Shadow of Fury

Chapter 6

Adventures Part II

Shamrock walked up to Derpy's house. It was still early in the morning, about seven. He had decided to come this early so that he could spend the most amount of time with the mare as possible. He hoped that his coming this early wouldn't be a problem. He knocked on the door.

The door was opened by a small unicorn filly, with a blonde mane and a lavender coat. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Is this Derpy's house?"

The filly's face didn't change as she realized who she was talking to. "Mom! Shamrock's here!

"Be there in a minute!" Derpy's voice called from within.

Shamrock walked into Derpy's house. It was a nice, humble place. It seemed simple enough, and had a warm, cozy atmosphere to it. The cross-eyed pegasus walked up to a table in what he assumed must be the dining room with a tray filled with muffins. "Come on, have a seat!" she said.

Shamrock sat at the table and admired the assortment of muffins. There was absolutely every flavor to be found here, Blueberry, chocolate, poppyseed, bannana-nut, everything!  He was impressed. He had no idea the mare was this obsessed with the treats. "That's a lot of muffins," he said in a dumbstruck voice.

Derpy quickly got nervous. "Is that okay? I mean, if you don't like muffins, you don't have to eat them, but I love muffins, and I just thought-"

"It's okay, Derpy. Muffins are fine," Shamrock said, trying to calm the panicking mare.

Derpy calmed down, before turning to the filly. "Dinky, have you introduced yourself to Shamrock yet?" she asked.

The filly looked up at Shamrock. "Hello, sir," she said in a formal, practiced manner, "my name's Dinky Doo. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance,"

"The pleasure is all mine Dinky," He said.

Dinky turned to her mother. "Mother, I really should be off to school. Is my lunch ready?" she asked.

"It's on the counter, little muffin!" Derpy said lovingly. Dinky then said her goodbyes, grapped her lunch and left the house.

Shamrock was surprised by how mature the filly had acted. The way she seemed to act so adult, yet somehow retain the innocence of youth fascinated him. It almost reminded him of -  No! He would not go back there again! It was best to just forget the past. It was best to move on. Shamrock felt a heavy depression as he watched Dinky leave.

"Shamrock?" Derpy asked, snapping him out of his dismal trance. "Huh, what? Sorry, I got lost in thought a minute there,"

"Yeah, I noticed," she said, while somehow remaining completely unsarcastic at the same time.

"So, what do we have planned for today?" Shamrock inquired while munching on a chocolate-chip muffin.

"Well, you came kinda early, so I still gotta do my mail rounds. You don't mind tagging along, do you?"

"Not at all. When do we begin?"

Derpy looked around. "Well, as soon as possible, if I can find my mail bag," She looked around but couldn't seem to find it. She got up from the table, and began to roam the house. Shamrock watched quietly as he ate his muffins.

As Derpy came around to the table for the third time, she stopped and rubbed her chin, puzzled. "Huh, I coulda swore I left it right here," she said, motioning vaguely to the entire house. Shamrock facehoofed. "Do you need any help finding it?" he asked.

Derpy thought for a moment. "I guess it couldn't hurt. We should retrace my steps, go back to all of the places I was yesterday, and see if its in any of those places! And with you with me, it would be an awesome adventure!"

Shamrock worried a little at the lengths he feared he would have to go to retrieve this mailbag. He quickly checked his magic, performing a levitation spell. It had returned to full strength.

"Okay, let's go,"

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Reaper nervously approached Sugarcube Corner. Inside that building waited a being so powerful, he was sure that they could defeat a thousand armies single-hoofedly. And now, by whatever freak accident of fate, he was going to visit it. He was of course referring to a particular mare he had met two nights ago. Pinkie Pie.

The only good thing Reaper seemed to be able to draw from the soon-to-occur events was that Sputnik wouldn't be a problem. He had dealt with the stupid robot a while ago. He remembered it like it was only a few minutes ago (proably because it was).

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"But, Boss! I wanna go with you to the candy-house!" the cat-bot whined. Reaper was getting ready to go, and had just complimented himself on having gotten this far without the robot noticing his departure when Sputnik appeared. He groaned in frustration.

"Sputnik, you can't go," he said in a tone of finality.

"But why, Boss?"

"Because....." Reaper struggled to come up with a decent excuse. In truth, he simply didn't want to deal with the combined annoyingness of Sputnik and Pinkie.

"Because.....uhh....." This was harder than he thought. Well, the robot was stupid right? It's not like he'd be able to see throught most obvious of lies. Is it? Reaper decided to risk it.

"Because....I need you to stay here! To guard the...uhh...pantry!"

"The pantry, Boss?"

"Yes, the pantry! There's a...a....a pantry-burglar going around! Yes, that's right! A pantry-burglar! And I need you here to make sure we don't get hit! Do you think you can handle that?"

The robot saluted. "Yes, Sir!"

"Good," Reaper slowly backed out of the doorway, making sure Sputnik didn't start having second thoughts. But the robot was busy staring at the pantry. Once Reaper was outside, he slammed the door and ran as fast as he could.

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Reaper feared what he would soon be encountering, but he was even more afraid of what would happen if he didn't follow through with it. If he didn't, then Pinkie Pie would surely find him. She would question him as to why he didn't go before. He may be a changeling, but he doubted even the most skilled spies would be able to supply the mare with a good explanation. And then he would be forced to meet her at a later date. In the end, he would only postpone the inevitable. So he might as well get it over with.

