The Doctor finds himself in a strange land, ocupied by Ponies, and in need of help
The Doctor lands on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest, where he meets a new companion before setting out on one of the most dangerous adventures of his life. Can he save Equestria from an ancient god and his follower? Can he get the TARDIS to work again? And can he fix his new friend's eyes? Find out in the first enstallment of Doctor Whoof!
Throughout our universe, there is a man. A man in a blue box that is bigger on the inside then the outside, a box that can travel through time and space and sometimes... Even different universes. This man is the last of his kind, an alien from a planet long dead due to war. His name... lost in time itself, but many people (allies and enemies alike) call this man by a single noun.
They call him... Doctor.
“Oh boy! Not good not good!” The Doctor yelled, pulling various levers and pressing buttons on the TARDIS consul, “What I wouldn’t give for some help right now.” It had been years since his last outing with Amy and Rory, well years for him days for them, and he had always let River Song go out on her own; however, now was the time he needed a companion more then ever. The big blue box was going out of control, and the only way to stableize it would be to have two people working the controls. Which was obviously impossible since The Doctor couldn’t clone himself... well, not again.
Just as The Doctor pulled the ‘flippy-twirlly- thingy” (he knew he should’ve made up a real name for that thing), the TARDIS began to spin out of control and fall through the Time Tunnel he was traveling through.
“No... NO! This is more then not good...” the time lord pushed a huge red button which lowered an airplane yoke. He began to pull on it, but to no avail as the TARDIS kept spinning and falling like an American football that was thrown too far. “BRACE FOR IMPACT!” The Doctor said to no one as his ship finally hit dirt, and he passed out.
***
Derpy looked up from her muffin just as the huge blue box fell through the tree tops and just at the edge of the Everfree Forest. She cocked her head to the side and looked at the thingy, confused to what it was. As the pony walked up to it, the doors slammed open and out limped a light brown colt with a dark mane and big blue eyes, on his flank was an hourglass shaped cutiemark. Derpy Hooves walked closer to the strange pony and opened her mouth to talk, not something she usually did around another pony.
“Hello?” she said, her voice clam and cool, “Are you ok? Do you need a doctor?”
“I... I’m fine.” the strange pony said with a Trottingham accent, “Just a bit wobbley’s all. Now, could I ask you where...” The strange colt stopped and looked at Derpy, his eyes wide with shock, “Are you a... Horse?”
“Nope, I’m a pony. My name’s Derpy, Derpy Hooves.” Derpy extended her hoof to shake this strange pony’s, “What’s your name?” The odd pony took Derpy’s hoof and shook before he spoke.
“I’m The Doctor.” he said, smiling slyly.
“Doctor who?” Derpy replied.
“Exactly.” The Doctor looked back at the TARDIS and frowned, “Looks like the old girl’s not going anywhere for a while... Derpy,” he turned towards his new friend, “Everyone here’s a pony, right?”
“Well that’s a silly question,” she laughed, “no. There are dragons too.”
“Dragons... well, that’s nothing new.” The Doctor said with a slight smile.
“But that’s only the things that can talk... well, that I know of.”
“Only the... Ok then.” The Doctor trotted back into the TARDIS and looked around, even going so far and to take his coat down and shake it hard in his teeth.
“What’cha looking for?” Derpy asked, wanting to help.
“My Sonic Screwdriver...” he answered, taking her frown to mean that she didn’t understand (mostly because it seemed like she was always cross eyed, which made her look confused all the time.) “it’s a small sliver stick with a blue light at the end, and it makes a whistling noise.” Just as he finished explaining, Derpy picked up his Screwdriver and showed him. “H... How did you...?”
“You walked right past it when you came in.” the female pony said matter of factly, handing it to The Doctor. He took the Sonic Screwdriver in his hoof.
“How am I holding this?” He questioned, then shook his head as he felt that was the least of his questions, “How do I have a hoof? Why are you the same hight as me Derpy? And why do I feel like I have the need to eat a lot of apples?”
“Well that’s easy silly,” Derpy Hooves smiled and looked at him, “you’re a pony too.”
The Doctor turned and used his Sonic to pull a mirror down from the control panel of the TARDIS. Staring into it, he saw that his skin was covered in fur and his hair replaced with a mane... Then he turned to Derpy and opened his mouth as if he was about to say something profound... But instead he fainted and his the floor of the TARDIS with a thud. Derpy didn’t notice this till a few moments later, as she was looking around the huge room that was contained in such a small blue box.
“It’s bigger on the inside” she said right before hearing The Doctor fall to the floor.
***
Meanwhile, just a few miles away in Ponyville, a strange colt walked past Sugarcube Corner and smiled. His nose in the air, he sniffed as the scent of fresh cupcakes filled his nostrils. the colt looked to the bakery and adjusted his glasses, his cape blowing in the breeze as he kept walking. Suddenly, a small pony absentmindedly walked in his path and crashed into him, she fell as the colt just stood and looked at her through his green rimmed glasses.
“I’m sorry mister.” Applebloom said, looking up at the pony, “I didn’t mean too...”
“It’s fine child,” the colt said, “you can make up for it by pointing me in the direction of the library.”
“Ok,” Applebloom pointed her hoof in the direction of Twilight’s house, “It’s the big tree with the door in it. They’ll be a pony named...”
“Twilight Sparkle,” the colt interrupted, “student of Princess Celestia, correct?”
“Y...yes.” the filly backed away from the colt slowly.
“Thank you little filly... Thank you very much.” he said, then began to walk away.Soon,the colt thought, I will free you master, then... Chaos shall reign!
“Derpy, I have a question.” The Doctor looked up at his new companion, who was flying next to him, “Can all ponies fly?”
“Only pegasi,” the pony replied, noticing that her new friend kept trying to jump in the air, “you arn’t a pegasus Doctor, you’re a ground pony.” The Doctor stopped his attempts at flying, looking a bit envious of Derpy’s grey wings. Still, it was better that he was a pony and not a human right now, and he had a feeling being a dragon wouldn’t have helped much either.
“Exactly where are we going?” the time lord asked, his feet... no, not feet, hooves,.. where killing him for the past five minutes. They had been walking through this Everfree Forest (as Derpy called it) for at least three hours, and he hadn’t even eaten a slice of toast.
“Ponyville, it’s the town I live above and deliver mail to. You’ll be able to find food and stuff there.” the pegasus rolled her eyes, which for a moment weren’t crossed, at The Doctor. For a pony who acted so smart, he was pretty dumb when it came to basic knowledge. I mean, what pony doesn’t know about the three types of ponies?, Derpy thought, Or that they where in Equestria? Or even that they where a pony, for Celestia’s sake!
