An alicorn foal appears in Twilight's library. Grown to teen years, she runs away, only to find that she may not be what she seems...
When an alicorn filly appears out of nowhere, Princess Twilight Sparkle takes on the responsibility of raising her; but something is different about her. When young Harmony runs away, she goes with a madpony in a blue box, intent upon saving Equestria from an unknown threat.
Twilight Sparkle ran through the overgrown forest, galloping desperately towards the exit. The oppressing darkness all but obscuring her vision, she tried lighting the way with her magic. Panting heavily, her magic failed, leaving her sprinting towards a disappearing exit. Out of breath, she stumbled to a stop, turning to face the dark mist closing in behind her. Attempting once more to light her horn, knowing that light was the only thing that could save her, she instead felt herself powering up for a teleport...
Twilight shot bolt upright in bed, gasping and panting. Pressing a hoof to her chest, she forced herself to take deep breaths and calm her racing heart. She turned her head to see Spike, sound asleep, not having taken notice of her distress. Twilight sighed, wishing for her nightmares to go away. Ever since she had become an alicorn...
Never mind. She stretched her wings, still unused to their splendor, and their knack for always getting in the way. She was about to roll over and go back to sleep when a glimmering silver light caught her eye.
She left her bed as quietly as she could, wincing at the creaking boards of the library's upper floor beneath her. She held her breath as Spike muttered in his sleep, not wanting to wake him. As she slowly crept downstairs, hearing the soft sound of magic fading away, she stepped down into the first floor of the library. Using her magic to light a few candles, she gasped in surprise at what she saw in the middle of the room. Rubbing her eyes in disbelief, she rushed over the the small bundle.
Shocked at the infant lying there, she levitated it with her magic to discover that is was a filly. She was a chestnut brown, with a slightly darker brown mane exposing a vivid purple stripe down it. Then, as she turned the child in the air, she noticed two things. The first, was that she was clutching a letter between her tiny hooves. The second, was that she had both wings and a horn.
The filly that appeared in Twilight Sparkle's library was an alicorn.
"I still don't understand why you had to wake me up," Spike mumbled groggily. "Couldn't you send a letter to the Princesses yourself?"
Twilight rolled her eyes and let out and exasperated sigh. "Because, Spike. When an alicorn foal appears in the library, where we live, I might add, I think that everypony living here should know about it! Now please, just copy down the letter!"
Spike shrugged and retrieved a piece of paper and a quill, showing that he was ready to write.
"Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna," Twilight began. "Tonight, I was awoken by the sound of a teleportation spell. Upon investigation, I discovered a baby alicorn in the middle of the library! She was holding a letter, which said, 'Please take care of her. Her name is Harmony.' I send you this letter asking for your advice on how to handle this situation. Yours truly, Princess Twilight Sparkle." Twilight turned from her pacing to look at Spike. "Did you get that, Spike?"
Spike nodded and tied up the letter, breathing fire on it and thus sending it. "What now," he asked.
"Now," Twilight replied, "We wait for a reply."
Twilight sat down, holding the child in her forelegs as she pondered the situation, barely keeping calm. Harmony, she thought. Why were you sent to me? A few minutes later, Spike belched out a letter. Twilight grabbed it with her magic immediately, unrolling the paper.
"Dear Princess Twilight," She read. "We thank you for informing us of your situation. The advice we give you is this; take the filly in, as the note asked. Your Element of Harmony is the most important one of the six. If the child's name is Harmony, we believe that this happened for a reason. We will offer our best advice on how to parent her, but the majority of the task remains up to you. Sincerely, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?!"
Ending in a huff, she turned the page over, examining it in every way possible. "That's it!?!? No possible explanation, no suggestions, just raise her!?!?! I don't know how to do that, I'm not ready to be a mother!! I'm still getting used to my wings, I'll have so many royal duties to attend to, I-I don't even know what to - I mean -" She cut herself off, beginning to hyperventilate.
"Twilight calm down! You're not alone in this! You have me, and Applejack, and Fluttershy, and Rarity, and all of the rest of your friends! You don't have to do this alone," Spike burst out in a desperate attempt to comfort her. He'd seen her break down with paranoia before, and he wasn't going to let it happen again.
Twilight sniffed and looked at him. "Spike, you don't understand! I'll have to stay up with her along with doing my royal duties, I'll have to read all of my parenting books, I'll need to buy a bunch of baby stuff, not to mention changing diapers! Oh, I'll have to teach her to use magic, how to fly, how to -" She was cut off by Spike putting his clawed hand over her muzzle.
"You raised me."
Unsure what to say to this, Twilight opened and closed her mouth several times, with no words coming out.
When she finally regained control of her speech, she protested, "But this is different! This is a filly, you're a dragon! There's no telling how she could turn out!" She sighed. "I just... Don't know what to do. I don't know how to do this." She hung her head in shame.
"I don't know what to tell you," Spike shrugged, "Except to go to your friends for help. You could always ask Mr. and Mrs. Cake." Twilight looked up, not needing to speak to show her appreciation at his calm level-headedness in this situation.
"I guess... I guess I can't really turn her down, I mean, that would just be horrible." Twilight looked down at the sleeping filly. "I guess I'm your new mom, then."