Reaper opened the door to the bakery. Inside was a noticably chubby mare working the register. "You must be Reaper," she said once she noticed his arrival. Reaper nodded. The mare smiled. Her smile was a bit too wide, Reaper noticed. "Pinkie will be very happy to see you," Reaper was getting worried. Just then, a tall, thin colt appeared behind the mare. "Is this-?"

"Yes, honey. Yes it is,"

The colts eyes widened, before he pushed Reaper towards the kitchen. "I'm Mr. Cake, and that's my wife, Mrs. Cake. We're so glad to have you with us. Good luck. Go get 'em, tiger!" and with a slap on the back, he threw Reaper into the kitchen.

Reaper turned, to find the door to the kitchen closed. He was now alone, trapped. He turned back, scared of what he would find. He gulped, and saw the one and only, Pinkie Pie.

"Hi, Reapy!"

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Shamrock and Derpy had been walking around for two hours. They had gone first to the town hall, hoping Derpy left her mail bag there. No luck.  They had tried various houses Derpy had stopped by, with no success there either. They were currently looking for Derpy's roommate, Carrot Top.

As they walked, they ran into a face they didn't expect to see; Lightning Hawk. He was flying around, gathering clouds together to build a house. "Hey, Shamrock," he called absent-mindedly.

"Hey Lightning! What are you doing?"

"Well, I'm trying to build a house. But I'm not sure if I got the right kind of cloud. Does this look like a cumulonimbus to you?"

Derpy took a slight glance at the cloud. "Oh, no. That's a stratocumulus! You wanna go for the puffier ones, they tend to be better," she pointed out to the golden pegasus.

"Thanks! And you are?"

"I'm Derpy! Shamrock and I were looking for my mailbag. You haven't seen it, have you?"

"I'm afraid not,"

Derpy pouted in disappointment. "Oh well. That's okay,"

It was just then that a brown earth pony colt appeared. He had a darker brown mane and his cutie mark was of an hourglass. "Derpy! Derpy! Come quickly, I need your help!" he yelled in an accent similar to those found in Canterlot.

Derpy sighed. "What is it, Doctor?"

The colt skidded to a halt in front of the pair. "Oh, hello. Who's this?".

Shamrock took in the other colt. He seemed.....odd. As if he were not all there. He reminded Shamrock of Willus.

"I'm Shamrock," he said.

"Ah yes, you. One of the new 'Heroes of Ponyville.' You must be pretty proud of yourself," the other colt replied.

"I guess so,"

"Doctor, I hate to inerrupt," Derpy interjected, "but Shamrock and I have stuff that needs doing,"

"Oh, yes, stuff," The colt who was apparently a doctor said. "You see, Derpy, the thing is, I have some top-secret....stuff... and I would like you to come with me! How about it, Derpy? Just you and me! Derpy and the Doctor! Just like old times!"

"Gee, Doctor, that sounds fun and all, but I really need to get this stuff done,"

"Oh, bugger it all!" he shouted in frustration as he watched Derpy and Shamrock leave to continue their search.

It was then that the mysterious 'Doctor' noticed Lightning Hawk gathering clouds above. He grinned widely. "Hello there!" he called.

Lightning looked down at the bizarre colt. "Uh, hi?"

"How would you like to go on an adventure with me?"

Lightning blinked awkwardly. "Do I know you?"

"Not at all! So how about it?"

Lightning looked at the progress he had made on his house. If what Derpy had told him was true, then he still had a long way to go before he'd be finished. He turned to the other colt. "Well, I kind of have some work to do, but I guess it won't hurt to put it off for a while,"

"That's the spirit! The lazy, procrastinating spirit! I'm the Doctor. Now let's go, I'm gonna have to show you around a bit first,"

Lightning landed. "Show me around? Show me around what? I'm already familiar with Ponyville,"

The colt chuckled. "No, my friend. I'm going to show you around that!" he said, motioning towards a strang object.

It was a box. A big, blue box. It had a sign on the front, and above what looked like the door were the words, "Police Call Box." The Doctor walked up to the door, opened it, and walked inside. Lightning followed quickly, but was shocked by what he found inside. Inside, the box was....bigger. Lightning didn't know how to explain it, it just was. Somehow, this box was bigger on the inside than on the outside. The inside was absolutely gigantic, and covered with lights, panels, and buttons. The Doctor stood next to Lightning, beaming with pride as he took in the pegasus' shocked expression. "Wha-what is this?" he asked after he found his voice.

"This, my dear Lightning Hawk, is the TARDIS! My time machine!"

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"Ohmigosh Reapy, I'm so happy that you made it! Now that you're here we can do all kinds of fun things! We could try baking,-"

'Make it stop,'

"-or making funny faces,-"

'Make it stop,'

"-or playing checkers,-"

'Please make it stop!'

"-or we could play go fish,-"

'I'll do anything to make it stop,'

"-or spin the bottle,-"

'for the love of the hive, I don't know how much more I can take,'

"-or-"

"ENOUGH!"

Reaper had been here for a total of two minutes. TWO MINUTES. And already he was going insane. This stupid.......thing was going to be the death of him. "Enough," he repeated. Pinkie stopped her yapping. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you wanna say something?"

Reaper grit his teeth, a bad habit all changelings were taught not to pick up. But this pony was making him forget years of careful self-training and causing it to resurge. "Yes, I want to say something,"

Pinkie smiled. That irritating smile. Reaper cleared his throat as he prepared to give Pinkie the rant of her life. "I came here because I knew that if I didn't, you would somehow find a way to make me come later. I knew that you would find me and make my life more miserable than it is right now. So, when I say that you're getting on my nerves a little bit, what I'm really trying to say is that you are quite possibly the most immature, annoying, reality-breaking, mind-shattering, hyperactive thing I have ever had the displeasue of having made acquaintance with!" Reaper panted. Pinkie didn't stop smiling. "That being said, you don't care, do you?" Pinkie shook her head, still smiling. Reaper growled, before groaning in annoyance. "Whatever. Let's bake, or something. I guess,"

Pinkie squeed in joy.

