Number 12
Twilight looked around as she walked down the old roads of Ponyville. On occasion she missed the large cityscape of Canterlot . Though Ponyville was indeed nice, with it’s own charm, she could not escape that feeling of homesickness, the hustle and bustle of the city, the millions of ponies of all shapes and sizes, the buildings stretching into the clouds. She missed it. And yet, she had never been out of the city before her trip here. Canterlot and Ponyville were the only homes she knew.“Perhaps all I need is a change of scenery.” She mumbled to herself. “Ponyville is beginning to feel a little small.”
The purple unicorn was shaken from her thoughts by a large boom. Something blue hurtled from the sky, leaving a trail of smoke in it’s wake. It collided with something in the distance with a thundering crash.
Twilight stood, stupefied for a moment, until she realized the location the sound had come from.“My Library!!!”
Twilight galloped down the road at full speed towards the smoke in the distance.
*Theme Music*
By the time Twilight had arrived in the town square a small crowd of ponies had collected around the tree which once housed the library. The left wing was in splinters, the smell of burning paper hung heavy in the air.
“My books!” She yelled. Then she thought a moment. “Spike!!!!” More distraught than ever, she raced through the door, coughing in the smoke as she worked her way forward. The shock wave created by the object had knocked almost every book from it’s shelf, the whole library lay in disarray. The paper crinkled and shifted under her hooves, but she had more pressing matters to worry about. “Spike!?” Twilight looked around wildly. “Spike!? Please tell me you’re alright?”
Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. “Spike....”
“What’s all the ruckus Twilight?”
“Spike!” Twilight whirled around and grabbed the small dragon in a full body hug.
“What!? Geeze, what happened to the library? I was sleeping then I hear you in here having a fit. What’s going on?” Spike tried to wiggle out of Twilight’s grasp.
Twilight froze. “You slept....through the whole thing?” She leered at the dragon. “You slept through the whole thing!!!” She tossed the small dragon down on to the book covered floor. “I was worried about you! Uhg! You lazy reptile, not even an explosion could wake you up from your nap. Here I thought you had died!”
“Ow! Okay I’m not! I’m sorry! Geeze, I’ll sleep more lightly next time.”
Twilight couldn’t help but smile. “Alright apology accepted. Now, I suppose you didn’t see any of what happened did you?”
“Nope, I went to sleep, I heard you yelling, woke up and here we are.”
“Well,” Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “Something came from the sky, and crashed into the library from what I saw.” She turned and headed downstairs. “I’m going to see what it was. I’d very much like to know the reason my books are in such disarray.”
“Twilight, wait!” Yelled Spike. “You don’t know what’s down there!”
“Well I intend to find out, one way or another.” She said looking back over her shoulder.
“Fine, then.” Spike yelled back. “But at least slow down!”
The object had cut a path through the left wing of the library down into the basement. In places, as they walked, embers burned in the scorched bark, charred grey and black.
“Oh, my poor tree.” Whispered Twilight.
“I know, it’s worse than I thought.” Said Spike.
As they descended the stairs the smell of burning wood became stronger. Twilight and Spike coughed as smoke began to wind it’s way up the staircase, which had amazingly stayed intact.
They came upon the thing that had crashed into their home. Smoke curled around it’s frame, It was blue, they could see that much through the thick haze.
“What is it?” Asked Spike.
“I don’t know, Spike, but it’s going to take a lot of magic to heal this tree, and I want to know why.”
“Careful, Twilight! Spike stayed on the stairs as the unicorn neared the blue object.
“It’s a....box....” Twilight said bemused. “and there’s not a scratch on it. I didn't think anything could survive something like that.”
“Okay, it’s a box, now let’s let somepony else deal with it. Come on.” Spike implored.
“Who else? This is our home, and I need to know what damaged it in such a manor.” Twilight walked up to the box. “Police Public Call Box,” she read aloud. “There’s writing on it! And windows, and doors! Spike, come here and look at thi-.”
She was cut off as one of the doors swung wide, and the head of a brown stallion popped out.
“Hello there.” said the strange stallion . He stumbled out unsteadily, he looked quite dismayed. “Dear me, four legs....that’s new. Well I’ve been worse.” he walked in a circle examining his body. “A tail! That’s certainly different. I’d say from the hindquarters definitely equine. That’s rather daft. A horsey Time Lord, look at that! Or maybe I’m a Timey Horse Lord, or a Lord of Horsey Time. I’m really not sure yet. Oh! And look at that, there’s an hourglass on it, never had a tattoo before, love a tattoo.”
He looked at Twilight almost like he had forgotten for the moment that she was there.“Oh! Hello there! Can you talk as well? Perhaps I’ve just eaten some bad fish.”
Twilight stood dumbfounded.
“Hmm, perhaps you can’t, I shall never eat starfish again. Which is really a shame, because they are so delicious if you can get them out of the star at just the right time.”
“I-I-I.” Twilight stuttered.
“I-I-I?” The strange brown stallion repeated. “Is that what horses say here? They said ‘neigh’ last time I checked.” Maybe I should check again.”
He circled Twilight, looking her up and down. “Why, you’re purple aren’t you? A purple horse, imagine that. Although, perhaps you’re not a horse, judging from the very large cranium and severely shortened snout. Those ears of yours don’t quite mesh either, now do they? Not to mention your hair is remarkably human for a horse.”
“I-I’m not a horse.” Twilight managed to get the words out.
The stallion jumped back “Fascinating! It seems to have gained the power of speech!”
“It!?” Twilight yelled, offended. “Look Mr. You’re the on that cashed into my house an I want some answe-”
“Well what do you expect me to call you?”
“....What?” Twilight’s head was spinning.
“If not ‘It’, what? Judging from the voice you’re female, what do you want to be called? How do you feel about the name Georgia?”
“No!!” Twilight yelled, trying to get a grip on things. “No! My name is Twilight Sparkle, I just want to kno-”
“Twilight Sparkle?” The stallion raised an eyebrow. “I like Georgia much better.”
“I just want to know what’s going on here!” Twilight paused. “And it’s a fine name I’ll have you know!!”
“I’m sure it is by this world’s standards, though it would have quite a different connotation on my side of the pond.”
Twilight just stood there mouth slightly ajar.
“Ah yes! How rude of me”
“You mean crashing your box into my house?”
The stallion looked around seemingly surprised to see the crash.
“Oh yeah, that too I suppose, but I haven’t introduced myself.” The stallion attempted to bow. “I am, The Doctor.” upon finishing that he fell on flat on his face. “The gravity must be weird here.”
Twilight had had about enough of this nonsense.
“Look here ‘Doctor’ you’ve destroyed my home, my books and about an hour of my time with your box and your ramblings. Now will you tell me, What.Is.Going.On?”
“Going on?” The stallion looked confused. “Whatever do you mean?” He looked around, upon looking behind Twilight his eyes shot wide.
He leaned in close and whispered. “Do you mean the reptile behind you? Don’t be alarmed, it looks like it’s only a baby. Looks remarkably like a dragon doesn’t it?
Twilight tried to respond, but he was off like a rocket to the stairs where Spike cowered.
“Well, isn’t this curious!” He turned to Twilight. “Don’t be alarmed my dear, but I believe this is a dragon!”
“Well what did you think I was, a salamander?” Spike bolstered his courage, and stepped up to the stallion .
“Oh my! Now this is fascinating! He has the power of speech as well!” He looked back at Twilight. “Are you seeing this, Evening Glitter?”
“That’s Twilight Sparkle.” She said exasperated, “And that’s Spike, he always talks.” Twilight marched up to the stallion , and put her nose against his. “Now tell me, really, who doesn’t know that? Who are you?”
Suddenly the stallion looked like he was going to be sick.
“I’m *Burp*” at that, a small coil of golden smoke made it’s way from his mouth. He swayed back and forth.
Twilight and Spike jumped back.
“Excuse me, sorry, it appears I’m not quite ready yet.” he swayed still more as he spoke. “But as I told you, Morning Glory, I’m the,” He fell to the floor. “Doctor...” he whispered. Then he was out cold.
“What a werido,” Groaned Spike as he and Twilight hauled the unconscious stallion up the stairs. “A heavy weirdo.”
They shuffled over to the couch, and dumped him there.
“Weird or not, I’m getting some answers from him when he wakes up.” said Twilight “This is all far too strange. None of my magic seems to wake him, and the tree won’t heal where that Celestia forsaken box is.” She signed. “How did he fit in there anyway? It looks too small to hide somepony of his size and none of my magic will open it.”
“Well, perhaps we should turn him over to the Mayor?” Spike suggested. “She could probably use her pull to get more answers than we can. Plus he did destroy your library.”
Twilight looked over at the stallion slumped on the couch. His chest rose and fell in slow breaths. “I suppose we could do that.” she pondered “But I’d really like to give him a chance to explain himself before we go turning him over. Even if he does deserve the trouble.”
“Fine, but he’d better wake up soon.”
As Spike spoke, the Stallion’s mouth opened, and more golden smoke poured out.
“And he’d better stop doing that.”
Above Ponyville, a small hole opened in the sky. A creature slowly floated downwards. The observer would would notice it looked a lot like a Pegasus pony made of stone. It’s abnormally large wings covering it’s eyes.
Then it was gone.
Twilight Sparkle sat watching her ‘guest’ as Spike slept nearby. His chest continued to rise and fall, if a bit fitfully. Every now and again a stream of golden smoke would roll from his mouth into the air.
“What is that stuff?” she wondered aloud. “Oh, I hope he’s not sick...” Twilight trotted up to him, and nudged him with a forehoof. He didn’t respond. “Hello? Can you hear me? You owe me some explanations.” She poked him again. “Mr.Bluebox?”
Still he lay unmoving.
Twilight put her ear against his chest. “It’s beating at least.” she paused. “But that’s odd.” she moved her head to the left. “There’s four beats....”
Twilight, nudged Spike.
“Hubawah? No I don’t want opals, gemstones please.” he mumbled.
“Spike, wake up!”
“What! what!” Spike was jumped, up. “What is it!”
“Listen to his heart. I think it sounds...funny..” Said Twilight.
“Funny? Like funny ‘ha-ha’ or like funny ‘oh-no’?”
“Will you just listen?” She shoved the small dragon towards the couch.
“Okay, okay, geeze.” Spike put his head to the Stallion’s chest.
“Do you hear it?” Asked Twilight.
“Yeah! That’s so weird! It’s like a funky drumbeat!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Spike, this is serious. A pony’s heart shouldn’t sound like that. Maybe there’s something wrong with him, maybe we should take him to a doctor.”
