainly not covering anything up. Then again, I am an equine now, who needs clothes!?.” The Doctor struggled back to his feet, limbs shaking and criss-crossing profoundly beneath him as he wobbled and swayed in the gentle breeze. Still, very shakily, he rose to his full, four legged height and gazed around the bombarded terrain that had caught The Pandorica in its increasingly fast fall. He was stood in a large but not very deep crater. Brown, cracked earth spread around him for a good five metres, crumbly dirt and drifting dust still swirling around the “landing zone”. The crater curved downwards, its lowest point housing the now sparking Pandorica. Past the crater though, great fields of grass rose up from the ground, dazzlingly bright green blades standing to attention amidst the slight breeze that softly swayed them from side to side. Puddles of rainwater lay scattered across the grass, soaking into the ground and creating large clumps of sodden dirt that slumped and drooped in an almost sad manner. Fluffy, snuggled bushes leapt from the surface, red flowers blooming across their surface like ladybirds laying sleeping on the luminous green shrubs. Bright flowers of every colour littered the area, from succulent yellow to lavender purple to blazing orange, a spectrum of every colour laying like a rainbow across the clearing. Past even that, great, lumbering, dark trees sprouted from the earth, leafy hands reaching upwards towards the sky. Deep, brown bark armoured the trees whilst dark green leaves lay scattered along its branches, clumping together in a protective shield. Ivy clung to some of the trees, twisting and writhing around the great wooden pillars, choking and suffocating the life out of the forest. Light dappled through the leaves, casting a light green glow across the whole clearing. Yet no visible light could be seen from the treeline, almost as if it had been stolen from view, hidden away and kept locked up from the smaller plants. Beautiful as the forest seemed to be, there was a creeping sense of foreboding that pumped sluggishly through The Doctor's veins. Faint outlines of animals darted across the forests skin, from small, plump objects that vaguely resembled rabbits to large, hulking creatures that seemed to be mismatched, large bodies with even larger, barbed tails jutting out from the back. Yellow eyes stared from the darkened shroud of darkness around the forest, blinking quickly every few minutes. He cast his gaze upwards, brilliant seas of blue painting the sky in a great swath of fantastic colour. Light, fluffy, white clouds drifted lazily by, no signs of anger or rain seen from their almost calm complexion. The Doctor couldn't see the star that was supplying the dappling light, the trees covering it up with long tendrils but he could certainly feel its warmth. It was neither too warm nor too cold, it created a fuzzy, hazy feeling in his body that harmonized within him, making him feel alive and strong and free. “Alright, time to test run this new equine body” The Doctor said convincingly to himself, eyes darting down at his rebellious legs. “Just to the grass and back, slowly now.” The Doctor walked forward wobbly, limbs shivering slightly as he started to grow accustomed to the unusual method which he had to use to control his movement. His left leg moved forward just as his right, hindleg hit the ground with a small shake, dust wheezing up from the ground upon impact. Pretty soon the timelord had sorted out his rebellious limbs, walking to and from the slightly sodden grass with a confident saunter and a spring in his step. “Alright, round two.” The Doctor lowered his head to the floor, puffing the breath out of his noise in a steam like display before he began to gallop forward, began being the crucial word. He had gone perhaps a metre when his legs suddenly gave way beneath him, his new body exerting itself out far more quickly then he would have liked. For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, The Doctor found himself face down on the ground, limbs jerking wildly as he attempted to right himself. Getting up with a small but carrying groan, The Doctor trotted back to The Pandorica, whirled around and once more charged forward, hindlegs kicking up small rocks. One metre, two metres, three metres, I'm going to make it! The Doctor thought happily as he pumped his legs ferociously, I'm going to make it, I'm going to-glmph. After the hundredth and once time of his fall, The Doctor still did not believe that the dirt tasted any better to him. The Doctor pulled himself up once more, back cracking slightly as he shook his furry body from side to side, trying to clear his head of stars. Once more, with the renewed vigour of a timelord that refused to be beaten by his own body, The Doctor trotted back to The Pandorica, twirled around in a graceful manner and bolted forward. He passed one metre, two metres, three metres, four metres. The Doctor smiled goofily as he broke his old record with a twist of dirt before his eyes widened as his hoof struck the grassy ground with a wet smack. Distance cleared The Doctor allowed himself a joyous whoop of triumph before he cantered swiftly back to The Pandorica. Immediately after his triumphant victory over his limbs The Doctor's head began to fill with his own, burning, unanswered questions. Where are we? How are we here? Why are we an equine? Why did the bow-tie stay on even when all of our clothes were scattered? Where's the TARDIS? The screwdriver? The Doctor frowned slightly as he skimmed through the growing list of questions, his head cocking to the side as he began to ponder upon the most important topic at hand. How was he a pony? “Hmm, new equine body can't just be a random switch. Reasoning behind it must be sound or the change would not have occurred. I can't be dreaming this, my dreams revolve more around fishfingers and custard then pretty forests and a ravishingly handsome equine body. ...The Pandorica! Of course, it must have sensed its landing zone. Possibly scanned for the resident “alpha” race of the planet as well, which would seem to be ponies. I'm from the other universe, the old one as it were, I don't belong here. But The Pandorica changed that. It must have realized that its cargo was not of this universe and, using the newly gathered data of the alpha race changed me to fit the norm. The box that brings life-bearing light, changing the body of its pilot in order to allow him to fit in with the new world. My anatomy must have changed dramatically, molecules rearranging and forming a whole, new being. Still got two hearts I see, guess there's something that hasn't changed. Oh, my dear Pandorica, if I didn't already have a beautiful blue box at home then I'd adopt you here and now.” The Doctor stopped his long winded speech as the answer to one of his aching questions slotted perfectly into place, alleviating himself of the pecking question in his brain. He trotted forward until he stood directly in front of The Pandorica. His saviour and his “creator”. A large, ear to ear grin stretched painfully tight across his face as he reached out one hoof to stroke against the side of the wonderful, wonderful cube. “Thanks for the alteration, I was wonderi-” The Doctor had been reaching his hoof out closer and closer to the, unknowingly, still smouldering Pandorica. As soon as his hoof made contact a loud hiss of steam wafted from the new touch as he felt his new hoof begin to burn. The Doctor yelped loudly in pain as he swiftly removed his now crispy hoof from the scorching Pandorica. “Ow, ow, ow, ow, oooowwww” The Doctor hopped on his three still mobile legs as he waved the painfully blazing hoof through the air in great swath movements that were reminiscent of painters and their brushes. The Doctor felt his three seemingly stable legs wobble slightly as he continued to wave his hoof and moan his pain. With a weak quiver, his three legs gave out and, once more, he surrendered his body to the floor. Still whimpering at the unexpected feeling of burning on his incredibly sensitive hoof The Doctor did the logical thing. He stuck his hoof in his gaping equine mouth with a force that would rival that of the falling Pandorica. Still unaware of how altered his teeth had become, The Doctor felt tears spring to his eyes as his searing hoof scraped painfully along the new, larger teeth that occupied his mouth. He groaned in pain as he began to writhe on the floor. Normally The Doctor would have just shrugged this sort of injury off and sauntered away to save the day but today The Doctor was a horse, in a new world with painfully sensitive hoofs and, as such, he felt he deserved to roll around the floor in pain for a while. That was how they found him, a brown colt with black, ruffled hair rolling across the dirty ground, hoof in his mouth like the suckling of an infant. Soft moans emanated from him continuously before his eyes flickered open. Glazed at first but then with a brief bat of his eyelids The Doctor registered the six, bright, female ponies that stood in shocked silence before him. A gentle grin broke across his face, largely smothered by the hoof in his mouth. Spitting out his inured but forgotten limb The Doctor stood on his three useful legs and gazed at the furry creatures before him. “Oh, hello there.” [.] 30 minutes earlier Twilight was frantically darting around her library, eyes covering the great, multicoloured bookcases before her, searching for any book that might help with the odd situation at hand. Nothing. Bucking nothing. Nothing at all to do with mysterious grey boxes crashing from the sky. Nothing at all to do with screaming metallic cubes. Nothing at all to do with aliens or visitors and any objects from any other worlds out there. Twilight was completely beside herself, her precious books had failed her! Her mane was twisted far greater then it had been before, edges that seemed almost sharp twisting up from all directions. She was pacing across the library floor now, pondering the task at hand. Should she go investigate? Send a letter to the Princess? Just forget about it and leave it alone? “SPIIIIIKE!” Twilight called through the echoing library, voice breaking slightly with the high pitched, loud yell that had exploded from her throat. Within seconds a purple and green baby dragon popped into view, quaking legs betraying his fear. He had seen Twilight like this before, twice actually and both of those times still gave him nightmares. Hopefully this had nothing to do with dolls or eyepatches. “I need you to write a lette-No! It might be nothing, I should just forget about it-ARGH- I can't just forget about that. It could be one of the greatest finds in history. Maybe its dangerous though, oh no, what if its attacking Ponyville right now? I'm the last one left aren't I? Ohdear, ohdear, ohdear, ohdear.” The proclaimed Spike rolled his eyes at the unicorn before him, his terror forgotten in an instance as he watched the light lavender mare in front of him start the gentle process of a complete mental breakdown. “Twilight” “Ohdear, ohdear, ohdear.” “Twilight!” “Ohdear, ohdear, ohdear.” “TWILIGHT!” The pacing, anxious unicorn winced at the bellowing voice as it hit her sound sensitive ears, causing them to flatten themselves against her head. She turned towards her number one assistant, the madness vanishing from her eyes as she looked quizzically at him. “What is it Spike? Can't you see I'm very busy right now.” Spike raised on eyebrow in disbelief and Twilight chuckled sheepishly, a light blush spreading its way across her purple cheeks. “I was just going to suggest getting the girls and finding out for yourself. I mean, you've done this sort of thing before right? Its not like a quick trip to the Everfree Forest is going to hurt the Elements Of Harmony!” Spike finished the speech with a proud, brotherly air, confident with his ingenious plan. Twilight looked at him for a second, doubt flashing across her face before it was washed away by a look of happiness, her mane springing back into shape much like the inflation of a pink, party ponies hair. “That's a great idea Spike! I'll get Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. You get Rarity and Rainbow Dash. I'll meet you outside the library in 5 minutes.” Twilight spoke in a fast paced gobble, spouting out the information like a hectic sprinkler. She dashed to the door, hooves practically yanking the poor door of its hinges as she prepared to bolt across Ponyville to find her friends. She stopped before she ran and glanced back at Spike, a light smile splayed across her face and a look of gratefulness in her eyes. “Thanks Spike. I know it can be a bit difficult getting me to calm down. We'd better hurry though, I don't want whatever that was to vanish before I get to it. I'll see you in exactly five minutes.” Spike smiled bashfully as she layered the praise on thick. Before he could even mutter a “It was nothing” Twilight had vanished from sight, a small cloud of unicorn shaped air standing where she had once been. It too disappeared incredibly quickly, the wind blowing it out of the still open door. Spike sighed once as he looked at the open, creaky door. Today had been his day off, it was Saturday after all. Still, he couldn't disobey an order of such magnitude. Even his significantly small scientific heart raced a bit faster as he thought of discovering a whole new object, a whole new aspect of life. Still smiling at the idea of a great discovery, Spike walked dreamily to the door and closed it quietly behind him before he started to walk to Carousel Boutique. [.] Exactly five minutes later The six mares stood outside of the library, astonishment, excitement, giddy joy, terror and confusion etched onto their faces, jaws dropped to the floor. “So, let me get this straight. This crazy object falls from the sky, screaming like a little filly and lands with a big boom in the Everfree Forest?” Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash crossly for a second, thinking that Rainbow Dash wasn't taking this seriously but the puzzled look on the cyan pegasus's face told another story. Twilight softened considerably. “Yes, Rainbow. I saw it all with my own two eyes.” Rainbow Dash's face morphed from multiple expressions, joy and fear and excitement flickering across her face before it settled to a blank expression. “Aliens. Real aliens!” Rainbow's blank expression changed into one of fangirlish glee as she squeed at the idea of meeting a real live alien. She had read about them in the new Daring Do book, Daring Do and the empire of the golden cranium. Twilight sighed softly as her rainbow maned friend bounced up and down with unlocked glee. Pretty soon Pinkie had joined her, bouncing up and down with vibrations that were faintly reminiscent of a drill. “Girls, this doesn't mean that there is an alien! It could be anything, perhaps a scientist in Canterlot made a mistake with a new experiment or maybe Celestia is just playing another one of her jokes. I don't want anyone getting their hopes up for extraterrestrials.” Rainbow Dash immediately stopped hopping around the area, her chant of I'm going to meet and alien, I'm going to meet an alien falling silent as her face grew downcast before it brightened again. “Bit it might still be aliens right?” Twilight groaned once, exasperation leaking out of her expression as she spoke to Rainbow. “Yes Rainbow, it might be aliens.” “Then whatta we waiting for!” Rainbow Dash yelled and with a small loop-de-loop she began to head off towards the Everfree Forest. That is until she felt teeth chomp down on her tail and drag her back to the ground as she let out a startled cry. The teeth let go of the oddly spicy rainbow tail before the mare spoke. “Simmer down now RD. I ain't disputin' what Twi is sayin' but I'd prefer that we all go tagether.” Applejack drawled softly, southern accent ringing around the ears of the other five girls in the front of the library. Spike had already retired to the haven of books, muttering something about taking a nap. Twilight perked up in an instance, irritation de-materializing instantly at her orange friends comment. “So, you'll all go?” Five pairs of eyes swivelled towards the purple pansy coloured unicorn. Twilight's ears flickered back in embarrassment as she felt ten eyes bore into her with the strength to melt through steel. All of the eyes however held confusion rather then anger. Rarity spoke first, civil voice ringing majestically. “Why of course we will dear. It is quite exciting isn't it, the idea of a new arrival.” “Yeah, a new pony! Maybe its not even a pony, maybe its only the box though. Do ya think I could throw a “It was a box not an alien” party when we get back? Do ya? Do ya?” “Why a course we're gonna go. We're tha Elements o' Harmony for apples sake, it'd be bad if we didn' go investigate.” “C'mon Twilight, a chance to meet aliens! As if I'm gonna pass that up. Heh, I wonder if they do have telepathy ability like in Daring Do. Now this, this is gonna be so awesome!” “Umm...I'd like to come with you. I mean, its not everyday that you might meet an alien. Oh, I wonder if its ok, what it looks like. Oh my, maybe its hurt, the poor thing!” Twilight's eyes watered silently with tears as she listened to the supportive voices of her best friends. How could she ever have doubted them? It was for reasons like this that she was so unbearably happy that she had decided to stay in Ponyville instead of returning to Canterlot for her studies. Friends like these were for life, not just for one day. “Alright then girls, lets head out. Not time like the present!” Twilight raised one dainty hoof to express her point before settling it back onto the ground and breaking into a soft jog towards the treeline of the Evefree Forest. Behind her she heard the sounds of her friends following her and a muffled conversation between Pinkie and Rarity. “Yeah, what Twilight said. Allons-y!” “Pinkie, what did you just say?” “I said “Yeah what Twilight said” “No, no ,no. After that.” “Oh I said “I said “Yeah what Twilight said” “But I-What?” Twilight smiled happily as she heard the soft chatter of her slightly odd pink friend being her usual queer bubbly self with the pristine, upperclass white unicorn. This was going to be a fun, fun day. [.] They had been walking for roughly twenty minutes now, polite conversation breaking out between the five mares behind the lavender leader who was much too into the task at hand to be any use in a normal conversation. “Ooh, I wonder what aliens wear! Stylish I expect. I mean, who comes to a whole new world without looking their most fabulous?” “I bet it'd like lemon flavoured muffins. Or maybe muffin flavoured lemons. Maybe it likes hot sauce like me. Oh, I just can't wait to wish it a warm Ponyville welcome!” “Not everythin' out there is as kind as us ponies, girls. I don' want y'all to get ya hopes up only to find a mean alien or just ah strange box.” “Aw, c'mon AJ! Its a strange box that fell outta the sky. What else but an alien could it be!? I wonder if I can get its autograph *Insert squee here*” “Oh my...I just hope whatever it is isn't hurt or that big box didn't injure any of my little furry friends.” Twilight stopped walking, causing the mares behind her to collide with each others rump in a pattern similar to a game of dominoes. Fluttershy fell flat on her rump with a high eep, the others providing similar bodily reactions. Twilight's eyes narrowed slightly as she peered through the dark green foliage around her, searching for any signs of life. “Hey Twilight why'd we sto-” Twilight hushed the slightly disgruntled rainbow pegasus with a soft hoof to the mouth, silencing the now angered pony with a swift movement. She swore she had heard a slight hiss of steam, an indication of the landing zone of the mysterious, metallic, spinning cube. Suddenly a loud yelp tore through the forest, straight ahead through the trees. Twilight dashed forward, blitzing through the trees as her ears pinpointed the location of the noisy sound of pain. She wasn't as athletic as she could have been though, years of heavy book reading and low exercise rates taking their toll. The other five had quickly caught up with the hazy purple blur as she darted through the forest before they burst from the treeline and into the light dappled clearing. Immediately all of the girls halted, a slight kick up of grass spraying the air in front of them as their hooves ground against the earth with strong friction. A couple of metres forward lay a long, shallow crater that was coated with dark brown dirt and small, broken stones. In the centre of the circular crater, two things of great importance lay together, puzzling the Elements of Harmony. The cube lay bang splat in the centre of the crater, steam curling up from it in great waves of vapour, wafting upwards into the air. Grey, shiny metallic sides blazed brilliantly even in the slight sunlight of the clearing. Runes were carved on the sides, no longer glowing with the green light that Twilight had first seen. Instead, they now strobed a soft red light that cast a miniature raspberry coloured glow across the cubes surface. Two long doors were opened in the front of it, red and green lights clearly visibly flashing inside as sparks burst from the inside of the mysterious box, casting the whole interior in a faint white barrage. The cube radiated mystery and action and drama, enticing the girls towards it as the lights flickered softly and seductively, drawing them closer. They approached the very edge of the crater and made to head down before Twilight reared back in shock, discovering the second object of great importance. Beside the cube, one hoof in mouth lay a colt. Brown, caramel like fur coated his entire body, dew clinging to his chest and dust clinging to pretty much everything else. Ruffled black hair poked out of his head and trailed down his neck until it stopped at the bottom of his ears. It looked silky and yet coarse, fine and yet knotted, handsome and yet wild. A gold hourglass lay atop his flank, sand trickling down the inside of it. Perhaps a time piece maker? Twilight thought to herself rather glumly, clearly disappointed that she had not been the first pony to discover this new foreign object. The most striking area of the pained colt though was the neck. Or rather, what lay around the neck. There was a collar of shady, tree bark brown colour that seemed to reflect the bark of the trees themselves as it wrapped comfortably around his neck. The prominent figure was the small red bow-tie. It seemed old and worn yet so, so loved, tied carefully and effectively. The red was most striking, a deep resonating colour that pounced through the eyes of the girls watching as it captivated their senses. The colt groaned softly, muffled slightly by the hoof sticking in his mouth before he rolled over and opened his eyes blearily. And that was when Twilight knew that something was different about this colt. His eyes, though glazed, were such a striking blue colour. They seemed to stare into her very soul, gazing into the depths of her being. They held her captivated as the bow-tie had, except looking into these eyes, these beautiful eyes, hurt. They were so cold and so warm, like ice and fire. They were so hard and yet so soft, like a feather and a rock. They were so scary and yet so calming, like a storm at sea and a light breeze. They were so old and so new, so mesmerizing and so very, very blue. They held all the secrets and all the knowledge and all the power that Celestia's eyes had, perhaps even more. They were clouded with such misery and such sadness, peppered with guilt and unhappiness and self-loathing. They whispered to her, beckoning her onwards and yet driving her away. They were all of those things, ice and fire and rage. Ancient and forever, burning at the centre and watching the turn of the universe, such weariness and guilt and hate. And they were wonderful. The colt blinked just once and when his eyes appeared once more they were the same striking blue colour except they now wore a happy, joyous, carefree look that so violently clashed with the look Twilight had seen before. Had she imagined it? No pony could go from such a wave of emotion to joyous in just one blink, one little blink. The colts face wobbled slightly in what was probably supposed to be a grin but was horribly disfigured by the brown hoof sticking into his muzzle. With a slight pop the hoof leapt out of his mouth as the colt yanked himself onto three feet, the mouth suckered hand raised off of the floor by a mere millimetre. The grin was now evident on his face, spreading from ear to ear in such an outstandingly bizarre way. A way that very nearly rivalled Pinkie's smile. And then the colt spoke in a voice that made Twilight shiver. It was so warm, so friendly, so happy and yet beneath all that there was something else. Something...hidden. “Oh, hello there.” [.] The Doctor's grin expanded even more then its already abnormally large spread as he gazed at the bafflement of the ponies before him. Poor creatures, they probably didn't understand a word he said and with his TARDIS gone The Doctor had no hope of knowing what they would be saying. A shame really, he was a pony that couldn't understand any other ponies. He'd just have to learn, I mean how hard could it possibly be to speak the tongue of horses? The furry little creatures were still completely speechless. The orange coated filly with blonde hair had her mouth open wide in astonishment, teeth shining brightly. The white unicorn with the perfectly tamed purple hair was just staring at him with wide eyes, rounded in complete confusion. The pink pony with the brighter pink inflated hair was grinning wildly at him, a sight that uplifted The Doctor's heart. At least they could convey facial expressions. The butter yellow pegasus was cowering behind the pink maned one, a much lighter pink hue decorating her mane in such a way that it would surely have turned the sourest old man into a bright eyed, bushy tailed bundle of uncontrollable happiness. The rainbow maned pegasus, who was floating off of the ground was staring at him with a rather peculiar expression, her front hooves squished against her face as she stared at him with teary eyes. Finally, the purple, lavender unicorn that was closest to him was scrutinized by The Doctor. Such a lovely visage of purple, blending in well with her dark blue hair that fringed down just above her eyes. A light pink streak stretched across the stylish mane, curling upwards and out of sight. These ponies must really like pink. “Oh my, unicorns and pegasi! Unicorns. And. Pegasi! Oh you hit the jackpot today you jammy old timelord you, look at this! This is...outstanding. Hmm, the pegasi's wings aren't quite in the natural size range of a pony of their size. Light bones perhaps, a layer of air on the inside to help keep aloft? And these unicorns, the horns! Oh my, they appear to be made out of bone with a light stretching of skin over them to blend in with the fur. How clever. I wonder, all the myths said that they could...nah, magic doesn't exist. Well, it didn't exist before. I am somewhere new I suppose, anything is possible. Oh, this is going to be fun.” The Doctor circled the group of mares, speaking aloud his observations as he went, completely assured that they wouldn't understand a word that he was saying. This was just too fascinating. Not only is he a pony, a pony, but there are unicorns and pegasi here too! They all seem to have their own coloured coats as well, perhaps a form of singularity so that no pony is ever the same, like a fingerprint. Oh, oh, oh and they all had those funny looking tattoos, one of which The Doctor had on his rump but still! Just fascinating. Of course, The Doctor was even more fascinated when the lavender pony began to speak. “We do have names you know!” Twilight was shocked. She had never meant to say that, it was a spur of the moment comment. She would have been quite happy to have stared at him for a long, long time, to take in his looks and his approach and the way he moved that seemed so different to every pony else. Alas, she must, must, must say something to him so she had begun to prepare her pre-emptive “Welcome to Ponyville x” speech before her train of thought was interrupted by the observations of the seemingly oblivious colt. He had studied them like she studied books, locating and repeating every rough idea that came to his mind. She wasn't so angry at first when he had begun his long winded scientific evaluation on them but when he had purposefully forgotten to mention the earth ponies, Twilight had got angry at him. They deserved every evaluation and comment and snippet of information that he had gleamed from the others. Well, now that she thought about it that did appear a bit off, not only was she trying to get her friends to be viewed and pondered over by this mysterious colt but also the fact that he was really pondering over them. Ponies coated Equestria, he was a pony in himself and yet he talked about them like they were something new and amazing and just completely baffling. The Doctor's eyes widened considerably as his mouth unhinged and hung open, confusion and bewilderment etched on his face. The tables had indeed been turned upon him, the confused purple mare before him had got angry and actually, verbally, talked to him. Simply put, it blew The Doctor's mind. “Sentient. Ponies. You are sentient ponies?” Twilight nodded dumbly, like a child answering their parents with a simple flick of the head, not really concentrating in them but rather by the object of their attention, be it a book or a game or a hobby. As soon as the purple mare nodded, The Doctor exploded. “Sentient ponies! Sentient ponies! Well I never. This is...that was...this is completely and utterly astounding! Pegasi, unicorns, ponies and now, now, they all talk! Oh truly, truly you've hit the jackpot on this one. This is bewildering, outstanding, completely and utterly bonkers! Oh but of course, this universe would work in a different way to ours. It would seem that the resident pony race are the proverbial humans of this universe, after all they talk in the same language and they seem to feel the same emotions. Oh, look at me talking to you like you're not even there! Hello there, once again, my name is-” The Doctor droned on and on, happiness and sheer outstanding madness powering his speech towards new boundaries of the word obsessive. Here they were, ponies, talking to him. Such joy had only been encountered once before when he had sat and watched the human race say its very first words. This was like Christmas and Hanukkah and Halloween all rolled into one. Oh, introductions of course. No time like the present! The Doctor's mental and verbal speech ended quite profoundly as the whirring, sparking cube behind him began to give off a loud, high keening noise that ripped through the ears of every pony in the clearing, ears flattening down in an unavoidable bodily reaction. The Doctor turned around, frowning slightly at the aggravating noise. His frown dropped though as soon as he saw the inside of The Pandorica, the angered expression replaced by a look of terror that would have been hilarious if it were not for the keening klaxon that seemed to caution and warn every pony away. Red lights were flashing harder and harder inside The Pandorica, crimson light flooding the panels and the wires as the small screen in the back buzzed to life, white streaks darting across its front. Written across the screen in dark red, large letters was a simple and yet chilling message: Overheat In Progress. Vent Systems Activated. The Doctor whirled around and hurtled towards the group of ponies, his limbs now complying with him as he hurled himself as far away from The Pandorica as possible. “RunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunRUN!” The Doctor screamed at the mares in an astonishingly high voice as he bolted away from the clearing and disappeared into the tree line, blue eyes watching from the convenient cover of a large shrub. The girls didn't need to be told twice, their inner “alarm” system had gone off as soon as the outer alarm system had sounded. There was only one reason why a sound like that would be made and it was to clear an area as quickly as possible, to warn everypony away from the site. The girls twirled around, spinning on their back legs before powering away from the strange box as it began to make more frantic whirring noises, the red lights now continuously beating the outside of The Pandorica in a crimson blaze. They dived into The Doctor's protective shrub as they heard the sounds of clanking and groaning behind them pick up, eyes turning towards the seemingly deadly cube as it created a symphony of loud, clashing sounds that turned the once peaceful clearing on its head. Twilight turned to the brown colt, fear and embarrassment of her previous actions forgotten as she quizzed him. “What's happening? What's the matter? Why did you choose a shrub to hide in?” The Doctor, without taking his eyes off of the crackling, sparking Pandorica answered each of her questions in order. “Its overheated and needs to ditch the excess thermal energy. The problem is that the only way to do that is to vent all of the excess steam to the surrounding area, enough steam to turn me and you into crispy fried pony. About this shrubbery, it was a spur of the moment thing. You try and pick a devilishly clever place to defend from onrushing death.” “There was a large ditch about four metres to the right of you, it could have held us all...” “...Well, I picked the shrubbery and now the shrubbery we are in. If you want t-Wait, watch!” The Doctor cut off his annoyed grumble with the purple unicorn, who had so effectively shot down his clearly superior hiding place, in order to stare at the now silent Pandorica. The alarms had shut down in order to convert all power to the necessary vents that were not opening up around the sides, fins of metal rising up to point into the sky. Suddenly, a loud hiss burst through the silence as steam galloped from the vents, spilling outwards and spiralling into the air. Still the steam poured outwards, crossing the distance of the crater and smothering it in a dense, cloudy vapourish fog. Great clouds of vapour rose up into the sky, simulating a blazing, roaring inferno. Burning vapour poured across the grass now, turning the usually green shine into a burnt, charred brown colour. As quickly as it had begun, the steam started to thin out, only trickling slowly out of The Pandorica as a gentle fizz emanated from the insides of the cube, shutting the vents down and forcing all fins to slide back into the main body of The Pandorica. The steam hung in the crater for a while longer before rising upwards almost softly, hiding its deceptive, painfully burning heat as it simply wafted upwards into the bright blue sky. Only then did The Doctor exit his ingenious hiding place, the red flowered bush that was large enough to host a selection of equine bodies. For a split second The Doctor's thoughts turned to the flora of the area, marvelling at the size and smell of the plants before he turned back to the matter at hand, the possibly still active Pandorica. He strolled up to the cube cautiously before circling it with curiosity written across his face. Rarity, the feeling of confusion heavy on her mind, spoke now, the second pony to speak to this new, mysterious arrival. “What the devil are you doing?” As soon as she spoke, the floodgates opened as the other mares began to shout and bombard The Doctor with questions, their voices mixing into an incoherent babble. “Who are ya?” “Where do you come from? Is it space? Are you an alien, or a spy?” “Oh dear..you look hurt. Doesn't that burnt hoofie hurt?” “Lemon muffins or muffin lemons?” “What in Celestia's name is that big cube? Why did it try to kill us!?” The Doctor frowned openly as he tried to decipher what each of the girls had yelled at him. Slowly, achingly slowly, he unravelled the questions as the mares waited in tense silence, the feeling of fear and suspicions growing towards this new, brown coated colt. The Doctor, for the second time today, answered all of the questions in perfect order. “What I am doing is checking to see if all of the heat has vanished. You see, sometimes the steam and the heat can boil up and conduct into the metal of a...cube like this.” Before he could answer anymore questions Rarity piped up again with another quite clever question. “How are you going to check that thing? It doesn't seem to be doing anything at all! In fact, I'd say its pretty much dead.” The Doctor smiled slightly, these ponies were certainly smarter then he had first believed them to be. Observative too. “Well, it seems dead but I expect it has merely gone to sleep for a while, hibernation to restore its batteries, its power cells. The way I'm going to check if the metal is still burning, smouldering or scorching is very simple. I'm going to hit it.” And with that The Doctor raised one foreleg up, pulled it behind him and lunged forward, striking The Pandorica with a nice, ringing dong. Immediately the mares jumped back, expecting to see him moaning and clutching his hoof like their first encounter, whining and crying on the ground, but instead the new pony just smiled and turned towards them. “As you can see, its completely vented, thankfully I didn't make myself look like a fool again. Now, where was I? Ah yes, who am I? How about this, I'm pretty poor at starting introductions. Would you mind telling me your names first and then I'll say mine?” The Doctor was lying of course, introductions were in fact his forte. Yet, he desperately needed to know what the names of these ponies would be like. Would they be normal, like Gregg or Stacey or Linda or would they be a bit more namby pamby like Moonshine Sniffles or Anxious Soar? You can learn a lot from a name, that was merely one of the things The Doctor had learnt on his journeys, and right now trapped on a new world, with a new body he desperately needed to know something, anything about the pony inhabitants even if it was their name traditions. The pink coated, pink maned pony stalked slowly up to The Doctor, much to the horror of the remaining five who had begun to fear for the safety of the quirky mare. She stared The Doctor straight in the eyes, blue against blue clashing together in a heated battle, a slight frown upon her face as she gauged him and his personality, his very soul it seemed. Slowly, like trickling honey she spoke. “Pinkie Pie promise?” The Doctor, if possible, grew even more confused then he had first been. What in the name of all things timelordian was a Pinkie Pie? More importantly, why must he swear to her? Was she a deity, a legend, a mythical creature that stalked the stories of the ponies? Almost as slowly as her The Doctor nodded his head and opened his mouth. “Pinkie Pie promise.” The pink furred, pink maned pony immediately brightened, a beaming smile crossing her face in an instance as she began to speak as rapidly as rain hitting the ground during a thunderstorm. “I'll let you off of the physical aspect of it but be warned, do not break a Pinkie Pie promise. Speaking of Pinkie Pie, that's me! Born and raised a Pie, live and die a Pie.” The self proclaimed Pinkie Pie suddenly leapt forward and tackled The Doctor, grasping him in a hard yet soft hug as she squeezed his new body. The Doctor happily obliged to the confusing and yet fantastic hug, raising his forelegs up to wrap around this “Pinkie Pie”. She seemed nice enough and at least now he could judge and estimate the rest of their names. Pinkie Pie pulled away from the hug, gazing at the Doctor with a penetrating look before her signature smile spread across her face and she turned back to the other ponies. “He's alright girls, c'mon out and meet him!” Pinkie Pie must hold some power over them, The Doctor thought to himself as he saw the next five mares practically gallop up to him, arranging themselves in a blockade of a line, almost militaristic if it wasn't for the orange and the cyan ponies pushing at each other on the end of the row. The orange pony with the blonde hair stepped forward first, raising a hoof up to shake his. Ok Doctor, this one looks like a...ApplePie! The Doctor thought to himself, quite proud with the suitable name as he stretched out a hoof to greet the mare. Her grip was like iron, crushing his hoof as she rapidly pumped up and down with a motion that caused The Doctor's whole body to literally leave the ground on every upthrust. “Heya, the name's Applejack. I work down at tha local apple farm, Sweet Apple Acres. Best apples y'all find in the whole o' Equestria.” Aha! He was close, just the second word off. Perhaps not every pony here is a “Pie”. Still, now at least he knew where he was. A land called Equestria...It felt suspiciously story book like. Oh well, a land filled with ponies was never going to have a name that suggested otherwise. The Doctor put on a large grin as she tugged her hand away, feeling the strong muscles of the farm mare depart from his touch. “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Applejack.” Applejack smiled and trotted back to the others, whispering into the ear of the rainbow maned one who stepped forwards afterwards, eyes fixated on The Doctor. Rainbow Fly! “Hey, I'm Rainbow Dash (so close). Fastest flier in all of Equestria, you've probably heard of me before. Yes, yes, yes I will be signing any autographs you may want.” Rainbow Dash had a witty, arrogant smile splayed across her face as she finished her introduction, obviously pleased with the way she had shown herself. She raised on hoof up to chest height and extended it outwards but not in the display a hoofshake would be declared upon. The Doctor's eyes widened as he beheld the hoof before him, the cyan fur swaying every so slightly in the breeze. It couldn't be. The Doctor thought to himself before he cautiously pulled back his own hoof and, with little force, tapped it against hers in what closely resembled a “bro fist” as the humans had so elegantly put it. Apparently that was the right move to make as Rainbow Dash burst into a grin and flew away with a small, hilarious bow that made her seem childish and fun, moving before The Doctor could say his hello. The next mare stepped forward, the white unicorn with the purple hair that had inevitably opened the playing field for questioning. She strode up to him and placed herself right before him, minty breath wafting into his face. Jewel! “Good day my dear. I am Rarity of Carousel Boutique, the finest dress and suit shop in the whole of Equestria. Although, may I say that that bow-tie is simply stunning on you!” She spoke with an accent that was hard to distinguish, obviously very ladylike and into the upper class of whatever system these ponies had set up for them. She held herself with the grace of a true lady. Without thinking, The Doctor took one of her forelegs in his own, causing her to stiffen slightly, before he brought it to his lips and pecked it gently. He lowered it back down to the floor before grinning at her. “I am charmed, Miss Rarity.” The white unicorn blushed slightly, a faint red tinge lighting up her snow white cheeks as she coughed with slight embarrassment into one hoof. “Oh my, a gentlecolt. Feel free to pop into my shop at any time. Well, ta-ta darling!” She sauntered away, tail flicking in the air before returning to the happy bundle of self greeted ponies. Only two remained now, the quivering yellow peagsus and the purple unicorn who seemed to radiate leadership, be it an unknown tool that she did not realize she wielded. Slowly, much more cautiously then the others, the purple unicorn stepped forward. She trotted up to him, never breaking her eye contact until she stood right in front of him, narrowed eyes searching his. She opened her mouth, closed it at once and then opened it again. Moonlight Sniffle! “Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle. I run the Ponyville library and-” Twilight was cut short very quickly by the overexcited, childish voice of The Doctor. As soon as she had mentioned a library, a change had occurred in him. No longer was he the civilised, refined gentlecolt that had spoken to Rarity. Now he seemed like a foal in a candy shop. “You run a library! Oh my, the books, are there many? You have history books right, I love a good history book. They're usually dead wrong but they are excellent reading material. Oh my, I'm so sorry I interrupted you again didn't I?” Twilight was stunned by the sudden, jarring change in character, an expression of bafflement crossing her features as she beheld the gentlecolt break down into a goofy stallion before her. She blinked once before a warm smile lit up her face. He was a bookworm! Just like her! How many books has he read? Do you think he'd see the works of John Stallionbeck's Of Mice and Ponies the way she saw it? “Oh no, no worries at all. I'm just surprised to see a fellow bookworm around these parts. It seems I'm the only one with a constant hunger for knowledge!” The Doctor grinned massively, a real joyous smile spreading across his face as he glimpsed more into the life of the, at first, judgemental mare before him. Oh, I like you already, The Doctor thought to himself as he listened to her ramble on about dusty old tomes which, just so happened to be, his favourite kind of tomes. Soon her rambling finished and she looked up at him with a sheepish grin, a small blush decorating her cheeks with blood. The Doctor merely chuckled at the sight. “My dear Miss Twilight, I would love to read up on a few of these wonderful book you have told me about. They sound like quite the tales.” The Doctor spoke happily, his love of books and tomes and history and non-fiction coming into play. Practically any book was a book he could love, any book apart from fiction. Pfft, what was the point of reading about a planet with seven moons and slug aliens when you could actually go to a planet with seven moons and slug aliens? Twilight smiled once more, much more warmly then her first approach to him before she turned away and trotted back. Only one mare remained now, the quivering, shaking squeaking butter coloured pegasus on the floor. When she did not approach him, The Doctor walked forward until he was next to her. Noticing the new arrival, the scared pegasus let out a muffled eep and covered her face with her long pink mane. The Doctor took a step back out of guilt. Had he done something to scare her? Was this pegasi's fear his fault? A loud, slightly cracked voice echoed across the clearing as Rainbow Dash yelled out towards The Doctor, noticing his expression of guilt. “Don't mind her, she's just really, really shy. Its not your fault or anything.” The Doctor smiled at the rainbow maned, friendly pegasus before turning his gaze back to the wobbling, jelly-like pegasus in front of him. “You don't need to tell me your name, its fine. I'll tell you what, I'll perform my introductions to your and your group of friends and then, if you feel up to it, you can tell me your name, ok?” The butter coloured pegasus moved slightly in what may have been a nervous twitch, still staring at the ground. The Doctor shrugged slightly, a movement that should have been impossible for normal ponies now performed by the one of a kind timepony. Good enough for me. He thought to himself before turning around and walking up to The Pandorica. There, he swivelled to face the mares, five of them in heated discussion and one of them curled tightly into an adorable ball of fur. He cleared his throat loudly, as to gather everyponies attention and, when the mares had turned to him, he began to speak. “Where to begin? Ok, first I'm new here. That's all I'm saying on the topic of my arrival for the moment, I am completely new. I've come from a very far away place, a place that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to return to. But that's ok, at least for now because I have a whole new world to explore. A whole new life to live.” The Doctor spun around and struck The Pandorica slightly, causing a sea of sparks to explode and burst behind him, adding pointless but exciting effect to his speech. He turned once more to the mares, striking blue eyes wide with hidden knowledge, body posed in a way so that the light illuminated him perfectly. Sparks burst behind him as a large, excited, nervous, adrenaline filled smile crossed his face. Great dark orange and yellow trails of sparks igniting the dirt around him, tiny flames kicking up in a surrounding circle, flickering against his coat in a powerful, omnipresent, ancient, secretive and intoxicatedly adventurous way. “Hello,” he said in a voice that radiated danger and attention and wonder, “I'm The Doctor. He swirled around darting beside the still sparking Pandorica, dancing a slightly disjointed luminous dance inside the behemoth of metal, rapidly flipping switches with the precision of one that had spun the dance of flick switching time and time again. Finally, he stopped and jumped out of The Pandorica landing inches in front of the mares who had moved forward to catch his frantic movement inside the cube. “Or, if you want you can call me...” The Pandorica's systems ignited again, green lights flashing and screens swirling back to life as the recently charged power cells pulsed joules and volts and watts into the life bearing box. Brilliant white blinding light flared from the inside of the box, causing the mares to wince as The Doctor was silhouetted against the impressive, incandescent light that blared from The Doctor. The figure he cast was one of strength and charisma and charm and kindness and power. It was a figure that screamed years of experience, of fun and mischief, of battles and storms, of fire and ice. “...The mad colt with the cube.” The mares stood there staring, mouths agape, minds utterly obliterated by the figure before them. The blue eyed, bow-tied pony who had patronized them without realization, saved their lives, risked his own, heard their introductions and who responded with such kindness, such clarity that it had simply blown them away. Bright light flared once more softly behind him before it dimmed down, allowing the six girls to see the confident smirk on his brown, caramel face as the final inches of light crawled back into the cube. Everything was silent, conversation and comments sent scattering into the void, segments of rebuttal and replies dashing across the sky and disappearing into the wind. Talk was gone, snatched almost painfully from the mouths of the gob-smacked mares. Well, almost gone. “My..My names... Fluttershy” All The Rage In The UniverseAll The Rage In The Universe It woke to the sound of birdsong. It hissed in abject pain as it felt the boiling sun beat down on its exposed back, the translucent body being bombarded brutally by the celestial rays of shining light. Its pure body, free of impersonations was a very frail thing. The slight radioactive waves of gamma that emitted from the sun, the slight gamma rays that most creatures could merely shrug off, was burning into its skin with the pain of a thousand needles. Its strength was still there though, the strength that could level trees and crack holes in marble, the strength that could break bones with the ease of snapping a finger. Its taloned limbs felt scorched and crispy but not broken, the small thin bones still secured firmly in place. The aching in its head was still pounding, relentless banging and clattering shrieking and screaming smothering its mind, causing its large eyes to wince slightly. Hazy memories bubbled to the surface of its mind, the unbelievable agony of death and the sickening dulled feeling of life returning to his limbs, its molecules knotting back together without any hint of pain. It remembered the feeling of rebirth and of falling and falling, of slamming into the spongy, wet ground with a small thump. It remembered the host body fading with a slight fizzle as its molecules expelled the human blood from its own system, the seeping red liquid leaking into the ground and being absorbed by the earth. Then the darkness had engulfed it, its black eyes flickering softly before it gave into unconsciousness. And now, now it was here, wherever here was. Its bulbous, black eyes widened as it took in the ground that lay before it. Clear, free grass rustled tidily in the breeze, past that a deep, dark forest seemed to spread onwards for miles and miles, small gleaming eyes pouncing across its dark, hidden, shadowed treeline. Slowly, its back screaming in great convulsing throes of pain, the belittled, should be dead plasmavore rose onto its legs, shaking slightly from the agony of this short physical movement. Its head declined slightly as it took in its landing zone, a small grassy plain just on the outskirts of the ominous looking forest, a small plasmavore shaped imprint sticking to the weed tangled floor like a cartoon character. Its blank, cold eyes fell on the small object that lay beside the carefully crafted imprint, a thin, short white stump that's end glowed with soft trickles of red. The plasmavore bent down much to the protest of its quivering legs and, wrapping its taloned hand around it, picked up the straw with a soft smirk upon its horribly pale face. Then the plasmavore turned one hundred and eighty degrees to observe the new sight before it, the sight that brought a cold, broken laugh belching out of its throat with a horrible cackling sound. A small village lay about a mile in front of it, curly grey smoke wafting up from the rooftops of huddled houses. Even from where it was standing it could see the wide assortment of bright colours that decorated the village in a childish, pathetic glow, screaming immaturity. A few very large, very conspicuous objects caught its attention, buildings that jutted out of the town that seemed to beg for attention and shriek for eyes to bless their bodies. The first noticeable building was a large, red barn in the centre of a gigantic shroud of apple trees to the far left of the town. The barn rose upwards into the air, past the heads of the trees, red coated wood glistening brightly in the burning sunlight. A light lavender series of rooftops decorated the top of the barn, yellow and red flowers blooming from the open windows that allowed the bright suns light to seep into the household. A brilliantly red apple exploded from the roof of the barn, calling to everyone and anyone that this, this, was the prime place for apples and apple treats. The great groves of apple trees rose around the barn, red fruit littering the luscious green leaves like flies littering a corpse. Small white fences criss-crossed the farming ground, a border to keep trespassers and fruit devouring animals out of the prized apple collection. The second building was a great medley of human like confectioneries. Dripping chocolate, fluorescent white icing and a large, disgustingly pink cake rose from the roof of the sweet crafted building. Large purple candles extended from the cake-like roof and stretched upwards until they seemed to punch the face of the sky. Large, glassy windows exploded from the confiture shop and household, another botheringly cute building that allowed the dreaded sunlight to filter inwards. Flowers coated this house as well, blue and red and yellow mingling together in a washing machine styled swirl of colour. Even from where it was standing, a mile away, it could see the long line of multicoloured figures that stretched towards its entrance in a long, winding line, waiting patiently for entrance to the large shop. The third and final terribly attention seeking building, if you would call it that, was a brilliant white cloud palace that hovered along the border of the quaint looking town. Great cloud pillars rose up to support the structure, twirling fluffy clouds of the colour of snow moulded into the shape of a mansion. Sparkling, gushing fountains of rainbow coloured liquid burst across the cloud house, trickling down the sides in waterfalls of spectrum colours. It shuddered in disgust and repulsion as it took in the site of the new town, the sickeningly colourful village that seemed too peaceful, too quiet. Not for long. It thought to itself with a convincing, shady grin before wincing slightly as the sun continued its relentless assault on its radioactive prone body. The plasmavore's eyes narrowed slightly as it took in the distance to the town before it began its short but painful trek towards the village and its inhabitants, chaos and destruction on its mind. [.] It took the plasmavore ten long, arduous minutes to cross the sun swept distance between its falling point and the town border. It had walked achingly across the soft, wet ground, sticking to the shadows of trees whenever it ran across one. Partly for the darkened shadowed cover from prying eyes and partly to escape, even if for mere seconds, from the horrible, smouldering sunlight. Finally, finally after struggling, falling and cursing and shrieking in pain the plasmavore disappeared into the relative shadowed shade of one of the massive houses, eyes glittering towards the residents of the town with contempt. It had seen them, five minutes earlier, the adorable, wide eyed, bushy tailed ponies that trotted and cantered and waltzed around the town, a spring in their step and laughter in their voices. The alpha race of the land had caught the pale killer out at first, dumb, dull creatures from the other universe now sentient and lively. Such was its shock that it had simply stopped its approach and stared at the creatures that had yet to see him. Racing thoughts shot through its brain as it took in the sight before it, as it absorbed the knowledge that something had changed drastically when it had reformed. It had been thrust into a world that it should never ever be near, trapped on a planet that had yet to see any dark aspects of any other world. Soon, though, soon the feeling of shock vanished and was replaced by another feeling. Loathing. Oh, how it loathed them. How it wished to simply step from the shadows and crush them. How it wished to burn this quiet town, to hear the sounds of screaming and pain. How it wished to laugh and giggle as the creatures around him burnt with shrieks of agony. It had a simple matter to attend to first before it could thrust these pitiful creatures into a void of sadness and pain. It was hungry, so very, very hungry. When it had reformed in this strange new world it had lost all traces of its last meal and, right now, the plasmavore only had the thrill and thought of hunt on its deeply corrupted mind. It had recoiled slightly as it came to the conclusion that it would have to take the body of one of these awfully bright ponies, weakness shining through for a second as it vaguely wished that it could still be human, before it steeled itself to the thought. Survival was more important then honour. Once a meal had been claimed, it could go about ridding this land of these horrible, gruesomely happy sacks of fur and hair. Its eyes flickered slightly as it automatically went into its hunter-esque gaze, nose slits wrinkling slightly as it tasted the air with a hesitant sniff, getting a feel of the stench of the ponies. It was a warm, soapy, pleasant smell. A smell that showed no signs of rot or grease or fat. It was a happy, pure smell that brought bile to the aliens slightly convulsing throat, such pleasant smells like poison to the monster with the rotten core. Its eyes twitched slightly from behind the wall of darkness as it took in the sight of the ponies wandering around the clearing, dirty hoofs kicking up dust with loud thumps. Strong. I need a strong one. Yes, yes, yes. A good, tasty meal. it thought to itself as it expanded its gaze towards every creature that walked into view, gaping mouth trickling small amounts of hunger fuelled saliva. Soon, its eyes fell on its next victim, dark protruding tongue flicking out to roll around its gaping mouth in a sign of lust and hunger. The stallion was tall and muscular, a dark green colour that closely resembled the colour of the leaves that the plasmavore had seen earlier on the leaves of the forest trees. The eyes were a deep hazel colour, warm and friendly but also filled with power and strength, signs of battles won and lost flickering softly in the brown orbs. Long blonde hair streaked down its head and back, a light swishing tail of the same yellow trailing behind him. It was unkempt and wild, dirt coating the edge in a soft brown sheen. On the flank of the powerful, stockily built stallion was the mark of two crossed swords, glowing with a faint silver colour. The stallion had no apparel on but, even from this distance, secluded in the dark, the plasmavore could see the slight circular ring that cut around the colt's body, the lightly shaded area obviously clear as to be from a sheath of some sort that had been wrapped around the stallions body for many years. A warrior, the plasmavore mused softly as it took in the sight of its next victim, how very...fortunate. The plasmavore felt a little trickle of spit trail down the corner of his face as his mouth watered at the idea of a new, fresh meal. The plasmavore's eyes narrowed slightly as it pondered a way to get the dark green stallion over to itself, alone. Seconds ticked by like hours as the thoughts of the hungry monster raced through its mind at speeds that defied belief. A mere two seconds passed before the plasmavore's eyes gleamed and its mouth set itself into a cruel smile, a soft chuckle escaping the cavernous mouth. It waited and waited as the stallion drew closer to its hiding place, as the green colt trotted casually across the clearing, very nearly scraping some of the outer buildings with his large body. Just as the green stallion passed the plasmavore's hiding place, it let out a loud, broken cough and proceeded to break down into soft snivels and cries that made the stallion pause in his tracks and turn his head back towards the darkened area where the sounds were coming from. The stallion hesitated for a moment before trotting backwards towards the soft whimpers that were emanating from the shadows, pausing just at the edge to peer into the darkness, nothing distinguishable coming into view. He called out in a quiet, deep voice that crossed the darkened gap in a mere second, the powerful voice ringing with strength in the ears of the plasmavore. “Is anypony in there? Are you hurt?” The plasmavore just continued the crying and weeping sounds, raising the volume ever so slightly, trying to entice the emotionally torn stallion into the darkness. “Do...do you need help? Hello!?” The stallion called, louder into the darkness, voice permeating the shadows of the house but seemingly falling on deaf ears as the whimpering and snivelling only increased in volume, soft coughing joining the mix of sounds. The stallion braced himself, thoughts of protection and helpfulness flickering across his face, before he plunged into the dark shadowy sea. As soon as his hindlegs stepped into the shadows the crying and the whimpering stopped, a deathly silence following his arrival. The stallion felt a trickle of sweat roll down his coat as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up to attention. He began to turn, to head back the way he came before whatever was giving him these horror felt vibes caught up to him but he was stopped by a monstrous abomination standing between him and the shadowy exit. The plasmavore watched the foolish but brave stallion enter the shadows, watched as it looked around in fear at the sudden lack of noise and then watched it turn towards him, terror flying across his deep green face as he beheld the body of the plasmavore. It didn't even give him time to cry out in terror before it lunged towards the colt, grabbing its muzzle with white, shivering talons and forcing him up against the wall of the house with a slight thud. It rammed the stallion into the wall once, making sure the head connected with a thwack similar to that of a watermelon cracking before letting the stallion drop to the floor in a daze similar to the humans. Without wasting any time or breath, the plasmavore lunged forwards, exposed the neck with one long taloned hand and plunged the straw into the vein of the stallion with the second pale hand. The stallions eyes widened slightly as it felt the cold, slippery hand close around his muzzle, blocking of all sound as the creature dipped its head towards the straw that punctured his neck. The last thing the green colt heard was the rapid sound of sucking before he passed out in slightly shrivelling bundle of fur. No pony paid any attention to the green stallion that strolled out of the shadows. No pony glanced his way as he made his route slowly across the clearing, eyes glistening with unsuppressed malice. No pony paid any attention to the white straw that stuck out of his mouth like a cigarette. No pony even noticed the small drop of blood that fell from the straws end and hit the dusty floor with a soft plink. A loud, three belled chime echoed across the town as the plasmavore trotted casually through the friendly village, schemes and plans forming evilly in its mind. [.] It had taken The Doctor a good five minutes to close the jaws of the stunned ponies, trying to coax them back into the realm of the conscious to little effect. After her earlier introductory comment, Fluttershy had proceeded to squeak uncontrollably before resorting back into the quaking mass that The Doctor remembered so well from the butter yellow pegasus. The reactions of the sentient, hilariously confused ponies had been simply priceless though. The Doctor certainly wouldn't have traded that moment for the world, that moment when his new friends could seem him in his own light, free from the plaguing nightmares and horrors that whittled down his soul, weighing heavily upon his mind. He never wanted anyon-anypony to see him like that, to see his core. To see the monster that lurked in his heart and in his mind. Rarity's reaction had been one of the most comical reactions that The Doctor had seen in his age old life. First came the eye-twitch, a small tic seemingly embedded into her eye causing her right eye to furiously flutter for a solid minute. Then came the astonished, withdrawn, late gasp that seemed to create rolling waves of confusion across the clearing, rising upwards into the sky much like the great wafts of steam that had ascended earlier. Lastly, the metaphorical icing on the cake, a satin red couch had darted across the clearing, dust streaming behind it as if it was a fleeing antelope. As soon as it reached the bewildered mare, she collapsed onto its plump fabric and proceeded to faint in an almost lady like movement, one foreleg rising to her head as if to test her temperature before she let out one final sigh and passed out. Then came Applejack's reaction which, though not quite as extravagant as Rarity's, was still a sight to behold. The seemingly stable farm mare just stood stone still, mouth hanging open so wide that it was like staring into a blackhole. Her eyes were wide and brimming with every emotion known, confusion and fear, bafflement and astonishment, sadness and happiness. The strong farm pony seemed to quiver a little bit every once in a while, a slight muffled oh horse apples breaking out of her mouth before it expanded once more into the dark void. During Applejack's mental breakdown, The Doctor took the time to admire her or, specifically, the wonderful hat atop her head. Truly a beautiful Stetson. After all, Stetsons are cool. Not quite on the same scale as bow-ties and fezzes but certainly up there in the list of all things cool. Next there was Pinkie Pie's reaction which, if The Doctor had known Pinkie Pie for long enough would have known that the change was astronomical. Pinkie Pie the energetic, babbling, mad, odd, quirky, partying, insane mare was completely and utterly silent. She was just staring, straight at The Doctor as if she could see something, something that no one else could see. As if she were reading a book or deducing a mystery. She still held the whimsical look in her eyes that the rest of the mares wore but the rest of her body spoke a different tale, not suspicious but...prepared for whatever may lay ahead. There was something to her, that pink party pony. Underneath all of that bubbling energy she was smart and quick to the punch, thoughtful and calculating. Right now, all of those things were whispering around her, prompting The Doctor to force his gaze away from her before she saw anything that he would prefer to keep hidden. After the pink menace, Rainbow Dash came into view wearing the expression of a child that had first found ten pounds on the floor, then found a chocolate bar in the fridge and then found out that they are destined to be a cowboy astronaut. So, she was looking very, very happy. The smushed face had returned except this time the eyes twinkled with astonishment and slight fear, the sculpted, refined, athletic face wrinkling together as her cyan hooves pushed against the sides of her face. Her wings were beating furiously, an odd whining and buzzing noise flaring behind her with a gentle waft of smoke rising from the sparking blue wings. Similar to Applejack, she was muttering a slight speech over and over again, which sounded a lot like ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Fluttershy was curled on the ground, shivering and quaking with small squeaks bursting from the butter bundle of fur with a surprisingly high pitch. Her pink mane layered across her face, smothering her from view in a soft hue of bubblegum pink. Her wings were twitching slightly, small spasms racking their lengths as her nerves clenched tightly around her whole body, disabling her of the ability to not only speak but also to move. The Doctor simply smiled sadly at the pegasus, put off that he had not been able to get through to her but determined to go through every attempt to win her over in the future. Finally, The Doctor allowed himself to bask in the once grumblingly annoying lavender unicorns reaction. Her pupils had expanded to the size of dinner plates, sparkling slightly with amazement and questions. Her mouth was open slightly in the shape of an “o”, bafflement evident upon her purple and blue fringed face. Her legs were shaking ever so slightly, much like The Doctor's had been when he had first stepped out of The Pandorica an hour ago. The Doctor continued to stare at her for a few more seconds before sighing and turning away, And I so wanted there to be smoke coming out of her ears, The Doctor thought to himself in slight disappointment, ah well, can't have everything I suppose. “So, eh, anypony home? No? Not even a little?” The Doctor spoke in a loud, clear voice. Weaving between the ponies and desperately flailing one caramel hoof in their faces, with no reaction whatsoever. “I didn't break you did I?” The Doctor mumbled, hoping for any sort of reply, even if it was some form of drooling or incoherent babble. The Doctor, yet to hear any manner of speech from the bewildered ponies before him and desperate to learn about this new world, took things into his own hooves, striding up to still slightly sparking Pandorica with a careless saunter. He inspected the now cold metal on the side, bringing his head in close to feel the freezing metal before he took a careful lick of the mysterious box. Immediately he put his head back and licked his lips slightly, eyebrows raised and eyes diverted as he tried to discover the taste of The Pandorica. Steel alloy woven into the bindings with hints of dwarf star metal sewing some particles together, The Doctor thought to himself as he tasted the metallic tang, main body seems to be made of dense titanimite, pretty boring really. Oh, here we go. A slight taste of...Dalekanium. Clever. very, very clever. Still didn't work though. The Doctor, his thought process now complete, turned to the ponies, sure that his display of licking the strange box would have brought at least some of them around in confusion, questions forcing out of their mouths. However, the mares continued to stare blankly ahead, much to the frustration of the timelord as the endless stream of questions in his mind began to smother all other thoughts. The Doctor sighed again, pent up annoyance tracing the sound as, once more, he walked up to The Pandorica. This time though, instead of licking the metal he did something much more normal. Well, as normal as you can get when you're an alien with your own life bringing prison sitting on the ground before you. The Doctor raised back his hoof and pushed forward, bashing The Pandorica three consecutive times in a row, the loud sound ringing around the forest like the bells of a church tolling. Birds broke cover from trees, winging into the air as the sound continued to echo across the forest, even reaching the small, quiet town of Ponyville without The Doctor's realization. Six multicoloured mares jumped quite suddenly at the loud ringing sound, hearts pounding in their throats as their eyes and heads darted towards the source of their fear. Slowly, all six gazes fell upon The Pandorica and The Doctor, who was now looking quite sheepish. “Ah yes, you see I needed to get your attention. Looking at the circumstances now, I may have hit it a little too loudly.” The Doctor gulped slightly in fear as he felt the burning, angry looks that the five girls, and one still cowering but ticked off pegasus, were giving him. Rarity spoke up, slight anger lacing her voice as her heart attempted to slow down, with little effect. “You could have just asked us you know!” “I did. No pony responded.” The Doctor deadpanned quietly. Roles were reversed as the six mares immediately broke out into sheepish grins, small blushes covering most of their faces in a strawberry tinge. The Doctor just smiled, waving his front hoof in a simple gesture that showed that all was forgiven. With a hop, skip and a jump The Doctor landed before the mares, causing Rarity to squeal in horror as dirt rose up and laid down upon her perfectly groomed coat. Both The Doctor and Twilight stepped towards each other, purple and brown nearly colliding as they both simultaneously began to speak. “I have so many questions!” “I have so many questions!” Twilight looked away awkwardly, a light blush decorating her face. The Doctor stared at her for a few seconds, surprised that she had recovered from the previous five straight minutes of blank staring and then immediately dived into the beginnings of questioning. The Doctor shook his head slightly before a large grin spread across his face, Pinkie mimicking the happy display with a dazzling, toothy smile. “Oh, oh, oh. I know, I know! Lets play....twenty questions!” Pinkie Pie bubbled furiously, bouncing and twirling around the clearing, a rather large spring in her step as she observed the two ponies that stood before her. Now behind her. Now before her. Spinning was super fun! The Doctor glanced at the spinning mare swiftly and then returned his gaze to Twilight. She was looking at him now, a hopeful gleam in her eyes that he couldn't ignore. “Seems like a plan. Ok, go ahead Twilight.” Twilight blinked once, sorting the questions into order of importance. It took longer then expected, a good twenty seconds of complete silence that made the other mares watching kick the ground awkwardly with their hooves as their friend continued to remain in absolute, stone-dead silence. Then Twilight's lavender ears perked up and she raised her head to stare into The Doctor's luminous blue eyes. “What in the name of sanity is that thing!?” Twilight raised one purple hoof to point solidly at The Pandorica. The Doctor turned to look at it, a slight frown on his face before he turned back. “That...that is my house...” Twilight raised one eyebrow in disbelief, the obvious look of are you kidding me crossing her features. “Well, if that's your house then what was it doing in the sky?” “Well it was falling of course. I thought you would have figured that out by yourself!” Twilight and her five best friends groaned in annoyance, multiple hoofs rearing up to slam into their occupants faces with a small slapping sound. The Doctor's eyes widened as he watched the odd display of face-hoof, looking down at his own hoof before wondering if it would hurt to do such a thing, I mean he was incredibly furry. Before he could test however Twilight spoke up once more. “And how did it get into the sky?” The Doctor blinked slowly, his master lie crumbling around him as he watched the lavender mare poke a rather large hole in his otherwise foolproof deception. “Well...you see I-ah. Its really a big, metal bird that...doesn't. Have. Any. Wings. Hmm, Ok, fine, you win. Its not my home.” Twilight beamed happily, spinning her hoof around in a clockwise motion, informing The Doctor that he should keep going. “Well, its name is The Pandorica. It was made as a prison for...for the worst thing in the universe, the most vile creature to ever grace worlds. The creature that could just walk onto a battlefield and have both armies flee in terror. The creature that took people and turned them against each other. The creature that destroyed its own race.” The six mares looked on in terror, eyes widening as The Doctor continued his explanation behind the mysterious box, the same box that had now crashed onto their planet. Had it escaped, this terrible monster? Where was it now? A quiet, shaking voice piped up from behind the mass of shivering, terrified ponies. “What...what happened to the-to the mons-s-s-ster?” The Doctor turned towards Fluttershy who recoiled at the look in his eyes. There was such pain there, such unbridled pain that seemed to flow through him. Guilt bubbling up in the irises before it was washed away by a blank expression. “It escaped. Now, my question! I've seen the lovely Rainbow Dash here fly but I have yet to see any of the old unicornian magic that I have heard sooo much about. So, my questions is, can unicorns here perform magic?” The Doctor watched in a shock as the bottom lips of every mare near began to quiver slightly, terror flooding his veins as he desperately tried to think of what he had said to upset them. Just as The Doctor closed his eyes and braced himself for waterworks, some new sound exploded from the mares, a sound that he had not expected to hear. The Doctor hastily opened his eyes and took in the sight of all six ponies, even timid Fluttershy, rolling across the floor in fits of laughter, tears streaming down their faces as they hugged their sides with iron grips, trying to keep their bodies together. Twilight Sparkle was laughing the hardest of all, fat tears rolling down her cheeks and staining the ground with dark blots of water. The laughter of the six giggling girls was infectious and soon enough even The Doctor was chuckling slightly, if not a bit confused about what was going on. Still, unexplained laughter was a lot better then unexplained tears. The laughter soon died down enough so that The Doctor could resume talking in a slightly humour laced voice, a tinge of disappointment echoing on his words. “Ah yes, silly me. I mean, magical ponies? Its quite the ludicrous thought.” This comment just caused the girls to sink into even deeper laughter, thoroughly confusing The Doctor as he watched six grown mares rolling around the floor like infants at a school. The Doctor frowned slightly in vague annoyance. “Now, I know that I made a foolish mistake but I don't think its fair that you'd laugh at me quite like this. I'm new here remember?” The girls immediately stopped laughing, a faint trace of shame wafting across the air. Twilight stood up onto all fours again before raising on hoof to wipe away the last traces of tears that lay upon her eyelids. She looked sheepishly at him for a second. “Oh, we're sorry. It was just too funny. Especially when you thought that unicorns couldn't do magic!” Twilight chuckled slightly towards the end before she gasped in surprise, moving backwards lightly as The Doctor thrust his face right into hers, gentle breath playing across her features and ruffling her fringe carefully. “You mean to say that you can...do magic?” His voice sounded hopeful, a slight tremor of excitement coursing through his speech, making him sound like a new foal experiencing all the wonders of the world. Twilight smiled with glee as she made herself out as the bearer of good news. “Did you think our horns were just there for the sheer visual effect? Watch this Doctor!” Twilight's horn glowed a faint purple colour, transparent lavender mist swirling around the appendage before she disappeared in a brilliant flash of bright white light. The Doctor's eyes widened in utter amazement as he watched Twilight vanish in the bright light before a slight zapping sound and a flash of similar light exploded behind him, causing him to turn around quite suddenly. There stood Twilight, a confident smile on her face as she watched the disorientation on The Doctor's face as he looked back and forth between her vanishing points before he turned towards her with a massively goofy smile on his face, making him seem so friendly and warm. “Oh my, complete atomic de-configuration and reconfiguration in order to move from point A to point B without the use of kinetic energy. That took humans over 30,000 years to produce and here you are, Twilight Sparkle, performing miracles as if they were simple party tricks!” The Doctor watched as Twilight blushed lightly from the praise, humbleness setting in directed at her abilities. “How much magic can you do? What sort of magic can you do? How does it feel?” Twilight blinked as he bombarded her with questions left, right and centre. She answered slowly at first, thinking out the responses to each of his questions. “Magical ability depends on the willpower and metal strength of the individual. I, myself, can usually exhaust myself after roughly three straight hours of magical exercises whilst Rarity can usually tire herself out after one and a half hours... ...I can perform all sorts of magic since my special talent is magic as distinguishable by my cutie-mark. However, many unicorns follow a certain specialist type of magical teaching like Rarity who, with her fashion business, is more interested in the daintier, fine working magic then large, bulky magic... ...Finally, magic feels...fantastic. It's really what I live for, when things come down to the basics. The joy of completing a spell, the adrenaline and powering flooding your veins. The feeling of magic, its-its indescribable.” The Doctor smiled slightly, the feeling she had discussed was a well known feeling for the time travelling, never-ageing space explorer. The ability to do what you want, when you want. To have control over something, to have the joys of success and completion. The joys of knowing that what you do today could help many for years to come. That is one of the things that kept him going, kept him running. Still her response had brought another question to his mind so, quite bluntly, he spoke up once more. “Fascinating, simply fascinating. If I may ask though, what is a cutie-mark?” Twilight pondered for a second, opening her mouth in order to respond to the question at hand when a soft plink of rain fell from the sky and smacked against her muzzle, a single tear shaped trail winding down her face. Twilight frowned slightly, looking at the ominous skies above the Everfree Forest before she turned to Rainbow Dash. “I don't suppose there is anything you can do about that Dash?” Rainbow Dash looked up towards the dark, rainy cloud with a thoughtful expression on her face before she turned her gaze back onto Twilight's. “Nah Twi, no can do. Weather works different in the Everfree, it could be an unstable cloud and I'd rather keep my wings on my body.” Twilight frowned once more, wrinkles crossing her brow as she watched the cloud that seemed to sigh once before letting out a loud crack of thunder and lightning, rain now pouring out of it like a miniature waterfall. Twilight turned to The Doctor, her mane quickly plastered to her face as the rain flattened it, her friends darting into the cover of the trees whilst The Doctor simply stood and stared at the rain as it felt down on his body, drenching his fur. “C'mon Doctor, we need to get out of this rain and back to Ponyville!” The Doctor turned towards Twilight, an expression of are you kidding me plastered across his face much like his mane, mirroring Twilight's earlier expression. “Ponyville? Well, that really shouldn't come as a shock. I'll be right there, I just need to get something from The Pandorica.” Twilight was puzzled slightly at the name before remembering that it was the name of the cube that she had previously known as “screaming metal box”. Twilight darted towards the trees and dived into cover, her fur stuck to her body in tight packs as the rain water caused her to shiver slightly. She turned to see The Doctor inside The Pandorica, trying to pick up a strange cylindrical object with his hoof and dropping it. Again and again and again. Rainbow Dash sighed in annoyance before winging her way over to him, shivering at the feeling of water hitting her sensitive wings. The Doctor turned to see her land beside him, shaking the droplets of water off of her wings sending them careening everywhere. Rainbow Dash looked at the strange cylinder on the floor, flecks of bronze and white lining its side with large hints of metal twisting around it. On the top there was a strange, slightly green bulb. She raised one eyebrow at the device before looking at The Doctor who was muttering something about blasted hooves. “What is this thing?” The Doctor looked at Rainbow Dash with confusion for a moment before brightening, a grin spreading across his face. “That, my dear, is my sonic screwdriver. We've had so many adventures, me and her and I was just-WAIT, NO, NO, NO!” Whilst The Doctor had been happily explaining his handy dandy device, Rainbow Dash had stuck her head close and bumped the button on the side carefully with her nose. Immediately, the screwdriver sprung to life, green light blazing from its end and a loud whirring, high pitched noise bursting from its edges. Rainbow Dash reared up in terror, forelegs raised and then, in an impossibly thoughtless move, slammed both down onto the screaming screwdriver, forcing it into the ground and shattering it into two pieces. The Doctor watched as his precious screwdriver lay broken and twisted on the ground, green bulb cracked and sparking slightly. “My screwdriver....” Rainbow Dash darted forward, an apologetic tone to her voice. “Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I just..I thought it...” The Doctor shook himself out of the daze with a little flick of his head, forcing a smile onto his face which was incredibly, obviously fake. “Oh, no worries. I can just get another one. Now, unto Ponyville!” Rainbow Dash glanced at him sorrowfully again before she burst out of The Pandorica, streaming towards her friends. The Doctor followed close behind, hooves now splattered with mud as he pounded the ground in great leaps. The two reached the clearing in seconds, The Doctor shaking the droplets off of himself much like Rainbow Dash had done before, an instinctive measure of his new body. Twilight grimaced at the sight of The Doctor returning empty hoofed before glancing to Rainbow Dash with a small scowl that caused the pegasus to look at the ground in sadness. Sighing, Twilight turned around and started to trot to Ponyville. “C'mon everypony, Ponyville is calling us!” The others followed close behind, The Doctor and Pinkie Pie bringing up the rear. The Doctor smiled softly as he fell in line behind the pink pony, raising his head to glance around at the flora and fauna in the forest before whispering softly to himself. Geronimo. Pinkie turned her head to him, exactly one hundred and eighty degrees much like an owl which The Doctor found both fascinating and terrifying at the same time. She frowned slightly at him before the signature smile appeared on her face. “You know, I actually preferred Allons-y but whatever works for you.” Pinkie happily bubbled before turning her head back around, oblivious to the confusion and surprise that had appeared on The Doctor's face at her outburst. [.] “So, what you're telling me is that these tattoos on your rumps symbolize your life talent? Twilight frowned slightly, an expression that she had used far too much today, at the way in which The Doctor had described cutie-marks. “Basically, yes.” The Doctor nodded once, a muttered understandable forcing out of his throat as his mind began to wander towards the ideas that he had begun to build about the town. It would of course be large but humble. Colours would simply explode from buildings, much like the colourful bodies of the ponies around him. He imagined that there would be a bakery of some sorts, along with a school and probably a church, if ponies could get married. The Doctor's curiosity got the better of him and just as he was about to ask if ponies participated in matrimony he was stopped by a question from Pinkie Pie. “So, Doctor, what were you doing in the forest?” The Doctor paused in his routine step, mind desperately trying to conjure up a convincing lie. A dark frown carved through his face as he realized with a shock that due to his little knowledge of “Equestria” and to his mysterious arrival that there simply was no way that he could make a convincing lie to the girls around him. Only the truth remained to be said. Oh well, better to be truthful and feared then lying and loved. The Doctor thought to himself sadly. The mares had noticed his sudden silence and had stopped to stare at him as his face slowly fell, the signs of warmth and excitement fading from it like the dripping of wet ink off of a page. He slowly raised his head to look at the girls, sadness and weariness echoing around his features. “I...I haven't been entirely honest with you girls. You see, I-” It hurt The Doctor's hearts to reveal himself to his soon to be ex-friends in such a way. Fortunately, or unfortunately as it may be, he was swiftly brought silent by a deep low growl that reverberated across the dusty, dirty forest path. Only then did The Doctor realize that the forest had grown silent a minute ago, the birdsong fading away and the crackling of leaves and twigs vanishing. The growl broke through the silence once more as the mares in front of him backed up fast, pushing themselves behind The Doctor. Not knowing of the situation at hand, The Doctor merely stood his ground and stared at the mares as they back-pedalled wildly behind him. His expressions morphed into a small frown before he brought his gaze back to the clearing and, more importantly, the lumbering figure that now stood in the centre. Lightning flickering behind its massive body. It was unlike anything The Doctor had met before and yet he recognised it perfectly. The lions head that was littered with sharp teeth and a red mane. The similar lions body that was coated in yellow fur with large, powerful paws glued firmly to the ground. The wings of a griffin that rose off of its back, blotting out the trees behind it with a dark red membrane that seemed to stretch on for metres in both directions. Finally, the large, swelled scorpions tail that trailed behind it raised in the air, pulled back and ready to strike with the strength of a stampeding buffalo. The Doctor took in the manticore with its teeth and its claws, its wings and its barbed tail and he smiled. “My this is truly a sight to behold. Pegasi, unicorns and now, now I get to meet a manticore!” The manticore roared in an unholy, blasting voice that reeked of foul odours, causing The Doctor's nose to wrinkle up in disgust. The beast stepped forward, its large paws cracking the earth lightly as it prowled towards the foolish pony, its new meal. The girls watched in horror as The Doctor simply stood there, observing the manticore as it drew closer and closer to him. As it roared and pawed the ground with brutal streaks of its clawed paw tearing great chunks out of the ground. Still The Doctor just stood there smiling and speaking softly to himself. Twilight's eyes widened to inconceivable lengths as she called out loudly to The Doctor, voice stained with terror. “Doctor, get out of there! Manticores eat ponies! The Doctor turned his head slightly to Twilight's voice, one eye never leaving the manticore and the same goofy smile splayed across his face. He raised his voice so that it could carry across the clearing and yet still remain relatively quiet. “Oh no, not this one Twilight. In fact, I'd say he's never going to eat another pony again.” The Doctor turned his head back in time to watch the manticore take a great leap towards him, claws extended and wings pumping furiously as it crossed the short distance between them with one great bound. Just as it was about to crush him, just as the girls diverted their eyes in horrible anticipation The Doctor took a light step backwards, just out of the reach of the manticore. The great shaggy, mane ringed head bolted upwards, a low growl in the predators lips as it locked gazes with its prey. And faltered, the sound of a growl choking in its throat. The great blue eyes were blazing with an inhumanely cold light, rage pouring out of them like liquid fire. Lightning flickered softly in those eyes, a storm tossing and turning behind cleverly disguised orbs. The small smile that had once formed across his face was now a dark, deep-set frown with a pale white, cold line spreading across his face as the lips and smile morphed into a look of unbelievable anger. As much as the manticore squirmed it couldn't escape the blisteringly blue eyes as they bore into its very soul, as they tossed and inspected the spirit of the lumbering monster. The manticore had never felt so terrified in its long life. It had grown accustomed to being the hunter, to having those smaller then it flee at its loud growl and here, here it was reduced to a quivering, whimpering wreck by those painfully blue eyes. And then its tormentor spoke in a voice that resembled the roar of thunder, the oncoming storm. “I'm going to give you this one simple chance. Just one. Leave. Leave and never hurt a pony for the rest of your life”. The voice was so icily cold and quiet, a whisper that carried all of the anger that the universe could muster, condensed into this small, brown earth pony with the eyes of a god. “Because if I find out that you have, if I find out that you have killed or even scraped another pony, I'm going to come back here. And you will wish that you still had the choice of my offer.” The Doctor took one simple step forward until his face nearly touched that of the beast before him, rank breath playing across his cold face as he continued to stare the manticore down. “Now...run.” The manticore whimpered once more, the gaze burning into its soul before the eyes flickered for a second, allowing the manticore to avert its gaze and plunge into the dense foliage, intent on escaping from the monster of terror that it had so foolishly, so haphazardly, attacked. The cold, blue eyes still flickered slightly in its vision, taunting him as it mewed in fear smashing deeper and deeper into the forest, the sounds of its retreat softly fading from the clearing where the girls were starting to trot forward cautiously towards the brown stallion in the middle of the path. The mares had watched first in fear and then in unbearable confusion as The Doctor held his ground with the beast, looking into its eyes with an expression that was unreadable from their position behind him. They watched in complete shock as the great mismatched monster began to quake, watched in bafflement as The Doctor whispered something softly to the beast. They watched in befuddlement as The Doctor stepped closer to the vicious predator. Then they watched in uncontrollable bewilderment as the manticore whimpered once before bolting from the path, sounds of mewling and smashing following it until the noises faded into the background, life returning to the forest with a soft bird call. Only then did they trot forward, fear prickling in their necks as they slowly cantered up to the still silent figure that stood solidly in the centre of the path. The Doctor turned as they drew closer, an unconvincing smile playing at the corners of his lips. The mares stopped a metre from him and regarded him with befuddlement and fear before Fluttershy's once quiet but now hard, truth telling voice broke across to The Doctor, piercing his hearts. “What. Did. You. Do?” The voice was not loud but nor was it quiet. It echoed with just the right amount of anger and passion, not a single trace of fear evident in the voice as the animal loving pegasi stared at the terror inducing figure with a look that could turn ponies to stone. The Doctor, for his part, merely returned the gaze with a blank expression, not willing to show any hint of emotion as his voice rose up. “I told it to leave. It did.” Applejack's eyes narrowed as she searched the voice for any traces of deceit, the previous trust in the stallion now diminishing with the sight that she had witnessed before her. No pony could stare down a manticore and live to tell the tale. Still, after searching fruitlessly in those blue eyes for a few seconds she came to a shocking conclusion. The Element of Honesty paced forward until she stood beside the butter yellow pegasus with the freezing glare, whispering softly into the ear of her friend. “He ain' lyin' Fluttershy.” The yellow pegasus turned to her orange friend, the cold stare disappearing as she stared in belittled surprise at her friends revelation. As Fluttershy gazed into the green eyes of the Element of Honesty herself she began to come to her senses, anger washing away like sand messages at the beach. Fluttershy squeaked softly as she went over the previous minute in her head, when she had tortuously talked to the stallion with such anger in her own voice, the animal caring pony with the cold, hard voice of a monster. She turned slightly to look at The Doctor, the crestfallen face that she beheld very nearly broke her timid little heart in two. She opened her mouth, the words I'm so sorry forming before an orange hoof silenced her, laying upon her mouth with the gentleness of a butterfly. Fluttershy averted her gaze from the stallion to the Stetson wearing mare that had quieted her down, a cold look in those deep green eyes. “I ain' ever seen ah pony stare down ah manticore before. Not even mah brother Big Macintosh could do that an' he's the biggest stallion in town. So, what are you?” The Doctor's gaze rose to meet the green eyes, a curiously blank expression on his face as he inspected those green orbs before he sighed softly, averting his gaze. “I was going to tell you earlier and then it showed up and I just...” “Y'all ain' answering mah question. What are you?” “If you'd just give me some time to expla- “I'll say it again, what are you?” “Applejack, pleas- “What are you!?” “FINE!” The Doctor roared in a voice that tore his throat and silenced the forest, birds blasting out of trees. He took a deep shuddering breath before his voice quieted to a whisper, “fine.” The Doctor turned towards all the mares, an odd gleam in his eyes. Of pride and guilt and sadness and fear. Fear of losing them like he had lost so many others before. “I'm a timelord, I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the Constellation of Kasterborous. I'm nine hundred and seven years old and I'm the pony that has saved your lives and every billions of lives in the universe that mirrors you. Now, do you have any more questions because I would really, really love to see this Ponyville!?” The Doctor finished his speech with a slight crack in his voice, a sliver of fear seeping through as he desperately tried to avert everyponies thoughts towards Ponyville and other inhabitants instead of towards him. Needless to say, it didn't work. The mares stared at him, their expressions perfectly symmetrical to their reactions at the opening of The Pandorica. However, their dull, glazed look quickly vanished as a loud crack of thunder and lightning burst across the forest, making everypony jump and smearing the landscape in a blue blur. Twilight gazed at him with an expression of confusion, fear and...pity? Quickly though that expression morphed into one of leadership like hardness as she wheeled around to talk to the other mares in a loud voice. “We're going to get all of the answers we need girls but right now, with thunder, lightning and rain pouring down on us, we need to reach Ponyville. So, snap out of it!” The five other mares turned to stare at Twilight before the glazed expression melted off of their faces and they nodded at her almost sagely. The purple unicorn spun around and trotted up to the fallen, somewhat depressed looking Doctor. He raised his head to greet her, eyes sparkling slightly with unannounced fear before he reared back in surprise as Twilight raised her head to nuzzle him slightly, hot fur rustling against hot fur. She broke off the contact with a small blush before looking up into his gleaming, confused eyes. “You have some explaining to do but if you thought for one second that we would abandon you in this forest then you were dead wrong”. Twilight spoke to him with hints of exasperation and happiness in her voice. “Friends stick by each other, even if they didn't understand any of what the previous friend just said to them.” The Doctor's small smile forced its way upon his face as he beheld the lavender unicorn before him that had forgiven him so easily. Of course, she had no idea what he had just said and the actual confrontation on his species was bound to be awkward and revealing but at that moment The Doctor simply didn't care about that. A long time ago, someone had said to him that Gods must be strong but today, today The Doctor had felt at his lowest and his weakest since a very long time. Woken in a new equine body, on a new planet, no TARDIS, a broken screwdriver, no hope of seeing Amy or Rory again, friends that he had made and then nearly felt the heartbreak of losing and now forgiveness of his lies. All of these thoughts exploded in his timelord mind as he instinctively reached forward and pulled the lavender mare into a strong, hearty hug that spoke feelings that he simply couldn't say. When he pulled back he was his usual plucky, arrogant self with hints of unhampered joy in his great blue eyes. He leaned down to whisper into her ear so that only she could hear. “Thank you.” The Doctor then turned to the other mares who were throwing him suspicious looks, raising his voice so that they could hear him over the crackle and boom of the thunder. “As Twilight said, I will explain everything to you once we have made it back to your humble settlement. I am sorry for the confusion and the lies I have said, you must feel so angry but I promise to tell you the whole truth when we get to Ponyville.” When the mares still did not look convinced by his talk The Doctor used his secret weapon. His ace in the hole to convince them towards his honest behaviour. “I Pinkie Pie promise.” The smile burst once more onto Pinkie Pie's face as she calmly trotted towards the stallion before looking him right in the eyes with a happy, carefree expression. “I was never angry at you silly, just a teesny bit scared.” With that comment the pink party pony trotted away to join Twilight, signalling with her hooves for the others to follow. Rarity passed him with a slight huff in her voice, then came Applejack who eyed him warily but not angrily. Then there was Fluttershy who whispered a small sorry to him before lowering her head and trotting past. Finally, Rainbow Dash flew past him, eyes watching him but not dripping with anger or hate or fear. Instead they gleamed with interest. The Doctor sighed before following the snaking line towards the quaint town that waited him. Well that could have been worse. [.] By the time the seven members of the bedraggled group had made it to Ponyville darkness had fallen across the town, great storm clouds that had drifted from the Everfree forest blocking all view of the sun and its light and smothering the village of Ponyville in a dark shadow, abstract shapes barely visible across the dark town. The Doctor had his eyes wide open, roaming the streets for any signs of housing but only finding dark, shadowy objects that could resemble anything from houses to boulders. The Doctor resigned himself to the fact that today was not the day that he explored and investigated the town, a light sigh escaping his parted lips. His ears perked up slightly as he felt the gaze of another burning into the back of his head. The Doctor turned his gaze around to stare into the eyes of a muscular green stallion with light, unkempt blonder hair that flowed down his neck. The stallion eyed The Doctor for a moment longer, malice glinting in the hazel pupils before he slinked into the dark shadows and vanished from sight. The Doctor frowned before swinging his head back around to follow the mares as they came up on their final destination. The Ponyville Library. The Doctor couldn't make any guesses towards the building in front of him, shadows dripping down from the abstracted, impossible shape like bats hanging from rafters. For a second The Doctor could have sworn that it was a tree before the thought was swiftly whisked away as he heard Twilight opening the front door with a loud creaking noise. After all, who would build a house inside a tree? The Doctor's question was answered simply by a lavender unicorn as he stepped through the open door and into the flickering, candle lit, hollowed out tree. The Doctor's eyes widened as he took in the beautiful sight before him, eyes flickering softly in the candle light, a wonder-filled smile on his face. In the centre of the yellow flickering room there rose a great wooden horses head, extending from a circular wooden table that was littered with multicoloured books. Small vines snaked down from the ceiling and crawled down the wall like great, green snakes, choking the wooden walls. The rough, swirling barked floor twirled round and round in great ringed circles, indicating that the tree had been perhaps three hundred years old when it had been carved out and formed into the house that it was now. The walls themselves were a browny orange colour that seemed to mix together like paint swilling around a pallet, the resulting colour creating a beautiful shade of colour that brought much needed light to the interior of the house. Ladders lay perched on the walls, wooden poles tied loosely together with fraying, brown string that looked like they would crumble after their next use. Darkened windows lined high above the spiralling tower of hollow wood, metallical black lines criss-crossing their lengths like a spiders web. A large wooden staircase rose upwards around the room, leading to the dark upstairs where the faint snoring of a baby dragon could be heard, dozing in blissful warmth. That however, was not what had amazed and astounded The Doctor. The whole area was littered with great spectrum coloured books. Hardbacks and paperbacks lay strewn across the floor and in the nooks and crannies of the great bookcases that spiralled around the library. At least three hundred hues of books cluttered the library, spilling out from shelves in great bursts of papered knowledge. There was so many classifications, history, science, fiction, non-fiction, storybooks, horror, adventure, action and romance alone decorated only one fourth of the whole area. Tomes of old lay on great wooden displays, locked by glass cabinets to signify their importance. The Doctor could have happily stared at the blissful sight before him, smelling the lovely stench of knowledge but his thoughts were interrupted by a slight cough behind him that drew his attention. The Doctor turned to find three, shuffling, embarrassed and awkward mares pawing the ground softly, barely making eye contact. The rainbow mane, navy blue mane and pink mane bobbed slightly as they raised their heads to stare at The Doctor, eyes brimming with questions. One pink maned mare just stared at him with a wide smile and sparkling blue eyes that seemed to call to him to play with her, to dance and sing and be free like a true Pie. The final two pairs of eyes bore into him with a relentless burning sensation. The Elements of Generosity and Honesty stared at The Doctor, challenging him to make his speech, daring him to try and disrupt the peace that this neighbourly little town had acquired. All of the eyes, even the stunning blue eyes of Pinkie Pie, called to him, forcing him without consent to tell his story. To reveal to them his identity and his arrival. To bear his secrets to them. The Doctor sighed before slowly looking at each one of them in turn, clearing his now parched throat as he did so. “I am guessing you've never seen anything quite like me before right?” Six heads shook violently, Pinkie's head very nearly popping off from the speed. “Then, I'm the first. The first alien to land upon your planet.” The six mares eyes widened in bewilderment as The Doctor began to lay his metaphorical cards upon the metaphorical table. “Your first visitor. The first, great Timepony.” The Doctor muttered to himself, pausing for a second to glance at the astonished faces of the mares around him, each eye twinkling with confusion, excitement, fear and...pity? He cleared his voice once more, to continue his speech before a cracking, excited voice broke through the acoustic prone library. “What I tell ya Applejack? Aliens!” Authors note: I know not a lot of the actual story has occurred yet but I can tell you with all the honesty in my small, shrivelled heart that the next chapter will contain some major adventure/plot development. I'll even give you the name of said chapter, it shall be called “The Timepony And The Plasmavore”. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Stay tuned for some kickass Colgate and The Doctor action from my next project that will be coming out at some point the next month...I hope Of Memories And Pear PiesOf Memories And Pear Pies There was something about that brown colt, something...different. The plasmavore had been stalking the multicoloured, shockingly bright creatures, lurking in the shadows, following the bedraggled, belittled group in search of some much needed sustenance. It had sifted through their groups, testing each one of them with its hunter eyes and powerful nose. At firsts its gaze had fallen on the lavender unicorn leading the tattered band of ponies before it had rejected her specimen, the lack of athletic power robbing the purple unicorn of having the honour of being its host. Its gaze then shifted towards the orange pony with the yellow mane. This one took longer to identify, the strength in its hindlegs combined with its alluring smell of strength and stubbornness nearly winning the plasmavore over before it caught a whiff of her “duty” to the pathetic little farm and how, to keep his identity safe, it'd have to enact that duty upon itself. The gaze swapped to that of the bubbling, repulsive pink earth pony who was hopelessly bouncing around the small group as if she had all the energy in the world. Oh it wouldn't take her body, despite the obvious stamina and physical power that the mare was displaying. The cutesy-wutesy combination of the cheerfulness and the too vibrant pink only made the plasmavore want to kill, not to swap hosts. That pink pony with the attitude of a sugar crazed child would soon die by its hand, crushed pitifully by its unimaginable strength. Three more specimens remained to be...interviewed, the white unicorn, the butter yellow pegasus and finally the rainbow maned, obnoxious pegasus. Its gaze fell upon the white unicorn with the perfectly groomed purple mane that gushed vanity from its deep coloured depths. It shuddered in disgust as it watched the vain, arrogant, civil pony weave her way through the group, occasionally spouting out vague remarks on the manes and the fashion of the others. The plasmavore allowed itself to experience a soft, deadly smirk as it mentally added the obnoxious snowy unicorn to the now growing list of the victims that it was going to kill for merely its own pleasure. Next came the butter yellow pegasus who was trailing behind the rest of them, eyes darting wildly around the darkness with a fear and a nervousness that sickened the hidden plasmavore, banishing the thought of taking the weak mess of a pony that quivered softly before it. Until its gaze fell upon the rainbow maned, sickeningly cyan blue pegasus with the body of an athlete, it had nearly given up hope of devouring another competent meal. It had dribbled with lust at the mere thought of owning a body that fast and strong, already intent on its new meal, other thoughts fading fuzzily into the back of its mind. It had begun to step out of the shadows, green stallion body puncturing the gloom like a lighthouse through the fog when the brown colt at the back had turned around to face it. Memories. So many, many memories had burst through the plasmavore's churning mind at that moment, faint pounding drumming in its head. The brown colt with the hourglass tattoo, it had met him before. Somehow, somewhere they had met. There was rarely a creature in either universes that had yet to meet the plasmavore and live and yet here was one of them standing before him with a chocolate brown body and a blood red bow-tie. Those blue eyes, they couldn't be forgotten and yet the memory of the figure before him simply wouldn't spring to mind, eluding him with a taunting memory. Those shocking blue eyes that brought up such feelings of anger and hate and fear, the emotions boiling up inside of the plasmavore until they were ready to erupt. Its eyes narrowed as it continued to stare at the brown colt, malice glittering in the stallion hosts hazel orbs as it clashed gazes with the blank, if somewhat confused, blue eyes of the colt, before it slunk back into the shadows to find new prey, prey that didn't send shivers up its quivering spine. It trotted forward, despising the sound of its fat hoofs striking the floor with heavy clops that rung around the town square, echoing loudly in the shadowed veil as it mindlessly wandered the abandoned streets of the small town. The thoughts of a fresh new meal soon became shrouded and forgotten as distant, blurred memories of the brown colt flashed through its mind, stabbing into its mind with the force of a knife. The plasmavore felt its mind and head grow denser and denser as great fountains of memories began to pour from its mind, the effect of the cracks in time shattering as the belittled, half starved monster began to relive its terrible past. As it began to remember, remember its people, its birth and the death of its planet, responsibility of the disaster falling to one creature and one creature alone. [.] Jdukin- Plasmavore Home Planet Seventy one years ago The first feed. One, if not the most, important rituals of any young plasmavore's life, the day that they changed from hatchling pulp to the drainers of life. The keepers, the elderly plasmavore who had outlived their hunting times, would care for the younger generations. Care though, care did not mean protection and comfort, not in a civilization where murder was a key concept. Care was gearing the younger minds up towards the real world, making them fight and testing their limits of pain. All plasmavore had to spend seven years on the hatchling grounds, seven years of growth and boredom and lust, a lust for the taste of another creature. Everyday between when the sun rises and when the sun sets the keepers would bring them a sliver of strange meat to get them through the day and the night but it was never enough. They thirsted for blood, for the sweet taste of a host body, for the feeling of complete control. It had lived its seven hatchling years, constantly battling with the others to get their slabs of meat, constantly fighting and tearing and, at one point, even killing one of its own. It had not been punished, oh no, it had been praised by the keepers for being a strong specimen. And now,now here it was, about to take the journey towards its first meal, towards its freedom from the confined hatchling fields. The fields themselves stretched on for miles and miles across the bubbling, spewing planets white, crumbly surface. However, inside the fields lay multiple craters, each one a metre deep and three metres wide. Inside of those craters would lay at least five young plasmavores, crushed and writhing against the warm body of the white crater. It was like a prison. You could not escape, you could not fight the keepers, you could not speak your own mind lest you were put down for treachery. It was a living hell but it worked, oh it worked. The plasmavore's would grow up unhappy and angry at life and its cruelty so that when they were released upon the universe they would seek the goal of total death, of the draining of any and every life form. It was marched towards the pulsating, squishy dome that housed the first feeding ritual, performed by one of the keepers that had “cared” for you when you were a young one. Forcefully shoved into the quivering dome the young plasmavore rose shakily onto its white clawed feet to inspect the area around it. It was a pure white dome, no light filtering into the clearing. Instead small glowing green lanterns lay scattered across the surface of the dome, illuminating it in a soft green hue. The dome itself was webbed, great tendrils vein-like substances racing across its shivering, squirming surface. Around the sides stood a crudely constructed quivering white platform that stretched around the circular dome like the Colosseum's of Rome. In the centre stood one white, elderly, wrinkled plasmavore clutching a writhing, black sack in its hand, holding it out for inspection as it inspected the hidden meal within. The floor was a sticky white substance, clinging to the soles of the feet and causing great tendrils of white goo to grab to the feet as the young plasmavore began its slow walk to centre and the elder. Seconds passed, the sounds of the clicking of talons against the floor ringing across the nearly empty dome as the plasmavore crossed the short distance between its self and the elder. Finally it reached the elder who gave it a short, sharp nod before reaching into the seething black sack and, firmly grasping, pulled out the young plasmavores first meal. The elders would go to a far off planet and capture whatever sentient creature may dwell there. Then, when said creature is in their possession they would return home to allow the young ones to feed upon their prey and grow strong, to turn from hatchlings to killers. The prey had to be sentient lest the plasmavore was rendered incapable of speech through its new host body. The prey also must be a creature that would not be missed, that its people would not search for and hunt to the little planet of Jdukin. The elder yanked the meal out and with a loud thud, smashed it against the floor where it let out a soft but audible groan that rang around the dome. The creature was small, a minuscule little scrap of skin and bone that barely reached the chest height of the now fully grown young plasmavore. It was skinny, very, very skinny and its body was tinged a faint pink colour. The legs and arms were relatively normal, stretching out from the main body like the plasmavore's own gene structure. However, instead of cold hard talons on the hands and feet there sat five digits, four long, thin ones and one short chunky one on each of its hands. There was an uproar of facial hair surrounding the creatures chin, dark black twirls of hair that snaked down its face. The mouth and lips were hopelessly cracked and dehydrated, from the long journey no doubt. Long, fat folds of ears jutted out from the side of the creatures abnormally large head, quivering slightly from the cold feeling of the floor. Dark, greasy black hair fell from its head in tangled, shadowy knots that criss-crossed down its brow. Its eyes were a dully, glazed grey colour that resembled the short, sharp storms that would sometimes stretch across the mother planet. It looked to be about eighteen years of age, whimpering in abject terror as it took in the horrifying sight before it. Human, Homo Sapien. It had learnt about that particular species from one of the elders, the smelly, fleshy race that provided nourishment that was nearly of the scale. And now, it had one all to its self. The human began to sob pitifully, fat tears streaking down its face as its body shuddered with great convulsions of fear. It looked upon the human with disgust evident on its alien face before it pulled back a taloned foot and slammed it into the humans ribs, sending him flying back to land with a sickening thump on the floor. The human groaned once as the young plasmavore walked forward, a twisted, sadistic grin spreading across its pale face as it calmly strolled towards the terrified human, long pink tongue snaking out and licking around its lips as it began to imagine the taste and the feel of the blood running through its veins. And then it arrived. The noise it made, it was loud, so very, very loud and wheezing, as if it was in a considerable amount of pain, the sound reverberating around the squishy, white dome. The sound seemed to echo from the an empty, blank space a few metres to the left of the still shivering human, the sound increasing volume as the infiltrator began to take shape. Materializing in great bursts of visibility and invisibility, there, to the right of the crumpled human began to appear a large blue box. Its colour was like that of a midnight sky, a dark, royal, radiant blue that exploded colour across the bland, boring, white interior of the dome. Great notches of blue wood were strewn across the surface of the mysterious box, nooks and crannies and slight dips in the wood becoming visible even in the faint light. A series of small, unusable window panes stretched across the surface of the mysterious midnight blue box, faded slightly like the glass windows of a church. Along the front stood a large, metal door handle that moulded itself perfectly along the frame of the door. A bright white panel hung to the left of the handle, garbled human language written crudely across its surface, taunting the plasmavore with its mysterious language. The same thoughts could be spread towards the circular white panel next to it and the black backgrounded, white fonted sign that hung above the sides of the blue box. On top of the strange alien box sat a single fazed glass light that thrummed ever so softly with yellow light. It squinted at the strange contraption that now stood, fully materialized, in front of it before recoiling in shock at the miraculous display that was unfolding before it. The confusing, scribbled, unreadable words were slowly moving and wafting across the surface of the box until they spelled out something in the plasmavore's own language, the rough translation changing to. Police Public Call Box With a loud creak, the door to the mysterious, whimsical blue box opened and a tall, slender figure stepped out. Soft, black boots hit the mushy floor with a sickening squelch sound that made both the mysterious figure and the writhing human shudder in disgust. A pair of rolled up navy blue trousers lay upon his lower form, fitting snugly to his legs which were now slightly smeared with white goo. A white dress shirt rested upon his upper body, blending in perfectly with the similarly white area of the dome. Big, burgundy braces stretched from his trouser-line to the top of his shirt and over, the sight nearly making the plasmavore chuckle at the odd display of human “fashion” sense. A plain brown tweed jacket with black elbow patches sat upon his shoulders, hiding part of the white dress shirt with pinches of brown and cotton fabric that whittled in the air and floated away in tufts of fluff. Around his neck sat a blood red bow-tie that seemed to complete the unusual getup with a fanciful flare. The chin of this particular man was of quite large proportions, something it would surely have made fun of if it had not been so unbelievably surprised at his arrival. Long dark hair flowed down his head, curled imperfectly into a perfect mess of uncombed, knotted wonders. A deep set look of slight revulsion was evident on his face as his brow crinkled and his mouth opened slightly in disgust as, once more, the sound of squelching returned, louder then ever. Deep emerald green eyes twinkled in his head, filled with mirth and happiness and, perhaps, a small tinge of anger that sparked briefly in his seemingly age-old eyes as he cast his gaze upon the plasmavore. The plasmavore sniffed the air cautiously as it tried desperately to pinpoint this strange new creatures species. The nose of a plasmavore was incredibly developed, once a smell was absorbed it was immediately remembered and clustered with the species that said smell had emitted from. So, when there was a reek of fat and grease in the air, it was humans but if there was a smell of tulips and lavenders then it was a Butterfeyeian. This creature though, this creature had a most peculiar smell. It was the smell of everything and yet nothing, distinguishable and yet unreadable. It was as if some creature had combined the scents of every living and non-living creation in the universe and had crammed the stench into the body of this human-like figure. The figure, continuing to stare at the plasmavore with those emerald eyes, slowly walked towards the fallen form of the human, boots squelching on the ground as he walked forward. It reached the sobbing, broken human in a matter of seconds, eyes glancing along the greasy body before it pulled out a long, cylindrical object and began to shine it upon the human with a green light and a loud buzzing sound. This strange new human-like creature was hunched over across the quivering body, running its strange device back and forth along the humans body, its back turned towards the plasmavore as anger exploded in the mind of the hungry plasmavore. The plasmavore moved forward quickly, mind bubbling with rage as it watched the near human tend to its prey, making it look bad in front of the elder, ruining its very first feed. It crossed the distance swiftly, taloned hands raised towards the mysterious figure just as he stood up, intent on crushing his skull and mashing his brains. The figure turned to it at the last second, the strange cylinder giving off a soft beeping beat that was faintly familiar to that of a heartbeat, before his eyes narrowed and he began to speak to the advancing plasmavore. “Today is your lucky day.” The plasmavore froze in its approach as the human-like creature spoke to it in a voice that betrayed no hint of emotions, no sliver of feelings. The voice was cold and devoid of humanity. “Because today, I am feeling generous. You and your wrinkly friend over there have exactly ten seconds to get out of here. That's ten more seconds then I would have given you if the human was dead.” The plasmavore felt a small shiver of fear slip through its form as it let out a muffled shake before its eyes narrowed at the demanding figure before it, placing one taloned leg forward in a sign of obvious aggression. The mysterious figure simply sighed in weariness. “Do not try my patience plasmavore, after what I have seen here, do not try to goad me. Just do the smart thing and run.” It growled once, a low guttural sound that spoke of dominance and retribution. The plasmavore stepped forward once more as the figure placed himself firmly in between the hungry plasmavore and its broken meal. Slowly one of the figures arms rose out, cylindrical object pointing directly at the big, midnight blue box before it thumbed the button with a soft muttered So be it. A loud whirring punctured the silent dome as the green flickering light of the cylinder burst into life, transmitting a signal to the unmoving blue box. Almost immediately the dull, glazed light on top of the odd box began to pulse more vibrantly, a faint humming coming from the blue box. It took two seconds for the final wavelength, the final signal to be sent to the mysterious box. And when the final signal met the box with an inaudible fizzle all hell broke loose upon the dome. A brilliant shaft of blazing white light exploded from the glazed light on the head of the box, arcing upwards like a great pillar before the light slammed into the dome. Great cracks spread across the impact point of the light, tearing their way down towards the base of the great dome as segments of the white dome began to crumble and collapse. Out of the corner of its dark eye the plasmavore saw the mysterious figure grab and carry its prey towards and then into the blue box that had started the falling of the sky. The young and elder plasmavore could only watch in horror as great shards of the dome cracked with an ear-splitting shriek and plummeted to the ground around them, slamming into the floor and shattering into a million shards. The young one paused for a second, eyes widening as it took in the apocalyptic sight before it, seconds later it began to run, to flee just as the mysterious traveller had said. But it was too late. A single, flat shard of the cracked white dome splintered off from the main body and fell, faster and faster as it picked up pace. The plasmavore had just enough time to glance upwards at the descending pane of white solid, had just the time to allow its eyes to widen in fear and horror before the shard collided with its head, letting out a loud thud that echoed around the falling dome. The impact sent the plasamvore sprawling onto the floor, broken shard shattering upon impact. The plasmavore's eyes began to roll up into the back of its head as the lights around him began to fade, as the darkness began to grip its conscious. Soon the sounds of falling and smashing shards of the dome fell silent, the damage done as the plasmavore desperately tried to keep itself conscious, to get help for itself and for the elder that would be laying, perhaps crushed, under the rubble. Soft crunching lightly rolled around the now quiet landscape, the sound of feet hitting the hopelessly broken shards of the dome wafting around the area. Shakily the plasmavore turned its head to witness the arrival of the human-like figure who was wearing a deep set frown upon his face, guilt and anger flickering across the features before it knelt down next to the wounded plasmavore and began to speak. “Sonic pulse disrupts the inter-molecular structure of the solid particles in the dome, causing cracks to appear in said dome as the atoms and particles begin to pull away from each other. So, before you ask me, that was not dark magic or sorcery. You should have run. I didn't want this to happen and, truly, I am sorry for what I have done here. Perhaps you'll learn though, learn that you can no longer just snatch helpless beings from around the universe to participate in your silly little ritual. Now, I want you to remember something, a message for your people when they find you...” The mysterious figure suddenly rose, his body silhouetting against the bright glare of the sunlight that burnt the plasmavore's skin, casting a long, dark shadows over the destruction it had wreaked. “Tell them my name. Tell them what I have done here. Tell them of what I have said to you. Tell them that The Doctor is stopping this childish, dominant grappling game once and for all. And tell them one more thing...” The figure, The Doctor, now leaned back down once more to whisper menacingly in the ear of the injured plasmavore. “Tell them of me, of the last Timelord, of the damage I can do. Because if I have to return here, if I have to come back and find my rule broken then there won't be enough space in the universe for you to run.” The plasmavore whimpered pitifully as it nodded its pale white head quickly, terrified of the destroyer before it. The Doctor sighed once, glimmers of uttermost self-loathing and guilt playing across his features before he stood up and made his way over to his mysterious blue box. The plasmavore caught the muffled, whispered phrase that the strange creature, The Doctor, was repeating to itself over and over again before it lost consciousness and passed into the dark void that had beckoned it for far too long. What kind of Doctor am I now? [.] The plasmavore fell forward, muzzle colliding with the cold, cobbled road as it was dragged painfully out of the reminiscent memories. Its muzzle shot sharp tendrils of pain across its being as slowly it pulled itself back onto its hooves, very shakily as it glanced once more around the dark, foreboding town around it. Its first feed had been disgraceful, banishment had nearly been brought down upon it for the destruction of the dome and the loss of the prey, the elders forcing the blame entirely on it. Not even the elder that had been there had anything to say on the matter, merely lying through its dark mouth as the young, fearful plasmavore had been put on a strict warning and told to return to the hatchling fields in shame. There, amidst the taunting of the younger plasmavore's it had started to ponder this “Doctor”, anger and rage pulsing out of it in great waves that had threatened to engulf everything. There it had promised to find The Doctor, to take his body as its own but not before it destroyed everything around him first, not before it reduced him to the wreck that the plasmavore currently was. Not before it toppled the world of the last Timelord. That colt, that blood bow-tied, black haired, blue eyed colt had brought these memories forward, had forced them to return to the angered, lost plasmavore with just a look in the distant blue eyes. It was almost as if the colt was...no. Impossibility on a phenomenal scale. Still, the plasmavore couldn't shake the odd feeling that the colt was more then he seemed, that beneath the body of that stallion there was something else, something dark and bright, angry and happy. Cold and warm. As the memories began to flood back into its dark, seething mind the plasmavore pushed itself forward and trotted disjointedly across the still darkened square of town, its mind concentrated on one word and one word alone, over and over again until it threatened to spill forth from its mouth. Doctor [.] “So, lemme get this straight. You're a “Timepony”. You're from another world called Galliflop. You're really, really old but you don't look it. And you crashed here, on our world completely by accident?” The Doctor smiled at Rainbow Dash's explanation of events, summarising the last hour of explanations into a single, neat, tidy sentence that would have been a lot more useful an hour ago. This had in fact been the third time she had asked him this, her brain and five others in the room spinning around and around at the surprising truth behind the mysterious colt, each one of them wanting to deny the facts but each time Applejack would quietly pipe up and say that he was not lying. The Doctor wasn't entirely sure what it was that Applejack had that commanded such honesty and acceptance from the other mares but he knew she wielded her power well. “Why yes and no. I am from Gallifrey not Galliflop. Towards the rest of it though, you're bang on!” The Doctor voice piped up happily, smile widening at the look of astonishment across the faces of all the mares before him, taking in the sight of the confusion and bafflement with a lovely mixture of glee and happiness. The smile soon faded though as the question he had been fearing burst from the mouth of the once timid butter yellow pegasus, The Doctor silently wishing that she would revert back to her scared self so as to stop the questions. “What did you do to the manticore?” The Doctor sighed slightly as he walked back and forth around the library, eyes still flickering across the bookshelf as they picked out interesting book names such as Equestrian History: Vol. 1 or Starswirl The Bearded's Cheap 'N Easy Magic Tricks. “I have fought monsters before Fluttershy, beasts that threatened the very existence of civilizations, tyrannical leaders that slew millions of their own. I don't believe a single manticore was any real challenge for me, I just told it to leave...rather forcibly.” At this the girls eyes widened once more before they each turned their gazes to the little yellow pegasus, making her blush at the sudden attention. With a soft eep, Fluttershy raised one wing up from her body and forced her head under her feathery appendage to hide her rather large adorable blush. The Doctor merely looked on in confusion, theorizing that perhaps this was a ludicrous form of punishment created for the normally shy mare in case she ever escaped from her timid box. He coughed slightly, drawing the attention of Rarity who turned to him with a quizzical look. “I, ah, don't really understand why you're all looking at Fluttershy like she's a