Harmony quickly zipped from cloud to cloud, trying not to break from cover too often. She glanced down every now and then, making sure she was still unseen as she sped for the schoolhouse. Her mornings were always like this, with her trying to hide from everypony. They always just... stared at her. Some looked on with fear, disgust, or concern. Others saw her as a young goddess, to be worshiped and adored. Still others saw a mystery to be exploited.
She hated it so much.
Finally reaching her destination, Harmony landed softly next to the door and went inside, trotting quickly to her desk in the back of the room. Upon placing her saddlebags under her desk, she levitated a piece of paper and a pencil from them, sitting down and beginning yet another drawing.
A few minutes later, the bell rang for class to begin. Quickly stowing away her drawing, she shrunk down in her seat as far as she could, seemingly trying to melt into the desk. Her classmates poured in, each one sneaking a nervous glance at her when taking their seat. When everyone was seated, Miss Cheerilee began to take roll, reading through the seating chart and looking to see if everypony was there.
"Glimmer Wink, Starbeam, Echo Song, Bubble Pond..." Going through the list, she finally made it to the seat in the back corner. "...aaaand, Harmony. Okay, that's everyone! Class, today you're going to be nice and polite for your fellow classmates' relatives for Family Appreciation Day, as they share a little bit about themselves and what they do for a living."
If it was possible for Harmony to sink any lower, she would've. She remembered telling her mom about Family Appreciation Day, and her mom marking it on her calender and (somehow) fit it into her schedule, but she had completely forgotten that it was today. She also knew that the list of students whose parents were coming in was alphabetized, meaning that she was in the first half to have their parents come in. She shuffled her wings nervously and tried to forget about the incredibly long and boring lecture that was to come.
She silently waited through five different presentations, and she had to admit that they were pretty interesting. Bubble Pond's mom was a musician. Echo Song's aunt was a rodeo clown. Glimmer Wink's dad was a really rich antiques dealer. But alas, she knew that none of them could compare to...
"And our next guest is going to be Harmony's mother, Princess Twilight Sparkle!" Harmony jumped in her seat as Miss Cheerilee proudly announced Twilight. The class bowed as well as they could from their seats, and Harmony faceplanted into the table and groaned.
Twilight nodded to Cheerilee and began her story. "Today, I am going to tell all of you how I became who I am today. It wouldn't have been possible without my friends, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack. It all started back in Canterlot, thirteen years ago, when I was sent to Ponyville to oversee the organization for the Summer Sun Celebration and make some friends..." There was no stopping her now. Twilight had launched into the epic take of how she became princess.
Harmony rolled her eyes at the class, who were all completely engrossed with the story. It was only natural, of course. She had heard this story a thousand times, while these fillies and colts were hearing from Twilight herself for the first time. This time, though, Harmony noticed something a little different. It seemed to be going by much quick than usual, as if Twilight was... leaving out details to make the story shorter? Harmony shrugged the thought away, clapping with the rest of the class as Twilight finished up her story and left.
The rest of the relatives went by in a blur, although she paid rapt attention to the fathers. When the day was over and the school bell rang for the day to be over, Harmony tried to get out of there as fast as she could. Unfortunately, she was trapped in the corner as usual. Glimmer Wink and her lackey, Starbeam, were already there, blocking her path. Being pegasai, they were able to keep her trapped there. Harmony sighed in resignation, wishing she had mastered that teleportation spell, and waited for the verbal abuse to begin.
"Well, well, well, Starbeam," began Glimmer in a nasal, stuck-up-brat type of voice. "Looks like another blank-flank to me."
Starbeam replied in the same annoying tone, "Wait, that's not all! Why, she's an alicorn blank flank! What kind of high and mighty alicorn doesn't have a special talent?"
"Well, this one, obviously. What kind of name is 'Harmony,' anyway? Do we need to bow down to our youngest princess? Should we bask in your royal glory?" They were really starting to grind on Harmony's nerves now. Just because I'm an alicorn doesn't make me a princess, she thought. She was just about to push them away with a magical force field when she heard Starbeam's comment.
"She doesn't even have a dad! He probably left when he realized what geeky, lonely whores she and her mom are."
Too far.
That was too far.
Harmony yelled in defiant rage, blasting the two bullies to the floor with her magic. Then, once casting a wing-and-leg- wobbling spell, she flew out, tears streaming down her face and clouding her vision. She didn't even care which route she took, only that it took her home. She almost rammed head-on with several ponies, swerving to avoid an oddly-placed blue box, not even bothering to apologize as she raced back to the library.
Just as she was about to slam into the front door, she yanked it open with her silvery magic, zipping upstairs to her bedroom. Unfortunately, she was caught in a field of magenta magic as she was halfway up the stairs. Breaking a sweat and straining with the effort of trying to escape, she gave up and fell limp. Turning to meet Twilight's gaze, she sniffed rather pathetically.
"If I let you go, will you stay and tell me what happened?" Harmony nodded to Twilight's request. When she set the filly down, she immediately started sobbing, pouring out her explanation with her tears.
"I'M NOT A WORTHLESS TALENTLESS BLANK FLANK AND I DO HAVE A DADDY SOMEWHERE AND I'M NOT A GEEKY LONELY WHORE AND NEITHER ARE YOU MUMMY!!!" Harmony looked up at Twilight's flabbergasted expression with her pitiful gray eyes, and tried to slow her breathing down. "Glimmer -hic- Wink and Starbeam -hic- called me a worthless alicorn blank flank, -hic- and they said that my daddy left because we were both geeky -hic- lonely whores. But it can't be true mummy, can it? I know that you're not a whore, and I bloody well know that I'm not, so why would they -hic- say these horrible things to me?"
