Secret Agent Macintosh: The Statues of Canterlot

by islandsun

Herald of Harmony and Harbinger of Destruction

Chapter Seven

Herald of Harmony and Harbinger of Destruction

“Around these parts, we don’t take kindly to eavesdroppers,” spoke a voice uncomfortably close to Big Macintosh’s ears.

“Eee-what?!” he exclaimed as he jumped back. He had formerly thought that he and the Doctor were the only ones on this side of City Hall. And he was right. The voice had come from the hall itself, or rather the mouth and yellow glowing eyes that had manifested on the window right beside them.

It took a moment for him to recognize Eris, Discord’s mother, and to realize that she was not in fact talking to him, but rather the Doctor. Big Mac had almost forgotten that he was still impossible to see by everyone else here.

The Doctor was unfazed. “Terribly sorry, your Majesty! But I couldn’t help but overhear that you’re having something of a problem with giant unstoppable monsters heading towards your city,” he said with a smile.

Before Eris could reply, the window was slammed upwards, smooshing her face against the wall.

“You heard nothing of the sort and even if you did, everything is completely under control!” said Dissonance, who had thrown the window up. Faust stood next to him.

Eris materialized next to him with a peeved look. “I hope you don’t intend on doing anything brash with that information, Doctor.”

“Oh no, not at all!” he replied. “As a matter of fact, I’d like to offer my services to assist!”

He reached into his collar and produced his psychic paper. “Doctor Thaumaticus, expert in magical containment at your service!”

Faust raised an eyebrow as she looked to his hornless forehead. “Really?”

“Well, theory mostly,” he conceded. “But I can still help. I’ve dealt with some pretty nasty things before and I’m sure these fellows won’t be too much trouble.”

“I still don’t trust him,” said Eris to her husband.

“Ah, it could hardly hurt the situation to get another opinion,” replied Dissonance.

Faust rubbed her chin with her hoof thoughtfully. “How, exactly, would you propose going about defeating these beasts?”

“I’d need to be fully filled in for me to tell you that. So, what can you tell me about these vexatious creatures?”

“Much less than we’d like,” said Eris. “We don’t know their names, where they’re from, or precisely what they are. They appear with a flash of red light at the break of dawn, and then disappear the same way when the sun sets. They do nothing but fight the entire time they’re here, destroying everything in the immediate vicinity in the process.”

“They bring with them some unusual pony-sized followers whom who are covered in black rags,” continued Faust, carrying on the description. “Their followers also take part in the fight, although on a smaller scale. All attempts to communicate with either the creatures or their followers have failed, as have all attempts to stop them. Attempts to capture one of the smaller followers have also failed as everytime we come close they simply teleport away. Everyday their battle inches closer to the city. Soon they will be upon us.”

Big Macintosh leaned in closer to the three leaders, and carefully waved his hoof in front of their eyes, checking to make sure they couldn’t see him. “I can’t rightly believe they’re actually telling you everything.”

“What can I say? I have the kind of face that ponies tell all their plans to. And you haven't seen anything yet,” said the Doctor before once again addressing the royalty. “I’m afraid the best way for me to judge the situation is to see it for my very own eyes.”

“Are you serious?” asked both Big Mac and Eris in unison.

The Doctor smiled. “Always.”

“Oh come now, Eris dear, we should at least try to be good hosts to our guests,” said Dissonance as he floated through the window and put his arm around the brown earth pony. “I’ll show you the place, my good Doctor, I’m sure my colleagues can hold down the castle for an hour or two.”

“Yes, you go ahead and deal with this foolishness and allow us ladies to get the real work done,” said Eris flatly.

“Fantastic!” exclaimed the Doctor. “Lead the way!”

“But of course,” replied Dissonance, as he raised a claw. With a snap, they teleported away.

When they rematerialized, they were atop a cloud overlooking a vast plane. The sun was getting low in the sky, but they could still see the outline of two monolithic creatures in the distance.

