Silence

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Chapter 1

Silence

A story by Taranasaurus

[1]

The clock ticked in the hall; a small, but reassuring sound to Rarity at night. She did not admit this to her friends, but there was something about silence that frightened her beyond belief. She could not remember why. She looked around, making certain that everything was in order. Satisfied with her room, she sunk lower into her bed, letting its warmth swallow her like she was nothing but a marshmellow in Pinkie’s mouth. She closed her eyes, and drifted off into a deep slumber, thinking of Canterlot.

“Rarity…”

Rarity sat bolt upright in her bed, looking around with a look of fright clear on her face. Beads of sweat dripped down her coat, leaving a trail of moisture behind. It was almost dawn, and as Rarity glanced out of the window she couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief wash over her. She had experienced that dream again. She couldn’t get it out of her head, it was the worst dream of all.

Rarity would wake up to find herself in her bed, as if it were a normal day. This did not alarm her at first, and so she got up and went about her daily routine. But she did not trust her dream, something felt… off. But she ignored it, thinking it was just an instinct, or a natural reaction. But this had not been her first time in the dream, and she had become weary, and anxious. It didn’t always happen in the same way, but rest assured, she knew that it would happen.

She had gotten up and was beginning to make Sweetie Belle’s breakfast, but as she poured the milk into the bowl of cereal, she realized something. Usually Sweetie was up before her, pestering her for food and attention, but as she stood in the kitchen, she felt as if she was completely alone. Sweetie Belle wasn’t in the kitchen.

“Sweetie?” Rarity called out, hoping for some form of reply, but all she could hear was the dull ticking of her ancient clock. “Sweetie Bell?” she repeated, panicking. “Sweetie, please come downstairs.” Rarity heard no reply. Instead a soft wind blew the window open, causing her designer curtains to billow in the wind.

Rarity heard the soft tones of her sister’s voice calling to her, although it sounded like a whisper on the wind.

“Coming Rarity…”

Somehow her sister’s voice did not comfort Rarity, the tone could only be described as one of exasperation. Rarity hesitantly placed one hoof upon the lowest step, her breathing ragged. She let out a long breath, and then began to climb the stairwell towards her sister’s room. Another gust of wind blew through the already open window, causing Rarity to shiver. As she reached the top of the stairs, she could see a red glow emanating from the crack in her sister’s door. The light seemed unnatural, as if it were not from this world.

Rarity steeled herself, and began to take a few cautious steps towards Sweetie Bell’s room. She carefully reached a hoof out towards the door handle, as if something were about to explode from behind the closed door. A sudden noise stopped her. Rarity heard felt the wind that had blown across her back from the window cease, as if something had blocked the entrance to the hall. Rarity whipped her head around to see if she could distinguish what had startled her. There in front of her, was a silhouette, standing at the end of the hallway, not moving, but looking towards her.

“H-hello?” Rarity managed, trying to make her voice sound braver than she felt.

“Rarity…” a soft voice whispered in her ear.

“That’s m-me,” Rarity said cautiously. How does he know my name? she thought.

“Rarity, you have to listen to me,” the voice rasped in her ear. “Do not go in that room, please.”

“Why should I trust you?” Rarity asked, straightening up to her full height, determined not to show her fear.

“Rarity, this is a dream, this is just a dream,” the voice replied in a reassuring tone.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Rarity demanded, a look of annoyance in her eyes. “Why should I trust you!?”

The voice sighed, before it raised its tone. “Rarity, I am the Doctor.” It whispered into her ear, dusty and old. “Beyond that door is nothing, it is the darkness that both you and I fear. It is the silence that neither of us wants. It is the end.”

Rarity shuddered, a cold chill descending along her spine. Before Rarity got the chance to reply, she felt a small tug on her tail. She whipped around, expecting it to be some demon or monster, and recoiled in horror. It was Sweetie Bell, but not as Rarity remembered her. She had the same white coat, the same hair, even the same mouth. But her eyes. They were just empty sockets, filled with nothing, a deep black that looked endless.

“Rarity, look away”’ The Doctor whispered, his voice rising with tension. But, try as she might, Rarity could not tear her gaze from her sister’s eyes.

“Rarity,” The Doctor said, almost shouting. Rarity felt herself slipping into the dark holes of nothing. She felt herself losing her conscience and soul within the coal black sockets.

“RARITY!” screamed the Doctor.

The sudden shout jolted Rarity awake, and she sat upright, her back stiff with fear.

****

Twilight didn’t hear the frantic knocks on the door at first, she was too engrossed in a book called Starswirl’s Guide To Potion Making. When the three knocks weren’t answered, the door was flung open, and a slightly annoyed Rarity barged into the room.

The mare looked towards Twilight, and then at the pile of books that sat beside her. “Twilight, we need to talk.”

Twilight stretched her back muscles, straining until she heard a satisfactory pop from her spinal cord. She could hear Spike humming to himself in the kitchen, and wondered what he was making her for lunch. Twilight drooped with pleasure, stood up on all fours, and turned to address her friend.

“Rarity, give me more warning next time you plan to come over,” Twilight mocked.

“Twilight, I need to speak with you,” Rarity said, a look of utter seriousness upon her face.

Twilight stopped laughing, she recognized that face.

“What’s wrong?”

Rarity glanced over at her friend, deciding whether or not to tell her. I don’t know if she will believe me, Rarity thought, looking at Twilight. Twilight is my best friend, and I can trust her with anything, can’t I?

“Yes, you can,” Twilight answered Rarity’s thoughts. “Whoops, sorry, mind reading spell, looks like it works, doesn’t it?”

“Twilight, I have been having these dreams, these horrible nightmares.” Rarity continued, ignoring what Twilight had just told her, instead lowering her eyes towards the ground. She then explained the whole story to Twilight, beginning from when she had had the first dream.

“It started around three weeks ago, just after Sweetie’s birthday,” Rarity began. “I had a dream that night, a dream about the previous day. As we were about to cut the cake, a loud rumbling noise came from outside. When I went outside to see what it was, I-I...” Rarity faltered momentarily, losing herself in the memory. “The... the sky was black. No clouds, no sun, just... black. Then, this strange sound came from inside, but when I turned around, the boutique was gone. So were all of the guests at the party. Then the ground disappeared, and I fell. I fell and fell, until finally, I woke.”

“Almost exactly the same thing happened the next day, then the day after that. Twilight, I began to dread sleeping. Remember when you all came over because I hadn’t met Fluttershy for our weekly spa treatment?”

“You told us you felt sick,” Twilight said.

“I hadn’t had any sleep that night, so I felt terrible. But, when I finally passed out from exhaustion, I dreamt again. I had the same nightmare. It wasn’t until last night that the nightmare changed. Instead of being at Sweetie Belle’s party, I was at home. I was cautious of course, but I was still happy I wasn’t having the same nightmare again.” Rarity continued on by explaining to her the events of the most recent dream, the one with the strange stallion.

Twilight listened intently, a serious look clouding her face. Rarity spoke on and on about her dream, and then decided to share something else with Twilight as well.

“Twilight, I have a fear,” said Rarity, staring into Twilight’s deep, solemn eyes.

“So do I, it’s no big deal.” Twilight responded, shrugging off the matter.

“But Twilight, my fear is worse than yours could ever be,” Rarity told her, pursuing the problem. “I’m afraid, of being alone, of darkness, and silence. And in my dreams, darkness is all I see, just darkness, and a feeling of being alone that rips a hole in my chest,” Rarity choked, trying to hold back the tears.

Twilight noticed the look of angst on her friends face, and realized what she had said. “Rarity, I’m so sorry, this must be very hard for you.” Twilight soothed, her hoof on Rarity’s back as she tried to calm her weeping friend.

Rarity lifted her head from her hooves to look at her friend, tears still sliding down her face. Twilight looked her in the eyes, her face serious as she spoke. “Rarity, I know this is hard, but I need you to think back. You said something about a stallion?”

Rarity nodded her head, sniffling as she did. “Y-yes... he said his... his name was...” Rarity trailed off, looking towards the roof as she tried to recall the past night’s events.

“His name was...?” Twilight stared at Rarity, waiting intently for an answer.

“His name was... Th-the Doctor!” Rarity said, brightening up as she remembered the stallion

Twilight’s eyes widened in shock, and she let out a stifled gasp before turning around and running towards one of her bookshelves.

“Twilight?” Rarity asked, staring at the other unicorn with a puzzled look on her face. “What are you doing?”

“I know it’s here somewhere,” Twilight said, as if she had forgot that Rarity was even in the room.

“Hey Twi,” said Spike, pushing through the kitchen doors. “Are you ready for lu-” he began, but then noticed Rarity.

“Hello Spike,” Rarity told him, trying to stifle the tears that had been flowing only seconds before. “You look like you’ve grown since the last time I saw you. You are a lot taller now.”

Spike’s cheeks turned crimson. He let the compliment sink in, not making a sound.

“Yes, well, now that you are here, you can help me figure out what Twilight’s doing,” Rarity told him, looking at Spike. Spike glanced over towards Twilight, who was frantically pulling books off the shelves in a desperate search to find a book.

“Ah, Twilight’s had an idea,” Spike said, trying to impress Rarity with his knowledge. “She’s going to keep looking until she finds the book that holds the infor-“

“A-Ha!” shouted Twilight, holding a dusty blue book up in triumph. “This, is the entire history of Equestria.”

“Yes, but darling, how is that going to help me,” asked Rarity, glancing towards Spike with a look of concern. Spike shrugged, not sure what Twilight had in mind.

“Because, when I was reading through this a few months back,” Twilight said, the book floating just above her head. “There was a chapter based on myths and legends, and one of those ‘legends’ was based on a stallion who called himself the ‘Doctor’”

Twilight trotted over towards her book stand, the large blue book levitating just above her head. She let the book drop, and it landed on the stand with a dull thump. Twilight then reached out with her magic, using it to turn the pages faster than Rarity could comprehend.

“She’s gonna be here for a while,” Spike said, sighing. ‘You may as well have something to eat. I’ve baked a lovely dandelion quiche.’

“Oh, I couldn’t, Spike,” Rarity said, blushing slightly at Spike’s generosity. I thought I was supposed to be the element of generosity. Looks like Spike’s giving me a run for my money, Rarity thought to herself, barley hiding a grin. “Oh all right, but not too much,’ she warned. “I don’t want to ruin my physique.”

Spike grinned and lead the way towards the kitchen, stepping around a heap of books that Twilight had piled up in her search. Rarity stepped around the assortment, and trotted Towards the kitchen door, which Spike was holding open for her. She began to walk forward, but hesitated, her mind clouding with memories of the night before

****

“Knock knock,” said Twilight Sparkle, poking her head around the door. “I see you’re serving up lunch now Spike,” Twilight said as she pushed the door open to its full extent, and surveyed the mountains of food before her. She gasped, trying to take all of it in at once, and then said, “Spike, how long have you been making all this?”

Spike turned around, surprised by his friends presence. He smiled warmly, gesturing for her to take a seat. “Oh, about two hours.”

“Well, It’s a good thing you baked extra, Rainbow and Pinkie are going to be joining us for lunch,” Twilight said, as she indicated towards the doorway. Rainbow Dash poked her head around the corner, followed by Pinkie Pie.