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Baking was stupid. This was the conclusion Reaper had already drawn before going in to Sugarcube Corner. The fact of the matter was, he was a changeling, and changelings had no real need for baked goods. Pony food provided very little, if any, nourishment for a changeling, and they're ability to consume it provides nothing but flavor. So going to any great lengths to prepare food was not only unnecessary, it was downright stupid.

These thoughts, along with many not-as-kind ones directed at Pinkie Pie, were what was going through Reaper's head as the mare gathered the items they would need to bake. Reaper didn't want to bake. Heck, he didn't even know how to bake. He was amazed and a little disappointed that his little rant hadn't gotten him kicked out of the house. That was its whole purpose, anyway. But now he was stuck here, and of all the items Pinkie had listed, only baking didn't sound like some form of bizzarre torture, but not by much.

"So, Reapy, do you know how to bake?"

"That depends. Bake what?"

"Cookies?"

"No,"

"Cake?"

"No,"

"Pie?"

"No,"

Pinkie was begining to get a little frustrated. "Can't you bake anything?"

Reaper rubbed his chin for a moment. "Well.........." Pinkie perked up. "No," Pinkie frowned for a split-second. Her smile quickly returned when she realized something. "Well, I guess I'll just have to teach you!"

Reaper gulped in fear.

"Wanna sing about it?" she said with a huge smile.

Reaper drew in a breath as if to say something before stopping himself. After a second of thought, he said, "No, that'd be stupid and pointless," Pinkie let out a slight 'Aww.'

In the end, they decided on baking cookies. That seemed easy enough. Pinkie told Reaper what to do, and he followed suit. Everything she said, he did. She also never seemed to stop making jokes. Reaper laughed at none of these. Over time, the two finally finished the batter. Reaper noted that the strange substance didn't smell.....natural. Pinkie thought nothing of it. As the pair dolloped batter on the pan, Reaper thought he caught Pinkie frowning. It was out of the corner of his eye, and when he turned, her face was still smiling, as if it had never known anything else. Reaper shrugged. What did he care? He put the pan in the oven, and began to stare intently at the future cookies through the glass.

"Uhh, Reapy?"

"What?"

"Are you gonna stare at the cookies forever? I mean, they take a while to bake and you might get bored,"

"I've stared at things that were much more boring for much longer. I'll be fine,"

"Are you sure? I mean, we could talk, or something, if you want,"

"I'm fine,"

Pinkie sighed. She frowned in frustration before joining him in staring at the cookies bake. This colt was driving her up the walls! Why couldn't she make him smile?

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Lightning didn't know what to think. Here he was in a box that was bigger on the inside with a colt who was obviously mentally insane and called himself the Doctor. This sounded like the opening to a bad children's story.

"Well? What do you think?" the Doctor asked.

Lightning struggled to come up with something to say. "It's.......big,"

The Doctor laughed. "Yes, it is big,"

"So....you can travel through time with this?"

"Well, that's what a time machine does. I can travel anywhere in time or space! And now, you're here with me to go on an adventure!"

Lightning thought about it. "Fine. I'l go with you as long as you drop me off not a minute later than we left. Got it?"

"Sure thing, Buddy," he said before stopping himself. "Did I just say buddy? Never let me do that again,"

The Doctor walked up to what must of been the central controls. Lightning figured this out because they appeared to be control panels and they were in the center. He began to push buttons and pull levers. When he finished, he turned to Lightning and said, "You might want to grab onto something," Lightning confusedly grabbed a nearby railing when the interior of the TARDIS was suddenly shaken violently. The shaking lasted for about half a minute until they stopped with a loud bang.

Lightning stood up groggily. He rubbed his head, having hit the back of it on something. "Where are we?" he asked.

The Doctor checked a panel on the central controls. Well, It appears we are on......the moon! Hmm, but it appears we are on your moon 2000 years in the future! Well that's odd. I specifically set the Tardis to send us to the moon Today!"

Lightning, meanwhile, was freaking out a little bit. The moon? That couldn't be good. He'd heard stories of bad ponies being sent to the moon. Why was he on the moon? He wasn't a bad pony! He had to check for himself. He went up to the door of the Tardis, and opened. "No, wait!" he heard the Doctor yell. But it was too late.

Lightning opened the door and.........nothing happened. Lightning turned to the Doctor. "What?" he asked.

The Doctor walked up to the open door. "Fascinating. It appears that, in this universe, the moon has similar conditions to the world around which it orbits! At least, it has an atmosphere that is similar enough for us to breathe. Oh, that is just brilliant!"

Lightning had no idea what the Doctor was going on about. The surface of the moon looked nothing like the surface of Equestria. For one thing, the air was cold. Really cold. Also, the surface had no life. It was nothing but barren, grey rock as far as the eye could see. Except for one thing. In the distance, Lightning could see one abnormality. It looked like a building.

"Doctor, what's that?"

The Doctor squinted his eyes. "It looks like a building. Well, I suppose that makes sense, considering you ponies become a space-faring race around this time,"

"It looks abandoned," Lightning noticed.

"Well, we'll just have to explore, won't we?"

