The Legend Of The Blue Box

Ponyville, a peaceful town full of peaceful ponies. Rarely did the residents have major troubles to deal with in their day-to-day lives and, thus far, this day was no exception. The mid-afternoon light kept the town alive. Ponies wandered the streets, colts and fillies ran around and played.

One bright pink mare bounced through the center of town with a big smile and a basket of envelops tied to her head. She stopped  when she spotted a purple unicorn approaching from the opposite direction.

“Twilight!” the pink pony exclaimed, “I was just coming to see you.”

“Hey, Pinkie Pie, what’s up?” Twilight replied.

“It’s been a whole week since our last party and I thought that’s a long time to go without a party so I’m throwing a ‘one week since our last party’ party later tonight. I’m inviting everypony. Here, have an invitation,” Pinkie said in a single breath.

Twilight giggled and said, “Sounds great.”

Twilight used her magic to levitate an envelope out of Pinkies hat. She dropped the invitation as her pink friend suddenly began twitching uncontrollably. “Twitchy, twitcha-twitcha twitch!” Pinkie exclaimed. “My tail is twitching, something’s gonna fall, something…big!”

“Uh-oh, what is it? I don’t see anything that could fall,” Twilight asked urgently looking around.

“I don’t know, it feels like the whole sky is gonna fall. Everypony run the sky is falling!” Pinkie yelled jumping into the air.

For a moment any of the ponies that heard the warning just stopped and stared curiously. A single panicked scream was all it took to break their stupor and send them all galloping for cover. Twilight and Pinkie galloped into the nearest building.

“Pinkie that doesn’t make any sense. The sky isn’t an object that can fall,” Twilight explained as the two ponies entered their target sanctuary.

“But this feels like one doozy of a fall,” Pinkie argued back.

Ponies all around watched with bated breath as the sky darkened. Clouds began spontaneously swirling around like a hurricane. Electricity began discharging from the middle of the chaotic storm. Any ponies still outside quickly found cover.

The lightning grew stronger as it ripped through the streets kicking up dust. A large crack, like something that would form on a lake of ice, appeared in the center of the clouds. The fracture grew and split as if Hades himself was tearing open a pathway to hell.

Three blurred objects flew out from the rift. The first flew up and out of town into the surrounding mountains. The second flew in the opposite direction, into the Everfree forest on the border of town. The third plummeted straight down slamming into the ground, kicking up a small dust cloud and creating a small crater.

The hole in the sky closed and the chaos subsided. As the dust began to clear around whatever hit the ground, the object gave off a strong golden light that lasted only a few seconds.

Several ponies, Twilight and Pinkie included, approached the fallen object with caution, stretching their necks to avoid being too close. Lying face down on the ground was an animal covered in tattered clothing.

“Is it… dead?” one of the ponies asked.

“Nothing could survive after that,” another pony replied.

“What is it?” Pinkie asked.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen anything like this,” Twilight said, leaning in to get a closer look. “I hear breathing, it’s alive! It needs medical attention!”

Twilight used her magic to lift the creature off the ground and galloped off levitating the animal with her.

Elsewhere, about fifteen thousand years in the future, a certain blue box could be found floating in the vacuum of space. Two ponies were inside. One, a light brown stallion with a black mane who wore a tie and a long coat. The other, a light grey pegasus mare with a blond mane and a lazy eye.

“So why are we stopping in the middle of nowhere, Doctor?” asked the pegasus.

“Well Derpy,” responded the brown pony in a cheerful tone as he focused on his computer, “the TARDIS does not have an unlimited power supply. So, every now and then, she needs refueling and the TARDIS just happened to detect the perfect source of temporal energy right here.”

“Okay,” said Derpy trying to see out of one of the small windows on the door. “But what’s out there exactly?”

“A rift in time and space,” the Doctor began. “It’s perfectly harmless but it bleeds energy that’s perfect for the TARDIS.”

The Doctor looked at a computer screen on the central control panel. His cheerful smile began to fade to something more neutral. His eyes narrowed at the screen as he expressed some kind of concern.

“What’s wrong, Doctor?” Derpy asked looking worried.

“Hmm?” the Doctor responded, immediately perking up as he looked at his companion. “Ahh, it’s nothing to worry about. Anyway, the ship will finish refueling momentarily, so, the question is, where do we go next? The past, the future, anywhere across the universe, where do you want to go?”

“Well,” Derpy began slowly, “it’s been awhile since I saw everypony back home. How about a visit to Ponyville?”

“Aw, home already? But we only just started to explore,” the Doctor protested.

Derpy’s only response was an innocent toothy grin.

“Alright then back home it is,” The Doctor said with a smile as he trotted up to the control panel and began turning various dials and flicking switches. “When I say ‘now’ pull that wibbly lever and press that button.”

“Got it,” Derpy responded.

The TARDIS began shaking and moving.

“Now,” said the Doctor.

Derpy pulled the lever and pressed the button and the TARDIS disappeared.

Back in Ponyville, the morning after the animal crashed to the ground, many ponies were gathered around Ponyville General Hospital. A few pegasi were flying and pushing around stray clouds. The rest of town was largely barren. In a back alley the TARDIS faded into existence accompanied by the sound of mechanical grinding. Derpy and the Doctor exited the TARDIS and began walking into town.

“Well, here we are,” the Doctor said matter-of-factly, “back home just after we left.”

“How long were we gone?” Derpy questioned.

“Only about three hours, not even long enough for anypony to notice we left,” replied the Doctor.

“Wow, we did so much and only three hours go by here,” Derpy said to herself quietly. “Hey, where is everypony? The town should be busier than this.” Overhead, Derpy noticed a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail floating above them. “Hey, Rainbow Dash!”

“Derpy?” Rainbow questioned, turning her head. She floated down and landed in front of Derpy. “Where have you been? Nopony has seen you for the past three days. You just disappeared.”

“Three days?” Derpy said surprised. She shot an annoyed look at the Doctor, who only gave an awkward smile in response. “Sorry. I was, uh, traveling with him.”

“Hello, I’m the Doctor,” the stallion said as he extended a hoof.

Dash raised an eyebrow and took a moment before shaking his hoof and replying. “I’m Rainbow Dash.”

Dash turned her attention back to Derpy. “I wish you would have told somepony you were leaving. We looked everywhere for you. We needed every pegasus we could get.”

“Why, what happened?” Derpy asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

“The weather started going out of control after a hole opened in the sky yesterday

afternoon,” Dash said waving a hoof around for emphasis. “We have it under control now but—”

“Excuse me, did you say a hole in the sky?” the Doctor interrupted sounding surprised and skeptical at the same time. “What do you mean a hole?”

“Well I didn’t see it myself,” Dash explained, “but from what I heard a hole ripped open in the sky and some living thing fell out. It hit the ground and made a crater. Then the hole in the sky just kind of disappeared. The weather’s been acting on it’s own ever since.”

The Doctor and Derpy exchanged looks as if communicating telepathically. They each gave a small excited smile to one another.