Twilight's eyes were now filled with rage at the young bullies. She soothed Harmony, sitting diwn with her and gently hugging her, saying "It's okay, you're okay. They're just jealous because you're different, and they want to be different, too. You can't let them get to you, got it? Now, I'm going to have a serious talk with these fillies' parents and Miss Cheerilee so they can't bully you anymore, okay?" Harmony nodded sadly.
"There's also this... one thing, that I've been wanting to ask about for a long time," Harmony began.
"Well? Why aren't you answering me?! Do I have a bloody father or do I not!?!" Harmony was truly distressed now, because when her mom hesitated with an answer, she usually didn't want to say it. She gasped. "I don't..." Harmony trailed off, staring at nothing with a dazed expression.
"No, it's not like that! I... I found you. I woke up in the middle of the night ten years ago, and I found you in the middle of the library, holding a note and with the remnants of a teleportation spell around you. I'm sorry," Twilight was in tears now. "I'm so, so sorry."
Harmony slumped against the pony she thought was her mother, tears silently streaming down her face, still comprehending what Twilight had just said. "You're not my mother... You never were. You - you just - I -" Harmony couldn't find the words to express the betrayal that was inside her heart. She got up and left Twilight's side, a look of disgust upon her face.
"Wait, Harmony, I can -"
"NO YOU CAN'T! WHATEVER IT IS, YOU CAN'T," Harmony screamed. "YOU'LL NEVER UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE BETRAYED AND LIED TO BY SOMEONE YOU THOUGHT WAS FAMILY! YOU'LL NEVER KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE BEEN LIED TO ALL YOUR BLOODY LIFE!" Harmony began randomly teleporting all over the library. "Who am I, where am I from, who are my real parents, what do I do now?"
Twilight was openly sobbing now. She reached out to Harmony, who flew up out of reach. "I'm so so sorry Harmony, I didn't want you to find out like this..." She trailed into silence as she realized Harmony wasn't listening.
"I have to leave. Yes, that's it! I'll leave, and try to find my family!" Tears were still silently flowing down her face, unnoticed and ignored.
"No... Don't leave... You've always been my baby girl, please, Harmony!" Twilight knew that no matter how she grounded Harmony, how many spells she placed, Harmony would escape somehow. Better for her to be happy and find her real parents than be miserable under house arrest. "Please," she whispered.
But Harmony had already gone.
Harmony quickly packed all of her most valuable items in her saddlebags, snuck back downstairs to grab some food, and set out behind the library, leaving her adoptive mother weeping in her home.
She didn't know where she was going, nor did she remotely care. She just wanted to go... away. Of course, she was terrified, but she knew she would never be happy unless she did this. She may never be happy again, she didn't know. She just knew to keep flying, and to walk when she got tired. She followed no roads, flying above trees and rivers, until she knew she had to stop.
When she landed, she made sure to hide in a small grove of trees, away from the road. She went through her saddlebags, seeing what she had grabbed. She saw her secret stash of bits, a scarf, a hat, a... Black bowtie? She quickly grabbed this and put it on, simply for the sake of it. She also had a picture of her and Twilight. This, she stuffed into the bottom of her bag, moving on the the other side. She snagged an apple out, seeing several more in there, along with some water bottles and a book on survival spells. She crunched her apple, taking a few sips from a water bottle.
After about a fifteen minute break and reorganizing her saddlebags, distributing the weight evenly, she set off at a brisk trot, one that could be maintained for a long time. She went like this for an hour, using a road this time, and after another hour, she came to a crossroads with a sign planted there. She could go left, heading to Las Pegasus, or she could go right, heading to Fillydelphia. Knowing how she would blend in in Las Pegasus, but also knowing how pricey living spaces were, she decided to go to Fillydelphia. It was a risk, since she didn't know much about it, but she knew that she would ultimately be caught either way unless a miracle happened.
On the bright side, she thought. I have a longer journey this way. It'll be nice. She trotted along the country road for awhile, because there was no traffic. She knew that would change soon, and other ponies would question a young filly such has herself all alone on the road. Then again, what did she care? It's not like any prison or orphanage could hold her anyway.
She looke to the west, at the setting sun. She hadn't realized how late it was when she left. Deciding to head off the road, she found a small indention hidden by some bushes. Setting up camp here for the night, she made a bed out of leaves (as per survival guide), she ate another apple, had some more water, and went to sleep, the moon watching over her.
In the morning, she broke camp, clearing all evidence that she was there. Upon deciding to travel for an hour or so before eating another apple, she set off along the path. She saw a flock of birds fly out of the trees up ahead, and thought nothing of it. When she turned the corner however, she saw the strangest creatures.
They were tall, like upward sloping cones at the bottom with domed heads, and a weird antenna-like sticks with a blue light at the end of each. There were five of them, all looking at her. She took a step forward, and was rewarded with one of the many attachments on what looked like the leader poinded straight at her.