“Hey Twilight,” the Pinkie Pie said, bouncing with excitement. "Did you guess that we were coming? Did you? Did you?" Pinkie said in a half-breath. Rarity and Twilight could barely understand her hurried speech as the pink earth pony bounced up and down. “Oh, hey Rarity,” She said, in a much slower speed, noticing the looks the two unicorns were giving her. Rarity smiled at Pinkie, waving her hoof towards the pony. Pinkie bounced into the room, closely followed by Rainbow Dash.

“Wow, Spike,” Rainbow said, gaping at the heap of food that sat in front of her. “You’ve cooked enough food to feed my whole family for a week.”

Spike blushed, looking towards the floor and muttering, “Aw, guys, it was nothing really.”

Pinkie bounced around the table, then turned to Spike and asked Spike a question, an excited look on her face.

“Spike, wanna cook the food for my next party?” Pinkie asked, staring intently at Spike, waiting for an answer.

“Uh, sure Pinkie,” Spike answered nervously, not sure if this was the answer that Pinkie was hoping for.

“Oh Spike, thank you, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!” Pinkie shouted, her face brightening at the thought of a party. Spike sighed, relived that his answer had been accepted. He turned back to the bench, and began to slide even more food onto each plate. Twilight turned away from Pinkie, who was still bouncing up and down excitedly, and looked towards Rarity.

“So, now that that’s all over, I found the page I was looking for in this book.” Twilight said, lifting the large blue book from earlier onto the table, flicking quickly through the pages. Suddenly she stopped, and, with precise accuracy, pointed the end of her hoof at the title of the chapter.

“The Doctor, Myth or Legend?” Rarity read out loud, glancing at the large wall of text below it with a sigh of dismay. “What does it say Twilight, in short, if you please?”

“Well,” Twilight said with a sigh, trying to read ahead to sum it up for her friend in a way that she could understand, “It talks about a brown stallion with an hourglass as a cutie mark. Apparently he travels around in a big blue phone box, which he calls the TARDIS.” Twilight looked at this last word, trying to figure out what it meant. She gave up, and instead told her friends what the rest of the chapter had to offer. “His ‘TARDIS’ can travel through time and space, although I’m not quite sure how. It would require a large amount of magic, although he could have used one of Greybeard’s spells of strength, meaning that he could…” Twilight trailed off, noticing the looks on her friend’s faces.

“Oh, never mind,” she said. Rainbow Dash stifled a laugh, then turned to look at Twilight, then giggled through her hoof. Rarity looked at Twilight trying not to laugh at her friend’s embarrassment. Pinkie just bounced as usual.

“Well, I guess I should start from the, uh, beginning?” Twilight asked, her cheeks going a deeper shade of red.

“No, no,” Rarity told her. “Just go from the part where it talked about ‘Time and space’,”

“Okay then,” Twilight said, slightly regaining her dignity. “Uh, let’s see. Oh, here we are. ‘Travel through time and space’ as if it were some kind of mechanical monster.”

“Okay, we now know about this ‘Doctor’ character, whoever he is. But what about my dreams, what could they possibly mean?” Rarity asked, the look of fright evident on her face.

“That’s just it Rarity,” Twilight explained. “I’ve tried every book on darkness, ending, or even pits, but none of them contain anything about,” Twilight stopped, glancing towards Pinkie and Rainbow before continuing. “Er, problems.”

“Problems, what problems?” Pinkie asked, turning to face Rarity.

Rarity was about to reply, but was cut short by Spike yelling, “Ladies, lunch is served.” Spike took a sarcastic bow, as if he were a waiter for Princess Celestia herself.

“Mmmmmm, this looks scrum-diddly-umptious Spike,” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, forgetting about her question to Rarity.

“Indeed,” Rarity added, glad that she had a reason to forget about her nightmares, if only for a moment.

“Cool,” Rainbow Dash drooled, staring at the food with a starving look on look on her face.

Twilight just turned to Spike with a look of appreciation on her face. “Thanks,” she said his way.

“Well, don’t just sit there. dig in!” Spike beamed happily. With those words everybody began to eat, and idle chit chat formed between the group of friends.

****

Rarity decided to leave for home around an hour later. She could feel the warm sun on her back, and the sharp gravel beneath her hooves. She could see the orange flag that flew proudly upon the tip of her fashion shop, Carousel Boutique.

Ah, she thought to herself, curling her hoof in her mane lazily. She continued down the path towards her home and workplace, her keys jingling as they floated next to her. The flowers in her garden were still as radiant as ever, even though she had not watered them in over a month. She slid her key into the purple door’s lock, turning it until a satisfying click was heard. Rarity sighed and stepped over the threshold of the door, and into her cool, insulated house.

She walked up the steps that lead to her living quarters, humming Sapphire Shores’ new song to herself as she went. She reclined into her favourite armchair, and reached for one of her fashion magazines. She pushed Canterlot’s Greatest Heroes, one of Sweetie Bell’s favourite comi-

Sweetie! thought Rarity, leaping up from her armchair in alarm. Why haven't I seen Sweetie this morning? Where was she?

This is just like in my... Rarity gasped, realization dawning. But that means that... no no no. You are just over reacting Rarity, no need to get all worked up over nothing.

Rarity let out a deep sigh, composing herself. Where is she? She pondered the question in her mind, thinking. What had she done with Sweetie yesterday? Well, they had visited Fluttershy’s house together, and helped her look after her animals. Afterwards they had gone around to visit Pinkie Pie, to pick up some muffins for their dessert. Then they went over to Applejack’sfor Sweetie’s Cutie Mark Crusader’s sleepover.

That’s where she is, she thought, letting a breath of relief escape from her lungs. She looked over at her clock, which read 3:27pm. Well, she didn’t have to go pick up Sweetie for at least two hours.

Well, Rarity thought to herself. I’m too worked up to have a rest now. May as well go check my schedule to finish any orders I may have missed.

Rarity turned her head towards her pin-up board, which was covered in lists and to-do reminders. Her list for uncompleted jobs was pinned to the small board that sat underneath the others. As she skimmed through the list, a feeling of dismay swept through her. She had nearly ten dresses to complete by the end of the week.

Oh well, I guess it’s time to get started. Rarity headed downstairs, her hooves clicking on the edges of the steps as she descended. She stepped off the final step and looked around in shock. She hadn’t left the room like this. Instead of the usual mess that was her creative inspiration, everything was clean and tidy. Rarity was sure that it was different when she entered the house not five minuets earlier. Frantically she moved towards her desk, hoping that nothing had been taken. Everything seemed to be there, although she was running short on red cotton.

Oh well, she thought to her self. I should probably go get some more. Rarity walked over to a clothes rack that was piled high with old and rejected costumes, and pushed it out of the way, revealing a small door, just big enough for Rarity to squeeze through. She pushed open the door and ducked her head as to not bump it against the door frame. She moved in and began to head down the stairs, keeping her head low so she would not dirty her mane.

The darkness of the hallway surrounded her, causing her breath to become shallow, and her heartbeat began to increase. Her rough breaths came out in quick succession, as she descended further into the darkness. Rarity pushed some magic towards her horn, causing it to light up and illuminate the area around her. The stair case descended downwards for another fifteen steps before flattening out into a small, dark hallway. Rarity descended the last few stairs, and began to step towards the door.

Suddenly a low distorted pulse of noise burst through the air, abruptly ending the silence that surrounded Rarity. A blue streak of light shot from the crack in the bottom of door, than faded as quickly as it had come. The sound and light repeated several times until the light stayed as one constant beam, and the noise resonated into nothing.

Rarity stifled a gasp as the door began to creak open, and blue light flooded the hall. Rarity squinted, trying to make her eyes adjust to the sudden bloom of light. A shadow passed over her face, allowing her to open her eyes. A silhouette stood tall in doorway, creating a shadow that crept along the hall.

“Hello Rarity…” said a voice that was all too familiar to her.

****

Chapter 2.

Well, If you’ve read up to here, than I thank you for spending your time reading my Fan Fiction.

Initial editing by Derpies.

Pre-readers/second editors:

Holy_Hotdog

Clemmensemen

MewMaster13

Ponychan reviewers/kinda editors:

Ganymede105

Cyber.Kuriboh

Now, this is my first try, so a review would be nice, maybe some constructive criticism.

Contact details: Taranasaurus0.0@gmail.com for anything you want to talk to me about.

More chapters coming soon, I was redirected to Ponychan by the lovely Pre-readers over at EqD, and have put a link to a googledoc containing their email.

Thanks

-Taranasaurus

Chapter 2

FimFiction: Author's note: Hey there! This here is the first draft of Chapter two, released exclusivly for you guys. I'm still waiting for Isophone to get through his list of stories far enough to be able to check mine (No pressure, Iso!). Anyway, enjoy, and any critism you have would be greatly appreciated.

Also, guess what? I'M GOING TO JAPAN! :yay: on the 20th of Jan, I shall leave Australia (For the first time) and travel to Japan, I r so happyz guys!

Enough of my ramblings, READ!

[2]

The silhouette at the end of the hall stood taller than Rarity, . The shadow moved forward, turning to one side so that Rarity could see it in a better light. ‘It’ was a he, and he was looking directly at her, one eyebrow raised, the other lowered slightly.

“Hello,” he said, his heavy Manehatten accent showing up strongly. “I’m the Doctor.” He held out his hoof for Rarity to shake, but she just stood there dumbfounded.

“D-Doctor?” She asked, her voice cracking.

“Yes, the Doctor,” the stallion replied, his corners of his lips twitching..

“Doctor w-who?” Rarity asked, taking a step back.

“No, Doctor Whooves,” The Doctor explained. “Don’t worry, you’re not the first person to mix up my name, and you certainly won’t be the last.” He broke out into a lopsided grin, looking towards Rarity.

“Wha- who? H-How did you get in h-here?” Rarity gawped at the stallion before her.

“Oh, well I came in this of course,” the Doctor told her, gesturing towards doorway. Rarity squinted into the light, and could just make out the shape of a large rectangular prism, with a small, pulsating cylinder on top. This seemed to be the source of the strange light. She could vaguely make out the words ‘Pony Box’ inscribed near the top of it.

“But, how d-did that thing get in m-my basement?” Rarity said, taking a step back.

“Well its simple really, all I had to do was set the sizomactor to five thousand, then lock onto you with the thermal stabili... ” The Doctor trailed off, noticing the look that Rarity was giving him.

“B-Bu? Wa-? How?” Rarity stared at the Doctor, making no attempt to hide her expression of confusion. She begun to feel light headed, and felt her hooves sliding on the floor. Rarity fell backwards, allowing unconsciousness to envelop her.

****

Something wet pressed against Rarity’s head. It sent a cool feeling surging through her body, and she sighed deeply, allowing a sense of relief to flood through her. Her breath was cut short by the sound of something moving in her close vicinity. She kept her eyes closed, and instead listened for any kind of sound that would give away her intruder.

“Ah, so you are awake,” The doctor said, pushing on her side gently. Rarity’s eyes flashed open, and she sunk lower into the couch, trying to shield her eyes from the sudden input of light. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the new level of light intensity, and then tried to focus on the brown, blurry shape that was in front of her face.

