Chapters There are many places in Equestria that have been forgotten by time, left to slowly waste away until all evidence of their existence has been wiped away from the land. Few ponies even remember how to get to them and even less bother to brave the dangers required to visit them. Not that any of this mattered to the strange group of beings that had made this place their home.
Two of the creatures argued with each other, while a third buried its head in a large, metal machine which occupied the centre of the room. The machine was about three pony's high, and two across. To some, it may have resembled a large empty box made of steel, but to one in the know, it was much more. What little light managed to stab through the darkness reflected off of the device, causing the large metal disk bolted to the floor to stick out from the rest. Hundreds of multicoloured wires raced between the box and the circle, tying the two together in an unbreakable union. Despite the polished metal though, smoke bustled out of one of the pipes on the top of the machine and several panels lay scattered on the ground, showcasing the light show caused by the third creature. Creaking was heard as another panel fell form the top of the machine, showering the arguing creatures in loose sparks. Both turned angrily towards the contraption and called out to their friend.
Several minutes passed slowly, with the occasional snort from the monster near the machine and the continuous dripping of water being the only sound that echoed through the room. The largest beast, Hive Mind, paced around the room, trying to avoid looking back to the person fixing the machine. The second monster was standing near the large stone doors, keeping an eye out for anyone approaching. Several more minutes passed before Hive Mind called out sympathetically to the others in the lodging.
Barely any time had passed since the two argued before a strange noise began to bounce around the room. The one near the door poked it's head out and nearly screamed from fright. A large blue box, with the words "Police Box" written across the top of the door and a blue light, flashing like a siren, resting upon the top was materializing out of the air with a loud, continuous 'Vworrp' sound. The creature quickly spun back around to face the others and asked fearfully, "It's him! Is the machine ready, worm? Or have you failed us?"
"Ohh, you obened the door," the pony said, his words slightly muffled by the device in his mouth. He turned to the person near the door and asked quietly, "Woub you take this please? It makes it rather hard to balk."
The room itself was mostly round, except for large pillars that went up alongside the walls and into the roof. Moss crept along the floor and a pool of water gathered on the far end of the room. The Doctors attention, however, was quickly pulled to the machine in the middle. He galloped over to it and started investigating the many pipes connecting the plate to the box.
"Hive Mind, two questions, two very, important questions, how did your ship crash? And are we the only ones who know you're here?"
An explosion rocked through the room, and the Doctor was blown backwards, holding what remained of his sonic screwdriver in his mouth. Smoke drifted out of the hole at the tip, joining the smoke that was already in the room. The smaller of the two creatures walked over to the Doctor.
Nearby, a lonely zebra was gathering herbs late at night, lamenting her life and wondering why the ground was shaking slightly. She said nothing as she worked, instead taking in the darkened surroundings of her home, before wandering back to her shack in the woods. A strange sound managed to collide with her ears, a sound that wasn't of the forest. If the zebra were more gullible, she might have confused it for screaming. That was impossible, of course. After all, she was the only pony in the whole Everfree.
Archaeologists and Summons
Today seemed different. Maybe there was something in the air, maybe the sun seemed to shine a little brighter, maybe the birds sang a little louder, the day just seemed different. Flying through town, Ditzy seemed to be the only one who noticed this. Most ponies just went through their daily tasks, completely oblivious to whatever had changed. Ditzy probably would have slowed down at that point to wonder what exactly had changed, but that thought was far from her mind. She was late, and had to focus. Speeding just above the ponies in the street, Ditzy arrived at the small building that was the Ponyville post office. Pulling down and landing with a crash, she took a moment to gather her bearings before pushing open the door and entering. She worried slightly that someone might notice the dirt marks covering her grey coat, or the clumps of mud stuck in her blonde mane, before shrugging the thought off.
Ditzy ducked her head quickly, barely avoiding a collision with another pegasus who managed to squeeze out the door before it closed. She looked through the room, searching for her mail bag. Two large tables with matching chairs sat to her left, and a small wooden door stuck out of the wall across the room, leading to her bosses office. A desk was set up to her right, for the purpose of accepting letters. Thankfully, no one was sitting behind it at the moment.
More ponies had worked their way into the street by now. Ditzy huddled up next to the post office and started searching through her bag, learning who needed deliveries.