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It took about an hour for the pair to reach the building. All throughout that time, the Doctor revealed to Lightning how he used to go on adventures with Derpy, but her life in Ponyville caused her to stop going with him. As they reached the building, Lightning took mental notes about it. It was big. It must have been at least as big as a castle. It was also in a state of horrid disrepair. Parts of the roof were missing, and the door was left hanging on its hinges. It creaked open slowly when he pushed it.

Inside, the building was empty. Everything seemed to have been cleared out - and in a hurry, too. "What do you make of this, Doctor?" Lightning asked.

The Doctor took a look inside. He examined a bit of wall, before shifting his gaze to the rest of the room. "It's.....odd, isn't it? One would expect there to be furniture, or at least evidence of whatever was here before. It seems that somepony didn't want this place to be found. Whoever they were, they did a good job of cleaning up, I'll give 'em that,"

Lightning thought he saw a letter peeking out from behind the wallpaper. It appeared to be a letter 'B.' He pulled back the wallpaper. 'Beware,' it said. This was odd. "Doctor?" Lightning called. "Yes, what is -" The Doctor didn't finish his statement as he saw the word written behind the wallpaper. "Quickly, pull the rest of it off," he commanded. Lightning complied, and read what he uncovered. "Beware the Weeping Angel?" he read aloud. The Doctor's eyes grew wide with horror. "Doctor, what does it mean?" he asked.

"Listen to me Lightning. Listen very carefully," Lightning Hawk nodded. "We need to split up. We need to find out as much as possible about this place before we leave. No matter what you do, once you see something out of the ordinary, DON'T BLINK! No matter how hard your body fights it, don't bilnk! Blink and you're dead! Got it?" Lightning nodded. "Now GO!" Lightning took off into the building. "Good luck," the Doctor muttered under his breath.

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Lightning walked through the ruined hallway. There was an eerie atmosphere to this building, and Lightning didn't like it. All he wanted was to get back to Ponyville, back to building his house, and back to figuring out a way to get Twilight. He turned the corner, and saw, at the end of the hallway, a door. He cautiously walked up to it. Why did the Doctor make him run off by himself? Lightning sighed, and opened the door.

On the other side was a room. The room was fairly small, and empty save for one bizarre object. It was tall, taller than a pony, and seemed to be made of metal. It looked kind of like a giant salt-shaker. It had what looked like a plunger stickint out of it, with another strange object sticking out next to the plunger. At the top of it, a stalk with what looked like an eye at the end of it rested. Lightning didn't dare blink. Was this what the Doctor had warned him about? He pressed a hoof against the strange artifact. Immediately, it began to warm up. "RESTORE," he heard a mechanical voice say. Suddenly, the strange eye-stalk lit up, and it turned to look straight at him. It pointed the strange object next to its plunger and said, "IDENTIFY," Suddenly, Lightning Hawk heard hoofsteps,and the Doctor trotted in. "Oh, no," he muttered once he saw the strange object.

"Doctor, what is it?"

"That's a Dalek,"

"A what?"

The Doctor never got to explain, for the Dalek interrupted. "YOU ARE AN ASSOCIATE OF THE DOCTOR, AND AN ENEMY OF THE DALEKS! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

"Doctor what does it mean?"

"Lightning get out of there!"

But it was too late. The Dalek charged its laser. "EXTERMINATE!"

The last thing Lightning Hawk felt was searing pain as the laser hit him in the chest.

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Derpy and Shamrock had been looking for hours. There was no luck with Carrot Top, she had no idea where this thing was. It wasn't in any of the places they checked afterwards, including Sugarcube Corner, where Derpy got her daily muffin. Shamrock thought that something was up with the owners of the place, as they seemed to be acting as if they were hiding something really important. He could have sworn he heard Reaper's voice at one point, but thought nothing of it later, deciding he was imagining things.

Derpy seemed disheartened by the loss of her mailbag. "I just don't know what went wrong," she said sadly.

Shamrock thought deeply as to the whereabouts of the bag. "Derpy, are you sure we've checked everywhere you could have possibly left it?" he asked. Derpy nodded.

"It's okay, Shamrock. You did your best helping me try to find it," She said.

"Well, the day's not over yet. We might as well head back to your house and have some muffins,"

"Yeah, I guess,"

Shamrock began to feel bad for Derpy. This was most certainly not the same mare he had met before. "Hey, cheer up! So what if we didn't find your bag? We tried, didn't we? And we had plenty of fun doing it, too, right?"

"Yeah, you're right!" Derpy said.

"Now how about we get you home, and eat some delicious muffins?"

"Let's do it!"

Half an hour later they entered Derpy's house. As they walked in, both of their jaws hit the floor. Sitting there, in the toaster was Derpy's mailbag. As the pair looked right at it, a million thoughts ran through their heads. How could they have missed it? Why didn't they think to check there? What was it doing in the toaster? Had they really just wasted an entire day looking for this thing only to have left it back where they started?

Derpy and Shamrock looked at each other. Then they smiled. Then they laughed.

Many muffins were consumed that day.

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There was a ding noise. Maybe it was a bing noise. Or perhaps it went ping. Reaper didn't know. He had spent so long sitting here, staring at the cookies bake that he had no idea what was going through his brain anymore. Pinkie had tried to stay quiet. That lasted about 30 seconds. Afterwards, it was just half an hour of pure annoyance. As the baker's timer went off, Pinkie shut up for the first time in far too long, in Reaper's opinion. "Done!" she chimed happily. Reaper begrudgingly opened the oven.