“And there are more ponies in Ponyville correct?” The Doctor asked, “Well, that was a stupid question. It’s called PONYville after all. I mean if they called it Dragonville it wouldn’t make since, but Ponyville, now that’s just obvious.”
“Can I ask you something?” Derpy interrupted, giving The Doctor time to nod, “Do you ever stop talking? You’ve been going on and on like that for the last hour.”
“Well,” The Doctor lifted his head, rubbing his chin with his hoof, “no not really.” The time lord stood there for a while, Derpy landed and stared at him as she wondered what exactly her friend was thinking of.
“Um... We should probably keep going...” the pegasus poked him with her hoof tip, becoming a little worried when he didn’t move, “Doctor? Hello... We need to get to Ponyville before it gets dark. Otherwise, we mite run into something pretty mean.”
“Wha... What? Oh, oh right... Sorry.” The Doctor shook his head and started walking again, not realizing that he had even spaced out.
***
A few moments later, the two had finally made it to Ponyville. The small town looked beautiful surrounded by the orange light of the setting sun, and it even made The Doctor forget about his aching hooves for a little while. On a regal platform in the center of town stood a tall white pony with wings, a horn, and a flowing rainbow mane.
“Who is that?” The Doctor asked, noticing the buff looking ground ponies in gold armor around the taller pony. “She looks like a queen.”
“That’s Princess Celestia,” Derpy answered, “she rules Equestria with her sister, Princess Luna.” As soon as the sun went down, a smaller dark blue pony stepped infront of the white one. The Doctor assumed that this was Luna, mostly because as soon as the princess’ horn lit up the moon rose. The time lord couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but these two ponies where controlling the sun and moon... Controlling time. Suddenly, Derpy jumped high in the air, her crossed eyes wide as she looked at The Doctor’s flank. His cutiemark, an hourglass, had flipped and the sand had started to flow until both part of it where half full. The Doctor turned and looked at his new companion, quickly pulling out his Sonic Screwdriver from his jacket and aiming it around with his teeth.
“What is it Derpy? What’s wrong? Where’s the danger?” the ground pony asked, his eyes never leaving the alleys of Ponyville.
“Y...your cutiemark...” Derpy began, “it...It’s...” Suddenly, Derpy’s eyes moved to a bouncing pink pony, who was staring at The Doctor like he was a Hearth’s Warming Eve present about to be unwrapped.
“Hi, are you new? My name’s Pinkie Pie,” the excited pony began, her voice making a new pony record for speed talking, “I like parties, some people call me the welcome wagon of Ponyville. You like parties? Do you want me to throw you a welcome party? What’s your name? Do you like chocolate or vanilla cake?”
“Uh...” The Doctor stood, dumbfounded by the speed of Pinkie’s speech, “Chocolate...”
Pinkie gasped, “Me too! I definitely have to throw you a party! Come on! Follow me!” the pink pony then started to bounce away, singing what The Doctor could only assume was a strange song about making cupcakes. The time lord looked over at Derpy, his eyes now wide with shock.
“That was Pinkie Pie,” the pegasus explained, “she likes parties.”
“Yeah... I got that...” The Doctor slowly followed the party pony, hoping that the party was going to be just him, Pinkie Pie, and Derpy.
***
As The Doctor and Derpy walked into Sugarcube Corner, a whole chorus of surprise’s filled the air. Within five minutes of meeting The Doctor, Pinkamina Diane 'Pinkie’ Pie had invited thirty-eight ponies to his welcoming party, and fifty had arrived for it. The time lord’s jaw dropped as he looked at all the sweets that covered the tables, not to mention all the ponies rushing towards him and greeting him. There was even a small, toothless alligator that had an affinity for dancing.
“This is the best party I’ve been to!” The Doctor cried out, dancing next to Gummy, “And this little guy is amazing!” The party was in full swing until about midnight, when only The Doctor and Derpy remained with Pinkie and her pet. As the moon sank higher into the sky, the two finally made their way out of Sugarcube Corner.
“Whee!” Derpy flew circles in the air, giggling, “That was one of Pinkie’s best yet! I mean, did you see how big that cake was?”
“Bigger then both of us combined!” The Doctor laughed, a bit of frosting on his cheek. The two walked to the Quick Trot Inn to get a room for The Doctor, and call it a night. ***
The two ponies entered the inn, a roaring fire greeting them and fighting off the cold of the fall winds. Derpy went to the inn keeper, a pony with a bushy mustache and a light blue coat, to negotiate a room price; meanwhile, The Doctor sat next to the fire, trying to shake off the giant pieces of Pinkie Pie’s welcome cake he had eaten.
Then, slowly, from the corner of the inn, crept a shadowy figure who had entered town that day.
“Hello,” said the green capped colt, “you look new in town too, Mister...”
“The Doctor... Just The Doctor,” said the time lord, smiling at the colt, “And you are?”
“Call me Blackspine.” he answered, moving his cape to reveal a cutiemark in the shape of an open black book. “I’m just a librarian here in Ponyville for a little rest. What about you Doctor?” Blackspine looked down at The Doctor’s cutiemark and gasped softly. Either this pony’s a clock maker, the colt thought to himself, or I could have a bit of trouble with this one.
“Well, I work with Derpy over there.” the pony pointed to his new friend as he lied, “I time her deliveries.”
“I see...” Blackspine glared at The Doctor, smelling the lie fill the air as the two stood, “I believe you and I will see each other again soon, my friend.”
“Yes...” The Doctor knew his lie hadn’t worked, after all the years of traveling and covering his identity the time lord knew what a person (or pony) looked like when they didn’t believe him. Just as Blackspine walked up the stairs to his room, Derpy returned to The Doctor’s side and smiled.
“Ok,” she began, “it took a while, but I was able to get a good price on a room for you on the first floor.”
“Well, that’s good... wait,” The Doctor looked at his companion with his eyebrow raised, “ponies use money?”
“Well duh,” Derpy said, rolling her eyes again, “where have you been living? In another universe?”Before The Doctor could answer, an orange pony with a Stetson on her head, and three apples for a cutiemark ran through the door.
“Twilight...” Applejack panted, trying to catch her breath from the run to the inn, “Twilight... she’s... needs a doctor.”
“My friend, he’s a doctor! Come on!" Derpy said as she rushed forward, dragging her new friend by the hoof as she headed towards the library. Finally, the two reached the library and they burst through the doors. Derpy was the first to see Twilight Sparkle, and the pegasus would go on to say it was the most horrible sight she had ever witnessed. The Doctor approached the unicorn, and frowned. He put his hoof on her cheek and shook his head.
