//------------------------------// // Fires of Life // Story: The Adventures of Doctor Whooves: Series 1 // by Time Pony Victorious //------------------------------// The Wild Frontier, Sector G32, Rainbow Island 20 minutes ago Strong Side and Snowflake were the ponies shouldered with the task to dispose of the Doctor, literally. Strong Side groaned as the earth pony's weight suddenly shifted to him, nearly toppling over from the imbalance. The Doctor was a rather slim pony, a bit lighter than he looked but he moved too much, even while unconscious! Almost as if he was ready to spring into action. "Why did we get assigned this? This is a load of bull," Snowflake muttered as he shifted to ease Strong Side up a bit. The Doctor nearly slipped from their grasp but the trained ponies moved underneath him to keep him still. "Seriously, why is it always us?" Strong Side groaned. The Doctor's coat was awkwardly draped over the two ponies, his wild curly mane making it a habit to poked them in the eye or graze their mouths. Why was one simple earth pony so much trouble to get rid of? "Well, I know why it is always you. I don't know why it's me, though," Snowflake countered. Strong Side stopped abruptly, nearly causing Snowflake, the bigger pony, to topple over under the Doctor's weight. Strong Side merely glared at his comrade and frowned. "What'd you mean by that?" he demanded. Snowflake shrugged, an act so casual but detrimental that the Doctor almost face-planted. "You're always getting into trouble, even when we were in the Academy. Always getting lost, misplacing the weapons. Remember the time you accidentally primed the Dragon's Breath? Half our squad had their manes singed off because of that." "It was an accident," Strong Side insisted, looking away as he remembered how annoyed their SO was and the month-long punishment that went along with that. "Besides, if I remember correctly, you got into more trouble than me." The two began their walk again, Snowflake chuckling at his friend's implication. The two had decided to carry the unconscious Doctor with his body horizontal on their backs. They had taken some precautions, tying up the Doctor neatly, but he moved so much that it made walking more difficult than it already was. They had been going about this for quite some time, bantering amongst each other to stave off the boredom. Neither of them had, however, understood why the Doctor was considered such a threat he was to be thrown into the Wild Frontier, it was a fate nopony deserved. They traveled to the edge of the city on hoof as to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Trekking their way through the dense forests, they opted to travel down toward the nearby waterfall. The 40 ft waterfall led into a small river that eventually went off into the main arteries of the forest. Where the water went was a bit of a mystery to Snowflake, nopony was brave enough to chart the entire island, so their guess was as good as any. They had reached the Green Leaf River which led into the waterfall. Strong Side exhaled, shifting the Doctor right off his shoulder and letting him slump on the ground. "This good enough?" Strong Side asked, hoping his friend wouldn't disagree but judging on how tired he looked that wasn't very likely. "Yeah, just uh, push him in," Snowflake said. Strong Side rolled his eyes. "Why me?" "Just do it, okay?" Strong Side approached the Doctor and rolled him awkwardly into the river. The earth pony fell in and was immediately taken by the currents. Without a question, the two left. Ice-cold. The Doctor's eyes snapped open as the freezing water seeped in through his dense clothing and froze him to the bone. His manic eyes quickly scanned his surroundings, several facts registered within the first half-second of his preliminary scan. He was tied up, dumped in the river of the Wild Frontier, fez was missing, one of those ponies was named Snowflake. The Time Pony went under again and when he submerged he took huge gulps of air, panic paralyzed his limbs, not that he could do anything about it considering he was currently tied up. Memories from his last life flashed in his eyes: Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, plastic Roman soldiers and a dozen more races who hated him trapping him in the Pandorica. He was only in the box for a few minutes (well, according to Rory) but it felt like an eternity, something he was familiar with being a Time Lord. The Doctor remember the panic closing his throat, the fear of being trapped in that tiny box, the thoughts that plagued him: "You aren't getting out, you're going to be in here forever." The helplessness that all of his plans, all of his cleverness was lost, sealed behind an impossible box under Stonehenge. It was only because of