“So tell me, what sort of creature landed here and where is it now?” the Doctor asked.

“I don’t know what it looks like, I never saw it. But it’s at Ponyville General Hospital right now,” Dash said.

“Well then, allons-y,” said the Doctor excitedly as he started walking off.

Derpy started to follow the Doctor then turned to Rainbow Dash. “You coming?”

“Nah, I got work to do keeping the skies clear,” Dash said taking flight, “see ya later.”

Derpy waved goodbye to Rainbow Dash before catching up to the Doctor. “Doctor. The hospital is this way,” she said pointing a hoof to her left.

“Right,” the Doctor responded turning to walk the correct way.

 Walking towards the hospital, the pair noticed an increase in ponies. Some of the ponies seemed to be going about their day like there was nothing out of the ordinary, but many were gathering close to the hospital. There were several reporters with cameras and notepads asking questions to anypony who might know something.

As the Doctor and Derpy approached the front door of the hospital they were stopped by a guard. “Whoa there. State your business.”

“Hello, I’m the Doctor and this is—” the Doctor started to say before the guard cut him off.

“A doctor? I don’t recall a doctor like you at this hospital. Can I see your medical license?”

“Oh, right,” the Doctor said as he produced a blank piece of paper out of his coat pocket. “Here you are.”

“A doctor of the Royal Canterlot Hospital?” the guard said surprised, looking at the blank paper. “Wow, you got here fast. I didn’t expect anypony from Canterlot until tonight at the earliest. You too can go right inside.”

“Thank you,” said the Doctor as he and Derpy walked inside.

Inside the hospital it was business as usual. A few meek looking ponies were sitting in the waiting area. The nurse at the front counter was writing something on a clipboard.

“Why did he think you’re a doctor from Canterlot?” Derpy asked.

“Psychic paper,” he said showing off the paper before putting it back in his coat. “Ponies see whatever I want them to.”

“But it sounded like he was expecting you. That doesn’t make sense. Why would they be expecting a royal doctor?” Unless somepony requested the help. Which means whatever crashed must be completely unknown for them to ask the best in Equestria.”

The Doctor smiled at his companion’s deductions. “Oh, very good.”

Derpy bashfully turned her head away and smiled. One of her eyes wandered back towards the Doctor who walked forward. Derpy hurried to his side as they approached the front desk.

The Doctor flashed the psychic paper to the nurse and stated with authority, “I’m the Doctor from the Royal Canterlot Hospital and this is my acting assistant nurse, Derpy. We’re here to see the mystery creature that was admitted here.”

“Of course,” the nurse replied as she set her clipboard down, “sorry about the guard out front, we can’t have swarms of reporters and ponies disturbing all our patients. Let me call somepony to escort you.”

“I can take them nurse Redheart,” a voice said beside the Doctor. It was Twilight Sparkle who had entered the building just a moment ago and overheard the conversation.

“Oh, good morning miss Sparkle,” Redheart said, “did your research turn anything up?”

“Nothing. Has its condition changed?”

“No, still the same.”

“All right then.”

Twilight turned her attention to Derpy and the Doctor. “Follow me, I’ll take you to the room.” The three ponies began walking down the hallway. “Its odd, I wrote about this incident to Princess Celestia yesterday. I requested an expert in non-pony physiology but the timing seems a bit off. Canterlot isn’t that close, it should have taken you longer to get here.” There was a hint of suspicion in her voice.

“Yes, well,” the Doctor began, “I sort of, came of my own accord. I rushed off before the request was even made. I mean, a strange, never-before-seen creature just falling out of a hole in the sky, how could I resist?”

Any bit of suspicion faded from Twilight as she seemed to accept the explanation. “It’s currently in room 313.”

“So, what happened after this…thing showed up?” Derpy interjected.

“Well, after it hit the ground it started glowing.”

“Glowing?!” the Doctor questioned. “You mean like unicorn magic?”

“No, not exactly. It was more like it was on fire, but it only lasted for a brief moment.”

“Burned up in the atmosphere I suppose,” the Doctor suggested nonchalantly.

“There were no signs of burning though, not on the animal and not on its clothes.”

The Doctor and Derpy had quizzical looks on their faces. The three ponies approached the end of the hallway and turned to walk up the hospital stairwell. Twilight continued her story.

“After I realized it survived the crash I picked it up and ran for the veterinary center. The veterinarian didn’t recognize what kind of animal it was but examined it anyway. He and I concluded that it was some type of large, probably bipedal, ape although it doesn’t have much fur.”

The Doctors eyes widened, both in shock and curiosity at the description.

“Doctor,” Derpy whispered, “isn’t that what you looked like before you came here?” The Doctor turned his attention to Derpy and gave her a silent nod.

Turning back to Twilight the Doctor asked, “But what’s it doing here if you took it to a veterinarian?”

“He examined it as best as he could and said it was fine, not a scratch or bruise on it. It was just unconscious.”

“What?,” the Doctor blurted out stopping his walk down the hallway. “How does something cause a crater in the ground and walk away without a scratch?”

Derpy and Twilight stopped and turned to him. “I don’t know,” Twilight responded, “but the veterinary center didn’t have the equipment to examine something it’s size for any internal damage so we brought it here.”

“And what did you find? Tell me,” the Doctor said, a hint of haste in his voice.

“It didn’t show any internal damage whatsoever. However, there was one oddity,” Twilight said. The Doctor leaned in slightly paying close attention to what Twilight was about to say. “The inspection revealed that it has two hearts.”

The Doctors head shot up, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. The Doctor said nothing and simply ran up to the third floor and down the hallway. The two mares he left behind followed after him.

Room 313 of the hospital was just like any other room you would find in a care facility. Everything was clean and white. A curtain hung from the ceiling as an optional divider. A window overlooked a small part of Ponyville and everything had that noticeable sterile non-smell to it.

The only things making this room different were the two residents. One, the unknown creature, lay across two beds pushed together, being slightly too tall for one bed. It was covered up to its head in blankets and had two heart monitors examining either side of its chest. The second dweller, a yellow pegasus with a pink mane, was curled up next to the creature on top of the sheets. Both were sleeping comfortably.

The Doctor burst through the door of room 313 blatantly disregarding any pony that might have been disturbed by the abrupt entrance. The pegasus awoke with a start, leaping up before falling to the floor. If the Doctor noticed her he didn’t show it, his gaze was focused on only one thing. The yellow mare began shrinking herself and backing away slightly from the Doctor.

“Y-you shouldn’t j-just barge in like that,” she said meekly, her voice trailing off into a whisper. The Doctor ignored her and pulled out a pair of white glasses with one red and one blue lens. Twilight and Derpy entered the room.

“You can’t just race through the halls like that doctor, there are other patients here,” Twilight remarked sternly. Derpy walked over to join the Doctor.

Twilight took notice of the pegasus off to the side and said, “Fluttershy? How long have you been here? I thought I would be the first to arrive this morning.”