They were both taller than the tallest building Big Mac had ever seen, and looked like giant wrinkly goblins with ram horns. Just one look, and they inspired a feeling of overwhelming dread. The only differences he could spot between the two was that one had downturned horns with brown skin and the other had upturned horns with grey skin.

“Damn horseapples, those are some big little buggers,” he said as he watched them tussle. He was so entranced that he didn’t even notice the pegasus guards approaching them.

“King Dissonance,” said one of the soldiers as he bowed.

“Ah, commander, how goes the day?” he asked.

The Pegasus stood straight. “They’ve advanced another thirty miles. They are due to vanish in approximately two and a half minutes.”

“Well, that’s four miles less than yesterday,” said the King optimistically. He turned to the Doctor, and coincidentally, Big Macintosh. “They showed up about six months ago, in the farthest reaches of the north. They’ve already barreled their way through the Crystal Empire and a powerful changeling hive. As you may have guessed, we’ve hidden the truth so far to prevent mass panic, although, if you ask me, we were being a bit naive. Tomorrow we’ll have to begin evacuations.”

The Doctor tapped his chin thoughtfully. “So you say they disappear every night. Have you been able to trace where they are teleporting to?”

“No,” he replied. “However they are doing it, it’s a magic far beyond our comprehension. It is even stranger when you consider that their followers use the more garden variety of magic to fight with. If the big ones had used that kind of magic, we’d be able to track where they went by now.”

“In that case, I’m going to have to get closer,” said the Doctor.

Big Macintosh raised his eyebrows. “You got some kind of death wish?”

“While I appreciate your enthusiasm, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until they leave,” said Dissonance. “The greyish one has a shadow which kills everything it touches. And the brownish one has a gaze which can burn and explode anything it looks upon. We lost two dozen guards when we first confronted them.”

“Yes, of course! Safety first!” exclaimed the Doctor as he reached into his collar and produced a small telescope. He tapped his hoof on the cloud impatiently.

Big Mac also stared at the beasts as they clawed at each others’ necks. “Why do I have this horrible feeling that you’re somehow going to make this situation worse.”

“What makes you say that?” asked the Doctor.

“Well, if everyone from the city were able to evacuate, there wouldn’t be much of a disaster, would there. Of everything going on here, you’re the biggest wild card. You’re the only thing here those leaders couldn’t have possibly planned for.”

The time lord paused. “You’re a pretty smart pony, you know that Mac?”

They both met each other’s eyes for a moment.

“No I ain’t,” replied Big Macintosh quietly.

Their attention was torn from each other when a resounding explosion and burst of light came from the scene of the fight. When it abated, they were gone.

The Doctor smiled. “Time to get started.”

With a snap of the King’s fingers, they were all transported to the middle of a field of scorched earth. It was obvious that this had been a prairie at some point. But all the grass and flowers were dead, and enormous patches had been reduced to ash.

Macintosh looked around carefully. Nearby were the giant indentations left by the two beasts’ feet.

He took a few steps forward and glanced down. There seemed to be the only plant still alive in the vicinity. A tiny four leaf clover, tinged with soot.

He sighed as he looked down on it.

“Hey Doc,” he called out, as the Doctor was busy waving his Sonic Screwdriver around. The other stallion stopped and turned to him.

“Yes?”

“Why would anypony fight for those monsters?”

“Well,” began the Doctor, “why does anypony fight for anyone? Doesn’t matter if it’s monsters, Queens, Kings or Dictators. Either they believe in them, they are indebted to them, they’ll get something out of it, or they are afraid of them.”

“I suppose…”

“But then of course, these fellows might not be ponies at all. Or they could be under mind control. You never know until you know with these things.”

“...Eeyup.”

The Doctor went back to his screwdriver waving. “Anyways, you’ll find out soon enough...Sorta.” He looked over to the King and the two Pegasus guards beside him. “I think we have a straggler!”

He pointed his screwdriver at a small outcrop of rocks as it emitted a shrill pulsing noise.

“Is that so?” asked Dissonance. With a swift swirl of chaos magic, an iron cage slammed over the rocks. “Show yourself!”

Two tiny glowing eyes peered out shyly from behind the outcrop.

