Dead on Arrival

"Uuuuugh!" Twilight groaned in frustration. She finished another educational book on fringe dimensional theories, and once again finding nothing that could help her. Just a bunch of 'physical impossibilities'. She slammed it closed and threw it in the 'done' pile. She turned to the location of the 'to read' pile and, to her dismay, discovered it vacant. Now without the constant stimulation of reading material, Twilight felt the dry burn of thirst in her throat. She levitated a glass of water to her lips and took a sip, the cool liquid soothing her esophagus as she swallowed. She was so caught up in studying a way to generate interdimensional portals that she forgot to drink.

She looked around for her friends in the cavernous atrium and discovered them all napping on the books she gave them to read. Twilight gave a deep, throaty grunt in annoyance, furrowing her brows. She knew from the start that even if they understood all the material it wouldn't have been much help anyway. She just wanted something for them to do. She's read every book in this library a hundred times and knew them all by heart, yet somehow thought reading them again would help.

There was a large golden hourglass in the centre of the deep blue floor, of which Rainbow Dash was snoozing upon, buried in books and a copy of Daring Do resting open over her snoring face. Ancient texts were strewn all about her old home. Piled in mountains or hanging from statues of the two sisters. The massive intricate glass window gave a fantastic view of the stars, the magnificent pure white and gold castle in the foreground and regal towering stone statues of the two sister's heads completed the royal aesthetic. Twilight looked around for a clock, but found none. Instead she turned up from her desk and gazed out the window. The window was facing almost directly north. Remembering her extensive experience with memorizing planispheres, she guesstimated the time using the constellations. She tracked the Big Dipper and used the two pointer stars to find Polaris.

"Hmm, Cepheus is just below Polaris, right above the north wing of the castle. So if I'm not mistaken, it should be just about 10 PM," Twilight mumbled under her breath, gesturing with her hooves to the stars to help her navigate. "So we still have about an hour before the final train leaves for Ponyville," She continued. She hadn't forgotten about Time Turner. He was their best hope now. Twilight raided the entire library dozens of times trying to find anything on interdimensional travel. The only ones she could find she just read, even the incredibly rare Starswirl the Bearded's spells that were even remotely close to what she was looking for all required the element of kindness to work.

She grew more anxious of Fluttershy. It's been 18 hours since she trapped herself inside the portal with Angel. Fluttershy wasn't exactly known for her survival skills, and she is yellow for a reason, but it is possible that her talent with animals could be an advantage.

While Twilight was gazing out into the night worriedly, she saw a faint glimmer of light just above the window, in between the two white frames running vertically that cut the window in thirds. Twilight tilted her gaze upwards and cocked her head, squinting her eyes in curiosity. She approached the strange oddity slowly as it shimmered, careful not to agitate it, until Pinkie Pie was woken up by Twilight's hoofsteps. Pinkie rubbed her eyes with her hooves and noticed Twilight trotting curiously to the window and asked cheerfully, quickly regaining her bearings,

"What'cha lookin' at?" Pinkie chirped. She rose to her hooves atop her pile of books, jumped off, and cantered to Twilight. Twilight snapped out of her daze and looked to Pinkie to explain herself.

"Oh, I'm just trying to tell the time," Twilight answered, mildly embarrassed at the silliness of the answer.

"Well you're not going to find it lookin' out there, silly!" Pinkie chimed cheerily. She produced a golden pocket watch out of thin air and flipped it open. "It's about eleven ''o clock," Pinkie said. The number sparked immediate panic in Twilight.

"Wait! You mean eleven eleven!? We have to get to the train station NOW!" Twilight's horn lit up as she grabbed Pinkie and the rest of her friends in a purple aurora, lifting them out of their leather-bound makeshift beds and galloped out the door with friends in tow. They have to hurry, or they'll have to wait until 6 in the morning for the next train. Time Turner said he'd be done an hour ago, plus the hour to get to Ponyville makes it two.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Pinkie asked, annoyed at being abducted without her consent. Twilight grunted from the intense magical effort to lift everypony off the ground, but she still sprinted full speed down the long winding steps to the train station.

"We have to get going, or we'll miss the train!" Twilight answered in between gasps. The cool night air rushed past Twilight's face, her burning trachea slightly soothed by the cool air, her face blushing and chest pounding with every step. Her friends still levitated off the ground by her effort, still half asleep.

"Hmm, Daring Do?" Rainbow Dash mumbled in her sleep.