“I’m sorry.” The time lord said, “I’m so very, very sorry...” He looked into Twilight’s eyes and saw they where frozen in pure horror. Her mane’s color had turned a shade a dull grey, her horn and chipped, and the poor unicorn’s body was stiff as a board... as stiff as a corpse. The Doctor turned to Derpy, who was shaking in the door way staring at Twilight, and pulled her so she wasn’t facing the petrified unicorn. “Derpy, I promise that I’ll find who did this to her. I’ll find them and make them pay.”
“Doctor... What about Spike?!” the pegasus flew up the stairs and sighed with relief. The baby dragon was safe and sound in his bed, snuggled up with his favorite blanket. As The Doctor joined his friend, he smiled softly to himself, not because Spike was ok but because he had learned something about whoever cursed Twilight Sparkle. The pony who hurt her was only interested in the unicorn herself... But why?
***
Blackspine smiled as he stared into the small bowl of water, a gold tiara with a large purple gem next to it. In the bowl, a pair of bright yellow eyes looked back up at the colt, a black pupil in one and a red pupil in the other.
“So,” a weak voice radiated from the bowl, “you got the Element of Magic first? Impressive Blackspine, even I had trouble getting Twilight Sparkle to give up all hope.”
“Then it’ll make you feel better when I tell you that I had to use a little bit of you... 'advice’ on her.” Blackspine chuckled as he pushed the tiara into a small sack by the table. “Now, Master, which should I go for next?”
“Let’s just say... you’ll get a kick out of her.” The voice began to laugh wildly at it’s own joke, then suddenly the water drained from the bowl. Blackspine looked out his room’s window to Sugarcube Corner.
Blackspine slowly backed out of Rarity’s Boutique, cracking his neck as he softly shut the door. The colt’s left front hoof cut open slightly in three spots, thanks to Opalescence trying to defend her master. It was all in vein though, Blackspine had known exactly what he was doing with that snob of a mare. Hay, Rainbow Dash put up more of a fight then either unicorn did, and with them out of the way all Blackspine had left was Honesty, Kindness, and Laughter. The colt laughed to himself as he headed to the inn for some well deserved rest, unaware of the pair of huge, amber eyes watching him. A pair of eyes that had seen him before, his first night in Ponyville.
***
“Are you sure you can help us Mister... What sis you say your name was again?” Mayor Mare asked, looking out her window in distress. The only ponies in town who knew about what had happened to Twilight Sparkle where these two and Applejack, all of whom she had summoned to her office that morning.
“The Doctor madame,” The time lord nodded, “and this is my assistant, Derpy Hooves.”
“Yes, yes” the mayor said, “I know who Derpy is, but you havn’t answered my question. Are you sure you can help us Doctor?” The brown colt nodded, his eyes now focused out the window and on the streets of Ponyville. He watched as the various mares and mules went on with their lives, clueless to what had happened the night before.
“Of course I can,” The Doctor smiled, “Trust me, I’m a doctor.”
“You havn’t told us what the hay kind of doctor you are though.” Applejack eyed the strange pony suspiciously. “All you’ve done is pull out that buzz contraption of yours...”
“Sonic Screwdriver.” The Doctor interrupted.
“...That buzzy contraption of yours, aimed it at Twilight, and said it was nothin’ to worry about.” the farm pony finished, ignoring the time lord’s interruption entirely. Her pain filled eyes going back to the mayor, wanting her to speak up against this colt as well.
“AJ,” Derpy said, breaking the uncomfortable silence, “you’ve known me for a while now... Almost my whole life, and I know you trust me right?” Applejack nodded, “Well, I’ve been with The Doctor for a day now, and I can tell you that I don’t understand him. He either explains something too much or doesn’t say a thing at all, but in last night when we saw what happened to Twilight... I saw a look in his eye that I’ve seen before. It was the same look Rainbow had when she flew to save Rarity during the Amature Fliers Contest, and it’s the same look that you told me Fluttershy had when she made that dragon move farther from Ponyville. Now, I may not know why The Doctor had that look in his eye, but I know what it means... So please, just give him that chance he wants.”
Applejack looked into Derpy’s eyes, and for the first time noticed that the pegasus as looking straight at her without getting cross eyed. AJ smiled softly and looked at The Doctor now, a nervous smile crossing the colt’s mouth.
“I’ll trust you Doctor,” she said, “but if you need help, come find me at the farm. Derpy know the way.” Applejack turned, a deeply determined look on her face, “Ah’m going to find Rainbow Dash and start looking into this too... Thank you.” With that, the farm pony left the office. The mayor turned to the two remaining ponies and nodded.
“Any resource that could help you, I’ll get it.” she said.
“Well,” The Doctor replied, “there is one thing.”
***
“Why?” Derpy asked, flying next to The Doctor as they headed back to his blue box in the woods, “Why, in all of Equestria, did you ask for that?” The time lord pushed his fez up on his head more, pulling the black tassle to the back.
“Because fezzes are cool,” he said calmly, “and she did say anything.”
“Mayor Mare has a direct line to Princess Celestia! You could’ve asked for an army, the best Canterlot detectives, weapons...”
“No,” The Doctor interrupted his companion, “no weapons. I don’t kill, that’s rule one.”
“There are rules now?” Derpy asked, annoyance filling her voice, “The pony with a blue box that’s bigger on the inside has rules?”
“Yes,” the time lord said matter of factly, “at least three. I don’t kill, and when I say run you should... Well, fly in your case.”
“What’s rule three?” the pegasus asked. The Doctor stopped completely, looking at Derpy and frowning as he thought of the speech she gave to that Applejack pony about trusting him.
“I’ll tell you when it comes up Derpy.” he trotted on, fearing that this time he couldn’t bring himself to tell his companion the most important rule about being a companion of the last time lord. “So, what’s the connection between Applejack and this Twilight girl... uh, I mean pony.”
“They’re friends... Best friends.” Derpy sighed, still wondering how this pony couldn’t grasp proper grammar, “They’re part of this whole group of friends that started around when Twilight came to live in Ponyville. It’s weird, before that a couple of the ponies in their group barely spoke to each other.”
“Ah, that mite explain the dragon being able to move still,” The Doctor thought out loud, “but then, why would the pony leave a possible witness. It just doesn’t make sense.” Derpy shook her head, the colt had been going on and on like that since seeing Twilight, saying things didn’t make sense and needing to go back to the TARDIS... Whatever that was. Finally, the two made it back to the box and once again entered the palace size room inside.