Harmony's pupils shrank in sudden terror as the strange metal beasts advanced, each pointing various appendages at her. She put up a shield, fearing ranged weapons, knowing that she could die right there.
Her fears were well-founded.
The creatures all blurted out the same word again, "-Exterminate!-" and fired blue lasers at her. She screamed, increasing the shield's strength. The lazers ricocheted, but the silver shield flickered and faded away. She looked around, frantic for any cover, any way to hide, anything at all. Scrambling into a small copse of trees, she remembered her wings.
As soon as she was on the other side, she shot up into the sky, nothing but a barely registered blip on the monsters' radar. A blip was all they needed, however, and they soon, much to Harmony's shock and despair, levitated themselves up to follow her through the clouds. Faster and faster she went, seemingly going forever, until she realized that they had turned around, approaching the same spot again. Exhausted to the bone, she crash landed in some bushes, fearing her imminent doom.
-WREEOP-WREEOP-WREEOP-WREEOP-
What the buck?
She slowly lifted herself off the ground and looked up, seeing the five creatures right in front of her but looking to their right. She jumped back, slowly extricating herself from the branches of the bush, and she was about to run away when she heard the sound of a wooden door creaking open.
The same thought crossed her mind again, and she turned back to see a little blue box with a flashing blue light on top, the words "Police Public Call Box" plastered along the sides. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, wanting this to be real so, very badly.
"Now, hold on just a minute! Just got to... get my screwdriver... like sho," called out a voice in an accent the very same as hers. "There, That'sh mufch more lihke it!"
Harmony stared in wide-eyed disbelief as a perfectly normal-looking chestnut stallion with a green tie trotted out of the box with a peculiar, yet oddly familiar, device in his mouth rather than his hoof. As he turned to look back, the monsters started to speak.
"Impos-"
The brown pony cut in, "Nofe, hold onf a minute!" He put the device in his cutie mark pocket. "Ditzy, are you coming or not?" A gray pegasus mare with a lemon mane and seven bubbles on her flank popped out, closing the door behind her.
She turned to the stallion, fixing him with a cross-eyed stare. "Doctor, you keep forgetting things all over the place! I had to shut down the bifluxium extrapolater again!"
Aghast at the situation playing out before her, Harmony interrupted their squabbling. "You two argue like a married couple!" She noticed Ditzy blush furiously. "Aren't you going to take care of these... these..."
"Daleks," the pony called Doctor supplied.
"Whatever, they were trying to kill me!"
"-Enough! There will be no more pointless talking-" the lead Dalek exclaimed. "-How did you get here? You should not be in this universe! It is under the supremacy of the Daleks!-" The Dalek put extra emphasis on the "Da-" part, as if trying to teach a foal it's name.
"No, no, no, that definitely can't be right. See, last time I checked, no one ruled here except the sister Princesses of this fair kingdom," the Doctor argued. "And believe me, we've been all over this universe, and this planet is the most advanced one so far, which means that you jumped through, or maybe fell through, like I did, an interdimensional rift to this place! Therefore, you're invading, and I have every right to protect this planet from you and any others there might be!"
Harmony stared in awe, opening and closing her mouth, unable to find the words to express the amazing-news of this pony. She stepped sideways, not realizing she was still in the bushes, and drew the attention on one of the Daleks.
"-Exterminate!-"
"No!" Both of the other ponies screamed as the Dalek aimed at her at point-blank range.
So, naturally, Harmony used the only real attack spell she had.
She shot the Dalek in the eye with a lazer of her own.
Harmony sat and looked upon the destruction she caused, at the five destroyed Daleks, and wondered why they died so easily. The Doctor was speechless, even several minutes after the event occurred. Judging by Ditzy's expression towards the Doctor, this never happened. Ever.
"So..." Harmony asked. "Where in Tartarus did you two show up from in that beauty of a blue box there?" Ditzy was about to answer when The Doctor blinked and shook his head to clear it.
"It's called a TARDIS, which stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. As to where we came from...Let's just say that I'm not from here, and Ditzy is from somewhere in the ponyverse, as I've come to call it." As Harmony opened her mouth to ask why, he said, "I mean that there are hundreds of different parallel universes in this dimension, all related to ponies. Through our travels, we hopped from universe to universe, and while Ditzy and I ran into several versions of ourselves, no paradoxes were caused, leading me to believe that the ponyverse is eternally broken."
Harmony thought about that for a moment. "I think I crashed into this thing," gesturing to the TARDIS, "yesterday. It's a lot stronger than it looks." A few moments later, she asked, "May I go inside?" The Doctor and Ditzy both nodded, grinning. Slightly suspicious, Harmony pushed open the door and peeked in.
Harmony galloped in, halting at the sight of so... much. It was like her senses were being overwhelmed with pure science fiction awesomeness. Then it hit her, hard. There was a great celestial conciousness in her mind, promising so much. She stumbled, shaking her head, and ignored the puzzled looks of Ditzy and the Doctor as they walked in. Ignoring the pressing weight in her mind, and really took in the inside of the TARDIS.
