Still Not Ginger

Derpy crept along the wall, brushing a strand of blonde hair from her eyes. So far she’d only run into three changelings, and of the three, only one gave her a run for her money. Eventually, only receiving a few fresh bruises and scrapes, she was able to knock it out and move on.

She had never been fond of fighting. Even in flight school, when all her friends decided to solve problems by throwing punches, she preferred to sit peacefully and talk it out. Though it was true that she wasn’t as bad as Fluttershy, the shy yellow mare, she still shied away from fights.

But now was different. Now, not only her life was at stake, but her daughters’ lives, too. Not to mention that stallion, the Doctor. Yes, now she had a reason to fight.

“If only you could see me now, Night Hooves,” she muttered. “I promise you I would kick you so hard you’d be unconscious for a month.”

But even as she spoke, she felt a familiar twinge in her heart. She knew she could never do that. Fighting these other changelings was different. She didn’t know them personally; all she had to was remember that they were threatening her children, and before she knew it they were passed out on the ground. She couldn’t do that with Night Hooves—no, King Metamorphosis. No matter how evil he was, no matter how rude and deceptive, in the bottom of her heart she still longed for him. She longed for the old days, the days when he would come home shining with happiness, the days when she at least thought he loved her. There was no going back now. He would still be a wicked beast that had to be destroyed no matter what she did.

“Who goes there?”

She froze. She knew that voice.

“I said, who goes there?” Metamorphosis repeated. “Show yourself!”

Frantic, she glanced behind her. Three long shadows were stretching across the walls, revealing the changelings that were closing in on her swiftly. She had to think fast. If she turned around to fight, Metamorphosis would hear and come find her. Her chance to save her foals would be blown. There was nothing she could do.

Wait a minute… She tilted her head to one side as an idea struck her. It was utterly insane, but there was a chance it could work. Still…if she failed, it would mean the end of her. Sometimes you just need to take a leap of faith, she thought, remembering Sparkler taunting the changelings. If Sparkler could do something this crazy, so could I.

“It’s only me, honey bee,” Derpy chirped, trying her best to sound as creepy and malicious as Chrysalis.

Metamorphosis rounded the corner, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Chrysalis? Is that you? What are you doing in that pathetic pony’s form, and what was all that noise before?”

Ponyfeathers. Hmm…what excuse would sound somewhat valid? She raised a hoof to her lips. “Shh, not so loud, or the, uh, prisoners will hear you. It’s nothing major, don’t worry. Your little, um, ‘wife’ tried to escape. We handled her, though. She wasn’t that strong. Honestly, I…I don’t know what you could’ve said to convince her that you loved her.” Derpy winced. What am I doing? There’s no way he’s buying this. “But that gave me a plan. I don’t trust that Doctor pony one bit. There’s…no telling what he could do if we let him live. I’m going to disguise myself as this horrid pest and lead them right into a trap.” She swallowed. “You’re following, right?”

He sniffed haughtily. “Of course. What do you take me for, an idiot?”

Well, now that you mention it, yes, Derpy thought, giggling to herself. It took her a moment to realize that he was looking at her expectantly. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Were you listening? I said, where are we going to ambush them?”

“In the left wing,” she blurted out, rustling the matching appendage. “Take most of our army with you. We…don’t know how strong the two fillies’ magic is, and like I said, I, um, don’t trust the Doctor.” Sweat was beginning to drip down her face as she struggled to maintain her composure. This way she and the others could escape through the right wing without any difficulty. If she messed this up…

Metamorphosis stared at her for quite some time before nodding. “Of course, my Queen. At once. You three,” he added, speaking to the changelings making their way toward the two, “get the rest of our army and meet me in the Cocoon Room. I’ll give you instructions there. Chrysalis, wait here for a few minutes. I’ll go bring the guards away so you can help them ‘break out.’” With that he trotted off, his ugly tail swishing happily.