Suddenly the stallion’s head shot up. Eye’s wide awake.
“You called?”
Twilight and Spike yelped jumping back.
“What!?” Twilight yelled.
“You said Doctor, do you need my help?”
“What? No! Do you need any help?”
The stallion looked confused. “Well why would I need any help?”
“It’s your heart.” said Twilight. “it’s beating fun-”
“Hearts.” he interrupted.
“What?”
“Hearts, plural, I’ve got two.”
Twilight began to get annoyed. “Look mister, I’ve read several books on the subject, and ponies only have one heart that I’m su-”
“So you don’t need me?” He interrupted looking at her like she’d just drooled on the floor. “No!!” She yelled in exasperation.
“Okay then.” The stallion fell back, unconscious.
“No! Wait! I mean yes! Yes I do need you! You haven’t answered any of my questions!
He didn’t move.
“What is wrong with this pony!!” Twilight screamed.
“Perhaps he hit his head in the crash?” Spike suggested.“Either way, this is getting us nowhere, he’s a loon. Everyone knows only manticore’s have more than one heart, and they’ve got three. I bet that pony couldn’t find his tail with a map. Let’s dump him outside and get back to cleaning up the library.”
“Spike!” Said Twilight, aghast. “Though I admit that while he’s unconscious cleaning the library takes top priority, he’s obviously unwell, we cannot simply ‘dump’ him outside, no matter how much of a loon he seems to be.”
“Fine, fine, fine,” Spike conceded. “but if he’s not awake in the morning, we’re calling someone.”
“Fine by me.” Said Twilight.
“Somepony’s gotta make the stormy nights.” Night Sift mumbled to himself as he moved the clouds into position over the moon. Most other Pegasus Ponies were asleep, so it was his job to make the night time storms. It was hard work, but he was most active during the night, and a strong pony to boot. He worked diligently, though there was very little thanks.
“I suppose that’s it.” he said finishing up. Since he was mostly the only one active at night, he had developed a habit of talking to himself.
“Time to head in.” He said glumly.
The gray and black Pegasus flew down to seek shelter from the coming rain.
Something rustled in the bushes near the cakeshop.
“Hello?” He asked mildly. “Is someone over there? It’s about to storm, I’d get inside if I was you.”
The rustling stopped, everything was silent.
“Must’a been some animal.” He shook his head. “No one besides the coons are ever awake this late but me.” he turned around and marched for home,
The rustling started again. Near the spa, closer this time.
“Huh, if I didn’t know better, you’d think I was being followed.” The rain began falling lightly. “Never been followed before.”
The rustling was closer this time. “Perhaps I smell like food.” He mused. “It’d be better than I normally smell I suppose.” He looked back towards the rustling.
There was a flash of lightning.
“Must be my imagination.” He turned still looking at the bush.
“Ouch” Night shift bumped into something hard.“Excuse me, I didn’t see you there. Normally nobody in their right mind is out this la-”
Then there was silence. The rain continued to fall, but the Pegasus was gone.
“Twilight!!” Spike yelled, shaking the purple unicorn back and forth. “Wake up! You’re not gonna believe it!”
Twilight rolled over and eyed the small dragon drowsily.
“Spike?” she rubbed her eyes with a hoof. “You’re never up before me.”
“Twilight! You’re not gonna believe it! He made breakfast!”
“Who made breakfast?” she asked, closing her eyes again.
“That brown pony!”
Twilight jumped up. “He’s awake!?”
Spike deflated a little. “Well, no. But there’s a note! Come on!”
Twilight followed him into the kitchen, where there were several waffles steaming on the table along with various flowers. Cups had been laid out, filled with sweet smelling liquid next to the two place settings on either end.
“When did he do this?” Twilight asked awestruck.
“I don’t know, but he left this.” the dragon handed her a note.
Dear Midnight Twinkle,
I awoke last night with a hunger, so I made myself a small snack. Getting a new face makes the body hungry does it not? So upon finding something to my taste I indulged. Did you know Daisies are really rather delicious when dipped in chocolate? In any case I took the liberty of preparing breakfast as thanks for my lodgings. I need to recoup after my regeneration. You see I was fighting some rather nasty creatures along the Medusa cascade when we fell into the abstract plane. Things got rather nasty and I’m afraid it did not turn out as I had planed. Rather nasty business, but with all luck nothing followed me through.
Thank you and your small reptilian friend for your hospitality. I shall need some more time to regenerate, and then I shall depart.
Also just in case something did follow me, if you happen to see a large statue, don’t blink.
Many Thanks,
The Doctor.
“Did you understand any of that?” asked Spike. “I got lost after the word ‘Breakfast’”
“I can’t make heads or tails of it really.” Said Twilight, as she walked slowly towards the table. “But the food does look good at least. No need to let it go to waste!”
Two waffles floated onto each plate.
“You got that right!” Spike concurred.
The waffles were warm and delicious. As it turned out the cups were filled with lemonade to wash them down with.
“Say what you want about him!” said Spike. “But he certainly knows how to make breakfast!” Spike scarfed down waffles with reckless abandon.
“Yes,” said Twilight as a napkin floated up to wipe her mouth, “this is quite good I’ll admit. but I still want to know who he is.” she got up. “Let us check on our ‘guest’. He keeps calling himself ‘The Doctor’, doctor who? That’s what I’d like to know.
The two walked gingerly into the living room, where the brown earth pony lay, unconscious again, on the couch.
“Who are you?” Twilight mumbled.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
“Twilight!” Called a voice. “Are you alright? I just heard about what happened! I was so worried! There was a boom, and smoke, and everything!”
Twilight recognized the voice.
“Pinkie Pie?”
The pink pony burst in. “Yeah! Who did you think it was!?” she grabbed Twilight in a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay, I mean if you weren’t okay, I don’t know what I would do, then who would I ask for advice? Well I suppose I could ask Applejack, but who would I ask for Twilight’s advice if there wasn’t a Twilight!! Oh I’m so happy!!”
“Pinkie...you’re choking me..” Twilight gasped.
“Oh,” she released her. “Sorry.”
Twilight righted herself. “It’s alright, Pinkie, I’m fine I promise. There was just a small accident is all. “
Pinkie was looking passed Twilight’s head, oblivious.
“Um....Pinkie?” Twilight waved a hoof in front of her face. “Hello?”
“Who is that!?” Pinkie screamed. racing past Twilight in a blur.
“What?” Twilight was disoriented for a moment. “Oh!” She turned to find Pinkie Pie buzzing around her ‘guest’
“What’s his name!? When did he get here!? What’s his favorite drink!? I hope he likessarsaparilla, because that’s my favorite drink! Is he nice? Why’s he asleep? It’s far past noon, he shouldn’t be asleep! Ponies should be up after noon, otherwise they get lazy, and if they get lazy then they eat too much, and if they eat too much then they get pudgy! And that’s not good. Not that I have anything against pudgy ponies, they can be so cute! Do I smell waffles?” At that she was off into the kitchen.
“Oh boy.” Said Spike. “Now you’ve done it. When he wakes up he’s in for a Pinkie tour of Ponyville. I hope he’s the exercising type.”
“Oh, I’m sure she won’t try too much. Still I wish he’d wake up. Maybe some time with Pinkie would mellow him out.” Twilight chuckled.
A scream came from the kitchen.
“Pinkie!” Twilight and Spike raced to the kitchen.
The pair of them found Pinkie sitting at the table, half a waffle hanging from her mouth, staring at a large statue.
“Pinkie are you okay!?” Twilight asked.
“Mmmph, Mmmph.” mumbled Pinkie around the food.
“Where in Equestria did that come from?” asked Spike. “It looks like a Pegasus pony.”
“I don’t know Spike. How did it get into our kitchen? She walked up to the statue. It was cracked and old. It’s wings folded oddly in front of it’s eyes. “It’s kind of pretty.” Twilight remarked absent mindedly.
“Mmmhhhppp! Mpook mhpout mmhpilight! Mphont phink!” Pinkie screamed.
Twilight looked back at the pink pony. He eyes were red and tearing.
“What?” She asked, confused.
Pinkie spit out the waffle. “Look out, Twilight! Don’t blink!!”
“What do you mean? Are you alright?”
Pinkie’s face was scrunched up in effort, her eyes were turning red.
It dawned on her. “You’ve been reading that stupid letter haven’t you? That’s a bunch on nonsense, you can blink, it’s just a statue.”
Pinkie blinked. “What letter?”
“You didn’t read it?” Twilight asked. “Then how did you know about not blinking around statues?”
“Um....Twilight?” Spike pulled at her flank “.....Look”
Twilight turned. To find herself nose to nose with the statue. It’s wings curled around her, their tips cruel and pointed, it’s mouth filled with sharp teeth.
Twilight screamed, scrambling to back away, tripping over herself and the statue’s wings.
“Look at it!!” yelled Pinkie.
They all stared at the stone Pegasus, none of them dared to move.
“What is this thing!” Twilight yelped.
“I don’t know,” said Spike warily “but I think we should listen to Pinkie.”
“Well we can’t stay here all day!” Said Twilight “We need a plan.”
Spike yelped. “Twilight?! I think we need a plan really fast!”
“Why?” “Look.”
Twilight made sure Pinkie was watching to stone Pegasus, and turned to see where Spike was pointing.
Directly behind them, another stone pegasus stood less than a foot away. Wings outward, teeth bared.
“Oh no.” Twilight whimpered.
“That plan Twilight!?”
“Okay, okay, okay!” Twilight looked back and forth, trying to keep her eyes on both the living statues. “Pinkie, Spike, keep your eyes on them! We’re going to back out of the room. Don’t take your eyes off of them! Okay, slowly.”
The three of them backed towards the door, taking slow cautious steps. The statues remained still.
As soon as they were out the doorframe Twilight yelled. “Keep an eye on those statues! Take turns if you have too! I’m going to go get some help!”
She galloped towards the library entrance, tossing the door open she almost ran headlong into another statue. She jumped back and screamed.
“Twilight!” Called Spike. “Are you alright?”
“There’s another one Spike!” I’m not sure what to do!”
Already her eyes were beginning to ache. She backed towards the living room.
“Twilight! Don’t blink! We’re coming!” Spike yelled from he kitchen.
“Oh.....hurry” Twilight backed further into the living room. “I can’t keep this up much longer!
Her eyes burned with effort. She couldn’t hold out much longer.
“Spike!? Pinkie?!”
“We have to keep our eyes on these, Twilight! We’re coming as fast as we can!” “Oohh.” Twilight whimpered.
