Adventures in the TARDIS

What is beyond the egress that Trouble created is a reality none of the ponies who entered it could have imagined in advance. It appears to be akin to a hallway that is black and lightless if it isn’t for the many specs of stars visible in it. The “floor” and “walls” of this hallway seem to be transparent but also translucent. They glow with a moonlight like glow yet they can see beyond them, too, to the vast open outer space.

Another thing that is odd about this hallway, which also severely messes with their vertigo, is the fact that the walls and floor of this hallway shifts as if it is being blown by the wind. The floor and walls ripples and wiggles back and forth. Each step they take here feels oddly firm yet the ripple and wiggling threatens their balance a bit. Despite the motion in this hallway akin to wind ripples, though, they don’t hear or feel actual wind on their hides.

As they travel through this space hallway, there occasionally seems to be random gaps in the curtain-like walls that the “winds” created. It is like this hallway is composed of many separate segments of curtains and the “winds” occasionally cause a gap between them. Whenever that happens, they get a glimpse at a random reality beyond it. Some that are so strange that their minds do not know how to process it.

For instance, in some of them there exists colors that don’t exist in their normal reality, or at least their bodies can’t normally see them. The same goes for sounds and scent. They get glimpses into realities that are, in some random way, entirely foreign to their experience. This is why their minds will have trouble storing this information later. All they will be able to remember is the emotion of encountering something very strange and occasionally shocking, but what it is exactly is like the memory of a faded dream.

Not only do those gaps lead to random realities, but the same area leads to a different reality whenever the flapping motion causes it to close then open again. Every single time they can perceive beyond these gaps by any of their senses for even a split second, it always leads to a different and often very strange reality. For the most part, though, what they see is the shifting moonlight glowing and transparent window-to-the-stars hallway.

“I almost dread to ask this, but where are we going?” Stern Wing asks cautiously from the rear of this group. There she remains to make certain no stragglers fall behind her.

“The answer you seek might make you meek,” Trouble’s echo-y multi-voice warns her. “Continue the way is all that I’ll say.”

Stern Wing growls in annoyance before complaining, “My experience with you has been nothing but humbling and I’m getting a little sick and tired of you giving me more reasons to feel insecure.”

“Is this your home reality of sorts?” Feather Wind checks with Trouble. “It sort of has a dream-like quality to it.”

“Dreamers dream of realities awake,” Trouble responds. “A dash of imagination is all it will take. When a dreamer realizes a dream is a dream, potentially awakens to the greater of schemes. This way and that,” she says as she points in opposite directions using her forepaws. Her left forelimb pointing right and her right forelimb pointing left. “says the talking cat. Endeavors abound when the truth is found.”

“Is she talking in riddles?” Derpy wonders as she continues in the middle of the group with a pretty frightened look to her. She’s visibily trembling yet keeps trotting on. Oddly enough, she actually is continuing at the most steady pace of the group. The wall-eyed gray pegasus, who often trips over her own hooves everywhere else, finds a natural rhythm to her motion here for some reason.

“If so, she isn’t the first of her kind to do so,” Daring mentions near the front as she continues cautiously and highly observantly.

“You speak of the Sphinx with a hide like a lynx,” Trouble mentions with an interested tone and apparent recognition. “The one who schools by creating the rules. She who mistreats those that she cheats, yet ever repeats a pattern of defeat.” Trouble gives a very troll’ish smile. “She who is lame who doth breaks her own game. Wherever she dwells, it is always the same.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Daring agrees with a roll of her eyes then widens them as she says in alarm, “On second thought, nevermind. Don’t do that.”

“So you know others like you? You’re not alone?” Feather asks Trouble in concern.

“There’s no social reward from a race of discord,” Trouble expresses rather casually and almost indifferently. “Each Spirit of Wrath tends to walk their own path. Knowledge of one is still a relationship of none.”

“So, in other words, you tend to have no friends,” Feather expresses sadly. “That must get pretty lonely.”

Stern Wing suddenly grows alarmed where this conversation is leading, especially when she sees sudden interest alight in Trouble’s eyes towards her coltfriend.

“Darest I see one who invites me?” Trouble asks with amazed delight.