The two ponies tumbled out of the air, nearly crashing into one of the ponies in the street. The letters exploded out of Ditzy's bag, mingling with the contents of the other ponies bag. Letters and personal belongings littered the streets. Some nearby ponies started to gather up the items as Ditzy pulled herself up onto her hooves. She turned to the pony she had crashed into and prepared to apologize. The pony herself was a dark red colour, with a plain orange mane. She was wearing a hood which ran down her back and covered her flank and cutie mark. Due to being smaller than her, Ditzy felt slightly intimidated, but pushed through this to apologize.
After delivering an expensive Wonderbolt poster to Rainbow Dash, and listening to her repeat the phrase, "So awesome" for several minutes, Ditzy took off and headed towards Sugercube Corner to deliver the next letter.
Soaring over Ponyville, Ditzy spotted the next person on her mail list. Pulling down, she prepared to land comfortably on the dusty ground. However, she misjudged the distance and another painful crash told her she'd missed, rolling to a stop in front of a mint coloured unicorn and a cream coloured earth pony. Ditzy stood up quickly and nearly fell over as the world kept spinning. She called out weakly,
Ditzy floated forward lazily. With only one person left she was free to slow down and relax. Her mind drifted to earlier, when she first felt something was different. Try as she might though, she couldn't place her hoof on it. It sat just out of reach, teasingly close but just out of reach. She thought harder to herself, "Everything's the same, isn't it? Wake up, eat breakfast, drop Dinky off at school, go to work." Ditzy pulled her hooves to her head, "So what's changed?"
The Ponyville library came into view and Ditzy landed carefully, making sure not to crash. She gave a hard knock against the wood and waited again for someone to answer. A purple glow surrounded the door as hoofsteps moved closer, signalling the person behind it. With a rusty creak, the door swung open quickly. Twilight was standing in the doorway, an embarrassed look on her face. Behind her, Spike and another pony were talking to each other, too entrapped in their conversation to notice the mares at the door.
Ditzy entered the gigantic tree. Rows of books lined the walls and a large table, made out of a tree stump, stood in the middle of the room. A wooden staircase was built out of the tree on the other side of the room, leading to the second story of the house. Near the stairs, two creatures stood. One was a small purple dragon Ditzy recognized as Spike, and the other was a light brown pony, with a dark brown mane that spiked backwards and ran down the back of his head. Ditzy could see his cutie mark was a painters brush next to an old, cracked vase. Nervously, Ditzy approached the pair,
At that moment, Twilight Sparkle stepped forward, floating a tray of tea in front of her. "Let's just talk about something different. Want some tea?" She asked.
Diamond Polish stared at the machine as Twilight slowly spun it around in front of them. He felt something build up inside him, something bigger than himself. He fought to keep it down and nearly succeeded, before it exploded out of him, "Actually, it's mine," he shouted.
After the pain subsided, Twilight gave a quick apology before rushing past him to talk with Spike.
"My Faithful Student,
It is with a heavy heart that I must request your presence at the palace as soon as possible. A terrible threat has revealed its face and is making its way towards us as I write. I have dispatched the royal guards, but I fear they won't be enough. Bring the other wielders of the elements of harmony. Time is of the essence, so I will allow you one day to gather your friends before I send a chariot for you. I trust you will come prepared for this matter and I pray that you and your friends won't be needed for this most dangerous task.
Princess Celestia."
Twilight placed the letter carefully on the ground. She lifted her head and looked over to Diamond and Ditzy. "Well, it seems I have work to do. Sorry I couldn't be a better host, Mr Polish." She said clearly.
The sun started to peek over the horizon, sending soft golden rays over the land. A few managed to creep through an open window and landed on a tired, grey pegasus' face. Ditzy rolled around in her bed uncomfortably, before rolling too far and falling off. She landed with a crash, and quickly jumped onto her feet, looking around for whoever pushed her off the bed. Upon seeing the empty room, Ditzy rubbed her eyes and decided to go downstairs. On her way there, she passed a small door. Pushing it open silently, she checked inside to see if her daughters were awake yet. Even though it was still dark inside the room, Ditzy could clearly see a small grey bundle lying in one of the beds. She let herself give a small smile. Dinky always looked so cute when she slept. The other bed in the room was empty though. Ditzy closed the door and made her way downstairs again.
Working her way down the stairs, Ditzy started to hear a faint humming coming from the kitchen. Poking her head around the corner, she could see that there was a light purple unicorn with a dark purple and light pink mane, cooking eggs over the stove.