The room was circular, about twenty feet in diameter, and the ceiling was about thirty feet in the air, coming down to the floor in a domelike shape. There were support beams evenly spaced around the dome, almost looking like beige roots. Looking around, she realized that the whole room was colored in different varieties of tan and beige. There were green-blue circles of light between the supports, all the way from the floor to the ceiling. Stepping up one of the grated ramps to the center, she arrived at what seemed to be a central control panel. There were odd buttons and levers and screens all over the thing, which went in a full circle around what seemed to be the core. The core was a vertical tube, with many smaller tubes and wiring running through it. Leaning forward to examine the green glow emitting from the tube at the base, she accidentally bumped her nose on it, bouncing backwards with a slight static shock.
The Doctor shook his head, saying, "I must admit, the last time anyone touched her there, they flew all the way across the room. She must really, reeeeeeeeaaaally like you."
Harmony glanced quizzically at the pair of ponies. "Two things. She's a she, and she's alive???" She shook her head in wonder. "And here begins the life of surprises."
"Is she staying," Ditzy asked the Doctor, looking at him.
He tilted his head and rubbed his chin with a hoof thoughtfully. "Well, she can handle herself against a few Daleks just fine, but if I'm right, and I usually am with this sort of thing, they were scouts. They will have most definitely established a communication back to their commander, who would have instantly seen the girl as a threat, so... Yes, Ditzy, she has to stay with us. For her own protection." He ended on that note with a solid stamp of his hoof, the sound reverberating through the TARDIS and through Harmony's throbbing skull.
She swayed, almost falling. The Doctor looked at her with concern. "Are you alright? You seem to be having a bit of a... Balance problem," he said.
Harmony blinked several times, taking a wobbly step in the direction of the nearest door. She eventually got out, "Can't... Talk... Will... Fall... No." She staggered around in place, muttering the whole time. "Get out of my head, get out of my head, get out of my head..."
Ditzy stepped forward to steady her, only to meet a solid shield with her nose. "Put the shield down so we can help," she said, wincing, rubbing her now bruised muzzle.
"It's not her..." The Doctor quickly did a scan with his screwdriver, a blue glow coming from the end. Frowning, then gasping, his eyes going wide with the results, he exclaimed, "It's the TARDIS! She won't take the shield down!"
Meanwhile, Harmony was making the most pitiful (and adorable) squeaking whimper, staggering in a circle and almost falling. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."
Upon the end of her squeal, she collapsed on the floor, out like a light.
"...psychic connection, causing her to...temporary coma..." Oh, that Doctor and his long explanations.
Wait, coma?
"...long will it last...wish I could help..." Ditzy. Always trying to be kind to her.
Harmony felt herself drifting off... ... ... ...
Standing tall, as a fully grown mare, Harmony heard the ticking of a clock. Turning, trying to find the noise, she saw behind her a giant, silver fob watch, with what looked like clockwork engraved upon it. Thinking it nothing special, save the fact that it was gigantic, she lit her horn.
She was inside the TARDIS, she could tell, but in a different room, a library of sorts. But... What kind of library has a swimming pool in it? Deciding to move to the next room, she walked forward, savoring the feel of a light and graceful mare's walk. Moving into the next room, she saw the guest bedroom, and her sleeping filly self hooked up to an IV. Shuddering at the thought of a needle, and at having an out-of-body experience, she continued walking. With no clear destination in mind, the TARDIS lead her nowhere.
But then, what a silly thought, that she could be lead anywhere by a machine. Right?
Her only companion being that constant ticking, she continued on to what looked like a bathroom. Unfortunately, instead of stepping into a bathroom, she was stepping into the main control room, staring right at the heart of the TARDIS. "No," she whispered. "This place hurts my head." Then she started moving forward against her will. Unable to stop, she unfurled her wings, flying to the top of the domed room to perch upon some unnoticed latticework.
Looking down on the room, she saw that the floor layout was shaped like clockwork, looking practically identical to the etching on the silver watch. As she had the thought, and much to her astonishment, the floor started to change into said fob watch, the TARDIS fading around her, so that she fell towards the watch.
Harmony gasped and sat up, now questioning the importance of a watch she had left at home.
Ditzy walked into the bland guest room, checking to see if Harmony was awake yet. Harmony, now sitting up in bed, nodded to her. "Hallo, Ditzy."
The grey mare nodded back. "Hey, I'm glad to see that you're awake. The Doctor was starting to get a little worried." She trotted over to sit next to the head of the bed as she spoke.
"Why," Harmony queried, "How long was I out?"
"Um... That's the thing, you see." Ditzy scratched the back of her neck nervously. "You've... You've been unconscious for a little over a month now."
"A... A month?! I... Did neither of you even try to wake me?!"
"I wanted to, but the Doctor said that the TARDIS was trying to form a psychical bond with you or something like that, and that if you woke up too soon you could be mentally disabled or something, and that you needed to wake up on your own..."
"I had the strangest dream..." Harmony proceeded to tell Ditzy about her dream, only to be interrupted by the Doctor, wondering what was taking so long.
"Ditzy, you didn't tell me that she had woken up," he said in a slightly annoyed voice. "I need to run some tests to make sure that the link is stable..."
Harmony cleared her throat, coughing lightly into her hoof. "Now, as I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted..." She continued her story, the Doctor stopping in his tracks when she mentioned the silver watch. She finished her story, explaining how she had left it at home in the library.
"We maaaaay make a quick stop there, then," he said, ignoring Harmony's shocked expression. "I want to take a look at that watch."