They finally arrived at the train station, and just in time. Twilight levitated the conductor the correct amount of bits as she galloped into the passenger car, levitating her half-awake compadres with her. Twilight found a comfortable seat next to a window and promptly sat there. Other than them, the train was completely empty. Using the last of her stamina, she plopped everypony into their own seats in comfortable positions so they could continue their slumber.

"Hey! I never said you could whisk me away like that! What's wrong with yo-" Pinkie abruptly slammed deep into sleep, interrupting herself with her own snores. Twilight was used to staying up late to read, but Pinkie and company weren't. Twilight sat in her seat with spike sleeping next to her. She kept panting and gasping like an Equestrian Games sprinter, her chest burned, lungs and legs aching from the intense burst of physical activity. She turned her gaze to the window, her own breath fogging up the glass. After a few minutes her body compensated the oxygen deficit and she stopped panting, but her muscles still felt like rubber.

Twilight didn't care about her pain. She stared into the thousands of stars, anxious to find Fluttershy. She couldn't stop thinking about her, even when she was studying she was still in the back of her mind.

She kept wondering if there was more she could've done. She should've warned everypony about going through, and she knew Fluttershy was too distracted by her birds to overhear anything that she and Applejack were talking about. Twilight was never really paying attention to anypony but Applejack in the first place after the portal was spawned, but she never expected Fluttershy to scream bloody murder and barge right past her in a split second, either. Twilight was eager to hunt down Fluttershy and apologize, but she didn't know what for. Does Twilight even want to find her? Because what if something happened to her? Chances are the world she bounded right into was an inhospitable wasteland, she's probably already dead.

Twilight shuddered at the thought. The interdimensional portal spell was Starswirl's last composition, maybe it was his last for a reason? Twilight started taking deep breaths, trying to quell her dread. Twilight was a mare of science, ironically. She never believed that accepting a happy lie was better than a cruel truth. It was so easy to say to say to other ponies, but when you yourself are in a situation that demands one of the two, it's much more difficult to find the correct answer.

"You okay, Twilight? You look more stressed than usual, and sweaty," Twilight turned her head to her faithful assistant, who noticed her poor condition with sympathetic eyes. He must've woken up from Twilight's huffing and puffing.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just a little worried about Fluttershy," Twilight acted casually, hoping to dissuade him from any more questions about her condition. It failed, her deep anxiety shone through her disguise.

"No, even I can tell it goes deeper than that, Twilight. You were really torn up at the castle this morning, more than most of the others. Something else has to be bothering you," Spike wanted to give his lifelong friend some much needed emotional support. He was her assistant, after all.

Twilight sighed, "I guess I'm more than just a little worried," she admitted, her ears flopping backwards in mild sheepishness, her eyes darting to the floor, trying to avoid eye contact.

"That's the Twilight I know, but I know that's not all of it. Come on, I'll keep it a secret," Spike wasn't going to give up so easily. He couldn't stand seeing her so distraught without knowing why. He prodded deeper and took a guess, something he remembered from this morning. She was the only one to blame herself. "I overheard you saying this whole thing was your fault way back this morning, do you still believe that?" Twilight finally cracked.

She sighed once more before her emotional catharsis, "Kind of. I know it's not my fault she got trapped, but I feel I could've done more to keep it from happening, you know? I could've studied harder, or warned everypony about it. I just feel responsible, I guess," she revealed sheepishly, but she was glad to have someone to talk to, even if she didn't know it.

"Well that's stupid. She's not your responsibility, Twilight. She blasted in there on her own to fetch her bratty pet, and she would've jumped in there after him whether we tried to stop her or not. It was nopony's fault but her own, whether you believe that or not is your choice," Spike's harsh-truth approach hit Twilight hard with its aloof truth. "Just don't beat yourself up over something you had no control over. Promise me that, okay? Now get some sleep while you can, you'll need it," Spike finished his speech on a warm note and felt like he got his point across to Twilight well.

"I guess that's true," Twilight responded, her eyes looked to the window in contemplation. It was true, Fluttershy really would've gone in anyway, even if we stopped her she'd just keep fighting until she broke free. We all know how passionate she is about her animals, and as Rainbow Dash learned when she tried to get her to see the dragon migration, you can't force Fluttershy from doing something she really doesn't want to do. Spike was right about Fluttershy not being her responsibility. She's a grown mare responsible for her own decisions and her own actions. Maybe she just didn't understand the ramifications of barging headfirst into strange new universes, but she shouldn't have been so rash in the first place. Ultimately it was her fault that she got herself trapped in there, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to save her to the utmost of our abilities. We're still trying our hardest to get her back, but that doesn't mean any of them should lose sleep because of guilt. Twilight felt more at peace with this new take on the situation at hoof, and thanked her dearest assistant, "Thanks Spike."