Wandering her way into the post office, Ditzy let out a yawn and walked over to where her bag usually was. Unlike yesterday, several different mail bags were lined up on the table. She sifted through them, searching for hers. Eventually, she reached the end of the line, despite not finding her bag. She went back along the table to double check, making sure she didn't miss it. Upon reaching the end again, she realized her mail bag wasn't there. Ditzy remained calm, remembering the last time this happened. Taking in a deep breath, Ditzy opened the door to her boss' office.
A large wooden desk took up most of the space on the opposite side of the room. Pictures of previous bosses or outstanding workers hung on the walls and the entire room smelt dusty. Ditzy figured this was because her boss never closed his window, allowing dust to float in and settle easily. On one side of the desk sat Ditzy's boss, looking the same as he did the day before. On the other side, obviously frustrated, sat Diamond Polish.
Diamond fumbled out onto the street, narrowly avoiding crashing into a cream coloured pony. Looking around, he saw Ditzy standing in the middle of the street, a small brown box tied to her back. He worked his way through the crowd and stood in front of her. "So how do you plan to get to Canterlot?" he questioned.
By the time they got there, the chariot had already arrived. The main body of the chariot consisted of a large, golden egg shaped passenger area. The wheels were fixed with intricate patterns running through them and the two back wheels were noticeably larger. Connected to the front of the seating area was a long pole with a harness attached to the end, intended to be used by whoever was pulling the machine. For now, only one of the two harnesses was being used.
Before Ditzy knew it, they were flying over the land at an incredible speed, The magic of the chariot pulling them faster than a normal pegasus could. She sat quietly and listened to Diamond rabble on about the guard pulling the machine, nodding slightly when appropriate. Her eyes started to drift apart and Ditzy let herself relax, with the cool air rushing through her mane. That was, until Applejack started talking. "So why do ya think tha princess called us up 'ere? Must be mighty important to interrupt the harvest."
Arriving at the palace, the chariot was placed onto a small outcropping jutting out the side of the building. The ponies without wings started to climb out of the chariot, while those that did simply flew up and out. Ditzy landed in front of Twilight and started to thank her for the help. Diamond, however, walked over to the front of the machine and helped the pegasus there take the harness off.
"Hey Rain, open the door for a minute, I got to get these ponies out." Solar called out to another guard standing near the exit to the palace. Twilight and her friends had left for the their meeting with the princess nearly as soon as they arrived. Somehow, Diamond had convinced their driver to escort them out of the palace, claiming, "I couldn't find my way out of a paper bag."
Ditzy and Diamond wandered around the palace for a while, chatting to each other about nothing in particular. Eventually though, the talking stopped and boredom began to settle in. They walked until the stained windows and the white walls combined into an indistinguishable blur. Everything seemed the same in the palace, there was no variety; just white and gold walls as far as the ponies traveled. Eventually though, the two came upon a familiar face. An armoured blue pegasus was standing at attention in front of a huge golden door, which was engraved with many intricate patterns.
More time passed and Diamond found it harder to stay awake. His eyelids kept drooping down and he fought to keep them open. Ditzy had decided to pass the time by copying Solar, standing in front of him and mimicking his movements, or lack thereof. Eventually though, Ditzy got tired and leaned against the wall in an effort to be more comfortable. "What could possibly take this long? We should have finished ages ago."
Diamond silently pushed the door open, and wandered onto a raised platform overlooking the rest of the room. A set of stairs sat in front of him, leading down to the ground floor. Diamond poked his head over the edge and took in the scene. A long red carpet had been rolled down the middle of the room, leading to a, now open, door that had the symbol of the sun on it. Stained glass windows lined the walls, depicting moments of notable history. In the middle of the room, a brilliant white mare, significantly larger than any other pony, stood facing a group of multicoloured ponies, each wearing a piece of jewellery that resembled their cutie marks. The large, white pony had both a horn and wings, and her mane flowed through the air like the wind. Ditzy looked over the edge too and silently observed the gathering.
Ditzy closed her eyes to guard against the light, but it was useless. The bright flash caused Ditzy to lose her balance, and she fell from the perch, flapping weakly in an attempt to avoid crashing into the ground. The box on her back dislodged and hit the ground seconds before she did. She landed in front of Celestia, who took a step backwards in shock, before stepping back in anger. "Who are you? Why are you here? How much do you know? Quickly pony."