Now, Reaper had never baked before in his life. He had never seen somepony else bake, and he had no idea how to bake. That being said, even he could determine that something went wrong as he looked at the finished cookies. As he placed the tray on the counter, he asked, "Are they supposed to glow green?"

Pinkie examined the cookies before eating one. Immediately her face contorted in disgust, and she spat them out into a nearby trash can in a fit of coughing. "Are you okay?" Reaper asked.

Pinkie smiled weakly after she had finished. "Well, they're better than that one time Applejack was really tired," she said with a weak laugh. Reaper was unamused.

"It seems to me that these abominations are a health hazard. Perhaps we should get rid of them?"

Pinkie nodded, and Reaper threw the rest of the cookies in the trash can. 'Well, looks like I'm done here,' Reaper thought to himself. After throwing out the defective cookies, he walked towards the door. "Wait, Reapy! Where are you going?" Pinkie called.

Reaper turned confusedly. "Oh, I'm sorry. Are we not done baking?"

"Well, yeah, we're done baking, but -"

"Then good day, Miss Pie," Reaper finished. He heard Pinkie groan in annoyance.

Reaper sighed, and turned to Pinkie. The thing about Pinkie was this: Reaper had no idea what she was feeling. With most ponies, Reaper could use his innate changeling abilities to detect their emotions and act upon them. But with Pinkie, Reaper felt like she was purposely hiding them from him. She was doing a good job, too. Everytime Reaper checked, all he could detect was happiness. He could detect another emotion hidden beneath the layer of happiness, but he could never figure out what it was. It bothered him. With a sigh, he turned to Pinkie Pie. "What is it?" he asked, his curiosity finally getting the better of him.

"Reapy, it's you!"

Reaper didn't know if this was an insult, but before he could say anything Pinkie continued.

"Or, is it me? No, no, it's definitely you! Yes, You! Why?"

"Why what?" Reaper asked, confused.

"Why can't I make you smile? I can make everypony in all of Ponyville smile! What makes you any different? Please, I have to know!" Pinkie yelled, ending with a slightly-fake sob. Reaper sighed. That was it? She just wanted to make him smile? He growled in annoyance.

"Pinkie, if that was it you should have just told me,"

"Really?"

"Yes! So that way I could tell you what you should have already guessed. I'm a changeling. I don't think like you ponies do. I don't see the point in certain things, and place importance on others. We are incredibly different. So if you wanted to make me smile, nopony could possibly be more unprepared than you! It's not your fault, and I'm sure your very funny to all the ponies, but that's just not the way I think. Do you understand?"

Pinkie nodded sadly.

"Good. Now I'm gonna leave now. I hope you had a good day,"

"Will I ever see you again?"

Reaper half-laughed, half-choked. "If you're anything you claim to be, we'll be seeing each other a lot,"

Pinkie smiled, and Reaper left.

As Pinkie watched Reaper walked to his house, she smiled to herself. He had said that it was impossible for her to make him smile. That was good. Pinkie loved a challenge.

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Lightning Hawk woke up right where he was standing. The Doctor wore a facial expression that read as both worried and triumphant. "It works!" he shouted, before grabbing Lightning Hawk and running out the door, slamming it shut. The dalek could still be heard screaming on the other side.

"Doctor, what just happened?" Lightning asked.

The Doctor looked a little guilty. "Lightning Hawk, not to be rude, but you died,"

There was a pause as Lightning processed what he heard. "Oh," he said simply. "Then how am I here now?"

"You see, that's the thing! After you died, I ran back to my TARDIS, and took an epic 2-year journey to get my hooves on the technology neccessary to bring you back to life. I then returned to mere moments after the moment you died, and brought you back! I believe thanks are in order,"

"Thanks, but how are we gonna get outof here? And what's that?"

The Doctor turned to where Lightning was pointing. Standing there, in the hallway, blocking them from freedom, was a statue. It appeared to be of a pegasus in robes, and it was hiding its face in its forehooves, to give the impression that it was weeping. He groaned in annoyance and anger.

"That, Lightning, is a weeping angel. It can only move if you don't look at it, and they are fast. Faster than you can believe. So whatever you do, don't blink. I'm going to walk around it carefully, just make sure you keep your eyes on it, okay?"

The Doctor slowly made his way around the weeping angel. As he got around to the other side, he motioned for Lightning Hawk to come as well. Lightning slowly inched around the statue, and once he was safely with the Doctor, the pair backed away slowly. Suddenly, there was an explosion as the door keeping the dalek from them was blown to smithereens.

"EXTERMINATE!" it shouted as it blew away the door. The dalek was then confronted with a problem; the weeping angel.

As Lightning Hawk and the Doctor watched, the dalek sized up its opponent. The Doctor smiled. "Well, how about that, Dalek? It looks like you're going to be our ticket out of here,"

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, DOCTOR?"

"Nothing. But, you don't blink. And now, you're staring right at an organism that can only move when you blink. And if you look away, it will kill you. Thank you, dalek. You've been a tremendous help,"

As the Doctor and Lightning Hawk made their way back to the TARDIS, they could hear the dalek screaming in rage behind them. As they entered, Lightning reflected on the events that had transpired. He had died. Died! "Doctor?" he began.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Why did you come back for me? I mean, you hardly know me. Why would you go through all that trouble just to save my life?"

"Oh, well, that's easy. You don't know it yet, Lightning Hawk, but you are part of something much bigger than yourself. I'm afraid I can't risk this happening again, so I'm going to have to take you back to Ponyville,"

"What do you mean, 'part of something bigger than myself?'"

