Chapter 2: A Trinity War
Nymphadora, 1678 C.E.
Twilight's heart was beating as she, the Doctor, and Derpy were led into the camp by the wolf leader, who refused to point the futuristic weapon away from them. Having no idea of its official name, Twilight decided to call it a blaster.
The wolf leader kept the blaster pointed at them as they made their way into the center of the camp. The other wolves stared at them awkwardly and Twilight instantly felt twice as uncomfortable as she previously had been. "Sit," ordered the leader. Twilight, the Doctor, and Derpy did as they were told and sat down a few feet from the campfire. The other wolves sat a few feet away from them. The wolf leader sat down on the side of the campfire opposite to the ponies. "Now talk, ponies."
"Well...talk about what, exactly?" the Doctor asked.
"Why you three are here! It's not very common for three ponies from Gaia to randomly take a visit to Nymphadora."
"Pardon me, but couldn't you at least give us the courtesy of giving us your name before trying to force questions out of us? It's only common courtesy."
Twilight expected the wolf leader to use the blaster to blow the Doctor's head off right then and there. Instead, she simply chuckled and smirked with amusement at the Doctor. "Midna. Midna Wolfsbane," she said. "I'm the head maiden of this pack."
"And I'm the Doctor. I'm the leader of this...trio," he said back.
"Well, Doctor, why have you and your two mares come to Nymphadora?"
"Honestly, we just sort of ended up here. My ship took us here accidentally and we just decided to explore. Never been to, seen, or heard about this place before and we were interested to learn more about it."
"Really? You've never heard of Nymphadora? That's a lie if I've ever heard one. I'm sure Nymphadora's been the big topic throughout the whole galaxy for the past decade."
"Would this have anything to do with the war?"
Once again, Midna smirked at the Doctor. "So you do know about Nymphadora."
"Not really. I just heard you mention it when I was listening in on your conversation with that...Auranian, was it?"
Twilight instantly face-hoofed. "That doesn't really sound that much better," she groaned.
"You must be a good listener then, Doctor," said Midna as she continued to smirk at him.
"I try to be," the Doctor replied with a grin. Twilight quickly rolled her eyes at this. "Anyway, so tell me about this war. What's going on, exactly?"
Midna leaned back a bit but kept the blaster aimed at the three ponies. "I guess I'll buy your story that you arrived here accidentally and somehow know nothing about Nymphadora and the war...for now." Twilight couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. After seeing Midna take down a snake soldier and run at incredible speeds, Twilight was intimidated quite a bit by her. Midna proceeded to point her free claw towards the sky. "See those two moons?" Twilight, the Doctor, and Derpy looked up and nodded. "The small, orange one is called Auran and the larger, blue one is called Ruleo. For centuries upon centuries, us native Nymphadorians have lived in peace with the two dominant species that inhabit our two moons."
"Two dominant species?" Derpy asked.
"Yes. Nymphadora, Ruleo, and Auran each have their own dominant species. My kind belong to the dominant species of Nymphadora. You've already seen me and my pack take down a few members of the dominant species of Auran, the Auranians. And the Ruleonites are the dominant species of Ruleo. To best describe them to you, they resemble blue versions of the species from your planet known as rabbits."
"Purple wolves, orange snakes, and blue rabbits. Quite a diverse population," the Doctor said. "Now, if I do remember correctly, you told that Auranian soldier that his kind used to be considered Nymphadorians once. What did you mean by that?"
"Before the war, the Ruleonites and the Auranians were considered citizens of Nymphadora despite not actually being born on Nymphadora. It only seemed fair as they were natives of Nymphadora's moons and both Ruleo and Auran were part of Nymphadora at one point," Midna explained.
"Wait. Your two moons came from your planet?" Twilight asked.
"Yes. The story of how that came about is neither here nor there."
"So, getting back to the war, is it safe to assume that the Auranians started it?" the Doctor asked.
Midna shrugged her shoulders. "It was either the Nymphadorians or the Auranians. Counts on which side you take."
"Which side do you take?"