bipedal ape with bad hair and a poor sense of fashion. Mind filling me in?” The Doctor chuckled lightly at his own joke before looking back to Rarity who, for the hundredth time today, was looking at him with a mixture of confusion and humour. “Well my dear, we were merely looking upon our friend here because what you said describes her Stare very, very well.” The Doctor frowned in puzzlement at the mares strange statement. Was the stare some type of defence mechanism? Was it some sort of weapon? Perhaps these ponies were not as peaceful as they seemed. “And this “Stare” would be...?” “The single most terrifying thing I have seen in my whole life.” The Doctor laughed at the humour in mirth before noticing Rarity's deadpan expression, his laugh choking off slightly into a poorly disguised cough as he struggled to come to terms with what she had meant. Just as he was about to question her on the odd incident which must have led to her irrational fear of stares he was interrupted by a series of loud yawns exploding from the mouths of the mares around him. The Doctor chuckled loudly as the sheepish grins and light blushes returned to the mares faces, adorableness pouring forth from the simple display like a great tsunami. Twilight frowned once more, head rising to look at the rather large, ornate clock that rested quite snugly on the wall of her library, the time reading twenty minutes past eleven. With a slight gasp and an incredible widening of eyes, Twilight spun back round to face her now sleepy looking friends, a manic expression shimmering across her purple face as her left eye began to twitch. “Oh. my. Celestia! I am completely off schedule! I'll have to write down a whole new regime of spells to master and dates to re-arrange!” At this, the five mares began to slowly back away from the rushing, bizarre alteration that was Twilight Sparkle, all five pairs of eyes fixated on her with a mixture of fear and slight sadness, as if they had resigned themselves to her little crazy sessions. The Doctor, however, had never seen the studious, logical purple mare behave in such a way before, oblivious to the rolling emotions that pulsed beneath the surface as he stepped forward to try and calm her down before she hurt herself or any others in her lightning fast and babbled speeched movements. As he walked forward across the wooden library floor he heard the soft sound of sliding hooves behind him, muffled goodbyes tainting the air slightly as the old library door creaked open with a small shriek. The sound of four exiting mares echoed around the amazingly acoustical house as the purple blur began to increase in speed, the sound of Twilight's oh no's increasing greatly in volume until they rang around the house in a great medley of worry. The Doctor paused in his approach to glance around his...shoulder to stare at whatever mare had yet to leave the now deadly library, the four hoof steps fading into the background as four mares trotted home. One orange furred, blonde maned mare remained standing beside the open door, a look of guilt and trepidation plastered across her honest face, mixed emotions rolling in her emerald eyes. She seemed to move forward for a second before she shook her Stetson coated head, eyes breaking contact with the floor as she turned around to walk away, glancing over her shoulder as she walked through the door before passing one last comment to The Doctor. “Good luck, y'all gonna need it.” The Doctor opened his mouth to question her before the door to the library slammed shut, Applejack vanishing through it as her gentle clops faded into silence. The Doctor turned back towards the still hectic lavender mare, small thoughts flowing through his mind like a steady stream as he pondered Applejack's odd behaviour, as if she were feeling sorry for him? No sorry wasn't the right word. She was scared for him. The Doctor visibly gulped back his small fear now as the realization hit him, instead opting to move onwards with his helping hoof plan, deciding not to be swayed by whatever horrors may lay in wait for him. He pulled up next to the spinning, babbling purple mare, eyes rolling around and around as he watched her rocket around the same spot again and again and again. “Uh, Twilight?” “Oh no, oh my.” “Twilight?” “No no no no no.” “Oh look the libraries on fire!” “WHAT!?” The Doctor grinned at the reaction, expectations being met as the lavender filly immediately stopped her rapid spinning and instead resorted to shooting her gaze all around the room, purple eyes filled with panic as she desperately sought out the flames. However his grin soon faltered and fell as the blazing purple eyes fell upon him, sparkling with anger as a low growl escaped the mares throat. “Did you lie to me Doctor?” The voice was laced with thinly disguised rage, making The Doctor truly gulp in horror as the mare began to stalk forward, pain on her mind. “Ah, well...you see, the thing is...” The Doctor didn't get to finish his sentence as the slowly approaching mare came into leaping distance, springing out to tackle him with a mighty jump and a low roar that would have raised the dead, yet Spike still slept on. The Doctor hopped backwards with a startled yelp before bolting off around the library as the mare swung around to take another leap at him. Steadily she joined him in the chase, stalking him around the room with apparent ease. “Now *pant* Twilight, I'm *puff* sure that we *wheeze* can settle this like *gasp* adults!” The only reply was the steady pace of the purple hooves behind him increasing in speed, drumming the worn floor mercilessly. The Doctor risked a glance back, sweat trickling down his face at the sudden exercise only to gasp in fear as he beheld how close Twilight was to his rump, anger in her eyes as she took site of the colt that had joked about her precious library being burnt. The Doctor increased his speedy pace, grinning wildly as he felt the purple mare fall behind on the rage-fuelled run before his eyes widened as he came to a stunning and scary realization. She has magic. Just as The Doctor thought this a great purple vapour spread around his body, stopping him mid-run with a sharp tug causing him to whimper in surprise. He felt himself being levitated towards a particularly angry mare, the glowing purple field around him writhing slightly as he vainly struggled to escape his magical prison. His struggling fell still as he was pulled before Twilight who was smiling manically, the sight sending cold shivers up The Doctor's spine. Forcefully he set a cocky, boyish smile on his face as he spoke to her in a tone that betrayed no hint of his fear. “Oh hello Twilight, how may I be of assistance?” Twilight laughed a light, tinkling laugh that seemed to wash away all signs of her previous anger even though the magical bonds around The Doctor remained just as tight. The Doctor let out a soft, scared chuckle at her mannerisms before, once more, it was choked off as the sadistically scary smile returned to her face. “Well, I have always wanted to try transformations spells but I never had a willing test subject.” “What do you mean by “Never had a willing subject?” The little laugh and smile that followed that question brought convulsing shivers to tear through The Doctor's body as fear flooded his veins. Still, he soldiered onwards, allowing a smile to spread across his face as he spoke in a warm voice that spoke of only cheery happiness. “Y'know, this is exactly how I imagined this ending.” [.] Devour. That was the only suitable word towards what The Doctor had done to the literature around the library during the night when everypony else was asleep, snores trailing around the great hollow tree like a line of ants marching. He had successfully managed to calm Twilight down after half an hour of being turned from potted plants to mewling kittens, from woodentoasters to a rather peculiar orange chicken. When the clock struck twelve with a series of loud cuckoos noises, a small bird popping out of the wooden structure Twilight had turned around to frown at the device before offering up a particularly weary yawn. Seeing this and, quite luckily, being transformed previously into his pony body The Doctor had sprung forward and suggested that she retired for the night and how truly, terribly sorry he was for the whole ordeal he had put her through. Of course this had worked wonders for Twilight who smiled happily if somewhat tiredly at The Doctor's suggestion of sleep, offering him up the spare room just across the hall from her own room which he had declined, stating that he rarely needed to sleep. Twilight had continued to pester him about the spare room for five more minutes until her eyes began to droop with sleep deprivation, yawning and giving up on her fruitless efforts to get The Doctor to sleep. She had left him downstairs in her precious library where he had decided upon a medley of books from which he would be reading. The list consisted of a great display of different books that had caught his attention. There had of course been Equestrian History: Vol 1 which had proved to be a very intricate and knowledgeable book, allowing The Doctor insight into the world of the ponies around him. From that book he had discovered that there were two immortal rulers of Equestria, a monarchy system that spanned back thousands upon thousands of years. He had also discovered some insights into the three separate species of ponies and how they clubbed together under one banner to survive the weathering cold and freezing conditions, founding the land of Equestria together. After the great success of the first volume, The Doctor simply had to read through Equestrian History: Vol 2. He soon discovered that the second of the immortal sisters, Princess Luna, had turned against her own and plotted to overthrow Celestia, the second sister. She had been defeated and banished to the moon where, legend has it, she would return after a thousand years. There was a little more about the cities and development of the ponies but not many interesting facts remained in the book about the culture behind the quadrupedal creatures. Soon enough he had turned to Encyclopedia of magic which had proved to be quite a thrilling and yet disappointment bringing read. After digging up what unicorns could do with their magical powers it had pained The Doctor greatly to not be one of them, yet he had soldiered onwards and managed to convince himself that “Earth Ponies” had just as much potential for greatness and adventure as any other species. Then came the Pegasi guide to flight and anatomy, a rather peculiar book on the bodily functions of the pegasi ponies and how their light bodies and hollow bones allowed them to maintain flight for up to ten hours at a time. It had proved most fascinating and tantalizing to find out the science and theory behind the flight of the pegasi and their anatomy and yet, once more, it had left him with a hollow feeling of disappointment. Finally, he had stumbled across Earth Ponies: Truly magical. At first his twin hearts had leapt at the chance to read about his species before he began to flicker through the pages only to discover that most earth ponies had talents that consisted of everyday hobbies, baking and art making. He had brightened considerably when he had found out that Earth Ponies still had a form of magic that kept them more in touch with the earth and nature but still it just didn't seem to have the same electric, exciting ring to it like the unicorns and the pegasi had. Needless to say by the time The Doctor had consumed the five incredibly large books the sun had broken across the horizon, brilliant gold light flooding the once drab, dreary library with warmth and a welcoming glow. The sound of opening doors and calls of welcome flooded the outside of the library as the townsponies began to awaken and start their daily routines. The Doctor's ears swivelled to face the library door as the symphony of voices reached him, some old, some new. Some deep and some high. Each one was filled with joy and mirth, a simple mix of emotions that made The Doctor's hearts soar with happiness as he listened to a race that was simply so happy all the time. It wasn't long before the thuds of steps bounced around the library as the stairs began to creak, keying The Doctor to the arrival of a certain, yawning purple and green dragon. Two pairs of eyes, one a deep blue and the other an adolescent green, widened in astonishment and slight fear at the sight of each other, two sets of jaws hitting the floor in surprise as the dragon and the Timepony stared at each other. Two completely different minds were tossing and churning emotions around the poor owners, both creatures experiencing wildly different feelings at the sight before them. The caramel brown colt was staring in complete joy and astonishment at the dragon before him, feelings of happiness and excitement swirling through his mind as he came to terms that this world had so many wonders that had yet to show him, one of them being dragons! The reactions of the little purple and green dragon was certainly a whole lot different to The Doctor's. He had, of course, been completely and utterly asleep when the caramel colt had arrived, oblivious to Twilight's welcoming of him to the library. Terror and anger flooded the young dragons veins as he beheld the stallion below him, jumping to the conclusion that even though the colt was reading a selection of books he was most certainly a burglar. And burglars most, of course, be punished in the worst possible way. A great burst of flickering green flame spewed from Spike's mouth as he went on the offence, intent on causing as much damage to the literary burglar as possible. The flame streaked towards The Doctor, who watched it speed towards him in something that closely resembled awe before the realization hit him, luckily before the green fire did. With terrified, widening eyes The Doctor dived to the side as the green flame struck the ground and exploded with a slight boom, knocking him flying as emerald sparks disintegrated around the library, the fire being cut off as the magical fire system activated, dousing the room and clearing the flames. Spike took another, deep breath as The Doctor stood shakily onto his hooves, rubbing his head where he had hit the wall from the small but compact force of the explosion. Just as the green dragon of death began to release the swelling flames in his gut he was hoisted backwards by a bright purple aura, fire vanishing with a burp as the flames were sucked back down into his gullet. Spike spun around, purple aura shifting his body as he took in Twilight who, had he been a bit more noticing, was currently staring at him with a mixture of astonishment, disappointment and anger. As it was, he was too far down the path of the executioner to see Twilight's rolling emotions, instead opting to blurt out the matter at hand. “Twilight, there's a burglar in the house! Don't worry though, I'll get 'em!” And with that sentence Spike made to dash off to finish the assailant, legs kicking in the air as the purple levitating field around him pulsed slightly, refusing him access to the wooden floor. “Spike, what did I tell you about jumping to conclusions!? This “burglar” is actually a friend of mine that I allowed over for the night.” The flailing of the baby dragon stopped quite suddenly, legs falling limp as he gazed at the purple mare with a puzzled if slightly abashed look, twiddling his reptilian fingers before speaking up in a much quieter voice. “So...uh, the guy I nearly roasted is a friend of yours? Ehehe...” Twilight sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with one hoof in a weary manner before depositing Spike on the floor with a muffled thump, watching him flounder and scramble around the floor for a second. She turned her big purple eyes to The Doctor who was staring at Spike, not in anger, hatred or fear. Merely staring at him in amazement, completely oblivious to the fact that he had nearly been torched by the little wriggling dragon on the floor. “A...a dragon? In a library? I mean, the books told me about the particular species of dragons, serpens, but I was never told you had one here Twilight!” Spike immediately got up from his rolling to glare at The Doctor with a fierce expression on his young face, putting his hands on his hips in a manner that spoke of seriousness. “Had one? I'm Spike, not just some random dragon! I'm her number one assistant!” And with that said, the little green and purple dragon named Spike puffed his chest out in pride before his ashamed expression returned to him, colouring his cheeks a blotchy red. “Oh and, eh, sorry about the whole nearly killing you thing. You just caught me by surprise.” The Doctor merely waved him aside as Spike descended the stairs, stubby tail swishing back and forth behind him like a broom. “No harm done my dear reptilian friend. Now Twilight, whilst I'm not usually one for home visits I am dying to get out into your lovely town and have a little explore. Would you care to join me?” Twilight smiled warmly at The Doctor, shooting a somewhat icy gaze at Spike who looked at the ground in shame before she shuffled backwards towards her room, calling behind her as she trotted into the inter-locking white bathroom, snowy tiles gleaming with cold and a blinding shine. “I'd love to Doctor, let me just sort out my mane.” The Doctor frowned slightly before raising one hoof to his hair to make sure it was successfully wild, sighing with relief as he felt it snatch and grab at his brown appendage. He took a few seconds to fix his slightly crooked red bow-tie before he turned to Spike who was staring at him with amusement and confusion, one eyebrow raised questioningly. “How do I look?” “Like you just woke up in a room full of hair-dryers with an intense hatred for brown colts and black hair.” The Doctor pondered the explanation for the merest of second before a smile lit up his face. “Excellent.” The gentle trotting of hooves on the stairs brought The Doctor to attention as he beheld the now fresh, awoken looking Twilight happily jaunting down the stairs, humming a quiet tune to herself as her now combed and tamed mane swished back and forth. The lavender mare hopped from the bottom step before trotting over to a desk of some sort from which she pulled out a set of yellow...saddlebags? She quickly fastened them onto herself in a way that defied every law of physics that existed before she happily hopped to the old wooden door, still humming the light tune. She swung the door open, allowing intense, burning light to flood the library before she turned around to face the squinting Doctor, eyes sparkling with mirth and happiness as she watched the expression on his face turn from one of confusion to one of sheer joy, a simply enormous smile splitting across his face making Twilight smile wide, sharing in his joy. The Doctor gazed around the town, eyes darting around the multiple buildings and hooves trampling the dirt, kicking up great flecks of dust, outside of the library before he spoke his first, shaky words to the rich village around him. “Its all so colourful!” [.] Fifteen minutes. It had taken Twilight fifteen whole minutes to stop The Doctor gallivanting around the town with tremendous speed, smiling and waving at every pony he passed before he'd spy a new sight to behold and immediately burst off in a completely different direction. So far he had visited about one quarter of the town however, that one quarter was spread across the whole town, small pockets of the newly discovered town being brought to life as The Doctor shot through them, mumbling to himself before continuing his rapid speed around the village. Eventually, ten minutes in, Twilight had lost The Doctor in his frantic running before following the trails of Fascinating and Intriguing to find her desired target. She had successfully managed to coax him into following her around, saying that she would show him the most recognizable areas, her friends houses and then, finally, he would be allowed to explore for himself as long as he didn't end up breaking anything. He had replied with a muffled Easier said then done to which she had giggled softly and allowed a small smile to shift across her features before they had trotted off in a direction that could only really lead to one building. Sugarcube Corner. Upon seeing the massive sweet built household, The Doctor had merely stopped dead in the street and had continued to stare in amazement and hunger at the rising, delectably smelling building before him, drool forming around his mouth. The scent of freshly baked muffins and cupcakes wafted from the large confectionery shop, drawing The Doctor in like a moth to the flame. Slowly, he and a very confused Twilight had trotted over to the building, a set of deep blue eyes fixed on the wonderful displays of sweets and bakery that gleamed deliciously behind clear glass walls. He had reached one tentative brown hoof out to softly stroke the glass windows, fruitlessly trying to get at the delightful food behind them before he felt an odd pulling sensation around his waist, startling him and making him yelp as he felt two incredibly strong arms rap him in a tight embrace. The Doctor had prepared himself for a vicious fight, blue eyes glancing down at the brutal grip of pink fur that had wrapped him in chains of steel. Pink...fur. “Ohmygosh, IamsohappythatyoucameDoctor! ThismorningIaskedmyselfifthenewcoltwouldshowupsoIcanshowhimaroundSugarcubeCornerandmaybemakehimacupcakeandhereyouare!” The Doctor gagged for air as the grip tightened for a split second, the speeding, babbling words rolling around his head as he desperately tried to claim oxygen and to figure out the meaning of the mysterious chant of sorts that had escaped Pinkie's mouth. “Oxygen...good...help.” Pinkie glanced in confusion at the asphyxiating colt in her iron grip before gasping slightly as she watched his eyes bulge in his head, allowing him to be free as she dropped him on the ground with a slight pumf of dust that rose up from his impact with the floor. The Doctor sucked in long, harsh breaths as he felt strength and much needed oxygen flood back into his body before he achingly pulled himself up, coughing quietly as he did so. “Ohmygosh, I'm sooooooo sorry!” The usually bubbly voice had been replaced with a sad, tearful tone that caused The Doctor to glance up at Pinkie in surprise, the sudden change of demeanour shocking him ever so slightly. She was still her usual self really, perhaps a bit more grey and slightly flatter hairr covering her pink head and yet there were small traces of un-shed tears in her blue eyes, waiting to burst should she be met with cruelty or anger. “I've faced for worse foes then your death grip Pinkie, don't worry about me.” “Oki doki loki!” “Wait but...what?” The Doctor had expected a few hesitant sniffles, perhaps a happy content smile from the bubbly mare but almost as swiftly as the change had occurred she had reverted to normal, her luminous pink colour returning as the tears vanished from her eyes and her hair once more returned to its normal inflation. As soon as he had stated his apology she had clasped him warmly once more, no longer with her snake grip, rubbing pink fur against ruffled brown fur causing him to exclaim in surprise at the sudden shocking change. “C'mon, lemme show you around!” The Doctor could only look at Twilight in fear as a pink hoof wrapped around one of his brown hooves, eyes widening in horror as he watched Twilight let out a little, mischievous smirk at the actions of the pink menace. For a split second all was still, birds flitting incredibly slowly through the trees as The Doctor felt the beginning of a tug on his hoof before activity exploded around him. If it were possible to break the sound barrier using nothing but your own body, the pink mare pulling him with the force of a two ton rhino would surely have broken it and sent its remains to Tartarus. As it were the speed at which she was dragging The Doctor through the bakery made smoke waft up from his three flailing legs that were tread-milling the floor like there was no tomorrow, grey vapour rising up as sparks danced around his hooves. Pinkie dragged him through different sections of the bakery, calling out names such as The Cakes Incredible Kitchen, Pinkie's Pinkeriffic Room and, The Doctor's personal favourite, Gummy's Fort DeTriumphe which looked suspiciously like a bathroom with an alligator sticking out of the toilet. Vivid colours burst through his vision as he was ruthlessly dragged through each room, pink the most prominent of all the colours kept rearing its head to frazzle his sensitive eyes with its majestic glow. The smell of fresh baking and intoxicatedly sweet candy wove through his nose as Pinkie continued her blitz of a tour, mouth running like a motor as she proceeded to offer up lightning fast explanations for each room before darting on to the next room. The smell was delectable, brining back memories of human food and the wonders they had made, fish fingers, custard and, the best of all, fish fingers and custard. The lightning fast exploration of Sugarcube Corner continued for perhaps thirty more seconds, The Doctor wincing as his hooves ground painfully against the floor before Pinkie rounded a corner to reveal the very front of the bakery, Twilight standing in the exact same spot as she had been in before, the same little smirk on her face. The Doctor came to an unexpected and particularly jarring stop as the pink mare leading him suddenly put on the brakes, causing him to slam into her at intense speeds. However, instead of slamming into her and knocking her flying he merely bounced off of her as if she were a trampoline, once more physics being thrown to the wind as The Doctor lay on the floor, blinking the stars out of his eyes and trying vainly to figure out what had happened in the last minute. Pinkie turned to look at him, splayed on the ground from where he had rocketed into her before she giggled a soft tinkling laugh that warmed the atmosphere and seemed to alleviate the small thumping pain from his age old head. She cartwheeled around him as he staggered to his hooves, clutching his head as the dizzying movements of the mare around him threatened to claim him. “What are ya doin silly?” “Trying to come to terms with what in the name of sanity just happened.” “Sanity is for the weak.” “Wha-” The Doctor stared at Pinkie with a mixture of confusion and unbridled fear at the statement she had just made, the dark, serious note of her sentence clashing wildly with the giggling, happy voice she had used to deliver it. The confused colt blinked once, twice, three times before sighing under his breath at the oddity that was Pinkie Pie, opting to have a proper look around of the front of the quaint, warm bakery. Bright iced cupcakes littered the shelves and the fudge coloured walls, great spectrum’s of bright red and pink, blue and yellow bursting beautifully around the bakery. Mahogany wood girders rose from the ground, golden markings etched and carved along its length as it stood proud and tall, a small heart shape punctured into the main frame. A calming, almost icy coloured blue floor stretched around the bakery, occasionally running into odd steps and twists that made it veer off in every direction possible. A selection of small green rugs lay scattered across the floor, thrown haphazardly around to allow customers to wipe their hooves. Red and white candy cane pillars rose sweetly from the ground, swirling towards the top of the bakery with an intoxicating smell. Hanging yellow lights swung softly from the caramel coloured roof, throwing great shades of orange and yellow light around the bright bakery. Towards the end of the front room stood a rather simple purple and brown wooden desk with a metal cash register gleaming on its surface. Behind said cash register stood a tall set of dark brown stairs that stretched upwards until they punctured the roof of the bakery. The main site though was the marvellous display of confectioneries and goodies that lined the bakery, their delicious scent wafting pleasantly through the rather large shop. To his right sat a rather delectable looking brown and yellow cake that had a light decoration of cherries that swirled and danced along the icing coated floor. Rows upon rows of cupcakes slept along the large shelves, colours bursting through the atmosphere. An incredibly large and delicious smelling apple pie sat behind the counter, glorious scent spreading across the bakery as the apples and the crust began to cool with a noticeable crumbling texture. Blue, red and purple candy canes jutted out from a peculiar looking cylinder box, looking almost like an umbrella deposition area if it were not for the winding, twirling sweets that sprouted from it. Cool, brown cookies lay in neat piles around Sugarcube, white chocolate and chocolate chips spread lovingly along their front in a clean little display of perfection. The most fantastic display of sweets sat behind the stained glass counter, resting ravishingly behind the protected displays, great twirled iced cakes and soft, melting cookies sat snugly within the purple blanket inside of the display. A single, diamond encrusted cupcakes sat in the middle of the display, sparkling magnificently in the thrown yellow light. The Doctor's mouth watered at the visage of sweets before him, eyes spinning to stare around at the wonderful foods on sale. Of course, normally he would be anything but hungry, having gone weeks without sustenance but something about falling into a whole new universe combined with the fantastic smell that surrounded him brought The Doctor's to water. Twilight swiftly noted the gleaming, lustful eyes of The Doctor and the small amount of drool that was pooling around him, smiling in humour as she walked up behind the dazed, hungry colt. “So, what do you want?” The Doctor jumped slightly at the new voice, snapping out of his hunger filled daze as he turned to spy the purple mare behind him before he shook his head and turned back to staring at the displays. “Nah, I'm fine Twilight. I'm not even that hungr-” He was cut off rather quickly as his stomach gave an almighty roar of thunder like sound, signalling its displeasure at being ignored by the stubborn colt. “Hmm, you sound pretty hungry to me.” The Doctor merely mumbled something incoherent about his stomach and how it should stop betraying him before he turned to Twilight, a small look of guilt flickering across his face as he braved himself to ask the painful question. “I don't suppose you would let me buy something would you?” Twilight gasped in fake astonishment, bringing one hoof to cover her small, ovular mouth in a terribly acted impression of disgruntled shock. “My, Doctor, how could you ask such a thing, even though I already asked if you were hungry!” The Doctor shot a small, annoyed glare at Twilight causing her to giggle at his adorable pouting face before she waved her hoof at him, dropping the terrible acting and speaking to him in a nonchalant voice. “Sure, pick whatever you want. This ones on me.” The Doctor twirled around happily, eyes shifting quickly from confectionery to confectionery, mouth opening and closing again as he chose what he wanted and then found something new that excited him. The Doctor kept his piercing glance around the bakery, trying to decipher exactly what would fill his stomach and what he truly, desperately wanted to devour. He wracked his mind as he plagued his thoughts to inform him of what delectable treat would be most appreciated by his body before his eyes widened in a stunned realization. It couldn't be... The Doctor frowned slightly, looking around the bakery for the treat that had piqued his interest and that had sent his taste buds into a pleasurable meltdown of anticipation and yet the treat did not show up. Suddenly, his vision was disrupted by a pink blur appearing and wobbling in front of him like the twang of an elastic band, a broad smile stretching across Pinkie's face as she noticed The Doctor's quizzical, hungry expression burning through the bakery. “Hey there Doc, whatchu lookin' for?” The Doctor blinked in surprise at the new arrival before resigning himself to a soft sigh, accepting Pinkie as being Pinkie. He shuffled forward slightly, front hooves kicking at the ground awkwardly and a small blush spreading across his cheeks as he mumbled his answer in an embarrassed voice. “Do you...have anything with...pears?” Pinkie immediately nodded, the smile never leaving her face as The Doctor coughed into his hoof, visibly embarrassed at the odd display of food that he so wanted. He seemed almost like a chastised child who had done ill of his families teaching, nervously shuffling his hooves around the blue floor. Pinkie hopped around him, squeaking in a happy content voice completely oblivious to the colts anxiety at the question. “We sure do, last pear pie we have is sittin' in the back. Lemme go get it for you!” With that she hopped away behind the counter and through a large pink rimmed doorway, the creaking doors closing behind her as the soft sound of her whistling a gentle tune swam through the air. A slight, muffled disturbance outside of the bakery caused The Doctor to turn around to witness the odd occurrence that was taking place out the front of Sugarcube Corner. A light blue, somewhat pudgy mare with flowing pink hair and a trio of cupcakes adorning her flank stood outside arguing heatedly with a large, bulky black stallion with heavy ringlets of dark green hair. The mares pristine apron was crumpled and crooked, indicating that she had most certainly had enough of talking to the bulking black stallion with the rowing boat cutie-mark. Yet the two continued to argue about some unknown cause, the angry words being muffled by the stained windows and heavy walls of the bakery as more and more ponies strolled over to the battling duo to witness the incident at hand. The mare seemed to notice the unwanted attention and, with a large red blush covering her cheeks, pointed her nose up to the frustrated stallion and began to march towards the bakery, head held high as the colt yelled what sounded to be slander at her. The Doctor's attention was quickly snatched away as a loud thunk signalled the return of Pinkie Pie who was precariously balancing a crusty, hardly green pie on the top of her bushy pink head, indicating slightly with a flick of her tail towards a small table to the side of the bakery, sunlight flooding the furniture with warmth. Twilight stepped forward to pay the rumbustious pink mare, purple hoof reaching deep into the folds of one of her saddlebags before she was stopped by the chipper, jaunty voice of Pinkie Pie. “No need to pay for this one Twi, its on the house.” With a small, thankful smile Twilight pulled her hoof out of the yellow saddlebag to her right, nodding at Pinkie in a grateful demeanour. The Doctor trotted over to the warm looking table and stool before plopping himself down on the red padded seat, feeling the strain leave his legs as he sat down with a content sigh. Pinkie merely giggled at him before bouncing over and carefully placing the pie down on the table, her professionalism shining through as she almost daintily allowed the pie to slide off of her head and onto the tables heated surface. She and Twilight swiftly retreated to a silenced corner of the bakery, discussing topics that would have sparked large amounts of interest in The Doctor had he not been about to munch down on the delicious looking pie in front of him, his mind focused solely on the food before him. Just as he opened his mouth and leaned forward to take a hefty bite out of the intoxicating pie before him the door to Sugarcube Corner burst open, the bell above it ringing viciously as the hardly pudgy blue mare from before stalked in, a look of weariness so evident on her face that it made The Doctor look up in surprise, confused that ponies could express such an emotion. The blue mare sighed before heading towards the counter, the familiar voice of Pinkie ringing across the entrance of the shop with a clear. “Hi Mrs Cake!” The blue mare turned to smile at her softly before she frowned in anger as the door to the bakery once more swing open mightily, sending the bell into hysterics once more as the black, aggravated stallion strolled in, angered eyes intent on Mrs Cake. She sighed in open exhaustion as he skulked towards her, bulky black hooves slamming into the carpet loudly as he rose himself up, trying to intimidate the older mare with little effect. She raised one eyebrow at him, electric pink eyes flaring in annoyance as she took in the sight of the massive stallion before her. “Yes?” Her voice was tinged with a softness and a caring that revealed years of happiness and well-wishing, the happier emotions smothered by the large hints of annoyance and weariness in her voice. “I'm here to get my free cupcakes!” The stallions voice was rugged and deep, anger and frustration rolling off of him in great waves that buffeted and disturbed the atmosphere in the bakery, causing Pinkie and Twilight to turn around and stare at the scene. The blue mare merely responded with a frown at the angry words, immediately gaining The Doctor's respect as she answered him coolly and without any hint of fear from the muscular stallion before her. “I told you not to leave them out in the sun otherwise they'd dry up but you did. Its not my fault that they're ruined.” The stallion snorted, a small amount of white vapour flowing out of his nostrils as he pushed one foreleg backwards against the floor in a threatening manner before hissing at the Mrs Cake. “Doesn't matter none, I still want my cupcakes!” The mare flinched in fear as he brought one foreleg down to the blue floor with a loud crack that broke Mrs Cake's hardened exterior. At the sight, The Doctor rose from his stool as Twilight moved forward to stand between the angry stallion and the frightened mare, desperately trying to cool down the situation as Pinkie looked on in shock, completely silent. Twilight smiled warmly at the seemingly dangerous black stallion before she began speaking to him in a soft, calm, reasoning voice. “I know you're upset but its not Mrs Cake's fault. Now, if you just asked nicely I'm sure she'd l-” Twilight was interrupted by the angry shout that erupted from the black stallion as he, once more, stamped his hooves on the ground with a power that shook the foundations of Sugarcube. “Shut up you purple twit!” All three mares gasped in shock at the stunning insult, a very heinous word in Equestria spewing forth venomously from the stallions mouth. Small tears prickled Twilight's eyes as she felt the insult stroke home, stinging into her heart as she desperately tried to back-pedal away from the stallion who was marching towards both mares of blue and purple, Pinkie still stood stone still behind him in shock and disgust. Twilight eeped as he drew closer, folding into her body as he stared at her with a horrid expression that mixed both anger and perverse pleasure at scaring her in such a way. The Doctor watched the scene unfold in front of him in stunning clarity, mind processing the fact that even in this cute world there were still horrible, cruel minds that would not resist threatening those weaker then them. He glanced down at his green, sweet smelling, uneaten pie as the large stallion stepped towards Twilight, causing her to curl into a ball of purple fur on the rugged floor before he sighed and grasped the pie in his mouth, resting it on his hoof in a waiter like fashion. He trotted calmly towards the looming hulk of muscle with careful, deliberate hoof-steps that rang around the bakery, pie balanced on his hoof as the large, veined neck turned to follow his approach. The Doctor smiled cheerily at the enraged stallion before stopping quite suddenly next to him, the dark green eyes of the painfully toned colt resting upon him as a low grunt escaped the stallions lips along with a deep, ringing voice. “What do you want?” The Doctor continued to smile at the colt before he shrugged a meaningless shrug, speaking in an offhand voice as he closed his eyes and allowed the gesture to spread across his whole body in an obvious display of nonchalance. “Well, I was just admiring the way you were bullying these poor helpless mares before I realized “somepony should put a stop to that.” The stallion laughed deeply, obviously incredibly amused by the small, fragile looking colt that stood before him. He stopped to wipe a single dark mirth-filled tear from his eye with one of his large hooves before his emotions changed, hostility filling up his body as he hissed at The Doctor. “Oh yeah, and what're you going to do about it?” The Doctor turned his head away, speaking softly but with the same cheerful voice. “Me? Nothing...” The rather beefy stallion smirked in triumph at his intimidation of the caramel colt before his ears flicked forward to catch the rest of the colt's statement. “...But my good friend, Pearson, most certainly has something to say about it.” The stallion frowned in apparent confusion, looking around for this other colt that seemed to go by the rather peculiar name of Pearson, perhaps indicating a heritage that revolved around pairs similar to the Apple family. Shortly after locating no colt, especially not one by the name of Pearson, the hunky stallion turned back towards the caramel colt, mouth opened in the beginnings of a speech before he felt the soft but somehow impact-full smush of a rather tasty pie slamming into his face. The Doctor watched the rude, sadistic stallion look around in a small amount of panic, trying to locate The Doctor's friend who was currently lying in his outstretched hoof, sleeping rather peacefully. The Doctor pulled his pie laden hoof back as the black stallion turned to face him, mouth open in an unasked question before he pushed forward and released his crusty friend, watching in joy and small amounts of disappointment at not being able to eat it as it spun through the air towards its target. The stallion staggered backwards, limbs flailing wildly as he carelessly pin-wheeled around the bakery, green pie blinding his eyes with crusty pastry. The sloppy pie dish fell off of the stallions smeared face, clattering onto the ground with a loud rattle before spinning through the air like a frisbee as the foolish stallion stepped onto the still slippery dish, sending both it and him flying. The black stallion fell quite magnificently onto his rump with a slight splat as the room and the ponies outside burst into uproarious laughter. Pinkie's loud snorting giggle rolled around the bakery, acoustics making it echo quite loudly as Twilight's adorable tinkling laugh followed shortly after, the purple mare holding a small hoof to her mouth to try and suppress the giggles. The best laugh of all though was the laugh of the older, blue mare that was in fits of absolute hysterics behind The Doctor. Her laugh was loud and heavy, weighed with happiness and relief at finally being able to escape from her exhaustion as the sound revolved around the pink, confectionery filled shop. Outside of the great sweet shop, great rolls of laughter rang around the town, deep and squeaky, old and young, mischievous and mirth-filled. The black stallion growled deeply in embarrassment and anger, wiping the crumbling remains of the pie off of his face with two thick, oak like hooves as he pulled himself to his feet. The black stallion hissed in anger as his dark green eyes settled on the perpetrator of the crime, the caramel colt who was whistling a jolly, inconspicuous tune. The hefty stallion moved forward menacingly, hooves striking the blue floor with loud thumps as he drew level with the still whistling colt who had the nerve to have his eyes closed. A slight tinkle of the bakery bell flew through the sweet shop, quickly being drowned out by the continued laughter of the whole town at the unlucky but rather uncouth stallion. Said stallion raised a hoof backwards, intent on delivering a much deserved punch to the face of the caramel colt who had embarrassed him before it was stopped by an iron grip, forcing the stallion to turn his head in rage at the mysterious pony who had stopped his revenge. Deep, rolling, red muscular fur coated the body of the caramel colts protector, a small stick of wheat jutting out of the stallions mouth and a few tufts of blonde hair across the red head as he gazed at the black stallion with green eyes of indifference, almost as green as the large apple that coated his work worn red flank. The new pony moved the wheat around his mouth for a second before he spoke in a soft, calm southern drawl. “I wouldn' recommend it if Ah was you.” The stallion turned his gleaming green gaze from the whistling caramel colt to the huddle of muscle that gripped his hoof repeatedly before he felt the fight leave his body, slumping slightly to the ground as the red stallion let him go but refused to back away in case anything else erupted. The black stallion glanced at the red farm pony for a second before he turned his gaze to the now silent colt who was grinning at him with a cockiness that made his blood boil. “I'll get you for this, you better watch your back.” “Run along now, before Pearson's friends come over to join the party.” The stallion huffed in anger, eyes narrowing in hatred as he glared daggers at the brown colt who merely smiled at him before he turned his back and trotted heavily to the door, opening it and closing it with a slam as he trotted through the still chuckling horde of ponies out front. The Doctor continued to stare and smile cockily at the enraged stallion before he vanished amidst the sea of multicoloured ponies. The Doctor turned to the impassive, unmoving mound of muscular red fur as his smile widened a bit further, sticking his brown hoof out to shake his saviours in a token of friendship. “Thanks for that, I was starting to run out of ideas of how to keep him from disembowelling me.” For his part, the big red pony merely let out a small smile that was practically a fully blown laugh for the strong, silent farm pony, sticking out his hoof and shaking the brown colts hoof with little force. “Tha names Big Macintosh.” “I'm The Doctor.” “Doctah Who?” “Just The Doctor.” The red stallion detached himself from the soft hoofshake and raised one massive red appendage to his chin, stroking it thoughtfully as he looked at the bakeries roof. Then, almost unnoticeably the ponies eyes widened in recognition before vanishing back into their impassive green pools as the red stallion began to speak with the soft southern drawl. “Mah lil sis Applejack mentioned a Doctah fella when she came back late yesterday. I suppose that'll be you.” The Doctor nodded his head once in admission to signal that he was the one that Applejack had talked about. Big Macintosh continued his slow but powerful speech, his voice as quiet as ever. “She says you can come down to tha farm at anytime. Do ya want me to show ya now?” The Doctor brightened at the idea of exploring Applejack's famed Sweet Apple Acres, already smelling the delicious tang of the apples as he nodded his head in renewed vigour, his rumbling, hungry stomach being forgotten as the thrill of embracing another part of pony culture, agriculture, took over his senses and excited him. Big Macintosh turned around and began to walk at a steady pace, opening the bakery door with a gentleness that defied his form before he signalled The Doctor to follow with the soft flick of his blonde tail. The Doctor turned to Twilight, Pinkie disappearing behind the counter of the bakery to go and search for the still cackling Miss Cake. “Will you be joining me Twilight?” “I most certainly will Doctor. Also, thanks for taking care of that stallion for me.” At this The Doctor smiled warmly before rushing over to the bakery door and bolting out of it in his haste to discover the famed farm of Ponville, Twilight following closely behind as she tailed the speeding colt. He, rather swiftly, caught up with the lumbering, powerful figure of Big Macintosh as Twilight followed behind, trotting next to him as she gained level with the still very mysterious brown colt. Almost too softly to hear she listened to his voice whisper quietly to himself as the trio marched onwards to Sweet Apple Acres, home of the best apples in all of Equestria. Onwards and upwards. [.] It watched the black, tantalizingly angered stallion push through the heavy throngs of pitiful, laughing ponies, knocking those around him to the sides as easily as if he were knocking aside paper. It licked its green stallion lips as it watched the path of the black stallion, as it saw the strong muscles ripple beneath the sleek, dark coat, as it smelt the delicious scent of anger and hate that rose off of him in great rolling waves of emotions. It was hidden from view, the shadow of the large, mismatched building being perfectly cast by the bothersome and yet useful burning sphere in the sky, allowing it to see all without being seen itself. It shuddered in disgust as it watched the ponies continue their pathetic, weak, sickening chuckling, wanting to simply step out of the shadows and crush them all under its hosts hooves. Yet, it did not. It was waiting for something. Or, more specifically, somepony. Its dark wish was granted as, at the exact moment it began to ponder going after the black stallion and claiming his body, the brown colt with the blood red bow-tie stepped out of the bakery, chasing after a red stallion who, in turn, was being chased by the purple mare from before. Its eyes narrowed in hatred and suspicion as it followed the brown colts movements, mind beginning to bubble once more with hidden, locked memories as its eyes fell on the caramel colt that had such a profound effect on the monstrous alien. Its eyesight began to blacken around the edges as memories swirled and writhed upwards, threatening to engulf it entirely with reminiscent facts. It backed further into the long, deep shadow of the house to make sure it would not be spied by the inspecting eyes of any of the weak, frail, fragile residents, its mind nearly succumbing to the seductive pull of the memories before it could get fully into hiding. Still, it made it into the darkest level of the shadows, finally closing its eyes and allowing the memories to pour forth across its mind as its conscious began to fade with the strength of remembering. Oh, and it remembered such horrible things. [.] Jdukin- Plasmavore Home Planet Fifty two years ago It had returned, forced by the elders, but it had still returned. It had been nineteen long, brutal years for the plasmavore, having been rejected and cast out by the elders for the issue regarding the falling of the dome and then its murdering of half of the infants in its pool of hatch who had taunted and chastised it until it had snapped and turned upon them. It had fled from the once caring, comforting planet as the elders forcibly kicked him out for crimes against the plasmavore kind, sentencing it to refrain from ever returning to the planet without invitation or due cause, sending it out alone into the emptiness of space. Yet here it was, in the host body of a rather peculiar looking red midget with small spikes jutting from its taken face, standing outside of the hall of elders, awaiting to discover the reason of its calling, hopelessly wishing for it to be the ending of its banishment. It did not exactly miss its home planet with its cruel abuse of the children and its ridiculously stupid first feed ritual but it missed being able to sleep without fear of being found or hunted down, without fear of being imprisoned or killed. It missed a warm, cosy hatchling nest of which it could curl up next to its family and simply sleep the year away without a care in the universe. It missed its freedom and its “mother”. In the end it had been the fault of that Doctor who had fallen out of the sky and destroyed the young plasmavores life as easily as writing a sentence or speaking a word, trailing destruction wherever he went. It loathed him, even now, even nineteen years later. It had followed multiple leads to try and find its enemy, its persecutor and destroyer and yet all trails had led to dead ends and whispered vanishings. Angered with its luck, it had taken to merely draining a host and then using that host body to kill, kill as many as it could in order to spread complete and utter chaos within a civilization. It was never found, though the shrivelled shell of the body was always pulled up somehow and inspected for wounds, the investigators only finding a peculiar hole in the neck of the victims. It had lived that life for nineteen years, being hunted ruthlessly by angry, saddened races that had discovered its existence and its dark, malevolent purpose. It had rarely any time to sleep, no home to return to and only its own sneaky, deceptive mind to rely on to find a means of escape and travel. It had travelled to its home planet in a shuttle stolen from the Adipose people, the living chunks of fat that had spread across the universe like some disgusting disease, rotting and fattening life forms everywhere. Its head turned sharply as the twin, white doors to the hall of the elders opened, green light flooding out and into the plain, white fields that the plasmavore had been resting upon, staring at the darkening night sky in deep thought, of The Doctor and of its own pathetic, saddening life. The elder, wizened plasmavore stepped forward, speaking in a harsh brittle voice as it called down warningly to the still young plasmavore. Drop the disguise and follow me. The plasmavore let out a long, drawn out sigh that spoke of its impatience and its boredom of the system of rule before it agreed to the set out rules, dropping its disguise and returning to its original white, wriggling form before following the elder with sharp, loud clicks of its talons. It stepped into the hall as its black, shrunken eyes glanced around the spookily familiar building. Great burning flamed pillars of green fire and twisting, turning white gloopy stone rose up from the ground, making the light flicker menacingly around the heavily shadowed hall. Great walls of pure white substance rose up from the ground, dripping the liquid onto the ground with the occasional plink, ringlets and drooping snot like goo dribbling down its cold, sticky length. The roof was carved perfectly, raising upwards in a semi-circle like pattern, incredibly similar to the rooftops of the churches of the small island of Britain on the miserable planet of Earth. The floor was made primarily of the same goo that smothered and coated the great white walls, catching on the plasmavores feet. The only difference was the rising wooden looking planks that stood out of the ground like a path to allow access to the hall without having to dirty its talons with the messy floor. The wooden planked path spread onwards for perhaps ten metres before abruptly cutting off as the true hall came into view, the muffled green light fleeing away from the sight. It was set out much like a courtroom, the five judges signified by the elder plasmavores that sat behind a large, rising pure white desk that stood three metres high, small steps rising up from the corner to allow access to it. In front of that lay three sets of bench like seats, rectangular lengths travelling down and around the chief desk like an amphitheatre. A single, small green flame flickered beside the elder plasmavores as they stared at the intruder with old, harsh eyes that spoke of a lifetime of anger and hatred. The basic design of the room was exactly the same, curving white roof and drooping, sticky white walls sprouting and forming the main body of the structure. The floor, however, was completely wooden in appearance, the stickiness of the substance the planet produced vanishing behind it like a bad memory. It strode forward purposefully until it stood directly in front of the large desk, forcing the elders to peer over its length to peer at it in something that closely resembled contempt and perhaps a flickering of...pity? The middle of the five plasmavores rose, an old, incredibly wrinkled and frail looking creature with hollow eyes and a rattling, wheezing voice that could barely be heard. We have called you here today traitor to tell you of an incident that the majority here feel you should know about. The plasmavore looked quizzically at the wheezing, bone rattling elder as it tried to picture what reasoning was behind its summoning. Its hopes of being reinstated had quickly been burnt and tossed away when the term of traitor had been used but instead of answering questions, it had just opened up even more. The old elder spoke up once more in the same rasping, cracking voice that signified that it was close to its death. It revolves around your hatchling mother. A plasmavore did not have a mother in any typical use of the word considering that there was no gender in its age old race. The hatchling mother was merely a plasmavore that had accepted the term of hatcling mother and had ventured to the fields of the birthed in order to claim the DNA of a child from the pool of unprocessed younglings. The young plasamvore would then be given genes and DNA from the hatchling mother to allow it to grow, to form an embryo and then emerge from the pool of pure, swirling DNA a young plasamvore. A mother hatchling always had a slight attachment to their child, having created it but having no part in its upbringing. Still, the plasmavores all cared for their hatchling mothers for without them they would be alive today. There was a strong, unspoken bond between the two that no creature could explain. Once more the elder piped up in the decrepit voice, snapping the young plasmavore out of its memories of its hatchling mother. She was recently captured and imprisoned by the Judoon. The plasmavore bristled slightly in anger at the new found knowledge, rage boiling up inside of it as it came to the realization that there was rarely ever a creature that could enter the Judoon prison system and ever escape. The next statement though made it stop its angered hissing and instead fall deathly silent. We believe a creature named The Doctor was involved in the capture. Rage and anger and terror pulsed beneath the stone still exterior of the plasmavore as it came to terms with the fact that, once again, this Doctor had come strolling into its life, its affairs and it had broken its being, its very soul. The plasmavore screamed and raged and beat the hall of the elders in absolute anger as its emotions came flooding out of it in a great rolling wave of pure, white hot, unbridled rage. Its hatchling mother was gone forever, captured by The Doctor. It had failed its first feed and faced ridicule from its peers because of The Doctor. It had been banished, secluded and sent into the icy realms of space to die alone because of The Doctor. And now, now it truly felt the pain of being alone. Now it felt the agony of having no creature left that would miss it, no creature left that would help it or comfort it. Its hatchling mother was gone, stolen and snacthed by The Doctor. As the plasmavore screamed and punched and kicked, as it was dragged away shrieking between the arms of two impossibly strong younglings, as it was thrown out into the coldness of the planet. As it crawled and slithered its way to its stolen shuttle, as it escaped the horrible, taunting, manipulative planet below it in a fiery ball of uncontrollable speed, it thought of one thing and one thing alone, an uncontrollable feeling that burst and bubbled beneath its opaque skin like boils. One thing that clung to it like the sticky substance of the horrific planet below. The thought of one who has experienced the worst and who is about to enact the worst. Revenge [.] It opened its dark, blotched, corrupted eyes to the darkness of the shadows that had so skilfully swallowed its body. A single, fleeting burning thought shot through its old, evil head as it got slowly to its hooves, as it wandered from its hiding place to tail the mysterious and familiar brown colt, suspicions unfurling before its very eyes. One thought, one single thought over and over and over again until it practically burnt its insides with its energy and its power and its need to be released. Doctor. Authors note: I just finished writing this and its 10:00PM in England so expect some errors from the final few paragraphs which I will fix tomorrow. Anyway, I am taking exams so this took a long, long time to come out and I know I promised the meeting of The Doc and the plasmavore in this chapter but the chapter was so long that I had to split it into two parts, this and another which is still in production. Plus, they sort of met anyway... So, enjoy and, of course, constructive criticism is welcome. The Timelord And The PlasmavoreThe TimeLord And The Plasmavore Apple trees. Apple trees everywhere. The trio of assorted coloured ponies had been travelling for roughly five minutes, heading off in a direction that was obviously known to the hulking red stallion and the magically gifted unicorn but completely unknown to The Doctor, hence his needless whittling on over everything. Every shrub, house, pony or little, nearly invisible pebble that he'd pass he would take upon himself to investigate, mumbling and smiling to himself as the other two members of the group watched on, one in humour at his antics and the other with a small twinge of curiosity on his otherwise impassive face. Needless to say, The Doctor's constant need for explanations and investigations had resulted in him being chased from many houses by screaming mares or roaring stallions and yet that bizarre grin had not once left his face. The flora around was, to him, one of the single most beautiful, pure creations ever to be experienced by his age old eyes, the contrasting shine of the flower with the delicious scent it gave off, free from the cutting cloned plants back on Earth. He had, much to the horror of the other two ponies watching, ended up taking a hesitant lick of nearly every new type of pebble or stone he found on the way before his eyes would peer upwards as if he was searching the skies before he would recite the chemicals and elements that each mineral rock contained. At first the duo of unbridled confusion had just watched his display with bafflement but by the tenth time that the well repeated phrase of Calcium Carbonate or, CaCO3 had been repeated they had grown quite frustrated with the brown colt. Well, Twilight had at least. Big Macintosh was a hard pony to decipher and most certainly not one to give in or show any emotions other then happy ones to those around him. A true gentlecolt through and through. Of course the most spectacular sight for the knowledge ravishing Doctor had been the looping, soaring, laughing pegasi that sailed above him like birds in flight, completely at home in the somewhat brisk air. It had been Twilight's utmost pleasure to experience The Doctor's jaw drop at the sheer acrobatic grace that the pegasi exhibited, only accustomed to the light, hovering style flying that he had seen from one rainbow haired individual. At his first true encounter with the flying, winged ponies he had simply stood stone still, eyes wide and mouth opening and closing every few seconds, the occasional muttered word escaping his lips as he beheld the grace and the elegance that they showed as if they were born to fly which, The Doctor rationalized, was probably true. The wind had picked up slightly on the journey to the fabled farm of the honest orange mare, turning from a slight breeze into a wind that would most likely shake and scatter the leaves from the surrounding trees had they not been so stubborn to leave their posts. At first this new, crispy, chilly wind had caused The Doctor to shiver slightly but soon his new equine body had adjusted to the difference, fur fluffing up to smother his body in a content, warm shield. The same adaptation to the environment had occurred in Twilight, her purple fur slightly puffier then usual and yet Big Mac remained exactly the same as he had before, wizened, toughened body simply not giving a single buck about the state of the weather or the chill in the air. After walking for five minutes, a trip that should have taken three had The Doctor not been fascinated by every little thing, the first glimpse of the great apple orchard came into view, carpeting the massively large clearing before them in great shrouds of fruit and bark. Great, bulbous red and green fruit lay limply from the bushy green leaves, flailing slightly in the decently paced wind and bobbing up and down on their separate branches as if they were dancing. The trees themselves were made of strong, sturdy deep brown oak that seemed to resonate a power and a wisdom that stretched in for generations, each tree with a different, complex story to tell, each tree with a tale to whisper. The luscious green ground sinking across the trees feet was littered with small, brittle leaves and bruised, broken apples along with a few rather large looking brown weaved baskets, each nearly filled to the brim with shining red apples. The trees seemed to stretch on for miles and miles, great bending hills filled to the top with the beautiful, vibrant sight of the Apple family heritage, a few bare from apple bucking and yet four times as many completely weighed down by the sheer number of fruits that slept upon them. A large white fence that came up to The Doctor's fuzzy brown chest guarded the seemingly endless fields of trees, separating the soft, supple looking grassy land of the farm from the dirty, hoof trodden route of the path. No house nor farmyard had come into view yet, the sight muffled and hidden by the rows and rows of apple trees that stretched onwards for miles and miles, almost out of The Doctor's clear blue gazing sight. He tore his relentless gaze away from the fantastic orchard before him in surprise as a dainty little cough sounded beside his ear, causing him to whirl around to confront the figure from which it had escaped from who just so happened to be a small purple mare. Twilight looked particularly sheepish as she watched The Doctor's excited almost ravenous sight break away from the rolling, roaming field before him and instead settled it upon her, the ferocity and excitement now pumping towards her in great twisting arcs, causing her stomach to flip as he beheld her with such intensity that it was like he was burning into her. Then he blinked and the moment was gone. “Ah yes, sorry about that. Never seen a farm quite as...magnificent as this. Lead on Big Mac!” At the quirky but kind colts words the lumbering red farm pony known as Big Macintosh allowed a small, almost unnoticeable smile to break out across his face before it was swallowed up once more by his calm, hidden demeanour. He turned back towards the worn, dusty path signalling the others to follow with another gentle flick of his blonde, unkempt tail as a low, rumbling single word escaped his throat. “Eeyup.” The trio continued their walk for another half a minute, The Doctor silently observing every little detail around them from the blue winged butterflies to the almost too tame skies whilst Twilight continued to observe him, the inner scientist in her analysing his every word and movement. Yet, to her frustrations she could draw no conclusion on him, not even a single hypothesis. It was like he was hidden, shrouded by something that kept his emotions and intentions veiled and sealed away with an iron lock and steel chains. Pretty swiftly Big Mac pulled into an opening in the snowy white if not slightly decrepit fence, pushing a small white gate backwards until it swung around and hit the fence with a muffled crash and a small mouse like squeak. Big Mac trotted forward, followed swiftly but softly by a certain purple mare who, in turn, was followed by the still slightly stunned colt who was growing increasingly proud and astounded at the level which these ponies had adapted to. The dry, cracked dirt road had given way rather swiftly to the soft, dewy mush of the grassed ground, a trickling, wet but not unpleasant feeling sifting into The Doctor's hooves and through his entire body. The air was tinged with the sweet smell of apples, the wind laced so thick with the stench that The Doctor could practically taste the tang of the red fruit itself. The trees rustled around him, apples swinging around towards him as if they were attempting to reach him and the baskets laying scattered across the floor, the wind not even touching them as it whistled loudly above the trees, picking up and causing some of them to shake. Soon enough the true spectacle of sweet apple acres came into view, the beautiful wooden red farm house and barn. The household rose from the ground like a giant red super structure as if it was pinching the very heavens themselves, a large gleaming red drawn apple laying amongst the blue skies as if it was flying. The house itself was made of an unrecognisable wood, the colour red ending all visual investigations of the bark wrapped home, the deep exotic red mingling with the sun in a vibrant contrast. White outlined wooden beams supported the body of the structure, rising upwards in great pillars of strength and dove white protection, their job to guard those who dwelled within from the fear of total collapse. Great purple shingles and rooftops lined the head of the house, seemingly melting fluently into the red woodwork of the body with an effectiveness and an elegance that nearly defied belief. Many open windows lined the sides of the house allowing the brilliant sunlight to pour in and to grace and caress the multicoloured, alluring flowers that shone along the windowsills. The house, or barn, sat atop a dusty brown dirt covered hill, claiming the centrepiece to the vastness that was Sweet Apple Acres, like a king on a chessboard. The same dove white fence stretched around it, a small gap visible in front of the large double doored entrance to the household. The most surprising aspect of the household though was the green shrivelled up prune-like creature that was rocking back and forth in a chair of some kind on the wooden porch of the barn, the loud snoring reaching The Doctor's ears from where he stood at the edge of the tree-line. A loud, heavy thunking sound drew his attention away from the magnificent red house and the mysterious shrivelled guardian that defended the home. His eyes and ears turned towards the direction of the noise only to be met with the sight of a vast number of trees shaking and jittering as if something was forcing its way towards them, the quivering display of trees growing closer and closer to the household. The Doctor's thoughts raced with possibilities of this hidden threat that was working its way towards them, automatically placing himself in front of Twilight as the heavy thunking and the shaking trees grew closer and closer and closer. A herd of buffalo? A rampaging rhino? A dinosaur, oh now that would most certainly be something! A flicker of movement at the edge of the tree-line caught The Doctor's eye as he braced himself to throw down with whatever violent, powerful creature that could cause the sturdy trees themselves to shake. So, of course, he was relatively surprised to see Applejack emerging from the trees, cold beads of sweat lacing her brow and running down her orange face in rivulets. The Doctor merely stared in unparalleled shock as the sunset orange mare galloped towards the group, raising one hoof to her brow to fling the perspiration across the air, creating a few sparkling twinkles in the wind. A fine layer of dust clung to her coat as the rolling droplets of sweat grappled it and pulled it closer, the orange hooves raising more of the musky substance as they pounded the ground carelessly to reach the small rag-tag group. The worn out Stetson atop her blonde streaked head bounced viciously at the speeds of which she was travelling, bucking and kicking like a bull. Soon enough Applejack arrived before the trio, two who greeted her warmly with smiles and one who greeted her incoherently with confusion. The Element of Honesty couldn't help but let out a small, muffled snort at the sight of her new bizarre brown furred friend looking so bewildered, the sight of his open mouth and somewhat twitching right eye caused mirth to flood her being. “So-hehe-Doctah, I see you-snort-came to check on mah farm. Whatd'ya think?” The Doctor blinked once, twice, three times before he opened his mouth to reply, the surprised expression never leaving his face as he spoke in an almost detached voice as if he wasn't truly there. “Its lovely. I especially like the apples. Nothing like a good apple.” Applejack smiled at The Doctor's admittance of the greatness of her fruit, allowing herself a small chortle of bemusement at the look on his face before she spoke up in a stronger voice that snapped him out of his daze. “Y'all alright there Doc? Ya looked a bit out of it.” “Yes, yes I'm fine. However, I would like to know why you were slamming a battering ram into those trees.” The Doctor spoke offhoofedly without thinking, closing his eyes as he raised a single hoof into the air before his eyes snapped open, widening slightly in fear at the consequences of what he had just said. “Y'all calling me a battering ram?” The growl that echoed from Applejack's throat would have easily turned the most hardened fighter to a quivering mess of fear. “No, no, no I-” “Y'all sayin' I ain't dainty?” “That's not what I meant at al-” “You sayin' just cause I got some muscle I can't be a lady?” “Oh for Pete's sake.” “Who's Pete?” “Twilight, now is not the time! Anywho, Applejack I really am sorry for my earlier comment and I hope you can- Wait, what are you doing?” Applejack, prior to popular belief, was currently not attempting to knock The Doctor's terrified block off and was instead rolling around the muddy floor, dust clinging to her more tightly as she belted out a loud, southern guffaw. “Y'all shoulda seen the look an ya face! Priceless.” The Doctor, for the second time that day, blinked once, twice and then three times before he began to chuckle softly as the young orange mare continued her hilarity roll around in the dirt. Soon the chuckle exploded into a full blown laugh as the red stallion and the purple mare behind him began to chortle to, the sounds ringing across the farm and waking a rather grumpy, green mare. “Shut up tha lotta ya!” The cry of the surprisingly strong-lunged elderly mare blasted through the farmyard, sending The Doctor's ears pin-wheeling backwards in fright as his laughter suddenly ceased, Applejack's dying down softly as the other two companions of his piped down. Mere seconds after the terrifying act of mare dominance yelling, the sounds of heavy snoring rattled across the clearing as the green mare once more folded into the arms of Morpheus. Applejack's laughter petered out as she rose back onto three legs, the fourth wiping careless, humour-filled tears from her eyes, the trails of earlier water creeping down from her eyes to her throat. The Doctor smiled weakly at the slightly shaking form of Applejack, sticking his hoof out in front of him in a sign of forgiveness and friendship. “Oh thank Time itself, I thought you were going to end me right there and then. Wome-Mares can overreact to the most fickle little things.” The orange hoof that clasped his brown one firmly spoke not of friendship or forgiveness, it spoke loudly of the incredibly high chance of imminent pain directed towards the wielder of said hoof. The grip was one of pure iron, capable of breaking bones but not applying enough pressure to, merely severely bruising the brown appendage. The Doctor yelped in pain, desperately struggling to pull his hoof back before it became detached and blue from the intense throbbing pain that bolted through his body. He looked at Applejack's green eyes which blazed with a little anger but mostly flared with, in The Doctor's personal opinion, a sadistic humour at his pain. “Y'all are soooo right Doctah, we really can overreact to the smallest things.” The Doctor stared into the emerald eyes of Applejack and as he beheld that evil look in her eyes he couldn't help but remember a certain purple mare that had held the same basic expression last night. He gulped slowly, feeling the grip tighten slightly to the feel of refined steel. “I've doomed myself again haven't I?” [.] “All the mares in this town are crazy!” The Doctor and his little purple companion trotted firmly away from the now descending sight of the apple farm. Well, Twilight was trotting quite peacefully, humming a little tune to herself whilst trying to keep the small smirk off of her face. The Doctor on the other hoof was limping quite profoundly, wincing every time his injured hoof made contact with the ground, moaning and groaning a little bit in a way that was most unbecoming of a stallion his age. Actually, there were no nine hundred and seven year old stallions but if there were this would not be how they would react. “Come on Doctor, Applejack was kind enough to show you around her farm.” “She chased me around her farm Twilight, there's a difference.” “Well, she was nice enough to shout out the names of certain places.” “That's what she was shouting about? I thought she was yelling threats at me.” “You are such a foal you know that right?” The Doctor continued to groan and moan to himself for another minute before his ears perked up as Twilight began to lead him in another direction, heading towards the very outskirts of the quaint, quiet little town. They followed a small dirt path for a few more minutes as The Doctor carefully and painstakingly inspected every aspect of his new surroundings. The trees were now more scarce, the odd brown oaked, lime green leafed pillar rising from the ground every few fifty metres, behind them rose the Everfree Forest, the vastness of its trees easily making up for the lack of them along the path. The dirt path had gotten more smooth, the little bump and rocks that had pricked The Doctor's hooves on his way to Applejack's now gone as he trotted forward peacefully, enjoying the almost mushy feeling of the dirt beneath his hooves. The grass around them was such a luminous, vibrant green that it would easily have burned into the retinas of any other creature not adapted to the constant changing of its location, a skill The Doctor had learnt a while back. Small, fluffy, snow white rabbits lay scattered around the luscious green grass, calmly nibbling on the bright flora or merely hopping and speaking to each other in serene ear flicks or light sniffing. The sun continued to beat down strongly on The Doctor's back, the sky completely clear of any sort of clouds, the bright blue expanse shading the sight above him. The wind had settled back down after the pair had left the farm. The Doctor, still in his state of annoyance and pain, had commented that it was probably just him escaping from Applejack that had allowed the weather to resort back to its calm, ideal, serenity. The soft smell of oak and freshly cut grass permeated the air, enticing in the wildlife and even earning a slightly hungry stare from The Doctor as he gazed at the grass which was beginning to look more and more delectable. A few stray birds fluttered across the tranquil sky, casting small shadows that writhed and darted along the ground magnificently. The duo continued their walk in a companionable silence, completely at ease with each others presence. The Doctor had met with many strange creatures before and whilst a talking purple unicorn was high up on the list he had grown to trust the gut feeling that he got when he looked at someone and, right now, his gut told him that she wasn't anything to be afraid of. Quite the contrary actually, she was someone to be friends with more then anything else. Twilight didn't fully know what it was about the brown colt that staggered and trotted beside her that had managed to capture and subdue her fear so easily, leaving only a calm, trusting attitude in her towards him. It felt like when she was around him she would be safe, she would be protected which Twilight, of course, reasoned was completely ridiculous. She was a logical thinker and as such she stated that it was the hormonal rush of excitement she had felt over the last few days that had led her to trust him. After all, rushing from a spaceship crash sight to an actual alien itself was not something that happened everyday so that simply must have been what was affecting her in such a way. Together they rounded a particularly large hill that had ascended from the usually smooth, flat ground, the brown colt and the purple mare passing over it to witness the fantastic sight that rose up into the sky before them, the farm house being nothing compared to the pinnacle of sheer, unbridled awesome that hovered in the sky. Great, fluffy, snow white clouds hung gracefully in the air, the apparent lack of the dove white cumulus clouds quickly becoming clear as the structure continued to rise up and up, the clouds swirling and melding into each other. A light, ice blue path of sorts stretched down a white cloud lawn, intermingling with the colour easily like the perfect mix of spectrum on a painters palette. The house itself, if it could merely be called a house, rose upwards like a lighthouse crossed with a mansion, multiple dark blue windows dotting its surface as it continued to spiral higher and higher until it appeared to push into the skin of the sky itself. Marble white coloured pillars rose around the household, as if supporting the incredibly light clouds that mixed into the house. The doorway was barely visible, a soft looking cloud that appeared to be equipped with a small, cloud handle, defying the laws of every weather man and scientist that had ever been. The most stunning aspect of the almost obnoxious house was the vivid, sprinkling, sparkling rainbow falls that were gushing great streams of colour across the whole house, pooling together at the bottom in what appeared to be a specifically made cloud bath designed just for keeping the rainbow liquid in one place. A great, gigantic fountain of rainbow exploded from the very tip of the house, streaming outwards in a wide arc that fizzled and dispersed in what must have been cool, crisp air, dazzling the blue sky with droplets of every colour. The stunningly beautiful sight was soon interrupted by a loud, high whistling sound that seemed to burst from the sky, the crackling sound of static following it. Mere seconds later a cracking, loud, nervous voice smashed through the other noises as it steadily began to increase. “Look out beeeeellllloooooooooooowwwwww!” Twilight had the clever planning to dart away from the scene, eyes shrunk in fear and mane bouncing dangerously as she pushed herself as far away from the scene before her as possible. Naïve as The Doctor was he cast his gaze upwards at the sky, looking for the direction at which the sound had come from before he was so rudely interrupted in his search by a cyan blur slamming into his side. The pair, the battered, bruised Doctor and the cyan tormentor, flew backwards from the collision, the rainbow maned wonder following the winded brown colt as they both took a long, drawn-out tumble directly off of the path. The Doctor spun and spun too many times, his hoof slamming painfully into the ground and drawing low, hissing breaths from his clenched mouth as he continued his spin along with the cyan blue at incredible speeds that would have put a washing machine to shame. Eventually the pair ended up at the purple hooves of Twilight who, instead of her usual smirk, was looking down on them in worry, nerves and anxiety spread across her face in a way that brought out the beauty of her smile compared to the contrast of her worry. “Are you both okay?” The faintest tremor was visible in her voice as she called down to the tangled, knotted pair of ponies that lay at her hooves, bending her neck down to inspect both of them for any injuries they may have acquired. The cyan blue blur, now visible as Rainbow Dash detached herself from the huddle of limbs first, shaking herself slightly as she stood up to clear her head of the looming, tweeting figures of yellow birds. She turned to see the other member of the two pony mashup, only to wince as she took in the sight of the rather bruised and dazed looking stallion that she had charged into before a small smile played across her lips as she remembered back to her and Twilight's first meeting and how similar it had been. Rainbow Dash leaned down and extended one fuzzy hoof to her bewildered brown friend, gripping him strongly and hoisting him to his hooves so fast that he nearly went toppling over in the other direction. “Did anypony get the license plate of the train that hit me?” The Doctor's voice was somewhat slurred, though the sparkle of mischief and humour had returned to his blue eyes as Dash burst into great hoots of laughter at the sight of the almost drunk looking, wobbling, voice slurring and yet still strangely strong looking brown colt. Twilight snickered somewhat before her expression turned to anger, body twisting around to glare at Rainbow Dash who immediately fell silent under the deathly gaze Twilight was sending her way. “Dash, how many times have I told you to not practice your Sonic Rainboom so close to the town!? One of these days you're going to hurt yourself or somepony else!” Rainbow Dash looked meekly at the ground shuffling her hooves awkwardly as she mumbled a number that sounded suspiciously like it belonged in the hundreds list. The Doctor, head still swimming with cooing yellow birds, merely turned to her with a look that betrayed no anger or annoyance at her actions, instead it held curiosity. “No damage done my rainbow maned mare, let bygones by bygones and whatnot. Now, I believe I heard Twilight mention something called a “Sonic Rainboom”. Anyon-pony care to explain?” Twilight sighed in frustration as The Doctor once more shrugged off and forgave an injury that could have left him seriously hurt, instead opting out to find out more behind the reasoning why his injury happened then declaring punishment for it. Still, she couldn't help but admire his carefree, never angered attitude which always made him seem warm and approachable. On hearing The Doctor ask for an explanation behind her signature move, Rainbow Dash's eyes had gone wide with wonder and boastfulness and her pupils had shrunk to pin-pricks in excitement. Her voice quivered slightly as she told the tale of the Sonic Rainboom to The Doctor, her ears pinning backwards as she continued to rattle onwards in a voice that could have broken glass. “You have the privilege of speaking to the only pony ever to have performed the Sonic Rainboom not once, but twice! Basically, it all started when...” Twilight zoned out as her over-excited friend began to unveil the tale of her one-of-a-kind move having heard the tale more times then she cared to count. Swiftly, her mind began to ponder the implications of the strange new alien and how he had come to Equestria. More so though a somewhat dark revelation came to her. Trust was a gift that had to be earned, not just gained over the course of one night and yet the strange brown colt from the sky had strolled into all of their lives and taken their trust as if it were a house-warming gift, a thought that caused Twilight's blood to boil in anger and small amounts of fear. Was he perhaps using some form of secret alien mind trick on all of them? He is an alien and yet here they were treating him like one of their own, laughing and playing with him like it was nothing out of the ordinary. It did help that he looked shockingly like a pony, a fact that Twilight found rather convenient for the fallen alien. Her suspicions raised and her paranoia increasing Twilight began to picture the worst possible outcomes of this strangers arrival and his conversion of her friends trust. What if he eats ponies! Maybe he's not a pony and he's just using a disguise! What if he's telling his people all about us! What if he's telling them to invade! Oh no, oh no, oh no! Whilst on the outside Twilight was merely nodding and smiling along to Rainbow's story, inside she was on the verge of a complete and utter breakdown. She hadn't felt this sure of something since the Smartie Pants incident where she had had the ingenious plan of using a want-it need-it spell on her precious doll to make a friendship report. This reasoning alone made her stop the panic attack of the mind, physical brow furrowing slightly as she contemplated what in Equestria had just happened to her. Once more she had jumped to a near foolish conclusion, egged on by her own paranoid, nervous conscious which had told her of only the worst possibilities. On one hoof, maybe he was an evil, pony eating alien and yet he had shown no signs of being such whilst on the other hoof he may be a kind, caring alien that she could have alienated with her earlier accusations. Still, regardless of who he had shown himself to be so far and that had been nothing but gentlecolty if not a bit weird she would still have to keep an eye on him. Possibly two considering how prone to danger he seemed to be. When I get back to the library I need to write Princess Celestia a message concerning him. That single thought allowed all traces of worry and anxiety to leave her knowledge filled and curious mind. Celestia would know exactly what to do about him and whatever the Princess said about the matter she would agree with her. After all, what else was a magical protégée of the Princess supposed to do? Twilight keyed herself back into the rather one sided conversation as her mind cleared, just in time to hear the end of the interesting tale Dash was telling. “...and then I dived straight through the window and took out all of the ninjas whilst saving the family from a burning building. All thanks to my Sonic Rainboom!” Twilight frowned in confusion as her loyal but over exaggerating friend finished her rather over the top tale. Her purple eyes moved across to meet The Doctor's blue ones and what she saw there made her burst into great ringing peals of laughter. He looked so hopelessly, utterly scared and confused about how the conversation veered off in such a peculiar direction. His whole body language, tense muscles and grinding jaw, screamed oh please let it end and yet Rainbow Dash remained completely oblivious to it, recounting the numerous awards and medals she got for her heroic actions towards saving Equestria. The Element of Loyalty didn't even notice her purple friend curl up into a ball of generous laughs, completely intent on finishing her intense story, much to the horror of The Doctor. “So then I flew off into the sunset all heroic and stuff. Y'know that feeling when you're flying and the sunset is like right there?” “Yes...” Rainbow Dash smiled widely at the colt before the smile drooped at his continuance. “...Actually, no.” “C'mon dude, its like really warm and you feel all hero like, y'know?” “Oh right yeah...” Rainbow Dash smiled again before, once again, her toothy grin fell and she muttered a silent curse under her breath at his reply. “...nope, still no.” “Oh jeez dude, I mean its all lik-” “Oh yes Rainbow, ahaha, I'm sure The Doctor knows exactly what you're talking about!” The creepy, stretched smile on Twilight's face was enough to get The Doctor to understand what she was trying to do, the hefty, obvious wink sent his way only doubling his belief. “Oh, now that Twilight mentions it I do remember that feeling entirely. All heroic and...sunsetty.” Rainbow Dash smiled for the third time, buying the lie hook, line and sinker which made Twilight feel a little bit bad inside. However, when Rainbow began to open her mouth Twilight immediately forgot her doubt on her actions and instead lunged towards her friend to stop the excited chatter before it could really begin. Plugging her cyan friends mouth with one hoof and, much to her horror, feeling Dash's tongue scrape her sensitive hooves, Twilight spoke in a rapid fire voice that spoke of her impatience to escape from the conversation with the excited Wonderbolts fan. “Ahaha, see? Anyway, we must be off. Ponies to go, places to see...I mean, Ponies to see and goes to places...wait that's not right it's-” “Ah yes Twilight, quite right. We should be heading off, we have that really important thing to do.” The Doctor had watched in morbid horror as his purple friend had begun to dig herself and, to some extent, himself into a deep hole from which they could not escape and he soon took it upon himself to go spelunking to save her and him from the surprising chatterbox before them. He threw a casual wink at Twilight as he spoke, hoping with both of his hearts that she would get the message which, thankfully she did. “Oh yes, that important thing we need to do. We must be off Dash, byebye now!” Rainbow Dash could only watch in surprise as her egghead of a friend grabbed the brown colt with one purple hoof before she began to drag him away at incredibly speeds back towards the town, the velocity she was travelling at would give Pinkie a hard time topping. A thin layer of smoke wafted from the direction that the duo had run off, small skid-marks from a particularly sore set of brown hooves stretched across the soft grass and over back onto the path. In the distance she could just make out the figure of her two friends, one frantically pulling the other along, streaming back towards town in the direction of Carousel Boutique. Rainbow Dash shrugged at her friends incredibly odd reaction before she flung herself into the air and winged her way over to her house, kicking the door open with a careless movement before she flung herself down on her nice, comfy cloud sofa to have a little after stunt nap. A single thought raced through her head as she drifted off to sleep, a smile forming on her lips and a soft chuckling escaping her mouth at the thought. He totally bought the story. [.] It watched them, the putrid purple pony and the astoundingly familiar bumbling brown colt as they charged off back towards town, leaving the sickening cyan mare behind in a wake of dust and confusion. It snickered from its hiding place in the dense foliage of the Everfree Forest as those whimpering, snivelling creatures called it. Bah, the supposed monstrous forest was more of a home for it then that wretched town with all its kindness and its happiness, such vomit inducing emotions. For a split second it contemplated emerging from the forest, charging the cyan mare down and draining her of every single drop of blood until its veins ran thick with the life-bearing liquid and its body changed to one more strong, more powerful, more graceful. That idea was soon scattered to the wind as the cyan blue and rainbow maned pegasus, as if judging is contemplation on the topic, extended her wings and blasted up into the sky to settle into that obnoxiously bright house of hers, the house that burnt its eyes every time it forced itself to look at it. It spat in disgust at the sight of lost prey before it turned its gaze once more to the brown stallion and the purple mare who were both far off into the horizon, now seemingly slowed down enough to be regarded as walking at a normal pace, as if that brown colt was normal. It could picture him now, the caramel fur, the red bow-tie, the scribbled, black mess of hair, the timepiece mark, the cold, blue eyes... ...and the blue box. Its memories began to return, shrouding its mind with an icy chill once more as it staggered backwards into the forest, one deep green hoof pressed tightly against its head as it struggled to remain conscious amidst the swirling reminiscent events. It tripped, tumbling backwards down a steady, disgustingly green weed-infested hill until it emerged at the bottom, covered in dirt and sporting cuts and bruises across its whole body. Once more the pressing darkness returned to its mind, swallowing it up amidst a heavy sea of memories. It no longer fought the sensation, giving into it without any signs of struggle as it let out one long breath, expelling all traces of doubt from its mind as it did so. It lost consciousness to the soft chirping of birds and the gurgling of a stream. And it sickened it. [.] Jdukin- Plasmavore Home Planet 2 years ago It needed to be here. This was the end after all. Time was collapsing. The universe was dying. And all because of him. It had been so long, so very, very long since it had last heard anything of The Doctor. It had been so long, so very, very long since it had last thought of The Doctor. And yet, here he was again performing the ultimate crime on the face of the universe, his power and his mind gone insane and corrupt, intent on destroying the universe. It was he, The Doctor that had destroyed its life, that had created the cracks in time through which only silence prevailed. It was he who had found the final way to cheat the universe, to cheat it. It was he who had doomed them all to a fate much, much worse then merely dying. Never being born, never being remembered was a type of death that no creature, no matter how lonely would ever have wanted. It knew its planet had a little amount of time left, it could see the spreading, churning crack in time from where it stood alone and naked in the fields of hatchlings, the goo and the sap of the world oozing against its taloned feet. It had come here to say its last goodbyes, not to the creatures of this world that had shunned it, kicked it out and forced it into a life of exile and strife. No, it had come to say goodbye to the planet itself. It had missed its home, missed it so very dearly. The waterfalls of Poe were a sight to behold, a sparkling oasis of luminous yellow water that sparkled and shimmered in the feeble yet prominent light from the sun, static electricity infused within the chemical mix-up of the liquid producing a beautiful and yet surprisingly tingling sensation of water running over squishy, white bodies. The hatchling fields still had their same dry yet comforting look about them, the holes punctured ruthlessly into the ground. It missed the days of its fights and its squabbles with its peers, the days it would win and emerge as the triumphant one only to be met with a new challenger, a new creature to battle and thwart. It even missed the feeling of its taunters head between its talons, crushing it and watching the liquefied brain go spurting across the- It remembered the Moonlit Cliffs where the twin moons, Lufanu and Tyri would show themselves, the only available area from which a young plasmavore could see the moons through the dense pollution that littered the atmosphere and stopped the heavy radiation of the sun. It was a fine set of cliffs, made of hardened, solidified goo so that you no longer had to sink into the earth to stay still, you could lay back and merely admire the view as your mind turned to thoughts of murder and anger and draining the life from all who stood in your way. Then there were the shining dying sunsets that would spread a brilliant golden and orange glow across the skies surface, turning the pollution a rather pleasant burning fire colour as if the sky was in flames. As if this world was merely the first to burn among many others. Whilst a terrifying thought for any other creature for a plasmavore it was natural, kill what asked to be killed and if that was your own people then so be it. Finally there was the Hall of the Elders, its place of banishment and the spawn of a hatred that would, over time, cross universes. It was here that the memories were the most prominent however poor they may have been. The long white walls, the loud, clunking wood floor and the order of the elders that had banished him without a second thought then called him back to merely tell him of his mothers imprisonment. They were monsters of a race full of monsters, destroyers of any emotion one may retain and yet he couldn't help but thank them deep down. If not for them he would not be in the position he was currently in and quite the position it was. It was one of the workers of a project to bring The Doctor to his knees, a project that it had put forward to a league of the worst creatures throughout the universe. And they had agreed. The Pandorica they called it. It called it The Prison, that was its cause and that would be its name for as long as it would live. It was no scientist, nor was it any genius of any kind. It merely was. It had the plan, it got what needed to be used without the guidance of any creature telling it what to do, laying down rules. It acquired the pieces of The Pandorica, the components and from there it was merely a matter for the true leaders, the real genii of the universe saving group to band together and create the prison box. It had picked up on certain aspects of the mysteriously built cube though, for instance the fact that an influx and override of power would be met with an explosively disastrous consequence. It had keyed onto the simple basic facts of the box, the whirring machinery and hard, cold, metal clasps that would entrap The Doctor were merely some of the more known facts about the box. The smaller, less noticeable facts were that the box would retain The Doctor's life, making him live out thousands upon thousands of years inside the box, never ageing, never dying. The perfect prison but most importantly the perfect hell. Now all they had to do was create the fairytale from the memories of his foolish flame haired companion, to set the trap and create bait that The Doctor simply could not ignore. Stonehenge the humans would call it, the band of villains and allies and aliens would delicately weave the name into the minds of the stupid, thick apes that walked the planet, the apes that The Doctor so loved. And when all was said and done he would come sauntering into the trap, like a moth to the flame. It allowed itself one more high, cold cackle at the fate of its worst, most hated enemy before it felt the shift. The end was coming. The crack was expanding. The planet was falling. The hardened, hate filled plasmavore turned around and strolled away towards the sight of a platoon of sleek, metallic ships, smiling gruesomely to itself as it thought of The Doctor's fate. It may have been too late to save its world but it could make sure that The Doctor paid for what he had done. And pay he would. [.] It opened its cold, black pools of sight, flickering its dark gaze around the shrub shrouded clearing with malice and hatred. The memories had brought it to the final point, the final piece of evidence that suggested only one thing. That creature was The Doctor, or at least The Doctor of this universe. Along with the anger and the hatred came another feeling that sat in the monsters stomach like a ball of ice. Cold, hard fear. This pony, once man, had possibly managed to escape from the impenetrable prison and had, without a doubt, left the universe to die and collapse upon itself. If The Doctor had managed to do that, burn a universe and escape, then what hope did it have of defeating him in such a weak, pathetic body? It spat on the leafy, moist and surprisingly brittle ground in disgust before a long, fat burst of tainted air wafted across its face, directed from the mountains that hung away from the dark, sinister forest. There it smelt something, something unnatural and beautiful and more powerful then possible. The smell of strength and unwavering loyalty, the type that could command an army to simply kill themselves and still they would do it. The plasmavore sniffed the air again, catching the tantalizing scent, before it raised its head to peer at what appeared to be a bright white castle of sorts attached to the side of a large, grey mountain, the area where the smell was emitting from. It licked its green lips with unquenchable lust as a dark plan began to form in its mind, its way to beat The Doctor once and for all, to repay the debt of pain and anger that he had installed upon it. Find and take the powerful host body. Return to this wretched town. Get rid of the purple mare and her friends. Kill The Doctor. [.] It had taken the duo little more then five minutes to reach Carousel Boutique from Rainbow Dash's cloud house, mostly due to the extreme speeds at which Twilight had dragged The Doctor away and also because they had been travelling down a path The Doctor had seen before, thereby stopping his process of investigation over every little thing that they encountered. Still, he had taken to admiring the multiple houses of Ponyville, commenting on their structure and the materials that they had been built from. He had attempted to inspect the first house he had seen up closer by means of visual and taste testing, his tongue protruding from his mouth before he was chased off by a particularly scared but terror fuelling looking pink mare with a vivid orange mane. Along with her trio of cutlery cutie marks, including an incredibly vicious looking knife she had managed to persuade The Doctor to flee via means of a rather large, rather heavy looking saucepan brandished in one hoof. After that specific experience The Doctor had swiftly become more wary of the houses, eyes flickering and muscles clenching every time there was even the smallest traces of movement from the houses he was watching from afar. Even a display of aggression as powerful as a blunt object wielding mare had not distracted The Doctor from his findings and his analysis of his surroundings. However, it had perhaps put a dampener on them as he continued to trot at a pace that Twilight would have called surprisingly casual for the strange brown colt, his eyes only shifting to stare at the houses he walked past and never stopping to inspect them. This had lead to the relatively short trip to Carousel Boutique, yet another household and shop that had caught The Doctor's glinting blue eyes with its beautiful, radiant glow and its relatively astounding structure. Stunning, ice blue and midnight blue walls rose up from the soft green grass, white diamond patterns criss-crossed majestically over the almost luminous blue surface of the Carousel walls. Twin windows hung either side of the dark purple door like eyes, a soft shroud of orange overhanging fabric laying above them to act as curtains to block out the stunning light or create secrecy. Pink and purple support beams rose from the ground and around the door, twirling up the sides like colourful candy canes, melding into the household with apparent ease. A large, white sign hung above the stunningly deep purple door, an image of a carousel, orange pony decorated onto its wooden surface with care and attention that knew no bounds. A fine layer of thin looking purple and white diamond shrouded silk stretched from the top of the first floor to the start of the next, spiralling around the Boutique in an elegant and sophisticated manner that spoke tales of whoever may own such an astoundingly beautiful shop. A small line of sunset orange wood spun gracefully around the top of the purple and snow white roof, allowing the folds of the fabric safe harbour to bolt itself down lest it fly away among a stormy night. The second floor started with an almost violent coloured ring of bright pink wood spinning around the circular head of the heightened floor, decorated with strange white swirls and small white stars. Four sets of purple, iron looking bars sprung up from the swirling pink and white patterned wood, the two on either side of the Carousel's face decorated with twin images of purple, sheet metal mares that simulated the orange pony that hung above the front door. Marble white walls surrounded the second floor of Carousel Boutique, rising up to a height that was barely below the size of the very first floor, this time the walls were decorated with faint blue scrawlings, diamonds and stars that seemed to reflect the blinding sunlight. Three windows, each one relatively small compared to the duel glass giants below, stretched across the surface of the snowy white walls, two on either side opened almost hesitantly to allow only a tiny breath of fresh air in and the one on front closed shut, a small pink curtain just visible from outside the Boutique. Yet, not even that was the top of the illustrious and fantastic Boutique, a wide winding ring of orange wood stretched around the top of the stacked floor with thin beams of wood, the inside of the body filled with a cloud white background and purple and pink markings that looked suspiciously like hearts. The same fabric as before stretched from the top of the orange gilded wood to the bottom of the next floor, the same white and purple marked diamonds stretching across its length. Twin navy blue balconies burst out of the sides of the white and purple rooftop, allowing the owner of such a view an extraordinary overlook on the whole of Ponyville and the countryside surrounding it. Multiple purple bars rose from the flat ending of the roof, stretching upwards to form a carousel-esque appearance with a crown shaped display of purple metal. On top of that all, the last ending of the towering tower that was Carousel Boutique was a yellow and orange striped cone of fabric which rose upwards until a rough red flag carved its way into the equation, springing up from a final pole as it waved above the other houses like a teasing child. Once more The Doctor had been baffled by the intricate structures and simply extraordinary decorated layers that each house, or shop, went through to make them look their best, a talent that a human or even a Timelord would have a hard time reciprocating. With a light tug on his scraggy black tail from Twilight, the pair trotted symmetrically up to the front of the fashion shop before Twilight raised one purple hoof upwards and rapped in the similarly purple door three times, the sound echoing around the quaint clearing. Swiftly the sound was answered by a loud, regal female voice calling from inside the depths of the Boutique. “Do come in~” The voice had a slight musical trill to it that rung through the wooden door to reach the recipients outside who, with a gentle shove of purple hooves, opened the Boutique and closed the door with a muffled squeak. The inside of the Boutique was just as magnificent as the outside, if not even more. Pink silk drapes hung around the interior of the Boutique, partially shrouding the dressed mannequins in shadowed darkness as if the fashionista did not want anypony to see her precious creations yet. Still, The Doctor couldn't help but notice the fine dresses and carefully crafted suits that were elegantly displayed on the soft, plush bodies of the dummies. A trio of small brown tables equipped with medium sized mirrors sat towards the back of the Boutique, an obvious “makeover” area for the beautiful mare to garb herself up. The floor was a deep, chill blue colour that reflected relaxation and calmness at its best. A large spiralling orange fabric hut of sorts rose from the corner of the Boutique, mirrors glittering around the edge in what was most certainly a viewing platform for any potential buyers of the white unicorn's wares. There were many racks of clothing that lay strung around the interior of the Boutique, flashes of blue and green velvet and silk splashing the insides with vibrant colours. Finally, a small purple and white desk sat towards the back of the Boutique, positioned to allow a full viewing of the clothing for customers before they would reach said reception area. Behind said desk stood the white fashionista herself, Rarity. Of course immediately as she had noticed the two she had dived straight into the arrangements for The Doctor's fashion and what sort of clothing he would like to wear. And so it began. “Darling that simply won't do!” “I happen to like brown jackets with bow-ties!” “But tweed darling, really? And I don't know where you got this preposterous fez notion from!” “Hey, I happened to like a good fez! Fezzes are cool...” “That is completely irre-” This had been going on for the better part of half an hour, the seemingly endless banter and challenges between the marshmallow white fashionista unicorn and the fashion slaughtering caramel brown colt. Even with her feeble knowledge towards the endless pool of fashion, Twilight knew that what The Doctor was proposing as his choice of wear was completely and utterly ridiculous. Blue suspenders? A white dress shirt? A tweed jacket? A fez? Despite the overzealous tantrums that Rarity had produced at The Doctor's request Twilight couldn't help but agree with the over enthusiastic and rather forceful mare in saying that what The Doctor had decided to wear was completely foolish and, in her own personal opinion, the epitome of fashion burial. Once more the duty of protector fell to Twilight as she took in Rarity's intense red colouring of cheeks, indicating anger that would soon pour forth if left unchecked, said anger that would sweep the oblivious colt off of his caramel hooves. The angered, conflicting pair had dissolved into mindlessly shouting at each other in vague attempts to get their points heard over the others. “Brown does not go with everything!” “It goes with everything if you're wearing a fez!” “Does not!” “Does so!” “Does not!” “Does s-” The battling, fuming pair, one a rather gruesome shade of red and the other the same brown but with a rather wonky bow-tie, both halted and whirled around in surprise at the sudden arrival of a particularly loud noise that blasted around the clearing. Two pairs of eyes widened at the sight before them, one in astonishment and the other in bafflement and small traces of anger. The interior of the Boutique was, to put it kindly, completely and utterly trashed, a lone, purple mare standing amidst the pile of destruction around her with a small sheepish grin and a light blush across her face. It looked, to all purposes, like a bomb had gone off inside of the once immaculate fashion shop, clothes and drapes strewn across the floor, mannequins and mirrors laying on their sides like they'd just been ripped from the floor and thrown foolishly across the room. Traces of dust smeared the floor from where the upper-most corners of the drapes that had not been cleaned for years had touched down on the blue floored ground. The heavy, screeching sound of Rarity grinding her teeth together in frustration spiralled around the room, causing The Doctor to stare at her in alarm and worry, his fear just outweighing his concern for her as he witnessed small traces of smoke beginning to pour from her ears in a fashion that would be most comical were it not for the situation. “I-ah-didn't mean to, I just grabbed a piece of lose string and everything just-” Twilight gestured around the ruined room with one hoof in a tone that spoke clearly of guilt but also increasing worry for her own safety. “-exploded.” The Doctor watched Rarity's expressions shift from rage to worry back to rage then to forced happiness, once more back to rage and then finally onto a poorly constructed smile. He shivered in small traces of fear as he watched the mares cold eyes and forced smile settle upon Twilight, fearing for her safety as the little purple unicorn started to slowly back away. “Oh Twilight, ahahahahaHA, you do the silliest of things! No worry though, I will just have to...postpone the kind Doctor's clothing details until further notice whilst I clean up.” Twilight shuffled in apparent awkwardness, casting her gaze fearfully up at Rarity before she once more averted her gaze, speaking in a quiet, hushed tone. “I-we could stay and help if y-” “Nonononono, its fine, you've done quite enough darling.” The Doctor cringed at Rarity's tone of voice, noticing the droop of Twilight's ears as she mumbled an apology, trotting despondently to the door to which The Doctor followed her with a swift glance over his shoulder to watch Rarity sigh and begin to magically levitate the objects back to their original places. The pair swiftly made it outside, escaping from the destroyed interior of the Boutique before Twilight let out a long, drawn out sign and turned her head to meet The Doctor's gaze, frustration glittering in her purple orbs. “You totally owe me.” With that she trotted quickly away, leaving The Doctor to ponder the meaning of her words before he staggered speedily to catch up to her moving form. [.] To say that the home of the shy, reclusive, timid butter yellow pegasus known as Fluttershy was filled with animals would have been an insult to the swarms upon swarms of little creatures that infested her household. Even from where The Doctor stood on the opposite side of the worn gravel bridge with the gurgling spring below it he could clearly see animals decorating windowsills and frolicking in the grassy area outside the small hut. It was truly a sight to behold, a house so in touch with nature and animals that it allowed them to claim its structure as their own. From Carousel Boutique, it had taken The Doctor and Twilight a good ten minutes to trot over to the hidden, hermit house of Fluttershy, stashed secretly towards the beginning of the Everfree Forest, an area for a house that The Doctor never would have imagined the easily spooked pegasus would choose to live in. Over the course of the ten minute walk Twilight's mood had greatly improved as she jabbered on and on about her and her friends adventures together, from their victory over Nightmare Moon the tyrannical princess, to their startling win over the spirit of chaos himself Discord and finally to, not their victory but her own brother and foalsitters victory over the queen of the Changelings, Chrysallis. The Doctor had paid careful attention to the supposed ramblings of the purple mare as they had continued their gentle trot to their destination, intent on learning as much about her as possible. Subtly he had shifted the conversation towards her past and her present where he had learnt that she was the apprentice of Princess Celestia, she and her five other friends were the bearers of Harmony and all about her past self, including a very vivid description of her BBBFF which had left The Doctor as confused as he had been upon arriving in Equestria. She had, of course, asked about him, what his planet was like, what his people were like, how he managed to travel through time and space which she had said with a quizzical if somewhat sarcastic look. So, realizing that it was only fair to give information when he had already taken some, he had replied that his planet was like no other, a paradise where the skies burned orange and the flora grew free and peacefully. He spoke of his people as if they were the very best they could be, the kind, caring Timelords that they were before the war started, of which he failed to mention to Twilight. Finally, and with apparent joy, he had told her all about his old TARDIS, of its colour, its programming and its true name abbreviation, time and relative dimensions in space. She had seemed unsupportive of the idea of a mystical blue box that could travel through time and space but before she could voice her opinions the pair had arrived at the outskirts of Fluttershy's household, the sight resonating with The Doctor in a different way to the other houses. Where they had been big and flashy and spectacular, this had a more humble approach that almost seemed to attempt to smother up the beauty of the comfy, cosy home. To the right of him stood a tree coated with birds and birdhouses alike, bright flashes of painted purple and white wood oozing from the tree as birds of every colour chirped and soared around the barked structure. To the left stood an even taller tree of dark brown wood that was simply smothered in hay and grass nests, squirrels and birds darting around its exterior and interior as they popped their heads out to inspect the two newcomers. A yellow gravel path roamed from the edge of the other side of the worn bridge to the beginning of the house, rabbits of brown and white and black hopping around it. The house itself was made from sand coloured, dulled yellow walls that seemed to bend and wobble around the house in a fashion that made the whole thing seem structurally unsound. A bright orange wood split door faced towards the pair of ponies, the top half opened allowing a bright yellow light to flood outwards. Multiple brown wood stitched glassy windows lay scattered around the walls of the house, each one letting luminous yellow light out to stream across the slightly darkening surroundings. The roof of the house seemed to consist of dappled green leaves and vines that sprung up and lay upon the house thickly, tangled and clawing towards the sky. A single, large, sand yellow chimney rose up from the head of the leafy rooftop, pinnacling into the air almost majestically. Pools of soft grey smoke rose from the dully yellow chimney to rise into the air, wafting through the sky. Birdhouses dotted the house itself, colourful critters flapping in and out as the sound of young, whining birds tore through the air with shrill shrieks and muffled chirps. Having already been flabbergasted enough times today The Doctor merely shook his scraggly black haired head and proceeded to trot quite calmly over the bridge and towards the house, followed quickly by Twilight. His hooves crunched down on the gravel, rocky path, drawing the attention of the numerous rabbits who darted away from the noise, disappearing down crusty, dirty holes all except for one pure white rabbit who almost seemed to glare at the mysterious colt before bolting into one of the open windows of the house. The Doctor approached the orange wood door before he rapped onto its surface three times, hopefully drawing the attention of the house owner. Luckily, it did draw the house owner outwards but quite unluckily at the sight of a brown hoof and a somewhat recognizable but scary figure the butter yellow pegasus proceeded to eep quite furiously and slam the door onto The Doctor's face, causing blood to dribble from his nose as he was sent spinning backwards into the enveloping purple hooves of Twilight. The purple mare took a moment to inspect the bleeding nose of the dazed, confused brown colt who was blinking quite rapidly as if he had no idea what had went on before her horn lit up with a faint purple glow. The Doctor felt a faint, vague fuzziness tighten around his muzzle, the surprising pain vanishing in an instant as the blood flow ceased and the bruises healed lightning fast. Only then did Twilight move forward to pound on the door, eliciting a squeak from within. “Fluttershy open up!” Seconds ticked by slowly like sand falling into an hourglass before the door began to creak open, twin teal eyes peeking through the small crack in the doorway before the whole door was flung open with a bang, the butter yellow pegasus blasting outwards to inspect the wounded colt on the gravel floor. The Doctor tried to scramble backwards as Fluttershy practically pounced on him, worry and guilt making her eyes glisten with unshed tears as she beheld the dried blood on his face. “Oh my, I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to I just..Oh, what hav-” “I'm fine Fluttershy, really, Twilight fixed me up good and proper. Never felt better actually.” That was a complete and utter lie, being stuck inside an equine body and then being brutally punished by four mares had left The Doctor in a pretty bad condition but to cease the endless, worried rambling he had to step in and lie. This comment made the timid pegasus smile before she forcefully grabbed his hooves to the surprise of The Doctor and dragged him down to the winding stream beneath the bridge, making him kneel down whilst cooing to him as she brought water up into her hooves in yet another way that defied physics, washing away the excess blood. “All better. I really am sorry about that t-though.” The Doctor repressed a weary sigh as Fluttershy began to tear up again, raising a hoof to put on her shoulder in a friendly gesture which still made her eep in shock. “Fluttershy I'm fine honest. See, completely bette-gluburgh” In his apparent haste to please the saddened, teary eyed Fluttershy, The Doctor had bounced to his hooves, completely forgetting the aching sensation in his somewhat crushed hoof before he began to topple over straight into the stream, limbs flailing around in shock as he pulled his drenched, sopping wet body out of the sparkling water. The sound of Twilight's laughter was most probably heard in Canterlot as The Doctor raised his head to squirt a stream of mucky water out of his mouth, sparkling liquid flashing through the air as it hit the stream with a soft tinkle. Even Fluttershy was on the verge of laughing at his unlucky fortune, suppressing giggles with one hoof over her mouth before she began to softly chuckle, the small adorable sound ringing through the air. The Doctor muttered to himself as he attempted to let loose the dripping water form his fur, shaking his body rapidly until his vision swam and danced, eyes twirling in their sockets. Uncomfortably gradually the laughter died down, the only sounds remaining was the babble of the stream and the singing of the birds, both mares turning to inspect the still sodden Doctor before the bright dipping light of the sun drew Twilight's attention, making her frown. “Its getting late, we should start to head home.” The Doctor perked up at this, eyes widening and mouth hanging open as he imagined the food at the library, both literary and literally. Twilight turned to mutter to Fluttershy before both mares turned to walk up the grassy incline and other the bridge, The Doctor following them with a slight limp, raising his eyebrow at Twilight as he took in the form of Fluttershy walking with them. “If I may ask, why is Fluttershy with us?” At this Fluttershy cringed just a little bit, expecting an insult as Twilight spoke up in a calm voice. “I've asked the girls to meet me in Ponyville so we can discuss, well, you.” “Ah, I see. I am pretty great aren't I?” “Uh...” “Pretty nice?” “Hmm...” “Just, pretty?” “Weeeell...” “...You aren't giving me a lot to stroke my ego with here Twilight.” “I-I think you're q...quite nice.” “Why thank you Fluttershy. See, here's a mare the knows her stuff!” The Doctor strolled forward happily, trotting past both mares as Twilight cast an annoyed glance at the back of his brown head, Fluttershy merely smiling contently at the antics of both of her friends, one old and one new. [.] The trio of ponies were joined rather quickly by a bolt of rainbow and cyan pegasus as Rainbow Dash alighted beside them, causing Fluttershy to jump and The Doctor to laugh and praise her for the display of air acrobatics. They were then joined by the bubbly, bouncing form of Pinkie Pie who was balancing a tray of delicious scented cupcakes on her head, offering them to her friends who greedily devoured them. The Doctor's mouth had watered at the mere sight of them, let alone the taste as he destroyed the blueberry and strawberry flavoured cupcake with gusto, his stomach still rumbling in hunger despite the food in his belly. They entered the sweet, nearly silent town of Ponyville just as the sun began to set, flooding the village with shimmering orange light. The group was joined rather swiftly as they entered by two mares, one white furred, purple maned unicorn known as Rarity and the other an orange furred, blonde maned earth pony known as Applejack. The pair had obviously been arguing over something or another as both appeared flustered, faces flushed with a blush of anger and unconvincing smiles stretched across their faces but when their friends had arrived they settled back into the routine of mindless banter of which The Doctor found amusing. The hefty group of seven were wandering through the darkening town, laughing and joking with each other as the ponies of the village began to close up their stores for the night, retiring to their beds to get a head start on the next day. It was at that moment, all members of the rather large group being captivated by each others conversations, that a large, burly green stallion bumped into the group, plowing through them as easily as if they were a shallow, slow stream. The Doctor was sent spinning to the floor before he raised his head along with the six other similarly floored mares to glare at the colt. Once more, simultaneously, the seven grounded ponies sniffed the air, a peculiar scent wafting off of the stallion as he trotted away, throwing an angered glance back at them before he continued on his way towards the Ponyville train station. As the rude, cruel stallion vanished out of sight The Doctor whirled his head around, eyes blazing softly as he inspected each mare, helping them to their hooves before he questioned them. “You all smelt that right?” Six heads nodded in unison as The Doctor continued his questioning. “What did that stallion smell of?” “Why my dear, he smelt of freshly unfolded fabric and lace.” “Nah, he smelt of apples on a fine summer day.” “Umm...I thought he smelt of bunnies and b-birds.” “No, no, no silly he smelt of cupcakes!” “Hehe, you're all wrong. He smelt of the Wonderbolt brand perfume!” “Well, I thought he smelt of a freshly opened book...” The Doctor nodded at each one of them in turn before he cast his glance towards the direction the colt had travelled in, speaking in an oddly quiet voice for the usually bubbly, quirky stallion they had come to know. “It was the smell of each of our most favoured things, the smell of what we love most.” “W-what did he smell like to you Doctor?” The caramel brown colt was quiet for a few seconds, blue eyes fizzling softly in the still darkening day before he spoke up in a curiously detached voice. “...Home.” Before any of the mares could question him on his rather peculiar behaviour he whirled around, smile lighting his face and washing away all the worries of the six mares around him as he continued to speak in a rather normal tone, bouncing back into his cheerful if somewhat thoughtful voice whilst pointing a hoof in the direction that the colt had travelled. “And what lies in that direction my dear Twilight?” Twilight pondered the noticeable sights that would stand in the northwest, the direction the colt had walked before she replied in a tone that simulated that of a tour guide. “The mayors office, the joke shop, the train station, t-” Twilight was silenced rather forcibly by The Doctor's loud voice and brimming smile. “Train station it is!” “And why are we going there?” “Because my dear Twilight, it is the only place that that rather rude, rather alien colt can escape from.” Six mares shivered at The Doctor's statement, Rarity stepping forward after a moment of hesitation to voice her fears, hoping that she was wrong. “Are you saying that there is..another alien here?” “Yes, yes I am. No creature from this world, no magic from this world could possibly know the smell of my home. Therefore, that colt is not of this world. Simple deduction really.” He spoke in a proud, almost cocky tone as he began to trot in the direction that the green stallion had taken, sure of himself as he called back to them with a little smile and a trill of excitement in his voice. “C'mon then, we best not leave whatever it is waiting.” [.] Much to the annoyance of Rainbow Dash she had been specifically told by The Doctor to stay with the group instead of blasting off on her own merry way, the brown colt informing her that not all aliens were as nice as he was, that mere statement making Rainbow Dash shiver in traces of worry. The steady, tired group of seven arrived at the train station just as the sun disappeared over the horizon, plunging the world into darkness before the moon rose almost forcefully, white light gleaming across the clearing. The train station was relatively small, consisting of a single wooden hut that was most certainly used as a ticket booth. Besides that there was only the single set of train tracks with a bright purple steam train perched on the metal, steam chugging softly out of its chimney as the coal was set ablaze. The whole platform was partially raised off of the ground, wooden stairs connecting it to the loamy dirt path and there, atop the flight of stairs, stood the green colt, ticket behind ear and a megalomaniac smile upon his face, as if he had been awaiting their arrival, a fact that The Doctor found most foreboding. “I've been expecting you.” The voice was deep, not Big Macintosh deep but most certainly deep enough to appear powerful and strong. “Oh, they always start with that line.” Compared to the green stallions voice The Doctor's was a fair bit higher and held an almost girly pitch but, to the surprise of the six mares, it held all the strength that the other did, if not more. The green stallion kept up the smile before speaking in a soft, cold voice. “Finally my mortal enemy, finally I shall be able to get my revenge after all you have done to me.” The Doctor frowned, tilting his head to the side in puzzlement. “Have we met?” This mere question caused the stallion to hiss in an unearthly way, proving to The Doctor that this thing was most certainly not pony and it most certainly was not nice. “You have the gall to forget me! You ruined my life!” The deep voice was practically yelling now, the train in the background beginning to gain enough power to start its journey. “Honestly, that gives me no indication as to who you are.” “Jdukin Doctor, do you not remember? You destroyed my ritual and then imprisoned my hatch mother!” “Oh, ooooh, that's who you are. Yes, well sorry about that second one but in my defence she was trying to suck my blood.” The alien creature disguised as the stallion allowed the creepy smile to return to its face, disturbing the six mares who were looking on in fear before it hissed quietly at The Doctor. “Oh, its quite alright Doctor. After all, after tonight I will have an invincible, un-killable body and you and the six little companions you have brought with you will lay dead.” This alone caused the warmth of The Doctor's voice to fade out, replaced by a blank, inhumane tone that caused the mares behind him to shiver, both in fear of the alien and in fear of him. “First mistake of the day, you never, never threaten those around me. I've lived for so long now, my patience has worn thin so I am giving you only one chance, just one, to leave this silly little vengeance behind you.” “Or what?” The voice was a taunting whisper, the green stallion disguised monster leaning down to mock The Doctor. “Or what you saw on your home planet all that time ago, the failing of your ritual will seem petty and weak compared to what I will do. For once, use your head and just take the chance I am offering you.” “Hmm....nah!” The train behind the mysterious alien colt was moving now, chugging across the tracks as it began its last journey of the day to Canterlot. Before The Doctor or any of the six mares could move forward the strange colt had leapt backwards and landed quite skilfully on the metal platform of the moving train. The Doctor raced up the wooden steps only to be met by the tauntingly bowing form of the alien on the diminishing train, the deep voice calling out to him in the darkness of the night. “I'll be seeing you and your friends very soon Doctor.” The six mares charged up the steps after The Doctor only to find him staring into the distance where the train had gone, eyes locked into the darkness. Fluttershy stepped forward to the surprise of everypony else, speaking in a quiet, hushed voice. “Doctor...what was t-that?” The Doctor turned to face the six, a curiously blank expression on his face. “A plasmavore I believe, a creature that can take the form of those it has killed by draining them of their blood.” Five mares paled in fear at the explanation whilst one white unicorn toppled to the ground in a dead faint. “I lied though, when I said that was its first mistake. It was, in all purposes, the second.” “W-what do you mean? Where is it going? Why i-is it going?” “Its first mistake, the mistake that keyed me into its little plan Fluttershy will hopefully answer all of those questions but I'm not sure you're going to like it... ...Its first mistake was telling me that it would claim an invincible body. Now. I've read enough history books to realize that this world has only a few beings, one locked in stone and two still here to this day, that could be considered invincible and they are-” “The Princesses!” “Yes Twilight, the Princesses. It will head to Canterlot to absorb the body of one of the Princesses, never ageing and never dying with enough power in its body to kill anything and everything. And its going to kill everything merely because it can... ...It will take the body of the Princess, it will hide and return to Ponyville. It will find you and most certainly kill you and then, it will kill me. And when all is said and done I wouldn't be surprised if it attempted to destroy Equestria.” The five mares gasped in shock and fear, eyes widening and legs shaking in terror as they heard the beastly terrible plan against Equestria and them whilst