“No pony, or creature, should be entirely alone,” Feather Wind expresses kindly. “If you need a friend or just somepony to talk to then I’m game.”

Stern Wing slaps her left wing on her face. It’s hard for her to believe that her coltfriend would invite the spirit of trouble itself just because he feels sympathetic. Sometimes the very thing she loves so dearly about him can also be troubling and annoying.

Stern rubs her face down with that wing then refolds it as she realizes that this is why her coltfriend needs a guardian friend. For such a highly educated pony, he can be shockingly naive sometimes.

“A pledge is made, doth speakest thou,” Trouble proudly declares. “I formally accept this humble vow.”

An angry vein pulses on the side of Stern Wing’s head but she keeps her mouth shut for the moment. She inwardly makes a vow of her own that her friend needs a stern lecture about stranger-danger later on.

As a change of pace, the exit of the other side of this starry hallway is stairs leading up. At first it seems to lead to nowhere, which honestly wouldn’t surprise the ponies too much at this point, but Trouble lifts what was an invisible door at first and she does it upwardly. It’s like being inside a chest and lifting the lid skyward. When she does, it reveals a new environment beyond, but not much of one at first. It is all dark.

“Allow me,” Feather requests as he takes the lead. He trots up the stairs then ignites his horn into a radiant silvery color. He projects the light outward then grows surprised when the light does expand, but all it does is illuminate more floor. Whatever room they are now in, it’s too big for his own light to illuminate everything.

“What is this place?” Daring asks as she steps up beside Feather and looks around in an exploratory way. She narrows her eyes some in an attempt to pierce the gloom, but it’s no use. Feather’s light has lit about a forty foot range and it’s not far enough to notice anything distinctive yet.

“I’ll check something,” Margret says as she steps up beside those who exited the previous realm. Secretly she’s quite grateful to be out of that last place. When her horn lights up, a holographic screen materializes in front of her. While she explores the options on it carefully, the others emerge beside her which includes the floating impish Spirit Trouble.

Once they are all out of that last place, the upwards swinging door, which is only visible on the inside, closes by lowering back to the floor. At that point it is just a solid gray floor now.

“See anything helpful there?” Doctor Kelly asks Margret as she reads over the shorter yellow pony’s shoulder.

“Hmm,” Margret says thoughtfully. “There’s a bunch of weird options in here that I don’t understand, but it seems I can’t access most of these controls.”

“Can you try activating the lights of this place?” Daring checks as she looks back at Margret over her right shoulder.

“That, I think I can do,” Margret reports then flips a digital switch on the screen she is regarding. Once that happens, the screen vanishes as she looks around. She notices, along with everyone else around her, as the new place they are standing in ignites with new light. When that happens, it becomes apparent that they are standing in some kind of giant warehouse that is so big, they can’t see the ceiling. It really is too far away. That almost makes it look like they are standing outside. What they can see, however, is some walls, cubby holes, and large square shaped boxes within them that are covered in curtains.

“Whoa!” Derpy gasps in awe. “It’s like Princess Celestia suddenly rose the sun in here!”

“We seem to be in some kind of warehouse,” Stern Wing notes observantly as her eyes continue to scan about. “I wonder what is in those crates.”

“Wherever this place is, it has a digital system,” Doctor Kelly notes. “So my best guess is we’re back inside the floating city of Those Above somewhere. You’ll note the curious lack of other ponies here and the system had more restricted access, so whatever is in those boxes is probably a classified military secret.”

“It’s probably the rest of the secrets that the Commander didn’t trust us enough to reveal yet,” Margret guesses as she rubs her bottom jaw thoughtfully.

“He might’ve been willing to tell us if we accepted his offer, but that’s just a guess,” proposes Stern Wing.

“I’m not fond of Cloak and Dagger tactics,” Feather Wind says with a frown. “Let’s see what the Commander was so afraid of telling us.”

For a moment, he begins to trot beyond the group, but when he notices that the others are not following him yet, not even Trouble. He pauses and looks back at the group to see if they are willing to follow him. They take a moment to look at each other and silently debate something before nodding at each other then follows Feather with more resolve.