Had the mare noticed the look Metamorphosis gave her right before he turned the corner, she may not have been so relieved. In fact, she may even have been able to prevent what was to come.

“Wow,” she said under her breath, “I can’t believe it. He actually bought my stupid story. Just how dumb is he?”

*    *    *

The Doctor stirred in his sleep. He was curled up in the corner of the cell, his nose tucked under his tail and his chest gently rising and falling. No matter how much he insisted he wasn’t tired, as soon as the changelings brought them their dinner he nodded off.

“I spy with my little eye…something brown!” Dinky announced triumphantly, giving a tiny bounce.

Sparker rolled her eyes. Her arms stretched high above her, becoming achier by the hour. “The Doctor.”

“Yes! How’d you know?”

“Well, your past seven answers have all been the Doctor, so I guess it was just a lucky guess.” Irritation was sharp in her voice. How could her sister be playing games at a time like this? They were going to die, or worse, the changelings would torture them until they were old and weak, and here was Dinky playing I Spy.

It’s probably because she feels at home in this place, a snide voice chimed inside her head. She immediately flinched. How could I think such a thing? Just because she’s part changeling doesn’t mean she’s comfortable with them. She’s grown up mainly around ponies. She’s innocent!

Maybe now she is, the voice hissed, but I’d watch her if I were you.

“Sparkler!”

“Gah!” Sparkler cried, her head snapping up. “What?”

Dinky stomped her hoof with frustration. “I said, where’d the guards go?”

“What are you talking about? They’re right…there…” She trailed off, her jaw dropping. “Sweet Celestia, they’re gone! We can escape now!”

“Yay! Doctor, did you hear that? We can escape now!” Dinky pranced over to the sleeping stallion and prodded him with her horn. “Wake up, sleepy head, we’re escaping!”

The Doctor just lay there, still as stone.

Now Dinky was becoming impatient, shoving him roughly again and again. “I said wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up!”

Sparkler sighed. The Doctor had been through so much lately, and now Dinky wasn’t even letting him get some much-needed rest. “Hey, Dink, stop it. He’s tired. Besides, we can’t escape, anyway. Do we have the key? I didn’t think so. Now hush and let the Doctor sleep.”

“Actually,” Derpy said, approaching the entrance, “I have the key.”

Both fillies’ jaws dropped. Dinky ran over to the door of the cell, bouncing up and down, her tail wagging excitedly. “Mommy, Mommy,” she cried.

Derpy pressed the key into the hole and twisted, pushing the cell door open. Immediately she was at Sparkler’s side, inspecting the chains carefully.

“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” Sparkler lied. “But, um, can you get me out of this machine as soon as possible?”

Before too long Sparkler was on the ground, the machine lying in a jumbled heap next to her. Her lips pressed against the ground again and again. “Oh, thank Celestia! I never thought I’d get out of those things! The chains really hurt, you know.” She cleared her throat. “Not that I’m complaining or anything. They didn’t actually hurt that bad.”

Derpy pulled her daughters into a hug, her wings flapping merrily. “I’m just glad you’re okay. When they took you away, I thought I’d never see you again. And Dinky…they told me they would kill you first. But you’re alive.” She buried her muzzle in the foal’s mane. “Oh, Dinky, Sparkler, you’re alive…”

“Eww.” Sparkler wrinkled her nose. “You smell like sweat and changelings. That’s not a pleasant combination, you know.”

“Well, I had to fight my way here. What, did you expect me to smell like flowers and kittens?” Derpy laughed. “Anyway, we have to hurry. I tricked Metamorphosis into thinking I was Chrysalis.” She paused. “Wait, I just realized you probably have no idea who those two are. Oh, how do I say this…?”

Dinky giggled. “I know who they are. Metamorphosis is Daddy, who’s really the changeling king, and, and Chrysalis is the queen, and I’m half-changeling, and the Doctor is an alien time traveler!”