She couldn’t maintain her gaze, any longer.
She blinked.
When Twilight’s eyes opened she found a set of very sharp teeth less than an inch from her nose.
She screamed again. Trying to back away from the statue as fast as possible. Only to find her back against the couch where the brown stallion lay. The creature mere feet from her, it’s wings encompassing her escape routes.
“Oh no.” she whispered.
“Twilight! Are you still alright?” Called Spike, backing into the living room.
“Not for long I’m not.” Her eyes were already beginning to burn form the strain.
“Pinkie! The other statue has got Twilight cornered! We have to hurry!” Spike increased his pace. “Can you handle this one on your own for a second?”
Pinkie called from the kitchen. “Sure, it’s like a staring contest! I’ve never played with a statue before, if I win this I wonder if there’s a prize! I hope it’s edible.”
Spike raced into the living room to find Twilight trapped against the couch.
“Spike, Help!” Her eyes couldn’t stay open much longer.
“I got it Twilight!” He dove under the creature’s wings and looked it dead in the eye.
“Now what?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t know! I figured it was your job to think that far.”
“Spike!” Twilight yelled. “This is no time for jokes! Pinkie can’t hold her eyes open forever, and who knows what’ll happen if these things get close enough to do whatever it is they’re planning.”
“We need help.” said Spike, looking towards the unconscious pony on the couch.
“Well he’s in no position to give it! He’s out cold. Ohhh,” Twilight whimpered.
Pinkie backed into the room. “Twilight? I don’t think I’m gonna win this staring contest.”
Twilight looked at the doorway. “Blink, Pinkie, it’s alright, I’m looking at it.”
As soon as she got the words out, the statue was in the doorframe. The second it was in Twilight’s field of vision it had stopped cold, mid dive for the pink earth pony.
“Twilight?” Pinkie asked. “I don’t think these guys are very nice, even if they are good at staring contests.”
Spike looked around wildly “This is bad. Really bad.”
“I know!” Said Twilight. “Pinkie! Get over here, we can stand in a circle and take turns blinking. Quickly!”
Pinkie joined the other two in front of the stone Pegasus.
“Twilight, we can’t stay here forever, what do we do!?” Spike huddled in close.
“I don’t know.....” Twilight face scrunched in concentration. “Keep an eye on them!”
Twilight turned to the brown earth pony on the couch, shaking him with her forehooves
“Wake up! Please wake up!! You left us that note, you know what these things are! We need you!”
The brown pony didn’t respond.
“Come on!! Please...” Twilight implored. “Mr.Bluebox! We need your help!”
Still he lay there unconscious.
“Twilight!” Spike yelled.
“What?” she whirled back around to find the statues had moved.
“They’re doing something!”
“Huh!? Did you blink!?”
The dragon shrank back a bit. “It’s dusty in here.”
The Pegasus statues were facing away from them now, their wings pointed towards the various windows at the top of the library.
“Maybe they’ve lost interest in us?” Twilight asked hopefully.
One of the windows suddenly dimmed, as though a curtain had been drawn. The sunlight was cut off from coming inside.
“I don’t think so!” Yelled Spike shrinking back further.
The windows fell like dominos, one after the other dimmed until no sunlight could pass. Soon the only one that remained was at the top floor of the library, casting the three of them in a small circle of sunlight.
It blinked.
The creatures, in a flash, had turned again towards the trio, teeth looking sharper than ever, wings ready to wrap around anyone unfortunate enough to get close.
“Twilight!?” Spike wrapped his arms around the unicorn’s leg. “What are we going to do now!?”
“I don’t know!!” she screamed.
The light blinked again, the creatures were even closer.
Twilight turned back to the unconscious pony on the couch.
“Please wake up!! Please!! We’re in trouble!! We really need you. Somepony, anypony!?
The light blinked again, the creatures were mere inches away.
“Doctor!!” Twilight yelled.
The earth pony’s eyes flew open.
“Do you really need me this time?” He asked.
Twilight was stunned for a moment.
“Well, do you? The last time was a false alarm, very rude you know.”
“Yes!! Yes we need you!” Twilight pointed to the stone creatures closing in. “What are these things!”
The stallion got to his feet and examined the closest one. “Well, now that’s just weird.”
He turned back to the ponies and dragon. “Weeping Angels, though I suppose we must call them something else now though. They don’t look much like angels anymore. Perhaps Weeping Pegasus would be a more apt description. They appear to have been altered, much like myself, by the fall through the abstract plane. Though I must say I pull it off much better.”
“Okay then,” said Twilight slowly. “What do they want!!”
“Want?” the Doctor looked perplexed “Well now that’s a very good question, normally I’d say the TARDIS, but I made sure it was locked before I exited, so they probably just want to feed on our P.E.”
“P.E?” asked Pinkie. “Oh,that was my favorite class in school! We’d play ball, climb things, and run everywhere!”
The Doctor looked somewhat surprised. “Um, no, not that kind of P.E my dear....what was your name?”
“Pinkie Pie!”
“My dear Pinkie Pie, by P.E I mean our Potential Energy. They’re creatures from the beginning, they feed on lives never lived. They’d fling you back and time, and then feed on all the stuff you never got the chance to do. Nasty stuff. Although in this case they’ve got me, so they’d probably just snap your necks and then do something horrifying to feed on my energy.”
“In that case, ‘Doctor’,” said Twilight. “Why are you standing around explaining!! And for that matter, why are we still here?”
“Hmm?” The Doctor looked back at Twilight. “Oh, they’re a bit less hasty to try something with me awake I suspect. Probably wondering what I’ve got up my sleeve.”
Spike looked hopefully at the Doctor. “Well, what do you have up your sleeve?”
“Oh.” The Doctor bent down to look at Spike. “Absolutely nothing.”
There was silence for a moment. Then once again, the light began to dim.
“Well what do we do now then?!” Yelled Twilight.
“Oh, well that’s really quite simple.” said the Doctor as the light faded. He turned to face the couch. “We do this.”
The Doctor grabbed hoofrest of the couch in his mouth, and yanked sharply to the left.
The light went out, and the ground dropped from beneath them.
“Ow....are we still alive?” asked Spike, trying to disentangle himself from a jumbled pile of manes, hooves and tails.
“Quite so.” said the doctor, wincing as he got to his feet. “A bit of a longer fall than I estimated. But we’re quite alive.”
“What was that!?” asked Twilight.
“What?” asked the Doctor.
“How’d we fall through the floor? We’re in the basement!”
“Oh, that. Well you see, after I made you breakfast, which you’ve yet to thank me for, I installed a trapdoor in front of the couch. Why did you think I went back to sleep there? It certainly wasn’t for comfort.”
“But you said you didn’t have anything up your sleeve!” Twilight marched towards the Doctor. “I was scared to death up there! I thought we were done for!”
“Well, I didn’t have anything up my sleeve.” Said the Doctor. “I don’t have sleeves, I really quite miss them. Pockets too, I’m rubbish without pockets.”
Spike tapped the Doctor’s Flank. “Won’t those things just come down here to get us? I don’t think a fall is going to stop them.”
“Good thinking, Spike, but don’t worry, I placed a mirror behind the couch. When we fell, it moved aside, now they’re looking at themselves, completely harmless for the moment.” He marched off toward the stairs
Twilight dashed in front of him.
“Look you,” she blew a stray hair from in front of her face. “I have been waiting a long time for answers, and I’m going to get some. Explain to me, right now, what’s going on, or we’re not going anywhere!”
“Do you mean how I installed a trapdoor in your floor in little under an hour, or my recipe for waffles? I’d be happy to tell you both, Afternoon Diamond.”
“Twilight Sparkle.” she stomped a forehoof. “For the last time it’s Twilight Sparkle! And by ‘What’s going on’ I mean all of this!!” She strode forwards, forcing the Doctor to step back. “You crash into my house in a box, fall asleep on my couch, I’m attacked by statues not long after, you installed a trapdoor in my living room, almost concuss me in the fall, and you can’t get my name right!!” she’d backed him into a wall by this point. “I.Want.To.Know.Everything.”
The Doctor’s eyes shifted back and forth.
“Well if you really want to know, Sunset Glint, follow me.”
“It’s Twi-light Spark-le, it’s not that hard to re-.” she sighed. “Oh never mind.”
The brown stallion set off again for the stairs, this time Twilight and the others followed.
They marched down to the area in which the blue box lay. The walls of the tree had already begun to heal, but where the box sat the bark was still dark and burned.
“I wonder if she’s ready yet.” the Doctor said vaguely.
“Oooh.” said Pinkie. “I love blue! It’s such a lovely color, like the sky, and blueberries, and blueberry pie! Do you like Blueberry Pie, Doctor? I bet you do, otherwise I bet you wouldn’t have painted your box that way! I never knew anyone who kept anything that blue and didn’t like blueberry pie! Maybe Mrs.Cake can make you one when we get back! Oh she’d be so happy to meet you! And so would every pony! I’ll have to introduce you! There’s Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, the Mayer, Snips and Snails, Lyr-”
“Pinkie!” Twilight interrupted. “I think he gets the point.” she turned to the Doctor. “What is that thing anyway? I saw it in the sky this morning, is it magic?”
“Magic?” the Doctor put a hoof to his chin. “I suppose you could call it that.” He smiled mysteriously. “In any case, this is the TARDIS.”
“TARDIS?” Spike asked.“That’s a funny name.”
“It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space, TARDIS is for short. It’s how I get around.”
“Could you have gotten around with less crashing do you think?” asked Twilight.
“Did you want to critique my driving skills, or did you want those answers I promised?” asked the Doctor. “In both cases we’ll have to go inside.”
“Inside?” Twilight cocked her head to the side. “It doesn’t look like one of us besides Spike could fit in there.”
The Doctor smiled, you’d be surprised my dear Midnight-”
“Twilight.”
“What? Oh yes. anyway, you’d be surprised.” The Doctor walked up to the large doors. “Let’s see, normally I could open the doors by snapping my fingers...but I don’t seem to have any, do I?” He looked around, searching for something. “Aha!” He dipped his head into a nearby pile of ash. When he came up his face was stained black, and he was holding a small key. “Here it is! I knew I put is somewhere!” With some effort, he got the key into the lock and turned. The doors swung open and light poured out. The doctor turned to look at the three standing behind him.
“Coming?”
The Doctor strode confidently into the TARDIS, the light coming from the blue box momentarily blinded Twilight and the others.
After rubbing her eyes with a hoof, Twilight stepped forwards. “If it makes any of this make sense, I’ll go anywhere.” She stepped through the doors.
