New Settings; Old Enemiesby KevynTheDevylmanChaptersPart 2: The Fortunate MeetingPart 3: Precursor to WarPart 4: Run!Part 5: The Final TrackPart 1: The PlayersPart 2: The Fortunate MeetingDoctor Whooves New Settings; Old Enemies Part 2 The Fortunate Meeting It took the brown pony a short time to find civilization, if one could call it that. The small settlement he now faced was hardly one of your great cultural epicenters. It wasn’t much more than a small village. He found the colorful wooden buildings and simplistic layout of the town quite charming. He had actually been hoping for a quiet place to stop and take a break from his travels and this seemed the ideal place. As he trotted into town he took in everything with a broad smile on his face. “Oh, how lovely,” he said. “I really landed a winner this time. I really must remember the coordinates for this place.” As he walked he took notice of the locals. It struck him that they were fairly similar to him. The thing that struck him as odd was that there seemed to be at least three different pony species that he could discern just passing by. He also noticed the amazing number of marks on their flanks. It struck him as odd that there was such diversity on the planet. All the other worlds he’d seen had natives with a uniform mark representing their race, including his own. “Hmm,” he hummed as he walked along the road. “Some with horns; some with wings; some with neither; all with different marks. How very odd. I wonder if they’re all native or if this world has interstellar travel and these are colonists. Really must find a library and look into this world’s history. It’s so fascinating.” As he walked he failed to notice a certain raven maned mare trotting past, nor the blue and white unicorn that was following at a generous distance. He just trotted along, admiring the houses and small shops, muttering about how he liked little shops. At the same time, Derpy was continuing her route, making deliveries to the stores along the main thoroughfare. She had just dropped a letter off at Sugar Cube Corner. Judging by the distinct scent of cupcakes emanating from it, she imagined it was from Pinkie Pie, whom she had heard was off in Canterlot for a few days. She felt disappointed, as Pinkie was one of the few ponies that didn't act awkward around her. As she went on, she made to pull the next set of letters from the pack. Her mouth found a single letter and she pulled it out. She placed it in her hooves to examine it, but found that it had no address. She looked all over the paper container, using both eyes to scan for any trace of an address or a return address. All that she found of interest was that the envelope was blue in color, which seemed odd, and that it was fairly thick for a letter. She decided it was a dead letter and put it in the pocket designated for them. She’d drop it by the office later to be disposed of. She regretted that this had to happen, but there were clear rules for sending mail and she had to follow them. Still, Derpy felt content. She’d had a fairly peaceful morning thus far. Nopony had been rude or unfriendly with her as of yet and that made her happy. She felt like that her premonition of good luck was actually coming true. ______________________________________________________________________ Octavia stopped. The image on the device had shifted to an arrow and was pointing behind her. She quickly turned and ran in the direction of the arrow. She was so focused on the device she hadn’t noticed Vinyl, who had frozen up in fear of having been caught following her. Once she realized that wasn’t the case, she turned and chased after Octavia, wondering what could be so important. ______________________________________________________________________ The brown pony pushed his muzzle into his coat and pulled out a small device. It was a narrow, tube shaped device with a small blue bulb at the tip. Clenching his teeth caused the bulb to light up and made the device emit a strange whirring sound. He pointed it at a unicorn, which caused it to whir louder. He moved it in his mouth so that he could see it. “Interesting,” he said, barely hindered by having something in his mouth. “Seems the horned ones have a high psychic reading. I’d love to see how that mani…” Suddenly, he was interrupted, as the device beeped rapidly and seemingly dragged him into a turn. “Oy!” He exclaimed. “Wha’s got into you?” He resisted the device’s pull, before recognizing what the beeping meant. His eyes followed the tip into the sky, where he saw a small red dot hanging in the blue expanse. The beeping grew faster as the dot seemed to grow. “Oh dear,” he said. “Tha’s not good. Very not good! Where’s it headed?” As if in answer, the device seemed to drag him along at a rapid pace. The brown pony ran as fast as his hooves could carry him. He did not question the urgency the device was showing, or even that it could show urgency. He simply followed the device where it lead. ______________________________________________________________________ Only a few feet behind the brown pony, Octavia was also running quickly. Neither was aware of the other, but both were running in the same direction. Close behind her was Vinyl Scratch, who was fighting the temptation to call out to Octavia and ask what was wrong. She didn’t want to be caught until she could think of a reason that she was following the cellist. This proved difficult to do when she was more focused on not losing sight of her. ______________________________________________________________________ Derpy stretched her shoulders and wings and sighed with relief. Her load was finally starting to lighten and she was still having a rather pleasant day. She smiled warmly and began thinking to herself that nothing could go wrong this day. “LOOK OUT!” Almost a second after the thought crossed her mind, a blur of brown tackled her to the ground. Before she could react, a loud bang hit where she had been standing, followed by a cloud of dust and a lot of screaming, which she imagined came from other ponies. Derpy began to fear that she was dead; or at least severely injured. She began to panic, wondering what was happening and if everypony was alright. “Are you alright miss?” Her ears perked at the voice. It was the same one that shouted before she was knocked down. She peeled open an eye and tried to position it forward. Above her she saw a brown earth pony standing over her, wearing a vest and holding an odd pen-light like thing in his mouth. He wasn’t looking at her, but into the cloud of dust beside them. “I- I’m okay,” she said quietly, still somewhat dazed. She rolled onto her stomach and stood up. “W-w-What happened?” “Meteoroid,” The pony said, still looking into the dust. “Hit a lot slower than it should have though. Judging by the dust and the shockwave after impact I’d say shockingly slow.” “Oh,” Derpy replied. She didn’t think anything about what had just happened was at all slow. “Well, thank you for saving me from the very shockingly slow meteor.” The brown pony turned to her with a smile on his face. “It was no problem at all, miss. I’m always happy to…” He stopped speaking suddenly. He seemed to focus at her face. Derpy quickly realized he was looking at her eyes and turned away, her face red with shame. “Please, don’t stare,” she muttered. “Oh, dear,” the brown pony said uneasily. “I’m terribly sorry. I don’t mean to offend. It’s just I’ve never seen eyes like that. They’re so…” Strange. Silly. Stupid. Weird. Ugly. Deformed. Derpy’s mind rattled off a list of all the adjectives used to describe her eyes in the past as she mentally prepared for them. “…Lovely.” Derpy’s eyes widened in shock. She turned back to the pony. “W-what?” “I-I’m sorry if it’s rude to say that sort of thing,” the pony said, backing away slightly. “I’m not quite sure what the rules are here yet. Haven’t been here more than a few minutes.” “N-no,” Derpy replied. “It’s fine. I just want to know… Why do you think they’re lovely?” “Oh!” The pony said in surprise. “Well, it’s just… I’ve never seen that shade of golden yellow before. I mean, I’ve seen golden eyes; and I’ve seen yellow eyes; and I’ve seen yellow eyes with little flecks of gold in them; and vice-versa. But I’ve never seen that particular golden yellow shade before in my life. It’s… Lovely.” His expression seemed honest. She couldn’t believe anypony would say that about her eyes. Not even Dinky’s father had said that. Now Derpy’s face was red for a different reason. “Are you sure I’m not offending you?” the pony asked. “No! No.” Derpy said excitedly. “It’s fine. It’s just fine, Mr… Um?” “Oh, now That I know is rude of me,” the pony said with a playful smile. “Knocking a lady down without even an introduction. What was I thinking?” He made a polite bow and said, “I am, The Doctor.” Derpy gave him a confused look. “The Doctor?” she asked. “Doctor, Who?” “Just, the Doctor, will do,” He said, “Miss…?” Derpy smiled and bowed in a similar manner. “Derpy Hooves.” The Doctor returned her bow. “A pleasure to meet you Miss Hooves.” “Likewise,” she said. The two chuckled a bit at the silliness of their introduction. Derpy felt a strong warmth that she hadn’t felt in years. She had never had a conversation like this with anypony her age. She didn’t know him very well, but she knew she liked this “Doctor” pony and wanted to know him better. After they finished chuckling, the Doctor returned his attention to the small crater. “Now, let’s see what nearly turned such a nice lady into a rather unpleasant mess, shall we?” ______________________________________________________________________ “Darn it!” Octavia muttered. She was watching The Doctor and Derpy as they investigated the site of the crashed object. Unfortunately, the panic-prone ponies of Ponyville had run into their houses, so she couldn’t blend into a crowd to investigate. “Why won’t those lovebirds leave? I need to get closer.” “What for?” “AHHHH!” “AHHHH!” ______________________________________________________________________ “You hear that?” The Doctor asked. “Hear what?” Derpy replied. ______________________________________________________________________ Octavia held a hoof over Vinyl’s mouth and had both their backs to the wall. She hoped the other two ponies wouldn’t notice them. She managed to catch the sound of the male saying, “Nevermind. Likely nothing.” She sighed in relief and turned Vinyl to face her. “What are you doing?” she said quietly, but sternly. “I-I’m sorry,” Vinyl said softly. “I-I-I was following you.” “Why?!” Octavia hissed. “I was… That is… I just…” Vinyl scrambled to find an answer that wouldn’t make her come off as a crazy stalker pony. “I think you’re Hot! Will you date me?” That was not it. She immediately covered her mouth in shame. “What?!” Octavia said in shock. ______________________________________________________________________ “I swear I can hear something,” the Doctor muttered as he ran the whirring device around the edge of the crater. “Maybe that thing you’re using is confusing you,” Derpy said. “What is that anyway?” “Sonic Screwdriver,” the Doctor replied. “A… what?” “A Sonic Screwdriver,” he repeated. “It uses sonic vibrations to manipulate matter at a molecular level. The upside, which the inventor didn’t have the foresight to notice before naming it, is that this allows it to do all sorts of things aside from driving screws. Especially useful amongst these is its ability to analyze and categorize matter so precisely it can actually determine the origin of the matter from anywhere in the universe.” If Derpy’s eyes weren’t already crossed, they probably would be. “Huh?” “It tells me things about stuff,” The Doctor said. “Oh,” Derpy replied. The device beeped in an uneven pattern. “What’s it saying about the meteor?” Derpy asked. “Nothing yet,” the Doctor replied. “It’s telling me to mention that if it weren’t for it, I wouldn’t have even noticed the meteor before it hit and that it wants some recognition for it. Honestly, it’s very vain like that.” Derpy giggled, thinking the Doctor was joking. “Well, thank you Mr. Screwdriver.” “Feel better now?” the Doctor asked the thing in his mouth. It beeped several times in response. “Good,” The Doctor said. “Now do your job. Something made this thing slow down before impact, and I would like to know what.” ______________________________________________________________________ “What is that pony doing?” Octavia whispered. “What are we doing?” Vinyl replied. “I am waiting for them to leave so I can examine that thing,” Octavia said tersely. “You, apparently, are here to spy on me for some perverse reason.” “I swear that isn’t what I meant,” Vinyl said. “I just…” “I don’t care,” Octavia replied. “I want you to go away.” “Oh, come on,” Vinyl said. “I want to know what’s happening. Why do you want that thing? What is it? Why did your acoustic device bring you to it?” “You aren’t allowed to know that,” Octavia said. “I could lose my job talking to you like this.” “Job?” Vinyl said in confusion. “What…?” “Just go!” She said harshly and loudly. “Who’s there?!” Octavia and Vinyl clammed up at the sound of the male pony’s voice. ______________________________________________________________________ “I swear, something is making a lot of noise,” the Doctor said. “This is hard enough without that kind of interference.” “I heard it too,” Derpy said. “I think I’ll fly up and see if I see anypony.” “Fly?” The Doctor asked. “Yeah,” Derpy responded, fluttering her wings in response. “See? I’m a Pegasus.” “Oh!” the Doctor said in delighted surprise. “I hadn’t even noticed you were one with wings. Fancy that! So they’re functional then?” “Func…?” “They work for flying and such?” The Doctor clarified. “Of course,” she said, almost insulted. “I might not be a Wonderbolt, but I can still fly well enough. Mostly, anyway.” “Brilliant,” The Doctor said. “Go see who’s making that racket. I’ve almost deciphered the meteor’s molecular structure.” “What?” “The screwdriver is telling me stuff about things,” the Doctor clarified again. “Right,” Derpy replied. “Well, here I go.” With that, she took off. The Doctor marveled at the strange sight before him. He’d seen flying species before, but none equine in form. It was quite impressive, despite the fact that Derpy seemed to be swaying and twisting in ways that clearly weren’t voluntary. “Wonderbolts?” the Doctor finally questioned. He shook off the question and returned to his work. ______________________________________________________________________ “Will you just go away?” Octavia demanded. “Not until I know what’s going on,” Vinyl replied. “I’m not telling some crazy pony I barely know things She isn’t supposed to know!” “I don’t like not being in the loop. I’m a Unicorn; we’re naturally curious. I want to know what you’re not telling me!” “Why don’t you get it?! This is none of your business!” “It is now!” “Like heck it is!” “Excuse me…” Both ponies turned their heads to the roof nearby. There, a grey Pegasus was perched, looking at them with her crooked eyes. “But I think the Doctor and I would like to know what’s going on too,” she said. “If you don’t mind.” ______________________________________________________________________ Derpy walked back to the Doctor with the two ponies she had found. Octavia felt pathetic for succumbing to her emotions as easily as she did. Now she knew her cover was blown. If only Vinyl had left her alone. Vinyl wasn’t feeling much better, knowing that she’d likely made a huge mistake not listening to Octavia. Now she probably had no chance of even talking to her again. The Doctor took notice of the rather negative looking ponies and rolled his eyes. “No wonder I’ve been off,” he commented. “You two have more negative vibrations pulsing off of you than anything.” “Listen mister,” Octavia began. “I don’t know who you are, but your presence is interfering in my investigation. I advise you to leave.” “Especially you!” The Doctor said angrily. “You’re so uptight. Lighten up! Crack a smile for pity’s sake. It’s not the end of the world. If anyone should leave it’s you!” “Well, I…” Octavia said, flustered. “Fluffersnaff!” the Doctor declared. “W-what?” Octavia replied in confusion. “Gundernaffer. Prenderghast. Wibbley Wombily Timey Whimey.” “I don’t…” “Funny words,” he said. “I’m trying to make you laugh. Dubledon. Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow. Honestly, it’s this or tickling and I don’t imagine that’s very polite in mixed company.” Octavia was just stunned silent. She had no response. It was so out of left field that she couldn’t even begin to comprehend it. The only thing she could do is crack a small smile, which she immediately covered with her hoof. “Ah, there we go,” The Doctor said with a big grin. “That’s much better. Now maybe I can get some work done.” He turned back to the crater. “Oh, you with the blue hair. Don’t worry, she likes you. She’s just holding back because she’s all worried about everything.” “What?!” Both ponies replied in shock. They looked at each other but then quickly looked away in embarrassment. Derpy walked up to the Doctor. “How did you know all that?” she asked in a hushed voice. The Doctor smiled. “Their emotions were transmitting through the sonic on a psychic frequency. Probably transmitted by the one with the horn.” “The Unicorn,” Derpy corrected, unsure why he wouldn‘t know that. In fact, he didn’t seem to know about Pegasai either when she brought it up. What kind of pony didn’t know about Unicorns and Pegasai. “Right, her,” he replied. “OKAY! Now we’re making progress! I’m starting to narrow down the possibilities.” “Who is this guy?” Vinyl asked Derpy after walking up to her. “I’m not sure,” Derpy replied. “But he saved me from getting hit by that thing.” Octavia walked up beside the Doctor. “What exactly are you doing?” she asked, though not impolitely. “Screwdriver detects things about things and stuff about stuff,” he explained. “I really don’t want to explain it again.” “Are you an EQUIT Agent?” she asked in a hushed voice. “EQUIT?” he said in confusion. “Is that even a word?” “Nevermind,” she replied. “I’m just going to omit a lot of things and stuff from my report.” “Hey, speaking of…” Vinyl began in response to the conversation. “Shush!” the Doctor declared. “I’m nearly done. Silence please.” Everypony remained silent. “Almost… nearly… A-HA!” He declared triumphantly. Then, his expression changed from one of excitement to one of dread. “Oh, no! Not again!” “What?” Derpy asked. “What is it?” He turned to them and put the screwdriver back in his vest. “You two,” he said to Vinyl and Octavia. “What were your names?” “I’m Octavia,” she said, concerned at his change of tone. “And I’m Vinyl Scratch,” she said, equally off-put. “I’m the Doctor, and this is Derpy,” the Doctor replied, motioning to himself and Derpy. “Now, you lot remember about how I said negative emotions were bad and you should stop feeling bad because it didn’t help.” “Yeah,” Vinyl replied. “You said not to worry, because it’s not the end of the world.” “Yeah, well, I was wrong!” The Doctor said in a slightly panicked and rushed tone. “I’d say panicking is the best response for you to have, because unless I’m really off today, the world IS about to end!” “What?!” All three mares replied. Just then, a metal rod extended from the ground. This rod sprouted a metal dish that began rotating and making a bleeping sound. The Doctor looked at it in horror, then turned his head to the sky. “They’re coming.” Part 3: Precursor to WarDoctor Whooves New Settings; Old Enemies Part 3 Precursor to War Some Time Earlier: Dinky was still dumbfounded that she had allowed Scootaloo to talk her into this. She felt ridiculous. She was standing in a tree, with a line of stretchy bungee rope tied around her flank, right beside the other CMC, who were all in the same condition. She began regretting having friends. “I don’t know girls,” Dinky said, looking down from the high tree branch. “I’m pretty sure this is not what I want to do with my life.” “Don’t be such a worry wart Dinky,” Scootaloo said, looking at her around their other two friends. “We’ll never find our talent if we don’t try everything.” Dinky shook her head and sighed in submission. “What makes you think this is our special talent? It doesn’t seem like something you need a lot of skill to do. It’s just falling without hitting the ground. Don’t Pegasai do that normally?” The orangish colored, purple maned Pegusus gave her a dirty look. Dinky realized that she had brought up flying to a Pegasus who had severe trouble flying and quickly back stepped. “B-but, I guess it could be fun and maybe it’s more challenging than I think.” “Tha’s the spirit, Dinky,” Apple Bloom said. Sweetie Belle, the unicorn with the light grey coat and pink mane, didn’t look so sure. “Uh, Scootaloo,” she said. “Are you sure this is safe?” “Of course,” She said. “We’re all tied up, right?” “Right,” The others said. “Then let’s do it!” She shouted, leaping from the branch. Apple Bloom followed next. Dinky, not wanting to be left out, dropped next. Only Sweetie Belle hesitated. As the three fillies bounced on the cords, they randomly bumped into each other, reinforcing Sweetie’s decision to stay on the branch. As their swinging finally stopped, the three fillies simply hung from the branch, groaning in pain. “How do we get down?” Dinky asked, finally realizing she had no idea. “Darn,” Scootaloo muttered, “I knew I forgot something!” “Oh, nice job Scootaloo!” Dinky called out. “Now I’m going to spend the rest of my life hanging from a tree.” “Maybe we have tree hanging cutie marks,” Apple Bloom stated, trying to look at her flank. “Forget it!” Dinky declared. “This is crazy! I’m not making hanging from a tree my special talent. Sweetie!” The filly in the tree tried hard not to look down as she replied, “What?” “Can you levitate?” Dinky asked. “I’m not that good at it.” “Y-yeah,” she replied. “I want you to undo the ropes and levitate us down one at a time,” she said. “Start with me.” “Why you?!” Scootaloo demanded. “Because I can help lower you two,” Dinky said. “I’m not good at levitating, but I can help make it easier.” Scootaloo pouted. “Okay, but I go next.” Dinky rolled her eyes as she felt the rope start to slack. Internally, she contemplated letting Scootaloo drop just to show her what-for. She fell sharply for a second before Sweetie’s magic began supporting her, allowing her to fall slowly, but very unsteadily. She softly reached the ground and looked up to the others. She saw Sweetie begin loosening Scootaloo’s rope; and something else. It looked like a bright red star moving through the sky, and getting bigger. She quickly realized it was some sort of meteorite and started to call to the others. It was too late. The object tore through the base of the tree, kicking up dirt and debris, which Dinky instinctively blocked with a magic shield. She soon heard the tell-tale sound of wood breaking and screaming fillies as the tree began to fall. Dinky kept out of the way of the trunk as it landed against a hill, wedged at an upward angle against other trees. Once the dust settled, Dinky ran up along the tree, calling for her friends. To her shock and relief, she saw that Scootaloo’s choice of trees had been fortunate. She could see two fillies dangling just a few feet from the ground. She ran up to check on what she was sure was a terrified Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. However, to her surprise, it was Sweetie hanging beside Apple Bloom. “Sweetie?” she said in confusion. “How…?” “I lost my grip,” she said, trying to undo the knot on her waist. “I am never doing this again!” “Me neither,” said Apple Bloom. “Of all the plum stupid messes y’all got us in Scootaloo… Hey, where is Scootaloo?” Dinky also realized that Scootaloo wasn’t there. “Scootaloo!” She called out. “SCOOTALOO!” Nearby, she could pick up the sound of crying. She ran towards the sound as her friends plopped down to the ground before following her. She returned to the area where the tree had stood. The sound came from the other side, so they went under the felled trunk. On the other side, they could see Scootaloo, clutching her hind-left leg and crying profusely. “SCOOTALOO!” the others called out in a panic. All three ran to their friend. “Wha’s wrong?” Apple Bloom asked. “Are ya hurt?” “M-m-m-my Leg!” Scootaloo stuttered between sobs. “Is-is-is-is-It’s brokeeeennnn!” Dinky felt a sharp pain in her chest. She instantly regretted wishing ill on her friend as tears came to her eyes, too. She looked at the leg. The bruising was familiar. Her mother had broken one of her legs when she was younger during a flying accident. Scootaloo’s looked like that. Luckily, Dinky knew what to do. She closed her eyes and began concentrating. “What do we do?” asked Sweetie in a panic. “The grown ups are going to throw a fit! My sister will ground me for a year!” “Forget the grown-ups!” Apple Bloom replied. “What do we do with poor Scootaloo? Ah, don’t know how to fix a leg.” “I don’t either,” Sweetie said. “Dinky, do you…” Sweetie stopped talking; as did Apple Bloom. They saw Dinky’s horn glow brightly, brighter than they’d seen it do before. Dinky opened her eyes, which were now white with magic. The magic wrapped around Scootaloo’s leg. Her sobs seemed to subside as she opened her eyes and saw Dinky’s magic. The bruising on her leg began to fade. The magic picked up the bungee rope and some sticks which had fallen from the tree. These wrapped around Scootaloo’s leg, forming a makeshift brace. As her magic faded, Dinky collapsed to the ground, exhausted. She had never tried a healing spell like that before. She had practiced on small animals in secret, but never on a pony. Being so young, she gave all she had. Scootaloo sat up, still in pain, but not nearly as much. She marveled briefly at the brace, before seeing Dinky on the ground. “Dinky!” she called out as she ran to the filly, though she limped on her only partially healed leg. Dinky groggily pulled herself up. “Are you okay?!” Scootaloo said in panic. “Yeah,” Dinky said, rubbing her head which ached from the strain. “Just a bit… drained.” “How did you do that?” Sweetie asked. “I didn’t know you could do healing magic!” “I read a book about it,” Dinky said. “Mommy gets hurt sometimes when she flies. I thought, if I could do healing spells, I could help her when she’s hurt.” “So, y’all healed Scootaloo’s broken leg,” Apple Bloom said. “No,” Dinky said. “It’s only a first-aid spell. I set the bone and adhered the parts together, but she still needs to see a doctor and get it properly healed. The brace’ll hold it togther ‘til we get back to Ponyville.” “That’s Awesome, Dinky!” Scootaloo said as she hugged her friend. “You’re the best ever!” Dinky was slightly surprised, as Scootaloo always seemed to hate public displays of affection. But, she smiled and returned the hug. However, they broke apart the instant their friends “Aww”ed. Both blushed, but smiled. “Thanks Dinky,” Scootaloo said after the pause. “And… I’m sorry I got us into this mess.” “It’s okay,” Dinky said. “But, we better hurry. You need a doctor, right away.” The Pegasus agreed. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle supported Scootaloo as the fillies made their way out of the woods. None of them noticed the dish pop out from the ground where the object had fallen. “The energy readings from the pre-adolescent were unexpectedly high,” said a synthetic voice. The monitor showed four small creatures in a monochromatic image. “We have never encountered a race with such abilities,” The voice continued. “We must Integrate these characteristics into the new models.” “Agreed,” replied a second, deeper voice. “These specimens will greatly increase our power. With this new power, nothing will stop us from Upgrading the universe.” “Leader!” Called a third voice, near a second screen. The sound of stomps could be heard drawing toward the second screen. “Report,” said the deeper voice. “He is here,” the third voice said. On the monitor were four more creatures in monochrome. One was outlined in red. “The Doctor is here!” “Perfect,” said the deeper voice. “Prepare first squadron. Delete the Doctor.” “DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!” “Excuse me!?” Octavia exclaimed. “What in the name of Celestia are you on about?” “You heard me,” The Doctor said, regaining a more pragmatic tone. “The world is about to end. Go home; hide under your bed; kiss your loved ones goodbye and pray to whatever gods you worship that they kill you.” “Why the heck would we prey for that?!” Vinyl said in shock. “Because, if they don’t, you’ll spend all of eternity wishing they had.” Derpy shivered. The tone of the Doctor’s voice, which had been so welcoming and warm, now filled her with dread. “D-Doctor,” she said, tears starting to form. The Doctor turned to her and his hearts seemed to break a bit. The terror in those eyes made him realize how he was acting and he began to regret it. “Oh, Derpy,” he said. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be like this. It’s just… I’ve seen what they can do. I’ve seen them in action so many times before. I’m sorry.” “What are they?” Octavia said. “Are they invaders from space?” “Yes,” The Doctor said. He looked at her. “But you know that already, don’t you?” Octavia seemed to recoil from that. “W-what makes you say that?” “That device you have with you,” he said, motioning to the device protruding from her saddlebag, where she had haphazardly stuffed it. “Unless I miss my guess, and I rarely do when it comes to technology, it’s a receiver. It picks up the tracking signal generated by the probes while in transit and calculates their trajectory. Pretty impressive. Judging by my estimates of this world’s technological levels, just at a cursory glance mind you, I’d say that’s not a commercially available device, am I right?” “I-I uh…” she stuttered. “Look, Octavia was it?” the Doctor said in a slower tone. “I realize I’m putting you on the spot here, but I think being honest is the best place to start right now. Rassilon knows, we haven’t much else.” Octavia looked at the others. Derpy still seemed shaken up and now looked at her with nervous suspicion. Vinyl had the same determined look on her face as when she had questioned Octavia earlier. She had to admit, she admired Vinyl’s dedication. In any other circumstance, she might have been more open with her. As it was, she now Had to be open with everypony, if only to alleviate the focus on herself. She reached her mouth into the other side of her saddlebag and pulled out a small leather wallet. It opened to reveal a metal badge and an ID card with her picture on it. The badge read, “E.Q.U.I.T.” “I am Lieutenant Octavia, agent of EQUIT,” she said. “The Equestria United Intelligence Taskforce. I was sent here under orders from Celestia herself.” “Whoa!” Vinyl exclaimed. “Man! I knew you were hiding something. I didn’t really expect this, but I knew it was something. I bet you’re like some totally amazing super spy who saves the world from mad dictators and freaky monsters! Rock On!” “Right…” Octavia said, slightly annoyed. She brushed off that feeling as she continued. “Actually, EQUIT handles the things you never hear about. Mysterious sightings, extraequestrial visitation, supernatural occurrences and so-on. We normally leave the big, overt things to the Princesses and their new Elements of Harmony users.” “Oh!” Vinyl replied. “Hey, have you met any of them? I’m a personal friend of one of them, you know.” “Not personally,” Octavia said. “Although, I think I was physically assaulted by one during The Gala last year. This overly energetic pink pony requested we do the pony pokey, of all things. She made up her own words and then ran up behind me and forcefully ran my bow faster over the strings; nearly broke them. Last time I volunteer for guard duty at the Gala.” Vinyl giggled. “Yep, that’s Pinkie.” “You played an instrument while performing guard duty?” Derpy asked, calmed down a bit from before. “That’s my cover,” she said. “EQUIT always recruits field agents with talents that don’t seem to lend themselves to spy work. It’s hard to hide your intention when your cutie mark is a magnifying glass or a folder marked ‘Top Secret’.” “Oh, so that’s what those mean,” the Doctor commented. “Thought there were too many to be tribal markings. But never mind! What do you know of the objects?” Octavia continued, “Several days ago, the Canterlot Astrological Institute began picking up energy waves from space. The Princesses didn’t know what it meant, since it somehow came from beyond the range of their influence.” “But, don’t the Princesses control everything in the heavens?” Derpy asked. “Afraid not,” Octavia stated. “You didn’t hear this from me, but the Princesses only manipulate the Sun and Moon. Everything else just exists on it’s own.” “Yeah, I was wondering about that too,” The Doctor said. “It’s usually not possible to find a geocentric system that isn’t artificial.” “Geo… what?” Derpy asked. “Geocentric,” The Doctor replied. “It means your planet is at the center of your system with a miniature star and normal-sized moon in parallel orbit over it. Normally planets orbit suns and moons orbit planets, but here it’s the sun and moon. It’s largely why I decided to investigate this world. To think that the nobility of this world have that kind of power is mind-boggling. I must meet with these Princesses of yours some time.” “Anyway,” Octavia continued, trying to regain control of the conversation, “we determined that the objects’ trajectory would center around Ponyville (big surprise) and I was sent to investigate them. Thus, I met all of you.” She then focused on the Doctor. “Now, what do You know of these things? You said just now that you came to investigate our world. What does that mean?” The Doctor turned back to the dish. “You lot may not believe this, but I have seen worlds beyond your imaginations. There are billions upon trillions of worlds out amongst the stars, and I have the ability to travel to them. I encountered these creatures in the early days of my journeys. Sadly, I didn’t make the best impression. What’s worse, my appearance on their world let them know there were life forms on other worlds. This motivated them into space travel. I’ve run into them continuously across the cosmos, watching as they transformed civilization after civilization. They’re a plague of the cosmos; and I’m responsible for it.” Derpy looked at him with concern, seeing the mournful expression on his face. “Doctor,” she muttered. “Wow,” Vinyl said, looking at Octavia. “And I thought your story was cool.” Octavia shook her head in disbelief. “Hold on,” she said. “That’s impossible. Not even the Princesses themselves can pass beyond our own system. To visit other worlds would require incredible magic. Nopony in Equestria has that kind of power, much less a simple Earth Pony.” The Doctor turned his head back to them with a small smirk. “What if I’m not from Equestria?” “Oh, I see where this is going,” Vinyl muttered, a grin spreading across her face. “What is that meant to mean?” Octavia asked. The Doctor turned completely around. “I fear that I haven’t been totally honest with you lot, which is rarely polite in my experience. Allow me to properly introduce myself.” He bowed once again. “I am The Doctor. I am a Time Pony of the Planet Gallopfrey; I am 350 years old and I am not of your world.” The three all stared at him with a mix of shock and disbelief (mostly from Octavia). “Doctor,” Derpy muttered in surprise. “Hello,” he replied. “Now, if that’s all, we should really return to the problem at present. Standing this close to the transmitter, they’ve probably picked up on my presence. If I’m not mistaken, they’ll probably send a preliminary force to deal with me. And, if my calculations are correct, assuming their ship is just outside the system, as usual, then they should be here in roughly…” The Doctor trailed off as he noticed a large shadow over them. They all looked up at a large ship made up of various polygonal shapes. It had a general squarish shape and seemed to hang in the air without any visible means of propulsion. From the sides emerged seven pony-like silhouettes which slowly descended towards them. “Is that them Doctor?!” Derpy said in a panic. “Yes,” The Doctor said sternly as he watched the figures slowly drew closer. “It’s them. It’s the Cyberponies!” As they descended, their features became clearer. They were solid metal creatures with silver colored armoring. Their heads had tubing that ran from the sides of the head to a bump on the top. Their expressions were emotionless. On their hips, where a Pony would find a cutie mark, was emblazoned a simple silhouette of the Cyberponies’ face. They landed softly before the four ponies, the only sound being a sudden thud as they hit the ground. Their black eyes focused on The Doctor. “You Are The Doctor,” said the center pony, its mouth glowing in time with its words. “You will be Deleted.” The Doctor didn’t even have to think about his next word. It was a word that came naturally to him; a word he used so often with himself that saying was pure instinct. A word that best suited the very situation he found himself in. “RUN!” Part 4: Run!Doctor Whooves New Settings; Old Enemies Part 4 Run! It hadn’t taken more than the word to set them all running. They could hear heavy steps behind them, moving at a regular pace. They knew better than to question just what “Delete” meant, as they suspected by the tone it wasn’t good. All three mares followed after the Doctor as they sprinted away from the metal abominations. Vinyl Scratch looked back; noticing that, despite their pace, the Cyberponies kept their steady march. “Ha!” she called out. “Those metal dipsticks move like snails. We’ll lose them in no time.” The Cyberponies all stopped in place. A whirring sound emitted from them as metal wheels projected from their feet. The tires screeched as they were propelled forward by their wheels. Octavia stared back a the change of situation and then stared dead-pan at Vinyl. “You just had to say it, didn’t you.” Vinyl chuckled nervously. “Heh heh heh. My bad.” “Keep going!” The Doctor commanded. “They don’t use those for too long. It drains their batteries.” “Nice to know I’m not the only pony with technical problems!” Octavia replied. They ran on, managing to keep ahead of the metal marauders. As they did, Octavia made an observation of her own. Namely, that their path seemed completely clear of civilians. “Where is everypony?” She asked. “You’d think we’d have hit a crowd by now.” “Those probably have something to do with it!” The Doctor commented, as they passed another dish sticking from the ground. “Looks like they landed across town. I’d imagine everyone reacted much like they did to the one we found.” “That’s ponyville,” Vinyl said. “These ponies panic at the drop of a horseshoe.” “It’s true,” Derpy confirmed. “Well, you two certainly seem to be exceptions,” The Doctor said. “Honestly, I’m too confused by all this to panic,” Derpy said. “DELETE. DELETE.” “Alien robots aside, of course,” she continued. “And I’m a manehattan girl,” Vinyl said. “I was raised to take care of myself. I don’t panic easy like these small-town ponies.” “DELETE. DELETE.” “Again, robots aside,” Vinyl finished. “With you there, Derp.” The four took a corner, which their robotic antagonists seemed to have trouble navigating, causing them to bump into one another and wheel out of control. “I forgot to mention,” the Doctor said, a huge smile crossing his face as he looked back. “They’re also total pants at taking corners. Ha Ha!” The group began to pass through the market area of town, which had another dish. Much of the merchandise was strewn about the ground, likely knocked down by panicking ponies. While The Doctor, Vinyl and Octavia were able to dodge the felled fruit and boxes, Derpy’s eyes chose that exact moment to betray her. She failed to focus on a crate in her path, which caused her to violently trip and tumble. “Derpy!” The Doctor exclaimed, coming to a halt. The others stopped too, as they saw the recovered Cyberponies drawing towards her. Both Vinyl and Octavia dashed back towards her. Derpy, dazed from the fall, pulled herself up from the ground. Her head quickly cleared when she heard the familiar chanting of “DELETE. DELETE.” She turned and saw the Cyberponies baring down on her. She screamed and dropped to the ground, covering her head. “DELETE. DELETE.” The Cyberponies chanted as they began to surround Derpy. One lifted its right fore-leg, which sparked with blue energy. “Delete THIS!” The Cyberponies all raised their heads as the speaker, one fast-approaching Vinyl, leaped at the lead Cyberpony and delivered a flying back-kick. Still wheeled, this sent the machine flying backwards. She then began bucking and kicking the others, violently driving them off. Octavia joined in, knocking away the ones closest to Derpy, then helping her to her feet. All three ran back to the Doctor and the group returned to running. “Nice moves there Vinyl,” Octavia commented. “Thanks,” Vinyl replied. “Man! That felt good!” The Cyberponies reoriented themselves and returned to the chase. However, they quickly realized that their targets were gone. They had apparently turned another corner and were out of their sight. “Targets lost.” “Must reacquire targets.” “Divide. Engage search pattern gamma. Find Targets.” The machines divided and spread out through the various alleys and streets. What they failed to realize was that their targets hadn’t run down the other roads. In fact, they weren’t on the streets at all. They looked down from atop one of the nearby houses as their pursuers spread across town. “Interesting fact number 2 about Cyberponies;” the Doctor said, “they’re logical to a fault. Luckily, this place seems to be anything but. Nice work Miss. Scratch.” Vinyl, who had teleported them to the roof, was breathing heavily from the magical exertion. “No…huh…prob…hah…Doc…” She said between breaths. “Please don’t call me that,” the Doctor replied indignantly. Octavia patted the Unicorn pony on the shoulder supportively. “Nice work, Scratch. You seem to be full of surprises.” Vinyl buffed her hoof against her chest in a showoffy fashion. “Yep. Like I said, I learned my skills on the streets of Manehattan. Rule number one for dealing with trouble on the streets; always have an exit strategy.” “Words to live by,” The Doctor replied. “Now, we need a plan. As long as they’re focused on us, it means they aren’t ready to move in yet. We might have time to prepare some sort of counter strike. Octavia, can you contact your superiors?” Octavia nodded. “The signal detector also works as a communicator. It uses a new technology called ‘radio’ to send messages.” “Brilliant,” The Doctor said. “Call in the army! If there are more out there with power like Miss. Scratch, we might stand a chance.” Octavia pulled out the device from her saddlebag. She fiddled with it for a second, but the screen was blank. “ERR! Blast! The dratted thing’s out of power again. The battery must be faulty. Vinyl, I need a charge.” Vinyl strained herself as she tried to light her horn. It gave a few sparks, but fizzled out. “No good,” Vinyl replied. “I drained everything I had to get us all up here at once. It’s amazing I can get it to spark.” The Doctor pulled the Sonic Screwdriver from his pocket and buzzed it over Vinyl. “She’s right,” he said, looking at the tip. “Her psychic energy is almost totally drained. It will take at least a two hours to fully recharge.” he returned the sonic to his jacket, a stern look upon his face. “So, that’s no backup then?” “Afraid so,” Octavia admitted. “What do we do?” Derpy asked. “I doubt any of the other ponies will help as long as those things are running about.” “Right,” The Doctor replied as he started to pace the roof. He turned his head to Octavia. “Is there anything else you can use to power that thing?” Octavia shook her head. “The batteries run on electricity. Short of a unicorn, I don’t know of anything that can produce that.” “Could you power it?” Derpy asked the Doctor. “Maybe you could use the Sonic Screwdriver.” The Doctor shook his head. “Doesn’t run on electricity. And I couldn’t be sure if the power would be compatible with the device.” Then, Vinyl’s eyes widened. “Wait!” She shouted. “I have a battery at home! I use it to power my equipment! It can store a ton of power, more than enough to get that thing working.” The Doctor smiled widely, “Miss. Scratch, you truly are a marvel today! Where is your house?” “Not far,” Vinyl replied, running towards the side of the building. She jumped to the parallel roof and landed with ease. “We can take the rooftops to get there.” “Right then,” the Doctor said, turning to the other mares. “Up for another run ladies?” Both nodded and the group leaped after Vinyl, following her to her house. Dinky looked about nervously. The town seemed totally abandoned. She lead the other Cutie Mark Crusaders through town. Both Sweetie and Apple Bloom were having trouble carrying Scootaloo after the long distance they walked from the woods. Dinky had hoped that, upon reaching town, an adult would help get Scootaloo to the hospital. However all the adults were gone from the roads. In there place, she noticed, were intermittently placed metal disks on sticks. “Where is eveypony?” Sweetie asked. “I don’t know,” Dinky said. “I don’t like this one little bit.” “Are you okay, Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked her friend. “It still hurts,” Scootaloo said. “I really need a doctor, bad.” Dinky looked about cautiously. “I don’t see anypony,” she said. “We’ll have to carry her the rest of the way. Sweetie, switch with me. I’ll help carry her from here.” Sweetie stepped away from the filly, and Dinky took her place. They continued to walk, unaware that a pair of black eyes were following them. Secondary targets acquired, The Cyberpony drone silently signaled to its ship. Awaiting command. Capture Targets, came the response in its head. Live samples needed for research. Orders received. The four ponies leaped across the roofs in harmony. They had made good time and had yet hit any gaps they couldn’t cross. However, Vinyl suddenly came to a halt, causing the others to stop as well. “What’s wrong?” Derpy asked. “Nothing,” Vinyl replied. “Just trying to get my bearings. I’ve never had to find my way home from above before.” “Yeah,” Derpy said. “That can be hard.” “Heh, yeah, especially for you,” Vinyl chortled. Derpy’s eyes widened. Then she lowered her head and turned away. Octavia noticed Derpy’s reaction a preceded to smack Vinyl’s shoulder, hard. “OW!” Vinyl exclaimed. “What?” “A little tact would be nice,” Octavia chided, motioning to the sullen Derpy, who was now sitting on the edge of the roof. “Oh,” Vinyl said, feeling like she’d shoved her hoof in her mouth for the umpteenth time that day. “I’ll talk with her,” The Doctor said. “You just focus on getting us to that battery, Miss. Scratch.” “Right,” Vinyl replied sullenly. The Doctor trotted up to Derpy and sat down beside her. They were silent for the first moment. Eventually, it was Derpy who broke the silence. “I’m sorry,” she said. “What for?” asked the Doctor. “I’m pretty sure it was Miss. Scratch who was the rude one in this situation.” “I’m sorry for acting down like this,” Derpy replied. “It’s just… I’ve been having such an exciting day. Sure, I’m terrified, but I’m also thrilled. For the first time, I feel like I’m a part of something bigger than myself. I feel important. But, at the end, I’m still…” She pointed to her eyes, though they were closed. The Doctor knew what she meant. He had noticed her condition from the start. He wasn’t lying when he said he loved the way her eyes were, but he could understand how others might judge something like that. Traveling as he did, the Doctor had seen many strange sights. He’d long ago learned to look past the strange to find the beauty in things. With Derpy, there was hardly even an effort needed. To him, she was just as lovely as any creature he had ever met. Thinking about it, the Doctor found what he needed to say. “I understand,” he admitted. “I’m very much the same.” Derpy looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?” The Doctor sighed. “My people were old when the universe was young. We uncovered the secrets of reality and used them to make gods of ourselves. All that power, can you imagine? The power to change everything. The power to make things better for everyone. But, we’ve always kept it to ourselves. We never interfere, never help, even when we can. I felt that was… wrong; horribly wrong. And I said so.” He turned to face Derpy, who watched him with fascination. “I’ve been ridiculed my whole life for that. Scorned for believing we had a responsibility to the universe to try and help people.” “It sounds horrible,” Derpy said, sullenly. “I agree,” said the Doctor. “It’s really quite rubbish. I don’t care if it is rude to say or not, it’s true. That’s why I left. I became a renegade. My true name was stricken from time and space, forbidden from ever being uttered. Who I was is gone. Now there’s only, the Doctor.” Derpy stared at him. She’d not noticed before, but his eyes looked old. They looked older than the oldest eyes she’d ever seen. She also saw a sadness there; a deep rooted sadness. She leaned her head against him, a deep instinct wanting to comfort him. The Doctor hadn’t quite expected this, but smiled at the sentiment. He didn’t do anything, but let her stay there. “Hey, Doctor!” Vinyl called, pulling them out of their moment. “I think it’s this way!” The Doctor and Derpy both stood and returned to their companions. Vinyl stood before Derpy and said, “Hey, Derp. I’m --uh-- sorry for what I said. I…” “It’s okay,” Derpy replied with a smile. “Just the apology is good enough. Most ponies never even do that.” “Oh,” Vinyl said in surprise. “Well… I guess we move on.” As they readied to leave, a sound caught them. They all turned at the sound of somepony screaming. “What was that?” Vinyl asked. “The Cyberponies must have found civilians!” the Doctor exclaimed. “It sounds like foals!” Octavia said with panic. As she listened to the cries, Derpy thought she heard something familiar. She strained her ears, barely detecting a single word. A word uttered in a voice that chilled her blood. “Mommy!” Derpy’s eyes shot wide. “My baby!” she said. Instantly, she leaped into the air and soared towards the sound. The sound of her child in danger. “Derpy!” The Doctor cried out. “What’s going on?!” Vinyl said in a panic. The Doctor turned to her. “Miss. Scratch, take the lieutenant’s device! Charge it your house. We’ll meet you there!” “Right,” she said, deciding to trust the colt. “I live at 1961 Edward St.” Octavia gave Vinyl the device and the mare took off. “Octavia, you’re with me,” The Doctor said. “Miss. Hooves is in way over her head.” “Aye sir,” she replied. The two dove off the roof, which wasn’t too high, and took off running when they hit the ground. Dinky was sweating hard. Her horn burned brightly as her force field held back the prodding hoof of the metal monster. It had lumbered toward them shortly after they had entered town. Dinky immediately put up a shield to protect her and her friends, but the blue energy spouting from the monster’s hoof was making it harder and harder for her to hold it back. The remaining Crusaders cowered behind Dinky, awaiting the end with tears in their eyes. “Resistance is illogical.” the monster stated in its cold, reverberating voice. “You will die under the strain of my power. Surrender and join your friends in upgrading.” “NEVER!” Dinky shouted. “Acknowledged. DELETE. DELETE. DELETE.” Hot tears ran down Dinky’s eyes. Her shield was cracking. She knew this was the end and silently begged that her friends be spared. Then, her eyes shot wide as a familiar voice caught her ear; “GET AWAY FROM MY BABY!” The Cyberpony barely had time to react as a grey and yellow blur dove right into it. Dinky dropped her shield in shock as she watched her mother repeatedly punch the metal monster with her bare hooves. “YOU…WON’T… HURT…MY…BABY… YOU…BRUTE!” Derpy exclaimed between punches. “Error! Error! Error!” The monster called out. It tried to zap Derpy, but her off-center eyes caught sight of it, allowing her to jump away. The machine stood up and made to attack, but Derpy delivered a two-legged back-kick to the Cyberpony’s head. The metal head was knocked clean off its body, the neck sparking before the rest of it fell down. Derpy panted with exhaustion. Her fore-hooves were bleeding. She didn’t notice the four fillies looking on in sheer awe. Dinky’s eyes dripped with tears as she rushed to Derpy and hugged her. “Mommy!” she exclaimed. “Oh, my baby!” Derpy exclaimed, pulling Dinky close, not noticing the blood she had gotten on her daughter. All she noticed was that her child was safe. “Oh my sweet little muffin! I’m so glad you’re safe!” “You were amazing, Mommy!” Dinky said. “You saved us from that monster. You’re the best mommy ever!” The two continued to hug. However, they failed to notice that the body of the Cyberpony was starting to get up again. The other fillies, however, did notice and all called out; “Look out!” The two turned to see the headless metal drone raise an energized hoof. But this didn’t last long, as a certain dark-colored mare delivered a drop kick against the drone. The drone tumbled hard against the ground and sparked more before going limp again. “Octavia!” Derpy cried gratefully. Octavia flipped her hair from her face and smiled down at her new friend. “Always happy to serve, ma’am,” she said with a dramatic bow. The Doctor also ran up, kneeling beside the Cyber-body and running the Sonic Screwdriver over it. He flipped it up to his eyes and then placed it back in his coat. “It’s safe,” he said. “Reflex action. The body took a minute too long to realize it was dead and tried to carry out its final command.” He then turned to Derpy and Dinky. “Are you alright, Miss. Hooves?” Derpy nodded. “We are now.” “Who are you?” Dinky asked. Derpy smiled and answered her child; “He’s the Doctor. He’s Mommy’s new friend.” She turned to the Doctor. “Doctor, this is my daughter, Dinky.” The Doctor smiled and bowed. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Dinky nodded in reply, not sure what to make of the strange Earth-pony. However, she could see the trust in her mother’s expressions towards him and that made her feel more comfortable. It had been a long time since she had seen that look in her mother’s face. The other CMC ran up to the adults in their friends and begin rambling about what all they had seen in the last few minutes. The girls’ excitement was certainly uplifting for the weary group. Dinky felt a great swelling of pride for how much her friends complemented her mother. However she was pulled out of it when she realized that her mother was hurt. “Mommy! You’re bleeding!” she cried out. Derpy looked at her hooves, only now realizing they were indeed bleeding. “Heal her!” Scootaloo said. “Like you did me!” “No!” Derpy commanded. “You’ve already spent your magic protecting your friends. I’ll be fine.” “But, mommy,” Dinky protested. Derpy put a hoof under her daughter’s chin. “You’ve been so brave today, Muffin. But I can take care of myself.” Dinky nodded, submitting to her mother’s wishes. The two hugged again, bringing about yet another chorus of “Awe” from Dinky’s friends. Meanwhile, the Doctor was running his Sonic Screwdriver over the head of the Cyberpony, which he held in his hooves. Octavia was at his side, watching him examine the macabre object. “Anything?” she asked. “Thing’s still transmitting,” he said. “The system must have backup power cells in the head.” “Can they track us?” she said in a worried tone. “Yes,” The Doctor stated. “That is, if they were still searching for us.” “What do you mean?” The Doctor looked up at her in deep concern. “The head just received new orders. ‘Move to designated coordinates and wait for ground forces.’” “Which means?” she prodded, already guessing the answer. “They’re not concerned with us anymore. They’re ready to invade.” A fleet of cyber-ships descended towards Equestria. Inside each, an army of Cyberponies waited for the moment of invasion. The Great Upgrade had begun. Part 5: The Final TrackDoctor Whooves New Settings; Old Enemies Part 5 The Final Track The Cyberponies across Ponyville gathered together in the town square. The only missing one was the one destroyed by The Doctor’s companions. They did not think about this. Their orders were to gather at these coordinates. There was nothing else but that. They stood there for several minutes, waiting. They didn’t wait very long. Many shadows descended over the town, cast by the Cyber-ships. Each ship began releasing their forces, who all gathered in the square. Soon, the pursuer ponies were lost in the crowd of identical mechanoids. Soon, they began marching across town, spreading down every street. The ponies, who had retreated to their homes when the objects fell, all curled up in fear as they waited what they were sure was the end of the world The Doctor and his companions were racing down the road, following Derpy to the address Vinyl had given them. Fortunately, the mail mare knew the address, as it had been on her route before. Each of the adult ponies carried at least one of the fillies. Derpy carried her daughter and Apple Bloom, Octavia carried Sweetie Belle and the Doctor carried the injured Scootaloo. Of the three, it was Octavia was having the hardest time, as she was also carrying the severed head of the Cyberpony with her, supported by Sweetie. “Doctor!” She said. “I’ve gone along with you on this so far because I’m convinced you know best what to do in this situation.” “But?” The Doctor said, knowing that it was coming. “But,” Octavia continued, “why in Celestia’s name are we bringing this horrid thing with us?” “The head is still transmitting,” the Doctor replied. “I used the Sonic to sever its auditory functions, but its optics still work fine. It knows it’s still with us, which means that the others know it too.” “And that’s good, why exactly?” The Doctor turned to her with a very serious expression. “Because if they know we have the head, they might think we’re up to something. If they think we’re up to something they might divert some of their forces to deal with us first; which means that it will take longer for them to round up all the civilians.” Octavia understood. Civilian safety was top priority in the Doctor’s mind at that moment. She smiled. “You’re a great stallion Doctor,” she said. “We’re here!” Derpy called out. They came to a stop in front of the white, two story house at the corner of Edward St. The Doctor went up and knocked on the door. “Miss. Scratch!” He called. “It’s us!” In a few seconds, the door flew open and Vinyl pulled the Doctor inside. Derpy and Octavia followed suit and Vinyl slammed the door behind them. “What took you ponies so long?” She said anxiously. “Rescue operation,” the Doctor said as he walked up to the couch in Vinyl’s living room and gently deposited his passenger onto it. “Rest here little one,” he said to Scootaloo. “We’ll get you a doctor real soon.” “Aren’t you a doctor?” the filly asked. The Doctor smiled warmly. “Not that kind of Doctor, I’m afraid.” Derpy and Octavia let down their charges, who immediately ran to the couch to be with their friend. After that, they all took in Vinyl’s home. The walls were covered in posters of various pony bands. She had a set of shelves dedicated to her collection of vinyl records. At the far end of the room was set up a large sound system with several sub-woofers reaching to the ceiling. “Wow,” Octavia commented. “I thought I was a music pony.” “Miss. Scratch!” The Doctor said. “Did you charge the device?” “Yeah,” She said, holding it out in her hoof. “Hooked it up to my battery and it’s fully charged.” “Good,” He replied. “Miss. Octavia, make the call. We need that backup.” Octavia nodded and took the device from Vinyl. She once again returned to figiting with the device, but now it was making a loud, staticky noise. “No, no no no! Come on!” “What is it now?” Vinyl exclaimed. “Argh! I can’t get a signal out! The blasted thing still won’t work.” The Doctor grimaced and smacked his head. “No no no no no! Stupid, stupid Doctor! The Cyberponies’ transmissions are overwhelming the device. There’s no chance we could get a signal out now!” “What do we do?” Derpy asked anxiously. “I DON’T KNOW!” The Doctor exclaimed loudly. He began pacing around Vinyl’s living room. “I need to think! There has to be something we can do.” “Well, I’d think fast,” called the voice of Dinky, who was looking out the window positioned over the couch. “’Cause they’re coming this way!” The three adult mares rushed to the window while the Doctor continued pacing. Outside, they could see, an army of Cyberponies slowly marched down the road. Though it would take time for them to get there, there wasn’t much time. “What do we do, Doctor?” Derpy asked again. “I don’t know!” The Doctor also repeated. “We can’t fight them; there’s too many. We can’t run because there’s nowhere To run. We can’t call for help and we can’t save anyone.” The Doctor continued to pace, muttering to himself. The fillies started to cry as the weight of what was happening settled upon them. Octavia and Derpy sat beside them and embraced the girls in an act of comfort. Derpy nuzzled her daughter and the injured Scootaloo, while Octavia simply held on to Sweetie and Apple Bloom. The Doctor grumbled before raising his head. “Miss. Scratch. Any chance we can use some of your equipment as makeshift weapons? If we have to fight, it’d be better to have a sporting shot.” There was no answer. The Doctor turned to the pony in question. She was standing still with her eyes closed and a familiar device clamped over her ears. “Miss. Scratch?” The Doctor said. “Can you hear me?” He noticed the device over her ears and grimaced harder. He mumbled about the rudeness of it all as he made to pull the device off her ears and give the sunglasses wearing pony what for. Then he removed them. The room practically shook from the power of Vinyl’s headset. The music blared, forcing everypony to cover their ears. Vinyl quickly turned the Ibox off, while everypony else tried to shake the blaring rock and roll from their heads. “For Celestia’s sake, Vinyl!” Octavia said. “What possessed you to have that music so loud?!” “I’m sorry!” Vinyl said anxiously. “I do that when I’m nervous or alone or scared! I’m terrified right now, all right?! I needed to block all this out!” “I understand,” Octavia replied, trying to sound comforting. “I’m scared too. But that’s still no excuse to destroy your hearing. It’s amazing your head didn’t explode!” Vinyl went on to explain that she had very resilient eardrums, but the Doctor had completely fazed out of reality. His eyes were wide and his mouth small as the words, “…head…explode…” swirled in his brain. Then, there was a spark. He gasped, and then a huge grin spread across his face. “That’s it!” The Doctor exclaimed. He ran up to Vinyl, grabbed her head and kissed her right on the mouth. When he pulled away, the mare was totally speechless and completely confused. “Miss. Scratch! You’re a genius!” The Doctor continued. He released her and turned to Octavia briefly. “She’s all yours now,” he said as he ran to Vinyl’s equipment. The others followed, still confused, as the Doctor began running his sonic screwdriver over the machines. “Ye-he-hes!” He shouted. “This can work! This can totally work! Vinyl!” “W-what?” The mare replied in shock. “Do you have any long metal rods? Something we could use like the antenna on Octavia’s device?” “I-I have a lightning rod for rainy days,” she replied. “It saves me having to charge stuff with magic all the time.” “Brilliant!” He responded. “Go get it! I have a plan!” “What is it Doctor?” Derpy asked. He smiled slyly. “Miss. Scratch is going to put on a show for us.” They all looked at him like he was crazy. The Cyberponies in the main ship watched the monitors as their forces drew nearer to The Doctor’s location. They didn’t know why he had made himself so easy to track. They did not care. He was trapped. They would delete him. “Cyberpony unit L-5-Delta,” said the lead Cyberpony. “Delete the Doctor. Capture his allies. They have proven to be superior specimens. They will be the first to be Upgraded.” They watched as their forces drew closer with cold anticipation. The Doctor tore and tangled wires from the console of Vinyl’s sound system as the others helped arrange the speakers in a circular pattern. Vinyl hung her lightning rod on her roof from the second floor window, taking a second to look over the huge number of metal terrors heading towards them. She pulled back in and ran down the steps. “This had better work Doctor,” she said, “because otherwise, we are screwed!” “Have some faith, my friend,” the Doctor replied cheerfully. “You place the rod?” “Yep,” Vinyl replied. “We’re set.” “Good. Now give me the cord.” Vinyl gave him the cord for the rod, which he took to the center of the room. There sat the Cyberpony head, which was wired to Octavia’s device. The Doctor connected the cord of the rod to the device’s clamp and ran the sonic over the whole configuration. “Perfect!” he said. “Now all I need do is finish upgrading Vinyl’s machines and we’re set!” The lead Cyberpony watched the monitors intently. It had noticed the white colored creature hanging a metal rod on the roof of the structure, but dismissed it as irrelevant. It was only focused on victory. “Leader,” one the other Cyberponies said. “There is a transmission coming from the planet.” “Source?” The leader inquired. “It appears to be the damaged Cyberpony unit. However, it is transmitting stronger than the normal channel. The signal is directly reaching our ship.” “Impossible. No Cyberpony can directly link with the ship. This is The Doctor’s ploy. Block the transmission.” “I cannot,” the drone replied. “There is a sonic encryption interlaced with the signal. It is breaking through our communication system.” Then, a familiar voice broke through on the intercom. “Hello! Is this thing on?” “Doctor!” The leader stated. “Oh, brilliant,” The Doctor replied. He cleared his throat dramatically and then continued; “HELLO CYBERPONIES! Now, I bet you all are wondering, ‘How the dickens did the Doctor hack our comms? Easy really; had a good head. And you should know, you built it.” “This communication is pointless,” the leader responded. “You will be deleted.” “Oh, really?” The Doctor said mockingly. “Well that Really is too bad, because we’ve got a lovely show for you tonight!” “… All the way from Ponyville, for her one-night-only pan-galactic rave; It is my honor to present the one, the only, VINYL SCRATCH!” With that, the Doctor cued Vinyl, who was sitting at her control station. The Doctor then dived behind her couch, joining the other as Vinyl switched on the system, the room vibrating from the hum of the subwoofers. They all covered their ears as Vinyl moved the needle of her turntables over an Eddy Van Neighlen record. The needle dropped. They say the sound could be heard all the way in Canterlot. All across Ponyville, windows shattered under the power of Rock and Roll. It was the kind of force that put a Sonic Rainboom to shame. The Cyberponies convulsed. The music wasn’t just entering their audio sensors, it was being transmitted into their brains at full volume. All of them, even the ones on the ship, were receiving the transmission at full force. The leader tried to order the communications be shut down, but it couldn’t get through the pure sound of Van Neighlen. Soon, its head exploded. Every Cyberpony’s head exploded. The metal monsters all fell to the power of the sound. Even the severed head they were using exploded, causing Vinyl to stop and turn off the system. She breathed heavily for a moment, taking in what had happened. “YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” She shouted excitedly. The others began to dazedly walk out from behind the couch, not fully recovered from the force they had unleashed. “Did it work?” Octavia said loudly, trying to overcome the ringing in her ears. The Doctor looked out the window, smiling at their results. “Yes!” he said. “Complete neural overload! I don’t know who this Van Neighlen fellow is, but he just saved this entire planet.” “Woo hoo,” Derpy said weakly, trying to rub a migraine from her head. Octavia ran up to Vinyl and embraced her, planting a small kiss on her cheek. “Vinyl, you were fantastic! You saved the world!” Vinyl smiled and blushed from the kiss. Then, she tilted her head and, in a loud voice, said, “WHAT DID YOU SAY?” The Doctor, Derpy, Vinyl, Octavia, Dinky, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, all walked out of Vinyl’s house. They surveyed the damage, as well as the metal husks littering the ground. The equestrian ponies all felt great relief. Derpy walked up beside the Doctor, hoping to share in the joy with him. However, her face fell when she saw his expression. His face as sullen, almost sorrowful. “What’s wrong?” She asked. He didn’t answer. She looked over the wreckage again. Then she realized the problem. He felt guilty. He felt guilty over killing them. “Oh,” she said at her realization. “It’s not really their fault,” he said. “Their race was dying. They made themselves like this to survive. But their minds got corrupted. They began to see everything organic as a sickness. They removed all that was alive in themselves and everything else. The walking dead.” “Then it’s good,” Derpy said. The Doctor looked at her in confusion. “Good?” he asked. “You set them free,” she replied. “Now, they can finally be at peace.” The Doctor nodded and returned his gaze to the fruits of his labor. “I wish there had been another way. Killing should never be the solution.” Octavia and Vinyl walked up beside Derpy, with the Cutie Mark Crusaders moving in front of them. Derpy sat and held her child. Eventually, the ponies of Ponyville began to leave their houses, in order to get an idea of what exactly had transpired. They all noticed the group of Ponies standing before the fallen creatures and drew near to get an explanation. Octavia smirked. “Looks like you have quite a lot of explaining to do, eh Doctor?” There was no answer. Octavia turned, only to find the Doctor had vanished. The other noticed too and looked about for any trace of him. However, there was no sign and soon the ponies were approached by the crowds and were forced to relay the story themselves. Derpy and Dinky entered their homes well into the dark of night. Derpy continued to rub her head with her, now bandaged, hooves. Her ears were still ringing as she put her mailbag down on its post. She hadn’t had a chance to finish her route, but doubted that anyone cared, as the whole town was abuzz over the alien invasion. Derpy, Vinyl and Octavia were heralded as heroes of the town. A photographer had taken their picture for the town newspaper, which she said would appear in the next day’s issue. Derpy sighed as she silently pondered the fate of the strange brown pony who had truly saved the day. As she hung up her bag, a letter fell out. Derpy recognized it as the blue colored dead letter she’d picked out earlier, before the madness started. She shook her head and picked it up from the floor and put it on the coffee table, resolving to deal with it in the morning. She sat down in her comfiest chair and just relaxed, as Dinky hopped onto her lap and snuggled up against her. “Mommy,” Dinky said. “Who was that pony?” Derpy knew she meant the Doctor. “I don’t know,” she said sullenly. “I wish I did.” “Where did he go?” Dinky asked. “Why did he leave?” Derpy shook her head. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “But, I think he’s all right.” They sat silently there. Some time passed before a knock came at the door. The two got up and went to the door. They were pleased to see Vinyl and Octavia waiting on the other side. Octavia was wearing a stylish grey beret with a metal badge with the word E.Q.U.I.T. printed on it. She also wore a grey vest which Derpy presumed went with the hat to make a uniform. “Hey,” Derpy said politely. “Good evening Miss. Hooves, Dinky,” Octavia said, bowing politely. “Hey Derp!” Vinyl said in an elevated tone. She covered her mouth and said, in a softer tone, “Oh, sorry. Hey Derpy.” “I’m glad to see you both again,” Derpy said. “Well, after all we’ve been through…” Octavia replied, trailing off at the end. Vinyl nodded. “It’s been a heck of a day.” Derpy nodded in reply, Dinky hugging her leg. “So,” Octavia continued, “any sign of The Doctor?” Derpy shook her head. “Not since that moment.” Vinyl kicked the ground. “Just like a guy. All riled up when the action’s going on. But once its over; Poof, out of here!” “Vinyl,” Octavia said chidingly. “I’m sure The Doctor had his reasons for leaving when he did.” “Yeah,” Vinyl replied halfheartedly. Derpy stepped aside invitingly. “Would you like to come in. I was about to make coffee.” “Thank you,” Octavia replied. “Coffee sounds good,” Vinyl commented. The two moved inside the house. Before they could get far, however, they heard a strange noise. “That’s a weird sounding coffee maker you got there,” Vinyl said. Derpy shook her head. “I haven’t started the coffee yet. I only just got back.” “Then what…?” Octavia’s question was interrupted when they noticed a light outside the door. They all ran to it, fearing more Cyberponies. Instead, what they saw was beyond comprehension. In a blur of light, a strange blue box materialized in front of Derpy’s house. The Box had a light on top and the words “Police Public Call Box” in white lettering over the door. Once it was fully solid, the door to the box opened, revealing a familiar brown pony. “Oh, hello everyone,” the Doctor said cheerfully as he stepped fully from the box. “DOCTOR!” Derpy said excitedly as she leaped forward and hugged the alien pony. The Doctor was slightly shocked by the action, but happily returned the gesture. The others walked up to them as Derpy broke the hug, smiling broadly. “Where were you?” Vinyl asked, not spitefully, but happily. “Sorry about that,” the Doctor replied. “Hate being the center of attention when I don’t have to be. Thought it would be best to let you lot handle the crowd.” “We thought you had gone,” Octavia said. “Gone?” The Doctor said with mock shock. “Without saying a proper goodbye? Octavia, what manner of Pony do you take me for?” They all had a good laugh at that. Dinky looked past the adults and took in the strange blue box that the Doctor stepped out of. “Is that your spaceship?” She asked. The Doctor smiled proudly and leaned an elbow against it. “Yep,” he said. “This is the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimensions In Space. Basically my free ride to the cosmos.” “But… it’s made of wood,” she said, knocking on it to confirm her suspicions. “It only looks and feels and sounds and tastes and pretty much is wood, except it really isn’t,” the Doctor said. The filly’s mind tumbled in her brain trying to process that. “It’s a disguise,” The Doctor clarified. “It can look like anything in order to blend in to its environment.” “What’s ‘Police Box’ mean?” Vinyl asked. The Doctor looked up at the sign, furrowing his eyebrows and shaking his head. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “For some reason she liked this form and now she wears it everywhere we go.” “She?” Derpy asked. “Yes, she,” The Doctor replied. “Looks kinda small for a spaceship,” Vinyl commented. The Doctor chuckled at that. “Oh, there’s more to her than meets the eye.” Octavia stepped forward. “I’m actually glad you’re back,” she said. “I have great news. I gave my report to my superior, who relayed it to the Princess. It seems there’s to be a celebration in honor of your saving Equestria.” “Oh,” the Doctor replied. “Well, that’s nice. Be sure to tell me how it goes.” Octavia gave him a surprised look, then laughed, assuming he was joking. “Doctor, the celebration is for you. You have to attend. It would be horribly rude if you didn’t.” “It would, wouldn’t it?” the Doctor said thoughtfully. “I suppose I could set aside some time next month to go and see how it works out.” “Next month?” Octavia said in confusion. “Doctor, the party will be in a week. A month is far too long to wait.” “Oh, don’t worry,” he said with a mischievous grin. “Tell them to have the party when they like. I’ll be there.” Octavia sighed in defeat, choosing not to press the matter. “So,” Derpy interjected. “I guess… this is goodbye.” The Doctor had a rather sad look on his face, as did they all. After such an incredible experience, splitting up seemed so unpleasant. “Yeah, I guess it is,” the Doctor replied. “Unless…” he added thoughtfully. “Unless what?” Derpy asked. “Well…” The Doctor motioned to the Tardis. “Come with me.” “Come with you?” They all said in unison. “Yeah, the lot of you,” he continued. “No reason to split up now. We’ve got a whole universe full of adventures to have, and I’m starting to get tired of going it alone. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have with me than you lot.” “YES YES YES YES YES YES YES, a hundred times, YES!” Vinyl exclaimed cheerfully. Octavia looked at her new friend with scrutiny. “Vinyl, be serious, we can’t all just up and leave.” “Maybe you can’t,” Vinyl replied, “but I sure can.” “What about your job?” Octavia said. “Don’t have one,” Vinyl said. “I work on commission.” “Well Derpy and I do,” Octavia said. “I have to report back to HQ post haste, Doctor or no Doctor.” “And I have to deliver the mail every day,” Derpy said with a sullen look. “And I couldn’t leave Dinky behind.” “Who said anything about leaving Dinky?” The Doctor asked. Dinky perked up at that. “Really?” She asked excitedly. Derpy looked at him incredulously, wrapping a leg around Dinky. “Are you crazy?!” she asked angrily. “She’s just a foal.” “But Mommy,” Dinky protested. “No buts,” She said protectively. “Besides, you have school.” Dinky slumped disappointedly. “Come on guys!” Vinyl urged. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance! Are you really gonna pass up seeing the stars for some lame jobs?” “Vinyl, you may live life with reckless abandon,” Octavia replied, “but some of us don’t have that luxury. We have responsibilities; to our jobs, our families, the people around us. We can’t just up and abandon that for, who knows how long.” “If I may,” the Doctor interjected, focusing on Derpy and Dinky. “I hope I needn’t remind everyone that this little marvel generates a force field powerful enough to hold back a Cyberpony. That’s no small feat, let me tell you.” Dinky smiled proudly at the compliment. “Not to mention,” he continued, “her mother beat up a Cyberpony with her bare hooves.” Derpy blushed, rubbing the bandages around her hooves. “Honestly, I’m not so worried about what danger you’re in if you wander the universe, than how much trouble the universe is in if it threatens you. And if you are still worried, know that I’ll always be there to keep you two safe. I swear it.” Dinky looked at her mother pleadingly. Derpy just couldn’t say no to that face. She sighed in submission and nodded her head. “Okay, Muffin,” she said. “We’ll go. But I want you to stay by me at all times, got it?” Dinky responded by leaping up and hugging her mother around the neck, which the mare returned in kind. The Doctor smiled at the display of affection shared by mother and child. Octavia just groaned in frustration. “Derpy, what about your job?” She asked. “And Dinky’s school. How are you going to explain the absences?” The Doctor walked up to Octavia and looked her in the eye. “You know,” he said, “for a highly trained government spy, you aren’t very observant.” Octavia looked at him with confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean?” “It means, I’m a Time Pony who travels in a machine called ‘Time And Relative Dimensions In Space’ and you never once thought to ask what that means.” Octavia took in the Doctor’s coy expression as she tried to process what he meant by all that. Then, it hit her like a pile of bricks. “Oh, no…” she said. “You can’t be serious.” “I too am serious,” The Doctor replied coyly. The others all caught on and smiled widely at the implication. “Holy cow, it’s a Time Machine!” Vinyl said, running up to it. “That’s 1000 times cooler than just a spaceship. And it can go anywhere?” “Anywhere, any when, any how, any hen,” the Doctor said jokingly. “Impossible!” Octavia stated. “I’m sorry, but that’s completely impossible. I’m willing to accept that you might be an alien. I’m even willing to accept that this box is some type of transport. But it is a scientific fact that controlled time travel is impossible! The best anypony has ever done is going back a few days and only for a few seconds. It would take more magic than all of Equestria combined to power controlled time travel.” “Oh, really?” The Doctor said challengingly. “Yes, really,” Octavia replied. The Doctor smiled widely. “Derpy, did you find a dead letter earlier today? A rather thick one in a blue envelope?” Derpy gave him a surprised look. “Y-yes,” She replied. “How did you…?” “Could you go get it for me?” He interjected. Without any more prodding, Derpy ran inside and pulled the letter off the coffee table and ran back out. “Would you mind opening it for us?” He asked. “But I can’t,” Derpy said, depositing the letter into her hooves. “It’s not mine.” “Sure it is,” The Doctor said, pulling out the Sonic Screwdriver. “See?” He buzzed it over the front of the letter. Surprisingly, this caused words to appear where there had previously been none. They read, “To Derpy Hooves”. Pushing aside the surprise, Derpy opened the letter, the other mares peering over her shoulders. She pulled out what looked to be a folded up newspaper clipping, and a sizable one at that. She unfolded the clipping, revealing the headline and a photo. “Mysterious Alien Invasion Averted by Concerned Ponyville Citizens” read the headline. They all gasped as they realized the picture was of themselves. It was the picture that had been taken earlier that day by the news pony. “Whoa!” Vinyl commented. “It’s us!” Derpy said. “It’s a clipping from tomorrow’s paper!” “Impossible,” Octavia said. “It must be a late edition paper.” “But look at the date,” Vinyl said. “That’s tomorrow’s date.” “And it’s been in my bag since before I met any of you,” Derpy said. “Lemme see, Lemme see!” Dinky called out, her mother lowering the picture for her to see. “Wow!” Octavia strained herself trying to think of how this could be. This was just too incredible for her to process. Vinyl put an arm over the flustered Octavia’s shoulder and said, “Face it, beautiful; He’s a time traveler.” With that, Vinyl stepped forward beside the Doctor. Derpy and Dinky also stepped forward and turned to Octavia. The grey mare stuttered, struggling to find some rational explanation. When none was forthcoming, she sighed in defeat and walked forward to join them. “Oh well,” she said. “What’s the worse that could happen?” “That’s the spirit, my dear lieutenant,” The Doctor said. He motioned to the door of the Tardis. “Everyone ready to go?” “Are you sure we’ll all fit?” Octavia said jokingly, suspecting it would stretch to accommodate them. It was the only sensible thing she could think of; which actually assured her guess was wrong. The Doctor smiled slyly as he clopped his hoof against the ground three times, causing the closed door to emit a clicking sound, like a lock releasing, and swing open. All four ponies’ eyes nearly bulged from their heads. Inside, the Tardis was a massive chamber. The dome ceiling reached almost twenty feet into the sky and had an underbelly that went at least seven feet into the ground. The walls were silver with circular indents lining it completely. In the center was a massive glass column. Inside the glass were several crystal cylinders, moving up and down in a rotating pattern inside. As they moved, the same sound that preceded the Tardis’ appearance emanated from them. It all was set in a circular control panel. The controls seemed to be a rather random selection of knick-knacks and gimmicks, including a typewriter, an abacus and various levers and