***
As the train to Canterlot left the Ponyville station, Applejack waved to Sike as she wished him a safe trip. The two of them agreed that it would be too dangerous in the town until the one who petrified Twilight was found, so AJ put the baby dragon on the first train back to Princess Celestia. It was a hard thing to do, mostly because Spike insisted on staying, but the farm pony knew it was right. After all, what kind of a friend would she be if she let Spike get hurt? As soon as the train left her sight, Applejack ran as fast as she could to Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie was the closest pony that could take the farm pony to Cloudsdale, plus the balloon would be faster and safer then Fluttershy going there by herself.
“Pinkie? You here?” AJ said as she pushed open the door, only to see a completely empty room. As she looked around, Applejack noticed that something was off. There where no baking smells that had always greeted her as she entered the bakery, no pony at the counter, no pony anywhere. But it wasn’t until Applejack heard a large thud from the second floor did she realize what was happening. Quick as lightning, the farm pony ran up the stairs to try and help her pink friend, but she was a moment too late. Applejack watched as a colt in a green cape put his hoof over Pinkie’s Element necklace, stuffing it into a bag as the pink pony began to lose her ballance and fall once more. As she hit the floor, Pinkie looked up and yelled at the balloons that where hitting the ceiling.
“Stop laughing at me!!! Please stop!” she covered her head just as her curly pink mane straightened and turned grey. The party pony’s pupils turned to pin pricks and her normally warm smiled turned wide and frightening, all the while the strange colt turned his gaze to Applejack.
“Well,well,well...” Blackspine chuckled as he adjusted his glasses, “look what he cat dragged in. Honest Applejack, just the pony I wanted to see, and you even saved me the trouble of tracking you down. Thank you so very much!” With a lunge the malicious colt knocked AJ’s hat off her head, revealing the Element of Honesty that she kept on her at all times after the run in with Discord. Blackspine put his hoof on the necklace and looked deep into Applejack’s eyes, “Just putting it in the sack wont work, will it AJ? You’re too honest, too truthful to cut your link to the Element that way... Arnt you? I need the spell.” The colt stared deep into Applejack’s eyes, the poor pony’s hooves glued to the spot as a dark, familiar voice filled her head. She closed her eyes and saw the draconequus her friends had turned to stone standing in front of her, alive and smiling insidiously.
“When all the truth does is make your heart ache,” Discord said, his lion’s paw planted on Applejack’s forehead, “sometimes a lie, is easier to take.”AJ felt her mind fill with lies and half-truths, frantically her eyes darted around the room for some sign of hope. Then, on the stairway she saw her little sister watching the horrible sight and the truth popped into Applejack’s head.
“Applebloom! Find a brown colt with an hourglass cutiemark!” Applejack shouted out as the color in her mane was fading to grey, “He’ll be with Derpy! Go! NOW!” As little Applebloom ran like a pony possessed, Applejack closed her eyes and let the world go. The room filled with thing she knew where fake, but AJ didn’t say a word. The farm pony knew that if she tried to say anything it would all be a lie, and she knew that if The Doctor and Derpy couldn’t figure out what was wrong... Equestria could end as they knew it.
***
“So, wait,” The Doctor looked up from the repairs he was making, shooting a confused look at Derpy, “your princess banishes people to the moon, and Twilight and her friends have magic jewelry that harnesses the ‘power of friendship’ to cause a huge blast of energy?!” Derpy nodded, sighing as the time lord confused her even more. How could a pony that can make repairs to a... thingy like this not know about the Elements of Harmony?
“So what does this thing do anyway?” the pegasus asked as she looked at all the colorful buttons.
“Oh a little of this, a little of that. Time travel, travel through space, normal pony stuff.” The Doctor replied, crossing a wire.
“Time travel?! You mean this is a time machine?!” Derpy suddenly felt better for resisting the urge to press the candy-like buttons now. “And space travel like... stars and stuff?”
“Yeah... and to different places. You know, like...” The Doctor rubbed his chin with a hoof as he tried to think of a good way to explain spacial travel to his muffin loving companion, “teleporting.”
“Oh, like magic!” Derpy smiled and looked down at her friend, “Right?”
“Well, yeah...”
“So, you can use magic and you’re not a unicorn? Amazing!” The pegasus exclaimed, making The Doctor smile as he got back to work. He knew the TARDIS couldn’t handle time travel, not without a huge burst of radiation to the main time cortex. Then it hit him.
“Derpy,” he asked, “do you think, after we fix up everything and help them, that Twilight and her friends could use their magic rings to help fix the TARDIS?”
“They arn’t rings, The Elements of Harmony are five necklaces and a tiara.” she answered, once again annoyed at the mad pony’s apparent lack of knowledge. “As for helping fix your time machine, I don’t know. You’ld have to ask them.” Just then a rough knock echoed through the huge room and The Doctor trotted to the door. He opened it and looked around, closing the door when he couldn’t find anypony. As he started walking back to the consul, another knock came and he pulled the door open hard this time looking down. There he saw a very tired, panting Applebloom, barely able to stand after running all around Ponyville trying to find the brown colt with an hourglass cutiemark.
“Applejack... Brown colt... Pinkie Pie... Help...” the filly finally passed out from pure exhaustion.
***
Moments later, Applebloom woke up on a large chair with wheels to the sound of banging metal. She got down and heard towards the sound, down a glass staircase only to see The Doctor hitting a kink out of the side of a large column.
“Applebloom,” Derpy said, landing next to the little pony, “you’re up and looking ok. What got you so worked up and how did you find this place?” Just as the pegasus finished her sentence, The Doctor stopped hammering the column and turned to see the two.
“Hello, you must be Applebloom,” he held out his hoof and the filly took it in a shake, “I’m The Doctor. Now tell me, what got you so worked up and how did you find my TARDIS?” Derpy rolled her eyes.
“Applejack was attacked by this colt in a green cape,” Applebloom began, “he took her Element necklace and said some rhyme and she told me to find Derpy and a colt with an hourglass cutiemark.” The Doctor stood there for a moment, and everything went quiet in the TARDIS. Then, he turned to Derpy.
“Which one of Twilight’s friend’s is the closest?” The time lord asked.
“Fluttershy,” Derpy replied, “she lives within running distance from here.”
“Good,” The Doctor ran to the door, but turned before he ran out. “stay in the TARDIS, both of you.”