Big Mac squinted. “I-is that-”

“Discord!” exclaimed the older Draconequus crossly. “Come out from there.”

Reluctantly, Discord stepped forward, looking down with his hands nervously behind his back.

“Young Draconequus, what do you think you’re doing here?” asked his father.

“I...I was just wondering where you had taken the doctor pony…”

“But how did you get here?” he pressed.

“I just followed you.”

“Considering that I teleported to get here, that’s one mean feat.”

Discord shuffled nervously in place. “I was hiding two dimensionally on the ground.”

His father went silent.

“I-I’m sorry,” said Discord after a moment.

“Sorry?!” exclaimed Dissonance with a grin. “That’s fantastic!”

At once, the cage disappeared and he wrapped an arm around his son.

“One day, when I’m long gone, the mantle of chaos will be yours, Discord. And when it is, I want you to always pull the unexpected when you can. Just like today. Fate is something meant to be spurned, and chaos is the only way to do it. Promise me you won’t forget that.”

Discord nodded. “I promise.”

“Oh, and don’t tell your mother you came out here. Otherwise there will be Tartarus to pay for both of us.”

He smiled weakly. “I won’t, but, uh, what happened here, dad?”

“Oh, this? Just a little wildfire. Nothing you need to be worried about,” he turned to the Doctor. “I have to take him back to the city. You’re welcomed to keep investigating with Commander Cloud Swallow, and he’ll escort you back when you’re ready.”

“Thank you, your highness,” replied the Doctor chipperly. “I’ll do my best.”

“I hope you will,” he replied as he snapped his claw, causing both him and his son to vanish.

When they were gone, the Doctor simply went back to waving his screwdriver around as it made that whirring noise.

Big Macintosh eyed him darkly. “I’m really beginning to hate that you brought me here.”

“Is that so?” he asked.

“Eeyup. You’re making me pity him.”

The Doctor chuckled. “In that case, I can’t wait to see what you think of this.”

“Of wha-” before he could even finish, there was the sound of a loud pop, and Discord reappeared in front of them, wearing a cheshire grin.

“Hiya Doc!” he exclaimed.

“Discord!” shouted Commander Cloud Sallow. “You’re father explicitly instructed you to go home and stay there.”

“Oh quit it, stiff. He told me to be chaotic too, remember! I just came to help anyway.”

“I assure you I can handle this myself,” replied the Doctor.

“You sure about that? Seems to me that an expert in magical containment could sure use someone who can, you know, use magic,” said Discord as he pulled a string of daisies from his left ear. “Not to mention I don’t want to leave my home just because some stupid monster is headed my way. It’s where I live!”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “So you heard everything did you?”

Discord scoffed. “Of course I did. What kind of trickster and master of chaos do you take me for?”

The Doctor pursed his muzzle together in thought. “Well, I suppose I could use a temporary assistant…”

“Absolutely not!” interjected the Commander. “He has to return to Canterlot immediately!”

“You know, actually that’s a good place to start!” said the Doctor brightly. “Can you teleport me back to the city square I? I need access to my TARDIS.”

Discord smiled and floated onto the Doctor’s back. “Whatever you say boss.”

And so with another snap, they were back where they began in the city plaza with the fountain. As they dashed for the big blue box, the Doctor began to spout off a stream of technobabble.

“So, it turns out those creatures didn’t use magic at all to disappear every night. It was a spacial and temporal shift. And a pretty simple one at that. With any luck I can track them using the technology on the TARDIS!” he explained. “Transporting something that big would definitely leave traces of Huon particles, usually undetectable, unless of course you happen to be me.”

Big Macintosh rolled his eyes. He wondered if everyone from space talked like that.

The Doctor stopped in front of the TARDIS doors and retrieved his key from the dimensional pocket in his pocket.

“What exactly is a TARDIS?” asked Discord curiously.

“Yeah...the way Jack made it out, was like it was some sort of spaceship.”

The Doctor scoffed. “A spaceship?! Hah! A spaceship doesn't have anything on her!”

