“Doctor, something doesn’t add up.” Twilight said as she handed him one of the many devices from the Doctor’s scrap pile. The Doctor took it in his teeth and placed it with a small collection of other devises positioned to look like a small satellite dish.
“And what might that be, Starlight?” he asked, pulling out his sonic Screwdriver.
“It’s Twilight! And why did the Daleks attack now? Why not immediately after that one that crashed awoke?” The Doctor traced his screwdriver over the satellite. The metal began to creak and combine into one solid structure.
“They haven’t. Technically, the Daleks won’t attack for another two months. I love Time Travel. The question we should be asking ourselves is where the other daleks came from. Though there’s never just one. Except that one time in that pompous American’s museum, whose name escapes me… not that it’s important.” Twilight stood where she was, watching the Doctor work.
“So… where did the others come from?” she asked with hesitation in her voice. The Doctor stopped what he was doing and pointed his Sonic Screwdriver up into the sky.
“Where does any creature alien to a world come from? However, since there aren’t any ships revolving around this world that the TARDIS can detect, the question becomes, when did they come here, and where were they at the time? The Dalek that awoke in the storm crashed in the middle of a forest. So clearly it was headed somewhere, but where? There must be a place nearby where the Daleks could stand by unnoticed. But looking at the map there’s nowhere that they could possibly g–.” he stopped, his eyes shifting from left to right as though reading an invisible book.
“Doctor?” Twilight asked worriedly, causing everypony to stop what they were doing and look towards them. The Doctor smiled and gasped as he came to a brilliant revelation.
“Oh, they are clever! I mean they were always clever, and I’m always more so, but they’ve outdone themselves this time.” He made his way to the TARDIS and opened the door, motioning the ponies to follow. As they all entered the blue box, the Doctor laughed as he played around with the console. The TARDIS jerked and swayed from side to side, causing the inhabitants to fall and crash into each other, Pinkie Pie falling in the pool in the kitchen. Then it stopped with one final jerk and the hazel pony ran for the door, pulling his screwdriver out. The other ponies followed him and looked around to where they were.
“Doctor, what are we doing in the Everfree forest?” Spike asked, jumping onto Twilight’s haunches and shuffling up her back to rest over her mid-section.
“Well, Spike, I’m in the forest so I can search for Hemispheric Energy Particles in the soil. Why you’re all out here and not still inside the TARDIS is for you to answer.” he replied with casual abandon.
“Hemi-what-now?” Derpy asked, trotting up beside the Time Lord.
“Hemispheric Energy Particles, or H.E.P if you will. For those of you who are lazy, just say Hep. They’re a sort of radioactive residue that’s left behind when Daleks are desperate. Think of it as like… a faint trail of perfume– da– Pinkie! Stop giggling to Hep!” Pinkie Pie covered her mouth to try and silence herself, but couldn’t contain her laughter and exploded with a symphony of joy. The Doctor sighed and shook his head.
“The fact that she takes everything so lightly just… infuriates me. I’ve never been so easily angered.” Derpy giggled at his comment and patted his head.
“You get used to it, Doctor.” she claimed, sticking close to him.
“Right then! Let’s search for H.E.P, shall we?” a snort was his response, followed by Pinkie uttering ‘Hep’ once more. With a groan of contempt, the Doctor pointed the screwdriver towards the ground and activated it. It whirred with a steady gurgle and as he moved it around, it began to warble like a beacon. The ponies followed closely as he tracked the invisible particles to their source. After roughly a kilometre, he made a sharp right turn and stopped, scaring every pony as he jumped up with glee.
“Aha!!” he yelled, sticking his screwdriver back into his pocket.
“What is it?” Applejack asked, prying Fluttershy from her side.
“I knew it! The Daleks were already here when the first one awoke. Something or someone drove the Daleks to desperation and they performed a Continuum Jump where they ended up underground.” he replied.
“All I got was underground.” Spike said. Twilight shook her head, trying to fathom the wording.
“But Doctor, if they appeared underground, wouldn’t they have fused with the stone and been stuck in one place?” The Doctor smiled at her and shook his head.
“All the evidence suggests otherwise, Flashlight.”
“Twilight! And what evidence?”
Well for starters, the hemispheres that marketeer had on his possession were of an old make, meaning that these Daleks are very old indeed. I’d go so far as to say they’re the oldest I’ve ever seen. So they’re not as advanced as I’ve dealt with, but that makes them slightly more dangerous. Secondly–.”
“Hold on Doctor… how are they more dangerous if they’re less advanced than what you’re used to. Shouldn’t you have the advantage?” asked Rainbow Dash. The Doctor just sighed.
“These Daleks don’t know who I am. I’d go so far as to say that they’re not even aware of many other races. The Daleks wouldn’t have crashed if they were experienced in space flight. They’re like children… genocidal children.” Rainbow Dash shut up and joined Fluttershy beside Applejack.
“As I was saying, they’re old. Secondly, the fact that they will eventually awaken and destroy Equestria means that there was no ground where they landed. They must have crashed on the surface and the earth grew over their ship in time. So they’ve been here from the very beginning. I imagine the H.E.P is what actually grew this forest and why it’s self-sustaining without the aid of Pegasi or magic.” The ponies all gasped and drew closer to the Doctor.
“So you’re saying that the forest is some mutated alien creation?” Rarity asked, shaking like Fluttershy.
“Now that I think about it, it does look kind of like the plant life on Skaro,” the Doctor muttered as he examined a thorny vine. “Only alive and…not metal.” he added, chuckling.
“What’s so funny?” Twilight demanded. The Doctor gave her a big grin.
“Ancient Daleks, a half-finished Delta Wave beacon, several companions and another month remaining… this is… it’s just so…” He was having trouble finding the right word.
“Scary?” Fluttershy asked.
“Dangerous?” Rainbow Dash kicked in.
“Ghastly?” Rarity chided in.
“Fascinating?” Twilight enquired.
“Mighty weird?” Applejack suggested.
“Exciting?!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
“Creepy?” Spike uttered.
“Muffins? Wait, what’re we talking about?” The whole group looked at Derpy.
“We’re talkin’ about the overall problem, sugarcube.” Applejack replied, reaching a hoof out to touch her sympathetically.
“FANTASTIC!!!” The Doctor shouted in a loud burst of excitement. The ponies jumped, Fluttershy landing on her back with a high pitched squeak.
“Now this is why I travel! It’s all so fantastic! I’m about to see what could possibly be the very first Daleks in existence. Davros’ lot were not the originals. They just used him like a puppet to make more, but these guys. Oh yes! This is absolutely, utterly and unquestionably Fantastic!!!” he began to pace with excitement as the ponies watched him.
“How can you be so cheery? You’ve basically expressed joy towards the fact that these Daleks don’t know you, which I still don’t understand how that makes them more dangerous.” Twilight growled at the Time Lord. He just stopped and grinned at her.
“Ms Sparkle… these Daleks don’t know who I am, therefore they don’t fear me, which makes them that much more aggressive towards me. The Daleks that do know me, know what I’ve done to them and their predecessors hesitate and miss the obvious. Since they don’t know me, they won’t make those mistakes and will focus directly on trying to exterminate every living thing that isn’t them without fear or hesitation, as they were bred to do.” The Doctor was bordering on insane cackling as he hurried back to the TARDIS and slammed the first two buttons he saw. Fluttershy just made it inside when the doors slammed shut and the Time machine began to shake like a rollercoaster back to the Moon, where they prepared to finish the Delta Wave beacon.