The inside was massive, the ceiling reaching at least a story and a half above her head. The floor was made of some kind of glass. Below her all kinds of machinery pinged and whizzed in constant motion. In the center a large round control panel jutted from the floor, handles and leavers covered it’s surface at all angles. A large glass tube was it’s most obvious feature, inside several large white objects shifted up and down slowly.
“It’s bigger o-”
“On the inside.” The Doctor finished for her. “Yes, it is, I love it when people say that. Welcome to the TARDIS, Nighttime Shine.”
Twilight’s mouth mouth hung upon. She was in too much shock to correct the Doctor again. He two friends filed in behind her.
“Whoa....” Said Spike.
“Oh! I get it!” Said Pinkie. “The outside on the inside! That’s amazing! Probably some dimensional distortion.”
All three of the TARDIS occupants stared at the pink pony.
“That’s....right...” said the Doctor slowly.
“Lucky Guess.” Said Pinkie, then she was off zooming through the TARDIS.
The Doctor turned as she went down a hallway “Watch out for the swimin-”
There was a splash.
“Pool.”
“Doctor?” Twilight asked slowly, still in shock.
“Yes?”
“What is all this? I’ve seen magic before, but I don’t think Celestia herself could do something like this....”
“Magic?” The Doctor paused. “I had supposed this world was one of magic instead of science, but when you get down to it,the two are really the same. My science is is your magic and vice-versa. When in Rome as they say.”
Twilight was about to ask what ‘Rome’ was, but paused. “Wait, did you say ‘this world’?” what do you mean by that?”
The Doctor stepped away from the controls and looked Twilight in the eye.
“You see it’s like this.” he pointed to a grate in a nearby wall. “There’s a multiverse, as represented by this grate. Each one of these little holes in the grate is a universe, they are all floating in it. The universes are separated by really tough stuff, in this case metal, and don’t normally interact.” The Doctor pointed at one of the holes. “Let’s say my universe is here,” he pointed at another hole on the far end. “and yours is here. I say it’s all the way over here because our worlds are so different. Under normal circumstances, we would never meet one another. But,” he pointed at the TARDIS controls. “When the Weeping Angels and I fell through the abstract pane, we fell onto the metal stuff, which piped us through to your world at random, and here we are.” He looked at Twilight “Understand?”
“So, if I’m to believe you, you’re from another world?” said Twilight raising an eyebrow.
“Quite.”
“And so are those statue things-”
“Weeping Angels, or Weeping Pegasus for the sake of congruency”
“Okay.” Twilight put a hoof to her cheek in thought. “If that’s the case, my world is just one of many?”
“Indeed, there are billions if not more.”
“What’s yours like?”
“Well, in my world I come from a place called Gallifray.”
“Gallopfray?”
“No...Galifray, really, must you people name everything after horses?”
“Sorry, go on.” Twilight urged.
“Anyway, normally I resemble something called a human being. Do you have them in this world?”
“Human being? I’ve never heard of them. What do they look like.”
“Well, they’re bipedal mostly hairless primates, the only hair being on the tops of their heads, not unlike your hair for that matter, only less...colorful.”
Twilight looked uneasy. “By your description, I’m not sure I want to see one.”
“Hey! The Doctor looked affronted. “I used to look like one, and let me tell you I was quite handsome.”
“Wait, you used to be a hairless primate? You look like a pony to me.” Twilight looked the brown stallion over.
“I regenerated.”
“You what?”
“Regenerated, It’s something that happens when I’m about to...expire. My body heals itself, but in the process I get a new face, a new body, a new everything.”
“Do all humans do that?”
“Oh, I’m not human.” said the Doctor shaking his head.
“Well if you’re not human, and you’re not a pony...what are you?” Twilight took a step back.
“No need to look frightened. I’m a Timelord. That’s why I’ve got two hearts. You listened, didn’t you?”
“Timelord? Isn’t that a bit boastful?”
“Not really.” said the Doctor turning back to his controls. “Anyway, if the Angels are here that means really bad things for....whatever this place is called.”
“Equestria”
The Doctor stared at her. “Of course it is.” he rolled his eyes and went to look at a monitor on the far end of the panel. “Now let’s see, I thought they wanted me or the TARDIS. But, that begs the question of why they didn’t just come down here and get it without alerting you and the others.” His face scrunched up in thought. “Is there a large power source nearby?”
Twilight thought a minute. “Power source? The only power around here is magic.”
“Yes, magical world, magical power source.” Said the Doctor “Keep thinking.”
“Well, in this town, I’m the most magically inclined.”
“Aha!!” the Doctor exclaimed. “That’s why the TARDIS was drawn to your house! That’s why the angels attacked you in the kitchen!” The brown stallion whirled to face her. “They need more power! They were weakened in the fall. Even if they went for the TARDIS it would take several of them to get it open at full strength, let alone these few stragglers. “They need energy. They want you!”
“Me? What did I do?” asked Twilight, afraid.
“Nothing I’m sure, but it doesn’t matter, with your powers they could use you like a battery for at least a few years and open the TARDIS with ease. It’s also been weakened apparently.”
“Well what am I going to do?” Twilight whimpered.
“Not to worry, Night Light!”
“Twilight!”
“What? Oh yeah right. Not to worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Well thanks for that, but what are we going to do against them? They’re faster than anything I’ve ever seen! What’s a pony in a box going to do?”
The Doctor stared her dead in the eye.
“I’ll tell you what this ‘Pony in a box’ is going to do, this ‘Pony in a box’ is going to make sure you and your friends come to no harm. This ‘Pony in a box’ is going to find a way to defeat the Weeping Pegasus, send them back into the rift, and this ‘Pony in a box’ is going to save the whole of Ecuador!”
“Equestria.”
“That too.” The Doctor turned back to the monitor. “Tell me, has anyone gone missing since I arrived?”
“Missing? No, not that I know of.”
Pinkie came clopping down the hall back into the control room. She was dripping water from head to toe.
“Did you guys know there was a pool in here?” she asked.
“This is no time for swimming, Pinkie Pie. We’re trying to figure out if anypony’s gone missing lately.”
“Missing?” Said Pinkie scrunching up her face. “Do you mean like Night Shift?”
“Night Shift?” Twilight asked, confused.
“Oh, he’s the weather pony who makes the nighttime storms!” Pinky replied with a bounce. “Every time there’s a stormy night I bring him a cupcake in the morning for all his hard work! He can be a grumpypants but I think that’s because he never gets thanked.” Pinky looked momentarily forlorn, but her smile was back quicker than it left. “But he always cheers up when I bring him a cupcake!”
“And that’s very sweet of you Pinky, but we’re looking for missing ponies.” Twilight said patiently.
“That’s the thing Twilight.” Pinky replied. “We had a huge storm last night, and when I went to take him his morning cupcake, he wasn’t there.”
“Are you sure he didn’t just wander off to town?” asked the Doctor, suddenly interested.
“Oh no, Doctor, he’s never not there. He works all night, so he’s always home in the morning. I’ve never seen him leave before it was dark.”
“Alright then.” said the Doctor hopping down from the controls. “Can you show us where this ‘Night Shift’ lives?”
The ponies and dragon made their way back up the stairs.
“So, you say he lives on the edge of town?” Asked the Doctor looking back at Pinkie.
“Yep, next to the old dress shop! The one Rarity used to use before she bought the new one. Have you met Rarity? You should! She’d love you! I aught to introduce you, then we can go out for cake together!”
The Doctor stared at the pink pony for moment. “One thing at a time my dear.”
Twilight stopped short at the top of the stairs. “Oh yeah, that’s right, nopony’s met you yet besides me and Pinkie.”
“Is that really important at the moment?” asked the Doctor.
“Well, this is a really small town, in a place like this, a new pony popping up is a big thing, we won’t get two feet without anything short of a celebration.”
“Well, while I do like to celebrate, now is certainly not the time.” The Doctor put a hoof to his lip in thought. “Is there any less populated route we could take to reach our destination?”
“We could go through the back door.” Twiligtht supposed. “It leads to the alleyways behind all the stores. There should be very little ponies’ there.”
“Perfect! Onwards and upwards!”
As they walked towards the back door, Twilight paused to look at the stone pegasus. The Doctor was correct, and after the couch had moved, they stood frozen staring at their reflections.
“Are you sure they’ll stay like that, Doc?” asked Spike. “I don’t fancy tangling with those guys again, my eyes still hurt from the last time.”
“Not to worry Spike, as long as they’re looking at their reflections they’re quantum locked, they can’t move an inch. As long as nothing gets between them and that mirror they’re harmless.” The brown stallion turned to Twilight. “No time to worry about them. Where’s this back door?”
“Right through the library, this way.” Twilight dashed off down the hallway. The others in followed in pursuit.
Behind them, the Weeping Pegagus stared at their reflections, never moving, never blinking.
In the corner, the mirror began to crack.
“Ah! Fresh air! exclaimed the Doctor as they reached the back alley. “I haven’t been outside since the crash, it’s nice to get out of that stuffy old pla-” He caught Twilight staring daggers at him. “Er, I mean, of course the house is lovely, but nothing like that fresh clean morning air!”
“Of course, Doctor.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “So, Pinky, lead the way.”
The pink pony took up the lead. “Okey-dokie! Follow me!” she set off bouncing down the alley.
“After you, Daylight.” The Doctor ushered her forwards.
“It’s Twilig-, oh you know what, just forget it.” she marched after Pinkie, head in the air.
The Doctor looked down at Spike. “What did I do?”
“Fillies, can’t live with um.” Spike shrugged and followed.
The Doctor looked confused for a moment.Then he looked around, and realised everyone had left “Uhg, it seems some things are the same in every world.” He raced to catch up.
Twilight and Pinkie reached the end of the alley. Pinky peeked her head around the corner.
“Pinkie, do you see anyp-”
“Shhh” Pinkie put a hoof to Twilight's mouth. “We have to be very very quiet. We’re hunting Night Shifts.”
“But-”
“Shh! Sompony’s coming!”
There was a sound of hooves coming towards them.
“Pinky, I don’t think this is necessar-”
“Shhh!”
“What are you girls doing?” asked a voice behind them.
Both pony’s jumped, they whirled to find Rarity staring at them. Her saddlebags were full of various links of fabric, her eyebrows raised.”
“Oh, well, hello Rarity!” Twilight chuckled uneasily. “We were, just....um, trying to....-”
“Find our way to the library!” Pinkie interjected.
“Um, yes, find our way to the library.”