He threw open the doors, and revealed the otherworldly machinations that took up far more space than the small box should have allotted them. The do-dads, and thinga-majigs that only the doctor knew the names of looked like they were spare office and industrial supplies superglued to a console. The whole place glowed with an alien orange light.

Discord and Macintosh slowly entered into the time machine with a small childlike wonder in their eyes.

“Wow…” said Discord, as he walked around the console, looking around. “It’s so much cooler on the inside…”

Big Macintosh chuckled at that.

“It reminds me a little of the torchwood hub,” he mentioned.

“Really?” asked the Doctor as he closed the door and then went to the controls.

“A little bit. Something tells me Jack did that on purpose. I figure he’s got some kind of crush on you.”

The Doctor ran a hoof through his mane and winked, “Well, can you blame him?”

Big Macintosh deadpanned in return. “Don’t ya have something ‘er other to triangulate?”

“Indeed I do!” he galloped over to a small screen with spinning circular lettering and typed into the keyboard below it. It only to a few seconds before he was grinning victoriously. “Got it!”
Discord teleported so that he was now hovering over his shoulder, squinting at the screen.

“Where did they go?”

“Well,” began the Doctor, “it appears they went to three different locations. Two of the Hueon particle trails are much bigger than the other, and end a couple thousand lightyears away. The other, well, it’s just a mile underground from here. Just judging by the size of it, I’d say it’s a couple dozen of those fellows’ followers. I wonder what they’re doing down there, all by their lonesome…”

He spared a smiling glance to Discord and then to Big Macintosh. “You’re gonna love this,” he told his red furred companion, just before flipping a large mechanical switch.

With a little jerk, the TARDIS spurred into action. The device in the central pillar began to move up and down, and the engines hummed.

Then, just as suddenly as it started up, it stopped.

Big Macintosh scratched his muzzle thoughtfully. “A vortex manipulator would have gotten us there quicker.”

“Rude,” scoffed the Doctor. “A vortex manipulator can’t hold a candle to you, baby,” he said as he gently rubbed the Tardis’ console.

“So, we’re a mile underground?” asked Discord, looking over at the doors uneasily.

“Yuppers,” replied the Doctor. “It’s some kind of tunnel complex. Oooh, I wonder if it was pony made,” he mused to himself. “Only one way to find out!”

He dashed to the doors and threw them open once again. Discord teleported just to his side and peered out carefully.

It was a dimly lit, but rather large tunnel. The only light was coming from green glowing slime plastered onto the walls.

The Doctor was the first one to walk out, followed by Mac and then Discord. The Doctor scooped some of the slime off the wall.

“I feel as though I’ve seen this somewhere before…” he said to himself. He stuck his tongue out, and it looked as though he was about to lick it before they heard a handful of small pops.

Instantly, they were surrounded by the rag wearing followers of the beasts. They pointed their horns aggressively at the intruders.

The Doctor paused awkwardly. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

Discord slunk down behind him, his ears flattened with fright.

“Are they gonna feed us to the monsters, Doctor?” he asked.

“Now why in Equestria would we do that?” asked a feminine voice

Their eyes flew to the new creature who strutted towards them from the end of the tunnel. She had a shiny black exterior, bright green eyes, striking yellow hair, and empty holes in her legs.

“It’s a...changeling…” said Big Mac, astonished.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. “Well done. How did you know that?”

“When the Vortex manipulator was malfunctioning I visited a world with Captain John Hart that was under changeling control. They didn’t get along, I just made myself scarce for most of that day.”

“Hmm, I wouldn’t mind checking that out,” said the Doctor, intrigued.

As soon as the changeling with the yellow hair entered the room, the rag-covered creatures were encompassed with green fire, and relinquished their disguises. They were all changelings.
It was right about then that Big Macintosh was able to put two and two together in his head.

“They’re...they’re the changelings from the hive the monsters destroyed, aren’t they?”

The one with yellow hair, who appeared to be their leader came closer. “I am Princess Apis, and these are my loyal drones. It is my understanding that we are working to defeat the same enemy, Doctor.”

“And how would you know that?”