pulleys of all shapes and sizes. The controls were elevated above the lowest point of the ship, with a metal catwalk allowing access to it leading to the door. On the far side, three stairways lead into three dark hallways. All this was bathed in a faint glow emanating from the ceiling. The Doctor stepped in first, prompting the others to follow. They all tentatively stepped in, as if afraid that if they went too far they’d wake from what must have been a very surreal dream. “Well?” The Doctor probed. “Anything you’d like to say?” “Its…” Vinyl began. “…Bigger…” Octavia continued. “…On…” Derpy also added. “…the inside,” concluded Dinky. Almost immediately, Octavia began racing around the lower level of the room, which were accessed by two flights of stairs next to the catwalk. She ran about, as if looking for some hole or piece of fake material that would confirm it wasn’t real. The others just watched as she raced about, tapping on the walls, and then as she raced outside, apparently to confirm that the dimensions of the box indeed did not mesh with the inside. “I can tell she’s gonna be a lot of fun,” Vinyl commented with an amused smile. “You two are taking this rather well,” Said the Doctor. Vinyl and Derpy gave him a deadpan look. “We survived Discord turning our town into his own personal surrealist playground,” Vinyl said. “You get used to it,” Derpy added. Octavia rushed back in. “This thing is amazing!” She exclaimed. “How is it doing this?” “It’s dimensionally transcendental,” the Doctor replied. Noting the confused look of his companions, he continued. “The inside exists outside the normal rules of space, and the outside anchors it to normal space.” “Oh,” They all replied, not really understanding it. They all went up to the controls. Each of the ponies scrutinized the manic control scheme, trying to make sense of it. Eventually they all realized that making sense would probably defy the point of the Tardis; that being to be totally nonsensical. “Loving the control scheme,” Vinyl said. “Throw it together yourself?” “Not exactly,” The Docto replied. “The Tardis just knows how I like to drive and arranged itself to suit my preferences.” “Now that’s what I call service,” Vinyl said with a grin. “So,” Octavia interjected. “If its designed to your preferences, that means you can operate it expertly?” “Um… well… he he he.” The Doctor stuttered as he tried to find the right words to address that. Octavia gave him a look that showed her lack of confidence. “Where to first Doctor?” Derpy asked, hoping to break the tension. The Doctor smiled warmly. “Glad you asked Miss. Hooves,” He said. “Everyone, grab onto something!” The others went to the railings which lined the catwalk. Each railing was lined with soft foam, which made them all nervous. Derpy held on to Dinky as the Doctor began working the controls. With the flip of a switch, the cylinders began moving in unison and the sound grew louder. Soon, the whole place was shaking, causing most of the ponies to panic. The only non-panicking pony was a certain Vinyl Scratch, who whooped and hollered with reckless abandon as the ship shook and wobbled. When it finally stopped, the equestrian ponies all groaned dizzily. They slowly picked themselves up, all wobbly from the experience. “W-where are we Doctor?” Derpy asked. “See for yourselves,” he replied playfully. The Doctor opened the door with a switch on the control panel. Curiosity dominating them, the four Equestrians walked towards the door. What they saw was awe inspiring. Hovering in a black expanse was a large blue sphere. The sphere was covered in brown masses and white amorphous shapes that constantly moved about. It took them all only a second to realize what they were seeing. “It’s… home,” Dinky muttered. The others remained silent, watching their world floating before them in the expanse of space. Vinyl removed her dark glasses, revealing her vibrant red eyes. She wiped a tear away, the scene moving her to tears. Octavia, who was at her side, embraced her, sharing in the moment. Derpy wrapped her fore-hooves around Dinky as all four sat to just enjoy the view. The Doctor walked up to the door and joined in their sitting. Rather than take in the sight, he instead took in their reactions. The fact that they were so moved by the beauty of their world warmed his hearts. It convinced him that they indeed were the right choice to bring along. Derpy turned, seeing the Doctor sitting with them. “Thank you,” she said. “It was my pleasure,” he replied. He then stood and returned to the console. “Well, come on then. Don’t want to get bored with it.” The Equestrians all stood as the door closed. As they stood, Octavia noticed Vinyl’s eyes and her heart skipped a beat. “Vinyl,” She said. “Your eyes.” “Wha?” Vinyl replied, not sure what Octavia meant before realizing she’d forgot to re-place her glasses. “Oh, right. Pretty rad, huh?” “Y-yes,” Octavia replied, moving a hoof through her hair. “They’re… really quite lovely.” Vinyl’s eyes widened. Both ponies blushed and turned away. “Gee, thanks,” Vinyl managed to squeak out as she put her glasses back on. Both Derpy and Dinky chuckled at the actions of the two as they all eventually joined the Doctor at the center. “So, where to next Doctor?” Derpy asked excitedly. The others all gazed at him, waiting for his answer. The Doctor gave a sly smile and said. “Where, Miss. Hoooves? Everywhere!” With that, the Doctor restarted the Tardis, causing everyone to brace for the take off. Outside, the Tardis faded from the universe. It flowed into time itself, being pulled through all of existence on the waves of time itself. As the little blue box soared through the Time Vortex, one thing was certain; Adventure was not far ahead. The End AN. Okay, truth time. This has actually been finished since I posted the first chapter. I wanted to see what people thought while I posted each chapter gradually. I wrote up the whole thing before posting to ensure that I didn't make any major continuity flubs and so I could add elements to make it all flow better. I'm pleased to say that the reaction has been mostly positive, so I decided to just bite the bullet and post the final chapter now. I might do more stories if the mood strikes me. I certainly have ideas. Please feel free to post your thoughts in the comments. I'll take all criticism and ideas. Part 1: The PlayersDoctor Whooves New Settings; Old Enemies Part 1 The Players The rolling green fields outside of Ponyville were peaceful and serene. It was rare anypony would venture out to these fields, save the odd romantic pair who wanted to enjoy some peace and quiet. Aside from that, the only other visitors were woodland creatures who wanted to enjoy the grass. One such creature was a tiny bunny rabbit. On this day, it was wandering the fields, planning to enjoy the fresh green grass. The creature was enjoying its first mouthful when a sound caught its ear. It popped its head up from the long grass and looked about, trying to determine where the sound came from and if it was a predator. The sound gradually grew loader. It was a deep, whirring, grinding noise that was simultaneously grating and somewhat soothing. The bunny was perplexed and somewhat nervous as the sound grew loader. What finally sent it scurrying was the bluish shape that seemed to appear from nowhere. It ran off, not witnessing as the amorphous blue blur slowly gained shape and grew more opaque. It took the form a small wooden structure. It was tall and had the words “Police Public Call Box” over it’s doors. Atop the box was a lantern that flashed in time with the whirring sound. As the sound died out in a series of drawn out whirs, the doors popped open. A head popped out first. It was the head of a pony, specifically a stallion. He slowly emerged from the strange blue box, looking about as if expecting something might jump out at him. He was a lean young stallion with a light brown coat and a darker brown mane. He wore a brown vest that was a slight middle brown between the brown of his mane and the brown of his coat. On his flank was a mark which looked like an hourglass. His blue eyes turned back to the box, his expression shifting to one of exasperation. “Really? That again?” he said in a very distinctly Trottish accent. “Ever since we saw that in that inter-dimensional curio shop… You know, it doesn’t really fit in anywhere. And just what is a ‘Police Box’ meant to be anyway?” He paused, as if expecting an answer from the strange blue structure. The pony sighed, shaking his head. “Oh, I guess it doesn’t really matter. A TARDIS your age is entitled to a few eccentricities. Just keep the perception filters on high while I look about this place.” The pony tapped his right fore-hoof on the ground twice. The box’s doors swung shut and a locking sound could be heard inside. The pony then turned and trotted off, leaving the odd thing alone in the field. ______________________________________________________________________ Derpy Hooves grunted as she hefted the heavy mailbag on her back. The new mail had just come in and she was eager to get started and get her daily route over with. She was never fond of her job, mostly because it forced to interact with everypony else in town. Most ponies were civil with her, she admitted. Some slept in because they had night-jobs, so she didn’t have to deal with them. But almost everypony, even the nice ones, made her feel awkward and unwanted; and all because of her appearance. At first glance, Derpy Hooves was a perfectly normal Pegasus Pony. She had a grey coat and feathers which weren’t very striking on their own, but contrasted well against her flowing yellow mane. But her eyes; her eyes were the problem. Ever since she was a filly, she had been cursed with permanent cross-eyes. Nopony knew exactly how she came to be this way. It started when she was young and never stopped. Sometimes, if she concentrated, she could get them to focus, but it hurt her head to try. Throughout her youth, Derpy had been constantly teased about her eyes. As an adult, it was rarer that she was openly demeaned for her eyes. However, few ponies ever looked her in the face. Those that did always had a look of immense discomfort at seeing her eyes. She knew some still made fun of her behind her back. Then there were others (a certain rainbow-maned Pegasus came to mind) who lacked even that amount of courtesy and mocked her to her face. If she had the option, she would quit her job. The problem was that there weren’t many jobs available for a Pegasus who couldn’t fly worth a darn and whose only talent was blowing bubbles. Even she had to admit, as much as she loved bubble blowing and for how good she was at it, it was a fairly useless skill. “Mama!” Bounding down the stairs came Derpy’s biggest reason not to quit her job. Dinky Hooves trotted down the stairs with her book satchel over her back. The filly shared her mother’s grey coat and had a lighter yellow mane. She also had a horn on her forehead rather than wings. Derpy managed to smile, despite her discomfort. She loved the little filly with all her heart. She would do anything to keep her happy, healthy and, most of all, safe. That meant having money to pay for things. That meant working a highly uncomfortable and dissatisfying job. “Going on your route, already?” Dinky asked. “Yes, Muffin,” Derpy replied. “There’s a lot today, so I figured I best get a head start.” “Okay,” Dinky replied. “Do you think you’ll pick me up from school?” “Maybe,” Derpy said, a little sad that she couldn’t guarantee that, as she had no idea how long her route would take. “I’ll certainly try. You can walk there yourself, right?” “Sure,” Dinky replied. “I’ll walk with Apple Bloom when she walks by.” Derpy smiled wider. She was happy that Dinky was having an easier time making friends in school than she had had when she was a filly. Dinky had connected with Apple Bloom, the youngest of the Apple family who ran Sweet Apple Acres. Dinky had mentioned wanting to join up with Apple Bloom’s after-school club, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Derpy was hesitant to say yes to that, knowing all about the kind of mischief those three fillies got into with their activities. Even more than not wanting her to get in trouble, Derpy didn’t want Dinky to get hurt doing the dangerous stunts the Crusaders did. Still, she encouraged her to try and stay friends with Apple Bloom, because she wanted Dinky to have friends more than anything. “That sounds good,” She said. “Just be careful on your way there.” “I will mama,” Dinky said. Dinky jumped up and hugged Derpy around the neck as the mail mare opened the door. Derpy hugged her daughter back, putting all the love she had for that little filly into it. As they broke apart, they noticed Apple Bloom standing at their fence, waving to them. “Oh, look,” Derpy said. “Seems your little friend is here already.” “Hi Dinky! Hi Miss Derpy!” Apple Bloom called out as they walked to her, after Derpy shut and locked her front door. “Ah thought Ah’d come meet Dinky so we could walk to school.” “That’s wonderful, sweetie,” Derpy said, shutting the gate behind her after she and Dinky crossed the fence. “Well, I have to go make my deliveries. You girls have fun. Bye Muffin.” With that, Derpy walked off while her daughter and her friend trotted to school in the other direction. Dinky walked alongside the red maned, Earth pony filly. She turned and saw her mother turn the corner and disappear from sight. “She’s gone,” Dinky said. “So, what’s the plan for today?” Apple Bloom smiled mischievously. “Scootaloo thinks we might try for bungee-jumping cutie marks.” “Awesome!” Dinky replied, smiling excitedly. Then, her face turned to one of confusion. “What’s bungee-jumping?” “Ah don’t rightly know,” Apple Bloom replied. “Half the things she suggests ’re things Ah ain’t never heard of.” “Then why do you do them?” Dinky asked. “To get our cutie marks, Duh!” Apple Bloom replied. “Tha’s a silly question. It’s righ’ there in our name, ‘the Cutie Mark Crusaders’.” “I know,” Dinky said. “I just figured, if we’re trying to get our cutie marks, wouldn’t it be in something we’d normally do?” “Tha’s silly,” Apple Bloom explained. “If we was doin’ what we was meant to be doing, we’d have already gotten our cutie marks.” Dinky just nodded in submission to the childish logic of her friend, even though she was certain that wasn’t how her mother had explained cutie marks to her. “Well,” she said, “if it’s Scootaloo’s idea, it’ll probably be a lot of fun!” “Yeah!” Apple Bloom said excitedly. “Le’s get to school! Ah can’t wait to try it!” The two fillies began to run off, their minds on the fun they planned with their friends. Blocks away, Derpy remained oblivious to her daughter’s plans. She walked down the streets of Ponyville, ready to do her duty. Despite how poorly she usually felt doing her route, as she drew to the first house on her route, she suddenly felt an odd wave of positivity. She had the strange impression that, despite all evidence to the contrary, today was going to be a good day. ______________________________________________________________________ “Bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored…” These words were uttered, ad nauseum, by one rather odd looking pony who had taken a seat on a bench in the town square. She had been there since earlier in the day, and had started saying and repeating the word shortly after taking her place on the bench. She was a white furred unicorn pony with an electric blue mane that seemed to stand permanently on end in a spiky style. Her cutie mark was a simple pair of bridged eight notes. Her other notable trait was a pair of large, dark glasses with ovangular frames that managed to keep her eyes covered from every angle. Over her head were some sort of elaborate brass earmuffs with some sort of strange cord leading to a small box at her side. Some ponies stopped to ponder the strange pony. One or two tried to talk to her, but she seemed to tune everypony else out. After a time, these ponies would leave to continue with their business, muttering about the strange pony they left behind. What nopony knew was that this pony wasn’t just tuning them out; she was Rock-tuning them out. The device by her side was actually a miniature turntable, inside which spun a tiny record which was playing rock music. The speakers for the device were attached to the earmuffs and the music was playing, quite loudly, into her ears. This, combined with her constant muttering, simply drowned out all stimulus. The pony, who a few recognized as Vinyl Scratch, had invented the device for her own use. She called it an I-Box; which she figured was a clever way of stating that it was meant specifically for her. It wasn’t, but she thought it was. At this moment, Vinyl was lamenting her bored fate. Her partner and friend, the party-pony Pinkie Pie, had left for Canterlot along with the other chosen ones or whatever they were supposed to be. Pinkie had tried explaining to her, but Vinyl never really understood it. All she knew was that, on rare occasions, this meant Pinkie had to leave Ponyville for several days to attend to the needs of the Royals. This meant that, for the time being, there were going to be far fewer parties in Ponyville. Fewer parties equals fewer calls for music. No music equals no fun, as far as Vinyl was concerned. Vinyl thrived on music. She loved the way it moved ponies. She loved how it could bring life to a room. She loved the rhythm, the beat, the excitement. If she couldn’t make music for somepony, anypony, she felt empty. Thus, once Pinkie was gone, she would plop herself down somewhere, usually in her house, and perform this ritual. She would do this until Pinkie came back. This day, for some reason, she felt like doing it in public. She didn't know why, but reasoned that she simply had done it in every part of her house at some point, so why not expand her horizons. Perhaps she could spread her misery to everypony else; if not through sympathy, than through annoyance. Then, she stopped. Normally, only three things can stop Vinyl Scratch when she gets like this, aside from Pinkie. #1: Food. #2: Sleep. #3: the call of nature. This was due to none of those things. Something, or rather, somepony had broken her out of her lamentation. Vinyl stopped the I-box and pulled off the head-speakers as soon as she saw her. She was casually walking past, not even aware of the strange musician pony, her attention focused on a little bronze metal device in her hoof. She was a simple Earth Pony with a grey coat and a flowing raven-black mane which ran over her shoulder. Her cutie mark was a treble cleft. She carried a small, stylish saddlebag over her back. She walked in a graceful, deliberate stride. She seemed to exude elegance and class. She was clearly not a regular citizen. She had the air of a Canterlot pony, and not a wannabe like Rarity, but a real lady of the royal city. (Vinyl’s thoughts, mind you.) She was the most beautiful pony Vinyl had ever seen. Vinyl’s heart beat faster as she watched the pony walk by. Her eyes did not stray for a second. Vinyl made it no great secret that she was a lesbian. She was proud and open about her sexuality. She had even fooled about with Pinkie Pie once or twice, though they never had a serious relationship. With Pinkie, nothing was ever serious. Vinyl had had one or two marefriends over the years, but never for very long. However, this was the first time she had ever found herself so attracted to a pony. Vinyl levitated the I-Box and attached it to her hip with a adhesive spell. She then got up and trotted after the mare. She didn’t know how she’d approach the pony, but she wasn’t about to let her just walk away without saying something. Celestia knows one can only say “bored” so many times before it gets on their own nerves. ______________________________________________________________________ Octavia looked at the device in her hoof with great focus. It was a metal box-shaped machine with an aerial antenna on the top and a metal clamp on the bottom. It had a glass screen which displayed various mathematical symbols and figures that constantly changed across the screen. In the center were several dots, which were slowly drawing closer to a large circle in the lower right corner. Octavia had no idea what the math meant, but knew what the dots meant. She moved her way through the town, as the device made soft beeping sounds. The further she walked, the louder the sound got. However, quite suddenly, the device seemed to stop. It’s screen went dark and the beeping stopped. Octavia gave it an angry glare. She sat down and grabbed it with both hooves, shaking it in the air and banging it against the ground. “Oh, Blast!” She uttered. “I can’t believe it! This stupid contraption ran out of power already?” She shook it some more, but the device gave no response. She sighed in frustration. She put the device to her mouth and pulled out what looked like the end of a jumper cable whose cable extended from the device. She then looked about briefly before she caught sight of a male unicorn. She trotted up to him and said, “Pardon me sir. Might I attach this to your horn briefly?” The unicorn gave her an incredulous look and just trotted off without replying. Octavia glared at the pony as he left. “You could at least say No!” she shouted, dropping the clamp. “Oh, I hate this! I could’ve asked for a unicorn partner, but Noooo. I had to prove I could do without magic.” She hated this. It was awkward asking unicorns for help, especially with a device she couldn’t explain. She’d already tried it once during her journey to Ponyville and it had been extremely difficult. She had finally convinced one stallion to do it on the condition that she go on a date with him. She gave him a fake address and left before he could realize that fact. She didn’t want to try that method again. Octavia looked around some more, hoping to catch some other unicorn’s attention. She was unaware that she had already caught the attention of one unicorn who had been following her for the past block. Vinyl noticed her conversation with the male unicorn and realized that her device probably ran on a rechargeable magic battery that had run out. Vinyl used the same type of batteries for her inventions. Seeing this as an opportunity, Vinyl casually walked up to the mare who only noticed her at the last moment. “Hey,” Vinyl said. “Need some help there?” Octavia looked at the rather unusual blue-maned mare with surprise and relief. “Oh, yes!” she replied. “My machine has stopped working. I need a unicorn to power it.” “Look no further,” the unicorn replied. “Vinyl Scratch, at your service.” With that, Vinyl levitated the clamp onto her horn, which glowed with magic that flowed into the device. Octavia smiled widely as she watched the machine return to life. “Oh, Thank you so much!” she declared. “I wasn’t sure what I would do without this.” “It’s no big,” Vinyl replied, trying to act confident in front of the lovely pony. She looked that the device and noticed its display. “What it that thing anyhoof?” “Oh…” Octavia froze. She had to think of something to tell her to avoid suspicion. “It’s… It’s a… acoustic checker!” she stuttered out. “It checks areas for acoustics. I’m a musician you see,” She pointed to her cutie mark, “And I was thinking of holding an outdoors concert. So I’m trying to find an area with good acoustics for my performance.” “Oh, cool!” Vinyl declared. “I could really use a gizmo like that. See, I’m a musician too.” She motioned to her own cutie mark. “Well, sorta. I’m actually more of a DJ.” “A what?” Octavia asked, having never heard of such a thing. “A DJ!” Vinyl replied. “You know; a disc jockey; a master of ceremonies; the pony that changes the records out during a party.” “Oh,” Octavia replied, giving the pony a confused look. “That sounds… interesting.” “Yeah…” Vinyl felt off-put by the other pony’s reaction. She had a feeling that she’d made a bit of a fool of herself. She decided to try and relieve the tension. “So, what do you play?” “I’m a cellist,” Octavia replied, trying to focus on the device’s charge meter and not invest herself in a conversation with the power source. “Oh,” Vinyl said. “That’s interesting. I’ve never actually heard a cello before.” “That doesn’t seem too surprising,” Octavia said, now trying to discourage the other pony from further conversation. Vinyl sensed the cold shoulder, but refused to give in. “Where’d you get that gizmo anyway?” she asked. “I’m sure I could use one at some point.” “It’s… one of a kind,” Octavia replied. “I had a friend make it for me.” “Really!” Vinyl said excitedly. “Your friend sounds great! I’m actually a bit of an inventor too. I build all sorts of gizmos for my shows. I actually made this thing.” She hovered the I-box in front of them. Octavia eyed the simple looking box with confusion. “A… box?” “Actually, I-box,” Vinyl said proudly. “It’s a mini turntable that plays mini records. You use these to listen.” Vinyl hovered her headphones over Octavia’s ears and activated the device. Octavia’s horrified reaction reminded Vinyl that she had the volume on maximum and she quickly removed them. The earth pony swayed in a daze as Vinyl suddenly felt all hope of getting to know this pony better just got shot to the moon. “Oh, sweet Luna!” she exclaimed. “Are you alright?!” Octavia rubbed her ears as she tried to recover from the blaring rockand roll music she was just exposed to. “What a…” she restrained herself, not wanting to make a scene. “… clever device. If only its power were used for good.” “Oh, jeez,” Vinyl said. “I’m so sorry. I swear, I forgot it was up that high!” Octavia looked at the pony. Despite the oversized glasses, she could see the genuine concern on her face. She decided not to hold this against her and simply replied, “It’s alright. I’m sure it was just an accident.” The device in Octavia’s hoof beeped three times rapidly. Octavia knew this meant the device was charged. She motioned to the clamp, which Vinyl caught on to and removed. The two sat awkwardly for a moment before Octavia stood up to leave. Vinyl’s face was red as she mentally berated herself for how stupidly she acted. “Hey!” Vinyl’s head shot up. She was shocked to see it was Octavia talking to her. “It was Vinyl Scratch, right?” Octavia asked. “Yeah,” she replied. “I’m Octavia,” she said. “And, thank you again for the help.” Vinyl smiled widely as the other pony continued to walk off. Once she was a ways away, she pumped her hoof in the air and declared, “YES!” Octavia rolled her eyes. She smiled a bit as she thought about the strange pony. Clearly she had an attraction to her, which was probably why she had helped her. “At least she had the good taste not to try and bargain for it,” she said, thinking back to the male pony. “Still, she was kind of cute. Too bad I have more urgent matters.” Pushing the encounter out of her mind, Octavia returned to the task at hoof, as the small dots on her screen grew ever closer to their destination. ______________________________________________________________________ High over Equestria, above the atmosphere, where only the royal sisters could go, several small objects flew towards the peaceful planet. They hit the atmosphere, glowing brightly in the heat of entry. Any scientist would tell you that objects this small would sooner burn up in the atmosphere than reach the ground. However, these objects seemed to willfully defy that notion as none of them was destroyed as they continued to fall. Farther away, a strange set of glowing blue eyes was focused on a monitor. This monitor displayed an image similar to the one on Octavia’s device. Unlike that device, this one had strange symbols of unknown meaning rather than mathematical formulas. The eyes watched as the blips began contacting the planet. “It Begins,” a cold, synthetic voice announced. “Prepare to receive data.” More eyes light up in the dark chamber. The first set draws closer to the screen, its light illuminating its face. It was a metal face with a neutral expression. Over the head was laid metal tubing of unknown purpose. As it spoke, its mouth glowed. “Prepare for planet-wide upgrade protocol.”