“Oh, I’ve been here since yesterday,” Fluttershy responded without a hint of stutter, more comfortable talking with a friend then a stranger. “I didn’t want him to feel lonely if he woke up.”

Derpy addressed the Doctor and asked, “so what are we dealing with here? Is it really—”

“Yes. This close it’s obvious, I can sense it. He’s like me; he’s a Time Lord. But not one I recognize.” The Doctor spoke in a serious tone as if trying to piece together a mental jigsaw puzzle.

Derpy could hardly take him too seriously with those goofy looking glasses on his face. A small smile spread across her face as she began to imagine what this meant. Another Time Lord, just the Doctor was amazing enough. What if this new one came traveling with them? She was excited thinking about the possible adventures the three of them might have.

“This is bad,” the Doctor said putting his glasses back into his pocket.

Derpy shook her head snapping out of her daydream. “Huh? How can this be bad, he’s a Time Lord like you right?”

“That’s not the problem,” the Doctor said. “I told you before that I’m from another universe and that I’m alone. But I didn’t mean alone just here. I’m not just any Time Lord, I’m the last Time Lord. My people are all dead.”

An expression of shock, disbelief and sadness washed over Derpy’s face as if she was told her favorite pet just died. “But if he should be dead, how is he here?” she asked.

“Exactly,” the Doctor responded. “If he’s here it can only mean something bad.”

The Doctor walked over to Twilight and Fluttershy interrupting their conversation. “Excuse me, sorry.” He turned to Twilight. “Ah, what did you say your name was?”

“We’re doing introductions now?” Twilight asked, annoyed at the stallion’s boorish behavior.

“Yes, right, forgot that part. I’m the Doctor.”

“Yes, I know you’re a doctor but what’s your name?”

“No, that’s it. Doctor, just the Doctor.”

“Oh,” Twilight said feeling a little silly for not picking up on that.

“And this is my companion,” the Doctor continued, “Ditzy Doo. Although I prefer ‘Derpy.’ Much cuter.”

“Doctor,” the gray mare protested in embarrassment. She only let her best friends call her by her nickname.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle and this is Fluttershy.”

“Nice to meet you,” Fluttershy squeaked out shyly.

“Likewise,” responded the Doctor, before turning his attention back to Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle, I need you to show me exactly where the rift opened yesterday.”

“But it’s gone now, there’s nothing to see,” she informed.

“Oh, even if the three-dimensional hole is no longer visible a four-dimensional rift in space-time capable of bridging two universes and allowing travel without entropy is bound to leave a residual scar.”

Twilight was taken aback by this sudden babbling. She was about to make a remark when Derpy interjected, “Trust me, it’s best to just nod when he starts like this.” Twilight accepted the advice and led the Doctor and Derpy out of the room.

“I’ll just, stay here then,” Fluttershy said to herself as the others left the room. Alone now, Fluttershy walked over to see her patient. There wasn’t much to do with a patient in a coma, just wait for him to wake up. Fluttershy was good with animals, the best in fact; if anypony had a chance at dealing with this creature when it awoke it was her.

For a few minutes nothing happened but then the sleeping Time Lord made a low grunting noise as if he was beginning to regain consciousness. Fluttershy eagerly watched from beside the beds. The Time Lord’s eyes opened and he sat up holding his head with one hand like he had the worst headache of his life.

He looked around the room and said to himself, “Where the hell am I?” He touched his neck in slight shock, “New voice. Must have regenerated.” He started to inspect his face with his hands. “Nose, teeth. Not bad. Hair, ah, why is it so long? I hate that. Oh, I seem easily annoyed, that’s new and why am I naked?”

“Um,” Fluttershy finally spoke, “you’re in Equestria.”

The Time Lord took notice of the voice’s origin and raised an eyebrow. “What? Equestria? What kind of planet is ruled by talking ponies? Never mind, where are my clothes?” he demanded.

“T–they were all torn up s-so we gave them to my friend Rarity to—”

“Well then,” he interrupted standing up and grabbing the bed sheet. He wrapped the sheet around him like a toga. “Take me to Rarity.”

Outside, ponies and reporters began clearing away from the hospital and things were returning to business as usual. Twilight quickly led her two companions to the middle of town where the Time Lord crashed and left a small crater. The Doctor put his glasses back on and inspected the crater and the sky above it.

“Still open,” he muttered.

“What is it? I want to see,” Derpy said, excited. The Doctor gave her the glasses. “Whoa.” She marveled at the sight.

“What are you two talking about? There is nothing there,” Twilight said. Her curiosity was fading and being replaced with annoyance. She just wanted to end this charade and return to her real research.

“Have a look,” Derpy said handing over the glasses.

Twilight rolled her eyes but put the glasses on, if only to humor them. Her mouth fell open and her face expressed pure shock. Up in the sky she saw a glowing hole a few meters in diameter. Branching out from it were many cracks as if somepony bucked the sky and shattered it like a mirror. A myriad of green particles were bleeding out from the cracks and dissipating in the atmosphere.

Twilight dropped the glasses. “What, what…” she tried to say, too stunned to find the words.

“I told you, a four-dimensional hole bridging two universes. Pay attention,” the Doctor said playfully as if this whole thing were one big game to him.

“But what was all that green stuff?” Derpy asked.

“Void stuff,” he answered. “There are a nearly infinite number of parallel worlds all stacked on top of one another and the space between them is the void. Nothing exists there, no life, no matter, nothing.”

“And the void stuff is?” Derpy asked. “A background energy, it attaches itself to anything that travels through the void.”

Twilight couldn’t believe the conversation she was hearing. It was all she could do to keep her mind straight to blurt out, “Who. Are. You?”

“I told you, I’m the Doctor. Now come on we need to find a way to close that rift permanently or these minor atmospheric disturbances will be the least of our problems.”

Twilight decided that she didn’t have much of a choice but to just go along with all of this. She had no idea how to react to anything that was happening but this ‘Doctor’ seemed to be the only one with any answers.

The Doctor took back his glasses and knelt down at the crater trying to think of a plan.

Derpy noticed several ponies running, all heading to the same place. She strayed away from the Doctor and Twilight and stopped on of the ponies. “Hey where’s everypony going?”

“That animal woke up. It tried to sneak out of the hospital but somepony saw it go inside the Carousel Boutique,” said the pony before running off.

“Doctor,” Derpy called, “the other Time Lord woke up.”

The group urgently ran to Rarity’s house.

Fluttershy and the Time Lord managed to reach the Carousel Boutique without much notice. Although Fluttershy didn’t know why he insisted on not being seen. It seemed to her like he was afraid of what might be around every corner. Or perhaps afraid was the wrong word, cautious maybe.

When they entered the building they saw Rarity, a white unicorn with a purple mane, looking quizzically at a roughly made mannequin adorned with the Time Lord’s clothes. “Finally,” the man said walking up to the mannequin. He started undressing the dummy and took the clothes into a separate room to change.