Rory and how perfectly human he was that he survived (Well, the Doctor gave him a hand with that, but still). The Doctor never let it go on, but he hated being confined, to be trapped. Like being trapped in a universe he wasn't familiar with, being unable to go home… It's just like being in the Pandorica. The Time Pony cursed himself as he snapped back to the present, berating himself for getting lost in past memories when the current problem at hand took priority. He tried to reach into his coatpocket but the ropes were too tight, strapping his forelegs to his chest. Desperately, the Doctor bit down on the ropes, either trying to cut them or loosen them enough to escape. No such luck, the sloshing movement of the wild river made it difficult to get a proper hold. The waterfall neared, and the Doctor didn't know what to do. So, he took a deep breath and shouted, "GERONIMO!" as he fell over the waterfall. Then a second sun bloomed midway through it, enveloping the Doctor. Party District; The Ball Room, The Lost City, Rainbow Island Present Time Twilight Sparkle had attended parties, she had been to the Grand Galloping Gala (a formal that ended poorly due to the girls', not Twilight of course, overestimation of how the Gala would proceed), she had been to dozens upon the hundreds of parties held by Ponyville's own pink party pony, she even attended a sleepover with Rarity and Applejack, but none of that prepared Twilight for the Party District. Midway into the casual formal held in the Main Ball Room, the party ponies outside had swarmed the rustic, yet elegant, building. The music which had once been a quiet, if bland, classic symphony, changed into a loud, bass-heavy near cacophony of techno-disco that DJ PON-3 would've been proud of. The mingling which had been humble, reserved and contained morphed into excitable shouts, wild dancing, and a colorful display of neon-lights which made Rainbow's mane monochrome in comparison. The Party had come to them and Twilight wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. For one, she lost track of their assigned guardponies, but she had also lost track of Rainbow and Rarity who were swallowed in the sea of dancers. Twilight maneuvered through the crowd as best as she could, dancing past a few drunken-looking mares, and stepping on a few hundred hooves and consequently mumbling apologies to them. She made her way to the other side of the room where she found Rarity in the very corner, staying away from everypony as if they carried diseases. "Rarity!" Twilight shouted over the music. "Have you seen Rainbow?!" "What was that, darling?!" Rarity shouted back. "Rainbow Dash! Have you seen her?!" "Who is Chainrow Crash?!" "I said 'Rainbow Dash'!" "Silvercrow Sash?" "RAINBOW DASH!" "What?!" Rainbow materialized beside Twilight wearing an assortment of decorative ornaments around her neck, her rainbow mane was braided with flowers and lightning-bolt shaped hairpins. It was such a shock to Twilight, she nearly jumped out of her skin, blinking at the cyan peagsus. "Where have you been?" Twilight asked. Rainbow shrugged. "Dancing," she answered simply, pointing at the dance floor. Twilight rolled her eyes, only Rainbow could somehow relax in a potentially dangerous situation. Twilight turned to Rarity who was smoothing her dress out to rid of a microscopic wrinkle. "Rarity, have you seen the guardponies anywhere?" Rarity shook her head, a movement which looked impressive under the dimmed lights punctuated by rainbow strobe-lights. "I lost track of them when the party ponies arrived, perhaps they left?" Twilight considered for a moment, the three of them were under surveillance there was no way they would let them go so nonchalantly. Perhaps they noticed the Doctor's disappearance and decided to follow him? Her blood turned cold at the thought but she took a deep breath to compose herself, approach this logically and solve the problem at hoof. Rainbow poked Twilight. "I could fly, get a bird's eye view." Twilight shook her head. "At best we should assume they lost sight of us, let's not give them something to look for." "Then what do we do?" Rarity asked. "We could leave," Rainbow suggested. "The Doc left a while back, he's taking a long time to return. We should look for him." "Or we should stay put, the Doctor knows what he is doing, he can handle himself. What we can do is keep out of trouble, this is a public place, darling, nothing can happen," Rarity chimed in. Twilight frowned, considering her options. Rainbow was right, the Doctor has been gone for too long, what if something happened to him? None of them could fly the TARDIS, if he was gone then they would be trapped in the past on some sky island! Twilight took a deep breath and calmly exhaled, as Cadence showed