“But you live there, Twilight.” Said Rarity suspiciously, “And it’s the other way.”
“Well, we were-”
“Taking the scenic route!” Pinky finished.
The white unicorn eyed the two ponies. “Well, I’ve got to get these new fabric orders into the shop I suppose. Have fun taking the ‘Scenic route’” She turned to go through the back door of her shop.
“Umph!” She bumped into the doctor galloping to catch up. Fabric spilled everywhere in patches and rolls. “Oh! My materials! You really must watch where you’re going Mr...Mr....” she looked the Doctor up and down. “You know I don’t think we’ve met.”
“Oh, quite sorry!!” The doctor picked up a roll of fabric and put in her bag. “In a bit of a hurry, I’m the Do-”
“Clockwork!” Twilight yelled. “His name is Clockwork.”
The Doctor stared at Twilight bemused, then back at Rarity. “Yes, that’s it, my name is...Clockwork.”
Rarity’s eyelashes fluttered at the brown stallion “Well, it’s very nice to meet you clockwork. Are you new around here? I haven’t seen you before.”
“Well, I-”
“He’s visiting from hoofdale!” Twilight interjected again.
“Oh, a visitor!” Rarity said excitedly Well, let me welcome you to Ponyville, how long have you been in town, dear?.”
“Oh, only a couple days.” said the Doctor shooting Twilight a glance.
“Well you must tell me about it! My family comes from Hoofdale, how is the old place?”
“Oh...well it’s...better than ever! Really....hoofy.”
“Splendid.” Rarity picked up the last of her fabric. “Well you must come in and tell me all about it!”
“Well, I would, but I have t-”
“He’d love to!” Yelled Twilight.
“What!?” The Doctor looked around desperately. “But I-”
“Could think of no better way to spend the day, I’m sure!” Rarity herded the Doctor through the back door to her shop. “Plus I think I have some outfits that would look absolutely splendid on you!”
The Doctor looked frantic. “Flashlight!”
“Twilight do you mean?” Said Twilight smugly. “Don’t worry, we’ll meet you back at the house ‘Clockwork’” she chuckled.
The door closed behind them.
“Remind me not to get on your bad side.” said Spike.
“I figure some time with Rarity aught to change his attitude.” she turned and walked forwards. “Now lets see what’s so important about Night Shift.”
Night Shift’s house was rather plain, it was an old sagging blob of a house. It’s paint had probably once been brown, but was now gray with slightly less gray patches. A tree grew sadly in the yard, bent and withered, a few leaves hanging stubbornly from the old branches.
“Well this is cheery.” said Spike sarcastically.
“I know! Isn’t it?” asked Pinky without so much as a trace of irony.
“No time for commentary.” Twilight marched up to the door and knocked. “Mr.Night Shift? Oh Mr.Night shift! Are you there?” she waited several minutes for a reply. When there was none she tried the door.
“It’s locked. Quite securely by the looks of it.”
“He doesn’t like to be bothered in the morning.” Pinky said. “He’s really grouchy when he’s interrupted from his morning sleep.”
“Well, I hate to use magic, but there’s a lot at stake, so I suppose I must.”
Twilight concentrated, her face scrunched up as her horn glowed purple. There were several clicks and the door flew open. “Nice.” said Spike. “Do you think you could do that with my old lunchbox?”
“Later Spike, besides anything that’s in there is long past it’s due date.”
“I know, I know.” Said Spike, “But still food is food.”
The three walked slowly into the old house. The inside was made of old slightly warped wood. They made their way down the hallway and into the living room. The furniture was plain and in various states of disarray. There was a fine layer of dust over everything.
“Wow, he must have been gone longer than you thought, Pinkie.” Spike said “It doesn’t look like most of this stuff has been moved in ages!”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin as she looked around. “That might not be the case, Spike.” she walked over to a small table. “ Look, in the dust, there’s a perfect imprint of a saddlebag and a plate.”
“Yeah, so?” Spike shrugged.
“So, that means he moved this stuff fairly recently. He’s such a sleepy pony, he only has time to do so much, and dusting isn’t on the top of that list.” she pointed to table. “Judging from the complete lack of dust here, I think this is where he always put his saddlebag when he came home.”
“I’ve never seen him without his saddlebag!” Pinky exclaimed. “Well, I hardly ever see him, but when I do see him, I’ve never seen him without his saddlebag!”
“So that means he must still be out somewhere....but where?”
There was a crash from front door.
“What was that!” yelled Spike.
“I don’t know, Spike, but I have a feeling it’s not good..” Twilight took a step back. eyeing the hallway.
There was silence, the ponies and dragon stood quietly for several minutes.
Spike let out a breath “It must have been nothi-”
All at once, they were surrounded by the Weeping Pegasus.
They screamed. “I thought the Doctor got rid of these guys!” Spike looked around wildly for a way out. The three of them stood in a circle, surrounded by the stone creatures, their wings blocking any route of escape.
“They must have escaped somehow!” Yelled Twilight.
“Well what do we do?! The Doctor’s probably having tea and crumpets about now! I don’t know what these guys did to Night Shift, but I don’t think I want the same treatment!”
“I know!” Twilight bit her bottom lip, “It was stupid of me to send him away! I was mad, and I let my anger get the best of me and I’m sorry...” Tears welled up in Twilight’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s all I wanted to hear!”
“What?....” Twilight looked up.
The Doctor strode in, “Sorry I had to pick up some new duds. How do I look.?” He did a little spin. He was wearing a brown stripe suit with a red bow tie. There was a small hourglass on the lapel.
“I thought a suit would be quite uncomfortable in my present form, but your friend really knows her stuff! And look!” his head dipped into the suit. “Pockets!” When his head reappeared he was holding a small object, there was a glowing light at the end. He pointed it at the floor. “If I were you, I’d hold on to something.”
The floor began to vibrate.
“What’s happening!?” Twilight yelled.
“I think It’s kinda fun!” Pinky said shakily.
“I think I’m going to be sick!” Spike looked green.
The circle of Pegasus began to sink into the floor.
“Come quickly you three, don’t worry, they can’t move.”
Twilight took a leap over the heads of the Pegasus. Spike followed. Pinky jumped onto the nearest one and jumped from head to head.
“It’s like hopscotch!”
“Pinky!!” yelled Twilight.
Pinky jumped down. “Sorry.”
Twilight turned to the Doctor, her ears lowered slightly. “Thank you.” she said softly.
“What was that?” He asked holding a hoof to his ear.
“Thank you okay!?” she blushed slightly. “I’m sorry I sent you away.”
“There we go. Apology accepted. Now, back to business!” He turned and began looking through Night Shift’s things.
“One question, Doctor.” said Twilight.
“Yes?”
“How did you do that? What’s that stick of yours?”
“Sonic Screwdriver.”
“What?” Twilight raised an eyebrow,
“Sonic, Screwdriver, you know, it’s a screwdriver, that’s sonic. I’d thank you not to call it a ‘stick’.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Quite alright, you see, this world is mostly ‘magic’ which basically means the laws of nature are a bit different. To put it basically, everything is a little bit alive. So, with a bit of sonic resonance, I just asked the wood to assume a liquid state and presto! Stuck Pegasus!”
“You asked it?” Twilight stared. “Oh never mind thank you in any case.”
“You’re welcome, now if we can only find something to tell us about this ‘Night Shift’, everything will be fine and dandy.”
“But, Doctor, those stone freaks are trapped, what else is there to do?” Asked Spike.
“Well, my dear Spike, they are only trapped for a small amount of time, they’re weak. but not that weak. As a matter of fact, we’re in a fair amount of peril just standing here.”
“Then why are we!?” Twilight asked exasperated.
“Yeah, what’s finding Night Shift gonna do now?” asked Spike
“Well,” The Doctor bent to look Spike dead in the eye. “For one, it would help an innocentperson who is probably very scared, and for all I know in danger.”
“Oh, well there’s that.” Spike replied suddenly sheepish.
“And for two,” the Doctor continued. “It will tell us more about what these things are planing to do. Sure, they want Guidelight, then they want the TARDIS, but then what? they can’t reproduce, it’d just be the three of them, in the whole of the universe. What’d be the point? Three ex weeping angels, they could feed for ages hardly noticed. But no, they attacked you in your kitchen, and they keep tangling with me. Something they wouldn’t do unless it was well worth it.” He put a hoof to his forehead. “What do they want? We need an answer, and it’s not just going to pop up on the doorstep.”
The doorbell rang.
A silence settled over the house for several minutes.
The doorbell rang again.
“Pinkie, I thought you said no one ever bothered Night Shift?” said the Doctor.
“Oh, no one ever does, he’ll hardly open the door for me, and I’ve got cupcakes, that means he’s really serious about it.”
“Well in that case, who could that be?” Twilight asked.
“One way to find out.” the Doctor set off down the hallway. The others close behind.
The doorbell rang again.
“Who is it?” The Doctor called as they reached the door.
“Mail!” said a voice.
“Mail?” the Doctor opened the door.
A blue and yellow Pegasus pony sat on the doorstep. Her eyes both staring off in different directions.
“Mail.” she said again.
“Um..thanks.” said the Doctor. “Mr.Shift is out currently, I’ll take it for him.”
“Sure as bubblegum!” said the pony distantly. She dipped her head into her bulging saddlebags. “Mhher” she said around a large, dingy letter.
“Thank you.” he took the letter. “Who’s it from?”
The pony’s head lolled to the side slightly “Night Shift.” then she was off like a rocket.
The Doctor closed the door and walked back into house. “Hmm, well that’s interesting. Could you open this?” He said, offering the letter to Twilight. “I’m not extremely used to having hooves yet.
“Sure.” the letter floated over to Twilight, it folded open, with a small plume a dust. “Wow, this is old.”
The Doctor stuck his tongue into the dust cloud. “Yes, I’d say about 108 years, 4 months and 23 days old.” He looked at the three other’s staring. “Give or take a few months. Read it if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Alright.”
Twilight began to read.
To Whom it May Concern
I, Night Shift, write this letter to inform all of what happened to me all those years ago. It is more than possible no one has noticed I am gone. Besides perhaps that pink pony who always brought me cup cakes, for which I am eternally thankful, though I never said it. If this letter is read by her and no one else, I will be happy with my lot in life. In any case, on the night of August the fifth in the 1000th year of Celestia’s rain, for reasons I still do not understand, I found myself setting hoof once in the present, and again in the past. The year 892 to be precise. At first I was confused and afraid. For a while I was a recluse. Ponyville is just an outpost these days. If only they could see the progress they will achieve, the looks on their faces would be priceless. Alas it is not to be.