Rarity continued to snooze on the floor without a care in the world. “But don't worry...” The five heads bobbed up to face the now smiling Doctor. “You've got me.” The Doctor turned back to face the shadowed lands where the train had disappeared into, smile vanishing as his face took on a look of contemplation. He spoke quietly as if to himself, six ears perking up to listen at what he was saying. “No screwdriver, no TARDIS, no backup plans, new equine body and aches and pains that refuse to be silent. And you know what? It still won't be enough to stop me.” The Doctor turned back to them and to his surprise he was met by the faces of five steel eyed, hardened and battle-ready mares, along with, not to his surprise, one drooling marshmallow furred pony snoring on the floor. “What are we going to do?” “I'll tell you what we are going to do Twilight. We are going to go to Canterlot. We are going to save your Princess and then, and then, we are going to save all of Equestria and lock away that monster. That I can promise you.” The Doctor trotted past them, head turning to swivel towards the group of confident mares as he started to descend the wooden steps with low creaks. “C'mon then, we can't leave our megalomaniac villain waiting now, can we?” With that he disappeared from view, five mares beginning to steadily trot towards the stairs before The Doctor's head burst from the floor of the heightened platform, causing Fluttershy to lose her hardened demeanour and squeal in fright. “Oh, and you should probably bring Rarity to.” In reply to his statement, the white mare herself merely let out a loud snore and turned over in her sleep. Authors note: Here it finally is. I'll try to get updates out more regularly but I still have a few exams to do so I can't say anything too much about it at the moment. Also, sorry that it has only just gotten into the actual plot but I wanted to make sure The Doc knew the ponies he was actually with before he charged off to save, or lose, the day. Once more, enjoy and tell me what you think about the chapter. To Save A PrincessTo Save A Princess “So, that was the last train to...Canterlot?” “Yes.” “And the next one is?” “Nine in the morning tomorrow.” “And the walk there takes?” “About seven days.” “They're not making this easy for me.” “Who are 'they'?” “I don't know, who are they?” “But...what-I just...” “C'mon Twilight, no time to babble, we have a Princess to save!” The group of seven ponies, Rarity now fully awake if somewhat shaken by the recent turn of events, were wandering through the shadowed, night-fallen town of Ponyville, six brightly coloured mares trotting behind one brown colt who seemed to be very confused about his whereabouts. Rarity had been awoken rather forcefully by a loud pop of confetti and batter from a contraption that Pinkie had called her “Pocket Party Cannon”, yet anther form of the destruction of physics that The Doctor had noted down for later remembrance. Her usual marshmallow white skin had turned even paler when the full facts of the evening had been explained to her but, in a sign of strength, the mare had swiftly put on her “game” face and had adapted rather quickly to the idea that the whole of Equestria was in the hooves of a brown coated alien with a baffling personality. The idea that The Doctor was confused by his surroundings was only increased when he turned around, a large grin on his face and blue eyes sparkling, warm voice calling out to the rather large, rather conspicuous group of ponies that had been following him. “So, where are going?” The synchronised sound of six hooves colliding with the faces of their owners could probably be heard in Canterlot, maybe in Fillydelphia as loud sighs of annoyance blitzed through the air, forcing The Doctor to adopt a sheepish smile. Of course, it was Twilight who spoke up in a clipped, annoyed voice that easily suggested her irritation towards The Doctor. “We were following you!” The Doctor frowned somewhat in a confused sort of way, voice rising up to create a condescending tone. “Now why were you doing that. I'm new here aren't I?” “Well yes but-” “I have been in this town for a day now, right?” “Yes b-” “And you still thought that following me, the confused alien stallion, was a good idea?” At this Twilight bowed her head and meekly nodded, the five other mares looking on with confused but pitiful expressions as they watched their friends guilt and embarrassment create a red blush on her purple cheeks. As such, expecting a rebuttal from the colt, they were entirely unprepared for what was said next. “Well that was a clever move on your behalf Twilight Sparkle.” At this Twilight raised her head, tilting it to the side slightly as her now quiet voice broke out in a hushed tone. “What?” “Oh come now, rooting through the woods, finding an alien, letting said alien sleep in your house and then following the alien wherever he may choose to go... ...well that was the best decision you have ever made.” The Doctor beamed loudly at the six mares who were looking at him with a mixture of confusion and humour, Twilight gazing up at him with relief filled eyes as the protest and insults she had thought would bite her were scattered to the wind. The Doctor wheeled around once more to turn away from the mares, his expression morphing from hilarity and happiness to one of deep thought and contemplation, his brow furrowing, his eyebrows creating a dark v shape and his eyes twinkling with unrestrained knowledge as he desperately sought a means to get to Canterlot. No TARDIS to help him get there. There was no train, not for many, many hours and by that time the Princess may be dead and the assassin may be on their way back to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could maybe fly two of them to Canterlot at a time but that would surely take too much time and would dwindle their numbers. There were no auto-mobiles or really any vehicles on the hefty group of seven. Twilight's balloon, of which she had talked about consistently for minutes during their trip back from Fluttershy's, was currently docked and would take precious time to prepare and, even then, it would take far too long to reach the capital city. The six mares, one bouncing, one hovering, one pawing the ground, one meekly discussing events with her friend and one keenly watching The Doctor all noticed his sudden, spasmodic movements as he paced back and forth before them, their journey grinding unexpectedly to a halt as The Doctor continued his heavy pacing, wearing furrows into the dirt ground. Six ears pricked up as The Doctor began to mutter to himself, bouncing half-hearted plans off of himself in a vain attempt to configure a reasonable idea. The six mares each cast each other wary glances as The Doctor continued his reckless mumbling and pacing, whirling around on the spot after four hoof-steps and then trotting off in the other direction. This continued for another thirty seconds, the time ticking by as the girls grew more and more anxious towards the brown stallion who refused to stand still or be silent. The change was sudden, the sounds of pacing, four beat hooves ending instantly and the decrepit mumbling and bumbling finishing immediately, silence reigning supreme for a few, slow, painfully thin seconds before The Doctor's voice spoke up once more in a hushed whisper, the girls leaning forward to catch what he had said. “There's always a way out and there's always a way in.” The Doctor spun around to face group of startled mares, one bright yellow pegasus yelping and flailing at the sudden movement of the colt as he raked his gaze across the group. First those blue eyes, smothered with hidden knowledge, gazed into Rarity's eyes with a level of passion that spoke of great wonders and hidden secrets. The poor, bedraggled, exhausted mare had been through simply enough today to be able to handle the depth behind the gaze and so mere seconds into the stare she turned her eyes away, somewhat stunned by the force of the gaze. Next came Fluttershy who lasted about two seconds before she eeped, shrieked, yelped and gasped all in one as those blue eyes drew level with hers, turning her head sharply and hiding her face with her gentle pink mane, covering her features in an obvious sign of discomfort. Then the time came for Applejack to meet the cold, yet calculating stare of The Doctor, emerald eyes blazing with strength and colliding with blue eyes that blazed with something hidden, something secret. At first Applejack looked into those eyes, peered into the disguised secrets and she wanted to know of them, of why they were secret and what he kept hidden from them. It took only a matter of seconds though for her view to diminish as the full, bombarding force of those eyes fell upon her, The Doctor recognizing her curious, privacy invading stare and returning a hard one that forced her to turn away. Rainbow Dash was next, having already seen the numerous stare-downs that had been going on she launched herself towards The Doctor, attempting to make him break his gaze first. Her face smacked his one but neither moved, both staring into each other, The Doctor peering at Dash with a searching look whilst Rainbow stared at The Doctor with a look that spoke of her refusal to back down. Seconds ticked by before Rainbow Dash was yanked backwards, her tail clasped firmly in the teeth of a certain orange mare who exclaimed that 'this ain't a battle ya'll can win'. His eyes rested on the face of the pink mare who had, shockingly, remained completely still during the display of fruitless searching that The Doctor had gone through, twin pairs of blue eyes interlocking as the party pony and the Timepony set their eyes on each other. In those eyes The Doctor saw a spark, a single burning flame of wisdom that was cleverly disguised by the pink pony and in his eyes, Pinkie saw such sadness and hate and anger, emotions that chilled her to the core. The duo kept up the stare for another few seconds before Pinkie cast her gaze away, not down, not up, nor behind her. Instead those blue eyes of the bouncing, wild party pony rested upon Twilight as if she were signalling something, something The Doctor had missed. Slowly, the brown coated, black maned, blue eyed colt swerved his gaze towards the purple mare. Eventually, those bright blue eyes reached Twilight's purple ones, intent on her and her alone, a deep feeling of privacy being invaded and secrets being discovered overcoming the lavender mare as those eyes continued to stare into her with a burning intensity. She resisted the outstanding urge to avert her gaze from those eyes, instead opting to allow the little stare-off to continue for a few more seconds, blue and purple locked together for seconds upon seconds. Just as Twilight's eyes began to water from the overexertion The Doctor let out a low whistle, eyes widening and breaking their lingering glance from Twilight's as a small smile began to creep along his features, slowly at first but then with more force. “Oh I'm so stupid! The answer was staring me straight in the face the whole time.” Though the statement The Doctor had made sounded like one which would surely have been said in a dejected voice, the tone of the brown colt spoke only of excitement and an eagerness to enact whatever little scheme his brain had thought up. Twilight spoke up in a quiet but carrying voice, tone filled with curiosity. “What is it Doctor? What did you miss?” The Doctor merely allowed his smile to widen at Twilight's question before his voice rung heavily through the night air, splintering the night with thick layers of warmth but, most importantly, relief. “You Twilight. Its you.” At this, Twilight took a hasty step backwards as six pairs of eyes fell on her with sparkling questions, forcing the purple mare to shiver slightly under the weight of those watching. “You're our answer Twilight, our solution!” [.] Every bump, every twitch, every knock sent a dull throb of pain through its soft, weak, green body, sending shivers of aches coursing through its form. The train itself was a poorly constructed thing, peeling pink paint and rusted metal poles coating its interior with a drab, broken look. The floor was hopelessly dirty, fizzy drinks and lost sweets decorating the floor with a sticky mess that reminded it of the ground of its old planet. The planet that he had destroyed. The windows of the train were incredibly dirty, filth smothering the night-time view of the whizzing, streaming countryside with a faint brown blur. On the outside the train had appeared almost regal, great rolling coats of thick pink paint and yellow striped poles dotting its surface, creating a clever illusion that disguised the decrepit interior perfectly. The torn red cushions of the seats spilled their insides out across the floor, the soft padding laying scattered on the sticky ground, allowing every single small movement of the train bumping on the tracks to spread the discomfort to the passengers. Perhaps the same was not said for the rest of the train however. It had chosen the carriage at the end for its den, intent on not being noticed by any ponies, attempting to keep out of the way until it reached the capital. Until it reached its victim. The sound of the sliding carriage door snapped it out of its fevered daydream, green stallion head whipping upwards to stare at the newcomers. The two stallions who entered looked haggard and gaunt but in their eyes flickered a fire that the disguised plasmavore knew all to well. The first of the stallions was a cold, stone grey colt with a thick, bushy brand of silver hair that seemed tousled and windswept, grimy and desecrated. Amber eyes glared rat-like behind the thick shroud of greasy silver hair, anger and an urge, a lust to claim what wasn't his glittered behind those eyes. His mouth was set in a grim, slanted, pale white line, the sign of a creature down on its luck. Dirt clotted its coat and mane, brown smears intermingling with silver and grey. The dirt however, did not quite manage to smuggle and hide the owners cutie-mark, a curious picture of a single chiselled, grey cinder block resting almost gently upon his flank. The second stallion was a bright, sunflower yellow coated colt with a styled, pure red mane that remained in a pristine, perfect condition upon his head. Bright, blue teal eyes stared from bagged, stretched sockets, filled with the same hungry, criminal look as the other stallion except these eyes gleamed with intelligence as well. His mouth was, to the exact opposite of the other colt, set in a jaunty, condescending smile as if he had done this time and time again. Unlike the other colt, this stallions coat was immaculate, shining in the dim light of the train carriage. This ones cutie-mark was a what appeared to be a silver tongue with a pair of gleaming blue eyes. The jaunty, smiling pony stepped towards the sitting plasmavore, his mindless, dead looking companion following close behind as he opened his mouth to speak in a purr of a voice, in a silver tongued tone. “Hello friend, my name is Silver Tongue and this lovely fellow is my dear friend Cinder Block. Now, I am dreadfully sorry but you see we are running awfully low on money and supplies so if you would be a dear and hand over all your belongings we can just get back to our carriage.” The plasmavore merely observed the two with an amused yet disturbing expression on its face, as if it looked forward to what was about to occur. When no answer or even any movement came, Silver Tongue spoke up once more, drawing closer and closer with his companion, his voice dipping slightly in anger. “Come now, just give us what we want and my pal Cinder Block won't have to resort to hurting you.” And then the plasmavore did something that made the pair of thieves freeze in their walk. It laughed, deep, billowing, malicious, dark laughter that rung along the carriage like a funeral bell, causing the duo to stop in astonishment and trepidation at the sight of the single green stallion chuckling so heartily at them. Silver Tongue spoke up in a much higher voice this time, tone filled with anger and, much to the plasmavore's pleasure, traces of fear. “And what exactly is so funny?” The plasmavore continued to giggle malevolently before it calmed down enough to hiss out its answer in a deep, twisted voice. “You two honestly think that you could do anything to me? To me!?” The hostility, the anger, the madness behind that voice made both Silver Tongue and Cinder Block seize up as if made of iron, both casting fearful glances at each other as the curious but sinister green stallion began to laugh again in a deep, insane chuckle. Their fears were quickly swallowed however by a rising tide of anger at the laughter they had received, both more welcome to terrified screams and muffled sobs then condescending laughter. A flush of ugly, crimson red coated their twin cheeks as the strange, peculiar stallion continued to laugh without a care in the world, oblivious to the world and disarming the petty threat of the duo of robbers with ease. Still, the twin ponies were not going to be sent away by mere laughter, the pair instead opting to move slowly but menacingly towards the chuckling green stallion who had calmed down enough to watch their approach with amused, cold eyes. “You've done it now you overgrown lump of moss. Me and Cinder Block are going to have to teach you a lesson in manners.” The once seductive, feline purr had left Silver Tongue, replaced by a deathly hiss that reflected the mood of an enraged, dangerous snake. Cinder Block remained silent, moving steadily forward with anger in his eyes and a deep, fat, horrendous scowl across his face. The plasmavore merely watched their approach, speaking up in a jaunty, happy voice that bounced around the carriage. “Oh, this journey just got a whole lot more interesting. C'mon and have a go then, I do need to warm up before my grand finale.” The slinking, scuttling pair of robbers halted momentarily in their steps, eyes flashing with a hint of fear and doubt before they settled back into a harsh, hard, angry expression that made the plasmavore chuckle lightly as it stood up, rising from the painfully rugged bench to face its attackers. Cinder Block drew close and, almost lightning fast, swung his body around, his hind-legs facing the plasmavore as he let loose a ferocious kick that would have made trees splinter and groan and yet, to the surprise of the robbers, the strange, green stallion merely stumbled backwards slightly and shrugged off the hit as if it were nothing. Silver Tongue swung in next, rocketing a sleek, meticulously groomed hoof straight into the gut of the plasmavore, who merely expelled a breath of stinking breath, strained teeth showing behind green skin. Once more, both robbers retreated somewhat, looking on at the iron-hard green stallion with partial horror and curiosity as the plasmavore licked its equine lips, looking on hungrily at the confused pair before it spoke up in a cool, liquid voice. “I do believe it is my turn.” The horrified, horrendous, bile-inducing screams of pain from the last carriage were muffled by the heavy sound of the train, shrieks of agony hidden behind a veil of clunks and chugs and whistles. In three days time, a pony by the name of Blossomforth would discover the broken forms of two stallions beside the railway to Canterlot, an expression of terror and horror on their faces and dried blood caking the surrounding grounds. [.] Twilight blinked slowly, shaking her head ever so slightly before she spoke up in a mellow, if partially confused voice. “Me? What can I do that can get us to Canterlot?” The Doctor smiled his overly large, overly happy grin, beaming teeth on full display as he once more began to pace, this time with a type of feverish, childish energy as if he were bathing in riches a plenty. “Why Twilight my dear, you can teleport! Just do your thing, zippity-zap and poof, we're in Canterlot saving a princess.” The Doctor seemed quite pleased with his little plan, and little it was, lacking no real “Doctor flair” but oh well, it would most certainly do the job. Twilight, on the other hand, was wearing a very guilty look, as if she had done something wrong and combining with that downcast look was one of a deep shame, casting shadows of doubt across her purple face, her eyes lowering and her confused expression flopping. “I...I can't teleport us to Canterlot Doctor.” The Doctors beaming smile wavered somewhat at the frail looking unicorns statement, eyes flickering with doubt for a second before his usual cocky, fun loving voice spoke up. “Why ever not Twilight?” The five mares turned to look at the sunken Twilight with pitiful gazes as the lavender mare seemed to sink into herself, her voice whispering from her as if she feared anger and detest from her lack of ability. “It's...it's too far a journey for me. It would take an exponential amount of power to get all seven of us to Canterlot and that distance...” The Doctor dropped his smile but replacing it was not a look of anger, nor a look of disappointment. Instead it was a deep look of contemplation that managed to draw Twilight out of her feared state, the five other mares surrounding her and whispering comfort to her, knowing that she never liked to admit when there was something she couldn't do. C'mon you old man, think. Twilight couldn't reach the distance, not with her magic and most probably not combined with Rarity's magic, guessing from the lack of any suggestion from the white coated mare. She didn't have the power but could that be changed? Maybe hook her up to a giant battery and loop the- no -that probably wouldn't work. She spoke about distance. Distance, distance, distance. There has to be something there, something I'm missing again! What is it, what could it possibly be? Alright, teleportation works on the matter of molecular destruction and then reconfiguration somewhere new via transportation through space. So if I were to...yes, yes! The six girls watched the feverish twitches of the Timelord, seeing the roaming gaze of his eyes dart around them as if sensing a pattern, as if seeing a plan. Rarity turned to gaze curiously at Twilight, who in turn turned to stare worriedly at Fluttershy, who in turn viewed Rainbow with nervous eyes, who in turn cast a glance of excitement at Applejack, who then glanced at Pinkie Pie with traces of fear twinkling in emerald eyes. Pinkie, of course, just kept her blue eyes rooted on The Doctor, smiling quite happily as if she knew entirely what he was doing. Five mares jumped quite suddenly at the loud, excited outburst of a whoop of excitement from The Doctor whilst one pink earth pony merely giggled like a school-filly, blue eyes twinkling with mirth. The Doctor opened his mouth, white teeth flashing, eyes glazed over with a thoughtful but also hopeful look that sparked the first tingles of belief in Twilight, belief that perhaps not all hope was lost. “I am going to need everyponies rubbish.” And the belief fled. Twilight frowned, disappointment etched on her face as she spoke up in a quizzical but crestfallen voice, speaking aloud what all the other mares were merely thinking, each of the six ponies looking at The Doctor with disbelief. “...How will our rubbish help exactly?” At this The Doctor smiled, forcing a similar beam onto the face of the pink party pony who couldn't resist replying to a grin. “Ah, it's not so much the rubbish as what I can do with the rubbish!” Twilight's frown deepened, along with the escaping murmurs of confusion that emanated from the mares behind her as she spoke up once more in a befuddled tone. “And what, pray tell, can you do with our rubbish?” The Doctor's smile widened even further, Pinkie following the stretched expression with childish glee as his cocky, playful, almost childish voice burst into the cold night air. “Why I can solve our little problem of a ravenous, murderous, form-taking monster of course. Now, hop to it!” When nopony moved, instead opting to stare at The Doctor with mixed levels of confusion, ranging from Pinkie's somewhat baffled look to Applejack's complete look of absolute and utter befuddlement, The Doctor let out a cough and spoke up again in what he hoped was a victorious, powerful, inspiring voice but was instead a voice that sounded perhaps a bit whiny. “C'mon now, give me something to work with! I can't work my magic if everypony refuses to give me their old rubbish. Without your help, without your assistance this day, at this hour, then your princess is sure to meet a rather sticky end. For the fate of your princess and all of Equestria, will you please just give me all your useless, broken garbage?” Silence seemed to last for hours on end and yet it could be only a few moments before Applejack stepped forward, eyes still partially glazed with confusion but blazing with a level of intensity that both surprised and excited The Doctor, such emotional range on an equine was truly marvellous! “What do ya need specifically from our rubbish?” The Doctor smiled warmly at the mare before he rattled off a small list. “Hmm, an umbrella, tin cans, electronic junk, fancy structural stuff, luminous green jelly, a whisk, elastic bands and...what ever else you can find really.” Rarity stepped forward now, brow furrowed and eyes swimming as her regal, upper-class tones punctured the sky. “I can sort of understand why one might find electronic equipment useful but why the green jelly?” The Doctor appeared wounded for a second, speaking up in a hurt voice. “Jelly is always useful. Plus I'm feeling a bit peckish, I never did get to finish my pie. I wonder if that nice stallion would lend me some from his face.” The Doctor appeared to contemplate the idea of going to find the angry, confectionery wearing stallion for a few seconds before he shook his head and turned back to the six mares before him, confusion evident in his face. “What are you all still doing here? If we're going to save a princess we're going to need to get to this Cankerloop quickly!” Twilight sighed softly, closing her eyes before she opened them again swiftly, purple eyes glittering with determination. “One, it's called Canterlot, not Cankerloop. Two, where are you going to meet us when we have all these...objects? And three, your bow-tie is crooked.” The Doctor yelped at the last statement, swiftly fiddling with his crimson tie to sort out the partially twisted fashionable item, sighing with relief as he successfully managed to revert it back to its original, pristine condition just as he spoke up again. “Canterlot, Cankerloop, they're basically the same thing. As for your question regarding where to meet me, I first need to know where the most impossibly tall building in Ponyville is.” It was, much to The Doctor's surprise, Rainbow Dash who stepped forward to answer his question in a cracking voice. “That'd be the town hall, big building right in the middle of town. You can't miss it.” The confusing yet astounding brown colt tipped his head to the hovering cyan mare in response before he started to speak in a quiet, if somehow even more demanding voice. “Alright, I need everypony to meet me at the top of this 'town hall' in roughly, oh, lets say fifteen minutes.” Fluttershy now stepped forward, rather quietly and with a small squeak as, first, The Doctor's ears and then his eyes turned to meet her, making the mare blush as she began to murmur a question. “A-and...what happens then?” The Doctor spoke and now there was a burning fire in his eyes, a powerful ember that sparked and burnt deep into the soul of everypony present, a look of such power, of such determination, of such anger and desolation and yet hope that it simultaneously warmed their hearts and froze their minds. “Then, my dear Fluttershy, the fun truly begins.” [.] The girls had bustled and burst away rather quickly after that, rushing home to dig and root their way through old rubbish, broken nicknack’s and forgotten gifts of old, drawing up on all their useless reserves, claiming dusty objects as their own, scratching at the surface of a mountain of rubbish and litter that threatened to spill from their homes after being discovered. Meanwhile, The Doctor paraded around the small, quaint and silent town of Ponyville, blue eyes peeled and alert, searching through the gloom for the mysterious and elusive massively constructed building known simply as 'town hall'. He stumbled through the dark, old, ancient eyes roaming the depths of darkness, casually knocking into tin metal bins and squashing the flowers outside the houses of particularly green mares, shuffling through darkened streets and malicious feeling alleys. It was here, stumbling and moaning through many a dark corridor and alley that The Doctor carelessly and accidentally wandered into the sunken, shrivelled, vile body of the green stallion from which the plasmavore had fed from, one caramel hoof nearly tripping over the deceased form as The Doctor peered into the gloom to determine what it was that had halted his movement. And then he saw the broken, corrupted body of the stallion. Such anger and hatred flowed through The Doctor's body at that point, so much rage and fire that it burnt his soul, that it licked the bricked sides of the alley with intense heat. Death was a natural process, a pure and unfiltered procedure that would spare no creature and yet nothing, no creature big or little deserved to go like this. No creature deserved to be drained and left to rot in an alley on a far distance planet merely for the pleasure of a monster and the need to satisfy a thirst for violence. With a heavy, sad sigh that, for a single moment, overwhelmed The Doctor's immeasurable anger, the caramel stallion leaned down and shut the open, terrified and wild eyes of the green husk of fur on the floor, murmuring a silent apology to the body and wishing him well wherever he may be know before he stood up to his full height, body pulsing with an inhumane, unbelievable energy. Previously he had been fighting this beast from his universe merely to prove that he could, merely to make his arrival spectacular and to impress those around him with his skills. He had chosen to fight this demon from another world just on the plain basis that he could fight it, that he was the only one who would hope to really stand a chance against it but now, now things had changed. Now he fought out of anger, now he fought because monsters, ghosts and ghouls, beasts of terrible wrath and unquenchable evil should not live or reside upon this world, not a land filled with a species that had merely heard of murder and violence, never seen it. The Doctor was angry, angry that such a disgrace had been made of a beautiful, wonderful creature. Angry that this beast had wandered into a new civilization and killed one of the alpha species like it was nothing. Angry that he didn't stop it. Angry that he, most certainly, brought it here. And now the plasmavore had a very real reason to fear him. With dark eyes and a burning fire in his heart, The Doctor set out to find the town hall, leaving the body of the stallion in his resting place. [.] The six mares clambered to the top of the town hall, panting, sweating and heaving their heavy load of junk behind them, each one carrying their rubbish in a certain manner. Rarity was heaving a meticulously cleaned and pristine conditioned white sack full of countless, useless goodies, the silk bag bulging with the sheer number of items she had acquired from her rather cluttered basement, ranging from bottle openers to banana guards. Sweat lined the brow of the alabaster unicorn, her throat making most unladylike whining and whimpering noises as she dragged the large sack up the seemingly never-ending stairs of the town hall. Applejack was busy hauling what appeared to be a wooden cart up the stairs, making considerably less noise then Rarity but still struggling all the same, muscles tensed and aching, back arched and pained and head set forward, a grim determination set in her face. A single sheet of musty, dusty brown fabric rested over the top of the wooden cart, hiding its contents from view. Fluttershy was, with the assistance of a lot of birds, flying a bumper basket to the top of the town hall, a rather large, rather carefully crafted basket of weaved wood nestled in her hooves, numerous small birds flapping underneath it to keep both it and Fluttershy afloat, tweeting and chirping occasionally but otherwise remaining quiet. The basket looked suspiciously like an overgrown picnic holder, as if the food source of some sort of giant. Rainbow Dash had opted to merely pick up one or two little things and attach put them in her saddlebags, simply refusing to having to do real manual labour, hoping that her friends had provided more then enough rubbish and garbage to see The Doctor through on his plan and, knowing Twilight's tendency to go above and beyond the borderline of what needed to be done, Rainbow had no true threat from a lack of random junk. Pinkie Pie had packed a single saddlebag full of random toys and useless broken things that would serve even her no real purpose. Of course, being the astounding, baffling and unpredictable mare that she was, Pinkie had managed to fit into one saddlebag what Rarity had managed to fit into a sack that even Father Christmas would be proud of. She was currently bouncing quite happily up the steps, stopping to talk rapidly to each of her friends, constantly pestering them to hurry up. Twilight was the last mare on the stairs, puffing and panting as she levitated a monstrous amount of spare equipment and twisted electronics in the air, a faint purple aura surrounding the objects, leaving them dangling almost precariously in the wind. Looking back at it now, Twilight wished she had had the good idea to store her items somewhere instead of just using her magic, already feeling the beginnings of a strain induced headache coming along as she trudged up more steps. It took the group little over fifteen minutes to gather the gear and reach the top of the stairs, wheezing unnaturally under the intense pressure as they finally reached the pinnacle and peak of the town hall, all six mares immediately locking onto the moon light illuminated Doctor who was staring out of the window at the sparkling city of Canterlot, muttering to himself whilst twiddling his hooves. With a polite cough, Twilight drew his attention, his old blue eyes sparking with anger and rage at first, making Twilight draw back somewhat before the emotions were replaced by relief and a cocky grin that she remembered so well, washing away Twilight's misgivings easily as he spoke up in a quick and happy voice. “Ah here we are. Looks like you mares got enough waste for me to build my own robotic dog with!” The Doctor allowed himself a chuckle before it was awkwardly cut off by the silence of the six mares who merely looked at him with confusion and, in Pinkie's case, hilarity that simply oozed from glistening blue eyes. The Doctor frowned, his voice higher and more disbelieving then it ever seemed to be. “Seriously? I mention a robot dog and not one of you giggles, not even a question of 'oh, you had a robot dog Doctor?'. Instead I get...I get this?” “This” just so happened to be a selection of even further befuddled expressions that made The Doctor sigh softly to himself before his voice peaked up again, this time oddly flat as though he were disappointed. “Alright, lets see what you brought me then.” Rarity's most elegant and fashionable snowy white bag of bulging items came first, spilling its contents on the floor like a drunkard in a bar, the tinkling of metal hitting wood ringing around the top of the hall to echo downwards to the seating area below. The most distinguishable features, past the odd banana skin or bottle caps, was a nice selection of silver tins with residue bean and tomato juice crusting the insides, The Doctor discovering the food item that would have slumbered within the tins by experimentally licking the insides of each tin, earning many gagging sounds from some of the mares. The next item on the list was a raggedy, torn umbrella that appeared rusted around the handle but still opened fluently and fluidly, The Doctor allowing himself to perform a little jig with it before he chucked it into the 'useful' pile. The final interesting item was a rather luscious looking plate of green jelly, such an elegant cuisine making The Doctor's mouth water as he took a hasty bite of it, smiling in glee before he put both it and the plate it rested on in the useful pile. Applejack's cart was depleted next, The Doctor tearing off the cover with childish excitement to peer into the depths of the wooden vehicle, eyes twinkling with barely restrained merriment. Once more, he lobbed and threw the useless items away, broken chair-legs, toilet seats and, for some peculiar reason, an issue of Mare Magazine dated roughly three months ago. The first item of irregularity and interest was a small battery that seemed capable of supplying a similarly small device and with one long lick and a mild electric shock that made him yelp, The Doctor managed to deduct that it was still active. The next piece of useful 'equipment' was a rather large, rather funny looking motor for a tractor of sorts except this had no power, merely a rather large fan attached to the front which The Doctor tore off with gusto. The final item was a large, red rubber band that would easily fit around The Doctor's leg, his blue eyes immediately noting the slight fray along the edge and the fact that it had, most probably, been used to type up one Miss Applejack's hair. Fluttershy moved forward next, nudging her basket to The Doctor who thanked her with a little nod before he rather daintily flipped open the weaved lid with his teeth to gaze into the interior of the blatantly oversized basket. This time, only a few bottles, bottle-caps and empty toothpaste containers were seen as utterly useless. Miss Fluttershy had, quite cleverly, taken a whisk with her, metal loops slightly jagged with a few snapped in the middle to point out rather jaggedly and yet it was still useful. The next goody to be pulled out of the basket was a bulb from a lamp along with numerous red, green and blue wires that snaked from said bulb, causing The Doctor to fiddle around as the metal wires looped around his hooves, making him struggle and fidget to get them off for over a minute. Rainbow Dash brought a bent spoon. That was the only useful item she had taken, the three other pieces of junk being nothing more than rusted pipes. Pinkie Pie bounced forward giddily after the shame-faced Rainbow Dash had floated away with blushing cheeks at the look of disbelief and slight disappointment on The Doctor's face, physically lobbing her saddlebags straight into The Doctor's face, making him yelp in fear. With one cautious, edgy hoof, The Doctor reached into the brown bags with the balloon patterns on the outside, caramel appendage drawing out old balloons, empty sweet wrappers and used party poppers before he came across the more advantageous junk. A similar whisk to Applejack's sat in her bag, this one nearly fully functional were it not for the rusted edges and single, bent wire poking and protruding from the side. Along with the food-esque item, Pinkie brought with her a curious selection of partially electronic, partially revolutionary era based pieces of equipment that closely resembled those that a cannon may contain or, even possibly, be made of. Finally, Pinkie had brought with her what appeared to be flat boards of bendy, splintery wood along with some old but relatively sticky sellotape, The Doctor hastily waving his hoof through the air trying to get the tape off after he, quite foolishly, poked it to see if it was still gummy. Finally, Twilight dropped her stash of goods onto the floor, the gloom of the town hall smothering her junk in darkness so that it was not visible to The Doctor at first, illuminated by moonlight and a light purple glow. Much to The Doctor's disappointment and the scepticism of the other mares, Twilight had merely brought with her a vast selection of books, telling the group that 'they were all bad, rubbish books!' and 'I throw all of my rubbish out straight away'. Now The Doctor didn't really know what this 'New Moon' book was all about but judging by the fact that it appeared to be scratched and torn with anger along with the fact that it seemed wrinkled and coated in the faint residue of an upturned drink, he could safely guess that it wasn't that brilliant a read. The Doctor looked on at the favourable pile, before he nudged his head to the worthless, and much larger, pile of junk that sat directly to the rest of him, voice speaking up in a detached manner as if he were concentrating on something else. “You can take all that expendable rubbish away now.” The six mares blinked once, looked over to the noticeably tiny pile that The Doctor was inspecting, blinked a second time, looked over to the much larger pile that The Doctor had deemed incompetent, blinked a third time before they all spoke up simultaneously. “Y'all honestly expect me ta haul all that back down them stairs!?” “Come now darling, you asked for all of our rubbish!” “Umm...why did you ask us to get stuff if...if we weren't going to use it?” “Jeez colt, you have no idea how heavy that spoon was and now you want me to help haul back the bumper pack of useless items!?” “Silly billy, all that stuff is like soooooo useful!” “Doctor, you did ask for all this stuff. You can't just expect us to take it all back!” The Doctor glanced up from his inspection of the items for a second, eyes flashing quizzically as he spoke. “Honestly, what do you think I can do with a banana peel, a magazine, a toilet seat, bottle caps and a chair leg?” Rainbow Dash opened her mouth next, words laced with uncertainty pouring forth. “Uh...something awesome?” The Doctor frowned. “...Probably, but nothing that can help us in this situation. Now if you could just- Ah, no, ditch that idea, just stand over there and be quiet.” Now it was Rarity who stepped forward, wounded by the most ungentlecoltly acting of the brown stallion. “My, Doctor, where have your manners gone!? You can't seriously be suggesting that six beautiful mares such as us should be pushed into a tiny corner, right?” The Doctor sighed in resignation before he turned to face Rarity. “No of course not, at least not a tiny corner. That corner over there though, that corner is pretty large. Why don't you all go over there for a while whilst I, ah, work.” Rarity huffed indignantly, noting the rather rude, rather obnoxious brown colt's movements, turning his back on them as if he were washing his hooves of them, as if he were clearing his mind of them. With a barely restrained shriek of rage, Rarity spoke up once more, strained voice high and pitched in a wobbly tone. “You can't just abandon us to sit in a corner whilst you twiddle away at our rubbish!” The Doctor turned to Rarity slowly, almost painstakingly slowly and when those blue eyes fell upon her, when those chips of ice turned to her she saw The Doctor in his true glory and terribleness. In those eyes, for the briefest of seconds, she could see his triumphs, his losses, his happiness, his sadness, the blood caking his hooves, the tears sliding down his face, the cracking, worn and old armour that he wore to hide himself from the outside world, the armour used to contain the blistering force of the heart of a sun. And, with a simple blink, that look was gone, replaced by a detached, almost blank look as The Doctor spoke up in a cold, whispered voice, barely contained anger bubbling beneath the almost calm exterior. “Do you want to save your princess?” Rarity gulped loudly before nodding, the five other mares looking at her expectantly. “Good, now into the corner!” With that The Doctor's happy, bubbly voice returned as Rarity and the five other mares hastily made their way over to the dark corner, Twilight barely hearing what escaped The Doctor's throat next in a whisper. “Time to work my magic.” “Uh, Doctor, you're an earth pony, you don't have any magic.” “...That, Twilight, just quite superbly ruined the moment.” [.] “And voilà!” Ten minutes had gone by, ten long minutes in which the group of six girls had had to put up with standing or sitting in a dusty, musty corner of the town hall that had obviously not been cleaned in many years, the unsettling grime making many a pony sneeze aloud. A deep silt layer of dirt smothered the wooden floor of the town hall, making the white fashionista let out a slight wail of terror every time a single smidgeon of dust settled upon her pristine coat. Ten minutes had gone past, ten arduous minutes in which Twilight and Twilight alone had been called over by the crazed, muttering and rapidly moving brown colt, his back turned to the rest of the group to hide whatever mystery he was creating until he would rotate his head back and call for the lavender mare. Twilight would arrive and, without a moments hesitation, The Doctor would stand straight up and gaze furiously at her horn before sending her away again, muttering equations and smiling goofily every once in a while. And now finally, finally, after ten minutes of non-stop staring contests, in which Pinkie and Applejack would usually win, Fluttershy being simply too timid to deploy her Stare and multiple games of rock, paper, scissors which, believe it or not, was a very tough game to play with only hooves, finally after ten minutes which felt like ten hours, the six mares trotted out of the dark corner, anger blazing in Rarity's eyes as she gazed upon the cocky, unapologetic colt before her. Now he stood before them, one hoof behind his back, obviously holding something rather large and bulky, if judging by the hefty shadowed object laying upon his coat as he spoke up in a jubilant voice. “I know it took a while, what with me being screwdriver-less but I did manage to get it all done, quite a feat if you ask me.” Rarity stepped forward, ego still bruised from having to wait in a dark corner whilst a colt she had only recently met tinkered away at some unknown object, the fashionista's voice piping up shrilly. “And what exactly is 'it'?” The Doctor smiled as he moved his hoof held item into the light bouncing from one large window. “This, is the key to your princess's salvation.” Salvation came in the form of a rather crude, bizarre and strangely enticing looking object that had a most peculiar smell whilst making frequent beeping noises. The body of the mysterious device was made up of the wooden boards, brought quite cleverly by Pinkie with sellotape and Applejack's red hair band keeping the whole thing packed tightly together, strange lights flickering beneath the wood. Many tin cans lay on the complexion of the wood, each one beeping quite furiously, odd wires poking out of the metal tops. A strange button like object sat on the side, drilled quite ruggedly into the metal by force of hoof and umbrella handle, the small red button being a piece of the recently scrapped tractor motor. The fan of the tractor was seated on the back of the device, spinning frantically with a bright, strobing light bulb seated directly above it, occasionally beeping. A single spoon jutted from the top of the wooden box, pointing towards the heavens and rotating slowly but surely. The umbrella lay at the front of the machine, tattered fabric top laying exposed to form a dome of sorts pointing inwards, not outwards so that it made an almost crater-like look. A simple whisk lay on the side, attached via its rotating handle to the wooden box, The Doctor's hoof resting on the top of the device, clenching it firmly. “What in tha blue blazes is that thing?” The Doctor frowned. “I know it isn't the most handsome of devices Miss Applejack but it'll do the job.” Twilight trotted forward until she stood nearly nose to nose with The Doctor, eyes blazing curiously but in an almost suspicious manner also as she spoke up. “And what is the job then? What exactly is this machine going to do?” The Doctor smiled disjointedly at her rather close appearance, speaking up in a somewhat spooked voice. “You told me that your teleportation magic would not work long distances for you didn't have the energy. This device here, this wonderful piece of work, is going to literally shoot your magical energy straight into the mountain city of yours using particle distribution ejection, thereby getting us to Canterlot in a matter of, oh, let's say seconds.” Five mares looked on, perplexed at the use of, to put it in an Applejack fashion 'fancy wordplay' whilst Twilight blinked in surprise, before she peered closely at the still beeping, still blinking box of junk. “This...this thing can send us to Canterlot? How? I mean, Equestria has never heard of this type of technology, let alone seen it!” The Doctor allowed himself a more warm, more natural smile as he began his explanation. “Well, I managed to guess from the teleportation spell you showed me earlier that what happens when one teleports is a complete de-configuration of atoms and particles and then reconfiguration at a certain area, one which the spell, or scientifically, the atomic mass has been directed in... ...Now, I thought to myself, how could I possibly speed up the process of Twilight teleporting us to Canterlot? And, ah, I was going to hook you up to a giant battery at first but that probably wouldn't work.” Twilight piped up. “Because magical energy doesn't run on electricity?” “No, because you'd be killed instantly. Anyway, I then thought that perhaps I could create an ejection device, capable of capturing the atomic mass and send it flinging past normal distances through the use of a relay dome, hence the umbrella... ...This device will gather our atoms, our physical and mental forms and send them whizzing away at incredible speeds and over long distances to get us into Canterlot in a relatively fast manner. And from there on out it's just a manner of us finding the plasmavore and stopping it.” Twilight blinked, the five mares behind her now even more bamboozled by the big words, the lavender mare suddenly voicing a question that had been sitting in her mind for a while now. “And why did you keep calling me over only to take one look at me and send me away again?” The Doctor opened his mouth to reply before he was silenced by the confused but still regal voice of Rarity. “And what in Equestria did you do with my jelly?” “Well number one, I kept calling you over Twilight so I could get a look at that horn of yours, it is quite big really, thereby allowing me to judge how much magic you could physically store in one burst, letting me set the highest and lowest points for the device to stop it from, eh, blowing up.” Twilight blushed at the pointing out of her rather large horn before she blanched a little at the exploding comment, The Doctor continuing onwards like he had said nothing out of the ordinary. “And about the jelly, well, half of it is resting quite snugly in my stomach and the other half is powering the machine.” A chorus of voices rose up from the six mares, ranging from Twilight's begging, pleading insights into the mysterious devices technology to Rainbow Dash's constant begging into why he hadn't saved some of the jelly for her. “Look.” “So, if I just relayed the red wire I could make a...a cooking device?” “Look!” “Aw man, I love Rarity's green jelly, why didn't ya save me some?” “Look!” This silenced the group as The Doctor trotted away to head to a nearby window, gazing out of it at Canterlot with a feverish energy. “Look, we don't have long. The train has probably arrived by now and I'd rather stop a royal murder then catch a royal murderer so lets just get down to business. Now Twilight, get that bulky horn of yours over here.” Twilight trotted over, joined cautiously by five other mares, each one shooting each other furiously nervous looks as The Doctor started cranking up the whisk, creating an odd whirring noise from the machine followed by a much faster selection of blinking lights. “Now Twilight I'm going to want you to-Ah, wait a minute.” Before the girls could ask what he was doing, what he was planning The Doctor had already raised one hoof up and slammed it into one of the many glass panels of the window, shattering it and causing some nearby lights to turn on in the village, followed by hoarse shouting. “Why did ya do that!?” “Particle ejection from this particular machine Applejack needs to have a free range to the destination, if we were to pass through a solid object, even one as thin as glass then we'd end up halfway inside of it.” This caused six mares to pale and slowly start to back away from The Doctor, who turned around to shoot them an apologetic but also confident grin that helped to alleviate their fears as more and more lights began to flicker on around the town. “Don't worry, I've cleared the way to Canterlot. We'll be fine.” “A-and what...what about t-the mountain?” “Oh trust me, I have perfect aim and coordination at this sort of thing.” With that The Doctor turned around swiftly, slamming the box into the wall with a loud thud that caused even more lights to pop up around Ponyville as the jingling of metal hitting wood sounded again, The Doctor cringing as he gazed down to inspect the damage he had done to his precious box. Laying on the floor was a single tin can. The Doctor gazed at the can almost hazardously, six mares gazing at The Doctor worriedly before he turned his head back to them wearing a false smile. “Meh, that part was just for display anyway. C'mon, I think I may have woken the town up with that one.” Now that he mentioned it, they could hear the distance shouting of citizens and the heavy thump of somepony racing up the stairs with gusto. Twilight was jolted out of her listening by the loud and slightly stress-strained voice of The Doctor. “Twilight, get the others and get over here quickly please. I'd rather not stay here for any longer.” Twilight nodded before she rounded up the rest of her five friends and pushed and shoved them forward until they all were standing, or in Fluttershy's case shivering, before The Doctor who was tweaking the machine and gazing at Canterlot. He turned around quite suddenly, making everypony jump as his voice spoke up with barely contained excitement. “Everypony ready?” “Oh, I-I don't know. W-w-what happens to us if...if we h-hit the moutain. Oh, I don't want to-to be a m-mountain, that would b-be terri-” Fluttershy was silenced by a soft, delicate brown hoof to her mouth, making her blush as The Doctor leaned in closer to look deep into her eyes, blue and teal orbs sparking as his voice rose up with such warmth, such compassion, confidence and care that it made Fluttershy's worries melt away like butter, as she came to realize that around him, around this mysterious colt from the stars there would be nothing, nothing that would ever hurt her or her friends. “Trust me, I'm The Doctor.” Fluttershy nodded drunkly as The Doctor wheeled around, planting the box in between the panel of glass he had shattered, cranking the whisk ferociously, making the bulb blink quicker and quicker, making the beeping faster and faster, nearly drowning out the noise of the approaching pony on the stairs. His voice broke through, high and forced through the cacophony of mechanical sounds. “Twilight, aim your teleportation for the spinning fan!” Twilight nodded before her horn lit up a brilliant purple colour, dousing the room in lavender hues as she pictured her friends and her, along with The Doctor, vanishing and appearing at the fan and the fan alone, disallowing the beeping or the whirring to sink into her thoughts. A bolt of purple light spewed from her horn and slammed into the fan, causing it to spin swiftly and powerfully, creaking and becoming a blur in seconds, colouring it a faint purple that seemed to expand until it encompassed the whole group like a massive lavender bubble, the Doctor still pumping the whisk but now grinning loudly, laughing and whooping as the bubble began to retract before he ushered one word from his mouth, louder then any other noise. “Geronimo!” With a flash of bright purple light and the click of a button, the group of seven, along with the machine vanished, fizzing and fading out of existence just as the door to the town hall top floor opened, revealing a bedraggled and angry looking Mayor Mare. [.] The first thing The Doctor noticed was the crisp, burnt feel of his fur plastered to his body and the faint but present scent of something smouldering and singed lacing the air. The second thing The Doctor noticed was that his hoof, which was once gripping the particle ejection device, or P.E.D if you want, now held on to a certain purple hoof with an incredibly firm grip. The third thing he noticed was that he was on a mountain side and that his hoof grip was an extremely, extremely strenuous hold to keep up. The final thing he noticed, with a sharp intake of breath and a straining of muscles, was that six mares were dangling off the lip of the mountain, swinging and swaying high above the city of Canterlot with only his single brown hoof anchoring them from falling into a dark abyss. I may have misjudged the direction. And then, of course, the screaming started. It started off with the fluffy, wide eyed and bushy tailed Rarity who was dangling right at the bottom of the endangered group, two white hooves clutched firmly onto Fluttershy whilst she opened her mouth to belt out a powerful shriek. This in turn caused Fluttershy to jolt in fright, making the group of dangling ponies start to sway disjointedly and forcing a similar scream of terror out of the butter yellow mouth. Applejack, who was being clutched by Fluttershy and was, in turn, clutching Pinkie Pie merely shivered in fright, not voicing her horror but instead opting to stare upwards with wide, twitching eyes, breath panting outwards as she refused, simply refused to look downwards. Pinkie was holding Rainbow Dash and even the bubbly pink mare looked frightened and nervous at their predicament, bouncy hair deflating slightly as she held back a few prickly tears, instead staring upwards at the swaying rainbow tail before her. Rainbow Dash, much to The Doctor's surprise, was desperately trying to fly with the weight of the others, teeth gripping Twilight's tail as she fruitlessly but vigorously flapped her wings, sweat racing off of her from the effort. Twilight was merely looking at The Doctor, hoof around his own in a vice like feel, purple eyes staring into The Doctor's with two brutal emotions. Fear and betrayal. Fear of dying here and now, fear of never seeing Spike, never getting married, never having foals. Fear of failing Equestria, fear of letting her princess die, fear of letting that monster win. And then betrayal, such a deep rooted betrayal. She had trusted him, she had believed him and followed his every word like it was a religion and now he had failed them, he had led them to their deaths like lambs to slaughter. The Doctor glanced down at those eyes and he saw those emotions, he felt them tear into him like claws, he felt the betrayal drill him to the core before he broke his gaze, desperately searching around for something that could help, straining under the weight, hooves dragging along the rocky mountain ledge. His hawk-like gaze locked onto the battered but still strobing and beeping particle ejection device, laying a short but seemingly long distance behind him, wood panels cracked, bulb broken but fan still spinning. With a great heave and a deep, drawn-out sigh of pain and frustration, The Doctor pulled feverishly on Twilight's hoof, Timelord strength coming into play as he managed to yank her closer and closer to the edge, allowing her to get a hoof grip on the rocky side before his strength gave out and he stumbled forward, knocking Twilight off her perch with a yelp yet still stubbornly refusing to let go of the mares. The Doctor glanced back severely at the cracked wooden box that lay a mere few hoof steps behind him, taunting him with its closest and yet so far out of his reach. The Doctor let out a strangled gasp as he felt himself sliding towards the edge, hearing the screams heighten in pitch before, with a struggled grunt, he managed to pull backwards until he rested in his original position, panting heavily, dust and dirt clotting his coat disturbingly like he had just dug his way out of his own grave. The Doctor risked another glare backwards, noting how close the box seemed to be before he saw a swift, flicking movement behind him that made him groan, not in fear or in pain but in a deep sense of idiocy. Here he was, an equine, and yet he had managed to completely forget one of the basic biological signs of an equine. The flicky-wicky tail. The Doctor slid forward partially, making Twilight's eyes bug once more before he righted himself, sweat trickling down his face, eyes scrunched up in agony as his hoof screamed at him to let go, to allow this horrid weight to depart. The Doctor closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, feeling his tail swish and flick, willing it to smash into the box, to whip underneath it and send it spinning into his grasp. He felt his tail spin and smack into the box, he felt the P.E.D give slightly, he felt it move an inch before he yelled out in pain as he was yanked forward once more, pulling back with all his force to make sure he didn't fall, to make sure he didn't fail them. He squeezed his eyes shut again, allowing his mind to focus entirely on his tails every flick and movement, feeling it bump into the particle ejection device again, feeling it once more give before the strained weight forced his mind to return to the land of the living as he dug his hooves in to stop himself and the others falling. The Doctor tried to back up, to return to his position but he couldn't, the weight was too much, the strain too heavy on his limbs that he could only watch in horror as he started to slowly, slowly slide forward, feeling the dip of the mares, hearing the pounding of his hearts and the swish of his tail and, strangely enough, his swaying brown tail still rested over the box, still tickled the wooden frame. The Doctor grunted as he shunted forward another inch, giving up precious ground and causing the mares below him to scream, every single one of them, including Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The Doctor closed his eyes once more and allowed all other thoughts to flee, all other trickling ideas in his mind to cease as he put all of his focus and hope, strength and determination into the gentle lapping of his tail upon the box. This was his last chance, his last hope before he fell to far out of its reach, before he failed them. His tail slammed into the P.E.D with the ferocity of a stampeding Krafayis, with the force of a great typhoon, sending the wooden box spinning and rocketing towards him and, much to The Doctor's horror, sending it bolting past him until it rested carelessly and rivetingly on the edge of the lip of the mountain, swaying back and forth between safety and the long plummet. With horror filled eyes, The Doctor watched the P.E.D tilt, stutter and then fall off the edge of the cliff. With horror filled eyes, Twilight Sparkle watched The Doctor grunt and then race forward, allowing the weight to overtake him as he leapt off the edge of the cliff and towards whatever object had recently sailed past her head. Six mares and one alien toppled off the cliff and towards the ground, six colourful ponies screaming in absolute, astonished and terrified fear, one brown furred alien whooping loudly, tears springing into his eyes at the velocity of his descent as slowly but surely he began to catch up to the dizzying, rotating box. Rainbow Dash tried to fly, to spread her wings and catch her friends but the strain of trying to do so earlier, the pressure of attempting to lift up four of her friends along with herself had left her wings a quivering mess of aches and pains. The Doctor roared in triumph, the sound quickly swallowed up by the punching wind that thocked him hard in the face as his hooves enveloped the P.E.D, six mares falling behind him mistaking the sound of victory for one of terror and thus increased their screams. The Doctor whistled and whirled around in the air so that his back pointed towards the floor, looking at the still shrieking Twilight before he yelled up to her in a wind-torn voice. “Twilight, get the girls together!” If Twilight heard him she made no sign, instead opting to scream even louder as the city rushed up to meet them, The Doctor now roaring in fear and a fierce determination to live. “Twilight, girls, together, now!” Now she heard him, purple fizzing from her horn and drawing her friends forth into a tight huddle, tears streaming from everyponies eyes, whether it be from fear or velocity The Doctor couldn't tell. “Alright, now aim your teleport at the fan again!” Twilight screamed down at him, tension and fear making her voice high. “Are you crazy!? Look where that got us last time!” The Doctor couldn't suppress a humoured grin from breaking across his face as he yelled up to her once again. “I haven't let you down yet, not unless we splat against this floor so just trust me!” Twilight shrieked in terror but, much to The Doctor's shock, started to charge up her spell, knowing that at this velocity she would be lucky to be able to teleport inches through the air resistance and fear. The Doctor furiously cranked the whisk, making the bulb flash faster and faster, making the beeping louder and louder, pained hoof groaning under the movement. With a cry of fear and pain, Twilight's horn exploded in a powerful purple light, a blast of raw power spiralling into the fan and causing it to tremble and squeak with force, spinning faster than the eye could see. The Doctor moved the P.E.D so the umbrella was facing the castle, feeling how close the ground was to him, seeing large pillared homes fly past him, feeling the cold air whip him, seeing the faint purple shield surround them, the floor rushing up closer and closer to them, the faint sound of a pop and a fizz, an explosion of light and then. Nothing but darkness. [.] It had been all too easy. First those two bumbling, moronic colts had dared to stand up against it, had dared to fight it and now they lay broken and dead beside the tracks far from civilization. Then it had been a mere task of following its nose, chasing the scent of the powerful, all present and yet hidden victim. It had, quite unfortunately, bumped into a pony on its journey and to spare any awkward questions being asked, it had resorted to merely breaking her neck. There would be no feeding yet, no point spoiling the meal after all. It had taken fifteen minutes to locate the source of the intoxicating, powerful and vibrant smell and now it stood on the outside of a pair of heavy golden gleaming gates with two equally golden gleaming guards beside it, each casting occasional glances at it as it breathed in deeply, tasting the scent with satisfaction, eyes gleaming hungrily and mouth upturned in a vicious smile. Quite casually, it stalked up to the gates and raised a single green hoof to push the great metal bars open before it was halted by the sudden movement of the two guards, each coming up on separate sides of it, the grey stallion on its right speaking up in a deep but commanding voice. “What do you think you are doing?” Speed, that was key here. It needed to be quick, to get rid of them with a swift movement before they could raise any sort of alarm, before they could alert its presence to any other pony nearby. With stunning speed, twin green hooves rocketed out from its side and grabbed the guards behind their gold domed heads, blue plumes of battle armour whistling in the wind as the plasmavore brought its hooves together, smashing the guards faces against each other and causing both of them to crumple and faint, the small sounds of metal striking metal swinging through the air as the plasmavore stepped over the unconscious bodies, opening the golden gates with a creak as it stepped into the beautiful gardens leading up to the castle. With a cracked, brutal smile the plasmavore trotted calmly into the darkness of the gardens, working its way off of the worn path leading up towards a massive castle structure, glancing back at the twin bodies with disgust. I suppose I can't go killing them, not yet at least. It'd raise too many questions. The plasmavore turned back to its journey, smirking evilly once more as it trotted quietly but swiftly over bushels of roses and great mounds of beautiful white flowers, crushing them beneath its hooves like they were ants. It wormed its way up the less beaten path until it rested in the shadows beside a pair of large red doors, each one at least quadruple its size and blazing a deep blood crimson. A similar pair of guards stood stoically and impassively outside of the doors making the plasmavore grin in excitement as it stalked silently out of the shadows towards the first guard who had his eyes set solidly on the area in front of him, not beside him. The guard didn't know what hit him with the force of a train but what he did know as he passed out into the black void was that he was going to feel it tomorrow. Immediately the second guard turned to the disguised plasmavore, eyes wide as he opened his mouth to shout a warning, the sound rather swiftly muffled as the plasmavore tore the helmet off the unconscious guard at its hooves and threw it full force at the other guards head, making a deep bonging noise that echoed around the garden, both guards now laying in furry heaps on the floor. With a dark chuckle the plasmavore turned back to the double set of doors, cracked its neck and moved forward, twin hooves pushing and straining against the metal door, making it open with a loud groan of protest. The plasmavore allowed itself a dark laugh and a tightening of lips that vaguely resembled a happy smile as it turned to face the now open chamber, the single door it had opened leaning back as fully as possible. Almost immediately, it felt a drawing to something in the room as the scent grew heavier then ever, as its stolen eyes rotated to peer at the figure that sat on a throne of deep red and sparkling gold, as those stolen eyes widened in sadistic joy and immeasurable evil intentions at the sight that greeted it. There was a pony, if that could be what it was classified as. It easily resembled a horse form the human world, most certainly standing taller than the plasmavore in its sickly form, it could quite clearly gather that even if the pony was sitting down. It seemed to gleam a marble white like the walls of the chamber, twinkling magenta eyes widening slightly as it took in the strange visitor and the plasmavore couldn't help but notice how tired those eyes looked. A flowing pastel mane danced and spun around her, disobeying gravity with a middle finger, twirling and looping elegantly so that it almost enraptured the attention of the plasmavore. A beautiful pair of wings lay on its side along with a single, large and deadly looking white horn that extended from its head. It seemed to be regarding the concealed plasmavore with curious yet suspicious eyes that still didn't manage to mask the deep layer of motherly care and love that this creature had developed, a look that made the plasmavore want to vomit. So caught up by the sight of its prey, the plasmavore didn't notice the four guards that had surrounded it went it had entered, only coming back into the land of the living after one of the guards spoke up in a cold voice. “Do you have an appointment with the princess?” Princess, eh? I can work with that sort of power. The plasmavore cleared its throat obnoxiously and began to speak in a refined voice that dripped with malice. “Why no I don't, you see I came here to kill her so I didn't really think I needed, or would get an appointment for that sort of business.” It had to hand it to them, the guards were fast. As soon as it had finished its little speech, the four of them had thrown themselves at it, trying to grapple and contain the plasmavore to little avail. The plasmavore laughed in childish glee as it threw a fist at the first guard that came close, making the poor stallion reel backwards in shock, clutching a bleeding and broken nose. The second stallion was far more unlucky, the plasmavore brining both hooves down on either side of its head to burst the poor colt's eardrums and send him spinning into unconsciousness. The third and fourth came together, quickly followed by the wounded but growling first stallion, throwing themselves on top of the plasmavore. The four of them appeared to wrestle on the floor for what felt like hours and yet must only have been seconds before one stallion suddenly staggered away, clutching a broken foreleg and cursing, followed by another stallion that was sent toppling to the floor by a blow to the back of the head and then, finally, the third and final stallion who was sent careening out of the pile to land with a sickening thud and crack on the marble floor. The plasmavore immediately bursting forward and ramming into the last standing stallion, driving itself into his injured leg and rocketing a hoof into his armoured face, causing the colt to stumble and fall to the floor. The fight, if you could call it that, had lasted a mere thirty seconds. The plasmavore spat on the face of one of the floored guards as it trotted past, smirking as it twisted its gaze up to meet that of its victim who was staring at him with blazing fury, eyes twinkling angrily, wind whipping around her as she stood up from her massive throne, making the plasmavore gulp nervously as she levelled her long and rather pointy horn at it, voice rising from her throat like a tidal wave laced with rage. “Nopony hurts my ponies!” The plasmavore blinked in pain as a ball of bright, burning yellow light formed at the edge of her horn, crackling and shrieking with energy, making the unfortunate alien take a step back out of fear, eyes widening as it realized it may have underestimated its opponent. Before it could run and flee, before it could leave and form a better plan, the ball of burning, scorching light screamed and exploded from the horn of the white pony, chasing towards it at the speed of a bullet. The plasmavore closed its eyes in fear as the ball grew closer and closer until. Nothing. Hesitantly, the plasmavore opened its eyes, almost immediately noticing the look of confusion and fear on the face of its victim before it looked down at itself, noting how unscathed its body seemed, containing a sigh of relief as it looked up at the baffled princess with a cocky smile that suggested it knew what would happen all along. “You can't hurt me with your useless magic, I am a far greater being than you or any of these pathetic little ponies!” That seemed to draw the princess out, the rage and anger that had once spewed from her now rekindling at the abusive tone of the disturbingly maddening colt before her, her voice speaking up regally but coldly, laced with hatred. “What do you want?” “Revenge. And you will help me get it.” Celestia frowned darkly. “I will do no such thing.” The plasmavore allowed itself a chuckle, moving forward on shaking legs, the adrenaline of the near death experience fleeing its body. “Perhaps you won't but your body certainly will.” Celestia blinked in confusion, noting the movements of the stallion and yet enriely focused on his every word. “What...what do you mean?” “What I mean, princess, is that I am going to come over there, I am going to kill you, take your body as my own, kill my age old nemesis with it and then, just to top it all off, I think I will drive this weak, fragile little country into the ground.” Celestia growled deep in her throat, anger bubbling beneath her regal form as she stood stone still before the stallion, lightning like rage sparking off of her as she spoke up in a whisper of a voice. “I will stop you.” The plasmavore snorted in mirth as it trotted forward until it rested before Celestia, a great stained window to its left, sparkling and dazzling with colours. “There is only one that could hope to stop me and he is far, far away.” And then, quite swiftly, another sound filtered into the room, the plasmavore suddenly freezing in place as an eerily familiar shout tore through the chamber, followed by the tinkling sound of shattering glass originating from the left of its taken body. The plasmavore turned just in time to see a brown blur rocket into its side. [.] Moments earlier Darkness. And then life. “Ugh, Doctor?” The Doctor groaned loudly as he yanked himself to his hooves, eyes closed tightly as he shook his head from side to side, trying to clear his mind of the dizzying stars that swirled and laughed around him. He merely offered a low groan to whoever had called his name, content that they would get the message that right now he wasn't feeling like the full ship-shape Timelord. Sadly, his unsaid and yet clear expression of 'please leave me alone for a few seconds' was ignored. “Doctor!” With a muffled, sleepy snort The Doctor reared his head at the noise, eyes squinting as he made out the form of a slightly staggering Twilight Sparkle, along with five other mares who were laying in separate, contrasting positions of dizziness, Rainbow Dash with her head in her hooves, Applejack queasily standing, Rarity hunched over, head down but legs straight, Fluttershy merely laying spread eagled on the floor and Pinkie Pie remaining standing, stock still and silent. “WasaTwilight?” Twilight frowned at the confusing medley of words before The Doctor shook his head, letting out a little sigh before turning to face her fully, eyes swimming but now shining with the old flame of determination. “Ah, that's better. Sorry about that everypony, motion sickness from a descent like that coupled with a rather, ah, interesting teleport can make the best of travellers sick.” Somewhere from behind Twilight, the sound of a pony getting rid of their dinner in a most overzealous way could be heard. The Doctor turned around to inspect the area of landing properly before he flinched and flailed backwards at the sight of the ground looming beneath him. With a startled yelp, he thrust himself away from the railing-less edge that was smothered in darkness, bumping his flank into something cold and hard. The Doctor turned around to inspect the strange structure and yet, in the pitch blackness of night, it was growing increasingly difficult to distinguish anything, his viewing of the girls merely being because each one of them stood out so brightly in the night, along with the fact that nearly every one of them was moving in some form. The Doctor wheeled around to face Twilight, question bursting from his throat. “Ah, where exactly are we Twilight? You did grow up here, right?” Twilight nodded, speaking up in a confident, if somewhat irritated voice. “We appear to be on one of the bird rests on the outside of one of the Canterlot Castle towers, which means tha-” “Wait, a bird rest?” “Yes, a bird rest. Birds have to have a place to bunker down every once in a while so the princess made sure there was a circle around the tower that would let them merely cling to and relax, the exact area we are standing on is a bird's rest, hence why there are no railings.” The Doctor nodded sagely, as if that made any sense to him at all. “Anyway, carry on Twilight.” “Well, if we are on one of the tower ledges then that means that directly below us should be the-” The Doctor butted in rather rudely. “Throne room?” Twilight blinked in bafflement before she nodded slowly, followed by an equally slow voice. “How did you know?” The Doctor smiled before indicating with a tilt of his head to the right, piping up in a happy voice. “Well, I'm guessing that massive stain glass windows aren't for every room in this castle and I also guessed that that rather large, rather royal looking silhouette in that window just there must be your princess.” Twilight blinked once more before she tilted her head gradually towards the stained window, a small smile blooming across her face as she saw the figure of her mentor illuminated from the inside. “Yes, that's her. Who's the other figure though?” Now it was The Doctor's turn to blink in confusion. “Other figure?” Twilight nodded, still looking at the stained glass window below and across from her, brow furrowing. “Yeah. Whoever it is, they're getting pretty close to the princess.” The Doctor frowned before a look of worry came across his face, his eyes casting their sight down towards the figure of Celestia and the other, mysterious figure before The Doctor's voice shattered the silent viewing of the two. “Well, it looks like I'm needed down there.” The Doctor began to back up from his perch, eyes narrowed and blazing at the stained glass, Twilight turning around to stare at him without comprehension, speaking up quietly. “What are you doing?” The Doctor smiled as he stopped moving backwards, flashing a white toothed grin at Twilight. “Something stupid and dangerous. I'll meet you down there in a minute Twilight, do not leave me waiting.” Before Twilight could say anything, before she could rebuke him, refute him or simply recite what he had said The Doctor had lowered his head to the marble ground, snorted air out of his nostrils and then charged towards the edge of the ledge, head rising up to cry out a battle call as he launched himself off of the tower and towards the relatively close but relatively distanced window, the cry of a warrior soon turning into the shrieking of a mare who recently discovered a spider. The Doctor's eyes widened as he soared through the air, tears ripped from his blue orbs and mouth open in a scream of fright as he flew quickly towards the window, his mind frantically berating him at his miss judgement of the distance. Still, the scientific, serious part of his mind couldn't quite hold back the joy The Doctor felt as the wind whipped through his hair, as the scenery whizzed past, as the feeling of complete and utter weightlessness took him over. No, perhaps the rational side of his mind couldn't make him agree that this was a bad idea but the collision with a six foot tall, four foot wide stained glass window certainly could. The glass, that had once appeared fat and hard, shattered almost instantly beneath his hooves as he rammed into it, gravity making his movements forced and powerful, The Doctor falling through the window, still yelling out hoarsely as shards of glass rained down around him. He had the briefest moment to consider how beautiful the glass looked, sparkling in the faint torch light of the chamber before he impacted hard with something soft, furry and green. The breath left the old Timelord's body as he slammed into the plasmavore with all the ferocity of gravity on his side, sending both stallions spinning across the slippery marble floor, the plasmavore hitting the wall of the throne room with a light thud whilst The Doctor merely slid to a halt halfway across the room, his progress mostly halted by his collision with the stallion disguised alien. The plasmavore groaned from its fallen position as The Doctor climbed to his hooves, one brown appendage clutched tightly to his head as he began to mutter some rather rude things about himself. The Doctor moaned a little bit more as he clutched his head before the faint fizz and burst of bright white light tingled his vision, making him let out a chuckle as the familiar voice of Twilight Sparkle called to him angrily and worriedly from somewhere behind him. “What were you thinking!?” The Doctor laughed and then winced as the pain in his head trebled, turning to face Twilight with apologetic yet mirth filled eyes. “I have no idea.” Twilight looked positively distraught, her mane had, in a couple of seconds, turned into a curly mess of tangled locks and puffy fluff, her eyes had taken on a manic, angry and yet frightened look, her mouth set in a grim line and her brow furrowed with frustration and irritation. She seemed about to give The Doctor a good tongue lashing before something behind the brown alien stallion made her pause, eyes widening and her body forming into a bow of sorts. The Doctor turned around to face the stalking Celestia, who was currently eyeing the near unconscious plasmavore who was groaning in the corner, blood oozing from its taken body as the alicorn continued to trot closer to Twilight and The Doctor. Once more the sound of shattering glass filled the air as Rainbow Dash tore through a window, Applejack and Pinkie Pie clutched tightly in her hooves, the cyan mare visibly straining under the weight as the trio of ponies collapsed onto the floor, puffing and panting, Rainbow Dash red faced as Applejack turned to her to yell loudly, her southern accent becoming more prominent. “What did ya think ya was doin'? Thar was ah perfectly fine open window right thar!” Rainbow managed to pant out a sentence. “Wanted...to...make...an...entrance.” Pinkie Pie burst into giggles at the answer before the sound of heavy breathing once more filled the air, a tumbling Fluttershy clasping onto a frightened looking Rarity bursting through one of the shattered windows, sweat streaming down the butter yellow pegasus as she stumbled to the ground with a moan of pain, her wings twitching with the effort of hauling another pony. The squabble of ponies turned to face Twilight and The Doctor, beaming happily as they took notice that their two friends were relatively unscathed apart from a small nick lacing The Doctor's foreleg where one of the shards of glass had sliced into him. The happy glazed looks left the five faces however when they turned to face the baffled and stiff still figure of their daytime ruler, all five ponies immediately breaking into a bow much like Twilight had done, causing The Doctor to hastily try his own, the end result being him slapping his face into the marble, rearing up on his legs and clutching his bruised nose with a brown hoof, moaning louder at the cruelty of life. The sound of a highly regal and powerful voice, commanding yet caring echoed around the hall, laced with heavy tinges of confusion. “Twilight, would you mind telling me what is going on?” With that, the small lavender unicorn raced forward and physically leapt into the startled embrace of the white alicorn, gushing out her story like it was a waterfall, a bursting dam. “Ohmygoshprincess, IsawthisweirdobjecthittheEverfreeForestandthenTheDoctorcamealongandhe'sanalienandnowIdon'tknowhwhattodobecause-” Twilight was silenced by Celestia quite suddenly, the old voice rising up from the alicorn's throat swiftly. “Twilight please slow down!” Twilight took in a deep breath before she exhaled shakily, rubbing her cheek into the soft fur of her rulers chest, breathing in the scent that she had attached to her own protection, purple eyes opening to gaze lovingly at magenta ones as Celestia spoke up. “Good, now if you would, please repe-” “Fools!” The royal, mighty voice of the princess was swiftly and efficiently drowned out by the shrieking, mad voice of the rising plasmavore who was shaking and quivering on green hooves, eyeing the ponies with such hatred, such malice and rage that it made all but The Doctor and Celestia take a step back in fear. “You think this is over!? You think that you can just forget about me!? I'll kill you all tonight!” Spittle flew from the mouth of the plasmavore, the taking and protecting of its deliciously powerful meal being the last shove that sent it spinning over the edge into utter insanity as it barked at them like a dog. Before Celestia could voice her opinion with flame filled words, The Doctor stepped forward to speak in a calm voice. “You are outmatched, plasmavore and, if you hadn't noticed, we have three ponies here capable of magic.” The plasmavore laughed crazily, small froth trickling from its mouth. “I am immune to your silly little magic!” The Doctor blinked in surprise and confusion for a second before a look of realization spread across his face, swiftly dampened by the same serene look he had worn earlier, attempting to make the alien before him calm down. “It doesn't matter, you are hurt and we are many. I can't rid you of your punishment but I can make sure you aren't hurt in being captured so please, do the smart thing and come peacefully.” The plasmavore scoffed in anger and malice. “You think I would come peacefully? I'll kill you first, followed by these cutesy little sacks of fur!” The Doctor growled in anger, eyes flashing dangerously for a second as his voice rose up, cold and as unmoving as stone. “These are my friends and you will never, ever hurt them.” The plasmavore laughed monstrously, trotting slowly and quaveringly around the throne room, followed closely by The Doctor as it spoke up again. “Friends? Friends!? Have you even told them of yourself, of what you have done, of who you really are!?” The plasmavore continued moving until it rested near the throne of Celestia, eyes flashing quickly towards a wooden door that lay on the right side of the throne as The Doctor spoke up. “They know me, I have told them of myself and therefore, yes, I would call them friends. And I promise you, you make a run for that door and we will be on you in seconds. So, once more, why don't you just come in peacefully?” The plasmavore panicked slightly, voice rising higher and higher as the seven ponies and one confused by angered alicorn began to close in on its position. “Have you even told them how you got here!?” The Doctor paused in his approach almost hesitantly, eyes flicking around the room yet nopony seemed to notice his stutter of a stop, Rainbow Dash suddenly speaking up from somewhere to the left of him. “Yeah, he told us. He came into Equestria flying with that big box thingy!” The Doctor winced as the plasmavore turned its eyes on him, filled with perverse pleasure and a newly formulated plan, its voice hissing around the room as it spoke up in little more then a whisper that still managed to halt the approach of the ponies. “Flying with that big box thingy, hmm? Honestly Doctor, how could you lie to them?” Fluttershy was the first to defend him unjustly, speaking up in a surprisingly hard voice for the timid mare. “He would never lie to us, would you Doctor?” The Doctor's guilty look and reluctance to speak made Fluttershy stare at him with bewilderment, Applejack's voice following the pair. “Doctah?” The Doctor gulped audibly and began to speak in a cracked voice. “I...I-” “Tell them Doctor, tell them how you really got here.” The Doctor flashed the plasmavore a furious look before he turned to face the mares, eyes cast downwards as he spoke up in a monotonous voice. “I...I haven't been entirely truthful with you girls.” The plasmavore took one step towards the door, unnoticed by the others, Celestia herself gazing curiously at the colt. “I told you I came attached to the box. I...I lied to you.” Another step without notice. “I told you the box was a prison named The Pandorica but I never told you the prisoners name.” A third and then fourth step and still nopony made a move to stop the plasmavore. “The destroyer of worlds, the devourer of lives, the burning mass of anger and hatred that the box contained.” Fifth, sixth. “The creature who had the rage inside of him, the hatred and the vengeance to destroy his own species to end a war that would span all of creation.” Nopony noticed the plasmavore silently, quietly slip out of the wooden door, smirking with pleasure and triumph, disappearing into the night, so enraptured were they by the story that they would not have moved if a cannonball were to whiz over their heads. “The monster in the box, the last of its self murdered species. It's...” The mares leaned forward, followed by the long neck of Celestia bending down to hear the words she hoped, she prayed, she pleaded she wouldn't hear, to no avail. The Doctor whispered the last words raggedly and brokenly, sadness, guilt and such a deep, unsettling depression laying over his voice. “It's...it's me.” A/N: Took me long enough, eh? Sorry for the lack of updates, I've just been really, really busy lately what with the popularity of my new story and my trip to Berlin. I have another two chapters I reckon left of this story, the conclusion and then the teaser of the next story. Ah yes, first a Krafayis is the invisible monster first seen in the episode known as Vincent And The Doctor. Second, Celestia was on the throne at night for a reason so I'll explain that next chapter. I will also explain why the plasmavore isn't affected by magic but the good Doc is. Thirdly, I just worked for the past four hours to finish this so I really hope you all enjoy it and, of course, constructive criticism is welcome. Finally, I'd just like to say a big thank you for being patient with me and for supporting this story. I *sob* I love you guys. Through The Looking Lens: Part 1Through The Looking Lens: Part 1 The guards didn't know what had hit them, one moment they had been standing protectively beside the small, inconspicuous wooden door that, through a series of maze-like corridors and diabolically dead ends, led directly to the throne room of the royal sisters and the next minute they felt their life blood dripping through their partially shattered skulls, seeing the sanguine liquid drain and hearing the steady sounds of hoof-steps disappear into the night. Or, at least what they thought to be hoof-steps. Behind them the door creaked and groaned, buckling and writhing as the dastardly night air caught it time and time again, sending it rocking back and forth like a serenade aimed at the poor guards who lay in front of it, their eyesight dimming as the door shrieked and wailed them to the gates of Eternity. With one last shaky breath, both guards sank into the floor, the last thought flaming brightly in their minds being that they had failed in their duties before they simply ceased to be, their bodies now cooling. The plasmavore continued onwards into the night, shaking the small droplets of blood from its hands as it went, stomach growling and snarling at it to turn back and drain them first, to absorb their essence and their lives but its mind refused, deciding that the danger was too great, that the risk was too high. And so, with a dizzied mind, a battered body, blood-stained hands, a screaming stomach and a sick, murderous desire to destroy The Doctor, the plasmavore entered the gardens of the Canterlot Castle, vanishing into the shrubbery like a spectre, the leaves barely rustling as it strolled through them, its head constantly flicking backwards, expecting to see the brown stallion standing behind it, expecting to see the anger and the power held in those eyes, expecting to feel blistering pain and righteous wrath. Yet the wrath never came and so the plasmavore continued on its journey, nervous, afraid and worried but with a sense of growing confidence as the night heralded no destroyer of worlds, no great warrior or oncoming storm. No Doctor. With a creeping motion that would have put shadows to shame, the plasmavore sneaked and danced through the foliage and patterned, pretty plants until it stumbled upon a lone, white wall that spiralled higher and higher upwards, past the tops of the tallest trees. The edge of the garden, discovered and safeguarded by an unclimbed, unscaled wall that had sat at the edge of the castle for aeons and which would stand for aeons more. With a growl of anger, the plasmavore turned away from the wall and started to walk right, fear and anxiety returning as it desperately sought a means to escape the gardens before they came coming for it, torturing it, hurting it. No, no, no, no, that was its job, the torturing and the hurting and, eventually, the killing. Oh yes, it would enjoy the killing. Somewhere in the distance a bird chirped lightly, clearly disturbed by the small but noticeable noises that the plasmavore was making more and more frequently as it continued to search ruthlessly for an exit, no longer caring if a twig broke underneath it or if an animal darted away and scurried into the bushes in fright. With a snarl, the plasmavore lifted its head and hissed, hissed at the bird and the bird fell silent, fluttering away on shaking wings as the plasmavore continued forward, striding through dense greenery and intricate hedges before it emerged in a clearing, a wide open grassy plain with a single, notched and beaten wooden door directly in the centre where the wall sliced straight through the grass, its doorknob crusted with filth and disuses but still it acted as a lifeline for the plasmavore who sickeningly smiled with glee at the sight, bounding towards the door before The Doctor arrived, before The Doctor caught him. It reached the door; still no sign of The Doctor. With a light tug, the plasmavore attempted to open the door, being greeted by only a loud rattle and a lodged doorway, the sight infuriating and similarly petrifying the plasmavore as the sound exploded around the clearing, its cold eyes darting around, meeting no hunting party, not even a living soul. With an exhale of breath, the plasmavore pulled harder, feeling the door give way slightly with a groan before it yanked even harder, feeling the door give and become yanked outwards, nearly sending the plasmavore tumbling as it swung open. The plasmavore gazed into the darkness of the doorway for a second before it plunged inside, pulling the door closed with a silent click, attempting to muffle its sounds of escape though it may have been too late for such a task. The plasmavore turned around, eyes adjusting to the darkness as its vision fell open the twisted, rotting ladder that clung to the wall, twisting higher and higher before it punctured the face top of the cliff, clear night sky showing at its peak. The plasmavore frowned as it shambled over to the ladder, gripping it and shaking lightly, feeling the who0le thing creak and moan in pain but still it remained sturdy, the sight pushing a smile to the plasmavore's lips once more, a gesture that it had been doing far too much lately. It would have to stop that, smiling should be reserved for murder and crimes and blood, not creaky ladders in a freezing cold tower. And so, its face set in a scowl, the plasmavore swung onto the ladder and began to scale the old, decrepit, unused guard tower that had sat so alone and so lost among the grass and the greenery for so long. The plasmavore reached the top after what felt like minutes of climbing, the occasional stop inhibiting its climb as the ladder felt close to buckling beneath it or as a dim shout could be heard in the background, nearly always emerging from the city but nearly always making the plasmavore jump and freeze. It emerged from the guard tower like an ant sprouting from a hill, yanking its white, slimy body upwards and out of the gap before it looked around, gazing upon the city from its vantage point. Faint lights flickered in the occasional house and a small cluster if bright lights continued to paint the city, obviously from taverns and bars but that was not important because the plasmavore knew, it just knew, as the wind tugged at it, as the night sky chilled it, as the sounds of laughter and snoring drifted to its ears, it just knew that it was free. It just knew that in this city it could feed. It just knew that in this city it could lure The Doctor like a moth to a flame. It just knew it could kill him when he came strolling in like the hero. The plasmavore laughed doggedly as it imagined the looks on the faces of The Doctor's friends when he emerged from the dark city, unharmed and unscathed wearing the body of The Doctor, how relieved they would be and then, its personal favourite part, how horrified and terrified they would be when they realized the truth. Oh yes, when The Doctor came for it in this big, old, stinking, filthy city it would be waiting for him. But it was not there yet, it had not entered this treacherous town yet and so, with a swift glance backwards, the plasmavore gazed at the ground in the distance, felt the wind break across its face and it jumped. And it fell, faster and faster, quicker and quicker, the ground grew closer and closer before its legs slammed hard into the earthy ground, until its innermost mechanisms bolted and squeezed together like a coiled spring, absorbing the impact nicely just as it hit the ground, tumbling and cursing lightly as the pain still managed to snake its way up its legs, as its legs failed to stop every ounce of impact force, causing the plasmavore's right leg to buckle under the strain, nearly tearing what feeble muscle it had before the plasmavore rolled to a stop on the grassy ground, feeling the dew soak into it almost comfortingly before it climbed to its feet, noting the screaming pain in its leg but refusing to acknowledge it as it limped towards the large city, nose already working furiously, mouth salivating as it searched for something to eat, for something to quench this uncontrollable hunger. The plasmavore limped into the city, submerging itself in the shadowed refines of the houses, noting the delicious sounds and smells emanating- no -exploding out of the tavern to its right, stomach straining at it to simply go in there and butcher, kill, drain every living thing, its mind telling it to find an easier target. With a near roar of fury, the plasmavore turned from the feast that lay behind closed doors and stumbled further into the city, feeling the dark tendrils of the night wrap around and hide his form from the view of any looking creature. It walked and walked and walked for minutes, constantly stopping at inns and taverns, constantly debating with itself whether or not it was worth it, weighing perverse pleasure against silence and stealth, the mentally empowered side of its mind always winning the little arguments, always making it go on with a snarl of anger, eyes narrowing and tongue lolling out to lick around its lips. Soon enough it emerged into a vast clearing, houses laying around it in a vast, grey circle, the pavement turning to cobblestones, a quadruple set of trees dotted around the clearing bringing some much needed natural effect to the city. In the centre of the clearing sat a large and exaggerated fountain, spewing water from what appeared to be the mouths of three ponies that looked to be dancing, jiving and jumping over each other, the thin streams of liquid blasting and then drooping into the water below to create a soft splashing sound that echoed invitingly around the clearing. It was here that the plasmavore picked up on the sound. Crying. The faint sobs of fear and worry and anxiety filled the air around the plasmavore, making its heart pump faster, making its mouth dribble with hunger, making its darkened soul soar higher and higher. With careful steps, the plasmavore moved around the clearing until, through a faint parting of shimmering moonlight, something caught its view. There was something hunched over the edge of the fountain, head on hooves, shoulders shaking as it wept and wept and wept openly, little body convulsing in sobs. It looked depressed, lost, saddened, broken. It looked delicious. With silent steps, the plasmavore approached, taking note of its new victim and how it looked, how it seemed, its strengths, its weaknesses. The body was small, smaller than that of the average pony it had met before and so, with lightning fast deduction, the plasmavore came to the conclusion that it was an infant, a foal or filly. Judging by the high notes of its cries, it seemed to be a filly. Its coat was a vivid orange that was smudged and smeared with dirt, odd tweaks of hair jutting up from random intervals, its little tattoo mark coated in a sheen of filth yet still it seemed to closely resemble a mountain. The small filly had a pair of fluttering, quivering wings that jostled and tossed in the night air, thin feathers falling occasionally from them. A mane and tail of midnight black sprouted from its head and rump, hiding its face from view but not hiding its tears that slid and dripped to the floor beneath it, creating a small puddle outside the fountain. At first the plasmavore wanted to snort in disgust at the idea of taking a weak, wimpy child but soon enough the benefits sprouted into its mind, causing the plasmavore to sink into a small crouch and began to lumber like a hunter towards its prey, the sounds of crying growing considerably louder. Its talons clicked on the cobblestone just once, just as it made to dart out of the treeline and silence the filly. The small ponies head instantly swivelled, ears perking up as its lavender, but blood-shot, eyes came into focused, fixed on the crouching mass of the plasmavore, mistaking it for a pony. Its voice was high, warbled and scared as it spoke up. “Have you seen my mummy?” With a single step, the plasmavore entered the clearing, its arrival making the filly shrink away in fear as it spoke up in a deathly quiet tone. “No,” it said as it drew close, eyes glittering maliciously, “I haven't seen your mummy and I don't think mummy will be seeing you, ever, again.” And then, within one minute, the plasmavore had quenched its hunger and strode out to set about a plan, to set about a sabotage that would leave The Doctor in beaten tatters before it. [.] Earlier The Doctor could see the plasmavore out of the corner of his eye as it inched out of the room step by silent step and yet he knew that he could do nothing about it for if he did the others would bar his way, they would merely toss aside his observation as yet another lie created to stop the truth from emerging. The looks alone that he was receiving, anger, sadness and, most brutal of them all, betrayal were enough to cause his two hearts to wail out in pain and the effect that having himself doubted and questioned every step of the way whilst he hunted down a killer, having everypony turn against him whilst he tried to lead them to safety, it would be too much of a strain on his hearts. And so, with a deep feeling that he would come to regret his actions, The Doctor allowed the plasmavore to slink away. With a shaky breath, The Doctor spoke up, mentally preparing himself for what was bound to unfold before him. “It's...it's me.” Silence, silence that sank bone deep and tore the wind from its perch. Silence that infiltrated the halls of Canterlot Castle like a dark phantom. Silence that drifted on and on and on seemingly endlessly, the atmosphere that had once existed in the regal throne room now tainted and tarnished by the lack of noise, by the silence. The Doctor could feel all eyes on him, could hear every intake of sharp breath, could feel the sweat on his head, could hear the beats of his hearts but mostly he could feel those eyes, those cold, unforgiving eyes tearing into him mercilessly. “What...what do you mean?” Surprisingly enough, it was Fluttershy who spoke up first, her voice laden with doubt, barely concealed fear but also twinges of barely restrained anger, as if she could not believe this colt from the stars had had the gall to lie to her. Gathering himself, The Doctor stood taller, his noticeable slouch that he had developed when he had told them disappearing as he faced the truth head on as if it were a marauding Dalek. “I didn't arrive with the box, with The Pandorica. No, The Pandorica took me here whilst I rested in its centre, bound to the machinery, trying to...trying to steer myself away from danger. The thing in the box I told you about, it's...it's me.” The colour drained from the face of the butter yellow pegasus as fear consumed her, as her anger and fury were washed away by a tidal wave of horror, her backlegs scrabbling furiously as she tore away from The Doctor to hide behind the small group that now joined closer together, as if to ward off The Doctor. Next to speak was Twilight, her voice containing no anger, hatred or terror, instead burdened down with confusion that made her stutter somewhat. “But...but you can't be! Y-you're helping us, you can't be that monster!” The Doctor smiled shakily and sickly, his grin now perverse with memories that threatened to spill forth as he spoke up again in a restrained voice. “The plasmavore didn't lie Twilight and neither am I. I'm the last one of my race left because...because I doomed all of the others.” The Doctor swallowed down the word killed, refusing to acknowledge the nagging voice in the back of his head that told him that that was exactly what he had done to his people, to his beloved race that had turned so violent, that had been corrupted by war so easily. Twilight visibly reeled from the information, backing away into the protective shield of the group, the front at which stood Princess Celestia, not knowing what exactly was going on but keying herself into just enough to know that this “Doctor” fellow was bad, bad to the bone. The Doctor kept up his shaky smile for a moment longer before it fell as Pinkie stepped from the crowd, her once pristinely pink, bouncy mane now limp and hanging, her once vivid coat now dull grey, her once mirth filled eyes now sad and watering as she dredged up the question which The Doctor had been fearing to answer for as long as the war had ended. “Why?” The Doctor stepped forward, intending to comfort the obviously devastated mare that stood in front of him before he was stopped in his tracks by the mass of ponies that surged forward, surrounding Pinkie, blocking her from view and making The Doctor falter in his tracks as six pairs of darkened, angry and petrified eyes turned to him, glares slicing into his mind. The Doctor swallowed loudly, eyes flickering into each pair of betrayed orbs before he took a step backwards, a collective sigh of relief leaving all of the mares before he attempted to speak up in a beaten voice. “I...there-there was a wa-” “How can we trust ya any more anyway? Ya'll could just lie to us now and get us whilst our guards are down!” Applejack's voice shattered The Doctor's unusually timid voice, silencing him with her hissed words before he attempted to speak again, to heal the damage he had done. “No, you...you don't understand!” “Oh, we understand just perfectly, you...you ruffian! You lied to us, you're not a gentlecolt, you're a...a monster!” Rarity this time, her barbs striking deep beneath The Doctor's skin. “Please, I just-” Rainbow Dash stepped in swiftly. “You lied you lying...you lying, stinking alien! I bet you're just hear to take our brains and return to your mothership!” “No, I just-” Twilight, looking mortified, spoke up. “Oh my Celestia, you're a monster. Oh sweet Celestia, I trusted you! I should have trusted my books, the alien always ends up being the bad guy!” “I don't...I just-” A thud that resounded around the throne room practically exploded from the front of the group of ponies, making all ears twist backwards as Celestia raised her hoof from where she had slammed it into the floor, the marble partially cracked under the impact as she spoke up in a deathly quiet voice, judging the pony before her on what those around her where saying, refusing to allow him any means for which to defend himself, to prove what they were saying false. “I have heard enough here. Now, Doctor I believe, you have been accused by these ponies before me of a...a genocide that is completely unprecedented in my reign. Is this true?” “It...it is, but-” “Then, with all of the might of the Equestrian law and by the power given to myself by the Elements of Harmony and the Solar Expansion, I, Princess Celestia, declare you a criminal and a prisoner until further notice. I shall have to hear all of the facts but from what I have heard tonight, Doctor, it appears that you shall face a punishment fit for the atrocities you have committed.” The Doctor recoiled at the thunderous voice that billowed forth from Celestia's mouth, in fact, all of the ponies present recoiled from the winged, horned deity that seemed to have shifted into a piercing yell before The Doctor lowered his head closer to the floor, mumbling out a sentence that the ponies before him just managed to catch. “There is no punishment great enough...” The Doctor felt a single tear streak down his cheek as he cast his gaze up at the hate filled eyes that stared him down, hearts screaming as each of them turned their metaphorical backs on him. Never before had he been silenced quite like this, never before had his story been hindered and fragmented until only half the truth came out, until he lived through guilt, unable to answer the question of why he had done what he had done, unable to bolster his resolve and wash away his guilt with logic and reason. No, this right here, standing in front of what very well may have been a tribunal of judging faces, feeling the blistering anger, fear and betrayal, this was exactly what he deserved for what he had done, this was exactly what he had brought upon himself. A short sound of a scuffle broke out behind The Doctor as he turned away from his former friends, still practically feeling their burning gazes drill into the back of his head. Things hadn't gone to plan, he had been trampled over by a horde of conclusion jumping ponies and now, now a murderous monster was loose upon the city all because he had thought that he could explain why he did what he did, all because he had thought that they would understand, all because he thought that, like the humans, they would be too enraptured by his tale to voice their opinions until later. He had been wrong, dead wrong, and now Equestria would most likely suffer for it. The sounds of the scuffle rose in volume before there was a light yelp of surprise, the sound of thundering hooves on marble racing towards him and then, with a little strangled cry, something leaped through the air and landed on The Doctor's back just as he turned half-heartedly to see what all the commotion was about, his shock easily showing as he went down in a flurry of hooves, a loose cry of surprise bursting from his lips as he slammed into the cold marble. Something wet and cold started to pool around the base of the back of his neck as The Doctor laid splayed on the marble, disoriented and groggy, the slight feeling of dampness partially rousing him from his stupor as the sounds of cautious approach sounded, the gentle clip-clopping of hooves on marble situating that the gang of ponies that had once trusted him were drawing closer. With a muffled moan of pain, The Doctor rotated his head until he stared over his shoulder, immediately picking up on the flat, dead, dull pink mane that swing over his shoulder, touching his front hooves, along with the dull pink body that had wrapped around his own brown one like a snake around its victim. Soft, faint sounds of sobbing emerged from his neck area, small moans of depression reverberating up to his head as the squeeze around him tightened, choking the life from him as Pinkie burrowed further into his fur, her blue eyes sealed shut, her face hidden by both her falling hair and his somewhat soggy coat. The Doctor looked back in confusion at the small group of rag-tag ponies who were drawing nearer, his own confusion reflected in their faces as the faintest smell of bubblegum drifted through his nose, strangely emanating from the mane of the distraught looking pony that had coiled around him. And then, dimly yet growing louder and louder and louder, The Doctor began to make out what exactly it was that Pinkie was tearfully groaning into the back of his neck, the words making even the vindictive band of mares approaching him stop in their tracks. “I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry...” The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, closed it, opened it again, closed it, opened it for a third time... Closed it. The Doctor used to be able to count on one hand how many times he had been entirely flabbergasted beyond belief, his new lack of hands making the occasions somewhat difficult to remember, but this right here, the sobbing of a pink pony inside a castle made by ponies, on a plane ruled by ponies most certainly took the cake. Still, he was The Doctor, sworn fighter of evil and abuser of the wisdom of wit so what good would it have done for him if he had remained silent for more then five seconds? And so, five seconds after the first words became distinguishable, The Doctor spoke up in an exceptionally timid voice. “Why...why are you sorry?” Pinkie just increased her grip on him, as if believing that if she gave The Doctor even the smallest amount of wriggling room then she would loose him, her voice muffled and riddled with sobs as she spoke into his neck. “Ai burleafed hat chu wu-” “I'm sorry, pardon?” “Ai burleafed hat chu wur a burg mien-mienie-” “I, ah, I still can't quite understand.” “Ai burleafed-” “Pinkie, use your words.” The quivering mare that had settled against his fur drew in a deep shuddery breath before her hooves partially excavated themselves from The Doctor's fur and her head rose from its perch on his neck, raw, red eyes gazing at his with sorrow that seemed perhaps a tad exaggerated. Rivulets of fallen tears marked her face, some moisture still wavering on the edges of her blue orbs as she drew in an even deeper breath and began to speak lightning fast, tinges of sobs just visible on the edge of her voice. “I believed that you were a big mean-meanie pants and then I got sad and I asked you why you did it and then I remembered that my Pinkie-sense didn't go off around you and it didn't tell me you were a mean-meanie pants so you couldn't have been a mean-meanie pants but then all of my friends were being mean-meanie pants and not letting you speak and I started it and I'm a big mean-meanie pants and then you were all sad and you looked so old and I felt sad and Celestia looked like a meanie-mean pants and then you looked even more sad and it was all my fault and I can't believe I did it and then my friends-” Pinkie's head suddenly swivelled around at the speed of a bullet to stare angrily at her friends, small flickers of fire blazing in her eyes as her voice rose in both pitch and volume, the sound making The Doctor wish that Pinkie had allowed him enough space to move his hooves to his sensitive ears. “You lot! I thought he was the big mean-meanie pants but noooooo, you totally ignored him, you totally jumped to conclusion and you totally didn't want to throw him a big welcome party when he arrived!” Celestia spoke up, her voice hesitant and filled with barely concealed doubt. “But Miss Pie-” “Quiet Missus! You were just as bad as the rest of them with all of your “Throw him in jail” and “Pay for atrocities” speech. He hasn't even done anything bad to you, he hasn't even shown a tiny, wickle, smickle amount of badness...essity and still you accuse him of being evil and mean and smelly.” The Doctor frowned slightly, his obvious quarrel with the idea that he smelled bad overriding his desire to simply listen to what the young mare was frantically saying. “I don't think anypony called me smell-” “Quiet, I'm trying to help you dopey! Aaaaaaaanyway, not one of you bothered to let him speak up, not one of you bothered to hear his story, not one of you bothered to help me bake him a cake...a cake which I totally forgot! Oh Celestia, it's still sitting in the Cake's kitchen, I so wanted to give it to him when we'd captured that big meanie, you silly filly Pinkie-Winkie. Oh, where was I?” “Y'all were verbally lashin' us, hun.” Five eyes filled with anger flickered to Applejack who took a step back, a small chuckle escaping her throat as her features blushed red. “Aww yeah, not one of you was fair to him and you know what I think? I think we should apologize to him because we were the mean-meanie pants. Who agrees?” Silence followed by a strange growling voice which rose from Pinkie. “Who agrees?” Mumbled words of agreement split the air, Celestia herself averting her gaze from the choleric Pinkie before the little pink mare spoke up again, her head turning around to face The Doctor's, her eyes now free of the tears she had once held, her coat returning to its normal sheen and her hair becoming somewhat frizzy around the edges, as if waiting to return to its usual lustre. “Good, then I'll start. I'm very sorry Mr Doctor for making you all sad.” A swift glare from Pinkie directed at the other mares caused each one of them to speak up in unison. “Ah'm...ah'm mighty sorry sugarcube. We ain't even heard ya out an' we jumped to e poor conclusion.” “Perhaps I was a teensy bit overboard with the monster remark, I suppose you haven't been anything but a proper gentlecolt when we were around. Well, except when you stuck me in that spider infested corner.” “Oh, umm, I'm really sorry Mr Doctor and I understand if...if you're angry at me.” “Yeah, sorry alien dude, I sorta blew my casket there, aha. I suppose I'll have to at least hear the story before I whoop your flank.” “I'm sorry Doctor, my inner scientist is mentally berating me at not hearing all of the evidence before making a hypothetical conclusion.” “It would appear that I may have misjudged you, Doctor, if the Element of Laughter is so willing to stick up to you. Consider the prison sentence revoked and please accept my humblest apologies.” The Doctor blinked in bafflement as each of the mares who had been pining for his freedom mere moments earlier now stood before him looking shamed and disgraced, their features flickering with guilt and their eyes no longer filled with hate but now with a stony reluctance, as if they were expecting the worst to unfold. Still entirely confused, The Doctor spoke up in a voice layered with oddities and bewilderment. “Uh, apologies accepted?” Immediately, a sound similar to that of a small explosion erupted from Pinkie, her hair re-inflating, her coat sparkling back to life and her eyes practically bursting with joy as she allowed her hooves to return to their owners body, finally freeing The Doctor who wasted no time in standing back up and shaking himself off as the pink mare bounced and skipped back to the relieved looked group, a small on her face as she swivelled in mid air, stuck a hoof in her hair, pulled out a bowl of popcorn and landed on her rear in front of the group, all eyes locked on her as her bouncy, peppy voice rose up again, this time filled with joy. “Oh goodie. So, can we hear your story now Mr Doctor?” And then, as if she had been planning this affair all along, Pinkie winked conspicuously at The Doctor, drawing a startled expression from him which made Pinkie burst into giggles. Although, he had to hand it to the spunky young party pony, she had managed to completely turn around a situation that seemed incredibly dire, the idea of facing down an army of Cybermen was currently more appealing to The Doctor than reliving what happened mere moments ago. Desperate to move on and to find the plasmavore, The Doctor spoke up in his normal voice, the mood that would usually accompany his tale of the destruction of his people, sadness and melancholy, was askew because of his relieved feelings towards the others allowing him a chance to show them why he did what he did, creating a cacophony of mixed messages. “Ah, yes, of course. You see my people were old, older then old in fact. We were known as Gallifreyans before we adopted the title of Timelord, a tad exaggerative in my opinion... ...We lived happily for a time, we became great inventors, we meddled in the affairs of time and we constructed machines that would allow both space and time travel. Our race was a prosperous one, a wonderful one. Our planet was beautiful, deep red grass, capped with snow. We were harmonious and the universe was harmonious around us... ...And then, everything changed.” All of the mares, six eyes full of wonder, were enraptured by The Doctor's tale so much that they didn't notice the small pitch change in his voice as his tone sunk into something that could be called regret. The group was so enraptured in fact, that Pinkie had even dropped her popcorn on the ground in order to lean closer and hear the stallions words, all thoughts of his betrayal and evil intentions clearly vanished. “There was another race alongside us, born of hate and anger and malice, a race of creatures so foul that they would taint the air itself with evil, that they would scourge whole worlds just because they could. Their names were The Daleks, with their master Davros leading their armies... ...And so, with the universe in peril from full scale war, from destruction that would leave nothing in its wake, we did what we had to do. We went to war with The Daleks over the fate of the universe, we battled the demons that plague nightmares, we fought evil with good, darkness with light... ...And...and we lost.” Eyes widened and breath was inhaled sharply as The Doctor spoke those fateful words, his once happy mood now deadened as the memories forced themselves into his mind and heart, like a twisting knife. “We lost, they lost, everyone lost. My race, the Timelord's of old were no more, they had been changed by the war, they had been corrupted into something that would have made the old Gallifreyans weep with pity. They were no better than The Daleks and I know, I just know, that given time, if we had won then we would have gone on to 'protect' the whole universe... ...And so I stopped it, I stopped it all. I threw my race and The Daleks into oblivion, I burnt Gallifrey using The Moment. I made sure Rassilon's plans couldn't be put into fruition.” The Doctor was practically talking to himself now but his audience remained captured by the cold, dead voice that told the tale. “I killed my own people because I had to, because if I hadn't then the Time War would rage on, then millions of planets would have burnt. I sacrificed my planet for the universes survival. I sealed that time away using a time-lock so that it could never be tampered with... ...I did what I had to and I would do it again. They were monsters, those Daleks, but they were born monsters. I couldn't stand by and watch my people morph into creatures like The Daleks, I couldn't stand by and let Davros have his ultimate victory. I ended the Time War by sacrificing what was most precious to me, I ended the Time War by burning my home and its people. That is my story, that is why I am named the destroyer of worlds and the killer of my own kind, because I had to...I-I just had to.” The Doctor exhaled raggedly, feeling the bitter sting of tears in his eyes before he was once more sent sprawling as six furry bodies impacted with his own, drawing a strangled squeak from The Doctor's throat as he was sent tumbling backwards. Six pairs of limbs tightened around him like serpents, thoroughly crushing his lungs and causing The Doctor's face to redden and his eyes to bulge, faint trickling tears spilling onto his coat as each of the six mares that had leapt on him began to wail aloud their opinions. “Darlin', ah...ah didn't know. Ah'm...ah'm so sorry!” “Oh, that is the worst. Possible. THING!” “That's so sad. Oh you poor dear, we were so mean to you! Gosh Fluttershy, you're such a meanie pants.” “That's super duper luper sad Mr Doctor!” “Ah Celestia, ya...ya had to go and make me cry didn't ya, stupid alien.” “Oh Doctor, I'm...I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry!” The Doctor continued to flail his hooves around in the air as the life was slowly crushed out of him, his face increasingly red, his eyes worryingly bulbous as his life began to flash past his eyes, his only current thought being that smothered to death by ponies would not be a good explanation of his death before a burst of yellow, ethereal magic literally tore the mares off of The Doctor, allowing him to force oxygen into his lungs as each of the girls were deposited calmly and softly onto the marble floor of the throne room, each of them looking thoroughly embarrassed as The Doctor continued to cough and splutter on the floor. The heavy, but tranquil sounds of hoof steps echoed towards him as he continued to rock on his back on the floor, air wheezing in and out of his body in great bursts before a gentle tingling sensation rolled through him, supplying him enough air to cease his needless, greedy choking down of the air. The Doctor glanced down at his body, just noting the fading, shimmering golden aura before a clear, regal but apologetic voice reached his ears, no longer filled with the hatred and the retribution that it had once held. “I...I made a mistake today Doctor, a mistake that not only would have cost an innocent pony-” “Alien!” “Thank you Pinkie, an innocent alien his freedom, but a mistake that also made him relive a past that sounded almost too painful for even myself to experience. For that I am truly, truly sorry Doctor.” The Doctor rose to his hooves, shrugging his shoulders as he cracked and popped his neck which had taken a severe beating in its previous fall, his eyes closed in concentration as he attempted to clear a particular aggravating ache, his voice rising up nearly subconsciously. “Oh, no real matter, you were only looking out for your ponies after all, I can't fault you for that. Now I...believe...we...” The Doctor opened his eyes and gazed at Princess Celestia for the first true time, instead of just glimpsing her out of the corner of his blue orbs or seeing her smouldering with noting but anger. The Doctor's gaze flicked across her body, sensing, deep down, that something about her was not right, that something about her was worthy of his absolute attention, that something about her was not just different, but wrong, so very, very wrong. And then it came to him, in a split seconds, as The Doctor's eyes widened in realization, and then fear, as he took a step back from the Goddess of the Sun. Celestia too had seen something when she had looked at The Doctor, had felt an aching in the back of her mind as if she should remember him, as if she had seen him before, as if he had played such an important, desperately important role in her life and yet she had forgotten him, she had forgotten somepony who lay muffled and concealed within her age old memories. Celestia was by no means a foolish pony, nor was she a pony who could ignore the signs and, as soon as The Doctor stepped back, as soon as she saw the fear and the horror in his eyes, she took a step back as well, fear foolishly clogging her as if the very idea that this being before her, this Doctor could experience fear so potent, then whatever it was it must be horrendous. Her voice nearly cracked as she spoke up, only years worth of political power allowing her to stabilize her voice. “What is it, Doctor?” He muttered something then, something that she just picked up on and then, quickly, something she wished she hadn't picked up on. “Shouldn't exist.” This time she could not help the stutter in her voice. “D-Doctor?” The Doctor gazed at her for a moment longer with nearly glazed eyes, his mind frantically working inside his head before he shook himself, the dazed sight leaving his face as he opened his mouth to speak, staring right at Celestia, and then closed it, opened and closed, three times in a row before he coughed quite suddenly, the sound easily drawing everyponies attention as he spoke up in what could have been regarded as a whisper were it not for the rather loud ending. “Celestia, at some point in the future, you and I are going to have to have a talk. A big, long talk, one of the ones where I make you really confused and you look at me like I'm crazy. Yep, that's the look right there... ...Anyway, that talk will have to come later because right now we have a fairly large problem on our hands because, if nopony had noticed, it appears our rather rude, rather vicious little alien has managed to make a rather grand, rather daring escape!” All heads instantly swivelled to face the direction in which the plasmavore had last been seen, loud gasps escaping everyponies throats, even Celestia's, as the disappearance of the plasmavore became apparent, as the oddity that had happened mere moments ago was forgotten as Twilight shifted her head back around to face The Doctor, her eyes wide, scared and confused as her voice rose up, tone full of worry. “Doctor, what are we going to do!? That...that thing is out there right now, maybe killing ponies!” The Doctor cleared his throat as all eyes turned back to him, five filled with barely restrained worry, one filled with images of a perfect party for the new alien and one alight with a fire that seemed to smoulder around her like the coma of a comet, her royal stance displaying only anger at the merest idea of murder. “Well Twilight, what we are going to do, or rather, what I am going to do is think up an insanely ingenious plan to make sure that the plasmavore is captured. All I really need is a spark, a little twinkle of an idea, a small, tinted light in the darkness to give me the inspirat-” Something twinkled majestically just out of the corner of The Doctor's eye, something that made him tilt his head around and gaze through the window at the object that had caught his attention, his speech scattered as he gazed higher and higher, sight resting on top of one of the tallest towers and the object that sat atop it, a light and then enormous smile painting across his face as The Doctor spoke up again in a weirdly jubilant voice, as if the answer to all of their problems had been answered. “Twilight, remember how I said I needed a spark?” The purple mare nodded and The Doctor continued. “Well, consider that spark well and truly found and it's not just a spark, it's a great big bonfire, one of the types that's really tall and smelly. Except this plan doesn't smell like smoke and fire because that would probably be bad. I'm going to need a few things however.” Celestia stepped forward, her tone full of righteous wrath and determination. “I'll make sure that you get what you need.” The Doctor cracked a smile as he whirled around on his hind-legs, deploying a surprisingly acrobatic three-sixty, coming to a stop before the mares as he spoke up in a giddy voice. “Ok, I'm going to need sand, a map, a team of engineers, a compass, a protractor, a clear view of the night sky... ...and a fez.” [.] It was quiet. Quiet and dark and ever so cold as The Doctor trudged alone through the shadowed streets of the Canterlot suburbs, his eyes constantly roaming around the darkened city for any signs of life, be it alien or otherwise. The sounds of laughter ans talk reached his ears, hailing from many pubs and taverns that littered the city, small glows of light bursting into the sky from distinct directions, the flickering lanterns and lamps inside of houses casting their illumination outwards to the night sky. Millions upon millions of stars twinkled and danced magnificently overhead, each constellation bearing a surprisingly similar construction to the ones that the humans had used to decipher and map out their own night. The moon, spherical, barren and cratered, lay nestled in the sky like a shining orb, its beams of lunar light piercing the darkness occasionally to clear the way for The Doctor, as if someone else was looking out for him on this night. He could have happily stared at that luminous, numinous moon all night but alas he had places to go, a strict time schedule to stick to. He had a monster to beat. And so, averting his gaze from the stars but constantly looking up at them, The Doctor continued on his steady, cautious trot, eyes roaming the gloom of the night for the missing alien. He had, of course, been offered a weapon to protect himself for when he went outside, a nasty looking silver sword with a curved, pirate-like handle, but he had declined the offer, instead opting to go with what he had on him, which was a red bow-tie, scruffy hair and a mind full of mischief. Oh, and a fez. An actual, honest to Celestia fez. He had gotten his beloved fez and now it sat upon his head like a parrot on the shoulder of a pirate, its red coat blazing in the night, its golden, fabric cord swinging down to smack The Doctor in his right eye every once in a while, making him question whether or not fezzes were as cool as he had set them out to be. The Doctor continued to trot around the city for minutes on end, the night air chilling into his coat and the whistling wind ruffling up his hair even more than its usual appearance. He passed numerous taverns, each with intricate and astounding names, such as 'The Scarlet Mare', 'Hay And Oats' and The Doctor's personal favourite, 'Celestia's Flank' which, for some unknown reason, had the most amount of laughter emerging from it, so much mirth that it seemed to fog and cloud the clearing that The Doctor had discovered the pub in but now he was alone, the taverns behind him as he clambered into the housing area of Canterlot, as he began to hunt closer to what many ponies would call their homes. The Doctor wasn't quite sure what had made him stop as he was travelling down that dark, twisted, menacing looking alley, he didn’t quite know what divine power had grasped him and made him gaze wordlessly down the interlocking alley that stretched from his own alley but look he did and, as his eyes picked up on a speck of something, he began to trot further into