her plenty of times. Rarity was right, the Doctor can handle himself, he's a 1,000 plus years old. But they couldn't just sit here, waiting for him to return, they needed to do something too. Her eyes flew open as her idea sparked in her brain. "A library!" Rainbow groaned, face-hoofing, and Rarity discreetly rolled her eyes. Patting her shoulders, Rarity looked a bit concerned but smiled weakly. "Darling, that can't be your solution to everything. Like I said, we should buckle down and wait for the Doctor." Twilight shrugged Rarity's hoof off and grinned at her friends. "No, don't you see this is a great solution! We shouldn't be sitting around doing nothing, and you're right, the Doctor is probably fine so there's no need to find him. But we don't know a thing about this island, neither does the Doctor. We should go to the library, dig up some info and find out more about that machine." Rainbow looked the least enthused by this idea, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. "I dunno, Twi, that sounds like something an egghead would say." "Takes one to know one," Twilight countered with a pout. "What makes you think you can navigate this city, Twilight?" Rarity asked. "It's twice the size of Canterlot." "Trust me, if there's anything I know, it's how to find the library," Twilight promised. The two mulled it over some more, there were obviously only a few drawbacks to this plan. The biggest being if they could even find a library or if they would get caught somehow. But Twilight had to try something, she couldn't sit around waiting for the Doctor. Before anypony could decide anything, the music abruptly stopped and the party ponies groaned in disappointment. Looking over to the DJ station, Twilight gasped as the two guardponies assigned to watch her were the ones responsible for stopping the music and were scanning the crowd looking for them. The mares quickly blended in the crowd, Rarity and Rainbow, however, stuck out easily with their respective beautiful dress and colorful mane but they weren't spotted yet. The doors bucked violently open and more guardponies poured in, armed and incredibly dangerous, they were looking for the girls. "Suddenly, I'm liking the library," Rainbow whispered. "I second that," agreed Rarity. "Come on, this way!" Twilight turned, heading for the back of the building when they heard "FREEZE!" The guardponies spotted them and broke into a chase. "Run!" Twilight ordered. Rainbow tried instantly to take flight, but Twilight magically pinned her tail down preventing her from doing so. She snapped a frosty glare at Twilight. "They have guns, you'll be an easy target, come on!" They ran toward the stage, even Rarity managed to keep up well despite her constricting dress. Thankfully, the party ponies were so abundant that they heavily impeded the guards, giving the mares ample opportunity to escape. Managing to make it to the back of the building, they found a backdoor and exited. Bursting out into the street, Twilight looked around for a possible landmark. The street was long and empty, shrouded in darkness, the buildings weren't marked so she couldn't tell what anything was. Frustration boiled and Twilight had to bite her lip from screaming in anger, she needed to think otherwise they could be captured… or killed. Twilight tried to think logically, where would she put the library at if she were designing a city like this? Presumably, it'd be at the most centralized location, easy to access and easily distinguishable. Where was the center of the city? Looking down to the west (after making a few minor adjustments to her calculations considering the stars above weren't the ones she normally saw) Twilight decided that would be the place she'd put the library at. "Come on, it should be this way," Twilight said, beginning to make her way down the street. "What makes you say that?" Rarity asked, huffing at how torn her dress was but otherwise ignored it. "Deductive reasoning." "So, you're guessing?" Rainbow asked. "Oh, shut up, come on." They were forced to take the back alleys instead of the surface streets. Five minutes into their walk, a dozen or so guardponies poured out into the streets searching for them. Twilight saw the Professor with the guardponies and he wasn't happy. "FIND THEM!" he ordered. "They are simple mares you imbeciles! Find them and end them, so that they will join their precious Doctor." Twilight had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop from shaking. The Doctor wasn't dead, he can't be. Twilight saw him withstand an attack from her possessed tree-house (long story), he could survive some pudgy old professor. She continued to lead west. Every so often, Rarity complained about the state of her dress and how muddy her hooves were