"Don't mention it, now get some sleep already, you're going to need as much as you can get," Spike lied back down on the off-white seat and followed his own advice.

"Alright, Spike," Twilight laid down much like her companions, and for the first time all day, she slept. Roughly an hour later, the squeaking of the train stopping startled everypony on board awake. They were all visibly confused at their new surroundings.

"Uh, Twilight, where are we?" Rainbow asked perplexed, rubbing her eyes.

"We're back in Ponyville," Twilight announced, yawning herself awake.

"How'd we get here, exactly?" Rarity asked politely while fixing her mane.

"Twilight carried us all here or else we'd miss the train!" Pinkie explained.

"Huh, I wish ya would'a told us 'er somethin'," Applejack added, feeling a little violated, but understood Twilight's reasonable motives.

"Sorry about that, let's get off this train already! We've got to check back on Time Turner as soon as possible!" Twilight led the group out of the train and onto the train platform. It was nighttime. The train station was on the outskirts of town, and barely lit by a few lanterns among the cool spring night, a few moths fluttering around the warm glow. The gang trotted down the wooden ramp to the dirt road to town, passing under a hanging sign bearing the train station symbol and turned right at the small blue-green guesthouse. They passed the rugged white wooden fence marking the entry to Ponyville proper. Dew was collecting on the tall blades of grass, shining in the moonlight, dampening their legs as they trotted past.

Houses of various shapes and sizes dotted the rolling hills, their windows black. They cantered into the softly lit town, only illuminated by a few streetlights and the blue-white glow of Luna's moon. Nopony was awake to see them trotting to Time Turner's lab, the serene night shattered by the clopping of hooves down the cobblestone road. Twilight was still stressed. Even though she no longer felt guilt over Fluttershy's mistake, she knew that the faster they get to her dimension, the higher Flutter's chances were. She was desperately hoping he was still awake. They arrived at his home, which was right in the centre of town. Twilight rapped on his door with her hoof. The door flung open within seconds.

"Ah, you're back! Good to see!" The Doctor ushered them inside the brightly lit room. The TARDIS taking centre stage.

"Oh, thank goodness you're awake!" Twilight exclaimed with relief as she and her friends gathered next to the TARDIS. Dozens of paper cups and blueprints littered the floor as they cantered in.

"Science never sleeps, and neither do I!" The Doctor shouted with enthusiasm.

"How'dya do that?" Pinkie asked, looking for some tips of her own to stay up later. Sleeping always got in the way of baking and party planning.

"Lots of coffee, my dearest Pinkie," The Doctor answered. "Lots and lots of coffee," He trailed on, gazing into oblivion. Twilight snapped the scatterbrained doctor back on track.

"So, is the machine up and running?" She asked giddily.

"Well, yes and no. Can the machine travel through dimensions? Yes. Can it use the coordinates you brought over? Well, no. But not to worry! I found a fix for that! All you need to do is bring me a pinch of your friend's DNA and the device can lock on to her with an accuracy rating of roughly 15-20 meters, so you probably don't need to travel far, but still you might need to do a bit of searching depending on the environment we happen to end up in," The Doctor explained, jittering.

"Not to worry! I'll have some of her DNA in a jiffy!" A purple sphere of light engulfed Twilight in a flash. She teleported to Fluttershy's cottage to grab some of her genetic code. An awkward silence gripped the group for a few minutes as they waited. Rainbow twiddled her hooves in the air and Applejack kicked her hoof.

"Sooo, do you have a marefriend?" Rarity asked casually, testing the waters.

"Erm..." The Doctor scrunched his face and avoided eye contact in embarrassment, his face blushing subtly.

Twilight popped back into existence, boasting the thousand-yard stare and carrying a jar full of long, curly, and crusty salmon pink hairs and white flakes of dandruff in her wing. The horrific sights she saw in Fluttershy's cellar can never be recounted. Nothing big or small shall never match the horror she witnessed. Her cellar was cleverly hidden under her living room rug, and for good reason. Almost every surface was crusty for reasons too repulsive to ever explain in words. So many bananas. Sweet Celestia the bananas.

"Oh, thank Celestia she's back," Rainbow muttered under her breath. The tension of the awkward advances Rarity made dissolved into the past along with Twilight's notion of Fluttershy's preconceived innocence.

"Ah, Twilight!" The Doctor snatched the jar from Twilight's wing, smiling gratefully. "This is perfect! How did you get so many samples?" The Doctor asked casually.