The lone exception to this is Trouble. She remains in place and grows a wicked smile before she fades away for the moment. What they are about to discover is no mystery to her.

Feather notices Trouble’s reaction and feels just a little bothered by it, but he reminds himself that she led the whole group here in the first place. Whatever they will discover furthers her mysterious agenda somehow.

Turning back to face the boxes, Feather trots on and this time all the rest of the ponies follow. Soon they arrive at the foot of one of the giant boxes. Up close, they discover that whatever is inside is concealed by a black curtain. The curtain itself isn’t locked. Feather makes the first crack at moving the curtain aside but it is surprisingly heavy. He does budge it slightly which proves it is not immune to his efforts. What he is attempting to do can be done, but it’ll take more power than he has on his own.

Noticing this, Margret and Doctor Kelly ignite their horns and join his efforts. Together, they manage to peel back the curtain further but it is still a struggle. Shortly later Stern Wing takes off towards the edge of the curtain, bites on it, then flies backwards as she flaps her powerful wings. Once again, their combined efforts are clearly helping but it is still not enough.

After observing the results of their efforts for about fifteen seconds and their lack of total success, Daring advises, “Feather, try using some of your wind magic to blow the curtain aside.”

“Um . . . okay, but it could be too successful,” Feather figures, then he looks up at his pegasus friend. “Stern, come back here, or at least get out of the way. The wind could affect you too.”

Stern Wing spits out the curtain and nods at her friend. She then returns to the ground alongside the other then spins about to face the curtain box again as she says, “You did precision flying with other potential Wonderbolt cadets. That training refined your wind control so I trust you with that power. You could have still done it safely with me up there, but I want to see this too.”

“Alright, everypony,” Feather announces, then licks his lips as he concentrates. “Here we go.”

Before he can do anything, Trouble fades back into view beside them. She lifts a cat paw and snaps her fingers. As a result, the black curtain before them is instantly transformed after a brief brilliant flash of white. What it becomes is rainbow paint which then splashes and spreads across the floor.

Feather releases a breath he’s been holding and grows a surprised look as he says, “Or that works too.”

“You could have done that for us earlier,” Derpy notes to Trouble with a frown.

“And deprive herself of the satisfaction of watching us struggle first only to taunt us by doing it for us?” Daring guesses. “Perish the thought.”

“Oh MY!” Margret gasps when she finally realizes what was behind that curtain. They all observe it is some kind of cage which has an insectoid-like creature inside of it which strongly resembles a giant praying mantis.

“You recognize this thing?” Daring asks Margret then realizes something. Next she asks, “It’s one of the chaos beasts, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Margret confirms. “One of the captured specimens, at least.”

“You captured one too on the day we first met,” Feather reminds Margret.

“True, but until now, I did not know what happened to them afterwards,” Margret says back as she narrows her eyes as she studies this creature. Five seconds later she shifts her focus to a holographic screen she materializes and studies more information on it.

“So the Commander has been collecting these things?” Stern asks as she sweeps her gaze to look at the rest of the concealed boxes in this warehouse. “I wonder why.”

“Has any other pony here noticed that this thing hasn’t moved a muscle at all?” Doctor Kelly asks observantly. “Not even slightly.”

Derpy cocks her head curiously as she asks, “Is this thing frozen as a statue?”

Whatever information Margret learns from her screen causes her to gasp before she announces, “No. This creature is frozen in time!” she announces in awe. “Not even the atoms are spinning inside that cage!”

Derpy blinks then looks at Margret in confusion as she asks her, “What are atoms?”

“Some of the tiniest forms of matter,” Doctor Kelly informs. “It is the structure that the universe is built from and based on.”

“Have you heard anything like that, Feather?” Stern Wing checks with her short stallion friend.

“Only rumors and theories about such things,” Feather reports.

“I’m not surprised to hear you say that,” says Doctor Kelly. “The means to study such a phenomenon did exist in your history a few times but got later lost in history. Another means to study it again wasn’t invented for another two-hundred and thirty six years according to our records.”

“I still find it strange to hear you speak of our future in past tense,” Daring remarks to Doctor Kelly.

“It is what it is,” Doctor Kelly replies with a casual shrug.