“Yes, exactl—wait, how do you know this?”

“It wasn’t that hard to figure out, y’know. Plus I had the Doctor to help me! He’s really funny. Can he be our new daddy?”

“Oh, that explains a—what did you say?” Derpy did a double take, her eyes growing wide. “No, Dinky, don’t be silly. We’ve only just met him. We can’t do that. Speaking of which, where is he?”

“He’s taking a nap.”

Derpy raised her eyebrows, watching him carefully. “Really?”

“Shh, he’s sleeping.”

The gray mare prodded him suspiciously with a hoof. He didn’t stir. “But he said Time Lords hardly ever need sleep. And he would never just go to sleep at a time like this.” Though outside she remained calm, her mind was in turmoil. The Doctor was practically their only hope of survival. What if the changelings had done something to him? He had to wake up. He just had to.

Sparkler seemed to be thinking the same thing, for she opened his eyes with her magic and waved a hoof in front of his face. When she turned back around, her face was clouded over with anger. “He’s completely unconscious. He didn’t even react.”

Derpy glanced over at the open cell door. “Well, we can’t just leave him here. No matter why he’s not waking up; we need to bring him with us. Sparkler, I assume your magic’s working fine?”

“Wait, you’re not suggesting I use a spell to wake him up, are you? My magic isn’t that strong, you know.”

“No, I was just going to suggest you drag him by the tail.”

“But won’t that hurt him?”

“Is there any other option?”

Sparkler grinned. “I like this side of you, Mom,” she said, grabbing the Doctor’s tail with her magic and pulling him out of the prison. Dinky followed close behind, enjoying herself immensely.

After a few moments it dawned on Derpy that, for the first time, Sparkler had called her “Mom.”

*   *   *

The Doctor was nothing.

His entire world was made of emptiness. His eyes only saw white. Hot, searing white, boring holes in his skull. No thoughts flitted through his mind, no emotions pierced his heart. All he knew, all he had ever known, was this strange void.

Voices drifted around him, tumbling and swirling like waves crashing on the shore, but they meant nothing to him.

“…We knew we could not kill you,” one voice was saying. “Your power is too great. You would just return, stronger than ever. But your intellect surpasses your strength by far. We could not risk letting you live, either.”

For the first time in what felt like forever, the Doctor thought. Oh, hello, odd ghostly voice. What in the world are you talking about?

“Even changelings know your name, Doctor.”

Doctor. What kind of name is that? Ha, that’s even more odd than Derpy. Ha, ha.

“So we decided to poison you. You are not dead, Doctor, but nor are you alive. You simply…are. And you will be for the rest of your days.”

Wonderful. I rather like this place. It’s peaceful. There’s no danger, no aliens to fight…

“Without you, Derpy and the others cannot win. The strongest one of them is Dinky, and she doesn’t even know how to control her power. That’s what you do, Doctor. You give creatures hope, and then you turn your back on them and let them die.”

Okay.

“You sicken me.”

Fine by me, odd ghostly voice.

“You little…! Are you even listening to what I’m saying? They’re going to die because of you. How does that make you feel?”

Oh, the voice can hear my thoughts. How does what you said make me feel…? I don’t feel anything. I feel…calm, I suppose. The Doctor suddenly had the urge to yawn. Tired. I definitely feel tired.

“That’s it? You don’t feel anger, pain, grief, shame, love? You don’t feel anything? Wow, you’re useless. How are we supposed to feed if you don’t feel any emotions?”

Feeding? I’m hungry. Do you happen to have any bread? I’ve been craving that for a while.

The voice was silent for a while. When the voice spoke once more, it dripped with enough venom to kill an elephant. “Very well, Doctor. You don’t want to give in, and I will respect that.”

Give in to what?

“That is not relevant. I will give you one more chance to give us the energy we need, Doctor. One more chance and that’s it. Perhaps you need a little nudge, hm?”