becoming. "It is ruined!" she moaned. "So much hard work…" "Rarity, I dunno if you noticed, but I think this situation is a bit more important than some dress," Rainbow countered, finally undoing the work done to her mane. "Please," Rarity scoffed. "Just because you don't care for looking fashionable doesn't mean I should." "What's that supposed to—" "Girls!" Twilight snapped. "I understand tensions are a bit high, but arguing about little things like this isn't helping." "Little?" asked Rarity. Twilight turned around and faced her two friends. "Point is, focus on us, we're okay, safe! Focus on that!" "But, the Doctor…" Rainbow trailed off. "The Doctor is fine, I didn't tell you this but he saved the town from an alien invasion. I saw him defeat two massive tree aliens and nearly get killed by the second. If he can handle that, he can handle anything. Remember rule three?" They nodded hesitantly. "Trust him, it'll be fine, momentai. But right now, we need to get ourselves to the library and try to assist, we don't know anything about this island. If we can find anything out, well, that might be a clue to all of this." The girls seemed to calm down and Twilight sighed in relief. Twilight led them to the street and was unable to contain her goofy grin as the library presented itself before them. It was a somewhat tiny building, pure silver and square-shaped, rather bland but simple. A huge marble statue of an open book stood in front of the library with a sign that read "GRAND LIBRARY". "Oh, thank Celestia we found it. Come on." ~==~ The Doctor's eyes snapped open and he sat up weakly. First thought that came to his mind: Ah, I'm alive, I love it when I do that. Second thought: Where am I? He looked around, he was at the base of the waterfall in the nearby forest. He wasn't sure how he survived the fall but his clothes were dry, the ropes that were on his body were gone. He leaned down and licked his hoof where the rope used to be. Recoiling at the taste, the Doctor frowned. He could taste the rope but it was burned with tremendous precision, vaporized easily. Something must've saved him. "But what…" the Doctor stood up and looked around. There wasn't any sign of ponylife nearby much less wildlife. It seemed he was alone. Then it burst from the forest. It resembled a sun as it suddenly flew out of the dense trees, zipping past the Doctor with speeds he'd only seen Rainbow accomplish. The bird then stopped in the middle of the river, glowing so bright and with such heat that the freezing water underneath it steamed. She was a tiny bird with bright red and orange feathers and a majestic wingspan. The Doctor didn't have to guess too hard on what it was as flames erupted from her wings and tail. "A phoenix," he said, brandishing his sonic screwdriver and scanning it from afar. "Yep, definitely a phoenix." The phoenix did nothing but floated above the river, her hawklike eyes were intimidating and old… "Thank you," the Doctor said with a smile. "You're the one who saved me, right? Your molecular structure is the same as whatever it was that burned off my ropes." She nodded sagely but again did nothing. "Why did you save me?" he asked. "I'm sure a bird of your stature would have more important things to do than saving random peo- er ponies." "Because, Time Lord, life is precious no matter how alien," the phoenix spoke telepathically. The Doctor only laughed at her method of communication and barely reacted to her knowing his ancient title. "Impressive psychic abilities. You can access my mind while maintaining your mental block, clever bird," the Doctor said with a grin. "But you can't see everything, am I right?" "Your mind resembles a labyrinth, so intricate and vast… who are you, dear Time Lord?" "I'm the Doctor." "Ah, the Doctor, a name obscuring the truth, hiding something so dangerous even you would fear its release." "And you're nameless, very old, however, as old as this island!" The Doctor explained with a smug grin, feeling the phoenix's memories transfer to him psychically. "Ah, you've forgotten your name you're so old. I'm sorry, I really am." He felt the phoenix run through a number of emotions: confusion, fear, humility. She shook her entire body, as if shivers ran through her body from the psychic experience. "It is true, I have forgotten my name after so long… but how did you override my psychic block, Time Lord?" "A door, once it's open, can be used in either direction," the Doctor explained. "But enough about that, there's another reason why you saved me, right?" The phoenix flew away from the river and sat in front of the Doctor, the heat from her body simmer down to normal pony temperatures, which was nice since the Doctor wasn't in the mood for getting his eyebrows burned off. "There is a threat