The Stranger From The Vortex

Ditzy Doo opened her eyes to the morning sun as its rays beamed through the windows in her room. She moaned a bit and rubbed her eyes, before letting out a big yawn. Her grey coat shined in the light, but her blonde mane was messy at the break of dawn. The Pegasus got up; rubbing her neck and back a bit before finally reaching out to her special pair of glasses, personally made by the Doctor for her big walleyes. She walked over to her mirror and brushed her mane until it was perfect. After the quick morning fix up, she trotted to her kitchen and as she was about to bake some delicious pancakes for breakfast. She grabbed her Mail-Mare hat and tied a small string-necklace that held the TARDIS key. Ditzy walked out the door with a big smile that made the morning far greater.

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Time was going by ever so quickly as the Mail-Mare kept going from mailbox to mailbox; delivering each letter, bill, card, and/or package with ease thanks to the glasses. However, something kept distracting her. She was remembering last night. It was her birthday and all her friends came with gifts and cake, along with a cool party at Sugarcube Corner. However, to keep the celebration going, the Doctor took his companion across the galaxy for an out of this world surprise.

“So … Doctor, what other surprises do you got for me on my birthday?” Ditzy asked. The Doctor was already toying around with the levers, knobs, buttons, and all sorts of gadgetry on the TARDIS console.

“Oh Miss Hooves, hehe” he replied with charisma, “ … You are going to love this!”

The two held on tight as the ground beneath them shook. The warping of the time machine’s travel through the vortex was in context with the shaking for a good period of time. The Doctor jumped around the console to keep it stable. Then by the dings of a bell, the shaking completely stopped. The time lord snickered as he looked at the scanner, certain that they have arrived.

“Where are we now?”

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” he asked with excitement for his companion to open those wooden doors, and see what wonders await for her outside. She smiled and pulled the doors back to reveal a mesmerizing scene of space. Ditzy was getting use to her adventures with the Doctor, but every time her eyes got the glimpse of a mesmerizing cascade in the universe … her simple mind would be blown away.

“It’s beautiful, truly it is, but-” she stopped mid-way through her sentence once the ship turned towards an unforgettable image. She gasped as a set of small stars that were spaced apart in an articulate design in the shape of her face. The Doctor smiled and slowly sneaked back around his console to get a sweet for the two.

“D-D-Doctor, do you see ...” she stuttered; speechless at what her eyes were seeing.

“Yes, yes, yes. I had to pull some favors to do that, so take it all in my companion because it won’t last forever” the Doctor said as he was pulling out a plate and two cups.

“Is it visible from space? I mean, can anyone else beside us see this right now?”

“No, in fact we’re looking at different stars from different time periods in different dimensions! Isn't that amazing?!”

“But how are they all here together?” she asked, confused, but utterly happy staring at the impossible scene.

“Okay let me explain. Through sheer luck and my genius calculations, I was able to get in contact with many of the other me's to simultaneously set our TARDISes to materialize at a central point in the vortex where a weak stream of fusion particles were loosely attracted to each other in order to open up small ‘windows’ in the space time continuum! Ah science, so much easier than plain ol’ magic!”

“Doctor ...”

“Uh, Yes?”

“Shut up and enjoy”

“Ok”

He frowned a bit; only to grow another smile across his face. The Doctor was proud of Ditzy’s contribution on his adventures, and though it has been nearly two years since they've met, he has never felt happier. Their friendship expanded more with other companions, including one lavender unicorn and a talented musician. A sudden ringing came from the phone on the console.

“I’ll be right back. Don’t keep your eyes off of those stars because something tells me you are so going to love what is coming up next!”

“Don’t worry about that, I am so loving this!”

He chuckled and ran back to answer the phone while she kept her focus on the stars, until a sudden image rocketed across the sky. She squinted at what appeared to be a burning comet with a rainbow trail behind it. The falling star suddenly vanished. At the same time, Ditzy’s ears picked up the very faint, familiar, and loud mechanical wheezing sound.

Vwwwoooorp ...  Vwwwoooorp ... Vwwwoooorp ...

“Well that was ... WHOA!”

She immediately grabbed onto the doors and shuffled herself back a bit as the ship suddenly rumbled. One by one, each star spun quickly before finally slipping back into their rightful positions in their respective universes. She watched in amazement as the stars that burned the sky with her face were glowing with fury, until finally they each imploded into a fantastic fireworks display. The Pegasus whistled and cheered, clapping her hooves together as she turned to the Doctor, ready to hug him. Yet, Ditzy was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of a muffin up close in her face.