The stallion stood over her head, the handle of a cup of hot cocoa clasped between his teeth.

He noticed that she was looking at the drink, and said, “I made this for you. It should help you feel better”

Rarity sat up, the damp cloth sliding off of her head and onto the couch beside her. She accepted the drink without a word, and eyed the cup cautiously. She then glanced up to the Doctor, who had a strange smile on his face. Deciding that the drink was fit to consume, she took a long gulp. The warm drink dripped through her body, and she felt its heat spreading into her limbs, giving her a sense of homeliness and restoring her energy. She recognized the concoction as one of pinkie’s ‘special’ mixes of cocoa.

“See? I told you that it would make you feel better.” The Doctor had noticed her smile, and he took the cup from the clutch of her hooves and placed it on the coffee table next to him. Rarity scanned around the room, trying to figure out where she was being held captive. It looked as if it was her lounge room, although some things seemed out of place. Her magazines were all stacked neatly in a pile, which is something she never did. All of her fashion accessories and makeup were sitting on the mirror desk, in a neat and orderly fashion.

“Ah, yes, well, I did a little cleaning up whilst you were out,” the stallion explained, seeing Rarity surveying the room. “Dreadful mess you had in here. I’m the Doctor by the way.” He held out a hoof for her to shake, but she just stared at him coldly.

“Why are you in my house?” She asked. “How did you get in my basement? ” Rarity stared intently at the Doctor, holding her gaze perfectly still. “And darling, what are you wearing?” She motioned towards the doctor’s tie, and he straightened it nervously, his eyes glancing from side to side.

“Uh, well,” Said the stallion nervously. He wasn’t used to people treating him like this. “I was ‘traveling’, to put it lightly, and noticed a strange enomatic reading coming from this planet.”

“Enomatic?” Rarity asked, confused.

“Uh, it’s when a large amount of energy focuses itself in one spot. In this case, your house.” The Doctor explained, trying to translate the words into a form that Rarity could understand.

“Boutique,” Rarity corrected quietly.

“Yes, ‘boutique’. The readings could be passed off as normal if, say, this planet had been affected by extreme amounts of radiation,” the Doctor said. “But then I noticed what form of energy was manifesting here.”

“Which was?” Rarity asked, leaning towards the Doctor.

“Time,” the Doctor said. “The same thing my ship uses as fuel. Although the amount of time energy that has manifested here could run my ship for a million years.”

“How can your ‘ship’ run off time? Why does your ship run off time.” Rarity asked.

“Well, I use a time stabilizer, basically a converter, to convert the time from raw energy into a something my TARDIS can use,” the Doctor answered her. “My ship travels through space and time, which uses a lot of energy. Time is raw energy, meaning it contains enough power to send my TARDIS catapulting through time. In one spoonful of time essence, not that you can pick it up in a spoon, but still, there is enough energy to send me a million years into the future. Because of this, it only requires a small amount of time to start my ship, and reach my destination.”

“So Twilight was right…” Rarity spoke to herself, wishing her friend was here to help her now.

“About what?” asked the Doctor.

“Oh, she just said that, well, read that your ship can travel through time,” Rarity answered, surveying the room again.

“Hmmm, this ‘Twilight’ pony sounds like somepony I would like to meet.” With that, the Doctor stood up and turned around, surveying the room.

“What I don’t understand is why you haven’t left yet,” Rarity said, looking towards the Doctor. “If your machine can travel through time and space, why not just leave? You’ve been here, you’ve seen that there is nothing wrong, why not just get up and go?”

“Well, the way you just spoke to me, I get the feeling you want me to leave,” the Doctor stuck out his bottom lip in mock sadness. “Well, I would, except my ship isn’t working.”

“Isn’t working? How can this ‘marvelous machine’ of yours suddenly stop?” Rarity asked.

“To be honest, I don’t really know.” the Doctor replied, looking back to Rarity. “My TARDIS just won’t move. Its as if the thing that dragged me down won’t let me leave.”

“Your talking about this ‘energy’ as if it was alive. It isn’t alive, is it?” Rarity asked, suddenly frightened.

“Even though time doesn’t think for itself, it certainly isn’t dead. It flows and moves, throbs with life and death, controlling both.” the Doctor said, his eyes clouding over as he thought.

“Well you certainly didn’t say any of this in my dreams,” Rarity said quietly to herself.

“Dreams? As in, while you sleep?” the Doctor asked, snapping out of his haze.

“Of course the ones where you sleep. When else do you dream?” Rarity asked. “On second thoughts, don’t answer that. I probably wouldn’t understand anything that you told me anyway.”

“Wow, I never knew that mares dreamt about me,” the Doctor mused, a small smile appearing back on his face.

Rarity’s face reddened, and she lowered her eyes from the Doctor’s gaze. “Well, they’re more like nightmares.”

“Oh gosh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realise that I was that frightening,” The Doctor said, a look of genuine concern on his face.

“Oh no,” Rarity said, trying to explain to the Doctor. “I was afraid of you at first. But you reassured me that there was nothing to be afraid of. On the contrary darling, you tried to help me stop it.”

“I did?” asked the Doctor. He really has no Idea. Rarity thought to herself.

“Yes, you did. Something about the ‘darkness’ that both you and I fear.” Rarity told him, trying to sound as sane as possible. Telling someone you dream about them was not a light topic, even when that ‘someone’ had suddenly appeared in front of you. “You told me not to open the door.”

“Door? What door?”

“The one at the top of the stairs,” Rarity supplied, pointing to the stairs that lead to the upper bedrooms.

“Would you mind if I-?” the Doctor started.

Rarity cut him off with a wave of her hoof, “No, not at all. Be my guest.” The stallion stood up and began a brisk trot towards the stairs. He pulled a small metallic cylinder from his coat pocket and began to fiddle around with the buttons on top. A blue light shone from the top as he pointed it towards the stairs, and a high pitched beeping sound resonated from it.

“Huh, no unusual readings here,” he said to himself, whacking his small device against his other hoof.

“What is that thing?” Rarity asked, getting up from her seat to go join the Doctor.

“Sonic screwdriver. Don’t ask, you wouldn’t understand, Rarity.” The doctor said, pressing more buttons on his sonic screwdriver.

“Well, I hadn’t seen you until I was right next to the door. You stood just behind me, in the middle of that doorway,” Rarity told him, ignoring the sonic screwdriver’s beeps. She went up the steps, than pointed to a spot in the doorway at the top.

“You stood here,” she said, moving forwards to the door at the end of the hall, “and I, stood here.” The Doctor walked up the steps behind her, with his screwdriver still beeping. As he reached the spot where he had stood in her dreams, the pitch of the device’s beeping began to rise.

“Ooh, here we go,” The Doctor said, joy clearly evident on his face. “Wow, the readings are off the charts. You say I stood here?”

“Well, a little to the left,” Rarity supplied, matter-of-factly.

“Yes, well, can’t be too picky now can we?” The Doctor smiled warmly at her, sliding a control on the screwdriver. They stood there in silence, the Doctor working, and Rarity wondering who the strange stallion was. A loud knock on the door shattered their silence.

Rarity glanced at her clock, and then gasped with realization. It was 5:42pm, she was an hour late to pick up Sweetie Bell. She hurried past the Doctor, practically shoving him out of the way, and continued down the stairs. She headed for the door, and tore it open, revealing Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Bell.

“Oh, Applejack, please excuse my tardiness, I must have lost track of time,” Rarity said, honestly. She could hear the Doctor’s hooves clattering down the steps.

“Nah, it’s all right Rarity. No trouble at all really.” Applejack smiled at her friend, giving the two fillies beside her a gentle push inside. “Now don’t y’all two get into trouble, and don’t touch anything.”

The fillies ran inside, laughing and skipping. They stopped in their tracks, gasping loudly. They slowly backed into view, looks of shock evident on their faces.

“What in tarnation?” Applejack asked, stepping into the hallway. When she saw the doctor, she took a step back in surprise, than planted her hoof firmly on the ground. “Who’re you?” Applejack questioned squarely, looking towards the Doctor.

“Hi there, I’m the Doctor,” he explained, holding out his hoof for her to shake. She ignored it, and turned to Rarity.

“Like in Twi’s book? The Doctor?”

“Yes, the one and only,” Rarity told her, turning her head in the direction of the stallion.

“Hello,” The Doctor said when Applejack’s gaze returned to him.

“Wow, when y’all said this ‘Doctor’ person was visiting you in your dreams, ah thought it was all a bunch’a hooey. But now…” Applejack said, still not drawing her gaze away from the Doctor. “You know, you should probably go tell Twi’ ‘bout this Rarity.”

“Yes,” The Doctor cut in, his eyes fixating back onto Rarity. “Who is this ‘Twilight’ person I’ve heard so much about. She sounds very interesting.”

Rarity looked at him. She saw the eager look on his face, and sighed. “If you want to go, then we will go.”

The Doctor smiled, looking between the two mares that stood in front of him. “Well then, I guess we had better –”

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS PLAY OVER AT TWILIGHT’S LIBRARY!” The two smiled with glee, oblivious to the look the others were giving them.

Once the ground had stopped shaking, the Doctor smiled, and looked down at the two fillies. “That was pretty good, buuut, not the best I’ve ever seen.”

“Oh yeah? Is that th’ honest truth now?” Apple Bloom challenged, a look of fire in her eyes.

“Girls, Doctor, no fighting please, we are supposed to be civilized ponies after all,” Rarity said, stepping between the two. “Well, at least I am supposed to be.”

“Sorry, Rarity,” The fillies muttered, staring intently at the floor. Sweetie Bell lifted one eye up, looking towards her sister. When she noticed that Rarity no longer looked angry, she nudged Apple Bloom, and the two of them giggled, running out the door.

“I do quite apologize my fair lady, please accept my sincerest apologies,” The Doctor said, putting on a posh accent as he walked out of the door, still keeping his eyes on Rarity. “Please forgive my rudeness.”

Applejack giggled, smiling at the door that the stallion had recently exited through. “Ya’ know? Ah think ah can get used ta’ this Doctor pony.”

Rarity sighed, gesturing towards the open doorway with one hoof. “Please, after you.”

****

The sun hung low in the sky, its warmth and light beginning to fade as it drooped below the horizon. A small group of ponies walked down the gravel road that lead into Ponyville, and to Twilight’s library.

“Apple Bloom, quit muckin’ around,” Applejack scolded, trying to contain her little sister’s excitement. Apple Bloom stopped bouncing around Sweetie, and looked towards her sister.

“Yes, you too, Sweetie. Can’t let you get that mane all dirty, now can we?” Rarity strutted forward, her chin held high. The Doctor looked towards Sweetie Bell, rolling his eyes, and followed in suit. Sweetie Bell bounced forward, trying to suppress a giggle. Applejack sighed, and, after a short break to catch her breath, headed towards her companions.

Suddenly an excited cry of “Girls!” broke the lazy afternoon peace the group shared, and they all turned towards the direction the cry had come from. Twilight was making her way up a winding side path towards them, with Spike riding on her back.

“Twi’?” Applejack called towards the pony, confused as to why her friend was out here.

“Hey, Applejack, Rarity,” Twilight said, heading towards the group, puffing slightly from the effort of trotting all the way up the path with Spike on her back. “I was just on my way over to the boutique.”