the alley, eyes scanning the darkness intensely. Soon enough, he reached the object that had snatched his attention and, when he reached it, The Doctor blanched and recoiled somewhat in both revulsion and anger, burning, smouldering anger. He took one step back, then another and another and another until he had exited the alley, eyes still locked on the speck that he had glimpsed in the first place, his blue orbs practically alight with fury as he shuddered once, just once, a tremendous ripple echoing through his body as he whirled around on the spot, hair swinging wildly, fez nearly toppling from his head as he prepared himself for the attack from the plasmavore. Nothing. No sight, smell or sound of anything disturbed the gloom, nothing but the whistling wind and fragmented laughter reached The Doctor's ears as he turned his head around, eyes wide and searching, searching deeper and deeper into the night, yet finding nothing. The Doctor allowed the tension to go out of his muscles, allowed the fury to seep away like mud in the rain, allowed his preparation for a fight whittle away until all that was left was an ugly, empty, heartbroken feeling as he once more cast his eyes back down the alley he had recently visited, mind and hearts aching with pain as he locked eyes with what he had thought to be a mere speck moments ago. As he remembered how twisted and broken it had been, as he remembered how frail and lifeless it had looked, as he remembered the look of horror set forever across its face, that simple reminiscent memory alone making The Doctor tremble with anger, a small growl rising up in his throat as his head swung around and he began to loudly, incredibly loudly, stomp down the alleyway. His head remained bowed partially, eyes flickering across every speck of darkness, soul burnt with hatred and anger so strong that it thickened the air around him, traces of desolate sadness mingling into its depths to lace the sky like poison as The Doctor continued to trot further and further down the alley. The Doctor exited the alley into what appeared to be an incredibly wide street with a single, yellow flickering tavern at the far end of its long stretch, his head turning again and again before he trod carefully onto what was obviously the road, feeling the thick cobblestones beneath his hooves as he partially stumbled across the road, mumbling curses as his equine legs began to wobble and twist across the slick and ever so frustrating cobble. The Doctor raised his head as he reached the edge of the road, noting the large, theatre-esque building that stood before him, its depths shadowed by the night but still distinguishable, great, black pillars rising from in front of him, a series of long winding steps which led upwards situated right in front of him. The Doctor paused a moment to admire the sight, his anger diminishing somewhat as he marvelled at the architectural genius behind the sentient, sapient ponies before he shook his head and trotted through the dark alley directly to the right of the theatre. Before long, the alley that The Doctor had chosen to follow ended, opening up into a wide clearing which made The Doctor pause in his stride in surprise. Large, cobblestoned pavements littered the area with a few sparse houses laying scattered around the wide clearing in a circular shape, all black windows and tightly sealed doors. Four large, brown barked, seaweed green leaved trees stood like guards around the noble looking clearing, acting as if they were protecting the ponies of this estate. Through the foliage of the trees, a large fountain which gushed water from what appeared to be the mouths of a triplet of ponies stood, the faint trickle and gush of the water sounding almost soothingly in The Doctor's ears, sparkling, moonlit water rising through the air like a bird. That was not why The Doctor was so surprised, however. A small filly rested her head against the stone edge of the fountain, her shoulders rolling back and forth with loud, wailing sobs that broke the tranquillity of the night, yet seemed to not wake any of the residents of Canterlot. The fillies orange coat was pristine and immaculate, her vivid colour blasting through the darkness like the light atop a lighthouse, her pitch black mane blending in perfectly with the night. She was small, smaller then small in fact. She was tiny, absolutely tiny, having been barely over seven years old. On her flank rested a carefully crafted cutie-mark of a mountain with a sheen of smoke rolling around its top, small wings fluttering just higher up her body, disjointedly and brokenly as if the little pegasus had lost all control of them. The Doctor trotted forward quietly, his hooves clicking partly on the floor, making the filly raise her head up to stare at him with crystal clear lavender eyes, no traces of tears visible, before her head moved back down to the stone edge of the fountain, her cries and weeps increasing in both volume and pitch as The Doctor drew nearer, stopping on the opposite side of the fountain to stare at the filly through the reflection of the water, the fragmented, shattered orange pegasus's reflection drawn across the face of the water. “If you wanted to try and catch me out, you should have found a better hiding place for your disguise,” The Doctor said in a cold, dead voice, images of the broken body of the filly that he had stumbled across in that dark alley a while ago making its way to the forefront of his mind, his anger making him push his hooves into the ground hard until they shook with force, “because that's all she was to you right, a disguise? Nopony important, nopony that anypony would miss.” The little filly raised her head at The Doctor's coldly furious words, lavender eyes twinkling first with fake confusion and then with both malice and anger as the puppet body of the plasmavore pushed itself to its hooves, a magnificently monstrous smile painting across its face as it barked out words in that high pitched, childish voice that broke The Doctor's hearts. “That's all she was to me, yes, a disguise to throw away when I could find a better one and here you are! My perfect disguise, my most sought after object of revenge,” the plasmavore growled out in that high voice, its lavender eyes blazing with anger and joy, “And here you are, strolling right into my claws like a fly to the spider.” The Doctor continued to stare at the small, orange, pegasus body through the water, his eyes drilling right through the plasmavore, who took a single, small, seemingly insignificant step back at the anger behind the eyes. “You've killed and killed and killed again, all to get to me. You planned to murder the single, most important creature in this whole world but that's not worst. No, you said that this little filly, who you murdered and drained, you said that she was nopony important... ...Let me tell you something, plasmavore. Everypony, every creature, everywhere is important. She had a family, she had friends and peo-ponies who loved her. She had a life, a real one, with happiness and joy and anger and fear, and you took that from her... ...The stallion was one thing, planning to murder the Princess was another, heh, planning to kill me was not surprising but this, what you've done here, this is the single, most potent, most powerful reason towards why, on this night, I am going to make sure that you never harm another creature ever again... ...But every creature, no matter how monstrous or cruel, deserves another chance and this is yours. Repent, come with me, give yourself up freely. You'll go to jail, you'll be punished for your crimes and, let me tell you this, it will be so much better than what will happen to you if you don't take my chance... ...One more chance to give yourself up freely. Do the smart thing, take it. Be the brightest of all of my opponents, be the one who finally outwits me, do the one thing that would honestly surprise me. Give yourself up freely.” The plasmavore blinked its false eyes, doubt lining its face before it morphed back into its usual, hateful, spiteful appearance as the plasmavore spat out a retort in its adorable voice. “Never Doctor, never! What will you do to me now!?” The Doctor blinked slowly, his face set in a stony appearance before a small look of confusion and partial sheepishness drifted through his complexion and then his voice. “Ah, actually I thought you'd give yourself up to be honest so I'm not entirely sure what to do now...” The plasmavore took a step around the fountain, The Doctor mirroring the gesture in the other direction. “Maybe we could rock, paper, scissor towards whether or not you go to jail? Ah, wait, hooves...” Another pair of steps. “Hmm, oh, I could hit you really hard in the face and knock you out...or you might just get back up and kill me...” Step. “I don't suppose you're allergic to water are you? That'd really make my day...night...” Closer. “Uh, I could wake everypony up and then, together, with the power of friendship we could imprison you! Nah, too childish...” The clop of a step and then the high pitched, warbling voice of the filly. “I'm going to kill you Doctor.” “Well, I'm glad we cleared that part up.” “Slowly.” “Sounds horrible.” “Painfully.” “I'm not sure I like this idea.” “I'll make the streets run red with whatever blood is left inside you.” “Oh, it'll be just like a carnival, except so much worse.” The plasmavore growled low in its throat, looking at The Doctor through the clear water of the fountain, seeing the fragmented image staring back at it, their places now switched so that The Doctor now stood where the plasmavore once stood and vice-versa. The Doctor glanced around at his surroundings, his gaze lingering unconsciously on what appeared to be a simple, boring alleyway before his head turned back to stare at the plasmavore, a grin born of refined anger and cold fury forcing its way onto his old face as his voice spoke up across the short distance, the plasmavores taken ears twitching at the sounds. “Bet you can't catch me!” And with a flick of his tail and a little, bark of laughter, The Doctor whirled around and raced into the alleyway he had been staring at, the plasmavore scrambling after him. The Doctor raced through darkened alleys, silently counting how many corners he turned, how many steps he had taken, how many houses he had passed. Subconsciously, his eyes grazed the sites around him, from the quiet houses to the rowdy pubs, his ears twitching at both the sounds of laughter and also in a desperate search to determine where the chasing plasmavore was exactly. That little situation was swiftly answered as the orange filly came blasting around a corner directly in front of The Doctor, its head turned away from him to stare down the space where he should be heading, its small body panting rapidly as it failed to notice The Doctor's bowling ball-esque approach from the other direction. Its ears twitched however, its head turning just in time to see The Doctor leap over its small body, just in time to see the cocky, confident grin that The Doctor had flashed at it before the colt hit the ground on the other side of the plasmavore and continued to sprint, tingles of laughter lacing the air where he had once been. The plasmavore growled to itself before it gave chase once more. Right. Left. Right. Right. Straight forward. Left. The Doctor mentally quarantined off all other areas that blurred past him, concentrating only on his destination as the sounds of hot pursuit reached his ears, small clops sounding off of the pavement like a battalion of soldiers marching to war. The Doctor drew in a deep breath of air as he pulled another sharp left, the sound of a small crash and a muffled curse behind him making him grin wildly, adrenaline flooding his old system with renewed vigour and strength as he pulled a tight right. He was nearly there, just one more right turn, followed by a left and then... The Doctor turned right and almost immediately turned left, the nearly hidden passageway leading him down a dark alley before he emerged into a puddle of moonlight that illuminated the space before him. A wide open space, surrounded by housing with only the statue of a singular pony flapping its granite wings providing any real cover, the floor bathed in white light, the houses silent. The area before him was massive, larger than large, almost as wide as a mansion and completely open to the sky. Perfect. It was only then that The Doctor realized that the sounds of pursuit had ended and by that time it was too late. Pain rocketed through The Doctor's body as he was flung off of his hooves by a blur of orange fur that smashed into his side from the right, bruising his ribs and knocking all traces of air from his body. The Doctor hit the pavement with a small crunch, his head slapping the cobbles agonizingly as the plasmavore twisted before it hit the ground, its hooves now striking the stone instead of its back as it rose gracefully to its hooves. Groggily, The Doctor raised his head from the floor to inspect the small orange filly that was standing perhaps four metres away from him before his groggy gaze turned to one of fascination and horror as the plasmavore let out a screech of triumph and began to shed its host body like the skin of a snake. First, all of the colour drained from the small filly as if she was ill, her orange coat shedding its colour into a crystal white complexion, her mane and even eyes following the trend of colour conversion. The fillies legs began to twitch and shiver, elongate and stretch, as the plasmavore began to reset to its original body, her eyes shrinking and her mouth growing larger and larger, darker and darker. The sounds of popping bones and crunching cartilage filled the air as the neck of the filly expanded and expanded, as her body grew and stretched, as the fur melted into its pure white skin, as the hooves sunk and small claws began to bubble and protrude from its depths. With a wordless cry, the plasmavore reared up onto its hind-legs and, with a formidable show of strength, grabbed what remained of the fillies body and simply tore it off, no longer caring about its disguise as it tossed the few scraps of hair and skin to the side, its body reverting its chemistry and sinking back into the parasite form of its body. The Doctor wanted to run, to flee and escape from the monster before him but he couldn't, his head hurt too much, his limbs refused to budge and there was something else that kept him from leaving. Ah, the plan. Of course, he couldn't go and abandon that now, even if things had taken a rather disturbing turn for the worst and so, with a shaky intake of breath, The Doctor spoke up. “That really, really, really hurt.” The plasmavore's soulless eyes turned to The Doctor, filled with malice and hunger as it cackled evilly before it began to stride towards The Doctor, its mouth turned up in a horrible grin. Soon enough it reached the fallen form of The Doctor, leaning over his aching body, a vile stench of death wafting from its mouth as it spoke up in a deathly quiet voice. “I have you Doctor, finally, finally, I win!” The Doctor gulped loudly as he looked upwards into those murderous eyes before he shrugged half-heartedly. “I never really liked this game anyway.” The plasmavore pulled a claw back, raising its jagged edges above its head as it spoke up in an angry but somewhat joyous voice, the taint of the fillies voice now leaving its speech. “Time to die Doctor.” The Doctor sighed from his position on the floor. “Ah well, at least I'll get to see the sunrise one more time.” The plasmavore narrowed its eyes, preparing to swing its claw down and gut The Doctor from neck to tail before realization hit in and it whirled around just in time to see the orange sun break the surface of the horizon, flooding the streets of Canterlot with painful yellow light that burnt and smouldered into the plasmavore's skin, making it turn away from the sun with a scream of pain, its claw stopping its descent to swing upwards and protect its face from the sun. A powerful knock to its sternum sent the plasmavore tumbling away from The Doctor who now wobbled to his hooves, his eyes wincing as he moved his rear right leg, the one he had used to send the plasmavore spiralling away from him. The plasmavore hissed in pain as it hit the ground, the sun torching into its back before it rolled back to its feet, ignoring the pain and the tendrils of radiation that stabbed into its body, its voice rising upwards, obviously laced with agony, to reach The Doctor's ears as it took a shaky step towards the injured colt, gasping in pain as the suns rays stabbed into itself again. “The sun is not set to rise for another h-hour. What did you do!?” The Doctor snickered as the plasmavore began to walk quiveringly towards him. “You really should read up on a little history you know. You see, that delicious meal that you tried to eat earlier, the big tall, white one, well, she raised the sun and I just asked her a little favour.” The plasmavore snarled as it stepped closer to The Doctor, its voice rising up to answer him with defiance and sick intention. “No matter, I can kill you just as easily now as before. You have solved nothing.” The plasmavore stepped forward again, its desire for revenge overpowering its horrid pain, its claws slicing through the air as it drew nearer and nearer to the completely still Doctor who merely looked at the plasmavore with such deep sadness, such resolute depression that it nearly made the plasmavore stop in its tracks. “I gave you a chance, you should have taken it.” The plasmavore sneered as it stepped closer... ...and then, as quickly as a flash of lightning, its entire world erupted into unimaginable, unbearable, unquenchable agony. A/N: Can be found in the following chapter. Through The Looking Lens: Part 2Through The Looking Lens: Part 2 Earlier Celestia gazed thoughtfully out of the shattered, fragmented, once coloured window that The Doctor had smashed through, inspecting the small team of unicorn engineers as they worked tirelessly on the side of one of her towers, on the tower in which the Doctor had discovered his spark. Her face, set in an immaculately stony, neutral complexion, perfectly shielded the turmoil that was rolling and pulsing and screaming inside of her as her beloved student recited the events of the last day and how much change, confusion and, to be blunt, excitement it had brought. A few sparks of magic illuminated the tower that Celestia watched, beige to lime green to sea blue swirls of power surging over the marble walls of the spiralling tower to coat its lengths in a wonderful spectrum as the small group of engineers worked tirelessly to obey the wishes and wants of The Doctor, who was currently perched over a map with a small red fez atop his head, a hat that he seemed unable to stop taking little peeks at whilst smiling to himself. With a calm, calculated but faintly forced voice, Celestia spoke up to her student, attempting to hide the disbelief from her voice. “So, this is The Doctor, whom is an alien. He arrived in a big metal box, that...plasmavore arrived with him, drained a resident of Ponyville, planned to murder me and then escaped whilst we were told The Doctor's past?” Twilight nodded fervently, obviously overjoyed that her beloved teacher didn't think of her as crazy. “To shorten it down yes, Princess, that is exactly what has happened...what is still happening.” Celestia nodded in a wise gesture, cleverly hiding her confusion, disbelief and fear, dreaded fear, beneath a mask of impartial neutralness before she spoke up again in her regal, flowing voice. “And his, The Doctor's, plan. Do you know of it?” So far, throughout the half hour that the small group had managed to discover the disappearance of the plasmavore, The Doctor had proceeded to make his demands, clap in an overzealous way when nearly all of the items were brought to him, especially when his little fez was brought in, an item that had had to be dug up from the past memoirs of the third camel king, Turhumpalifikon. He had immediately jumped on the map, his clear blue but somehow concealing eyes roaming over its lengths and information before he had hopped upwards to stare out of the cracked window, a thoughtful expression on his face, followed by a quick movement as he pulled out the protractor to stare at the night sky through it. Afterwards he had returned to the map, where he had used his compass and a borrowed pencil to sketch out a rough, small circle on a pinpoint location on the map, before he frowned and scribbled it out, returning to look at the night sky. So far, that gesture had been repeated close to five times, each time The Doctor would draw a circle and each time the circle would get scratched out by feverishly angered hooves. Something would be muttered under breath and then The Doctor would continue his seemingly endless ritual. He had been interrupted on his third walk from the window to the map by the arrival of six unicorns, two holding a rather large bag of sand, clearly straining under its weight as their magic flickered slightly around the bag and four with belts crammed with equipment, looking tired but also somewhat excited to have been personally picked by the princess for what was said to be a very important task. They had been a bit surprised, and peeved, however, when they were directed to the topmost tower by the brown colt who was bouncing around the room, simultaneously telling the two unicorns to drop the sand on the floor, which they did with a loud thud. After the sand had been spread out across a four by three section rectangle on the floor, The Doctor had sent the duo of load-bearing unicorns away and had proceeded to point and command the four unicorns on their task, a task which they did not happily accept but still agreed to with what they had hoped must have been regarded as cheerfulness. Celestia eyed the pool of sand on the floor, then the technicoloured glow of magic outside of her destroyed window and then at The Doctor as he madly scribbled away at the map before she was greeted with a reply from Twilight. “I...I don't know princess. I've decided not to question him on it though, the last time I did I didn't quite get the reply I wanted.” Indeed, Twilight had asked The Doctor what he was planning just as he was drawing a circle on the map, his reply being a frustrated 'Something clever, I'm being clever, I can't be clever with you standing right there'. She had, of course, then moved away from The Doctor as he continued to grumble to himself time and time again. Celestia turned to Twilight, about to voice another question from what seemed like an endless stream of them before she caught the fleeting look of confusion that crossed Twilight's face, instead opting to be the answerer instead of the questioner. “What is it that bothers you Twilight?” The little lavender mares ears twitched backwards at the calm, soothing words of her mentor before a meek little voice rose from her. “O-oh, it's nothing Princess, just some trivial little thing.” Princess Celestia grinned lightly, her current confused and angered mood not allowing any wider a smile before she spoke up again in the restrained and royal voice that she had grown accustomed to so long ago. “Oh Twilight, the trivial things are my favourite. Now, what was it you were pondering over?” Twilight leaned back somewhat before she spoke up in a slightly sheepish voice. “Oh, I just thought that since Luna-I mean, Princess Luna came back, she'd be taking over rule of the night but then you were on the throne...” Princess Celestia allowed herself a little giggle at the question that Twilight had obviously been bottling up, experiencing tingles of mirth from the sheer fact that out of every question her student could have asked in this situation, with monsters and aliens and murder, she had asked about her sister. Seizing her giggling fit and locking it away for later, Celestia gazed at Twilight to reply. “My sister's banishment took a lot out of her and so I volunteered to take two out of every seven nights work from her so she could adjust to her new schedule, read up on the history of Equestria and just generally snooze. She wasn't particularly overjoyed with the idea at first but I think she understands why I offered it to her. She was incredibly worn out, both physically and mentally when she was set free from the Nightmare and it is taking her a while to recuperate.” “Uh, tell her I wish her a speedy recovery.” Princess Celestia visibly went red as she struggled to reign in her laughter at the confused, timid but also strangely determined words of her little protégée before she spoke up again in a voice that was honestly and suspiciously burdened with humour. “I will Twilight, I-” The Princess of the Day, ruler of Equestria, Bringer of the Sun and all around wonderful mare was silenced by a loud, booming, smashing sound as the double wooden doors that allowed entry to the throne room rocketed open with a blur of beige magic, slamming into the marble and nearly cracking it, the crashing sound being swiftly followed by a shy cry of 'Sorry!' A team of four sturdy looking unicorns entered the throne room, each one dripping with sweat and mopping their brows with a hoof as their horns lit up in a continuous blaze of colourful magic, the item they were currently levitating behind them being held in that same sheen of magic, allowing the object to dangle safely above the floor. The four unicorns trotted forward, the beige horned colt looking visibly shamed as his peers continued to shoot him little looks that practically screamed about how unprofessional the door incident was. The Doctor had not even looked up from his scribbling on the map, the loud thud of the door going completely unnoticed by him as he mumbled facts and figures to himself, immersed entirely in his current task. It was only when one of the four unicorns, nearly dragging the glowing object through the air behind them as they stumbled forward, spoke up in a loud and most certainly proud voice that The Doctor actually looked up, a little tinge of annoyance flashing across his features before it was erased by a buzz of excitement. “Here it is Princess, straight from the Canterlot Observatory Tower.” With a small crackle, the object the quadruple set of ponies had been levitating was released from its magical field, the large, round lens of the most magnificently monstrously sized telescope in all of Equestria landing on the floor of the throne room with a peeling, metallic screech. The Doctor instantly bounded up from his workspace to admire the lens with a happy eye, completely missing the looks of surprise and confusion that the set of ponies in the room shot to him, the five other Elements of Harmony just stopping their seventh game of Go Fish to glance quizzically as The Doctor circled the massive astronomical lens. The Doctor frowned slightly, before his head tilted to the side and his eyes began to roam over the edges of the lens. Almost immediately afterwards, he leaned in and gave the metal, and even some of the glass, a long lick that nearly made Rarity faint before he tasted whatever flavoured he had acquired on his tongue, ignoring the look of close revulsion that hung on every face. Seconds later, a cry of 'aha!' burst from his lips and the Doctor turned from the lens and bolted to his workspace, sitting down near the map with a little smushing sound as his rear hit the floor, pencil already in hoof as he began to jot down some other random points on the map. Whilst The Doctor darted to the lens and then back to his workspace, Celestia took the time to admire the reflective glass that sat solidly on the floor in front of her. The object was around eight metres long, around twice the size of her body laid flat out, its glassy interior completely unblemished and sparkling with the glow of youth, its golden metal rimming flaring to life in the small trickles of light that dazzled around the throne room. The whole thing was, of course, circular in appearance and quite closely resembled an expanded version of a monocle. The whole lens was a beautifully crafted piece of work, elegant and also useful but its appearance and use in this sort of situation was undecipherable by the solar princess. What was the use of a lens in capturing a monster? And so, as a deity who usually got exactly what she wanted, Celestia thought it was her right to ask such a question. “Doctor, may I ask why you have asked my crew to bring you a lens from one of my precious telescopes? Surely it would simply be easier for us to go searching for this beast and imprison or immobilize it with the magic that we possess?” The Doctor glanced up for a second and Celestia could have sworn that his eyes were full of scorn that would normally be directed at a foolish filly or foal, before his blue orbs shifted back to the map he was currently scribbling on, his voice rising up lazily and unconsciously as he continued to trace some sort of strange object around different areas of the map. “That had been my number one plan, yes, to capture and contain the plasmavore using the gift that you unicorns and alicorns already have but it appears that that plan wouldn't have worked. You told me that when you went to, ah, 'obtain' the plasmavore, your magic passed right through it like it was merely a gust of air... ...That got me thinking because if magic works on me, as clearly shown through Twilight's excellent, if slightly nauseating, teleportation spell, then why doesn't it work on the plasmavore and, because I'm a genius, I found out the answer pretty quickly. Or what I believe to be the answer... ...You see, when I arrived here, my body chemistry and atomic anatomy was changed quite impressively and with that change came the ability to experience something that I never thought I would be able to experience. Magic. I can feel a distance tingling under my hooves even now, as of the earth calls to me. I can feel a lifetimes supply of muscle and strength that simply shouldn't be there hiding under my fur. I have been adapted to experience magic and it is wonderful... ...The plasmavore however, has not been adapted. When it arrived here, it arrived with the same genetic structure that it had in the other universe, my universe and in my universe, the idea of magic is a very fickle thing. Its atoms and chemsitry had not been changed or evolved to fit the type that this planet bears and, as such, magic simply refuses to accept the plasmavore's existence. It is not from this world, it is not from this universe and therefore, in the eyes of years upon years of sorcery and spell casting, it simply is not meant to experience magic.” Celestia blinked in surprise at the influx of knowledge she had just received, opening her mouth to ask an assortment of questions before she realized that The Doctor had sunk back into his own little world, sketching and dragging his pencil along the map once more with a faint scraping noise. She caught Twilight turning to her out of the corner of her eye and before her confused and obviously quizzical student could ask her any question, Celestia had turned to her and shaken her head, followed by a small shrug of her heavenly shoulders, easily signalling that she had no more knowledge towards what The Doctor had said than her little protégée who, of course, picked up on the signs straight away and closed her mouth, questions being forced back down her throat. Inwardly, Celestia's mind was reeling at the news that The Doctor had spouted as easily as deciding on what he might have for dinner. A creature, who didn't obey the laws of magic? It seemed impossible, improbable and yet there was that same little nagging feeling in the back of her head, that same little nagging feeling that said that she should trust The Doctor's words, the same little nagging feeling that told her that she had heard his voice before, so long ago. Her thoughts were interrupted before she could get into the full swing of a memory reconstruction, before she could try and find out why this Doctor was so familiar by the colt himself, who leapt up off of the ground like a stallion possessed, his loud voice fizzing with excitement. “Oh, now we are in business!” Beside her, Celestia saw Twilight jump, spooked out of her own mental river of questions that desperately needed answers by the cry of The Doctor, a selection of cards exploding from out of the hooves of Rarity as she too bolted from her seat on the floor, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Applejack and Rainbow remaining surprisingly calm, as if they had gotten used to it. Celestia's regal voice cut through the startled atmosphere like a knife. “And what sort of business are we in?” The Doctor flashed a rather wide, rather toothy grin. “Why, the business of catching monsters of course.” The Doctor grabbed the map in his hoof, clutching it to his chest like it was the most precious, valuable thing on the face of the planet as he trotted towards Celestia, signalling with a nodding of his head for the other Elements of Harmony to join them, their card game now abandoned as they stood up and stretched to discover what all the fuss was about. The Doctor reached Celestia and sat down right in front of her, tapping the ground to say that she and the others should do the same, a small, fleeting look of confusion crossing Celestia's face before she knelt down to gaze at The Doctor, the Elements of Harmony doing likewise. The brown colt cleared his throat in an exaggerated manner before he started to speak. “Well, thank you all for coming here today, it's a great pleasure to have the lovely Princess Cele-” “Get on with it Doctor.” “Right, yes. You see, after my magical capture plan was revoked quite suddenly, I had to start thinking again. I am quite good at that. Anyway, after I caught a glimpse of that rather large, rather exaggerated telescope, it came to me. Sunlight. The one thing that all plasmavore's hate, the one thing that burns them up like their magnesium in heat of over 600C, hehe...” The only laughter was from Twilight, who ceased her giggling in embarrassment when she realized that all heads had turned to her. “Well, thanks Twilight. Yes, sunlight, the greatest weapon against a plasmavore except for the little fact that I highly doubt the sunlight alone would be enough to stop the plasmavore from horribly murdering me. Rage and vengeance is a real booster. And so, I began to think that we needed something to boost the suns rays, to really get the full force of that burning ball of gas across... ...That, Celestia, is where the lens comes into play. A reflector lens, from the largest telescope in the country, positioned correctly would be able to perfectly bounce and direct the suns rays to a certain area, causing heat and light and radiation that should be spread out in many directions to focus on a specific area. An area which I hope the plasmavore will be at... ...Here's the part that's a tad more tricky and by tricky I mean deadly. You see, for the sun to have its wanted effect on the plasmavore the host body of the plasmavore must be removed. For the plan to work, the real body of the plasmavore must stand within the sunlight, not the false ones it has claimed. And that's where it gets deadly... ...The only logical way I can think of to lure the plasmavore out of its skin, logic not exactly being my forte, is to give it a nice, plump juicy meal and, voilà, here I am. The plasmavore will want its revenge, it will hunger for it and I very much think that it will cloud its senses. It won't be satisfied with killing me using any body other then its own. So, I'm going to go into the city, alone, and I'm going to find the plasmavore and lead it to a specific spot and this, Celestia, is where you come in... ...I've searched the skies, triangulated and interpreted the exact location that would be entirely suitable and entirely efficient at stopping the plasmavores little spree and it appears to be a place called Meeting Market. As leader of this city and this country, I'm sure you know of its whereabouts? Good, I thought so. On the map,” The Doctor signalled with a flick of his hoof to the map, making all eyes turn to it to see a mess of scribble and a single, perfectly drawn, tiny circle spiralling around a small place named Meeting Market. “I have marked the location and, I'd quite like you to make sure I'm not going to die. The reason I struggled to find a suitable spot is because I needed to know the angle of depression and the angle of elevation of both the sun and the lens in retrospect with each other so that I could coordinate the pinpoint accuracy of the suns reflected rays. Didn't quite get that? Hmm, how about, I had to find the right place in the sky so the bad thing will go away? Yep, works for all ages!... …There is a point in the sky, between that star,” a gesture from The Doctor's hoof out of the window, “ and that star in which the lens must be securely held by, what I hope to be, your immensely strong magic Celestia. The lens, levitating in the sky via your abilities, will perfectly reflect the suns rays to the Meeting Market, causing the plasmavore to experience such tremendous agony that it won't be able to do anything but curl into a ball and maybe suck its thumb. If it has thumbs... ...You'll have to raise the sun early of course, at around four o'clock if my estimations about my arrival at Meeting Market is correct. Then it's just a matter of calling your guards and informing the citizens of your town that the early rising of the sun is nothing more than a small fluke.” Celestia frowned deeply at The Doctor's plan, already feeling the weight of responsibility and the life of somepony nestling into her heart and hooves. Still, she had to ask her main question before it became too late to ask it. “The plasmavore...will the sun...will the sun kill it?” The Doctor frowned slightly and, for a split seconds, Celestia could see the rolling, consuming sadness and resolute anger behind those now so very, very old eyes. “It shouldn't if everything works out the way it should. It...it may happen though.” Celestia nodded dazedly before an incredibly important question flashed to her mind, one that made the mares around her flinch as her head turned sharply to meet The Doctor's eyes. “If it lives Doctor, what do we do with it?” The Doctor grinned in a cocky way, all evidence of his eternal sadness now gone and barren from his face. “That, my dear, is the second part off my absolutely, startlingly, baffling, brilliant plan. Your observation tower is no longer an observation tower right, not after I took the lens out of the telescope?” “Well, actually, there are still many teles-” “It's no longer an observation tower, right?” Celestia sighed before she nodded, willing to hear why The Doctor would want to snatch her astronomy tower away from her. “Oh good, then I can use it for my lovely purposes. You see, what's a good castle without a dungeon?” “We have a dungeon Doctor, it's just below the throne room.” “Well, you can never have too much of a good thing and underground dungeons are overdone anyway. You see, if we were to lock the plasmavore underground, it would be able to gain sufficient strength to tear the bars apart and kill every guard In its path after the first, oh, lets say, week... ...But let's say that the prison we use is somewhere that can easily be filled with sunlight. Let's say that the prison we use has a wonder view of the whole of the Equestrian countryside. Let's say that the prison we use has a night-light powerful enough to rival the sun. That, Celestia, is the sort of prison I want... ...Of course, the sun alone wouldn't be enough to keep the plasmavore contained indefinitely, oh no, we'd need something to boost the radiation even more and that is where the sand comes into play because what happens to sand when you heat it to unbelievable temperatures?” Fluttershy meekly raised her hoof. “Uh, it turns to glass?” “Yes, no, sort of. It's a much more complex method than that but I'm sure magic can help speed up the little conversion.” Celestia spoke up next, her voice laced with what could have been the beginnings of true understanding. “What...what are you proposing?” “I propose we build the plasmavore the perfect prison. I propose we allow it to suffer for all of the damage it has done to both your world and so many more. I propose we do to it what it set out to do to me and you, Celestia, you are going to help me.” It wasn't a question, it was a demand. “But enough chit-chat, I'll devise all of the details of the prison when I return because , judging by the moon, I'd say I have about an hour left to find the plasmavore in order to hit my deadline and I do so love to do that... ...Be in the right place, at the right time Celestia. Get that lens into the sky, raise the sun so that its bottom just touches the horizon and then watch the magic unfurl. This is going to work, I just know it... Anyway, I must be off, you girls can, eh, go back to your card game if you want, this will all be over soon enough. Farewell, goodbye, geronimo and what-not.” The Doctor rose from his position on the floor, content with his explanation and content with the idea that his life was safe in the hooves of the solar ruler. He got halfway to the door undeterred before Twilight's voice reached his ears, filled with concern that nearly made his hearts stop, her voice sounding so caring, so comforting, so much like... “Please, please, please don't die Doctor.” The Doctor paused for a split second, a look of regret and sorrow crossing across his face as memories sprang to mind before it melted away to be replaced by a neutral face and a neutral voice. “It's not in my list of things to do Twilight.” And with that the brown colt from the stars was gone, leaving the Elements of Harmony to wonder if they would ever seem him again, leaving Twilight to stare despairingly but also trustingly at the double wooden doors and leaving Celestia to wonder how in the name of sanity she was supposed to find the exact area in the sky that The Doctor had gestured to. It was only then, as she glanced down at the map, that she saw the smudging of something on the curled corner of it, something sketched onto its back and, with a gentle hoof, Celestia turned the map over. The night sky, the clear night sky, twinkling with stars, observed from a perfect zenith, was drawn carefully and immaculately on its back, each little twinkling ball of light dotted down, the moon hanging in the dark abyss, even a few meteors fizzing past and there, a few inches to the right of the moon, circled by the pencil and scribed with a smiley face, was a single position marked in the night sky. “Clever colt.” Celestia muttered. [.] The Doctor glanced up at the clear morning sky, the sun shining brightly and vividly as it hung contently overhead, hundreds of roused ponies only now opening their windows to exclaim what a curious sensation it was to have the sun rise a few hours early. Dimly, The Doctor could swear he could see the metallic glint of the telescope lens in the sky before a sheet of white cloud floated past, obscuring his vision and making him turn back to the streets to focus on the matter at hoof. The plasmavore had been standing in Meeting Market mere moments ago, ready to kill The Doctor and plunge Equestria into a state of anarchy. In fact, it had nearly succeeded, mainly due to the fact that Celestia's positioning of the lens had been a minute inch off, a flaw that was easily fixed but also could easily have been disastrous. After the plasmavore had been struck by the full force of the reflected radiation pouring from the sun, its body had gone into a fit of sorts, in which all that could be distinguishable was screaming, an endless, wailing scream that The Doctor would keep with him for the rest of his long life before the plasmavore had given up and slumped to the ground, entirely unconscious but writhing about on the ground, obviously still feeling the terrible burning sensation through its darkened, broken sleep. After the plasmavore had been rendered immobile and as weak as a new born kitten, the thundering of hooves had alerted The Doctor to the appearance of five armour wearing, spear weilding, stoic faced royal guards, each one glittering with a golden tinge in the sun and each one drawn to The Doctor's location by what they had described as 'The single most horrible sound in Equestria'. Of course, despite rigorous training in remaining expressionless and impartial, the scene that had enveloped before them, a brown colt trying to heave a limp, white, squishy looking creature down the street, was enough to shatter their training and leave them slack-jawed. The Doctor had taken advantage of their stunned state to proclaim that he had most certainly never seen this creature before and that they should most certainly take it to be studied by the princess, an idea which the guards practically leaped upon. The part they did not leap upon, however, was the task of dragging the slobbering, unconscious alien from Meeting Market to Canterlot Castle but they did it anyway, for they were royal guards, bred to show no weakness. That didn't stop them nearly heaving as a rather large pool of drool splattered out of the plasmavores mouth to pool around their hooves. The group of them, six ponies and one twitching alien, were currently nearing the wide, golden gates of Canterlot Castle and the clear look of relief on the faces of the guards was enough to let The Doctor know that the plasmavore was perhaps a rather cruel burden to put on them. Literally it was on them, well, on two of them at least, stretched across their backs like a content cat. The Doctor heaved a sigh of infinite happiness as he strode through the great gates, the five royal guards directly behind him, his hooves crunching up on the gravel path that led to the immaculate wooden doors that had, only recently, been forced apart by murderous intent. Suddenly, seconds before The Doctor reached the large doors, the plasmavore let out a deep growling rumble before its limbs tensed and its head rolled upwards from where it lay on the two stallions, the shock forcing the duo of colts to unload their cargo quite spectacularly on the floor, a muffled grunt of pain echoing out as the five guards retreated and the brown colt stepped forward. For a few seconds all was silent apart from the crunch of The Doctor's hooves on the gravel before a pained, sickening, monstrous laugh tore through the air, rising up from where the plasmavore had fallen. Through gales of insane laughter, the plasmavore began to speak. “I-I-I knew it would be you Doctor, I always knew.” The Doctor paused slightly, head tilted before he spoke up in a cautious but intrigued voice. “What about me?” The plasmavore continued to laugh but it sounded forced, so very forced, and The Doctor could swear there were tears in its large, bulbous eyes. “I always knew you'd-you'd kill me!” The Doctor backed away as the plasmavore continued to laugh and laugh and laugh, signalling for the royal guards to pick it up again, which they did apprehensively. It was still laughing when they deposited it in front of Princess Celestia seconds later, the solar ruler and the six mares that stood beside her looking at the plasmavore with shock and then turning their confused gazes on The Doctor who merely shrugged. The Doctor rotated his hoof at Celestia, prompting her to begin the speech that he knew she had to state so she could justify her actions. Celestia nodded shakily before she cleared her throat and began to speak in a loud voice over the sobbing laughter of the plasmavore. “You stand...lay in front of me, plasmavore, accused of murder, thievery, uh, galactic crimes and attempted murder. Is this true, are you guilt?” The plasmavore howled with maddening laughter as it spoke up in a jittery, tear soaked voice. “T-true, but it was- it was just too much fun!” Celestia paled at the reply of the monster before her, casting an almost frightened look at The Doctor before she spoke up again in that endlessly calm voice of hers. “You have accepted the guilt behind your crimes and as the highest form of power in this land, it is my task to bring the full force of justice down upon you. I hereby sentence you to a lifetimes imprisonment and a lifetime of...of pain for the sins you have committed.” The Doctor saw Celestia stumble over her words, knowing that she had to state them, knowing that she had to make sure that she knew exactly what she was doing and why, reinforcing the idea that this was for the best, that this was the most potent and civil thing to do for a murderer and a thief and still the plasmavore laughed and laughed and laughed, its clawed hands reaching around its stomach as it belched out monstrous giggles, tears now freely running down its face. Celestia stepped away from the creature as two of her golden armoured royal guards stepped into view and dragged the chuckling plasmavore so that it rested in the centre of the sand pile, The Doctor's eyebrows rising slightly as he realised that Celestia understood what he meant to do and had briefed her guards on what they must accomplish. The regal voice of Celestia, now tinted with worry, reached The Doctor's ears. “What happened to it?” The Doctor gazed at the plasmavore almost pityingly as it lay on the bed of sand, its mouth wide open in what looked like a scream as laughter burst forth, its beastly face a horrid mess of tears and madness. “It broke.” Celestia flinched at The Doctor's icy tones but allowed herself a little nod, believing, or at least, hoping to believe that the plasmavore got what it deserved and nothing more. She very nearly leapt out of her millennia old skin as The Doctor suddenly whirled away from her to face the still giggling plasmavore, who was currently spread eagled in a none to dignifying pose across the bed of gleaming yellow sand, eyes staring vacantly at the high ceiling, mouth open wide, body laying stock still apart from the occasional convulse of a white limb. The Doctor attempted to speak up over the roaring cascade that was the plasmavore. “The sand you ar-” “Bahahahaaaha!” “The-” “Hahahhahhahahahhaaa!” “The san...The sand-” “Ahaahahaha-” “Be quiet!” For once The Doctor's calm façade broke and utter fury poured from his mouth, his eyes suddenly blazing to life in an ugly way, his face twisting into a mask of both anger and regret, instantly silencing the plasmavore who physically shrank in fear at that voice before The Doctor reeled himself back in, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. When he opened them again seconds later, his face had shifted to a cold and neutral form, no sign of any emotion lacing his face as he began to speak up again. “Thank you. Now, as I was saying, the sand you are currently laying on comes all the way from the Bahoofmas, or so the bag containing it said. It's an incredibly rich sand, not that crummy, cruddy stuff that people buy to make their home pool look 'real' and 'just like the seaside'. It is also used in glass making.” As The Doctor continued to speak, his voice became more and more layered with emotions, the most prominent being a childish, almost gloating voice whilst the most effective and also most difficult to pick out was the lightest tones of hidden sorrow in his voice. “Quite interesting, glass making really. Nearly everyon-everypony thinks its just about getting some sand and heating it up until it forms glass which is completely unrealistic. Sadly, I can't prove how barbarically unrealistic it actually is, well, not today at least, since Celestia here is going to make turning sand to glass look as easy as turning a light on with a screwdriver.” “Eh, mah screwdrivah can't turn lights on Doctah.” “Well, mine most certainly can! And it makes this great little noise, it's like 'Wuwuwuwuwu'...Aaaaaanyway, me and Celestia have devised a rather cunning solution to the problem of what to do with you plasmavore. I've always wanted to say something like this, Celestia, deploy the solution!” Celestia blinked before she spoke up in an incredibly confused and almost foalishly embarrassed voice. “Uh, I don't remember you telling me about any solution Doctor...” The Doctor's eyes widened considerably before he frowned and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'I knew I forgot something'. The brown colt from the stars trotted over to Celestia quickly and, with an act that would have left royal guards gaping in amazement, physically pulled her head down to whisper in her ear quietly, the six multicoloured mares that he had brought with him now forced to lean in to try and hear what The Doctor was saying, the group only catching the word 'prism', confused looks being shared by all as Celestia jerkily nodded and the pair split apart. The Doctor trotted forward, Celestia behind him before he spoke up and stepped to the side, the solar deity now in full view of the silent, watchful plasmavore. “Let's try this again then. Celestia, deploy the solution!” Almost immediately Celestia's horn began to throb a dark orange colour an d the sand around the plasamvore began to hum softly, thrumming and wriggling beneath it as it looked down in obvious fright, its eyes wide and dark as it began to attempt to scramble away before it was stopped by the voice of The Doctor. “If you don't move, it won't hurt you. If you do, well, I can't really make any promise. Twilight, what happens if someone or something starts to thrash about in molten sand?” Twilight blinked. “Bad things?” The Doctor turned back to the plasmavore with a serious expression on his face before it melted away to be replaced by a cocky, childish grin that would have made Pinkie proud. “See, bad things would happen.” The plasmavore ceased its movements, instead opting to look at Celestia who had her eyes closed, her horn now strobing more violently as the sand beneath the plasmavore began to pulse more and more rapidly until it seemed as if waves had taken the form of sand, buffeting and nearly knocking the plasmavore up into the air. The sand had gained a peculiar orange tinge to it, glowing an incredibly hot orange colour that didn't seem to affect the plasmavore. The plasmavore, scourge of over seventy worlds, bane of royalty everywhere, eater of names and devourer of skin let out a particularly girlish whimper as the sand thrashed about below it. Twilight leaned in closer to get a better look at the magical display that was unfolding in front of her, her friends actually backing away from the sight as if they were frightened the sand may leap and gobble them up, before Twilight to leapt back as Celestia's eyes opened wide, yellow magic pulsing in their depths as all Tartarus broke loose. The orange sand exploded upwards, creating a cascade of concealing particles that swirled and danced around the now hidden form of the plasmavore, sealing it away from view. The sand rippled and buckled as it rose higher before the gathered audience of six mares each let out simultaneous squeals as the sand began to shrink downwards, its advance no longer going up but rather going outwards in what appeared to be two separate straight lines, one towards the wooden doors, one towards the group of watching bystanders. The heavy sound of scraping filled everyponies ears before a single screech echoed across the throne room, followed by a vivid and unbelievably bright bolt of orange light that flared to life from the advancing sand, making everypony present turn away and shut their eyes to block out the light. The heavy sound of a thud and then a light tinkling of what sounded like glass reached everyponies ears as the light died down and they all turned to look at what had occurred mere inches before them, gasping in shock and surprise at the sight. In the centre of the throne room, where there had once sat nothing but a pile of sand, now stood a long, slender, glass triangular prism that extended for seven metres and which rose five metres high, its sparkling, glittering surface nearly distracting the gathered ponies from the resident which had managed to find itself inside the the make-shift prism. Inside stood a rather baffled and shocked plasmavore, its black eyes as wide as they could go, its mouth open as it reached out to gingerly touch the glass, its claws making a scratching noise before it began to rain hammer blows of strength onto the glass, heavy, shaking thudding emerging from the glass before The Doctor stepped forward and began to speak, making the plasmavore stop and glare silently at him. “That was astounding, absolutely astounding! Oh gosh, look at me, I feel like I'm growing my very first TARDIS. Excellently, efficiently, beautifully, fantastically done Celestia, I see you made sure to instigate that little hardening spell in there.” Celestia nodded, looking a bit dazed, her eyes now their normal colour, her horn now white, no longer flowing with ethereal power. “Umm...Doctor, I-I thought you said m-magic didn't do anything to the...the pla-the plas- the alien?” “I did say that, however, this magic isn't linked to the plasmavore. This hardening spell, which I really hoped you ponies had and, what do you know, you did, affects the glass, not the plasmavore and so the plasmavore experiences no magical effects, therefore not rendering magic obsolete... ...Anyway, I suppose it's time to reveal my little idea to the whole group, isn't it? You see, I knew that if the plasmavore was kept underground then eventually it would regain enough strength to break through that glass so I had to devise another method of imprisonment. First, I needed to harness a weakness I knew it had, sunlight. Second, I needed to find a way to make that weakness an Achilles Heel, something which the plasmavore would be rendered powerless over. Thirdly, I needed to find a way to keep it locked up for good and, I'm quite chuffed to say this, I have managed to accomplish all of these things... ...The first part was sorted, sunlight being the formidable weapon to use against the plasmavore, I just needed to make it more potent. So I thought to myself, 'Doctor, you're a smart fella, what can you do to strengthen the sun's power?' And then it hit me. The lens we used to capture the plasmavore was the snowball to create the avalanche. If the use of reflected sunlight worked so well against it, then why should we abandon that strategical advantage and try and find some new way of imprisonment? The answer: we shouldn't... ...So, I asked Celestia hear for some sand in order to construct a prison of glass for the plasmavore, a triangular prism but that's not all I asked. That hardening spell, that was a little side effect I wanted but the main point of the glass prism prison, heh, that's pretty fun to say, was to reflect the sunlight in like a lens. I asked Celestia if she could put a reflective spell on the glass, to which she replied she could and bingo we were in business. A fully operational, reflective, Achilles Heel of a prison. We just needed one more thing, a means to make sure that the plasmavore could not break free in the future, and I believe we have the solution to that already... ...The astronomy tower, or ex-astronomy tower now, is the perfect place to store the plasmavore. Large open viewing platforms that allow sunlight in at all times, the single, tallest structure in this castle and, and, the perfect cover story. We leave a telescope up there, we can just say that it is still the old astronomy tower, that way Celestia does not have to fabricate some bizarre story explaining why she had to erect a new tower and why it has so many windows. The plasmavore can be stored in the astronomy tower, the ponies can remain under the ruse that it still is the astronomy tower and, at night, we seal up the windows with big curtains or something relatively fluffy and concealing before one of the two princesses creates a small but potent UV ball of light to keep the plasmavore at bay... ...Two days, a new body, no screwdriver, no TARDIS and a murderous alien on the prowl, I think I have really, really, really outdone myself this time!” “How do we get it up to the astronomy tower like that?” The Doctor blinked before he scowled in a childish fashion. “You always have to ruin my big, incredibly humble speeches don't you Twilight? I thought the answer would be obvious, we teleport it! Not the plasmavore, the glass prism prison. Using teleportation magic on the glass prism prison will make it move, the glass prism prison's structure won't allow any magical residue to seep in so when the glass prism prison teleports, the spell won't be cancelled by the plasmavore and since the plasmavore is in the belly of the glass prism pri-” “Stop saying glass prism prison!” “I, ah, ok. Since the plasmavore is in the belly of the prison, it shall to be teleported, proving that in an offhoof way, magic can work on it. How to explain it...Aha! Let's say that I am allergic to pears right, one touch will make me all bubbly and purple and just generally disgusting buuut if I were to wear gloves and then handle the pears, I'd be completely ok.” The hissing voice of the plasmavore reached The Doctor's ears. “Are you comparing me to a pear!?” “Yes, now quiet, pears don't talk. So, everypony is clear that the plasmavore is the pear, the prison is the glove and magic is the hoof right? Good, I thought so. Oh wait, those aren't agreeing faces are they, those are confused faces, I always get those mixed up. Look, how about this, just trust me ok? Just trust me, this is going to work.” Slowly, but then with more gusto, several heads began to nod in unison before a quite chorus of 'I trust you' was expelled forth into the throne room, The Doctor turning to Celestia as the cascade of partial applause died down. “Now Celestia, if you would do the honours of sending the plasmavore far away from here, preferably where I can't hear it talk.” Celestia swallowed her apprehension before nodding, her horn glowing again with a faint orange light, the sunset aura flowing around the glass prism prison like water, lifting it up into the air where the nervous looking plasmavore was exposed to both the shocked expressions of the ponies and also some of the sunlight that filtered through the cracked window before it and the prison vanished with a loud pop and a flash of orange magic. The first shattering cry of pain reached The Doctor's ears as the plasmavore was subjected to the full force of the reflected sunlight in the astronomy tower, his ears flipping backwards and his mouth forming into a grimace, the ponies around him doing the same as The Doctor spoke up in a sheepish voice. “Perhaps I didn't think of everything.” [.] “It didn't have to be this way you know.” The journey and climb to the top of the astronomy tower had certainly been an arduous one considering the small fact that stairs were among one of the few things that The Doctor feared in his new equine body. The constant screaming of pain had been enough to push him on though, along with Princess Celestia, the six Elements of Harmony staying behind, the noise becoming nearly too much to bear for them. When he had reached the large, golden, inscribed door which led to the room the plasmavore was being kept in, The Doctor had first requested that Celestia make sure that no sound could be heard from the inside, just to block out that horrible, wailing screaming sound. His second request had been a rather peculiar one but one that Celestia had still agreed to, mainly for the fact that she wasn't sure that she could persuade The Doctor to not do what he wished. And so, with a confused but accepting mind, Celestia allowed him to see the plasmavore alone. “It always had to be this way, Doctor.” A few of the heavy curtains that surrounded the windows of the astronomy tower were now tightly sealed, allowing only a single stream of sunlight to invade the dark recesses of the tower room, making sure that the plasmavore remained disabled but with enough strength to talk. The Doctor frowned, moving out of the shadowed area of the tower to trot around the prism, a look of sorrow and regret sweeping across his face. “Why? Why does it always, always have to be this way?” “Because villains do not get along.” The Doctor paused in his trot to stare at the plasmavore. “I'm not...I'm not a villain!” “How many have you killed Doctor? How many planets have you left weeping? I could only dare to dream of that power, of that fear and yet you wield it like you would a plastic sword, carelessly and aimlessly.” “I don't wield fear, I don't wield power!” “Cities burn at your command, whole armies run in fear as soon as even the merest mention of your name is heard, if that is not fear then I have lived my life blindly, Doctor.” The last word was practically spat by the plasmavore, as if it aimed to rid itself of the plague. By now The Doctor had stopped moving, instead remaining standing directly in front of the plasmavore, a thin glass pane separating them. “I...I do those things because I have to, because someone has to or the universe would dissolve into anarchy and chaos.” “And what, pray tell, is wrong with anarchy Doctor?” “Anarchy leads to hate and death and everything that I stand against, plasmavore.” “Call me Mercy, Doctor, it's what they all say before I snuff the life from them.” And suddenly, as if via a switch, the temperature in the room seemed to drop to a chilling, frosty feel. “And how many have called for mercy? How many have you laughed at and then murdered? How many have you taken simply because you could?” “Far less then you.” “Perhaps, but I have a reason. The universe is my home, every corner of it, every single speck that resides in it and I will fight tooth and claw to keep it spinning, to keep the pattern moving and if-” “If it means creatures die in the process so that this great wheel can keep spinning, then it is no loss? You are The Doctor, sworn saviour of the universe but I wonder, just for a second, what the universe would think of you if it could speak. The tales it would tell, of fire and ice and rage. Of such destruction. You breed violence, Doctor, you create it like it was your own.” “That is not what I set out to do.” “But it is what you have done!” The Doctor took a single step back from the plasmavore, heat burning in his eyes as he spoke up again. “Every creature, no matter how evil, no matter how twisted always gets a chance, I always give them a chance. I do not aim to wield fear or power or violence, I do not aim to spread terror but if you speak of my anger and rage and fire then you must hear of my mercy.” “Your mercy, Doctor, is what gives you the power to kill.” “...What!?” “You give every creature a chance and if they don't accept it then you're free to do what you wish. You think the sheer fact that they refuse to accept your chance to repent is a sign that your next act, of murder and violence is justified.” The Doctor stepped back as the plasmavore continued to growl spiked words at him, its voice rising higher and higher as it continued. “Your mercy Doctor is what gives creatures like me the nerve and the ability to fight against you, your mercy makes you look weak, your mercy makes you look feeble, so feeble that we think we have you, that we believe that you are no more then a thorn in our side and then, like a trickster, you show your true colours. Mercy, Doctor, is not a tool that you enjoy wielding, you prefer dealing with the threat as quickly and as efficiently as possible and if that means murder, if that means this great wheel of time keeps turning then it is fine, then your actions are justified.” “You came to this planet and look what it brought the residents! Murder and death, and you will only bring more to them. I saw how you looked Doctor, in the second that I remained conscious as you burnt me using the heavens themselves, I saw the smile and the twinkle in your eyes, the triumph. You live for creatures like me, you live for an excuse to show off that anger and that rage, you live for an excuse to hate.” The Doctor snorted once before his voice rose up, shaking. “I did not kill these ponies, you did. I did not bring you here, chance did. I am not responsible fr the atrocities and the travesties you commit.” “And yet, without my desire for revenge against you Doctor, I would not have been creating The Pandorica. Without my desire for revenge, I would not have hunted you, I would not have killed quite as many. Without my desire for revenge, the filly would have lived.” “I came here, to see you, for the simple reason to tell you that...that I was sorry.” “You came here to gloat!” The Doctor shook his head. “No, never gloat. You can view me as you wish, a murderer and a destroyer of planets but don't you ever, ever think that I would gloat over something like this. It hurts plasmavore, not physically, but every time I lock something like you up or every time I have to stop something like you it hurts. I keep that pain as a reminder to myself, that no matter what happens, every creature should get a chance. I offered you the chance to come peacefully, I did all I could to help you.” “You could help me by letting me go. You could help me by letting me kill you!” The Doctor remained silent as the plasmavore hissed at him, its white appendages slamming time and time against the glass as it shrieked at him before a look of utter sorrow flashed through The Doctor's cold blue eyes, making the plasmavore fall silent as The Doctor spoke two more words, two more simple words. “I'm sorry.” The colt from the stars, the self proclaimed killer of his people, turned around and began to trot towards the door, hearing the cry of the plasmavore one more time as it shrieked its final barb towards him, as it stabbed into him again. “I may be a monster Doctor but at least I admit it.” The Doctor sighed once to himself as he edged closer to the door, his eyes closed as his hoof swing around to grab the small fabric chain that levered the curtains, tugging down forcefully and allowing sunlight to flood the room, the crying voice of anger now being replaced by the sound of agonized screaming before The Doctor opened the door and stepped out, quickly shutting it behind him to block out that awful noise. Almost immediately he was bombarded by a barrage of questions from Celestia, who had been waiting on the other side of the door, her eyes curious but also sad, as if she could sense that whatever happened inside that room, whatever conversation was born was one of hatred and anger and sadness. “Doctor, what happened in there? What did it talk about?” The Doctor remained silent for a few seconds, his eyes dark and impassive before he spoke up in a flat voice. “The weather.” “The weather, but that's ridiculo- Wait, where are you going?” The Doctor had started walking past Celestia as she began her interrogation, his mood clearly screaming that now was not a good time for her needling questions, his black tail swishing as he paused at the top of the stairs, turning his head back as his eyes flashed brightly, his cold, estranged demeanour breaking away to reveal the happiness and joy that The Doctor usually wore for just a second as he spoke up. “I'm going to go and take care of a few things.” Celestia frowned. “But the plasmavore has been captured and contained, what more is there to do?” “One, I'm going to get my TARDIS back. Two, I'm going to make sure that The Pandorica is sealed away so that it can never be used again. Four, no, three, I'm going to find myself some companions...” “...And four, I'm going to find the largest breakfast in the whole of Equestria and singlehoofedly devour it.” A/N: This took such a long time to actually even begin writing. I was on holiday for two weeks and then I wanted to get a new chapter for my other story out and then, whatdoyaknow, Borderlands 2 came out. I am so, so sorry for taking so long to get this up, my life is a tad chaotic at the moment considering I'm in my final year at school so they're chucking exams at me but the epilogue and the teaser will come out quicker then this chapter did. Anyway, thanks for waiting. Tell me what you think and constructive criticism is always welcome. Epilogue: Everywhere and AnywhereEpilogue: Everywhere and Anywhere “So, who wants to start the bidding for the big alien box of mysteries eh?” It was a crisp morning, full of sunshine and bird song, with just the tiniest, teensiest hints of dew drops on leaves. Equestria had awoken, markets and shops opening at the brink of dawn in order to attract customers from everywhere and anywhere. With the breaking of dawn, the hunt for the Plasmavore had been well and truly solved, the once powerful, vicious alien killer now sat locked and in perpetual agony atop the highest spire at the highest point in the whole of Canterlot. They were in the forest, The Doctor and his six little equine companions along with a noble tribute of volunteering Equestrian guards who had agreed to come along with her majesty Princess Celestia in order to both see and move the whimsical, mystical box that had apparently brought the equine but alien Doctor to her planet. Sunshine shone through the dappled leaves, tracing the sparkling ground and causing animals to simultaneously rise from their nests and burrows with faint yawns and stretching limbs before they noticed the parade of armour clad ponies which caused nearly all of them to dive back into their homes, much to the distress of a small yellow mare. It had been a mere three hours since the arrest and persecution of the Plasmavore, a mere three hours since The Doctor had laid out his four key aims and yet, even after three hours, he had not managed to accomplish even one of them. Not even finding the biggest breakfast. He had stated before though that finding the largest breakfast would be considerably more easy if he had the TARDIS with him and had, therefore, made reclaiming the TARDIS his principle goal. However, right now, in the middle of the sleepy forest, surrounded by tired eyes and swarmed by the faint smell of wood rot, The Doctor had decided that finding his TARDIS may have been a little bit more difficult than he had originally planned. The Doctor, three hours ago, had hosted a conversation that led with the main theme of “I'll find my TARDIS soon enough, these things have a way of working out.” It seemed, however, the at this precise moment in time, the universe had inexplicably decided that things would not actually have a way of working out and that instead if something had to be done, the somepony had to get it done rather than wait around for it to mysteriously happen. And so, three hours after his shining moment, three hours after he had caught the phantom killer, three hours after he had foiled a royal assassination attempt, The Doctor was trotting aimlessly around and around The Pandorica, only stopping to make half-hearted, awkward jokes to try and stem the boredom and anger that was slowly seething through the obviously very tired, very cranky royal guards. “Its only a matter of time before I figure this out! Get it? Time? TARDIS? Time and Relative...” The conjoined grumble of the royal guards made it perfectly clear that they had not gotten it, not one bit and that they really wouldn't care if they had gotten it, that they only cared about getting the job done and going home to sleep for the next few decades. Which was, to be fair, what the six unfortunate and dozy little fillies were currently thinking as each one of them took little naps on each other before they were eventually woken by hectic outbursts from the brown stallion. The Doctor was still pacing around The Pandorica, not so much paying attention to the great cube as he was to the springy grass that felt ever so bouncy under his hoofed feet. It was a weird sensation but not a terrible sensation. Terrible sensations were saved for serious occasions, like torture at the hands of an malevolent alien or being forced to eat pears. A gentle cough from Celestia brought The Doctor back to the present as he looked up in surprise, immediately noting the somewhat annoyed look in her eyes as she studied him wandering around in little circles, a slight indent clearly visible in the grass from where he had been trotting. The Doctor smiled sheepishly before he came to a stop in front of The Pandorica, his mind returning to the situation at hoof rather quickly. To be fair, he had searched The Pandorica for any trace of information on the whereabouts of the TARDIS, he had even made TARDIS like noises to see if it would respond. That particular plan had caused quite a few queer looks to be shot his way. And yet after everything, he had yet to find his beloved TARDIS, a thought that did scare The Doctor just a teensy, weensy bit. The Doctor walked out of The Pandorica from which he had entered only moments ago, worry plastered on his face as he let out a sigh, his noble venture into the somewhat spooky cube clearly offering no insight into the location of his TARDIS. He walked around the outside again, just once and muttered quietly, almost to himself, in a way that made him almost seem pitiful. “Come on, just give me something, anything to work with...” The universe, it seemed, would do just that. As The Doctor circled The Pandorica again, his hoof trailing along its now cool but once crisp surface, his solitary brown appendage snagged on a single, jutting point upon The Pandorica's smooth complexion, causing the relatively battered stallion to hiss with pain as a thin dribble of blood seeped from the centre of his unfortunate furry hoof. The hoof recoiled along with its owner for a fraction of a second, before The Doctor leaned in closer to the glimmering cube, his hoof hovering in the air as if on a puppets string as his eyes roamed the silver, but somewhat sooty rear end of The Pandorica. The afflicted guards, only now just managing to nod off to sleep in the humid air which buzzed with warmth, were woken quite suddenly and abruptly by what could have arguably been the loudest 'whoop' ever to appear in Equestrian history. Ever. The Doctor came charging around the corner, one front hoof awkwardly hobbling along with three stampeding caramel hooves which bustled about underneath the eccentric colt. His blue eyes sparkled with a bountiful joy that neither the girls or the princess had seen before, his darkly coloured mane bouncing around as if experiencing a sudden rush of sugar. The most pronounced feature upon The Doctor's face however, was the small, fragmented sliver of bright blue that could be seen through his teeth. The Doctor came skidding to a halt before the princess, sending small stones and tufts of dirt flying into her coat, a fact which made the guards around her growl before he sloppily began to speak. “Ewe nee' to moo' everpo' bac'!” Princess Celestia, sovereign of the sun, blinked in surprise for a second, the clearing around her falling silent before she spoke up in a befuddled voice. “Pardon?” “I sai' ewe nee' to...” The Doctor frowned, his forehead wrinkling before he spat the small globule of blue onto his hoof. “I said, you need to move everypony back!” Celestia's eyelids spasmed as she struggled to understand. “But...why? And what on Earth is that thing in your hoof?” “Its a piece of a very old frien-” “What a ghastly shade of blue!” The Doctor's head whipped around to glare at the fashionista who had so rudely piped up in the middle of his sentence. “Oy! She's not ghastly, its my fault she's this colour anyway. I never could get that Chameleon Circuit running properly again...” Whilst The Doctor mumbled to himself, Celestia took the opportunity to lean in and study the small, sticky, spit coated object on The Doctor's hoof. It seemed to be about four centimetres across and five centimetres along, with jagged edges that seemed remotely crispy and fried. The whole shard was coated a deep, rich, majestic blue colour, wooden spirals visible underneath the surface of the sapphire paint. Along its front, stretched a faint white line. The Doctor caught Celestia peeking and, in a swift manner, withdrew his hoof and tucked it into his chest, ruffling up his fur as he hid the slice of blue from view. “Hey, no staring. She's awfully shy you know, not quick to trusting people. A bit like a cat really, you do have cats right? Good.” Celestia took her turn to frown, her aged forehead sinking into a furrow as she rasied her voice over The Doctor's. “And how is that little speck of wood going to find us your, uh, TARDIS exactly?” The Doctor sighed. “Oh, well now she really isn't going to like you. This 'little' speck of blue is the TARDIS, or, part of it at least.” “I...don't really understand.” The Doctor scratched his chin with the hoof that contained the little blue lifeline. “Well, if I had to guess, I would say that a piece of my exploding TARDIS which was tearing apart the very fabric of my universe must have gotten stuck into the body of my universe shifting, life bringing magical box whilst I was flying through the ball of erupting vortex fire. Do you understand now?” “...Yes.” “You're lying.” “I am.” “You ponies are so...simple. You really remind me of another race, except more cutesy and less prone to warfare.” “That's not a bad thing, war hurts everything around it.” “...You're right, it isn't a bad thing.” The Doctor shook his head, his brain buzzing against his skull as he turned around and began to trot towards The Pandorica, throwing his head back as he heightened his voice. “Anyway, get your soldiers and those rather sleepy mares to stand back a bit, this could get...quite shocking really.” Celestia squinted as The Doctor turned to trot into The Pandorica, her voice hanging in the air. “What exactly do you expect to do with that little thing?” The Doctor turned his head around and flashed a toothy grin. “Why, my dear Celestia, what I expect to be doing is...” The Doctor tossed the fragment of the TARDIS high up into the air, catching it with his other hoof. “Resurrection.” And with that he disappeared into the gaping maw of the worn out Pandorica, leaving Celestia to stare at the place where he had once been. Quietly, she muttered to herself. “I really hope he knows what he's doing.” And then, raising her head, Celestia called out to those around her. “Everypony, please move away from The Pandirocia-” “Pandorica!” “Pandorica. The Doctor is working on something and I fear that distance is the only safe option left.” “I heard that!” And as guards and fillies began to back away from The Pandorica, stretching their tired limbs and muttering to each other, Celestia took a seat and prepared to wait however long it took for the mysterious stallions plan to come into fruition. [.] The first hour moved by at a surprisingly fast pace, the added effects of the rising, scorching sun along with the appearance of a multitude of fuzzy, furry woodland creatures had managed to keep the boredom at bay for a while at least, both mares and stallions basking in the sunlight which peeked down through the trees. Fluttershy, along with Applejack and Twilight, all huddled together around a small group of weasels, the giggling trio each taking their respective turns to pet the cream fur of the sleek creatures. Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had all decided to partake in a game of cards with the numerous members of the royal guards, Rainbow because of her competitive streak, Pinkie because of her love of all games and Rarity because she most certainly didn't mind spending time with the selection of grizzled, handsome looking stallions that surrounded her. By the second hour though, the weasels had fled to forage for food and the once grizzly, hunky stallions had all taken on a much sickly, tired and wounded complexion, the added repercussions of both the lack of sleep and the non-stop chatter that simply streamed forth from the mouths of the bright pink and marble white pony had broken the soldiers wills in a solitary hour. By the third hour, everypony bar the princess of the sun had fallen into a deep sleep and even she was having a hard time keeping her eyelids from falling downwards like a boulder toppling from a mountain. Of course, when had any creature managed to have a good nights sleep in the presence of a Timelord? It started off as a dull thumping sound, a deep, reverberating, oscillating whirring noise that barely managed to catch upon Celestia's ears and raise her head from where it had sunken betwixt her right and left leg, her bag laden eyes sparking slightly with interest as they focused on The Pandorica. Her eyes widened significantly as the noise began to rise in volume, a deep set thrumming sound now echoing through the fields of metal which made up The Pandorica. Deep, flashing red and green lights lit up like a Christmas tree inside the strange cube, reflecting on its surface and bursting outwards to be met by the midday sunshine. The ground around the cube trembled. Celestia was about to call out for him when The Doctor appeared from the festive maw of The Pandorica, looking around in a nervous manner, a fact that did not escape Celestia's watchful gaze. He spied her in a fast way, trotting past the layers and huddles of slumbering ponies in order to reach her, his hoof grazing over somepony every once in a while, causing them to grumble and let out a faint snore. Even as The Doctor trotted towards her, the perplexing noise from The Pandorica continued to increase, arousing victims close to the cacophony making box who awoke with blurry eyes and buzzing heads. Pretty soon The Doctor had reached Celestia, a tidal wave of awakening ponies stirring from their slumber following in his wake. Before the alien stallion could get a word in edgewise, Celestia spoke. “What in Equestria is going on?” The Doctor squirmed sheepishly. “Umm, well, remember how you set a minimum safe distance from The Pandorica?” “Yes.” “Its a little too...minimum.” “What do you mean, Doctor? What exactly is happening?” The Doctor squirmed again, his face being thrown backwards as he looked at the noisy, colourful cube before he returned his vision to Celestia. “Well, do you hear that noise?” “Of course.” “Have you ever heard the ticking of a bomb before?” “Once or twice, the scientists down at the lab are still working on them though...Wait, why?” “Lets just imagine, hypothetically of course, that the noise coming from The Pandorica is the sound of a bomb ticking down...” “Doctor...” “And lets say that, hypothetically, that the blast radius is around roughly fifteen metres.” “Doctor-” “And finally, lets also say that if all of the ponies don't run for cover right now then they won't have a chance to run again in the future. Or walk. Or breathe for that matter.” Celestia blinked, slowly, methodically before a startlingly loud voice bellowed from her throat. “WHAT IN EQUESTRIA'S NAME HAVE YOU DONE!?” The noise of the agitated, angry and nervous Celestia coupled with the rapidly increasing sound of The Pandorica was the final icing on the cake to those who were still attempting to sleep, the conjoined noises blasting their eyes open with enough force to have them seeing stars. The Doctor's voice, though quiet, was filled with just as much emotion as Celestia's, if not more but that emotion was anger or anxiety. It was fear. “You can be angry at me later, I promise you, but right now you need to get everypony as far away from here as possible.” Celestia gritted her teeth, anger seeping into her bones before she raised her head again and, in a very clear but commanding tone, began to issue orders to those around her. “Guards, get the Elements of Harmony out of here, a designated safe distance of fifteen metres. I want everypony to get away from her as fast as you can, do not panic, do not bustle or stampede but-” “Run” The Doctor whispered. “-Run.” Mayhem. Beautiful, melodic mayhem erupted around the small clearing which still sat swimming with sunlight. The royal guards had been trained for any situation, near or far, dark or dirty, suicidal or hopeless but never in their whole training regime had they once been informed of what to do if one of the immortal, all powerful Goddesses of the night and the day told them to run. It was a scary factor, having looked up to one-now two-all powerful beings for all of your life and then, quite suddenly being informed by one of them to run. It was practically a world wide message that told these guards that whatever was going on, it was out of the control of the princess. And that scared them. Hooves stamped across the ground, tearing great chunks of earth and dirt from the woodland floor around them, golden armour glinting in the trickles of both sunlight and sweat as panting, hoarse voiced guards barraged past each other and fled into the forest as fast as possible. Those that had retained years worth of training held onto the previous orders that their sovereign had issued, choosing not to engage in the rather inconsequential acts that the other guards had chosen to wear, trotting quickly over to the six colourful mares and flanking them, beginning to escort them from the premises. It took a minute at the most, a minute of chaos and cacophony and commotion, before the thundering of the guards hooves and the crude wheezing of their breath faded from the combined ears of The Doctor and Celestia, who had both remained behind to watch the guards and the mares escape, making sure no stragglers were left behind and calling out faint commands to those who had still retained their sensible minds. By this point, the nose from The Pandorica had risen, louder and louder, higher and higher, straining the ears of the two colossally old beings who had stayed behind to safeguard the passing of the equines. The Doctor turned to Celestia, ears peeled back on his head, eyes squinting and mouth opening as he yelled above the siren that was The Pandorica. “We should really run now!” Celestia nodded once, eyes ablaze with an unknown light as she opened her mouth to similarly yell back at The Doctor, rotating her body to make her getaway into the forest. And then silence. Everything feel quiet, the noise from The Pandorica disappearing like a phantom, birdsong having fallen quiet long ago. Not even the wind stirred the trees, not even the gurgle of a stream could be heard. Only silence, deep silence followed by the harsh whisper of a suddenly very nervous stallion. “Oh, that is really not very good.” And The Doctor was running, fast, barrelling towards Celestia and grabbing her hoof, wrenching her from her solitary position with an unbelievable strength that defied his form. And together they were running, blasting past bushes and trees as light fizzled and spread from the mouth of The Pandorica like a burning sun in the sky, as arcs of azure lightning torched from The Pandorica's surface, as wind tore through the forest and bent the trees back with a groan. Leaves whipped and animals scattered as the light of a universe ruptured and poured forth from the maw of The Pandorica, blazing into life in a second. The air was flooded, filled, fraught with a deep, rhythmic humming that warbled and thrummed into the ears of the fleeing fields of equines as The Doctor stole a glance backwards at The Pandorica, at the plain of light and he smiled and laughed and cheered. Celestia turned her head back, towards The Pandorica, and her limbs froze, her form becoming still as she gazed in wonder at what was unfurling before her. She was thousands of years old, had seen things a normal equine would never believe and felt the passing of so many lives but never in her whole life had she ever, ever felt an emotion as strong and overpowering as the awe that consumed her soul at that moment. The trees behind her had bent to the sides perfectly, giving her a perfect view of the clearing where she had, only moments ago, stood upon. Light, a pure white light, was extending from The Pandorica in all directions, smothering anything it touched and turning the light that rained down from the sun into something that looked like a child’s flash light. Lightning, great static bursts of it that bounced from The Pandorica which vibrated and shivered with the deep booming humming sound that crawled from within. But all of that, the leaves whipping around the clearing and the blinding, stunning light and the crackling lightning were all hidden by what was happening in the centre of the clearing. It faded into view momentarily, just a flash, a glimpse in her peripheral vision. A painting, mirage of blue, deep blue before it flickered away again. A hum again, followed by a musical, melodic and powerful thrum. And again it was back, except it was more blue and more solid and more- “Beautiful” Celestia whispered. It was wonderfully blue, with pure white windows which shone in an unnatural and godly light. A rectangle, tall and wide, but she could feel the knowledge and the experiences and the heart which powered the box that pulsed into life before her and it made her feel so very, very small and so very, very childish. A small light, blinking in time with its systematic appearances, flashed atop its head, a faint blue cage curling around the small pinnacle of luminosity. A sign, small but recognizable sat at the centre of two massive doors, faint black writing swirling over its complexion. Pull to open A circle of white, alone and symmetrical to the sign. St. John Ambulance And above, gazing down at Celestia, stretched another sign which tingled with life and power, a sign which made the monsters in the dark run in terror, a sign which heralded the arrival of the greatest warrior in the universe. A sign that had seen the beginning of the universe and had watched as time ran out. A sign that had been everywhere and anywhere. Police Public Call Box “How?” Celestia muttered as her eyes sat glued to the still vanishing box which was becoming more corporeal by the second. “The Pandorica wasn't just a prison, it was the best prison in the universe. Not even death could stop it, it held the prisoner inside in a state of suspension for all eternity. It was a miracle box meant to hold me inside and alive for millennia on end.” The Doctor whispered croaky, eyes glued to the now spinning box with reverence and joy. “It could bring anyone, anything back from the dead. And that is exactly what I made it do.” The box was solid now, no longer could The Pandorica or the forest be spied through its clear and ethereal depths. “A piece of it, just a piece, must have come through with me, clinging to the body of The Pandorica through the twisting vortex. A piece of my TARDIS followed me here, even after everything was meant to end, even in the final moments of my universe it followed me here.” There were tears, small but noticeable in The Doctor's eyes as he talked in an almost numinous voice his eyes sparkling with thanks. “The Pandorica took it, took my piece of the TARDIS and my memories of the TARDIS and it remade her...remade her from the ashes.” The mysterious box spun, faster and faster, hummed quicker and quicker, flickered more and more frequently. “My prison, my cage, my keep saved my oldest, most treasured companion from the darkness of the void, brought it back from the dying flames of a universe. My jail was my saviour. My jail kept my last remnant of a long distant past alive. My jail, my jail, brought her back to me.” The Doctor's voice was overflowing with commendation and respect as the great blue box blazed once more, scattering particles of light across the forest, causing the still fleeing ponies to turn in wonder and shock as lights tore through Equestria. “Celestia, I'd like to introduce you to the TARDIS.” And there, in the middle of the field which now sat still, stood the tall, old, magnificent and deep, dark blue box, the TARDIS, in all of its glory. It hummed faintly, the small light on its head shining bright in the clearing. The Doctor stepped forward, eyes still riveted to the TARDIS as he spoke in a trance like tone. “I was going to get rid of The Pandorica, take it somewhere far, far away and toss it into the heart of a star, that way nothing could ever get their hands on the power that it holds but I can't. Not any more, not after this. I was going to get my TARDIS back and fly this cube, this magnificent cube, somewhere where it would die in peace. Not now, not after this. No way. I can't destroy it, my precious Pandorica but I can't hide it either. The temptation would be too great for me.” The Doctor continued to trot towards the TARDIS with eyes that locked solely on the box whilst Celestia listened in, still trying to come to terms with what had happened, what was still happening. “The things I could do with that cube Celestia, the races I could bring back, the enemies I could raze. The horrors and the wonders I could do with The Pandorica would eclipse the universe Celestia. I cannot hide it for I would always, always go back to it when my hearts broke or when my fury soared... … I cannot hide it, but you can.” Celestia's eyes widened at The Doctor's words as he edge closer to The Pandorica and finally The Doctor turned to face her with conflict plastered across his face. “Hide it Celestia, hide it somewhere safe, hide it from me and anything else that comes here searching for the powers of a God. And if I ever come searching for it, if you look into my eyes and you see insanity and fury and sadness, then you turn me away, you hide The Pandorica from me no matter what happens. You never, never let me near it.” “Doctor.” Celestia whispered as the stallion turned away and trotted forward again. “I'm going now. You'll see me again Celestia, I promise. I'm going far away from this place for a while so that I don't do something rash with this power that is sitting before me. Tell those mares that I'll come back for them, that I have not forgotten them.” The Doctor trotted closer and, with a light creak, the doors to the TARDIS opened, a shining light blazing from within as The Doctor trotted into the blue box, his voice vanishing as Celestia tried to glance inside, only to be met with a blinding light. “Hide The Pandorica Celestia. I'm counting on you.” A pause. “I think I'll be seeing a lot more of you in years to come. Or years that have been.” Celestia's eyes expanded in her head as The Doctor's voice faded and the doors to the TARDIS closed with a slam. The metallic humming noise returned, shattering the relative silence of the forest as a dark wind picked up around the box which scattered the leaves on the trees. Even as the TARDIS began to vanish, sinking into the afternoon sunlight, even as the trees whipped and the hum roared amidst the forest, even when she knew he could not hear her, Celestia still called his name, over and over again as the box containing the alien stallion disappeared from view. She still called him, wanting to know how he had gone, why he had said what he had said and why it had hurt her heart when the words had reached her. She wanted to know about him because he was like her, far too old and far too sad for this world full of innocence and she had only just realized it, she had only met the TARDIS but it had told her more about The Doctor than he had done himself. And what it had told her was full of sadness and age and of a guardian of the universe, a mad colt in a box who would always come to save the day. It lasted minutes, minutes where she continued to yell his name, where she continued to feel a distinct loss deep in her chest and where she continued to loosely spill tears from her eyes. And when those minutes had ended, when her moment of weakness had vanished just like the alien stallion who had reminded her so much of herself, she looked back at The Pandorica sitting there, a cube with the power that even The Doctor feared, and she sighed a sad little sigh. There was work to be done by the princess of the sun yet again, possibly the most important work she had ever had to do and she would be damned to Tartarus before she failed in her duties. [.] One Week Later Canterlot Castle It was dark, the moon sitting quaintly in the sky, the stars twinkling with life and the noble city of Canterlot sleeping soundly when Celestia heard the noise again. The deep thrumming that had echoed in her dreams for the last week. It had been a trivial act to bring her guards back to her on that day a week ago, a simple call and her expertly trained but apparently imperfect guards had returned to her, tossing aside their fear for their devotion to the princess. Each one had been sporting a blush of shame and each one had begged for forgiveness, which she had given to every stallion and mare present with a smile. The Elements of Harmony had returned home by the time the guards had reassembled, each and every one of them tucked up in their bed and dreaming about a mysterious alien stallion. When her guards had returned, she had told them of her task and had asked for their help in moving The Pandorica, not because she had actually needed it but because she knew her guard needed a way of making sure they repaid her for their faults and so they flew and teleported and pushed The Pandorica all the way to her regal castle, constantly refusing her request to help them. Her sister, beloved Luna, had many questions to ask when The Pandorica arrived and Celestia had been more than happy to tell her of what had transpired the night before, earning a look of disbelief and shock from her sister before disbelief turned to belief when she had taken the time to inspect the interior of The Pandorica. And then she had sat on her throne, not allowing anypony to disturb her, as she contemplated where to imprison this cube, this terrifying cube. Days passed and hours ticked by before Celestia decided and, with but a burst of magic from her horn, both her and The Pandorica were sent spinning across the surface of Equestria to reappear at her designated hiding place. She had buried The Pandorica deep into the earth where nothing crawled or lived and where only the darkness of the soil could be its companion and then she had returned to her castle and exited the throne room, passing her duties over to her sister as she went to her room and slept for three days straight. And on the night of the seventh day, when the night had fallen and the stars shone and darkness ruled the land, he had reappeared. The thrumming ended, followed by the faintest sound of a harsh creak as the blue doors of the TARDIS folded open. Celestia gazed almost longingly out towards her balcony where the TARDIS had landed, the stallion who had strode from its mouth becoming invisible in the nights darkness. Her faint red curtain which smothered the balcony wrestled with the wind, whipping up and granting the princess vision of the glowing blue box but not the colt. Celestia pushed her bed covers away, rising from her comfy, warm abode to walk without horseshoes or golden decoration out onto her balcony to find the stallion. The cold marble floor chilled her bare hooves and the night air made her shiver as she trotted past the curtain and tossed her head around, searching aimlessly for the stallion in question. His quiet voice sounded up from somewhere behind her in her room, making her turn in fright. “Is it done? What I asked you to do, did you do it?” It was a nearly silent voice compared to Celestia's which rang out a second later. “Yes Doctor, The Pandorica is hidden, never to be found by any creature. Not even you.” Celestia trotted past her curtain again, back into her room to search for the colt. Everything was still dark to her, her hoof consistently knocking into a trinket of hers, a pointless possession. Still she roamed the darkness, searching for him before a voice issued out from the balcony where she had once been, causing her to whirl around and dart outside again, his name already on her lips. “Thank you.” She burst through the curtain just as the mystical thrumming sound started up again, as the wind picked up and the TARDIS began to fade from you. She growled in equal parts annoyance and sadness as the mysterious box vanished into the empty sky, leaving her alone on the balcony. She stood on the balcony for a minute, mind whirring with thoughts before a soft smile graced her lips. He had said that they would meet again and Celestia believed him to be true. They would meet again and next time they did meet, she was going to ask him many, many things. How he moved through space, why he had talked about years that had passed her already and how he survived the sadness that eternioty brought with it. Yes, Celestia would meet him again, that she was sure of. A star in the sky twinkled, burst and shot across the night sky as Celestia turned and began to trot back into her room, her thoughts occupied with the oddity that was The Doctor. [.] The Next Day Ponyville It was a warm but not too warm day. The sky was bright but not too bright. The sounds of fillies and foals playing was loud but not too loud. Today was one of Twilight's favourite days, a day where everything seemed to be perfect and wonderful, a day where she could spend time with her friends and not have to worry about anything else. She had woken up this morning, bright and early, to the sound of a rooster cawing somewhere far off and, as she had stretched and yawned, her hoof had struck a small object on her bedside cabinet. A piece of paper had been crudely stuck with sellotape to her cabinet, edges of tape chewed off awkwardly as if by a foals teeth. The note, written in a rather messy but eligible manner, had been one informing her to be at the park at twelve that same day for a picnic. At first the lavender mare had panicked, thinking some creepy stallion had broken into her house and left her a similarly creepy note but soon enough, with Spike's help, she had deduced that it must have been from one of her friends and so she had transferred from unwarranted panic to unbridled anticipation on a matter of seconds. That was what had led her to her current situation, trotting calmly through the luscious green fields that made up the Ponyville park, admiring the laughter of the young and grinning at the beauty of nature as she juggled the small basket of jam sandwiches on her back. Her little green and purple assistant had chosen to stay at home this time around, muttering something about the boring talk that mares got up to and how he had most certainly not wanted to be a part of it. In all honesty, the little dragon had probably just wanted to sleep a little more so Twilight had let him off the hook. Her hooves led her to the top of a little hill in the park which overlooked the rest of the greenery, a single, tall tree topped with terribly translucent leaves sitting upon the crest of the hill. Twilight trotted to the top and glanced around, mouth opening in a grin as she gazed at the five colourful mares that were currently approaching from all corners of the park, each one with a different basket or bundle balanced on their backs. Well, each one except a certain cyan pegasus who simply refused to do any of her own cooking because according to her, cooking was not something cool pegasi do. Soon enough each of her friends had converged on top of the hill and the chorus of greetings rang out. “Hey girls!” “Howdy!” “H-hello.” “Good morning dear.” “Hey.” “Good moooooooooooooorning fillies.” There was a pause in conversation as each of the mares reached around to grab their baskets of food or drink, all except Rainbow Dash who looked around semi-awkwardly. Rarity had brought with her a fine selection of salads, each one crisp looking and full of vibrant green colours. Fluttershy had settled for bringing a small bottle of lemonade, which was swiftly leapt upon by Pinkie who, in turn, had bought a bamboozling amount of cupcakes and other confectioneries. Applejack had brought her famous apple pie along with a nice selection of other apple based foods and Twilight had, of course, unpacked her jam sandwiches. Laughter and conversation erupted shortly after as the six friends began to partake in the picnic food, a warm atmosphere wavering around the small group as the sounds of foals playing dimmed somewhat in the background. Snacks were devoured, drinks were drained and conversation was allowed to run free before Twilight raised her last glass of lemonade, every other pony turning to face her. “I'd like to thank whoever was kind enough to leave the note in my room about this picnic. Its great girls, I never thought I'd be doing something like this when I was a filly.” “Ah know what ya mean pardner, ah wanna thank whoever set this here picnic up as well!” “O-oh well, I am having loads of fun and I'm sure Angel bunny can manage the house on his own for a while so I'd also like to thank whoever did this as well, if that's alright.” “Yeah, this is a pretty cool picnic. It'd be better if The Wonderbolts were here but, y'know, I'll take what I can get. Thanks, uh, who set this up again?” Four eyes turned to Rarity as she sipped her lemonade, her gaze lingering on each of them for a second. “Well, it most certainly wasn't me though I do feel the need to thank whoever did arrange this. I have been positively stressed ever since I got that order in from Canterlot and this is just what I needed to relax.” All eyes turned to Pinkie, a serenade of thank yous echoing up from the mares which made the pink pony giggle. “Ah, thanks you guys but I didn't do this. If I did, it would have loads more balloons, and music and cakes!” Five frowns appeared on five faces whilst the sixth face remained filled with a large smile which displayed a perfect set of white teeth. “Then, who did this?” The only answer that came was the faint beginnings of a very distant thrumming sound. It was quiet at first, a little noise that caused small flicking of ears amongst the group of ponies present but it was not something major, it was not something that distracted them. The distraction started, however, when the wind began to pick up. The grass swayed gently and then more ferociously, the leaves on the tree dancing as the distinctive thrumming sound grew louder, causing each of the mares to cast somewhat nervous eyes around the park, trying to identify the source of the noise. All except Fluttershy, who upon hearing the loud noise, curled into a little ball of yellow in the grass. The gathered mass of colourful equines didn't have to wait long to discover the mystery behind the noise as, not two metres from them, something begin to materialize into view. Once again, all eyes widened and mouths dropped open in shock as the sound and wind picked up, a bright blue box flitting into view time and time again, becoming more and more substantial as the seconds ticked by. Well, all eyes widened and all mouths dropped bar Fluttershy's, as she was still busy inspecting the grass with her head. A great, big, blue box now stood atop the hill, placed directly beside the tree and two metres away from the girls, the sound of metallic thrumming now silenced, the wind now still and the attention of the mares now gathered. The doors opened with a majestic motion and... ...out stepped a very familiar brown stallion wearing a very peculiar looking suit which hardly seemed to fit him. A loose, partially crinkled white shirt sat on The Doctor's withers, a black coat covering the white shirt similarly sat on his withers and back. Around his neck hung a rather large white scarf that wrapped four times around his neck before it came to its close. The six mares, Fluttershy now included, stared at The Doctor in equal parts surprise, happiness and confusion. The Doctor quickly broke the silence however with a brief tut. “Oh come on, I expected a better reaction than this! Do you know how far I had to go to find someone who could remake this suit? Gosh, you mares all have way too high expectations.” “What a ghastly suit..” “Oy! I was going to wear this to a wedding back in my universe but-” The Doctor was interrupted by a flying ball of pink which was shrieking his name. “Doctor!” The Doctor quickly fell under the consuming wave of pink as Pinkie Pie latched onto him with a hug, straining his ribs with a particularly strong squeeze. The Doctor gasped and gagged in pain, rolling around on the ground and trying desperately to remove his pink vice. After a second of struggling, he gave up and began to wheeze out a greeting. “Its good to see all of you too. Honestly, I didn't think you'd all show up here. I mean, if some random person came into my house and left a message next to my bed telling me to go somewhere then... actually, I'd probably go, but a normal person would probably call the police...or the guards, whatever defence force you have.” Twilight was the next to speak up as The Doctor forcefully freed himself from the pink menace. “Wait, that was you?” The Doctor nodded. “Of course.” “Why-Actually, how did you get into my house?” “Ah'd quite like that answered as well.” The Doctor frowned as if it were the most obvious question he had ever heard before he trotted back over to the vanishing, magical box and gave it a light tap. “Well, my TARDIS can move through both time and space so breaking into the old Apple family place wasn't the hardest of tasks.” “Baloney,” Rainbow Dash cried loudly, “you're saying that messy blue box can travel through time and space?” The Doctor turned to her and smiled. “You're saying it can't? You just saw it appear her and you've seen the things I can do. This 'messy' blue box can and will travel in time and space, that's exactly why I'm here.” Twilight, who had been measuring up the apparent insanity level of The Doctor versus the fact that he may actually be telling the truth, spoke up loudly. “What do you mean?” A flash of white teeth lit The Doctor's face as he smiled and whirled around to stand in front of the blue box. “Why, I'm here to show you of course. Time and space, past and future, planets and suns, I'm here to take you with me and show you...everything.” The mares stared in amazement at The Doctor as he stood outside of his TARDIS, a genuine smile plastered across his face. Even the relatively unshakeable Pinkie Pie seemed to be at a loss for words, her blue eyes wide with wonder and a small 'O' forming from her mouth. “B-b-but, huh, what-” Twilight spluttered as she tried to come to terms with what The Doctor had said. Her and her friends, go travelling through space and time together. Not even Starswirl had perfected that level of power, heck, not even the princesses had and yet here this stallion was tossing it around like candy. “All six of you, all of time and space at your disposal. Everywhere, anywhere and whenever you ever wanted to be at your hooves. You could watch the final moments of a distance dying sun or go back in time to see the creation of your world. Anything.” “B-but what about ah family?” “Its a time machine, I could take you around the universe for weeks on end and drop you back here one minute after we first left Applejack.” “Anywhere” Rarity cooed suddenly, eyes ablaze with interest. “Everywhere” Rainbow Dash murmured, body tingling with excitement. “Whenever” Pinkie Pie giggled underneath her breath. And yet, after all of that daydreaming, after Rarity's image of visiting the future to perfect her fashion before it arrived. After Rainbow Dash's image of going to a world where aliens raced each other each and every day to prove which of them was the fastest. After Fluttershy had pictured a planet filled with the most cuddly and adorable animals. After Applejack had thought of going back in time and seeing what Equestria was like when farming was the only source of income. After Pinkie Pie imagined a world where the sky rained chocolate and everything in sight was edible and sweet. After Twilight created the idea of going back and visiting Starswirl the Bearded, the Starswirl the Bearded, and asking him about his life. Only after all of those thoughts crossed the minds of the Elements of Harmony did they start to have doubts. The mares all looked at each other, words not being needed as they gazed into each others eyes, already formulating what each and every other member of the group was thinking. There was half a minute of silence where you could have heard a pin drop before Twilight stepped forward, a nervous look plastered across her face as her friends trotted forward to support her similarly. “I'd love to go anywhere, to see anything, to travel back in time and meet my hero, to see what Equestria is like in the future. Its a dream come true, something that shouldn't be passed up. A once in a lifetime opportunity that will never come again.” The Doctor smirked before Twilight continued. “But this, appearing here after a week and suddenly asking us to go away with you, this is too sudden. There are things I need to do, ponies I need to meet, an assistant to sort out. I can't just pack up and go on a whim and neither can the rest of the girls. We have lives here and even if this is a time machine, what if something happens? What if we come back late and everypony is worried? What if Spike and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom can't find us? We can't go with you on just a whim.” The Doctor's smirk sunk, a crestfallen look overtaking his features as he let out a lonely sigh before his ears pricked up. “One week. Give us one week to get everything sorted, one week to make sure everything is right.” The Doctor looked up, only now noticing the six grins that the mares before him were sporting, some wider than others but all heartfelt. “One week and we'll go with you, everywhere and anywhere.” The Doctor smiled, a wide, wide smile that stretched from cheek to cheek as the mares in front of him began to giggle to themselves. He spun around, hooves clopping against the door to the TARDIS as he turned his head back. “One week, I'll be back in one week. You had better be ready.” Twilight laughed at his hearty expression. “We will be Doctor, we will be.” The door creaked open as The Doctor pushed his way in before he poked his head out of the entrance, grinning as he spoke up again. “I have a feeling that you lot are gonna make this place a whole lot more interesting.” And then, just like that, the door closed and the stallion and box vanished from view with the picking up of the wind and the thrumming of the TARDIS, leaving five very nervous but excited mares to burst into a cacophony of screaming anticipation. Twilight alone stood silent, looking at the spot where The Doctor and his TARDIS had vanished, a little smile faint on her face. She couldn't be happy yet though, there was a lot of work to do before her dreams came true and, as Twilight closed her eyes for a moment, she once again saw those cold, scary eyes of the colt that she had found laying in the Everfree Forest all that time ago. And maybe nervousness and excitement weren't all that she felt. Maybe there was some fear too. But still, there was a whole future to be discovered, a whole past to be uncovered and a whole universe to explore and, to Twilight Sparkle, that easily outweighed the fear. 'Yes,' she thought to herself, 'this is going to be our biggest adventure yet.' [.] It was dark. The room he sat in was dark and cluttered and it stank, not of a corporeal smell but of madness. Light flickered in a corner, crawling across a carved, ragged desk. On the desk, a broken sonic screwdriver lay. A hoof, dark blue, reached down to the desk and tapped. One Voices Two Whispering Three Hatred Four “Master” a broken voice muttered to the darkness. Author's Note Sorry about the wait. I lost my interest in writing and it took me a while to get it back. Also, picking up where you left off is a really difficult task to do, along with trying to remember where I was going to take this story. Still, I finished it and that is all that matters to me. Once again, tell me what you think and constructive criticism is welcome. TeaserThe Mountain will move. Fear shall feed fear. Thunder will reign. Time will change. Stay tuned for the sequel to Through The Cracks ~ Doctor Whooves- A Thunder Of Hooves ~ Doctor: Oooh, moving mountains, a ring of destruction and an ancient prophecy, I can just tell that this one is going to be a doozy! ~ Twi: But...but you can save them! They're dying Doctor! Doctor: That's what ponies do Twilight, they die and this time there is nothing I can do about it. Twi: B-but you can go back in time...they don't have to die! Doctor: I learnt something a long time ago Twilight and it is this. Everything has its time and everything dies but on some days, on some shining, magnificent days everybody lives, and those are the days I strive for. I can't go back and save them Twilight, it's too late for that but I can make sure that this creature doesn't harm another living being ever again. ~ ?: I have lain dormant for millennia on end, gathering my strength to return to the land of my people. I am a God, more mighty and powerful than any other, what does it matter to me if I squash a few civilizations? ~ Doctor: Why did you wake now? After so long, why now? ?: There was a...shift in the fabrics of the universe, something that roused me from my sleep, Doctor. Something that will alter the timelines in which we have allowed ourselves to grow accustomed to. Joke and laugh and play now Doctor, for the life you know shall not last much longer.
Out With A BangChapter 1- Out with a bang He watched her approach slowly as he sat in the confines of The Pandorica. The box buzzed and fizzed and sparked around him, his alterations beginning to take effect already. He could feel the very machine powering up, he could feel the heat from the imitating star, the exploding TARDIS beating down on his surroundings. He could feel the Earth spinning and shifting and its speed. He could feel his end and his beginning and the spaces in between as slowly, painstakingly slowly she approached him. The red hair that he had come to love flaring up in the light of his beloved, magnificent, burning TARDIS. The pale skin that seemed to shine amidst the filtered light, the orange scarf wrapped carefully around her neck as she stumbled towards him. He knew what he must look like to her, the Dalek had very nearly killed him before he had reached his ready made prison and, he realized he must look to be on Death's Doorstep. Pale, cold skin. Sweat laced brow. He smiled softly as he cast a glance down at his treasured bowtie. At least if I am to go, The Doctor thought humouredly, I am going to go out in style. Finally, finally she was here. Before him, the impossible, maddening, brilliant Amelia Pond. He could still remember their very first meeting, the girl and the madman with the box. How queer he must have looked, fish fingers and custard in hand. Not once had she fled, not once had she been afraid of him. The Doctor chose his companions well and she had started to become an incredible, brilliant, mind-boggling companion. Rory was alright too. However, the incident with the ponytail had left him quite puzzled over the mental condition of Rory. Fezzes and bow-ties are cool, ponytails are quite the opposite. Amelia Pond was before him now, tears sparkling in her eyes and stuttered breathing betraying her emotions. “..Hi” Quiet, hushed and bordering on breaking down, Amy Pond started the horrifying ordeal of saying goodbye to the man who had sauntered into her life, shown her the stars, comforted her when she was afraid and who was, without a doubt, the greatest friend she had ever had the luck to stumble upon. He looked up once more, joy and untethered emotions rolling across his old and yet seemingly timeless face. Pale as a snow covered tundra, a soft, free smile flickered across his face as he beheld the friend before him. The one who had sauntered into his life, who had shown him up time and time again and who had proven herself to be greater then he, more caring and considerate and just...more human. “Amy Pond. The girl who waited, all night in her garden.” The Doctor spoke softly and yet his voice carried across the room. His eyes glanced into hers, intent on her and her alone. No longer worried with the end of the universe, nor with his final goodbyes. “Was it worth it?.” “Shut up. of course it was” Amy spoke, nearly as quiet as The Doctor and with a hint of annoyance that seemed to bite into him. “You asked me why I was taking you with me and I said "No reason." I was lying.” The Doctor spoke now in an almost sorry tone, his breathing coming in harsh gasps between his clenched teeth. He'd have to go soon, just one more goodbye to make, one more reason to remain for as long as possible. “It's not important” “Yeah. It's the most important thing left in the Universe. It's why I'm doing this. Amy, your house is too big. That big, empty house, just you.” Admittance was never an easy thing for people to accept. Once someone had lied to you for so long and you had grown accustomed to it, only to have it thrown out of the window at the last minute it hurts. Oh and did it hurt Amy. She wasn't picked because of who she was, she was picked because of what she was, how she lived. And that stung. She steeled herself, even in The Doctor's final moments she wasn't going to let him have the last remark. “And Aunt Sharon.” “ Where were mom and dad? Where was everybody who lived in that big house?” She wanted him to shut up, to stop talking to her in that tone. That knowing tone. That tone which she had come to love and hate, loathe and tolerate. The tone that whispered, I'm smarter then you, I know so much and you know so little. “ I lost my mom and dad.” And it was at that moment that Amy started to feel that something was wrong. She had just said something, some horrible thing that should have brought tears to her eyes or at least a lump to her throat. And yet she had said it as easily as reciting a shopping list. “How? What happened to them? Where did they go?” “ I— I don't...” Amy could feel every hair on her body stand on end, every minute detail of every tapestry around her. She took in every detail of The Pandorica and of The Doctor as she scrabbled mentally for the idea of what happened to her parents, who they were, what they looked like. Barely retaining a sob, Amy's will and confidence and esteem crumbled as she realized that she couldn't remember them, not at all. What kind of daughter was she to forget her parents like this!? What was wrong with her? How sickened would they be if th- “It's okay, it's okay. Don't panic. It's not your fault.” The Doctor had watched Amy's eyes as her world of reason and logic slowly began to topple as it dawned on her. Of course, he had to intervene. It was not The Doctor's duty to leave a girl to wallow in self loathing before him, in fact it was his duty to help those in need. And right now, Amy was in dire need. “I don't even remember.” “There's a crack in time in the wall of your bedroom. And it's been eating away at your life for a long time now. Amy Pond. All alone. The Girl Who Didn't Make Sense. How could I resist?” “ I'm not going to just forget.” The Doctor smiled a happy, content smile as he looked upon her, righteous to the end. Even intent on breaking the regime of the collapse of time just so she could remember. If there was one person, one singular person who could remember what they had been through it would be her. “Nothing is ever forgotten. Not really. But you have to try.” A loud voice, a voice that he would have so liked to grow accustomed to, to love even. A voice that would have surely meant a great deal to him in the future, had he had a future now. River Song called through to them, interrupting their saddening conversation. “ Doctor! It's speeding up!” “It's going to be a very Big Bang, Big Bang II. Try to remember your family and they'll be there.” “How can I remember them if they never existed?” The Doctor smiled merrily at her obliviousness. She didn't understand, all this time it was all about her. Even now it confused him to no end on how she had managed to break the time-memory seal around the cracks in order to recreate Rory, even if she didn't remember him at first, but it was that sort of thing that made her fantastic. “Because you're special. That crack in your wall, all that time. The universe pouring into your head. You brought Rory back. You can bring them back too. You just remember. They'll be there.” “You won't...” “You'll have your family back. You won't need your imaginary friend anymore.” Now the tears began to trickle down her cheeks. Soon, like the heavens opening themselves, tears began to stream down her face in a way that very nearly broke The Doctor's hearts. Still, he forced a strong smile. “Amy Pond. Crying over me, eh? Guess what?” “What?” The Doctor smirked once, triumphantly. “Gotcha.” The doors to The Pandorica sealed shut, light blaring out from the crack in between the now closed, heavy duty doors. The symbols on the side began to light up in a luminous green circle, lightning struck the accursed prison of the last Timelord again and again. The Pandorica rose, shakily at first and then with more speed. Spinning and spinning and spinning, it hovered in the air for a split second. And then it erupted upwards, blasting through the ceiling and started to hurtle towards the now burning, smouldering, failing blue box that held the power of a star. Faster and faster The Pandorica spun, closing the distance in a matter of seconds, barely giving The Doctor enough time to write his last message to those watching below. Closing his eyes, The Doctor felt the rush and the adrenaline pumping through his age old veins as he plunged into the cascade of fire and heat and sweltering, unquenchable flames that had been and still was his TARDIS. Geronimo! The Doctor struck the TARDIS with The Pandorica in a resounding crack, a crack that drew in every aspect, every molecule and atom around it and then released it in an explosion that tore the seams of reality asunder. Just as quickly, The Pandorica had worked its magic, new life exploding forth from the time machine and the magical cell that should have held The Doctor. Stars perished, matter dispersed, coalesced, formed into intricate woven patterns, formed into worlds that had fallen to the endless cracks in time. Life sprung up across the universe, evolution passing by in a matter of seconds as the life hidden within The Pandorica exploded outwards dramatically. Races reborn, the Ood, voice of the universe brought back to life. The Daleks, scourge of the universe being tossed through the endless fields of molecular reconstruction. Stars burst brightly across the complexion of the sky, the sun fading into existence with a bright glow. The human race, all seven billion of them formed from bacteria, to ape, to man in a matter of nanoseconds, turning to each other as the final folds of the universe began to sew back together. One single shard of the imploded TARDIS striking The Pandorica with a high, mettalic shlik carving into the metal of the life bearing cube. The cracks shrinking, faster and faster until more and more began to disappear with a loud pop. The universe reborn, the Big Bang 2 taking effect and the consequences couldn't have been greater. Still he spun, endless spinning as The Pandrica began to glow with an unnatural light, the light of the silence and the end, the void between worlds beckoning it forward. However, things do not always go as The Doctor has planned. The Pandorica, nearly claimed by the light that had torn the universe into segments shot forward, straight into the pathway of the final, closing tear in time, plunging itself and The Doctor past the endless void and into somewhere new. Fantastic white light flared across the surface of The Pandorica as it increased its dizzying spin, travelling across the skin of the universe before smashing through into a new one, the tear closing itself behind the illuminating, mythical box. Fire belched from the rear of The Pandorica as it flew through this new space, new worlds and stars and galaxies floating past it as it blazed its way across the endless space before it. In the distance, a planet vaguely reminiscent of Earth came into view. A blue planet with great patches of green and brown that seemed to stretch and roll on for millions of miles in all directions. It was here that the Pandorica began to fall, its incredible speed diminishing as it was sucked into the gravitational pull of the new planet. And so The Pandorica began to shriek and groan as it plummeted towards the planets surface. The Doctor was more confused then he had ever been before and, oh boy, had he been confused before. By now the endless light should have reached the box, destroyed it and all of its atoms and then taken him with it. However, something had gone “wrong” with the plan. He could feel himself spinning, travelling further and further then ever before. Most importantly he could feel the distinctive pull of a planet, reaching its hand towards The Pandorica and, grasping it firmly, pulling it towards itself. And so The Doctor did the only thing he could think to do, he screamed like an infant as he felt the atmosphere of this new planet mould around The Pandorica, pulling them into a high velocity decline. [.] Twilight Sparkle, librarian of the Ponyville library, bearer to the Element of Magic and the personal student of Celestia herself chomped down on her bottom lip in concentration. The spell that she was attempting, a “mind to matter” spell that allowed the wielder to create simple objects from thin air, was an incredibly hard spell to master. She had heard of times when foolish unicorns had tried to create gold and silver and ended up turning themselves into copper statues. However, she was Twilight Sparkle, regarded nationwide as the most powerful young unicorn of her time and, as such, she wouldn't allow a simple creation spell to beat her. Frowning, sweat lacing her lavender brow and her mane sticking up in odd turns and twists, Twilight began to concentrate her magic. She could feel the power, the build up, the joy she would feel when she managed to accomplish the task. She would be regarded nationwide as a genius! Celestia herself would visit and ask her to recite the scientific discovery and the tale of her ability to finish such a complex, powerful spell. She could hear them now, her friends, all five of them cheering her on, yelling her name, making sounds of whistled wind falling through the sky at velocities that should be unreachable. Wait, that's not right. Twilight thought to herself, temporarily disregarding her spell in order to listen to the rapid sound of a heavy object approaching, the sound resonating from the sky above her. Odd, she thought to herself once more, I swear I hear screaming. She got up from her desk, which was littered with quills and diagrams depicting the completion and steps towards her matter spell including, to Twilight's horror, having to find and boil the eggs of a certain particularly smelly newt. Slowly, she made her way to her bedroom window, the sounds of rapid approach now increased ten fold. And her eyes widened and her pupils turned to slits as she beheld the sight before her. Flying through the air, spinning and burning was a large metal box with what appeared to be glowing green hieroglyphs on the sides, forming a circle of hidden text. What surprised Twilight the most though, was that the screaming seemed to be coming from the odd box itself. She continued to watch as this metallic box blasted through clouds, dispersing them in to steam vapour at the touch of its molten hot surface. The decline increased, the box falling faster and faster and faster towards the ground. Watching its descent, Twilight gasped as she calculated with the efficiency of a scientific stud that this mysterious box was about to collide with the Everfree Forest. And collide the box did. Ramming into the heavily forested ground, The Pandorica created a seemingly catastrophic explosion which consisted mainly of dust and dirt and gravel being kicked up around its final destination. The box pushed forward into the ground creating a massive crater around it as the forest itself seemed to bend inwards towards this mysterious newcomer from the skies. The crash and boom of The Pandorica could be heard for miles and miles, the resonating crack being distinguished by Twilight's ears even after the box had vanished into the tree-line of the Everfree. The Pandorica lay there for a while, simply allowing steam and heat to waft off of it in great waves of vapour that looked almost like London smog. Finally, its last mechanism started to function as the twin doors of The Pandorica hummed and clanked and whirred as they began to slowly, slowly open. The shriek of metal on metal, the melting metal that connected to two doors together was snapped swiftly as the heat wafted away. Finally, the doors themselves slid open fully, allowing the sunlight of this new planet to flood into the box and sear into The Doctor's brain. [.] The Doctor opened his eyes, fluttering eyelids twitching spasmodically every few seconds. The sight before him caused the breath to catch in his throat, his eyes to widen and enlarge further and further and his bow-tie to, very nearly, pop off out of sheer shock. Then The Doctor uttered his first coherent words since his goodbye to his flame haired companion. “I have hooves!”