“How rude,” Rarity declared, “you could at least say thank you.” Her words fell on deaf ears.

“Sorry Rarity,” Fluttershy apologized.

“Oh it isn’t your fault dear.”

“I hope repairing his clothing wasn’t too much trouble,” Fluttershy said pawing at the floor.

“Not at all darling. In fact, it’s the strangest thing, it took me some time to stitch together a dummy but when I went to adorn the cloth I could not find anything to re-stitch. It was as if it just fixed itself,” said Rarity.

“It’s made of a self-replicating nano-fiber,” the Time Lord said as he walked, fully clothed, back to the mares. “It repairs itself automatically.” His clothing was simple; brown shoes, black pants, a black shirt and a large blood red overcoat that nearly reached the ground.

“Self-replicating nano-fiber,” Rarity parroted. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. Where did you acquire it?” The man ignored her as he adjusted his coat to a more comfortable position. “Excuse me,” Rarity snapped, “it is polite to answer a lady’s question, you… what did you say your name was?”

He placed one hand on the unicorn’s head and knelt down to look her in the eye, smiled and said, “none of your business.”

Rarity harrumphed. “Well I never.”

“I should have had something else with me. What did you do with it?” the Time Lord asked.

Fluttershy answered, “That was all you had with you, just your clothes. Sorry.”

He closed his eyes trying to think of what to do next. He sighed and mumbled, “It must be close by.”

Outside, Twilight and company managed to disperse what few ponies had gathered around before a mob could form. The three ponies walked into the Carousel Boutique. The Doctor went directly over to his fellow Time Lord.

“Who are you? How did you get here? Why are you here?” the Doctor demanded. Rarity was taken aback slightly by this unknown stallion. Twilight took it upon herself to fill Rarity in as best as she could.

“And what are you, their leader?” the Time Lord asked the Doctor.

“Don’t you know? Can’t you sense it?”

“Sense what?”

The Doctor was stunned in confusion, this close any Time Lord should be able to sense another Time Lord.

“I’m a Time Lord,” said the Doctor, “and so are you.”

“What? You’re no Time Lord. You’re just a stupid little pony,” the Time Lord said before he stormed out of the building and started walking away.

“Right then, we’re doing this the hard way,” the Doctor declared. He ran after the Time Lord galloping full speed and jumped. The two Time Lords butted heads and recoiled in pain.

The man turned around and said, “what did you do that f…” He was interrupted by a wave of memories of the Doctor’s life, memories of their home planet Gallifrey, of war and of his life as a pony in this new universe. “You are a Time Lord. You’re the Doctor,” he said angrily.

The other four ponies were gathered around watching. Among them only Derpy had any clue what was going on. The humanoid Time Lord was about to speak, his face showing nothing but absolute hatred. A loud explosion off in the distance superseded his voice before he could speak. Everyone looked towards the source and saw a small dust cloud near the mountains.

Horror washed over Twilight’s face. “That’s where Applejack and Pinkie are!”

{The previous night}

Twilight Sparkle was in her home, the Ponyville Library. A heavy rain poured down outside. Twilight was meeting with three other mares. Applejack, an orange earth pony with a blond mane wearing a Stetson, Lyra, a mint green unicorn with a striped mane and Pinkie Pie.

“Thanks for coming everypony,” Twilight began. “As you all know by now, a mysterious creature just fell out of the sky and now these freak storms are popping up. But as Pinkie somehow managed to see, there was something else that fell out and flew into the mountains. It’s probably another one of these creatures that I took to the hospital. I need you three to go and find it.”

“Uh, not for nothing, Twi,” Applejack said, “but where’s everypony else?”

“Rainbow is trying to deal with the weather, Fluttershy wanted to look after this unknown animal, Rarity is fixing its clothes and Nopony else would volunteer for a search mission,” said Twilight.

“So where exactly are we going?” Lyra asked.

“Pinkie’s the only one who saw exactly where it went so she’ll have to lead you,” Twilight said.

“Come on, come on lets go!” Pinkie exclaimed jumping up and down. “The sooner we find it the sooner we can throw them a welcome to Ponyville party!”

“All right already,” Twilight said levitating three saddlebags. “Here, you’ll need camping equipment since you’re going by hoof.”

She lowered the bags onto the backs of her friends and they started out the door. “Lyra,” Twilight said stopping the green unicorn, “thanks for volunteering, you didn’t have to.”

“It’s no problem,” she responded with a smile, “I wanted to go. Besides, any heavy lifting would be easier with a little unicorn magic around.” With that, she left to join the two earth ponies outside.

“Spike,” Twilight yelled, her voice echoing throughout the library.

A small purple dragon came down the stairs yawning. “Yeah?”

“Grab some books, we’ve got a long night of research ahead of us.”

“Aw,” Spike groaned as he walked over to a bookshelf.

Outside, the three mares were galloping as fast as they could through the rain, trying to get out of town as quickly as possible. The rain swiftly let up as they left Ponyville, the storm being a localized event over the town. Their path led them straight through an open valley making the trip much easier. They continued galloping full speed for a couple kilometers.

“Wait,” Lyra pleaded out of breath. “I…need to rest.”

The three stopped. “All right,” Applejack said catching her own breath. “How far is this thing anyway Pinkie?”

Pinkie gestured towards their destination and said, “It’s just at the base of the mountain over there.”

“All right, we put some good distance behind us. Let’s make camp for the night and get an early start in the morning.”

Morning came and the three ponies made their way to the mountains. The trip was not hard and only took a few hours by walking. Finally they reached a small wooded area at the foot of the mountain.

“So where did you see it land?” Applejack asked Pinkie.

“It should be around here somewhere,” said Pinkie.

The group spread out to search around but didn’t separate too far from each other.

“Maybe it got up and left,” Lyra suggested.

“I doubt that,” Applejack said. “If it’s even still livin’ it’s got to be unconscious.”

“Hey, I found something I found something!” Pinkie yelled. The others came rushing to her side.

“What…is it?” Lyra asked to nopony in particular.

“Looks like some kinda machine,” said Applejack.

“I wonder what it tastes like,” Pinkie said leaning in closer and sticking out her tongue.

Applejack quickly bit Pinkie’s tail and pulled her away before she could touch it. “We don’t even know what this thing is. I wouldn’t go touching it, let alone tasting it.”

“Aw,” Pinkie moaned.

“Come on y’all, let’s get this thing back to town,” Applejack said nodding towards Lyra.

The unicorn gave an understanding nod and closed her eyes focusing her magic. She wrapped the metal heap in a magical green aura and lifted it into the air. Lyra scrunched her face as she tried to keep it afloat. “It’s heavier than I thought. But I think I can manage.”

“Well let’s not waste any time,” Applejack said.

The group started walking away, the metal object hovering behind them. Suddenly, one of the machine’s extremities wrapped around Lyra’s head canceling her magic. She let out a muffled scream and tried to run but found herself growing weak. Applejack quickly bucked it as hard as she could, freeing Lyra but causing no damage to her target. Lyra fell to the ground not moving. Pinkie was frozen in shock. Applejack draped Lyra over her back.