Diamond stood back up, a new confidence running through him. He immediately put one hoof in the air, and hastily called out. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you, don't shoot. Or, cast, maybe? I'm not sure what the proper word is."
The Doctor took this moment to pull himself off the ground, and took his position back on the red carpet. The creature convulsed, forming a gaping hole in it's face. Out of it, a harsh male voice came out.
The Doctor placed the guard's shoe on the ground and pointed at it with his screwdriver. The trademark buzzing of the screwdriver ran through the room and arcs of lightening bounced between the Rutan's tentacle and the shoe. The Rutan screamed in shock and pulled back, but not before the inside of the shoe started to glow white and shoot out small spikes of electricity.
Drone lunged forward, attempting to electrocute the helpless pony in front of him. The Doctor reacted faster, firing the bolt of electricity quickly. The energy hit it in the side, causing the Rutan to collapse and twitch slightly. Solar lowered his weapon and walked closer to get a better look.
The Doctor calmly bent down and picked up his screwdriver, holding it tightly in his mouth. "Solar, Ditzy, now would be a good time to run. A quick trot will do, but I won't blame you if you feel the need to gallop."If this works?"
Diamond was awoken by a sharp pain jabbing into his side. He clenched his eyes shut harder and rolled over, hoping the pain would go away. He was tired and whatever he was laying on was soft, creating a comfortable bed for him to sleep on. The pain continued to persist however and he slowly heard a voice pierce the silence of his rest. It sounded panicked.
Diamond sat against the wall, trying to ignore the feeling of liquid running down his back. He looked up at Ditzy, who was playing around with one of the mushrooms growing in the corner. He noticed the mushroom got brighter the closer she moved to it, which had succeeded to amuse Ditzy for the time being. He wasn't sure how long had passed since Solar left to warn the others, though he wasn't really keeping track in the first place. He decided to take this opportunity to ask Ditzy a question that was still floating through his mind.
Diamond and Ditzy trotted carefully through the tunnels. They had already met with several dead ends, along with many rooms filled with dark blue crystals. One or two would occasionally shot a bolt of lightening into the air, but they didn't seem to pose any danger. At the moment, the duo had reached another dead end. Another large door stood in their way, mocking them with its presence. Ditzy lowered her head sadly, "Another door, let's head back, I think I saw another tunnel about three turns ago."
Wandering aimlessly back through the cave, the two ponies made several bad decisions before Ditzy started to notice something. "Diamond, it's changing. The floor is different."
The Doctor and Ditzy followed Cinder into the newly opened room, Ditzy nearly tripping as the floor became full metal. This room featured a huge open window, sitting in front of various more holes built into a metal stand. The metal stand was thoroughly broken though, with many wires sticking out the bottom. A kind of rounded chair sat near it, bolted into the floor. Through the window, all they could see was dark brown dirt, confirming their suspicions that they were underground. More blue crystals lines the walls, glowing brightly and illuminating the entire room. A strange green pod was built into the wall, probably for the purpose of helping Rutan's fall asleep. Cinder stopped in front of the window and turned to face her guests. "We will assume by now, you already know the reason we are here. To create an army, completely untouchable by our enemies. The sole Drone and myself were chosen for this task. The original plan was simple, we would absorb the thunderclouds of this world, using their energy to split ourselves repeatedly, creating this army."
"So tell me, what was this plan I've heard so much about?" The Doctor asked, curious.
"What did I tell you two? STAY. HERE. So what do you do? Go and wander deeper into this place, completely oblivious to the danger." Solar walked into the room, his armour dirty from walking around out in the slime. "Who know's what could be in here? The air could be poisonous for all you know, what in Celestia's name were you....." Solar stopped talking, and noticed the dark red mare in the room with them. "Cinder?" He asked nervously.I'll kill you.
Dearly
Cinder."
Upon leaving the room, the Doctor collapsed again, the memories of Diamond filling him once more. Standing back up, he asked Ditzy, "What'd I miss this time? Anything important?"
A slight squeaking noise was heard through-out the cave as the two rushed through it, determined to reach the elements before it was too late. Turning another corner quickly, they were faced with a door. Diamond wasted no time, kicking it open with ease. Once it was open, they could hear muffled voices. They listened while they waited for their eyes to adjust to the light.
Twilight examined the strange machine in front of her. It resembled a large black box, with silver lines running down the sides. Twilight couldn't see any kind of wires or buttons anywhere on the machine. It just sat there, looking ominous.