“I have read some written records that made the claim that Starswirl the Bearded was doing some academic research into such things,” Feather Wind reports. “He might have even found something conclusive but then he disappeared at some point.”

“Like I said, there were some discoveries on it earlier in your history but then it gets lost, largely forgotten, then eventually rediscovered in brand new research,” Doctor Kelly informs.

“Soooo,” Derpy looks back into the cage, “the smallest form of matter isn’t moving inside that cage? Is that a big deal?”

“I’d normally call that impossible and almost an affront to science,” Doctor Kelly responds. “But I do know of one society who was very good with time manipulation.”

“The Time Lords,” Daring says aloud. “This is just further proof that at least one member of their society is involved with this scenario. The question is, why?”

“He claimed that it was the Daleks, or one of their enslaved captives at least, who invented these creatures in the first place,” Stern Wing reminds. “Maybe he was just trying to study them under safer conditions, and you have to admit . . . it’s pretty hard for these creatures to resume being a threat when they are frozen in time. If the time stop stasis ever ceased for these creatures, it would seem, to them, that they were instantly transported into the future. That’s if they have any way to tell at all.”

“One of these cages is not like the uh-thers,” Trouble unexpectedly sings like it is a nursery rhyme. “One of these cages is not like its bruh-thers.”

Daring winces as she looks at Trouble then asks, “Is that your not-so-subtle way to encourage us to keep exploring?”

Trouble just shrugs as she grows a snide grin. Judging from her expression, the others can tell that she certainly knows what they will find if they keep exploring even if she feigns ignorance.

“Wait a second. I think I see what she’s talking about,” Feather announces as he looks off to their right side. To further illustrate his point, he ignites his horn with a globe of silvery light again except this time he launches it away. It shoots off into the distance until it stops at the base of another giant box-thing, only this one isn’t concealed with a black curtain this time. It isn’t a bar cage either. Instead, it is just a solid black box which, from a distance, looks only slightly shiny with Feather’s silvery globe shining beside it.

“Let’s take a closer look,” Daring advises then trots closer to the only box in this warehouse that looks different from the others. As she proceeds, the others follow her. The closer the group gets to this different cage, the more foreboding feeling assails their hearts.

“Does anypony else feel that?” Derpy asks with a nervous voice after they arrive at the base of this new cage. “Whatever is inside this thing is giving me the willies.”

“This one does feel very ominous,” Stern Wing agrees. “It is likely that, whatever is inside this thing, it is among the Commander’s greatest military secrets.”

Feather passes a snide look of his own at Trouble as he asks her, “Are you going to open it for us this time?”

Trouble’s eyes shift to Feather while her face remains directed at this new box. She says, “Only if the rest of you fail. I do not wish for this story to grow stale.” With that, she blows him a kiss. Actual pink lip-gloss floats like a butterfly after she blows the kiss then smacks into the left side of Feather’s cheek which stuns him for a second and irritates Stern Wing to observe.

“Whatever is inside this thing, this is the point of why she brought us here,” Daring Do figures. “She brought us to this warehouse, of all places, then encouraged us to keep looking while we were busy examining some other cage. I must admit,” she pauses as she rubs her lips with the edge of her right wing, “whatever is inside this thing has got my curiosity piqued. A secret the Commander didn’t want us to know yet and Trouble does. Whatever is inside, it likely isn’t good . . . but it probably is important. Likely the key and crux of this whole adventure.”

“We didn’t come to this time period at random, though,” Stern Wing reminds. “It wasn’t some random course set by the Doctor or the choice of the TARDIS. Instead, it was you who brought us to this time.”

“I had some help, though,” Daring announces as she turns to face the group. “Shortly after I got some advice from the Sphinx that . . .” Daring pauses a moment as she notices Trouble’s irritated sigh and dismissive roll of her eyes at the mention of that name. Daring decides to file that observation for later and resumes. “. . . the cure that I seek rests somewhere in the annals of history, I used a symbol of the Knights of the Hourglass that was bequeathed to me by another member of the Order who prefers to remain anonymous, but I doubt it would be a problem with fellow members.”