“Come on Pinkie snap out of it, we have to run.”

The mechanized monster fired some sort of blast. It missed the ponies, hit the ground next to them, and caused an explosion. Terrified, Pinkie leapt into the air, her legs kicking as she tried to run. When she touched ground she ran directly into Applejack and Lyra, picked them up somehow and ran impossibly fast towards Ponyville. Their enemy fired twice more but the ponies were already too far away and it missed. The mechanical monstrosity gave chase but was only able to move very slowly.

Back in Ponyville the Doctor and company all stood silent as they saw the explosions in the distance.

“Applejack,” the Doctor said to himself recognizing the name. “What are they doing out there?”

“He wasn’t the only thing that fell through that…dimension bridge. I sent a small search team to find whatever landed in the mountains,” Twilight said.

No longer willing to play games, the Doctor turned to his fellow Time Lord who looked shocked at this turn of events. “What is it, what did you bring here? How did you get here? Tell me everything, now!”

The Time Lord opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a high-pitched scream growing closer. A green, orange and pink blur was heading straight for them. Pinkie stopped abruptly causing the three ponies to tumble into the center of the group.

“Ah-blua-sh-wha-naahhh,” Pinkie mumbled out through rivers of tears.

“Applejack,” the Doctor said, “good to see you again.”

“Doctor?” she responded picking herself up off the ground. “I shoulda known you’d show up, what with all this craziness.”

“The two of you know each other?” Rarity asked.

“It’s a long story,” Applejack responded.

Pinkie’s sobbing began to slow down and she looked up to see the brown stallion in front of her. Her eyes widened. She gasped, raced over, and wrapped her forelegs around him in a hug. “Doctor!” she exclaimed.

“What?” the Doctor said confused, clearly not knowing who this pony was.

“Doctor, it’s Lyra,” Pinkie blurted out gesturing towards the unicorn, “she’s hurt you have to help her.”

“I think she’s just unconscious,” Twilight said.

“I’ll take her to the hospital,” Derpy said as she picked Lyra up and flew off.

“Everything will be okay now right Doctor?” Pinkie asked, much calmer now than she was.

“Ah, sorry, who are you?” he asked.

“Don’t you remember? It’s me, Pinkie Pie. I haven’t seen you since I was a little filly. I grew up since then. You haven’t changed at all though.”

“Yes, right. Course I remember. When you were little, with the running,” the Doctor said, clearly bluffing, although Pinkie was too excited to notice. “What happened out there? What were those explosions?”

“We were attacked,” Applejack said, “by some sorta metal thing.”

“Yeah. It was all dead-like at first, then Lyra picked it up with magic and it was all ‘blrawr’ then AJ kicked it and I was all ‘aaaahhhhhh’ and I ran everypony back here,” Pinkie said trying to act out the events.

“But what was it? What did this thing look like?” asked the Doctor.

“It was brownish,” Applejack answered. “Shaped kinda like a cylinder. It had two stubby little arm-like things in front and one at the top that made me think of an eye.”

The Doctor stood silent as a wave of realization and horror washed over his face as if the final piece was placed in his mental jigsaw puzzle and he could now see the picture for what it was.

“A Dalek,” the Doctor said. The Doctor’s expression turned grim as he faced his fellow Time Lord who was sitting on the edge of a fountain holding his head in his hands. “Now I know where you’re from. You broke your way out of the time war.” The Doctors tone became increasingly angry as he began yelling. “And you brought a Dalek with you. This planet is peaceful. They have nothing to defend themselves with, no weapons! They could all be dead soon and it’s all your fault!”

“This wasn’t supposed to happen. None of this should have happened!” the Time Lord argued.

There was a moment of silence when none dared to speak. Derpy came flying back, landing next to the other ponies. She looked at them quizzically as they watched the two Time Lords.

“Then what should have happened?” asked the Doctor, his voice much more calm. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking, Doctor, that war is hell. Can you even imagine what it was like? The war didn’t end just because you sealed us off and ran away, it got worse. The linear progression of time no longer applied. The whole war happened all at once and not at all. Nothing made sense anymore.”

The Doctor stood awkwardly. “It had to be done,” he said.

“Bullshit!” the Time Lord snapped. “I’ve heard of you Doctor, everyone has. Always breaking the laws of time, always interfering with lower species, you just took the opportunity to get rid of the Time Lords interfering with you.”

“No!” screamed the Doctor, “do you even know what the council was planning?”

“I don’t care. None of that matters anymore,” the Time Lord said with a smirk. “A miracle happened and now I’m free.”

“What miracle?” the Doctor asked. “What were you trying to do?”

“Kill the Daleks. We were going to rip a hole into the void and suck them all in and I would be right in the middle, dying with them.”

The Doctor took a moment to let the entire situation sink in. “Then you must have something we can use to stop the Dalek, or close the rift.”

The Time Lord looked at the Doctor for a moment before answering, “No.”

“But they’re defenseless, they have nothing.”

“Not my problem.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘nothing’ Doctor,” said Twilight clearly annoyed from being left out of the conversation. “We do have The Elements of Harmony.”

“The Elements of what?” the Doctor asked.

“But ain’t the elements in Canterlot?” asked Applejack.

“No,” Twilight answered. “The princess sent them this morning thinking we might need them. Fluttershy, I need you to go find Rainbow, everypony else get ready and meet me at the Library.” They all nodded and went off in their own directions.

“No, wait, don’t go running off,” the Doctor tried to say, but it was too late. The Doctor sighed. “Why do they always go off on their own?”

“Don’t worry Doctor, I’m sure The Elements of Harmony can handle it,” Derpy said.

“But what are they? What are The Elements of Harmony?” he asked.

“I don’t know much about them, but I know that they’re these ancient magical artifacts. It takes six ponies to use them and it makes magic a lot stronger.”

“There, problem solved,” the humanoid Time Lord said. “The rift would be closed by now at the other end and their harmony elements can take care of the Dalek.”

“Maybe,” the Doctor said contemplatively. “But it feels like something’s wrong. There’s something I’m missing.” The Doctor started pacing back and forth trying to think. “Nothing can survive in the void for long, it’s a miracle that you or the Dalek came through at all. And the Dalek can’t have been at full power or else it would have attacked immediately, so what made it attack now?”

The Doctor thought back to how Pinkie described her encounter. ‘It was all dead-like at first, then Lyra picked it up with magic and it was all ‘blrawr’ then AJ kicked it…’ His thoughts shifted to what Derpy just said about the elements. ‘…these ancient magical artifacts…it makes magic a lot stronger.’

The Doctor’s eyes went wide. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” He yelled as he ran off in the direction of the Dalek.

Derpy flew after him leaving the humanoid Time Lord behind. “Doctor what is it?”

“The Dalek should have been weak after falling through the void, it wouldn’t even be able to move. That is, until Lyra picked it up.”