Far away from all this, a military encampment was resting. Guards were set up along the outskirts of the tents to warn of any possible attack. Two ponies sat in the middle of the camp, laying on their backs, staring at the empty sky. Though both wore the armour of the royal guards, one could clearly see they were different. One was a bright yellow, with a blue mane. The other was a light green, his mane cut nearly bald as to hid the colour.things here, we're gonna pack up and head home. Tell the Princess she was wrong."
Celestia let out a powerful laugh, one that could only be found from intense relief. Twilight pulled herself onto her feet, and searched through the room carefully. Her eyes came to rest on a small grey bundle lying near the wall. Ignoring the other ponies in the room, Twilight rushed over to Ditzy, and carefully inspected her. "Ditzy! Are you alright? Speak to me!"
"Fell so easily huh?" A confident voice called out teasingly from behind Celestia. Celestia turned to face the new opponent. She was prepared to use full power against ponies, no holding back. She lost her focus slightly as she saw who she was against. Standing in the doorway, looking beat up and tired, stood a bright white alicorn. Despite how ruffeled her wings were and the fact that she was having trouble keeping her eyes open, she still stood proudly. She tauntingly called out to the imposter. "What's wrong, Monster? Surprised to see me? I know I am."
Twilight abandoned Ditzy to the care of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie while she raced to her mentors side. "Celestia! You did it. You saved us!"
Diamond wandered lost through the maze like cave, desperately searching for an exit. Maybe he could find Solar; Ditzy mentioned he knew the way out. He also had time to think while walking, he did it mostly to avoid that terrible feeling growing in his gut. Why did this cave's roof open up? Why is everything covered in green? Where the hell is Solar? Who's the Doctor? Diamond shook his head at the last one, trying to change his train of thought. He suddenly felt extremely tired for some reason. He fell down onto his back and stared up at the sky, and also the two races fighting each other.
"What if we tried calling back the royal guard?" Rainbow pitched to the rest of the group.
A bright light shot out of the top of the machine. It flew high into the sky, before twisting like a snake and vanishing into the air. All the ponies looked up at the light slowly disappear, and Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "Is that it? I expected more explosions."
As they rose up, Ditzy took a glance back down at the place they came from and suppressed a gasp of surprise as she saw that it wasn't a cave, but a space ship, buried in the ground. She was snapped back to attention as a bolt of lightning came flying down from above her. She dived to the side quickly to avoid getting hit. Looking up, the Rutan had gathered above them, intent to stop the ponies from gathering clouds.
The Doctor dropped his screwdriver, shocked. "DITZY!" He looked around, the same shock was portrayed on Applejack's face as well. He watched as Ditzy fell down, landing harshly just outside the boundaries of the ship. He spun back around to the time machine and buzzed it. An arc of lightning ran across the perimeter of the machine before settling in on of the buttons, causing it glow red. The Doctor looked over it nervously. "Are you sure you want to do this, Girls?"
Far away, the sergeant was growing tired. They had already lost half their men when the attack began by using metal weaponry, and only ones like him were still on the field. He turned to another pegasus flying near him. The pony was a dark grey, with a black mane.
"Argh, everything hurts. Maybe no one will notice if I just lay here for a while."
Solar made a sharp turn, nearly crashing into the wall. There was no sign of this blue box Hive Mind was talking about, and Solar had just about given up. He thought to himself, "One more turn, then I start looking for the others."So you want to kill me too, huh? Well bring it! Solar leapt to his feet and rushed into the middle of the room, ignoring the shaking of the room. Pulling himself to the front console, he placed his hoof onto one of the buttons that was brighter than the rest, "Let's see how you like THIS! He shouted, pushing the button dramatically. The machine let out a high pitched whine, but Solar continued, grabbing the only glowing lever. "Or how about THIS! He pulled the lever down, causing another whine out of the machine. A series of buttons began to flash, and Solar pushed them in the order they lit up. More steam shot out of the walls and Solar started to feel the heat. He started to feel light headed and his vision faded. A final button lit up, and Solar lunged at it, "Or how...about...this?" He said weakly.