She smiled. “You don’t honestly believe the followers of those feral beasts are the only ones we’ve infiltrated.”

Her horn lit up, and she transformed into a familiar figure: the Pegasus Commander Cloud Swallow. After a moment of showing off, she transformed back to her regular form.

“You’re the Changlings from the hive the beasts destroyed,” said the Doctor.

Big Macintosh blinked. “Didn’t I already-”

“Yes, but that’s what I actually said right then. In the past. And anyways, they can’t hear you.”

The smile faded from Princess Apis’ muzzle. “Yes, it was our hive that was destroyed. We didn’t have the power to stop them. But neither did they have the power to detect us when we infiltrated their followers. We killed the dim-witted things off, one by one, until we had replaced every single one of Abaddon's followers. We don’t have the numbers to replace all of the other beasts, yet.”

“But, thankfully for us, Abaddon gives the leader of his followers a certain special gift. After staging the death of his old second in command, he was foolish enough to give it me.”

Without even using her horn, she disappeared, and then reappeared instantaneously in front of the Doctor.

“The power to walk through time itself, that is. And I’ve been using it, ever since, to make a device capable of destroying those monsters.”

“And would you be so inclined to show us this device?” asked the Doctor, leaning ever so slightly away from her.

Princess Apis’ smile returned, her fangs showing. “Why of course. Right this way.”

She turned around, and motioned for them to follow. The Doctor was quick to do so, and after a moment of hesitation, Discord did as well. Big Macintosh went at his own pace while the drones kept on their rear, not letting up their vigilant guard.

Princess Apis led them deeper into the tunnels, and the deeper they went, the wider the tunnel became, that is, until, it grew into a full-sized cavern. In the very center of the cave, illuminated by the green glow, were six more changelings, their horns alite and pouring energy into six large geometrically shaped boulders.

The Doctor’s eyes lit up in excitement. He pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and gallopped around them like a school colt in a candy shop.

“Now this! This is something...extraordinary! These gems, each of the atoms that make them up are fundamentally different from each other on a quantum level! It’s like every particle is a gear in a massive subatomic machine!”

“Correct, Doctor,” replied Princess Apis. “And they’re almost done.”

“So these quantum machines, they’re some sort of weapon you said? They must be fiercely powerful,” he paused for a moment and then looked her in the eyes. “How do you intend on using them?”

“I don’t,” she said simply.

“Come again?”

“Imbued in their machinations is a simple artificial intelligence, a virtue lock, if you will. In order to use them, you have to have certain qualities. Honesty. Generosity. Loyalty. Kindness. Laughter. And of course, posses some mastery of magic. I doubt I’d be able to find that all in one creature, so they can also be used by a group as well. No matter, I will never be able to use them, myself.”

The Doctor blinked in confusion. “So you’ve built some sort of ultimate, insanely intricate weapon, and you don’t want to use it?”

The Princess glanced to Discord for a moment, then back to the Doctor.

“Do you know what hatred tastes like, Doctor?”

He didn’t respond.

She smiled bitterly, and ran her hoof gently across the surface of one of the gems.

“It has a disgusting flavor. Rancid, like decaying meat. Salty like desert sand. And putrid like static swamp water. Changelings, we can’t feed off of it. We do our best to avoid those who stink too much of it.” She stared at the device, as if it illustrated her point. “I was undercover at the time they attacked the hive, far away in a town with a handful of other infiltrators with the job of gathering food from long term assets.”

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. “You mean tricking ponies into loving personas you invented for the purpose of, I assume, capturing and sticking them in a pod of goop for later use.”

Apis covered her mouth as she stifled a laugh. “Only the young, desperate and brutal equestrian changelings resort to such uncivil measures. My hive was the last of the great old ones, founded directly by those who came from the stars.”

“So they actually originated in space,” commented Big Macintosh.

“Well, of course,” said the Doctor, “It’s not like they could have evolved here.”