The Doctor’s vision shifted. Flashes of color splashed around him until he found himself dangling from old wooden rafters.

Four ponies moved slowly below him. The pony in front, a gray and yellow mare, kept glancing behind her as if afraid the others would vanish. There was a smaller, similar-looking filly creeping along beside her. At the back, a pink and purple mare was dragging a limp body.

That’s me! the Doctor thought. How can I be here and there at the same time?

“Simple. You are not really here,” the voice said. Metamorphosis rested next to him. He looked almost bored. “True, your mind is up here, but your body is still below.”

“Why…showing…me…this?” the Doctor choked out, his mouth not seeming to form the words properly.

Metamorphosis pointed a hoof far in front of the four ponies. Once again the Doctor’s vision changed, and suddenly he could see far beyond the walls. Hundreds of changelings gathered there, their eyes gleaming and wings buzzing.

“You…ambushing…them.”

“Obviously. Wow, you’re slow.”

The Doctor bunched his muscles, ready to spring down below, but the changeling stopped him.

“I wouldn’t do that, Doctor. As I said, you are not really here. Your mind and your body colliding in such a manner would be sure to kill you.”

“Then why not let me die?” He clenched his jaw defiantly. “Aren’t I a danger to your kind?”

“We need you, Doctor.” Metamorphosis twitched his ear, his eyes narrowed. “My changelings are calling to me. I must wake up. Goodbye, Doctor. See you when they’re dead.”

Before the Doctor could respond he felt himself begin to fall, tumbling head-over-hooves into the darkness below.

And so the Doctor slept on.

*   *   *

Sparkler halted, her ear twitching. Behind her, the stallion began to thrash around, his legs flailing around as if he were falling. “Mom!” she yelped, lunging toward the Doctor. “Help!” She pinned him to the ground, only to be thrown back by his hoof striking her.

Derpy whipped around, startled. At once she raced to help, and the two of them fought to hold him down until he grew calm. “What was that for?” she asked. “He could’ve easily knocked us out.”

His eyes flew open and he gasped for air. Frantically he grabbed for Derpy and pulled her closer. His eyes were large and wild. “Run,” he muttered.

“What?”

“Run, run, run,” he repeated, falling limp once more. “Run…”

Derpy pried his hooves off her and scrambled away. Her eyes were wide. “Did he just…wake up? But that’s impossible. He was practically in a coma. How could he just…?”

“What did he mean, ‘run?’” Sparkler interrupted. “Where do we run to? The only way out is where we’re going.” She turned her attention to Dinky. “What do you think he meant, Dink? You know changelings better than anyone. Hello? Dinky?”

Dinky was standing stock-still, her eyes squeezed shut. Her breathing was ragged and irregular. When she opened her eyes, they glowed green. “They’re coming,” she whispered in a voice that was not her own. “Run.”

Sparkler backed away from her sister. “Dinky? Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay, you fools!” She arched her back, her hooves digging into the ground and her lip curling. “They’re coming. They will kill us, every last one of us. Run!” Giving a loud yelp, she collapsed. The green faded from her eyes and she shook her head fiercely. Then, whimpering, she stared up at Sparkler. “Sparky, what happened to me?”

“I don’t know.”

“Help me!” Once again spasms shook her body. The green in her eyes returned, stronger than before. “Don’t worry about me,” she said with a laugh. “Just run for your life. Leave me here. I’m dangerous. You know I’m dangerous, Sparkler.” She gave a wide smile. “You thought it yourself, remember? So run, little pony, and don’t look back.”

Derpy spread her wings out, stepping in front of Sparkler to shield her and the Doctor. “What’s going on? What have you done to Dinky?”

“I am Dinky,” said Dinky. “Or, rather, I’m what Dinky will become.” She slowly advanced toward them. “The changelings are coming. They will kill all of us if you don’t run, so for pony’s sake, run for your life!” With that final shout she slumped over, a gasp escaping her lips, and fell unconscious.