“Were ya’ now? Well we was just on our way over to ya’ library.” Applejack greeted the pony.

“Oh? What a coincidence,” Twilight paused between words, puffing as if she had just run a marathon.

“Twilight, are you alright dear?” Rarity asked, concerned with the welfare of her friend.

“Oh yes. I should be fine in a… moment.” Twilight paused, then looked over her shoulder at Spike. “Its not like I have the lightest load to carry.”

Spike looked at her, not sure if he should be annoyed or amused at Twilight’s comment. He settled on the latter of the two, fixing a knowing smile at Twilight.

“Gee, thanks, Twilight,” Spike said sarcastically.

“Oh, you know I’m only joking Spike,” Twilight nudged him with her muzzle. Spike landed on the ground next to Twilight, sending a small cloud of dust swirling around his claws. Twilight turned back to Rarity as Spike wandered off towards Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom, humming to himself.

“So, how’re things going? Still having dreams about that mysterious ‘Doctor’ of yours?” Twilight joked. Rarity coughed into her hoof, averting her eyes from Twilight’s gaze, whilst Applejack looked in the other direction.

“So you told all of your friends about me, then?” The Doctor looked towards Rarity, a small smile faint on his lips. He stepped out from behind Rarity and began approach Twilight

“Well, we, that is to say, I, I-I told them because,” Rarity stammered, trying not to look directly into the Doctor’s eyes. She could feel her cheeks begin to flush as she tried to explain herself.

“Don’t worry about it,” The Doctor told her, his hoof on her shoulder. “I have that kind of affect on people.”

Twilight stared at the stallion in bewilderment, not sure whether to believe what she saw. She rubbed her eyes with her hooves, as if the action would cause the stallion to disappear. When that proved unsuccessful, she decided to just stand there and gawp at him, her eyes and mouth open.

“You-y-you’re the Doctor?” Twilight stuttered, eyes still wide and disbelieving.

“At your service, m’lady,” The Doctor bowed in exaggeration, his left foreleg sweeping across his body in a wide arc, before coming to a stop at his waist. He glanced upwards, looking towards Twilight with a lopsided grin. The purple unicorn just stared at him, still not moving. Applejack sidled up to Twilight, and bumped her in the ribs.

Twilight’s dazed expression disappeared from her face as quickly as it had appeared, instead being replaced by one of awe. “So that means that you have the, the... the TARDOS?”

The Doctor laughed, tears of laughter forming in the corner of his eyes. “No, no. The TARDIS!”

Twilight’s cheeks turned crimson as the Doctor laughed at her, and she lowered her eyes to the ground out of embarrassment. Rarity snickered at Twilight’s small bout of forgetfulness, then composed herself, not wanting to hurt her friend’s feelings.

Rarity opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Applejack. “Hey, why don’t y’all head on down to Sweet Apple Acres? Y’all can mingle and such then.”

Startled by Applejack’s sudden outburst, the Doctor turned to the orange earth pony, Raising one eyebrow questioningly. “I’m sorry. Applejack, wasn’t it?” Applejack nodded. “Well, thanks for your hospitality Applejack. That sounds like a great idea.” He turned towards the others in their little group, a smile on his face.

“Ah, yes,” Rarity muttered, surprised at the sudden change of events.

“Sounds good,” Twilight stepped past her companions, and headed down the path that lead to Sweet Apple Acres.

“So, no crusaders play over at Twilight’s?” Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom stood staring up at Applejack and Rarity, pleading looks on their faces.

“No girls. Sorry to disappoint you, but we are heading over to Applejack’s instead,” Rarity told the fillies.

“Awwwww,” Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom chimed in unison, their faces falling.

“Well, shucks. I can’t leave y’all lookin’ like that. Ah promise, that when we get home, you’se two will get tha’ biggest apple pie that ah can make,” Applejack said.

Their faces lifted as the thought of a giant apple pie filled their heads. They skipped in front of Twilight, talking to each other excitedly. “Maybe it’ll be as big as tha’ barn,” Apple Bloom said, Sweetie Bell agreed with her, adding “or maybe it’ll be as big as a field!” The girls squealed with excitement, and trotted along the path towards Sweet Apple Acres.

****

The sun sat low on the horizon, causing a purplish haze to stick to the clouds. Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and the Doctor all sat in the living room, sipping on cold glasses of fresh apple juice. Applejack had been sent of in search of Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom. The two fillies had heard that the last member of their inseparable trio, Scootaloo, was waiting for them in the club house they had built together. It was getting dark, and the girls had still not returned, and, out of desperation, Applejack had been sent off to search for them.

“So, Doctor, was it?” asked Twilight, glancing towards the Stallion. He nodded. “How does this, uh, TARDIS thing work? It would require an awful lot of magic to run something like that.”

The Doctor snorted, “Magic? Oh no, it’s a machine. It runs on a quantum stabilizer, which allows it to draw energy from time itself.”

“Really? How very interesting...” Rarity faded the conversation out, instead focusing on her own thoughts. The Doctor. Quite an odd name, Still, I’ve heard worse. Poor Ink Blot, he was such a gentlecolt. Rarity took a small sip from her cup, enjoying the taste of the sweet apple juice.

“... Don’t you think Rarity?” Both of her friends had stopped to look towards her, and she felt her cheeks redden with embarrassment.

“Ah, yes.” She hoped that was the answer the two were after. They seemed to take it happily, and were just about to continue their conversation, when a small knock came at the door. Is that Applejack? No, she wouldn’t knock to enter her own house. Then who is it? Rarity thought to herself.

The muffled cry of “Muffins!” answered Rarity’s question. The Doctor’s back stiffened, and his eyes widened in shock and recognition.

“Oh, that must be Ditzy Doo. She’s our mailpony. I better go collect Applejack’s mail.” Twilight stood up, her magic lowering her cup of apple juice to the table. As she moved her hoof forward, she felt a hoof touch her back. She whirled around to face the Doctor, who stood motionless, his eyes still wide. The door swung open, and Ditzy Doo entered, her coat dripping with sweat.

“D-Ditzy?” the Doctor stammered, staring at the mailpony with disbelief.

“Doctor?” Ditzy replied.

****

Chapter 1.

Chapter 3. (In development)

Hey there.

Once again I would like to thank my amazing editors and pre-readers. Just in case you missed who they were, or you haven’t read chapter one, I’ll give you the list:

First Editor:

Derpies

Pre-readers/Second editors:

Holy_Hotdog

Clemmensemen

MewMaster13

Also, a BIG thank you to Ganymede105 for his amazing tolerance to my terrible writing, and for his amazing editing. Thank you so much.

If you came here from chapter one, then I applaud you. Not many people could read my writing for this long, let alone enjoy it. So, Thank you.

Contact details: Taranasaurus0.0@gmail.com for anything you want to talk to me about.

More chapter’s coming soon.

-Taranasaurus

Chapter 3

[3]

“D-Ditzy?” the Doctor stammered, staring at the mailpony with disbelief.

“Doctor?” Ditzy asked.

The mail bag that hung around her shoulders slowly slid off of her body and to the floor. The Doctor just stood there, his eyes and mouth still open in shock.

“D-d-ditzy?” He asked again. He took a hesitant step in Ditzy’s direction. “B-but-”

Ditzy just stood there, her mouth opening and closing without any sound coming out. Finally, she managed to construct a sentence, “Is it really, you?” The Doctor took another step forward, tears beginning to slide down his cheeks. He nodded, not sure of what to say.

“It’s really me.”

Ditzy took a step back, the tears now falling freely down her face. “N-no, no it can’t be,” Ditzy said, her voice beginning to rise. Ditzy took another step back, and then turned and ran out the door. The Doctor stood in the doorway, his face covered in tear streaks, his eyes red and puffy.

“Ditzy,” he whispered after the pony, but Ditzy had already taken to the sky.

“D-Doctor?” asked a confused Rarity. She walked up and stood next to him, following his gaze to outside the door.

“What was that?” Twilight asked, still sitting in the lounge.

“I... she... we,” the Doctor said, stumbling over his words. He turned to face Rarity, his
lower lip trembling. He couldn’t hold on any longer, and let the tide of emotion that he had been holding back flood out. He leaned on Rarity, his face on her shoulder, the tears wetting her coat.

“Shh, there there. It’s going to be all right,” Rarity, unsure of what to do, lifted up a hoof to pat the crying stallion on his back. “Whats wrong?”

In response, the Doctor just cried, his chest heaving as he let out heavy sobs. Rarity, still patting the Doctor’s back, looked towards Twilight. “Help me,” she mouthed silently.

“Uh, Doctor? Why don’t you come into the lounge and tell us about it.”

The Doctor sniffled, disengaging himself from Rarity’s embrace.

“Uh, s-sorry about that,” the Doctor said, motioning towards her coat.

“Oh, don’t worry yourself over it,” Rarity shrugged off the matter, instead placing her right hoof over his shoulder and leading him into the lounge. “Nothing a trip to the spa can’t clean off.” Rarity lead the Doctor towards a chair and gesturing for him to sit. He fell back into the seat and sighed, his eyes still red and puffy from crying.

“Now, what happened between you and Ditzy?” Rarity asked, laying on the couch next to the Doctor.

“I-I...” The Doctor’s mouth moved, but no sound came out. “Ditzy, Ditzy used to, to... travel with me.”

“From place to place?”

“No, through time and space,” the Doctor smiled slightly at his rhyming, then let his face fall. “She was my companion, and I hers. We spent years together, and we grew on each other. Although she never said it, I could tell she felt something more than just friendship for me. And, although I didn’t realize it, I felt the same way about her. I decided to take her somewhere, to tell her about my feelings. So I took her to the Medusa Cascade.”

“The Medusa Cascade?” Twilight cocked her head to the side slightly. “What’s that?”

“It’s a rift in time and space, always a second ahead from the rest of the universe. Because raw time energy flows through a crack in the dimensions, the most wonderful colours dance in the sky. It was one of the only places I hadn’t told her about. My little secret, I called it.” The Doctor wore a small smile on his face, a faraway look in his eyes. “But, when we arrived, the time crack began to grow larger, sending more time energy through, and snaring the TARDIS in its web. We were sucked inside the time vortex, trapped for over two years. In that time we were separated, and, although I knew how to escape, I couldn’t leave without Ditzy.”

“I spent the entirety of my time there looking for her. But, when I found her, it was too late. We had born witness to the whole of time itself, her and I. But, unlike me, Ditzy’s brain could not handle the sheer amount of knowledge that came with that information, and it sent her over the edge and into insanity. When I found her, she was babbling on about the time war, about Sontarins and other alien races. We escaped from the cascade, but at a heavy cost. The only way to save Ditzy from insanity was to suppress her memories of our time together. I left only the day we met, as a reminder to her that she still had a friend.”

“She lost her memories, but I lost something more. I lost my friend, my companion, the last pony that I could trust. I spent the next three years wandering the stars, alone. I never want to take that risk again, I don’t want to lose another friend.” By the time the Doctor had finished, he had begun to cry again, only softly, but still crying. He leaned over towards Rarity, and rested his head against her back. Rarity stiffened at the sudden touch, but relaxed and lowered her shoulders.