The Doctor sighed. "I can't tell you. It would mess up the timeline, it would be like telling George Washington everything he would accomplish years befoehand, it just can't be done! And don't ask who that is, you wouldn't understand. Rest assured, something big is going to happen soon to you, and you need to be ready for it,"

The Doctor moved to the control panel and prepared to pull the lever that would send them back. "Wait!" Lightning said. "Can't you just tell me a little bit?"

The Doctor smiled. "If an old friend of mine were here, she would say, 'Spoilers!'"

And with that, the Doctor pulled the lever and sent them back to Ponyville.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

As Lightning walked out of the TARDIS and flew towards his house-in-construction, he looked down at one of his hooves. There, on his foreleg, was a small, black mark. It appeared to have been made with a permanent marker. He examined it, not knowing how it got there. He turned back to the TARDIS to hear the Doctor screaming "Not you again!" before shrugging. Whatever it was, it wasn't his problem. With that in mind, he forgot about the mark, and continued to build his house.

*  *  *  *   *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

"No, please, I don't wanna go! He scares me!" Fluttershy protested as Applejack pushed her towards the hospital.

"Fluttershy, this colt really needs our help," Applejack countered. "Ah don't think paying him a visit will hurt ya. At least, Ah hope so,"

After the events of yesterday, Applejack felt more than a little guilty for Willus hurting himself. She kept telling herself that was stupid, and that she played no part in it, but deep down, she knew that wasn't true. What she was worried about was Willus' state of mind. Something about that colt rubbed her the wrong way, and she intended to find out everything she could to help him. Of course, she couldn't do it by herself, now could she? So she dragged the kindest pony she knew into helping her: Fluttershy.

But a Fluttershy caught was not a Fluttershy had. She was not as eager as Applejack was to help this colt she hardly knew. As a matter of fact, she was entirely against it. There was no way, no way at all that Applejack would get her anywhere near that weirdo. The fact was, he scared her. A lot. And why shouldn't she be scared? He was a psycho! Absolutely crazy! Fluttershy wanted nothing to do with him, but in the end, Applejack knew how to turn her around.

"Fluttershy, Ah don't wanna do this, but you leave me no choice. You know that bunny you've been keeping on a diet?"

"Yes, what about Chubby?"

"If you don't go through with this, Ah'll feed him as many apples as he wants. And you and Ah both know, he's gonna want a lot,"

Fluttershy was shocked. This was a low blow. "Fine," She grumbled angrily, and the two mares walked into the hospital.

It was only another five minutes until the two mares walked into Willus' hospital room. He had it all to himself, and lay in his bed, bouncing a rubber ball off the wall. "Oh, hey Applejack! You must be Fluttershy?" He said once he took notice of their entrance.

"Hey, Willus. We just thought it'd be nice to check up on you. How are you feeling?"

"Well, the doctor said that I should be able to walk tomorrow. Technically, I can walk today, but it might be unsafe, so they're gonna wait until tomorrow to let me out,"

"Well, that's nice," Fluttershy said in a forced voice. She seemed to be trembling a little bit.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Willus said sadly, looking out the window.

Applejack frowned. "What's the matter, partner? Somethin' on yer mind?"

Willus Word sighed. "Applejack, a lot of stuff has happened to me. It's enough to drive a colt mad. Well, it did drive a colt mad, but that's not the point. As I've sat here, staring at the wall, the memories have come flooding back to me. It's a horrible thing,"

Applejack shuffled on her chair anxiously. "Maybe all you need is to share those memories," She suggested. When Willus gave her an odd look, she finished with, "Just sayin',"

"Well, I guess telling you my story wouldn't hurt. Not me at least. I make no promises as to your health after exposure to my past. Are you okay with that?"

Fluttershy mumbled "No," but received a slight kick from Applejack. "Yes! Of course we're okay with that," Applejack said loudly both to mask Fluttershy's impetuance and to convince Willus.

"Very well. I suppose it would be best to start all the way at the beginning, with my birth......"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Willus Word was born to his parents in Manehatten, 21 years ago. His mother was named Banana Split, and owned a small ice cream parlor. His father was named Latest Press, and owned the local newspaper company. It was his father who introduced Willus to books at an early age. Having only one child, he wanted to ensure that he would be intelligent and creative, and what better way to do that than with books?

And books certainly had the desired effect on Willus. Maybe a little more than was neccessary. Willus never made any true childhood friends, although that didn't make him a social pariah. He simply prefered to spend his time reading than actually having a social life. As he grew up, this didn't change. He attended college in Manehatten, and when he finished he moved to Fillydelphia, a small town that bordered a forest. There, he set up a bookstore, his love for books undying even as an adult.

The events that transpired in Fillydelphia would come to define Willus in ways he could never imagine, nor dared to.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

The biggest change to Willus' life once he moved to Fillydelphia was the making of friends. He had two good friends with whom he met almost daily.

The first of these friends was Quill Scratch. Born in Canterlot, his accent, mannerisms, and behaviour screamed of one from that famous city - if they were perhaps a bit daft. While it was true, he was not the sharpest knife in the box, and he seemed incapable of logic at times, he had a good heart that more than made up for his occasional clumsiness. He was loyal and provided an interesting viewpoint of life, so he was more than Willus would ask for in a friend.

The second friend Willus had would prove to be much more important. Her name was Morticia. Morticia was a zebra. She claimed to be 237 years old, but to Willus and Quill, she didn't look a day over 50. Or 49, as she made them say. Willus and Quill didn't know much about her, and she refused to reveal much about her past. She was very intelligent, and knew many herbal potions and remedies. Once she was able to cure the common cold. But there was always a hint of mystery to her, and always she seemed to know something her friends didn't.