"DON'T ASK!" Twilight blurted, eyes wide and face scrunched. She learned things tonight about her beloved little sex-fiend of a pegasus she would've rather stayed in the cellar. Forever. Everypony in attendance were visibly confused, but decided to follow her instruction and leave it be.

"Alright, everypony, follow me into the TARDIS. We're about to get going if you're all just about ready. Allons-y!" The Doctor invited, excited to brush off his encounter with Rarity. He trotted into the blue wooden box, flinging the doors open inwards. Everypony followed him in.

"You sure do got a lotta space in here," Applejack commented, gawking at the ceiling.

"I know, right? Perfect place for a party!" Pinkie Pie pulled out her party canon, jumped up in the sky, blew her party horn, and was just about to fire a round of confetti.

"Ah, ah, ah! No party cannons in the TARDIS! I've seen the mess that thing makes at the 'Welcome to Ponyville' party you threw me, and unless you want to stay behind, you'll put that back wherever you found it," The Doctor warned the party enthusiast. Pinkie's face drooped from an excited grin to a frown, quickly floating from midair back to the ground, blowing her horn softly in disappointment. She bucked the party cannon out of the TARDIS. "Chin up, you can throw a party at your residence when we retrieve your acquaintance, Butterfly," The Doctor added, trying to keep everypony's morale high before another potentially life-threatening adventure. "Is everypony here? Where's Twilight?" The Doctor peeked outside the TARDIS to discover Twilight in the exact same position she teleported in with, still as a statue. "Well come on then, love! We can't go without you, of course!" He shouted. Twilight snapped out of her daze and cantered to the TARDIS.

"Coming!" Twilight yelled as she ran into the Doctor's device. She was taken aback by the surprising space inside. "Woah! It's ... It's,"

"Bigger on the inside?" The Doctor smirked smugly.

"Yeah," Twilight responded in awe, mouth hinging agape. She didn't know of any spell that could accomplish something like this, and she's been studying magic her whole life.

"Finally, somepony excitable!" The Doctor responded with glee.

Twilight remembered something critical, "How does it work?!" She asked excitedly, jumping up and down in excitement, grinning like a madmare.

The Doctor grimaced sheepishly, "Uh, it's a bunch of, erm, wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff?" His eyes shifted around the alien locomotive, sweating ever so slightly.

"Oh, come on!" Twilight said jokingly, "You can go in-depth with me! I know all the jargon!"

"Well, um, in truth I don't really know. I kind of ... stole it?" He said, tapping his hooves together, eyes darting.

"What?"

"Don't we have a pony to save?"

Twilight gasped, "You're right! Rarity do you have the suits?"

"Oh, darling of course I do," Rarity levitated a rack of 8 different full sized body suits. Specialized for each pony / dragon. Their cutie marks sewn in patches on the flank. Except Spike. He didn't need one, he was recognizable enough already. Everypony put them on. Twilight put her brown saddlebags over the tight fitting white body suit, Rarity cringed at the clashing colours, but kept it inside. They were hard to put on, but the fabric was surprisingly breathable, and the plastic masks were actually quite comfortable. Rarity went around and turned on everypony's (and dragon's) air tanks and filters, and cool, fresh air flowed freely through their suits. Twilight lifted the fabric flaps and checked for her various instruments neatly packed inside. Atmospheric analyzers, magical detectors, the works. The one bearing Fluttershy's mark remained vacant, still lying crumpled on the floor. Rarity felt a pang of sadness as she recounted her reassuring words that morning.

"Right! All I need to do before we get going is put a little DNA in the analyzer," The Doctor said with enthusiasm. He twisted off the lid and reached in, until Twilight screamed,

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Twilight shot her hoof out, her eyes bugged, her neck muscles flexed, pulling the corners of her mouth into a frown. The Doctor confusingly agreed with a cocked brow. He instead tilted the jar into the glass reservoir, tumbling the mixture of curly hair, dandruff, and something crusty clumping it all together into a glass reservoir in the TARDIS control panel. The analyzer's lid snapped shut and bathed the funky follicles with green light, whirring loudly in the process.

"Yes! It worked!" The Doctor ran around the TARDIS' industrial control panel, flipping levers, turning knobs, and cranking flywheels. The TARDIS screeched and rumbled like a siren as he worked. Everypony lost their hoofing and wobbled, except the Doctor. The lights fading in and out with each cry of the machine. The commotion finally ceased, leaving 5 wobbling ponies and a dragon trying to regain their hoofing.

"What does that mean?" Twilight asked anxiously, her heart pounding.

The Doctor trotted to the door and pulled both doors open, florescent light pouring in, revealing a sterile white hallway just outside. Doors with numbered labels lined both walls of the corridor.

"We're here."