Do not fret on my behalf, I was a specter in the future, something neither seen nor heard. Here I have found ponies who appreciate me.
They have not perfected the art of weather control, I teach them and
in return I am respected. I found a mare who I love dearly, oddly her name is Sunny Day, now Sunny Shift. We are perfect for one another. I am happy, though I have aged. I sit here, and old workhorse now, writing to tell you hello from a long time passed.
I hope my home is well, and the pony’s that live there. They shall have to find a new pony to make the stormy nights, I’m too busy enjoying my Sunny day.
Be well.
Night Shift.
There was a sniffling sound. “Pinky?” Twilight turned to look. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” the pink pony sniffed.
“Don’t be sad, he found somewhere he bel-”
“Sad?! Are you kidding!?” Pinky yelled with a bounce. “I’m so happy! That was so romantic! I only regret I couldn’t throw him a going away party!” she frowned. “Wait! I can throw him an already gone party! I wonder what color balloons you order for that....green?...Blue?”
Twilight smiled. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” she turned to the Doctor. “How does this tell you what they’re planning?”
The brown pony frowned. “That depends, does the year 892 have any significance? Anything fundamentally different from any other year? I have a feeling they didn’t just dump Mr.Shift there at random.”
“Wait....Mr.shift?” Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “That sounds familiar.” “Familiar?” asked the Doctor, “had you met him before?”
“No, Pinkie’s the only one that knew him.” She tapped her chin. “Mr.Shift...Mr.Shift.”
“Mr. and Mrs.Shift!” Pinkie interjected. “Don’t forget, he got married! I wonder who made the cake?”
Twilight’s face lit up. “Mr. and Mrs.Shift!! The famous weather pioneers! They’re famo-” Suddenly she looked distraught. “But...but I’ve known about them forever! Read books about them! There are seven in the library alone! How’s that possible!?”
The Doctor put a reassuring hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Time travel my dear, you get used to it.” He grabbed the letter and stuffed it in his suit pocket. “There, see? Everything is so much easier with pockets. Now, I need you not to be alarmed.”
“Why?” asked Twilight.
“Because the Stone Pegasus are gone.”
“What!?” Twilight looked into the living room. Where the stone creatures once were giant holes yawned open in the wood. “Where did they go!?” Twilight looked around wildly.
“Gone.” said the Doctor simply.
“Where!? Why!?” Twilight yelled.
“Now that,” said the Doctor marching towards the door, “is and excellent question. They had the perfect opportunity to snap our necks, and yet we are still here. I’m quite offended actually.”
“Why!? Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Well under normal circumstances yes. But one thing that means is,” he turned and pointed to the holes. “If they’re not here, and we’re not dead, that means they had more important things to do. I like to think I’m very important you know.”
“You would.”
“Yes, but besides that, at the moment,” he paused. “What was so important? If they couldn’t spare a second for us, what are they up too?”
Twilight gulped “Good point...it can’t be good.”
“Anyhoof,” the doctor strode back towards the door. “Let’s see those books of yours. I’d like to know more about Mr. and Mrs. Shift.
“But, Doc,” said Spike “what about those stone freaks?”
“Spike, I’m afraid if one of them doesn’t want to be found, it will not be found. We shall have to wait for them to attack our poor Evening Siesta.”
“Twilight....Sparkle” Twilight said crossly.
“Hm? Oh yes, that. In any case, back to the library! Onwards and upwards!”
By the time they reached the library it had begun to get dark. Most ponies had begun turning in for the night, so they were able to take to main roads without a fuss.
“I’m glad to get home, for a second there I thought I’d never see this place again.” Said Twilight.
“Yes, one must love a library. The pen is mightier than the sword! That means books must be mightier than some other medieval weapon. Perhaps a catapult.” The Doctor mused. “In any case it’s time to arm ourselves. You said you had seven books on Night Shift?”
“I do,” Twilight nodded. “Though they might be a little hard to find, because someone destroyed half of the east wing!?”
“Well, you’ve still got the other half haven’t you? Good odds I’d say.” He looked away. “Besides, I’ll replace them.”
“Really? And how to you plan to go about doing that?” Twilight rolled her eyes.
“I’m the Doctor.” said the Doctor, “You’d be surprised what I can do. In any case,” he bounded up the stairs “We’ve got books to find.”
Twilight used her magic to light the lamps around the library, and the search began. Though they had cleaned the library to a degree, in places mountains of books lay in disarray, and any system there once was was no longer of much use.
“Spike!?” Twilight yelled. “What’s this book about Harmonicas doing in the science section?”
“What? Playing harmonica is a fine science. More fun than those other dusty old books too.”
Twilight sighed. “It’ll take forever to find anything in this mess.”
“I doubt forever,” said the Doctor, “but a very long time at the very least. Where were they before everything got jumbled.?”
“In the weather section, under S.”
“Have you looked there?” asked the Doctor eyebrows raised.
“That was the first place I looked! No luck.” Twilight sighed dejectedly.
“Well I suppose we shall simply have to look until we’ve found it. No matter how long it takes. We must perseve-”
“Wow, Night Shift looks really nice in this old photo!” Pinky lay in the corner hunched over a large old book. “And that must be be Sunny! She looks so pretty! “
“Pinkie....” asked Twilight. “Where did you get that?”
“Over in the little ponies section. It was under C.”
“C?”
“For Clouds silly. There’s some more back there if you want them.”
Twilight’s mouth hung open for a moment. “And you neglected to tell us this!?”
“I’m sorry, it’s just you looked so busy, I didn’t want to bother you.”
Twilight put a hoof to her forehead. “That’s alright Pinkie,” she said calmly. “just show us where you found them.
They found the books where the pink Pony said they would be, all lined up in a row.
“And how long ago did you find these?” asked Twilight.
“About an hour ago.” said Pinkie cheerily. “They’re really interesting.”
“No matter!” said the Doctor. “As long as we know where they are now. Bring them into the living room. I want to get a look at them.”
The books were large and heavy, it took both the Doctor and Twilight to get them on the table. The Doctor flipped through it, seemingly at random.
“How will you know what you’re looking for that way?” asked Twilight. “Wouldn’t it be more efficient t-”
“Done!” said the Doctor. “Next book, this one is mostly pictures.”
“Y-you’re done? With what?” asked Twilight.
“The book, I read it, nothing of interest. Bring me the next one.” he noticed her staring. “Yes, I know, impossibilities and all that rot, let’s just say it’s magic. Now time is of the essence!”
“Um, yeah of course.” Twilight trotted into the library to get the next book.
“ So, Doc, what are we looking for anyhow?” Spike asked.
“Well, my reptilian consort. Anything that might be unique to the time period, and Mr.Shift. I have a feeling the Pegasus had more in mind with him. The fact he’s central to this world’s history makes me believe it all the more.”
“Well in the mean time do you think those stone freaks will attack again?” Spike looked apprehensive. “I don’t like not knowing where they are.”
“Not to worry, Spike, they should not bother us as long as you all stay together near me.” “In that case...” Spike trailed off.
“In that case what?”
“Well, should you really have sent Twilight to the Library by hers-”
A scream rang out through the halls.
“No, no, no, no no!!” The Doctor ran through the library at a full gallop.
Spike and Pinky close behind. “Twilight!!” they both yelled.
“Help!!” Twilight’s voice cried.
They rounded a corner to find the purple pony almost totally enclosed in the wings of a stone Pegasus. Only her head was visible, less than an inch from the sharp teeth of the creature.
“Doctor....” Twilight said quietly, her voice filled with fear.
“Don’t worry!” The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver was out in a flash. He walked around the creature, scanning wildly.
“How do we get her out of there!?” Spike yelled.
“I don’t know!” the Doctor tossed his screwdriver down in frustration “I can’t find an opening!”
“Do the liquid wood thingy!” Pinky said, distraught. “That’s what you did last time!!
The Doctor’s eyes darted everywhere, looking for a solution. “No, no, no, that wouldn’t help, then she’d just be stuck in the wood and stuck with that thing! There’s no way it’ll let go of her now.”
“Doctor?.....What do I do?” Twilight bit her lip, holding back tears.
“I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know!!.” The Doctor pounded his head with a hoof.Eyes scrunched in concentration. There was silence for several minutes. Then he calmly lowered his hoof, and walked over to Twilight.
“I’m going to need you to trust me for a while.” he turned and gazed at her two frightened friends. “All of you.”
“Doctor.... what are you planning?” asked Spike slowly.
“Well, I’m going to count to ten. And on ten, I’m going to need us all to blink.”
“What!?” All three yelled in protest.
“But that thing! It’ll kill her, Doctor!” Yelled Spike, tears welling up in his own eyes. “You can’t let that happen! You just can’t!”
The Doctor bent down to Spike’s level. “They won’t kill her Spike, they need her, she’ll be fine for at least a little while. I need you all to trust me.”
Pinky looked the Doctor dead in the eye. “You’d better be right.”
The Doctor turned back to the purple pony. “Don’t fight them when you close your eyes, everything will be fine. I promise.”
“How can you be sure?” she said with a slight sob.
“I can be sure. Because I’m going to save you. Twilight Sparkle.”
She gasped. “My name....you got it right..”
“Haven’t I always? Now, I need you to be brave for a moment, Ms.Sparkle, until I come to get you.” He turned and stared hard at the stone creature that held her. “Be warned, you’ve done the wrong thing now. You’ve gone and made me mad. No matter where you go, no matter what you’re planning, I will find you, and when that happens, you’re going to wish the Abstract Plane had turned you into a pebble.” the Doctor turned away. “On my count. Are you ready?”
“No.” Said Spike.
“What he said.” Pinky concurred.
The Doctor smiled. “Good.” He drew in a breath. “One...Two...Three....Four...Five....Six.....Seven...Eight....Nine...”
“Bye Twilight.” whispered Pinkie.
They all closed their eyes.
When they opened them. Twilight was gone.
“Okay folks!” said the Doctor. “No more Mr. Nice Doctor.” He galloped back to the library. “What do we know?” he called back as Pinkie and Spike raced to catch up.
“That Twilight’s gone?” Spike said sadly.
“Besides that, what?” The Doctor flipped through a book. “Come on! What!?”
“Um...That the Angels want to use Twilight for energy?” said Pinkie.
“Yes! That. What Else?”
“That they needed Night Shift in 892 for some reason?” Spike hazarded.
“Yes! Good, and Mr.Shift was a....?”
“Ooh, ooh! Weatherpony!” Yelled Pinkie.