The three friends would meet at Willus' house often, for tea and cookies. There, they would discuss various topics, each bringing a different viewpoint due to their different backgrounds. And that was what made Willus so happy. Both of his friends shared his love for books and knowledge, and because of this their friendship remained strong. It wasn't until Willus' 20th birthday that things started to go wrong.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

It was here that Willus paused in his storytelling. He frowned in concentration as he remembered the past. "Are you okay?" Applejack asked, "You can stop if you wanna,"

Willus shook his head. "No, I need to tell somepony my story. No matter how hard it may be,"

And with that, he continued.

*  *  *  *  *   *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Willus' 20th birthday was a big deal for him and his friends. The three friends met at his house, like usual, to celebrate. It was what occured at that fateful meeting that would prove to be Willus' downfall.

It started out pleasant enough. The three friends met, sat down, and ate their cookies and drank their tea. After all of the expected "Happy birthday!"s were shared, the friends got around to talking.

"So, WIllus, you're finally legally an adult! How's that working out for you?" Quill asked.

"Oh, it's great!" Willus replied. "I still haven't tried drinking hard cider, but there's a first time for everything!"

Morticia had remained silent throughout the conversation. Clearly, something was troubling her. "Is something wrong?" Quill asked.

Morticia didn't respond immediately, still deep in thought. When she did respond, she said it in a tone that suggested she was hiding something. "Oh, nothing. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine,"

Willus and Quill looked at each other, then her oddly. "Morticia, I know when somepony's gaffing me about," Quill said. "And right now, I'd bet my knackers you're gaffing us about!"

Neither Willus nor Morticia had the slightest idea how Quill invented those words. Willus decided it would be better if he stepped in. "Look, Morticia, we're all friends. Whatever's bothering you won't get in the way of that. Can't you just tell us?"

Morticia looked at her friends, then sighed. "Do you really want to know?" The two colts nodded eagerly. "Fine, but don't sa I didn't warn you!

"As you are aware, I often dabble in witchcraft. That's how I've lived to be 237-"

"So you say,"

"Shut up, I'm talking,"

Quill made a noise of annoyance.

"As I was saying, I often dabble in witchcraft. Recently, I've found some interesting tomes on fortunetelling,"

"Fortunetelling? I like where this is going," WIllus said.

"So did I, but there's a catch! If you haven't realised already, seeing into the future comes at a price. If you don't like what you see, you won't be able to do anything to stop it. Trying to stop may actually cause it to happen, anyway. So, I've been more than a little hesitant to try it out,"

"Well, that's not a problem!" Willus said. "You could just read my fortune!"

Both Quill and Morticia were surprised at that. "What? Why?" they asked simultaneously.

Willus shrugged. "Well, I'm 20 now. I might as well find out what the future has in store,"

"But what if the future is horrible?"

"Well, why don't we just do the near-future? Something along the lines of, I don't know, a few weeks from now?"

Morticia considered this option for a while. "Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt too much," she said.

"Great! Now when do we start?"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

The actual rocess of fortunetelling was pretty simple. Morticia simply created a special herbal brew, and left it to simmer in a large pot. Then, she pricked Willus so as to acquire a drop of blood (a process Willus whined through a lot). Finally, she added some extra ingredients, and looked into the pot. Supposedly, the one whose blood was in the pot's future would be revealed, and Morticia had mixed the herbs so that it would only reveal something that would happen two weeks from now.

Willus and Quill watched Moricia's face anxiously, trying to read it, and figure out what she was seeing. Suddenly Morticia's eyes grew wide, and she gasped at what she saw. She quickly backed away from the pot, fear and sadness mixed plainly on her face. "What is it?" Willus asked. "What did you see?"

For a while, Morticia was quiet. When she finally spoke, she addresed Willus. "What would happen if you lost all of your books?" she asked.

Willus was surprised at the question. "Well, I would probably go crazy without my books. Why?"

Morticia sighed. "Because, If what I saw is correct, something terrible is going to happen to your books in exactly two weeks,"

*  *  *  *  *   *  *  *  *  *  *  *

The weeks leading up to the fateful day saw the change of Willus. During the week and six days in between when Willus heard his fortune and when it would come true, supposedly, he started to act.......strangely. Now, Willus was never the perfect image of normality to begin with, but now he was acting increasingly paranoid. He would take every book he saw and go out of his way to protect it. At first, this wasn't a problem, but as the days went on, more and more ponies began to be troubled by Willus' interruptions. Interruptions for the sake of books, no less, they would think.

Morticia changed too. She was becoming even more reclusive. Quill had no idea what she was doing, and the only time he visited her in an attempt to make her convice Willus she had lied, and when he did that he was kicked out immediately. Nopony knew what she was up to, much less why she was acting differently. Then, the fateful day Willus was waiting for arrived.

He woke up at midnight, and stayed up throughout the wee hours of the morning. During the day, he stayed at his bookstore, never leaving for anything. Nopony entered the store that day. Willus remembered the wait as being very boring. Nothing happened. Until the clock struck eleven, that is.

Once it was eleven o'clock, Willus heard hoofsteps. Not long after, somepony entered through the front door. They wore a cloak, and Willus was unable to discern who they were. They didn't do much. They simply wandered the store, browsing through the books. It wasn't until they pulled out a match to relight their pipe that Willus realised what was going to happen. "No, wait!" he shouted, but it was too late. The match slipped from the unknown pony's grasp. It fell to the ground. It was almost absurd, how quickly the bookstore went up in flames. But it did. Willus barely esaped with his life.