Part 2: The Fortunate MeetingDoctor Whooves New Settings; Old Enemies Part 2 The Fortunate Meeting It took the brown pony a short time to find civilization, if one could call it that. The small settlement he now faced was hardly one of your great cultural epicenters. It wasn’t much more than a small village. He found the colorful wooden buildings and simplistic layout of the town quite charming. He had actually been hoping for a quiet place to stop and take a break from his travels and this seemed the ideal place. As he trotted into town he took in everything with a broad smile on his face. “Oh, how lovely,” he said. “I really landed a winner this time. I really must remember the coordinates for this place.” As he walked he took notice of the locals. It struck him that they were fairly similar to him. The thing that struck him as odd was that there seemed to be at least three different pony species that he could discern just passing by. He also noticed the amazing number of marks on their flanks. It struck him as odd that there was such diversity on the planet. All the other worlds he’d seen had natives with a uniform mark representing their race, including his own. “Hmm,” he hummed as he walked along the road. “Some with horns; some with wings; some with neither; all with different marks. How very odd. I wonder if they’re all native or if this world has interstellar travel and these are colonists. Really must find a library and look into this world’s history. It’s so fascinating.” As he walked he failed to notice a certain raven maned mare trotting past, nor the blue and white unicorn that was following at a generous distance. He just trotted along, admiring the houses and small shops, muttering about how he liked little shops. At the same time, Derpy was continuing her route, making deliveries to the stores along the main thoroughfare. She had just dropped a letter off at Sugar Cube Corner. Judging by the distinct scent of cupcakes emanating from it, she imagined it was from Pinkie Pie, whom she had heard was off in Canterlot for a few days. She felt disappointed, as Pinkie was one of the few ponies that didn't act awkward around her. As she went on, she made to pull the next set of letters from the pack. Her mouth found a single letter and she pulled it out. She placed it in her hooves to examine it, but found that it had no address. She looked all over the paper container, using both eyes to scan for any trace of an address or a return address. All that she found of interest was that the envelope was blue in color, which seemed odd, and that it was fairly thick for a letter. She decided it was a dead letter and put it in the pocket designated for them. She’d drop it by the office later to be disposed of. She regretted that this had to happen, but there were clear rules for sending mail and she had to follow them. Still, Derpy felt content. She’d had a fairly peaceful morning thus far. Nopony had been rude or unfriendly with her as of yet and that made her happy. She felt like that her premonition of good luck was actually coming true. ______________________________________________________________________ Octavia stopped. The image on the device had shifted to an arrow and was pointing behind her. She quickly turned and ran in the direction of the arrow. She was so focused on the device she hadn’t noticed Vinyl, who had frozen up in fear of having been caught following her. Once she realized that wasn’t the case, she turned and chased after Octavia, wondering what could be so important. ______________________________________________________________________ The brown pony pushed his muzzle into his coat and pulled out a small device. It was a narrow, tube shaped device with a small blue bulb at the tip. Clenching his teeth caused the bulb to light up and made the device emit a strange whirring sound. He pointed it at a unicorn, which caused it to whir louder. He moved it in his mouth so that he could see it. “Interesting,” he said, barely hindered by having something in his mouth. “Seems the horned ones have a high psychic reading. I’d love to see how that mani…” Suddenly, he was interrupted, as the device beeped rapidly and seemingly dragged him into a turn. “Oy!” He exclaimed. “Wha’s got into you?” He resisted the device’s pull, before recognizing what the beeping meant. His eyes followed the tip into the sky, where he saw a small red dot hanging in the blue expanse. The beeping grew faster as the dot seemed to grow. “Oh dear,” he said. “Tha’s not good. Very not good! Where’s it headed?” As if in answer, the device seemed to drag him along at a rapid pace. The brown pony ran as fast as his hooves could carry him. He did not question the urgency the device was showing, or even that it could show urgency. He simply followed the device where it lead. ______________________________________________________________________ Only a few feet behind the brown pony, Octavia was also running quickly. Neither was aware of the other, but both were running in the same direction. Close behind her was Vinyl Scratch, who was fighting the temptation to call out to Octavia and ask what was wrong. She didn’t want to be caught until she could think of a reason that she was following the cellist. This proved difficult to do when she was more focused on not losing sight of her. ______________________________________________________________________ Derpy stretched her shoulders and wings and sighed with relief. Her load was finally starting to lighten and she was still having a rather pleasant day. She smiled warmly and began thinking to herself that nothing could go wrong this day. “LOOK OUT!” Almost a second after the thought crossed her mind, a blur of brown tackled her to the ground. Before she could react, a loud bang hit where she had been standing, followed by a cloud of dust and a lot of screaming, which she imagined came from other ponies. Derpy began to fear that she was dead; or at least severely injured. She began to panic, wondering what was happening and if everypony was alright. “Are you alright miss?” Her ears perked at the voice. It was the same one that shouted before she was knocked down. She peeled open an eye and tried to position it forward. Above her she saw a brown earth pony standing over her, wearing a vest and holding an odd pen-light like thing in his mouth. He wasn’t looking at her, but into the cloud of dust beside them. “I- I’m okay,” she said quietly, still somewhat dazed. She rolled onto her stomach and stood up. “W-w-What happened?” “Meteoroid,” The pony said, still looking into the dust. “Hit a lot slower than it should have though. Judging by the dust and the shockwave after impact I’d say shockingly slow.” “Oh,” Derpy replied. She didn’t think anything about what had just happened was at all slow. “Well, thank you for saving me from the very shockingly slow meteor.” The brown pony turned to her with a smile on his face. “It was no problem at all, miss. I’m always happy to…” He stopped speaking suddenly. He seemed to focus at her face. Derpy quickly realized he was looking at her eyes and turned away, her face red with shame. “Please, don’t stare,” she muttered. “Oh, dear,” the brown pony said uneasily. “I’m terribly sorry. I don’t mean to offend. It’s just I’ve never seen eyes like that. They’re so…” Strange. Silly. Stupid. Weird. Ugly. Deformed. Derpy’s mind rattled off a list of all the adjectives used to describe her eyes in the past as she mentally prepared for them. “…Lovely.” Derpy’s eyes widened in shock. She turned back to the pony. “W-what?” “I-I’m sorry if it’s rude to say that sort of thing,” the pony said, backing away slightly. “I’m not quite sure what the rules are here yet. Haven’t been here more than a few minutes.” “N-no,” Derpy replied. “It’s fine. I just want to know… Why do you think they’re lovely?” “Oh!” The pony said in surprise. “Well, it’s just… I’ve never seen that shade of golden yellow before. I mean, I’ve seen golden eyes; and I’ve seen yellow eyes; and I’ve seen yellow eyes with little flecks of gold in them; and vice-versa. But I’ve never seen that particular golden yellow shade before in my life. It’s… Lovely.” His expression seemed honest. She couldn’t believe anypony would say that about her eyes. Not even Dinky’s father had said that. Now Derpy’s face was red for a different reason. “Are you sure I’m not offending you?” the pony asked. “No! No.” Derpy said excitedly. “It’s fine. It’s just fine, Mr… Um?” “Oh, now That I know is rude of me,” the pony said with a playful smile. “Knocking a lady down without even an introduction. What was I thinking?” He made a polite bow and said, “I am, The Doctor.” Derpy gave him a confused look. “The Doctor?” she asked. “Doctor, Who?” “Just, the Doctor, will do,” He said, “Miss…?” Derpy smiled and bowed in a similar manner. “Derpy Hooves.” The Doctor returned her bow. “A pleasure to meet you Miss Hooves.” “Likewise,” she said. The two chuckled a bit at the silliness of their introduction. Derpy felt a strong warmth that she hadn’t felt in years. She had never had a conversation like this with anypony her age. She didn’t know him very well, but she knew she liked this “Doctor” pony and wanted to know him better. After they finished chuckling, the Doctor returned his attention to the small crater. “Now, let’s see what nearly turned such a nice lady into a rather unpleasant mess, shall we?” ______________________________________________________________________ “Darn it!” Octavia muttered. She was watching The Doctor and Derpy as they investigated the site of the crashed object. Unfortunately, the panic-prone ponies of Ponyville had run into their houses, so she couldn’t blend into a crowd to investigate. “Why won’t those lovebirds leave? I need to get closer.” “What for?” “AHHHH!” “AHHHH!” ______________________________________________________________________ “You hear that?” The Doctor asked. “Hear what?” Derpy replied. ______________________________________________________________________ Octavia held a hoof over Vinyl’s mouth and had both their backs to the wall. She hoped the other two ponies wouldn’t notice them. She managed to catch the sound of the male saying, “Nevermind. Likely nothing.” She sighed in relief and turned Vinyl to face her. “What are you doing?” she said quietly, but sternly. “I-I’m sorry,” Vinyl said softly. “I-I-I was following you.” “Why?!” Octavia hissed. “I was… That is… I just…” Vinyl scrambled to find an answer that wouldn’t make her come off as a crazy stalker pony. “I think you’re Hot! Will you date me?” That was not it. She immediately covered her mouth in shame. “What?!” Octavia said in shock. ______________________________________________________________________ “I swear I can hear something,” the Doctor muttered as he ran the whirring device around the edge of the crater. “Maybe that thing you’re using is confusing you,” Derpy said. “What is that anyway?” “Sonic Screwdriver,” the Doctor replied. “A… what?” “A Sonic Screwdriver,” he repeated. “It uses sonic vibrations to manipulate matter at a molecular level. The upside, which the inventor didn’t have the foresight to notice before naming it, is that this allows it to do all sorts of things aside from driving screws. Especially useful amongst these is its ability to analyze and categorize matter so precisely it can actually determine the origin of the matter from anywhere in the universe.” If Derpy’s eyes weren’t already crossed, they probably would be. “Huh?” “It tells me things about stuff,” The Doctor said. “Oh,” Derpy replied. The device beeped in an uneven pattern. “What’s it saying about the meteor?” Derpy asked. “Nothing yet,” the Doctor replied. “It’s telling me to mention that if it weren’t for it, I wouldn’t have even noticed the meteor before it hit and that it wants some recognition for it. Honestly, it’s very vain like that.” Derpy giggled, thinking the Doctor was joking. “Well, thank you Mr. Screwdriver.” “Feel better now?” the Doctor asked the thing in his mouth. It beeped several times in response. “Good,” The Doctor said. “Now do your job. Something made this thing slow down before impact, and I would like to know what.” ______________________________________________________________________ “What is that pony doing?” Octavia whispered. “What are we doing?” Vinyl replied. “I am waiting for them to leave so I can examine that thing,” Octavia said tersely. “You, apparently, are here to spy on me for some perverse reason.” “I swear that isn’t what I meant,” Vinyl said. “I just…” “I don’t care,” Octavia replied. “I want you to go away.” “Oh, come on,” Vinyl said. “I want to know what’s happening. Why do you want that thing? What is it? Why did your acoustic device bring you to it?” “You aren’t allowed to know that,” Octavia said. “I could lose my job talking to you like this.” “Job?” Vinyl said in confusion. “What…?” “Just go!” She said harshly and loudly. “Who’s there?!” Octavia and Vinyl clammed up at the sound of the male pony’s voice. ______________________________________________________________________ “I swear, something is making a lot of noise,” the Doctor said. “This is hard enough without that kind of interference.” “I heard it too,” Derpy said. “I think I’ll fly up and see if I see anypony.” “Fly?” The Doctor asked. “Yeah,” Derpy responded, fluttering her wings in response. “See? I’m a Pegasus.” “Oh!” the Doctor said in delighted surprise. “I hadn’t even noticed you were one with wings. Fancy that! So they’re functional then?” “Func…?” “They work for flying and such?” The Doctor clarified. “Of course,” she said, almost insulted. “I might not be a Wonderbolt, but I can still fly well enough. Mostly, anyway.” “Brilliant,” The Doctor said. “Go see who’s making that racket. I’ve almost deciphered the meteor’s molecular structure.” “What?” “The screwdriver is telling me stuff about things,” the Doctor clarified again. “Right,” Derpy replied. “Well, here I go.” With that, she took off. The Doctor marveled at the strange sight before him. He’d seen flying species before, but none equine in form. It was quite impressive, despite the fact that Derpy seemed to be swaying and twisting in ways that clearly weren’t voluntary. “Wonderbolts?” the Doctor finally questioned. He shook off the question and returned to his work. ______________________________________________________________________ “Will you just go away?” Octavia demanded. “Not until I know what’s going on,” Vinyl replied. “I’m not telling some crazy pony I barely know things She isn’t supposed to know!” “I don’t like not being in the loop. I’m a Unicorn; we’re naturally curious. I want to know what you’re not telling me!” “Why don’t you get it?! This is none of your business!” “It is now!” “Like heck it is!” “Excuse me…” Both ponies turned their heads to the roof nearby. There, a grey Pegasus was perched, looking at them with her crooked eyes. “But I think the Doctor and I would like to know what’s going on too,” she said. “If you don’t mind.” ______________________________________________________________________ Derpy walked back to the Doctor with the two ponies she had found. Octavia felt pathetic for succumbing to her emotions as easily as she did. Now she knew her cover was blown. If only Vinyl had left her alone. Vinyl wasn’t feeling much better, knowing that she’d likely made a huge mistake not listening to Octavia. Now she probably had no chance of even talking to her again. The Doctor took notice of the rather negative looking ponies and rolled his eyes. “No wonder I’ve been off,” he commented. “You two have more negative vibrations pulsing off of you than anything.” “Listen mister,” Octavia began. “I don’t know who you are, but your presence is interfering in my investigation. I advise you to leave.” “Especially you!” The Doctor said angrily. “You’re so uptight. Lighten up! Crack a smile for pity’s sake. It’s not the end of the world. If anyone should leave it’s you!” “Well, I…” Octavia said, flustered. “Fluffersnaff!” the Doctor declared. “W-what?” Octavia replied in confusion. “Gundernaffer. Prenderghast. Wibbley Wombily Timey Whimey.” “I don’t…” “Funny words,” he said. “I’m trying to make you laugh. Dubledon. Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow. Honestly, it’s this or tickling and I don’t imagine that’s very polite in mixed company.” Octavia was just stunned silent. She had no response. It was so out of left field that she couldn’t even begin to comprehend it. The only thing she could do is crack a small smile, which she immediately covered with her hoof. “Ah, there we go,” The Doctor said with a big grin. “That’s much better. Now maybe I can get some work done.” He turned back to the crater. “Oh, you with the blue hair. Don’t worry, she likes you. She’s just holding back because she’s all worried about everything.” “What?!” Both ponies replied in shock. They looked at each other but then quickly looked away in embarrassment. Derpy walked up to the Doctor. “How did you know all that?” she asked in a hushed voice. The Doctor smiled. “Their emotions were transmitting through the sonic on a psychic frequency. Probably transmitted by the one with the horn.” “The Unicorn,” Derpy corrected, unsure why he wouldn‘t know that. In fact, he didn’t seem to know about Pegasai either when she brought it up. What kind of pony didn’t know about Unicorns and Pegasai. “Right, her,” he replied. “OKAY! Now we’re making progress! I’m starting to narrow down the possibilities.” “Who is this guy?” Vinyl asked Derpy after walking up to her. “I’m not sure,” Derpy replied. “But he saved me from getting hit by that thing.” Octavia walked up beside the Doctor. “What exactly are you doing?” she asked, though not impolitely. “Screwdriver detects things about things and stuff about stuff,” he explained. “I really don’t want to explain it again.” “Are you an EQUIT Agent?” she asked in a hushed voice. “EQUIT?” he said in confusion. “Is that even a word?” “Nevermind,” she replied. “I’m just going to omit a lot of things and stuff from my report.” “Hey, speaking of…” Vinyl began in response to the conversation. “Shush!” the Doctor declared. “I’m nearly done. Silence please.” Everypony remained silent. “Almost… nearly… A-HA!” He declared triumphantly. Then, his expression changed from one of excitement to one of dread. “Oh, no! Not again!” “What?” Derpy asked. “What is it?” He turned to them and put the screwdriver back in his vest. “You two,” he said to Vinyl and Octavia. “What were your names?” “I’m Octavia,” she said, concerned at his change of tone. “And I’m Vinyl Scratch,” she said, equally off-put. “I’m the Doctor, and this is Derpy,” the Doctor replied, motioning to himself and Derpy. “Now, you lot remember about how I said negative emotions were bad and you should stop feeling bad because it didn’t help.” “Yeah,” Vinyl replied. “You said not to worry, because it’s not the end of the world.” “Yeah, well, I was wrong!” The Doctor said in a slightly panicked and rushed tone. “I’d say panicking is the best response for you to have, because unless I’m really off today, the world IS about to end!” “What?!” All three mares replied. Just then, a metal rod extended from the ground. This rod sprouted a metal dish that began rotating and making a bleeping sound. The Doctor looked at it in horror, then turned his head to the sky. “They’re coming.”
Part 3: Precursor to WarDoctor Whooves New Settings; Old Enemies Part 3 Precursor to War Some Time Earlier: Dinky was still dumbfounded that she had allowed Scootaloo to talk her into this. She felt ridiculous. She was standing in a tree, with a line of stretchy bungee rope tied around her flank, right beside the other CMC, who were all in the same condition. She began regretting having friends. “I don’t know girls,” Dinky said, looking down from the high tree branch. “I’m pretty sure this is not what I want to do with my life.” “Don’t be such a worry wart Dinky,” Scootaloo said, looking at her around their other two friends. “We’ll never find our talent if we don’t try everything.” Dinky shook her head and sighed in submission. “What makes you think this is our special talent? It doesn’t seem like something you need a lot of skill to do. It’s just falling without hitting the ground. Don’t Pegasai do that normally?” The orangish colored, purple maned Pegusus gave her a dirty look. Dinky realized that she had brought up flying to a Pegasus who had severe trouble flying and quickly back stepped. “B-but, I guess it could be fun and maybe it’s more challenging than I think.” “Tha’s the spirit, Dinky,” Apple Bloom said. Sweetie Belle, the unicorn with the light grey coat and pink mane, didn’t look so sure. “Uh, Scootaloo,” she said. “Are you sure this is safe?” “Of course,” She said. “We’re all tied up, right?” “Right,” The others said. “Then let’s do it!” She shouted, leaping from the branch. Apple Bloom followed next. Dinky, not wanting to be left out, dropped next. Only Sweetie Belle hesitated. As the three fillies bounced on the cords, they randomly bumped into each other, reinforcing Sweetie’s decision to stay on the branch. As their swinging finally stopped, the three fillies simply hung from the branch, groaning in pain. “How do we get down?” Dinky asked, finally realizing she had no idea. “Darn,” Scootaloo muttered, “I knew I forgot something!” “Oh, nice job Scootaloo!” Dinky called out. “Now I’m going to spend the rest of my life hanging from a tree.” “Maybe we have tree hanging cutie marks,” Apple Bloom stated, trying to look at her flank. “Forget it!” Dinky declared. “This is crazy! I’m not making hanging from a tree my special talent. Sweetie!” The filly in the tree tried hard not to look down as she replied, “What?” “Can you levitate?” Dinky asked. “I’m not that good at it.” “Y-yeah,” she replied. “I want you to undo the ropes and levitate us down one at a time,” she said. “Start with me.” “Why you?!” Scootaloo demanded. “Because I can help lower you two,” Dinky said. “I’m not good at levitating, but I can help make it easier.” Scootaloo pouted. “Okay, but I go next.” Dinky rolled her eyes as she felt the rope start to slack. Internally, she contemplated letting Scootaloo drop just to show her what-for. She fell sharply for a second before Sweetie’s magic began supporting her, allowing her to fall slowly, but very unsteadily. She softly reached the ground and looked up to the others. She saw Sweetie begin loosening Scootaloo’s rope; and something else. It looked like a bright red star moving through the sky, and getting bigger. She quickly realized it was some sort of meteorite and started to call to the others. It was too late. The object tore through the base of the tree, kicking up dirt and debris, which Dinky instinctively blocked with a magic shield. She soon heard the tell-tale sound of wood breaking and screaming fillies as the tree began to fall. Dinky kept out of the way of the trunk as it landed against a hill, wedged at an upward angle against other trees. Once the dust settled, Dinky ran up along the tree, calling for her friends. To her shock and relief, she saw that Scootaloo’s choice of trees had been fortunate. She could see two fillies dangling just a few feet from the ground. She ran up to check on what she was sure was a terrified Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. However, to her surprise, it was Sweetie hanging beside Apple Bloom. “Sweetie?” she said in confusion. “How…?” “I lost my grip,” she said, trying to undo the knot on her waist. “I am never doing this again!” “Me neither,” said Apple Bloom. “Of all the plum stupid messes y’all got us in Scootaloo… Hey, where is Scootaloo?” Dinky also realized that Scootaloo wasn’t there. “Scootaloo!” She called out. “SCOOTALOO!” Nearby, she could pick up the sound of crying. She ran towards the sound as her friends plopped down to the ground before following her. She returned to the area where the tree had stood. The sound came from the other side, so they went under the felled trunk. On the other side, they could see Scootaloo, clutching her hind-left leg and crying profusely. “SCOOTALOO!” the others called out in a panic. All three ran to their friend. “Wha’s wrong?” Apple Bloom asked. “Are ya hurt?” “M-m-m-my Leg!” Scootaloo stuttered between sobs. “Is-is-is-is-It’s brokeeeennnn!” Dinky felt a sharp pain in her chest. She instantly regretted wishing ill on her friend as tears came to her eyes, too. She looked at the leg. The bruising was familiar. Her mother had broken one of her legs when she was younger during a flying accident. Scootaloo’s looked like that. Luckily, Dinky knew what to do. She closed her eyes and began concentrating. “What do we do?” asked Sweetie in a panic. “The grown ups are going to throw a fit! My sister will ground me for a year!” “Forget the grown-ups!” Apple Bloom replied. “What do we do with poor Scootaloo? Ah, don’t know how to fix a leg.” “I don’t either,” Sweetie said. “Dinky, do you…” Sweetie stopped talking; as did Apple Bloom. They saw Dinky’s horn glow brightly, brighter than they’d seen it do before. Dinky opened her eyes, which were now white with magic. The magic wrapped around Scootaloo’s leg. Her sobs seemed to subside as she opened her eyes and saw Dinky’s magic. The bruising on her leg began to fade. The magic picked up the bungee rope and some sticks which had fallen from the tree. These wrapped around Scootaloo’s leg, forming a makeshift brace. As her magic faded, Dinky collapsed to the ground, exhausted. She had never tried a healing spell like that before. She had practiced on small animals in secret, but never on a pony. Being so young, she gave all she had. Scootaloo sat up, still in pain, but not nearly as much. She marveled briefly at the brace, before seeing Dinky on the ground. “Dinky!” she called out as she ran to the filly, though she limped on her only partially healed leg. Dinky groggily pulled herself up. “Are you okay?!” Scootaloo said in panic. “Yeah,” Dinky said, rubbing her head which ached from the strain. “Just a bit… drained.” “How did you do that?” Sweetie asked. “I didn’t know you could do healing magic!” “I read a book about it,” Dinky said. “Mommy gets hurt sometimes when she flies. I thought, if I could do healing spells, I could help her when she’s hurt.” “So, y’all healed Scootaloo’s broken leg,” Apple Bloom said. “No,” Dinky said. “It’s only a first-aid spell. I set the bone and adhered the parts together, but she still needs to see a doctor and get it properly healed. The brace’ll hold it togther ‘til we get back to Ponyville.” “That’s Awesome, Dinky!” Scootaloo said as she hugged her friend. “You’re the best ever!” Dinky was slightly surprised, as Scootaloo always seemed to hate public displays of affection. But, she smiled and returned the hug. However, they broke apart the instant their friends “Aww”ed. Both blushed, but smiled. “Thanks Dinky,” Scootaloo said after the pause. “And… I’m sorry I got us into this mess.” “It’s okay,” Dinky said. “But, we better hurry. You need a doctor, right away.” The Pegasus agreed. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle supported Scootaloo as the fillies made their way out of the woods. None of them noticed the dish pop out from the ground where the object had fallen. “The energy readings from the pre-adolescent were unexpectedly high,” said a synthetic voice. The monitor showed four small creatures in a monochromatic image. “We have never encountered a race with such abilities,” The voice continued. “We must Integrate these characteristics into the new models.” “Agreed,” replied a second, deeper voice. “These specimens will greatly increase our power. With this new power, nothing will stop us from Upgrading the universe.” “Leader!” Called a third voice, near a second screen. The sound of stomps could be heard drawing toward the second screen. “Report,” said the deeper voice. “He is here,” the third voice said. On the monitor were four more creatures in monochrome. One was outlined in red. “The Doctor is here!” “Perfect,” said the deeper voice. “Prepare first squadron. Delete the Doctor.” “DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!” “Excuse me!?” Octavia exclaimed. “What in the name of Celestia are you on about?” “You heard me,” The Doctor said, regaining a more pragmatic tone. “The world is about to end. Go home; hide under your bed; kiss your loved ones goodbye and pray to whatever gods you worship that they kill you.” “Why the heck would we prey for that?!” Vinyl said in shock. “Because, if they don’t, you’ll spend all of eternity wishing they had.” Derpy shivered. The tone of the Doctor’s voice, which had been so welcoming and warm, now filled her with dread. “D-Doctor,” she said, tears starting to form. The Doctor turned to her and his hearts seemed to break a bit. The terror in those eyes made him realize how he was acting and he began to regret it. “Oh, Derpy,” he said. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be like this. It’s just… I’ve seen what they can do. I’ve seen them in action so many times before. I’m sorry.” “What are they?” Octavia said. “Are they invaders from space?” “Yes,” The Doctor said. He looked at her. “But you know that already, don’t you?” Octavia seemed to recoil from that. “W-what makes you say that?” “That device you have with you,” he said, motioning to the device protruding from her saddlebag, where she had haphazardly stuffed it. “Unless I miss my guess, and I rarely do when it comes to technology, it’s a receiver. It picks up the tracking signal generated by the probes while in transit and calculates their trajectory. Pretty impressive. Judging by my estimates of this world’s technological levels, just at a cursory glance mind you, I’d say that’s not a commercially available device, am I right?” “I-I uh…” she stuttered. “Look, Octavia was it?” the Doctor said in a slower tone. “I realize I’m putting you on the spot here, but I think being honest is the best place to start right now. Rassilon knows, we haven’t much else.” Octavia looked at the others. Derpy still seemed shaken up and now looked at her with nervous suspicion. Vinyl had the same determined look on her face as when she had questioned Octavia earlier. She had to admit, she admired Vinyl’s dedication. In any other circumstance, she might have been more open with her. As it was, she now Had to be open with everypony, if only to alleviate the focus on herself. She reached her mouth into the other side of her saddlebag and pulled out a small leather wallet. It opened to reveal a metal badge and an ID card with her picture on it. The badge read, “E.Q.U.I.T.” “I am Lieutenant Octavia, agent of EQUIT,” she said. “The Equestria United Intelligence Taskforce. I was sent here under orders from Celestia herself.” “Whoa!” Vinyl exclaimed. “Man! I knew you were hiding something. I didn’t really expect this, but I knew it was something. I bet you’re like some totally amazing super spy who saves the world from mad dictators and freaky monsters! Rock On!” “Right…” Octavia said, slightly annoyed. She brushed off that feeling as she continued. “Actually, EQUIT handles the things you never hear about. Mysterious sightings, extraequestrial visitation, supernatural occurrences and so-on. We normally leave the big, overt things to the Princesses and their new Elements of Harmony users.” “Oh!” Vinyl replied. “Hey, have you met any of them? I’m a personal friend of one of them, you know.” “Not personally,” Octavia said. “Although, I think I was physically assaulted by one during The Gala last year. This overly energetic pink pony requested we do the pony pokey, of all things. She made up her own words and then ran up behind me and forcefully ran my bow faster over the strings; nearly broke them. Last time I volunteer for guard duty at the Gala.” Vinyl giggled. “Yep, that’s Pinkie.” “You played an instrument while performing guard duty?” Derpy asked, calmed down a bit from before. “That’s my cover,” she said. “EQUIT always recruits field agents with talents that don’t seem to lend themselves to spy work. It’s hard to hide your intention when your cutie mark is a magnifying glass or a folder marked ‘Top Secret’.” “Oh, so that’s what those mean,” the Doctor commented. “Thought there were too many to be tribal markings. But never mind! What do you know of the objects?” Octavia continued, “Several days ago, the Canterlot Astrological Institute began picking up energy waves from space. The Princesses didn’t know what it meant, since it somehow came from beyond the range of their influence.” “But, don’t the Princesses control everything in the heavens?” Derpy asked. “Afraid not,” Octavia stated. “You didn’t hear this from me, but the Princesses only manipulate the Sun and Moon. Everything else just exists on it’s own.” “Yeah, I was wondering about that too,” The Doctor said. “It’s usually not possible to find a geocentric system that isn’t artificial.” “Geo… what?” Derpy asked. “Geocentric,” The Doctor replied. “It means your planet is at the center of your system with a miniature star and normal-sized moon in parallel orbit over it. Normally planets orbit suns and moons orbit planets, but here it’s the sun and moon. It’s largely why I decided to investigate this world. To think that the nobility of this world have that kind of power is mind-boggling. I must meet with these Princesses of yours some time.” “Anyway,” Octavia continued, trying to regain control of the conversation, “we determined that the objects’ trajectory would center around Ponyville (big surprise) and I was sent to investigate them. Thus, I met all of you.” She then focused on the Doctor. “Now, what do You know of these things? You said just now that you came to investigate our world. What does that mean?” The Doctor turned back to the dish. “You lot may not believe this, but I have seen worlds beyond your imaginations. There are billions upon trillions of worlds out amongst the stars, and I have the ability to travel to them. I encountered these creatures in the early days of my journeys. Sadly, I didn’t make the best impression. What’s worse, my appearance on their world let them know there were life forms on other worlds. This motivated them into space travel. I’ve run into them continuously across the cosmos, watching as they transformed civilization after civilization. They’re a plague of the cosmos; and I’m responsible for it.” Derpy looked at him with concern, seeing the mournful expression on his face. “Doctor,” she muttered. “Wow,” Vinyl said, looking at Octavia. “And I thought your story was cool.” Octavia shook her head in disbelief. “Hold on,” she said. “That’s impossible. Not even the Princesses themselves can pass beyond our own system. To visit other worlds would require incredible magic. Nopony in Equestria has that kind of power, much less a simple Earth Pony.” The Doctor turned his head back to them with a small smirk. “What if I’m not from Equestria?” “Oh, I see where this is going,” Vinyl muttered, a grin spreading across her face. “What is that meant to mean?” Octavia asked. The Doctor turned completely around. “I fear that I haven’t been totally honest with you lot, which is rarely polite in my experience. Allow me to properly introduce myself.” He bowed once again. “I am The Doctor. I am a Time Pony of the Planet Gallopfrey; I am 350 years old and I am not of your world.” The three all stared at him with a mix of shock and disbelief (mostly from Octavia). “Doctor,” Derpy muttered in surprise. “Hello,” he replied. “Now, if that’s all, we should really return to the problem at present. Standing this close to the transmitter, they’ve probably picked up on my presence. If I’m not mistaken, they’ll probably send a preliminary force to deal with me. And, if my calculations are correct, assuming their ship is just outside the system, as usual, then they should be here in roughly…” The Doctor trailed off as he noticed a large shadow over them. They all looked up at a large ship made up of various polygonal shapes. It had a general squarish shape and seemed to hang in the air without any visible means of propulsion. From the sides emerged seven pony-like silhouettes which slowly descended towards them. “Is that them Doctor?!” Derpy said in a panic. “Yes,” The Doctor said sternly as he watched the figures slowly drew closer. “It’s them. It’s the Cyberponies!” As they descended, their features became clearer. They were solid metal creatures with silver colored armoring. Their heads had tubing that ran from the sides of the head to a bump on the top. Their expressions were emotionless. On their hips, where a Pony would find a cutie mark, was emblazoned a simple silhouette of the Cyberponies’ face. They landed softly before the four ponies, the only sound being a sudden thud as they hit the ground. Their black eyes focused on The Doctor. “You Are The Doctor,” said the center pony, its mouth glowing in time with its words. “You will be Deleted.” The Doctor didn’t even have to think about his next word. It was a word that came naturally to him; a word he used so often with himself that saying was pure instinct. A word that best suited the very situation he found himself in. “RUN!”
Part 4: Run!Doctor Whooves New Settings; Old Enemies Part 4 Run! It hadn’t taken more than the word to set them all running. They could hear heavy steps behind them, moving at a regular pace. They knew better than to question just what “Delete” meant, as they suspected by the tone it wasn’t good. All three mares followed after the Doctor as they sprinted away from the metal abominations. Vinyl Scratch looked back; noticing that, despite their pace, the Cyberponies kept their steady march. “Ha!” she called out. “Those metal dipsticks move like snails. We’ll lose them in no time.” The Cyberponies all stopped in place. A whirring sound emitted from them as metal wheels projected from their feet. The tires screeched as they were propelled forward by their wheels. Octavia stared back a the change of situation and then stared dead-pan at Vinyl. “You just had to say it, didn’t you.” Vinyl chuckled nervously. “Heh heh heh. My bad.” “Keep going!” The Doctor commanded. “They don’t use those for too long. It drains their batteries.” “Nice to know I’m not the only pony with technical problems!” Octavia replied. They ran on, managing to keep ahead of the metal marauders. As they did, Octavia made an observation of her own. Namely, that their path seemed completely clear of civilians. “Where is everypony?” She asked. “You’d think we’d have hit a crowd by now.” “Those probably have something to do with it!” The Doctor commented, as they passed another dish sticking from the ground. “Looks like they landed across town. I’d imagine everyone reacted much like they did to the one we found.” “That’s ponyville,” Vinyl said. “These ponies panic at the drop of a horseshoe.” “It’s true,” Derpy confirmed. “Well, you two certainly seem to be exceptions,” The Doctor said. “Honestly, I’m too confused by all this to panic,” Derpy said. “DELETE. DELETE.” “Alien robots aside, of course,” she continued. “And I’m a manehattan girl,” Vinyl said. “I was raised to take care of myself. I don’t panic easy like these small-town ponies.” “DELETE. DELETE.” “Again, robots aside,” Vinyl finished. “With you there, Derp.” The four took a corner, which their robotic antagonists seemed to have trouble navigating, causing them to bump into one another and wheel out of control. “I forgot to mention,” the Doctor said, a huge smile crossing his face as he looked back. “They’re also total pants at taking corners. Ha Ha!” The group began to pass through the market area of town, which had another dish. Much of the merchandise was strewn about the ground, likely knocked down by panicking ponies. While The Doctor, Vinyl and Octavia were able to dodge the felled fruit and boxes, Derpy’s eyes chose that exact moment to betray her. She failed to focus on a crate in her path, which caused her to violently trip and tumble. “Derpy!” The Doctor exclaimed, coming to a halt. The others stopped too, as they saw the recovered Cyberponies drawing towards her. Both Vinyl and Octavia dashed back towards her. Derpy, dazed from the fall, pulled herself up from the ground. Her head quickly cleared when she heard the familiar chanting of “DELETE. DELETE.” She turned and saw the Cyberponies baring down on her. She screamed and dropped to the ground, covering her head. “DELETE. DELETE.” The Cyberponies chanted as they began to surround Derpy. One lifted its right fore-leg, which sparked with blue energy. “Delete THIS!” The Cyberponies all raised their heads as the speaker, one fast-approaching Vinyl, leaped at the lead Cyberpony and delivered a flying back-kick. Still wheeled, this sent the machine flying backwards. She then began bucking and kicking the others, violently driving them off. Octavia joined in, knocking away the ones closest to Derpy, then helping her to her feet. All three ran back to the Doctor and the group returned to running. “Nice moves there Vinyl,” Octavia commented. “Thanks,” Vinyl replied. “Man! That felt good!” The Cyberponies reoriented themselves and returned to the chase. However, they quickly realized that their targets were gone. They had apparently turned another corner and were out of their sight. “Targets lost.” “Must reacquire targets.” “Divide. Engage search pattern gamma. Find Targets.” The machines divided and spread out through the various alleys and streets. What they failed to realize was that their targets hadn’t run down the other roads. In fact, they weren’t on the streets at all. They looked down from atop one of the nearby houses as their pursuers spread across town. “Interesting fact number 2 about Cyberponies;” the Doctor said, “they’re logical to a fault. Luckily, this place seems to be anything but. Nice work Miss. Scratch.” Vinyl, who had teleported them to the roof, was breathing heavily from the magical exertion. “No…huh…prob…hah…Doc…” She said between breaths. “Please don’t call me that,” the Doctor replied indignantly. Octavia patted the Unicorn pony on the shoulder supportively. “Nice work, Scratch. You seem to be full of surprises.” Vinyl buffed her hoof against her chest in a showoffy fashion. “Yep. Like I said, I learned my skills on the streets of Manehattan. Rule number one for dealing with trouble on the streets; always have an exit strategy.” “Words to live by,” The Doctor replied. “Now, we need a plan. As long as they’re focused on us, it means they aren’t ready to move in yet. We might have time to prepare some sort of counter strike. Octavia, can you contact your superiors?” Octavia nodded. “The signal detector also works as a communicator. It uses a new technology called ‘radio’ to send messages.” “Brilliant,” The Doctor said. “Call in the army! If there are more out there with power like Miss. Scratch, we might stand a chance.” Octavia pulled out the device from her saddlebag. She fiddled with it for a second, but the screen was blank. “ERR! Blast! The dratted thing’s out of power again. The battery must be faulty. Vinyl, I need a charge.” Vinyl strained herself as she tried to light her horn. It gave a few sparks, but fizzled out. “No good,” Vinyl replied. “I drained everything I had to get us all up here at once. It’s amazing I can get it to spark.” The Doctor pulled the Sonic Screwdriver from his pocket and buzzed it over Vinyl. “She’s right,” he said, looking at the tip. “Her psychic energy is almost totally drained. It will take at least a two hours to fully recharge.” he returned the sonic to his jacket, a stern look upon his face. “So, that’s no backup then?” “Afraid so,” Octavia admitted. “What do we do?” Derpy asked. “I doubt any of the other ponies will help as long as those things are running about.” “Right,” The Doctor replied as he started to pace the roof. He turned his head to Octavia. “Is there anything else you can use to power that thing?” Octavia shook her head. “The batteries run on electricity. Short of a unicorn, I don’t know of anything that can produce that.” “Could you power it?” Derpy asked the Doctor. “Maybe you could use the Sonic Screwdriver.” The Doctor shook his head. “Doesn’t run on electricity. And I couldn’t be sure if the power would be compatible with the device.” Then, Vinyl’s eyes widened. “Wait!” She shouted. “I have a battery at home! I use it to power my equipment! It can store a ton of power, more than enough to get that thing working.” The Doctor smiled widely, “Miss. Scratch, you truly are a marvel today! Where is your house?” “Not far,” Vinyl replied, running towards the side of the building. She jumped to the parallel roof and landed with ease. “We can take the rooftops to get there.” “Right then,” the Doctor said, turning to the other mares. “Up for another run ladies?” Both nodded and the group leaped after Vinyl, following her to her house. Dinky looked about nervously. The town seemed totally abandoned. She lead the other Cutie Mark Crusaders through town. Both Sweetie and Apple Bloom were having trouble carrying Scootaloo after the long distance they walked from the woods. Dinky had hoped that, upon reaching town, an adult would help get Scootaloo to the hospital. However all the adults were gone from the roads. In there place, she noticed, were intermittently placed metal disks on sticks. “Where is eveypony?” Sweetie asked. “I don’t know,” Dinky said. “I don’t like this one little bit.” “Are you okay, Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked her friend. “It still hurts,” Scootaloo said. “I really need a doctor, bad.” Dinky looked about cautiously. “I don’t see anypony,” she said. “We’ll have to carry her the rest of the way. Sweetie, switch with me. I’ll help carry her from here.” Sweetie stepped away from the filly, and Dinky took her place. They continued to walk, unaware that a pair of black eyes were following them. Secondary targets acquired, The Cyberpony drone silently signaled to its ship. Awaiting command. Capture Targets, came the response in its head. Live samples needed for research. Orders received. The four ponies leaped across the roofs in harmony. They had made good time and had yet hit any gaps they couldn’t cross. However, Vinyl suddenly came to a halt, causing the others to stop as well. “What’s wrong?” Derpy asked. “Nothing,” Vinyl replied. “Just trying to get my bearings. I’ve never had to find my way home from above before.” “Yeah,” Derpy said. “That can be hard.” “Heh, yeah, especially for you,” Vinyl chortled. Derpy’s eyes widened. Then she lowered her head and turned away. Octavia noticed Derpy’s reaction a preceded to smack Vinyl’s shoulder, hard. “OW!” Vinyl exclaimed. “What?” “A little tact would be nice,” Octavia chided, motioning to the sullen Derpy, who was now sitting on the edge of the roof. “Oh,” Vinyl said, feeling like she’d shoved her hoof in her mouth for the umpteenth time that day. “I’ll talk with her,” The Doctor said. “You just focus on getting us to that battery, Miss. Scratch.” “Right,” Vinyl replied sullenly. The Doctor trotted up to Derpy and sat down beside her. They were silent for the first moment. Eventually, it was Derpy who broke the silence. “I’m sorry,” she said. “What for?” asked the Doctor. “I’m pretty sure it was Miss. Scratch who was the rude one in this situation.” “I’m sorry for acting down like this,” Derpy replied. “It’s just… I’ve been having such an exciting day. Sure, I’m terrified, but I’m also thrilled. For the first time, I feel like I’m a part of something bigger than myself. I feel important. But, at the end, I’m still…” She pointed to her eyes, though they were closed. The Doctor knew what she meant. He had noticed her condition from the start. He wasn’t lying when he said he loved the way her eyes were, but he could understand how others might judge something like that. Traveling as he did, the Doctor had seen many strange sights. He’d long ago learned to look past the strange to find the beauty in things. With Derpy, there was hardly even an effort needed. To him, she was just as lovely as any creature he had ever met. Thinking about it, the Doctor found what he needed to say. “I understand,” he admitted. “I’m very much the same.” Derpy looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?” The Doctor sighed. “My people were old when the universe was young. We uncovered the secrets of reality and used them to make gods of ourselves. All that power, can you imagine? The power to change everything. The power to make things better for everyone. But, we’ve always kept it to ourselves. We never interfere, never help, even when we can. I felt that was… wrong; horribly wrong. And I said so.” He turned to face Derpy, who watched him with fascination. “I’ve been ridiculed my whole life for that. Scorned for believing we had a responsibility to the universe to try and help people.” “It sounds horrible,” Derpy said, sullenly. “I agree,” said the Doctor. “It’s really quite rubbish. I don’t care if it is rude to say or not, it’s true. That’s why I left. I became a renegade. My true name was stricken from time and space, forbidden from ever being uttered. Who I was is gone. Now there’s only, the Doctor.” Derpy stared at him. She’d not noticed before, but his eyes looked old. They looked older than the oldest eyes she’d ever seen. She also saw a sadness there; a deep rooted sadness. She leaned her head against him, a deep instinct wanting to comfort him. The Doctor hadn’t quite expected this, but smiled at the sentiment. He didn’t do anything, but let her stay there. “Hey, Doctor!” Vinyl called, pulling them out of their moment. “I think it’s this way!” The Doctor and Derpy both stood and returned to their companions. Vinyl stood before Derpy and said, “Hey, Derp. I’m --uh-- sorry for what I said. I…” “It’s okay,” Derpy replied with a smile. “Just the apology is good enough. Most ponies never even do that.” “Oh,” Vinyl said in surprise. “Well… I guess we move on.” As they readied to leave, a sound caught them. They all turned at the sound of somepony screaming. “What was that?” Vinyl asked. “The Cyberponies must have found civilians!” the Doctor exclaimed. “It sounds like foals!” Octavia said with panic. As she listened to the cries, Derpy thought she heard something familiar. She strained her ears, barely detecting a single word. A word uttered in a voice that chilled her blood. “Mommy!” Derpy’s eyes shot wide. “My baby!” she said. Instantly, she leaped into the air and soared towards the sound. The sound of her child in danger. “Derpy!” The Doctor cried out. “What’s going on?!” Vinyl said in a panic. The Doctor turned to her. “Miss. Scratch, take the lieutenant’s device! Charge it your house. We’ll meet you there!” “Right,” she said, deciding to trust the colt. “I live at 1961 Edward St.” Octavia gave Vinyl the device and the mare took off. “Octavia, you’re with me,” The Doctor said. “Miss. Hooves is in way over her head.” “Aye sir,” she replied. The two dove off the roof, which wasn’t too high, and took off running when they hit the ground. Dinky was sweating hard. Her horn burned brightly as her force field held back the prodding hoof of the metal monster. It had lumbered toward them shortly after they had entered town. Dinky immediately put up a shield to protect her and her friends, but the blue energy spouting from the monster’s hoof was making it harder and harder for her to hold it back. The remaining Crusaders cowered behind Dinky, awaiting the end with tears in their eyes. “Resistance is illogical.” the monster stated in its cold, reverberating voice. “You will die under the strain of my power. Surrender and join your friends in upgrading.” “NEVER!” Dinky shouted. “Acknowledged. DELETE. DELETE. DELETE.” Hot tears ran down Dinky’s eyes. Her shield was cracking. She knew this was the end and silently begged that her friends be spared. Then, her eyes shot wide as a familiar voice caught her ear; “GET AWAY FROM MY BABY!” The Cyberpony barely had time to react as a grey and yellow blur dove right into it. Dinky dropped her shield in shock as she watched her mother repeatedly punch the metal monster with her bare hooves. “YOU…WON’T… HURT…MY…BABY… YOU…BRUTE!” Derpy exclaimed between punches. “Error! Error! Error!” The monster called out. It tried to zap Derpy, but her off-center eyes caught sight of it, allowing her to jump away. The machine stood up and made to attack, but Derpy delivered a two-legged back-kick to the Cyberpony’s head. The metal head was knocked clean off its body, the neck sparking before the rest of it fell down. Derpy panted with exhaustion. Her fore-hooves were bleeding. She didn’t notice the four fillies looking on in sheer awe. Dinky’s eyes dripped with tears as she rushed to Derpy and hugged her. “Mommy!” she exclaimed. “Oh, my baby!” Derpy exclaimed, pulling Dinky close, not noticing the blood she had gotten on her daughter. All she noticed was that her child was safe. “Oh my sweet little muffin! I’m so glad you’re safe!” “You were amazing, Mommy!” Dinky said. “You saved us from that monster. You’re the best mommy ever!” The two continued to hug. However, they failed to notice that the body of the Cyberpony was starting to get up again. The other fillies, however, did notice and all called out; “Look out!” The two turned to see the headless metal drone raise an energized hoof. But this didn’t last long, as a certain dark-colored mare delivered a drop kick against the drone. The drone tumbled hard against the ground and sparked more before going limp again. “Octavia!” Derpy cried gratefully. Octavia flipped her hair from her face and smiled down at her new friend. “Always happy to serve, ma’am,” she said with a dramatic bow. The Doctor also ran up, kneeling beside the Cyber-body and running the Sonic Screwdriver over it. He flipped it up to his eyes and then placed it back in his coat. “It’s safe,” he said. “Reflex action. The body took a minute too long to realize it was dead and tried to carry out its final command.” He then turned to Derpy and Dinky. “Are you alright, Miss. Hooves?” Derpy nodded. “We are now.” “Who are you?” Dinky asked. Derpy smiled and answered her child; “He’s the Doctor. He’s Mommy’s new friend.” She turned to the Doctor. “Doctor, this is my daughter, Dinky.” The Doctor smiled and bowed. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Dinky nodded in reply, not sure what to make of the strange Earth-pony. However, she could see the trust in her mother’s expressions towards him and that made her feel more comfortable. It had been a long time since she had seen that look in her mother’s face. The other CMC ran up to the adults in their friends and begin rambling about what all they had seen in the last few minutes. The girls’ excitement was certainly uplifting for the weary group. Dinky felt a great swelling of pride for how much her friends complemented her mother. However she was pulled out of it when she realized that her mother was hurt. “Mommy! You’re bleeding!” she cried out. Derpy looked at her hooves, only now realizing they were indeed bleeding. “Heal her!” Scootaloo said. “Like you did me!” “No!” Derpy commanded. “You’ve already spent your magic protecting your friends. I’ll be fine.” “But, mommy,” Dinky protested. Derpy put a hoof under her daughter’s chin. “You’ve been so brave today, Muffin. But I can take care of myself.” Dinky nodded, submitting to her mother’s wishes. The two hugged again, bringing about yet another chorus of “Awe” from Dinky’s friends. Meanwhile, the Doctor was running his Sonic Screwdriver over the head of the Cyberpony, which he held in his hooves. Octavia was at his side, watching him examine the macabre object. “Anything?” she asked. “Thing’s still transmitting,” he said. “The system must have backup power cells in the head.” “Can they track us?” she said in a worried tone. “Yes,” The Doctor stated. “That is, if they were still searching for us.” “What do you mean?” The Doctor looked up at her in deep concern. “The head just received new orders. ‘Move to designated coordinates and wait for ground forces.’” “Which means?” she prodded, already guessing the answer. “They’re not concerned with us anymore. They’re ready to invade.” A fleet of cyber-ships descended towards Equestria. Inside each, an army of Cyberponies waited for the moment of invasion. The Great Upgrade had begun.