“Yes, but not just any weatherpony, the weather pony. The original.” he flipped through the pages faster. “And what do pioneers like that often receive?”
“Cupcakes?” guessed Pinkie.
Spike gave her a look. “I don’t know, books, statues, there’s an exhibit in the museum if that counts.”
“Aha!” the Doctor yelled. Spike and Pinkie jumped. “It says here that the artifacts of his life are at the Ponyville Museum of History. Including his saddlebag. I have a feeling it’ll be in there!”
“What will?” Spike asked. But the Doctor was already out the door.
“Wait up!”
The museum was a large old building. Stone columns jutted up to support the roof. Twilight Sparkle tried to open her eyes, but found she could not. She could feel that she was moving fast. Incredibly fast. But everything else was a mystery. In the dark she could hear breathing, there was hardly any break between breaths, it was almost one continuous low hum.
She waited.
“Doctor,” Said Spike breathlessly as they reached the entrance to the museum. “Are you sure she’s going to be in there?”
The Doctor pointed a hoof to the door. It had been crushed inwards, what was left hung on the hinge at an angle. “I’m sure.”
The inside of the museum hadn't fared much better. Display cases lay in splinters on the floor. Exhibits were scattered and broken everywhere.
“It seems the weeping angels are looking for it same as us.”
“Humph, I’m never allowed to touch the art!” Pinkie said crossly. “After we rescue Twilight I’m going to have a word with the curator.”
The three walked gingerly deeper into the gloomy library.
“Keep your eyes peeled.” The Doctor advised. “I doubt the angels will be as kind to anyone else they catch.” There were two hallways to take at the end of the hall. “Does anyone know the way to Night Shift’s exhibit?”
Spike and Pinkie shook their heads no.
“Well we’re certainly not splitting up.” He held a hoof up “Eeny...meeny...miny...mo! This way!” he veered off to the left.
“Well that’s an advanced way to choose things..” said Spike sarcastically.
“Do not mock the Eeny Meeny, Spike. That’s how I choose most things!” said Pinky “Now come on!!”
They raced to catch up to the Doctor, stepping over the destruction caused by the Pegasus. The lights were out, and what little the moon provided cast shadows along the smashed displays and broken artifacts.
“I’ve never been here before...and this is a heck of a way to see it.” the small dragon huddled closer to Pinkie.
“Don’t worry Spike, there’s nothing to be scared of.” Pinky put a hoof to her chin. “Well except living stone creatures from another dimension that have your best friend trapped in their clutches and can end your life if you so much as blink in their presence, hurtling you back hundreds of years to live your life in solitude knowing you’ll never see anyone you know and love again as they feed on all the experiences you’ll never have.” she noticed Spike staring. “Other than that, there’s nothing to be scared of.” she finished sheepishly.
They came up on the Doctor peeking around a corner.
He put a hoof to his lips. “Ssshhh”
They peeked to see what he was looking at. Twilight lay on the floor, her eyes closed.
Spike looked at the Doctor “Is she?”
“No, she’s breathing, I suspect they’ve established a psychic link, forcing her to keep her eyes closed.” he whispered.
“Well where are they? The Pegasus I mean.”
The Doctor looked around. “Probably still looking for the saddlebag. It seems they’re not very good at finding things are they?”
“Well why don’t we just go get her?” Spike whispered urgently. “She’s right there!”
The Doctor took stock of the situation. “That’s exactly it, Spike. If you were a bunch of living statues who’d just captured the thing they were after what would you do?”
It dawned on Spike. “Keep a guard?”
“Precisely. Somewhere, very close by I suspect, there’s a statue that doesn’t belong.”
Spike gulped. “So what do we do? We can’t just stay here.”
“I suspect it doesn’t know we’re here yet. Otherwise I severely doubt we still would be.” the Doctor looked along the floor. “We need something reflective, that way maybe we can see it, before it sees us. Look for shards of glass, maybe a mirror if we’re lucky. And don’t get near Twilight while you do it either. You’ll probably be safe as long as you stay under their radar.”
Twilight heard whispering, did the Pegasus whisper? She wondered to herself. She tried, again, unsuccessfully to get up. The same force binding her eyes had extended to her legs. She had been laying here for some time. She knew the creatures were close by, but could not fathom what they were doing. She was scared, more scared than she could remember being in a long time. She tried watching the colors behind her eyelids, but it didn’t help. She could only lie here and hope the Doctor would come soon.
She heard a noise to her left. she tried to call out “Doctor?” but found her mouth as inert as the rest if her. A stone hoof told her it wasn’t who she had hoped. The Doctor had told her not to fight, but still, she could not resist the urge to move, to struggle in some way though at the moment there was no way to do so.
Suddenly there was a new sound, like jewelery banging together. Then a crash, followed by several other sounds she could in no way identify.
She wanted so much to open her eyes, but they still did not respond to her efforts.
She felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Are you alright?” said a voice.
The Doctor! She tried to say yes, to say anything, but could not.
“It’s worse than I thought. They didn’t just lock her eyes, she can’t move at all.”
“Can you fix her?” she heard Spikes voice.
“Yes, I believe so if I had time. But that’s something we have in very short supply. It shall have to wait.”
She wanted to protest, what could be more important? But she felt herself being tossed over the Doctor’s back. That made her her want to protest even harder.
“Was that the guard?” she heard Spike again.
“No, it’s still around somewhere, but it can’t get to us as long as I’ve got this.”
What? She wondered.
“I think this was one of the scavengers, look!” she heard rustling. “It found the saddlebag, what luck!”
She felt the Doctor bend to pick it up. Sending her headlong onto the floor.
“Oops.”
She was going to have some words for him when she could move again.
“Twilight!” She heard Spike rush over. He put his hands on her head.
“Don’t worry, she’ll be quite alright. Can you open it Spike? I don’t do zippers. I think with what’s in here, I may be able to wake her.”
“Um, sure, Doc.” there was the sound of a zipper.
There was yet more rustling. “Let’s see, no...no..no...how long do you think that’s been in here?...no....aha! Just as I thought. Place this against Twilight’s forehead Spike.”
She felt something cold.
“Now lets see.” there was the ring of a sonic screwdriver.
Twilight opened her eyes.
The first thing she noticed was Pinkie holding a battle axe in her mouth next to a pile of rubble.
“Twilight!” the pink pony rushed over and picked her up in hug. “I got that mean old Pegasus, he won’t bother you again!”
“Not precisely true, with time it will reform. But for the moment it’s harmless. A roundabout way to do it, but effective.” said the Doctor. His suit was covered in reflective surfaces, glass, pieces of tile, precious stones, and on the back of his head hung an antique mirror.
“You look ridiculous.” Twilight said holding back laughter.
“That’s a nice thank you.” said the doctor jangling as he moved. “It’s so the Pegasus can’t sneak up on me.”
“Sorry, thank you.” she said. She tried to move her front hoofs, but found she still couldn’t “Um, Doctor.....I still can’t move.”
He frowned. “Darn, I was afraid of that.” he picked up a small stone. “It appears I was only able to break the hold on your oral and visual functions. Nothing else.”
“What! Will I ever be able to move!? “ Twilight asked fearfully.
“Oh yes, this is a piece of an angel, with it I could break their hold, but it appears they must be close for me to do so.” He nodded toward the pile of rubble on the floor. He walked up to Twilight getting very close. “Are you alright?”
Twilight stared at him for a moment, she noticed his eyes were blue, and looked very old.
“I’m fine Doctor. Thank you really.”
“Good.” he walked towards the hall. “Now! I’ve got what the Weeping Pegasus really want! A piece of an angel, 108 years, 4 months and 23 days old, waiting to be activated.”
“Activated?” asked Spike. “What do you mean by ‘Activated’.”
“It’s quite simple. This fragment is a piece of the Pegasus, they sent it back with Night Shift, and because of that, it has been among the belongings of a very famous pony. Imagine, he took it with him everywhere, in his saddlebag, probably kept it because it was in there when he arrived. A harmless stone. But! When someone gets to that level of recognition it generates a lot of power. The adoration, think of it, how many little ponies must have seen the exhibit? Looking with bright eyes? How many people learned from his skill? Read his books? All that was focused at on one point in history, and this was at the center of it. Gorging on the energy. There’s power in numbers, and it’s got millions.”
“Well what are they planning to do with it? And if they have that, why do they need me?” Twilight asked.
“Well, my dear Twilight, this isn’t simply a powerful object. It’s also a beacon.”
“A beacon?”
“Yes, you see with this a million angels could flood in through the abstract plane into your world. A whole new universe, filled with energy waiting to be devoured like so much starfish.”
Twilight gasped.
“As to why they need you, this is very powerful, and to put it bluntly they’re not. They need something with enough power to activate it. Ring the dinner bell as it were.”
“Me?....” Twilight whispered. “B-but I’m not even that powerful! Sure I’m good a magic, but I’m not as strong as they think.”
“Oh, I have no doubt right now you’re not that powerful. But that’s because you don’t know how to use everything at your disposal. They have no such problem. They need power, not direction, it’s in you, they just have to reach in and use it, pure and unchanneled.”
“Well I won’t let them!!” Twilight yelled. “I will not help those things, take over Equestria!!”
“Oh I fear much more is at stake here. Most every universe has more than one inhabitable planet. One like this most certainly. Equestria is only one small piece in a very big puzzle about to be thrown into a fire.” He looked away. “Besides, I’m afraid you have no choice in the matter.”
“What!? What do you mean, Doctor? What do you mean I have no choice!?” Twilight cried.
“Well, I was unable to break the hold on everything but two of your functions. They hold everything else, magic included. They can’t just stop you from doing things. They can use you like a puppet as long as they have a hold.” He said sadly. “I’m sorry Twilight, but until I can break it we’re in terrible danger just being around you.”
Twilight began to cry. “What am I suppose to do!?” she tried hard to move, but still nothing would respond.
“Just relax, they don’t know we’re here yet. The one Pinkie disabled can’t alert them until it’s reformed.”
“Relax!? I’m a ticking time bomb! It’s only a matter of time until those things come to get me! Then what?” she sobbed. “Doctor?”
He put a hoof on her shoulder. “Twilight, remember earlier, when I said I would save you?”
She sniffed. “Yeah.”
“That promise is still valid, and I will save you. That I can guarantee. I’m not going to abandon you, and there’s no way we’re going to let that happen alright? ” his old eyes stared at her.
She sniffed again. “Okay.”
The Doctor turned to her two concerned friends. “Alright, so there are two more Pegasus to worry about and one more pulling itself back together! We need to work fast, so listen closely.”