The Mad Colt And The CubeThe Mad Colt And The Cube Prior to the Big Bang 2 Delicious. It looked out over the clustered huddle of slow moving, slouching creatures before it, its eyes darting around the meandering groups of fleshy displays. The bipedal, lumbering ugly apes that moved forward painfully slowly, scratching and picking at themselves when they thought no one was looking. It could smell them from where it stood in the shadows, watching and waiting. Oh, they stunk. The smell clinging to the inside of its nose, weeks of washing and smelling the Pervillian Perfume Plants would not be enough to rid it of that horrid smell. The smell of grease and sweat and meat and fat. The smell of fear and stress and happiness and anger and guilt. The smell of progress and evolution and theory and logic and reason. The unmistakeable, unmissable, unbelievable smell of humans. Delicious. It licked its cracked lips in the darkened corner of the library, the window it was looking through was dusty, dirty and smeared with grime and filth that these humans had yet to clean. It served its purpose though, allowing a wide view towards the cobbled street that held its next potential feeding source. It hadn't fed in such a long, long time. It felt dry and withered and weak, the tireless energy that had once rushed through its pale, translucent veins was merely a memory, a thing of the past. Soon though, soon that memory would be relived. Soon it would feel the power, the control over another being. Soon it would be able to feast and drain and feast and drain and feast and dra- Enough of that, it chided to itself as it went back to staring at the humans, its wandering mind immediately darting back into the present, disregarding the future. Delicious. Slowly, incredibly, unbearably slowly it started to move forward. It hobbled away from the window, its age old legs quivering slightly with just the mere strain of moving. This body did not have long left, it was diminishing. Blast this body, it grumbled to itself once more, so frail, so feeble. Soon though, oh yes very soon I shall have another. It smiled, a cruel, evil, dark smile that signified a life of evil, a life of cruelty and of darkness but most shockingly, a life of simply not caring about any of those things. A life of a true monster, a dark criminal. Achingly, it crept towards the old, wooden peeling door that signified the entrance and exit of the tatty, dank library. The notches in the wood clearly showed sign of use and abuse, of desperate children slamming the door and of impatient humans storming out in a huff after looking at the slightly too long line. Such despicable creatures,it thought in a putrid voice, such impatience, such ignorance. Oh yes, it would be a pleasure to take one of them after all they have done to me. They'd shot it, shot it, right out of the skies. It had been running, running from the light that had claimed its people, from the light that was spreading across the universe. Such a terrible, terrible light. A crack in time through which lay everything and yet nothing. A crack that had swallowed its world as it made its escape, taking the last shuttle across the icy realms of space. It could still remember that light and yet that was the only true thing that it could really remember about its past. No idea of a mother, no idea of its people, no idea of the stars that had once littered the sky. That crack had absorbed its past and whilst it knew this, it meant nothing. This couldn't be fixed, his memory couldn't be returned. It was too far gone now. It had fled over worlds and stars and galaxies. Over cosmos's and asteroids and centaurs. Its ship had flown too close to this “Earth” though. Such a dull name, may as well have called it dirt. The aliens of this world had been scared and had shot it down, retaliating even though it had done nothing to them. Nothing. It had fled and they had chased it. Nearly caught it even but it had been chased by far worse then these intergalactic morons. It had found a host, a weak, frail host but a host nonetheless and it had absorbed. It had felt the eyes on it as it left the building from which it had just fed. It had seen the eyes harden when he cried out in the voice of the elderly lady he had absorbed that “there was something in there”. It had seen its chasers, its persecutors run into the building, it had smiled as it had followed them in and, with the ease of snapping twigs, broke the necks of all three men. They never saw it coming, the little old lady with the strength of a bull. Feeding off a corpse is impossible and with such activity it had already begun to kill its host body. That is what had led it into the city four hours ago, a search for a new host. A search for new meat. It was out on the street now, its eyes darting to and from human to human, the bloodhound like nose and the eyes that saw more then all of these pitiful humans combined began to narrow down the list of potential meals. Too fat, too short, too skinny, too hairy,the list droned on and on as its eyes darted everywhere at once, too ginger, oh, what do we have here? There, directly ahead. A male of the species, a tall broad specimen with black hair that flowed down to his shoulders. He looked to be about eighteen years old, muscular and, even better, all on his lonesome. He was wearing those tacky, earth clothing that had the images of so many big named “labels” on them. As if it cared what it would be wearing soon. The thrill of the hunt had taken over and now there was only one thing on its mind. Delicious. It stumbled towards the target, saliva bubbling in its human mouth, making it wince in disgust as it felt the gums of the women begin to bleed as he ground his teeth together in ecstasy. Soon, so very, very soon. It strolled up to the man and tapped him on one muscular shoulder with one of its dainty, shrivelled prunelike finger. The prey turned quickly, spinning around with a broad grin, obviously expecting someone else. His face fell pretty quickly but a small smile reappeared just as quickly as he caught sight of the elderly women in front of him. How it wished it could savour that feeling of disappointment that had radiated off of the human at that point, it would have made for a delicious dessert, Alas, there was a job to perform. “I'm sorry to disturb you young man... Such a weak, snivelling voice. Bah, I had to pick the weak woman ...but this very scary, lanky man just took my wallet and rushed into that alley... The alley that only went one direction, oh the perfect place, the perfect crime ...would you help me find him? A picture of my deceased husband is in there and I just-I can't...” Oh, how easy it was to play the old women act. Cry and wobble and sniffle and everyone would fall at your feet like royalty. The young man had been frowning whilst listening to the tale that it had conjured up in moments and as soon as it had stopped talking, he had immediately agreed to help out. He flexed his muscles menacingly once and put a dark, deep-set frown on his face that nearly made it burst into fits of hysterical laughter. This puny human was trying to act big and tough and...pfft, scary! “Lead the way ma'am, I'll sort him out for ya” The voice that emanated from the man was quite deep, certainly another useful tool for it. After all, who would take a tall, muscular man seriously if he had the voice of a ten year old on helium? It needed someone with which it could strike fear into the hearts of others. It needed someone strong and useful and deadly. It hobbled away, slinking down a shadowed alley. It was dark here, so very, very dark. The walls were close together, barely allowing it to walk shoulder to shoulder with the unsuspecting victim. The unpleasant waft of rubbish snaked its way through their noses, the smell of decay and rottenness seeping into their clothes. The noises of the bustling street were dulled now, replaced by the echoing sound of their footsteps striking the slimy, greasy ground. Shadows twisted around the alley, coating the elderly women in great sheets of darkness. The man paused for a minute as they reached the end of the alley, glancing around him. Searching for the imaginary perpetrator, eyes grazing across potential hiding areas. “I'm sorry Miss but he must have gotten away. Are you sure he went dow-” The man had started to turn after his search had finished, speaking in an apologetic whisper before it struck and silenced him. It snaked its elderly leg out with a speed that defied the old bones, causing some of its bodies muscles to tear. Its foot caught the man hard in the knee, bending in backwards as he went down, screaming in pain. His voice was swiftly silenced as it reached down and, with the ease of lifting up a piece of paper, grasped his throat and slammed him into one of the gritty walls. Dazed, the man crumpled to the ground as the now menacing elderly lady slunk towards him, clutching her injured leg as she reached him. Slowly, it brought its seemingly fragile hand down and wrapped its seemingly feeble fingers around his throat. “I would say that I am sorry” it said viciously, reaching into the pockets of its dull, grey trousers to grasp the, once more, seemingly weak object that it had kept hidden there, “but I'd be lying.” It pulled its hand out of its pockets, a long, thin, white tube clutched in its bony hand. Carefully, it pushed the straw down to the neck of the now confused man, whose eyes were wide in unbelievable terror. “If it comforts you in any way, I did pick you to feed upon out of all those other disgusting creatures. Feel blessed, you're to be my new host” it whispered softly, lowering its wrinkled head towards the man's ear, breathing the sour breath of the elderly across his cheek. Then, almost ruthlessly, it plunged the plastic straw into the man's neck. And there it began to drink its fill. Delicious. Its skin bubbled gruesomely as it drunk more and more of the now weak and faint humans blood. The previous host body seemed to cave inwards as the real creature behind the body of the old women was revealed in such a terrible travesty that it caused its prey to squirm pitifully against it in terror. It had a white, translucent body that seemed to wobble and stretch like cold, ghastly white jelly. Long, thin, squiggly arms and legs snaked out from the similarly long, thin torso. The phantasmal arms ended in clawed, sharp talons that almost seemed to resemble that of an eagle. The feet had the same predatory aspect to them, large nails that clicked slightly against the floor of the alley. The face was a thing of nightmares, large bulbous black eyes with no pupils stared terrifyingly forward. Small slits were carved into the creatures flesh where the nose and ears should be, resembling the slice of a cats claws in flesh. The mouth was wide and gaping and dark, so dark. There were no teeth, no tongue, nothing but darkness resided in the mouth of the monstrosity that was feeding upon the man. Dark red blood pumped sluggishly through the opaque veins that wriggled within the body, colour flooding the white body. Just as quickly, its true form had vanished. Fading slowly into view, skin bubbling and popping, the body of the man began to take shape around its body. Long, black hair sprouted from the white, bald head. The translucent skin turned into a soft, pink hue. Muscles and clothing flew and morphed around it, coating the body in cheesy, brightly coloured fabrics. Finally, the large, bulbous eyes began to shrink into its new head, forming bright blue eyes that shone with an evil gleam. It took one last, long drag of the humans blood supply, draining every millimetre of previous crimson blood from him. The once strong, muscular, handsome man had now been shrivelled and killed, dead eyes staring lifelessly forward. His skin hugged his body like a tight, latex suit, bones clearly visible beneath the tightly wrapped skin. The now fully replenished plasmavore stood up from its meal, the straw coming out of the drained neck with a soft popping noise. It closed its eyes in pleasure as it felt the energy and the revival and the renewed power course through its new body. It felt strong again, complete. It opened its eyes once more to glance down at the hideous body of the host body. Every time it would drain its victims, what was left would be merely skin and bones and it took an odd, perverse sense of pleasure in seeing a creature brought that way by its very own hands. Something wasn't right though, in fact something was terribly, terribly wrong. Where the body had lain before now stretched with a large, white, shining crack in the fabric of reality. The pull of the tear was horrendous, the large deformed crack drawing the plasmavore towards it as the gravitational force beckoned it forward. It desperately clawed the walls for any nooks or crannies that it could grip onto. It found none. It was dragged across the floor, shrieking unholy curses and slander as it felt the final light beginning to engulf its new body. Cruel fate, giving it the opportunity of a whole new body, only to tear it away from him with a sadistic laugh. When an object is pulled into the tear, only one thing really happens. Complete molecular decommission. Every molecule, every atom, every trace of an atom, every knowledge of the atoms are torn apart and blown across the now endangered, tear stained universe. However cruel fate may be though, it had chosen this day to play a different card. Seconds before the plasmavore fell into the tear in time, The Pandorica collided with the TARDIS in an engulfing blast of pure power. Molecular decommission takes a nanosecond of a nanosecond to come into effect, a time so short that no way of measuring it had been founded. However, molecular reconstruction takes exactly the same, speedy, unbelievably fast amount of time to occur. So just as The Pandorica worked its magic and renewed life around the universe, the tear in time began to de-construct the molecules of a certain, unhappy plasmavore. The effect of two powers, of life and death, provided a response in the universe that should never have occurred. The plasmavore had died and been reborn in the same nanosecond of a nanosecond, an impossibility in itself. A life born from its own death. The cracks began to close rapidly, just as the plasmavore began its reconstruction process, shutting down just as the unlucky creature was seemingly reborn. Lives are not merely forgotten though, the plasmavore would not simply cease to be now that the crack had been closed. When an event of such astounding magnitude, the Big Bang 2 for example, occurs then the reactions are bound to be astronomical. You see, instead of the belittled plasmavore being sucked into the dark, never ending void of the space in between, the area reserved for The Doctor and The Pandorica, it was instead grasped and pulled by the hand of another universe. This new, kind, protective universe pulled it through a newly created crack in time, de-constructing the now very disgruntled plasmavore. These sort of things do not happen at random, nor by coincidence. This new creature, the as of yet de-constructed plasmavore, was not merely going to be placed randomly along the universe, ditched at the nearest settlement. No, the universe pulled together the strings of convergence, twining the life of this creature from the other universe with a similar object from the other universe. The only other object that had followed it through from the other, now saved universe. The only two objects to have been forced into the new universe were sewn together in a thread of abnormality, of bonds that stretched deep. And so the lines of convergence began to draw closer as the first universal object forced its way through the final time tear and into the new universe. Pulling them together, the new universe combined the lives of the now spinning, burning Pandorica to the molecules and atoms of the plasmavore. So when The Pandorica spun and burnt and crashed down upon Equestria, something new happened. Something forced by the rules and regulations of the new universe. The lines of convergence drew together in a resounding and yet un-hearable crack, the two lives that had conjoined now landing upon the massive, terra-formed planet. As The Pandorica's doors opened, the light of the sun shining into it, the plasmavore's atoms and molecules swirled together and joined as one. The plasmavore fell into Equestria having being dragged across the darkness of space, having been killed and reborn and killed and reborn too many times. Oh, and it was so very, very hungry. [.] “Fascinating..” The Doctor stood outside of The Pandorica now, his equine limbs having put up a valiant struggle to take away the ability to merely function correctly, very nearly robbing him of movement . He had triumphed however, though it may have taken him multiple attempts to get standing on all four legs and, even then, he had fallen over more times then he cared to remember whilst attempting to walk forwards. A humbling experience indeed, like a baby talking its first steps. A really big, hairy baby. The Doctor took the time to check over his new body, a routine that he had grown accustomed to in all his years of regenerations. He had seen many, many wonderful, terrifying, mind boggling things in his nine hundred and three years of life and yet this took the cake, the table and every single present that covered the table. “Hooves eh? Ooooh, look at this! I have brown fur. Brown fur! Its not the ginger that I wanted but who am I to judge! Oh, I have a new set of teeth as well, all molars by the feel of things. Quite a peculiar taste it seems, oats and..grass I believe. Oh my, oh my, oh my. I can touch my nose, with my tongue. Not a nose Doctor, c'mon, you're an equine now, start thinking like one. Its a muzzle if my anatomy lessons served me true. Now, what's this? Hair! A mane! Oh dear lord, I have a ponytail as well. Oh, Rory would be gob-smacked if he saw me now. Actually, I'm pretty sure anyone would be gob-smacked were they to see me now. Powerful hindlegs by the feel of things. I'm not sure whether I can really accept this yet but by the feel of these new muscles, I am one body building, hunk of a...colt? Yes, colt seems about right. Or is it stallion? Meh, it doesn't really matt-ah-ha-ha-ha. A tattoo, aww, I love a good tattoo,when was the last time I had one again, was it Third? Yeah, I do believe it was Third. Hmm, an hourglass, eh? Seems a bit to suspicious to be a mere coincidence. It seems almost etched onto me, perhaps not just any old tattoo. Oh, oh, oh, whatta my eyes look like!?” The Doctor put on a sudden burst of speed, trying to get into view of the metal of the new gleaming Pandorica, hoping to catch his reflection in the polished metal. However, putting on a burst of speed with a whole new body is a very difficult thing to accomplish correctly. The Doctor, after a mere second of his crazed burst of enthusiasm, tipped forward and fell flat on his face, muzzle crunching up against the hard, dusty dirt floor with a loud thwack. Water splashed up against his new fuzzy face as he groaned from the unexpected encounter with the ground, the puddle he had nearly dived into soaking the fur of his fluffy, soft, caramel brown chest. The Doctor's eyes creaked open before he gaped in astonishment at the sight reflected from the small collection of water before him. “My eyes are huge! Look at them, they've taken up nearly all of the space on my face. Ah, what a lovely, striking blue colour they are though. I've always liked blue I suppose, its such a calm colour. Oh, my mane. Its styled so perfectly, so majestically. I hate it, its too...formal. Yes formal.” The Doctor reached up with one of his front hooves and rustled his mane until it resorted back to its original, messy, scribble of hair that he had grown so used to. He peeked down at his reflection once more before letting out a loud laugh as he desperately tried to clutch at his neck with his hooves. “My bow-tie!. Oh, my beloved bow-tie, you're still here. Wait, if you're still here then where are the rest of my clothes? Ooooh dear, I didn't really notice the whole nudity thing before but now that I mention it, I am most certainly not covering anything up. Then again, I am an equine now, who needs clothes!?.” The Doctor struggled back to his feet, limbs shaking and criss-crossing profoundly beneath him as he wobbled and swayed in the gentle breeze. Still, very shakily, he rose to his full, four legged height and gazed around the bombarded terrain that had caught The Pandorica in its increasingly fast fall. He was stood in a large but not very deep crater. Brown, cracked earth spread around him for a good five metres, crumbly dirt and drifting dust still swirling around the “landing zone”. The crater curved downwards, its lowest point housing the now sparking Pandorica. Past the crater though, great fields of grass rose up from the ground, dazzlingly bright green blades standing to attention amidst the slight breeze that softly swayed them from side to side. Puddles of rainwater lay scattered across the grass, soaking into the ground and creating large clumps of sodden dirt that slumped and drooped in an almost sad manner. Fluffy, snuggled bushes leapt from the surface, red flowers blooming across their surface like ladybirds laying sleeping on the luminous green shrubs. Bright flowers of every colour littered the area, from succulent yellow to lavender purple to blazing orange, a spectrum of every colour laying like a rainbow across the clearing. Past even that, great, lumbering, dark trees sprouted from the earth, leafy hands reaching upwards towards the sky. Deep, brown bark armoured the trees whilst dark green leaves lay scattered along its branches, clumping together in a protective shield. Ivy clung to some of the trees, twisting and writhing around the great wooden pillars, choking and suffocating the life out of the forest. Light dappled through the leaves, casting a light green glow across the whole clearing. Yet no visible light could be seen from the treeline, almost as if it had been stolen from view, hidden away and kept locked up from the smaller plants. Beautiful as the forest seemed to be, there was a creeping sense of foreboding that pumped sluggishly through The Doctor's veins. Faint outlines of animals darted across the forests skin, from small, plump objects that vaguely resembled rabbits to large, hulking creatures that seemed to be mismatched, large bodies with even larger, barbed tails jutting out from the back. Yellow eyes stared from the darkened shroud of darkness around the forest, blinking quickly every few minutes. He cast his gaze upwards, brilliant seas of blue painting the sky in a great swath of fantastic colour. Light, fluffy, white clouds drifted lazily by, no signs of anger or rain seen from their almost calm complexion. The Doctor couldn't see the star that was supplying the dappling light, the trees covering it up with long tendrils but he could certainly feel its warmth. It was neither too warm nor too cold, it created a fuzzy, hazy feeling in his body that harmonized within him, making him feel alive and strong and free. “Alright, time to test run this new equine body” The Doctor said convincingly to himself, eyes darting down at his rebellious legs. “Just to the grass and back, slowly now.” The Doctor walked forward wobbly, limbs shivering slightly as he started to grow accustomed to the unusual method which he had to use to control his movement. His left leg moved forward just as his right, hindleg hit the ground with a small shake, dust wheezing up from the ground upon impact. Pretty soon the timelord had sorted out his rebellious limbs, walking to and from the slightly sodden grass with a confident saunter and a spring in his step. “Alright, round two.” The Doctor lowered his head to the floor, puffing the breath out of his noise in a steam like display before he began to gallop forward, began being the crucial word. He had gone perhaps a metre when his legs suddenly gave way beneath him, his new body exerting itself out far more quickly then he would have liked. For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, The Doctor found himself face down on the ground, limbs jerking wildly as he attempted to right himself. Getting up with a small but carrying groan, The Doctor trotted back to The Pandorica, whirled around and once more charged forward, hindlegs kicking up small rocks. One metre, two metres, three metres, I'm going to make it! The Doctor thought happily as he pumped his legs ferociously, I'm going to make it, I'm going to-glmph. After the hundredth and once time of his fall, The Doctor still did not believe that the dirt tasted any better to him. The Doctor pulled himself up once more, back cracking slightly as he shook his furry body from side to side, trying to clear his head of stars. Once more, with the renewed vigour of a timelord that refused to be beaten by his own body, The Doctor trotted back to The Pandorica, twirled around in a graceful manner and bolted forward. He passed one metre, two metres, three metres, four metres. The Doctor smiled goofily as he broke his old record with a twist of dirt before his eyes widened as his hoof struck the grassy ground with a wet smack. Distance cleared The Doctor allowed himself a joyous whoop of triumph before he cantered swiftly back to The Pandorica. Immediately after his triumphant victory over his limbs The Doctor's head began to fill with his own, burning, unanswered questions. Where are we? How are we here? Why are we an equine? Why did the bow-tie stay on even when all of our clothes were scattered? Where's the TARDIS? The screwdriver? The Doctor frowned slightly as he skimmed through the growing list of questions, his head cocking to the side as he began to ponder upon the most important topic at hand. How was he a pony? “Hmm, new equine body can't just be a random switch. Reasoning behind it must be sound or the change would not have occurred. I can't be dreaming this, my dreams revolve more around fishfingers and custard then pretty forests and a ravishingly handsome equine body. ...The Pandorica! Of course, it must have sensed its landing zone. Possibly scanned for the resident “alpha” race of the planet as well, which would seem to be ponies. I'm from the other universe, the old one as it were, I don't belong here. But The Pandorica changed that. It must have realized that its cargo was not of this universe and, using the newly gathered data of the alpha race changed me to fit the norm. The box that brings life-bearing light, changing the body of its pilot in order to allow him to fit in with the new world. My anatomy must have changed dramatically, molecules rearranging and forming a whole, new being. Still got two hearts I see, guess there's something that hasn't changed. Oh, my dear Pandorica, if I didn't already have a beautiful blue box at home then I'd adopt you here and now.” The Doctor stopped his long winded speech as the answer to one of his aching questions slotted perfectly into place, alleviating himself of the pecking question in his brain. He trotted forward until he stood directly in front of The Pandorica. His saviour and his “creator”. A large, ear to ear grin stretched painfully tight across his face as he reached out one hoof to stroke against the side of the wonderful, wonderful cube. “Thanks for the alteration, I was wonderi-” The Doctor had been reaching his hoof out closer and closer to the, unknowingly, still smouldering Pandorica. As soon as his hoof made contact a loud hiss of steam wafted from the new touch as he felt his new hoof begin to burn. The Doctor yelped loudly in pain as he swiftly removed his now crispy hoof from the scorching Pandorica. “Ow, ow, ow, ow, oooowwww” The Doctor hopped on his three still mobile legs as he waved the painfully blazing hoof through the air in great swath movements that were reminiscent of painters and their brushes. The Doctor felt his three seemingly stable legs wobble slightly as he continued to wave his hoof and moan his pain. With a weak quiver, his three legs gave out and, once more, he surrendered his body to the floor. Still whimpering at the unexpected feeling of burning on his incredibly sensitive hoof The Doctor did the logical thing. He stuck his hoof in his gaping equine mouth with a force that would rival that of the falling Pandorica. Still unaware of how altered his teeth had become, The Doctor felt tears spring to his eyes as his searing hoof scraped painfully along the new, larger teeth that occupied his mouth. He groaned in pain as he began to writhe on the floor. Normally The Doctor would have just shrugged this sort of injury off and sauntered away to save the day but today The Doctor was a horse, in a new world with painfully sensitive hoofs and, as such, he felt he deserved to roll around the floor in pain for a while. That was how they found him, a brown colt with black, ruffled hair rolling across the dirty ground, hoof in his mouth like the suckling of an infant. Soft moans emanated from him continuously before his eyes flickered open. Glazed at first but then with a brief bat of his eyelids The Doctor registered the six, bright, female ponies that stood in shocked silence before him. A gentle grin broke across his face, largely smothered by the hoof in his mouth. Spitting out his inured but forgotten limb The Doctor stood on his three useful legs and gazed at the furry creatures before him. “Oh, hello there.” [.] 30 minutes earlier Twilight was frantically darting around her library, eyes covering the great, multicoloured bookcases before her, searching for any book that might help with the odd situation at hand. Nothing. Bucking nothing. Nothing at all to do with mysterious grey boxes crashing from the sky. Nothing at all to do with screaming metallic cubes. Nothing at all to do with aliens or visitors and any objects from any other worlds out there. Twilight was completely beside herself, her precious books had failed her! Her mane was twisted far greater then it had been before, edges that seemed almost sharp twisting up from all directions. She was pacing across the library floor now, pondering the task at hand. Should she go investigate? Send a letter to the Princess? Just forget about it and leave it alone? “SPIIIIIKE!” Twilight called through the echoing library, voice breaking slightly with the high pitched, loud yell that had exploded from her throat. Within seconds a purple and green baby dragon popped into view, quaking legs betraying his fear. He had seen Twilight like this before, twice actually and both of those times still gave him nightmares. Hopefully this had nothing to do with dolls or eyepatches. “I need you to write a lette-No! It might be nothing, I should just forget about it-ARGH- I can't just forget about that. It could be one of the greatest finds in history. Maybe its dangerous though, oh no, what if its attacking Ponyville right now? I'm the last one left aren't I? Ohdear, ohdear, ohdear, ohdear.” The proclaimed Spike rolled his eyes at the unicorn before him, his terror forgotten in an instance as he watched the light lavender mare in front of him start the gentle process of a complete mental breakdown. “Twilight” “Ohdear, ohdear, ohdear.” “Twilight!” “Ohdear, ohdear, ohdear.” “TWILIGHT!” The pacing, anxious unicorn winced at the bellowing voice as it hit her sound sensitive ears, causing them to flatten themselves against her head. She turned towards her number one assistant, the madness vanishing from her eyes as she looked quizzically at him. “What is it Spike? Can't you see I'm very busy right now.” Spike raised on eyebrow in disbelief and Twilight chuckled sheepishly, a light blush spreading its way across her purple cheeks. “I was just going to suggest getting the girls and finding out for yourself. I mean, you've done this sort of thing before right? Its not like a quick trip to the Everfree Forest is going to hurt the Elements Of Harmony!” Spike finished the speech with a proud, brotherly air, confident with his ingenious plan. Twilight looked at him for a second, doubt flashing across her face before it was washed away by a look of happiness, her mane springing back into shape much like the inflation of a pink, party ponies hair. “That's a great idea Spike! I'll get Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. You get Rarity and Rainbow Dash. I'll meet you outside the library in 5 minutes.” Twilight spoke in a fast paced gobble, spouting out the information like a hectic sprinkler. She dashed to the door, hooves practically yanking the poor door of its hinges as she prepared to bolt across Ponyville to find her friends. She stopped before she ran and glanced back at Spike, a light smile splayed across her face and a look of gratefulness in her eyes. “Thanks Spike. I know it can be a bit difficult getting me to calm down. We'd better hurry though, I don't want whatever that was to vanish before I get to it. I'll see you in exactly five minutes.” Spike smiled bashfully as she layered the praise on thick. Before he could even mutter a “It was nothing” Twilight had vanished from sight, a small cloud of unicorn shaped air standing where she had once been. It too disappeared incredibly quickly, the wind blowing it out of the still open door. Spike sighed once as he looked at the open, creaky door. Today had been his day off, it was Saturday after all. Still, he couldn't disobey an order of such magnitude. Even his significantly small scientific heart raced a bit faster as he thought of discovering a whole new object, a whole new aspect of life. Still smiling at the idea of a great discovery, Spike walked dreamily to the door and closed it quietly behind him before he started to walk to Carousel Boutique. [.] Exactly five minutes later The six mares stood outside of the library, astonishment, excitement, giddy joy, terror and confusion etched onto their faces, jaws dropped to the floor. “So, let me get this straight. This crazy object falls from the sky, screaming like a little filly and lands with a big boom in the Everfree Forest?” Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash crossly for a second, thinking that Rainbow Dash wasn't taking this seriously but the puzzled look on the cyan pegasus's face told another story. Twilight softened considerably. “Yes, Rainbow. I saw it all with my own two eyes.” Rainbow Dash's face morphed from multiple expressions, joy and fear and excitement flickering across her face before it settled to a blank expression. “Aliens. Real aliens!” Rainbow's blank expression changed into one of fangirlish glee as she squeed at the idea of meeting a real live alien. She had read about them in the new Daring Do book, Daring Do and the empire of the golden cranium. Twilight sighed softly as her rainbow maned friend bounced up and down with unlocked glee. Pretty soon Pinkie had joined her, bouncing up and down with vibrations that were faintly reminiscent of a drill. “Girls, this doesn't mean that there is an alien! It could be anything, perhaps a scientist in Canterlot made a mistake with a new experiment or maybe Celestia is just playing another one of her jokes. I don't want anyone getting their hopes up for extraterrestrials.” Rainbow Dash immediately stopped hopping around the area, her chant of I'm going to meet and alien, I'm going to meet an alien falling silent as her face grew downcast before it brightened again. “Bit it might still be aliens right?” Twilight groaned once, exasperation leaking out of her expression as she spoke to Rainbow. “Yes Rainbow, it might be aliens.” “Then whatta we waiting for!” Rainbow Dash yelled and with a small loop-de-loop she began to head off towards the Everfree Forest. That is until she felt teeth chomp down on her tail and drag her back to the ground as she let out a startled cry. The teeth let go of the oddly spicy rainbow tail before the mare spoke. “Simmer down now RD. I ain't disputin' what Twi is sayin' but I'd prefer that we all go tagether.” Applejack drawled softly, southern accent ringing around the ears of the other five girls in the front of the library. Spike had already retired to the haven of books, muttering something about taking a nap. Twilight perked up in an instance, irritation de-materializing instantly at her orange friends comment. “So, you'll all go?” Five pairs of eyes swivelled towards the purple pansy coloured unicorn. Twilight's ears flickered back in embarrassment as she felt ten eyes bore into her with the strength to melt through steel. All of the eyes however held confusion rather then anger. Rarity spoke first, civil voice ringing majestically. “Why of course we will dear. It is quite exciting isn't it, the idea of a new arrival.” “Yeah, a new pony! Maybe its not even a pony, maybe its only the box though. Do ya think I could throw a “It was a box not an alien” party when we get back? Do ya? Do ya?” “Why a course we're gonna go. We're tha Elements o' Harmony for apples sake, it'd be bad if we didn' go investigate.” “C'mon Twilight, a chance to meet aliens! As if I'm gonna pass that up. Heh, I wonder if they do have telepathy ability like in Daring Do. Now this, this is gonna be so awesome!” “Umm...I'd like to come with you. I mean, its not everyday that you might meet an alien. Oh, I wonder if its ok, what it looks like. Oh my, maybe its hurt, the poor thing!” Twilight's eyes watered silently with tears as she listened to the supportive voices of her best friends. How could she ever have doubted them? It was for reasons like this that she was so unbearably happy that she had decided to stay in Ponyville instead of returning to Canterlot for her studies. Friends like these were for life, not just for one day. “Alright then girls, lets head out. Not time like the present!” Twilight raised one dainty hoof to express her point before settling it back onto the ground and breaking into a soft jog towards the treeline of the Evefree Forest. Behind her she heard the sounds of her friends following her and a muffled conversation between Pinkie and Rarity. “Yeah, what Twilight said. Allons-y!” “Pinkie, what did you just say?” “I said “Yeah what Twilight said” “No, no ,no. After that.” “Oh I said “I said “Yeah what Twilight said” “But I-What?” Twilight smiled happily as she heard the soft chatter of her slightly odd pink friend being her usual queer bubbly self with the pristine, upperclass white unicorn. This was going to be a fun, fun day. [.] They had been walking for roughly twenty minutes now, polite conversation breaking out between the five mares behind the lavender leader who was much too into the task at hand to be any use in a normal conversation. “Ooh, I wonder what aliens wear! Stylish I expect. I mean, who comes to a whole new world without looking their most fabulous?” “I bet it'd like lemon flavoured muffins. Or maybe muffin flavoured lemons. Maybe it likes hot sauce like me. Oh, I just can't wait to wish it a warm Ponyville welcome!” “Not everythin' out there is as kind as us ponies, girls. I don' want y'all to get ya hopes up only to find a mean alien or just ah strange box.” “Aw, c'mon AJ! Its a strange box that fell outta the sky. What else but an alien could it be!? I wonder if I can get its autograph *Insert squee here*” “Oh my...I just hope whatever it is isn't hurt or that big box didn't injure any of my little furry friends.” Twilight stopped walking, causing the mares behind her to collide with each others rump in a pattern similar to a game of dominoes. Fluttershy fell flat on her rump with a high eep, the others providing similar bodily reactions. Twilight's eyes narrowed slightly as she peered through the dark green foliage around her, searching for any signs of life. “Hey Twilight why'd we sto-” Twilight hushed the slightly disgruntled rainbow pegasus with a soft hoof to the mouth, silencing the now angered pony with a swift movement. She swore she had heard a slight hiss of steam, an indication of the landing zone of the mysterious, metallic, spinning cube. Suddenly a loud yelp tore through the forest, straight ahead through the trees. Twilight dashed forward, blitzing through the trees as her ears pinpointed the location of the noisy sound of pain. She wasn't as athletic as she could have been though, years of heavy book reading and low exercise rates taking their toll. The other five had quickly caught up with the hazy purple blur as she darted through the forest before they burst from the treeline and into the light dappled clearing. Immediately all of the girls halted, a slight kick up of grass spraying the air in front of them as their hooves ground against the earth with strong friction. A couple of metres forward lay a long, shallow crater that was coated with dark brown dirt and small, broken stones. In the centre of the circular crater, two things of great importance lay together, puzzling the Elements of Harmony. The cube lay bang splat in the centre of the crater, steam curling up from it in great waves of vapour, wafting upwards into the air. Grey, shiny metallic sides blazed brilliantly even in the slight sunlight of the clearing. Runes were carved on the sides, no longer glowing with the green light that Twilight had first seen. Instead, they now strobed a soft red light that cast a miniature raspberry coloured glow across the cubes surface. Two long doors were opened in the front of it, red and green lights clearly visibly flashing inside as sparks burst from the inside of the mysterious box, casting the whole interior in a faint white barrage. The cube radiated mystery and action and drama, enticing the girls towards it as the lights flickered softly and seductively, drawing them closer. They approached the very edge of the crater and made to head down before Twilight reared back in shock, discovering the second object of great importance. Beside the cube, one hoof in mouth lay a colt. Brown, caramel like fur coated his entire body, dew clinging to his chest and dust clinging to pretty much everything else. Ruffled black hair poked out of his head and trailed down his neck until it stopped at the bottom of his ears. It looked silky and yet coarse, fine and yet knotted, handsome and yet wild. A gold hourglass lay atop his flank, sand trickling down the inside of it. Perhaps a time piece maker? Twilight thought to herself rather glumly, clearly disappointed that she had not been the first pony to discover this new foreign object. The most striking area of the pained colt though was the neck. Or rather, what lay around the neck. There was a collar of shady, tree bark brown colour that seemed to reflect the bark of the trees themselves as it wrapped comfortably around his neck. The prominent figure was the small red bow-tie. It seemed old and worn yet so, so loved, tied carefully and effectively. The red was most striking, a deep resonating colour that pounced through the eyes of the girls watching as it captivated their senses. The colt groaned softly, muffled slightly by the hoof sticking in his mouth before he rolled over and opened his eyes blearily. And that was when Twilight knew that something was different about this colt. His eyes, though glazed, were such a striking blue colour. They seemed to stare into her very soul, gazing into the depths of her being. They held her captivated as the bow-tie had, except looking into these eyes, these beautiful eyes, hurt. They were so cold and so warm, like ice and fire. They were so hard and yet so soft, like a feather and a rock. They were so scary and yet so calming, like a storm at sea and a light breeze. They were so old and so new, so mesmerizing and so very, very blue. They held all the secrets and all the knowledge and all the power that Celestia's eyes had, perhaps even more. They were clouded with such misery and such sadness, peppered with guilt and unhappiness and self-loathing. They whispered to her, beckoning her onwards and yet driving her away. They were all of those things, ice and fire and rage. Ancient and forever, burning at the centre and watching the turn of the universe, such weariness and guilt and hate. And they were wonderful. The colt blinked just once and when his eyes appeared once more they were the same striking blue colour except they now wore a happy, joyous, carefree look that so violently clashed with the look Twilight had seen before. Had she imagined it? No pony could go from such a wave of emotion to joyous in just one blink, one little blink. The colts face wobbled slightly in what was probably supposed to be a grin but was horribly disfigured by the brown hoof sticking into his muzzle. With a slight pop the hoof leapt out of his mouth as the colt yanked himself onto three feet, the mouth suckered hand raised off of the floor by a mere millimetre. The grin was now evident on his face, spreading from ear to ear in such an outstandingly bizarre way. A way that very nearly rivalled Pinkie's smile. And then the colt spoke in a voice that made Twilight shiver. It was so warm, so friendly, so happy and yet beneath all that there was something else. Something...hidden. “Oh, hello there.” [.] The Doctor's grin expanded even more then its already abnormally large spread as he gazed at the bafflement of the ponies before him. Poor creatures, they probably didn't understand a word he said and with his TARDIS gone The Doctor had no hope of knowing what they would be saying. A shame really, he was a pony that couldn't understand any other ponies. He'd just have to learn, I mean how hard could it possibly be to speak the tongue of horses? The furry little creatures were still completely speechless. The orange coated filly with blonde hair had her mouth open wide in astonishment, teeth shining brightly. The white unicorn with the perfectly tamed purple hair was just staring at him with wide eyes, rounded in complete confusion. The pink pony with the brighter pink inflated hair was grinning wildly at him, a sight that uplifted The Doctor's heart. At least they could convey facial expressions. The butter yellow pegasus was cowering behind the pink maned one, a much lighter pink hue decorating her mane in such a way that it would surely have turned the sourest old man into a bright eyed, bushy tailed bundle of uncontrollable happiness. The rainbow maned pegasus, who was floating off of the ground was staring at him with a rather peculiar expression, her front hooves squished against her face as she stared at him with teary eyes. Finally, the purple, lavender unicorn that was closest to him was scrutinized by The Doctor. Such a lovely visage of purple, blending in well with her dark blue hair that fringed down just above her eyes. A light pink streak stretched across the stylish mane, curling upwards and out of sight. These ponies must really like pink. “Oh my, unicorns and pegasi! Unicorns. And. Pegasi! Oh you hit the jackpot today you jammy old timelord you, look at this! This is...outstanding. Hmm, the pegasi's wings aren't quite in the natural size range of a pony of their size. Light bones perhaps, a layer of air on the inside to help keep aloft? And these unicorns, the horns! Oh my, they appear to be made out of bone with a light stretching of skin over them to blend in with the fur. How clever. I wonder, all the myths said that they could...nah, magic doesn't exist. Well, it didn't exist before. I am somewhere new I suppose, anything is possible. Oh, this is going to be fun.” The Doctor circled the group of mares, speaking aloud his observations as he went, completely assured that they wouldn't understand a word that he was saying. This was just too fascinating. Not only is he a pony, a pony, but there are unicorns and pegasi here too! They all seem to have their own coloured coats as well, perhaps a form of singularity so that no pony is ever the same, like a fingerprint. Oh, oh, oh and they all had those funny looking tattoos, one of which The Doctor had on his rump but still! Just fascinating. Of course, The Doctor was even more fascinated when the lavender pony began to speak. “We do have names you know!” Twilight was shocked. She had never meant to say that, it was a spur of the moment comment. She would have been quite happy to have stared at him for a long, long time, to take in his looks and his approach and the way he moved that seemed so different to every pony else. Alas, she must, must, must say something to him so she had begun to prepare her pre-emptive “Welcome to Ponyville x” speech before her train of thought was interrupted by the observations of the seemingly oblivious colt. He had studied them like she studied books, locating and repeating every rough idea that came to his mind. She wasn't so angry at first when he had begun his long winded scientific evaluation on them but when he had purposefully forgotten to mention the earth ponies, Twilight had got angry at him. They deserved every evaluation and comment and snippet of information that he had gleamed from the others. Well, now that she thought about it that did appear a bit off, not only was she trying to get her friends to be viewed and pondered over by this mysterious colt but also the fact that he was really pondering over them. Ponies coated Equestria, he was a pony in himself and yet he talked about them like they were something new and amazing and just completely baffling. The Doctor's eyes widened considerably as his mouth unhinged and hung open, confusion and bewilderment etched on his face. The tables had indeed been turned upon him, the confused purple mare before him had got angry and actually, verbally, talked to him. Simply put, it blew The Doctor's mind. “Sentient. Ponies. You are sentient ponies?” Twilight nodded dumbly, like a child answering their parents with a simple flick of the head, not really concentrating in them but rather by the object of their attention, be it a book or a game or a hobby. As soon as the purple mare nodded, The Doctor exploded. “Sentient ponies! Sentient ponies! Well I never. This is...that was...this is completely and utterly astounding! Pegasi, unicorns, ponies and now, now, they all talk! Oh truly, truly you've hit the jackpot on this one. This is bewildering, outstanding, completely and utterly bonkers! Oh but of course, this universe would work in a different way to ours. It would seem that the resident pony race are the proverbial humans of this universe, after all they talk in the same language and they seem to feel the same emotions. Oh, look at me talking to you like you're not even there! Hello there, once again, my name is-” The Doctor droned on and on, happiness and sheer outstanding madness powering his speech towards new boundaries of the word obsessive. Here they were, ponies, talking to him. Such joy had only been encountered once before when he had sat and watched the human race say its very first words. This was like Christmas and Hanukkah and Halloween all rolled into one. Oh, introductions of course. No time like the present! The Doctor's mental and verbal speech ended quite profoundly as the whirring, sparking cube behind him began to give off a loud, high keening noise that ripped through the ears of every pony in the clearing, ears flattening down in an unavoidable bodily reaction. The Doctor turned around, frowning slightly at the aggravating noise. His frown dropped though as soon as he saw the inside of The Pandorica, the angered expression replaced by a look of terror that would have been hilarious if it were not for the keening klaxon that seemed to caution and warn every pony away. Red lights were flashing harder and harder inside The Pandorica, crimson light flooding the panels and the wires as the small screen in the back buzzed to life, white streaks darting across its front. Written across the screen in dark red, large letters was a simple and yet chilling message: Overheat In Progress. Vent Systems Activated. The Doctor whirled around and hurtled towards the group of ponies, his limbs now complying with him as he hurled himself as far away from The Pandorica as possible. “RunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunRUN!” The Doctor screamed at the mares in an astonishingly high voice as he bolted away from the clearing and disappeared into the tree line, blue eyes watching from the convenient cover of a large shrub. The girls didn't need to be told twice, their inner “alarm” system had gone off as soon as the outer alarm system had sounded. There was only one reason why a sound like that would be made and it was to clear an area as quickly as possible, to warn everypony away from the site. The girls twirled around, spinning on their back legs before powering away from the strange box as it began to make more frantic whirring noises, the red lights now continuously beating the outside of The Pandorica in a crimson blaze. They dived into The Doctor's protective shrub as they heard the sounds of clanking and groaning behind them pick up, eyes turning towards the seemingly deadly cube as it created a symphony of loud, clashing sounds that turned the once peaceful clearing on its head. Twilight turned to the brown colt, fear and embarrassment of her previous actions forgotten as she quizzed him. “What's happening? What's the matter? Why did you choose a shrub to hide in?” The Doctor, without taking his eyes off of the crackling, sparking Pandorica answered each of her questions in order. “Its overheated and needs to ditch the excess thermal energy. The problem is that the only way to do that is to vent all of the excess steam to the surrounding area, enough steam to turn me and you into crispy fried pony. About this shrubbery, it was a spur of the moment thing. You try and pick a devilishly clever place to defend from onrushing death.” “There was a large ditch about four metres to the right of you, it could have held us all...” “...Well, I picked the shrubbery and now the shrubbery we are in. If you want t-Wait, watch!” The Doctor cut off his annoyed grumble with the purple unicorn, who had so effectively shot down his clearly superior hiding place, in order to stare at the now silent Pandorica. The alarms had shut down in order to convert all power to the necessary vents that were not opening up around the sides, fins of metal rising up to point into the sky. Suddenly, a loud hiss burst through the silence as steam galloped from the vents, spilling outwards and spiralling into the air. Still the steam poured outwards, crossing the distance of the crater and smothering it in a dense, cloudy vapourish fog. Great clouds of vapour rose up into the sky, simulating a blazing, roaring inferno. Burning vapour poured across the grass now, turning the usually green shine into a burnt, charred brown colour. As quickly as it had begun, the steam started to thin out, only trickling slowly out of The Pandorica as a gentle fizz emanated from the insides of the cube, shutting the vents down and forcing all fins to slide back into the main body of The Pandorica. The steam hung in the crater for a while longer before rising upwards almost softly, hiding its deceptive, painfully burning heat as it simply wafted upwards into the bright blue sky. Only then did The Doctor exit his ingenious hiding place, the red flowered bush that was large enough to host a selection of equine bodies. For a split second The Doctor's thoughts turned to the flora of the area, marvelling at the size and smell of the plants before he turned back to the matter at hand, the possibly still active Pandorica. He strolled up to the cube cautiously before circling it with curiosity written across his face. Rarity, the feeling of confusion heavy on her mind, spoke now, the second pony to speak to this new, mysterious arrival. “What the devil are you doing?” As soon as she spoke, the floodgates opened as the other mares began to shout and bombard The Doctor with questions, their voices mixing into an incoherent babble. “Who are ya?” “Where do you come from? Is it space? Are you an alien, or a spy?” “Oh dear..you look hurt. Doesn't that burnt hoofie hurt?” “Lemon muffins or muffin lemons?” “What in Celestia's name is that big cube? Why did it try to kill us!?” The Doctor frowned openly as he tried to decipher what each of the girls had yelled at him. Slowly, achingly slowly, he unravelled the questions as the mares waited in tense silence, the feeling of fear and suspicions growing towards this new, brown coated colt. The Doctor, for the second time today, answered all of the questions in perfect order. “What I am doing is checking to see if all of the heat has vanished. You see, sometimes the steam and the heat can boil up and conduct into the metal of a...cube like this.” Before he could answer anymore questions Rarity piped up again with another quite clever question. “How are you going to check that thing? It doesn't seem to be doing anything at all! In fact, I'd say its pretty much dead.” The Doctor smiled slightly, these ponies were certainly smarter then he had first believed them to be. Observative too. “Well, it seems dead but I expect it has merely gone to sleep for a while, hibernation to restore its batteries, its power cells. The way I'm going to check if the metal is still burning, smouldering or scorching is very simple. I'm going to hit it.” And with that The Doctor raised one foreleg up, pulled it behind him and lunged forward, striking The Pandorica with a nice, ringing dong. Immediately the mares jumped back, expecting to see him moaning and clutching his hoof like their first encounter, whining and crying on the ground, but instead the new pony just smiled and turned towards them. “As you can see, its completely vented, thankfully I didn't make myself look like a fool again. Now, where was I? Ah yes, who am I? How about this, I'm pretty poor at starting introductions. Would you mind telling me your names first and then I'll say mine?” The Doctor was lying of course, introductions were in fact his forte. Yet, he desperately needed to know what the names of these ponies would be like. Would they be normal, like Gregg or Stacey or Linda or would they be a bit more namby pamby like Moonshine Sniffles or Anxious Soar? You can learn a lot from a name, that was merely one of the things The Doctor had learnt on his journeys, and right now trapped on a new world, with a new body he desperately needed to know something, anything about the pony inhabitants even if it was their name traditions. The pink coated, pink maned pony stalked slowly up to The Doctor, much to the horror of the remaining five who had begun to fear for the safety of the quirky mare. She stared The Doctor straight in the eyes, blue against blue clashing together in a heated battle, a slight frown upon her face as she gauged him and his personality, his very soul it seemed. Slowly, like trickling honey she spoke. “Pinkie Pie promise?” The Doctor, if possible, grew even more confused then he had first been. What in the name of all things timelordian was a Pinkie Pie? More importantly, why must he swear to her? Was she a deity, a legend, a mythical creature that stalked the stories of the ponies? Almost as slowly as her The Doctor nodded his head and opened his mouth. “Pinkie Pie promise.” The pink furred, pink maned pony immediately brightened, a beaming smile crossing her face in an instance as she began to speak as rapidly as rain hitting the ground during a thunderstorm. “I'll let you off of the physical aspect of it but be warned, do not break a Pinkie Pie promise. Speaking of Pinkie Pie, that's me! Born and raised a Pie, live and die a Pie.” The self proclaimed Pinkie Pie suddenly leapt forward and tackled The Doctor, grasping him in a hard yet soft hug as she squeezed his new body. The Doctor happily obliged to the confusing and yet fantastic hug, raising his forelegs up to wrap around this “Pinkie Pie”. She seemed nice enough and at least now he could judge and estimate the rest of their names. Pinkie Pie pulled away from the hug, gazing at the Doctor with a penetrating look before her signature smile spread across her face and she turned back to the other ponies. “He's alright girls, c'mon out and meet him!” Pinkie Pie must hold some power over them, The Doctor thought to himself as he saw the next five mares practically gallop up to him, arranging themselves in a blockade of a line, almost militaristic if it wasn't for the orange and the cyan ponies pushing at each other on the end of the row. The orange pony with the blonde hair stepped forward first, raising a hoof up to shake his. Ok Doctor, this one looks like a...ApplePie! The Doctor thought to himself, quite proud with the suitable name as he stretched out a hoof to greet the mare. Her grip was like iron, crushing his hoof as she rapidly pumped up and down with a motion that caused The Doctor's whole body to literally leave the ground on every upthrust. “Heya, the name's Applejack. I work down at tha local apple farm, Sweet Apple Acres. Best apples y'all find in the whole o' Equestria.” Aha! He was close, just the second word off. Perhaps not every pony here is a “Pie”. Still, now at least he knew where he was. A land called Equestria...It felt suspiciously story book like. Oh well, a land filled with ponies was never going to have a name that suggested otherwise. The Doctor put on a large grin as she tugged her hand away, feeling the strong muscles of the farm mare depart from his touch. “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Applejack.” Applejack smiled and trotted back to the others, whispering into the ear of the rainbow maned one who stepped forwards afterwards, eyes fixated on The Doctor. Rainbow Fly! “Hey, I'm Rainbow Dash (so close). Fastest flier in all of Equestria, you've probably heard of me before. Yes, yes, yes I will be signing any autographs you may want.” Rainbow Dash had a witty, arrogant smile splayed across her face as she finished her introduction, obviously pleased with the way she had shown herself. She raised on hoof up to chest height and extended it outwards but not in the display a hoofshake would be declared upon. The Doctor's eyes widened as he beheld the hoof before him, the cyan fur swaying every so slightly in the breeze. It couldn't be. The Doctor thought to himself before he cautiously pulled back his own hoof and, with little force, tapped it against hers in what closely resembled a “bro fist” as the humans had so elegantly put it. Apparently that was the right move to make as Rainbow Dash burst into a grin and flew away with a small, hilarious bow that made her seem childish and fun, moving before The Doctor could say his hello. The next mare stepped forward, the white unicorn with the purple hair that had inevitably opened the playing field for questioning. She strode up to him and placed herself right before him, minty breath wafting into his face. Jewel! “Good day my dear. I am Rarity of Carousel Boutique, the finest dress and suit shop in the whole of Equestria. Although, may I say that that bow-tie is simply stunning on you!” She spoke with an accent that was hard to distinguish, obviously very ladylike and into the upper class of whatever system these ponies had set up for them. She held herself with the grace of a true lady. Without thinking, The Doctor took one of her forelegs in his own, causing her to stiffen slightly, before he brought it to his lips and pecked it gently. He lowered it back down to the floor before grinning at her. “I am charmed, Miss Rarity.” The white unicorn blushed slightly, a faint red tinge lighting up her snow white cheeks as she coughed with slight embarrassment into one hoof. “Oh my, a gentlecolt. Feel free to pop into my shop at any time. Well, ta-ta darling!” She sauntered away, tail flicking in the air before returning to the happy bundle of self greeted ponies. Only two remained now, the quivering yellow peagsus and the purple unicorn who seemed to radiate leadership, be it an unknown tool that she did not realize she wielded. Slowly, much more cautiously then the others, the purple unicorn stepped forward. She trotted up to him, never breaking her eye contact until she stood right in front of him, narrowed eyes searching his. She opened her mouth, closed it at once and then opened it again. Moonlight Sniffle! “Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle. I run the Ponyville library and-” Twilight was cut short very quickly by the overexcited, childish voice of The Doctor. As soon as she had mentioned a library, a change had occurred in him. No longer was he the civilised, refined gentlecolt that had spoken to Rarity. Now he seemed like a foal in a candy shop. “You run a library! Oh my, the books, are there many? You have history books right, I love a good history book. They're usually dead wrong but they are excellent reading material. Oh my, I'm so sorry I interrupted you again didn't I?” Twilight was stunned by the sudden, jarring change in character, an expression of bafflement crossing her features as she beheld the gentlecolt break down into a goofy stallion before her. She blinked once before a warm smile lit up her face. He was a bookworm! Just like her! How many books has he read? Do you think he'd see the works of John Stallionbeck's Of Mice and Ponies the way she saw it? “Oh no, no worries at all. I'm just surprised to see a fellow bookworm around these parts. It seems I'm the only one with a constant hunger for knowledge!” The Doctor grinned massively, a real joyous smile spreading across his face as he glimpsed more into the life of the, at first, judgemental mare before him. Oh, I like you already, The Doctor thought to himself as he listened to her ramble on about dusty old tomes which, just so happened to be, his favourite kind of tomes. Soon her rambling finished and she looked up at him with a sheepish grin, a small blush decorating her cheeks with blood. The Doctor merely chuckled at the sight. “My dear Miss Twilight, I would love to read up on a few of these wonderful book you have told me about. They sound like quite the tales.” The Doctor spoke happily, his love of books and tomes and history and non-fiction coming into play. Practically any book was a book he could love, any book apart from fiction. Pfft, what was the point of reading about a planet with seven moons and slug aliens when you could actually go to a planet with seven moons and slug aliens? Twilight smiled once more, much more warmly then her first approach to him before she turned away and trotted back. Only one mare remained now, the quivering, shaking squeaking butter coloured pegasus on the floor. When she did not approach him, The Doctor walked forward until he was next to her. Noticing the new arrival, the scared pegasus let out a muffled eep and covered her face with her long pink mane. The Doctor took a step back out of guilt. Had he done something to scare her? Was this pegasi's fear his fault? A loud, slightly cracked voice echoed across the clearing as Rainbow Dash yelled out towards The Doctor, noticing his expression of guilt. “Don't mind her, she's just really, really shy. Its not your fault or anything.” The Doctor smiled at the rainbow maned, friendly pegasus before turning his gaze back to the wobbling, jelly-like pegasus in front of him. “You don't need to tell me your name, its fine. I'll tell you what, I'll perform my introductions to your and your group of friends and then, if you feel up to it, you can tell me your name, ok?” The butter coloured pegasus moved slightly in what may have been a nervous twitch, still staring at the ground. The Doctor shrugged slightly, a movement that should have been impossible for normal ponies now performed by the one of a kind timepony. Good enough for me. He thought to himself before turning around and walking up to The Pandorica. There, he swivelled to face the mares, five of them in heated discussion and one of them curled tightly into an adorable ball of fur. He cleared his throat loudly, as to gather everyponies attention and, when the mares had turned to him, he began to speak. “Where to begin? Ok, first I'm new here. That's all I'm saying on the topic of my arrival for the moment, I am completely new. I've come from a very far away place, a place that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to return to. But that's ok, at least for now because I have a whole new world to explore. A whole new life to live.” The Doctor spun around and struck The Pandorica slightly, causing a sea of sparks to explode and burst behind him, adding pointless but exciting effect to his speech. He turned once more to the mares, striking blue eyes wide with hidden knowledge, body posed in a way so that the light illuminated him perfectly. Sparks burst behind him as a large, excited, nervous, adrenaline filled smile crossed his face. Great dark orange and yellow trails of sparks igniting the dirt around him, tiny flames kicking up in a surrounding circle, flickering against his coat in a powerful, omnipresent, ancient, secretive and intoxicatedly adventurous way. “Hello,” he said in a voice that radiated danger and attention and wonder, “I'm The Doctor. He swirled around darting beside the still sparking Pandorica, dancing a slightly disjointed luminous dance inside the behemoth of metal, rapidly flipping switches with the precision of one that had spun the dance of flick switching time and time again. Finally, he stopped and jumped out of The Pandorica landing inches in front of the mares who had moved forward to catch his frantic movement inside the cube. “Or, if you want you can call me...” The Pandorica's systems ignited again, green lights flashing and screens swirling back to life as the recently charged power cells pulsed joules and volts and watts into the life bearing box. Brilliant white blinding light flared from the inside of the box, causing the mares to wince as The Doctor was silhouetted against the impressive, incandescent light that blared from The Doctor. The figure he cast was one of strength and charisma and charm and kindness and power. It was a figure that screamed years of experience, of fun and mischief, of battles and storms, of fire and ice. “...The mad colt with the cube.” The mares stood there staring, mouths agape, minds utterly obliterated by the figure before them. The blue eyed, bow-tied pony who had patronized them without realization, saved their lives, risked his own, heard their introductions and who responded with such kindness, such clarity that it had simply blown them away. Bright light flared once more softly behind him before it dimmed down, allowing the six girls to see the confident smirk on his brown, caramel face as the final inches of light crawled back into the cube. Everything was silent, conversation and comments sent scattering into the void, segments of rebuttal and replies dashing across the sky and disappearing into the wind. Talk was gone, snatched almost painfully from the mouths of the gob-smacked mares. Well, almost gone. “My..My names... Fluttershy”
All The Rage In The UniverseAll The Rage In The Universe It woke to the sound of birdsong. It hissed in abject pain as it felt the boiling sun beat down on its exposed back, the translucent body being bombarded brutally by the celestial rays of shining light. Its pure body, free of impersonations was a very frail thing. The slight radioactive waves of gamma that emitted from the sun, the slight gamma rays that most creatures could merely shrug off, was burning into its skin with the pain of a thousand needles. Its strength was still there though, the strength that could level trees and crack holes in marble, the strength that could break bones with the ease of snapping a finger. Its taloned limbs felt scorched and crispy but not broken, the small thin bones still secured firmly in place. The aching in its head was still pounding, relentless banging and clattering shrieking and screaming smothering its mind, causing its large eyes to wince slightly. Hazy memories bubbled to the surface of its mind, the unbelievable agony of death and the sickening dulled feeling of life returning to his limbs, its molecules knotting back together without any hint of pain. It remembered the feeling of rebirth and of falling and falling, of slamming into the spongy, wet ground with a small thump. It remembered the host body fading with a slight fizzle as its molecules expelled the human blood from its own system, the seeping red liquid leaking into the ground and being absorbed by the earth. Then the darkness had engulfed it, its black eyes flickering softly before it gave into unconsciousness. And now, now it was here, wherever here was. Its bulbous, black eyes widened as it took in the ground that lay before it. Clear, free grass rustled tidily in the breeze, past that a deep, dark forest seemed to spread onwards for miles and miles, small gleaming eyes pouncing across its dark, hidden, shadowed treeline. Slowly, its back screaming in great convulsing throes of pain, the belittled, should be dead plasmavore rose onto its legs, shaking slightly from the agony of this short physical movement. Its head declined slightly as it took in its landing zone, a small grassy plain just on the outskirts of the ominous looking forest, a small plasmavore shaped imprint sticking to the weed tangled floor like a cartoon character. Its blank, cold eyes fell on the small object that lay beside the carefully crafted imprint, a thin, short white stump that's end glowed with soft trickles of red. The plasmavore bent down much to the protest of its quivering legs and, wrapping its taloned hand around it, picked up the straw with a soft smirk upon its horribly pale face. Then the plasmavore turned one hundred and eighty degrees to observe the new sight before it, the sight that brought a cold, broken laugh belching out of its throat with a horrible cackling sound. A small village lay about a mile in front of it, curly grey smoke wafting up from the rooftops of huddled houses. Even from where it was standing it could see the wide assortment of bright colours that decorated the village in a childish, pathetic glow, screaming immaturity. A few very large, very conspicuous objects caught its attention, buildings that jutted out of the town that seemed to beg for attention and shriek for eyes to bless their bodies. The first noticeable building was a large, red barn in the centre of a gigantic shroud of apple trees to the far left of the town. The barn rose upwards into the air, past the heads of the trees, red coated wood glistening brightly in the burning sunlight. A light lavender series of rooftops decorated the top of the barn, yellow and red flowers blooming from the open windows that allowed the bright suns light to seep into the household. A brilliantly red apple exploded from the roof of the barn, calling to everyone and anyone that this, this, was the prime place for apples and apple treats. The great groves of apple trees rose around the barn, red fruit littering the luscious green leaves like flies littering a corpse. Small white fences criss-crossed the farming ground, a border to keep trespassers and fruit devouring animals out of the prized apple collection. The second building was a great medley of human like confectioneries. Dripping chocolate, fluorescent white icing and a large, disgustingly pink cake rose from the roof of the sweet crafted building. Large purple candles extended from the cake-like roof and stretched upwards until they seemed to punch the face of the sky. Large, glassy windows exploded from the confiture shop and household, another botheringly cute building that allowed the dreaded sunlight to filter inwards. Flowers coated this house as well, blue and red and yellow mingling together in a washing machine styled swirl of colour. Even from where it was standing, a mile away, it could see the long line of multicoloured figures that stretched towards its entrance in a long, winding line, waiting patiently for entrance to the large shop. The third and final terribly attention seeking building, if you would call it that, was a brilliant white cloud palace that hovered along the border of the quaint looking town. Great cloud pillars rose up to support the structure, twirling fluffy clouds of the colour of snow moulded into the shape of a mansion. Sparkling, gushing fountains of rainbow coloured liquid burst across the cloud house, trickling down the sides in waterfalls of spectrum colours. It shuddered in disgust and repulsion as it took in the site of the new town, the sickeningly colourful village that seemed too peaceful, too quiet. Not for long. It thought to itself with a convincing, shady grin before wincing slightly as the sun continued its relentless assault on its radioactive prone body. The plasmavore's eyes narrowed slightly as it took in the distance to the town before it began its short but painful trek towards the village and its inhabitants, chaos and destruction on its mind. [.] It took the plasmavore ten long, arduous minutes to cross the sun swept distance between its falling point and the town border. It had walked achingly across the soft, wet ground, sticking to the shadows of trees whenever it ran across one. Partly for the darkened shadowed cover from prying eyes and partly to escape, even if for mere seconds, from the horrible, smouldering sunlight. Finally, finally after struggling, falling and cursing and shrieking in pain the plasmavore disappeared into the relative shadowed shade of one of the massive houses, eyes glittering towards the residents of the town with contempt. It had seen them, five minutes earlier, the adorable, wide eyed, bushy tailed ponies that trotted and cantered and waltzed around the town, a spring in their step and laughter in their voices. The alpha race of the land had caught the pale killer out at first, dumb, dull creatures from the other universe now sentient and lively. Such was its shock that it had simply stopped its approach and stared at the creatures that had yet to see him. Racing thoughts shot through its brain as it took in the sight before it, as it absorbed the knowledge that something had changed drastically when it had reformed. It had been thrust into a world that it should never ever be near, trapped on a planet that had yet to see any dark aspects of any other world. Soon, though, soon the feeling of shock vanished and was replaced by another feeling. Loathing. Oh, how it loathed them. How it wished to simply step from the shadows and crush them. How it wished to burn this quiet town, to hear the sounds of screaming and pain. How it wished to laugh and giggle as the creatures around him burnt with shrieks of agony. It had a simple matter to attend to first before it could thrust these pitiful creatures into a void of sadness and pain. It was hungry, so very, very hungry. When it had reformed in this strange new world it had lost all traces of its last meal and, right now, the plasmavore only had the thrill and thought of hunt on its deeply corrupted mind. It had recoiled slightly as it came to the conclusion that it would have to take the body of one of these awfully bright ponies, weakness shining through for a second as it vaguely wished that it could still be human, before it steeled itself to the thought. Survival was more important then honour. Once a meal had been claimed, it could go about ridding this land of these horrible, gruesomely happy sacks of fur and hair. Its eyes flickered slightly as it automatically went into its hunter-esque gaze, nose slits wrinkling slightly as it tasted the air with a hesitant sniff, getting a feel of the stench of the ponies. It was a warm, soapy, pleasant smell. A smell that showed no signs of rot or grease or fat. It was a happy, pure smell that brought bile to the aliens slightly convulsing throat, such pleasant smells like poison to the monster with the rotten core. Its eyes twitched slightly from behind the wall of darkness as it took in the sight of the ponies wandering around the clearing, dirty hoofs kicking up dust with loud thumps. Strong. I need a strong one. Yes, yes, yes. A good, tasty meal. it thought to itself as it expanded its gaze towards every creature that walked into view, gaping mouth trickling small amounts of hunger fuelled saliva. Soon, its eyes fell on its next victim, dark protruding tongue flicking out to roll around its gaping mouth in a sign of lust and hunger. The stallion was tall and muscular, a dark green colour that closely resembled the colour of the leaves that the plasmavore had seen earlier on the leaves of the forest trees. The eyes were a deep hazel colour, warm and friendly but also filled with power and strength, signs of battles won and lost flickering softly in the brown orbs. Long blonde hair streaked down its head and back, a light swishing tail of the same yellow trailing behind him. It was unkempt and wild, dirt coating the edge in a soft brown sheen. On the flank of the powerful, stockily built stallion was the mark of two crossed swords, glowing with a faint silver colour. The stallion had no apparel on but, even from this distance, secluded in the dark, the plasmavore could see the slight circular ring that cut around the colt's body, the lightly shaded area obviously clear as to be from a sheath of some sort that had been wrapped around the stallions body for many years. A warrior, the plasmavore mused softly as it took in the sight of its next victim, how very...fortunate. The plasmavore felt a little trickle of spit trail down the corner of his face as his mouth watered at the idea of a new, fresh meal. The plasmavore's eyes narrowed slightly as it pondered a way to get the dark green stallion over to itself, alone. Seconds ticked by like hours as the thoughts of the hungry monster raced through its mind at speeds that defied belief. A mere two seconds passed before the plasmavore's eyes gleamed and its mouth set itself into a cruel smile, a soft chuckle escaping the cavernous mouth. It waited and waited as the stallion drew closer to its hiding place, as the green colt trotted casually across the clearing, very nearly scraping some of the outer buildings with his large body. Just as the green stallion passed the plasmavore's hiding place, it let out a loud, broken cough and proceeded to break down into soft snivels and cries that made the stallion pause in his tracks and turn his head back towards the darkened area where the sounds were coming from. The stallion hesitated for a moment before trotting backwards towards the soft whimpers that were emanating from the shadows, pausing just at the edge to peer into the darkness, nothing distinguishable coming into view. He called out in a quiet, deep voice that crossed the darkened gap in a mere second, the powerful voice ringing with strength in the ears of the plasmavore. “Is anypony in there? Are you hurt?” The plasmavore just continued the crying and weeping sounds, raising the volume ever so slightly, trying to entice the emotionally torn stallion into the darkness. “Do...do you need help? Hello!?” The stallion called, louder into the darkness, voice permeating the shadows of the house but seemingly falling on deaf ears as the whimpering and snivelling only increased in volume, soft coughing joining the mix of sounds. The stallion braced himself, thoughts of protection and helpfulness flickering across his face, before he plunged into the dark shadowy sea. As soon as his hindlegs stepped into the shadows the crying and the whimpering stopped, a deathly silence following his arrival. The stallion felt a trickle of sweat roll down his coat as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up to attention. He began to turn, to head back the way he came before whatever was giving him these horror felt vibes caught up to him but he was stopped by a monstrous abomination standing between him and the shadowy exit. The plasmavore watched the foolish but brave stallion enter the shadows, watched as it looked around in fear at the sudden lack of noise and then watched it turn towards him, terror flying across his deep green face as he beheld the body of the plasmavore. It didn't even give him time to cry out in terror before it lunged towards the colt, grabbing its muzzle with white, shivering talons and forcing him up against the wall of the house with a slight thud. It rammed the stallion into the wall once, making sure the head connected with a thwack similar to that of a watermelon cracking before letting the stallion drop to the floor in a daze similar to the humans. Without wasting any time or breath, the plasmavore lunged forwards, exposed the neck with one long taloned hand and plunged the straw into the vein of the stallion with the second pale hand. The stallions eyes widened slightly as it felt the cold, slippery hand close around his muzzle, blocking of all sound as the creature dipped its head towards the straw that punctured his neck. The last thing the green colt heard was the rapid sound of sucking before he passed out in slightly shrivelling bundle of fur. No pony paid any attention to the green stallion that strolled out of the shadows. No pony glanced his way as he made his route slowly across the clearing, eyes glistening with unsuppressed malice. No pony paid any attention to the white straw that stuck out of his mouth like a cigarette. No pony even noticed the small drop of blood that fell from the straws end and hit the dusty floor with a soft plink. A loud, three belled chime echoed across the town as the plasmavore trotted casually through the friendly village, schemes and plans forming evilly in its mind. [.] It had taken The Doctor a good five minutes to close the jaws of the stunned ponies, trying to coax them back into the realm of the conscious to little effect. After her earlier introductory comment, Fluttershy had proceeded to squeak uncontrollably before resorting back into the quaking mass that The Doctor remembered so well from the butter yellow pegasus. The reactions of the sentient, hilariously confused ponies had been simply priceless though. The Doctor certainly wouldn't have traded that moment for the world, that moment when his new friends could seem him in his own light, free from the plaguing nightmares and horrors that whittled down his soul, weighing heavily upon his mind. He never wanted anyon-anypony to see him like that, to see his core. To see the monster that lurked in his heart and in his mind. Rarity's reaction had been one of the most comical reactions that The Doctor had seen in his age old life. First came the eye-twitch, a small tic seemingly embedded into her eye causing her right eye to furiously flutter for a solid minute. Then came the astonished, withdrawn, late gasp that seemed to create rolling waves of confusion across the clearing, rising upwards into the sky much like the great wafts of steam that had ascended earlier. Lastly, the metaphorical icing on the cake, a satin red couch had darted across the clearing, dust streaming behind it as if it was a fleeing antelope. As soon as it reached the bewildered mare, she collapsed onto its plump fabric and proceeded to faint in an almost lady like movement, one foreleg rising to her head as if to test her temperature before she let out one final sigh and passed out. Then came Applejack's reaction which, though not quite as extravagant as Rarity's, was still a sight to behold. The seemingly stable farm mare just stood stone still, mouth hanging open so wide that it was like staring into a blackhole. Her eyes were wide and brimming with every emotion known, confusion and fear, bafflement and astonishment, sadness and happiness. The strong farm pony seemed to quiver a little bit every once in a while, a slight muffled oh horse apples breaking out of her mouth before it expanded once more into the dark void. During Applejack's mental breakdown, The Doctor took the time to admire her or, specifically, the wonderful hat atop her head. Truly a beautiful Stetson. After all, Stetsons are cool. Not quite on the same scale as bow-ties and fezzes but certainly up there in the list of all things cool. Next there was Pinkie Pie's reaction which, if The Doctor had known Pinkie Pie for long enough would have known that the change was astronomical. Pinkie Pie the energetic, babbling, mad, odd, quirky, partying, insane mare was completely and utterly silent. She was just staring, straight at The Doctor as if she could see something, something that no one else could see. As if she were reading a book or deducing a mystery. She still held the whimsical look in her eyes that the rest of the mares wore but the rest of her body spoke a different tale, not suspicious but...prepared for whatever may lay ahead. There was something to her, that pink party pony. Underneath all of that bubbling energy she was smart and quick to the punch, thoughtful and calculating. Right now, all of those things were whispering around her, prompting The Doctor to force his gaze away from her before she saw anything that he would prefer to keep hidden. After the pink menace, Rainbow Dash came into view wearing the expression of a child that had first found ten pounds on the floor, then found a chocolate bar in the fridge and then found out that they are destined to be a cowboy astronaut. So, she was looking very, very happy. The smushed face had returned except this time the eyes twinkled with astonishment and slight fear, the sculpted, refined, athletic face wrinkling together as her cyan hooves pushed against the sides of her face. Her wings were beating furiously, an odd whining and buzzing noise flaring behind her with a gentle waft of smoke rising from the sparking blue wings. Similar to Applejack, she was muttering a slight speech over and over again, which sounded a lot like ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Fluttershy was curled on the ground, shivering and quaking with small squeaks bursting from the butter bundle of fur with a surprisingly high pitch. Her pink mane layered across her face, smothering her from view in a soft hue of bubblegum pink. Her wings were twitching slightly, small spasms racking their lengths as her nerves clenched tightly around her whole body, disabling her of the ability to not only speak but also to move. The Doctor simply smiled sadly at the pegasus, put off that he had not been able to get through to her but determined to go through every attempt to win her over in the future. Finally, The Doctor allowed himself to bask in the once grumblingly annoying lavender unicorns reaction. Her pupils had expanded to the size of dinner plates, sparkling slightly with amazement and questions. Her mouth was open slightly in the shape of an “o”, bafflement evident upon her purple and blue fringed face. Her legs were shaking ever so slightly, much like The Doctor's had been when he had first stepped out of The Pandorica an hour ago. The Doctor continued to stare at her for a few more seconds before sighing and turning away, And I so wanted there to be smoke coming out of her ears, The Doctor thought to himself in slight disappointment, ah well, can't have everything I suppose. “So, eh, anypony home? No? Not even a little?” The Doctor spoke in a loud, clear voice. Weaving between the ponies and desperately flailing one caramel hoof in their faces, with no reaction whatsoever. “I didn't break you did I?” The Doctor mumbled, hoping for any sort of reply, even if it was some form of drooling or incoherent babble. The Doctor, yet to hear any manner of speech from the bewildered ponies before him and desperate to learn about this new world, took things into his own hooves, striding up to still slightly sparking Pandorica with a careless saunter. He inspected the now cold metal on the side, bringing his head in close to feel the freezing metal before he took a careful lick of the mysterious box. Immediately he put his head back and licked his lips slightly, eyebrows raised and eyes diverted as he tried to discover the taste of The Pandorica. Steel alloy woven into the bindings with hints of dwarf star metal sewing some particles together, The Doctor thought to himself as he tasted the metallic tang, main body seems to be made of dense titanimite, pretty boring really. Oh, here we go. A slight taste of...Dalekanium. Clever. very, very clever. Still didn't work though. The Doctor, his thought process now complete, turned to the ponies, sure that his display of licking the strange box would have brought at least some of them around in confusion, questions forcing out of their mouths. However, the mares continued to stare blankly ahead, much to the frustration of the timelord as the endless stream of questions in his mind began to smother all other thoughts. The Doctor sighed again, pent up annoyance tracing the sound as, once more, he walked up to The Pandorica. This time though, instead of licking the metal he did something much more normal. Well, as normal as you can get when you're an alien with your own life bringing prison sitting on the ground before you. The Doctor raised back his hoof and pushed forward, bashing The Pandorica three consecutive times in a row, the loud sound ringing around the forest like the bells of a church tolling. Birds broke cover from trees, winging into the air as the sound continued to echo across the forest, even reaching the small, quiet town of Ponyville without The Doctor's realization. Six multicoloured mares jumped quite suddenly at the loud ringing sound, hearts pounding in their throats as their eyes and heads darted towards the source of their fear. Slowly, all six gazes fell upon The Pandorica and The Doctor, who was now looking quite sheepish. “Ah yes, you see I needed to get your attention. Looking at the circumstances now, I may have hit it a little too loudly.” The Doctor gulped slightly in fear as he felt the burning, angry looks that the five girls, and one still cowering but ticked off pegasus, were giving him. Rarity spoke up, slight anger lacing her voice as her heart attempted to slow down, with little effect. “You could have just asked us you know!” “I did. No pony responded.” The Doctor deadpanned quietly. Roles were reversed as the six mares immediately broke out into sheepish grins, small blushes covering most of their faces in a strawberry tinge. The Doctor just smiled, waving his front hoof in a simple gesture that showed that all was forgiven. With a hop, skip and a jump The Doctor landed before the mares, causing Rarity to squeal in horror as dirt rose up and laid down upon her perfectly groomed coat. Both The Doctor and Twilight stepped towards each other, purple and brown nearly colliding as they both simultaneously began to speak. “I have so many questions!” “I have so many questions!” Twilight looked away awkwardly, a light blush decorating her face. The Doctor stared at her for a few seconds, surprised that she had recovered from the previous five straight minutes of blank staring and then immediately dived into the beginnings of questioning. The Doctor shook his head slightly before a large grin spread across his face, Pinkie mimicking the happy display with a dazzling, toothy smile. “Oh, oh, oh. I know, I know! Lets play....twenty questions!” Pinkie Pie bubbled furiously, bouncing and twirling around the clearing, a rather large spring in her step as she observed the two ponies that stood before her. Now behind her. Now before her. Spinning was super fun! The Doctor glanced at the spinning mare swiftly and then returned his gaze to Twilight. She was looking at him now, a hopeful gleam in her eyes that he couldn't ignore. “Seems like a plan. Ok, go ahead Twilight.” Twilight blinked once, sorting the questions into order of importance. It took longer then expected, a good twenty seconds of complete silence that made the other mares watching kick the ground awkwardly with their hooves as their friend continued to remain in absolute, stone-dead silence. Then Twilight's lavender ears perked up and she raised her head to stare into The Doctor's luminous blue eyes. “What in the name of sanity is that thing!?” Twilight raised one purple hoof to point solidly at The Pandorica. The Doctor turned to look at it, a slight frown on his face before he turned back. “That...that is my house...” Twilight raised one eyebrow in disbelief, the obvious look of are you kidding me crossing her features. “Well, if that's your house then what was it doing in the sky?” “Well it was falling of course. I thought you would have figured that out by yourself!” Twilight and her five best friends groaned in annoyance, multiple hoofs rearing up to slam into their occupants faces with a small slapping sound. The Doctor's eyes widened as he watched the odd display of face-hoof, looking down at his own hoof before wondering if it would hurt to do such a thing, I mean he was incredibly furry. Before he could test however Twilight spoke up once more. “And how did it get into the sky?” The Doctor blinked slowly, his master lie crumbling around him as he watched the lavender mare poke a rather large hole in his otherwise foolproof deception. “Well...you see I-ah. Its really a big, metal bird that...doesn't. Have. Any. Wings. Hmm, Ok, fine, you win. Its not my home.” Twilight beamed happily, spinning her hoof around in a clockwise motion, informing The Doctor that he should keep going. “Well, its name is The Pandorica. It was made as a prison for...for the worst thing in the universe, the most vile creature to ever grace worlds. The creature that could just walk onto a battlefield and have both armies flee in terror. The creature that took people and turned them against each other. The creature that destroyed its own race.” The six mares looked on in terror, eyes widening as The Doctor continued his explanation behind the mysterious box, the same box that had now crashed onto their planet. Had it escaped, this terrible monster? Where was it now? A quiet, shaking voice piped up from behind the mass of shivering, terrified ponies. “What...what happened to the-to the mons-s-s-ster?” The Doctor turned towards Fluttershy who recoiled at the look in his eyes. There was such pain there, such unbridled pain that seemed to flow through him. Guilt bubbling up in the irises before it was washed away by a blank expression. “It escaped. Now, my question! I've seen the lovely Rainbow Dash here fly but I have yet to see any of the old unicornian magic that I have heard sooo much about. So, my questions is, can unicorns here perform magic?” The Doctor watched in a shock as the bottom lips of every mare near began to quiver slightly, terror flooding his veins as he desperately tried to think of what he had said to upset them. Just as The Doctor closed his eyes and braced himself for waterworks, some new sound exploded from the mares, a sound that he had not expected to hear. The Doctor hastily opened his eyes and took in the sight of all six ponies, even timid Fluttershy, rolling across the floor in fits of laughter, tears streaming down their faces as they hugged their sides with iron grips, trying to keep their bodies together. Twilight Sparkle was laughing the hardest of all, fat tears rolling down her cheeks and staining the ground with dark blots of water. The laughter of the six giggling girls was infectious and soon enough even The Doctor was chuckling slightly, if not a bit confused about what was going on. Still, unexplained laughter was a lot better then unexplained tears. The laughter soon died down enough so that The Doctor could resume talking in a slightly humour laced voice, a tinge of disappointment echoing on his words. “Ah yes, silly me. I mean, magical ponies? Its quite the ludicrous thought.” This comment just caused the girls to sink into even deeper laughter, thoroughly confusing The Doctor as he watched six grown mares rolling around the floor like infants at a school. The Doctor frowned slightly in vague annoyance. “Now, I know that I made a foolish mistake but I don't think its fair that you'd laugh at me quite like this. I'm new here remember?” The girls immediately stopped laughing, a faint trace of shame wafting across the air. Twilight stood up onto all fours again before raising on hoof to wipe away the last traces of tears that lay upon her eyelids. She looked sheepishly at him for a second. “Oh, we're sorry. It was just too funny. Especially when you thought that unicorns couldn't do magic!” Twilight chuckled slightly towards the end before she gasped in surprise, moving backwards lightly as The Doctor thrust his face right into hers, gentle breath playing across her features and ruffling her fringe carefully. “You mean to say that you can...do magic?” His voice sounded hopeful, a slight tremor of excitement coursing through his speech, making him sound like a new foal experiencing all the wonders of the world. Twilight smiled with glee as she made herself out as the bearer of good news. “Did you think our horns were just there for the sheer visual effect? Watch this Doctor!” Twilight's horn glowed a faint purple colour, transparent lavender mist swirling around the appendage before she disappeared in a brilliant flash of bright white light. The Doctor's eyes widened in utter amazement as he watched Twilight vanish in the bright light before a slight zapping sound and a flash of similar light exploded behind him, causing him to turn around quite suddenly. There stood Twilight, a confident smile on her face as she watched the disorientation on The Doctor's face as he looked back and forth between her vanishing points before he turned towards her with a massively goofy smile on his face, making him seem so friendly and warm. “Oh my, complete atomic de-configuration and reconfiguration in order to move from point A to point B without the use of kinetic energy. That took humans over 30,000 years to produce and here you are, Twilight Sparkle, performing miracles as if they were simple party tricks!” The Doctor watched as Twilight blushed lightly from the praise, humbleness setting in directed at her abilities. “How much magic can you do? What sort of magic can you do? How does it feel?” Twilight blinked as he bombarded her with questions left, right and centre. She answered slowly at first, thinking out the responses to each of his questions. “Magical ability depends on the willpower and metal strength of the individual. I, myself, can usually exhaust myself after roughly three straight hours of magical exercises whilst Rarity can usually tire herself out after one and a half hours... ...I can perform all sorts of magic since my special talent is magic as distinguishable by my cutie-mark. However, many unicorns follow a certain specialist type of magical teaching like Rarity who, with her fashion business, is more interested in the daintier, fine working magic then large, bulky magic... ...Finally, magic feels...fantastic. It's really what I live for, when things come down to the basics. The joy of completing a spell, the adrenaline and powering flooding your veins. The feeling of magic, its-its indescribable.” The Doctor smiled slightly, the feeling she had discussed was a well known feeling for the time travelling, never-ageing space explorer. The ability to do what you want, when you want. To have control over something, to have the joys of success and completion. The joys of knowing that what you do today could help many for years to come. That is one of the things that kept him going, kept him running. Still her response had brought another question to his mind so, quite bluntly, he spoke up once more. “Fascinating, simply fascinating. If I may ask though, what is a cutie-mark?” Twilight pondered for a second, opening her mouth in order to respond to the question at hand when a soft plink of rain fell from the sky and smacked against her muzzle, a single tear shaped trail winding down her face. Twilight frowned slightly, looking at the ominous skies above the Everfree Forest before she turned to Rainbow Dash. “I don't suppose there is anything you can do about that Dash?” Rainbow Dash looked up towards the dark, rainy cloud with a thoughtful expression on her face before she turned her gaze back onto Twilight's. “Nah Twi, no can do. Weather works different in the Everfree, it could be an unstable cloud and I'd rather keep my wings on my body.” Twilight frowned once more, wrinkles crossing her brow as she watched the cloud that seemed to sigh once before letting out a loud crack of thunder and lightning, rain now pouring out of it like a miniature waterfall. Twilight turned to The Doctor, her mane quickly plastered to her face as the rain flattened it, her friends darting into the cover of the trees whilst The Doctor simply stood and stared at the rain as it felt down on his body, drenching his fur. “C'mon Doctor, we need to get out of this rain and back to Ponyville!” The Doctor turned towards Twilight, an expression of are you kidding me plastered across his face much like his mane, mirroring Twilight's earlier expression. “Ponyville? Well, that really shouldn't come as a shock. I'll be right there, I just need to get something from The Pandorica.” Twilight was puzzled slightly at the name before remembering that it was the name of the cube that she had previously known as “screaming metal box”. Twilight darted towards the trees and dived into cover, her fur stuck to her body in tight packs as the rain water caused her to shiver slightly. She turned to see The Doctor inside The Pandorica, trying to pick up a strange cylindrical object with his hoof and dropping it. Again and again and again. Rainbow Dash sighed in annoyance before winging her way over to him, shivering at the feeling of water hitting her sensitive wings. The Doctor turned to see her land beside him, shaking the droplets of water off of her wings sending them careening everywhere. Rainbow Dash looked at the strange cylinder on the floor, flecks of bronze and white lining its side with large hints of metal twisting around it. On the top there was a strange, slightly green bulb. She raised one eyebrow at the device before looking at The Doctor who was muttering something about blasted hooves. “What is this thing?” The Doctor looked at Rainbow Dash with confusion for a moment before brightening, a grin spreading across his face. “That, my dear, is my sonic screwdriver. We've had so many adventures, me and her and I was just-WAIT, NO, NO, NO!” Whilst The Doctor had been happily explaining his handy dandy device, Rainbow Dash had stuck her head close and bumped the button on the side carefully with her nose. Immediately, the screwdriver sprung to life, green light blazing from its end and a loud whirring, high pitched noise bursting from its edges. Rainbow Dash reared up in terror, forelegs raised and then, in an impossibly thoughtless move, slammed both down onto the screaming screwdriver, forcing it into the ground and shattering it into two pieces. The Doctor watched as his precious screwdriver lay broken and twisted on the ground, green bulb cracked and sparking slightly. “My screwdriver....” Rainbow Dash darted forward, an apologetic tone to her voice. “Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I just..I thought it...” The Doctor shook himself out of the daze with a little flick of his head, forcing a smile onto his face which was incredibly, obviously fake. “Oh, no worries. I can just get another one. Now, unto Ponyville!” Rainbow Dash glanced at him sorrowfully again before she burst out of The Pandorica, streaming towards her friends. The Doctor followed close behind, hooves now splattered with mud as he pounded the ground in great leaps. The two reached the clearing in seconds, The Doctor shaking the droplets off of himself much like Rainbow Dash had done before, an instinctive measure of his new body. Twilight grimaced at the sight of The Doctor returning empty hoofed before glancing to Rainbow Dash with a small scowl that caused the pegasus to look at the ground in sadness. Sighing, Twilight turned around and started to trot to Ponyville. “C'mon everypony, Ponyville is calling us!” The others followed close behind, The Doctor and Pinkie Pie bringing up the rear. The Doctor smiled softly as he fell in line behind the pink pony, raising his head to glance around at the flora and fauna in the forest before whispering softly to himself. Geronimo. Pinkie turned her head to him, exactly one hundred and eighty degrees much like an owl which The Doctor found both fascinating and terrifying at the same time. She frowned slightly at him before the signature smile appeared on her face. “You know, I actually preferred Allons-y but whatever works for you.” Pinkie happily bubbled before turning her head back around, oblivious to the confusion and surprise that had appeared on The Doctor's face at her outburst. [.] “So, what you're telling me is that these tattoos on your rumps symbolize your life talent? Twilight frowned slightly, an expression that she had used far too much today, at the way in which The Doctor had described cutie-marks. “Basically, yes.” The Doctor nodded once, a muttered understandable forcing out of his throat as his mind began to wander towards the ideas that he had begun to build about the town. It would of course be large but humble. Colours would simply explode from buildings, much like the colourful bodies of the ponies around him. He imagined that there would be a bakery of some sorts, along with a school and probably a church, if ponies could get married. The Doctor's curiosity got the better of him and just as he was about to ask if ponies participated in matrimony he was stopped by a question from Pinkie Pie. “So, Doctor, what were you doing in the forest?” The Doctor paused in his routine step, mind desperately trying to conjure up a convincing lie. A dark frown carved through his face as he realized with a shock that due to his little knowledge of “Equestria” and to his mysterious arrival that there simply was no way that he could make a convincing lie to the girls around him. Only the truth remained to be said. Oh well, better to be truthful and feared then lying and loved. The Doctor thought to himself sadly. The mares had noticed his sudden silence and had stopped to stare at him as his face slowly fell, the signs of warmth and excitement fading from it like the dripping of wet ink off of a page. He slowly raised his head to look at the girls, sadness and weariness echoing around his features. “I...I haven't been entirely honest with you girls. You see, I-” It hurt The Doctor's hearts to reveal himself to his soon to be ex-friends in such a way. Fortunately, or unfortunately as it may be, he was swiftly brought silent by a deep low growl that reverberated across the dusty, dirty forest path. Only then did The Doctor realize that the forest had grown silent a minute ago, the birdsong fading away and the crackling of leaves and twigs vanishing. The growl broke through the silence once more as the mares in front of him backed up fast, pushing themselves behind The Doctor. Not knowing of the situation at hand, The Doctor merely stood his ground and stared at the mares as they back-pedalled wildly behind him. His expressions morphed into a small frown before he brought his gaze back to the clearing and, more importantly, the lumbering figure that now stood in the centre. Lightning flickering behind its massive body. It was unlike anything The Doctor had met before and yet he recognised it perfectly. The lions head that was littered with sharp teeth and a red mane. The similar lions body that was coated in yellow fur with large, powerful paws glued firmly to the ground. The wings of a griffin that rose off of its back, blotting out the trees behind it with a dark red membrane that seemed to stretch on for metres in both directions. Finally, the large, swelled scorpions tail that trailed behind it raised in the air, pulled back and ready to strike with the strength of a stampeding buffalo. The Doctor took in the manticore with its teeth and its claws, its wings and its barbed tail and he smiled. “My this is truly a sight to behold. Pegasi, unicorns and now, now I get to meet a manticore!” The manticore roared in an unholy, blasting voice that reeked of foul odours, causing The Doctor's nose to wrinkle up in disgust. The beast stepped forward, its large paws cracking the earth lightly as it prowled towards the foolish pony, its new meal. The girls watched in horror as The Doctor simply stood there, observing the manticore as it drew closer and closer to him. As it roared and pawed the ground with brutal streaks of its clawed paw tearing great chunks out of the ground. Still The Doctor just stood there smiling and speaking softly to himself. Twilight's eyes widened to inconceivable lengths as she called out loudly to The Doctor, voice stained with terror. “Doctor, get out of there! Manticores eat ponies! The Doctor turned his head slightly to Twilight's voice, one eye never leaving the manticore and the same goofy smile splayed across his face. He raised his voice so that it could carry across the clearing and yet still remain relatively quiet. “Oh no, not this one Twilight. In fact, I'd say he's never going to eat another pony again.” The Doctor turned his head back in time to watch the manticore take a great leap towards him, claws extended and wings pumping furiously as it crossed the short distance between them with one great bound. Just as it was about to crush him, just as the girls diverted their eyes in horrible anticipation The Doctor took a light step backwards, just out of the reach of the manticore. The great shaggy, mane ringed head bolted upwards, a low growl in the predators lips as it locked gazes with its prey. And faltered, the sound of a growl choking in its throat. The great blue eyes were blazing with an inhumanely cold light, rage pouring out of them like liquid fire. Lightning flickered softly in those eyes, a storm tossing and turning behind cleverly disguised orbs. The small smile that had once formed across his face was now a dark, deep-set frown with a pale white, cold line spreading across his face as the lips and smile morphed into a look of unbelievable anger. As much as the manticore squirmed it couldn't escape the blisteringly blue eyes as they bore into its very soul, as they tossed and inspected the spirit of the lumbering monster. The manticore had never felt so terrified in its long life. It had grown accustomed to being the hunter, to having those smaller then it flee at its loud growl and here, here it was reduced to a quivering, whimpering wreck by those painfully blue eyes. And then its tormentor spoke in a voice that resembled the roar of thunder, the oncoming storm. “I'm going to give you this one simple chance. Just one. Leave. Leave and never hurt a pony for the rest of your life”. The voice was so icily cold and quiet, a whisper that carried all of the anger that the universe could muster, condensed into this small, brown earth pony with the eyes of a god. “Because if I find out that you have, if I find out that you have killed or even scraped another pony, I'm going to come back here. And you will wish that you still had the choice of my offer.” The Doctor took one simple step forward until his face nearly touched that of the beast before him, rank breath playing across his cold face as he continued to stare the manticore down. “Now...run.” The manticore whimpered once more, the gaze burning into its soul before the eyes flickered for a second, allowing the manticore to avert its gaze and plunge into the dense foliage, intent on escaping from the monster of terror that it had so foolishly, so haphazardly, attacked. The cold, blue eyes still flickered slightly in its vision, taunting him as it mewed in fear smashing deeper and deeper into the forest, the sounds of its retreat softly fading from the clearing where the girls were starting to trot forward cautiously towards the brown stallion in the middle of the path. The mares had watched first in fear and then in unbearable confusion as The Doctor held his ground with the beast, looking into its eyes with an expression that was unreadable from their position behind him. They watched in complete shock as the great mismatched monster began to quake, watched in bafflement as The Doctor whispered something softly to the beast. They watched in befuddlement as The Doctor stepped closer to the vicious predator. Then they watched in uncontrollable bewilderment as the manticore whimpered once before bolting from the path, sounds of mewling and smashing following it until the noises faded into the background, life returning to the forest with a soft bird call. Only then did they trot forward, fear prickling in their necks as they slowly cantered up to the still silent figure that stood solidly in the centre of the path. The Doctor turned as they drew closer, an unconvincing smile playing at the corners of his lips. The mares stopped a metre from him and regarded him with befuddlement and fear before Fluttershy's once quiet but now hard, truth telling voice broke across to The Doctor, piercing his hearts. “What. Did. You. Do?” The voice was not loud but nor was it quiet. It echoed with just the right amount of anger and passion, not a single trace of fear evident in the voice as the animal loving pegasi stared at the terror inducing figure with a look that could turn ponies to stone. The Doctor, for his part, merely returned the gaze with a blank expression, not willing to show any hint of emotion as his voice rose up. “I told it to leave. It did.” Applejack's eyes narrowed as she searched the voice for any traces of deceit, the previous trust in the stallion now diminishing with the sight that she had witnessed before her. No pony could stare down a manticore and live to tell the tale. Still, after searching fruitlessly in those blue eyes for a few seconds she came to a shocking conclusion. The Element of Honesty paced forward until she stood beside the butter yellow pegasus with the freezing glare, whispering softly into the ear of her friend. “He ain' lyin' Fluttershy.” The yellow pegasus turned to her orange friend, the cold stare disappearing as she stared in belittled surprise at her friends revelation. As Fluttershy gazed into the green eyes of the Element of Honesty herself she began to come to her senses, anger washing away like sand messages at the beach. Fluttershy squeaked softly as she went over the previous minute in her head, when she had tortuously talked to the stallion with such anger in her own voice, the animal caring pony with the cold, hard voice of a monster. She turned slightly to look at The Doctor, the crestfallen face that she beheld very nearly broke her timid little heart in two. She opened her mouth, the words I'm so sorry forming before an orange hoof silenced her, laying upon her mouth with the gentleness of a butterfly. Fluttershy averted her gaze from the stallion to the Stetson wearing mare that had quieted her down, a cold look in those deep green eyes. “I ain' ever seen ah pony stare down ah manticore before. Not even mah brother Big Macintosh could do that an' he's the biggest stallion in town. So, what are you?” The Doctor's gaze rose to meet the green eyes, a curiously blank expression on his face as he inspected those green orbs before he sighed softly, averting his gaze. “I was going to tell you earlier and then it showed up and I just...” “Y'all ain' answering mah question. What are you?” “If you'd just give me some time to expla- “I'll say it again, what are you?” “Applejack, pleas- “What are you!?” “FINE!” The Doctor roared in a voice that tore his throat and silenced the forest, birds blasting out of trees. He took a deep shuddering breath before his voice quieted to a whisper, “fine.” The Doctor turned towards all the mares, an odd gleam in his eyes. Of pride and guilt and sadness and fear. Fear of losing them like he had lost so many others before. “I'm a timelord, I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the Constellation of Kasterborous. I'm nine hundred and seven years old and I'm the pony that has saved your lives and every billions of lives in the universe that mirrors you. Now, do you have any more questions because I would really, really love to see this Ponyville!?” The Doctor finished his speech with a slight crack in his voice, a sliver of fear seeping through as he desperately tried to avert everyponies thoughts towards Ponyville and other inhabitants instead of towards him. Needless to say, it didn't work. The mares stared at him, their expressions perfectly symmetrical to their reactions at the opening of The Pandorica. However, their dull, glazed look quickly vanished as a loud crack of thunder and lightning burst across the forest, making everypony jump and smearing the landscape in a blue blur. Twilight gazed at him with an expression of confusion, fear and...pity? Quickly though that expression morphed into one of leadership like hardness as she wheeled around to talk to the other mares in a loud voice. “We're going to get all of the answers we need girls but right now, with thunder, lightning and rain pouring down on us, we need to reach Ponyville. So, snap out of it!” The five other mares turned to stare at Twilight before the glazed expression melted off of their faces and they nodded at her almost sagely. The purple unicorn spun around and trotted up to the fallen, somewhat depressed looking Doctor. He raised his head to greet her, eyes sparkling slightly with unannounced fear before he reared back in surprise as Twilight raised her head to nuzzle him slightly, hot fur rustling against hot fur. She broke off the contact with a small blush before looking up into his gleaming, confused eyes. “You have some explaining to do but if you thought for one second that we would abandon you in this forest then you were dead wrong”. Twilight spoke to him with hints of exasperation and happiness in her voice. “Friends stick by each other, even if they didn't understand any of what the previous friend just said to them.” The Doctor's small smile forced its way upon his face as he beheld the lavender unicorn before him that had forgiven him so easily. Of course, she had no idea what he had just said and the actual confrontation on his species was bound to be awkward and revealing but at that moment The Doctor simply didn't care about that. A long time ago, someone had said to him that Gods must be strong but today, today The Doctor had felt at his lowest and his weakest since a very long time. Woken in a new equine body, on a new planet, no TARDIS, a broken screwdriver, no hope of seeing Amy or Rory again, friends that he had made and then nearly felt the heartbreak of losing and now forgiveness of his lies. All of these thoughts exploded in his timelord mind as he instinctively reached forward and pulled the lavender mare into a strong, hearty hug that spoke feelings that he simply couldn't say. When he pulled back he was his usual plucky, arrogant self with hints of unhampered joy in his great blue eyes. He leaned down to whisper into her ear so that only she could hear. “Thank you.” The Doctor then turned to the other mares who were throwing him suspicious looks, raising his voice so that they could hear him over the crackle and boom of the thunder. “As Twilight said, I will explain everything to you once we have made it back to your humble settlement. I am sorry for the confusion and the lies I have said, you must feel so angry but I promise to tell you the whole truth when we get to Ponyville.” When the mares still did not look convinced by his talk The Doctor used his secret weapon. His ace in the hole to convince them towards his honest behaviour. “I Pinkie Pie promise.” The smile burst once more onto Pinkie Pie's face as she calmly trotted towards the stallion before looking him right in the eyes with a happy, carefree expression. “I was never angry at you silly, just a teesny bit scared.” With that comment the pink party pony trotted away to join Twilight, signalling with her hooves for the others to follow. Rarity passed him with a slight huff in her voice, then came Applejack who eyed him warily but not angrily. Then there was Fluttershy who whispered a small sorry to him before lowering her head and trotting past. Finally, Rainbow Dash flew past him, eyes watching him but not dripping with anger or hate or fear. Instead they gleamed with interest. The Doctor sighed before following the snaking line towards the quaint town that waited him. Well that could have been worse. [.] By the time the seven members of the bedraggled group had made it to Ponyville darkness had fallen across the town, great storm clouds that had drifted from the Everfree forest blocking all view of the sun and its light and smothering the village of Ponyville in a dark shadow, abstract shapes barely visible across the dark town. The Doctor had his eyes wide open, roaming the streets for any signs of housing but only finding dark, shadowy objects that could resemble anything from houses to boulders. The Doctor resigned himself to the fact that today was not the day that he explored and investigated the town, a light sigh escaping his parted lips. His ears perked up slightly as he felt the gaze of another burning into the back of his head. The Doctor turned his gaze around to stare into the eyes of a muscular green stallion with light, unkempt blonder hair that flowed down his neck. The stallion eyed The Doctor for a moment longer, malice glinting in the hazel pupils before he slinked into the dark shadows and vanished from sight. The Doctor frowned before swinging his head back around to follow the mares as they came up on their final destination. The Ponyville Library. The Doctor couldn't make any guesses towards the building in front of him, shadows dripping down from the abstracted, impossible shape like bats hanging from rafters. For a second The Doctor could have sworn that it was a tree before the thought was swiftly whisked away as he heard Twilight opening the front door with a loud creaking noise. After all, who would build a house inside a tree? The Doctor's question was answered simply by a lavender unicorn as he stepped through the open door and into the flickering, candle lit, hollowed out tree. The Doctor's eyes widened as he took in the beautiful sight before him, eyes flickering softly in the candle light, a wonder-filled smile on his face. In the centre of the yellow flickering room there rose a great wooden horses head, extending from a circular wooden table that was littered with multicoloured books. Small vines snaked down from the ceiling and crawled down the wall like great, green snakes, choking the wooden walls. The rough, swirling barked floor twirled round and round in great ringed circles, indicating that the tree had been perhaps three hundred years old when it had been carved out and formed into the house that it was now. The walls themselves were a browny orange colour that seemed to mix together like paint swilling around a pallet, the resulting colour creating a beautiful shade of colour that brought much needed light to the interior of the house. Ladders lay perched on the walls, wooden poles tied loosely together with fraying, brown string that looked like they would crumble after their next use. Darkened windows lined high above the spiralling tower of hollow wood, metallical black lines criss-crossing their lengths like a spiders web. A large wooden staircase rose upwards around the room, leading to the dark upstairs where the faint snoring of a baby dragon could be heard, dozing in blissful warmth. That however, was not what had amazed and astounded The Doctor. The whole area was littered with great spectrum coloured books. Hardbacks and paperbacks lay strewn across the floor and in the nooks and crannies of the great bookcases that spiralled around the library. At least three hundred hues of books cluttered the library, spilling out from shelves in great bursts of papered knowledge. There was so many classifications, history, science, fiction, non-fiction, storybooks, horror, adventure, action and romance alone decorated only one fourth of the whole area. Tomes of old lay on great wooden displays, locked by glass cabinets to signify their importance. The Doctor could have happily stared at the blissful sight before him, smelling the lovely stench of knowledge but his thoughts were interrupted by a slight cough behind him that drew his attention. The Doctor turned to find three, shuffling, embarrassed and awkward mares pawing the ground softly, barely making eye contact. The rainbow mane, navy blue mane and pink mane bobbed slightly as they raised their heads to stare at The Doctor, eyes brimming with questions. One pink maned mare just stared at him with a wide smile and sparkling blue eyes that seemed to call to him to play with her, to dance and sing and be free like a true Pie. The final two pairs of eyes bore into him with a relentless burning sensation. The Elements of Generosity and Honesty stared at The Doctor, challenging him to make his speech, daring him to try and disrupt the peace that this neighbourly little town had acquired. All of the eyes, even the stunning blue eyes of Pinkie Pie, called to him, forcing him without consent to tell his story. To reveal to them his identity and his arrival. To bear his secrets to them. The Doctor sighed before slowly looking at each one of them in turn, clearing his now parched throat as he did so. “I am guessing you've never seen anything quite like me before right?” Six heads shook violently, Pinkie's head very nearly popping off from the speed. “Then, I'm the first. The first alien to land upon your planet.” The six mares eyes widened in bewilderment as The Doctor began to lay his metaphorical cards upon the metaphorical table. “Your first visitor. The first, great Timepony.” The Doctor muttered to himself, pausing for a second to glance at the astonished faces of the mares around him, each eye twinkling with confusion, excitement, fear and...pity? He cleared his voice once more, to continue his speech before a cracking, excited voice broke through the acoustic prone library. “What I tell ya Applejack? Aliens!” Authors note: I know not a lot of the actual story has occurred yet but I can tell you with all the honesty in my small, shrivelled heart that the next chapter will contain some major adventure/plot development. I'll even give you the name of said chapter, it shall be called “The Timepony And The Plasmavore”. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Stay tuned for some kickass Colgate and The Doctor action from my next project that will be coming out at some point the next month...I hope