The heart monitor raced, and Harmony cried out, "NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!!! I can't go back there, she'll think I'm staying, and it would break my heart to leave her again!" She leapt out of bed. "If I'm going back, I have to stay, and I'm not ready yet." Another thought occurred to her. "This is a time machine, correct?" The two older ponies nodded. "Then we'll need to go back in time a few weeks so that I can let her know where I am, even if I have to lie."
Ditzy nodded in agreement, but the Doctor shook his head. "Not yet. You're the first person -er, pony, in a long time that's had the TARDIS' full psychic weight crashing down on you, only to bond with is shortly thereafter. THEREFORE," he continued, taking a breath, "You need plenty of rest and recuperation before any adventuring or apologizing is to be done," he finished with a cheerful smile.
Harmony groaned, while Ditzy giggled, the tips of her ears turning the slightest shade of pink.
The Doctor left the room, calling out behind him, "Now get back in bed!" As soon as he closed the door, however, his face quickly developed into a frown. A silver fob watch... There was no way that it was possible.
Harmony groaned with boredom, Ditzy chuckling at her distress. Deciding to take advantage of the Doctor's absence, Harmony asked, "So, you really like him, don't you?"
Ditzy flinched, her eyes going straight for a moment. "N-no," she stuttered, her face and ears bright red. "W-what would make you say that?"
"You're too obvious," Harmony giggled. "Your ears always turn pink when he's around, and I can see you restraining your wings. You should be glad that he's completely oblivious to it."
The grey mare sighed. "Yeah, I know. He's just so... So... Oh, I can't think of how to describe it!"
"Perfect? Too good to be true?"
"Yeah, that," Ditzy said, nodding vigorously. "Sometimes I wish he would notice me, but then I think of how embarrassing that would be..."
Looking around the drab white room, Harmony was struck with some inspiration. "How about we give him a little surprise?" She grinned mischievously at a now excited (but a little nervous) Ditzy.
"Like...?"
Walking back to the guest room, he heard laughter and talking. He smiled a bit, still troubled by the watch, but he let it rest, instead opening the door to see why they were laughing.
He did not expect to see a completely redecorated room.
Harmony and Ditzy grinned as he took in the room with a bewildered look, as he had every right to.
The room was now a light blue, with a grey stripe around it. There were what looked like glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, and the bed had lime green blankets on it. There were two wooden nightstands at either side of the bed, and one of them had a lamp on it that looked like a mini-TARDIS. On the wall to his left, there was some silver wall art, the swirls indicating an inspiration from henna.
He looked back at the girls. "Well, this is certainly... Different," he said, and as they looked a little crestfallen, he hastily continued, "But different is good! This room was boring anyway." He inwardly let out a little relieved sigh at the bullet he dodged. No one could make you feel guilt or fear like a woman.
Harmony smiled a big, cheesy grin, stating, "I was bored, and Ditzy was being nice enough to keep me company, but I thought that we could give you a little surprise and see your reaction as you came in. I had to use some magic that I hadn't practiced in a while, but after a few tries, it was as easy as cake!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes at their laughter, although he was glad that Ditzy had a friend. "I just processed the data from your medical record here," he said. "It turns out that you could potentially go to the library and get the watch, but only if you don't see any of the occupants."
Harmony nodded slightly. "I would like to go as soon as possible, please. I can write a letter, telling her that I'm in Trottingham or something, and that I'm in good hooves," she said. "My room is at a window, so I can easily get in and take the watch without Twilight knowing."
Ditzy watched the planning with some interest, head going back and forth between them as the spoke. "... Let's go then!" Ditzy shook herself out of her loving gaze, not realizing that she had drifted.
The three ponies made their way to the TARDIS controls, and the Doctor entered the coordinates of their destination.
-WREEOP-WREEOP-
It was the middle of the night, Luna's moon lighting the clearing around the library. Harmony slinking across the ground. Upon reaching the library under her window, she shot up as fast as she could, making up for the loss of cover with her speed.
She peered into the window, confirming that it was, indeed, her room. She cast a silencing spell on the window hinges, then opening the window and slipping in. Laying the letter on her pillow, she began the search for the watch. Now, of course, Twilight knew the sound of her magic, so she had to search by hoof.
Struggling to remember, she realized that it was in her drawer marked 'clutter,' meaning stuff that she didn't need but never got rid of. She went to the drawer, wincing as it creaked open loudly. She reached in, searching by touch. An agonizingly slow few minuted later, she found her target. Lifting it out and placing it in her saddlebag, she closed the drawer, the sound muffling the hoofsteps outside the door.
Hearing the door creak open, Harmony frantically began building up for a teleport. She turned, and saw an aghast Twilight Sparkle in the doorway,
Harmony blinked and took a step back, mouth slightly agape. "I-I need to go..." She stared at her adoptive mother, taking in her bedraggled hair and tired eyes. "A-are you okay? You look a little... tired."
Twilight blinked rapidly, quickly enveloping Harmony in a magical levitation bubble, a crazed look in her eyes, earning an angry yelp. "I'm fine, just fiiiiiine." Harmony gulped. Twilight was getting louder as she spoke. "After all, I couldn't be anything but fine since my own daughter abandoned me, without sending any confirmation of her safety!"
"I-I-I had to keep go-"
"NO EXCUSES! You're staying HERE, where it's SAFE," Twilight screamed. "You're NEVER. LEAVING ME. AGAIN!"