"I don't know. I was never interested in any of that political garbage. Too much corruption, conspiracies, lying, betrayal, and other trash to really know who started what. Anyway, the Auranians were complaining that the Nymphadorians were oppressing them with new laws and weren't giving them equal representation in the central Nymphadorian government. For a couple years prior to the start of the war, the Nymphadorian and Auranian politicians went back and forth. People on both sides of the debate became really caught up in the whole thing. If you were a Nymphadorian on Auran or an Auranian on Nymphadora, a lot of troubles began to come your way. There were riots, protests, it was a mess. However, the final straw came along when the Nymphadorian government decided to have a military base built in the Auranian capital."
"Why'd they do that?" Twilight asked.
"The officials were getting paranoid about the Auranians and feared that they'd attack us or something like that. The irony is that this decision is what ultimately lit the spark that started the war. The Auranians went nuts, to say the least. They stormed on the base (which was still in construction), tore it down, killed the workers, and declared war of Nymphadora. The Nymphadorians thought this war would be won in a week due to Auran being so much smaller compared to Nymphadora. But, the Auranians are very skilled fighters and they have access to lots of weapons and different technological devices. So, basically, the Auranians were definitely a force to be reckoned with and proved to be formidable opponents for the Nymphadorian army."
"What about Ruleo?" Derpy asked.
"I was just about to get to that. The Ruleonites wanted to stay out of the drama. They didn't get involved in this war intentionally. You see, both Nymphadora and Auran turned to Ruleo for help. When Ruleo refused, soldiers from Nymphadora and Auran came down to take supplies and even soldiers. But, like Auran, Ruleo has an army to be reckoned with as well. Ruleo ended up entering the war in order to drive the Auranians and Nymphadorians out. Now it's a trinity war where everybody's fighting each other and no side is closer to victory than the other. It's been like this for ten years now."
"This war has certainly gone on for long enough, wouldn't you say?" asked the Doctor.
"Of course. Any Nymphadorian, Ruleonite, or Auranian would say that in a heartbeat." Midna then eyed the Doctor carefully. "What? Are you going to try and stop it?"
"Like I've said to others before, I have a knack for ending certain disputes and conflicts."
"But you're just an earth pony from Gaia!"
"And you're a purple wolf from a planet called Nymphadora. But I've seen that you're able to hold your own in a fight quite well. I wouldn't go around making assumptions."
Midna smirked at the Doctor again. "True. But I also wouldn't go around biting off more than I can chew, Doctor. Sure, I can hold my own in a fight; but I certainly can't walk out onto the battlefield and take every soldier down."
"She's got a point," said Twilight.
"Smart mare," said Midna as she glanced at Twilight. "You should listen to your companions, Doctor. If I were you, I'd get out of Nymphadora while you still can. Besides, as of now, there's only one solution to this war and it's far worse than the problem."
"So there is a way to end this war," said the Doctor.
"Yes. I just pray to the gods that nobody ever tries to pull it off. This war is bad, but what this solution could bring is far, far more terrible."
Silence fell amongst the ponies and the Nymphadorians. "Well, I guess that's all that needs to be said," said the Doctor as he stood up. Midna still had her blaster aimed at the Doctor. "I think I've proven by this point that my companions and I are no threat to you or your pack."
Midna calmly lowered her blaster and stood up. "Fine," she said. "You may go. But heed my advice, Doctor. Don't go and try to end this. It's out of your...hooves."
The Doctor was silent for a moment. "Well, thank you for the advice and the history lesson, Ms. Wolfsbane. It was very much appreciated." The Doctor then looked down at Twilight and Derpy and the two mares quickly stood up. "Allons-y, Derpy, Twilight, let's get back to the ship to discuss this further."
"Wait a second!" Midna gasped. Twilight, the Doctor, and Derpy turned back towards Midna. Her eyes were suddenly wide and her face was stricken with fear. "What did you just say?"
"What? You mean the names of my companions? This is Derpy Hooves and this is Twilight Sparkle."
Upon hearing Twilight's name, Midna grabbed the blaster and pointed it at her. Twilight felt every muscle in her body tighten. "What are you doing?!" Twilight cried.
"I knew it! I had a feeling that you three didn't just randomly come to Nymphadora! You're working with them, aren't you?! You're going to try to bring him back!" Midna cried.
"What are you talking about?!"
"You know damn well what I'm talking about, Twilight Sparkle! Your name says it all! You're the spark! They had you come here to bring him back!"