Of Memories And Pear PiesOf Memories And Pear Pies There was something about that brown colt, something...different. The plasmavore had been stalking the multicoloured, shockingly bright creatures, lurking in the shadows, following the bedraggled, belittled group in search of some much needed sustenance. It had sifted through their groups, testing each one of them with its hunter eyes and powerful nose. At firsts its gaze had fallen on the lavender unicorn leading the tattered band of ponies before it had rejected her specimen, the lack of athletic power robbing the purple unicorn of having the honour of being its host. Its gaze then shifted towards the orange pony with the yellow mane. This one took longer to identify, the strength in its hindlegs combined with its alluring smell of strength and stubbornness nearly winning the plasmavore over before it caught a whiff of her “duty” to the pathetic little farm and how, to keep his identity safe, it'd have to enact that duty upon itself. The gaze swapped to that of the bubbling, repulsive pink earth pony who was hopelessly bouncing around the small group as if she had all the energy in the world. Oh it wouldn't take her body, despite the obvious stamina and physical power that the mare was displaying. The cutesy-wutesy combination of the cheerfulness and the too vibrant pink only made the plasmavore want to kill, not to swap hosts. That pink pony with the attitude of a sugar crazed child would soon die by its hand, crushed pitifully by its unimaginable strength. Three more specimens remained to be...interviewed, the white unicorn, the butter yellow pegasus and finally the rainbow maned, obnoxious pegasus. Its gaze fell upon the white unicorn with the perfectly groomed purple mane that gushed vanity from its deep coloured depths. It shuddered in disgust as it watched the vain, arrogant, civil pony weave her way through the group, occasionally spouting out vague remarks on the manes and the fashion of the others. The plasmavore allowed itself to experience a soft, deadly smirk as it mentally added the obnoxious snowy unicorn to the now growing list of the victims that it was going to kill for merely its own pleasure. Next came the butter yellow pegasus who was trailing behind the rest of them, eyes darting wildly around the darkness with a fear and a nervousness that sickened the hidden plasmavore, banishing the thought of taking the weak mess of a pony that quivered softly before it. Until its gaze fell upon the rainbow maned, sickeningly cyan blue pegasus with the body of an athlete, it had nearly given up hope of devouring another competent meal. It had dribbled with lust at the mere thought of owning a body that fast and strong, already intent on its new meal, other thoughts fading fuzzily into the back of its mind. It had begun to step out of the shadows, green stallion body puncturing the gloom like a lighthouse through the fog when the brown colt at the back had turned around to face it. Memories. So many, many memories had burst through the plasmavore's churning mind at that moment, faint pounding drumming in its head. The brown colt with the hourglass tattoo, it had met him before. Somehow, somewhere they had met. There was rarely a creature in either universes that had yet to meet the plasmavore and live and yet here was one of them standing before him with a chocolate brown body and a blood red bow-tie. Those blue eyes, they couldn't be forgotten and yet the memory of the figure before him simply wouldn't spring to mind, eluding him with a taunting memory. Those shocking blue eyes that brought up such feelings of anger and hate and fear, the emotions boiling up inside of the plasmavore until they were ready to erupt. Its eyes narrowed as it continued to stare at the brown colt, malice glittering in the stallion hosts hazel orbs as it clashed gazes with the blank, if somewhat confused, blue eyes of the colt, before it slunk back into the shadows to find new prey, prey that didn't send shivers up its quivering spine. It trotted forward, despising the sound of its fat hoofs striking the floor with heavy clops that rung around the town square, echoing loudly in the shadowed veil as it mindlessly wandered the abandoned streets of the small town. The thoughts of a fresh new meal soon became shrouded and forgotten as distant, blurred memories of the brown colt flashed through its mind, stabbing into its mind with the force of a knife. The plasmavore felt its mind and head grow denser and denser as great fountains of memories began to pour from its mind, the effect of the cracks in time shattering as the belittled, half starved monster began to relive its terrible past. As it began to remember, remember its people, its birth and the death of its planet, responsibility of the disaster falling to one creature and one creature alone. [.] Jdukin- Plasmavore Home Planet Seventy one years ago The first feed. One, if not the most, important rituals of any young plasmavore's life, the day that they changed from hatchling pulp to the drainers of life. The keepers, the elderly plasmavore who had outlived their hunting times, would care for the younger generations. Care though, care did not mean protection and comfort, not in a civilization where murder was a key concept. Care was gearing the younger minds up towards the real world, making them fight and testing their limits of pain. All plasmavore had to spend seven years on the hatchling grounds, seven years of growth and boredom and lust, a lust for the taste of another creature. Everyday between when the sun rises and when the sun sets the keepers would bring them a sliver of strange meat to get them through the day and the night but it was never enough. They thirsted for blood, for the sweet taste of a host body, for the feeling of complete control. It had lived its seven hatchling years, constantly battling with the others to get their slabs of meat, constantly fighting and tearing and, at one point, even killing one of its own. It had not been punished, oh no, it had been praised by the keepers for being a strong specimen. And now,now here it was, about to take the journey towards its first meal, towards its freedom from the confined hatchling fields. The fields themselves stretched on for miles and miles across the bubbling, spewing planets white, crumbly surface. However, inside the fields lay multiple craters, each one a metre deep and three metres wide. Inside of those craters would lay at least five young plasmavores, crushed and writhing against the warm body of the white crater. It was like a prison. You could not escape, you could not fight the keepers, you could not speak your own mind lest you were put down for treachery. It was a living hell but it worked, oh it worked. The plasmavore's would grow up unhappy and angry at life and its cruelty so that when they were released upon the universe they would seek the goal of total death, of the draining of any and every life form. It was marched towards the pulsating, squishy dome that housed the first feeding ritual, performed by one of the keepers that had “cared” for you when you were a young one. Forcefully shoved into the quivering dome the young plasmavore rose shakily onto its white clawed feet to inspect the area around it. It was a pure white dome, no light filtering into the clearing. Instead small glowing green lanterns lay scattered across the surface of the dome, illuminating it in a soft green hue. The dome itself was webbed, great tendrils vein-like substances racing across its shivering, squirming surface. Around the sides stood a crudely constructed quivering white platform that stretched around the circular dome like the Colosseum's of Rome. In the centre stood one white, elderly, wrinkled plasmavore clutching a writhing, black sack in its hand, holding it out for inspection as it inspected the hidden meal within. The floor was a sticky white substance, clinging to the soles of the feet and causing great tendrils of white goo to grab to the feet as the young plasmavore began its slow walk to centre and the elder. Seconds passed, the sounds of the clicking of talons against the floor ringing across the nearly empty dome as the plasmavore crossed the short distance between its self and the elder. Finally it reached the elder who gave it a short, sharp nod before reaching into the seething black sack and, firmly grasping, pulled out the young plasmavores first meal. The elders would go to a far off planet and capture whatever sentient creature may dwell there. Then, when said creature is in their possession they would return home to allow the young ones to feed upon their prey and grow strong, to turn from hatchlings to killers. The prey had to be sentient lest the plasmavore was rendered incapable of speech through its new host body. The prey also must be a creature that would not be missed, that its people would not search for and hunt to the little planet of Jdukin. The elder yanked the meal out and with a loud thud, smashed it against the floor where it let out a soft but audible groan that rang around the dome. The creature was small, a minuscule little scrap of skin and bone that barely reached the chest height of the now fully grown young plasmavore. It was skinny, very, very skinny and its body was tinged a faint pink colour. The legs and arms were relatively normal, stretching out from the main body like the plasmavore's own gene structure. However, instead of cold hard talons on the hands and feet there sat five digits, four long, thin ones and one short chunky one on each of its hands. There was an uproar of facial hair surrounding the creatures chin, dark black twirls of hair that snaked down its face. The mouth and lips were hopelessly cracked and dehydrated, from the long journey no doubt. Long, fat folds of ears jutted out from the side of the creatures abnormally large head, quivering slightly from the cold feeling of the floor. Dark, greasy black hair fell from its head in tangled, shadowy knots that criss-crossed down its brow. Its eyes were a dully, glazed grey colour that resembled the short, sharp storms that would sometimes stretch across the mother planet. It looked to be about eighteen years of age, whimpering in abject terror as it took in the horrifying sight before it. Human, Homo Sapien. It had learnt about that particular species from one of the elders, the smelly, fleshy race that provided nourishment that was nearly of the scale. And now, it had one all to its self. The human began to sob pitifully, fat tears streaking down its face as its body shuddered with great convulsions of fear. It looked upon the human with disgust evident on its alien face before it pulled back a taloned foot and slammed it into the humans ribs, sending him flying back to land with a sickening thump on the floor. The human groaned once as the young plasmavore walked forward, a twisted, sadistic grin spreading across its pale face as it calmly strolled towards the terrified human, long pink tongue snaking out and licking around its lips as it began to imagine the taste and the feel of the blood running through its veins. And then it arrived. The noise it made, it was loud, so very, very loud and wheezing, as if it was in a considerable amount of pain, the sound reverberating around the squishy, white dome. The sound seemed to echo from the an empty, blank space a few metres to the left of the still shivering human, the sound increasing volume as the infiltrator began to take shape. Materializing in great bursts of visibility and invisibility, there, to the right of the crumpled human began to appear a large blue box. Its colour was like that of a midnight sky, a dark, royal, radiant blue that exploded colour across the bland, boring, white interior of the dome. Great notches of blue wood were strewn across the surface of the mysterious box, nooks and crannies and slight dips in the wood becoming visible even in the faint light. A series of small, unusable window panes stretched across the surface of the mysterious midnight blue box, faded slightly like the glass windows of a church. Along the front stood a large, metal door handle that moulded itself perfectly along the frame of the door. A bright white panel hung to the left of the handle, garbled human language written crudely across its surface, taunting the plasmavore with its mysterious language. The same thoughts could be spread towards the circular white panel next to it and the black backgrounded, white fonted sign that hung above the sides of the blue box. On top of the strange alien box sat a single fazed glass light that thrummed ever so softly with yellow light. It squinted at the strange contraption that now stood, fully materialized, in front of it before recoiling in shock at the miraculous display that was unfolding before it. The confusing, scribbled, unreadable words were slowly moving and wafting across the surface of the box until they spelled out something in the plasmavore's own language, the rough translation changing to. Police Public Call Box With a loud creak, the door to the mysterious, whimsical blue box opened and a tall, slender figure stepped out. Soft, black boots hit the mushy floor with a sickening squelch sound that made both the mysterious figure and the writhing human shudder in disgust. A pair of rolled up navy blue trousers lay upon his lower form, fitting snugly to his legs which were now slightly smeared with white goo. A white dress shirt rested upon his upper body, blending in perfectly with the similarly white area of the dome. Big, burgundy braces stretched from his trouser-line to the top of his shirt and over, the sight nearly making the plasmavore chuckle at the odd display of human “fashion” sense. A plain brown tweed jacket with black elbow patches sat upon his shoulders, hiding part of the white dress shirt with pinches of brown and cotton fabric that whittled in the air and floated away in tufts of fluff. Around his neck sat a blood red bow-tie that seemed to complete the unusual getup with a fanciful flare. The chin of this particular man was of quite large proportions, something it would surely have made fun of if it had not been so unbelievably surprised at his arrival. Long dark hair flowed down his head, curled imperfectly into a perfect mess of uncombed, knotted wonders. A deep set look of slight revulsion was evident on his face as his brow crinkled and his mouth opened slightly in disgust as, once more, the sound of squelching returned, louder then ever. Deep emerald green eyes twinkled in his head, filled with mirth and happiness and, perhaps, a small tinge of anger that sparked briefly in his seemingly age-old eyes as he cast his gaze upon the plasmavore. The plasmavore sniffed the air cautiously as it tried desperately to pinpoint this strange new creatures species. The nose of a plasmavore was incredibly developed, once a smell was absorbed it was immediately remembered and clustered with the species that said smell had emitted from. So, when there was a reek of fat and grease in the air, it was humans but if there was a smell of tulips and lavenders then it was a Butterfeyeian. This creature though, this creature had a most peculiar smell. It was the smell of everything and yet nothing, distinguishable and yet unreadable. It was as if some creature had combined the scents of every living and non-living creation in the universe and had crammed the stench into the body of this human-like figure. The figure, continuing to stare at the plasmavore with those emerald eyes, slowly walked towards the fallen form of the human, boots squelching on the ground as he walked forward. It reached the sobbing, broken human in a matter of seconds, eyes glancing along the greasy body before it pulled out a long, cylindrical object and began to shine it upon the human with a green light and a loud buzzing sound. This strange new human-like creature was hunched over across the quivering body, running its strange device back and forth along the humans body, its back turned towards the plasmavore as anger exploded in the mind of the hungry plasmavore. The plasmavore moved forward quickly, mind bubbling with rage as it watched the near human tend to its prey, making it look bad in front of the elder, ruining its very first feed. It crossed the distance swiftly, taloned hands raised towards the mysterious figure just as he stood up, intent on crushing his skull and mashing his brains. The figure turned to it at the last second, the strange cylinder giving off a soft beeping beat that was faintly familiar to that of a heartbeat, before his eyes narrowed and he began to speak to the advancing plasmavore. “Today is your lucky day.” The plasmavore froze in its approach as the human-like creature spoke to it in a voice that betrayed no hint of emotions, no sliver of feelings. The voice was cold and devoid of humanity. “Because today, I am feeling generous. You and your wrinkly friend over there have exactly ten seconds to get out of here. That's ten more seconds then I would have given you if the human was dead.” The plasmavore felt a small shiver of fear slip through its form as it let out a muffled shake before its eyes narrowed at the demanding figure before it, placing one taloned leg forward in a sign of obvious aggression. The mysterious figure simply sighed in weariness. “Do not try my patience plasmavore, after what I have seen here, do not try to goad me. Just do the smart thing and run.” It growled once, a low guttural sound that spoke of dominance and retribution. The plasmavore stepped forward once more as the figure placed himself firmly in between the hungry plasmavore and its broken meal. Slowly one of the figures arms rose out, cylindrical object pointing directly at the big, midnight blue box before it thumbed the button with a soft muttered So be it. A loud whirring punctured the silent dome as the green flickering light of the cylinder burst into life, transmitting a signal to the unmoving blue box. Almost immediately the dull, glazed light on top of the odd box began to pulse more vibrantly, a faint humming coming from the blue box. It took two seconds for the final wavelength, the final signal to be sent to the mysterious box. And when the final signal met the box with an inaudible fizzle all hell broke loose upon the dome. A brilliant shaft of blazing white light exploded from the glazed light on the head of the box, arcing upwards like a great pillar before the light slammed into the dome. Great cracks spread across the impact point of the light, tearing their way down towards the base of the great dome as segments of the white dome began to crumble and collapse. Out of the corner of its dark eye the plasmavore saw the mysterious figure grab and carry its prey towards and then into the blue box that had started the falling of the sky. The young and elder plasmavore could only watch in horror as great shards of the dome cracked with an ear-splitting shriek and plummeted to the ground around them, slamming into the floor and shattering into a million shards. The young one paused for a second, eyes widening as it took in the apocalyptic sight before it, seconds later it began to run, to flee just as the mysterious traveller had said. But it was too late. A single, flat shard of the cracked white dome splintered off from the main body and fell, faster and faster as it picked up pace. The plasmavore had just enough time to glance upwards at the descending pane of white solid, had just the time to allow its eyes to widen in fear and horror before the shard collided with its head, letting out a loud thud that echoed around the falling dome. The impact sent the plasamvore sprawling onto the floor, broken shard shattering upon impact. The plasmavore's eyes began to roll up into the back of its head as the lights around him began to fade, as the darkness began to grip its conscious. Soon the sounds of falling and smashing shards of the dome fell silent, the damage done as the plasmavore desperately tried to keep itself conscious, to get help for itself and for the elder that would be laying, perhaps crushed, under the rubble. Soft crunching lightly rolled around the now quiet landscape, the sound of feet hitting the hopelessly broken shards of the dome wafting around the area. Shakily the plasmavore turned its head to witness the arrival of the human-like figure who was wearing a deep set frown upon his face, guilt and anger flickering across the features before it knelt down next to the wounded plasmavore and began to speak. “Sonic pulse disrupts the inter-molecular structure of the solid particles in the dome, causing cracks to appear in said dome as the atoms and particles begin to pull away from each other. So, before you ask me, that was not dark magic or sorcery. You should have run. I didn't want this to happen and, truly, I am sorry for what I have done here. Perhaps you'll learn though, learn that you can no longer just snatch helpless beings from around the universe to participate in your silly little ritual. Now, I want you to remember something, a message for your people when they find you...” The mysterious figure suddenly rose, his body silhouetting against the bright glare of the sunlight that burnt the plasmavore's skin, casting a long, dark shadows over the destruction it had wreaked. “Tell them my name. Tell them what I have done here. Tell them of what I have said to you. Tell them that The Doctor is stopping this childish, dominant grappling game once and for all. And tell them one more thing...” The figure, The Doctor, now leaned back down once more to whisper menacingly in the ear of the injured plasmavore. “Tell them of me, of the last Timelord, of the damage I can do. Because if I have to return here, if I have to come back and find my rule broken then there won't be enough space in the universe for you to run.” The plasmavore whimpered pitifully as it nodded its pale white head quickly, terrified of the destroyer before it. The Doctor sighed once, glimmers of uttermost self-loathing and guilt playing across his features before he stood up and made his way over to his mysterious blue box. The plasmavore caught the muffled, whispered phrase that the strange creature, The Doctor, was repeating to itself over and over again before it lost consciousness and passed into the dark void that had beckoned it for far too long. What kind of Doctor am I now? [.] The plasmavore fell forward, muzzle colliding with the cold, cobbled road as it was dragged painfully out of the reminiscent memories. Its muzzle shot sharp tendrils of pain across its being as slowly it pulled itself back onto its hooves, very shakily as it glanced once more around the dark, foreboding town around it. Its first feed had been disgraceful, banishment had nearly been brought down upon it for the destruction of the dome and the loss of the prey, the elders forcing the blame entirely on it. Not even the elder that had been there had anything to say on the matter, merely lying through its dark mouth as the young, fearful plasmavore had been put on a strict warning and told to return to the hatchling fields in shame. There, amidst the taunting of the younger plasmavore's it had started to ponder this “Doctor”, anger and rage pulsing out of it in great waves that had threatened to engulf everything. There it had promised to find The Doctor, to take his body as its own but not before it destroyed everything around him first, not before it reduced him to the wreck that the plasmavore currently was. Not before it toppled the world of the last Timelord. That colt, that blood bow-tied, black haired, blue eyed colt had brought these memories forward, had forced them to return to the angered, lost plasmavore with just a look in the distant blue eyes. It was almost as if the colt was...no. Impossibility on a phenomenal scale. Still, the plasmavore couldn't shake the odd feeling that the colt was more then he seemed, that beneath the body of that stallion there was something else, something dark and bright, angry and happy. Cold and warm. As the memories began to flood back into its dark, seething mind the plasmavore pushed itself forward and trotted disjointedly across the still darkened square of town, its mind concentrated on one word and one word alone, over and over again until it threatened to spill forth from its mouth. Doctor [.] “So, lemme get this straight. You're a “Timepony”. You're from another world called Galliflop. You're really, really old but you don't look it. And you crashed here, on our world completely by accident?” The Doctor smiled at Rainbow Dash's explanation of events, summarising the last hour of explanations into a single, neat, tidy sentence that would have been a lot more useful an hour ago. This had in fact been the third time she had asked him this, her brain and five others in the room spinning around and around at the surprising truth behind the mysterious colt, each one of them wanting to deny the facts but each time Applejack would quietly pipe up and say that he was not lying. The Doctor wasn't entirely sure what it was that Applejack had that commanded such honesty and acceptance from the other mares but he knew she wielded her power well. “Why yes and no. I am from Gallifrey not Galliflop. Towards the rest of it though, you're bang on!” The Doctor voice piped up happily, smile widening at the look of astonishment across the faces of all the mares before him, taking in the sight of the confusion and bafflement with a lovely mixture of glee and happiness. The smile soon faded though as the question he had been fearing burst from the mouth of the once timid butter yellow pegasus, The Doctor silently wishing that she would revert back to her scared self so as to stop the questions. “What did you do to the manticore?” The Doctor sighed slightly as he walked back and forth around the library, eyes still flickering across the bookshelf as they picked out interesting book names such as Equestrian History: Vol. 1 or Starswirl The Bearded's Cheap 'N Easy Magic Tricks. “I have fought monsters before Fluttershy, beasts that threatened the very existence of civilizations, tyrannical leaders that slew millions of their own. I don't believe a single manticore was any real challenge for me, I just told it to leave...rather forcibly.” At this the girls eyes widened once more before they each turned their gazes to the little yellow pegasus, making her blush at the sudden attention. With a soft eep, Fluttershy raised one wing up from her body and forced her head under her feathery appendage to hide her rather large adorable blush. The Doctor merely looked on in confusion, theorizing that perhaps this was a ludicrous form of punishment created for the normally shy mare in case she ever escaped from her timid box. He coughed slightly, drawing the attention of Rarity who turned to him with a quizzical look. “I, ah, don't really understand why you're all looking at Fluttershy like she's a bipedal ape with bad hair and a poor sense of fashion. Mind filling me in?” The Doctor chuckled lightly at his own joke before looking back to Rarity who, for the hundredth time today, was looking at him with a mixture of confusion and humour. “Well my dear, we were merely looking upon our friend here because what you said describes her Stare very, very well.” The Doctor frowned in puzzlement at the mares strange statement. Was the stare some type of defence mechanism? Was it some sort of weapon? Perhaps these ponies were not as peaceful as they seemed. “And this “Stare” would be...?” “The single most terrifying thing I have seen in my whole life.” The Doctor laughed at the humour in mirth before noticing Rarity's deadpan expression, his laugh choking off slightly into a poorly disguised cough as he struggled to come to terms with what she had meant. Just as he was about to question her on the odd incident which must have led to her irrational fear of stares he was interrupted by a series of loud yawns exploding from the mouths of the mares around him. The Doctor chuckled loudly as the sheepish grins and light blushes returned to the mares faces, adorableness pouring forth from the simple display like a great tsunami. Twilight frowned once more, head rising to look at the rather large, ornate clock that rested quite snugly on the wall of her library, the time reading twenty minutes past eleven. With a slight gasp and an incredible widening of eyes, Twilight spun back round to face her now sleepy looking friends, a manic expression shimmering across her purple face as her left eye began to twitch. “Oh. my. Celestia! I am completely off schedule! I'll have to write down a whole new regime of spells to master and dates to re-arrange!” At this, the five mares began to slowly back away from the rushing, bizarre alteration that was Twilight Sparkle, all five pairs of eyes fixated on her with a mixture of fear and slight sadness, as if they had resigned themselves to her little crazy sessions. The Doctor, however, had never seen the studious, logical purple mare behave in such a way before, oblivious to the rolling emotions that pulsed beneath the surface as he stepped forward to try and calm her down before she hurt herself or any others in her lightning fast and babbled speeched movements. As he walked forward across the wooden library floor he heard the soft sound of sliding hooves behind him, muffled goodbyes tainting the air slightly as the old library door creaked open with a small shriek. The sound of four exiting mares echoed around the amazingly acoustical house as the purple blur began to increase in speed, the sound of Twilight's oh no's increasing greatly in volume until they rang around the house in a great medley of worry. The Doctor paused in his approach to glance around his...shoulder to stare at whatever mare had yet to leave the now deadly library, the four hoof steps fading into the background as four mares trotted home. One orange furred, blonde maned mare remained standing beside the open door, a look of guilt and trepidation plastered across her honest face, mixed emotions rolling in her emerald eyes. She seemed to move forward for a second before she shook her Stetson coated head, eyes breaking contact with the floor as she turned around to walk away, glancing over her shoulder as she walked through the door before passing one last comment to The Doctor. “Good luck, y'all gonna need it.” The Doctor opened his mouth to question her before the door to the library slammed shut, Applejack vanishing through it as her gentle clops faded into silence. The Doctor turned back towards the still hectic lavender mare, small thoughts flowing through his mind like a steady stream as he pondered Applejack's odd behaviour, as if she were feeling sorry for him? No sorry wasn't the right word. She was scared for him. The Doctor visibly gulped back his small fear now as the realization hit him, instead opting to move onwards with his helping hoof plan, deciding not to be swayed by whatever horrors may lay in wait for him. He pulled up next to the spinning, babbling purple mare, eyes rolling around and around as he watched her rocket around the same spot again and again and again. “Uh, Twilight?” “Oh no, oh my.” “Twilight?” “No no no no no.” “Oh look the libraries on fire!” “WHAT!?” The Doctor grinned at the reaction, expectations being met as the lavender filly immediately stopped her rapid spinning and instead resorted to shooting her gaze all around the room, purple eyes filled with panic as she desperately sought out the flames. However his grin soon faltered and fell as the blazing purple eyes fell upon him, sparkling with anger as a low growl escaped the mares throat. “Did you lie to me Doctor?” The voice was laced with thinly disguised rage, making The Doctor truly gulp in horror as the mare began to stalk forward, pain on her mind. “Ah, well...you see, the thing is...” The Doctor didn't get to finish his sentence as the slowly approaching mare came into leaping distance, springing out to tackle him with a mighty jump and a low roar that would have raised the dead, yet Spike still slept on. The Doctor hopped backwards with a startled yelp before bolting off around the library as the mare swung around to take another leap at him. Steadily she joined him in the chase, stalking him around the room with apparent ease. “Now *pant* Twilight, I'm *puff* sure that we *wheeze* can settle this like *gasp* adults!” The only reply was the steady pace of the purple hooves behind him increasing in speed, drumming the worn floor mercilessly. The Doctor risked a glance back, sweat trickling down his face at the sudden exercise only to gasp in fear as he beheld how close Twilight was to his rump, anger in her eyes as she took site of the colt that had joked about her precious library being burnt. The Doctor increased his speedy pace, grinning wildly as he felt the purple mare fall behind on the rage-fuelled run before his eyes widened as he came to a stunning and scary realization. She has magic. Just as The Doctor thought this a great purple vapour spread around his body, stopping him mid-run with a sharp tug causing him to whimper in surprise. He felt himself being levitated towards a particularly angry mare, the glowing purple field around him writhing slightly as he vainly struggled to escape his magical prison. His struggling fell still as he was pulled before Twilight who was smiling manically, the sight sending cold shivers up The Doctor's spine. Forcefully he set a cocky, boyish smile on his face as he spoke to her in a tone that betrayed no hint of his fear. “Oh hello Twilight, how may I be of assistance?” Twilight laughed a light, tinkling laugh that seemed to wash away all signs of her previous anger even though the magical bonds around The Doctor remained just as tight. The Doctor let out a soft, scared chuckle at her mannerisms before, once more, it was choked off as the sadistically scary smile returned to her face. “Well, I have always wanted to try transformations spells but I never had a willing test subject.” “What do you mean by “Never had a willing subject?” The little laugh and smile that followed that question brought convulsing shivers to tear through The Doctor's body as fear flooded his veins. Still, he soldiered onwards, allowing a smile to spread across his face as he spoke in a warm voice that spoke of only cheery happiness. “Y'know, this is exactly how I imagined this ending.” [.] Devour. That was the only suitable word towards what The Doctor had done to the literature around the library during the night when everypony else was asleep, snores trailing around the great hollow tree like a line of ants marching. He had successfully managed to calm Twilight down after half an hour of being turned from potted plants to mewling kittens, from woodentoasters to a rather peculiar orange chicken. When the clock struck twelve with a series of loud cuckoos noises, a small bird popping out of the wooden structure Twilight had turned around to frown at the device before offering up a particularly weary yawn. Seeing this and, quite luckily, being transformed previously into his pony body The Doctor had sprung forward and suggested that she retired for the night and how truly, terribly sorry he was for the whole ordeal he had put her through. Of course this had worked wonders for Twilight who smiled happily if somewhat tiredly at The Doctor's suggestion of sleep, offering him up the spare room just across the hall from her own room which he had declined, stating that he rarely needed to sleep. Twilight had continued to pester him about the spare room for five more minutes until her eyes began to droop with sleep deprivation, yawning and giving up on her fruitless efforts to get The Doctor to sleep. She had left him downstairs in her precious library where he had decided upon a medley of books from which he would be reading. The list consisted of a great display of different books that had caught his attention. There had of course been Equestrian History: Vol 1 which had proved to be a very intricate and knowledgeable book, allowing The Doctor insight into the world of the ponies around him. From that book he had discovered that there were two immortal rulers of Equestria, a monarchy system that spanned back thousands upon thousands of years. He had also discovered some insights into the three separate species of ponies and how they clubbed together under one banner to survive the weathering cold and freezing conditions, founding the land of Equestria together. After the great success of the first volume, The Doctor simply had to read through Equestrian History: Vol 2. He soon discovered that the second of the immortal sisters, Princess Luna, had turned against her own and plotted to overthrow Celestia, the second sister. She had been defeated and banished to the moon where, legend has it, she would return after a thousand years. There was a little more about the cities and development of the ponies but not many interesting facts remained in the book about the culture behind the quadrupedal creatures. Soon enough he had turned to Encyclopedia of magic which had proved to be quite a thrilling and yet disappointment bringing read. After digging up what unicorns could do with their magical powers it had pained The Doctor greatly to not be one of them, yet he had soldiered onwards and managed to convince himself that “Earth Ponies” had just as much potential for greatness and adventure as any other species. Then came the Pegasi guide to flight and anatomy, a rather peculiar book on the bodily functions of the pegasi ponies and how their light bodies and hollow bones allowed them to maintain flight for up to ten hours at a time. It had proved most fascinating and tantalizing to find out the science and theory behind the flight of the pegasi and their anatomy and yet, once more, it had left him with a hollow feeling of disappointment. Finally, he had stumbled across Earth Ponies: Truly magical. At first his twin hearts had leapt at the chance to read about his species before he began to flicker through the pages only to discover that most earth ponies had talents that consisted of everyday hobbies, baking and art making. He had brightened considerably when he had found out that Earth Ponies still had a form of magic that kept them more in touch with the earth and nature but still it just didn't seem to have the same electric, exciting ring to it like the unicorns and the pegasi had. Needless to say by the time The Doctor had consumed the five incredibly large books the sun had broken across the horizon, brilliant gold light flooding the once drab, dreary library with warmth and a welcoming glow. The sound of opening doors and calls of welcome flooded the outside of the library as the townsponies began to awaken and start their daily routines. The Doctor's ears swivelled to face the library door as the symphony of voices reached him, some old, some new. Some deep and some high. Each one was filled with joy and mirth, a simple mix of emotions that made The Doctor's hearts soar with happiness as he listened to a race that was simply so happy all the time. It wasn't long before the thuds of steps bounced around the library as the stairs began to creak, keying The Doctor to the arrival of a certain, yawning purple and green dragon. Two pairs of eyes, one a deep blue and the other an adolescent green, widened in astonishment and slight fear at the sight of each other, two sets of jaws hitting the floor in surprise as the dragon and the Timepony stared at each other. Two completely different minds were tossing and churning emotions around the poor owners, both creatures experiencing wildly different feelings at the sight before them. The caramel brown colt was staring in complete joy and astonishment at the dragon before him, feelings of happiness and excitement swirling through his mind as he came to terms that this world had so many wonders that had yet to show him, one of them being dragons! The reactions of the little purple and green dragon was certainly a whole lot different to The Doctor's. He had, of course, been completely and utterly asleep when the caramel colt had arrived, oblivious to Twilight's welcoming of him to the library. Terror and anger flooded the young dragons veins as he beheld the stallion below him, jumping to the conclusion that even though the colt was reading a selection of books he was most certainly a burglar. And burglars most, of course, be punished in the worst possible way. A great burst of flickering green flame spewed from Spike's mouth as he went on the offence, intent on causing as much damage to the literary burglar as possible. The flame streaked towards The Doctor, who watched it speed towards him in something that closely resembled awe before the realization hit him, luckily before the green fire did. With terrified, widening eyes The Doctor dived to the side as the green flame struck the ground and exploded with a slight boom, knocking him flying as emerald sparks disintegrated around the library, the fire being cut off as the magical fire system activated, dousing the room and clearing the flames. Spike took another, deep breath as The Doctor stood shakily onto his hooves, rubbing his head where he had hit the wall from the small but compact force of the explosion. Just as the green dragon of death began to release the swelling flames in his gut he was hoisted backwards by a bright purple aura, fire vanishing with a burp as the flames were sucked back down into his gullet. Spike spun around, purple aura shifting his body as he took in Twilight who, had he been a bit more noticing, was currently staring at him with a mixture of astonishment, disappointment and anger. As it was, he was too far down the path of the executioner to see Twilight's rolling emotions, instead opting to blurt out the matter at hand. “Twilight, there's a burglar in the house! Don't worry though, I'll get 'em!” And with that sentence Spike made to dash off to finish the assailant, legs kicking in the air as the purple levitating field around him pulsed slightly, refusing him access to the wooden floor. “Spike, what did I tell you about jumping to conclusions!? This “burglar” is actually a friend of mine that I allowed over for the night.” The flailing of the baby dragon stopped quite suddenly, legs falling limp as he gazed at the purple mare with a puzzled if slightly abashed look, twiddling his reptilian fingers before speaking up in a much quieter voice. “So...uh, the guy I nearly roasted is a friend of yours? Ehehe...” Twilight sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with one hoof in a weary manner before depositing Spike on the floor with a muffled thump, watching him flounder and scramble around the floor for a second. She turned her big purple eyes to The Doctor who was staring at Spike, not in anger, hatred or fear. Merely staring at him in amazement, completely oblivious to the fact that he had nearly been torched by the little wriggling dragon on the floor. “A...a dragon? In a library? I mean, the books told me about the particular species of dragons, serpens, but I was never told you had one here Twilight!” Spike immediately got up from his rolling to glare at The Doctor with a fierce expression on his young face, putting his hands on his hips in a manner that spoke of seriousness. “Had one? I'm Spike, not just some random dragon! I'm her number one assistant!” And with that said, the little green and purple dragon named Spike puffed his chest out in pride before his ashamed expression returned to him, colouring his cheeks a blotchy red. “Oh and, eh, sorry about the whole nearly killing you thing. You just caught me by surprise.” The Doctor merely waved him aside as Spike descended the stairs, stubby tail swishing back and forth behind him like a broom. “No harm done my dear reptilian friend. Now Twilight, whilst I'm not usually one for home visits I am dying to get out into your lovely town and have a little explore. Would you care to join me?” Twilight smiled warmly at The Doctor, shooting a somewhat icy gaze at Spike who looked at the ground in shame before she shuffled backwards towards her room, calling behind her as she trotted into the inter-locking white bathroom, snowy tiles gleaming with cold and a blinding shine. “I'd love to Doctor, let me just sort out my mane.” The Doctor frowned slightly before raising one hoof to his hair to make sure it was successfully wild, sighing with relief as he felt it snatch and grab at his brown appendage. He took a few seconds to fix his slightly crooked red bow-tie before he turned to Spike who was staring at him with amusement and confusion, one eyebrow raised questioningly. “How do I look?” “Like you just woke up in a room full of hair-dryers with an intense hatred for brown colts and black hair.” The Doctor pondered the explanation for the merest of second before a smile lit up his face. “Excellent.” The gentle trotting of hooves on the stairs brought The Doctor to attention as he beheld the now fresh, awoken looking Twilight happily jaunting down the stairs, humming a quiet tune to herself as her now combed and tamed mane swished back and forth. The lavender mare hopped from the bottom step before trotting over to a desk of some sort from which she pulled out a set of yellow...saddlebags? She quickly fastened them onto herself in a way that defied every law of physics that existed before she happily hopped to the old wooden door, still humming the light tune. She swung the door open, allowing intense, burning light to flood the library before she turned around to face the squinting Doctor, eyes sparkling with mirth and happiness as she watched the expression on his face turn from one of confusion to one of sheer joy, a simply enormous smile splitting across his face making Twilight smile wide, sharing in his joy. The Doctor gazed around the town, eyes darting around the multiple buildings and hooves trampling the dirt, kicking up great flecks of dust, outside of the library before he spoke his first, shaky words to the rich village around him. “Its all so colourful!” [.] Fifteen minutes. It had taken Twilight fifteen whole minutes to stop The Doctor gallivanting around the town with tremendous speed, smiling and waving at every pony he passed before he'd spy a new sight to behold and immediately burst off in a completely different direction. So far he had visited about one quarter of the town however, that one quarter was spread across the whole town, small pockets of the newly discovered town being brought to life as The Doctor shot through them, mumbling to himself before continuing his rapid speed around the village. Eventually, ten minutes in, Twilight had lost The Doctor in his frantic running before following the trails of Fascinating and Intriguing to find her desired target. She had successfully managed to coax him into following her around, saying that she would show him the most recognizable areas, her friends houses and then, finally, he would be allowed to explore for himself as long as he didn't end up breaking anything. He had replied with a muffled Easier said then done to which she had giggled softly and allowed a small smile to shift across her features before they had trotted off in a direction that could only really lead to one building. Sugarcube Corner. Upon seeing the massive sweet built household, The Doctor had merely stopped dead in the street and had continued to stare in amazement and hunger at the rising, delectably smelling building before him, drool forming around his mouth. The scent of freshly baked muffins and cupcakes wafted from the large confectionery shop, drawing The Doctor in like a moth to the flame. Slowly, he and a very confused Twilight had trotted over to the building, a set of deep blue eyes fixed on the wonderful displays of sweets and bakery that gleamed deliciously behind clear glass walls. He had reached one tentative brown hoof out to softly stroke the glass windows, fruitlessly trying to get at the delightful food behind them before he felt an odd pulling sensation around his waist, startling him and making him yelp as he felt two incredibly strong arms rap him in a tight embrace. The Doctor had prepared himself for a vicious fight, blue eyes glancing down at the brutal grip of pink fur that had wrapped him in chains of steel. Pink...fur. “Ohmygosh, IamsohappythatyoucameDoctor! ThismorningIaskedmyselfifthenewcoltwouldshowupsoIcanshowhimaroundSugarcubeCornerandmaybemakehimacupcakeandhereyouare!” The Doctor gagged for air as the grip tightened for a split second, the speeding, babbling words rolling around his head as he desperately tried to claim oxygen and to figure out the meaning of the mysterious chant of sorts that had escaped Pinkie's mouth. “Oxygen...good...help.” Pinkie glanced in confusion at the asphyxiating colt in her iron grip before gasping slightly as she watched his eyes bulge in his head, allowing him to be free as she dropped him on the ground with a slight pumf of dust that rose up from his impact with the floor. The Doctor sucked in long, harsh breaths as he felt strength and much needed oxygen flood back into his body before he achingly pulled himself up, coughing quietly as he did so. “Ohmygosh, I'm sooooooo sorry!” The usually bubbly voice had been replaced with a sad, tearful tone that caused The Doctor to glance up at Pinkie in surprise, the sudden change of demeanour shocking him ever so slightly. She was still her usual self really, perhaps a bit more grey and slightly flatter hairr covering her pink head and yet there were small traces of un-shed tears in her blue eyes, waiting to burst should she be met with cruelty or anger. “I've faced for worse foes then your death grip Pinkie, don't worry about me.” “Oki doki loki!” “Wait but...what?” The Doctor had expected a few hesitant sniffles, perhaps a happy content smile from the bubbly mare but almost as swiftly as the change had occurred she had reverted to normal, her luminous pink colour returning as the tears vanished from her eyes and her hair once more returned to its normal inflation. As soon as he had stated his apology she had clasped him warmly once more, no longer with her snake grip, rubbing pink fur against ruffled brown fur causing him to exclaim in surprise at the sudden shocking change. “C'mon, lemme show you around!” The Doctor could only look at Twilight in fear as a pink hoof wrapped around one of his brown hooves, eyes widening in horror as he watched Twilight let out a little, mischievous smirk at the actions of the pink menace. For a split second all was still, birds flitting incredibly slowly through the trees as The Doctor felt the beginning of a tug on his hoof before activity exploded around him. If it were possible to break the sound barrier using nothing but your own body, the pink mare pulling him with the force of a two ton rhino would surely have broken it and sent its remains to Tartarus. As it were the speed at which she was dragging The Doctor through the bakery made smoke waft up from his three flailing legs that were tread-milling the floor like there was no tomorrow, grey vapour rising up as sparks danced around his hooves. Pinkie dragged him through different sections of the bakery, calling out names such as The Cakes Incredible Kitchen, Pinkie's Pinkeriffic Room and, The Doctor's personal favourite, Gummy's Fort DeTriumphe which looked suspiciously like a bathroom with an alligator sticking out of the toilet. Vivid colours burst through his vision as he was ruthlessly dragged through each room, pink the most prominent of all the colours kept rearing its head to frazzle his sensitive eyes with its majestic glow. The smell of fresh baking and intoxicatedly sweet candy wove through his nose as Pinkie continued her blitz of a tour, mouth running like a motor as she proceeded to offer up lightning fast explanations for each room before darting on to the next room. The smell was delectable, brining back memories of human food and the wonders they had made, fish fingers, custard and, the best of all, fish fingers and custard. The lightning fast exploration of Sugarcube Corner continued for perhaps thirty more seconds, The Doctor wincing as his hooves ground painfully against the floor before Pinkie rounded a corner to reveal the very front of the bakery, Twilight standing in the exact same spot as she had been in before, the same little smirk on her face. The Doctor came to an unexpected and particularly jarring stop as the pink mare leading him suddenly put on the brakes, causing him to slam into her at intense speeds. However, instead of slamming into her and knocking her flying he merely bounced off of her as if she were a trampoline, once more physics being thrown to the wind as The Doctor lay on the floor, blinking the stars out of his eyes and trying vainly to figure out what had happened in the last minute. Pinkie turned to look at him, splayed on the ground from where he had rocketed into her before she giggled a soft tinkling laugh that warmed the atmosphere and seemed to alleviate the small thumping pain from his age old head. She cartwheeled around him as he staggered to his hooves, clutching his head as the dizzying movements of the mare around him threatened to claim him. “What are ya doin silly?” “Trying to come to terms with what in the name of sanity just happened.” “Sanity is for the weak.” “Wha-” The Doctor stared at Pinkie with a mixture of confusion and unbridled fear at the statement she had just made, the dark, serious note of her sentence clashing wildly with the giggling, happy voice she had used to deliver it. The confused colt blinked once, twice, three times before sighing under his breath at the oddity that was Pinkie Pie, opting to have a proper look around of the front of the quaint, warm bakery. Bright iced cupcakes littered the shelves and the fudge coloured walls, great spectrum’s of bright red and pink, blue and yellow bursting beautifully around the bakery. Mahogany wood girders rose from the ground, golden markings etched and carved along its length as it stood proud and tall, a small heart shape punctured into the main frame. A calming, almost icy coloured blue floor stretched around the bakery, occasionally running into odd steps and twists that made it veer off in every direction possible. A selection of small green rugs lay scattered across the floor, thrown haphazardly around to allow customers to wipe their hooves. Red and white candy cane pillars rose sweetly from the ground, swirling towards the top of the bakery with an intoxicating smell. Hanging yellow lights swung softly from the caramel coloured roof, throwing great shades of orange and yellow light around the bright bakery. Towards the end of the front room stood a rather simple purple and brown wooden desk with a metal cash register gleaming on its surface. Behind said cash register stood a tall set of dark brown stairs that stretched upwards until they punctured the roof of the bakery. The main site though was the marvellous display of confectioneries and goodies that lined the bakery, their delicious scent wafting pleasantly through the rather large shop. To his right sat a rather delectable looking brown and yellow cake that had a light decoration of cherries that swirled and danced along the icing coated floor. Rows upon rows of cupcakes slept along the large shelves, colours bursting through the atmosphere. An incredibly large and delicious smelling apple pie sat behind the counter, glorious scent spreading across the bakery as the apples and the crust began to cool with a noticeable crumbling texture. Blue, red and purple candy canes jutted out from a peculiar looking cylinder box, looking almost like an umbrella deposition area if it were not for the winding, twirling sweets that sprouted from it. Cool, brown cookies lay in neat piles around Sugarcube, white chocolate and chocolate chips spread lovingly along their front in a clean little display of perfection. The most fantastic display of sweets sat behind the stained glass counter, resting ravishingly behind the protected displays, great twirled iced cakes and soft, melting cookies sat snugly within the purple blanket inside of the display. A single, diamond encrusted cupcakes sat in the middle of the display, sparkling magnificently in the thrown yellow light. The Doctor's mouth watered at the visage of sweets before him, eyes spinning to stare around at the wonderful foods on sale. Of course, normally he would be anything but hungry, having gone weeks without sustenance but something about falling into a whole new universe combined with the fantastic smell that surrounded him brought The Doctor's to water. Twilight swiftly noted the gleaming, lustful eyes of The Doctor and the small amount of drool that was pooling around him, smiling in humour as she walked up behind the dazed, hungry colt. “So, what do you want?” The Doctor jumped slightly at the new voice, snapping out of his hunger filled daze as he turned to spy the purple mare behind him before he shook his head and turned back to staring at the displays. “Nah, I'm fine Twilight. I'm not even that hungr-” He was cut off rather quickly as his stomach gave an almighty roar of thunder like sound, signalling its displeasure at being ignored by the stubborn colt. “Hmm, you sound pretty hungry to me.” The Doctor merely mumbled something incoherent about his stomach and how it should stop betraying him before he turned to Twilight, a small look of guilt flickering across his face as he braved himself to ask the painful question. “I don't suppose you would let me buy something would you?” Twilight gasped in fake astonishment, bringing one hoof to cover her small, ovular mouth in a terribly acted impression of disgruntled shock. “My, Doctor, how could you ask such a thing, even though I already asked if you were hungry!” The Doctor shot a small, annoyed glare at Twilight causing her to giggle at his adorable pouting face before she waved her hoof at him, dropping the terrible acting and speaking to him in a nonchalant voice. “Sure, pick whatever you want. This ones on me.” The Doctor twirled around happily, eyes shifting quickly from confectionery to confectionery, mouth opening and closing again as he chose what he wanted and then found something new that excited him. The Doctor kept his piercing glance around the bakery, trying to decipher exactly what would fill his stomach and what he truly, desperately wanted to devour. He wracked his mind as he plagued his thoughts to inform him of what delectable treat would be most appreciated by his body before his eyes widened in a stunned realization. It couldn't be... The Doctor frowned slightly, looking around the bakery for the treat that had piqued his interest and that had sent his taste buds into a pleasurable meltdown of anticipation and yet the treat did not show up. Suddenly, his vision was disrupted by a pink blur appearing and wobbling in front of him like the twang of an elastic band, a broad smile stretching across Pinkie's face as she noticed The Doctor's quizzical, hungry expression burning through the bakery. “Hey there Doc, whatchu lookin' for?” The Doctor blinked in surprise at the new arrival before resigning himself to a soft sigh, accepting Pinkie as being Pinkie. He shuffled forward slightly, front hooves kicking at the ground awkwardly and a small blush spreading across his cheeks as he mumbled his answer in an embarrassed voice. “Do you...have anything with...pears?” Pinkie immediately nodded, the smile never leaving her face as The Doctor coughed into his hoof, visibly embarrassed at the odd display of food that he so wanted. He seemed almost like a chastised child who had done ill of his families teaching, nervously shuffling his hooves around the blue floor. Pinkie hopped around him, squeaking in a happy content voice completely oblivious to the colts anxiety at the question. “We sure do, last pear pie we have is sittin' in the back. Lemme go get it for you!” With that she hopped away behind the counter and through a large pink rimmed doorway, the creaking doors closing behind her as the soft sound of her whistling a gentle tune swam through the air. A slight, muffled disturbance outside of the bakery caused The Doctor to turn around to witness the odd occurrence that was taking place out the front of Sugarcube Corner. A light blue, somewhat pudgy mare with flowing pink hair and a trio of cupcakes adorning her flank stood outside arguing heatedly with a large, bulky black stallion with heavy ringlets of dark green hair. The mares pristine apron was crumpled and crooked, indicating that she had most certainly had enough of talking to the bulking black stallion with the rowing boat cutie-mark. Yet the two continued to argue about some unknown cause, the angry words being muffled by the stained windows and heavy walls of the bakery as more and more ponies strolled over to the battling duo to witness the incident at hand. The mare seemed to notice the unwanted attention and, with a large red blush covering her cheeks, pointed her nose up to the frustrated stallion and began to march towards the bakery, head held high as the colt yelled what sounded to be slander at her. The Doctor's attention was quickly snatched away as a loud thunk signalled the return of Pinkie Pie who was precariously balancing a crusty, hardly green pie on the top of her bushy pink head, indicating slightly with a flick of her tail towards a small table to the side of the bakery, sunlight flooding the furniture with warmth. Twilight stepped forward to pay the rumbustious pink mare, purple hoof reaching deep into the folds of one of her saddlebags before she was stopped by the chipper, jaunty voice of Pinkie Pie. “No need to pay for this one Twi, its on the house.” With a small, thankful smile Twilight pulled her hoof out of the yellow saddlebag to her right, nodding at Pinkie in a grateful demeanour. The Doctor trotted over to the warm looking table and stool before plopping himself down on the red padded seat, feeling the strain leave his legs as he sat down with a content sigh. Pinkie merely giggled at him before bouncing over and carefully placing the pie down on the table, her professionalism shining through as she almost daintily allowed the pie to slide off of her head and onto the tables heated surface. She and Twilight swiftly retreated to a silenced corner of the bakery, discussing topics that would have sparked large amounts of interest in The Doctor had he not been about to munch down on the delicious looking pie in front of him, his mind focused solely on the food before him. Just as he opened his mouth and leaned forward to take a hefty bite out of the intoxicating pie before him the door to Sugarcube Corner burst open, the bell above it ringing viciously as the hardly pudgy blue mare from before stalked in, a look of weariness so evident on her face that it made The Doctor look up in surprise, confused that ponies could express such an emotion. The blue mare sighed before heading towards the counter, the familiar voice of Pinkie ringing across the entrance of the shop with a clear. “Hi Mrs Cake!” The blue mare turned to smile at her softly before she frowned in anger as the door to the bakery once more swing open mightily, sending the bell into hysterics once more as the black, aggravated stallion strolled in, angered eyes intent on Mrs Cake. She sighed in open exhaustion as he skulked towards her, bulky black hooves slamming into the carpet loudly as he rose himself up, trying to intimidate the older mare with little effect. She raised one eyebrow at him, electric pink eyes flaring in annoyance as she took in the sight of the massive stallion before her. “Yes?” Her voice was tinged with a softness and a caring that revealed years of happiness and well-wishing, the happier emotions smothered by the large hints of annoyance and weariness in her voice. “I'm here to get my free cupcakes!” The stallions voice was rugged and deep, anger and frustration rolling off of him in great waves that buffeted and disturbed the atmosphere in the bakery, causing Pinkie and Twilight to turn around and stare at the scene. The blue mare merely responded with a frown at the angry words, immediately gaining The Doctor's respect as she answered him coolly and without any hint of fear from the muscular stallion before her. “I told you not to leave them out in the sun otherwise they'd dry up but you did. Its not my fault that they're ruined.” The stallion snorted, a small amount of white vapour flowing out of his nostrils as he pushed one foreleg backwards against the floor in a threatening manner before hissing at the Mrs Cake. “Doesn't matter none, I still want my cupcakes!” The mare flinched in fear as he brought one foreleg down to the blue floor with a loud crack that broke Mrs Cake's hardened exterior. At the sight, The Doctor rose from his stool as Twilight moved forward to stand between the angry stallion and the frightened mare, desperately trying to cool down the situation as Pinkie looked on in shock, completely silent. Twilight smiled warmly at the seemingly dangerous black stallion before she began speaking to him in a soft, calm, reasoning voice. “I know you're upset but its not Mrs Cake's fault. Now, if you just asked nicely I'm sure she'd l-” Twilight was interrupted by the angry shout that erupted from the black stallion as he, once more, stamped his hooves on the ground with a power that shook the foundations of Sugarcube. “Shut up you purple twit!” All three mares gasped in shock at the stunning insult, a very heinous word in Equestria spewing forth venomously from the stallions mouth. Small tears prickled Twilight's eyes as she felt the insult stroke home, stinging into her heart as she desperately tried to back-pedal away from the stallion who was marching towards both mares of blue and purple, Pinkie still stood stone still behind him in shock and disgust. Twilight eeped as he drew closer, folding into her body as he stared at her with a horrid expression that mixed both anger and perverse pleasure at scaring her in such a way. The Doctor watched the scene unfold in front of him in stunning clarity, mind processing the fact that even in this cute world there were still horrible, cruel minds that would not resist threatening those weaker then them. He glanced down at his green, sweet smelling, uneaten pie as the large stallion stepped towards Twilight, causing her to curl into a ball of purple fur on the rugged floor before he sighed and grasped the pie in his mouth, resting it on his hoof in a waiter like fashion. He trotted calmly towards the looming hulk of muscle with careful, deliberate hoof-steps that rang around the bakery, pie balanced on his hoof as the large, veined neck turned to follow his approach. The Doctor smiled cheerily at the enraged stallion before stopping quite suddenly next to him, the dark green eyes of the painfully toned colt resting upon him as a low grunt escaped the stallions lips along with a deep, ringing voice. “What do you want?” The Doctor continued to smile at the colt before he shrugged a meaningless shrug, speaking in an offhand voice as he closed his eyes and allowed the gesture to spread across his whole body in an obvious display of nonchalance. “Well, I was just admiring the way you were bullying these poor helpless mares before I realized “somepony should put a stop to that.” The stallion laughed deeply, obviously incredibly amused by the small, fragile looking colt that stood before him. He stopped to wipe a single dark mirth-filled tear from his eye with one of his large hooves before his emotions changed, hostility filling up his body as he hissed at The Doctor. “Oh yeah, and what're you going to do about it?” The Doctor turned his head away, speaking softly but with the same cheerful voice. “Me? Nothing...” The rather beefy stallion smirked in triumph at his intimidation of the caramel colt before his ears flicked forward to catch the rest of the colt's statement. “...But my good friend, Pearson, most certainly has something to say about it.” The stallion frowned in apparent confusion, looking around for this other colt that seemed to go by the rather peculiar name of Pearson, perhaps indicating a heritage that revolved around pairs similar to the Apple family. Shortly after locating no colt, especially not one by the name of Pearson, the hunky stallion turned back towards the caramel colt, mouth opened in the beginnings of a speech before he felt the soft but somehow impact-full smush of a rather tasty pie slamming into his face. The Doctor watched the rude, sadistic stallion look around in a small amount of panic, trying to locate The Doctor's friend who was currently lying in his outstretched hoof, sleeping rather peacefully. The Doctor pulled his pie laden hoof back as the black stallion turned to face him, mouth open in an unasked question before he pushed forward and released his crusty friend, watching in joy and small amounts of disappointment at not being able to eat it as it spun through the air towards its target. The stallion staggered backwards, limbs flailing wildly as he carelessly pin-wheeled around the bakery, green pie blinding his eyes with crusty pastry. The sloppy pie dish fell off of the stallions smeared face, clattering onto the ground with a loud rattle before spinning through the air like a frisbee as the foolish stallion stepped onto the still slippery dish, sending both it and him flying. The black stallion fell quite magnificently onto his rump with a slight splat as the room and the ponies outside burst into uproarious laughter. Pinkie's loud snorting giggle rolled around the bakery, acoustics making it echo quite loudly as Twilight's adorable tinkling laugh followed shortly after, the purple mare holding a small hoof to her mouth to try and suppress the giggles. The best laugh of all though was the laugh of the older, blue mare that was in fits of absolute hysterics behind The Doctor. Her laugh was loud and heavy, weighed with happiness and relief at finally being able to escape from her exhaustion as the sound revolved around the pink, confectionery filled shop. Outside of the great sweet shop, great rolls of laughter rang around the town, deep and squeaky, old and young, mischievous and mirth-filled. The black stallion growled deeply in embarrassment and anger, wiping the crumbling remains of the pie off of his face with two thick, oak like hooves as he pulled himself to his feet. The black stallion hissed in anger as his dark green eyes settled on the perpetrator of the crime, the caramel colt who was whistling a jolly, inconspicuous tune. The hefty stallion moved forward menacingly, hooves striking the blue floor with loud thumps as he drew level with the still whistling colt who had the nerve to have his eyes closed. A slight tinkle of the bakery bell flew through the sweet shop, quickly being drowned out by the continued laughter of the whole town at the unlucky but rather uncouth stallion. Said stallion raised a hoof backwards, intent on delivering a much deserved punch to the face of the caramel colt who had embarrassed him before it was stopped by an iron grip, forcing the stallion to turn his head in rage at the mysterious pony who had stopped his revenge. Deep, rolling, red muscular fur coated the body of the caramel colts protector, a small stick of wheat jutting out of the stallions mouth and a few tufts of blonde hair across the red head as he gazed at the black stallion with green eyes of indifference, almost as green as the large apple that coated his work worn red flank. The new pony moved the wheat around his mouth for a second before he spoke in a soft, calm southern drawl. “I wouldn' recommend it if Ah was you.” The stallion turned his gleaming green gaze from the whistling caramel colt to the huddle of muscle that gripped his hoof repeatedly before he felt the fight leave his body, slumping slightly to the ground as the red stallion let him go but refused to back away in case anything else erupted. The black stallion glanced at the red farm pony for a second before he turned his gaze to the now silent colt who was grinning at him with a cockiness that made his blood boil. “I'll get you for this, you better watch your back.” “Run along now, before Pearson's friends come over to join the party.” The stallion huffed in anger, eyes narrowing in hatred as he glared daggers at the brown colt who merely smiled at him before he turned his back and trotted heavily to the door, opening it and closing it with a slam as he trotted through the still chuckling horde of ponies out front. The Doctor continued to stare and smile cockily at the enraged stallion before he vanished amidst the sea of multicoloured ponies. The Doctor turned to the impassive, unmoving mound of muscular red fur as his smile widened a bit further, sticking his brown hoof out to shake his saviours in a token of friendship. “Thanks for that, I was starting to run out of ideas of how to keep him from disembowelling me.” For his part, the big red pony merely let out a small smile that was practically a fully blown laugh for the strong, silent farm pony, sticking out his hoof and shaking the brown colts hoof with little force. “Tha names Big Macintosh.” “I'm The Doctor.” “Doctah Who?” “Just The Doctor.” The red stallion detached himself from the soft hoofshake and raised one massive red appendage to his chin, stroking it thoughtfully as he looked at the bakeries roof. Then, almost unnoticeably the ponies eyes widened in recognition before vanishing back into their impassive green pools as the red stallion began to speak with the soft southern drawl. “Mah lil sis Applejack mentioned a Doctah fella when she came back late yesterday. I suppose that'll be you.” The Doctor nodded his head once in admission to signal that he was the one that Applejack had talked about. Big Macintosh continued his slow but powerful speech, his voice as quiet as ever. “She says you can come down to tha farm at anytime. Do ya want me to show ya now?” The Doctor brightened at the idea of exploring Applejack's famed Sweet Apple Acres, already smelling the delicious tang of the apples as he nodded his head in renewed vigour, his rumbling, hungry stomach being forgotten as the thrill of embracing another part of pony culture, agriculture, took over his senses and excited him. Big Macintosh turned around and began to walk at a steady pace, opening the bakery door with a gentleness that defied his form before he signalled The Doctor to follow with the soft flick of his blonde tail. The Doctor turned to Twilight, Pinkie disappearing behind the counter of the bakery to go and search for the still cackling Miss Cake. “Will you be joining me Twilight?” “I most certainly will Doctor. Also, thanks for taking care of that stallion for me.” At this The Doctor smiled warmly before rushing over to the bakery door and bolting out of it in his haste to discover the famed farm of Ponville, Twilight following closely behind as she tailed the speeding colt. He, rather swiftly, caught up with the lumbering, powerful figure of Big Macintosh as Twilight followed behind, trotting next to him as she gained level with the still very mysterious brown colt. Almost too softly to hear she listened to his voice whisper quietly to himself as the trio marched onwards to Sweet Apple Acres, home of the best apples in all of Equestria. Onwards and upwards. [.] It watched the black, tantalizingly angered stallion push through the heavy throngs of pitiful, laughing ponies, knocking those around him to the sides as easily as if he were knocking aside paper. It licked its green stallion lips as it watched the path of the black stallion, as it saw the strong muscles ripple beneath the sleek, dark coat, as it smelt the delicious scent of anger and hate that rose off of him in great rolling waves of emotions. It was hidden from view, the shadow of the large, mismatched building being perfectly cast by the bothersome and yet useful burning sphere in the sky, allowing it to see all without being seen itself. It shuddered in disgust as it watched the ponies continue their pathetic, weak, sickening chuckling, wanting to simply step out of the shadows and crush them all under its hosts hooves. Yet, it did not. It was waiting for something. Or, more specifically, somepony. Its dark wish was granted as, at the exact moment it began to ponder going after the black stallion and claiming his body, the brown colt with the blood red bow-tie stepped out of the bakery, chasing after a red stallion who, in turn, was being chased by the purple mare from before. Its eyes narrowed in hatred and suspicion as it followed the brown colts movements, mind beginning to bubble once more with hidden, locked memories as its eyes fell on the caramel colt that had such a profound effect on the monstrous alien. Its eyesight began to blacken around the edges as memories swirled and writhed upwards, threatening to engulf it entirely with reminiscent facts. It backed further into the long, deep shadow of the house to make sure it would not be spied by the inspecting eyes of any of the weak, frail, fragile residents, its mind nearly succumbing to the seductive pull of the memories before it could get fully into hiding. Still, it made it into the darkest level of the shadows, finally closing its eyes and allowing the memories to pour forth across its mind as its conscious began to fade with the strength of remembering. Oh, and it remembered such horrible things. [.] Jdukin- Plasmavore Home Planet Fifty two years ago It had returned, forced by the elders, but it had still returned. It had been nineteen long, brutal years for the plasmavore, having been rejected and cast out by the elders for the issue regarding the falling of the dome and then its murdering of half of the infants in its pool of hatch who had taunted and chastised it until it had snapped and turned upon them. It had fled from the once caring, comforting planet as the elders forcibly kicked him out for crimes against the plasmavore kind, sentencing it to refrain from ever returning to the planet without invitation or due cause, sending it out alone into the emptiness of space. Yet here it was, in the host body of a rather peculiar looking red midget with small spikes jutting from its taken face, standing outside of the hall of elders, awaiting to discover the reason of its calling, hopelessly wishing for it to be the ending of its banishment. It did not exactly miss its home planet with its cruel abuse of the children and its ridiculously stupid first feed ritual but it missed being able to sleep without fear of being found or hunted down, without fear of being imprisoned or killed. It missed a warm, cosy hatchling nest of which it could curl up next to its family and simply sleep the year away without a care in the universe. It missed its freedom and its “mother”. In the end it had been the fault of that Doctor who had fallen out of the sky and destroyed the young plasmavores life as easily as writing a sentence or speaking a word, trailing destruction wherever he went. It loathed him, even now, even nineteen years later. It had followed multiple leads to try and find its enemy, its persecutor and destroyer and yet all trails had led to dead ends and whispered vanishings. Angered with its luck, it had taken to merely draining a host and then using that host body to kill, kill as many as it could in order to spread complete and utter chaos within a civilization. It was never found, though the shrivelled shell of the body was always pulled up somehow and inspected for wounds, the investigators only finding a peculiar hole in the neck of the victims. It had lived that life for nineteen years, being hunted ruthlessly by angry, saddened races that had discovered its existence and its dark, malevolent purpose. It had rarely any time to sleep, no home to return to and only its own sneaky, deceptive mind to rely on to find a means of escape and travel. It had travelled to its home planet in a shuttle stolen from the Adipose people, the living chunks of fat that had spread across the universe like some disgusting disease, rotting and fattening life forms everywhere. Its head turned sharply as the twin, white doors to the hall of the elders opened, green light flooding out and into the plain, white fields that the plasmavore had been resting upon, staring at the darkening night sky in deep thought, of The Doctor and of its own pathetic, saddening life. The elder, wizened plasmavore stepped forward, speaking in a harsh brittle voice as it called down warningly to the still young plasmavore. Drop the disguise and follow me. The plasmavore let out a long, drawn out sigh that spoke of its impatience and its boredom of the system of rule before it agreed to the set out rules, dropping its disguise and returning to its original white, wriggling form before following the elder with sharp, loud clicks of its talons. It stepped into the hall as its black, shrunken eyes glanced around the spookily familiar building. Great burning flamed pillars of green fire and twisting, turning white gloopy stone rose up from the ground, making the light flicker menacingly around the heavily shadowed hall. Great walls of pure white substance rose up from the ground, dripping the liquid onto the ground with the occasional plink, ringlets and drooping snot like goo dribbling down its cold, sticky length. The roof was carved perfectly, raising upwards in a semi-circle like pattern, incredibly similar to the rooftops of the churches of the small island of Britain on the miserable planet of Earth. The floor was made primarily of the same goo that smothered and coated the great white walls, catching on the plasmavores feet. The only difference was the rising wooden looking planks that stood out of the ground like a path to allow access to the hall without having to dirty its talons with the messy floor. The wooden planked path spread onwards for perhaps ten metres before abruptly cutting off as the true hall came into view, the muffled green light fleeing away from the sight. It was set out much like a courtroom, the five judges signified by the elder plasmavores that sat behind a large, rising pure white desk that stood three metres high, small steps rising up from the corner to allow access to it. In front of that lay three sets of bench like seats, rectangular lengths travelling down and around the chief desk like an amphitheatre. A single, small green flame flickered beside the elder plasmavores as they stared at the intruder with old, harsh eyes that spoke of a lifetime of anger and hatred. The basic design of the room was exactly the same, curving white roof and drooping, sticky white walls sprouting and forming the main body of the structure. The floor, however, was completely wooden in appearance, the stickiness of the substance the planet produced vanishing behind it like a bad memory. It strode forward purposefully until it stood directly in front of the large desk, forcing the elders to peer over its length to peer at it in something that closely resembled contempt and perhaps a flickering of...pity? The middle of the five plasmavores rose, an old, incredibly wrinkled and frail looking creature with hollow eyes and a rattling, wheezing voice that could barely be heard. We have called you here today traitor to tell you of an incident that the majority here feel you should know about. The plasmavore looked quizzically at the wheezing, bone rattling elder as it tried to picture what reasoning was behind its summoning. Its hopes of being reinstated had quickly been burnt and tossed away when the term of traitor had been used but instead of answering questions, it had just opened up even more. The old elder spoke up once more in the same rasping, cracking voice that signified that it was close to its death. It revolves around your hatchling mother. A plasmavore did not have a mother in any typical use of the word considering that there was no gender in its age old race. The hatchling mother was merely a plasmavore that had accepted the term of hatcling mother and had ventured to the fields of the birthed in order to claim the DNA of a child from the pool of unprocessed younglings. The young plasamvore would then be given genes and DNA from the hatchling mother to allow it to grow, to form an embryo and then emerge from the pool of pure, swirling DNA a young plasamvore. A mother hatchling always had a slight attachment to their child, having created it but having no part in its upbringing. Still, the plasmavores all cared for their hatchling mothers for without them they would be alive today. There was a strong, unspoken bond between the two that no creature could explain. Once more the elder piped up in the decrepit voice, snapping the young plasmavore out of its memories of its hatchling mother. She was recently captured and imprisoned by the Judoon. The plasmavore bristled slightly in anger at the new found knowledge, rage boiling up inside of it as it came to the realization that there was rarely ever a creature that could enter the Judoon prison system and ever escape. The next statement though made it stop its angered hissing and instead fall deathly silent. We believe a creature named The Doctor was involved in the capture. Rage and anger and terror pulsed beneath the stone still exterior of the plasmavore as it came to terms with the fact that, once again, this Doctor had come strolling into its life, its affairs and it had broken its being, its very soul. The plasmavore screamed and raged and beat the hall of the elders in absolute anger as its emotions came flooding out of it in a great rolling wave of pure, white hot, unbridled rage. Its hatchling mother was gone forever, captured by The Doctor. It had failed its first feed and faced ridicule from its peers because of The Doctor. It had been banished, secluded and sent into the icy realms of space to die alone because of The Doctor. And now, now it truly felt the pain of being alone. Now it felt the agony of having no creature left that would miss it, no creature left that would help it or comfort it. Its hatchling mother was gone, stolen and snacthed by The Doctor. As the plasmavore screamed and punched and kicked, as it was dragged away shrieking between the arms of two impossibly strong younglings, as it was thrown out into the coldness of the planet. As it crawled and slithered its way to its stolen shuttle, as it escaped the horrible, taunting, manipulative planet below it in a fiery ball of uncontrollable speed, it thought of one thing and one thing alone, an uncontrollable feeling that burst and bubbled beneath its opaque skin like boils. One thing that clung to it like the sticky substance of the horrific planet below. The thought of one who has experienced the worst and who is about to enact the worst. Revenge [.] It opened its dark, blotched, corrupted eyes to the darkness of the shadows that had so skilfully swallowed its body. A single, fleeting burning thought shot through its old, evil head as it got slowly to its hooves, as it wandered from its hiding place to tail the mysterious and familiar brown colt, suspicions unfurling before its very eyes. One thought, one single thought over and over and over again until it practically burnt its insides with its energy and its power and its need to be released. Doctor. Authors note: I just finished writing this and its 10:00PM in England so expect some errors from the final few paragraphs which I will fix tomorrow. Anyway, I am taking exams so this took a long, long time to come out and I know I promised the meeting of The Doc and the plasmavore in this chapter but the chapter was so long that I had to split it into two parts, this and another which is still in production. Plus, they sort of met anyway... So, enjoy and, of course, constructive criticism is welcome.
The Timelord And The PlasmavoreThe TimeLord And The Plasmavore Apple trees. Apple trees everywhere. The trio of assorted coloured ponies had been travelling for roughly five minutes, heading off in a direction that was obviously known to the hulking red stallion and the magically gifted unicorn but completely unknown to The Doctor, hence his needless whittling on over everything. Every shrub, house, pony or little, nearly invisible pebble that he'd pass he would take upon himself to investigate, mumbling and smiling to himself as the other two members of the group watched on, one in humour at his antics and the other with a small twinge of curiosity on his otherwise impassive face. Needless to say, The Doctor's constant need for explanations and investigations had resulted in him being chased from many houses by screaming mares or roaring stallions and yet that bizarre grin had not once left his face. The flora around was, to him, one of the single most beautiful, pure creations ever to be experienced by his age old eyes, the contrasting shine of the flower with the delicious scent it gave off, free from the cutting cloned plants back on Earth. He had, much to the horror of the other two ponies watching, ended up taking a hesitant lick of nearly every new type of pebble or stone he found on the way before his eyes would peer upwards as if he was searching the skies before he would recite the chemicals and elements that each mineral rock contained. At first the duo of unbridled confusion had just watched his display with bafflement but by the tenth time that the well repeated phrase of Calcium Carbonate or, CaCO3 had been repeated they had grown quite frustrated with the brown colt. Well, Twilight had at least. Big Macintosh was a hard pony to decipher and most certainly not one to give in or show any emotions other then happy ones to those around him. A true gentlecolt through and through. Of course the most spectacular sight for the knowledge ravishing Doctor had been the looping, soaring, laughing pegasi that sailed above him like birds in flight, completely at home in the somewhat brisk air. It had been Twilight's utmost pleasure to experience The Doctor's jaw drop at the sheer acrobatic grace that the pegasi exhibited, only accustomed to the light, hovering style flying that he had seen from one rainbow haired individual. At his first true encounter with the flying, winged ponies he had simply stood stone still, eyes wide and mouth opening and closing every few seconds, the occasional muttered word escaping his lips as he beheld the grace and the elegance that they showed as if they were born to fly which, The Doctor rationalized, was probably true. The wind had picked up slightly on the journey to the fabled farm of the honest orange mare, turning from a slight breeze into a wind that would most likely shake and scatter the leaves from the surrounding trees had they not been so stubborn to leave their posts. At first this new, crispy, chilly wind had caused The Doctor to shiver slightly but soon his new equine body had adjusted to the difference, fur fluffing up to smother his body in a content, warm shield. The same adaptation to the environment had occurred in Twilight, her purple fur slightly puffier then usual and yet Big Mac remained exactly the same as he had before, wizened, toughened body simply not giving a single buck about the state of the weather or the chill in the air. After walking for five minutes, a trip that should have taken three had The Doctor not been fascinated by every little thing, the first glimpse of the great apple orchard came into view, carpeting the massively large clearing before them in great shrouds of fruit and bark. Great, bulbous red and green fruit lay limply from the bushy green leaves, flailing slightly in the decently paced wind and bobbing up and down on their separate branches as if they were dancing. The trees themselves were made of strong, sturdy deep brown oak that seemed to resonate a power and a wisdom that stretched in for generations, each tree with a different, complex story to tell, each tree with a tale to whisper. The luscious green ground sinking across the trees feet was littered with small, brittle leaves and bruised, broken apples along with a few rather large looking brown weaved baskets, each nearly filled to the brim with shining red apples. The trees seemed to stretch on for miles and miles, great bending hills filled to the top with the beautiful, vibrant sight of the Apple family heritage, a few bare from apple bucking and yet four times as many completely weighed down by the sheer number of fruits that slept upon them. A large white fence that came up to The Doctor's fuzzy brown chest guarded the seemingly endless fields of trees, separating the soft, supple looking grassy land of the farm from the dirty, hoof trodden route of the path. No house nor farmyard had come into view yet, the sight muffled and hidden by the rows and rows of apple trees that stretched onwards for miles and miles, almost out of The Doctor's clear blue gazing sight. He tore his relentless gaze away from the fantastic orchard before him in surprise as a dainty little cough sounded beside his ear, causing him to whirl around to confront the figure from which it had escaped from who just so happened to be a small purple mare. Twilight looked particularly sheepish as she watched The Doctor's excited almost ravenous sight break away from the rolling, roaming field before him and instead settled it upon her, the ferocity and excitement now pumping towards her in great twisting arcs, causing her stomach to flip as he beheld her with such intensity that it was like he was burning into her. Then he blinked and the moment was gone. “Ah yes, sorry about that. Never seen a farm quite as...magnificent as this. Lead on Big Mac!” At the quirky but kind colts words the lumbering red farm pony known as Big Macintosh allowed a small, almost unnoticeable smile to break out across his face before it was swallowed up once more by his calm, hidden demeanour. He turned back towards the worn, dusty path signalling the others to follow with another gentle flick of his blonde, unkempt tail as a low, rumbling single word escaped his throat. “Eeyup.” The trio continued their walk for another half a minute, The Doctor silently observing every little detail around them from the blue winged butterflies to the almost too tame skies whilst Twilight continued to observe him, the inner scientist in her analysing his every word and movement. Yet, to her frustrations she could draw no conclusion on him, not even a single hypothesis. It was like he was hidden, shrouded by something that kept his emotions and intentions veiled and sealed away with an iron lock and steel chains. Pretty swiftly Big Mac pulled into an opening in the snowy white if not slightly decrepit fence, pushing a small white gate backwards until it swung around and hit the fence with a muffled crash and a small mouse like squeak. Big Mac trotted forward, followed swiftly but softly by a certain purple mare who, in turn, was followed by the still slightly stunned colt who was growing increasingly proud and astounded at the level which these ponies had adapted to. The dry, cracked dirt road had given way rather swiftly to the soft, dewy mush of the grassed ground, a trickling, wet but not unpleasant feeling sifting into The Doctor's hooves and through his entire body. The air was tinged with the sweet smell of apples, the wind laced so thick with the stench that The Doctor could practically taste the tang of the red fruit itself. The trees rustled around him, apples swinging around towards him as if they were attempting to reach him and the baskets laying scattered across the floor, the wind not even touching them as it whistled loudly above the trees, picking up and causing some of them to shake. Soon enough the true spectacle of sweet apple acres came into view, the beautiful wooden red farm house and barn. The household rose from the ground like a giant red super structure as if it was pinching the very heavens themselves, a large gleaming red drawn apple laying amongst the blue skies as if it was flying. The house itself was made of an unrecognisable wood, the colour red ending all visual investigations of the bark wrapped home, the deep exotic red mingling with the sun in a vibrant contrast. White outlined wooden beams supported the body of the structure, rising upwards in great pillars of strength and dove white protection, their job to guard those who dwelled within from the fear of total collapse. Great purple shingles and rooftops lined the head of the house, seemingly melting fluently into the red woodwork of the body with an effectiveness and an elegance that nearly defied belief. Many open windows lined the sides of the house allowing the brilliant sunlight to pour in and to grace and caress the multicoloured, alluring flowers that shone along the windowsills. The house, or barn, sat atop a dusty brown dirt covered hill, claiming the centrepiece to the vastness that was Sweet Apple Acres, like a king on a chessboard. The same dove white fence stretched around it, a small gap visible in front of the large double doored entrance to the household. The most surprising aspect of the household though was the green shrivelled up prune-like creature that was rocking back and forth in a chair of some kind on the wooden porch of the barn, the loud snoring reaching The Doctor's ears from where he stood at the edge of the tree-line. A loud, heavy thunking sound drew his attention away from the magnificent red house and the mysterious shrivelled guardian that defended the home. His eyes and ears turned towards the direction of the noise only to be met with the sight of a vast number of trees shaking and jittering as if something was forcing its way towards them, the quivering display of trees growing closer and closer to the household. The Doctor's thoughts raced with possibilities of this hidden threat that was working its way towards them, automatically placing himself in front of Twilight as the heavy thunking and the shaking trees grew closer and closer and closer. A herd of buffalo? A rampaging rhino? A dinosaur, oh now that would most certainly be something! A flicker of movement at the edge of the tree-line caught The Doctor's eye as he braced himself to throw down with whatever violent, powerful creature that could cause the sturdy trees themselves to shake. So, of course, he was relatively surprised to see Applejack emerging from the trees, cold beads of sweat lacing her brow and running down her orange face in rivulets. The Doctor merely stared in unparalleled shock as the sunset orange mare galloped towards the group, raising one hoof to her brow to fling the perspiration across the air, creating a few sparkling twinkles in the wind. A fine layer of dust clung to her coat as the rolling droplets of sweat grappled it and pulled it closer, the orange hooves raising more of the musky substance as they pounded the ground carelessly to reach the small rag-tag group. The worn out Stetson atop her blonde streaked head bounced viciously at the speeds of which she was travelling, bucking and kicking like a bull. Soon enough Applejack arrived before the trio, two who greeted her warmly with smiles and one who greeted her incoherently with confusion. The Element of Honesty couldn't help but let out a small, muffled snort at the sight of her new bizarre brown furred friend looking so bewildered, the sight of his open mouth and somewhat twitching right eye caused mirth to flood her being. “So-hehe-Doctah, I see you-snort-came to check on mah farm. Whatd'ya think?” The Doctor blinked once, twice, three times before he opened his mouth to reply, the surprised expression never leaving his face as he spoke in an almost detached voice as if he wasn't truly there. “Its lovely. I especially like the apples. Nothing like a good apple.” Applejack smiled at The Doctor's admittance of the greatness of her fruit, allowing herself a small chortle of bemusement at the look on his face before she spoke up in a stronger voice that snapped him out of his daze. “Y'all alright there Doc? Ya looked a bit out of it.” “Yes, yes I'm fine. However, I would like to know why you were slamming a battering ram into those trees.” The Doctor spoke offhoofedly without thinking, closing his eyes as he raised a single hoof into the air before his eyes snapped open, widening slightly in fear at the consequences of what he had just said. “Y'all calling me a battering ram?” The growl that echoed from Applejack's throat would have easily turned the most hardened fighter to a quivering mess of fear. “No, no, no I-” “Y'all sayin' I ain't dainty?” “That's not what I meant at al-” “You sayin' just cause I got some muscle I can't be a lady?” “Oh for Pete's sake.” “Who's Pete?” “Twilight, now is not the time! Anywho, Applejack I really am sorry for my earlier comment and I hope you can- Wait, what are you doing?” Applejack, prior to popular belief, was currently not attempting to knock The Doctor's terrified block off and was instead rolling around the muddy floor, dust clinging to her more tightly as she belted out a loud, southern guffaw. “Y'all shoulda seen the look an ya face! Priceless.” The Doctor, for the second time that day, blinked once, twice and then three times before he began to chuckle softly as the young orange mare continued her hilarity roll around in the dirt. Soon the chuckle exploded into a full blown laugh as the red stallion and the purple mare behind him began to chortle to, the sounds ringing across the farm and waking a rather grumpy, green mare. “Shut up tha lotta ya!” The cry of the surprisingly strong-lunged elderly mare blasted through the farmyard, sending The Doctor's ears pin-wheeling backwards in fright as his laughter suddenly ceased, Applejack's dying down softly as the other two companions of his piped down. Mere seconds after the terrifying act of mare dominance yelling, the sounds of heavy snoring rattled across the clearing as the green mare once more folded into the arms of Morpheus. Applejack's laughter petered out as she rose back onto three legs, the fourth wiping careless, humour-filled tears from her eyes, the trails of earlier water creeping down from her eyes to her throat. The Doctor smiled weakly at the slightly shaking form of Applejack, sticking his hoof out in front of him in a sign of forgiveness and friendship. “Oh thank Time itself, I thought you were going to end me right there and then. Wome-Mares can overreact to the most fickle little things.” The orange hoof that clasped his brown one firmly spoke not of friendship or forgiveness, it spoke loudly of the incredibly high chance of imminent pain directed towards the wielder of said hoof. The grip was one of pure iron, capable of breaking bones but not applying enough pressure to, merely severely bruising the brown appendage. The Doctor yelped in pain, desperately struggling to pull his hoof back before it became detached and blue from the intense throbbing pain that bolted through his body. He looked at Applejack's green eyes which blazed with a little anger but mostly flared with, in The Doctor's personal opinion, a sadistic humour at his pain. “Y'all are soooo right Doctah, we really can overreact to the smallest things.” The Doctor stared into the emerald eyes of Applejack and as he beheld that evil look in her eyes he couldn't help but remember a certain purple mare that had held the same basic expression last night. He gulped slowly, feeling the grip tighten slightly to the feel of refined steel. “I've doomed myself again haven't I?” [.] “All the mares in this town are crazy!” The Doctor and his little purple companion trotted firmly away from the now descending sight of the apple farm. Well, Twilight was trotting quite peacefully, humming a little tune to herself whilst trying to keep the small smirk off of her face. The Doctor on the other hoof was limping quite profoundly, wincing every time his injured hoof made contact with the ground, moaning and groaning a little bit in a way that was most unbecoming of a stallion his age. Actually, there were no nine hundred and seven year old stallions but if there were this would not be how they would react. “Come on Doctor, Applejack was kind enough to show you around her farm.” “She chased me around her farm Twilight, there's a difference.” “Well, she was nice enough to shout out the names of certain places.” “That's what she was shouting about? I thought she was yelling threats at me.” “You are such a foal you know that right?” The Doctor continued to groan and moan to himself for another minute before his ears perked up as Twilight began to lead him in another direction, heading towards the very outskirts of the quaint, quiet little town. They followed a small dirt path for a few more minutes as The Doctor carefully and painstakingly inspected every aspect of his new surroundings. The trees were now more scarce, the odd brown oaked, lime green leafed pillar rising from the ground every few fifty metres, behind them rose the Everfree Forest, the vastness of its trees easily making up for the lack of them along the path. The dirt path had gotten more smooth, the little bump and rocks that had pricked The Doctor's hooves on his way to Applejack's now gone as he trotted forward peacefully, enjoying the almost mushy feeling of the dirt beneath his hooves. The grass around them was such a luminous, vibrant green that it would easily have burned into the retinas of any other creature not adapted to the constant changing of its location, a skill The Doctor had learnt a while back. Small, fluffy, snow white rabbits lay scattered around the luscious green grass, calmly nibbling on the bright flora or merely hopping and speaking to each other in serene ear flicks or light sniffing. The sun continued to beat down strongly on The Doctor's back, the sky completely clear of any sort of clouds, the bright blue expanse shading the sight above him. The wind had settled back down after the pair had left the farm. The Doctor, still in his state of annoyance and pain, had commented that it was probably just him escaping from Applejack that had allowed the weather to resort back to its calm, ideal, serenity. The soft smell of oak and freshly cut grass permeated the air, enticing in the wildlife and even earning a slightly hungry stare from The Doctor as he gazed at the grass which was beginning to look more and more delectable. A few stray birds fluttered across the tranquil sky, casting small shadows that writhed and darted along the ground magnificently. The duo continued their walk in a companionable silence, completely at ease with each others presence. The Doctor had met with many strange creatures before and whilst a talking purple unicorn was high up on the list he had grown to trust the gut feeling that he got when he looked at someone and, right now, his gut told him that she wasn't anything to be afraid of. Quite the contrary actually, she was someone to be friends with more then anything else. Twilight didn't fully know what it was about the brown colt that staggered and trotted beside her that had managed to capture and subdue her fear so easily, leaving only a calm, trusting attitude in her towards him. It felt like when she was around him she would be safe, she would be protected which Twilight, of course, reasoned was completely ridiculous. She was a logical thinker and as such she stated that it was the hormonal rush of excitement she had felt over the last few days that had led her to trust him. After all, rushing from a spaceship crash sight to an actual alien itself was not something that happened everyday so that simply must have been what was affecting her in such a way. Together they rounded a particularly large hill that had ascended from the usually smooth, flat ground, the brown colt and the purple mare passing over it to witness the fantastic sight that rose up into the sky before them, the farm house being nothing compared to the pinnacle of sheer, unbridled awesome that hovered in the sky. Great, fluffy, snow white clouds hung gracefully in the air, the apparent lack of the dove white cumulus clouds quickly becoming clear as the structure continued to rise up and up, the clouds swirling and melding into each other. A light, ice blue path of sorts stretched down a white cloud lawn, intermingling with the colour easily like the perfect mix of spectrum on a painters palette. The house itself, if it could merely be called a house, rose upwards like a lighthouse crossed with a mansion, multiple dark blue windows dotting its surface as it continued to spiral higher and higher until it appeared to push into the skin of the sky itself. Marble white coloured pillars rose around the household, as if supporting the incredibly light clouds that mixed into the house. The doorway was barely visible, a soft looking cloud that appeared to be equipped with a small, cloud handle, defying the laws of every weather man and scientist that had ever been. The most stunning aspect of the almost obnoxious house was the vivid, sprinkling, sparkling rainbow falls that were gushing great streams of colour across the whole house, pooling together at the bottom in what appeared to be a specifically made cloud bath designed just for keeping the rainbow liquid in one place. A great, gigantic fountain of rainbow exploded from the very tip of the house, streaming outwards in a wide arc that fizzled and dispersed in what must have been cool, crisp air, dazzling the blue sky with droplets of every colour. The stunningly beautiful sight was soon interrupted by a loud, high whistling sound that seemed to burst from the sky, the crackling sound of static following it. Mere seconds later a cracking, loud, nervous voice smashed through the other noises as it steadily began to increase. “Look out beeeeellllloooooooooooowwwwww!” Twilight had the clever planning to dart away from the scene, eyes shrunk in fear and mane bouncing dangerously as she pushed herself as far away from the scene before her as possible. Naïve as The Doctor was he cast his gaze upwards at the sky, looking for the direction at which the sound had come from before he was so rudely interrupted in his search by a cyan blur slamming into his side. The pair, the battered, bruised Doctor and the cyan tormentor, flew backwards from the collision, the rainbow maned wonder following the winded brown colt as they both took a long, drawn-out tumble directly off of the path. The Doctor spun and spun too many times, his hoof slamming painfully into the ground and drawing low, hissing breaths from his clenched mouth as he continued his spin along with the cyan blue at incredible speeds that would have put a washing machine to shame. Eventually the pair ended up at the purple hooves of Twilight who, instead of her usual smirk, was looking down on them in worry, nerves and anxiety spread across her face in a way that brought out the beauty of her smile compared to the contrast of her worry. “Are you both okay?” The faintest tremor was visible in her voice as she called down to the tangled, knotted pair of ponies that lay at her hooves, bending her neck down to inspect both of them for any injuries they may have acquired. The cyan blue blur, now visible as Rainbow Dash detached herself from the huddle of limbs first, shaking herself slightly as she stood up to clear her head of the looming, tweeting figures of yellow birds. She turned to see the other member of the two pony mashup, only to wince as she took in the sight of the rather bruised and dazed looking stallion that she had charged into before a small smile played across her lips as she remembered back to her and Twilight's first meeting and how similar it had been. Rainbow Dash leaned down and extended one fuzzy hoof to her bewildered brown friend, gripping him strongly and hoisting him to his hooves so fast that he nearly went toppling over in the other direction. “Did anypony get the license plate of the train that hit me?” The Doctor's voice was somewhat slurred, though the sparkle of mischief and humour had returned to his blue eyes as Dash burst into great hoots of laughter at the sight of the almost drunk looking, wobbling, voice slurring and yet still strangely strong looking brown colt. Twilight snickered somewhat before her expression turned to anger, body twisting around to glare at Rainbow Dash who immediately fell silent under the deathly gaze Twilight was sending her way. “Dash, how many times have I told you to not practice your Sonic Rainboom so close to the town!? One of these days you're going to hurt yourself or somepony else!” Rainbow Dash looked meekly at the ground shuffling her hooves awkwardly as she mumbled a number that sounded suspiciously like it belonged in the hundreds list. The Doctor, head still swimming with cooing yellow birds, merely turned to her with a look that betrayed no anger or annoyance at her actions, instead it held curiosity. “No damage done my rainbow maned mare, let bygones by bygones and whatnot. Now, I believe I heard Twilight mention something called a “Sonic Rainboom”. Anyon-pony care to explain?” Twilight sighed in frustration as The Doctor once more shrugged off and forgave an injury that could have left him seriously hurt, instead opting out to find out more behind the reasoning why his injury happened then declaring punishment for it. Still, she couldn't help but admire his carefree, never angered attitude which always made him seem warm and approachable. On hearing The Doctor ask for an explanation behind her signature move, Rainbow Dash's eyes had gone wide with wonder and boastfulness and her pupils had shrunk to pin-pricks in excitement. Her voice quivered slightly as she told the tale of the Sonic Rainboom to The Doctor, her ears pinning backwards as she continued to rattle onwards in a voice that could have broken glass. “You have the privilege of speaking to the only pony ever to have performed the Sonic Rainboom not once, but twice! Basically, it all started when...” Twilight zoned out as her over-excited friend began to unveil the tale of her one-of-a-kind move having heard the tale more times then she cared to count. Swiftly, her mind began to ponder the implications of the strange new alien and how he had come to Equestria. More so though a somewhat dark revelation came to her. Trust was a gift that had to be earned, not just gained over the course of one night and yet the strange brown colt from the sky had strolled into all of their lives and taken their trust as if it were a house-warming gift, a thought that caused Twilight's blood to boil in anger and small amounts of fear. Was he perhaps using some form of secret alien mind trick on all of them? He is an alien and yet here they were treating him like one of their own, laughing and playing with him like it was nothing out of the ordinary. It did help that he looked shockingly like a pony, a fact that Twilight found rather convenient for the fallen alien. Her suspicions raised and her paranoia increasing Twilight began to picture the worst possible outcomes of this strangers arrival and his conversion of her friends trust. What if he eats ponies! Maybe he's not a pony and he's just using a disguise! What if he's telling his people all about us! What if he's telling them to invade! Oh no, oh no, oh no! Whilst on the outside Twilight was merely nodding and smiling along to Rainbow's story, inside she was on the verge of a complete and utter breakdown. She hadn't felt this sure of something since the Smartie Pants incident where she had had the ingenious plan of using a want-it need-it spell on her precious doll to make a friendship report. This reasoning alone made her stop the panic attack of the mind, physical brow furrowing slightly as she contemplated what in Equestria had just happened to her. Once more she had jumped to a near foolish conclusion, egged on by her own paranoid, nervous conscious which had told her of only the worst possibilities. On one hoof, maybe he was an evil, pony eating alien and yet he had shown no signs of being such whilst on the other hoof he may be a kind, caring alien that she could have alienated with her earlier accusations. Still, regardless of who he had shown himself to be so far and that had been nothing but gentlecolty if not a bit weird she would still have to keep an eye on him. Possibly two considering how prone to danger he seemed to be. When I get back to the library I need to write Princess Celestia a message concerning him. That single thought allowed all traces of worry and anxiety to leave her knowledge filled and curious mind. Celestia would know exactly what to do about him and whatever the Princess said about the matter she would agree with her. After all, what else was a magical protégée of the Princess supposed to do? Twilight keyed herself back into the rather one sided conversation as her mind cleared, just in time to hear the end of the interesting tale Dash was telling. “...and then I dived straight through the window and took out all of the ninjas whilst saving the family from a burning building. All thanks to my Sonic Rainboom!” Twilight frowned in confusion as her loyal but over exaggerating friend finished her rather over the top tale. Her purple eyes moved across to meet The Doctor's blue ones and what she saw there made her burst into great ringing peals of laughter. He looked so hopelessly, utterly scared and confused about how the conversation veered off in such a peculiar direction. His whole body language, tense muscles and grinding jaw, screamed oh please let it end and yet Rainbow Dash remained completely oblivious to it, recounting the numerous awards and medals she got for her heroic actions towards saving Equestria. The Element of Loyalty didn't even notice her purple friend curl up into a ball of generous laughs, completely intent on finishing her intense story, much to the horror of The Doctor. “So then I flew off into the sunset all heroic and stuff. Y'know that feeling when you're flying and the sunset is like right there?” “Yes...” Rainbow Dash smiled widely at the colt before the smile drooped at his continuance. “...Actually, no.” “C'mon dude, its like really warm and you feel all hero like, y'know?” “Oh right yeah...” Rainbow Dash smiled again before, once again, her toothy grin fell and she muttered a silent curse under her breath at his reply. “...nope, still no.” “Oh jeez dude, I mean its all lik-” “Oh yes Rainbow, ahaha, I'm sure The Doctor knows exactly what you're talking about!” The creepy, stretched smile on Twilight's face was enough to get The Doctor to understand what she was trying to do, the hefty, obvious wink sent his way only doubling his belief. “Oh, now that Twilight mentions it I do remember that feeling entirely. All heroic and...sunsetty.” Rainbow Dash smiled for the third time, buying the lie hook, line and sinker which made Twilight feel a little bit bad inside. However, when Rainbow began to open her mouth Twilight immediately forgot her doubt on her actions and instead lunged towards her friend to stop the excited chatter before it could really begin. Plugging her cyan friends mouth with one hoof and, much to her horror, feeling Dash's tongue scrape her sensitive hooves, Twilight spoke in a rapid fire voice that spoke of her impatience to escape from the conversation with the excited Wonderbolts fan. “Ahaha, see? Anyway, we must be off. Ponies to go, places to see...I mean, Ponies to see and goes to places...wait that's not right it's-” “Ah yes Twilight, quite right. We should be heading off, we have that really important thing to do.” The Doctor had watched in morbid horror as his purple friend had begun to dig herself and, to some extent, himself into a deep hole from which they could not escape and he soon took it upon himself to go spelunking to save her and him from the surprising chatterbox before them. He threw a casual wink at Twilight as he spoke, hoping with both of his hearts that she would get the message which, thankfully she did. “Oh yes, that important thing we need to do. We must be off Dash, byebye now!” Rainbow Dash could only watch in surprise as her egghead of a friend grabbed the brown colt with one purple hoof before she began to drag him away at incredibly speeds back towards the town, the velocity she was travelling at would give Pinkie a hard time topping. A thin layer of smoke wafted from the direction that the duo had run off, small skid-marks from a particularly sore set of brown hooves stretched across the soft grass and over back onto the path. In the distance she could just make out the figure of her two friends, one frantically pulling the other along, streaming back towards town in the direction of Carousel Boutique. Rainbow Dash shrugged at her friends incredibly odd reaction before she flung herself into the air and winged her way over to her house, kicking the door open with a careless movement before she flung herself down on her nice, comfy cloud sofa to have a little after stunt nap. A single thought raced through her head as she drifted off to sleep, a smile forming on her lips and a soft chuckling escaping her mouth at the thought. He totally bought the story. [.] It watched them, the putrid purple pony and the astoundingly familiar bumbling brown colt as they charged off back towards town, leaving the sickening cyan mare behind in a wake of dust and confusion. It snickered from its hiding place in the dense foliage of the Everfree Forest as those whimpering, snivelling creatures called it. Bah, the supposed monstrous forest was more of a home for it then that wretched town with all its kindness and its happiness, such vomit inducing emotions. For a split second it contemplated emerging from the forest, charging the cyan mare down and draining her of every single drop of blood until its veins ran thick with the life-bearing liquid and its body changed to one more strong, more powerful, more graceful. That idea was soon scattered to the wind as the cyan blue and rainbow maned pegasus, as if judging is contemplation on the topic, extended her wings and blasted up into the sky to settle into that obnoxiously bright house of hers, the house that burnt its eyes every time it forced itself to look at it. It spat in disgust at the sight of lost prey before it turned its gaze once more to the brown stallion and the purple mare who were both far off into the horizon, now seemingly slowed down enough to be regarded as walking at a normal pace, as if that brown colt was normal. It could picture him now, the caramel fur, the red bow-tie, the scribbled, black mess of hair, the timepiece mark, the cold, blue eyes... ...and the blue box. Its memories began to return, shrouding its mind with an icy chill once more as it staggered backwards into the forest, one deep green hoof pressed tightly against its head as it struggled to remain conscious amidst the swirling reminiscent events. It tripped, tumbling backwards down a steady, disgustingly green weed-infested hill until it emerged at the bottom, covered in dirt and sporting cuts and bruises across its whole body. Once more the pressing darkness returned to its mind, swallowing it up amidst a heavy sea of memories. It no longer fought the sensation, giving into it without any signs of struggle as it let out one long breath, expelling all traces of doubt from its mind as it did so. It lost consciousness to the soft chirping of birds and the gurgling of a stream. And it sickened it. [.] Jdukin- Plasmavore Home Planet 2 years ago It needed to be here. This was the end after all. Time was collapsing. The universe was dying. And all because of him. It had been so long, so very, very long since it had last heard anything of The Doctor. It had been so long, so very, very long since it had last thought of The Doctor. And yet, here he was again performing the ultimate crime on the face of the universe, his power and his mind gone insane and corrupt, intent on destroying the universe. It was he, The Doctor that had destroyed its life, that had created the cracks in time through which only silence prevailed. It was he who had found the final way to cheat the universe, to cheat it. It was he who had doomed them all to a fate much, much worse then merely dying. Never being born, never being remembered was a type of death that no creature, no matter how lonely would ever have wanted. It knew its planet had a little amount of time left, it could see the spreading, churning crack in time from where it stood alone and naked in the fields of hatchlings, the goo and the sap of the world oozing against its taloned feet. It had come here to say its last goodbyes, not to the creatures of this world that had shunned it, kicked it out and forced it into a life of exile and strife. No, it had come to say goodbye to the planet itself. It had missed its home, missed it so very dearly. The waterfalls of Poe were a sight to behold, a sparkling oasis of luminous yellow water that sparkled and shimmered in the feeble yet prominent light from the sun, static electricity infused within the chemical mix-up of the liquid producing a beautiful and yet surprisingly tingling sensation of water running over squishy, white bodies. The hatchling fields still had their same dry yet comforting look about them, the holes punctured ruthlessly into the ground. It missed the days of its fights and its squabbles with its peers, the days it would win and emerge as the triumphant one only to be met with a new challenger, a new creature to battle and thwart. It even missed the feeling of its taunters head between its talons, crushing it and watching the liquefied brain go spurting across the- It remembered the Moonlit Cliffs where the twin moons, Lufanu and Tyri would show themselves, the only available area from which a young plasmavore could see the moons through the dense pollution that littered the atmosphere and stopped the heavy radiation of the sun. It was a fine set of cliffs, made of hardened, solidified goo so that you no longer had to sink into the earth to stay still, you could lay back and merely admire the view as your mind turned to thoughts of murder and anger and draining the life from all who stood in your way. Then there were the shining dying sunsets that would spread a brilliant golden and orange glow across the skies surface, turning the pollution a rather pleasant burning fire colour as if the sky was in flames. As if this world was merely the first to burn among many others. Whilst a terrifying thought for any other creature for a plasmavore it was natural, kill what asked to be killed and if that was your own people then so be it. Finally there was the Hall of the Elders, its place of banishment and the spawn of a hatred that would, over time, cross universes. It was here that the memories were the most prominent however poor they may have been. The long white walls, the loud, clunking wood floor and the order of the elders that had banished him without a second thought then called him back to merely tell him of his mothers imprisonment. They were monsters of a race full of monsters, destroyers of any emotion one may retain and yet he couldn't help but thank them deep down. If not for them he would not be in the position he was currently in and quite the position it was. It was one of the workers of a project to bring The Doctor to his knees, a project that it had put forward to a league of the worst creatures throughout the universe. And they had agreed. The Pandorica they called it. It called it The Prison, that was its cause and that would be its name for as long as it would live. It was no scientist, nor was it any genius of any kind. It merely was. It had the plan, it got what needed to be used without the guidance of any creature telling it what to do, laying down rules. It acquired the pieces of The Pandorica, the components and from there it was merely a matter for the true leaders, the real genii of the universe saving group to band together and create the prison box. It had picked up on certain aspects of the mysteriously built cube though, for instance the fact that an influx and override of power would be met with an explosively disastrous consequence. It had keyed onto the simple basic facts of the box, the whirring machinery and hard, cold, metal clasps that would entrap The Doctor were merely some of the more known facts about the box. The smaller, less noticeable facts were that the box would retain The Doctor's life, making him live out thousands upon thousands of years inside the box, never ageing, never dying. The perfect prison but most importantly the perfect hell. Now all they had to do was create the fairytale from the memories of his foolish flame haired companion, to set the trap and create bait that The Doctor simply could not ignore. Stonehenge the humans would call it, the band of villains and allies and aliens would delicately weave the name into the minds of the stupid, thick apes that walked the planet, the apes that The Doctor so loved. And when all was said and done he would come sauntering into the trap, like a moth to the flame. It allowed itself one more high, cold cackle at the fate of its worst, most hated enemy before it felt the shift. The end was coming. The crack was expanding. The planet was falling. The hardened, hate filled plasmavore turned around and strolled away towards the sight of a platoon of sleek, metallic ships, smiling gruesomely to itself as it thought of The Doctor's fate. It may have been too late to save its world but it could make sure that The Doctor paid for what he had done. And pay he would. [.] It opened its cold, black pools of sight, flickering its dark gaze around the shrub shrouded clearing with malice and hatred. The memories had brought it to the final point, the final piece of evidence that suggested only one thing. That creature was The Doctor, or at least The Doctor of this universe. Along with the anger and the hatred came another feeling that sat in the monsters stomach like a ball of ice. Cold, hard fear. This pony, once man, had possibly managed to escape from the impenetrable prison and had, without a doubt, left the universe to die and collapse upon itself. If The Doctor had managed to do that, burn a universe and escape, then what hope did it have of defeating him in such a weak, pathetic body? It spat on the leafy, moist and surprisingly brittle ground in disgust before a long, fat burst of tainted air wafted across its face, directed from the mountains that hung away from the dark, sinister forest. There it smelt something, something unnatural and beautiful and more powerful then possible. The smell of strength and unwavering loyalty, the type that could command an army to simply kill themselves and still they would do it. The plasmavore sniffed the air again, catching the tantalizing scent, before it raised its head to peer at what appeared to be a bright white castle of sorts attached to the side of a large, grey mountain, the area where the smell was emitting from. It licked its green lips with unquenchable lust as a dark plan began to form in its mind, its way to beat The Doctor once and for all, to repay the debt of pain and anger that he had installed upon it. Find and take the powerful host body. Return to this wretched town. Get rid of the purple mare and her friends. Kill The Doctor. [.] It had taken the duo little more then five minutes to reach Carousel Boutique from Rainbow Dash's cloud house, mostly due to the extreme speeds at which Twilight had dragged The Doctor away and also because they had been travelling down a path The Doctor had seen before, thereby stopping his process of investigation over every little thing that they encountered. Still, he had taken to admiring the multiple houses of Ponyville, commenting on their structure and the materials that they had been built from. He had attempted to inspect the first house he had seen up closer by means of visual and taste testing, his tongue protruding from his mouth before he was chased off by a particularly scared but terror fuelling looking pink mare with a vivid orange mane. Along with her trio of cutlery cutie marks, including an incredibly vicious looking knife she had managed to persuade The Doctor to flee via means of a rather large, rather heavy looking saucepan brandished in one hoof. After that specific experience The Doctor had swiftly become more wary of the houses, eyes flickering and muscles clenching every time there was even the smallest traces of movement from the houses he was watching from afar. Even a display of aggression as powerful as a blunt object wielding mare had not distracted The Doctor from his findings and his analysis of his surroundings. However, it had perhaps put a dampener on them as he continued to trot at a pace that Twilight would have called surprisingly casual for the strange brown colt, his eyes only shifting to stare at the houses he walked past and never stopping to inspect them. This had lead to the relatively short trip to Carousel Boutique, yet another household and shop that had caught The Doctor's glinting blue eyes with its beautiful, radiant glow and its relatively astounding structure. Stunning, ice blue and midnight blue walls rose up from the soft green grass, white diamond patterns criss-crossed majestically over the almost luminous blue surface of the Carousel walls. Twin windows hung either side of the dark purple door like eyes, a soft shroud of orange overhanging fabric laying above them to act as curtains to block out the stunning light or create secrecy. Pink and purple support beams rose from the ground and around the door, twirling up the sides like colourful candy canes, melding into the household with apparent ease. A large, white sign hung above the stunningly deep purple door, an image of a carousel, orange pony decorated onto its wooden surface with care and attention that knew no bounds. A fine layer of thin looking purple and white diamond shrouded silk stretched from the top of the first floor to the start of the next, spiralling around the Boutique in an elegant and sophisticated manner that spoke tales of whoever may own such an astoundingly beautiful shop. A small line of sunset orange wood spun gracefully around the top of the purple and snow white roof, allowing the folds of the fabric safe harbour to bolt itself down lest it fly away among a stormy night. The second floor started with an almost violent coloured ring of bright pink wood spinning around the circular head of the heightened floor, decorated with strange white swirls and small white stars. Four sets of purple, iron looking bars sprung up from the swirling pink and white patterned wood, the two on either side of the Carousel's face decorated with twin images of purple, sheet metal mares that simulated the orange pony that hung above the front door. Marble white walls surrounded the second floor of Carousel Boutique, rising up to a height that was barely below the size of the very first floor, this time the walls were decorated with faint blue scrawlings, diamonds and stars that seemed to reflect the blinding sunlight. Three windows, each one relatively small compared to the duel glass giants below, stretched across the surface of the snowy white walls, two on either side opened almost hesitantly to allow only a tiny breath of fresh air in and the one on front closed shut, a small pink curtain just visible from outside the Boutique. Yet, not even that was the top of the illustrious and fantastic Boutique, a wide winding ring of orange wood stretched around the top of the stacked floor with thin beams of wood, the inside of the body filled with a cloud white background and purple and pink markings that looked suspiciously like hearts. The same fabric as before stretched from the top of the orange gilded wood to the bottom of the next floor, the same white and purple marked diamonds stretching across its length. Twin navy blue balconies burst out of the sides of the white and purple rooftop, allowing the owner of such a view an extraordinary overlook on the whole of Ponyville and the countryside surrounding it. Multiple purple bars rose from the flat ending of the roof, stretching upwards to form a carousel-esque appearance with a crown shaped display of purple metal. On top of that all, the last ending of the towering tower that was Carousel Boutique was a yellow and orange striped cone of fabric which rose upwards until a rough red flag carved its way into the equation, springing up from a final pole as it waved above the other houses like a teasing child. Once more The Doctor had been baffled by the intricate structures and simply extraordinary decorated layers that each house, or shop, went through to make them look their best, a talent that a human or even a Timelord would have a hard time reciprocating. With a light tug on his scraggy black tail from Twilight, the pair trotted symmetrically up to the front of the fashion shop before Twilight raised one purple hoof upwards and rapped in the similarly purple door three times, the sound echoing around the quaint clearing. Swiftly the sound was answered by a loud, regal female voice calling from inside the depths of the Boutique. “Do come in~” The voice had a slight musical trill to it that rung through the wooden door to reach the recipients outside who, with a gentle shove of purple hooves, opened the Boutique and closed the door with a muffled squeak. The inside of the Boutique was just as magnificent as the outside, if not even more. Pink silk drapes hung around the interior of the Boutique, partially shrouding the dressed mannequins in shadowed darkness as if the fashionista did not want anypony to see her precious creations yet. Still, The Doctor couldn't help but notice the fine dresses and carefully crafted suits that were elegantly displayed on the soft, plush bodies of the dummies. A trio of small brown tables equipped with medium sized mirrors sat towards the back of the Boutique, an obvious “makeover” area for the beautiful mare to garb herself up. The floor was a deep, chill blue colour that reflected relaxation and calmness at its best. A large spiralling orange fabric hut of sorts rose from the corner of the Boutique, mirrors glittering around the edge in what was most certainly a viewing platform for any potential buyers of the white unicorn's wares. There were many racks of clothing that lay strung around the interior of the Boutique, flashes of blue and green velvet and silk splashing the insides with vibrant colours. Finally, a small purple and white desk sat towards the back of the Boutique, positioned to allow a full viewing of the clothing for customers before they would reach said reception area. Behind said desk stood the white fashionista herself, Rarity. Of course immediately as she had noticed the two she had dived straight into the arrangements for The Doctor's fashion and what sort of clothing he would like to wear. And so it began. “Darling that simply won't do!” “I happen to like brown jackets with bow-ties!” “But tweed darling, really? And I don't know where you got this preposterous fez notion from!” “Hey, I happened to like a good fez! Fezzes are cool...” “That is completely irre-” This had been going on for the better part of half an hour, the seemingly endless banter and challenges between the marshmallow white fashionista unicorn and the fashion slaughtering caramel brown colt. Even with her feeble knowledge towards the endless pool of fashion, Twilight knew that what The Doctor was proposing as his choice of wear was completely and utterly ridiculous. Blue suspenders? A white dress shirt? A tweed jacket? A fez? Despite the overzealous tantrums that Rarity had produced at The Doctor's request Twilight couldn't help but agree with the over enthusiastic and rather forceful mare in saying that what The Doctor had decided to wear was completely foolish and, in her own personal opinion, the epitome of fashion burial. Once more the duty of protector fell to Twilight as she took in Rarity's intense red colouring of cheeks, indicating anger that would soon pour forth if left unchecked, said anger that would sweep the oblivious colt off of his caramel hooves. The angered, conflicting pair had dissolved into mindlessly shouting at each other in vague attempts to get their points heard over the others. “Brown does not go with everything!” “It goes with everything if you're wearing a fez!” “Does not!” “Does so!” “Does not!” “Does s-” The battling, fuming pair, one a rather gruesome shade of red and the other the same brown but with a rather wonky bow-tie, both halted and whirled around in surprise at the sudden arrival of a particularly loud noise that blasted around the clearing. Two pairs of eyes widened at the sight before them, one in astonishment and the other in bafflement and small traces of anger. The interior of the Boutique was, to put it kindly, completely and utterly trashed, a lone, purple mare standing amidst the pile of destruction around her with a small sheepish grin and a light blush across her face. It looked, to all purposes, like a bomb had gone off inside of the once immaculate fashion shop, clothes and drapes strewn across the floor, mannequins and mirrors laying on their sides like they'd just been ripped from the floor and thrown foolishly across the room. Traces of dust smeared the floor from where the upper-most corners of the drapes that had not been cleaned for years had touched down on the blue floored ground. The heavy, screeching sound of Rarity grinding her teeth together in frustration spiralled around the room, causing The Doctor to stare at her in alarm and worry, his fear just outweighing his concern for her as he witnessed small traces of smoke beginning to pour from her ears in a fashion that would be most comical were it not for the situation. “I-ah-didn't mean to, I just grabbed a piece of lose string and everything just-” Twilight gestured around the ruined room with one hoof in a tone that spoke clearly of guilt but also increasing worry for her own safety. “-exploded.” The Doctor watched Rarity's expressions shift from rage to worry back to rage then to forced happiness, once more back to rage and then finally onto a poorly constructed smile. He shivered in small traces of fear as he watched the mares cold eyes and forced smile settle upon Twilight, fearing for her safety as the little purple unicorn started to slowly back away. “Oh Twilight, ahahahahaHA, you do the silliest of things! No worry though, I will just have to...postpone the kind Doctor's clothing details until further notice whilst I clean up.” Twilight shuffled in apparent awkwardness, casting her gaze fearfully up at Rarity before she once more averted her gaze, speaking in a quiet, hushed tone. “I-we could stay and help if y-” “Nonononono, its fine, you've done quite enough darling.” The Doctor cringed at Rarity's tone of voice, noticing the droop of Twilight's ears as she mumbled an apology, trotting despondently to the door to which The Doctor followed her with a swift glance over his shoulder to watch Rarity sigh and begin to magically levitate the objects back to their original places. The pair swiftly made it outside, escaping from the destroyed interior of the Boutique before Twilight let out a long, drawn out sign and turned her head to meet The Doctor's gaze, frustration glittering in her purple orbs. “You totally owe me.” With that she trotted quickly away, leaving The Doctor to ponder the meaning of her words before he staggered speedily to catch up to her moving form. [.] To say that the home of the shy, reclusive, timid butter yellow pegasus known as Fluttershy was filled with animals would have been an insult to the swarms upon swarms of little creatures that infested her household. Even from where The Doctor stood on the opposite side of the worn gravel bridge with the gurgling spring below it he could clearly see animals decorating windowsills and frolicking in the grassy area outside the small hut. It was truly a sight to behold, a house so in touch with nature and animals that it allowed them to claim its structure as their own. From Carousel Boutique, it had taken The Doctor and Twilight a good ten minutes to trot over to the hidden, hermit house of Fluttershy, stashed secretly towards the beginning of the Everfree Forest, an area for a house that The Doctor never would have imagined the easily spooked pegasus would choose to live in. Over the course of the ten minute walk Twilight's mood had greatly improved as she jabbered on and on about her and her friends adventures together, from their victory over Nightmare Moon the tyrannical princess, to their startling win over the spirit of chaos himself Discord and finally to, not their victory but her own brother and foalsitters victory over the queen of the Changelings, Chrysallis. The Doctor had paid careful attention to the supposed ramblings of the purple mare as they had continued their gentle trot to their destination, intent on learning as much about her as possible. Subtly he had shifted the conversation towards her past and her present where he had learnt that she was the apprentice of Princess Celestia, she and her five other friends were the bearers of Harmony and all about her past self, including a very vivid description of her BBBFF which had left The Doctor as confused as he had been upon arriving in Equestria. She had, of course, asked about him, what his planet was like, what his people were like, how he managed to travel through time and space which she had said with a quizzical if somewhat sarcastic look. So, realizing that it was only fair to give information when he had already taken some, he had replied that his planet was like no other, a paradise where the skies burned orange and the flora grew free and peacefully. He spoke of his people as if they were the very best they could be, the kind, caring Timelords that they were before the war started, of which he failed to mention to Twilight. Finally, and with apparent joy, he had told her all about his old TARDIS, of its colour, its programming and its true name abbreviation, time and relative dimensions in space. She had seemed unsupportive of the idea of a mystical blue box that could travel through time and space but before she could voice her opinions the pair had arrived at the outskirts of Fluttershy's household, the sight resonating with The Doctor in a different way to the other houses. Where they had been big and flashy and spectacular, this had a more humble approach that almost seemed to attempt to smother up the beauty of the comfy, cosy home. To the right of him stood a tree coated with birds and birdhouses alike, bright flashes of painted purple and white wood oozing from the tree as birds of every colour chirped and soared around the barked structure. To the left stood an even taller tree of dark brown wood that was simply smothered in hay and grass nests, squirrels and birds darting around its exterior and interior as they popped their heads out to inspect the two newcomers. A yellow gravel path roamed from the edge of the other side of the worn bridge to the beginning of the house, rabbits of brown and white and black hopping around it. The house itself was made from sand coloured, dulled yellow walls that seemed to bend and wobble around the house in a fashion that made the whole thing seem structurally unsound. A bright orange wood split door faced towards the pair of ponies, the top half opened allowing a bright yellow light to flood outwards. Multiple brown wood stitched glassy windows lay scattered around the walls of the house, each one letting luminous yellow light out to stream across the slightly darkening surroundings. The roof of the house seemed to consist of dappled green leaves and vines that sprung up and lay upon the house thickly, tangled and clawing towards the sky. A single, large, sand yellow chimney rose up from the head of the leafy rooftop, pinnacling into the air almost majestically. Pools of soft grey smoke rose from the dully yellow chimney to rise into the air, wafting through the sky. Birdhouses dotted the house itself, colourful critters flapping in and out as the sound of young, whining birds tore through the air with shrill shrieks and muffled chirps. Having already been flabbergasted enough times today The Doctor merely shook his scraggly black haired head and proceeded to trot quite calmly over the bridge and towards the house, followed quickly by Twilight. His hooves crunched down on the gravel, rocky path, drawing the attention of the numerous rabbits who darted away from the noise, disappearing down crusty, dirty holes all except for one pure white rabbit who almost seemed to glare at the mysterious colt before bolting into one of the open windows of the house. The Doctor approached the orange wood door before he rapped onto its surface three times, hopefully drawing the attention of the house owner. Luckily, it did draw the house owner outwards but quite unluckily at the sight of a brown hoof and a somewhat recognizable but scary figure the butter yellow pegasus proceeded to eep quite furiously and slam the door onto The Doctor's face, causing blood to dribble from his nose as he was sent spinning backwards into the enveloping purple hooves of Twilight. The purple mare took a moment to inspect the bleeding nose of the dazed, confused brown colt who was blinking quite rapidly as if he had no idea what had went on before her horn lit up with a faint purple glow. The Doctor felt a faint, vague fuzziness tighten around his muzzle, the surprising pain vanishing in an instant as the blood flow ceased and the bruises healed lightning fast. Only then did Twilight move forward to pound on the door, eliciting a squeak from within. “Fluttershy open up!” Seconds ticked by slowly like sand falling into an hourglass before the door began to creak open, twin teal eyes peeking through the small crack in the doorway before the whole door was flung open with a bang, the butter yellow pegasus blasting outwards to inspect the wounded colt on the gravel floor. The Doctor tried to scramble backwards as Fluttershy practically pounced on him, worry and guilt making her eyes glisten with unshed tears as she beheld the dried blood on his face. “Oh my, I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to I just..Oh, what hav-” “I'm fine Fluttershy, really, Twilight fixed me up good and proper. Never felt better actually.” That was a complete and utter lie, being stuck inside an equine body and then being brutally punished by four mares had left The Doctor in a pretty bad condition but to cease the endless, worried rambling he had to step in and lie. This comment made the timid pegasus smile before she forcefully grabbed his hooves to the surprise of The Doctor and dragged him down to the winding stream beneath the bridge, making him kneel down whilst cooing to him as she brought water up into her hooves in yet another way that defied physics, washing away the excess blood. “All better. I really am sorry about that t-though.” The Doctor repressed a weary sigh as Fluttershy began to tear up again, raising a hoof to put on her shoulder in a friendly gesture which still made her eep in shock. “Fluttershy I'm fine honest. See, completely bette-gluburgh” In his apparent haste to please the saddened, teary eyed Fluttershy, The Doctor had bounced to his hooves, completely forgetting the aching sensation in his somewhat crushed hoof before he began to topple over straight into the stream, limbs flailing around in shock as he pulled his drenched, sopping wet body out of the sparkling water. The sound of Twilight's laughter was most probably heard in Canterlot as The Doctor raised his head to squirt a stream of mucky water out of his mouth, sparkling liquid flashing through the air as it hit the stream with a soft tinkle. Even Fluttershy was on the verge of laughing at his unlucky fortune, suppressing giggles with one hoof over her mouth before she began to softly chuckle, the small adorable sound ringing through the air. The Doctor muttered to himself as he attempted to let loose the dripping water form his fur, shaking his body rapidly until his vision swam and danced, eyes twirling in their sockets. Uncomfortably gradually the laughter died down, the only sounds remaining was the babble of the stream and the singing of the birds, both mares turning to inspect the still sodden Doctor before the bright dipping light of the sun drew Twilight's attention, making her frown. “Its getting late, we should start to head home.” The Doctor perked up at this, eyes widening and mouth hanging open as he imagined the food at the library, both literary and literally. Twilight turned to mutter to Fluttershy before both mares turned to walk up the grassy incline and other the bridge, The Doctor following them with a slight limp, raising his eyebrow at Twilight as he took in the form of Fluttershy walking with them. “If I may ask, why is Fluttershy with us?” At this Fluttershy cringed just a little bit, expecting an insult as Twilight spoke up in a calm voice. “I've asked the girls to meet me in Ponyville so we can discuss, well, you.” “Ah, I see. I am pretty great aren't I?” “Uh...” “Pretty nice?” “Hmm...” “Just, pretty?” “Weeeell...” “...You aren't giving me a lot to stroke my ego with here Twilight.” “I-I think you're q...quite nice.” “Why thank you Fluttershy. See, here's a mare the knows her stuff!” The Doctor strolled forward happily, trotting past both mares as Twilight cast an annoyed glance at the back of his brown head, Fluttershy merely smiling contently at the antics of both of her friends, one old and one new. [.] The trio of ponies were joined rather quickly by a bolt of rainbow and cyan pegasus as Rainbow Dash alighted beside them, causing Fluttershy to jump and The Doctor to laugh and praise her for the display of air acrobatics. They were then joined by the bubbly, bouncing form of Pinkie Pie who was balancing a tray of delicious scented cupcakes on her head, offering them to her friends who greedily devoured them. The Doctor's mouth had watered at the mere sight of them, let alone the taste as he destroyed the blueberry and strawberry flavoured cupcake with gusto, his stomach still rumbling in hunger despite the food in his belly. They entered the sweet, nearly silent town of Ponyville just as the sun began to set, flooding the village with shimmering orange light. The group was joined rather swiftly as they entered by two mares, one white furred, purple maned unicorn known as Rarity and the other an orange furred, blonde maned earth pony known as Applejack. The pair had obviously been arguing over something or another as both appeared flustered, faces flushed with a blush of anger and unconvincing smiles stretched across their faces but when their friends had arrived they settled back into the routine of mindless banter of which The Doctor found amusing. The hefty group of seven were wandering through the darkening town, laughing and joking with each other as the ponies of the village began to close up their stores for the night, retiring to their beds to get a head start on the next day. It was at that moment, all members of the rather large group being captivated by each others conversations, that a large, burly green stallion bumped into the group, plowing through them as easily as if they were a shallow, slow stream. The Doctor was sent spinning to the floor before he raised his head along with the six other similarly floored mares to glare at the colt. Once more, simultaneously, the seven grounded ponies sniffed the air, a peculiar scent wafting off of the stallion as he trotted away, throwing an angered glance back at them before he continued on his way towards the Ponyville train station. As the rude, cruel stallion vanished out of sight The Doctor whirled his head around, eyes blazing softly as he inspected each mare, helping them to their hooves before he questioned them. “You all smelt that right?” Six heads nodded in unison as The Doctor continued his questioning. “What did that stallion smell of?” “Why my dear, he smelt of freshly unfolded fabric and lace.” “Nah, he smelt of apples on a fine summer day.” “Umm...I thought he smelt of bunnies and b-birds.” “No, no, no silly he smelt of cupcakes!” “Hehe, you're all wrong. He smelt of the Wonderbolt brand perfume!” “Well, I thought he smelt of a freshly opened book...” The Doctor nodded at each one of them in turn before he cast his glance towards the direction the colt had travelled in, speaking in an oddly quiet voice for the usually bubbly, quirky stallion they had come to know. “It was the smell of each of our most favoured things, the smell of what we love most.” “W-what did he smell like to you Doctor?” The caramel brown colt was quiet for a few seconds, blue eyes fizzling softly in the still darkening day before he spoke up in a curiously detached voice. “...Home.” Before any of the mares could question him on his rather peculiar behaviour he whirled around, smile lighting his face and washing away all the worries of the six mares around him as he continued to speak in a rather normal tone, bouncing back into his cheerful if somewhat thoughtful voice whilst pointing a hoof in the direction that the colt had travelled. “And what lies in that direction my dear Twilight?” Twilight pondered the noticeable sights that would stand in the northwest, the direction the colt had walked before she replied in a tone that simulated that of a tour guide. “The mayors office, the joke shop, the train station, t-” Twilight was silenced rather forcibly by The Doctor's loud voice and brimming smile. “Train station it is!” “And why are we going there?” “Because my dear Twilight, it is the only place that that rather rude, rather alien colt can escape from.” Six mares shivered at The Doctor's statement, Rarity stepping forward after a moment of hesitation to voice her fears, hoping that she was wrong. “Are you saying that there is..another alien here?” “Yes, yes I am. No creature from this world, no magic from this world could possibly know the smell of my home. Therefore, that colt is not of this world. Simple deduction really.” He spoke in a proud, almost cocky tone as he began to trot in the direction that the green stallion had taken, sure of himself as he called back to them with a little smile and a trill of excitement in his voice. “C'mon then, we best not leave whatever it is waiting.” [.] Much to the annoyance of Rainbow Dash she had been specifically told by The Doctor to stay with the group instead of blasting off on her own merry way, the brown colt informing her that not all aliens were as nice as he was, that mere statement making Rainbow Dash shiver in traces of worry. The steady, tired group of seven arrived at the train station just as the sun disappeared over the horizon, plunging the world into darkness before the moon rose almost forcefully, white light gleaming across the clearing. The train station was relatively small, consisting of a single wooden hut that was most certainly used as a ticket booth. Besides that there was only the single set of train tracks with a bright purple steam train perched on the metal, steam chugging softly out of its chimney as the coal was set ablaze. The whole platform was partially raised off of the ground, wooden stairs connecting it to the loamy dirt path and there, atop the flight of stairs, stood the green colt, ticket behind ear and a megalomaniac smile upon his face, as if he had been awaiting their arrival, a fact that The Doctor found most foreboding. “I've been expecting you.” The voice was deep, not Big Macintosh deep but most certainly deep enough to appear powerful and strong. “Oh, they always start with that line.” Compared to the green stallions voice The Doctor's was a fair bit higher and held an almost girly pitch but, to the surprise of the six mares, it held all the strength that the other did, if not more. The green stallion kept up the smile before speaking in a soft, cold voice. “Finally my mortal enemy, finally I shall be able to get my revenge after all you have done to me.” The Doctor frowned, tilting his head to the side in puzzlement. “Have we met?” This mere question caused the stallion to hiss in an unearthly way, proving to The Doctor that this thing was most certainly not pony and it most certainly was not nice. “You have the gall to forget me! You ruined my life!” The deep voice was practically yelling now, the train in the background beginning to gain enough power to start its journey. “Honestly, that gives me no indication as to who you are.” “Jdukin Doctor, do you not remember? You destroyed my ritual and then imprisoned my hatch mother!” “Oh, ooooh, that's who you are. Yes, well sorry about that second one but in my defence she was trying to suck my blood.” The alien creature disguised as the stallion allowed the creepy smile to return to its face, disturbing the six mares who were looking on in fear before it hissed quietly at The Doctor. “Oh, its quite alright Doctor. After all, after tonight I will have an invincible, un-killable body and you and the six little companions you have brought with you will lay dead.” This alone caused the warmth of The Doctor's voice to fade out, replaced by a blank, inhumane tone that caused the mares behind him to shiver, both in fear of the alien and in fear of him. “First mistake of the day, you never, never threaten those around me. I've lived for so long now, my patience has worn thin so I am giving you only one chance, just one, to leave this silly little vengeance behind you.” “Or what?” The voice was a taunting whisper, the green stallion disguised monster leaning down to mock The Doctor. “Or what you saw on your home planet all that time ago, the failing of your ritual will seem petty and weak compared to what I will do. For once, use your head and just take the chance I am offering you.” “Hmm....nah!” The train behind the mysterious alien colt was moving now, chugging across the tracks as it began its last journey of the day to Canterlot. Before The Doctor or any of the six mares could move forward the strange colt had leapt backwards and landed quite skilfully on the metal platform of the moving train. The Doctor raced up the wooden steps only to be met by the tauntingly bowing form of the alien on the diminishing train, the deep voice calling out to him in the darkness of the night. “I'll be seeing you and your friends very soon Doctor.” The six mares charged up the steps after The Doctor only to find him staring into the distance where the train had gone, eyes locked into the darkness. Fluttershy stepped forward to the surprise of everypony else, speaking in a quiet, hushed voice. “Doctor...what was t-that?” The Doctor turned to face the six, a curiously blank expression on his face. “A plasmavore I believe, a creature that can take the form of those it has killed by draining them of their blood.” Five mares paled in fear at the explanation whilst one white unicorn toppled to the ground in a dead faint. “I lied though, when I said that was its first mistake. It was, in all purposes, the second.” “W-what do you mean? Where is it going? Why i-is it going?” “Its first mistake, the mistake that keyed me into its little plan Fluttershy will hopefully answer all of those questions but I'm not sure you're going to like it... ...Its first mistake was telling me that it would claim an invincible body. Now. I've read enough history books to realize that this world has only a few beings, one locked in stone and two still here to this day, that could be considered invincible and they are-” “The Princesses!” “Yes Twilight, the Princesses. It will head to Canterlot to absorb the body of one of the Princesses, never ageing and never dying with enough power in its body to kill anything and everything. And its going to kill everything merely because it can... ...It will take the body of the Princess, it will hide and return to Ponyville. It will find you and most certainly kill you and then, it will kill me. And when all is said and done I wouldn't be surprised if it attempted to destroy Equestria.” The five mares gasped in shock and fear, eyes widening and legs shaking in terror as they heard the beastly terrible plan against Equestria and them whilst Rarity continued to snooze on the floor without a care in the world. “But don't worry...” The five heads bobbed up to face the now smiling Doctor. “You've got me.” The Doctor turned back to face the shadowed lands where the train had disappeared into, smile vanishing as his face took on a look of contemplation. He spoke quietly as if to himself, six ears perking up to listen at what he was saying. “No screwdriver, no TARDIS, no backup plans, new equine body and aches and pains that refuse to be silent. And you know what? It still won't be enough to stop me.” The Doctor turned back to them and to his surprise he was met by the faces of five steel eyed, hardened and battle-ready mares, along with, not to his surprise, one drooling marshmallow furred pony snoring on the floor. “What are we going to do?” “I'll tell you what we are going to do Twilight. We are going to go to Canterlot. We are going to save your Princess and then, and then, we are going to save all of Equestria and lock away that monster. That I can promise you.” The Doctor trotted past them, head turning to swivel towards the group of confident mares as he started to descend the wooden steps with low creaks. “C'mon then, we can't leave our megalomaniac villain waiting now, can we?” With that he disappeared from view, five mares beginning to steadily trot towards the stairs before The Doctor's head burst from the floor of the heightened platform, causing Fluttershy to lose her hardened demeanour and squeal in fright. “Oh, and you should probably bring Rarity to.” In reply to his statement, the white mare herself merely let out a loud snore and turned over in her sleep. Authors note: Here it finally is. I'll try to get updates out more regularly but I still have a few exams to do so I can't say anything too much about it at the moment. Also, sorry that it has only just gotten into the actual plot but I wanted to make sure The Doc knew the ponies he was actually with before he charged off to save, or lose, the day. Once more, enjoy and tell me what you think about the chapter.