Harmony shook her head rapidly. I need to get out of here, she thought. She looked around her bedroom, hoping for a distraction to get her crazed mother away from her. She concentrated hard, trying to find Spike with her magic. As soon as she found him, she looked at Twilight with a determined gaze. She was surprised to see tears streaming down her face, glistening in the moonlight. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for the loud screams of shock and outrage.
"T-TWILIGHT! HEEEEEELP!"
Twilight's spell faltered for a second, dropping Harmony about a foot closer to the floor. "Spike? Spike!?" Harmony grunted with exertion as she carried the baby dragon out the window and into the branches outside.
"I'm sorry, Spike," she whispered, and left him hanging from a limb. She blinked away another rush of dizziness, feeling slightly sick. She remembered what the Doctor had said. "It turns out that you could potentially go to the library and get the watch, but only if you don't see any of the occupants."
Well, horseapples.
"Spike! Where are you?! SPIIIIIIIIIIIIKE," Twilight yelled as she galloped throughout the library, yet still keeping up the spell. Harmony wiggled and turned in her grasp, but to no avail. She just couldn't get free. She thought about casting her own counter-spell, and she even started to, but as soon as she began the spell, a pounding, throbbing note went through her head and the spell died.
"Ah-ah-ah," Twilight tutted as she popped her head back into Harmony's room. "No escape spells! Did I forget to warn you?" She giggled insanely as she continued the search for Spike.
"Twilight! I'm out here! I...I think I'm gonna fall!" Harmony rolled her eyes. She had been keeping tabs on Spike. She would catch him.
If I can't cast any escape spells, I can at least write a letter. She levitated a roll of parchment and quill over to hover in front of her. 'Dear mum,' it began.
The Doctor paced in the TARDIS, chewing on his bottom lip as Ditzy sat silently and watched him. The TARDIS kept making strange noises, and the Doctor knew she was in distress.
"I..." Ditzy began. "I'm sure she's fine." She leaned back as the Doctor stopped in front of her.
"No, she's not! She's taking too long, she probably ran into her mother," he said. "She can't be to emotionally stressed! It could put her back in that coma for who knows how long!"
The gray mare cocked her head to the side, asking, "Umm... Why?"
Pacing again, he answered, "Because her psychic link with the TARDIS is still a bit unstable. If she's put under too much stress, or gets too emotional, the TARDIS gets all moody, like she is now!" He looked around the control room with a worried expression, his hooves clanking against the floor.
"We both know that we can't go in and help her," Ditzy reasoned. "She's smart, she can find her own way out."
The Doctor looked at Ditzy with a pained expression. "I hope you're right."
Twilight trotted back into the library, Spike safely on her back. "I'm telling you, Twilight! It was magic! I didn't climb out there!"
The purple alicorn rolled her eyes. "Suuure, Spike. Now, back to my misbehaving daughter..." She dropped Spike back off in his bed, going to Harmony's bedroom. Her eyes went wide as she saw that Harmony wasn't there, with only a letter on her pillow as any sign that she was here in the first place.
"NO! NO, NO, NO, NONONONONO," she screamed, making Spike flinch in his bed. "She did it! I should have known, only something like Spike's safety could distract me enough to release the spell!" She slowly walked over to the bed and opened the letter, holding it close to her face as she made out her daughter's messy hoofwriting.
'Dear mum, it read. Please forgive me for hanging Spike from that branch. I needed to get out of here, something was wrong with my head. Twilight squinted her eyes a little with worry, and continued. I made some new friends, and they're helping me find out where I'm from. Their names are Ditzy Do and Doctor Whooves, you may or may not know them. We're starting in Trottingham, because of my accent. I hope you're not too angry with me. Twilight could imagine the steam pouring out of her ears. I love you. Goodbye.' Twilight didn't notice the tears streaming down her face, but she did notice something on the bottom of the page. P.S. You look kind of insane. Your hair is all messed up, you keep making weird faces, and your wings need preened. Kind of like in that story you told me about the whole "Smarty Pants friendship problem." Twilight blinked a few times, dropped the letter, and went to clean herself up.
Harmony zipped into the TARDIS, thinking of how her mad dash through the moonlit night had been too good of a success. True to her thoughts, she swayed as she walked forward a few steps, seeing many different Doctors and Ditzys running towards her. She shook her head, took a step back, and collapsed on the ground.
Harmony groaned and sat up, blinking her eyes. She looked around her colorful bedroom, waiting for either Ditzy or the Doctor to come in. Thinking back to her... confrontation... with Twilight, she began to question her stability. After all, this wasn't the first time that this had happened. Maybe... Her thoughts were interrupted by the opening of a door.
"Good morning, sunshine," the Doctor said as he trotted in upon seeing her awake. "And how are we feeling today?" He had a cheerful grin on his face, as if something had actually gone right for once, or he had just heard a good joke.
"I've been better," Harmony replied. "How long was I out this time, and why?" She ruffled her wings, only to feel a slight shift that wasn't supposed to be there. Turning to look at them, she cried out at the pile of dandruff she was sitting in. "Aw, man! I forgot to clean up before going out! Oh, this is disgusting..." She reached up and felt her horn, which was in desperate need of filing, and her mane, which she though was a small bush at first.