“Uhm … I made this with Miss Pie as a surprise gift. She made the muffin while I was planning the bang, but together we knew it’d be a great way to end your birthday” he said as she took the muffin. “So … Happy Birthday, Miss Derpy Hooves”

She took a bite, feeling the delicious muffin's taste sizzle in her mouth. Ditzy moaned at the sweetness running up and down her tongue. All this was happen while tears ran down her rosy cheeks. Each drop glistened like small diamonds on her eyelashes and making a river of joy as she smiled at the stupendous gift. The mare hugged the Doctor, as well as kiss his cheek in the process. The two blushed whilst their hearts fluttered. They sat back down together, looking out at the vastness of space with tea and muffins.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Best. Birthday. Ever. Those words echoed in the mail mare’s head. That is until she crashed into the Sugarcube Corner mailbox. The Pegasus was dizzy for a minute or two, until she could finally shake it out.

“Ouch” she said, rubbing her head. I hope no pony saw that, she thought to herself; turning around to see no Pony around her.

“I DID!” yelled PINKIE PIE.

“Eeep!” Ditzy squeaked as the highly energetic Pinkie Pie sprang out of Mr. & Mrs. Cake’s mailbox. She was startled and awkwardly fell back, causing the Pegasus to toss the mail in the air. She looked back up and shook herself as the mail slowly floated to the ground.

“Oops, sorry! HEHEHE”

“Pinkie Pie, I told you to stop doing that!”

“Oh you know you love it, you silly filly!”

Pinkie kept on laughing as Ditzy got up and dusted herself off. She frowned, but like any resident of Ponyville knows, it won't take for long before they stop being mad. After all, it's Pinkie Pie and she only did it for a laugh.

“I’m sorry, but you should have seen your face! HAHAHA! It was hilarious!” the prankster laughed harder, until she noticed Ditzy pulled out a half eaten muffin. Pinkie gasped.

“Is that the muffin I made for you and the Doctor?!” She asked, ticked that it wasn't eaten. Ditzy froze, knowing how Pinkie Pie might react.

“Noooo” Ditzy answered.

“Oh really? Because if I remembered, which I do, that YOUR muffin looked like the one in your hoof” Pinkie eyed the other Pegasus, who tried to avoid Pinkie's gaze.

“You’re a silly filly! How could you tell the difference between a muffin yesterday and a muffin today?”

“Because SILLY FILLY, I distinctly remembered that the muffins I baked for you and the Doctor … had your your names stamped on the cup with the Pinkie Pie seal of deliciously awesome birthday approval!” Pinkie’s hoof pointed out all these details.

“Dah-uh-well, you see, I was going to finish it but-” the stuttering Ditzy tried to explain.

“BUUUUT?”

“But … oh, alright. I admit it ...” Ditzy sighed. “I didn’t finish your muffin, but I couldn’t. It was so-”

“So, what?”

“It was so amazing! Pinkie, you couldn't imagine how utterly amazing it was.” she stared at the muffin for a bit. A big smile grew across Pinkie Pie's face for she knew well enough her reasons to keep the muffin meant more than a simple meal.

“He moved the stars to shape my face, and end it with the most spectacular fireworks in space!”

“And … and then your muffins with that delicious flavor plus the scenery! I just had to savor that moment. You understand, don’t you Pinkie Pie?”

It took a moment with Pinkie to think about it, but of course she made her decision even before she said it.

“Oh of course Ditzy, how could I stay mad at a reason like that?! Gosh, you and the Doctor are so cute like that? Don’t you think so? Every pony thinks so, well not every Pony because not EVERY pony knows who you are or him or both or even me … how many ponies could their be to not about you two?! I mean you’re like Knights of Space and Time! Guardians of the Universe …” Pinkie kept blathering on, making Ditzy feel awkward, but blush at the cool nicknames for her companionship with the Doctor. Though it was nice that companions like Twilight and others have come along with them, she liked it more when it is just her and him. As Pinkie went on about her and the time traveler, the mail mare then remembered why she came here in the first place.

“Uh, hey look what I got?” Ditzy held out the mail.

“MAIL!” Pinkie jumped up and down and all around Miss Doo at the excitement of mail.

“Phew” Ditzy sighed relief as Pinkie grabbed the mail. From there on, she started eating another chunk of her muffin, engulfing herself into the flavor.

“Well Pinkie, I've got to get going now. I still have a lot more deliveries to do and-”

“Hey, how about I come with you?!”

“Wait, what?”