The Doctor could feel his legs burning as he ran faster. His mind raced over the events of the past few days until the time lord could see the clearing a head, hopefully this was where the pony known as Fluttershy lived. The colt could only hope that he wasn’t too late, otherwise the only person who could help him figure all this out would be...
Suddenly, a huge dragon flew above him and landed, turning into a very familure pony. Blackspine turned and smiled at The Doctor, the capped colt’s teeth yellow as he stepped toward the time lord.
“Doctor,” he began, “so good to see you again. What brings you to this neck of the woods?” The evil pony laughed harshly at his own joke.
“Good question, here’s another one.” The Doctor replied, stepping around the answer he knew Blackspine wanted... That Applebloom had seen her sister being turned into something horrid. “How can you do magic? It’s obvious that you’re not a unicorn, so how?” The time lord stared as the colt adjusted his glasses like a college professeur preparing to give a long winded lecture.
“A curious thing arn’t you Doctor?” Blackspine said, his voice brittle, “If you must know, I have a master who channels his power through me. He gives me the ability to do anything I please, and he knows all about your exploits... Time Colt.” If the colt wanted this to shock The Doctor, it didn’t. The brown colt just stood there and waited.
“Well, has he got a name?” the time pony asked, feigning boredom to keep Blackspine’s attention focused on him.
“The God of Chaos, Lord of Disharmony, the true King of Equestria... or, as most ponies call him, Discord.” the corrupt colt paused, then bit his lip in frustration as The Doctor cocked his head to the side and raised his eye brow.
“Never heard of him, any way... Why are you attacking Twilight Sparkle and her friends?” the time lord asked, seeing a small white rabbit hop into the forest behind a light yellow pegasus. He just needed to give Fluttershy enough time to get as far away as she could. “I mean, if this master of yours is so all powerful, shouldn’t he be able to handle six fillies? I’d be more worried about the two royal mares who can control time.” Blackspine snorted at this like it was a bad pun.
“Celestia and Luna are no match for Lord Discord,” he began, “the princesses fell out of harmony when the meek one actually gained some power, and the sun pony banished her to the moon. Even if they where able to control the Elements, it wouldn’t be enough to hold my master for too long. Not with the chaos I would be spreading around this ball of mud!” Suddenly, a huge flash of lightning shattered the sky and hit the bit of dirt between the two colts. Slowly, a strange goat’s head slid from the crater the lightning had made, followed by a feathered body attached to an eagle’s claw and a lion’s paw. As the creature opened its eyes, both of which where bright yellow with a red iris in one and a blue in the other, a growl erupted from its mouth.
“Blackspine!” Discord demanded, “What is taking you so long? It’s just one little pony, can’t the big strong colt handle one timed, weak, humble...” he paused as his eyes finally met The Doctors, “Ah, Doctor... Doctor I presume. And what brings you to my little game? Oh, let me guess, you lost track of time?”
“M...master,” Blackspine bowed to the half buried body, “why have you come here? It’s too early for you to manifest without harming...”
“Blah blah blah,” the chaos god interrupted, “go chase a pony. There’s a perfectly good pegasus that-a way.” his eagle claw pointed in the direction Fluttershy sneaked off and Blackspine gave chase, “it’s so hard to find good help these days.”
“A draconequus,” The Doctor said, “well... That explains a good amount. I’m guessing you’re Discord?”
“The one and only, want me autograph? Six bits... Oh that’s right,” Discord’s head seemed to turn into putty, before it finally molded itself to mimic The Doctor’s, “ 'Ponies have money?’” the chaos master’s arms seemed to wrap around his body completely as he laughed, his head morphing back to its original shape. The Doctor gave a shrug and a sort of half smile.
“What was I supposed to think?” he asked, “It’s not like I’ve been here before.”
“True, true... By the way, why arn’t you chasing down Sir Monologues Alot?” Discord asked. A few moments later the god was answered by a sound that was very familure to The Doctor, almost like a lullaby to him now. The sound of the TARDIS moving through space. The time lord nodded down at his hoof, pressing down on the Sonic Screwdriver and covering it completely to dull the noise it made. “You sly fox.” the chaos god admitted just as the blue box appeared behind the colt, and as The Doctor walked inside Discord called out, “See you in Canterlot Doc!”
***
The Doctor rushed to the controls and steered the TARDIS back to its original landing spot, it had taken a lot of coordination and timing to pull that stunt off especially since he couldn’t just adjust the time circuits. He turned to his companions and smiled softly, but Derpy and Applebloom had their attention focused on getting Fluttershy to stop murmuring on how big the blue box was on the inside.
“Fluttershy, hello!” the time colt said, “Quick introduction. I’m The Doctor, this is the TARDIS, you know Derpy and Applebloom, and the bunny is?” His eyes focused on the white rabbit giving him a very disapproving look.
“T...That’s Angel, Mr. Doctor.” Fluttershy answered, her voice as soft and scared as ever, “Is... is what that colt said true? Is Discord back again?” The Doctor nodded as the three mares exchanged concerned looks, and Applebloom even began to tear up. The filly had heard what had happened to her big sister when Discord broke out of his stone prison, and a few minutes before she had seen it first hand... Just the thought of what was happening to Applejack and her friends made the little farm pony shiver in fear.
“It’ll be ok,” The Doctor said, using his hoof to pat Applebloom’s head, “I’ll figure out how to save your sister. I promise.” Somehow, the small pony knew that this strange colt she just met wouldn’t let that promise die like an old apple tree. “So,” the time pony continued, “how do we stop the big bad Discord?”
“Um...” Fluttershy piped up, “me, and Rainbow Dash, and the others used the Elements of Harmony, but I don’t think it’ll work this time.”
“Why not?” asked Derpy, “You told me how Twilight was able to break all of you from Discord’s control before, why can’t we do that now?”
“It’s not like last time,” the gentle pegasus explained, “the last time Discord made Rainbow this Cloudsdale was falling apart, but... this time... I went to find Rainbow Dash to ask for some help getting water for my animal friends, and when saw her she was... She was just laying on her bed, frozen in place with an uncaring stare on her face.”
“That’s how Pinkie and my Rarity looked,” Applebloom said, “except Rarity’s body was... clear and shiny, like a diamond. And Pinkie looked like she was going to... I don’t want to say it... but she looked like she was going to chop somepony up.”
“What Element was this Rainbow Dash pony?” The Doctor asked, a serious look on his face.
“Loyalty.” Fluttershy answered, “Mine is Kindness, Pinkie Pies’ is Laughter, Raritys’ is Generosity, Applejacks’ is Honesty, and Twilights’ is...”