“So, is that why Ditzy’s eyes are slightly off? And why she speaks slightly differently to us?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, I suppressed a lot of knowledge in her mind, and there were... side effects. The ‘wonky’ eyes and strange speech were some of the more serious ones, along with short term memory loss.” The Doctor stopped talking, and lay there in silence. “But... the effects aren't permanent, and soon, Ditzy will resurface again. I can suppress the memories for a short time, but, there’s nothing more I can d-do,” He finished his sentence with a sob, breaking down into crying once again.

“There there,” Rarity said, attempting to comfort the weeping stallion. She turned to Twilight and asked, “Twilight, would you be a dear and make us some tea?”

“Uh, yes, of course Rarity.” Twilight stood from where she had been laying and headed off towards the kitchen.

The Doctor lifted his head from Rarity’s back with a sigh “Well, no use crying while she’s still out there. Ditzy saw my face, she recognized me. That’s going to trigger a lot of memories, so we have little time to find her and fix this mess.” He stood up onto all fours and turned towards the hallway. “Come along Rarity.”

“But, what about my nightmares?” Rarity whined, not content with doing just anything that the Doctor demanded.

“Ah yes, those,” the Doctor paused for a moment, trying to choose the right words to say. “I think that we had better find Ditzy first, before she hurts herself. That knowledge is dangerous stuff.”

“Fine,” Rarity huffed, folding her two front hooves over each other and pouting her lip in frustration. “But we better go soon, I don’t want any scary monsters coming after me.”

“Monsters? What makes you think there’ll be monsters?” Twilight asked as she re-entered the room, a tray of drinks floating just in front of her.

“Oh, well. There’s the fact that this... this thing managed to turn my sister into a creepy monster with no eyes Twilight,” Rarity retorted, her bottom lip managing to poke out even further.

“Ah, sorry Rarity. I didn’t mean it like th-”

“No Twilight, I should be the one apologizing. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.” Rarity gave Twilight an apologetic look.

“Hey, that’s okay Rarity. I know you didn’t mean it.”

“So,” the Doctor said, interrupting the two friends. “We going to go find Ditzy now?”

“Yes,” Twilight and Rarity replied in unison. The Doctor turned towards the door and headed outside. He marched forward until he was directly outside the house, before stopping. He turned to the two mares with a questioning look.

“So, any idea where she is?”

****

“Ditzy, wait!”

“Ugh! That’s the fifth time she’s run away. Doesn’t she ever get tired?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t really talked to her.” Rarity gave Twilight an unimpressed look, her eyes clearly shooting daggers. The Doctor slumped past the pair, his shoulders sagging in a soft sigh.

“Just face it,” he whispered, dejected. “We’ll never catch her.” Both Rarity’s and Twilight’s looks instantly changed to ones of guilt, suddenly realizing the kind of pain that their mutual friend was going through.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Twilight wandered up to the Doctor, placing a reassuring hoof on his low shoulders. “We’ll get her, eventually.”

“No, no we won’t. She’s made up her mind, and she ain’t gonna stop running ‘til whatever it is she’s running from is far behind. And that ‘thing’ happens to be me.” The Doctor straightened up, lifting himself up to his full height. “But, we’ve more important things to worry about, like your house. When did you get it? It seems awfully familiar.”

Rarity’s mind did a back flip at the sudden change of emotion. “Uh, I brought when I moved out of my parent’s house, about five years ago. Why?”

The Doctor smiled, “Oh, no reason, just a passing thought. Now, shall we go take a closer look at your boutique?” The Doctor swiveled on his hooves, not even waiting for an answer, and took off in the direction of Rarity's house.

"Uh," Twilight mumbled, turning to face Rarity. "What... just happened?"

Rarity stared in the direction of the retreating Doctor. "I'm... not sure."

The Doctor stopped, twirling around to face the others. "Well?" he asked, smiling. "Are you coming?"

“B-but what about Derp-” Rarity caught herself mid-word, stumbling over the pet-name. “Er, I mean Ditzy?! You can’t just leave her.” Rarity and Twilight skidded to a halt beside the Doctor, who seemed to be standing very still.

“Listen to me,” he breathed through clenched teeth, his eyes boring holes into Rarity’s mind. “I have crossed endless time and space, seen the seven moons of Alcorax, climbed to the summit of the famous Weatherbree mountain, fought with Windigoes, dined with DISCORD!” The Doctor paused for a moment, his face red with rage. “I think, that one mare, can wait for me!”

Rarity leaned back, her hair ruffled from the air that had rushed from the Doctor’s lungs. He whirled again, stalking off down the gravel path, kicking clumps of dirt upwards from beneath his hooves.

Rarity, eyes still open wide in fright, took a step backwards. “I... I-”

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked, her face full of concern.

“I’m fine, my dear, just a little shocked, that’s all.” Rarity said, turning to face Twilight. “Should we follow him?”

“Probably.”

“Are we going to?”

“Do we have to?”

A loud crash resonated from behind the pair, followed by a loud “I’m fine, don’t worry!”

“Yes,” they both said in unison.

****

The Doctor and his companions stopped outside of the Carousel Boutique, both the Doctor and Twilight eyeing the building with caution. Rarity, on the other hand, waltzed straight passed them, and up to the front door. A small jangle, followed by a metallic flash, and she disappeared behind the door. A few moments passed, before she stuck her head back outside.

“Are you two coming?” she asked, smiling slightly.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” Twilight looked the brightly lit boutique up and down.

“Of course it is, I’ve lived here for over three years, it’s not as if I have an alien living in my house, is it?”

The Doctor smiled sheepishly, before looking away. “Well,” he began, rubbing the back off his head with a hoof. “My house is technically inside yours, which means that I technically live inside your house. And… well.” He stopped, casting his eyes upwards.

“You’re not saying,” Rarity began, her eyes widening in shock. Her jaw dropped. The Doctor smiled his trademark smile again, still trying to avert his eyes from Rarity’s gaze.

“But… that means that… and you’re a-“ Rarity continued to stutter out her sentence, her words becoming less and less understandable.

Twilight looked back and forth between her two friends, a lost look clouding her expression. “What, what? He’s a what?” Twilight asked, still glancing back between the Doctor and Rarity.

“An… an… an-“

“An alien,” said the Doctor, moving to stand in front of the flustered Rarity.

Twilight’s reaction was much less dramatic than Rarity’s. “Oh.”

The Doctor seemed to stand still for a moment, a stunned look on his face. “What, that’s it? Just, ‘Oh’?”

Twilight smiled again. “Well, I thought that was fairly obvious.” She seemed to shrug the matter off, stepping forward.

“Obvious?!” The Doctor spun around, trying to keep up with Twilight, who was attempting to calm Rarity down. “How?”

“Well, you act differently, for one.” Twilight poked Rarity, noticing the way her friend’s expression did not change. “And you have that weird little metal thing, which is obviously far too advanced for us ponies.” She poked Rarity’s cheek again, watching as her open mouth jiggled slightly from the impact. Rarity didn’t seem to notice. “Oh, and you have two hearts.”

“Wait, how can you know about that?” The Doctor spun Twilight around, as if demanding an answer.

Twilight blushed slightly, averting her eyes from his gaze. “Well, you were new and… um.” Twilight’s sentence trailed off. “Look, I was just curious, okay?”

“But, not even some of the most advanced scanner ponies in the world can detect my second heart.”

“Yes, well, I’m not ‘most ponies’.” Twilight said, moving the Doctor aside with her hoof. “Now, can you help me out with Rarity? She seems to be frozen.”

“Oh, that’s just a normal reaction. After all, finding out that you know an alien can be big news.” The Doctor walked over to stand on the Right of Rarity. “Help me lift her inside, will you?”

****

A few long minutes later, and Twilight and the Doctor had managed to carry Rarity into her house and set her down on her couch. Twilight had since departed into the kitchen to make some herbal tea for Rarity, while the Doctor had busied himself by playing with his small metal device.

“What is that thing?” Twilight reappeared in the lounge doorway, a tray of drinks in tow.

The Doctor smiled, before holding up the object in the flat of his hoof. “This,” he began, lifting his head high. “Is a sonic screwdriver. One of the most advanced pieces of technology in the universe.”

“O-kay,” Twilight paused, placing the tray down gently. “But was does it do?”

“Well, what doesn’t it do? It does almost anything your mind can think of, within certain limitations, of course.”

“Limitations like what?” Twilight sat herself down next to the frozen Rarity, pulling one of the cups up with her magic.

“Like, it can’t turn into an elephant, for instance,” the Doctor huffed, and turned back to pressing buttons on his device.

Twilight rolled her eyes, before turning back to Rarity. “Now, open your mouth Rarity.” Rarity’s mouth stayed firmly clamped shut. “Rarity,” twilight warned, her voice becoming slightly more threatening. After a moment or two of silence, Rarity’s jaw creaked open a fraction. Twilight smiled, and tilted her friend’s head back. “Now, be careful,” she began, pouring some of the tea into Rarity’s mouth. “This is really h-”

Rarity screamed, letting loose and anguished howl as her face turned beet red. “Hot! Hot hot hot hot hot!” She leaped up from the couch and shot off into the kitchen, a streak of flame trailing in her wake. The hurried sounds of a tap turning, and then Rarity gulping in water filled the room. Twilight and the Doctor turned to look at each other. After a few seconds, the tap turned off, and a rather wet Rarity appeared in the kitchen doorway.

“Apologies, my good friends. That was very un-ladylike of me.” She smiled at Twilight, then turned to the Doctor, suddenly frowning. “However, that was a large and unexpected piece of information you gave me, and that reaction was the least I could have done.” The Doctor opened his mouth to apologize, but was cut off by Rarity waving a hoof. “No, what’s done is done. Now, if you’d excuse me, I need to go freshen up,” she said, spinning on the spot. She stalked out of the room, and her loud hoofsteps could be heard echoing through the house as she ascended the steps.

“That went well.” The Doctor smiled, before leaping up from the couch. “Right, so now that Rarity is all feeling better, it’s time to get on and look at this house.”

“The house? What about the house?”

“Well, for starters, it’s too big.” The Doctor raised his hoof, and a beeping filled the room. A small green light emanated from the end of his screwdriver, filling the room with an eerie iridescent glow. “The roof, it’s too high. and there are too many rooms. How many people live here?” The Doctor paused, turning to Twilight.

“Uh, just Rarity and her sister, I think,” Twilight answered. “Why?”

“Two, it’s too big for two,” the Doctor said, turning around. “But why? Why is it?” The Doctor smacked himself in the face. “Ugh! Why can’t I see it? It’s right there in front of me, and yet it’s as if I’m blind.”

Twilight pulled the doctor from his pacing, grasping him by the shoulders “Doctor, see what?”

“Exactly,” he said, his eyes wide. “There is something staring me in the face, and I don’t know what.” He stopped, slowly moving towards the couch. “I need to... I need to,” he trailed off, glancing at the ceiling. His eyes went wide. “What is that?”

Twilight looked up towards the ceiling, then froze. “It looks like.” She paused, scratching her head. “Mold.”

The Doctor leaped up, glasses against the bridge of his nose. “Yes, but not the type of mold you Equestrian’s get. No, this mold is alien, this mold is sentient.” The Doctor took off his glasses, whilst simultaneously placing his screwdriver in the inside coat of his pocket.“I’m not sure what it is,” he said, turning to Twilight. A smile formed on his lips. “Let’s go find out.”