“What do you mean?” Derpy asked.

“Her magic. The Dalek must have been able to absorb her magic and use it as a power source. If I’m right, your friends are about the do the worst possible thing.”

The two ponies reached the edge of town and saw six ponies in the distance floating in front of the Dalek.

The Doctor yelled, “No, stop,” but he was too far away to be heard. The six ponies unleashed a rainbow wave of magical energy that hit the Dalek directly. The Doctor and Derpy finally caught up to the scene just in time to see things go from bad to worse. The magic stopped after a moment and the six ponies landed next to the Doctor and Derpy.

The Dalek yelled, “I AM RESTORED! DALEKS ARE SUPREME!”

The Doctor looked horrified and said softly, “We’re all dead.”

The Dalek yelled out once more, “EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!” and fired a powerful blast directly at the group.

The Time Lord sat at the fountain, his head in his hands. He breathed heavily but tried to keep himself calm. Loud noises in the distance made him look up. He couldn’t see what was happening but he could certainly hear it.

“No. Not my problem. They can handle it,” he said. He sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything. With one deep breath he returned to his usual composed self and decided to sit and wait.

“Ahh!” Twilight yelped before instinctively constructing a large bubble-shield around her and her friends. The Dalek’s blast connected with the magical aura and absorbed into the purple substance. The Dalek paused for a moment as if to contemplate the situation.

“What the hay was that!?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, frustration in her tone.

The Doctor stepped forward ignoring the ponies beside him and taking the lull in activity as a chance to speak. “Dalek! Hear me! I am the Doctor and I’m giving you one chance. End this conquest or I swear with every fiber of my being that I will stop you!”

The Dalek looked at the pony before it as if scanning the Doctor with its elongated eyestalk. “NEGATIVE! YOU ARE NOT THE DOCTOR! ALL HAIL THE DALEKS!”

The Dalek charged another attack, this time blasting a constant stream of energy directly towards the center of the shield. “Don’t worry, the shield will hold,” Twilight said, a lack of confidence evident in her voice.

The Doctor stood aghast, panicking at his lack of options. Normally one Dalek would be easy, in the past he managed to destroy entire fleets without breaking a sweat. But not here, here he had no access to technology, no allies to call on and none who knew how to fight. On top of it all he had a rogue Time Lord on the loose and a rift in space that, if left unchecked, could suck the whole planet into the void.

A loud crack was heard as the shield began to break under the stress of the attack. “Scatter,” Twilight yelled to the group. The shield broke and all the ponies leapt away as the discharge connected with the ground and started a fire. The ponies quickly regrouped and Twilight raised another shield, this time reinforcing it with a stream of magic. Undeterred, the Dalek let loose another stream of energy.

The Doctor stood still in shock. Derpy had never seen him this panicked before. She stood before him and tried to snap him out of his stupor. “Doctor. Doctor!” The Doctor finally looked at her. “Snap out of it. We need you, now more than ever.”

The Doctor responded, “Yes. Right. Plan, we need a plan.” He closed his eyes for a moment as if snapping himself back into consciousness before continuing. “Twilight, I need you six to hold it here as long as possible, if that thing gets into town then everyone is dead. Do you understand me?” The six ponies in question nodded in agreement.

“Ditzy,” the Doctor continued turning to the gray pegasus, “I need you to evacuate the town, get as many as you can, as far as you can, away from here.”

Derpy’s face was serious and showed more than a little fear as she gave a quick nod. She thought she understood the Doctor pretty well by now but this was a new side of him. Saying ‘everyone,’ calling her ‘Ditzy,’ it was obvious to her, if the Doctor was letting his wording slip then the fun and games were over. The situation was dire.

“But what will you do Doctor?” Pinkie interjected.

“I’ve got a Time Lord to find,” he declared as he and Derpy turned and ran into town.

“Well this ain’t hard, long as we keep the shield up,” Applejack remarked.

“Yeah,” Rainbow agreed, “there’s no way it’s getting past us. I mean its not like it could fl…”

“ELEVATE!” the Dalek interrupted stopping its attack and rising into the air.

Twilight stopped reinforcing the shield as all six ponies watched in astonishment as this wingless creature with no visible propulsion mechanism just decided to defy gravity. The Dalek swiftly shot over in front of the shield and placed its right, suction-cup like arm upon it. The shield disappeared, absorbed into the Dalek as it unleashed a fury of laser blasts at the ponies who dispersed in fear.

The Dalek surveyed the area observing cowering ponies in the midst of a burning field. The Dalek, clearly thinking itself victorious, started floating towards Ponyville. Suddenly Rainbow Dash, screaming with rage, tackled her enemy with full force pushing it away from town and straight into the ground. She stood over the Dalek catching her breath and waiting to see what her effort had accomplished.

The Dalek rose from the ground declaring almost mockingly, “I AM UNHARMED!”

“Oh come on,” Rainbow yelled in frustration.

A beam fired at Rainbow and her eyes widened as she realized there was no time to move out of the way. A small purple bubble appeared around Dash just in time to keep her safe. The beam connected with the shield and sent Dash tumbling back towards her friends.

“How the hay are we supposed to beat this thing?” Rainbow demanded.

“I don’t think we can,” Twilight responded, a hint of despair in her voice.

Twilight summoned a personal bubble around herself and each of her friends, this being a much more maneuverable tactic than one big shield. “Don’t worry,” Pinkie said confidently, “the Doctor will save us, he always has a plan.”

“I reckon she’s right,” Applejack agreed, “he’s not the type to leave us to our deaths.”

“Well I’m glad somepony trusts him,” Twilight said, doubt evident in her voice. The six ponies lifted into the sky and surrounded the now airborne Dalek. “Attack!” Twilight yelled.

Boom!

Derpy, hovering over the edge of town, looked back at the fight. Her heart beat with unimaginable intensity. Her breathing was labored. She was terrified. She looked back to the town, she couldn’t let herself be distracted, she had a job to do. She knew her eyesight sometimes failed her when she was too worked up. She needed to focus.

This job wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Ponyville was a large town and it’s not like it had a ‘the Daleks are attacking’ alarm. Derpy closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down and think of a plan. Surely ponies would notice the commotion, she just needed a way to tell them all to evacuate. Then it hit her, pegasi, if she could enlist the other pegasi to help her they could spread the message much faster by flight. She flew up into the clouds where she knew some pegasi were still dealing with the weather and desperately grabbed their attention.

It wasn’t hard to elicit help, the pegasi could see what was happening below. They set up a border of rain clouds to quell the field fire and hopefully stop it spreading into the town. Then they set out to evacuate the town. Ponies all over town were confused and in a bit of a panic as word slowly spread. Some ponies made the job harder by refusing to leave, believing that the Elements of Harmony could not possibly lose.

Boom!

The fight was clearly escalating. Derpy was glad she didn’t have to do all the work herself, she may never have been able to convince anypony to leave on her own. She paused for a moment looking at the battle outside of town wondering how much longer her friends could hold out. She said to herself, “Whatever you're doing Doctor, hurry.”