“I know right?! While flipping through the mail, annoyed that none of it was for me” the earth pony slammed the mail into the mailbox. “I thought to myself, hey I got nothing to do. You see today is Tuesday, and like any other day I would have a ton of things to do, but ... it's Tuesday. Besides that, your birthday party left me short on party supplies. Which is like really rare, but this is a blue moon kind of thing. Don't Worry, I ordered some cool new ones. Soooooo, how about I paint the town gray and pink with you, me, and that mailbag!”

“I don't know, I'm not suppose to be lollygagging which I'm already doing right now-”

“But how can you dilly dally when I'm just talking while you're going from house to house?”

“Oh! That is true!”

“And I promise to stick with my friend until we deliver every single letter and package and the annoying taxes to the ponies of Ponyville!”

“Well then, let's go!”

Ditzy and Pinkie hoof bumped and traveled on the mail route. As they walked off to the next shop, a blinding light blasted from the windows of the Golden Oaks Library.

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With Pinkie Pie beside her, Ditzy Doo’s morning mail route consisted of jokes and show tunes that brought smiles to each the ponies they came across to. This made the morning even better than most of her days as the two delivered all the usual goodies and junk mail. The simple mail route was an enjoyable one for Ditzy thanks to Pinkie’s talent to make her laugh and smile. The sun was moving across the sky, turning the shadows all across the land in course with every minute that passed. It was mid-noon, but finally she only had one more spot to deliver. Pinkie was getting tired at this point; she yawned while looking over at the bell tower to see that it was thirty minutes past two. Ditzy was getting sleepy; after all, she has been doing this since eight o’clock in the morning, way before Pinkie Pie came in to the picture. She looked at the list and smiled when recognizing who was next.

“One last address; the Golden Oaks Library” Ditzy said. She pulled out a heavy box, marked with a seal that said, Canterlot Library, knowing exactly what was inside.

“Yippee! We're going to Twilight's house, We're going to Twilight's house,We're going to Twilight's house!” Pinkie Pie cheered as the enthusiasm made the pony bounce all around the place.

“This is a great way to end the day!” Pinkie bounced in circles around Ditzy, squealing with delight to see Twilight and Spike.

They finally approached the tree, unaware of the damage inside. Hidden in the soft grass was a piece of glass from the shattered windows, but it was known to the two once Pinkie’s hoof stepped onto it.

“Ye-Ow!” Pinkie yelped in pain before defying physics and rocketing into the air. Ditzy gasped and looked up to see where her friend had gone to … only to yelp in surprise as Pinkie pop out from behind.

“GAH!” Ditzy jumped and turned to Pinkie. “What?! Pinkie Pie?! B-b-b-but, how did you?! Uh-why did you?!”

“Pull it out, pull it out, PULL-IT-OUT!” she screamed, hoping between both hind legs like an impatient child as she held out the hoof with the sharp glass sticking out.

“Okay! Okay! Don’t worry I’ll get it out” the Pegasus calmed her friend before finally pulling out as quickly as possible. Pinkie yelped and waved her hoof a bit, feeling sick as some blood drip out. Pinkie immediately kissed the cut much like a mother would kiss a boo-boo away.

“Here, I have a band aid you can use.” Ditzy pulled out the small strip of medical care.

“I keep these in handy, especially when I crash into mailboxes.”

Pinkie smiled as she peeled the little sheets of plastic from the band and gently slipped it over the wound.

Being with the Doctor has always been an eye-opener for his companions and while being one herself, Miss Doo has also gained new skills to look out for anything out of place. Obviously the glass was her first clue, so now here wall eyes, though usually unhelpful in some instances, were now able to make out anything unusual with the glasses. Her eyes spotted something, and she instantly had to get Pinkie’s attention to what it was that caught her off guard.

“WHOA! Now that’s so freaky! Hehehe! Just look at those branches, and the leaves ... they look they have chicken pox” Pinkie proclaimed as they noticed the leaves and branches covered in black blotches. The ever so cheery earth pony picked one up and together they observed every detail to the leaf. The glass windows were obviously scattered around, but the frames were busted with sign of light or sounds coming from the inside.

“Glass is scattered on the floor, the leaves are covered in black spots, and-” Ditzy stopped and gasped under her breathe as her eye caught Pinkie’s tail twitching.

“That's Not Good! Ooooh, this is not Good! Something's going on here and my tail knows it!” Pinkie's tail twitched as they looked back at the door. They both gulped and moved closer to the door, until they were two feet away. Pinkie knocked on the door.

“Hello? ... Twilight? ... Spike?” Pinkie Pie called out. No response.