Celestia woke abruptly when a brilliant white light exploded into her face. Something was poking into her side, and she stood up to remove it. She was surprised when it stuck to the ground and didn't follow her up. Looking over it, she immediately recognized who it was. Rainbow Dash was lying on the ground where Celestia had slept, and was obviously in pain. With a groan, Rainbow pulled herself to her hooves. The wing that was pressed against the ground stuck out at an odd angle, and the rest of her body was covered in bruises. Celestia looked around in confusion. The sky was unusually clear, there was not a cloud as far as the eye could see, and her sisters moon was just beginning to rise over the horizon. On the other side of a large chasm in the ground, Celestia could see Fluttershy, huddling over a rock. Celestia glanced around again to try and piece together what happened. She closed her eyes, there was...lightning, and monsters, and time-travel. It all came back to her quickly. She carefully walked over to where Rainbow was standing, and asked her. "Are you alright, Rainbow Dash?"
Back in the space ship, Twilight was trying to make sense of what she was seeing. Diamond was lying in the middle of the circle, clearly unharmed, but refusing to wake up. Twilight decided a quick recap was in order to ensure everyone was on the same page. "Alright, so after the light faded, we all turned to inspect the machine. The Doctor was there, unconscious. Applejack remembers seeing him get hit by one of the bolts of lightning that stopped the Rutan, maybe that's why he's asleep. That still wouldn't explain why he's still here, since he said that he would go with the Rutan. It also doesn't explain why we're still here, since according to him, that light should have wiped us out."
Diamond stared through the huge glass wall, wondering for the fiftieth time whether he had made the right decision. A dot appeared on the horizon, and Diamond stood up quickly to see what it was. Even at a distance, he could easily recognize what it was. A near mirror reflection of himself was walking towards, a little faster than what was necessary. Diamond called out to him from his side of the wall. "Doctor! You came back!"
Twilight let out a relieved sigh, and answered, "From what I can tell, yes we did."
Diamond walked towards the large machine against the back of the room. He stared down at the device in his hoof, and felt all the eyes in the room focus on him. A heat radiated from the watch, and he could feel it searing his mind. With a shout, he threw it on ground and stomped on it. When he removed his hoof, the watch was unharmed by the attack. He fell to his knees and stared up at the sky, screaming into it. "Damn you, Doctor!"
"What?"
Twilight clenched her eyes closed and focused. She felt the presence of her friends around her and reached out to them, uniting each of their powers into a single force. With a wordless sigh, she added her own power and opened her eyes. Light surrounded the group, so bright it hurt to look at. Twilight stared at the machine, and directed the energy of the six towards it. A brilliant rainbow shot out of her horn, and spiraled upwards. It reached its apex and came crashing down on the machine. With a mechanical crash, the machine started to move again. It hungrily sucked in the rainbow, and each of the ponies could feel it's pull. Eventually, the rainbow stopped, and the elements were dropped roughly on the ground. Recovering quickly, each of the ponies turned their eyes towards Ditzy. She was still sitting there, occasionally whimpering in pain.
"Yes, Doctor?" A confident voice rang out. The Doctor dropped his screwdriver and spun around dangerously fast. Standing in front of him was a grey pegasus. The same grey pegasus with crazy eyes and a knack for causing accidents. The Doctor ran towards her, and she did the same. The two collided with each other, and embraced. It was only for a few seconds, but it felt like hours to the Doctor. Eventually, they pulled away from each other. Each gave a quick nod, and they headed back towards the huddled group of ponies.
"Umm, Doctor, I think the TaRDiS was actually a few turns back to the left." Ditzy said, nearly tripping over her feet.
"Log 56.
Rutan Hive Mind"
The Doctor zeroed in on the the mysterious aliens name. "Virus? Lovely. I sure hope he didn't name himself that, can you imagine?" The Doctor shuffled his feet to try to get them out of the electric gel. Seeing how it was futile, he continued talking. "Show ships log from 3 days ago."
"Log 53
Rutan Hive Mind"
"Show ships log from one week ago." The Doctor shouted.
"Log 49
Rutan Hive Mind"
The Doctor stepped back, covering his back legs in goo. "Another time traveler? But, that's impossible."
"Log 42
Rutan Hive Mind"
The Doctor smiled, "Good old emotions, they also push through in the end."
"Log 35
Rutan Hive Mind"
"We're nearly there Doctor, just a bit further."
"Log 28
Rutan Drone 163542"
The screen sputtered, and turned off. The Doctor tried to fix it with his sonic, but it was too far gone. The thick smoke from the broken screen floated lazily into the air, and the Doctor turned around uneasily. "Well, that was interesting. Time travelling ponies, Rutan aliens, inter-dimensional travel. You must be exhausted Ditzy. Let's get you home." With that, the Doctor walked out of the room, sighing contently when his hooves stopped being electrocuted. The duo made their way through the ship, eventually stopping in front of a large blue box. The Doctor walked forward and stroked it lovingly, "Hello Sexy. Did you miss me?"