The Doctor ran back to where he last saw his fellow Time Lord thinking it his only lead as to his current whereabouts. Much to his surprise the Doctor didn’t have to look very far, the Time Lord sat leisurely holding an apple in hand right where the Doctor had left him. The Doctor approached tentatively not sure what he was seeing in the midst of a panicking town and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Eating an apple and watching the fireworks. What does it look like?” The Time Lord responded.

“The world is coming to an end and your eating an apple.”

“Hey, this is my first chance at relaxation in I can’t remember how long. I damn well am going to take it,” the Time Lord said taking a bite of his fruit.

The Doctor stared at the Time Lord in disbelief for a moment before responding. “Look, you have to help me stop all this, these people are innocent, and they could all die if we don’t help.” The Time Lord said nothing, eyeing the Doctor as if he wasn’t sure what he was looking at. “We may not have any weapons but you found a way to open the void once, if we could…”

“No,” the Time Lord interrupted surprisingly calmly, “Whoever opens the void would have to be sucked in with the Dalek and I’m not about to let myself die now.”

“You mentioned that before,” the Doctor said. “Why would you die? Surely if you found a way to open the void you could do so from a safe distance.”

“We didn’t find a way,” the Time Lord said a little annoyed. “We stumbled upon it. Ripping open the fabric of reality is risky business even in the best of times.”

“How? It shouldn’t even be possible.”

“Why do you even care? Aren’t you just going to run from your problems like always?”

The Doctor took a defiant step forward in no mood for debate. “Tell me,” he said.

“Fine,” the Time Lord said throwing his apple core behind him. “It started during a fight. I was piloting a TARDIS against a Dalek fleet. Somehow the Daleks snuck on board and took us by surprise. My crewmates died in front of me, my ship was being destroyed from the inside out.” He paused as the Doctor gave a silent consoling look. “I would have died then, staring those monsters in the face had a miracle not happened. The TARDIS’ soul was exposed and I absorbed it into my head.”

The Doctor looked shocked. “But that would have killed you.”

“Yes, it did,” the Time Lord said continuing his story. “I killed the invading enemy but that power burned my mind. The ship was falling apart, dead. The soul of a TARDIS can’t be contained outside the ship itself but somehow I managed to force the soul back into the wreckage. Next thing I know I woke up on Gallifrey, regenerated, and holding a metal piece of shrapnel that contained the soul of my ship.”

“So you cannibalized the heart of a TARDIS and used it as a weapon,” the Doctor interrupted, sounding disgusted at idea.

“We formed it into one, yes. We wanted the war to end and were willing to do anything to bring that end closer. A TARDIS exists across all of space and time, we knew if we detonated it the right way it would open a hole into the void and suck everything in but it had to be set off by hand.”

“And they made you do it.”

“I volunteered.”

The Doctor was a little surprised to hear that this Time Lord had volunteered for a suicide mission. Perhaps, he thought, this man was a little nobler than he gave him credit for.

“But if you and the Dalek both came through then maybe the weapon survived…”

“It did,” the Time Lord interrupted. “I can sense it, it’s over that way.” He pointed a finger behind him. The Doctor’s face brightened a bit as he realized a plan was finally coming together.

“What are we doing here then, come on come on,” the Doctor said walking off.

“Weren’t you listening?” the Time Lord asked as he got up and followed. “Whoever uses it dies, and I’m not about to…”

“Then I’ll do it,” the Doctor suddenly declared, conviction in his voice. “Besides, two Time Lords, one as clever as me, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish. Just you watch.”

The Time Lord was a little stunned at the Doctor’s reaction. Willingly risking his life to protect some primitive species in another universe, this pony was nothing like the coward who ran from trouble he thought he knew.

The Time Lords ran directly into the Everfree Forest. The humanoid Time Lord led the way through the trees seemingly knowing exactly where to go. They didn’t go very far before they reached a small clearing and stopped.

“There it is,” the Time Lord said. Stuck in the ground in front of them was a sword entirely made of a strange brown tinted metal.

“A sword,” the Doctor deadpanned, “you turned it into a sword.”

“Oi, have some respect for classic weaponry. Besides what better way to cut open the fabric of reality.”

“Something’s wrong here,” the Doctor said looking around. “This is one the most dangerous places in Equestria. Where are all the monsters?”

“It’s the sword,” the Time Lord pointed out. “That kind of raw power emanating such a foreboding feeling, no sane creature would go anywhere near it.”

“What are you insinuating?” asked the Doctor playfully as he walked up to grab the sword.

“You know if you use that you risk sucking half the planet into the void.”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan. We just need to lure the Dalek to the right place.” The Doctor gripped the hilt in his mouth stumbling a bit as he drew the sword. “Come on, no time to lose.”

The fight between the Elements of Harmony and the Dalek was not going well. Three of the ponies, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack lay scattered on the ground unmoving. The other three floated in the air above them. Fluttershy sobbing lightly trying to hold back tears. Rainbow Dash looked angrily at her enemy, her teeth clenched tightly. Twilight floated next to them breathing heavily, clearly exhausted from the constant use of magic.

“Fluttershy, pull it together. There’s nothing we can do, they’re already…gone,” Twilight said choking out the last word. The Dalek hovered before them watching as if amused by their pain and anguish.

“We can’t win like this,” Rainbow said, “there’s only one more thing we can try. If I hit it with a sonic rainboom—”

“No,” Twilight interrupted, “I can’t make shields anymore and if you impact at that speed—”

“It’s worth a try,” Dash interjected before flying up as fast as she could.

The Dalek watched almost in amusement as the pegasus took flight. She climbed higher and higher until she was almost out of sight before she turned around and dropped at full speed.

“CALCULATING DECENT,” the Dalek exclaimed.

Dash picked up speed flying faster and faster at the Dalek. She closed her eyes as she approached the sound barrier. The Dalek fired a laser. She opened her eyes just in time to see the beam draw near but was moving too fast to avoid it.

“Rainbow!” Twilight yelled as her friend’s body quickly fell near the Dalek.

Fluttershy was speechless and nearly hyperventilating at this point. Twilight struggled to use her magic to soften Rainbow’s landing even if she knew there was no way to save her. The Dalek saw this as an opening and took a shot hitting the unicorn directly. Twilight’s body fell leaving Fluttershy alone with no way to fight. The yellow pegasus screamed in a sudden fit of rage, crying as she flew as fast as she could at the Dalek. The Dalek took aim. Fluttershy felt a large sting of pain before she started falling and the world faded to blackness.

“I AM VICTORIOUS!” the Dalek reveled in it’s triumph. It flew straight for Ponyville. Upon arrival the Dalek scanned for any form of life. Most of the town had been evacuated by now; only stragglers and those who refused to leave remained. The metal monster descended to the ground and began finding and killing any ponies it could.

“So what’s this plan of yours?” the Time Lord asked the Doctor.