"Who?! Bring back who?! I'm not here to bring anypony back!"
"Lies! All lies!" Midna's arms were shaking now.
"Midna," said the Doctor calmly as he stepped forward. "Just put down the gun."
"NO! I won't let my world fall to him again! I won't let the twilight come back!" Twilight was shaking as Midna aimed the blaster at her. Derpy was frozen in place and the Doctor was trying to calmly edge his way towards Midna. The members of Midna's pack were so shocked by their head maiden's breakdown that they didn't know what to do.
"Please," Twilight begged. "Don't."
"You're the spark...and you must be put out."
Twilight closed her eyes. "NO!" she heard the Doctor cry. Several things happened at once: a burning pain ripped through the front of Twilight's chest as a quick blasting sound rang out, Derpy screamed, a surge of magical energy burst through Twilight's horn, and all sound faded away into a mix of dulled nothingness.
The Doctor gasped as the purple light wrapped around him. It felt like he was burning and freezing at the same time. Midna's camp disappeared from view and all the Doctor could see was white and purple light. He could hear Derpy's scream and the sound of the gun ringing in his hears. Twilight. He needed to help her. She needed his help. Thoughts of this nature raced through the Doctor's mind as the bright lights flashed before him. Then, after a mere few seconds that felt like an eternity, the lights faded away to be replaced with a brick wall covered in burn marks. "Wait...what the hay just happened?" asked a dizzy Derpy who was standing next to him.
"We've been transported somehow," the Doctor replied as he looked around and examined their surroundings. It was daytime now and they were standing in what appeared to be a town made up of old brick buildings. The buildings were falling apart due to rot and, apparently, ammunition use. The air smelled of smoke and ash and the ground felt warm and soiled. As the Doctor's eyes fell towards the ground, he saw the limp body of Twilight Sparkle lying a few feet from where he was standing. "Twilight!"
The Doctor and Derpy ran to the unicorn's side. Parts of her gown were scorched and there was a bad burn on her chest. "Midna must have hit her!" Derpy gasped.
"She's still alive," said the Doctor. "She didn't get the full effect of the gun's blast." The Doctor's eyes then moved up towards Twilight's horn. A small trail of steam was emanating from it. "Brilliant!"
"What's brilliant?"
"She is! Twilight must have used some teleportation magic or something to get us out of there. From the looks of things, it was slightly unintentional."
"So where do you think we are?"
The Doctor took in a deep breath. "Well, from the smell of things, I think we're on the exact opposite side of the planet in which we were originally."
"So...Twilight just transported us to the other side of the planet?"
"That's right."
"And the TARDIS is on the other side of the planet from where we are now."
"That's right."
"Which means that we're stuck here."
"For now...yes."
"Yay."
"DON'T MOVE!" ordered a gruff voice. The Doctor and Derpy froze. A male Nymphadorian wearing a sleek, metal, army suit was walking towards them. An advanced version of the blaster that Midna had been using was held in his arms. "STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" The Nymphadorian pulled a communicator from his pocket. "Sir, I've found three Gaians. One earth pony, one pegasus, and one unicorn. The unicorn is unconscious and appears to be badly burnt."
"Have your men bring them in," replied a voice over the communicator.
"Right." The Nymphadorian clicked a red button on the communicator and a large group of Nymphadorians appeared. "Take them to the base."
"Wait! Let me go!" Derpy ordered as the Nymphadorians grabbed onto her legs and wings.
"STOP SQUIRMING OR WE'LL BE EVEN MORE AGGRESSIVE!" snapped one of the soldiers. Derpy quickly calmed down.
"What do you want us to do with the unicorn?" asked one of the soldiers as he examined Twilight.
"Take her to the infirmary," replied the first soldier. Four soldiers then proceeded to carefully pick Twilight up and carry her away. The Doctor could only watch as Twilight and her carriers disappeared from view.
"MOVE!" ordered another one of the soldiers as he violently shoved the Doctor forward.
"Just stay calm," said the Doctor as he turned to Derpy. "Everything's going to be okay." Derpy nodded as an acknowledgement of believing his words. The Doctor and Derpy fell silent as the Nymphadorian soldiers forced them to walk on towards their unknown destination.