Ditzy pushed the door open, and walked out, gasping as she recognized where she was. The TaRDiS had materialized inside her bosses office, and was now taking up a large portion of the room. She searched around for her boss, but the room was empty. The Doctor walked out of the box behind her, and breathed deeply. "Why is this room always so dusty?"
Ditzy glided to the fence in front of her house, and crashed painfully. As soon as she what had happened to her house, she froze. "Come on, Ditzy, Move. Just take a few steps forward." She thought to herself. However, she stood perfectly still. She was simply to worried, she wondered whether her daughters would have managed to get out in time. She was still like this when the Doctor came forward, taking special note of the house in front of him. The garden was a complete wreck, filled with craters and remains of flowers. A section of the roof had caved in, all the windows were broken, smoke billowed out of the second floor and the front door swung dangerously on a single hinge. The Doctor grabbed Ditzy, and pulled her forward. "Come on, Ditzy. Staying outside won't help anypony."
With a proud 'Vroom,' the TaRDiS materialized into the center of the room. Poking his head out, the Doctor took in the scene. The first thing he noticed was the excessive use of streamers that hung from every possible place on the ceiling. This, combined with the fact that several balloons were floating around aimlessly, gave the room a whole party vibe. The second thing he noticed was all the ponies who had gathered. Dozens, maybe hundreds of them were standing off to the side, staring at the blue box that had appeared in the middle of the room. Following the ponies to the edge of the room, he saw some familiar faces, standing on a large stone throne. Twilight and the elements had changed into some fancier clothes. Celestia was sitting at the top of the throne, unsurprised by the Doctor's appearance. The Doctor stepped out of his time machine and glanced around the room. "Well, this is a bit fancier than I was expecting. Not that it's bad, I love a good party."Ponies! We are here today to honour both the Doctor and Ditzy Doo, for thou efforts in helping stop the Rutan invasion. For Ditzy's brave sacrifice and determination in the face of danger, I present thou with one of the highest honours Equestria has. " Finishing her sentence, Celestia turned away from the group, and pulled an intricate metal sword into the air using her magic. The sword glowed a brilliant white, and seemed to shine with all the colours of the rainbows. Ditzy took a step back, but Twilight assured her everything would be fine. Celestia carefully placed the sword on the inside of Ditzy's ear. "Ditzy Doo, By the powers given to me since I was created, I knight thou. Stand, Madam Ditzy Doo. " Celesia moved the sword across Ditzy's head, resting it on the inside of her other ear. The sword was lifted into the air again, and Celestia turned to the Doctor. "For the Doctor's quick thinking, and brilliant planing in the field of battle, I give him the second highest honour he can recieve. " Celestia placed the sword on the Doctors head. "By the powers given to me since I was created, I hearby absolve the Doctor from his exile in Equestria. He is now free to live in Equestria, and make a living in any way he sees fit. "Silence. Silence now. I'm not done yet. Despite the victory we have had here today, we can't forget the sacrifices made to make it possible. It is with a heavy heart that I mourn the loss of Diamond Polish, who gave his life to defeat the Rutans. Without his sacrifice, it may have been impossible to stop the Rutan. By the powers I possess, I knight him. May he be remembered as Sir Diamond Polish. "
Somewhere in the garden, the TaRDiS reappeared. It sat there quietly for a moment, before the door swung open. Ditzy stepped out, glancing at the party going on inside the palace. She turned around to see whether the Doctor was following her. He wasn't. The Doctor was standing in the doorway of his machine, leaning against the side confidently.
Dinky looked around confused. She couldn't see mommy anywhere. She wandered around aimlessly, occasionally asking some of the fancy looking unicorns whether they had seen mommy. They barely paid her any attention. She wandered around more, eventually settling in a dark corner away from the loud music and ponies. Somepony came out of the crowd, and stared at her. Ponies paid no attention to this pony either. Dinky squealed as one of the unicorns walked directly into the pony, passing through him harmlessly. He walked closer, and Dinky curled into a ball. The pony came closer, and placed a hoof on Dinky's back. "Are you alright, little pony?"
Inside the TaRDiS, Ditzy was being tossed around by the sudden shaking. "Doctor, What's going on?"