to the island that cannot be ignored, Time Lord. We need your help," she explained. "We?" "The rest of the phoenixes, they reside elsewhere, ignorant of the doom that has blanketed this flying island. But you know Doctor, you know what will happen to it, correct?" The Doctor ran a hoof through his curly mane and frowned. "Well, yes. But it'll be difficult to return to the city, I haven't a clue where I am." "I will help you return, but first I must take you to the other phoenixes." "And why is that?" The phoenix paused, the Doctor swore her cheeks looked a little redder (or if that was just her own personal fire). "To convince them. They do not believe me and ignore my warnings, but if you talk to them, maybe they will assist." The Doctor nodded. "All right, fine but we need to make it quick. Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow have been left alone. They're capable but I need to help them." The phoenix smiled (at least it looked like a smile) and flew onto the Doctor's back, she was a lot lighter than he expected. "All right, let's go." "Well, first you need a name. What am I gonna call you? Hm…. How about Philomena?" She considered for a moment before affectionately pecking his mane. "That is acceptable." The Doctor laughed and trotted along. "All right, tally-ho then Philomena!" ~==~ "How about Advanced Mechanical Engineering With Twin-Matrices?" suggested Rainbow. Twilight shook her head, frustrated because that was the 20th book Rainbow brought up that was the least bit helpful. "No, Rainbow. I told you, look in the history section, try to find out anything about this island. The origin of the technology, the beginnings of the city, stuff like that." Rainbow frowned and tossed the book over her shoulder, irritated and impatient given they've been at this for a good twenty minutes. Twilight understood her frustration, with the sense of impending doom lingering in the back of her mind it made it difficult to focus on looking for books. Rainbow already had little patience for libraries and the Hoofy Decimal System but with life or death on the balance here, it taxed what little patience she had. Rarity was, surprisingly enough, the most focused of the three. She went about her task with machine-like focus and concentration, she was the least vocal about her growing frustrations. Twilight looked over at the fashionista and still couldn't believe her eyes. Her dress was torn to shreds, muddied, her mane was undone in an unattractive, unflattering manner, but Rarity didn't appear to care at all. She had her glasses on and read through a large pile of books with patience and a calm, almost eerie, demeanor. Rarity looked up and glanced at Twilight, raising an eyebrow. Twilight looked away, blushing, as she realized she was staring. She knew how focused and driven Rarity can become when she dove into her work, but Twilight assumed that was exclusive to dressmaking and fashion. It was nice to see Rarity in another light. "Ah, how about this, darling?" Rarity levitated a book over to Twilight. It was a dusty old tome, nothing remarkable about it except its title, it ran: Of Rainbow Island: The Beginning. "Perfect!" Twilight took the book and opened it. Rainbow and Rarity gathered around her as she read aloud. "'It is difficult to ascertain the beginnings of Rainbow Island, so excuse my nonsensical, incoherent drivel as I attempt to work out the facts I have spent a lifetime gathering. The common myth and tall tale of our island is a simple, if not extravagant, creation myth. It is said a rainbow colored mythical bird dove to the earth from the sun – its birth place – and wept as she saw the ponies engaged in war. Her tears landed upon an unremarkable piece of land, which birthed The First River. "'Which, in turn, fashioned an island of peace and beauty. The rainbow bird loved the island of tranquility and did not wish anypony to interfere with it, so she shielded the island with her multi-colored wings and sent it to the heavens, away from the war and destruction.'" "I'm liking this rainbow bird," muttered Rainbow Dash. "It seems like a simple old mare's story," remarked Rarity. "Is there any truth behind it?" Twilight continued reading. ~==~ "So! Philomena, how much of this island do you actually remember?" the Doctor asked as he continued through the forest, following the phoenix's directions. "Not much, I am afraid," she answered. "Only that this is the birthplace of the phoenix." "Well, that explains that island's name." "It is said that the first phoenix was a rainbow colored bird, daughter of our Sun. That she created this island and lifted it to the skies with her wings. Upon doing so she was so exhausted she laid to rest on her island and her feathers, when they fell, created her phoenix