Part 5: The Final TrackDoctor Whooves New Settings; Old Enemies Part 5 The Final Track The Cyberponies across Ponyville gathered together in the town square. The only missing one was the one destroyed by The Doctor’s companions. They did not think about this. Their orders were to gather at these coordinates. There was nothing else but that. They stood there for several minutes, waiting. They didn’t wait very long. Many shadows descended over the town, cast by the Cyber-ships. Each ship began releasing their forces, who all gathered in the square. Soon, the pursuer ponies were lost in the crowd of identical mechanoids. Soon, they began marching across town, spreading down every street. The ponies, who had retreated to their homes when the objects fell, all curled up in fear as they waited what they were sure was the end of the world The Doctor and his companions were racing down the road, following Derpy to the address Vinyl had given them. Fortunately, the mail mare knew the address, as it had been on her route before. Each of the adult ponies carried at least one of the fillies. Derpy carried her daughter and Apple Bloom, Octavia carried Sweetie Belle and the Doctor carried the injured Scootaloo. Of the three, it was Octavia was having the hardest time, as she was also carrying the severed head of the Cyberpony with her, supported by Sweetie. “Doctor!” She said. “I’ve gone along with you on this so far because I’m convinced you know best what to do in this situation.” “But?” The Doctor said, knowing that it was coming. “But,” Octavia continued, “why in Celestia’s name are we bringing this horrid thing with us?” “The head is still transmitting,” the Doctor replied. “I used the Sonic to sever its auditory functions, but its optics still work fine. It knows it’s still with us, which means that the others know it too.” “And that’s good, why exactly?” The Doctor turned to her with a very serious expression. “Because if they know we have the head, they might think we’re up to something. If they think we’re up to something they might divert some of their forces to deal with us first; which means that it will take longer for them to round up all the civilians.” Octavia understood. Civilian safety was top priority in the Doctor’s mind at that moment. She smiled. “You’re a great stallion Doctor,” she said. “We’re here!” Derpy called out. They came to a stop in front of the white, two story house at the corner of Edward St. The Doctor went up and knocked on the door. “Miss. Scratch!” He called. “It’s us!” In a few seconds, the door flew open and Vinyl pulled the Doctor inside. Derpy and Octavia followed suit and Vinyl slammed the door behind them. “What took you ponies so long?” She said anxiously. “Rescue operation,” the Doctor said as he walked up to the couch in Vinyl’s living room and gently deposited his passenger onto it. “Rest here little one,” he said to Scootaloo. “We’ll get you a doctor real soon.” “Aren’t you a doctor?” the filly asked. The Doctor smiled warmly. “Not that kind of Doctor, I’m afraid.” Derpy and Octavia let down their charges, who immediately ran to the couch to be with their friend. After that, they all took in Vinyl’s home. The walls were covered in posters of various pony bands. She had a set of shelves dedicated to her collection of vinyl records. At the far end of the room was set up a large sound system with several sub-woofers reaching to the ceiling. “Wow,” Octavia commented. “I thought I was a music pony.” “Miss. Scratch!” The Doctor said. “Did you charge the device?” “Yeah,” She said, holding it out in her hoof. “Hooked it up to my battery and it’s fully charged.” “Good,” He replied. “Miss. Octavia, make the call. We need that backup.” Octavia nodded and took the device from Vinyl. She once again returned to figiting with the device, but now it was making a loud, staticky noise. “No, no no no! Come on!” “What is it now?” Vinyl exclaimed. “Argh! I can’t get a signal out! The blasted thing still won’t work.” The Doctor grimaced and smacked his head. “No no no no no! Stupid, stupid Doctor! The Cyberponies’ transmissions are overwhelming the device. There’s no chance we could get a signal out now!” “What do we do?” Derpy asked anxiously. “I DON’T KNOW!” The Doctor exclaimed loudly. He began pacing around Vinyl’s living room. “I need to think! There has to be something we can do.” “Well, I’d think fast,” called the voice of Dinky, who was looking out the window positioned over the couch. “’Cause they’re coming this way!” The three adult mares rushed to the window while the Doctor continued pacing. Outside, they could see, an army of Cyberponies slowly marched down the road. Though it would take time for them to get there, there wasn’t much time. “What do we do, Doctor?” Derpy asked again. “I don’t know!” The Doctor also repeated. “We can’t fight them; there’s too many. We can’t run because there’s nowhere To run. We can’t call for help and we can’t save anyone.” The Doctor continued to pace, muttering to himself. The fillies started to cry as the weight of what was happening settled upon them. Octavia and Derpy sat beside them and embraced the girls in an act of comfort. Derpy nuzzled her daughter and the injured Scootaloo, while Octavia simply held on to Sweetie and Apple Bloom. The Doctor grumbled before raising his head. “Miss. Scratch. Any chance we can use some of your equipment as makeshift weapons? If we have to fight, it’d be better to have a sporting shot.” There was no answer. The Doctor turned to the pony in question. She was standing still with her eyes closed and a familiar device clamped over her ears. “Miss. Scratch?” The Doctor said. “Can you hear me?” He noticed the device over her ears and grimaced harder. He mumbled about the rudeness of it all as he made to pull the device off her ears and give the sunglasses wearing pony what for. Then he removed them. The room practically shook from the power of Vinyl’s headset. The music blared, forcing everypony to cover their ears. Vinyl quickly turned the Ibox off, while everypony else tried to shake the blaring rock and roll from their heads. “For Celestia’s sake, Vinyl!” Octavia said. “What possessed you to have that music so loud?!” “I’m sorry!” Vinyl said anxiously. “I do that when I’m nervous or alone or scared! I’m terrified right now, all right?! I needed to block all this out!” “I understand,” Octavia replied, trying to sound comforting. “I’m scared too. But that’s still no excuse to destroy your hearing. It’s amazing your head didn’t explode!” Vinyl went on to explain that she had very resilient eardrums, but the Doctor had completely fazed out of reality. His eyes were wide and his mouth small as the words, “…head…explode…” swirled in his brain. Then, there was a spark. He gasped, and then a huge grin spread across his face. “That’s it!” The Doctor exclaimed. He ran up to Vinyl, grabbed her head and kissed her right on the mouth. When he pulled away, the mare was totally speechless and completely confused. “Miss. Scratch! You’re a genius!” The Doctor continued. He released her and turned to Octavia briefly. “She’s all yours now,” he said as he ran to Vinyl’s equipment. The others followed, still confused, as the Doctor began running his sonic screwdriver over the machines. “Ye-he-hes!” He shouted. “This can work! This can totally work! Vinyl!” “W-what?” The mare replied in shock. “Do you have any long metal rods? Something we could use like the antenna on Octavia’s device?” “I-I have a lightning rod for rainy days,” she replied. “It saves me having to charge stuff with magic all the time.” “Brilliant!” He responded. “Go get it! I have a plan!” “What is it Doctor?” Derpy asked. He smiled slyly. “Miss. Scratch is going to put on a show for us.” They all looked at him like he was crazy. The Cyberponies in the main ship watched the monitors as their forces drew nearer to The Doctor’s location. They didn’t know why he had made himself so easy to track. They did not care. He was trapped. They would delete him. “Cyberpony unit L-5-Delta,” said the lead Cyberpony. “Delete the Doctor. Capture his allies. They have proven to be superior specimens. They will be the first to be Upgraded.” They watched as their forces drew closer with cold anticipation. The Doctor tore and tangled wires from the console of Vinyl’s sound system as the others helped arrange the speakers in a circular pattern. Vinyl hung her lightning rod on her roof from the second floor window, taking a second to look over the huge number of metal terrors heading towards them. She pulled back in and ran down the steps. “This had better work Doctor,” she said, “because otherwise, we are screwed!” “Have some faith, my friend,” the Doctor replied cheerfully. “You place the rod?” “Yep,” Vinyl replied. “We’re set.” “Good. Now give me the cord.” Vinyl gave him the cord for the rod, which he took to the center of the room. There sat the Cyberpony head, which was wired to Octavia’s device. The Doctor connected the cord of the rod to the device’s clamp and ran the sonic over the whole configuration. “Perfect!” he said. “Now all I need do is finish upgrading Vinyl’s machines and we’re set!” The lead Cyberpony watched the monitors intently. It had noticed the white colored creature hanging a metal rod on the roof of the structure, but dismissed it as irrelevant. It was only focused on victory. “Leader,” one the other Cyberponies said. “There is a transmission coming from the planet.” “Source?” The leader inquired. “It appears to be the damaged Cyberpony unit. However, it is transmitting stronger than the normal channel. The signal is directly reaching our ship.” “Impossible. No Cyberpony can directly link with the ship. This is The Doctor’s ploy. Block the transmission.” “I cannot,” the drone replied. “There is a sonic encryption interlaced with the signal. It is breaking through our communication system.” Then, a familiar voice broke through on the intercom. “Hello! Is this thing on?” “Doctor!” The leader stated. “Oh, brilliant,” The Doctor replied. He cleared his throat dramatically and then continued; “HELLO CYBERPONIES! Now, I bet you all are wondering, ‘How the dickens did the Doctor hack our comms? Easy really; had a good head. And you should know, you built it.” “This communication is pointless,” the leader responded. “You will be deleted.” “Oh, really?” The Doctor said mockingly. “Well that Really is too bad, because we’ve got a lovely show for you tonight!” “… All the way from Ponyville, for her one-night-only pan-galactic rave; It is my honor to present the one, the only, VINYL SCRATCH!” With that, the Doctor cued Vinyl, who was sitting at her control station. The Doctor then dived behind her couch, joining the other as Vinyl switched on the system, the room vibrating from the hum of the subwoofers. They all covered their ears as Vinyl moved the needle of her turntables over an Eddy Van Neighlen record. The needle dropped. They say the sound could be heard all the way in Canterlot. All across Ponyville, windows shattered under the power of Rock and Roll. It was the kind of force that put a Sonic Rainboom to shame. The Cyberponies convulsed. The music wasn’t just entering their audio sensors, it was being transmitted into their brains at full volume. All of them, even the ones on the ship, were receiving the transmission at full force. The leader tried to order the communications be shut down, but it couldn’t get through the pure sound of Van Neighlen. Soon, its head exploded. Every Cyberpony’s head exploded. The metal monsters all fell to the power of the sound. Even the severed head they were using exploded, causing Vinyl to stop and turn off the system. She breathed heavily for a moment, taking in what had happened. “YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” She shouted excitedly. The others began to dazedly walk out from behind the couch, not fully recovered from the force they had unleashed. “Did it work?” Octavia said loudly, trying to overcome the ringing in her ears. The Doctor looked out the window, smiling at their results. “Yes!” he said. “Complete neural overload! I don’t know who this Van Neighlen fellow is, but he just saved this entire planet.” “Woo hoo,” Derpy said weakly, trying to rub a migraine from her head. Octavia ran up to Vinyl and embraced her, planting a small kiss on her cheek. “Vinyl, you were fantastic! You saved the world!” Vinyl smiled and blushed from the kiss. Then, she tilted her head and, in a loud voice, said, “WHAT DID YOU SAY?” The Doctor, Derpy, Vinyl, Octavia, Dinky, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, all walked out of Vinyl’s house. They surveyed the damage, as well as the metal husks littering the ground. The equestrian ponies all felt great relief. Derpy walked up beside the Doctor, hoping to share in the joy with him. However, her face fell when she saw his expression. His face as sullen, almost sorrowful. “What’s wrong?” She asked. He didn’t answer. She looked over the wreckage again. Then she realized the problem. He felt guilty. He felt guilty over killing them. “Oh,” she said at her realization. “It’s not really their fault,” he said. “Their race was dying. They made themselves like this to survive. But their minds got corrupted. They began to see everything organic as a sickness. They removed all that was alive in themselves and everything else. The walking dead.” “Then it’s good,” Derpy said. The Doctor looked at her in confusion. “Good?” he asked. “You set them free,” she replied. “Now, they can finally be at peace.” The Doctor nodded and returned his gaze to the fruits of his labor. “I wish there had been another way. Killing should never be the solution.” Octavia and Vinyl walked up beside Derpy, with the Cutie Mark Crusaders moving in front of them. Derpy sat and held her child. Eventually, the ponies of Ponyville began to leave their houses, in order to get an idea of what exactly had transpired. They all noticed the group of Ponies standing before the fallen creatures and drew near to get an explanation. Octavia smirked. “Looks like you have quite a lot of explaining to do, eh Doctor?” There was no answer. Octavia turned, only to find the Doctor had vanished. The other noticed too and looked about for any trace of him. However, there was no sign and soon the ponies were approached by the crowds and were forced to relay the story themselves. Derpy and Dinky entered their homes well into the dark of night. Derpy continued to rub her head with her, now bandaged, hooves. Her ears were still ringing as she put her mailbag down on its post. She hadn’t had a chance to finish her route, but doubted that anyone cared, as the whole town was abuzz over the alien invasion. Derpy, Vinyl and Octavia were heralded as heroes of the town. A photographer had taken their picture for the town newspaper, which she said would appear in the next day’s issue. Derpy sighed as she silently pondered the fate of the strange brown pony who had truly saved the day. As she hung up her bag, a letter fell out. Derpy recognized it as the blue colored dead letter she’d picked out earlier, before the madness started. She shook her head and picked it up from the floor and put it on the coffee table, resolving to deal with it in the morning. She sat down in her comfiest chair and just relaxed, as Dinky hopped onto her lap and snuggled up against her. “Mommy,” Dinky said. “Who was that pony?” Derpy knew she meant the Doctor. “I don’t know,” she said sullenly. “I wish I did.” “Where did he go?” Dinky asked. “Why did he leave?” Derpy shook her head. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “But, I think he’s all right.” They sat silently there. Some time passed before a knock came at the door. The two got up and went to the door. They were pleased to see Vinyl and Octavia waiting on the other side. Octavia was wearing a stylish grey beret with a metal badge with the word E.Q.U.I.T. printed on it. She also wore a grey vest which Derpy presumed went with the hat to make a uniform. “Hey,” Derpy said politely. “Good evening Miss. Hooves, Dinky,” Octavia said, bowing politely. “Hey Derp!” Vinyl said in an elevated tone. She covered her mouth and said, in a softer tone, “Oh, sorry. Hey Derpy.” “I’m glad to see you both again,” Derpy said. “Well, after all we’ve been through…” Octavia replied, trailing off at the end. Vinyl nodded. “It’s been a heck of a day.” Derpy nodded in reply, Dinky hugging her leg. “So,” Octavia continued, “any sign of The Doctor?” Derpy shook her head. “Not since that moment.” Vinyl kicked the ground. “Just like a guy. All riled up when the action’s going on. But once its over; Poof, out of here!” “Vinyl,” Octavia said chidingly. “I’m sure The Doctor had his reasons for leaving when he did.” “Yeah,” Vinyl replied halfheartedly. Derpy stepped aside invitingly. “Would you like to come in. I was about to make coffee.” “Thank you,” Octavia replied. “Coffee sounds good,” Vinyl commented. The two moved inside the house. Before they could get far, however, they heard a strange noise. “That’s a weird sounding coffee maker you got there,” Vinyl said. Derpy shook her head. “I haven’t started the coffee yet. I only just got back.” “Then what…?” Octavia’s question was interrupted when they noticed a light outside the door. They all ran to it, fearing more Cyberponies. Instead, what they saw was beyond comprehension. In a blur of light, a strange blue box materialized in front of Derpy’s house. The Box had a light on top and the words “Police Public Call Box” in white lettering over the door. Once it was fully solid, the door to the box opened, revealing a familiar brown pony. “Oh, hello everyone,” the Doctor said cheerfully as he stepped fully from the box. “DOCTOR!” Derpy said excitedly as she leaped forward and hugged the alien pony. The Doctor was slightly shocked by the action, but happily returned the gesture. The others walked up to them as Derpy broke the hug, smiling broadly. “Where were you?” Vinyl asked, not spitefully, but happily. “Sorry about that,” the Doctor replied. “Hate being the center of attention when I don’t have to be. Thought it would be best to let you lot handle the crowd.” “We thought you had gone,” Octavia said. “Gone?” The Doctor said with mock shock. “Without saying a proper goodbye? Octavia, what manner of Pony do you take me for?” They all had a good laugh at that. Dinky looked past the adults and took in the strange blue box that the Doctor stepped out of. “Is that your spaceship?” She asked. The Doctor smiled proudly and leaned an elbow against it. “Yep,” he said. “This is the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimensions In Space. Basically my free ride to the cosmos.” “But… it’s made of wood,” she said, knocking on it to confirm her suspicions. “It only looks and feels and sounds and tastes and pretty much is wood, except it really isn’t,” the Doctor said. The filly’s mind tumbled in her brain trying to process that. “It’s a disguise,” The Doctor clarified. “It can look like anything in order to blend in to its environment.” “What’s ‘Police Box’ mean?” Vinyl asked. The Doctor looked up at the sign, furrowing his eyebrows and shaking his head. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “For some reason she liked this form and now she wears it everywhere we go.” “She?” Derpy asked. “Yes, she,” The Doctor replied. “Looks kinda small for a spaceship,” Vinyl commented. The Doctor chuckled at that. “Oh, there’s more to her than meets the eye.” Octavia stepped forward. “I’m actually glad you’re back,” she said. “I have great news. I gave my report to my superior, who relayed it to the Princess. It seems there’s to be a celebration in honor of your saving Equestria.” “Oh,” the Doctor replied. “Well, that’s nice. Be sure to tell me how it goes.” Octavia gave him a surprised look, then laughed, assuming he was joking. “Doctor, the celebration is for you. You have to attend. It would be horribly rude if you didn’t.” “It would, wouldn’t it?” the Doctor said thoughtfully. “I suppose I could set aside some time next month to go and see how it works out.” “Next month?” Octavia said in confusion. “Doctor, the party will be in a week. A month is far too long to wait.” “Oh, don’t worry,” he said with a mischievous grin. “Tell them to have the party when they like. I’ll be there.” Octavia sighed in defeat, choosing not to press the matter. “So,” Derpy interjected. “I guess… this is goodbye.” The Doctor had a rather sad look on his face, as did they all. After such an incredible experience, splitting up seemed so unpleasant. “Yeah, I guess it is,” the Doctor replied. “Unless…” he added thoughtfully. “Unless what?” Derpy asked. “Well…” The Doctor motioned to the Tardis. “Come with me.” “Come with you?” They all said in unison. “Yeah, the lot of you,” he continued. “No reason to split up now. We’ve got a whole universe full of adventures to have, and I’m starting to get tired of going it alone. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have with me than you lot.” “YES YES YES YES YES YES YES, a hundred times, YES!” Vinyl exclaimed cheerfully. Octavia looked at her new friend with scrutiny. “Vinyl, be serious, we can’t all just up and leave.” “Maybe you can’t,” Vinyl replied, “but I sure can.” “What about your job?” Octavia said. “Don’t have one,” Vinyl said. “I work on commission.” “Well Derpy and I do,” Octavia said. “I have to report back to HQ post haste, Doctor or no Doctor.” “And I have to deliver the mail every day,” Derpy said with a sullen look. “And I couldn’t leave Dinky behind.” “Who said anything about leaving Dinky?” The Doctor asked. Dinky perked up at that. “Really?” She asked excitedly. Derpy looked at him incredulously, wrapping a leg around Dinky. “Are you crazy?!” she asked angrily. “She’s just a foal.” “But Mommy,” Dinky protested. “No buts,” She said protectively. “Besides, you have school.” Dinky slumped disappointedly. “Come on guys!” Vinyl urged. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance! Are you really gonna pass up seeing the stars for some lame jobs?” “Vinyl, you may live life with reckless abandon,” Octavia replied, “but some of us don’t have that luxury. We have responsibilities; to our jobs, our families, the people around us. We can’t just up and abandon that for, who knows how long.” “If I may,” the Doctor interjected, focusing on Derpy and Dinky. “I hope I needn’t remind everyone that this little marvel generates a force field powerful enough to hold back a Cyberpony. That’s no small feat, let me tell you.” Dinky smiled proudly at the compliment. “Not to mention,” he continued, “her mother beat up a Cyberpony with her bare hooves.” Derpy blushed, rubbing the bandages around her hooves. “Honestly, I’m not so worried about what danger you’re in if you wander the universe, than how much trouble the universe is in if it threatens you. And if you are still worried, know that I’ll always be there to keep you two safe. I swear it.” Dinky looked at her mother pleadingly. Derpy just couldn’t say no to that face. She sighed in submission and nodded her head. “Okay, Muffin,” she said. “We’ll go. But I want you to stay by me at all times, got it?” Dinky responded by leaping up and hugging her mother around the neck, which the mare returned in kind. The Doctor smiled at the display of affection shared by mother and child. Octavia just groaned in frustration. “Derpy, what about your job?” She asked. “And Dinky’s school. How are you going to explain the absences?” The Doctor walked up to Octavia and looked her in the eye. “You know,” he said, “for a highly trained government spy, you aren’t very observant.” Octavia looked at him with confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean?” “It means, I’m a Time Pony who travels in a machine called ‘Time And Relative Dimensions In Space’ and you never once thought to ask what that means.” Octavia took in the Doctor’s coy expression as she tried to process what he meant by all that. Then, it hit her like a pile of bricks. “Oh, no…” she said. “You can’t be serious.” “I too am serious,” The Doctor replied coyly. The others all caught on and smiled widely at the implication. “Holy cow, it’s a Time Machine!” Vinyl said, running up to it. “That’s 1000 times cooler than just a spaceship. And it can go anywhere?” “Anywhere, any when, any how, any hen,” the Doctor said jokingly. “Impossible!” Octavia stated. “I’m sorry, but that’s completely impossible. I’m willing to accept that you might be an alien. I’m even willing to accept that this box is some type of transport. But it is a scientific fact that controlled time travel is impossible! The best anypony has ever done is going back a few days and only for a few seconds. It would take more magic than all of Equestria combined to power controlled time travel.” “Oh, really?” The Doctor said challengingly. “Yes, really,” Octavia replied. The Doctor smiled widely. “Derpy, did you find a dead letter earlier today? A rather thick one in a blue envelope?” Derpy gave him a surprised look. “Y-yes,” She replied. “How did you…?” “Could you go get it for me?” He interjected. Without any more prodding, Derpy ran inside and pulled the letter off the coffee table and ran back out. “Would you mind opening it for us?” He asked. “But I can’t,” Derpy said, depositing the letter into her hooves. “It’s not mine.” “Sure it is,” The Doctor said, pulling out the Sonic Screwdriver. “See?” He buzzed it over the front of the letter. Surprisingly, this caused words to appear where there had previously been none. They read, “To Derpy Hooves”. Pushing aside the surprise, Derpy opened the letter, the other mares peering over her shoulders. She pulled out what looked to be a folded up newspaper clipping, and a sizable one at that. She unfolded the clipping, revealing the headline and a photo. “Mysterious Alien Invasion Averted by Concerned Ponyville Citizens” read the headline. They all gasped as they realized the picture was of themselves. It was the picture that had been taken earlier that day by the news pony. “Whoa!” Vinyl commented. “It’s us!” Derpy said. “It’s a clipping from tomorrow’s paper!” “Impossible,” Octavia said. “It must be a late edition paper.” “But look at the date,” Vinyl said. “That’s tomorrow’s date.” “And it’s been in my bag since before I met any of you,” Derpy said. “Lemme see, Lemme see!” Dinky called out, her mother lowering the picture for her to see. “Wow!” Octavia strained herself trying to think of how this could be. This was just too incredible for her to process. Vinyl put an arm over the flustered Octavia’s shoulder and said, “Face it, beautiful; He’s a time traveler.” With that, Vinyl stepped forward beside the Doctor. Derpy and Dinky also stepped forward and turned to Octavia. The grey mare stuttered, struggling to find some rational explanation. When none was forthcoming, she sighed in defeat and walked forward to join them. “Oh well,” she said. “What’s the worse that could happen?” “That’s the spirit, my dear lieutenant,” The Doctor said. He motioned to the door of the Tardis. “Everyone ready to go?” “Are you sure we’ll all fit?” Octavia said jokingly, suspecting it would stretch to accommodate them. It was the only sensible thing she could think of; which actually assured her guess was wrong. The Doctor smiled slyly as he clopped his hoof against the ground three times, causing the closed door to emit a clicking sound, like a lock releasing, and swing open. All four ponies’ eyes nearly bulged from their heads. Inside, the Tardis was a massive chamber. The dome ceiling reached almost twenty feet into the sky and had an underbelly that went at least seven feet into the ground. The walls were silver with circular indents lining it completely. In the center was a massive glass column. Inside the glass were several crystal cylinders, moving up and down in a rotating pattern inside. As they moved, the same sound that preceded the Tardis’ appearance emanated from them. It all was set in a circular control panel. The controls seemed to be a rather random selection of knick-knacks and gimmicks, including a typewriter, an abacus and various levers and pulleys of all shapes and sizes. The controls were elevated above the lowest point