“Well, that’s just great,” Derpy said bitterly. “Now the Doctor and Dinky are unconscious. We should probably listen to them, though. I suggest we turn back. Sparkler, you keep dragging the Doctor with you. I’ll carry Dinky on my back.” She paused. “Sparkler? Are you okay?”

The young mare was frozen in place, her eyes huge. That can’t have just happened, she thought. My sister isn’t dangerous. Besides, how could she know what I was thinking? What’s going on?

“Sparkler.”

An image flashed in her mind. Sparkler cowered in a corner, bruises decorating her body. Dinky towered above her. The filly’s lip was pulled back in a sneer, revealing sharp white teeth, and her horn flared to life with pulsating emerald magic. “What’s wrong, Sparkler?” Dinky spat. “Am I scaring you?” Sparkler could feel magic pull energy from her, gradually weakening her. “Or do you pity your sister, the half-changeling, half-pony hybrid?” Now the magic grew stronger. Dinky gave a sigh of contentment and closed her eyes. “It’s a shame, Sparkler. You were actually a pretty good sister. Too bad I had to kill you.” With a final shudder, Sparkler fell back, her eyes rolling into her head.

“Sparkler!” Derpy exclaimed, waving a hoof in front of her daughter’s face. “Come on, we have to go. Are you okay?”

She cast a quick glance at her sister, who was draped across Derpy’s back. How could I even imagine such a thing? She’s my sister. She would never hurt me. Right? “Um, yeah. I’m fine. Anyway, where are we supposed to go?”

Derpy frowned. “I don’t know. I was thinking we could get back to the room with the cocoons and then think of something.”

“Good idea.”

“Sparkler…are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. Let’s go already!”

The two took off, not hesitating a moment longer. Sparkler kept her eyes focused on the ground in front of her, spreading her magic field from pulling the Doctor by his tail to floating him along beside them. The farther they ran, she more tired she became. But she knew they could not stop. Not only had the Doctor woken up from his coma-like state to tell them to run, but Dinky had become that…that monster to say the same thing. If the changelings caught them, they would die.

Sparkler stumbled, her chin hitting the earth with a thump. The Doctor slammed into the ground next to her. Her mother ran on a few paces before noticing and screeching to a stop, returning to her side.

“I’m fine,” the unicorn insisted. But her vision was blurry and her stomach churned with fear. The vision of Dinky had disturbed her greatly, but not for the reason that seemed obvious. Yes, it had been terrifying. Yes, it had been horrible to watch. But there was some essence of truth around it, some strange feeling of understanding, that made Sparkler feel sick. She didn’t truly believe Dinky would do something like that…did she?

“You’re not fine, Sparkler, and you know it.” Derpy rested Dinky gently on the ground and sat down. “That’s great. You’re unfit to run, the Doctor and Dinky are unconscious, and the changelings will probably find us any minute now. How the hay are we supposed to get out of this?!”

Sparkler shook her head. “Mom, you’re not staying here.”

“Oh, really? Well, I’m not leaving you, the Doctor, or Dinky here alone.”

“I can fend for myself. Take them and go.”

“I can’t carry both of them.”

“Then take Dinky.”

“I’m not leaving the Doctor, okay? He saved all of our lives, whether you like it or not. I’m staying here, Sparkler.”

“I’m fine, though. I can walk. I just tripped, that’s all,” Sparkler lied.

Derpy rolled her eyes and sighed. “Sparkler, you are not fine, for the last time. We’ll stay here together, okay? And if we die, we’ll die together.” She began stroking her daughter’s mane comfortingly. “No matter what, I’ll stay by your side. That’s what mothers do.”

Sparkler sat up, leaning on Derpy’s shoulder. “I don’t want to die,” she whispered.

“Then I’ll make sure you don’t.”

And so they sat there, side by side, and began to wait.