Twilight lay in the dark. Staring at the wall. Waiting for something to happen. She couldn’t move her neck for a different view, so she was stuck staring at it. She wished she had fallen in front of a painting, or something more interesting. It could have taken her mind off things. She began to worry about all the things that might go wrong. Listing them in her head one by one.
A sound behind her shook her from her thoughts. She closed her eyes.
The wind ruffled her hair as something stepped next to her head. she could hear the continues hum she had come to know as it’s breathing. It got closer until it was right next to her ear.
Had she been able to move she would have shivered. Instead she threw her eyes open. The creature was frozen inches from her face. She had grown so used to it she didn’t even scream.
The Doctor dashed out from behind a pillar, the fragment in his mouth. He quickly pressed it against Twilight’s forehead. She found she could move again. For the second time in the last few minutes she wanted to cry.
“I can move again!” She did a little jump! “Thank you, Doctor, thank you!” she threw her hoofs around the brown earth pony.
“Er...Quite alright, Twilight.” he said breaking from the hug. She noticed he was frowning.
“Well, this is really bad.”
“Why in the world is it bad!? I can move again! I never thought I’d be so happy to be back on my own four hooves!” she chuckled.
“Well, you see, dear Twilight, it’s for the very fact that you can move, that we’re in so much trouble.”
“Why’s that?”
The Doctor looked around. “Well, I only count two stone creatures here. Each one holds a different function. That one,” he pointed to the pile of rubble. “held your speech and sight. And that one you just froze held your movement.”
“Yes, and?” Twilight asked turning her head to the side.
“That means the last one, the one that isn’t here, holds your magic.”
Twilight’s eyes widened as she realized the implications. “Oh no.” She tried to lift something magically, and found she could do it no more than she could move her legs earlier. “We need to get it back!!” “Yes, but first, we need to incapacitate this Pegasus.” when he turned to Pinky she was already holding the battle axe. “I see you’d like the honor?”
Several smashes later there were two piles of rubble.
“That takes care of them at least.” Said the Doctor brushing some stone dust off one of his mirrors. “Now, by this point the third Pegasus must be aware of what we’re doing. Which begs the question of why it hasn’t acted yet.”
“What could it do?” asked Spike. “With you in that disco ball getup, I thought they couldn’t touch us?”
“Well it doesn’t have to touch us, Spike. With Twilight’s magic it could easily do a number of things without showing itself. So why doesn’t it?”
“I say we don’t rush it!” said Twilight. “I don’t like the idea of someone using my own magic against me!”
“It’s just I’m really quite curious, with that power this could be over very quickly. So,” the Doctor turned and spoke to the air. “What’s the problem?! Huh? You have all that power! Why aren’t you using it?! You could turn my hooves into daisies, or my head into a fishbowl, but you’re just sitting around! You scared of something?”
“Doctor!” Twilight urged. “What are you doing! Don’t encourage them!
“Well why not!? It’s obvious it’s not going to do anything. Probably found someone in the sculpture section to spend it’s time with. Hmmm? A nice Michelalhoofgelo? Come on! Show me what you’ve got! Turn me into a butterfly why don’t you? Maybe a nice wart filed toa-”
Suddenly the Doctor was gone. His mirror covered suit fell to the floor in a heap.
Twilight’s horn stopped glowing. “Doctor!!” she yelled. “Oh, what have I done!!” She raced over to the pile of clothes. “Doctor!.......Doctor!!” she looked around wildly. “This is wrong.” Twilight hung her head. “This is all wrong.”
“Twilight! Look!” Spike pointed to the heap, where something was moving.
“What?” her head shot up to see a lump slowly moving towards the sleeve.
A rather cross looking toad hopped out and croaked.
“Doctor?!” She picked the amphibian up with a forehoof. “Is that you?”
There was a croak of confirmation.
“Oh I’m so sorry!! I didn’t want to do it, they have control of my magic.”
Another croak.
“He makes a really cute toad!” Pinkie remarked.
“Without the Doctor what do we do now!” Spike cried.
“I don’t know.” Twilight said quietly. “But I know one thing, you and Pinkie have to get away from me Spike.”
“What!? No, there’s no way we’re leaving you with that thing!!”
“And there’s no way I’m going to let it harm you. I don’t want this to happen to anyone else. Run, warn people of what’s coming, send a letter to the princess, I’m sure she’ll think of something.”
“Twilight....I”
Her horn started to glow. “Go!” She screamed. “Quickly! Go!!”
Spike ran, gabbing Pinkie and dragging her after him. He paused for a minute and turned back.
“I love you.”
When she looked up there were tears streaming down her face.
“I love you too.”
“Don’t worry Twilight.” Pinkie said. “We’ll see you again.” Spike dragged her away.
The Doctor’s coat rose slightly by the pocket. It slipped away to reveal the Angels Fragment. Twilight could hear that sound she had come to know behind her. The continuous hum of a Pegasus breathing. The fragment floated towards her. She could feel something tugging at her magic. A feeling that something was inherently wrong, but she could do nothing to stop it. Like a subtle shock, that grew stronger and stronger. Her horn glowed brighter and brighter as the power increased, forcing her to close her eyes.
“I’m sorry Equestria.” she whispered.
Suddenly everything was dim. She opened her eyes to find a smug looking toad floating in front of her. It’s stomach glowing purple.
She felt a new tug, a subtle one, she allowed her power to flow into a new stream. The toad glowed brighter.
In a flash of light the Doctor was standing in front of her again. “Hello, Twilight. In a bit of trouble?” he asked.
Twilight stood, stunned.
“You shouldn’t stand with your mouth open, you’ll catch flies. Trust me, it’s not worth the effort.” He turned to the Pegasus. “Now, on to y-” he paused. “Oh wait a minute” In another flash of light he was wearing his suit again. All the mirrors were gone, it looked brand new. “Now, on to you. If I remember correctly your the one from the library.” his face took on a terrible calmness. “You see that’s a problem, because you kidnapped one of my friends. I don’t like when people do that. It’s really not very polite, so you’ve given me quite a dilemma. What should I do with you? Twilight?”
Twilight smiled. “I have a few ideas.”
“I knew I liked you Ms.Sparkle. May I borrow some magic?”
“Certainly.”
“Thank you. I was thinking a stone toad? You?” the Doctor asked.
“Oh I couldn’t think of anything better.” Twilight concurred.
In a flash the Pegasus vanished, and in it’s place sat a happily painted green lawn frog. The Doctor raised an eyebrow.
“The paint’s mine.” Twilight chuckled.
“I like it, now to finish this”
Twilight felt another tug. Her horn glowed fiercely, there was a flash of light.
Twilight awoke in her bed. She looked around.
“What happened?” she said groggily. She noticed Spike in bed. She nudged the small dragon. “Spike, Spike!”
His eyes fluttered open. “T-twilight? What’s goin on?” his eyes closed again. Then shot open. “Twilight!!” Spike jumped up to hug the purple unicorn. “You’re alright! What happened!?”
Twilight laughed. “I’m glad to see you too Spike! I don’t know, the last thing I remember I was at the museum.”
She noticed a slip of paper sticking out from under her pillow. It floated in front of her face.
“It’s a note....From the Doctor.”
Dear Twilight Sparkle.
If you’re reading this it means I was successful . The Weeping Pegasus are gone, and will no longer trouble you. I opened a rift to the Abstract Plane, and sucked everything back from whence it came. Well, minus one Weeping Angel and plus one happy frog. In any case, I’m sorry to say this means I must go as well. It has been wonderful meeting you and your friends. But I must return. I’m sorry for all the trouble my visit caused you, but as a token of my thanks, I have left you something. Go into the library.
Always your friend.
Onwards and Upwards.
The Doctor.
“He’s gone...” Twilight whispered. “But..he didn’t say goodbye.”
Spike put his hand on the unicorn’s shoulder. “It’s alright, Twilight, look on the bright side. We saved the whole of Equestria! We’re awesome!”
Twilight smiled sadly. “Yeah, I suppose we are.” she got up. “Let’s see what this ‘something’ is.”
Twilight walked towards the library.
“What do you think it is?!” asked Spike. “I bet its some cool alien stuff! Like a raygun, or a jetpack!”
“Spike, I’m sure its nothing like that.” Twilight chastised. “It’s probably waffles knowing what happened last time he left a note. That’s o-” she paused, mouth agape as she entered the library.
It was immaculate. Everything was in it’s place, not a book out of order.The damage to the east wing had been completely repaired.
Twilight ran along the shelves.
“They’re all here! All the books that were destroyed in the crash! How’s this possible!?”
She noticed a not attached to the shelf. It floated up to her nose.
Told you I’d replace them.
The Doctor.
Twilight blinked away some tears. “Thank you Doctor.”
“You’re welcome.”
“What!!” Twilight turned around to find the brown earth pony standing behind her reading a book.
“I’ve got a lot of history to brush up on if I’m going to be affective.” said the Doctor.
“B-but the note! I thought you’d left! Gone back with the Weeping Pegasus!”
“Me too, I sent everything back through, apparently I’m not included in ‘everything’ who knew?” The doctor turned the page absently. “Perhaps there’s more stuff to be done around here. That or something kept me from going.” he looked at Twilight,.
Twilight looked off in another direction. “Perhaps something did. I wonder what?”
The Doctor smiled. “Yes...I wonder what. Anyway, whole new universe, lot’s of stuff to do. I could stick around a while.”
“I can’t say I’m totally unhappy.” said Twilight with smile. “Rarity does have an empty room, I’m sure she’d be happy to have you.”
The Doctor’s face fell. “What!? But I-”
The doorbell interrupted the Doctor’s protest.
“Come in!” Called Twilight.
Pinkie burst through the door. “Twilight!! Doctor!!” she raced over and grabbed the both of them. “I’m so happy to see you, Twilight! And I’m so happy to see you with less warts, Doctor! You look terrible in green!”
“Pinkie....choking...” Twilight gasped.
Pinky released them. “Oh, sorry.” she said sheepishly. “Now, Doctor, I don’t think you’ve been properly introduced!! I’ve got a full itinerary! We’ll start with Mrs. Cake and work our way down! Then we’ll have a party to celebrate!”
She dragged the Doctor towards the door. He shot Twilight a look that said “Help me.”
She just waved. “Enjoy your party Doctor! I have a feeling you’re going to like it in ponyville.” The door closed and he was off.
“I’m glad you’re back.” she whispered.
“What’s that?” asked Spike.
“Oh, nothing, Spike.” she walked off. “Let’s find something for the party.”
The End?