“Twilight? It's me, Ditzy-”

“And Pinkie Pie!”

“We’re here with your delivery of books you ordered from Canterlot” Ditzy shouted, getting no response. The two looked at each and back at the door. Pinkie walked to the door and knocked the door. Again, no response back from the inside. Ditzy settled her delivery down and stood before the door, until she grabbed the doorknob and turned it. The door swung back to a room filled with shadows. They crept into the library that was left in ruins from the earlier events. Most ponies would avoid such explosions or weird lights going on from the library as it was known by many Ponyville residents that the student of Princess Celestia is always experiments and casting spells. Pinkie and Ditzy understood this very well from their own experiences, but the home was wrecked in a horrifying way. The sunlight exposed what it could through the windows such as the piles of books scattered across the floor, a burnt mark from the ceiling, and cracks going along the walls.

“Wait a minute ... did I, Pinkie Pie, miss the most awesome party ever?!”

“How can you say that? Of course it wasn't a party, just look at this place! The cracks, the books, the broken glass windows, plus the obvious burnt marks must have been a fire of some kind!”

“Pisha, a party isn't a party without some kind of damage”

“Pinkie Pie, you’re the queen of parties ... obviously you wouldn't miss this one ”

sickly black spotted leaves ... I think we're going to need the-” Ditzy was cut off by the flapping of feathers. They turned around to see Owlowiscious flap down and out of the shadows. Ditzy and Pinkie were content to see the pet owl still around in the chaos of the room.

“Thank goodness! It's only you Owlowiscious.” Pinkie Pie hugged the bird who hooted back with a slight cough. Her hooves kept rubbing the bird, comforting him, until she took notice of something eerie in his feathers. Miss Doo walked around the main room for a bit, using her special glasses to catch anything out of the ordinary. The glasses were enabled with far more features than fixing her vision by a tidbit, in fact her glasses matched her imperfect visions to that of a hawk. She spotted a sample of rainbow dust around the heavy burnt marks across the bookshelves.

“Ditzy, you've got to come and take a look at this!” Pinkie yelled from across the room. The mail mare headed back to her friend who was holding Owlowiscious away from her.

“What’s wrong? Why are you holding Owlowiscious away from you like if she’s sick?” she asked before hearing the owl cough like if it had a smoker’s lungs.

“Oh you know, he needed some air and-” Pinkie was interrupted by the sudden sneeze from the owl. She squeaked and let go of Owlowiscious who forgot to fly in response.

“He’s sick” she pointed out as Owlowiscious was sulking, sticking out his tongue as his feathers turned to a dark green pale look with black spots across the belly and wings.

“Wait a tick, Ditzy look at his feathers” Pinkie noticed as she plucked out one of the feathers. Ditzy looked closely at the patterns on it and back at the sickly owl who was looking more sick as seconds past by.

“These feathers look like the black blotches we found on the leaf” Ditzy said.

“You’re right, look here” Pinkie held the leaf and feather up, each one with equal features that was pointing to some kind connection. The two turned away from Owlowiscious.

“Pinkie Pie, something's not adding up. The tree is in shambles, Twilight and Spike are missing, and Owlowiscious is obviously sick, but what did this?”

Ditzy paused for a bit, realizing that all these clues might be pointing to something bad. She looked at the necklace around her neck and stared at the T.A.R.D.I.S. key. This problem would need the assistance of The Doctor.

“We are definitely in a bit of a jam, here” Ditzy said.

“No, you mean we’re in a bit of a pickle” Pinkie corrected her friend.

“No, I'm sure it's with jam”

“Sure” Pinkie patted Ditzy's head.

“You keep saying that to yourself. Hey maybe muffins ARE better than Cupcakes”

“Excuse me?”

Her sarcastic comment ticked Ditzy, who proudly defended her right as a fan of the delectable muffins.

“I'll have you know that-”

Ditzy was about to continue another Cupcakes vs. Muffins debate with Pinkie, before a sound caught her full attention. Owlowiscious was on her stand, choking out something hard. Pinkie poked him, only to jump back as the pet started to spit out black chunks of slime onto the floor.

“Ewe!” they both said in unison. They watched as it regurgitated up black ooze.

“Gross!” Ditzy said. Both ponies turned away, cringing at the disgusting sounds of vomit. Then came the first surprise.

Hoo …

Their ears tweaked.

Hoo!

Again, the hooting noise caught their ears attention along with the vibrant flaps of Owlowiscious wings hovering over them. They both looked up and gasped at the owl, flapping around as if nothing happened. His blotches were gone, his pale green color was gone, and there were no traces of the sight or smell of the unimaginable horrors that he regurgitated just mere seconds ago.