The two Time Lords were running into the town heading for where they thought the Dalek was. The Doctor had fastened the sword to his back for ease of transport.

“Simple,” the Doctor replied. “All we need to do is get the Dalek into town, then we use this. The rift you opened the first time is still there functioning as a one-way path out of the void. If we open another rift as a one-way path into the void the two will naturally attract and cancel each other out closing the void once and for all.”

“You really think that will work?” the Time Lord asked skeptically.

“Of course. My plans always work,” the Doctor replied.

The Time Lords stopped suddenly as the Doctor saw the Dalek slowly appear a few houses away. “Hide!” the Doctor said as the two ducked behind a building.

The Dalek seemed not to notice them. “Looks like those ponies failed,” the humanoid Time Lord said, a small hint of concern in his voice. The Doctor was worried, he feared the worst but had to hope they were still alive. He set the sword on the ground and pulled his trusty sonic screwdriver from his coat.

“Come on come on,” the Doctor mumbled, scanning the weapon.

The Doctor crossed his eyes examining the device in his teeth. His eyebrows furrowed as he grunted in frustration. He was becoming more irate with every second, thinking about all the ponies that the Dalek must have killed. He tossed his screwdriver back in his pocket and slammed one hoof on the blade. “Work,” he commanded although it did not respond. The Time Lord only watched the Doctor’s futile attempts as if lost in thought.

They heard a loud scream from where the Dalek was. A small unicorn filly frozen in fear stood a short distance from the metal monster. “Hold on,” a voice shouted from above. Derpy, as if called by the unicorn’s scream, flew straight down in an attempt to take her out of danger. The Dalek took aim at the little unicorn and the Doctor gasped, horrified as he foresaw the inevitable.

Time seemed to slow down. The Dalek fired a shot at the filly. Derpy swooped down just fast enough to wrap her forelegs around the filly getting between her and the laser but not fast enough to fly away. The beam connected. Derpy was hit. She screamed and fell motionless on the ground.

“Ditzy~y!” the Doctor screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking as his eyes welled up with tears. The Dalek noticed the shriek and turned its attention to the Time Lords. The Doctor picked up the blade with his teeth, the sharp metal cutting the sides of his mouth. He shook the weapon violently shouting in a muffled voice, “WORK DAMN YOU.”

The humanoid Time Lord couldn’t watch any longer. He grabbed the hilt and ripped the sword out of the Doctor’s mouth saying, “I absorbed the soul, it only responds to me.” He walked out from around the building to face the Dalek and with a flick of his wrist activated the sword.

the Dalek took one look at his opponent and yelled, “EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY. TIME LORD DETECTED.” The Time Lord’s weapon gave off an otherworldly glow that seemed to infect his body as if the two were merging together. His eyes turned a glowing white.

The Dalek fired a laser directly at this creature standing before it, but to no avail. As if following a curved path through space the laser twisted and absorbed harmlessly into the sword. “Goodbye Doctor. Once activated it’s only a matter of time,” he said, not looking back at the Doctor.

The Dalek quickly lifted into the air flying above the town attempting to flee. The Time Lord would have none of that. With an impossible series of jumps across the building he made his way in a second, leaping directly in front of the airborne Dalek.

With one swing of the sword he cut through his enemy. Although with the way the sword seemed to warp space it looked more like he cut reality itself. The power resulted in an explosion that quickly turned into an implosion opening the void. Just as the Doctor predicted the two rifts attracted each other as wind violently ripped throughout the town quelling any fires in an instant and knocking over weaker structures. The two fissures became one and crumbled out of existence.

A heavy rain started falling. The Doctor walked silently over to his companion. The only thing he could think about was how he promised himself he would protect her and how he failed. All the events of the day sped through his mind as he tried to figure out where he went wrong. He fell to his haunches and took Derpy in his forelegs hugging her and letting silent tears fall down his face and mix with the rain. He looked around seeing other ponies scattered around unmoving.

He heard a soft groan. “Doctor.” He held Derpy’s head out in front of him, staring, stunned in silence as she looked back at him. “Wha-what happened?”

“You-you're alive!” the Doctor exclaimed as he started laughing jovially. Derpy failed to see what was so funny. The Doctor looked around seeing the other ponies starting to rise to their hooves. The rain started to let up as the clouds began to dissipate.

“Doctor,” a familiar voice called. The six ponies bearing the Elements of Harmony came running up to Derpy and the Doctor.

“Twilight,” the Doctor said, “you’re okay, you’re all okay.”

“We came running when we saw that explosion,” Rainbow Dash said.

“What happened, where’s the Dalek?” Twilight asked frantically.

“And what happened to the Time Lord?” Derpy added.

“Gone,” the Doctor answered. “Both gone. It’s all over now.” The ponies all breathed a sigh of relief.

“One more question,” Applejack said. “Not that I’m complainin’ or nothin’, but why are we alive? I thought for sure it got us.”

The Doctor thought to himself for a moment before asking, “Those Elements of Harmony, why do you call them that?”

Twilight was a bit bewildered at the question. “Well, because that’s what they are. Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, and Magic.”

A large grin formed on the Doctor’s face as he began to chuckle.

“What? Why are you laughing?” Twilight asked.

“Don’t you see?” he responded. “The Dalek used the elements as a power source. It turned personified harmony into a weapon, the one weapon that can’t kill.” He laughed again. “That’s my kind of weapon.”

Later, after the town residents came back and cleaned up the damages, Derpy finally got a chance to visit with her friends. She told them about how she was traveling and about some of the things she saw. She left out some details about traveling through space and time. She thought that might just confuse the issue. Before long it was time to leave and the Elements of Harmony came to see the Doctor and Derpy off.

“So where will you two be going now?” Twilight asked Derpy as she and her friends walked Derpy over to the Doctor’s blue box.

“I think we’ll know when we get there,” she responded stopping in front of the TARDIS. Pinkie’s eyes sparkled at her old memory and Applejack smirked as if she knew what was coming.

“What on earth is that thing?” Rarity asked gesturing at the blue object.

“Transport,” the Doctor answered as he emerged from within the TARDIS.

“You mean you two travel in that?” Twilight asked not quite believing them.

“Yep,” Derpy answered with a smile.

“We best be off,” the Doctor said. “Places to go, things to see.”

“Bye everypony,” Derpy said as she and the Doctor started into the TARDIS. “I promise I’ll visit again soon and have even more stories to tell.” Derpy was bouncing at the idea.

The six ponies waved goodbye as they watched the two travelers enter the box.

“So, uh, what now?” Dash asked.

“Hang on a second. Y’all will like this part,” said Applejack, a knowing smile on her face.

The light on top of the box started pulsing on and off accompanied by the sound of mechanical grinding. Slowly the blue box faded out of existence leaving behind four stunned ponies, one who looked amused at her friends, and one bouncing around them excitedly.

Twilight made a mental note to herself; new research project, subject: the Doctor.

Some distance away a figure in the shadows smiled before turning and walking away from the scene.