The Doctor chuckled at her distress, deciding to ask about her wings when he was done explaining. "Well, you've only been unconscious for about a week, which is good, because we didn't know how long you'd be out. As for why... Your connection to the TARDIS was still a little bit unstable. I didn't want you to see any family or friends, because they'd want you to stay, but you would want to come back, and any emotional stress would disrupt the TARDIS, because of your psychic link, so she would try to knock out the source of her distress, being you. Now, normally, if she was distressed, she would teleport away, but that wouldn't break the link, oh no. So she needed to knock you out so that she could cope with your emotions better, until you calmed down enough to wake up."
Harmony blinked a couple of times and stared at the Doctor, taking it in. "I... Um... Has this happened before?"
"Nope. Came up with that explanation just now. Come on, we have some adventuring to do! Oh, and do you have that watch?" He looked a little sheepish at the last bit, having not wanted to disturb her bags.
"Um, yeah, here you go," she said, levitating the watch out of her saddlebag to rotate slowly in front of the Doctor. His eyes widened, and he involuntarily took a step back, muttering almost silently.
"No, no no no no no... This is very not good, this is very baaaaaaad..."
Looking at him curiously but saying nothing, reasoning that he would talk in good time, she said, "Now, take it and be out with you! I need to clean up."
"Um... You do know that we have bathrooms here, right," queried the Doctor, more than a little confused, but still taking the watch and stepping towards the door.
"Yes, I know that, but seeing as I've already made a mess here, I might as well finish the process, right? Now, OUT!" She blushed a little bit at her unexpected volume, but thought, Hey, it's his own fault he doesn't know. Preening is a private matter.
After he left, (or so she thought) she began nibbling at her wings, getting rid of all the dandruff and molting feathers. However, the Doctor was peeking in using his sonic screwdriver, curious as to what was going on. Seeing as it looked like an unpleasant task, he slipped back in.
"Need some help with tha-"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT NOW!!!!!!!!"
"Neeeeighhhhh okay, okay! I'm going and I'm staying out!" he retreated very quickly, not noticing that he had whinnied in fear, only to turn around and see a very amused Ditzy.
"Do I even wanna know," she asked, trying not to laugh at his utter failure.
Turning his hooves much as one wrings their hands, he stuttered. "W-well she said she had to clean up and she kept telling me to leave and so I peeked with the sonic and saw her cleaning her wings with her face and I thought she could use some help..." He trailed off at the gray mare's facehoof, wondering what he said wrong.
"She's preening her wings, you doofus! And, no, it isn't fun, but unless we do, we molt everywhere. I'm actually needing to do that myself, but I've been waiting to see if you needed any help, which I can see you do!" She rolled her eyes, continuing. "Preening your wings is a private thing, it's like, really really reeeeeeeeeally good friends, siblings, parents, and..." she trailed off at the Doctor's weird expression, but decided to continue. Clearing her throat, she said. "And couples, help with preening wings."
"I... I..." The Doctor had the weirdest, most bewildered and irritated expression upon his face at the moment, his face beet-red. As he thought about what he just did.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, you didn't know. Just... Ask about these things, okay?" She touched the side of his face with her hoof, causing him to blush an even deeper shade of red. "You go see if you can find anything on pony customs, 'kay?"
He nodded, trudging off and grumbling about "silly pony customs," and Ditzy turned to knock on the door.
Satisfied that he was gone for good, Ditzy knocked on the door, earning a shout to "GO AWAY!" She sighed. "It's me. I was wondering if we could help each other with that?" There was silence from the bedroom.
"Come in," said a small (and slightly ashamed) voice.
Ditzy opened the door and stepped through, closing it behind her. She trotted over and sat on the bed next to Harmony. "Hey," said Ditzy.
"Hey," came a reply from between mouthfuls of feathers.
"Sorry about him. He doesn't know much about pegasai." She almost said ponies, but was unsure as to if the Doctor had told Harmony what he was, so she said pegasai instead.
"It's okay." The teenage filly looked up, the tips of her ears pink. "I... Sometimes wonder if I came from somewhere else, far away, where there's only alicorns." She sighed as Ditzy cocked her head and gave a perplexed look. "Well," she continued, "I feel different from other ponies, not just because of what I am, but because of who I am, and where I'm from." She looked down. "I just want to know why they tease me, when they know I could easily hurt them." She paused. "Sometimes I really want to." She shrank down into the bed, hiding in her wings. "Once, I did."
Not knowing what to do, Ditzy poked through the ruffled feathers with a hoof. "Sometimes, when we need to vent our anger, we take it out on other ponies. Sometimes it's because we're jealous of them. Maybe they have money, or a better home, or are more popular than we are. Maybe we want to put them down because it's easier than bringing ourselves up, especially if we're on our own." She was smiling down at Harmony now, who was looking up at her in some awe. "Sometimes, we don't do very nice things. We just need to let go of our anger, and our sadness, and embrace happiness so that it's easier to lift ourselves up. Because if all we do is put others down, they will drag you with them. You can never go up if all you know how to do is go down, and all you need is a pony willing to lend a helping hoof." She sat back up and reached out her hoof. "I want to bring you out of the dark hole of loneliness that you've fallen into."
Harmony came out from behind her wings, tears in her eyes, took the hoof, and hugged Ditzy tightly. "Thank you."