To Save A PrincessTo Save A Princess “So, that was the last train to...Canterlot?” “Yes.” “And the next one is?” “Nine in the morning tomorrow.” “And the walk there takes?” “About seven days.” “They're not making this easy for me.” “Who are 'they'?” “I don't know, who are they?” “But...what-I just...” “C'mon Twilight, no time to babble, we have a Princess to save!” The group of seven ponies, Rarity now fully awake if somewhat shaken by the recent turn of events, were wandering through the shadowed, night-fallen town of Ponyville, six brightly coloured mares trotting behind one brown colt who seemed to be very confused about his whereabouts. Rarity had been awoken rather forcefully by a loud pop of confetti and batter from a contraption that Pinkie had called her “Pocket Party Cannon”, yet anther form of the destruction of physics that The Doctor had noted down for later remembrance. Her usual marshmallow white skin had turned even paler when the full facts of the evening had been explained to her but, in a sign of strength, the mare had swiftly put on her “game” face and had adapted rather quickly to the idea that the whole of Equestria was in the hooves of a brown coated alien with a baffling personality. The idea that The Doctor was confused by his surroundings was only increased when he turned around, a large grin on his face and blue eyes sparkling, warm voice calling out to the rather large, rather conspicuous group of ponies that had been following him. “So, where are going?” The synchronised sound of six hooves colliding with the faces of their owners could probably be heard in Canterlot, maybe in Fillydelphia as loud sighs of annoyance blitzed through the air, forcing The Doctor to adopt a sheepish smile. Of course, it was Twilight who spoke up in a clipped, annoyed voice that easily suggested her irritation towards The Doctor. “We were following you!” The Doctor frowned somewhat in a confused sort of way, voice rising up to create a condescending tone. “Now why were you doing that. I'm new here aren't I?” “Well yes but-” “I have been in this town for a day now, right?” “Yes b-” “And you still thought that following me, the confused alien stallion, was a good idea?” At this Twilight bowed her head and meekly nodded, the five other mares looking on with confused but pitiful expressions as they watched their friends guilt and embarrassment create a red blush on her purple cheeks. As such, expecting a rebuttal from the colt, they were entirely unprepared for what was said next. “Well that was a clever move on your behalf Twilight Sparkle.” At this Twilight raised her head, tilting it to the side slightly as her now quiet voice broke out in a hushed tone. “What?” “Oh come now, rooting through the woods, finding an alien, letting said alien sleep in your house and then following the alien wherever he may choose to go... ...well that was the best decision you have ever made.” The Doctor beamed loudly at the six mares who were looking at him with a mixture of confusion and humour, Twilight gazing up at him with relief filled eyes as the protest and insults she had thought would bite her were scattered to the wind. The Doctor wheeled around once more to turn away from the mares, his expression morphing from hilarity and happiness to one of deep thought and contemplation, his brow furrowing, his eyebrows creating a dark v shape and his eyes twinkling with unrestrained knowledge as he desperately sought a means to get to Canterlot. No TARDIS to help him get there. There was no train, not for many, many hours and by that time the Princess may be dead and the assassin may be on their way back to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could maybe fly two of them to Canterlot at a time but that would surely take too much time and would dwindle their numbers. There were no auto-mobiles or really any vehicles on the hefty group of seven. Twilight's balloon, of which she had talked about consistently for minutes during their trip back from Fluttershy's, was currently docked and would take precious time to prepare and, even then, it would take far too long to reach the capital city. The six mares, one bouncing, one hovering, one pawing the ground, one meekly discussing events with her friend and one keenly watching The Doctor all noticed his sudden, spasmodic movements as he paced back and forth before them, their journey grinding unexpectedly to a halt as The Doctor continued his heavy pacing, wearing furrows into the dirt ground. Six ears pricked up as The Doctor began to mutter to himself, bouncing half-hearted plans off of himself in a vain attempt to configure a reasonable idea. The six mares each cast each other wary glances as The Doctor continued his reckless mumbling and pacing, whirling around on the spot after four hoof-steps and then trotting off in the other direction. This continued for another thirty seconds, the time ticking by as the girls grew more and more anxious towards the brown stallion who refused to stand still or be silent. The change was sudden, the sounds of pacing, four beat hooves ending instantly and the decrepit mumbling and bumbling finishing immediately, silence reigning supreme for a few, slow, painfully thin seconds before The Doctor's voice spoke up once more in a hushed whisper, the girls leaning forward to catch what he had said. “There's always a way out and there's always a way in.” The Doctor spun around to face group of startled mares, one bright yellow pegasus yelping and flailing at the sudden movement of the colt as he raked his gaze across the group. First those blue eyes, smothered with hidden knowledge, gazed into Rarity's eyes with a level of passion that spoke of great wonders and hidden secrets. The poor, bedraggled, exhausted mare had been through simply enough today to be able to handle the depth behind the gaze and so mere seconds into the stare she turned her eyes away, somewhat stunned by the force of the gaze. Next came Fluttershy who lasted about two seconds before she eeped, shrieked, yelped and gasped all in one as those blue eyes drew level with hers, turning her head sharply and hiding her face with her gentle pink mane, covering her features in an obvious sign of discomfort. Then the time came for Applejack to meet the cold, yet calculating stare of The Doctor, emerald eyes blazing with strength and colliding with blue eyes that blazed with something hidden, something secret. At first Applejack looked into those eyes, peered into the disguised secrets and she wanted to know of them, of why they were secret and what he kept hidden from them. It took only a matter of seconds though for her view to diminish as the full, bombarding force of those eyes fell upon her, The Doctor recognizing her curious, privacy invading stare and returning a hard one that forced her to turn away. Rainbow Dash was next, having already seen the numerous stare-downs that had been going on she launched herself towards The Doctor, attempting to make him break his gaze first. Her face smacked his one but neither moved, both staring into each other, The Doctor peering at Dash with a searching look whilst Rainbow stared at The Doctor with a look that spoke of her refusal to back down. Seconds ticked by before Rainbow Dash was yanked backwards, her tail clasped firmly in the teeth of a certain orange mare who exclaimed that 'this ain't a battle ya'll can win'. His eyes rested on the face of the pink mare who had, shockingly, remained completely still during the display of fruitless searching that The Doctor had gone through, twin pairs of blue eyes interlocking as the party pony and the Timepony set their eyes on each other. In those eyes The Doctor saw a spark, a single burning flame of wisdom that was cleverly disguised by the pink pony and in his eyes, Pinkie saw such sadness and hate and anger, emotions that chilled her to the core. The duo kept up the stare for another few seconds before Pinkie cast her gaze away, not down, not up, nor behind her. Instead those blue eyes of the bouncing, wild party pony rested upon Twilight as if she were signalling something, something The Doctor had missed. Slowly, the brown coated, black maned, blue eyed colt swerved his gaze towards the purple mare. Eventually, those bright blue eyes reached Twilight's purple ones, intent on her and her alone, a deep feeling of privacy being invaded and secrets being discovered overcoming the lavender mare as those eyes continued to stare into her with a burning intensity. She resisted the outstanding urge to avert her gaze from those eyes, instead opting to allow the little stare-off to continue for a few more seconds, blue and purple locked together for seconds upon seconds. Just as Twilight's eyes began to water from the overexertion The Doctor let out a low whistle, eyes widening and breaking their lingering glance from Twilight's as a small smile began to creep along his features, slowly at first but then with more force. “Oh I'm so stupid! The answer was staring me straight in the face the whole time.” Though the statement The Doctor had made sounded like one which would surely have been said in a dejected voice, the tone of the brown colt spoke only of excitement and an eagerness to enact whatever little scheme his brain had thought up. Twilight spoke up in a quiet but carrying voice, tone filled with curiosity. “What is it Doctor? What did you miss?” The Doctor merely allowed his smile to widen at Twilight's question before his voice rung heavily through the night air, splintering the night with thick layers of warmth but, most importantly, relief. “You Twilight. Its you.” At this, Twilight took a hasty step backwards as six pairs of eyes fell on her with sparkling questions, forcing the purple mare to shiver slightly under the weight of those watching. “You're our answer Twilight, our solution!” [.] Every bump, every twitch, every knock sent a dull throb of pain through its soft, weak, green body, sending shivers of aches coursing through its form. The train itself was a poorly constructed thing, peeling pink paint and rusted metal poles coating its interior with a drab, broken look. The floor was hopelessly dirty, fizzy drinks and lost sweets decorating the floor with a sticky mess that reminded it of the ground of its old planet. The planet that he had destroyed. The windows of the train were incredibly dirty, filth smothering the night-time view of the whizzing, streaming countryside with a faint brown blur. On the outside the train had appeared almost regal, great rolling coats of thick pink paint and yellow striped poles dotting its surface, creating a clever illusion that disguised the decrepit interior perfectly. The torn red cushions of the seats spilled their insides out across the floor, the soft padding laying scattered on the sticky ground, allowing every single small movement of the train bumping on the tracks to spread the discomfort to the passengers. Perhaps the same was not said for the rest of the train however. It had chosen the carriage at the end for its den, intent on not being noticed by any ponies, attempting to keep out of the way until it reached the capital. Until it reached its victim. The sound of the sliding carriage door snapped it out of its fevered daydream, green stallion head whipping upwards to stare at the newcomers. The two stallions who entered looked haggard and gaunt but in their eyes flickered a fire that the disguised plasmavore knew all to well. The first of the stallions was a cold, stone grey colt with a thick, bushy brand of silver hair that seemed tousled and windswept, grimy and desecrated. Amber eyes glared rat-like behind the thick shroud of greasy silver hair, anger and an urge, a lust to claim what wasn't his glittered behind those eyes. His mouth was set in a grim, slanted, pale white line, the sign of a creature down on its luck. Dirt clotted its coat and mane, brown smears intermingling with silver and grey. The dirt however, did not quite manage to smuggle and hide the owners cutie-mark, a curious picture of a single chiselled, grey cinder block resting almost gently upon his flank. The second stallion was a bright, sunflower yellow coated colt with a styled, pure red mane that remained in a pristine, perfect condition upon his head. Bright, blue teal eyes stared from bagged, stretched sockets, filled with the same hungry, criminal look as the other stallion except these eyes gleamed with intelligence as well. His mouth was, to the exact opposite of the other colt, set in a jaunty, condescending smile as if he had done this time and time again. Unlike the other colt, this stallions coat was immaculate, shining in the dim light of the train carriage. This ones cutie-mark was a what appeared to be a silver tongue with a pair of gleaming blue eyes. The jaunty, smiling pony stepped towards the sitting plasmavore, his mindless, dead looking companion following close behind as he opened his mouth to speak in a purr of a voice, in a silver tongued tone. “Hello friend, my name is Silver Tongue and this lovely fellow is my dear friend Cinder Block. Now, I am dreadfully sorry but you see we are running awfully low on money and supplies so if you would be a dear and hand over all your belongings we can just get back to our carriage.” The plasmavore merely observed the two with an amused yet disturbing expression on its face, as if it looked forward to what was about to occur. When no answer or even any movement came, Silver Tongue spoke up once more, drawing closer and closer with his companion, his voice dipping slightly in anger. “Come now, just give us what we want and my pal Cinder Block won't have to resort to hurting you.” And then the plasmavore did something that made the pair of thieves freeze in their walk. It laughed, deep, billowing, malicious, dark laughter that rung along the carriage like a funeral bell, causing the duo to stop in astonishment and trepidation at the sight of the single green stallion chuckling so heartily at them. Silver Tongue spoke up in a much higher voice this time, tone filled with anger and, much to the plasmavore's pleasure, traces of fear. “And what exactly is so funny?” The plasmavore continued to giggle malevolently before it calmed down enough to hiss out its answer in a deep, twisted voice. “You two honestly think that you could do anything to me? To me!?” The hostility, the anger, the madness behind that voice made both Silver Tongue and Cinder Block seize up as if made of iron, both casting fearful glances at each other as the curious but sinister green stallion began to laugh again in a deep, insane chuckle. Their fears were quickly swallowed however by a rising tide of anger at the laughter they had received, both more welcome to terrified screams and muffled sobs then condescending laughter. A flush of ugly, crimson red coated their twin cheeks as the strange, peculiar stallion continued to laugh without a care in the world, oblivious to the world and disarming the petty threat of the duo of robbers with ease. Still, the twin ponies were not going to be sent away by mere laughter, the pair instead opting to move slowly but menacingly towards the chuckling green stallion who had calmed down enough to watch their approach with amused, cold eyes. “You've done it now you overgrown lump of moss. Me and Cinder Block are going to have to teach you a lesson in manners.” The once seductive, feline purr had left Silver Tongue, replaced by a deathly hiss that reflected the mood of an enraged, dangerous snake. Cinder Block remained silent, moving steadily forward with anger in his eyes and a deep, fat, horrendous scowl across his face. The plasmavore merely watched their approach, speaking up in a jaunty, happy voice that bounced around the carriage. “Oh, this journey just got a whole lot more interesting. C'mon and have a go then, I do need to warm up before my grand finale.” The slinking, scuttling pair of robbers halted momentarily in their steps, eyes flashing with a hint of fear and doubt before they settled back into a harsh, hard, angry expression that made the plasmavore chuckle lightly as it stood up, rising from the painfully rugged bench to face its attackers. Cinder Block drew close and, almost lightning fast, swung his body around, his hind-legs facing the plasmavore as he let loose a ferocious kick that would have made trees splinter and groan and yet, to the surprise of the robbers, the strange, green stallion merely stumbled backwards slightly and shrugged off the hit as if it were nothing. Silver Tongue swung in next, rocketing a sleek, meticulously groomed hoof straight into the gut of the plasmavore, who merely expelled a breath of stinking breath, strained teeth showing behind green skin. Once more, both robbers retreated somewhat, looking on at the iron-hard green stallion with partial horror and curiosity as the plasmavore licked its equine lips, looking on hungrily at the confused pair before it spoke up in a cool, liquid voice. “I do believe it is my turn.” The horrified, horrendous, bile-inducing screams of pain from the last carriage were muffled by the heavy sound of the train, shrieks of agony hidden behind a veil of clunks and chugs and whistles. In three days time, a pony by the name of Blossomforth would discover the broken forms of two stallions beside the railway to Canterlot, an expression of terror and horror on their faces and dried blood caking the surrounding grounds. [.] Twilight blinked slowly, shaking her head ever so slightly before she spoke up in a mellow, if partially confused voice. “Me? What can I do that can get us to Canterlot?” The Doctor smiled his overly large, overly happy grin, beaming teeth on full display as he once more began to pace, this time with a type of feverish, childish energy as if he were bathing in riches a plenty. “Why Twilight my dear, you can teleport! Just do your thing, zippity-zap and poof, we're in Canterlot saving a princess.” The Doctor seemed quite pleased with his little plan, and little it was, lacking no real “Doctor flair” but oh well, it would most certainly do the job. Twilight, on the other hand, was wearing a very guilty look, as if she had done something wrong and combining with that downcast look was one of a deep shame, casting shadows of doubt across her purple face, her eyes lowering and her confused expression flopping. “I...I can't teleport us to Canterlot Doctor.” The Doctors beaming smile wavered somewhat at the frail looking unicorns statement, eyes flickering with doubt for a second before his usual cocky, fun loving voice spoke up. “Why ever not Twilight?” The five mares turned to look at the sunken Twilight with pitiful gazes as the lavender mare seemed to sink into herself, her voice whispering from her as if she feared anger and detest from her lack of ability. “It's...it's too far a journey for me. It would take an exponential amount of power to get all seven of us to Canterlot and that distance...” The Doctor dropped his smile but replacing it was not a look of anger, nor a look of disappointment. Instead it was a deep look of contemplation that managed to draw Twilight out of her feared state, the five other mares surrounding her and whispering comfort to her, knowing that she never liked to admit when there was something she couldn't do. C'mon you old man, think. Twilight couldn't reach the distance, not with her magic and most probably not combined with Rarity's magic, guessing from the lack of any suggestion from the white coated mare. She didn't have the power but could that be changed? Maybe hook her up to a giant battery and loop the- no -that probably wouldn't work. She spoke about distance. Distance, distance, distance. There has to be something there, something I'm missing again! What is it, what could it possibly be? Alright, teleportation works on the matter of molecular destruction and then reconfiguration somewhere new via transportation through space. So if I were to...yes, yes! The six girls watched the feverish twitches of the Timelord, seeing the roaming gaze of his eyes dart around them as if sensing a pattern, as if seeing a plan. Rarity turned to gaze curiously at Twilight, who in turn turned to stare worriedly at Fluttershy, who in turn viewed Rainbow with nervous eyes, who in turn cast a glance of excitement at Applejack, who then glanced at Pinkie Pie with traces of fear twinkling in emerald eyes. Pinkie, of course, just kept her blue eyes rooted on The Doctor, smiling quite happily as if she knew entirely what he was doing. Five mares jumped quite suddenly at the loud, excited outburst of a whoop of excitement from The Doctor whilst one pink earth pony merely giggled like a school-filly, blue eyes twinkling with mirth. The Doctor opened his mouth, white teeth flashing, eyes glazed over with a thoughtful but also hopeful look that sparked the first tingles of belief in Twilight, belief that perhaps not all hope was lost. “I am going to need everyponies rubbish.” And the belief fled. Twilight frowned, disappointment etched on her face as she spoke up in a quizzical but crestfallen voice, speaking aloud what all the other mares were merely thinking, each of the six ponies looking at The Doctor with disbelief. “...How will our rubbish help exactly?” At this The Doctor smiled, forcing a similar beam onto the face of the pink party pony who couldn't resist replying to a grin. “Ah, it's not so much the rubbish as what I can do with the rubbish!” Twilight's frown deepened, along with the escaping murmurs of confusion that emanated from the mares behind her as she spoke up once more in a befuddled tone. “And what, pray tell, can you do with our rubbish?” The Doctor's smile widened even further, Pinkie following the stretched expression with childish glee as his cocky, playful, almost childish voice burst into the cold night air. “Why I can solve our little problem of a ravenous, murderous, form-taking monster of course. Now, hop to it!” When nopony moved, instead opting to stare at The Doctor with mixed levels of confusion, ranging from Pinkie's somewhat baffled look to Applejack's complete look of absolute and utter befuddlement, The Doctor let out a cough and spoke up again in what he hoped was a victorious, powerful, inspiring voice but was instead a voice that sounded perhaps a bit whiny. “C'mon now, give me something to work with! I can't work my magic if everypony refuses to give me their old rubbish. Without your help, without your assistance this day, at this hour, then your princess is sure to meet a rather sticky end. For the fate of your princess and all of Equestria, will you please just give me all your useless, broken garbage?” Silence seemed to last for hours on end and yet it could be only a few moments before Applejack stepped forward, eyes still partially glazed with confusion but blazing with a level of intensity that both surprised and excited The Doctor, such emotional range on an equine was truly marvellous! “What do ya need specifically from our rubbish?” The Doctor smiled warmly at the mare before he rattled off a small list. “Hmm, an umbrella, tin cans, electronic junk, fancy structural stuff, luminous green jelly, a whisk, elastic bands and...what ever else you can find really.” Rarity stepped forward now, brow furrowed and eyes swimming as her regal, upper-class tones punctured the sky. “I can sort of understand why one might find electronic equipment useful but why the green jelly?” The Doctor appeared wounded for a second, speaking up in a hurt voice. “Jelly is always useful. Plus I'm feeling a bit peckish, I never did get to finish my pie. I wonder if that nice stallion would lend me some from his face.” The Doctor appeared to contemplate the idea of going to find the angry, confectionery wearing stallion for a few seconds before he shook his head and turned back to the six mares before him, confusion evident in his face. “What are you all still doing here? If we're going to save a princess we're going to need to get to this Cankerloop quickly!” Twilight sighed softly, closing her eyes before she opened them again swiftly, purple eyes glittering with determination. “One, it's called Canterlot, not Cankerloop. Two, where are you going to meet us when we have all these...objects? And three, your bow-tie is crooked.” The Doctor yelped at the last statement, swiftly fiddling with his crimson tie to sort out the partially twisted fashionable item, sighing with relief as he successfully managed to revert it back to its original, pristine condition just as he spoke up again. “Canterlot, Cankerloop, they're basically the same thing. As for your question regarding where to meet me, I first need to know where the most impossibly tall building in Ponyville is.” It was, much to The Doctor's surprise, Rainbow Dash who stepped forward to answer his question in a cracking voice. “That'd be the town hall, big building right in the middle of town. You can't miss it.” The confusing yet astounding brown colt tipped his head to the hovering cyan mare in response before he started to speak in a quiet, if somehow even more demanding voice. “Alright, I need everypony to meet me at the top of this 'town hall' in roughly, oh, lets say fifteen minutes.” Fluttershy now stepped forward, rather quietly and with a small squeak as, first, The Doctor's ears and then his eyes turned to meet her, making the mare blush as she began to murmur a question. “A-and...what happens then?” The Doctor spoke and now there was a burning fire in his eyes, a powerful ember that sparked and burnt deep into the soul of everypony present, a look of such power, of such determination, of such anger and desolation and yet hope that it simultaneously warmed their hearts and froze their minds. “Then, my dear Fluttershy, the fun truly begins.” [.] The girls had bustled and burst away rather quickly after that, rushing home to dig and root their way through old rubbish, broken nicknack’s and forgotten gifts of old, drawing up on all their useless reserves, claiming dusty objects as their own, scratching at the surface of a mountain of rubbish and litter that threatened to spill from their homes after being discovered. Meanwhile, The Doctor paraded around the small, quaint and silent town of Ponyville, blue eyes peeled and alert, searching through the gloom for the mysterious and elusive massively constructed building known simply as 'town hall'. He stumbled through the dark, old, ancient eyes roaming the depths of darkness, casually knocking into tin metal bins and squashing the flowers outside the houses of particularly green mares, shuffling through darkened streets and malicious feeling alleys. It was here, stumbling and moaning through many a dark corridor and alley that The Doctor carelessly and accidentally wandered into the sunken, shrivelled, vile body of the green stallion from which the plasmavore had fed from, one caramel hoof nearly tripping over the deceased form as The Doctor peered into the gloom to determine what it was that had halted his movement. And then he saw the broken, corrupted body of the stallion. Such anger and hatred flowed through The Doctor's body at that point, so much rage and fire that it burnt his soul, that it licked the bricked sides of the alley with intense heat. Death was a natural process, a pure and unfiltered procedure that would spare no creature and yet nothing, no creature big or little deserved to go like this. No creature deserved to be drained and left to rot in an alley on a far distance planet merely for the pleasure of a monster and the need to satisfy a thirst for violence. With a heavy, sad sigh that, for a single moment, overwhelmed The Doctor's immeasurable anger, the caramel stallion leaned down and shut the open, terrified and wild eyes of the green husk of fur on the floor, murmuring a silent apology to the body and wishing him well wherever he may be know before he stood up to his full height, body pulsing with an inhumane, unbelievable energy. Previously he had been fighting this beast from his universe merely to prove that he could, merely to make his arrival spectacular and to impress those around him with his skills. He had chosen to fight this demon from another world just on the plain basis that he could fight it, that he was the only one who would hope to really stand a chance against it but now, now things had changed. Now he fought out of anger, now he fought because monsters, ghosts and ghouls, beasts of terrible wrath and unquenchable evil should not live or reside upon this world, not a land filled with a species that had merely heard of murder and violence, never seen it. The Doctor was angry, angry that such a disgrace had been made of a beautiful, wonderful creature. Angry that this beast had wandered into a new civilization and killed one of the alpha species like it was nothing. Angry that he didn't stop it. Angry that he, most certainly, brought it here. And now the plasmavore had a very real reason to fear him. With dark eyes and a burning fire in his heart, The Doctor set out to find the town hall, leaving the body of the stallion in his resting place. [.] The six mares clambered to the top of the town hall, panting, sweating and heaving their heavy load of junk behind them, each one carrying their rubbish in a certain manner. Rarity was heaving a meticulously cleaned and pristine conditioned white sack full of countless, useless goodies, the silk bag bulging with the sheer number of items she had acquired from her rather cluttered basement, ranging from bottle openers to banana guards. Sweat lined the brow of the alabaster unicorn, her throat making most unladylike whining and whimpering noises as she dragged the large sack up the seemingly never-ending stairs of the town hall. Applejack was busy hauling what appeared to be a wooden cart up the stairs, making considerably less noise then Rarity but still struggling all the same, muscles tensed and aching, back arched and pained and head set forward, a grim determination set in her face. A single sheet of musty, dusty brown fabric rested over the top of the wooden cart, hiding its contents from view. Fluttershy was, with the assistance of a lot of birds, flying a bumper basket to the top of the town hall, a rather large, rather carefully crafted basket of weaved wood nestled in her hooves, numerous small birds flapping underneath it to keep both it and Fluttershy afloat, tweeting and chirping occasionally but otherwise remaining quiet. The basket looked suspiciously like an overgrown picnic holder, as if the food source of some sort of giant. Rainbow Dash had opted to merely pick up one or two little things and attach put them in her saddlebags, simply refusing to having to do real manual labour, hoping that her friends had provided more then enough rubbish and garbage to see The Doctor through on his plan and, knowing Twilight's tendency to go above and beyond the borderline of what needed to be done, Rainbow had no true threat from a lack of random junk. Pinkie Pie had packed a single saddlebag full of random toys and useless broken things that would serve even her no real purpose. Of course, being the astounding, baffling and unpredictable mare that she was, Pinkie had managed to fit into one saddlebag what Rarity had managed to fit into a sack that even Father Christmas would be proud of. She was currently bouncing quite happily up the steps, stopping to talk rapidly to each of her friends, constantly pestering them to hurry up. Twilight was the last mare on the stairs, puffing and panting as she levitated a monstrous amount of spare equipment and twisted electronics in the air, a faint purple aura surrounding the objects, leaving them dangling almost precariously in the wind. Looking back at it now, Twilight wished she had had the good idea to store her items somewhere instead of just using her magic, already feeling the beginnings of a strain induced headache coming along as she trudged up more steps. It took the group little over fifteen minutes to gather the gear and reach the top of the stairs, wheezing unnaturally under the intense pressure as they finally reached the pinnacle and peak of the town hall, all six mares immediately locking onto the moon light illuminated Doctor who was staring out of the window at the sparkling city of Canterlot, muttering to himself whilst twiddling his hooves. With a polite cough, Twilight drew his attention, his old blue eyes sparking with anger and rage at first, making Twilight draw back somewhat before the emotions were replaced by relief and a cocky grin that she remembered so well, washing away Twilight's misgivings easily as he spoke up in a quick and happy voice. “Ah here we are. Looks like you mares got enough waste for me to build my own robotic dog with!” The Doctor allowed himself a chuckle before it was awkwardly cut off by the silence of the six mares who merely looked at him with confusion and, in Pinkie's case, hilarity that simply oozed from glistening blue eyes. The Doctor frowned, his voice higher and more disbelieving then it ever seemed to be. “Seriously? I mention a robot dog and not one of you giggles, not even a question of 'oh, you had a robot dog Doctor?'. Instead I get...I get this?” “This” just so happened to be a selection of even further befuddled expressions that made The Doctor sigh softly to himself before his voice peaked up again, this time oddly flat as though he were disappointed. “Alright, lets see what you brought me then.” Rarity's most elegant and fashionable snowy white bag of bulging items came first, spilling its contents on the floor like a drunkard in a bar, the tinkling of metal hitting wood ringing around the top of the hall to echo downwards to the seating area below. The most distinguishable features, past the odd banana skin or bottle caps, was a nice selection of silver tins with residue bean and tomato juice crusting the insides, The Doctor discovering the food item that would have slumbered within the tins by experimentally licking the insides of each tin, earning many gagging sounds from some of the mares. The next item on the list was a raggedy, torn umbrella that appeared rusted around the handle but still opened fluently and fluidly, The Doctor allowing himself to perform a little jig with it before he chucked it into the 'useful' pile. The final interesting item was a rather luscious looking plate of green jelly, such an elegant cuisine making The Doctor's mouth water as he took a hasty bite of it, smiling in glee before he put both it and the plate it rested on in the useful pile. Applejack's cart was depleted next, The Doctor tearing off the cover with childish excitement to peer into the depths of the wooden vehicle, eyes twinkling with barely restrained merriment. Once more, he lobbed and threw the useless items away, broken chair-legs, toilet seats and, for some peculiar reason, an issue of Mare Magazine dated roughly three months ago. The first item of irregularity and interest was a small battery that seemed capable of supplying a similarly small device and with one long lick and a mild electric shock that made him yelp, The Doctor managed to deduct that it was still active. The next piece of useful 'equipment' was a rather large, rather funny looking motor for a tractor of sorts except this had no power, merely a rather large fan attached to the front which The Doctor tore off with gusto. The final item was a large, red rubber band that would easily fit around The Doctor's leg, his blue eyes immediately noting the slight fray along the edge and the fact that it had, most probably, been used to type up one Miss Applejack's hair. Fluttershy moved forward next, nudging her basket to The Doctor who thanked her with a little nod before he rather daintily flipped open the weaved lid with his teeth to gaze into the interior of the blatantly oversized basket. This time, only a few bottles, bottle-caps and empty toothpaste containers were seen as utterly useless. Miss Fluttershy had, quite cleverly, taken a whisk with her, metal loops slightly jagged with a few snapped in the middle to point out rather jaggedly and yet it was still useful. The next goody to be pulled out of the basket was a bulb from a lamp along with numerous red, green and blue wires that snaked from said bulb, causing The Doctor to fiddle around as the metal wires looped around his hooves, making him struggle and fidget to get them off for over a minute. Rainbow Dash brought a bent spoon. That was the only useful item she had taken, the three other pieces of junk being nothing more than rusted pipes. Pinkie Pie bounced forward giddily after the shame-faced Rainbow Dash had floated away with blushing cheeks at the look of disbelief and slight disappointment on The Doctor's face, physically lobbing her saddlebags straight into The Doctor's face, making him yelp in fear. With one cautious, edgy hoof, The Doctor reached into the brown bags with the balloon patterns on the outside, caramel appendage drawing out old balloons, empty sweet wrappers and used party poppers before he came across the more advantageous junk. A similar whisk to Applejack's sat in her bag, this one nearly fully functional were it not for the rusted edges and single, bent wire poking and protruding from the side. Along with the food-esque item, Pinkie brought with her a curious selection of partially electronic, partially revolutionary era based pieces of equipment that closely resembled those that a cannon may contain or, even possibly, be made of. Finally, Pinkie had brought with her what appeared to be flat boards of bendy, splintery wood along with some old but relatively sticky sellotape, The Doctor hastily waving his hoof through the air trying to get the tape off after he, quite foolishly, poked it to see if it was still gummy. Finally, Twilight dropped her stash of goods onto the floor, the gloom of the town hall smothering her junk in darkness so that it was not visible to The Doctor at first, illuminated by moonlight and a light purple glow. Much to The Doctor's disappointment and the scepticism of the other mares, Twilight had merely brought with her a vast selection of books, telling the group that 'they were all bad, rubbish books!' and 'I throw all of my rubbish out straight away'. Now The Doctor didn't really know what this 'New Moon' book was all about but judging by the fact that it appeared to be scratched and torn with anger along with the fact that it seemed wrinkled and coated in the faint residue of an upturned drink, he could safely guess that it wasn't that brilliant a read. The Doctor looked on at the favourable pile, before he nudged his head to the worthless, and much larger, pile of junk that sat directly to the rest of him, voice speaking up in a detached manner as if he were concentrating on something else. “You can take all that expendable rubbish away now.” The six mares blinked once, looked over to the noticeably tiny pile that The Doctor was inspecting, blinked a second time, looked over to the much larger pile that The Doctor had deemed incompetent, blinked a third time before they all spoke up simultaneously. “Y'all honestly expect me ta haul all that back down them stairs!?” “Come now darling, you asked for all of our rubbish!” “Umm...why did you ask us to get stuff if...if we weren't going to use it?” “Jeez colt, you have no idea how heavy that spoon was and now you want me to help haul back the bumper pack of useless items!?” “Silly billy, all that stuff is like soooooo useful!” “Doctor, you did ask for all this stuff. You can't just expect us to take it all back!” The Doctor glanced up from his inspection of the items for a second, eyes flashing quizzically as he spoke. “Honestly, what do you think I can do with a banana peel, a magazine, a toilet seat, bottle caps and a chair leg?” Rainbow Dash opened her mouth next, words laced with uncertainty pouring forth. “Uh...something awesome?” The Doctor frowned. “...Probably, but nothing that can help us in this situation. Now if you could just- Ah, no, ditch that idea, just stand over there and be quiet.” Now it was Rarity who stepped forward, wounded by the most ungentlecoltly acting of the brown stallion. “My, Doctor, where have your manners gone!? You can't seriously be suggesting that six beautiful mares such as us should be pushed into a tiny corner, right?” The Doctor sighed in resignation before he turned to face Rarity. “No of course not, at least not a tiny corner. That corner over there though, that corner is pretty large. Why don't you all go over there for a while whilst I, ah, work.” Rarity huffed indignantly, noting the rather rude, rather obnoxious brown colt's movements, turning his back on them as if he were washing his hooves of them, as if he were clearing his mind of them. With a barely restrained shriek of rage, Rarity spoke up once more, strained voice high and pitched in a wobbly tone. “You can't just abandon us to sit in a corner whilst you twiddle away at our rubbish!” The Doctor turned to Rarity slowly, almost painstakingly slowly and when those blue eyes fell upon her, when those chips of ice turned to her she saw The Doctor in his true glory and terribleness. In those eyes, for the briefest of seconds, she could see his triumphs, his losses, his happiness, his sadness, the blood caking his hooves, the tears sliding down his face, the cracking, worn and old armour that he wore to hide himself from the outside world, the armour used to contain the blistering force of the heart of a sun. And, with a simple blink, that look was gone, replaced by a detached, almost blank look as The Doctor spoke up in a cold, whispered voice, barely contained anger bubbling beneath the almost calm exterior. “Do you want to save your princess?” Rarity gulped loudly before nodding, the five other mares looking at her expectantly. “Good, now into the corner!” With that The Doctor's happy, bubbly voice returned as Rarity and the five other mares hastily made their way over to the dark corner, Twilight barely hearing what escaped The Doctor's throat next in a whisper. “Time to work my magic.” “Uh, Doctor, you're an earth pony, you don't have any magic.” “...That, Twilight, just quite superbly ruined the moment.” [.] “And voilà!” Ten minutes had gone by, ten long minutes in which the group of six girls had had to put up with standing or sitting in a dusty, musty corner of the town hall that had obviously not been cleaned in many years, the unsettling grime making many a pony sneeze aloud. A deep silt layer of dirt smothered the wooden floor of the town hall, making the white fashionista let out a slight wail of terror every time a single smidgeon of dust settled upon her pristine coat. Ten minutes had gone past, ten arduous minutes in which Twilight and Twilight alone had been called over by the crazed, muttering and rapidly moving brown colt, his back turned to the rest of the group to hide whatever mystery he was creating until he would rotate his head back and call for the lavender mare. Twilight would arrive and, without a moments hesitation, The Doctor would stand straight up and gaze furiously at her horn before sending her away again, muttering equations and smiling goofily every once in a while. And now finally, finally, after ten minutes of non-stop staring contests, in which Pinkie and Applejack would usually win, Fluttershy being simply too timid to deploy her Stare and multiple games of rock, paper, scissors which, believe it or not, was a very tough game to play with only hooves, finally after ten minutes which felt like ten hours, the six mares trotted out of the dark corner, anger blazing in Rarity's eyes as she gazed upon the cocky, unapologetic colt before her. Now he stood before them, one hoof behind his back, obviously holding something rather large and bulky, if judging by the hefty shadowed object laying upon his coat as he spoke up in a jubilant voice. “I know it took a while, what with me being screwdriver-less but I did manage to get it all done, quite a feat if you ask me.” Rarity stepped forward, ego still bruised from having to wait in a dark corner whilst a colt she had only recently met tinkered away at some unknown object, the fashionista's voice piping up shrilly. “And what exactly is 'it'?” The Doctor smiled as he moved his hoof held item into the light bouncing from one large window. “This, is the key to your princess's salvation.” Salvation came in the form of a rather crude, bizarre and strangely enticing looking object that had a most peculiar smell whilst making frequent beeping noises. The body of the mysterious device was made up of the wooden boards, brought quite cleverly by Pinkie with sellotape and Applejack's red hair band keeping the whole thing packed tightly together, strange lights flickering beneath the wood. Many tin cans lay on the complexion of the wood, each one beeping quite furiously, odd wires poking out of the metal tops. A strange button like object sat on the side, drilled quite ruggedly into the metal by force of hoof and umbrella handle, the small red button being a piece of the recently scrapped tractor motor. The fan of the tractor was seated on the back of the device, spinning frantically with a bright, strobing light bulb seated directly above it, occasionally beeping. A single spoon jutted from the top of the wooden box, pointing towards the heavens and rotating slowly but surely. The umbrella lay at the front of the machine, tattered fabric top laying exposed to form a dome of sorts pointing inwards, not outwards so that it made an almost crater-like look. A simple whisk lay on the side, attached via its rotating handle to the wooden box, The Doctor's hoof resting on the top of the device, clenching it firmly. “What in tha blue blazes is that thing?” The Doctor frowned. “I know it isn't the most handsome of devices Miss Applejack but it'll do the job.” Twilight trotted forward until she stood nearly nose to nose with The Doctor, eyes blazing curiously but in an almost suspicious manner also as she spoke up. “And what is the job then? What exactly is this machine going to do?” The Doctor smiled disjointedly at her rather close appearance, speaking up in a somewhat spooked voice. “You told me that your teleportation magic would not work long distances for you didn't have the energy. This device here, this wonderful piece of work, is going to literally shoot your magical energy straight into the mountain city of yours using particle distribution ejection, thereby getting us to Canterlot in a matter of, oh, let's say seconds.” Five mares looked on, perplexed at the use of, to put it in an Applejack fashion 'fancy wordplay' whilst Twilight blinked in surprise, before she peered closely at the still beeping, still blinking box of junk. “This...this thing can send us to Canterlot? How? I mean, Equestria has never heard of this type of technology, let alone seen it!” The Doctor allowed himself a more warm, more natural smile as he began his explanation. “Well, I managed to guess from the teleportation spell you showed me earlier that what happens when one teleports is a complete de-configuration of atoms and particles and then reconfiguration at a certain area, one which the spell, or scientifically, the atomic mass has been directed in... ...Now, I thought to myself, how could I possibly speed up the process of Twilight teleporting us to Canterlot? And, ah, I was going to hook you up to a giant battery at first but that probably wouldn't work.” Twilight piped up. “Because magical energy doesn't run on electricity?” “No, because you'd be killed instantly. Anyway, I then thought that perhaps I could create an ejection device, capable of capturing the atomic mass and send it flinging past normal distances through the use of a relay dome, hence the umbrella... ...This device will gather our atoms, our physical and mental forms and send them whizzing away at incredible speeds and over long distances to get us into Canterlot in a relatively fast manner. And from there on out it's just a manner of us finding the plasmavore and stopping it.” Twilight blinked, the five mares behind her now even more bamboozled by the big words, the lavender mare suddenly voicing a question that had been sitting in her mind for a while now. “And why did you keep calling me over only to take one look at me and send me away again?” The Doctor opened his mouth to reply before he was silenced by the confused but still regal voice of Rarity. “And what in Equestria did you do with my jelly?” “Well number one, I kept calling you over Twilight so I could get a look at that horn of yours, it is quite big really, thereby allowing me to judge how much magic you could physically store in one burst, letting me set the highest and lowest points for the device to stop it from, eh, blowing up.” Twilight blushed at the pointing out of her rather large horn before she blanched a little at the exploding comment, The Doctor continuing onwards like he had said nothing out of the ordinary. “And about the jelly, well, half of it is resting quite snugly in my stomach and the other half is powering the machine.” A chorus of voices rose up from the six mares, ranging from Twilight's begging, pleading insights into the mysterious devices technology to Rainbow Dash's constant begging into why he hadn't saved some of the jelly for her. “Look.” “So, if I just relayed the red wire I could make a...a cooking device?” “Look!” “Aw man, I love Rarity's green jelly, why didn't ya save me some?” “Look!” This silenced the group as The Doctor trotted away to head to a nearby window, gazing out of it at Canterlot with a feverish energy. “Look, we don't have long. The train has probably arrived by now and I'd rather stop a royal murder then catch a royal murderer so lets just get down to business. Now Twilight, get that bulky horn of yours over here.” Twilight trotted over, joined cautiously by five other mares, each one shooting each other furiously nervous looks as The Doctor started cranking up the whisk, creating an odd whirring noise from the machine followed by a much faster selection of blinking lights. “Now Twilight I'm going to want you to-Ah, wait a minute.” Before the girls could ask what he was doing, what he was planning The Doctor had already raised one hoof up and slammed it into one of the many glass panels of the window, shattering it and causing some nearby lights to turn on in the village, followed by hoarse shouting. “Why did ya do that!?” “Particle ejection from this particular machine Applejack needs to have a free range to the destination, if we were to pass through a solid object, even one as thin as glass then we'd end up halfway inside of it.” This caused six mares to pale and slowly start to back away from The Doctor, who turned around to shoot them an apologetic but also confident grin that helped to alleviate their fears as more and more lights began to flicker on around the town. “Don't worry, I've cleared the way to Canterlot. We'll be fine.” “A-and what...what about t-the mountain?” “Oh trust me, I have perfect aim and coordination at this sort of thing.” With that The Doctor turned around swiftly, slamming the box into the wall with a loud thud that caused even more lights to pop up around Ponyville as the jingling of metal hitting wood sounded again, The Doctor cringing as he gazed down to inspect the damage he had done to his precious box. Laying on the floor was a single tin can. The Doctor gazed at the can almost hazardously, six mares gazing at The Doctor worriedly before he turned his head back to them wearing a false smile. “Meh, that part was just for display anyway. C'mon, I think I may have woken the town up with that one.” Now that he mentioned it, they could hear the distance shouting of citizens and the heavy thump of somepony racing up the stairs with gusto. Twilight was jolted out of her listening by the loud and slightly stress-strained voice of The Doctor. “Twilight, get the others and get over here quickly please. I'd rather not stay here for any longer.” Twilight nodded before she rounded up the rest of her five friends and pushed and shoved them forward until they all were standing, or in Fluttershy's case shivering, before The Doctor who was tweaking the machine and gazing at Canterlot. He turned around quite suddenly, making everypony jump as his voice spoke up with barely contained excitement. “Everypony ready?” “Oh, I-I don't know. W-w-what happens to us if...if we h-hit the moutain. Oh, I don't want to-to be a m-mountain, that would b-be terri-” Fluttershy was silenced by a soft, delicate brown hoof to her mouth, making her blush as The Doctor leaned in closer to look deep into her eyes, blue and teal orbs sparking as his voice rose up with such warmth, such compassion, confidence and care that it made Fluttershy's worries melt away like butter, as she came to realize that around him, around this mysterious colt from the stars there would be nothing, nothing that would ever hurt her or her friends. “Trust me, I'm The Doctor.” Fluttershy nodded drunkly as The Doctor wheeled around, planting the box in between the panel of glass he had shattered, cranking the whisk ferociously, making the bulb blink quicker and quicker, making the beeping faster and faster, nearly drowning out the noise of the approaching pony on the stairs. His voice broke through, high and forced through the cacophony of mechanical sounds. “Twilight, aim your teleportation for the spinning fan!” Twilight nodded before her horn lit up a brilliant purple colour, dousing the room in lavender hues as she pictured her friends and her, along with The Doctor, vanishing and appearing at the fan and the fan alone, disallowing the beeping or the whirring to sink into her thoughts. A bolt of purple light spewed from her horn and slammed into the fan, causing it to spin swiftly and powerfully, creaking and becoming a blur in seconds, colouring it a faint purple that seemed to expand until it encompassed the whole group like a massive lavender bubble, the Doctor still pumping the whisk but now grinning loudly, laughing and whooping as the bubble began to retract before he ushered one word from his mouth, louder then any other noise. “Geronimo!” With a flash of bright purple light and the click of a button, the group of seven, along with the machine vanished, fizzing and fading out of existence just as the door to the town hall top floor opened, revealing a bedraggled and angry looking Mayor Mare. [.] The first thing The Doctor noticed was the crisp, burnt feel of his fur plastered to his body and the faint but present scent of something smouldering and singed lacing the air. The second thing The Doctor noticed was that his hoof, which was once gripping the particle ejection device, or P.E.D if you want, now held on to a certain purple hoof with an incredibly firm grip. The third thing he noticed was that he was on a mountain side and that his hoof grip was an extremely, extremely strenuous hold to keep up. The final thing he noticed, with a sharp intake of breath and a straining of muscles, was that six mares were dangling off the lip of the mountain, swinging and swaying high above the city of Canterlot with only his single brown hoof anchoring them from falling into a dark abyss. I may have misjudged the direction. And then, of course, the screaming started. It started off with the fluffy, wide eyed and bushy tailed Rarity who was dangling right at the bottom of the endangered group, two white hooves clutched firmly onto Fluttershy whilst she opened her mouth to belt out a powerful shriek. This in turn caused Fluttershy to jolt in fright, making the group of dangling ponies start to sway disjointedly and forcing a similar scream of terror out of the butter yellow mouth. Applejack, who was being clutched by Fluttershy and was, in turn, clutching Pinkie Pie merely shivered in fright, not voicing her horror but instead opting to stare upwards with wide, twitching eyes, breath panting outwards as she refused, simply refused to look downwards. Pinkie was holding Rainbow Dash and even the bubbly pink mare looked frightened and nervous at their predicament, bouncy hair deflating slightly as she held back a few prickly tears, instead staring upwards at the swaying rainbow tail before her. Rainbow Dash, much to The Doctor's surprise, was desperately trying to fly with the weight of the others, teeth gripping Twilight's tail as she fruitlessly but vigorously flapped her wings, sweat racing off of her from the effort. Twilight was merely looking at The Doctor, hoof around his own in a vice like feel, purple eyes staring into The Doctor's with two brutal emotions. Fear and betrayal. Fear of dying here and now, fear of never seeing Spike, never getting married, never having foals. Fear of failing Equestria, fear of letting her princess die, fear of letting that monster win. And then betrayal, such a deep rooted betrayal. She had trusted him, she had believed him and followed his every word like it was a religion and now he had failed them, he had led them to their deaths like lambs to slaughter. The Doctor glanced down at those eyes and he saw those emotions, he felt them tear into him like claws, he felt the betrayal drill him to the core before he broke his gaze, desperately searching around for something that could help, straining under the weight, hooves dragging along the rocky mountain ledge. His hawk-like gaze locked onto the battered but still strobing and beeping particle ejection device, laying a short but seemingly long distance behind him, wood panels cracked, bulb broken but fan still spinning. With a great heave and a deep, drawn-out sigh of pain and frustration, The Doctor pulled feverishly on Twilight's hoof, Timelord strength coming into play as he managed to yank her closer and closer to the edge, allowing her to get a hoof grip on the rocky side before his strength gave out and he stumbled forward, knocking Twilight off her perch with a yelp yet still stubbornly refusing to let go of the mares. The Doctor glanced back severely at the cracked wooden box that lay a mere few hoof steps behind him, taunting him with its closest and yet so far out of his reach. The Doctor let out a strangled gasp as he felt himself sliding towards the edge, hearing the screams heighten in pitch before, with a struggled grunt, he managed to pull backwards until he rested in his original position, panting heavily, dust and dirt clotting his coat disturbingly like he had just dug his way out of his own grave. The Doctor risked another glare backwards, noting how close the box seemed to be before he saw a swift, flicking movement behind him that made him groan, not in fear or in pain but in a deep sense of idiocy. Here he was, an equine, and yet he had managed to completely forget one of the basic biological signs of an equine. The flicky-wicky tail. The Doctor slid forward partially, making Twilight's eyes bug once more before he righted himself, sweat trickling down his face, eyes scrunched up in agony as his hoof screamed at him to let go, to allow this horrid weight to depart. The Doctor closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, feeling his tail swish and flick, willing it to smash into the box, to whip underneath it and send it spinning into his grasp. He felt his tail spin and smack into the box, he felt the P.E.D give slightly, he felt it move an inch before he yelled out in pain as he was yanked forward once more, pulling back with all his force to make sure he didn't fall, to make sure he didn't fail them. He squeezed his eyes shut again, allowing his mind to focus entirely on his tails every flick and movement, feeling it bump into the particle ejection device again, feeling it once more give before the strained weight forced his mind to return to the land of the living as he dug his hooves in to stop himself and the others falling. The Doctor tried to back up, to return to his position but he couldn't, the weight was too much, the strain too heavy on his limbs that he could only watch in horror as he started to slowly, slowly slide forward, feeling the dip of the mares, hearing the pounding of his hearts and the swish of his tail and, strangely enough, his swaying brown tail still rested over the box, still tickled the wooden frame. The Doctor grunted as he shunted forward another inch, giving up precious ground and causing the mares below him to scream, every single one of them, including Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The Doctor closed his eyes once more and allowed all other thoughts to flee, all other trickling ideas in his mind to cease as he put all of his focus and hope, strength and determination into the gentle lapping of his tail upon the box. This was his last chance, his last hope before he fell to far out of its reach, before he failed them. His tail slammed into the P.E.D with the ferocity of a stampeding Krafayis, with the force of a great typhoon, sending the wooden box spinning and rocketing towards him and, much to The Doctor's horror, sending it bolting past him until it rested carelessly and rivetingly on the edge of the lip of the mountain, swaying back and forth between safety and the long plummet. With horror filled eyes, The Doctor watched the P.E.D tilt, stutter and then fall off the edge of the cliff. With horror filled eyes, Twilight Sparkle watched The Doctor grunt and then race forward, allowing the weight to overtake him as he leapt off the edge of the cliff and towards whatever object had recently sailed past her head. Six mares and one alien toppled off the cliff and towards the ground, six colourful ponies screaming in absolute, astonished and terrified fear, one brown furred alien whooping loudly, tears springing into his eyes at the velocity of his descent as slowly but surely he began to catch up to the dizzying, rotating box. Rainbow Dash tried to fly, to spread her wings and catch her friends but the strain of trying to do so earlier, the pressure of attempting to lift up four of her friends along with herself had left her wings a quivering mess of aches and pains. The Doctor roared in triumph, the sound quickly swallowed up by the punching wind that thocked him hard in the face as his hooves enveloped the P.E.D, six mares falling behind him mistaking the sound of victory for one of terror and thus increased their screams. The Doctor whistled and whirled around in the air so that his back pointed towards the floor, looking at the still shrieking Twilight before he yelled up to her in a wind-torn voice. “Twilight, get the girls together!” If Twilight heard him she made no sign, instead opting to scream even louder as the city rushed up to meet them, The Doctor now roaring in fear and a fierce determination to live. “Twilight, girls, together, now!” Now she heard him, purple fizzing from her horn and drawing her friends forth into a tight huddle, tears streaming from everyponies eyes, whether it be from fear or velocity The Doctor couldn't tell. “Alright, now aim your teleport at the fan again!” Twilight screamed down at him, tension and fear making her voice high. “Are you crazy!? Look where that got us last time!” The Doctor couldn't suppress a humoured grin from breaking across his face as he yelled up to her once again. “I haven't let you down yet, not unless we splat against this floor so just trust me!” Twilight shrieked in terror but, much to The Doctor's shock, started to charge up her spell, knowing that at this velocity she would be lucky to be able to teleport inches through the air resistance and fear. The Doctor furiously cranked the whisk, making the bulb flash faster and faster, making the beeping louder and louder, pained hoof groaning under the movement. With a cry of fear and pain, Twilight's horn exploded in a powerful purple light, a blast of raw power spiralling into the fan and causing it to tremble and squeak with force, spinning faster than the eye could see. The Doctor moved the P.E.D so the umbrella was facing the castle, feeling how close the ground was to him, seeing large pillared homes fly past him, feeling the cold air whip him, seeing the faint purple shield surround them, the floor rushing up closer and closer to them, the faint sound of a pop and a fizz, an explosion of light and then. Nothing but darkness. [.] It had been all too easy. First those two bumbling, moronic colts had dared to stand up against it, had dared to fight it and now they lay broken and dead beside the tracks far from civilization. Then it had been a mere task of following its nose, chasing the scent of the powerful, all present and yet hidden victim. It had, quite unfortunately, bumped into a pony on its journey and to spare any awkward questions being asked, it had resorted to merely breaking her neck. There would be no feeding yet, no point spoiling the meal after all. It had taken fifteen minutes to locate the source of the intoxicating, powerful and vibrant smell and now it stood on the outside of a pair of heavy golden gleaming gates with two equally golden gleaming guards beside it, each casting occasional glances at it as it breathed in deeply, tasting the scent with satisfaction, eyes gleaming hungrily and mouth upturned in a vicious smile. Quite casually, it stalked up to the gates and raised a single green hoof to push the great metal bars open before it was halted by the sudden movement of the two guards, each coming up on separate sides of it, the grey stallion on its right speaking up in a deep but commanding voice. “What do you think you are doing?” Speed, that was key here. It needed to be quick, to get rid of them with a swift movement before they could raise any sort of alarm, before they could alert its presence to any other pony nearby. With stunning speed, twin green hooves rocketed out from its side and grabbed the guards behind their gold domed heads, blue plumes of battle armour whistling in the wind as the plasmavore brought its hooves together, smashing the guards faces against each other and causing both of them to crumple and faint, the small sounds of metal striking metal swinging through the air as the plasmavore stepped over the unconscious bodies, opening the golden gates with a creak as it stepped into the beautiful gardens leading up to the castle. With a cracked, brutal smile the plasmavore trotted calmly into the darkness of the gardens, working its way off of the worn path leading up towards a massive castle structure, glancing back at the twin bodies with disgust. I suppose I can't go killing them, not yet at least. It'd raise too many questions. The plasmavore turned back to its journey, smirking evilly once more as it trotted quietly but swiftly over bushels of roses and great mounds of beautiful white flowers, crushing them beneath its hooves like they were ants. It wormed its way up the less beaten path until it rested in the shadows beside a pair of large red doors, each one at least quadruple its size and blazing a deep blood crimson. A similar pair of guards stood stoically and impassively outside of the doors making the plasmavore grin in excitement as it stalked silently out of the shadows towards the first guard who had his eyes set solidly on the area in front of him, not beside him. The guard didn't know what hit him with the force of a train but what he did know as he passed out into the black void was that he was going to feel it tomorrow. Immediately the second guard turned to the disguised plasmavore, eyes wide as he opened his mouth to shout a warning, the sound rather swiftly muffled as the plasmavore tore the helmet off the unconscious guard at its hooves and threw it full force at the other guards head, making a deep bonging noise that echoed around the garden, both guards now laying in furry heaps on the floor. With a dark chuckle the plasmavore turned back to the double set of doors, cracked its neck and moved forward, twin hooves pushing and straining against the metal door, making it open with a loud groan of protest. The plasmavore allowed itself a dark laugh and a tightening of lips that vaguely resembled a happy smile as it turned to face the now open chamber, the single door it had opened leaning back as fully as possible. Almost immediately, it felt a drawing to something in the room as the scent grew heavier then ever, as its stolen eyes rotated to peer at the figure that sat on a throne of deep red and sparkling gold, as those stolen eyes widened in sadistic joy and immeasurable evil intentions at the sight that greeted it. There was a pony, if that could be what it was classified as. It easily resembled a horse form the human world, most certainly standing taller than the plasmavore in its sickly form, it could quite clearly gather that even if the pony was sitting down. It seemed to gleam a marble white like the walls of the chamber, twinkling magenta eyes widening slightly as it took in the strange visitor and the plasmavore couldn't help but notice how tired those eyes looked. A flowing pastel mane danced and spun around her, disobeying gravity with a middle finger, twirling and looping elegantly so that it almost enraptured the attention of the plasmavore. A beautiful pair of wings lay on its side along with a single, large and deadly looking white horn that extended from its head. It seemed to be regarding the concealed plasmavore with curious yet suspicious eyes that still didn't manage to mask the deep layer of motherly care and love that this creature had developed, a look that made the plasmavore want to vomit. So caught up by the sight of its prey, the plasmavore didn't notice the four guards that had surrounded it went it had entered, only coming back into the land of the living after one of the guards spoke up in a cold voice. “Do you have an appointment with the princess?” Princess, eh? I can work with that sort of power. The plasmavore cleared its throat obnoxiously and began to speak in a refined voice that dripped with malice. “Why no I don't, you see I came here to kill her so I didn't really think I needed, or would get an appointment for that sort of business.” It had to hand it to them, the guards were fast. As soon as it had finished its little speech, the four of them had thrown themselves at it, trying to grapple and contain the plasmavore to little avail. The plasmavore laughed in childish glee as it threw a fist at the first guard that came close, making the poor stallion reel backwards in shock, clutching a bleeding and broken nose. The second stallion was far more unlucky, the plasmavore brining both hooves down on either side of its head to burst the poor colt's eardrums and send him spinning into unconsciousness. The third and fourth came together, quickly followed by the wounded but growling first stallion, throwing themselves on top of the plasmavore. The four of them appeared to wrestle on the floor for what felt like hours and yet must only have been seconds before one stallion suddenly staggered away, clutching a broken foreleg and cursing, followed by another stallion that was sent toppling to the floor by a blow to the back of the head and then, finally, the third and final stallion who was sent careening out of the pile to land with a sickening thud and crack on the marble floor. The plasmavore immediately bursting forward and ramming into the last standing stallion, driving itself into his injured leg and rocketing a hoof into his armoured face, causing the colt to stumble and fall to the floor. The fight, if you could call it that, had lasted a mere thirty seconds. The plasmavore spat on the face of one of the floored guards as it trotted past, smirking as it twisted its gaze up to meet that of its victim who was staring at him with blazing fury, eyes twinkling angrily, wind whipping around her as she stood up from her massive throne, making the plasmavore gulp nervously as she levelled her long and rather pointy horn at it, voice rising from her throat like a tidal wave laced with rage. “Nopony hurts my ponies!” The plasmavore blinked in pain as a ball of bright, burning yellow light formed at the edge of her horn, crackling and shrieking with energy, making the unfortunate alien take a step back out of fear, eyes widening as it realized it may have underestimated its opponent. Before it could run and flee, before it could leave and form a better plan, the ball of burning, scorching light screamed and exploded from the horn of the white pony, chasing towards it at the speed of a bullet. The plasmavore closed its eyes in fear as the ball grew closer and closer until. Nothing. Hesitantly, the plasmavore opened its eyes, almost immediately noticing the look of confusion and fear on the face of its victim before it looked down at itself, noting how unscathed its body seemed, containing a sigh of relief as it looked up at the baffled princess with a cocky smile that suggested it knew what would happen all along. “You can't hurt me with your useless magic, I am a far greater being than you or any of these pathetic little ponies!” That seemed to draw the princess out, the rage and anger that had once spewed from her now rekindling at the abusive tone of the disturbingly maddening colt before her, her voice speaking up regally but coldly, laced with hatred. “What do you want?” “Revenge. And you will help me get it.” Celestia frowned darkly. “I will do no such thing.” The plasmavore allowed itself a chuckle, moving forward on shaking legs, the adrenaline of the near death experience fleeing its body. “Perhaps you won't but your body certainly will.” Celestia blinked in confusion, noting the movements of the stallion and yet enriely focused on his every word. “What...what do you mean?” “What I mean, princess, is that I am going to come over there, I am going to kill you, take your body as my own, kill my age old nemesis with it and then, just to top it all off, I think I will drive this weak, fragile little country into the ground.” Celestia growled deep in her throat, anger bubbling beneath her regal form as she stood stone still before the stallion, lightning like rage sparking off of her as she spoke up in a whisper of a voice. “I will stop you.” The plasmavore snorted in mirth as it trotted forward until it rested before Celestia, a great stained window to its left, sparkling and dazzling with colours. “There is only one that could hope to stop me and he is far, far away.” And then, quite swiftly, another sound filtered into the room, the plasmavore suddenly freezing in place as an eerily familiar shout tore through the chamber, followed by the tinkling sound of shattering glass originating from the left of its taken body. The plasmavore turned just in time to see a brown blur rocket into its side. [.] Moments earlier Darkness. And then life. “Ugh, Doctor?” The Doctor groaned loudly as he yanked himself to his hooves, eyes closed tightly as he shook his head from side to side, trying to clear his mind of the dizzying stars that swirled and laughed around him. He merely offered a low groan to whoever had called his name, content that they would get the message that right now he wasn't feeling like the full ship-shape Timelord. Sadly, his unsaid and yet clear expression of 'please leave me alone for a few seconds' was ignored. “Doctor!” With a muffled, sleepy snort The Doctor reared his head at the noise, eyes squinting as he made out the form of a slightly staggering Twilight Sparkle, along with five other mares who were laying in separate, contrasting positions of dizziness, Rainbow Dash with her head in her hooves, Applejack queasily standing, Rarity hunched over, head down but legs straight, Fluttershy merely laying spread eagled on the floor and Pinkie Pie remaining standing, stock still and silent. “WasaTwilight?” Twilight frowned at the confusing medley of words before The Doctor shook his head, letting out a little sigh before turning to face her fully, eyes swimming but now shining with the old flame of determination. “Ah, that's better. Sorry about that everypony, motion sickness from a descent like that coupled with a rather, ah, interesting teleport can make the best of travellers sick.” Somewhere from behind Twilight, the sound of a pony getting rid of their dinner in a most overzealous way could be heard. The Doctor turned around to inspect the area of landing properly before he flinched and flailed backwards at the sight of the ground looming beneath him. With a startled yelp, he thrust himself away from the railing-less edge that was smothered in darkness, bumping his flank into something cold and hard. The Doctor turned around to inspect the strange structure and yet, in the pitch blackness of night, it was growing increasingly difficult to distinguish anything, his viewing of the girls merely being because each one of them stood out so brightly in the night, along with the fact that nearly every one of them was moving in some form. The Doctor wheeled around to face Twilight, question bursting from his throat. “Ah, where exactly are we Twilight? You did grow up here, right?” Twilight nodded, speaking up in a confident, if somewhat irritated voice. “We appear to be on one of the bird rests on the outside of one of the Canterlot Castle towers, which means tha-” “Wait, a bird rest?” “Yes, a bird rest. Birds have to have a place to bunker down every once in a while so the princess made sure there was a circle around the tower that would let them merely cling to and relax, the exact area we are standing on is a bird's rest, hence why there are no railings.” The Doctor nodded sagely, as if that made any sense to him at all. “Anyway, carry on Twilight.” “Well, if we are on one of the tower ledges then that means that directly below us should be the-” The Doctor butted in rather rudely. “Throne room?” Twilight blinked in bafflement before she nodded slowly, followed by an equally slow voice. “How did you know?” The Doctor smiled before indicating with a tilt of his head to the right, piping up in a happy voice. “Well, I'm guessing that massive stain glass windows aren't for every room in this castle and I also guessed that that rather large, rather royal looking silhouette in that window just there must be your princess.” Twilight blinked once more before she tilted her head gradually towards the stained window, a small smile blooming across her face as she saw the figure of her mentor illuminated from the inside. “Yes, that's her. Who's the other figure though?” Now it was The Doctor's turn to blink in confusion. “Other figure?” Twilight nodded, still looking at the stained glass window below and across from her, brow furrowing. “Yeah. Whoever it is, they're getting pretty close to the princess.” The Doctor frowned before a look of worry came across his face, his eyes casting their sight down towards the figure of Celestia and the other, mysterious figure before The Doctor's voice shattered the silent viewing of the two. “Well, it looks like I'm needed down there.” The Doctor began to back up from his perch, eyes narrowed and blazing at the stained glass, Twilight turning around to stare at him without comprehension, speaking up quietly. “What are you doing?” The Doctor smiled as he stopped moving backwards, flashing a white toothed grin at Twilight. “Something stupid and dangerous. I'll meet you down there in a minute Twilight, do not leave me waiting.” Before Twilight could say anything, before she could rebuke him, refute him or simply recite what he had said The Doctor had lowered his head to the marble ground, snorted air out of his nostrils and then charged towards the edge of the ledge, head rising up to cry out a battle call as he launched himself off of the tower and towards the relatively close but relatively distanced window, the cry of a warrior soon turning into the shrieking of a mare who recently discovered a spider. The Doctor's eyes widened as he soared through the air, tears ripped from his blue orbs and mouth open in a scream of fright as he flew quickly towards the window, his mind frantically berating him at his miss judgement of the distance. Still, the scientific, serious part of his mind couldn't quite hold back the joy The Doctor felt as the wind whipped through his hair, as the scenery whizzed past, as the feeling of complete and utter weightlessness took him over. No, perhaps the rational side of his mind couldn't make him agree that this was a bad idea but the collision with a six foot tall, four foot wide stained glass window certainly could. The glass, that had once appeared fat and hard, shattered almost instantly beneath his hooves as he rammed into it, gravity making his movements forced and powerful, The Doctor falling through the window, still yelling out hoarsely as shards of glass rained down around him. He had the briefest moment to consider how beautiful the glass looked, sparkling in the faint torch light of the chamber before he impacted hard with something soft, furry and green. The breath left the old Timelord's body as he slammed into the plasmavore with all the ferocity of gravity on his side, sending both stallions spinning across the slippery marble floor, the plasmavore hitting the wall of the throne room with a light thud whilst The Doctor merely slid to a halt halfway across the room, his progress mostly halted by his collision with the stallion disguised alien. The plasmavore groaned from its fallen position as The Doctor climbed to his hooves, one brown appendage clutched tightly to his head as he began to mutter some rather rude things about himself. The Doctor moaned a little bit more as he clutched his head before the faint fizz and burst of bright white light tingled his vision, making him let out a chuckle as the familiar voice of Twilight Sparkle called to him angrily and worriedly from somewhere behind him. “What were you thinking!?” The Doctor laughed and then winced as the pain in his head trebled, turning to face Twilight with apologetic yet mirth filled eyes. “I have no idea.” Twilight looked positively distraught, her mane had, in a couple of seconds, turned into a curly mess of tangled locks and puffy fluff, her eyes had taken on a manic, angry and yet frightened look, her mouth set in a grim line and her brow furrowed with frustration and irritation. She seemed about to give The Doctor a good tongue lashing before something behind the brown alien stallion made her pause, eyes widening and her body forming into a bow of sorts. The Doctor turned around to face the stalking Celestia, who was currently eyeing the near unconscious plasmavore who was groaning in the corner, blood oozing from its taken body as the alicorn continued to trot closer to Twilight and The Doctor. Once more the sound of shattering glass filled the air as Rainbow Dash tore through a window, Applejack and Pinkie Pie clutched tightly in her hooves, the cyan mare visibly straining under the weight as the trio of ponies collapsed onto the floor, puffing and panting, Rainbow Dash red faced as Applejack turned to her to yell loudly, her southern accent becoming more prominent. “What did ya think ya was doin'? Thar was ah perfectly fine open window right thar!” Rainbow managed to pant out a sentence. “Wanted...to...make...an...entrance.” Pinkie Pie burst into giggles at the answer before the sound of heavy breathing once more filled the air, a tumbling Fluttershy clasping onto a frightened looking Rarity bursting through one of the shattered windows, sweat streaming down the butter yellow pegasus as she stumbled to the ground with a moan of pain, her wings twitching with the effort of hauling another pony. The squabble of ponies turned to face Twilight and The Doctor, beaming happily as they took notice that their two friends were relatively unscathed apart from a small nick lacing The Doctor's foreleg where one of the shards of glass had sliced into him. The happy glazed looks left the five faces however when they turned to face the baffled and stiff still figure of their daytime ruler, all five ponies immediately breaking into a bow much like Twilight had done, causing The Doctor to hastily try his own, the end result being him slapping his face into the marble, rearing up on his legs and clutching his bruised nose with a brown hoof, moaning louder at the cruelty of life. The sound of a highly regal and powerful voice, commanding yet caring echoed around the hall, laced with heavy tinges of confusion. “Twilight, would you mind telling me what is going on?” With that, the small lavender unicorn raced forward and physically leapt into the startled embrace of the white alicorn, gushing out her story like it was a waterfall, a bursting dam. “Ohmygoshprincess, IsawthisweirdobjecthittheEverfreeForestandthenTheDoctorcamealongandhe'sanalienandnowIdon'tknowhwhattodobecause-” Twilight was silenced by Celestia quite suddenly, the old voice rising up from the alicorn's throat swiftly. “Twilight please slow down!” Twilight took in a deep breath before she exhaled shakily, rubbing her cheek into the soft fur of her rulers chest, breathing in the scent that she had attached to her own protection, purple eyes opening to gaze lovingly at magenta ones as Celestia spoke up. “Good, now if you would, please repe-” “Fools!” The royal, mighty voice of the princess was swiftly and efficiently drowned out by the shrieking, mad voice of the rising plasmavore who was shaking and quivering on green hooves, eyeing the ponies with such hatred, such malice and rage that it made all but The Doctor and Celestia take a step back in fear. “You think this is over!? You think that you can just forget about me!? I'll kill you all tonight!” Spittle flew from the mouth of the plasmavore, the taking and protecting of its deliciously powerful meal being the last shove that sent it spinning over the edge into utter insanity as it barked at them like a dog. Before Celestia could voice her opinion with flame filled words, The Doctor stepped forward to speak in a calm voice. “You are outmatched, plasmavore and, if you hadn't noticed, we have three ponies here capable of magic.” The plasmavore laughed crazily, small froth trickling from its mouth. “I am immune to your silly little magic!” The Doctor blinked in surprise and confusion for a second before a look of realization spread across his face, swiftly dampened by the same serene look he had worn earlier, attempting to make the alien before him calm down. “It doesn't matter, you are hurt and we are many. I can't rid you of your punishment but I can make sure you aren't hurt in being captured so please, do the smart thing and come peacefully.” The plasmavore scoffed in anger and malice. “You think I would come peacefully? I'll kill you first, followed by these cutesy little sacks of fur!” The Doctor growled in anger, eyes flashing dangerously for a second as his voice rose up, cold and as unmoving as stone. “These are my friends and you will never, ever hurt them.” The plasmavore laughed monstrously, trotting slowly and quaveringly around the throne room, followed closely by The Doctor as it spoke up again. “Friends? Friends!? Have you even told them of yourself, of what you have done, of who you really are!?” The plasmavore continued moving until it rested near the throne of Celestia, eyes flashing quickly towards a wooden door that lay on the right side of the throne as The Doctor spoke up. “They know me, I have told them of myself and therefore, yes, I would call them friends. And I promise you, you make a run for that door and we will be on you in seconds. So, once more, why don't you just come in peacefully?” The plasmavore panicked slightly, voice rising higher and higher as the seven ponies and one confused by angered alicorn began to close in on its position. “Have you even told them how you got here!?” The Doctor paused in his approach almost hesitantly, eyes flicking around the room yet nopony seemed to notice his stutter of a stop, Rainbow Dash suddenly speaking up from somewhere to the left of him. “Yeah, he told us. He came into Equestria flying with that big box thingy!” The Doctor winced as the plasmavore turned its eyes on him, filled with perverse pleasure and a newly formulated plan, its voice hissing around the room as it spoke up in little more then a whisper that still managed to halt the approach of the ponies. “Flying with that big box thingy, hmm? Honestly Doctor, how could you lie to them?” Fluttershy was the first to defend him unjustly, speaking up in a surprisingly hard voice for the timid mare. “He would never lie to us, would you Doctor?” The Doctor's guilty look and reluctance to speak made Fluttershy stare at him with bewilderment, Applejack's voice following the pair. “Doctah?” The Doctor gulped audibly and began to speak in a cracked voice. “I...I-” “Tell them Doctor, tell them how you really got here.” The Doctor flashed the plasmavore a furious look before he turned to face the mares, eyes cast downwards as he spoke up in a monotonous voice. “I...I haven't been entirely truthful with you girls.” The plasmavore took one step towards the door, unnoticed by the others, Celestia herself gazing curiously at the colt. “I told you I came attached to the box. I...I lied to you.” Another step without notice. “I told you the box was a prison named The Pandorica but I never told you the prisoners name.” A third and then fourth step and still nopony made a move to stop the plasmavore. “The destroyer of worlds, the devourer of lives, the burning mass of anger and hatred that the box contained.” Fifth, sixth. “The creature who had the rage inside of him, the hatred and the vengeance to destroy his own species to end a war that would span all of creation.” Nopony noticed the plasmavore silently, quietly slip out of the wooden door, smirking with pleasure and triumph, disappearing into the night, so enraptured were they by the story that they would not have moved if a cannonball were to whiz over their heads. “The monster in the box, the last of its self murdered species. It's...” The mares leaned forward, followed by the long neck of Celestia bending down to hear the words she hoped, she prayed, she pleaded she wouldn't hear, to no avail. The Doctor whispered the last words raggedly and brokenly, sadness, guilt and such a deep, unsettling depression laying over his voice. “It's...it's me.” A/N: Took me long enough, eh? Sorry for the lack of updates, I've just been really, really busy lately what with the popularity of my new story and my trip to Berlin. I have another two chapters I reckon left of this story, the conclusion and then the teaser of the next story. Ah yes, first a Krafayis is the invisible monster first seen in the episode known as Vincent And The Doctor. Second, Celestia was on the throne at night for a reason so I'll explain that next chapter. I will also explain why the plasmavore isn't affected by magic but the good Doc is. Thirdly, I just worked for the past four hours to finish this so I really hope you all enjoy it and, of course, constructive criticism is welcome. Finally, I'd just like to say a big thank you for being patient with me and for supporting this story. I *sob* I love you guys.