****

Light reflected from the tiles in the bathroom onto Rarity’s face as she dried out her hair. Using her magic, she picked up a towel and used it to scrub all of the water from the tap out from her coat and hair. She then wrapped it around her hair, leaving it to dry out anything that remained.

She still felt slightly light-headed, but that was excusable. After all, she had just been told she had an alien in her house. A good-looking alien in her house. But, she should not have reacted the way she did.

It was so... uncouth.

Rarity reached out with her mind, attempting to reach her magical grasp so she could unwind the towel around her hair, when she stopped. It was gone. It was as if her magical ability had disappeared. The room started to blur as darkness nipped at the edges of her eyes, threatening to take her over. She felt her body grow limp, and she fell sideways onto the floor, her neck limp.

****

Rarity awoke.

Around her, inky darkness swirled, its tendrils flickering and arcing towards her, but never quite reaching her. Nothing else filled the void, just the black, and Rarity. She looked down, and stifled a scream. Below her, flames leaped and licked at her hooves, filling the underneath with a dark red hue.

“What is this place?” she called out, looking up towards the darkness again. “Am I dreaming, is this a dream?” Her voice echoed back from the darkness, the only reply to her desperate calls. Something swirled, and then there was a blinding flash of orange. When Rarity recovered from the effects of the flash, she opened her eyes, and was greeted by a much larger eye, staring into her own.

“Hello.” A loud voice boomed out, husky, and yet clear and commanding. “I am the dream lord. And this.” He gestured around him. “Is your dream.”

Rarity screamed.

****

A/N Hey guys!

So, I was going through my drafts, and I noticed a half finished chapter, which looked strangely like this.

Sorry for taking so long to update, got caught up with stuff.

Anyway, comments, criticism, anything you see.

-Taranasaurus

Chapter 4

Rarity’s head pounded, senseless white noise resounding off the edges of her mind. Sunlight blurred her vision, its bright, burning rays imprinting on the back of her eyes. She groaned, rolling over in an attempt to escape the blinding light. When this proved unsuccessful, she groaned again, before rolling into a position were all of her hooves were pressed below her. With her eyes half closed, Rarity pushed upwards, straining on the little energy she had. After ten seconds of struggling, the white unicorn managed to pull herself to her hooves, and sighed with relief, before slowly opening her eyes.

A field of green met her gaze, its soft green grass glinting in the sun. Flowers of all shapes and colours speckled the green, flowing in and out with extravagant beauty. A soft breeze blew across Rarity’s face, rustling the grass and flowers. Rarity felt her mind losing itself in the serenity of the place, and attempted to snap herself back to reality. This place wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.

A shout caused Rarity to spin around, her ears and eyes scanning for the source of the cry. A large black forest towered before her, its black leaves tainted with a dark red liquid. Fire seemed to spurt from within the pitch-black depths between the trees, as if waiting for her to enter into her doom. Rarity’s eyes widened with realization, and she felt her heart pang with dread. She was here.

This wasn’t just any old forest, it was the Everfree, but not as it looked in the present moment. Instead, it looked like it had when Rarity’s mother had explained it to her, All those years ago. In an attempt to keep her from entering, Rarity’s mother had warned Rarity of the evil that lived in the place, but this had only made Rarity’s curiosity stronger.

After her mother had told of the forest, Rarity had set off in search of it, her heart filled with curiosity, and her eyes burning with adventure. This was what it had been like the first time she had seen it. Deep, dark and foreboding, everything her mother had described. But young Rarity was not to be deterred, and instead ventured forth into the reaches of the forest, in search of adventure. What she had found was nothing that she could have been prepared for.

‘Ah, so you do recognize it? Good, I was starting to worry.’ A voice spoke into Rarity’s ear.

Rarity took a step back in surprise, her eyes glancing around in fear. “W-who’s there?”

‘You do not remember me?’ The voice came again, echoing softly around in her head. ‘A shame.’

“W-what do you want?” Rarity asked the voice, her eyes still searching.

‘What do I want?’ The voice laughed, a deep throaty echo. ‘This is not about me, young mare, this is about you.’

“H-how do you know about this place?” Rarity gestured towards the forest with a hoof, her voice shaking as she spoke.

‘I know many things. This place is just another memory of yours. You have quite a few, you know? A lot of really good ones.’ The voice seemed to drop an octave, and, if it had a face, it would be smiling deviously at that moment. ‘And a lot of… interesting ones.’

Rarity blushed slightly, despite the situation. Her face instantly hardened, and the crimson drained from her cheeks. “And how, exactly, do you know of those.” She paused, searching her mind for the correct phrase. “Interesting… memories?”

‘Ah.’ The voice seemed to chuckle slightly, its breath coming short and ragged. ‘That, is for me to know. You need not worry yourself over it.’ Something in the voice seemed to grow louder, and a dark edge crept into its tone. ‘Yet.’

Rarity gulped, before glancing around again. “So, where exactly am I? I mean, I know where we are, but we can’t be here.” She looked up at the forest, here eyes wide. “This is, as you said, a memory. How can we be in a memory?”

‘Did I say memory? No, it’s more like a dream, part of your imagination, and yet, strangely real.’ Something flashed before Rarity, a dark shadow flickering in light of the sun that bounded around her. ‘And now for your next question, which I’m sure will be something along the lines of “Why am I here?” You have come here for a reason, as you probably have guessed. In order to leave this place, you must complete three tasks. But, make no more mistake, these will not be simple, or easy.’

‘Your first task awaits you in the forest.’

The soft humming in Rarity’s head faded, leaving her mind blank. “But wait!” she cried out, running forward on the grass. “I have so many questions!”

‘One final word of warning.’ The voice whispered from the distance. ‘This may be a dream, but you can still die here. And if you die, you die in the real world too.’

The voice left, leaving Rarity alone in her mind. She turned to face the darkness of the forest, scraping a hoof against the ground, glaring. The forest glared back, a loud screech startling the birds from the trees.

Slowly, Rarity stepped forward.

****

The Doctor pushed against the attic door again, his shoulder ramming into it.

“Must… be… stuck,” he heaved. He stepped back and tilted his screwdriver towards the door’s lock. “Maybth ath well tryth thith.”

Twilight watched from the back of the landing, smiling slightly. “Rarity always tells us that the attic door’s been locked for years, apparently she’s never actually been inside.”

The Doctor stopped the lights show that emitted from his screwdriver and turned to face Twilight. “What?” he asked. “Who has a room in their house that they’ve never been in?”

Twilight shrugged in response, and the Doctor let out an exasperated sigh. “Do you want me to go ask Rarity if she has a key?” Twilight asked, turning towards the stairs. The Doctor waved a hoof in her direction and mumbled something incoherently, his mind occupied with the door.

Twilight rolled her eyes, before starting down the stairs. Rarity’s room was on the second floor, as well as the bathroom and Sweetie Belle’s room. A strange metallic sound came from upstairs, and Twilight stopped, glancing back upwards. A faint blue glow could be seen reflecting off the wall, and Twilight shook her head, continuing downwards.

As she reached the second floor landing she felt a chill run up her spine. The house seemed eerily silent, which was odd, since Rarity’s place was rarely quiet.

“Rarity?” She called out, poking her head around the corner and into the second floor hall. “Are you down there?” Her voice echoed slightly, but no reply came back. “Rarity?” Twilight stepped out into the awaiting darkness, her tone rising with each passing second. She neared the bathroom door, her hooves shaking as she reached for the handle. She called out one last time, before touching her hoof to the cold metal.

She swung outwards, and stifled a gasp at what was inside.

****

Rarity’s confidence began to recede as she protruded deeper and deeper into the forest, it’s dark, trees whispering to her, as if they had some great secret. She shivered involuntarily as she passed through a particularly low set of branches, a cold chill running down her spine.

She stopped a moment, taking time to compose herself. “Now Rarity, you may be a lady, but that does not mean you are weak or pitiful. You will get through this.” She smiled to herself a little, and the surrounding shadows seemed to grow less dark.

She began again, still not knowing her destination, but walking all the same. The forest ahead seemed to glow faintly orange, as if it was burning with an invisible fire. As she pressed on the shadows disappeared until they were almost non-existent, replaced instead by an unearthly glow that seemed to seep from the trees themselves. Rarity shuddered again, her breath coming in short, sharp intakes.

The forest up ahead split open, revealing a large, open field, laden with crops. Rarity’s eyes widened with recognition. And just like that, the wheels in her mind began to turn. She had been here, this was hers. Her memory, one that she had suppressed long ago. But why?

A small, almost transparent foal ran past her, it’s ember mane flowing in the wind as it galloped. A small, yet high laughter chimed in, like the ringing of bells. Rarity stepped back as another semi-transparent foal ran in front of her. She gasped with recognition as she stared at the foals white coat and lush, purple mane.

The younger Rarity chased after the mysteriously familiar foal, the pair laughing and panting as they ran. Rarity watched on in awe, her face struck with dumb shock. The wind suddenly picked up, blowing Rarity’s mane up in front of her face. The foals seemed to fade out with the wind, as if being carried away by the soft breeze.

Rarity almost called out, as if she wanted them back so she could rewatch the memory of happier times. But she knew she couldn’t, and it would be foolish for her to try. Yet still, she longed, and she hoped.

And then, something wet hit her face.

****

Rarity shot upwards, spluttering. Her mane was drenched, water dripping all around her as she sat on the floor, her hind legs curled up behind her. She shot a glance upwards at the offender, her eyes sending daggers from below her wet fringe.

But all of this was dropped as soon as said offender threw her arms around Rarity in a tight embrace. “Oh Rarity, I’m so glad you’re okay!” Twilight said, speaking into Rarity’s mangled mane. “I was so worried!”

Slowly Rarity reached out a hoof and rubbed her friend’s shoulder, her other hoof slowly untangling the unicorn from her. Twilight stepped back, smiling sheepishly at the sudden display of affection.

“Sorry about the water,” She began, glancing down at her feet. “It’s just – you wouldn’t wake up! I tried a bunch of things in an attempt to wake you, but you wouldn’t respond!” Twilight’s voice began to rise as she retold her story. “But then I remembered something that I read in a book, and I thought this was the best option.” She glanced back up at Rarity, her sheepish grin still plastered across her face.

Rarity rolled her eyes, pulling herself to her hooves as she did so. “I’m just glad to be all right Twilight,” she explained, turning towards the mirror. She gasped, before instantly lighting up her horn in an attempt to fix her mangled mane. “Oh no! My hair! My beautiful hair!” she moaned, a brush streaking through it at insane speeds. Twilight rolled her eyes, turning to leave the room.

“Wait,” Twilight said, turning back to Rarity. “Do you have a key to the top room of the Boutique?”

“What, you mean the attic?” Rarity asked, turning away from the mirror momentarily. “Well… no, no I don’t think I do.” She shrugged, turning back to the mirror.

As Twilight turned to leave again, a loud band sound could be heard from upstairs, followed by a triumphant “aha!”

“What’s he done this time?” asked Rarity, placing down the now thoroughly used brush.

“Not sure,” Twilight replied, glancing upwards.

“Should we go see?”