“She isn’t a member,” Stern Wing reminds as she continues to look at Daring but tilts her head at Trouble.

“Nor I,” Margret adds with a slight regretful sigh. This suggests that she probably wants to be a member.

“Duly noted,” Daring agrees. “This isn’t the main point I’m trying to make anyway. As I said, I used the symbol to contact another member of the Order. One responded and shortly showed up. At first I thought I was going to hitch a ride on that TARDIS, but instead its captain hoofed me an envelope and told me to deliver this to the Doctor, and that it was he who would ultimately acquiesce to my request.”

“Oh yeah!” Feather brightly recalls. “I almost forgot about that small rectangle shaped object that you hoofed to the Doctor. He made the claim that information is somehow stored on it.” He tilts his head curiously as he goes on to ask, “I hope you don’t mind if I ask, but do you happen to know what information was in that thing?”

Daring briefly closes her eyes, shakes her head, opens her eyes again then says, “I do not, but the captain of that other TARDIS was adamant that I deliver that package to the Doctor.”

“Was the captain male or female?” Derpy asks curiously. “For that matter, was it a pony at all?”

“Pony shaped to be sure but I couldn’t tell the rest of the details,” Daring answers. “She was wearing a spacesuit so it hid all of her details, including her cutie mark . . . if any.”

“Not all ponies have those,” Doctor Kelly agrees. “I, myself, do not.” She focuses more sharply at Daring as she goes on to say, “And if you couldn’t tell any of the details of this mysterious mare then we can’t rule out much based on that encounter. It might have even been a future incarnation of the Doctor for all we know.”

“How did you know it was even a mare if the details were hidden?” Derpy checks with Daring.

“Her voice,” Daring answers, “but I suppose even that is a guess. I have heard female-sounding stallions before and vice versa. In addition, ‘she’ spoke over some kind of intercom. That modulated her voice slightly, or perhaps even severely. Maybe the purpose of that voice box was to specifically hide her true voice.” Daring waves a hoof dismissively. “So ultimately I don’t know much about this pony, but I’m still going to go with it was a mare since I lack evidence to the contrary.”

“And you have evidence for it, however slight it might be,” Feather figures.

“My point is that our presence here, in this time, was somewhat orchestrated by that mysterious mare in the other TARDIS too,” Daring points out then spins about to face the giant black box again. “All of which culminated in this moment. What we face before us right now.”

“The Prime Minister of the Magi, my race, mentioned that he had a whole fleet of TARDIS’s that he couldn’t access yet,” Doctor Kelly mentions. “That’s why he wanted the Doctor’s help. He hoped that the Doctor would help him open one or all of them. It may be that you, Daring, encountered one of those ships which was eventually given to some future companion of the Doctor, or perhaps it was the Doctor him . . . or in this case her . . . self.”

“The Doctor as a mare?” Derpy marvels then shakes her head. “No. I really can’t picture it.”

“Or likely you don’t want to,” Feather guesses quietly.

“Be that as it may, we are still confronted by this locked thing,” Doctor Kelly reminds the group then looks at Daring Do. “With your permission, I could try using my computer and see if I can hack access to this thing. That is if we have any intention to find out what is inside.”

Daring sighs as she looks down then says, “I must admit, part of me doesn’t want to. I get a foreboding feeling of whatever is inside this box as well.” She looks back up at this box. “But we came all this way so we might as well try. I’d rather at least attempt to put this mystery to rest before we move on.”

Daring Do looks back at Doctor Kelly then gives a firm nod. Doctor Kelly acknowledges that nod with a one of her own then ignites her own holographic screen. She proceeds to interact with it.

“Do you really think you can crack this thing open?” Margret asks Doctor Kelly curiously and anxiously.

“There’s one way to find out,” Doctor Kelly replies. “Now I beg your pardon by requesting a moment of silence, please, as I concentrate on this task. I’m not as proficient in hacking into digital structures as the Doctor is.”

“You can do this,” Feather encourages.

Doctor Kelly gives a shushing sound as a reminder for the others to be quiet. This time they do comply. Strangely enough, even Trouble is patient with this. More than half of the group expected her to intervene out of sheer boredom despite being an immortal.