Willus lost everything in that fire. His home, his books, everything. All that worked was his clock, witch chimed at the stroke of twelve. Midnight. The prophecy had been fulfilled. Willus tearfully looked at the fire, everything burning horribly. Then he saw the pony in the cloak, only there was something different about them. They had removed the hood, and Willus could clearly see their face. And there, smiling in the flames, stood Morticia. She laughed, and ran away.

Willus couldn't believe it. He ran, trying to follow her into the forest. Something broke inside Willus that night. And at the same time, something else was born. Suddenly, Willus noticed that he had two voices in his head. The second voice seemed so calm, so sure of who they were. And yet, Willus knew that they were insane. He fought the madness for a long time.He fought for two days, slowly losing the battle against the voice. At one point, he saw Quill through the trees. He was with two colts, both wearing clean white coats. They were coming for him. It wan't until he rounded a corner and saw Morticia standing there, an evil smirk on her face, that he finally gave in. Then he began to sing. (Link)

Willus: Remember when you ran away

And I got on my knees and begged you

Not to burn them because I'd go berserk?

Well

You burned them anyhow

And then the days got worse and worse

And now you see I've gone completely out of my mind!

And

They're coming to take me away,

Haha!

They're coming to take me away,

Hoho!

Heehee!

Haha!

To the bunny farm,

Where life is beautiful all the time,

And I'll be happy to see those nice young colts

In their clean,white coats,

And they're coming to take me away!

Haha!

You thought it was a joke

And so you laughed,

(You laughed!)

When I had said that losing books would make me flip my lid,

Right?

You know you laughed,

I heard you laugh!

You laughed, and laughed,and laughed, and then you left,

But now you know I'm utterly mad!

And

They're coming to take me away,

Haha!

They're coming to take me away,

Hoho!

Heehee!

Haha!

To the happy home,

With trees and flowers and chirping birds

And basket weavers

Who sit and smile and twiddle their manes and tails,

And they're coming to take me away,

Haha!

I cooked your food,

I cleaned your house,

And this is how you pay me back

For all my kind, unselfish, friendly deeds?

Huh?

Well, you just wait!

They'll find you yet,

And when they do,

They'll put you in the ASPCA

You mangy mutt!

And

They're coming to take me away,

Haha!

They're coming to take me away,

Hoho!

Heehee!

Haha!

To the bunny farm,

Where life is beautiful all the time,

And I'll be happy to see those nice young colts

In their clean,white coats,

And they're coming to take me away!

Haha!

Afterwards, WIllus continued to mumble his song at Morticia's hooves. She still had that evil grin on her face, but now Willus was smiling insanely too. When Quill finally arrived with the colts from the Canterlot Insane Asylum, they found Willus mumbling and singing to a pile of rocks.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *   *   *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Over the next nine months, Willus was held in the Canterlot Insane Asylum, or CIA. Quill left after Willus had been put into custody, and Willus would never hear from him again. He never figured out why Morticia did what she did, but he did decide on one thing. He would find her, and he would have revenge. At least, that's what the second voice wanted. The original Willus wanted nothing to do with it, he just wanted to leave the Asylum and start over. But this was easier said than done. But the heads of the Asylum failed to realise one thing. Willus may have been crazy, but he was not stupid. And so, through bickering and hallucinations, both Willuses began to form a plan - together.

Finally, at the end of the ninth month, Willus put his plan into action. Somepony of importance had arrived to inspect the Asylum, Willus knew not who, nor cared, but that meant that all of the guards would be busy, "protecting" them. Willus waited at his designated table once it was lunchtime, and munched on his hay sandwich. Finally, when nopony was in the room, leaving him alone with all of the other crazies and a security camera, Willus put his plan into action. The grand masterpiece of a plan that had taken him nine months to complete - he threw his mashed potatoes at the camera and ran out the door.

Sure, it was simple, but it worked. He escaped into canterlot, made his way to the local train, bought a ticket with some money he "borrowed" from a sleeping old gentlecolt in the park, and within the hour he found himself in Ponyville. Here, he would start again. He bought a house with the rest of his money, and then opened his one duffel bag. Inside were books, all of the books he could find at the CIA. Over the next three months, he would collect more books, and open his bookstore in Ponyville. His birthday came and went, until a month later, when the ursa attacked and his life was changed forever.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *   *

"And you know the rest," Willus finished. Applejack and Fluttershy were both silent, not sure how to react to Willus' story. He had certainly been through a lot. Fluttershy no longer felt afraid of this colt, but instead felt pity for him.

"Well, partner, Ah understand now why you need our help, and Ah'll be more than happy to oblige. If there's anything ya need, just tell me," Applejack said. She walked towards the door. Fluttershy remained in her seat, thinking, when suddenly she had an idea.

"Wait! WIllus, you want to be normal right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Beause I have an idea! We could get you a pet!"

Applejack raised an eyebrow at that. "Fluttershy, Ah don't know if WIllus is responsible enough for a pet. No offense, Willus,"

"None taken," He said.

But Fluttershy was not easily dissuaded. "Oh, but Applejack! I'm sure we could find something for him! And besides, maybe having a little friend around will help him get better?"

Willus and Fluttershy both looked at Applejack with big eyes. "Please?" they said together.

Applejack sighed. "Fine, but don't say Ah didn't warn you, 'Shy. Now let's go, Big Mac needs help on the farm,"

Fluttershy walked with Applejack out the door, taking a moment to wave goodbye to Willus. He smiled. It was nice to have such good friends again.