The pair looked each other in the eyes. “Yeah.”

****

“Oho! Thought you could beat the good ol’ Doctor hey? Well I bet you didn’t think I’d have this? Did you?!” The Doctor brought down the hammer again, his mouth clenched around the handle. The hammer struck the door, sending out a loud, hollow thud.

“What in Equestria are you doing to my door?” Rarity demanded, stepping off the stairs and onto the landing.

The Doctor stopped the hammer’s decent mid-swing, his eyes swivelling towards her. “Uh,” he managed.

Rarity huffed, her horn lighting up. She strode forward, her magical grasp grabbing the hammer from between the Doctor’s clenched teeth.

“Give me that,” she scolded, the hammer dragging the Doctor towards her. Rarity sighed, before lifting the hammer upwards, the strained Doctor with it. He clenched on for dear life, but he could feel his grip weakening. Slowly he fell downwards, crashing onto the hard wood floor.

“Thank you.” Rarity put the hammer down on the side table, before turning back to face the Doctor. “Listen Doctor, I need to tell you about what I just-“

“Never mind that Rarity, we need to open this door.” The Doctor said, pulling himself up off the floor.

“But-“

“Really, we do. This thing’s off the scale, meaning that it’s either alien in origin, or the lock is made of wood. I’m going to put my money on the latter, but I’m pretty sure that if one alien has landed here, then more probably have too.” The Doctor smiled at Rarity as stared, open mouthed, towards the door. His smile froze and slowly he turned to face his fate.

Slowly, Rarity keeled over backwards.

****

“What is it? I can’t see anything.” The Doctor was still examining the door, a large pair of glasses covering the bridge of his nose. Twilight stood behind him, leaning over an unconscious and very wet Rarity.

“I don’t understand,” she began, looking down at her soaked friend in dismay. “Why didn’t the water work this time?”

The Doctor, satisfied that there was nothing wrong with the door, turned back to face the pair, his glasses now gone. “Don’t know.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “You know, for all your infinite wisdom and foreknowledge, there seems to be an awful lot you don’t know.”

“Well, some things I do know, but can’t tell, because that would be cheating, and I am not a cheater.” The Doctor walks forward, leaning his head over Rarity’s. He opened each of her eyes individually, shining his screwdriver over each one. “She’s been sent into a hypnotic sleep, nothing’s going to wake her short of a complete memory alteration.”

“And?” Twilight asked.

“And what?”

“What can we do about it?” She stamped a hoof impatiently.

“Well, I could always try frying her brain, that generally works.” Another stamp. “Okay, well I can tell that most of you Equestrian’s don’t have a sense of humour. Look, I can help her, but I’m going to need a way in, something that she’s had for a long time, and something that she holds dear.”

Twilight raised a hoof to her chin, thinking. “Her brooch!” she shouted after a few moments of thought. She reached out with her magic and pulled it from her friend’s hair, smiling as she did so.

“Perfect,” The Doctor said, grinning at Twilight again. “And now, for the entrance.”

“Wait, how, exactly, do you plan on getting inside there?” Twilight asked, tapping her friend’s skull with a hoof.

“Well, the same way I always do, a head butt.”

“That’s probably not the best idea.”

“Oh? Why ever not?”

Twilight smirked, pointing to Rarity. “You really think she’s going to enjoy waking up to a large bruise on her head? I don’t.”

“Well, I don’t think she’d like waking up to the alternative any much more, but at least it’s not painful.” The Doctor shrugged, before bringing his head closer to Rarity’s. Twilight leaned forward, eager to see how this strange pony’s magic would work.

The Doctor closed his eyes, his lips pursed, and brought his head down. Twilight realised what was about to happen, and blush slightly, averting her gaze.

Slowly, the Doctor kissed Rarity.

****

A/N: And there we have it, another instalment. Sorry about it being so short, but this was really just my remedy to a bad mood. My next story to be updated will be Dropping the Bass, my Trixie x Vinyl Shipfic. If you haven’t read it, go ahead and do so, it means a lot to me.

Anyway, I’ve been playing a bunch of video games, doing tests and going on holidays, so my writing time has been cut short slightly. However, I do hope to continue to hone my skills, and someday be as good as some of the other writers out there.

Cya!

-Taranasaurus

Chapter 5

Entrances usually weren’t so painful.

Usually, there’d be the initial pain, from head butting the other pony, but after that, it was pretty much easy going.

Still, the Doctor mused, his mind still somehow functioning through the searing pain that shot through his body. It could be worse. Around him, colours whirled and mixed, tumbling in some form of hypnotic dance. They stretched below him in an infinite spiral, and he couldn’t help but feel slightly intimidated. He felt gravity slowly take hold, pulling him downwards towards the swirling colours, and he closed his eyes, letting out a soft sigh.

He dropped like a stone, crashing down into the invisible floor that separated him from his imminent death. Shaking slightly, he pushed himself to his hooves, glancing around at the odd surroundings. Everything seemed to shake, as if an uncontrollable earthquake had just shattered through the area. After a few seconds of rumbling, the shaking stopped, and the world around the Doctor had changed. He was in a rolling field, surrounded only by grass and hills. He breathed in a lungful of air, smiling contently. The scent of apple grass filled his nostrils, and he relished it, breathing a deep sigh.

“Right,” he started, straightening his tie. “Time to get the gist of this place.” He spun, a lopsided grin eating away at his face, and gasped. Taking a step forward, he squinted at the forest that loomed behind him. The large trees seemed to beckon to him, as if they were calling out his name, their branches waving him inside. He strode towards the trees, his smile never once faltering. A cool chill ran down his spine as he crossed the thresh hold, and he shivered in response, giggling slightly. He cleared his throat, glancing around, before continuing inwards.

Around him, the peaceful sounds of the field slowly ebbed away, only to be replaced by loud echoes and what seemed like distant crow cries. Below the canopy, the harsh sun from the field seemed to disappear, and the world around him was filled cold, harsh darkness. The make-shift path that he had been following curved in and around the trees, a seemingly random path leading him towards whatever his destination was supposed to be.

Lifting his screwdriver from his pocket, the Doctor shone the light out into the gaps between the trees. Beyond was, well, more trees. And after that? Trees. The Doctor shook his head, sliding the device back into his pocket. “I don’t know what I expected.” Turning back the way he had been travelling, he felt himself stop dead. The path from before had disappeared, the small pebbles that had made up the way seeming to melt into nothing. He spun on his heel, his hooves pulling at his mane. “no.” He started, leaping forward towards the closest edge of trees. “No no no no no!” He slammed his hoof against the trunk of a tree, his eyes still searching frantically for any signs of an exit. The forest seemed to gloat at him, as if it had tricked him, and trapped him inside. The trees themselves seemed to be cackling with silent, maniacal laughter. The world pounded and spun in his head as he turned left and right, his hoof slowly slipping down the trunk of the tree.

He dropped backwards onto his rump, dust from the ground spraying out from where he sat. He hung his head, his ears drooping, and lifted his hooves to his face. Closing his eyes, he let out a quiet sigh, his voice breaking. The forest around him was silent, the trees made not a sound.

And then a scream cut through the serenity.

****

“H-hello?” The pasture from before was back, the crops withered and dead. Rarity stood in the centre, her mane dishevelled and hanging around her face like a wet towel. A pattering of rain poured down from above, giving the area an almost morbid look. The foals from before were gone, only the distant echoes of their laughter proof that they had ever existed at all. Rarity felt herself shudder, turning away from the field, and looking towards the far end of the clearing. There, nestled under the branches of an old oak, stood a small farmstead. An oddly familiar farmstead.

The single story house itself was simple, yet practical. The paint on the outside had long since decayed, leaving only small specks of red splattered across the walls. A simple porch swung around the front side, a table and chair sitting on the edge. The eaves hung from threads, as if they had been knocked out of place by the sheer force of time itself. From the large oak a destroyed tire hang, its rubber decayed into nothingness, and held aloft by a single strand of rope.

The sound of bells filled the air again, and Rarity turned to face the source of the sound, her eyes searching. The foals ran past her again, their mane’s streaming behind them in the non-existent wind. Rarity felt a cold chill ran up her back, her shoulders twitching as she watched them. They seemed to ignore her, as they pranced along the trail that led to the front of the house. As Rarity watched, she could see their mouths move in unison as the skipped, as if they were talking at the same time. It was then that their voices floated into earshot, and Rarity gasped. They were singing.

A soft lullaby floated through her head, and Rarity let out a soft sigh, the tenseness in her chest evaporating. She followed behind the pair as they sang, her eyes half closed in a dream-like state. She began to hum in time, her voice joining in perfect harmony with the pair as she trotted close behind them. As she reached the front steps of the house, a gust of wind blew against her, lifting her mane up. The foals seemed to float away with the wind, their bodies dissipating into thin air. Rarity stopped, looking up at the house, and gulped.

She composed herself, mentally steeling her body for whatever could be inside, and pressed her hoof to the steps. Almost instantly she felt a wave of nausea wash over her, and the door to the house swung open, revealing the sight of a small filly. She glowed an odd white, and her puffy mane was speckled with different shades of purple. She was almost transparent, as if she wasn’t all there. Her eyes widened, and she beamed, lifting her forehooves out and beckoning. Rarity spun, looking behind her, to see the other filly from before climb the steps and embrace the youngster. The two turned, and then faded into the damp backdrop.

Pushing her way past the door, Rarity entered into the main hall of the house, her hooves scrapping against the uneven floorboards. The wallpaper inside had long since faded, its once cheery yellow now a morbid grey. Paintings hung askew on the walls, their pictures lost to time. Two doors spanned along the left side of the hall, and the right side of the hall was dominated by a large stair case. At the far end was a steel door with a complicated looking locking mechanism. She trotted forward, her hooves making loud thumps as she crossed the wooden floor.

Pushing forward, the door gave way to a large living room. A decayed couch dominated the furthest wall, and a pair of bookshelves stood either side, their tattered tomes destroyed beyond repair. A window stared out into the fields on the right of the room, its views unobstructed despite the rest of the clutter in the room. Decaying toys and pieces of wood littered the floor, giving the room a feeling of unkemptness, as if whoever had lived here had been gone a long time. The left side of the room held only a door, with a piece of paper attached to it.

Rarity turned her nose up at the mess, taking care to avoid the debris as she made her way over to the door. A gust of wind lifted the note from its place, and it fluttered in the breeze, its gentle swaying the only noise in the eerie house. Carefully, Rarity pinned it down with a hoof, and she stared at the crudely drawn poem that had been hastily scrawled down on the parchment.

Once a man, now a mouse

His only option, to hide in his house

A place of love, now a cage

None shall be spared from the Timelord’s rage

The verse seemed to strike a chord in Rarity, and she hastily folded it up, and slipped it into her mane, for later. Turning her attention back to the door, Rarity reached out with her magic, and twisted the knob. The door let out a loud groan as she pushed, its bottom scuffing against the wooden floor. Peeking around the door, Rarity had to stifle a gasp, turning her head away from the room momentarily. Like the area before, rubbish and scraps of wood littered the floor, giving the room an unkempt look. But, tucked away on the back wall sat a decayed couch, its fabric destroyed, and the wooden supports all but rotted away. Lazed across the right hoof rest, was the decayed skeleton of a long gone occupant, its skull grinning wickedly in the darkness.