“Magic I’m guessing.” The time colt said as he went to the console of his TARDIS and pressed a few buttons. Derpy had never seen him like this before, for the past few days she knew the strange, quirky colt that frustrated her but made her laugh at the same time. This pony... It was like he was completely different. The only time she had seen The Doctor like this was that night they had found Twilight petrified. The cross eyed pegasus walked over to her friend and put her hoof on his shoulder, a small, reassuring smile crossing her lips.
“I’m fine Derpy...” The Doctor said, but he still placed his hoof on hers, “If Blackspine petrified all of them then it’s going to be difficult to end this... We’re going to need help.”
“Princess Celestia!” Applebloom shouted, “Her and Princess Luna turned Discord to stone way before Applejack and the others. Maybe they know what to do.” The Doctor turned to the filly and his eyes lit up.
“Applebloom, you are brilliant!” the colt said, “Where are they? Where in town do they live?”
“Canterlot,” Fluttershy loudly proclaimed, then she blushed and softened her voice once more when she saw the look on the time colt’s face, “Oh my... sorry... Doctor, I didn’t mean to scare you.” However, his shocked expression wasn’t because of the out burst from the usually meek pony. The Doctor had remembered Discord’s warning about meeting in Canterlot and had hoped to avoid what he could only surmise was the ponies capital city, but he knew he had to choice. Slowly, he searched the whole of Equestria for the royal city as the three female ponies discussed how to deal with Discord; finally, he found the city and the determined look Derpy had learned to respect had returned.
“Do we need anything? The Doctor asked, galloping to the other side of the console.
“N...no,” Fluttershy said, Angel handing the pegasus her necklace.
“Where did he... Never mind,” the time lord said as he pulled a lever, sending the huge room spinning and thrashing around, “Geronimo!”
***
“Master please, I’m sorry.” Blackspine’s hooves finally touched the grassy ground of Canterlot Gardens after what seemed like an eternity of flying. Discord’s voice ringing in the pony’s head as it belittled him for letting Fluttershy escape.
“No, no, I understand,” the chaos god snarkly replied, “somepony had to be distracted by The Doctor. I thought it would’ve been Celestia, but no... I was you. Good job.” A snake-like shadow flung itself out from Blackspine’s and made its way to the statue of a Draconequus with a horrified look on its face. The eagle claw and lion paw hands trying to guard it from some horrible fate. Blackspine followed his master’s shadow, five blood red silk bags hanging from his back. Once at the foot of the statue, the colt opened each back and placed the Elemental Necklaces in a small circle around the Tiara of Magic.
“Are you sure this spell will work master?” Blackspine asked the shadow of Discord, “Without the Element of Kindness... well, who knows how long you’ll be free.”
“Will you calm down? No need to be a worry pony now,” Discord’s voice echoed in the pony’s head, “our friend The Doctor should be here any minute with my old buddies.” Just as Discord predicted it, the wing beats of four pegasi could be heard. Princess Celestia and Luna landed first, the sun princess carrying The Doctor and Applebloom, followed by Derpy and Fluttershy.
“Blackspine Mulicious,” Celestia called out the colt’s full name, “you still have time to give up. Surrender and I may give you a pardon for what you have done.”
“Mulicious...” Blackspine said with a smile,“nopony had called me that in a long time Princess.” The colt turned his gaze towards The Doctor, “Thank you, Time Colt, for bringing my master the last two pieces of the puzzle!” Blackspine’s eyes turned pitch black as he stared at the princesses, his lips moving fast until a large, malicious smile crossed his lips.
“When the two in the sky are truly so close,” Discord’s voice sounded from Mulicious’ mouth, “the smallest one can out shine the eldest the most.” Suddenly, Luna and Celestia’s eyes turned white as snow and their bodies swayed back and forth. They both unfurled their wings as a blast of bright magic erupted from their horns in unison. The Doctor, his companions, and Fluttershy looked up as the moon slowly eclipsed the sun. Slowly, and eire light shined from the Elements of Harmony, their dull grey jewels now twinkling in the grass. The Doctor was the first to notice the cracks and small ships in the Draconequus statue, but it wasn’t long until everypony had their eyes on the now moving form of Discord. The creature laughed as he looked down on his would-be attackers, his eyes focused on them and he opened his mouth to speak.
Discord cracked his neck, bits of rubble falling from his fur. The draconequus’ smile never left his face as he surveyed the ponies surrounding him, as if they where just giant pieces for a huge chess board.
“Well,” the chaos god began, “hello everypony! Long time... well, actually I’ve never seen you two before,” Discord motioned to Apple Bloom and Derpy, “and the colts I saw about and hour ago. Strange how time flies, but you should know all about that, huh Doctor?” The blue and red eyes of the draconequus looked over the time colt, studying his face. Discord could tell his new toy was thinking, wondering just how he and three fillies could stop a god. Then he looked to Fluttershy, he didn’t address the pegasus mostly because she blended into the other statues in the gardens. The poor thing was shaking, and he knew it was his doing... It warmed the cockles of his heart.
“Now you... are brilliant,” The Doctor said, “you lured me here so that the four of us would bring the princesses. Then, you used their control of time to make an eclipse, which I’m guessing amplifies the power of the Element, that way you could use them to break out of that rock. That is just brilliant!”
“Thank you, thank you,” Discord said, bowing, “for my next trick I’ll pull a rabbit out of a hat.”
“But there’s something I don’t understand,” the time clot continued, his voice losing all happy tones and turning to a more questioning and quiet tone, “why do all this? Why all the theatrics? I understand that just killing everypony is boring, I’ve met whole civilizations who where like that. But why toy with us and hurt ponies? Why not help?” Discord slinked down to The Doctor, a smile still on his face as he looked into the time colts eyes.
“Because,” the draconequus said dryly, “it’s just too much fun.” The Doctor quickly backed away, the colts eyes filling with rage which made Discord laugh, “Oh come on Doctor, you’re almost as old as me! You can’t tell me that doing this,” the chaos god snapped his fingers, making storm clouds appear as a shower of sheep began, “isn’t entertaining, can you?”
“Honestly... It’s makes me pity you.” the brown pony quipped in return.
“Oh ouch, that hurt.” Discord mocked, shaking his head as The Doctor’s expression, “If you truly feel that way, I guess I could have you replace me on that pedestal. After all, I’ve already won. Look around you Herr Doctor, I have the Elements,” the grey gems floated above his head, “I have Celly and Lulu,” the creature pointed to the still mesmerized princesses, “and I have the ponies.” Suddenly, Twilight Sparkle and the other four Element Bearers where teleported to Discord’s feet. Still frozen in their corrupted states, the chaos god picked up Applejack and pulled off a her hat.