“Regardless of what you may think,” continued Apis, “I was quite fond of my personal asset. He was a good, kind, hard working pony. And when the news of the hive’s destruction reached the town...well, I had to hide my despair, or at least, I tried… But then...he said he was glad they were dead, and ‘good riddance to those buggers.” And I lost control. I beat him to within an inch of his life. It was within that instance that my infinite sorrow was transformed into infinite rage.”

She swallowed. “The stench of hatred hasn’t left me since that day. And I’d dread to see what someone with as much hatred as me would do with something that powerful.”

“And you won’t allow yourself to use these weapons out of hatred…” The Doctor had a strange, distant look in his eyes. “...I suppose that makes you a better pony than me.”

She averted the Doctor’s gaze. “They will be complete soon. We’ll be looking for optimal candidates to use them. Perhaps you can assist us with that.”

“What exactly do they do, though?” asked the Doctor.

Big Mac began to pace slowly around the six gems, counting them in his head several times.

“On beings with some shred of decency, it will purify them. On creatures with only evil in their hearts, it will destroy them,” she answered. “It’s the greatest weapon I could think of. A weapon that is capable of bringing harmony throughout the land.”

“Harmony,” repeated Big Macintosh.

He walked up to one of the boulder-like gems and gently pressed his hoof up against it. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew which one it was.

“The Elements of Harmony...this is where they came from.”

“Yes, it is,” replied the Doctor, smiling. “Hard to believe we’re watching the artifacts that will dominate Equestrian history for millenniums to come be made right before our eyes.”

“No,” said Big Mac. “It’s just...these things can really tell what a pony’s like? They know who they are in there heart of hearts?”

“Well, I suppose it has some telepathic element that can monitor their brains for certain characteristics--”

“But it can really tell. It knew Applejack was an honest soul. I think, the most honest one in Equestria. I wonder if it can tell that I’m not?”

The Doctor furrowed his brow. “Are you alright?”

“Eeeyup. It’s just, and I know it might be mighty selfish of me, I wish she were here, with me. I hope she’s alright, last time I heard, she and her friends were still fighting Discord,” he said, glancing over to Discord. “Now that I mention it, I wonder...if we could take a peek in that little feller’s head, what would we see?”

The Doctor shrugged. “I have no idea. Although, I would hazard to guess that the events about to follow will help make him into the Draconequus he is in your time. Honestly, I do feel sorry for him.”

He then turned to the Changeling Princess. “Judging from the power these things would give off, our friend Abbadon would probably notice the instant you tried to activate them, correct?”

“That’s correct, Doctor, which is why we intend to have everything prepared for when the time comes. There is much to do to ensure our beastly foes meet their fate.”

As they spoke, Big Macintosh noticed some movement out of the corner of his eye. Discord, who had been silent up until that point, was edging towards one of the elements, his eyes transfixed on it.

“What’s he doing?” he asked the Doctor.

The Doctor smiled grimly. “I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do.”

Macintosh was forced to watch in disbelief as Discord placed his claw on its surface, and suddenly the whole thing lit up in response.

In an instant, everyone’s eyes were on him.

“Y-you’ve activated it!” exclaimed Princess Apis, in disbelief.

The ground began to shake like there was an earthquake.

“Oh, dear,” said the Doctor, glancing up at the ceiling.

A new changeling came sprinting down the hall, screeching to a halt in front of the princess.

“Your highness...he has come…” they said, practically out of breath.

The quaking didn’t stop. In fact, it only seemed to grow stronger. Cracks began to form in the cave walls, followed by massive chunks of the ceiling falling to the floor.

Princess Apis looked frantic, glancing all around at her crumbling secret hideout.

“Everypony! Teleport out!” she ordered at last. And with that, all the changelings disappeared, taking the elements with them.

The Doctor, for his part, rushed to Discord who was too stunned to move. He scooped him up and deposited him on his back as he continued to gallop back in the direction of the Tardis, dodging falling boulders as he did.

“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t know that would happen,” stuttered Discord.

“No use fussing about it now! Can you teleport us to the Tardis?!” he asked.

Discord broke out of his daze just long enough to snap his claw. The Doctor was still charging straight ahead when they teleported, and crashed right into the Tardis door.