The two foals sat, their rumps seated in front of the skeleton, and looking up towards him. Every few moments their heads bobbed, as if agreeing with something only they could hear. A cold chill ran down Rarity’s spine, and she shivered in response, the hairs on her neck standing on end. The two seemed not to notice Rarity, or the deceased pony’s state, instead listening intently to the silence of the room. Then, as if on cue, the two burst up and spun towards Rarity, their faces streaked with smiles. They leaped towards her, evaporating into the air as they ran. Nothing stirred on the cold floor, the objects clearly untouched by anypony in countless years.

The rest of the room was obscured by darkness, with only a thin streak of light illuminating the far end of the room. Dry heaving, Rarity backed out of the room, and fled to the hallway. Slamming the door shut, she slumped down, her chest heaving, and banged her head against the wood. Tears stung the corners of her eyes, and her deep breaths were hitched by soft sobs. After a few moments, she breathed out a deep sigh, and stood to her hooves, glancing at the second door down the hall. It seemed to stretch in front of her endlessly, as if reaching the door would be a momentous task on its own.

After a few steps, Rarity reached out with her magic, grasping the handle and turning it, pushing open the door right as she reached the threshold. Instantly the sound of distant laughter filled her ears, and the smell of freshly baked pastries filled her nostrils. She breathed in deeply, a content sigh etched on her lips, and floated into the room. All the surfaces seemed to glow, and the view outside the window seemed to fade, as if a white cloud of fog covered the glass surface. A kitchen counter gleamed the most, its top completely spotless. A large sink in the corner of the bench top was filled with clear, sparkling water, and the reflections danced on the roof, swirling patterns fading in and out of eyesight.

Turning away from the hypnotic swirls, Rarity came snout to snout with another mare, who seemed to be leaning towards Rarity. She let out a small yelp, backpedalling, and fell backwards onto the floor. Instinctively, her hooves shot up above her head, as if they provided some sort of protection. After a few tense moments of silence, Rarity lowered her outstretched limbs, and peeked back up at the mare from before. She had moved over to the kitchenette, something floating in front of her. The same unearthly glow surrounded her, as it had the two foals, and she seemed to be ignorant of Rarity, opting instead to focus on her non-existent task. Shaking her head, Rarity stood, before creeping her way around the opposite end of the counter, until she was face to face with the mare.

Instantly, a feeling of Déjà vu washed over her, and Rarity shivered, her eyes squinting at the mare. She’d seen her before... somewhere. Her mind seemed to wash out, and she tilted her head, her eyes unfocusing. Why couldn’t she remember? Shaking her head, she turned away, and her gaze dropped down to the floor, where a pair of fillies sat huddled over something she couldn’t see, their bodies shielding her view.

Then, they vanished, and in their place sat a small piece of paper, yellowed with age. She lifted it up with her magic, grasping carefully and lifting, as not to break the decaying paper. A small picture of a purple haired filly sitting next to two taller ponies sat in the centre of the parchment, while a small list ran down the side, scrawled in almost unreadable hoof-writing. She squinted, and then gasped, dropping the paper and backing away.

It was a list of names.

Opaque
Unique
Belle

“Rarity” she breathed, her breath coming in short, shallow gasps. She turned away from the paper, her hooves scrambling for purchase. She needed to get out. She spun wildly, and cantered towards the exit, only to find the door gone, and in its place a blank wall. She spun towards the other side of the room, and her eyes met more emptiness. She turned in circles, searching frantically for some kind of escape, but was met with denial every turn. While every second, that melody played, slowly getting louder and louder, until it blanked out all other sound and pierced her ears with its menacing cries.

And Rarity screamed.

****

The Doctor tore through the trees again, his ears pointed forwards and a grimace on his face. Small twigs and branches slapped against him, cutting into his thin flesh and sending shots of pain through his body. But he ignored them, instead focusing on the task at hand. There will be time for pain later.

Ahead, he could see a light source, growing ever larger as he cantered towards it, his hooves sending clods of dirt flailing out behind him. His screwdriver buzzed in his mouth, sending out short, shrill beeps every few seconds as he clamped down with his jaw. He swung around another trunk, his eyes locked firmly on the end of his path. Darkness surrounded him as he galloped, clinging to the edges of his vision as he fought to stay ahead of the incoming tide. With one last push, he leapt out from the cold, and into the light, his hooves dropping out from under him.

He collapsed, his chest heaving, onto the grass, burying his muzzle into the ground. After a few moments, he lifted himself to his hooves, his jaw loosening around his screwdriver. He ran his hoof back through his man, taking in his surroundings, his mouth still gaping. A small field surrounded him, rows of crops stretching out to the other edge of the clearing. As he scanned, another cry pierced the air, and he turned towards the source, his eyes frantic. A small homestead stood, nestled in the arms of a large oak. A flash of purple caught his eye, and his gaze fell to the largest window on the side of the house.

He took off, his hooves pounding down in a frenzy as he ripped his way through the high fields. He crashed through the front door, the wood slamming into the wall with a dull thud. He leaped over the debris that covered the floor, and pulled open the second door in the hallway, falling into the room beyond. Rarity sat in the centre, her mane drooping over her face. The Doctor made his way towards her, his hoofsteps cautious and silent. He stopped just short of her, his hoof reaching out towards her.

“R-Rarity?”

Her head shot up, revealing her puffy, bloodshot eyes. Her mouth dropped into a frown, and her eyes welled with tears. She leapt forward, throwing her forehooves around his neck, and pulling him into an embrace. Her tears flowed into the crook of his neck, and he squeezed her, his hooves wrapping around her in a tight hug.

“Wh-what i-i-is this pl-place?” she sobbed, pulling back slightly to look into his eyes. “There wa-was th-this monster an-“

“Shhhhh.” the Doctor held a hoof to his lips, and squeezed her with the other. He looked up to the rest of the room, his face serene. “I have no idea where we are.” He trailed off, his eyes returning to her face. “But we’re going to find out.”

She moved away from him, wiping away her tears with a hoof. After a few moments, she looked back up, a small smile on her lips. “Yes... I-I suppose we are.”

The Doctor nodded to her, before turning back to the door. He pushed it open, and stepped out into the hall, motioning for her to follow him. She stepped through with a nod, and small laugh came from her throat as she stepped over the threshold. The Doctor closed the door, before turning towards the end of the hall.

“So,” he started, running a hoof down the metal edge of the doorframe. “Any idea what’s behind here?”

Rarity shook her head, her mane now flowing freely around her as she shook. She moved up to look at the large lock on the door, her horn glowing. After a few moments, she stopped, and turned to face her friend, a frown on her face.

“My magic isn’t doing anything, like I – or rather my magic – can’t touch it.” Her horn flashed again, as if to prove what she had just said.

The Doctor leaned down to look at the mechanism, as Rarity pulled the small note from earlier out from her hair.

“Doctor, can you make any sense of this?” She hoofed it to him, and he accepted it, scanning through the short verse.

“There are three separate parts to this poem, and three separate locking mechanisms,” he stated, hoofing in the first section of the riddle. “The first mechanism is easy, ‘once a man, now a mouse’, the writer of this could only be referring to one pony.” After a few seconds of blank staring from Rarity, he rolled his eyes, before sighing. “Me, obviously.”

“Oh, yes, because that is obvious,” she poked out her tongue at him, and he returned the gesture, before turning back to the paper.

“A house, his house.” He pondered for a moment, his hoof tapping against his chin. “Well, the poem is still relating to me, and I only have one house so.” He hoofed in the next answer, before turning back to the paper. “’A place of love, now a cage,’ what could that...” He stopped, his eyes wide, before turning and slowly typing in a word. A click resounded throughout the room, and the door swung inwards, revealing a black void beyond.

“What was it?”

“Something that your dreams shouldn’t know,” The Doctor stated, giving her a cold look, before turning, and walking to the edge of the hole. “Well,” he started, straightening his tie. “Geronimo.”

He stepped forward, and Rarity jumped after him, her hooves reaching out as if to catch him. Instead, she smashed into him as his hoof came into contact with solid ground. The two sprawled forwards, dropping onto a seemingly invisible surface. Before either could say anything, the door slammed shut behind them, plunging the world into an empty darkness. Rarity clung to the Doctor, her hooves digging into his sides as he stood, letting out a small grunt.

“Hey, ease up on the vice there Rarity,” he said, his voice strained. The mare complied, her grip loosening as she stood next to him, her hoof still touching his back. Silence surrounded them, as if it pounded in their eardrums. Rarity shivered, sending the feeling into the Doctor, who giggled in response. At this, the room lit up, a large, red light appearing from nowhere and illuminating a previously unseen figure. Its shadow stretched over the pair, the outline glowing faintly orange.

“Who... are you?” the Doctor called out, his voice echoing around the pair. A laugh responded the question, bouncing off the walls around them. The Doctor gulped beside Rarity, his usual smile fading from his face.

“Really, have you forgotten me so soon?” The thing shook, before it lifted up, the front side of it still shrouded in darkness. “Ah, but it has been time, hasn’t it? I doubt you would even remember my name, let alone what I represent.”

The Doctor stiffened beside Rarity, and she felt herself freeze too, as the shape slowly morphed. It shrunk in size, until it was smaller than Rarity, before stepping forward into their vision. Sweetie Belle stood on the invisible surface, her face contorted into a twisted smile.

“Hello sister,” she mouthed, her voice dropping an octave. Rarity took a step back, lifting a hoof to her face, her eyes wide with shock. “Oh, why so surprised?” The filly’s voice jumped then, until it was the same pitch as Sweetie Belle’s. “It’s just me, Sweetie Belle!”

The Doctor pushed out a hoof in front of Rarity, his voice low and even. “Rarity... that isn’t Sweetie Belle. That’s... that’s.” He trailed off, his hoof pressing into her.

“Oh go on Doctor,” the filly spat, her voice filling with venom. “Tell your friend who I am.”

The Doctor turned away from the creature, and faced Rarity, whose wide eyes locked with his. “Rarity, this is Ze’Lacor, a parasite, from the planet Yrak-Qot.” His tongue clicked as he pronounced each name, giving an oddly foreign sound to the title. “And she has been posing as your sister for the last twelve years.”

Rarity turned back to look into the cold, empty sockets of the creature. Her lip trembled, and she backed away slowly, her eyes popping out of her sockets.

The Doctor turned back to look at the creature, his eyes hard. “Why are you here?”

The creature didn’t break eye contact with Rarity, her devilish smile stretching across her face.

“I said why are you here?!” The Doctor screamed, spittle flying from his mouth as he leaped in front of the filly. She slowly looked up, until her eyes made contact with his.

“To save her life.” She pointed towards Rarity, a growl growing in the back of her throat.

“From you.”

Author's Note

The End.

... Just kidding!

Hey, and welcome to the beginning of The End, or the second last chapter of my first fanfiction, Silence. I've been working pretty hard at my exams, but i was able to squeeze this out before my final one, which was earlier today.

This fanfiction was written to the sounds of the GoingQuantum podcast, episode 97!

Also, if you have time, why not head over to my bandcamp and check out my latest EP, titled ' University Days'?

Thanks, and have fun!

(Also comments and criticisms!)