“You leave my sister alone!” Apple Bloom yelled, charging at Discord. However, as she neared The Doctor, the time colt grabbed her and held her.
“Apple Bloom, this isn’t your fight... Leave this to me.” he said, letting her go as the filly calmed down. Discord examined AJ’s most prized possession, before plopping into his mouth and chewing slowly.
“Huh, it does taste like Applejacks.” the creature swallowed and laughed at his own joke, Blackspine snickering with him. The draconequus almost forgot about his follower, turning slowly and glaring at the colt. “What are you laughing at Mulicious?” Blackspine stopped and looked up at this master, fear filling his eyes.
“N...nothing master.” he replied.
“So you didn’t like my joke?” asked Discord.
“No, I mean yes master,” the pony shivered as he looked into the chaos god’s eyes, “it was hilarious... Though I don’t understand the whole thing...” Discord brought his lion’s paw to his forehead and sighed.
“Just got sit in the corner.” he lifted his claw and levitated Blackspine over to where Celestia and Luna stood. “Now, where was I? Oh yes... Maybe you’re right Doctor. Maybe I should destroy you four, what do you think?”
“Well that’s rather unsportspony like.” The Doctor replied. This made Discord’s eyes brighten up with malicious glee.
“True... What about a game then?” the draconequus asked, “You, the little filly, and the cross eyed bat...”
“Hey!” Derpy shouted.
“Against me.” Discord continued, creating a magical bubble around Fluttershy to keep her from running, “I make the terms, the rules, and the game. Winner gets the ponies, the princesses, and... The chance to use the Elements of Harmony once.”
“How do I know you’ll keep up your end?” The Doctor asked. Discord smiled, he finally had a pony that could match his cunning and craftiness. The god pulled his pedestal from the earth and took a hammer and chisel from thin air. Quickly, he pounded and reshaped the column into a rectangle with a small contract written on it.
“That’s how,” Discord smirked as he placed it in front of the three ponies, “If I win I get all of Equestria by default, as well as the ponies, princesses, yadda yadda. And if you three win, You get to use the Elements once, and I free your friends.”
“What’re the rules?” Derpy asked, the look in the draconequus’ eyes made her worry. After all, he wasn’t known to keep his word.
“Rule one,” Discord snapped his fingers and Derpy fell to the ground, her wings gone, “no flying, no magic... No TARDIS.” He snapped again and the Sonic Screwdriver appeared him is claw. “Rule two, all of you must play of the game is over... and I win. Now, the game...” the six Element users flew into the air and landed with hard thuds in the maze. “I’ve put all six of your friends into the maze, as well as a copy of each. The game is simple, find the real ones and I’ll restore them. Good luck my little ponies!” With that, Discord disappeared into the sky.
***
As soon as he entered the maze, The Doctor was separated from his companions by large stone walls. The colt gazed a head and noticed the leafy walls of the maze transforming into stone as well, but the time colt didn’t have time to analyze them. He shook his head and groaned, he didn’t have the tools to either.
“Apple Bloom! Derpy!” The Doctor cried out, “Head to the middle of the maze, I’ll meet you there.”
“What if we see Fluttershy or the other ponies?” an unseen Apple Bloom called out to the time lord. She both hopped and feared that she would run into her sister rambling the maze, lies spewing from her mouth.
“Just run for the middle... And don’t touch the walls!” the time colt added, then began to make his way through the corrupted corridors. A thought sprang to his mind, one that made him stop in his tracks and look to where he thought the pegasus and filly had gone. Discord hadn’t said what would happen to the ponies if they picked the fake. Still, this was not time to stop and ponder the possibilities, he had to make it to the center of the maze before the draconequus decided to alter the rules of the game.
The Doctor’s hooves hit the ground hard as he ran around the stone corners of the maze, he had to admit he was getting tired but he couldn’t slow down now... Not until he had Derpy and Apple Bloom out of this damned place. Suddenly, the time lord heard a soft voice muttering to itself. Slowly, he peeked around the corner to see Twilight Sparkle talking to Twilight Sparkle.
“I can’t go back there...” the first Twilight said, “it was too much. I... Oh Celestia help me.”
“M... Magic Kindergarten!” the second one screamed out, her eyes on The Doctor’s head. “Wait! There! I can use him!” The two unicorns raced to the time colt, muttering about a letter and how Princess Celestia would be disappointed. Needless to say, The Doctor took his own advice and made a break for the left turn in the maze, only to be cut off by another huge stone wall with a menacing carving of Discord’s smiling face on it. The time colt had no choice but to turn and examine both Twilights, looking for some flaw in their appearance that would tip him off, but he could find none. Both ponies had cracked horns, insane smiles, and a disturbed look in their eyes, but The Doctor knew that if he didn’t choose one he’d half to deal with both of them.
“Ok, let’s see,” the time colt spoke quickly as he thought out loud, “they both look the same, talk the same, and twitch the same. There has to be something, Cracked horns, insane eyes, think Doctor think! Wait... That’s it!” he turned to see the Twilight’s just feet away from him, “I killed you dragon!” One of the unicorns stopped smiling and tears started streaming from her eyes, that was all he needed, “That one’s the real Twilight Sparkle!”
The Twilight clone stopped running and wobbled a bit, its mutterings growing faster and more high pitched as the fake pony’s head began to spin like a record; until finally, the imposter exploded with a radiant light and hit The Doctor and the real Twilight Sparkle with a wave of orange juice. The real unicorn stopped running and shook her head, the purple color returning to her coat as the horn on her head repaired itself. She looked at The Doctor, confused and a bit fearful, until the colt shook his head to deny his claim.
“He’s fine,” the time colt said, “I just said it to test a little theory of mine...” but before he could finish, Discord appeared behind Twilight and snapped his fingers. The unicorn disappeared, teleported into the draconequus’ lion paw at about an eight her normal size and coated in plastic.
“I wonder how much this would be to a collector?” Discord mused, his eyes shifting to a furious Doctor, “Don’t give me that look, she’s fine. Frozen, but fine. I said you and your two friends could play, not the six of them. And I promise that, at the end of the game, I’ll either free them or keep them as little statues... Like they made me.” Discord’s eyes glazed over slightly as he said this, his mind full of white hot rage at the ponies who had encased him in that cold, hard prison. He waved his claw, lowering the wall with his face carved into it so that The Doctor could pass. “If I where you, I’d try and catch up to you friends... after all, you don’t want them to get lost do you?”