offsprings." "What happened to this rainbow bird then?" ~==~ "'When her children were in the numbers of millions, the rainbow bird was laid to rest by the First River, her remains creating the lush forests that her children inhabit.'" Twilight read. "'It is said that from the last feather from her body, she created the first civilization of ponies. The Rainbow Ponies.'" "Okay, cool and all, but does it say anything about the black holes or the machine we saw at the Tower?" Rainbow asked. "It just keeps going on about the phoenix-kind. But, do you think that's true? That there are phoenixes here?" "Spike told me about the phoenix eggs he found when he went on the dragon migration," Rarity offered. "There were a great number of them. I heard that the phoenixes were born alongside dragonkind, born from the same Flame, so to speak." "If this book is correct, it suggests that the phoenixes came from here and that they're probably a lot older than dragons," Twilight said, consulting the book. "But why haven't we seen any phoenixes since we got here?" ~==~ "We used to thrive amongst ponykind," answered Philomena. "Until they became consumed with greed and began to capture us and use our feathers to maintain the island's antigravitation machine." "Why did they need your feathers, how did they maintain the island's flotation to begin with?" "Our Mother's magic had maintained the island for hundreds of years, but it began to fade over time and as it faded it was slowly descending the island to the earth." "What goes up, must come down," the Doctor muttered. Philomena nodded. "But ponykind wished to stay in the heavens, so they harvested our feathers as it holds Our Mother's original magic. So we hid away from ponykind, diving into the forest far from their city. Ponykind did not have the courage to follow us, so we lived in peace for many years." "Do you know how they developed the antigravity technology?" She shook her head. "It is hidden from Our vision, Doctor. Like something has gone and blocked the last two hundred years for Us." The Doctor considered who would be capable of doing something like that, nothing good came to mind. He was able to hide his life from Philomena with a simple psychic block, but who else would be able to do that? ~==~ "'Phoenixkind has hidden away from us, and hope was dwindling. Little by little our island descended to the earth, threatening to take as away from the clouds, our home. There was seemingly no way to prevent this outcome. Then she arrived.'" "'She'? The Rainbow Phoenix?" Rainbow asked. "I don't think so," Twilight muttered. "'She arrived in a golden cloud that consumed our city. In her wisdom and majesty, she granted us the knowledge to maintain the island. In her infinite maw, she held our solution, an ever gluttonous void which consumed worlds. She ensorcelled the void and held it at the point where the Rainbow Phoenix was centered'"—Twilight gasped, nearly dropping the book. "What?" Rarity asked. "Where was it at?" Twilight tried to steady her voice as she read the next lines she hoped wasn't true. "'Her heart, the Void was suspended on top of her heart, drawing her original magic and enhancing it.'" ~==~ "Even if it is true, you told me that she died, giving birth to you lot," the Doctor reasoned. "How could her heart remain?" "When a phoenix loses all of her feathers, she is reborn in a powerful flame. A new life as we rise from the ashes," Philomena explained. "Much like you, Doctor, we are reborn in the flames of life." The Doctor nodded. "Except I get a new body, a new face, a new personality." Philomena chuckled, a light, casual sound that was reserved for close friends. "The flames of life flushes out everything we were before and creates something new. We may have the same body, but our mind certainly changes." The Doctor remember his Tenth life, how terrified he was of regeneration, how he equated the process to killing everything he was. He was much too fond of that body and mind, to the point where he almost ran from his death. To where he considered leaving the old soldier in that glass chamber. Ridiculous, the Doctor thought. He was still the same Time Lord as his Tenth life was, he might look different but all of what the Tenth was still lived on in him now. "So, you think she's alive?" Philomena nodded quietly. "She is. She never died, she merely changed form in her flame of life. Her tears became the river, her feathers became the phoenixes and ponies. Her body—" "Became the forest," finished the Doctor. "Which means…" "Everything this island is… is Our Mother. Her heart is the pony city, now in eternal combat with the Endless Void." "The other phoenixes don't believe you?" he asked. "That's why you want me to convince them." "Yes, Time Lord. You have seen