Through The Looking Lens: Part 1Through The Looking Lens: Part 1 The guards didn't know what had hit them, one moment they had been standing protectively beside the small, inconspicuous wooden door that, through a series of maze-like corridors and diabolically dead ends, led directly to the throne room of the royal sisters and the next minute they felt their life blood dripping through their partially shattered skulls, seeing the sanguine liquid drain and hearing the steady sounds of hoof-steps disappear into the night. Or, at least what they thought to be hoof-steps. Behind them the door creaked and groaned, buckling and writhing as the dastardly night air caught it time and time again, sending it rocking back and forth like a serenade aimed at the poor guards who lay in front of it, their eyesight dimming as the door shrieked and wailed them to the gates of Eternity. With one last shaky breath, both guards sank into the floor, the last thought flaming brightly in their minds being that they had failed in their duties before they simply ceased to be, their bodies now cooling. The plasmavore continued onwards into the night, shaking the small droplets of blood from its hands as it went, stomach growling and snarling at it to turn back and drain them first, to absorb their essence and their lives but its mind refused, deciding that the danger was too great, that the risk was too high. And so, with a dizzied mind, a battered body, blood-stained hands, a screaming stomach and a sick, murderous desire to destroy The Doctor, the plasmavore entered the gardens of the Canterlot Castle, vanishing into the shrubbery like a spectre, the leaves barely rustling as it strolled through them, its head constantly flicking backwards, expecting to see the brown stallion standing behind it, expecting to see the anger and the power held in those eyes, expecting to feel blistering pain and righteous wrath. Yet the wrath never came and so the plasmavore continued on its journey, nervous, afraid and worried but with a sense of growing confidence as the night heralded no destroyer of worlds, no great warrior or oncoming storm. No Doctor. With a creeping motion that would have put shadows to shame, the plasmavore sneaked and danced through the foliage and patterned, pretty plants until it stumbled upon a lone, white wall that spiralled higher and higher upwards, past the tops of the tallest trees. The edge of the garden, discovered and safeguarded by an unclimbed, unscaled wall that had sat at the edge of the castle for aeons and which would stand for aeons more. With a growl of anger, the plasmavore turned away from the wall and started to walk right, fear and anxiety returning as it desperately sought a means to escape the gardens before they came coming for it, torturing it, hurting it. No, no, no, no, that was its job, the torturing and the hurting and, eventually, the killing. Oh yes, it would enjoy the killing. Somewhere in the distance a bird chirped lightly, clearly disturbed by the small but noticeable noises that the plasmavore was making more and more frequently as it continued to search ruthlessly for an exit, no longer caring if a twig broke underneath it or if an animal darted away and scurried into the bushes in fright. With a snarl, the plasmavore lifted its head and hissed, hissed at the bird and the bird fell silent, fluttering away on shaking wings as the plasmavore continued forward, striding through dense greenery and intricate hedges before it emerged in a clearing, a wide open grassy plain with a single, notched and beaten wooden door directly in the centre where the wall sliced straight through the grass, its doorknob crusted with filth and disuses but still it acted as a lifeline for the plasmavore who sickeningly smiled with glee at the sight, bounding towards the door before The Doctor arrived, before The Doctor caught him. It reached the door; still no sign of The Doctor. With a light tug, the plasmavore attempted to open the door, being greeted by only a loud rattle and a lodged doorway, the sight infuriating and similarly petrifying the plasmavore as the sound exploded around the clearing, its cold eyes darting around, meeting no hunting party, not even a living soul. With an exhale of breath, the plasmavore pulled harder, feeling the door give way slightly with a groan before it yanked even harder, feeling the door give and become yanked outwards, nearly sending the plasmavore tumbling as it swung open. The plasmavore gazed into the darkness of the doorway for a second before it plunged inside, pulling the door closed with a silent click, attempting to muffle its sounds of escape though it may have been too late for such a task. The plasmavore turned around, eyes adjusting to the darkness as its vision fell open the twisted, rotting ladder that clung to the wall, twisting higher and higher before it punctured the face top of the cliff, clear night sky showing at its peak. The plasmavore frowned as it shambled over to the ladder, gripping it and shaking lightly, feeling the who0le thing creak and moan in pain but still it remained sturdy, the sight pushing a smile to the plasmavore's lips once more, a gesture that it had been doing far too much lately. It would have to stop that, smiling should be reserved for murder and crimes and blood, not creaky ladders in a freezing cold tower. And so, its face set in a scowl, the plasmavore swung onto the ladder and began to scale the old, decrepit, unused guard tower that had sat so alone and so lost among the grass and the greenery for so long. The plasmavore reached the top after what felt like minutes of climbing, the occasional stop inhibiting its climb as the ladder felt close to buckling beneath it or as a dim shout could be heard in the background, nearly always emerging from the city but nearly always making the plasmavore jump and freeze. It emerged from the guard tower like an ant sprouting from a hill, yanking its white, slimy body upwards and out of the gap before it looked around, gazing upon the city from its vantage point. Faint lights flickered in the occasional house and a small cluster if bright lights continued to paint the city, obviously from taverns and bars but that was not important because the plasmavore knew, it just knew, as the wind tugged at it, as the night sky chilled it, as the sounds of laughter and snoring drifted to its ears, it just knew that it was free. It just knew that in this city it could feed. It just knew that in this city it could lure The Doctor like a moth to a flame. It just knew it could kill him when he came strolling in like the hero. The plasmavore laughed doggedly as it imagined the looks on the faces of The Doctor's friends when he emerged from the dark city, unharmed and unscathed wearing the body of The Doctor, how relieved they would be and then, its personal favourite part, how horrified and terrified they would be when they realized the truth. Oh yes, when The Doctor came for it in this big, old, stinking, filthy city it would be waiting for him. But it was not there yet, it had not entered this treacherous town yet and so, with a swift glance backwards, the plasmavore gazed at the ground in the distance, felt the wind break across its face and it jumped. And it fell, faster and faster, quicker and quicker, the ground grew closer and closer before its legs slammed hard into the earthy ground, until its innermost mechanisms bolted and squeezed together like a coiled spring, absorbing the impact nicely just as it hit the ground, tumbling and cursing lightly as the pain still managed to snake its way up its legs, as its legs failed to stop every ounce of impact force, causing the plasmavore's right leg to buckle under the strain, nearly tearing what feeble muscle it had before the plasmavore rolled to a stop on the grassy ground, feeling the dew soak into it almost comfortingly before it climbed to its feet, noting the screaming pain in its leg but refusing to acknowledge it as it limped towards the large city, nose already working furiously, mouth salivating as it searched for something to eat, for something to quench this uncontrollable hunger. The plasmavore limped into the city, submerging itself in the shadowed refines of the houses, noting the delicious sounds and smells emanating- no -exploding out of the tavern to its right, stomach straining at it to simply go in there and butcher, kill, drain every living thing, its mind telling it to find an easier target. With a near roar of fury, the plasmavore turned from the feast that lay behind closed doors and stumbled further into the city, feeling the dark tendrils of the night wrap around and hide his form from the view of any looking creature. It walked and walked and walked for minutes, constantly stopping at inns and taverns, constantly debating with itself whether or not it was worth it, weighing perverse pleasure against silence and stealth, the mentally empowered side of its mind always winning the little arguments, always making it go on with a snarl of anger, eyes narrowing and tongue lolling out to lick around its lips. Soon enough it emerged into a vast clearing, houses laying around it in a vast, grey circle, the pavement turning to cobblestones, a quadruple set of trees dotted around the clearing bringing some much needed natural effect to the city. In the centre of the clearing sat a large and exaggerated fountain, spewing water from what appeared to be the mouths of three ponies that looked to be dancing, jiving and jumping over each other, the thin streams of liquid blasting and then drooping into the water below to create a soft splashing sound that echoed invitingly around the clearing. It was here that the plasmavore picked up on the sound. Crying. The faint sobs of fear and worry and anxiety filled the air around the plasmavore, making its heart pump faster, making its mouth dribble with hunger, making its darkened soul soar higher and higher. With careful steps, the plasmavore moved around the clearing until, through a faint parting of shimmering moonlight, something caught its view. There was something hunched over the edge of the fountain, head on hooves, shoulders shaking as it wept and wept and wept openly, little body convulsing in sobs. It looked depressed, lost, saddened, broken. It looked delicious. With silent steps, the plasmavore approached, taking note of its new victim and how it looked, how it seemed, its strengths, its weaknesses. The body was small, smaller than that of the average pony it had met before and so, with lightning fast deduction, the plasmavore came to the conclusion that it was an infant, a foal or filly. Judging by the high notes of its cries, it seemed to be a filly. Its coat was a vivid orange that was smudged and smeared with dirt, odd tweaks of hair jutting up from random intervals, its little tattoo mark coated in a sheen of filth yet still it seemed to closely resemble a mountain. The small filly had a pair of fluttering, quivering wings that jostled and tossed in the night air, thin feathers falling occasionally from them. A mane and tail of midnight black sprouted from its head and rump, hiding its face from view but not hiding its tears that slid and dripped to the floor beneath it, creating a small puddle outside the fountain. At first the plasmavore wanted to snort in disgust at the idea of taking a weak, wimpy child but soon enough the benefits sprouted into its mind, causing the plasmavore to sink into a small crouch and began to lumber like a hunter towards its prey, the sounds of crying growing considerably louder. Its talons clicked on the cobblestone just once, just as it made to dart out of the treeline and silence the filly. The small ponies head instantly swivelled, ears perking up as its lavender, but blood-shot, eyes came into focused, fixed on the crouching mass of the plasmavore, mistaking it for a pony. Its voice was high, warbled and scared as it spoke up. “Have you seen my mummy?” With a single step, the plasmavore entered the clearing, its arrival making the filly shrink away in fear as it spoke up in a deathly quiet tone. “No,” it said as it drew close, eyes glittering maliciously, “I haven't seen your mummy and I don't think mummy will be seeing you, ever, again.” And then, within one minute, the plasmavore had quenched its hunger and strode out to set about a plan, to set about a sabotage that would leave The Doctor in beaten tatters before it. [.] Earlier The Doctor could see the plasmavore out of the corner of his eye as it inched out of the room step by silent step and yet he knew that he could do nothing about it for if he did the others would bar his way, they would merely toss aside his observation as yet another lie created to stop the truth from emerging. The looks alone that he was receiving, anger, sadness and, most brutal of them all, betrayal were enough to cause his two hearts to wail out in pain and the effect that having himself doubted and questioned every step of the way whilst he hunted down a killer, having everypony turn against him whilst he tried to lead them to safety, it would be too much of a strain on his hearts. And so, with a deep feeling that he would come to regret his actions, The Doctor allowed the plasmavore to slink away. With a shaky breath, The Doctor spoke up, mentally preparing himself for what was bound to unfold before him. “It's...it's me.” Silence, silence that sank bone deep and tore the wind from its perch. Silence that infiltrated the halls of Canterlot Castle like a dark phantom. Silence that drifted on and on and on seemingly endlessly, the atmosphere that had once existed in the regal throne room now tainted and tarnished by the lack of noise, by the silence. The Doctor could feel all eyes on him, could hear every intake of sharp breath, could feel the sweat on his head, could hear the beats of his hearts but mostly he could feel those eyes, those cold, unforgiving eyes tearing into him mercilessly. “What...what do you mean?” Surprisingly enough, it was Fluttershy who spoke up first, her voice laden with doubt, barely concealed fear but also twinges of barely restrained anger, as if she could not believe this colt from the stars had had the gall to lie to her. Gathering himself, The Doctor stood taller, his noticeable slouch that he had developed when he had told them disappearing as he faced the truth head on as if it were a marauding Dalek. “I didn't arrive with the box, with The Pandorica. No, The Pandorica took me here whilst I rested in its centre, bound to the machinery, trying to...trying to steer myself away from danger. The thing in the box I told you about, it's...it's me.” The colour drained from the face of the butter yellow pegasus as fear consumed her, as her anger and fury were washed away by a tidal wave of horror, her backlegs scrabbling furiously as she tore away from The Doctor to hide behind the small group that now joined closer together, as if to ward off The Doctor. Next to speak was Twilight, her voice containing no anger, hatred or terror, instead burdened down with confusion that made her stutter somewhat. “But...but you can't be! Y-you're helping us, you can't be that monster!” The Doctor smiled shakily and sickly, his grin now perverse with memories that threatened to spill forth as he spoke up again in a restrained voice. “The plasmavore didn't lie Twilight and neither am I. I'm the last one of my race left because...because I doomed all of the others.” The Doctor swallowed down the word killed, refusing to acknowledge the nagging voice in the back of his head that told him that that was exactly what he had done to his people, to his beloved race that had turned so violent, that had been corrupted by war so easily. Twilight visibly reeled from the information, backing away into the protective shield of the group, the front at which stood Princess Celestia, not knowing what exactly was going on but keying herself into just enough to know that this “Doctor” fellow was bad, bad to the bone. The Doctor kept up his shaky smile for a moment longer before it fell as Pinkie stepped from the crowd, her once pristinely pink, bouncy mane now limp and hanging, her once vivid coat now dull grey, her once mirth filled eyes now sad and watering as she dredged up the question which The Doctor had been fearing to answer for as long as the war had ended. “Why?” The Doctor stepped forward, intending to comfort the obviously devastated mare that stood in front of him before he was stopped in his tracks by the mass of ponies that surged forward, surrounding Pinkie, blocking her from view and making The Doctor falter in his tracks as six pairs of darkened, angry and petrified eyes turned to him, glares slicing into his mind. The Doctor swallowed loudly, eyes flickering into each pair of betrayed orbs before he took a step backwards, a collective sigh of relief leaving all of the mares before he attempted to speak up in a beaten voice. “I...there-there was a wa-” “How can we trust ya any more anyway? Ya'll could just lie to us now and get us whilst our guards are down!” Applejack's voice shattered The Doctor's unusually timid voice, silencing him with her hissed words before he attempted to speak again, to heal the damage he had done. “No, you...you don't understand!” “Oh, we understand just perfectly, you...you ruffian! You lied to us, you're not a gentlecolt, you're a...a monster!” Rarity this time, her barbs striking deep beneath The Doctor's skin. “Please, I just-” Rainbow Dash stepped in swiftly. “You lied you lying...you lying, stinking alien! I bet you're just hear to take our brains and return to your mothership!” “No, I just-” Twilight, looking mortified, spoke up. “Oh my Celestia, you're a monster. Oh sweet Celestia, I trusted you! I should have trusted my books, the alien always ends up being the bad guy!” “I don't...I just-” A thud that resounded around the throne room practically exploded from the front of the group of ponies, making all ears twist backwards as Celestia raised her hoof from where she had slammed it into the floor, the marble partially cracked under the impact as she spoke up in a deathly quiet voice, judging the pony before her on what those around her where saying, refusing to allow him any means for which to defend himself, to prove what they were saying false. “I have heard enough here. Now, Doctor I believe, you have been accused by these ponies before me of a...a genocide that is completely unprecedented in my reign. Is this true?” “It...it is, but-” “Then, with all of the might of the Equestrian law and by the power given to myself by the Elements of Harmony and the Solar Expansion, I, Princess Celestia, declare you a criminal and a prisoner until further notice. I shall have to hear all of the facts but from what I have heard tonight, Doctor, it appears that you shall face a punishment fit for the atrocities you have committed.” The Doctor recoiled at the thunderous voice that billowed forth from Celestia's mouth, in fact, all of the ponies present recoiled from the winged, horned deity that seemed to have shifted into a piercing yell before The Doctor lowered his head closer to the floor, mumbling out a sentence that the ponies before him just managed to catch. “There is no punishment great enough...” The Doctor felt a single tear streak down his cheek as he cast his gaze up at the hate filled eyes that stared him down, hearts screaming as each of them turned their metaphorical backs on him. Never before had he been silenced quite like this, never before had his story been hindered and fragmented until only half the truth came out, until he lived through guilt, unable to answer the question of why he had done what he had done, unable to bolster his resolve and wash away his guilt with logic and reason. No, this right here, standing in front of what very well may have been a tribunal of judging faces, feeling the blistering anger, fear and betrayal, this was exactly what he deserved for what he had done, this was exactly what he had brought upon himself. A short sound of a scuffle broke out behind The Doctor as he turned away from his former friends, still practically feeling their burning gazes drill into the back of his head. Things hadn't gone to plan, he had been trampled over by a horde of conclusion jumping ponies and now, now a murderous monster was loose upon the city all because he had thought that he could explain why he did what he did, all because he had thought that they would understand, all because he thought that, like the humans, they would be too enraptured by his tale to voice their opinions until later. He had been wrong, dead wrong, and now Equestria would most likely suffer for it. The sounds of the scuffle rose in volume before there was a light yelp of surprise, the sound of thundering hooves on marble racing towards him and then, with a little strangled cry, something leaped through the air and landed on The Doctor's back just as he turned half-heartedly to see what all the commotion was about, his shock easily showing as he went down in a flurry of hooves, a loose cry of surprise bursting from his lips as he slammed into the cold marble. Something wet and cold started to pool around the base of the back of his neck as The Doctor laid splayed on the marble, disoriented and groggy, the slight feeling of dampness partially rousing him from his stupor as the sounds of cautious approach sounded, the gentle clip-clopping of hooves on marble situating that the gang of ponies that had once trusted him were drawing closer. With a muffled moan of pain, The Doctor rotated his head until he stared over his shoulder, immediately picking up on the flat, dead, dull pink mane that swing over his shoulder, touching his front hooves, along with the dull pink body that had wrapped around his own brown one like a snake around its victim. Soft, faint sounds of sobbing emerged from his neck area, small moans of depression reverberating up to his head as the squeeze around him tightened, choking the life from him as Pinkie burrowed further into his fur, her blue eyes sealed shut, her face hidden by both her falling hair and his somewhat soggy coat. The Doctor looked back in confusion at the small group of rag-tag ponies who were drawing nearer, his own confusion reflected in their faces as the faintest smell of bubblegum drifted through his nose, strangely emanating from the mane of the distraught looking pony that had coiled around him. And then, dimly yet growing louder and louder and louder, The Doctor began to make out what exactly it was that Pinkie was tearfully groaning into the back of his neck, the words making even the vindictive band of mares approaching him stop in their tracks. “I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry...” The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, closed it, opened it again, closed it, opened it for a third time... Closed it. The Doctor used to be able to count on one hand how many times he had been entirely flabbergasted beyond belief, his new lack of hands making the occasions somewhat difficult to remember, but this right here, the sobbing of a pink pony inside a castle made by ponies, on a plane ruled by ponies most certainly took the cake. Still, he was The Doctor, sworn fighter of evil and abuser of the wisdom of wit so what good would it have done for him if he had remained silent for more then five seconds? And so, five seconds after the first words became distinguishable, The Doctor spoke up in an exceptionally timid voice. “Why...why are you sorry?” Pinkie just increased her grip on him, as if believing that if she gave The Doctor even the smallest amount of wriggling room then she would loose him, her voice muffled and riddled with sobs as she spoke into his neck. “Ai burleafed hat chu wu-” “I'm sorry, pardon?” “Ai burleafed hat chu wur a burg mien-mienie-” “I, ah, I still can't quite understand.” “Ai burleafed-” “Pinkie, use your words.” The quivering mare that had settled against his fur drew in a deep shuddery breath before her hooves partially excavated themselves from The Doctor's fur and her head rose from its perch on his neck, raw, red eyes gazing at his with sorrow that seemed perhaps a tad exaggerated. Rivulets of fallen tears marked her face, some moisture still wavering on the edges of her blue orbs as she drew in an even deeper breath and began to speak lightning fast, tinges of sobs just visible on the edge of her voice. “I believed that you were a big mean-meanie pants and then I got sad and I asked you why you did it and then I remembered that my Pinkie-sense didn't go off around you and it didn't tell me you were a mean-meanie pants so you couldn't have been a mean-meanie pants but then all of my friends were being mean-meanie pants and not letting you speak and I started it and I'm a big mean-meanie pants and then you were all sad and you looked so old and I felt sad and Celestia looked like a meanie-mean pants and then you looked even more sad and it was all my fault and I can't believe I did it and then my friends-” Pinkie's head suddenly swivelled around at the speed of a bullet to stare angrily at her friends, small flickers of fire blazing in her eyes as her voice rose in both pitch and volume, the sound making The Doctor wish that Pinkie had allowed him enough space to move his hooves to his sensitive ears. “You lot! I thought he was the big mean-meanie pants but noooooo, you totally ignored him, you totally jumped to conclusion and you totally didn't want to throw him a big welcome party when he arrived!” Celestia spoke up, her voice hesitant and filled with barely concealed doubt. “But Miss Pie-” “Quiet Missus! You were just as bad as the rest of them with all of your “Throw him in jail” and “Pay for atrocities” speech. He hasn't even done anything bad to you, he hasn't even shown a tiny, wickle, smickle amount of badness...essity and still you accuse him of being evil and mean and smelly.” The Doctor frowned slightly, his obvious quarrel with the idea that he smelled bad overriding his desire to simply listen to what the young mare was frantically saying. “I don't think anypony called me smell-” “Quiet, I'm trying to help you dopey! Aaaaaaaanyway, not one of you bothered to let him speak up, not one of you bothered to hear his story, not one of you bothered to help me bake him a cake...a cake which I totally forgot! Oh Celestia, it's still sitting in the Cake's kitchen, I so wanted to give it to him when we'd captured that big meanie, you silly filly Pinkie-Winkie. Oh, where was I?” “Y'all were verbally lashin' us, hun.” Five eyes filled with anger flickered to Applejack who took a step back, a small chuckle escaping her throat as her features blushed red. “Aww yeah, not one of you was fair to him and you know what I think? I think we should apologize to him because we were the mean-meanie pants. Who agrees?” Silence followed by a strange growling voice which rose from Pinkie. “Who agrees?” Mumbled words of agreement split the air, Celestia herself averting her gaze from the choleric Pinkie before the little pink mare spoke up again, her head turning around to face The Doctor's, her eyes now free of the tears she had once held, her coat returning to its normal sheen and her hair becoming somewhat frizzy around the edges, as if waiting to return to its usual lustre. “Good, then I'll start. I'm very sorry Mr Doctor for making you all sad.” A swift glare from Pinkie directed at the other mares caused each one of them to speak up in unison. “Ah'm...ah'm mighty sorry sugarcube. We ain't even heard ya out an' we jumped to e poor conclusion.” “Perhaps I was a teensy bit overboard with the monster remark, I suppose you haven't been anything but a proper gentlecolt when we were around. Well, except when you stuck me in that spider infested corner.” “Oh, umm, I'm really sorry Mr Doctor and I understand if...if you're angry at me.” “Yeah, sorry alien dude, I sorta blew my casket there, aha. I suppose I'll have to at least hear the story before I whoop your flank.” “I'm sorry Doctor, my inner scientist is mentally berating me at not hearing all of the evidence before making a hypothetical conclusion.” “It would appear that I may have misjudged you, Doctor, if the Element of Laughter is so willing to stick up to you. Consider the prison sentence revoked and please accept my humblest apologies.” The Doctor blinked in bafflement as each of the mares who had been pining for his freedom mere moments earlier now stood before him looking shamed and disgraced, their features flickering with guilt and their eyes no longer filled with hate but now with a stony reluctance, as if they were expecting the worst to unfold. Still entirely confused, The Doctor spoke up in a voice layered with oddities and bewilderment. “Uh, apologies accepted?” Immediately, a sound similar to that of a small explosion erupted from Pinkie, her hair re-inflating, her coat sparkling back to life and her eyes practically bursting with joy as she allowed her hooves to return to their owners body, finally freeing The Doctor who wasted no time in standing back up and shaking himself off as the pink mare bounced and skipped back to the relieved looked group, a small on her face as she swivelled in mid air, stuck a hoof in her hair, pulled out a bowl of popcorn and landed on her rear in front of the group, all eyes locked on her as her bouncy, peppy voice rose up again, this time filled with joy. “Oh goodie. So, can we hear your story now Mr Doctor?” And then, as if she had been planning this affair all along, Pinkie winked conspicuously at The Doctor, drawing a startled expression from him which made Pinkie burst into giggles. Although, he had to hand it to the spunky young party pony, she had managed to completely turn around a situation that seemed incredibly dire, the idea of facing down an army of Cybermen was currently more appealing to The Doctor than reliving what happened mere moments ago. Desperate to move on and to find the plasmavore, The Doctor spoke up in his normal voice, the mood that would usually accompany his tale of the destruction of his people, sadness and melancholy, was askew because of his relieved feelings towards the others allowing him a chance to show them why he did what he did, creating a cacophony of mixed messages. “Ah, yes, of course. You see my people were old, older then old in fact. We were known as Gallifreyans before we adopted the title of Timelord, a tad exaggerative in my opinion... ...We lived happily for a time, we became great inventors, we meddled in the affairs of time and we constructed machines that would allow both space and time travel. Our race was a prosperous one, a wonderful one. Our planet was beautiful, deep red grass, capped with snow. We were harmonious and the universe was harmonious around us... ...And then, everything changed.” All of the mares, six eyes full of wonder, were enraptured by The Doctor's tale so much that they didn't notice the small pitch change in his voice as his tone sunk into something that could be called regret. The group was so enraptured in fact, that Pinkie had even dropped her popcorn on the ground in order to lean closer and hear the stallions words, all thoughts of his betrayal and evil intentions clearly vanished. “There was another race alongside us, born of hate and anger and malice, a race of creatures so foul that they would taint the air itself with evil, that they would scourge whole worlds just because they could. Their names were The Daleks, with their master Davros leading their armies... ...And so, with the universe in peril from full scale war, from destruction that would leave nothing in its wake, we did what we had to do. We went to war with The Daleks over the fate of the universe, we battled the demons that plague nightmares, we fought evil with good, darkness with light... ...And...and we lost.” Eyes widened and breath was inhaled sharply as The Doctor spoke those fateful words, his once happy mood now deadened as the memories forced themselves into his mind and heart, like a twisting knife. “We lost, they lost, everyone lost. My race, the Timelord's of old were no more, they had been changed by the war, they had been corrupted into something that would have made the old Gallifreyans weep with pity. They were no better than The Daleks and I know, I just know, that given time, if we had won then we would have gone on to 'protect' the whole universe... ...And so I stopped it, I stopped it all. I threw my race and The Daleks into oblivion, I burnt Gallifrey using The Moment. I made sure Rassilon's plans couldn't be put into fruition.” The Doctor was practically talking to himself now but his audience remained captured by the cold, dead voice that told the tale. “I killed my own people because I had to, because if I hadn't then the Time War would rage on, then millions of planets would have burnt. I sacrificed my planet for the universes survival. I sealed that time away using a time-lock so that it could never be tampered with... ...I did what I had to and I would do it again. They were monsters, those Daleks, but they were born monsters. I couldn't stand by and watch my people morph into creatures like The Daleks, I couldn't stand by and let Davros have his ultimate victory. I ended the Time War by sacrificing what was most precious to me, I ended the Time War by burning my home and its people. That is my story, that is why I am named the destroyer of worlds and the killer of my own kind, because I had to...I-I just had to.” The Doctor exhaled raggedly, feeling the bitter sting of tears in his eyes before he was once more sent sprawling as six furry bodies impacted with his own, drawing a strangled squeak from The Doctor's throat as he was sent tumbling backwards. Six pairs of limbs tightened around him like serpents, thoroughly crushing his lungs and causing The Doctor's face to redden and his eyes to bulge, faint trickling tears spilling onto his coat as each of the six mares that had leapt on him began to wail aloud their opinions. “Darlin', ah...ah didn't know. Ah'm...ah'm so sorry!” “Oh, that is the worst. Possible. THING!” “That's so sad. Oh you poor dear, we were so mean to you! Gosh Fluttershy, you're such a meanie pants.” “That's super duper luper sad Mr Doctor!” “Ah Celestia, ya...ya had to go and make me cry didn't ya, stupid alien.” “Oh Doctor, I'm...I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry!” The Doctor continued to flail his hooves around in the air as the life was slowly crushed out of him, his face increasingly red, his eyes worryingly bulbous as his life began to flash past his eyes, his only current thought being that smothered to death by ponies would not be a good explanation of his death before a burst of yellow, ethereal magic literally tore the mares off of The Doctor, allowing him to force oxygen into his lungs as each of the girls were deposited calmly and softly onto the marble floor of the throne room, each of them looking thoroughly embarrassed as The Doctor continued to cough and splutter on the floor. The heavy, but tranquil sounds of hoof steps echoed towards him as he continued to rock on his back on the floor, air wheezing in and out of his body in great bursts before a gentle tingling sensation rolled through him, supplying him enough air to cease his needless, greedy choking down of the air. The Doctor glanced down at his body, just noting the fading, shimmering golden aura before a clear, regal but apologetic voice reached his ears, no longer filled with the hatred and the retribution that it had once held. “I...I made a mistake today Doctor, a mistake that not only would have cost an innocent pony-” “Alien!” “Thank you Pinkie, an innocent alien his freedom, but a mistake that also made him relive a past that sounded almost too painful for even myself to experience. For that I am truly, truly sorry Doctor.” The Doctor rose to his hooves, shrugging his shoulders as he cracked and popped his neck which had taken a severe beating in its previous fall, his eyes closed in concentration as he attempted to clear a particular aggravating ache, his voice rising up nearly subconsciously. “Oh, no real matter, you were only looking out for your ponies after all, I can't fault you for that. Now I...believe...we...” The Doctor opened his eyes and gazed at Princess Celestia for the first true time, instead of just glimpsing her out of the corner of his blue orbs or seeing her smouldering with noting but anger. The Doctor's gaze flicked across her body, sensing, deep down, that something about her was not right, that something about her was worthy of his absolute attention, that something about her was not just different, but wrong, so very, very wrong. And then it came to him, in a split seconds, as The Doctor's eyes widened in realization, and then fear, as he took a step back from the Goddess of the Sun. Celestia too had seen something when she had looked at The Doctor, had felt an aching in the back of her mind as if she should remember him, as if she had seen him before, as if he had played such an important, desperately important role in her life and yet she had forgotten him, she had forgotten somepony who lay muffled and concealed within her age old memories. Celestia was by no means a foolish pony, nor was she a pony who could ignore the signs and, as soon as The Doctor stepped back, as soon as she saw the fear and the horror in his eyes, she took a step back as well, fear foolishly clogging her as if the very idea that this being before her, this Doctor could experience fear so potent, then whatever it was it must be horrendous. Her voice nearly cracked as she spoke up, only years worth of political power allowing her to stabilize her voice. “What is it, Doctor?” He muttered something then, something that she just picked up on and then, quickly, something she wished she hadn't picked up on. “Shouldn't exist.” This time she could not help the stutter in her voice. “D-Doctor?” The Doctor gazed at her for a moment longer with nearly glazed eyes, his mind frantically working inside his head before he shook himself, the dazed sight leaving his face as he opened his mouth to speak, staring right at Celestia, and then closed it, opened and closed, three times in a row before he coughed quite suddenly, the sound easily drawing everyponies attention as he spoke up in what could have been regarded as a whisper were it not for the rather loud ending. “Celestia, at some point in the future, you and I are going to have to have a talk. A big, long talk, one of the ones where I make you really confused and you look at me like I'm crazy. Yep, that's the look right there... ...Anyway, that talk will have to come later because right now we have a fairly large problem on our hands because, if nopony had noticed, it appears our rather rude, rather vicious little alien has managed to make a rather grand, rather daring escape!” All heads instantly swivelled to face the direction in which the plasmavore had last been seen, loud gasps escaping everyponies throats, even Celestia's, as the disappearance of the plasmavore became apparent, as the oddity that had happened mere moments ago was forgotten as Twilight shifted her head back around to face The Doctor, her eyes wide, scared and confused as her voice rose up, tone full of worry. “Doctor, what are we going to do!? That...that thing is out there right now, maybe killing ponies!” The Doctor cleared his throat as all eyes turned back to him, five filled with barely restrained worry, one filled with images of a perfect party for the new alien and one alight with a fire that seemed to smoulder around her like the coma of a comet, her royal stance displaying only anger at the merest idea of murder. “Well Twilight, what we are going to do, or rather, what I am going to do is think up an insanely ingenious plan to make sure that the plasmavore is captured. All I really need is a spark, a little twinkle of an idea, a small, tinted light in the darkness to give me the inspirat-” Something twinkled majestically just out of the corner of The Doctor's eye, something that made him tilt his head around and gaze through the window at the object that had caught his attention, his speech scattered as he gazed higher and higher, sight resting on top of one of the tallest towers and the object that sat atop it, a light and then enormous smile painting across his face as The Doctor spoke up again in a weirdly jubilant voice, as if the answer to all of their problems had been answered. “Twilight, remember how I said I needed a spark?” The purple mare nodded and The Doctor continued. “Well, consider that spark well and truly found and it's not just a spark, it's a great big bonfire, one of the types that's really tall and smelly. Except this plan doesn't smell like smoke and fire because that would probably be bad. I'm going to need a few things however.” Celestia stepped forward, her tone full of righteous wrath and determination. “I'll make sure that you get what you need.” The Doctor cracked a smile as he whirled around on his hind-legs, deploying a surprisingly acrobatic three-sixty, coming to a stop before the mares as he spoke up in a giddy voice. “Ok, I'm going to need sand, a map, a team of engineers, a compass, a protractor, a clear view of the night sky... ...and a fez.” [.] It was quiet. Quiet and dark and ever so cold as The Doctor trudged alone through the shadowed streets of the Canterlot suburbs, his eyes constantly roaming around the darkened city for any signs of life, be it alien or otherwise. The sounds of laughter ans talk reached his ears, hailing from many pubs and taverns that littered the city, small glows of light bursting into the sky from distinct directions, the flickering lanterns and lamps inside of houses casting their illumination outwards to the night sky. Millions upon millions of stars twinkled and danced magnificently overhead, each constellation bearing a surprisingly similar construction to the ones that the humans had used to decipher and map out their own night. The moon, spherical, barren and cratered, lay nestled in the sky like a shining orb, its beams of lunar light piercing the darkness occasionally to clear the way for The Doctor, as if someone else was looking out for him on this night. He could have happily stared at that luminous, numinous moon all night but alas he had places to go, a strict time schedule to stick to. He had a monster to beat. And so, averting his gaze from the stars but constantly looking up at them, The Doctor continued on his steady, cautious trot, eyes roaming the gloom of the night for the missing alien. He had, of course, been offered a weapon to protect himself for when he went outside, a nasty looking silver sword with a curved, pirate-like handle, but he had declined the offer, instead opting to go with what he had on him, which was a red bow-tie, scruffy hair and a mind full of mischief. Oh, and a fez. An actual, honest to Celestia fez. He had gotten his beloved fez and now it sat upon his head like a parrot on the shoulder of a pirate, its red coat blazing in the night, its golden, fabric cord swinging down to smack The Doctor in his right eye every once in a while, making him question whether or not fezzes were as cool as he had set them out to be. The Doctor continued to trot around the city for minutes on end, the night air chilling into his coat and the whistling wind ruffling up his hair even more than its usual appearance. He passed numerous taverns, each with intricate and astounding names, such as 'The Scarlet Mare', 'Hay And Oats' and The Doctor's personal favourite, 'Celestia's Flank' which, for some unknown reason, had the most amount of laughter emerging from it, so much mirth that it seemed to fog and cloud the clearing that The Doctor had discovered the pub in but now he was alone, the taverns behind him as he clambered into the housing area of Canterlot, as he began to hunt closer to what many ponies would call their homes. The Doctor wasn't quite sure what had made him stop as he was travelling down that dark, twisted, menacing looking alley, he didn’t quite know what divine power had grasped him and made him gaze wordlessly down the interlocking alley that stretched from his own alley but look he did and, as his eyes picked up on a speck of something, he began to trot further into the alley, eyes scanning the darkness intensely. Soon enough, he reached the object that had snatched his attention and, when he reached it, The Doctor blanched and recoiled somewhat in both revulsion and anger, burning, smouldering anger. He took one step back, then another and another and another until he had exited the alley, eyes still locked on the speck that he had glimpsed in the first place, his blue orbs practically alight with fury as he shuddered once, just once, a tremendous ripple echoing through his body as he whirled around on the spot, hair swinging wildly, fez nearly toppling from his head as he prepared himself for the attack from the plasmavore. Nothing. No sight, smell or sound of anything disturbed the gloom, nothing but the whistling wind and fragmented laughter reached The Doctor's ears as he turned his head around, eyes wide and searching, searching deeper and deeper into the night, yet finding nothing. The Doctor allowed the tension to go out of his muscles, allowed the fury to seep away like mud in the rain, allowed his preparation for a fight whittle away until all that was left was an ugly, empty, heartbroken feeling as he once more cast his eyes back down the alley he had recently visited, mind and hearts aching with pain as he locked eyes with what he had thought to be a mere speck moments ago. As he remembered how twisted and broken it had been, as he remembered how frail and lifeless it had looked, as he remembered the look of horror set forever across its face, that simple reminiscent memory alone making The Doctor tremble with anger, a small growl rising up in his throat as his head swung around and he began to loudly, incredibly loudly, stomp down the alleyway. His head remained bowed partially, eyes flickering across every speck of darkness, soul burnt with hatred and anger so strong that it thickened the air around him, traces of desolate sadness mingling into its depths to lace the sky like poison as The Doctor continued to trot further and further down the alley. The Doctor exited the alley into what appeared to be an incredibly wide street with a single, yellow flickering tavern at the far end of its long stretch, his head turning again and again before he trod carefully onto what was obviously the road, feeling the thick cobblestones beneath his hooves as he partially stumbled across the road, mumbling curses as his equine legs began to wobble and twist across the slick and ever so frustrating cobble. The Doctor raised his head as he reached the edge of the road, noting the large, theatre-esque building that stood before him, its depths shadowed by the night but still distinguishable, great, black pillars rising from in front of him, a series of long winding steps which led upwards situated right in front of him. The Doctor paused a moment to admire the sight, his anger diminishing somewhat as he marvelled at the architectural genius behind the sentient, sapient ponies before he shook his head and trotted through the dark alley directly to the right of the theatre. Before long, the alley that The Doctor had chosen to follow ended, opening up into a wide clearing which made The Doctor pause in his stride in surprise. Large, cobblestoned pavements littered the area with a few sparse houses laying scattered around the wide clearing in a circular shape, all black windows and tightly sealed doors. Four large, brown barked, seaweed green leaved trees stood like guards around the noble looking clearing, acting as if they were protecting the ponies of this estate. Through the foliage of the trees, a large fountain which gushed water from what appeared to be the mouths of a triplet of ponies stood, the faint trickle and gush of the water sounding almost soothingly in The Doctor's ears, sparkling, moonlit water rising through the air like a bird. That was not why The Doctor was so surprised, however. A small filly rested her head against the stone edge of the fountain, her shoulders rolling back and forth with loud, wailing sobs that broke the tranquillity of the night, yet seemed to not wake any of the residents of Canterlot. The fillies orange coat was pristine and immaculate, her vivid colour blasting through the darkness like the light atop a lighthouse, her pitch black mane blending in perfectly with the night. She was small, smaller then small in fact. She was tiny, absolutely tiny, having been barely over seven years old. On her flank rested a carefully crafted cutie-mark of a mountain with a sheen of smoke rolling around its top, small wings fluttering just higher up her body, disjointedly and brokenly as if the little pegasus had lost all control of them. The Doctor trotted forward quietly, his hooves clicking partly on the floor, making the filly raise her head up to stare at him with crystal clear lavender eyes, no traces of tears visible, before her head moved back down to the stone edge of the fountain, her cries and weeps increasing in both volume and pitch as The Doctor drew nearer, stopping on the opposite side of the fountain to stare at the filly through the reflection of the water, the fragmented, shattered orange pegasus's reflection drawn across the face of the water. “If you wanted to try and catch me out, you should have found a better hiding place for your disguise,” The Doctor said in a cold, dead voice, images of the broken body of the filly that he had stumbled across in that dark alley a while ago making its way to the forefront of his mind, his anger making him push his hooves into the ground hard until they shook with force, “because that's all she was to you right, a disguise? Nopony important, nopony that anypony would miss.” The little filly raised her head at The Doctor's coldly furious words, lavender eyes twinkling first with fake confusion and then with both malice and anger as the puppet body of the plasmavore pushed itself to its hooves, a magnificently monstrous smile painting across its face as it barked out words in that high pitched, childish voice that broke The Doctor's hearts. “That's all she was to me, yes, a disguise to throw away when I could find a better one and here you are! My perfect disguise, my most sought after object of revenge,” the plasmavore growled out in that high voice, its lavender eyes blazing with anger and joy, “And here you are, strolling right into my claws like a fly to the spider.” The Doctor continued to stare at the small, orange, pegasus body through the water, his eyes drilling right through the plasmavore, who took a single, small, seemingly insignificant step back at the anger behind the eyes. “You've killed and killed and killed again, all to get to me. You planned to murder the single, most important creature in this whole world but that's not worst. No, you said that this little filly, who you murdered and drained, you said that she was nopony important... ...Let me tell you something, plasmavore. Everypony, every creature, everywhere is important. She had a family, she had friends and peo-ponies who loved her. She had a life, a real one, with happiness and joy and anger and fear, and you took that from her... ...The stallion was one thing, planning to murder the Princess was another, heh, planning to kill me was not surprising but this, what you've done here, this is the single, most potent, most powerful reason towards why, on this night, I am going to make sure that you never harm another creature ever again... ...But every creature, no matter how monstrous or cruel, deserves another chance and this is yours. Repent, come with me, give yourself up freely. You'll go to jail, you'll be punished for your crimes and, let me tell you this, it will be so much better than what will happen to you if you don't take my chance... ...One more chance to give yourself up freely. Do the smart thing, take it. Be the brightest of all of my opponents, be the one who finally outwits me, do the one thing that would honestly surprise me. Give yourself up freely.” The plasmavore blinked its false eyes, doubt lining its face before it morphed back into its usual, hateful, spiteful appearance as the plasmavore spat out a retort in its adorable voice. “Never Doctor, never! What will you do to me now!?” The Doctor blinked slowly, his face set in a stony appearance before a small look of confusion and partial sheepishness drifted through his complexion and then his voice. “Ah, actually I thought you'd give yourself up to be honest so I'm not entirely sure what to do now...” The plasmavore took a step around the fountain, The Doctor mirroring the gesture in the other direction. “Maybe we could rock, paper, scissor towards whether or not you go to jail? Ah, wait, hooves...” Another pair of steps. “Hmm, oh, I could hit you really hard in the face and knock you out...or you might just get back up and kill me...” Step. “I don't suppose you're allergic to water are you? That'd really make my day...night...” Closer. “Uh, I could wake everypony up and then, together, with the power of friendship we could imprison you! Nah, too childish...” The clop of a step and then the high pitched, warbling voice of the filly. “I'm going to kill you Doctor.” “Well, I'm glad we cleared that part up.” “Slowly.” “Sounds horrible.” “Painfully.” “I'm not sure I like this idea.” “I'll make the streets run red with whatever blood is left inside you.” “Oh, it'll be just like a carnival, except so much worse.” The plasmavore growled low in its throat, looking at The Doctor through the clear water of the fountain, seeing the fragmented image staring back at it, their places now switched so that The Doctor now stood where the plasmavore once stood and vice-versa. The Doctor glanced around at his surroundings, his gaze lingering unconsciously on what appeared to be a simple, boring alleyway before his head turned back to stare at the plasmavore, a grin born of refined anger and cold fury forcing its way onto his old face as his voice spoke up across the short distance, the plasmavores taken ears twitching at the sounds. “Bet you can't catch me!” And with a flick of his tail and a little, bark of laughter, The Doctor whirled around and raced into the alleyway he had been staring at, the plasmavore scrambling after him. The Doctor raced through darkened alleys, silently counting how many corners he turned, how many steps he had taken, how many houses he had passed. Subconsciously, his eyes grazed the sites around him, from the quiet houses to the rowdy pubs, his ears twitching at both the sounds of laughter and also in a desperate search to determine where the chasing plasmavore was exactly. That little situation was swiftly answered as the orange filly came blasting around a corner directly in front of The Doctor, its head turned away from him to stare down the space where he should be heading, its small body panting rapidly as it failed to notice The Doctor's bowling ball-esque approach from the other direction. Its ears twitched however, its head turning just in time to see The Doctor leap over its small body, just in time to see the cocky, confident grin that The Doctor had flashed at it before the colt hit the ground on the other side of the plasmavore and continued to sprint, tingles of laughter lacing the air where he had once been. The plasmavore growled to itself before it gave chase once more. Right. Left. Right. Right. Straight forward. Left. The Doctor mentally quarantined off all other areas that blurred past him, concentrating only on his destination as the sounds of hot pursuit reached his ears, small clops sounding off of the pavement like a battalion of soldiers marching to war. The Doctor drew in a deep breath of air as he pulled another sharp left, the sound of a small crash and a muffled curse behind him making him grin wildly, adrenaline flooding his old system with renewed vigour and strength as he pulled a tight right. He was nearly there, just one more right turn, followed by a left and then... The Doctor turned right and almost immediately turned left, the nearly hidden passageway leading him down a dark alley before he emerged into a puddle of moonlight that illuminated the space before him. A wide open space, surrounded by housing with only the statue of a singular pony flapping its granite wings providing any real cover, the floor bathed in white light, the houses silent. The area before him was massive, larger than large, almost as wide as a mansion and completely open to the sky. Perfect. It was only then that The Doctor realized that the sounds of pursuit had ended and by that time it was too late. Pain rocketed through The Doctor's body as he was flung off of his hooves by a blur of orange fur that smashed into his side from the right, bruising his ribs and knocking all traces of air from his body. The Doctor hit the pavement with a small crunch, his head slapping the cobbles agonizingly as the plasmavore twisted before it hit the ground, its hooves now striking the stone instead of its back as it rose gracefully to its hooves. Groggily, The Doctor raised his head from the floor to inspect the small orange filly that was standing perhaps four metres away from him before his groggy gaze turned to one of fascination and horror as the plasmavore let out a screech of triumph and began to shed its host body like the skin of a snake. First, all of the colour drained from the small filly as if she was ill, her orange coat shedding its colour into a crystal white complexion, her mane and even eyes following the trend of colour conversion. The fillies legs began to twitch and shiver, elongate and stretch, as the plasmavore began to reset to its original body, her eyes shrinking and her mouth growing larger and larger, darker and darker. The sounds of popping bones and crunching cartilage filled the air as the neck of the filly expanded and expanded, as her body grew and stretched, as the fur melted into its pure white skin, as the hooves sunk and small claws began to bubble and protrude from its depths. With a wordless cry, the plasmavore reared up onto its hind-legs and, with a formidable show of strength, grabbed what remained of the fillies body and simply tore it off, no longer caring about its disguise as it tossed the few scraps of hair and skin to the side, its body reverting its chemistry and sinking back into the parasite form of its body. The Doctor wanted to run, to flee and escape from the monster before him but he couldn't, his head hurt too much, his limbs refused to budge and there was something else that kept him from leaving. Ah, the plan. Of course, he couldn't go and abandon that now, even if things had taken a rather disturbing turn for the worst and so, with a shaky intake of breath, The Doctor spoke up. “That really, really, really hurt.” The plasmavore's soulless eyes turned to The Doctor, filled with malice and hunger as it cackled evilly before it began to stride towards The Doctor, its mouth turned up in a horrible grin. Soon enough it reached the fallen form of The Doctor, leaning over his aching body, a vile stench of death wafting from its mouth as it spoke up in a deathly quiet voice. “I have you Doctor, finally, finally, I win!” The Doctor gulped loudly as he looked upwards into those murderous eyes before he shrugged half-heartedly. “I never really liked this game anyway.” The plasmavore pulled a claw back, raising its jagged edges above its head as it spoke up in an angry but somewhat joyous voice, the taint of the fillies voice now leaving its speech. “Time to die Doctor.” The Doctor sighed from his position on the floor. “Ah well, at least I'll get to see the sunrise one more time.” The plasmavore narrowed its eyes, preparing to swing its claw down and gut The Doctor from neck to tail before realization hit in and it whirled around just in time to see the orange sun break the surface of the horizon, flooding the streets of Canterlot with painful yellow light that burnt and smouldered into the plasmavore's skin, making it turn away from the sun with a scream of pain, its claw stopping its descent to swing upwards and protect its face from the sun. A powerful knock to its sternum sent the plasmavore tumbling away from The Doctor who now wobbled to his hooves, his eyes wincing as he moved his rear right leg, the one he had used to send the plasmavore spiralling away from him. The plasmavore hissed in pain as it hit the ground, the sun torching into its back before it rolled back to its feet, ignoring the pain and the tendrils of radiation that stabbed into its body, its voice rising upwards, obviously laced with agony, to reach The Doctor's ears as it took a shaky step towards the injured colt, gasping in pain as the suns rays stabbed into itself again. “The sun is not set to rise for another h-hour. What did you do!?” The Doctor snickered as the plasmavore began to walk quiveringly towards him. “You really should read up on a little history you know. You see, that delicious meal that you tried to eat earlier, the big tall, white one, well, she raised the sun and I just asked her a little favour.” The plasmavore snarled as it stepped closer to The Doctor, its voice rising up to answer him with defiance and sick intention. “No matter, I can kill you just as easily now as before. You have solved nothing.” The plasmavore stepped forward again, its desire for revenge overpowering its horrid pain, its claws slicing through the air as it drew nearer and nearer to the completely still Doctor who merely looked at the plasmavore with such deep sadness, such resolute depression that it nearly made the plasmavore stop in its tracks. “I gave you a chance, you should have taken it.” The plasmavore sneered as it stepped closer... ...and then, as quickly as a flash of lightning, its entire world erupted into unimaginable, unbearable, unquenchable agony. A/N: Can be found in the following chapter.
Through The Looking Lens: Part 2Through The Looking Lens: Part 2 Earlier Celestia gazed thoughtfully out of the shattered, fragmented, once coloured window that The Doctor had smashed through, inspecting the small team of unicorn engineers as they worked tirelessly on the side of one of her towers, on the tower in which the Doctor had discovered his spark. Her face, set in an immaculately stony, neutral complexion, perfectly shielded the turmoil that was rolling and pulsing and screaming inside of her as her beloved student recited the events of the last day and how much change, confusion and, to be blunt, excitement it had brought. A few sparks of magic illuminated the tower that Celestia watched, beige to lime green to sea blue swirls of power surging over the marble walls of the spiralling tower to coat its lengths in a wonderful spectrum as the small group of engineers worked tirelessly to obey the wishes and wants of The Doctor, who was currently perched over a map with a small red fez atop his head, a hat that he seemed unable to stop taking little peeks at whilst smiling to himself. With a calm, calculated but faintly forced voice, Celestia spoke up to her student, attempting to hide the disbelief from her voice. “So, this is The Doctor, whom is an alien. He arrived in a big metal box, that...plasmavore arrived with him, drained a resident of Ponyville, planned to murder me and then escaped whilst we were told The Doctor's past?” Twilight nodded fervently, obviously overjoyed that her beloved teacher didn't think of her as crazy. “To shorten it down yes, Princess, that is exactly what has happened...what is still happening.” Celestia nodded in a wise gesture, cleverly hiding her confusion, disbelief and fear, dreaded fear, beneath a mask of impartial neutralness before she spoke up again in her regal, flowing voice. “And his, The Doctor's, plan. Do you know of it?” So far, throughout the half hour that the small group had managed to discover the disappearance of the plasmavore, The Doctor had proceeded to make his demands, clap in an overzealous way when nearly all of the items were brought to him, especially when his little fez was brought in, an item that had had to be dug up from the past memoirs of the third camel king, Turhumpalifikon. He had immediately jumped on the map, his clear blue but somehow concealing eyes roaming over its lengths and information before he had hopped upwards to stare out of the cracked window, a thoughtful expression on his face, followed by a quick movement as he pulled out the protractor to stare at the night sky through it. Afterwards he had returned to the map, where he had used his compass and a borrowed pencil to sketch out a rough, small circle on a pinpoint location on the map, before he frowned and scribbled it out, returning to look at the night sky. So far, that gesture had been repeated close to five times, each time The Doctor would draw a circle and each time the circle would get scratched out by feverishly angered hooves. Something would be muttered under breath and then The Doctor would continue his seemingly endless ritual. He had been interrupted on his third walk from the window to the map by the arrival of six unicorns, two holding a rather large bag of sand, clearly straining under its weight as their magic flickered slightly around the bag and four with belts crammed with equipment, looking tired but also somewhat excited to have been personally picked by the princess for what was said to be a very important task. They had been a bit surprised, and peeved, however, when they were directed to the topmost tower by the brown colt who was bouncing around the room, simultaneously telling the two unicorns to drop the sand on the floor, which they did with a loud thud. After the sand had been spread out across a four by three section rectangle on the floor, The Doctor had sent the duo of load-bearing unicorns away and had proceeded to point and command the four unicorns on their task, a task which they did not happily accept but still agreed to with what they had hoped must have been regarded as cheerfulness. Celestia eyed the pool of sand on the floor, then the technicoloured glow of magic outside of her destroyed window and then at The Doctor as he madly scribbled away at the map before she was greeted with a reply from Twilight. “I...I don't know princess. I've decided not to question him on it though, the last time I did I didn't quite get the reply I wanted.” Indeed, Twilight had asked The Doctor what he was planning just as he was drawing a circle on the map, his reply being a frustrated 'Something clever, I'm being clever, I can't be clever with you standing right there'. She had, of course, then moved away from The Doctor as he continued to grumble to himself time and time again. Celestia turned to Twilight, about to voice another question from what seemed like an endless stream of them before she caught the fleeting look of confusion that crossed Twilight's face, instead opting to be the answerer instead of the questioner. “What is it that bothers you Twilight?” The little lavender mares ears twitched backwards at the calm, soothing words of her mentor before a meek little voice rose from her. “O-oh, it's nothing Princess, just some trivial little thing.” Princess Celestia grinned lightly, her current confused and angered mood not allowing any wider a smile before she spoke up again in the restrained and royal voice that she had grown accustomed to so long ago. “Oh Twilight, the trivial things are my favourite. Now, what was it you were pondering over?” Twilight leaned back somewhat before she spoke up in a slightly sheepish voice. “Oh, I just thought that since Luna-I mean, Princess Luna came back, she'd be taking over rule of the night but then you were on the throne...” Princess Celestia allowed herself a little giggle at the question that Twilight had obviously been bottling up, experiencing tingles of mirth from the sheer fact that out of every question her student could have asked in this situation, with monsters and aliens and murder, she had asked about her sister. Seizing her giggling fit and locking it away for later, Celestia gazed at Twilight to reply. “My sister's banishment took a lot out of her and so I volunteered to take two out of every seven nights work from her so she could adjust to her new schedule, read up on the history of Equestria and just generally snooze. She wasn't particularly overjoyed with the idea at first but I think she understands why I offered it to her. She was incredibly worn out, both physically and mentally when she was set free from the Nightmare and it is taking her a while to recuperate.” “Uh, tell her I wish her a speedy recovery.” Princess Celestia visibly went red as she struggled to reign in her laughter at the confused, timid but also strangely determined words of her little protégée before she spoke up again in a voice that was honestly and suspiciously burdened with humour. “I will Twilight, I-” The Princess of the Day, ruler of Equestria, Bringer of the Sun and all around wonderful mare was silenced by a loud, booming, smashing sound as the double wooden doors that allowed entry to the throne room rocketed open with a blur of beige magic, slamming into the marble and nearly cracking it, the crashing sound being swiftly followed by a shy cry of 'Sorry!' A team of four sturdy looking unicorns entered the throne room, each one dripping with sweat and mopping their brows with a hoof as their horns lit up in a continuous blaze of colourful magic, the item they were currently levitating behind them being held in that same sheen of magic, allowing the object to dangle safely above the floor. The four unicorns trotted forward, the beige horned colt looking visibly shamed as his peers continued to shoot him little looks that practically screamed about how unprofessional the door incident was. The Doctor had not even looked up from his scribbling on the map, the loud thud of the door going completely unnoticed by him as he mumbled facts and figures to himself, immersed entirely in his current task. It was only when one of the four unicorns, nearly dragging the glowing object through the air behind them as they stumbled forward, spoke up in a loud and most certainly proud voice that The Doctor actually looked up, a little tinge of annoyance flashing across his features before it was erased by a buzz of excitement. “Here it is Princess, straight from the Canterlot Observatory Tower.” With a small crackle, the object the quadruple set of ponies had been levitating was released from its magical field, the large, round lens of the most magnificently monstrously sized telescope in all of Equestria landing on the floor of the throne room with a peeling, metallic screech. The Doctor instantly bounded up from his workspace to admire the lens with a happy eye, completely missing the looks of surprise and confusion that the set of ponies in the room shot to him, the five other Elements of Harmony just stopping their seventh game of Go Fish to glance quizzically as The Doctor circled the massive astronomical lens. The Doctor frowned slightly, before his head tilted to the side and his eyes began to roam over the edges of the lens. Almost immediately afterwards, he leaned in and gave the metal, and even some of the glass, a long lick that nearly made Rarity faint before he tasted whatever flavoured he had acquired on his tongue, ignoring the look of close revulsion that hung on every face. Seconds later, a cry of 'aha!' burst from his lips and the Doctor turned from the lens and bolted to his workspace, sitting down near the map with a little smushing sound as his rear hit the floor, pencil already in hoof as he began to jot down some other random points on the map. Whilst The Doctor darted to the lens and then back to his workspace, Celestia took the time to admire the reflective glass that sat solidly on the floor in front of her. The object was around eight metres long, around twice the size of her body laid flat out, its glassy interior completely unblemished and sparkling with the glow of youth, its golden metal rimming flaring to life in the small trickles of light that dazzled around the throne room. The whole thing was, of course, circular in appearance and quite closely resembled an expanded version of a monocle. The whole lens was a beautifully crafted piece of work, elegant and also useful but its appearance and use in this sort of situation was undecipherable by the solar princess. What was the use of a lens in capturing a monster? And so, as a deity who usually got exactly what she wanted, Celestia thought it was her right to ask such a question. “Doctor, may I ask why you have asked my crew to bring you a lens from one of my precious telescopes? Surely it would simply be easier for us to go searching for this beast and imprison or immobilize it with the magic that we possess?” The Doctor glanced up for a second and Celestia could have sworn that his eyes were full of scorn that would normally be directed at a foolish filly or foal, before his blue orbs shifted back to the map he was currently scribbling on, his voice rising up lazily and unconsciously as he continued to trace some sort of strange object around different areas of the map. “That had been my number one plan, yes, to capture and contain the plasmavore using the gift that you unicorns and alicorns already have but it appears that that plan wouldn't have worked. You told me that when you went to, ah, 'obtain' the plasmavore, your magic passed right through it like it was merely a gust of air... ...That got me thinking because if magic works on me, as clearly shown through Twilight's excellent, if slightly nauseating, teleportation spell, then why doesn't it work on the plasmavore and, because I'm a genius, I found out the answer pretty quickly. Or what I believe to be the answer... ...You see, when I arrived here, my body chemistry and atomic anatomy was changed quite impressively and with that change came the ability to experience something that I never thought I would be able to experience. Magic. I can feel a distance tingling under my hooves even now, as of the earth calls to me. I can feel a lifetimes supply of muscle and strength that simply shouldn't be there hiding under my fur. I have been adapted to experience magic and it is wonderful... ...The plasmavore however, has not been adapted. When it arrived here, it arrived with the same genetic structure that it had in the other universe, my universe and in my universe, the idea of magic is a very fickle thing. Its atoms and chemsitry had not been changed or evolved to fit the type that this planet bears and, as such, magic simply refuses to accept the plasmavore's existence. It is not from this world, it is not from this universe and therefore, in the eyes of years upon years of sorcery and spell casting, it simply is not meant to experience magic.” Celestia blinked in surprise at the influx of knowledge she had just received, opening her mouth to ask an assortment of questions before she realized that The Doctor had sunk back into his own little world, sketching and dragging his pencil along the map once more with a faint scraping noise. She caught Twilight turning to her out of the corner of her eye and before her confused and obviously quizzical student could ask her any question, Celestia had turned to her and shaken her head, followed by a small shrug of her heavenly shoulders, easily signalling that she had no more knowledge towards what The Doctor had said than her little protégée who, of course, picked up on the signs straight away and closed her mouth, questions being forced back down her throat. Inwardly, Celestia's mind was reeling at the news that The Doctor had spouted as easily as deciding on what he might have for dinner. A creature, who didn't obey the laws of magic? It seemed impossible, improbable and yet there was that same little nagging feeling in the back of her head, that same little nagging feeling that said that she should trust The Doctor's words, the same little nagging feeling that told her that she had heard his voice before, so long ago. Her thoughts were interrupted before she could get into the full swing of a memory reconstruction, before she could try and find out why this Doctor was so familiar by the colt himself, who leapt up off of the ground like a stallion possessed, his loud voice fizzing with excitement. “Oh, now we are in business!” Beside her, Celestia saw Twilight jump, spooked out of her own mental river of questions that desperately needed answers by the cry of The Doctor, a selection of cards exploding from out of the hooves of Rarity as she too bolted from her seat on the floor, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Applejack and Rainbow remaining surprisingly calm, as if they had gotten used to it. Celestia's regal voice cut through the startled atmosphere like a knife. “And what sort of business are we in?” The Doctor flashed a rather wide, rather toothy grin. “Why, the business of catching monsters of course.” The Doctor grabbed the map in his hoof, clutching it to his chest like it was the most precious, valuable thing on the face of the planet as he trotted towards Celestia, signalling with a nodding of his head for the other Elements of Harmony to join them, their card game now abandoned as they stood up and stretched to discover what all the fuss was about. The Doctor reached Celestia and sat down right in front of her, tapping the ground to say that she and the others should do the same, a small, fleeting look of confusion crossing Celestia's face before she knelt down to gaze at The Doctor, the Elements of Harmony doing likewise. The brown colt cleared his throat in an exaggerated manner before he started to speak. “Well, thank you all for coming here today, it's a great pleasure to have the lovely Princess Cele-” “Get on with it Doctor.” “Right, yes. You see, after my magical capture plan was revoked quite suddenly, I had to start thinking again. I am quite good at that. Anyway, after I caught a glimpse of that rather large, rather exaggerated telescope, it came to me. Sunlight. The one thing that all plasmavore's hate, the one thing that burns them up like their magnesium in heat of over 600C, hehe...” The only laughter was from Twilight, who ceased her giggling in embarrassment when she realized that all heads had turned to her. “Well, thanks Twilight. Yes, sunlight, the greatest weapon against a plasmavore except for the little fact that I highly doubt the sunlight alone would be enough to stop the plasmavore from horribly murdering me. Rage and vengeance is a real booster. And so, I began to think that we needed something to boost the suns rays, to really get the full force of that burning ball of gas across... ...That, Celestia, is where the lens comes into play. A reflector lens, from the largest telescope in the country, positioned correctly would be able to perfectly bounce and direct the suns rays to a certain area, causing heat and light and radiation that should be spread out in many directions to focus on a specific area. An area which I hope the plasmavore will be at... ...Here's the part that's a tad more tricky and by tricky I mean deadly. You see, for the sun to have its wanted effect on the plasmavore the host body of the plasmavore must be removed. For the plan to work, the real body of the plasmavore must stand within the sunlight, not the false ones it has claimed. And that's where it gets deadly... ...The only logical way I can think of to lure the plasmavore out of its skin, logic not exactly being my forte, is to give it a nice, plump juicy meal and, voilà, here I am. The plasmavore will want its revenge, it will hunger for it and I very much think that it will cloud its senses. It won't be satisfied with killing me using any body other then its own. So, I'm going to go into the city, alone, and I'm going to find the plasmavore and lead it to a specific spot and this, Celestia, is where you come in... ...I've searched the skies, triangulated and interpreted the exact location that would be entirely suitable and entirely efficient at stopping the plasmavores little spree and it appears to be a place called Meeting Market. As leader of this city and this country, I'm sure you know of its whereabouts? Good, I thought so. On the map,” The Doctor signalled with a flick of his hoof to the map, making all eyes turn to it to see a mess of scribble and a single, perfectly drawn, tiny circle spiralling around a small place named Meeting Market. “I have marked the location and, I'd quite like you to make sure I'm not going to die. The reason I struggled to find a suitable spot is because I needed to know the angle of depression and the angle of elevation of both the sun and the lens in retrospect with each other so that I could coordinate the pinpoint accuracy of the suns reflected rays. Didn't quite get that? Hmm, how about, I had to find the right place in the sky so the bad thing will go away? Yep, works for all ages!... …There is a point in the sky, between that star,” a gesture from The Doctor's hoof out of the window, “ and that star in which the lens must be securely held by, what I hope to be, your immensely strong magic Celestia. The lens, levitating in the sky via your abilities, will perfectly reflect the suns rays to the Meeting Market, causing the plasmavore to experience such tremendous agony that it won't be able to do anything but curl into a ball and maybe suck its thumb. If it has thumbs... ...You'll have to raise the sun early of course, at around four o'clock if my estimations about my arrival at Meeting Market is correct. Then it's just a matter of calling your guards and informing the citizens of your town that the early rising of the sun is nothing more than a small fluke.” Celestia frowned deeply at The Doctor's plan, already feeling the weight of responsibility and the life of somepony nestling into her heart and hooves. Still, she had to ask her main question before it became too late to ask it. “The plasmavore...will the sun...will the sun kill it?” The Doctor frowned slightly and, for a split seconds, Celestia could see the rolling, consuming sadness and resolute anger behind those now so very, very old eyes. “It shouldn't if everything works out the way it should. It...it may happen though.” Celestia nodded dazedly before an incredibly important question flashed to her mind, one that made the mares around her flinch as her head turned sharply to meet The Doctor's eyes. “If it lives Doctor, what do we do with it?” The Doctor grinned in a cocky way, all evidence of his eternal sadness now gone and barren from his face. “That, my dear, is the second part off my absolutely, startlingly, baffling, brilliant plan. Your observation tower is no longer an observation tower right, not after I took the lens out of the telescope?” “Well, actually, there are still many teles-” “It's no longer an observation tower, right?” Celestia sighed before she nodded, willing to hear why The Doctor would want to snatch her astronomy tower away from her. “Oh good, then I can use it for my lovely purposes. You see, what's a good castle without a dungeon?” “We have a dungeon Doctor, it's just below the throne room.” “Well, you can never have too much of a good thing and underground dungeons are overdone anyway. You see, if we were to lock the plasmavore underground, it would be able to gain sufficient strength to tear the bars apart and kill every guard In its path after the first, oh, lets say, week... ...But let's say that the prison we use is somewhere that can easily be filled with sunlight. Let's say that the prison we use has a wonder view of the whole of the Equestrian countryside. Let's say that the prison we use has a night-light powerful enough to rival the sun. That, Celestia, is the sort of prison I want... ...Of course, the sun alone wouldn't be enough to keep the plasmavore contained indefinitely, oh no, we'd need something to boost the radiation even more and that is where the sand comes into play because what happens to sand when you heat it to unbelievable temperatures?” Fluttershy meekly raised her hoof. “Uh, it turns to glass?” “Yes, no, sort of. It's a much more complex method than that but I'm sure magic can help speed up the little conversion.” Celestia spoke up next, her voice laced with what could have been the beginnings of true understanding. “What...what are you proposing?” “I propose we build the plasmavore the perfect prison. I propose we allow it to suffer for all of the damage it has done to both your world and so many more. I propose we do to it what it set out to do to me and you, Celestia, you are going to help me.” It wasn't a question, it was a demand. “But enough chit-chat, I'll devise all of the details of the prison when I return because , judging by the moon, I'd say I have about an hour left to find the plasmavore in order to hit my deadline and I do so love to do that... ...Be in the right place, at the right time Celestia. Get that lens into the sky, raise the sun so that its bottom just touches the horizon and then watch the magic unfurl. This is going to work, I just know it... Anyway, I must be off, you girls can, eh, go back to your card game if you want, this will all be over soon enough. Farewell, goodbye, geronimo and what-not.” The Doctor rose from his position on the floor, content with his explanation and content with the idea that his life was safe in the hooves of the solar ruler. He got halfway to the door undeterred before Twilight's voice reached his ears, filled with concern that nearly made his hearts stop, her voice sounding so caring, so comforting, so much like... “Please, please, please don't die Doctor.” The Doctor paused for a split second, a look of regret and sorrow crossing across his face as memories sprang to mind before it melted away to be replaced by a neutral face and a neutral voice. “It's not in my list of things to do Twilight.” And with that the brown colt from the stars was gone, leaving the Elements of Harmony to wonder if they would ever seem him again, leaving Twilight to stare despairingly but also trustingly at the double wooden doors and leaving Celestia to wonder how in the name of sanity she was supposed to find the exact area in the sky that The Doctor had gestured to. It was only then, as she glanced down at the map, that she saw the smudging of something on the curled corner of it, something sketched onto its back and, with a gentle hoof, Celestia turned the map over. The night sky, the clear night sky, twinkling with stars, observed from a perfect zenith, was drawn carefully and immaculately on its back, each little twinkling ball of light dotted down, the moon hanging in the dark abyss, even a few meteors fizzing past and there, a few inches to the right of the moon, circled by the pencil and scribed with a smiley face, was a single position marked in the night sky. “Clever colt.” Celestia muttered. [.] The Doctor glanced up at the clear morning sky, the sun shining brightly and vividly as it hung contently overhead, hundreds of roused ponies only now opening their windows to exclaim what a curious sensation it was to have the sun rise a few hours early. Dimly, The Doctor could swear he could see the metallic glint of the telescope lens in the sky before a sheet of white cloud floated past, obscuring his vision and making him turn back to the streets to focus on the matter at hoof. The plasmavore had been standing in Meeting Market mere moments ago, ready to kill The Doctor and plunge Equestria into a state of anarchy. In fact, it had nearly succeeded, mainly due to the fact that Celestia's positioning of the lens had been a minute inch off, a flaw that was easily fixed but also could easily have been disastrous. After the plasmavore had been struck by the full force of the reflected radiation pouring from the sun, its body had gone into a fit of sorts, in which all that could be distinguishable was screaming, an endless, wailing scream that The Doctor would keep with him for the rest of his long life before the plasmavore had given up and slumped to the ground, entirely unconscious but writhing about on the ground, obviously still feeling the terrible burning sensation through its darkened, broken sleep. After the plasmavore had been rendered immobile and as weak as a new born kitten, the thundering of hooves had alerted The Doctor to the appearance of five armour wearing, spear weilding, stoic faced royal guards, each one glittering with a golden tinge in the sun and each one drawn to The Doctor's location by what they had described as 'The single most horrible sound in Equestria'. Of course, despite rigorous training in remaining expressionless and impartial, the scene that had enveloped before them, a brown colt trying to heave a limp, white, squishy looking creature down the street, was enough to shatter their training and leave them slack-jawed. The Doctor had taken advantage of their stunned state to proclaim that he had most certainly never seen this creature before and that they should most certainly take it to be studied by the princess, an idea which the guards practically leaped upon. The part they did not leap upon, however, was the task of dragging the slobbering, unconscious alien from Meeting Market to Canterlot Castle but they did it anyway, for they were royal guards, bred to show no weakness. That didn't stop them nearly heaving as a rather large pool of drool splattered out of the plasmavores mouth to pool around their hooves. The group of them, six ponies and one twitching alien, were currently nearing the wide, golden gates of Canterlot Castle and the clear look of relief on the faces of the guards was enough to let The Doctor know that the plasmavore was perhaps a rather cruel burden to put on them. Literally it was on them, well, on two of them at least, stretched across their backs like a content cat. The Doctor heaved a sigh of infinite happiness as he strode through the great gates, the five royal guards directly behind him, his hooves crunching up on the gravel path that led to the immaculate wooden doors that had, only recently, been forced apart by murderous intent. Suddenly, seconds before The Doctor reached the large doors, the plasmavore let out a deep growling rumble before its limbs tensed and its head rolled upwards from where it lay on the two stallions, the shock forcing the duo of colts to unload their cargo quite spectacularly on the floor, a muffled grunt of pain echoing out as the five guards retreated and the brown colt stepped forward. For a few seconds all was silent apart from the crunch of The Doctor's hooves on the gravel before a pained, sickening, monstrous laugh tore through the air, rising up from where the plasmavore had fallen. Through gales of insane laughter, the plasmavore began to speak. “I-I-I knew it would be you Doctor, I always knew.” The Doctor paused slightly, head tilted before he spoke up in a cautious but intrigued voice. “What about me?” The plasmavore continued to laugh but it sounded forced, so very forced, and The Doctor could swear there were tears in its large, bulbous eyes. “I always knew you'd-you'd kill me!” The Doctor backed away as the plasmavore continued to laugh and laugh and laugh, signalling for the royal guards to pick it up again, which they did apprehensively. It was still laughing when they deposited it in front of Princess Celestia seconds later, the solar ruler and the six mares that stood beside her looking at the plasmavore with shock and then turning their confused gazes on The Doctor who merely shrugged. The Doctor rotated his hoof at Celestia, prompting her to begin the speech that he knew she had to state so she could justify her actions. Celestia nodded shakily before she cleared her throat and began to speak in a loud voice over the sobbing laughter of the plasmavore. “You stand...lay in front of me, plasmavore, accused of murder, thievery, uh, galactic crimes and attempted murder. Is this true, are you guilt?” The plasmavore howled with maddening laughter as it spoke up in a jittery, tear soaked voice. “T-true, but it was- it was just too much fun!” Celestia paled at the reply of the monster before her, casting an almost frightened look at The Doctor before she spoke up again in that endlessly calm voice of hers. “You have accepted the guilt behind your crimes and as the highest form of power in this land, it is my task to bring the full force of justice down upon you. I hereby sentence you to a lifetimes imprisonment and a lifetime of...of pain for the sins you have committed.” The Doctor saw Celestia stumble over her words, knowing that she had to state them, knowing that she had to make sure that she knew exactly what she was doing and why, reinforcing the idea that this was for the best, that this was the most potent and civil thing to do for a murderer and a thief and still the plasmavore laughed and laughed and laughed, its clawed hands reaching around its stomach as it belched out monstrous giggles, tears now freely running down its face. Celestia stepped away from the creature as two of her golden armoured royal guards stepped into view and dragged the chuckling plasmavore so that it rested in the centre of the sand pile, The Doctor's eyebrows rising slightly as he realised that Celestia understood what he meant to do and had briefed her guards on what they must accomplish. The regal voice of Celestia, now tinted with worry, reached The Doctor's ears. “What happened to it?” The Doctor gazed at the plasmavore almost pityingly as it lay on the bed of sand, its mouth wide open in what looked like a scream as laughter burst forth, its beastly face a horrid mess of tears and madness. “It broke.” Celestia flinched at The Doctor's icy tones but allowed herself a little nod, believing, or at least, hoping to believe that the plasmavore got what it deserved and nothing more. She very nearly leapt out of her millennia old skin as The Doctor suddenly whirled away from her to face the still giggling plasmavore, who was currently spread eagled in a none to dignifying pose across the bed of gleaming yellow sand, eyes staring vacantly at the high ceiling, mouth open wide, body laying stock still apart from the occasional convulse of a white limb. The Doctor attempted to speak up over the roaring cascade that was the plasmavore. “The sand you ar-” “Bahahahaaaha!” “The-” “Hahahhahhahahahhaaa!” “The san...The sand-” “Ahaahahaha-” “Be quiet!” For once The Doctor's calm façade broke and utter fury poured from his mouth, his eyes suddenly blazing to life in an ugly way, his face twisting into a mask of both anger and regret, instantly silencing the plasmavore who physically shrank in fear at that voice before The Doctor reeled himself back in, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. When he opened them again seconds later, his face had shifted to a cold and neutral form, no sign of any emotion lacing his face as he began to speak up again. “Thank you. Now, as I was saying, the sand you are currently laying on comes all the way from the Bahoofmas, or so the bag containing it said. It's an incredibly rich sand, not that crummy, cruddy stuff that people buy to make their home pool look 'real' and 'just like the seaside'. It is also used in glass making.” As The Doctor continued to speak, his voice became more and more layered with emotions, the most prominent being a childish, almost gloating voice whilst the most effective and also most difficult to pick out was the lightest tones of hidden sorrow in his voice. “Quite interesting, glass making really. Nearly everyon-everypony thinks its just about getting some sand and heating it up until it forms glass which is completely unrealistic. Sadly, I can't prove how barbarically unrealistic it actually is, well, not today at least, since Celestia here is going to make turning sand to glass look as easy as turning a light on with a screwdriver.” “Eh, mah screwdrivah can't turn lights on Doctah.” “Well, mine most certainly can! And it makes this great little noise, it's like 'Wuwuwuwuwu'...Aaaaaanyway, me and Celestia have devised a rather cunning solution to the problem of what to do with you plasmavore. I've always wanted to say something like this, Celestia, deploy the solution!” Celestia blinked before she spoke up in an incredibly confused and almost foalishly embarrassed voice. “Uh, I don't remember you telling me about any solution Doctor...” The Doctor's eyes widened considerably before he frowned and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'I knew I forgot something'. The brown colt from the stars trotted over to Celestia quickly and, with an act that would have left royal guards gaping in amazement, physically pulled her head down to whisper in her ear quietly, the six multicoloured mares that he had brought with him now forced to lean in to try and hear what The Doctor was saying, the group only catching the word 'prism', confused looks being shared by all as Celestia jerkily nodded and the pair split apart. The Doctor trotted forward, Celestia behind him before he spoke up and stepped to the side, the solar deity now in full view of the silent, watchful plasmavore. “Let's try this again then. Celestia, deploy the solution!” Almost immediately Celestia's horn began to throb a dark orange colour an d the sand around the plasamvore began to hum softly, thrumming and wriggling beneath it as it looked down in obvious fright, its eyes wide and dark as it began to attempt to scramble away before it was stopped by the voice of The Doctor. “If you don't move, it won't hurt you. If you do, well, I can't really make any promise. Twilight, what happens if someone or something starts to thrash about in molten sand?” Twilight blinked. “Bad things?” The Doctor turned back to the plasmavore with a serious expression on his face before it melted away to be replaced by a cocky, childish grin that would have made Pinkie proud. “See, bad things would happen.” The plasmavore ceased its movements, instead opting to look at Celestia who had her eyes closed, her horn now strobing more violently as the sand beneath the plasmavore began to pulse more and more rapidly until it seemed as if waves had taken the form of sand, buffeting and nearly knocking the plasmavore up into the air. The sand had gained a peculiar orange tinge to it, glowing an incredibly hot orange colour that didn't seem to affect the plasmavore. The plasmavore, scourge of over seventy worlds, bane of royalty everywhere, eater of names and devourer of skin let out a particularly girlish whimper as the sand thrashed about below it. Twilight leaned in closer to get a better look at the magical display that was unfolding in front of her, her friends actually backing away from the sight as if they were frightened the sand may leap and gobble them up, before Twilight to leapt back as Celestia's eyes opened wide, yellow magic pulsing in their depths as all Tartarus broke loose. The orange sand exploded upwards, creating a cascade of concealing particles that swirled and danced around the now hidden form of the plasmavore, sealing it away from view. The sand rippled and buckled as it rose higher before the gathered audience of six mares each let out simultaneous squeals as the sand began to shrink downwards, its advance no longer going up but rather going outwards in what appeared to be two separate straight lines, one towards the wooden doors, one towards the group of watching bystanders. The heavy sound of scraping filled everyponies ears before a single screech echoed across the throne room, followed by a vivid and unbelievably bright bolt of orange light that flared to life from the advancing sand, making everypony present turn away and shut their eyes to block out the light. The heavy sound of a thud and then a light tinkling of what sounded like glass reached everyponies ears as the light died down and they all turned to look at what had occurred mere inches before them, gasping in shock and surprise at the sight. In the centre of the throne room, where there had once sat nothing but a pile of sand, now stood a long, slender, glass triangular prism that extended for seven metres and which rose five metres high, its sparkling, glittering surface nearly distracting the gathered ponies from the resident which had managed to find itself inside the the make-shift prism. Inside stood a rather baffled and shocked plasmavore, its black eyes as wide as they could go, its mouth open as it reached out to gingerly touch the glass, its claws making a scratching noise before it began to rain hammer blows of strength onto the glass, heavy, shaking thudding emerging from the glass before The Doctor stepped forward and began to speak, making the plasmavore stop and glare silently at him. “That was astounding, absolutely astounding! Oh gosh, look at me, I feel like I'm growing my very first TARDIS. Excellently, efficiently, beautifully, fantastically done Celestia, I see you made sure to instigate that little hardening spell in there.” Celestia nodded, looking a bit dazed, her eyes now their normal colour, her horn now white, no longer flowing with ethereal power. “Umm...Doctor, I-I thought you said m-magic didn't do anything to the...the pla-the plas- the alien?” “I did say that, however, this magic isn't linked to the plasmavore. This hardening spell, which I really hoped you ponies had and, what do you know, you did, affects the glass, not the plasmavore and so the plasmavore experiences no magical effects, therefore not rendering magic obsolete... ...Anyway, I suppose it's time to reveal my little idea to the whole group, isn't it? You see, I knew that if the plasmavore was kept underground then eventually it would regain enough strength to break through that glass so I had to devise another method of imprisonment. First, I needed to harness a weakness I knew it had, sunlight. Second, I needed to find a way to make that weakness an Achilles Heel, something which the plasmavore would be rendered powerless over. Thirdly, I needed to find a way to keep it locked up for good and, I'm quite chuffed to say this, I have managed to accomplish all of these things... ...The first part was sorted, sunlight being the formidable weapon to use against the plasmavore, I just needed to make it more potent. So I thought to myself, 'Doctor, you're a smart fella, what can you do to strengthen the sun's power?' And then it hit me. The lens we used to capture the plasmavore was the snowball to create the avalanche. If the use of reflected sunlight worked so well against it, then why should we abandon that strategical advantage and try and find some new way of imprisonment? The answer: we shouldn't... ...So, I asked Celestia hear for some sand in order to construct a prison of glass for the plasmavore, a triangular prism but that's not all I asked. That hardening spell, that was a little side effect I wanted but the main point of the glass prism prison, heh, that's pretty fun to say, was to reflect the sunlight in like a lens. I asked Celestia if she could put a reflective spell on the glass, to which she replied she could and bingo we were in business. A fully operational, reflective, Achilles Heel of a prison. We just needed one more thing, a means to make sure that the plasmavore could not break free in the future, and I believe we have the solution to that already... ...The astronomy tower, or ex-astronomy tower now, is the perfect place to store the plasmavore. Large open viewing platforms that allow sunlight in at all times, the single, tallest structure in this castle and, and, the perfect cover story. We leave a telescope up there, we can just say that it is still the old astronomy tower, that way Celestia does not have to fabricate some bizarre story explaining why she had to erect a new tower and why it has so many windows. The plasmavore can be stored in the astronomy tower, the ponies can remain under the ruse that it still is the astronomy tower and, at night, we seal up the windows with big curtains or something relatively fluffy and concealing before one of the two princesses creates a small but potent UV ball of light to keep the plasmavore at bay... ...Two days, a new body, no screwdriver, no TARDIS and a murderous alien on the prowl, I think I have really, really, really outdone myself this time!” “How do we get it up to the astronomy tower like that?” The Doctor blinked before he scowled in a childish fashion. “You always have to ruin my big, incredibly humble speeches don't you Twilight? I thought the answer would be obvious, we teleport it! Not the plasmavore, the glass prism prison. Using teleportation magic on the glass prism prison will make it move, the glass prism prison's structure won't allow any magical residue to seep in so when the glass prism prison teleports, the spell won't be cancelled by the plasmavore and since the plasmavore is in the belly of the glass prism pri-” “Stop saying glass prism prison!” “I, ah, ok. Since the plasmavore is in the belly of the prison, it shall to be teleported, proving that in an offhoof way, magic can work on it. How to explain it...Aha! Let's say that I am allergic to pears right, one touch will make me all bubbly and purple and just generally disgusting buuut if I were to wear gloves and then handle the pears, I'd be completely ok.” The hissing voice of the plasmavore reached The Doctor's ears. “Are you comparing me to a pear!?” “Yes, now quiet, pears don't talk. So, everypony is clear that the plasmavore is the pear, the prison is the glove and magic is the hoof right? Good, I thought so. Oh wait, those aren't agreeing faces are they, those are confused faces, I always get those mixed up. Look, how about this, just trust me ok? Just trust me, this is going to work.” Slowly, but then with more gusto, several heads began to nod in unison before a quite chorus of 'I trust you' was expelled forth into the throne room, The Doctor turning to Celestia as the cascade of partial applause died down. “Now Celestia, if you would do the honours of sending the plasmavore far away from here, preferably where I can't hear it talk.” Celestia swallowed her apprehension before nodding, her horn glowing again with a faint orange light, the sunset aura flowing around the glass prism prison like water, lifting it up into the air where the nervous looking plasmavore was exposed to both the shocked expressions of the ponies and also some of the sunlight that filtered through the cracked window before it and the prison vanished with a loud pop and a flash of orange magic. The first shattering cry of pain reached The Doctor's ears as the plasmavore was subjected to the full force of the reflected sunlight in the astronomy tower, his ears flipping backwards and his mouth forming into a grimace, the ponies around him doing the same as The Doctor spoke up in a sheepish voice. “Perhaps I didn't think of everything.” [.] “It didn't have to be this way you know.” The journey and climb to the top of the astronomy tower had certainly been an arduous one considering the small fact that stairs were among one of the few things that The Doctor feared in his new equine body. The constant screaming of pain had been enough to push him on though, along with Princess Celestia, the six Elements of Harmony staying behind, the noise becoming nearly too much to bear for them. When he had reached the large, golden, inscribed door which led to the room the plasmavore was being kept in, The Doctor had first requested that Celestia make sure that no sound could be heard from the inside, just to block out that horrible, wailing screaming sound. His second request had been a rather peculiar one but one that Celestia had still agreed to, mainly for the fact that she wasn't sure that she could persuade The Doctor to not do what he wished. And so, with a confused but accepting mind, Celestia allowed him to see the plasmavore alone. “It always had to be this way, Doctor.” A few of the heavy curtains that surrounded the windows of the astronomy tower were now tightly sealed, allowing only a single stream of sunlight to invade the dark recesses of the tower room, making sure that the plasmavore remained disabled but with enough strength to talk. The Doctor frowned, moving out of the shadowed area of the tower to trot around the prism, a look of sorrow and regret sweeping across his face. “Why? Why does it always, always have to be this way?” “Because villains do not get along.” The Doctor paused in his trot to stare at the plasmavore. “I'm not...I'm not a villain!” “How many have you killed Doctor? How many planets have you left weeping? I could only dare to dream of that power, of that fear and yet you wield it like you would a plastic sword, carelessly and aimlessly.” “I don't wield fear, I don't wield power!” “Cities burn at your command, whole armies run in fear as soon as even the merest mention of your name is heard, if that is not fear then I have lived my life blindly, Doctor.” The last word was practically spat by the plasmavore, as if it aimed to rid itself of the plague. By now The Doctor had stopped moving, instead remaining standing directly in front of the plasmavore, a thin glass pane separating them. “I...I do those things because I have to, because someone has to or the universe would dissolve into anarchy and chaos.” “And what, pray tell, is wrong with anarchy Doctor?” “Anarchy leads to hate and death and everything that I stand against, plasmavore.” “Call me Mercy, Doctor, it's what they all say before I snuff the life from them.” And suddenly, as if via a switch, the temperature in the room seemed to drop to a chilling, frosty feel. “And how many have called for mercy? How many have you laughed at and then murdered? How many have you taken simply because you could?” “Far less then you.” “Perhaps, but I have a reason. The universe is my home, every corner of it, every single speck that resides in it and I will fight tooth and claw to keep it spinning, to keep the pattern moving and if-” “If it means creatures die in the process so that this great wheel can keep spinning, then it is no loss? You are The Doctor, sworn saviour of the universe but I wonder, just for a second, what the universe would think of you if it could speak. The tales it would tell, of fire and ice and rage. Of such destruction. You breed violence, Doctor, you create it like it was your own.” “That is not what I set out to do.” “But it is what you have done!” The Doctor took a single step back from the plasmavore, heat burning in his eyes as he spoke up again. “Every creature, no matter how evil, no matter how twisted always gets a chance, I always give them a chance. I do not aim to wield fear or power or violence, I do not aim to spread terror but if you speak of my anger and rage and fire then you must hear of my mercy.” “Your mercy, Doctor, is what gives you the power to kill.” “...What!?” “You give every creature a chance and if they don't accept it then you're free to do what you wish. You think the sheer fact that they refuse to accept your chance to repent is a sign that your next act, of murder and violence is justified.” The Doctor stepped back as the plasmavore continued to growl spiked words at him, its voice rising higher and higher as it continued. “Your mercy Doctor is what gives creatures like me the nerve and the ability to fight against you, your mercy makes you look weak, your mercy makes you look feeble, so feeble that we think we have you, that we believe that you are no more then a thorn in our side and then, like a trickster, you show your true colours. Mercy, Doctor, is not a tool that you enjoy wielding, you prefer dealing with the threat as quickly and as efficiently as possible and if that means murder, if that means this great wheel of time keeps turning then it is fine, then your actions are justified.” “You came to this planet and look what it brought the residents! Murder and death, and you will only bring more to them. I saw how you looked Doctor, in the second that I remained conscious as you burnt me using the heavens themselves, I saw the smile and the twinkle in your eyes, the triumph. You live for creatures like me, you live for an excuse to show off that anger and that rage, you live for an excuse to hate.” The Doctor snorted once before his voice rose up, shaking. “I did not kill these ponies, you did. I did not bring you here, chance did. I am not responsible fr the atrocities and the travesties you commit.” “And yet, without my desire for revenge against you Doctor, I would not have been creating The Pandorica. Without my desire for revenge, I would not have hunted you, I would not have killed quite as many. Without my desire for revenge, the filly would have lived.” “I came here, to see you, for the simple reason to tell you that...that I was sorry.” “You came here to gloat!” The Doctor shook his head. “No, never gloat. You can view me as you wish, a murderer and a destroyer of planets but don't you ever, ever think that I would gloat over something like this. It hurts plasmavore, not physically, but every time I lock something like you up or every time I have to stop something like you it hurts. I keep that pain as a reminder to myself, that no matter what happens, every creature should get a chance. I offered you the chance to come peacefully, I did all I could to help you.” “You could help me by letting me go. You could help me by letting me kill you!” The Doctor remained silent as the plasmavore hissed at him, its white appendages slamming time and time against the glass as it shrieked at him before a look of utter sorrow flashed through The Doctor's cold blue eyes, making the plasmavore fall silent as The Doctor spoke two more words, two more simple words. “I'm sorry.” The colt from the stars, the self proclaimed killer of his people, turned around and began to trot towards the door, hearing the cry of the plasmavore one more time as it shrieked its final barb towards him, as it stabbed into him again. “I may be a monster Doctor but at least I admit it.” The Doctor sighed once to himself as he edged closer to the door, his eyes closed as his hoof swing around to grab the small fabric chain that levered the curtains, tugging down forcefully and allowing sunlight to flood the room, the crying voice of anger now being replaced by the sound of agonized screaming before The Doctor opened the door and stepped out, quickly shutting it behind him to block out that awful noise. Almost immediately he was bombarded by a barrage of questions from Celestia, who had been waiting on the other side of the door, her eyes curious but also sad, as if she could sense that whatever happened inside that room, whatever conversation was born was one of hatred and anger and sadness. “Doctor, what happened in there? What did it talk about?” The Doctor remained silent for a few seconds, his eyes dark and impassive before he spoke up in a flat voice. “The weather.” “The weather, but that's ridiculo- Wait, where are you going?” The Doctor had started walking past Celestia as she began her interrogation, his mood clearly screaming that now was not a good time for her needling questions, his black tail swishing as he paused at the top of the stairs, turning his head back as his eyes flashed brightly, his cold, estranged demeanour breaking away to reveal the happiness and joy that The Doctor usually wore for just a second as he spoke up. “I'm going to go and take care of a few things.” Celestia frowned. “But the plasmavore has been captured and contained, what more is there to do?” “One, I'm going to get my TARDIS back. Two, I'm going to make sure that The Pandorica is sealed away so that it can never be used again. Four, no, three, I'm going to find myself some companions...” “...And four, I'm going to find the largest breakfast in the whole of Equestria and singlehoofedly devour it.” A/N: This took such a long time to actually even begin writing. I was on holiday for two weeks and then I wanted to get a new chapter for my other story out and then, whatdoyaknow, Borderlands 2 came out. I am so, so sorry for taking so long to get this up, my life is a tad chaotic at the moment considering I'm in my final year at school so they're chucking exams at me but the epilogue and the teaser will come out quicker then this chapter did. Anyway, thanks for waiting. Tell me what you think and constructive criticism is always welcome.
Epilogue: Everywhere and AnywhereEpilogue: Everywhere and Anywhere “So, who wants to start the bidding for the big alien box of mysteries eh?” It was a crisp morning, full of sunshine and bird song, with just the tiniest, teensiest hints of dew drops on leaves. Equestria had awoken, markets and shops opening at the brink of dawn in order to attract customers from everywhere and anywhere. With the breaking of dawn, the hunt for the Plasmavore had been well and truly solved, the once powerful, vicious alien killer now sat locked and in perpetual agony atop the highest spire at the highest point in the whole of Canterlot. They were in the forest, The Doctor and his six little equine companions along with a noble tribute of volunteering Equestrian guards who had agreed to come along with her majesty Princess Celestia in order to both see and move the whimsical, mystical box that had apparently brought the equine but alien Doctor to her planet. Sunshine shone through the dappled leaves, tracing the sparkling ground and causing animals to simultaneously rise from their nests and burrows with faint yawns and stretching limbs before they noticed the parade of armour clad ponies which caused nearly all of them to dive back into their homes, much to the distress of a small yellow mare. It had been a mere three hours since the arrest and persecution of the Plasmavore, a mere three hours since The Doctor had laid out his four key aims and yet, even after three hours, he had not managed to accomplish even one of them. Not even finding the biggest breakfast. He had stated before though that finding the largest breakfast would be considerably more easy if he had the TARDIS with him and had, therefore, made reclaiming the TARDIS his principle goal. However, right now, in the middle of the sleepy forest, surrounded by tired eyes and swarmed by the faint smell of wood rot, The Doctor had decided that finding his TARDIS may have been a little bit more difficult than he had originally planned. The Doctor, three hours ago, had hosted a conversation that led with the main theme of “I'll find my TARDIS soon enough, these things have a way of working out.” It seemed, however, the at this precise moment in time, the universe had inexplicably decided that things would not actually have a way of working out and that instead if something had to be done, the somepony had to get it done rather than wait around for it to mysteriously happen. And so, three hours after his shining moment, three hours after he had caught the phantom killer, three hours after he had foiled a royal assassination attempt, The Doctor was trotting aimlessly around and around The Pandorica, only stopping to make half-hearted, awkward jokes to try and stem the boredom and anger that was slowly seething through the obviously very tired, very cranky royal guards. “Its only a matter of time before I figure this out! Get it? Time? TARDIS? Time and Relative...” The conjoined grumble of the royal guards made it perfectly clear that they had not gotten it, not one bit and that they really wouldn't care if they had gotten it, that they only cared about getting the job done and going home to sleep for the next few decades. Which was, to be fair, what the six unfortunate and dozy little fillies were currently thinking as each one of them took little naps on each other before they were eventually woken by hectic outbursts from the brown stallion. The Doctor was still pacing around The Pandorica, not so much paying attention to the great cube as he was to the springy grass that felt ever so bouncy under his hoofed feet. It was a weird sensation but not a terrible sensation. Terrible sensations were saved for serious occasions, like torture at the hands of an malevolent alien or being forced to eat pears. A gentle cough from Celestia brought The Doctor back to the present as he looked up in surprise, immediately noting the somewhat annoyed look in her eyes as she studied him wandering around in little circles, a slight indent clearly visible in the grass from where he had been trotting. The Doctor smiled sheepishly before he came to a stop in front of The Pandorica, his mind returning to the situation at hoof rather quickly. To be fair, he had searched The Pandorica for any trace of information on the whereabouts of the TARDIS, he had even made TARDIS like noises to see if it would respond. That particular plan had caused quite a few queer looks to be shot his way. And yet after everything, he had yet to find his beloved TARDIS, a thought that did scare The Doctor just a teensy, weensy bit. The Doctor walked out of The Pandorica from which he had entered only moments ago, worry plastered on his face as he let out a sigh, his noble venture into the somewhat spooky cube clearly offering no insight into the location of his TARDIS. He walked around the outside again, just once and muttered quietly, almost to himself, in a way that made him almost seem pitiful. “Come on, just give me something, anything to work with...” The universe, it seemed, would do just that. As The Doctor circled The Pandorica again, his hoof trailing along its now cool but once crisp surface, his solitary brown appendage snagged on a single, jutting point upon The Pandorica's smooth complexion, causing the relatively battered stallion to hiss with pain as a thin dribble of blood seeped from the centre of his unfortunate furry hoof. The hoof recoiled along with its owner for a fraction of a second, before The Doctor leaned in closer to the glimmering cube, his hoof hovering in the air as if on a puppets string as his eyes roamed the silver, but somewhat sooty rear end of The Pandorica. The afflicted guards, only now just managing to nod off to sleep in the humid air which buzzed with warmth, were woken quite suddenly and abruptly by what could have arguably been the loudest 'whoop' ever to appear in Equestrian history. Ever. The Doctor came charging around the corner, one front hoof awkwardly hobbling along with three stampeding caramel hooves which bustled about underneath the eccentric colt. His blue eyes sparkled with a bountiful joy that neither the girls or the princess had seen before, his darkly coloured mane bouncing around as if experiencing a sudden rush of sugar. The most pronounced feature upon The Doctor's face however, was the small, fragmented sliver of bright blue that could be seen through his teeth. The Doctor came skidding to a halt before the princess, sending small stones and tufts of dirt flying into her coat, a fact which made the guards around her growl before he sloppily began to speak. “Ewe nee' to moo' everpo' bac'!” Princess Celestia, sovereign of the sun, blinked in surprise for a second, the clearing around her falling silent before she spoke up in a befuddled voice. “Pardon?” “I sai' ewe nee' to...” The Doctor frowned, his forehead wrinkling before he spat the small globule of blue onto his hoof. “I said, you need to move everypony back!” Celestia's eyelids spasmed as she struggled to understand. “But...why? And what on Earth is that thing in your hoof?” “Its a piece of a very old frien-” “What a ghastly shade of blue!” The Doctor's head whipped around to glare at the fashionista who had so rudely piped up in the middle of his sentence. “Oy! She's not ghastly, its my fault she's this colour anyway. I never could get that Chameleon Circuit running properly again...” Whilst The Doctor mumbled to himself, Celestia took the opportunity to lean in and study the small, sticky, spit coated object on The Doctor's hoof. It seemed to be about four centimetres across and five centimetres along, with jagged edges that seemed remotely crispy and fried. The whole shard was coated a deep, rich, majestic blue colour, wooden spirals visible underneath the surface of the sapphire paint. Along its front, stretched a faint white line. The Doctor caught Celestia peeking and, in a swift manner, withdrew his hoof and tucked it into his chest, ruffling up his fur as he hid the slice of blue from view. “Hey, no staring. She's awfully shy you know, not quick to trusting people. A bit like a cat really, you do have cats right? Good.” Celestia took her turn to frown, her aged forehead sinking into a furrow as she rasied her voice over The Doctor's. “And how is that little speck of wood going to find us your, uh, TARDIS exactly?” The Doctor sighed. “Oh, well now she really isn't going to like you. This 'little' speck of blue is the TARDIS, or, part of it at least.” “I...don't really understand.” The Doctor scratched his chin with the hoof that contained the little blue lifeline. “Well, if I had to guess, I would say that a piece of my exploding TARDIS which was tearing apart the very fabric of my universe must have gotten stuck into the body of my universe shifting, life bringing magical box whilst I was flying through the ball of erupting vortex fire. Do you understand now?” “...Yes.” “You're lying.” “I am.” “You ponies are so...simple. You really remind me of another race, except more cutesy and less prone to warfare.” “That's not a bad thing, war hurts everything around it.” “...You're right, it isn't a bad thing.” The Doctor shook his head, his brain buzzing against his skull as he turned around and began to trot towards The Pandorica, throwing his head back as he heightened his voice. “Anyway, get your soldiers and those rather sleepy mares to stand back a bit, this could get...quite shocking really.” Celestia squinted as The Doctor turned to trot into The Pandorica, her voice hanging in the air. “What exactly do you expect to do with that little thing?” The Doctor turned his head around and flashed a toothy grin. “Why, my dear Celestia, what I expect to be doing is...” The Doctor tossed the fragment of the TARDIS high up into the air, catching it with his other hoof. “Resurrection.” And with that he disappeared into the gaping maw of the worn out Pandorica, leaving Celestia to stare at the place where he had once been. Quietly, she muttered to herself. “I really hope he knows what he's doing.” And then, raising her head, Celestia called out to those around her. “Everypony, please move away from The Pandirocia-” “Pandorica!” “Pandorica. The Doctor is working on something and I fear that distance is the only safe option left.” “I heard that!” And as guards and fillies began to back away from The Pandorica, stretching their tired limbs and muttering to each other, Celestia took a seat and prepared to wait however long it took for the mysterious stallions plan to come into fruition. [.] The first hour moved by at a surprisingly fast pace, the added effects of the rising, scorching sun along with the appearance of a multitude of fuzzy, furry woodland creatures had managed to keep the boredom at bay for a while at least, both mares and stallions basking in the sunlight which peeked down through the trees. Fluttershy, along with Applejack and Twilight, all huddled together around a small group of weasels, the giggling trio each taking their respective turns to pet the cream fur of the sleek creatures. Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had all decided to partake in a game of cards with the numerous members of the royal guards, Rainbow because of her competitive streak, Pinkie because of her love of all games and Rarity because she most certainly didn't mind spending time with the selection of grizzled, handsome looking stallions that surrounded her. By the second hour though, the weasels had fled to forage for food and the once grizzly, hunky stallions had all taken on a much sickly, tired and wounded complexion, the added repercussions of both the lack of sleep and the non-stop chatter that simply streamed forth from the mouths of the bright pink and marble white pony had broken the soldiers wills in a solitary hour. By the third hour, everypony bar the princess of the sun had fallen into a deep sleep and even she was having a hard time keeping her eyelids from falling downwards like a boulder toppling from a mountain. Of course, when had any creature managed to have a good nights sleep in the presence of a Timelord? It started off as a dull thumping sound, a deep, reverberating, oscillating whirring noise that barely managed to catch upon Celestia's ears and raise her head from where it had sunken betwixt her right and left leg, her bag laden eyes sparking slightly with interest as they focused on The Pandorica. Her eyes widened significantly as the noise began to rise in volume, a deep set thrumming sound now echoing through the fields of metal which made up The Pandorica. Deep, flashing red and green lights lit up like a Christmas tree inside the strange cube, reflecting on its surface and bursting outwards to be met by the midday sunshine. The ground around the cube trembled. Celestia was about to call out for him when The Doctor appeared from the festive maw of The Pandorica, looking around in a nervous manner, a fact that did not escape Celestia's watchful gaze. He spied her in a fast way, trotting past the layers and huddles of slumbering ponies in order to reach her, his hoof grazing over somepony every once in a while, causing them to grumble and let out a faint snore. Even as The Doctor trotted towards her, the perplexing noise from The Pandorica continued to increase, arousing victims close to the cacophony making box who awoke with blurry eyes and buzzing heads. Pretty soon The Doctor had reached Celestia, a tidal wave of awakening ponies stirring from their slumber following in his wake. Before the alien stallion could get a word in edgewise, Celestia spoke. “What in Equestria is going on?” The Doctor squirmed sheepishly. “Umm, well, remember how you set a minimum safe distance from The Pandorica?” “Yes.” “Its a little too...minimum.” “What do you mean, Doctor? What exactly is happening?” The Doctor squirmed again, his face being thrown backwards as he looked at the noisy, colourful cube before he returned his vision to Celestia. “Well, do you hear that noise?” “Of course.” “Have you ever heard the ticking of a bomb before?” “Once or twice, the scientists down at the lab are still working on them though...Wait, why?” “Lets just imagine, hypothetically of course, that the noise coming from The Pandorica is the sound of a bomb ticking down...” “Doctor...” “And lets say that, hypothetically, that the blast radius is around roughly fifteen metres.” “Doctor-” “And finally, lets also say that if all of the ponies don't run for cover right now then they won't have a chance to run again in the future. Or walk. Or breathe for that matter.” Celestia blinked, slowly, methodically before a startlingly loud voice bellowed from her throat. “WHAT IN EQUESTRIA'S NAME HAVE YOU DONE!?” The noise of the agitated, angry and nervous Celestia coupled with the rapidly increasing sound of The Pandorica was the final icing on the cake to those who were still attempting to sleep, the conjoined noises blasting their eyes open with enough force to have them seeing stars. The Doctor's voice, though quiet, was filled with just as much emotion as Celestia's, if not more but that emotion was anger or anxiety. It was fear. “You can be angry at me later, I promise you, but right now you need to get everypony as far away from here as possible.” Celestia gritted her teeth, anger seeping into her bones before she raised her head again and, in a very clear but commanding tone, began to issue orders to those around her. “Guards, get the Elements of Harmony out of here, a designated safe distance of fifteen metres. I want everypony to get away from her as fast as you can, do not panic, do not bustle or stampede but-” “Run” The Doctor whispered. “-Run.” Mayhem. Beautiful, melodic mayhem erupted around the small clearing which still sat swimming with sunlight. The royal guards had been trained for any situation, near or far, dark or dirty, suicidal or hopeless but never in their whole training regime had they once been informed of what to do if one of the immortal, all powerful Goddesses of the night and the day told them to run. It was a scary factor, having looked up to one-now two-all powerful beings for all of your life and then, quite suddenly being informed by one of them to run. It was practically a world wide message that told these guards that whatever was going on, it was out of the control of the princess. And that scared them. Hooves stamped across the ground, tearing great chunks of earth and dirt from the woodland floor around them, golden armour glinting in the trickles of both sunlight and sweat as panting, hoarse voiced guards barraged past each other and fled into the forest as fast as possible. Those that had retained years worth of training held onto the previous orders that their sovereign had issued, choosing not to engage in the rather inconsequential acts that the other guards had chosen to wear, trotting quickly over to the six colourful mares and flanking them, beginning to escort them from the premises. It took a minute at the most, a minute of chaos and cacophony and commotion, before the thundering of the guards hooves and the crude wheezing of their breath faded from the combined ears of The Doctor and Celestia, who had both remained behind to watch the guards and the mares escape, making sure no stragglers were left behind and calling out faint commands to those who had still retained their sensible minds. By this point, the nose from The Pandorica had risen, louder and louder, higher and higher, straining the ears of the two colossally old beings who had stayed behind to safeguard the passing of the equines. The Doctor turned to Celestia, ears peeled back on his head, eyes squinting and mouth opening as he yelled above the siren that was The Pandorica. “We should really run now!” Celestia nodded once, eyes ablaze with an unknown light as she opened her mouth to similarly yell back at The Doctor, rotating her body to make her getaway into the forest. And then silence. Everything feel quiet, the noise from The Pandorica disappearing like a phantom, birdsong having fallen quiet long ago. Not even the wind stirred the trees, not even the gurgle of a stream could be heard. Only silence, deep silence followed by the harsh whisper of a suddenly very nervous stallion. “Oh, that is really not very good.” And The Doctor was running, fast, barrelling towards Celestia and grabbing her hoof, wrenching her from her solitary position with an unbelievable strength that defied his form. And together they were running, blasting past bushes and trees as light fizzled and spread from the mouth of The Pandorica like a burning sun in the sky, as arcs of azure lightning torched from The Pandorica's surface, as wind tore through the forest and bent the trees back with a groan. Leaves whipped and animals scattered as the light of a universe ruptured and poured forth from the maw of The Pandorica, blazing into life in a second. The air was flooded, filled, fraught with a deep, rhythmic humming that warbled and thrummed into the ears of the fleeing fields of equines as The Doctor stole a glance backwards at The Pandorica, at the plain of light and he smiled and laughed and cheered. Celestia turned her head back, towards The Pandorica, and her limbs froze, her form becoming still as she gazed in wonder at what was unfurling before her. She was thousands of years old, had seen things a normal equine would never believe and felt the passing of so many lives but never in her whole life had she ever, ever felt an emotion as strong and overpowering as the awe that consumed her soul at that moment. The trees behind her had bent to the sides perfectly, giving her a perfect view of the clearing where she had, only moments ago, stood upon. Light, a pure white light, was extending from The Pandorica in all directions, smothering anything it touched and turning the light that rained down from the sun into something that looked like a child’s flash light. Lightning, great static bursts of it that bounced from The Pandorica which vibrated and shivered with the deep booming humming sound that crawled from within. But all of that, the leaves whipping around the clearing and the blinding, stunning light and the crackling lightning were all hidden by what was happening in the centre of the clearing. It faded into view momentarily, just a flash, a glimpse in her peripheral vision. A painting, mirage of blue, deep blue before it flickered away again. A hum again, followed by a musical, melodic and powerful thrum. And again it was back, except it was more blue and more solid and more- “Beautiful” Celestia whispered. It was wonderfully blue, with pure white windows which shone in an unnatural and godly light. A rectangle, tall and wide, but she could feel the knowledge and the experiences and the heart which powered the box that pulsed into life before her and it made her feel so very, very small and so very, very childish. A small light, blinking in time with its systematic appearances, flashed atop its head, a faint blue cage curling around the small pinnacle of luminosity. A sign, small but recognizable sat at the centre of two massive doors, faint black writing swirling over its complexion. Pull to open A circle of white, alone and symmetrical to the sign. St. John Ambulance And above, gazing down at Celestia, stretched another sign which tingled with life and power, a sign which made the monsters in the dark run in terror, a sign which heralded the arrival of the greatest warrior in the universe. A sign that had seen the beginning of the universe and had watched as time ran out. A sign that had been everywhere and anywhere. Police Public Call Box “How?” Celestia muttered as her eyes sat glued to the still vanishing box which was becoming more corporeal by the second. “The Pandorica wasn't just a prison, it was the best prison in the universe. Not even death could stop it, it held the prisoner inside in a state of suspension for all eternity. It was a miracle box meant to hold me inside and alive for millennia on end.” The Doctor whispered croaky, eyes glued to the now spinning box with reverence and joy. “It could bring anyone, anything back from the dead. And that is exactly what I made it do.” The box was solid now, no longer could The Pandorica or the forest be spied through its clear and ethereal depths. “A piece of it, just a piece, must have come through with me, clinging to the body of The Pandorica through the twisting vortex. A piece of my TARDIS followed me here, even after everything was meant to end, even in the final moments of my universe it followed me here.” There were tears, small but noticeable in The Doctor's eyes as he talked in an almost numinous voice his eyes sparkling with thanks. “The Pandorica took it, took my piece of the TARDIS and my memories of the TARDIS and it remade her...remade her from the ashes.” The mysterious box spun, faster and faster, hummed quicker and quicker, flickered more and more frequently. “My prison, my cage, my keep saved my oldest, most treasured companion from the darkness of the void, brought it back from the dying flames of a universe. My jail was my saviour. My jail kept my last remnant of a long distant past alive. My jail, my jail, brought her back to me.” The Doctor's voice was overflowing with commendation and respect as the great blue box blazed once more, scattering particles of light across the forest, causing the still fleeing ponies to turn in wonder and shock as lights tore through Equestria. “Celestia, I'd like to introduce you to the TARDIS.” And there, in the middle of the field which now sat still, stood the tall, old, magnificent and deep, dark blue box, the TARDIS, in all of its glory. It hummed faintly, the small light on its head shining bright in the clearing. The Doctor stepped forward, eyes still riveted to the TARDIS as he spoke in a trance like tone. “I was going to get rid of The Pandorica, take it somewhere far, far away and toss it into the heart of a star, that way nothing could ever get their hands on the power that it holds but I can't. Not any more, not after this. I was going to get my TARDIS back and fly this cube, this magnificent cube, somewhere where it would die in peace. Not now, not after this. No way. I can't destroy it, my precious Pandorica but I can't hide it either. The temptation would be too great for me.” The Doctor continued to trot towards the TARDIS with eyes that locked solely on the box whilst Celestia listened in, still trying to come to terms with what had happened, what was still happening. “The things I could do with that cube Celestia, the races I could bring back, the enemies I could raze. The horrors and the wonders I could do with The Pandorica would eclipse the universe Celestia. I cannot hide it for I would always, always go back to it when my hearts broke or when my fury soared... … I cannot hide it, but you can.” Celestia's eyes widened at The Doctor's words as he edge closer to The Pandorica and finally The Doctor turned to face her with conflict plastered across his face. “Hide it Celestia, hide it somewhere safe, hide it from me and anything else that comes here searching for the powers of a God. And if I ever come searching for it, if you look into my eyes and you see insanity and fury and sadness, then you turn me away, you hide The Pandorica from me no matter what happens. You never, never let me near it.” “Doctor.” Celestia whispered as the stallion turned away and trotted forward again. “I'm going now. You'll see me again Celestia, I promise. I'm going far away from this place for a while so that I don't do something rash with this power that is sitting before me. Tell those mares that I'll come back for them, that I have not forgotten them.” The Doctor trotted closer and, with a light creak, the doors to the TARDIS opened, a shining light blazing from within as The Doctor trotted into the blue box, his voice vanishing as Celestia tried to glance inside, only to be met with a blinding light. “Hide The Pandorica Celestia. I'm counting on you.” A pause. “I think I'll be seeing a lot more of you in years to come. Or years that have been.” Celestia's eyes expanded in her head as The Doctor's voice faded and the doors to the TARDIS closed with a slam. The metallic humming noise returned, shattering the relative silence of the forest as a dark wind picked up around the box which scattered the leaves on the trees. Even as the TARDIS began to vanish, sinking into the afternoon sunlight, even as the trees whipped and the hum roared amidst the forest, even when she knew he could not hear her, Celestia still called his name, over and over again as the box containing the alien stallion disappeared from view. She still called him, wanting to know how he had gone, why he had said what he had said and why it had hurt her heart when the words had reached her. She wanted to know about him because he was like her, far too old and far too sad for this world full of innocence and she had only just realized it, she had only met the TARDIS but it had told her more about The Doctor than he had done himself. And what it had told her was full of sadness and age and of a guardian of the universe, a mad colt in a box who would always come to save the day. It lasted minutes, minutes where she continued to yell his name, where she continued to feel a distinct loss deep in her chest and where she continued to loosely spill tears from her eyes. And when those minutes had ended, when her moment of weakness had vanished just like the alien stallion who had reminded her so much of herself, she looked back at The Pandorica sitting there, a cube with the power that even The Doctor feared, and she sighed a sad little sigh. There was work to be done by the princess of the sun yet again, possibly the most important work she had ever had to do and she would be damned to Tartarus before she failed in her duties. [.] One Week Later Canterlot Castle It was dark, the moon sitting quaintly in the sky, the stars twinkling with life and the noble city of Canterlot sleeping soundly when Celestia heard the noise again. The deep thrumming that had echoed in her dreams for the last week. It had been a trivial act to bring her guards back to her on that day a week ago, a simple call and her expertly trained but apparently imperfect guards had returned to her, tossing aside their fear for their devotion to the princess. Each one had been sporting a blush of shame and each one had begged for forgiveness, which she had given to every stallion and mare present with a smile. The Elements of Harmony had returned home by the time the guards had reassembled, each and every one of them tucked up in their bed and dreaming about a mysterious alien stallion. When her guards had returned, she had told them of her task and had asked for their help in moving The Pandorica, not because she had actually needed it but because she knew her guard needed a way of making sure they repaid her for their faults and so they flew and teleported and pushed The Pandorica all the way to her regal castle, constantly refusing her request to help them. Her sister, beloved Luna, had many questions to ask when The Pandorica arrived and Celestia had been more than happy to tell her of what had transpired the night before, earning a look of disbelief and shock from her sister before disbelief turned to belief when she had taken the time to inspect the interior of The Pandorica. And then she had sat on her throne, not allowing anypony to disturb her, as she contemplated where to imprison this cube, this terrifying cube. Days passed and hours ticked by before Celestia decided and, with but a burst of magic from her horn, both her and The Pandorica were sent spinning across the surface of Equestria to reappear at her designated hiding place. She had buried The Pandorica deep into the earth where nothing crawled or lived and where only the darkness of the soil could be its companion and then she had returned to her castle and exited the throne room, passing her duties over to her sister as she went to her room and slept for three days straight. And on the night of the seventh day, when the night had fallen and the stars shone and darkness ruled the land, he had reappeared. The thrumming ended, followed by the faintest sound of a harsh creak as the blue doors of the TARDIS folded open. Celestia gazed almost longingly out towards her balcony where the TARDIS had landed, the stallion who had strode from its mouth becoming invisible in the nights darkness. Her faint red curtain which smothered the balcony wrestled with the wind, whipping up and granting the princess vision of the glowing blue box but not the colt. Celestia pushed her bed covers away, rising from her comfy, warm abode to walk without horseshoes or golden decoration out onto her balcony to find the stallion. The cold marble floor chilled her bare hooves and the night air made her shiver as she trotted past the curtain and tossed her head around, searching aimlessly for the stallion in question. His quiet voice sounded up from somewhere behind her in her room, making her turn in fright. “Is it done? What I asked you to do, did you do it?” It was a nearly silent voice compared to Celestia's which rang out a second later. “Yes Doctor, The Pandorica is hidden, never to be found by any creature. Not even you.” Celestia trotted past her curtain again, back into her room to search for the colt. Everything was still dark to her, her hoof consistently knocking into a trinket of hers, a pointless possession. Still she roamed the darkness, searching for him before a voice issued out from the balcony where she had once been, causing her to whirl around and dart outside again, his name already on her lips. “Thank you.” She burst through the curtain just as the mystical thrumming sound started up again, as the wind picked up and the TARDIS began to fade from you. She growled in equal parts annoyance and sadness as the mysterious box vanished into the empty sky, leaving her alone on the balcony. She stood on the balcony for a minute, mind whirring with thoughts before a soft smile graced her lips. He had said that they would meet again and Celestia believed him to be true. They would meet again and next time they did meet, she was going to ask him many, many things. How he moved through space, why he had talked about years that had passed her already and how he survived the sadness that eternioty brought with it. Yes, Celestia would meet him again, that she was sure of. A star in the sky twinkled, burst and shot across the night sky as Celestia turned and began to trot back into her room, her thoughts occupied with the oddity that was The Doctor. [.] The Next Day Ponyville It was a warm but not too warm day. The sky was bright but not too bright. The sounds of fillies and foals playing was loud but not too loud. Today was one of Twilight's favourite days, a day where everything seemed to be perfect and wonderful, a day where she could spend time with her friends and not have to worry about anything else. She had woken up this morning, bright and early, to the sound of a rooster cawing somewhere far off and, as she had stretched and yawned, her hoof had struck a small object on her bedside cabinet. A piece of paper had been crudely stuck with sellotape to her cabinet, edges of tape chewed off awkwardly as if by a foals teeth. The note, written in a rather messy but eligible manner, had been one informing her to be at the park at twelve that same day for a picnic. At first the lavender mare had panicked, thinking some creepy stallion had broken into her house and left her a similarly creepy note but soon enough, with Spike's help, she had deduced that it must have been from one of her friends and so she had transferred from unwarranted panic to unbridled anticipation on a matter of seconds. That was what had led her to her current situation, trotting calmly through the luscious green fields that made up the Ponyville park, admiring the laughter of the young and grinning at the beauty of nature as she juggled the small basket of jam sandwiches on her back. Her little green and purple assistant had chosen to stay at home this time around, muttering something about the boring talk that mares got up to and how he had most certainly not wanted to be a part of it. In all honesty, the little dragon had probably just wanted to sleep a little more so Twilight had let him off the hook. Her hooves led her to the top of a little hill in the park which overlooked the rest of the greenery, a single, tall tree topped with terribly translucent leaves sitting upon the crest of the hill. Twilight trotted to the top and glanced around, mouth opening in a grin as she gazed at the five colourful mares that were currently approaching from all corners of the park, each one with a different basket or bundle balanced on their backs. Well, each one except a certain cyan pegasus who simply refused to do any of her own cooking because according to her, cooking was not something cool pegasi do. Soon enough each of her friends had converged on top of the hill and the chorus of greetings rang out. “Hey girls!” “Howdy!” “H-hello.” “Good morning dear.” “Hey.” “Good moooooooooooooorning fillies.” There was a pause in conversation as each of the mares reached around to grab their baskets of food or drink, all except Rainbow Dash who looked around semi-awkwardly. Rarity had brought with her a fine selection of salads, each one crisp looking and full of vibrant green colours. Fluttershy had settled for bringing a small bottle of lemonade, which was swiftly leapt upon by Pinkie who, in turn, had bought a bamboozling amount of cupcakes and other confectioneries. Applejack had brought her famous apple pie along with a nice selection of other apple based foods and Twilight had, of course, unpacked her jam sandwiches. Laughter and conversation erupted shortly after as the six friends began to partake in the picnic food, a warm atmosphere wavering around the small group as the sounds of foals playing dimmed somewhat in the background. Snacks were devoured, drinks were drained and conversation was allowed to run free before Twilight raised her last glass of lemonade, every other pony turning to face her. “I'd like to thank whoever was kind enough to leave the note in my room about this picnic. Its great girls, I never thought I'd be doing something like this when I was a filly.” “Ah know what ya mean pardner, ah wanna thank whoever set this here picnic up as well!” “O-oh well, I am having loads of fun and I'm sure Angel bunny can manage the house on his own for a while so I'd also like to thank whoever did this as well, if that's alright.” “Yeah, this is a pretty cool picnic. It'd be better if The Wonderbolts were here but, y'know, I'll take what I can get. Thanks, uh, who set this up again?” Four eyes turned to Rarity as she sipped her lemonade, her gaze lingering on each of them for a second. “Well, it most certainly wasn't me though I do feel the need to thank whoever did arrange this. I have been positively stressed ever since I got that order in from Canterlot and this is just what I needed to relax.” All eyes turned to Pinkie, a serenade of thank yous echoing up from the mares which made the pink pony giggle. “Ah, thanks you guys but I didn't do this. If I did, it would have loads more balloons, and music and cakes!” Five frowns appeared on five faces whilst the sixth face remained filled with a large smile which displayed a perfect set of white teeth. “Then, who did this?” The only answer that came was the faint beginnings of a very distant thrumming sound. It was quiet at first, a little noise that caused small flicking of ears amongst the group of ponies present but it was not something major, it was not something that distracted them. The distraction started, however, when the wind began to pick up. The grass swayed gently and then more ferociously, the leaves on the tree dancing as the distinctive thrumming sound grew louder, causing each of the mares to cast somewhat nervous eyes around the park, trying to identify the source of the noise. All except Fluttershy, who upon hearing the loud noise, curled into a little ball of yellow in the grass. The gathered mass of colourful equines didn't have to wait long to discover the mystery behind the noise as, not two metres from them, something begin to materialize into view. Once again, all eyes widened and mouths dropped open in shock as the sound and wind picked up, a bright blue box flitting into view time and time again, becoming more and more substantial as the seconds ticked by. Well, all eyes widened and all mouths dropped bar Fluttershy's, as she was still busy inspecting the grass with her head. A great, big, blue box now stood atop the hill, placed directly beside the tree and two metres away from the girls, the sound of metallic thrumming now silenced, the wind now still and the attention of the mares now gathered. The doors opened with a majestic motion and... ...out stepped a very familiar brown stallion wearing a very peculiar looking suit which hardly seemed to fit him. A loose, partially crinkled white shirt sat on The Doctor's withers, a black coat covering the white shirt similarly sat on his withers and back. Around his neck hung a rather large white scarf that wrapped four times around his neck before it came to its close. The six mares, Fluttershy now included, stared at The Doctor in equal parts surprise, happiness and confusion. The Doctor quickly broke the silence however with a brief tut. “Oh come on, I expected a better reaction than this! Do you know how far I had to go to find someone who could remake this suit? Gosh, you mares all have way too high expectations.” “What a ghastly suit..” “Oy! I was going to wear this to a wedding back in my universe but-” The Doctor was interrupted by a flying ball of pink which was shrieking his name. “Doctor!” The Doctor quickly fell under the consuming wave of pink as Pinkie Pie latched onto him with a hug, straining his ribs with a particularly strong squeeze. The Doctor gasped and gagged in pain, rolling around on the ground and trying desperately to remove his pink vice. After a second of struggling, he gave up and began to wheeze out a greeting. “Its good to see all of you too. Honestly, I didn't think you'd all show up here. I mean, if some random person came into my house and left a message next to my bed telling me to go somewhere then... actually, I'd probably go, but a normal person would probably call the police...or the guards, whatever defence force you have.” Twilight was the next to speak up as The Doctor forcefully freed himself from the pink menace. “Wait, that was you?” The Doctor nodded. “Of course.” “Why-Actually, how did you get into my house?” “Ah'd quite like that answered as well.” The Doctor frowned as if it were the most obvious question he had ever heard before he trotted back over to the vanishing, magical box and gave it a light tap. “Well, my TARDIS can move through both time and space so breaking into the old Apple family place wasn't the hardest of tasks.” “Baloney,” Rainbow Dash cried loudly, “you're saying that messy blue box can travel through time and space?” The Doctor turned to her and smiled. “You're saying it can't? You just saw it appear her and you've seen the things I can do. This 'messy' blue box can and will travel in time and space, that's exactly why I'm here.” Twilight, who had been measuring up the apparent insanity level of The Doctor versus the fact that he may actually be telling the truth, spoke up loudly. “What do you mean?” A flash of white teeth lit The Doctor's face as he smiled and whirled around to stand in front of the blue box. “Why, I'm here to show you of course. Time and space, past and future, planets and suns, I'm here to take you with me and show you...everything.” The mares stared in amazement at The Doctor as he stood outside of his TARDIS, a genuine smile plastered across his face. Even the relatively unshakeable Pinkie Pie seemed to be at a loss for words, her blue eyes wide with wonder and a small 'O' forming from her mouth. “B-b-but, huh, what-” Twilight spluttered as she tried to come to terms with what The Doctor had said. Her and her friends, go travelling through space and time together. Not even Starswirl had perfected that level of power, heck, not even the princesses had and yet here this stallion was tossing it around like candy. “All six of you, all of time and space at your disposal. Everywhere, anywhere and whenever you ever wanted to be at your hooves. You could watch the final moments of a distance dying sun or go back in time to see the creation of your world. Anything.” “B-but what about ah family?” “Its a time machine, I could take you around the universe for weeks on end and drop you back here one minute after we first left Applejack.” “Anywhere” Rarity cooed suddenly, eyes ablaze with interest. “Everywhere” Rainbow Dash murmured, body tingling with excitement. “Whenever” Pinkie Pie giggled underneath her breath. And yet, after all of that daydreaming, after Rarity's image of visiting the future to perfect her fashion before it arrived. After Rainbow Dash's image of going to a world where aliens raced each other each and every day to prove which of them was the fastest. After Fluttershy had pictured a planet filled with the most cuddly and adorable animals. After Applejack had thought of going back in time and seeing what Equestria was like when farming was the only source of income. After Pinkie Pie imagined a world where the sky rained chocolate and everything in sight was edible and sweet. After Twilight created the idea of going back and visiting Starswirl the Bearded, the Starswirl the Bearded, and asking him about his life. Only after all of those thoughts crossed the minds of the Elements of Harmony did they start to have doubts. The mares all looked at each other, words not being needed as they gazed into each others eyes, already formulating what each and every other member of the group was thinking. There was half a minute of silence where you could have heard a pin drop before Twilight stepped forward, a nervous look plastered across her face as her friends trotted forward to support her similarly. “I'd love to go anywhere, to see anything, to travel back in time and meet my hero, to see what Equestria is like in the future. Its a dream come true, something that shouldn't be passed up. A once in a lifetime opportunity that will never come again.” The Doctor smirked before Twilight continued. “But this, appearing here after a week and suddenly asking us to go away with you, this is too sudden. There are things I need to do, ponies I need to meet, an assistant to sort out. I can't just pack up and go on a whim and neither can the rest of the girls. We have lives here and even if this is a time machine, what if something happens? What if we come back late and everypony is worried? What if Spike and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom can't find us? We can't go with you on just a whim.” The Doctor's smirk sunk, a crestfallen look overtaking his features as he let out a lonely sigh before his ears pricked up. “One week. Give us one week to get everything sorted, one week to make sure everything is right.” The Doctor looked up, only now noticing the six grins that the mares before him were sporting, some wider than others but all heartfelt. “One week and we'll go with you, everywhere and anywhere.” The Doctor smiled, a wide, wide smile that stretched from cheek to cheek as the mares in front of him began to giggle to themselves. He spun around, hooves clopping against the door to the TARDIS as he turned his head back. “One week, I'll be back in one week. You had better be ready.” Twilight laughed at his hearty expression. “We will be Doctor, we will be.” The door creaked open as The Doctor pushed his way in before he poked his head out of the entrance, grinning as he spoke up again. “I have a feeling that you lot are gonna make this place a whole lot more interesting.” And then, just like that, the door closed and the stallion and box vanished from view with the picking up of the wind and the thrumming of the TARDIS, leaving five very nervous but excited mares to burst into a cacophony of screaming anticipation. Twilight alone stood silent, looking at the spot where The Doctor and his TARDIS had vanished, a little smile faint on her face. She couldn't be happy yet though, there was a lot of work to do before her dreams came true and, as Twilight closed her eyes for a moment, she once again saw those cold, scary eyes of the colt that she had found laying in the Everfree Forest all that time ago. And maybe nervousness and excitement weren't all that she felt. Maybe there was some fear too. But still, there was a whole future to be discovered, a whole past to be uncovered and a whole universe to explore and, to Twilight Sparkle, that easily outweighed the fear. 'Yes,' she thought to herself, 'this is going to be our biggest adventure yet.' [.] It was dark. The room he sat in was dark and cluttered and it stank, not of a corporeal smell but of madness. Light flickered in a corner, crawling across a carved, ragged desk. On the desk, a broken sonic screwdriver lay. A hoof, dark blue, reached down to the desk and tapped. One Voices Two Whispering Three Hatred Four “Master” a broken voice muttered to the darkness. Author's Note Sorry about the wait. I lost my interest in writing and it took me a while to get it back. Also, picking up where you left off is a really difficult task to do, along with trying to remember where I was going to take this story. Still, I finished it and that is all that matters to me. Once again, tell me what you think and constructive criticism is welcome.
TeaserThe Mountain will move. Fear shall feed fear. Thunder will reign. Time will change. Stay tuned for the sequel to Through The Cracks ~ Doctor Whooves- A Thunder Of Hooves ~ Doctor: Oooh, moving mountains, a ring of destruction and an ancient prophecy, I can just tell that this one is going to be a doozy! ~ Twi: But...but you can save them! They're dying Doctor! Doctor: That's what ponies do Twilight, they die and this time there is nothing I can do about it. Twi: B-but you can go back in time...they don't have to die! Doctor: I learnt something a long time ago Twilight and it is this. Everything has its time and everything dies but on some days, on some shining, magnificent days everybody lives, and those are the days I strive for. I can't go back and save them Twilight, it's too late for that but I can make sure that this creature doesn't harm another living being ever again. ~ ?: I have lain dormant for millennia on end, gathering my strength to return to the land of my people. I am a God, more mighty and powerful than any other, what does it matter to me if I squash a few civilizations? ~ Doctor: Why did you wake now? After so long, why now? ?: There was a...shift in the fabrics of the universe, something that roused me from my sleep, Doctor. Something that will alter the timelines in which we have allowed ourselves to grow accustomed to. Joke and laugh and play now Doctor, for the life you know shall not last much longer.