“Alright. I think I cracked this one,” Doctor Kelly announces two minutes later.

“Already?” Derpy asks in surprise. “Wow. You are good.”

“Well, I am a genius,” Doctor Kelly announces in what doesn’t sound like a brag. More like she’s stating a fact. “Not to the same level as the Doctor, but still . . . I believe I can access this thing now.” She gives a meaningful look at Daring Do as she checks one final time, “Shall I?”

Daring winces in one final moment of hesitation but then looks back at the box as she decides, “Do it.”

Doctor Kelly glances at her own holographic screen one last time. When that happens, it makes a beep sound effect then fades away. Moments later, they hear a very large clicking then some hissing sounds before the door, which none of them could spot until this moment, lowers down to the ground. Upon noticing that, the group takes several steps backwards, or floats backwards in Trouble’s case, to avoid being squished by the slowly lowering and very ominous thick black door. When it finally touches the ground at a bit of an angle, it creates a platform from which they could ascend or others inside can descend.

“You know what? You should talk to the Doctor and see if he can teach you how to use his sonic screwdriver,” Derpy recommends to Doctor Kelly. “Because you are right. You are a genius. So much, in fact, that you might actually be able to master that complicated thing too.”

“I’ll admit, I have considered it,” Doctor Kelly agrees. “Especially now.”

“You might even be able to pilot one of the TARDIS’S,” Feather mentions and commends. “Because you did say you were able to do multi-spatial calculations for your teleports. As such, you can choose a destination without line of sight. All you have to do is be able to calculate a temporal course as well then bingo. You’d probably get it.”

“It’s probably more complicated than that, but I suspect that I’d at least be able to hoofle the basics,” Doctor Kelly mentions back. “It even occurred to me that it might be a future version of me that spoke to Daring Do and hoofled that note to hoof to the Doctor.”

“Enough stalling,” Daring insists. “Let the future take care of itself. Until then, all we have is useless speculation.” She focuses hard on what is ahead of them. “In the meantime, we have this. Whatever this is.”

Stern Wing approaches to stand beside Daring as she recommends, “I recommend you and I take point.”

“Good idea,” Daring agrees. “You and I will take point. Derpy, you stand behind us. Feather, Doctor Kelly and Margret, you take up the rear. If you can, be prepared to defend us with force shields. And Miss Saddler, keep scanning what is ahead of us with your drones, please. I want as much feedback as we can get.”

“And I will be here, playing it by ear,” Trouble announces as she flashes and transforms into a giant, disembodied floating cat-like ear for a second.

Daring grunts, rolls her eyes, then decides to ignore that as she presses on.

“You’re all ears, huh?” Feather says with a smirk back at Trouble. Both Stern and Daring groans over that pun while Derpy giggles a little bit. “Or ear, I should say.”

Trouble flashes back to her “normal” form which, again, seems to lie on some invisible surface. In that form, she says, “The better to hear you, my dear.” She gives a dismissive “go on” gesture with one paw as she adds, “Go on while I cover the rear. I’ll be near to give great cheer while you press on despite your fear.”

“No kidding,” Feather agrees seriously as he turns back and presses on.

“I may not be your father, Feather, but you and I are going to have a little chat soon about conversing with dangerous strangers,” Stern promises in a grouchy way.

“Be quiet and stay alert,” Daring orders seriously. “Doctor Saddler, are you picking up anything with your instruments?”

“Something metallic is registering up ahead,” Doctor Kelly reports. “Half a dozen of them, to be more precise.” She squints at the information she is receiving before adding, “I can’t tell what kind of alloy it is.”

“Metallic?” Daring echoes. “So they are not living creatures?”

“Um . . . actually, I am detecting lifesigns too but they are pretty small and within the metallic structures,” Doctor Kelly further reports. “My guess is they are either in some kind of vehicles or smaller prisons within this prison.”

“Time doesn’t seem stopped in here,” Feather Wind notes.

“Yeah, well, it wouldn’t be,” Doctor Kelly concurs. “I think I disabled that too.”

“You did?!” Daring asks in alarm as she whips her head back at the white unicorn mare behind her.