the Void yourself and determined how dangerous it is, only you can convince them." "But here's what I don't understand, how do you know about the black hole if no phoenix has entered the city in a long time?" Philomena paused, she shook slightly on the Doctor's back as if shaken by fear trying to remember. "I snuck into the city a long time ago, I followed the scent of the Void until I found it. I saw the Void, it was endless and horrible, swallowing everything. Light, time, gravity, until nothing remained… And I felt her. I felt Our Mother under the Void, screaming in agony, in eternal pain thanks to ponykind." "What happened after that?" "I… don't remember. I only remember being discovered and chased through the city, ponykind has developed weapons… so dangerous. I nearly lost my life." "Tell me about it…" ~==~ "You think it's true?" Rainbow asked. "It kinda makes sense," Twilight insisted. "Well, my dear, 'kinda' isn't something you'd use to support a belief. You seem to be listening to instinct, rather than reason," Rarity remarked. "But…" "Scientifically speaking, there isn't anything that explains why the black hole is becoming unstable," Rarity continued, levitating the book from Twilight and continuing on from the passage she stopped. "'She fights the Void, the Phoenix. The two are trapped in an eternal bout, technology over magic. Her heart weakens the Void, but the Void will prevail.' Not exactly scientifically sound." "Back then, nopony understood that level of technology. Honestly, I can't fully understand it, of course they wouldn't be able to explain it scientifically," Twilight countered. "If it is true, then that means this entire island is the body of the phoenix," Rainbow observed. "She's being tormented by that black hole." "It is quite a stretch," Rarity reminded them. "To believe a mythological story." "It's the only thing we have. Besides, pony explorers called this island Phoenix Island for a reason, right?" Twilight asked. "This is the best explanation we've got." "So, now what? We waltz up to the Professor, read him this story and convince him to turn off the machine?" Rainbow scoffed. "He'll arrest us on sight for either believing us but not wanting to give away the technology or thinking we're nuts!" "We find the Doctor," Rarity suggested. "Great, if only we knew where he went!" Rainbow muttered. "Rainbow is right," Twilight said. "Yeah!" Rainbow paused, touching her hoof to her chin. "Uh, right about what?" "If the Professor knows about this, which he probably does given how defensive he was of his machine, he'd probably arrest us on sight if we tell him what we know." "Or execute us," Rarity chimed in. "But that's the only way we can get close to the machine and try to disable it ourselves." Twilight finished, shutting the book for dramatic effect. Rainbow's wings fluttered nervously and she shook her head. "Whoa, whoa, Twi, I'm all up for a direct attack, but they have weapons. We exactly do we have?" "One: the element of surprise," Twilight said with a grin. "Two: we've got magic." "Well, you've got one thing correct." The lights of the library turned on all at once and the guards swarmed in, surrounding the mares instantly. The Professor smiled as he approached the trio. "You've got magic and I only have a dozen or so armed ponies." ~==~ Philomena led the Doctor to the Phoenix's Alcove, it was behind a cliff-face that required anyone who wanted to enter the power of flight. Philomena carried the Doctor into the alcove and when they walked past the initial cave entrance a small, tranquil world opened up. A single red oak tree stood in the middle of a thick brush of trees and foliage. Compared to the rest of the forest the Doctor figured that this place was the oldest… it hummed with a sort of aura that invigorated him as if someone injected him with caffeine. Oh, there was also the matter of the phoenixes. Hundreds of huge birds flew all around the alcove, even the Doctor was unable to keep track of them. They looked like Philomena except they were much bigger and their feathers resembled actual flames, almost intangible. There were also blue phoenix birds, except instead of fire they emitted a freezing aura. Where they flew their contrails froze the air around it. "Ice phoenixes," the Doctor muttered. "That's new." Suddenly all eyes were on him. A hundred different phoenixes aimed their burning glares on the Doctor and he felt as though their collective force was the equivalent of the Sun (trust him, he's had bad experiences with malevolent stars). But he did not waver under their glares, Philomena, however, shrunk slightly, hiding behind the Doctor's mane. It seemed she was used to this negative attention. "Hello, I'm the Doctor," he said with a confident smile. "I suspect