of the ship, with a metal catwalk allowing access to it leading to the door. On the far side, three stairways lead into three dark hallways. All this was bathed in a faint glow emanating from the ceiling. The Doctor stepped in first, prompting the others to follow. They all tentatively stepped in, as if afraid that if they went too far they’d wake from what must have been a very surreal dream. “Well?” The Doctor probed. “Anything you’d like to say?” “Its…” Vinyl began. “…Bigger…” Octavia continued. “…On…” Derpy also added. “…the inside,” concluded Dinky. Almost immediately, Octavia began racing around the lower level of the room, which were accessed by two flights of stairs next to the catwalk. She ran about, as if looking for some hole or piece of fake material that would confirm it wasn’t real. The others just watched as she raced about, tapping on the walls, and then as she raced outside, apparently to confirm that the dimensions of the box indeed did not mesh with the inside. “I can tell she’s gonna be a lot of fun,” Vinyl commented with an amused smile. “You two are taking this rather well,” Said the Doctor. Vinyl and Derpy gave him a deadpan look. “We survived Discord turning our town into his own personal surrealist playground,” Vinyl said. “You get used to it,” Derpy added. Octavia rushed back in. “This thing is amazing!” She exclaimed. “How is it doing this?” “It’s dimensionally transcendental,” the Doctor replied. Noting the confused look of his companions, he continued. “The inside exists outside the normal rules of space, and the outside anchors it to normal space.” “Oh,” They all replied, not really understanding it. They all went up to the controls. Each of the ponies scrutinized the manic control scheme, trying to make sense of it. Eventually they all realized that making sense would probably defy the point of the Tardis; that being to be totally nonsensical. “Loving the control scheme,” Vinyl said. “Throw it together yourself?” “Not exactly,” The Docto replied. “The Tardis just knows how I like to drive and arranged itself to suit my preferences.” “Now that’s what I call service,” Vinyl said with a grin. “So,” Octavia interjected. “If its designed to your preferences, that means you can operate it expertly?” “Um… well… he he he.” The Doctor stuttered as he tried to find the right words to address that. Octavia gave him a look that showed her lack of confidence. “Where to first Doctor?” Derpy asked, hoping to break the tension. The Doctor smiled warmly. “Glad you asked Miss. Hooves,” He said. “Everyone, grab onto something!” The others went to the railings which lined the catwalk. Each railing was lined with soft foam, which made them all nervous. Derpy held on to Dinky as the Doctor began working the controls. With the flip of a switch, the cylinders began moving in unison and the sound grew louder. Soon, the whole place was shaking, causing most of the ponies to panic. The only non-panicking pony was a certain Vinyl Scratch, who whooped and hollered with reckless abandon as the ship shook and wobbled. When it finally stopped, the equestrian ponies all groaned dizzily. They slowly picked themselves up, all wobbly from the experience. “W-where are we Doctor?” Derpy asked. “See for yourselves,” he replied playfully. The Doctor opened the door with a switch on the control panel. Curiosity dominating them, the four Equestrians walked towards the door. What they saw was awe inspiring. Hovering in a black expanse was a large blue sphere. The sphere was covered in brown masses and white amorphous shapes that constantly moved about. It took them all only a second to realize what they were seeing. “It’s… home,” Dinky muttered. The others remained silent, watching their world floating before them in the expanse of space. Vinyl removed her dark glasses, revealing her vibrant red eyes. She wiped a tear away, the scene moving her to tears. Octavia, who was at her side, embraced her, sharing in the moment. Derpy wrapped her fore-hooves around Dinky as all four sat to just enjoy the view. The Doctor walked up to the door and joined in their sitting. Rather than take in the sight, he instead took in their reactions. The fact that they were so moved by the beauty of their world warmed his hearts. It convinced him that they indeed were the right choice to bring along. Derpy turned, seeing the Doctor sitting with them. “Thank you,” she said. “It was my pleasure,” he replied. He then stood and returned to the console. “Well, come on then. Don’t want to get bored with it.” The Equestrians all stood as the door closed. As they stood, Octavia noticed Vinyl’s eyes and her heart skipped a beat. “Vinyl,” She said. “Your eyes.” “Wha?” Vinyl replied, not sure what Octavia meant before realizing she’d forgot to re-place her glasses. “Oh, right. Pretty rad, huh?” “Y-yes,” Octavia replied, moving a hoof through her hair. “They’re… really quite lovely.” Vinyl’s eyes widened. Both ponies blushed and turned away. “Gee, thanks,” Vinyl managed to squeak out as she put her glasses back on. Both Derpy and Dinky chuckled at the actions of the two as they all eventually joined the Doctor at the center. “So, where to next Doctor?” Derpy asked excitedly. The others all gazed at him, waiting for his answer. The Doctor gave a sly smile and said. “Where, Miss. Hoooves? Everywhere!” With that, the Doctor restarted the Tardis, causing everyone to brace for the take off. Outside, the Tardis faded from the universe. It flowed into time itself, being pulled through all of existence on the waves of time itself. As the little blue box soared through the Time Vortex, one thing was certain; Adventure was not far ahead. The End AN. Okay, truth time. This has actually been finished since I posted the first chapter. I wanted to see what people thought while I posted each chapter gradually. I wrote up the whole thing before posting to ensure that I didn't make any major continuity flubs and so I could add elements to make it all flow better. I'm pleased to say that the reaction has been mostly positive, so I decided to just bite the bullet and post the final chapter now. I might do more stories if the mood strikes me. I certainly have ideas. Please feel free to post your thoughts in the comments. I'll take all criticism and ideas.
Part 1: The PlayersDoctor Whooves New Settings; Old Enemies Part 1 The Players The rolling green fields outside of Ponyville were peaceful and serene. It was rare anypony would venture out to these fields, save the odd romantic pair who wanted to enjoy some peace and quiet. Aside from that, the only other visitors were woodland creatures who wanted to enjoy the grass. One such creature was a tiny bunny rabbit. On this day, it was wandering the fields, planning to enjoy the fresh green grass. The creature was enjoying its first mouthful when a sound caught its ear. It popped its head up from the long grass and looked about, trying to determine where the sound came from and if it was a predator. The sound gradually grew loader. It was a deep, whirring, grinding noise that was simultaneously grating and somewhat soothing. The bunny was perplexed and somewhat nervous as the sound grew loader. What finally sent it scurrying was the bluish shape that seemed to appear from nowhere. It ran off, not witnessing as the amorphous blue blur slowly gained shape and grew more opaque. It took the form a small wooden structure. It was tall and had the words “Police Public Call Box” over it’s doors. Atop the box was a lantern that flashed in time with the whirring sound. As the sound died out in a series of drawn out whirs, the doors popped open. A head popped out first. It was the head of a pony, specifically a stallion. He slowly emerged from the strange blue box, looking about as if expecting something might jump out at him. He was a lean young stallion with a light brown coat and a darker brown mane. He wore a brown vest that was a slight middle brown between the brown of his mane and the brown of his coat. On his flank was a mark which looked like an hourglass. His blue eyes turned back to the box, his expression shifting to one of exasperation. “Really? That again?” he said in a very distinctly Trottish accent. “Ever since we saw that in that inter-dimensional curio shop… You know, it doesn’t really fit in anywhere. And just what is a ‘Police Box’ meant to be anyway?” He paused, as if expecting an answer from the strange blue structure. The pony sighed, shaking his head. “Oh, I guess it doesn’t really matter. A TARDIS your age is entitled to a few eccentricities. Just keep the perception filters on high while I look about this place.” The pony tapped his right fore-hoof on the ground twice. The box’s doors swung shut and a locking sound could be heard inside. The pony then turned and trotted off, leaving the odd thing alone in the field. ______________________________________________________________________ Derpy Hooves grunted as she hefted the heavy mailbag on her back. The new mail had just come in and she was eager to get started and get her daily route over with. She was never fond of her job, mostly because it forced to interact with everypony else in town. Most ponies were civil with her, she admitted. Some slept in because they had night-jobs, so she didn’t have to deal with them. But almost everypony, even the nice ones, made her feel awkward and unwanted; and all because of her appearance. At first glance, Derpy Hooves was a perfectly normal Pegasus Pony. She had a grey coat and feathers which weren’t very striking on their own, but contrasted well against her flowing yellow mane. But her eyes; her eyes were the problem. Ever since she was a filly, she had been cursed with permanent cross-eyes. Nopony knew exactly how she came to be this way. It started when she was young and never stopped. Sometimes, if she concentrated, she could get them to focus, but it hurt her head to try. Throughout her youth, Derpy had been constantly teased about her eyes. As an adult, it was rarer that she was openly demeaned for her eyes. However, few ponies ever looked her in the face. Those that did always had a look of immense discomfort at seeing her eyes. She knew some still made fun of her behind her back. Then there were others (a certain rainbow-maned Pegasus came to mind) who lacked even that amount of courtesy and mocked her to her face. If she had the option, she would quit her job. The problem was that there weren’t many jobs available for a Pegasus who couldn’t fly worth a darn and whose only talent was blowing bubbles. Even she had to admit, as much as she loved bubble blowing and for how good she was at it, it was a fairly useless skill. “Mama!” Bounding down the stairs came Derpy’s biggest reason not to quit her job. Dinky Hooves trotted down the stairs with her book satchel over her back. The filly shared her mother’s grey coat and had a lighter yellow mane. She also had a horn on her forehead rather than wings. Derpy managed to smile, despite her discomfort. She loved the little filly with all her heart. She would do anything to keep her happy, healthy and, most of all, safe. That meant having money to pay for things. That meant working a highly uncomfortable and dissatisfying job. “Going on your route, already?” Dinky asked. “Yes, Muffin,” Derpy replied. “There’s a lot today, so I figured I best get a head start.” “Okay,” Dinky replied. “Do you think you’ll pick me up from school?” “Maybe,” Derpy said, a little sad that she couldn’t guarantee that, as she had no idea how long her route would take. “I’ll certainly try. You can walk there yourself, right?” “Sure,” Dinky replied. “I’ll walk with Apple Bloom when she walks by.” Derpy smiled wider. She was happy that Dinky was having an easier time making friends in school than she had had when she was a filly. Dinky had connected with Apple Bloom, the youngest of the Apple family who ran Sweet Apple Acres. Dinky had mentioned wanting to join up with Apple Bloom’s after-school club, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Derpy was hesitant to say yes to that, knowing all about the kind of mischief those three fillies got into with their activities. Even more than not wanting her to get in trouble, Derpy didn’t want Dinky to get hurt doing the dangerous stunts the Crusaders did. Still, she encouraged her to try and stay friends with Apple Bloom, because she wanted Dinky to have friends more than anything. “That sounds good,” She said. “Just be careful on your way there.” “I will mama,” Dinky said. Dinky jumped up and hugged Derpy around the neck as the mail mare opened the door. Derpy hugged her daughter back, putting all the love she had for that little filly into it. As they broke apart, they noticed Apple Bloom standing at their fence, waving to them. “Oh, look,” Derpy said. “Seems your little friend is here already.” “Hi Dinky! Hi Miss Derpy!” Apple Bloom called out as they walked to her, after Derpy shut and locked her front door. “Ah thought Ah’d come meet Dinky so we could walk to school.” “That’s wonderful, sweetie,” Derpy said, shutting the gate behind her after she and Dinky crossed the fence. “Well, I have to go make my deliveries. You girls have fun. Bye Muffin.” With that, Derpy walked off while her daughter and her friend trotted to school in the other direction. Dinky walked alongside the red maned, Earth pony filly. She turned and saw her mother turn the corner and disappear from sight. “She’s gone,” Dinky said. “So, what’s the plan for today?” Apple Bloom smiled mischievously. “Scootaloo thinks we might try for bungee-jumping cutie marks.” “Awesome!” Dinky replied, smiling excitedly. Then, her face turned to one of confusion. “What’s bungee-jumping?” “Ah don’t rightly know,” Apple Bloom replied. “Half the things she suggests ’re things Ah ain’t never heard of.” “Then why do you do them?” Dinky asked. “To get our cutie marks, Duh!” Apple Bloom replied. “Tha’s a silly question. It’s righ’ there in our name, ‘the Cutie Mark Crusaders’.” “I know,” Dinky said. “I just figured, if we’re trying to get our cutie marks, wouldn’t it be in something we’d normally do?” “Tha’s silly,” Apple Bloom explained. “If we was doin’ what we was meant to be doing, we’d have already gotten our cutie marks.” Dinky just nodded in submission to the childish logic of her friend, even though she was certain that wasn’t how her mother had explained cutie marks to her. “Well,” she said, “if it’s Scootaloo’s idea, it’ll probably be a lot of fun!” “Yeah!” Apple Bloom said excitedly. “Le’s get to school! Ah can’t wait to try it!” The two fillies began to run off, their minds on the fun they planned with their friends. Blocks away, Derpy remained oblivious to her daughter’s plans. She walked down the streets of Ponyville, ready to do her duty. Despite how poorly she usually felt doing her route, as she drew to the first house on her route, she suddenly felt an odd wave of positivity. She had the strange impression that, despite all evidence to the contrary, today was going to be a good day. ______________________________________________________________________ “Bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored…” These words were uttered, ad nauseum, by one rather odd looking pony who had taken a seat on a bench in the town square. She had been there since earlier in the day, and had started saying and repeating the word shortly after taking her place on the bench. She was a white furred unicorn pony with an electric blue mane that seemed to stand permanently on end in a spiky style. Her cutie mark was a simple pair of bridged eight notes. Her other notable trait was a pair of large, dark glasses with ovangular frames that managed to keep her eyes covered from every angle. Over her head were some sort of elaborate brass earmuffs with some sort of strange cord leading to a small box at her side. Some ponies stopped to ponder the strange pony. One or two tried to talk to her, but she seemed to tune everypony else out. After a time, these ponies would leave to continue with their business, muttering about the strange pony they left behind. What nopony knew was that this pony wasn’t just tuning them out; she was Rock-tuning them out. The device by her side was actually a miniature turntable, inside which spun a tiny record which was playing rock music. The speakers for the device were attached to the earmuffs and the music was playing, quite loudly, into her ears. This, combined with her constant muttering, simply drowned out all stimulus. The pony, who a few recognized as Vinyl Scratch, had invented the device for her own use. She called it an I-Box; which she figured was a clever way of stating that it was meant specifically for her. It wasn’t, but she thought it was. At this moment, Vinyl was lamenting her bored fate. Her partner and friend, the party-pony Pinkie Pie, had left for Canterlot along with the other chosen ones or whatever they were supposed to be. Pinkie had tried explaining to her, but Vinyl never really understood it. All she knew was that, on rare occasions, this meant Pinkie had to leave Ponyville for several days to attend to the needs of the Royals. This meant that, for the time being, there were going to be far fewer parties in Ponyville. Fewer parties equals fewer calls for music. No music equals no fun, as far as Vinyl was concerned. Vinyl thrived on music. She loved the way it moved ponies. She loved how it could bring life to a room. She loved the rhythm, the beat, the excitement. If she couldn’t make music for somepony, anypony, she felt empty. Thus, once Pinkie was gone, she would plop herself down somewhere, usually in her house, and perform this ritual. She would do this until Pinkie came back. This day, for some reason, she felt like doing it in public. She didn't know why, but reasoned that she simply had done it in every part of her house at some point, so why not expand her horizons. Perhaps she could spread her misery to everypony else; if not through sympathy, than through annoyance. Then, she stopped. Normally, only three things can stop Vinyl Scratch when she gets like this, aside from Pinkie. #1: Food. #2: Sleep. #3: the call of nature. This was due to none of those things. Something, or rather, somepony had broken her out of her lamentation. Vinyl stopped the I-box and pulled off the head-speakers as soon as she saw her. She was casually walking past, not even aware of the strange musician pony, her attention focused on a little bronze metal device in her hoof. She was a simple Earth Pony with a grey coat and a flowing raven-black mane which ran over her shoulder. Her cutie mark was a treble cleft. She carried a small, stylish saddlebag over her back. She walked in a graceful, deliberate stride. She seemed to exude elegance and class. She was clearly not a regular citizen. She had the air of a Canterlot pony, and not a wannabe like Rarity, but a real lady of the royal city. (Vinyl’s thoughts, mind you.) She was the most beautiful pony Vinyl had ever seen. Vinyl’s heart beat faster as she watched the pony walk by. Her eyes did not stray for a second. Vinyl made it no great secret that she was a lesbian. She was proud and open about her sexuality. She had even fooled about with Pinkie Pie once or twice, though they never had a serious relationship. With Pinkie, nothing was ever serious. Vinyl had had one or two marefriends over the years, but never for very long. However, this was the first time she had ever found herself so attracted to a pony. Vinyl levitated the I-Box and attached it to her hip with a adhesive spell. She then got up and trotted after the mare. She didn’t know how she’d approach the pony, but she wasn’t about to let her just walk away without saying something. Celestia knows one can only say “bored” so many times before it gets on their own nerves. ______________________________________________________________________ Octavia looked at the device in her hoof with great focus. It was a metal box-shaped machine with an aerial antenna on the top and a metal clamp on the bottom. It had a glass screen which displayed various mathematical symbols and figures that constantly changed across the screen. In the center were several dots, which were slowly drawing closer to a large circle in the lower right corner. Octavia had no idea what the math meant, but knew what the dots meant. She moved her way through the town, as the device made soft beeping sounds. The further she walked, the louder the sound got. However, quite suddenly, the device seemed to stop. It’s screen went dark and the beeping stopped. Octavia gave it an angry glare. She sat down and grabbed it with both hooves, shaking it in the air and banging it against the ground. “Oh, Blast!” She uttered. “I can’t believe it! This stupid contraption ran out of power already?” She shook it some more, but the device gave no response. She sighed in frustration. She put the device to her mouth and pulled out what looked like the end of a jumper cable whose cable extended from the device. She then looked about briefly before she caught sight of a male unicorn. She trotted up to him and said, “Pardon me sir. Might I attach this to your horn briefly?” The unicorn gave her an incredulous look and just trotted off without replying. Octavia glared at the pony as he left. “You could at least say No!” she shouted, dropping the clamp. “Oh, I hate this! I could’ve asked for a unicorn partner, but Noooo. I had to prove I could do without magic.” She hated this. It was awkward asking unicorns for help, especially with a device she couldn’t explain. She’d already tried it once during her journey to Ponyville and it had been extremely difficult. She had finally convinced one stallion to do it on the condition that she go on a date with him. She gave him a fake address and left before he could realize that fact. She didn’t want to try that method again. Octavia looked around some more, hoping to catch some other unicorn’s attention. She was unaware that she had already caught the attention of one unicorn who had been following her for the past block. Vinyl noticed her conversation with the male unicorn and realized that her device probably ran on a rechargeable magic battery that had run out. Vinyl used the same type of batteries for her inventions. Seeing this as an opportunity, Vinyl casually walked up to the mare who only noticed her at the last moment. “Hey,” Vinyl said. “Need some help there?” Octavia looked at the rather unusual blue-maned mare with surprise and relief. “Oh, yes!” she replied. “My machine has stopped working. I need a unicorn to power it.” “Look no further,” the unicorn replied. “Vinyl Scratch, at your service.” With that, Vinyl levitated the clamp onto her horn, which glowed with magic that flowed into the device. Octavia smiled widely as she watched the machine return to life. “Oh, Thank you so much!” she declared. “I wasn’t sure what I would do without this.” “It’s no big,” Vinyl replied, trying to act confident in front of the lovely pony. She looked that the device and noticed its display. “What it that thing anyhoof?” “Oh…” Octavia froze. She had to think of something to tell her to avoid suspicion. “It’s… It’s a… acoustic checker!” she stuttered out. “It checks areas for acoustics. I’m a musician you see,” She pointed to her cutie mark, “And I was thinking of holding an outdoors concert. So I’m trying to find an area with good acoustics for my performance.” “Oh, cool!” Vinyl declared. “I could really use a gizmo like that. See, I’m a musician too.” She motioned to her own cutie mark. “Well, sorta. I’m actually more of a DJ.” “A what?” Octavia asked, having never heard of such a thing. “A DJ!” Vinyl replied. “You know; a disc jockey; a master of ceremonies; the pony that changes the records out during a party.” “Oh,” Octavia replied, giving the pony a confused look. “That sounds… interesting.” “Yeah…” Vinyl felt off-put by the other pony’s reaction. She had a feeling that she’d made a bit of a fool of herself. She decided to try and relieve the tension. “So, what do you play?” “I’m a cellist,” Octavia replied, trying to focus on the device’s charge meter and not invest herself in a conversation with the power source. “Oh,” Vinyl said. “That’s interesting. I’ve never actually heard a cello before.” “That doesn’t seem too surprising,” Octavia said, now trying to discourage the other pony from further conversation. Vinyl sensed the cold shoulder, but refused to give in. “Where’d you get that gizmo anyway?” she asked. “I’m sure I could use one at some point.” “It’s… one of a kind,” Octavia replied. “I had a friend make it for me.” “Really!” Vinyl said excitedly. “Your friend sounds great! I’m actually a bit of an inventor too. I build all sorts of gizmos for my shows. I actually made this thing.” She hovered the I-box in front of them. Octavia eyed the simple looking box with confusion. “A… box?” “Actually, I-box,” Vinyl said proudly. “It’s a mini turntable that plays mini records. You use these to listen.” Vinyl hovered her headphones over Octavia’s ears and activated the device. Octavia’s horrified reaction reminded Vinyl that she had the volume on maximum and she quickly removed them. The earth pony swayed in a daze as Vinyl suddenly felt all hope of getting to know this pony better just got shot to the moon. “Oh, sweet Luna!” she exclaimed. “Are you alright?!” Octavia rubbed her ears as she tried to recover from the blaring rockand roll music she was just exposed to. “What a…” she restrained herself, not wanting to make a scene. “… clever device. If only its power were used for good.” “Oh, jeez,” Vinyl said. “I’m so sorry. I swear, I forgot it was up that high!” Octavia looked at the pony. Despite the oversized glasses, she could see the genuine concern on her face. She decided not to hold this against her and simply replied, “It’s alright. I’m sure it was just an accident.” The device in Octavia’s hoof beeped three times rapidly. Octavia knew this meant the device was charged. She motioned to the clamp, which Vinyl caught on to and removed. The two sat awkwardly for a moment before Octavia stood up to leave. Vinyl’s face was red as she mentally berated herself for how stupidly she acted. “Hey!” Vinyl’s head shot up. She was shocked to see it was Octavia talking to her. “It was Vinyl Scratch, right?” Octavia asked. “Yeah,” she replied. “I’m Octavia,” she said. “And, thank you again for the help.” Vinyl smiled widely as the other pony continued to walk off. Once she was a ways away, she pumped her hoof in the air and declared, “YES!” Octavia rolled her eyes. She smiled a bit as she thought about the strange pony. Clearly she had an attraction to her, which was probably why she had helped her. “At least she had the good taste not to try and bargain for it,” she said, thinking back to the male pony. “Still, she was kind of cute. Too bad I have more urgent matters.” Pushing the encounter out of her mind, Octavia returned to the task at hoof, as the small dots on her screen grew ever closer to their destination. ______________________________________________________________________ High over Equestria, above the atmosphere, where only the royal sisters could go, several small objects flew towards the peaceful planet. They hit the atmosphere, glowing brightly in the heat of entry. Any scientist would tell you that objects this small would sooner burn up in the atmosphere than reach the ground. However, these objects seemed to willfully defy that notion as none of them was destroyed as they continued to fall. Farther away, a strange set of glowing blue eyes was focused on a monitor. This monitor displayed an image similar to the one on Octavia’s device. Unlike that device, this one had strange symbols of unknown meaning rather than mathematical formulas. The eyes watched as the blips began contacting the planet. “It Begins,” a cold, synthetic voice announced. “Prepare to receive data.” More eyes light up in the dark chamber. The first set draws closer to the screen, its light illuminating its face. It was a metal face with a neutral expression. Over the head was laid metal tubing of unknown purpose. As it spoke, its mouth glowed. “Prepare for planet-wide upgrade protocol.”