“What the what?!” Pinkie screamed.

“No way! How can she-but she was-what’s going on here?!” Ditzy yelled. The owl settled down on Pinkie’s back and pecked his feathers, fluttering them before smiling and relaxing against the confused pony’s neck. Both stared back at the creature, looking for anything out of the ordinary, but somehow it miraculously got rid of whatever sickness inside.

“But how? He couldn't have just gotten rid of his sickness that quickly” Ditzy said.

“Magic?” Pinkie suggested.

“Maybe Twilight casted a spell on him to get rid of an ill?”

“I don’t know, she’d have to be here right? I mean, I don’t know much about unicorns and their magic, but I’m sure she’d have to be here to do so, right?”

Pinkie only shrugged in response. Ditzy’s brain was working its hardest to figure out a logical answer.

Owlowiscious turned his head around to see the pool of black ooze bubble and boil. The curious bird raised an eyebrow and hovered near the disgusting slush on the floor. He settled down and leaned forward, sniffing the air. The bird cringed at the horrible smell. Suddenly, it looked back to see the ooze bop up and down before poking a glowing orb to the surface. Owlowiscious hopped back, stunned by what it saw. The ooze jerked back and forth before two tentacles popped right out of the ugly black sludge. He hooted and flew around the two mares, trying to concentrate on the matter at hand. However, the frightened bird caught their attention immediately.

“Owlowiscious?! What’s wrong? Why are you-hey!” Ditzy was tugged by her key necklace. She struggled for a second or two, before finally seeing what the owl was trying to show her. Pinkie Pie and Ditzy gasped as the splat of black goo was coming to life. It was nearly as big they were now and glowing a sickening green. The two began to feel queasy in their stomachs as the glow from the creature radiated outwards.

“D-Ditzy … I don’t … uhhh” Pinkie could barely get her sentence out as she swayed side to side. The two started to feel sick to their core. Ditzy was clenching her eyes as the pain of the sudden sickness that struggled to keep her from performing any basic pony function.

“I … I … oh!” Ditzy’s face turned green. She took a big gulp back, obviously slowing back something gross and coughed.

“The ooze, that green thing is making-making us sick!” Ditzy yelled out, losing energy as they were backing up against the door.

“We've got to-ugh” Pinkie clenched her stomach, “-to get out of here-ah!”

Owlowiscious flapped and pecked at Ditzy’s head, forcing her to back up even more. The irritated Pegasus snorted and grunted and whined back at the bird, until she tripped backward and landed her bubbly rump on the door. Instantly, Ditzy's rump followed the nature it follows … obliterating the door. The two ponies rolled out the house as the door collapsed into pieces. Owlowiscious flew away from the creature that stopped itself from going outside. The owl blew a raspberry at the black ooze before it sneaked back into the library’s shadow.

“Oooooh-whoa! I’m actually feeling better! Ditzy, your iron butt saved us!” Ditzy sighed in relief, even if Pinkie was getting back to her usual jumpy state. Suddenly the mad mare stopped once she remembered about the possible danger to Twilight and Spike.

“But Twilight! She’s still in danger with that thing in there! Owlowiscious, do you remember seeing Twilight at all today?” Pinkie Pie turned to the owl, shaking its head. Pinkie’s whole body

“Okay, well at least it’s staying in there, but we don’t know for how long” Ditzy said, until she looked down at Owlowiscious who had the TARDIS key in his beak. She nodded back, knowing exactly what he was trying to say. Twilight knew how to make her pets smart enough to know that the Doctor was the best possible solution.

“Pinkie, you and I both know there’s only one possible solution to this problem” Ditzy said.

“Pie?” Pinkie suggested.

“Yes-wait, what?!”

“Well when it’s this intense, I think if I bake a pie and eat it … then things wouldn't seem so bad”

Pinkie explained, catching Ditzy off-guard and left dumbfounded than usual. Her eyes slowly drooped into all sorts of directions before finally blinking back to normal … that is what’s normal for the Pegasus.

“... N-Never mind, all I know is if she’s in Danger, then we’ll need the Doctor” Ditzy proclaimed.

“Now let’s go find him!”

“Oki Doki Loki!”

Pinkie Pie smiled and together with Owlowiscious flying right beside them, they ran off to find the blue box while hoping that Twilight and Spike were still safe, all while the creature lurking in the ruins of the library was making its next move inside the very life of the tree itself.