you lot are the daughters of the Rainbow Phoenix." A wave of ice washed over the Time Pony as an ice phoenix flew up to him, she was twice the size of the Doctor and felt like the world's largest refrigerator on max power. Her eyes were cold and unforgiving, unlike Philomena's warm, trustful eyes. "A pony?" she hissed, her psychic voice freezing like nitrogen in the Doctor's mind. "How dare you bring him to our haven, Traitor." "Traitor…" whispered a hundred phoenixes. "Her name is Philomena, if you don't mind," the Doctor interjected with a cool glare of his own. The ice phoenix recoiled slightly, as if surprised he could hear her. She sat in front of him but her frosty glare did not falter. "You are different. But you are, in the end, a greedy pony." "You'll find that you are so hopelessly wrong." He took a step forward, unafraid of this bully phoenix. "I'm anything but a pony. Sure! I may have four hooves and a bushy tail, but I am so much more than a pony." Whispers rippled throughout the phoenixkind, confusion and unease began to set in. Despite how inhospitable they were behaving it was all talk, they feared the ponies and the Doctor just admitted he was probably something worse than a pony. "Right now, however, what I am doesn't matter. I'm here to help this island, it will fall and be destroyed if I don't do anything." Cold laughter came from the ice phoenix. "Such arrogance. You claim you are not a pony, yet you speak as one." "He is not!" Philomena squeaked. "He is a Time Lord, and he can help us, please Frost, listen to him—" "No!" snapped Frost, turning her glare to Philomena. "Year after year you claim to hear the voice of Our Mother, you claim to have seen her—" "I have!" "Why would she speak to the likes of you?" Philomena winced. "And here you are, consorting with a pony, adopting a pet name! Philomena, hmph, it certainly suits a tiny bird like you." "Oi!" the Doctor snapped, drawing his sonic screwdriver and activating it. It's sonic frequency causing the phoenixes to shake their heads in discomfort but shutting them up effectively. "Whatever problem you lot have with Philomena doesn't matter, what matters is what will happen to this island, to your home!" "Why should we believe you? You won't even tell us your name, Doctor. Doctor Who?" "My name, my real name, that isn't the point!" He insisted. "You just need to trust me." "Trust a pony?!" A light exploded in the middle of the alcove and everyphoenix, save Philomena and Frost, dove for cover. When the light dimmed, an image was displayed. It was of a strange feature, his face was pink and flat, with a small nose, relative to his face, and wrinkles on his forehead and cheeks denoting an elderly age. His pure snow-white hair was combed backwards, revealing a prominent forehead. A fierce intelligent and madman glint was apparent in his experienced eyes. "Wha—" "My past lives," the Doctor explained as the image changed into a somewhat longer looking man with ink-black hair styled in a rather ridiculous bowl-style and a mad grin. It changed again to a man with curly white hair, then faster and faster running through all of the Doctor's past faces. Each of them barely resembled the last but all of them carried the same features; a coy smile and an impossible aged intelligence in their eyes. "All of them me," he continued as the image paused on one of the youngest looking faces with soft brown eyes, wild brown hair and a youthful attractiveness; his 10th face. "I am allowing you to see into some of my memories as a sign of trust. "I'm the Doctor, I'm not a regular pony, I'm a Time Lord from a place so far from here, and I'm here to save this island." The image changed to his most recent face, a man with a crazed smile, a strangely posh haircut, an obnoxious chin, and a ridiculous bowtie. It changed to the Doctor's 12th form before fading away. "There is a black hole strapped to an impossible machine in the center of this island, it is on the verge of going critical and if that happens this entire island, no, this entire world will be destroyed. I've tried to reason with the ponies that live in the city but they won't listen, you lot need to help me then." "Why should we take orders from you?" "Because you know what I'm capable of." The Doctor stepped forward and Frost stepped back. Images of the Doctor's life flashed. Cybermen, Daleks, Sontarans, aliens of all shapes and sizes appeared before them, and time and time they were stopped: defeated by the Doctor. No matter what face the Doctor had at the time, he was there to stop them. "Because you know how clever I am, tapping into your psychic network, hijacking your frequency, child's play! You know how valuable I am as an ally… and how dangerous I am as an enemy. Make the smart choice, Frost."