“I had to in order to disable the rest of the systems here,” Doctor Kelly explains. “If I had more precise control, I could have been more selective. As it stands, however, this was an all or nothing deal.”

“In that case, is anything holding them back anymore?!” Daring asks in alarm as she whips her head in the forward direction again.

“Perhaps those metallic things I detected earlier,” Doctor Kelly guesses.

“Wait!” Stern Wing exclaims as she lifts both her giant wings to block further advancement for the rest of her party, which works, although her coltfriend easily could have ducked under her wings if he wanted to. Once they stop, she tells them, “I see something ahead. Some kind of blue light has lit up.”

“I see it too,” Daring concurs.

“We . . . are . . . alive,” says some mysterious entity up ahead in what sounds like a very synthetic voice, and a pretty bad one too. The voice is scratchy and filled with static. To add to this mystery, two more pairs of lights, though white this time, light up with each word this mysterious entity speaks. Those lights are perpendicular to each other but also at a bit of an angle each as if perched on top of something round that they can’t see.

“Where . . . are . . . we?” the same entity probes.

“You understand us?” Derpy asks in surprise. “You speak our language?”

“Of course it does,” Daring says quietly to Derpy. “Those who traveled in the TARDIS receive telepathic translations.”

“Even if the TARDIS isn’t here?” Margret asks in surprise.

Daring shrugs as she answers, “Apparently so.”

“TAR . . . DIS? You all fly in the TAR . . .DIS?” the entity ahead checks with that same scratchy, robotic sounding voice. As before, two lights briefly glow in the darkness with each syllable the creature says.

The group hesitates, momentarily caught off guard by this creature's apparent recognition of the TARDIS. Eventually Daring Do cautiously replies, “Yes. Most of us have, at any rate.”

“Do . . . you . . . know . . . of . . . the . . . Doc-tor?” the creature slowly asks as if maybe it is groggy.

“You know of the Doctor?” Daring reflects in surprise.

“Answer . . . the question,” the creature insists. “You . . . will . . . oh-bay.”

Once again the group hesitates. During that time, Daring flashes a look to Doctor Kelly to see if the white mare has any further information to report. Daring grows very alarmed to notice how frightened Doctor Kelly now looks. Up until now, that magi mare has never displayed any emotion anywhere near this degree.

“Yes,” Derpy eventually answers. “We know the Doctor.” She tilts her head. “And how is it that you come to know him?”

“Doc . . . tor?” the creature reflects as if pondering that response. “Doc . . . tor,” the creature repeats, although this time it sounds more like a statement, kind of as if the creature is mulling this information over. “Doc-tor. Doc-tor. Doc-tor! Doc-tor!! DOC-TOR!!” the creature repeats over and over again with apparent rising fury.

“Was it something I said?” Derpy asks in alarm as she takes a frightened step backwards. “If I offended you, I’m sorry.”

Doctor Kelly mumbles something but it is too quiet for the others to hear.

“Everypony, back off,” Daring Do orders. “I got a bad feeling about this.”

“Me too,” Stern Wing agrees.

Ahead of them, five more blue lights ignite steadily. When they repeat the words “Doc-tor” as well in a rising chant of fury, they also have two white lights flash above the blue lights too.

The ponies' souls chill, though, when these creatures suddenly stop their chant and, for a moment, there is dead silence. Extreme tension hangs in the air during that time. So much so that all the ponies are afraid to move.

“Ex . . . ter . . . min . . . ate,” the one that first spoke eventually says. “Ex . . . ter . . . min . . .ate. Ex-ter-min-ate. Ex-terminate. Ex-terminate! Ex-terminate!! EX-TERMINATE!!!!”

Within moments, all of these creatures end up repeating that word over and over again, once again with synchronized and rising fury.

“Everypony, run!” Doctor Kelly cries out in alarm, finally finding her voice enough to do so. “These are Daleks!”

“What?!” Feather Wind exclaims in astonishment.

“RUUUUUUN!!!” Doctor Kelly screams hysterically and insistently before she rushes out herself. The others quickly turn about and follow her out. Behind them, the creatures keep repeating the words “exterminate” while the ponies rush past the still floating and very amused diminutive Spirit of Chaos.