They tumbled in, Big Macintosh right behind them.

Still in a heap on the floor, the Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver towards the console and activated it. Like magic, a switch flipped and the living machine spurred into action.

The Doctor heaved a heavy sigh of relief as he got to his hooves. Discord, on the other hand, stared with wide empty eyes at the wall.

“W-what did I just do?” he asked, frightened by all the possible answers.

“Yeah, what did he just do?” asked Big Macintosh curiously.

“I’m not entirely sure,” replied the Doctor. “But there is a way for us to find out.”

He pressed a few buttons, and flipped another switch and they touched down. The Doctor opened the police box doors, and stood there in the threshold. Big Macintosh and Discord peered over his shoulder to see the scene unfolding in the dead prairie not far from the city of Canterlot.

The changelings stood bravely in front of the monstrous, behemoth demon Abbadon, who leered down on them. The boulder-like gems that were the elements of harmony laid there, glowing gently.

Waves of dread emanated over anything still living to bear witness to him.

A voice, both booming, but seemingly lacking the reverberation and weight of actual speech, rang out.

“You…you creatures impersonated my servants...you have created...this destructive energy...why?”

It’s mouth did not move.

Princess Apis stepped forward, glaring up at him in defiance. “You killed our family. Monster. For that you will die.”

Abbadon was silent for a moment. A breeze passed through the barren prairie for a moment, but then faded.

Then, he raised his head up and let out an earsplitting screech.

Discord and Mac flinched, and covered their ears.

When it abated, Abbadon returned his gaze to the changelings.

“That which has no beginning...and has no end...cannot die,” was his reply.

Princess Apis narrowed her eyes. “We shall see about that.” Her horn began to glow green.

But before she could launch an attack, Abbadon swiped his arm forward, bringing with it his deadly shadow.

Some of the Changelings were quick enough to teleport away. Some of them, most of them, were not so lucky.

The elements remained there, unperturbed. Not for long though, as Abbadon raised his foot, and then stomped it down.

Several wisps of color escaped from under his toes, but when he lifted his foot back up, only broken shards remained.

Big Macintosh gulped.

One of the pink wisps separated from the others drifting into the atmosphere. It flew as if under some unseens direction, right towards the TARDIS.

It zipped in and collided with Discord, blowing him back onto his back.

“Ah!” he exclaimed.

Dizzily he tried to get to his feet, but he only managed to sit up before the zipping pink wisp began to swirl in a circle in front of him. It went faster, and faster, and faster, until it coalesced into something smaller.

A pink, palm sized gem.

There was something about it, Big Mac wasn’t sure what, in its beauty, or its power...just something about it made him feel less afraid. Almost happy even...

That was, until he looked back out the door and saw the fearsome eyes of the otherworldly Abbadon staring straight at them.

He took a step in their direction, the earth shaking as he did. And then another. And then another.

Big Macintosh was transfixed. It was one thing to see this horrible creature fighting another horrible creature, it was completely something else to have its wrath moving his direction. What with sickly grey skin, its raw strength of muscle, and its arcane power to steal life all headed right for him.

To think, this was what his Equestria was going to face!

The Doctor slammed the doors shut before it could get any closer.

He stood there for a moment, just staring at the lock. Then he whirled around and faced Discord.

“D-doc...what is this thing? What just happened? What are we supposed to do?”

The Doctor smiled thinly. “You want to know what that thing means?” he nodded to the gem. “It means you’re going to help me save the world--”

He turned to Big Macintosh.

“-twice.”

Author's Note:

Hiya folks. So, um, it's been a little while since my last update. A little over one year, actually. And for that I am very sorry. A lot has happened since then. I'm in college now and I'm sending my first novel to agents. Not as big a fan of mlp as I used to be, but I still watch it when I can. And most importantly, I'm gonna finish this story even if it kills me.

Comments

[SFaccountant]

Er... twice?
He kind of had his hooves full just doing it the one time. I feel like you nutty British ponies are really taking Mac for granted, here.

Also, way to screw up ROYALLY, Discord. For realz.