The time colt ran off quickly, starting his search for his companions anew as Discord floated above the stone halls. The draconequus gazed down at the true and false ponies held within the maze and chuckled. He ensured that The Doctor would stay separated from the mares for the remainder of the game, but as a scream echoed through the air Discord knew he had another problem to deal with.
***
Apple Bloom quickly turned the corner, her little heart beating like a thousand war drums. She had been separated from Derpy and The Doctor for a little while now, but she thought that she was safe once she saw another pony in the maze. It was grey, so the filly assumed Derpy had climbed the wall to get to her. Instead, a deranged looking Pinkie Pie turned and began to chase after her, yelling about being alone and how her friends hated her parties. Needless to say, little Apple Bloom didn’t want to take a chance with the crazy pony.
As the filly looked down the stretch of dirty in front of her, a second Pinkie Pie hopped into view and began to bounce closer and closer to her. Apple Bloom didn’t know what to do, there was not where to hide, so she let out a scream in the hope that The Doctor or Derpy would come to save her. The second Pinkie Pie hopped closer still, a wild grin on her face as her pupils contracted. Suddenly, a stone wall erupted from the ground just in front of the second Pinkie and blocked her from the scared filly, but just as the farm pony sighed in relief a deep laugh filled the air.
“You have to admit,” Discord said, walking through one of the stone walls next to Apple Bloom, “it’s nice to see she’s kept her spirits up.”
Apple Bloom backed away from the chaos god, until she looked at the wall blocking one of the second Pinkie Pie from her. “You saved me.” the filly said softly.
The draconequus crossed his arms and shook his head, “Well I... I just don’t like my play things broke is all.” He glared at Apple Bloom as she smiled at him, “You’re just lucky that you’re just a filly, otherwise I would’ve let that Pinkie Pie make you into cupcakes!”
Apple Bloom shrunk back from his shouts, but got up enough courage to ask something that had been bothering her, “What’s wrong with them? My sister told me what happened, and well... She never said anything about Pinkie going crazy or about... What happened to Twilight.”
Discord looked down at the little pony, “I think it has to do with my assistant... He may have gotten the wrong idea when I told him to get me out of my statue by any means...” The chaos god glared into the air at Blackspine, the pony hovered above the maze using Discord’s magic. Apple Bloom looked up as well, finally recognizing the green capped colt as the one who asked for directions to Twilight’s library. The filly shivered as she realized if she had lied her sister’s friend would’ve been ok, but it was too late for regret now. She turned to Discord, a confused look in her eyes.
“You don’t hurt ponies, do you Mr. Discord?” Apple Bloom asked, “Even in Ponyville, when everything was all loopy, you didn’t hurt anypony.”
“Your point?” the draconequus floated above the ground on his back, yawning in fake boredom.
I think,” the filly began, edging her way around Discord, “you like ponies.” As she finished, another stone wall grew from the ground and blocked Apple Bloom’s path.
“You really think I’d fall for the old ‘heartfelt talk’ huh?” the draconequus asked, putting on a pair of oversized sunglasses, “I invented that move.” He snapped his fingers and catapulted the filly into the air, making her land on the glass platform Blackspine stood on.
“Hello again Apple Bloom,” the colt said, his eyes never leaving the maze, “seems like you keep on running into me in the strangest places.”
“Why did you do it?” the farm pony asked, “What did Discord promise you?” The little filly’s eyes get wide with fear, as a small smirk crossed Blackspine’s face.
“He promised me nothing...” he paused and chuckled in his throat, “so I’m going to take everything. Equestria, Discord, even The Doctor and his blue box.” The malicious pony’s eyes grew wider with rage, and he turned quickly to Apple Bloom, “I followed you their you know... Or maybe you wouldn’t...”
Suddenly, it all came back to the filly... She was in Sugarcube Corner when she saw Applejack being corrupted.
***
Blackspine took his hoof off Applejack’s forehead, and turned his attention towards the filly running down the stairs. He tapped his hooves on the wood floor to lock the first floor doors, trapping the pony inside with him. It had been a long time since Blackspine Mulicious played hide and go seek, but with the powers of an angry chaos god in his body the colt was sure it would be easy to remember. The evil pony slowly walked down the stairs, a completely frightened Apple Bloom curled up as small as she could was hidden behind the counter. The filly closed her eyes and listened for the colt to walk past her into the basement, then she would make her escape through the kitchen window. She breathed heavily and bit her bottom lip to keep from sobbing as the hoof beats came closer and closer to the counter, but then they turned and made their way down the stair to the left of it.
Apple Bloom stood and rushed towards the exit, only to have Blackspine appear in front of her and scream like a cat being stepped on. “Hello my little pony!” the colt yelled as he forced the filly to hover in the air with his mind, “Now listen to me carefully, or your sister mite have a little... accident.” Blackspine’s eyes began to swirl as Apple Bloom’s mind filled with pictures of a blue box in the forest, and a brown pony with an hourglass cutie mark. Then Blackspine began to weave a spell in her mind, “Find this pony, find him fast, or the danger here will have to last. Forget me now, forget this place, but remember me and your sister’s face.”
A bright light filled the kitchen, and Apple Bloom stumbled out of the bakery, making her way to the Everfree Forest. There she would find The Doctor, and Blackspine’s plan would truly begin to take effect.
***
Apple Bloom shook her head free from her recovered memories, tears streaming down her face as she looked Blackspine in the eye. She backed away from the colt, but her back hooves soon reached the edge of the platform. Blackspine moved closer, his head down as he charged at the little filly and knocked her off the platform. The colt laughed insanely as he turned from the scene to view the maze once more, only to be greeted by the belly of a grey pegasus. In Derpy Hooves’ front legs was Apple Bloom, safe but shaking with her eyes closed from fear. The cross eyed pegasus landed on the glass floor, placing the filly down gently before she turned and bucked at the colt with her back hooves.
“Don’t you ever try to hurt this filly again you bastard!” she called out, her legs hitting Blackspine’s chest and sending him flying to the other side of the platform.
“H...how?” Mulicious asked as he stood, one of his front hooves holding his chest in pain, “The no flying rule...”
***
Derpy had been running to the center ever since she and The Doctor had been separated, but even then her thoughts kept going back to Apple Bloom. The poor little filly had been split from both of the older ponies, forced to face whatever Discord had placed in that maze with them. It wasn’t long before the pegasus with no wings heard the sound of a filly screaming not too far away, and Derpy made a b-line for the noise. Derpy could hear Discord and Apple Bloom’s voices coming from the other side of the wall, but as hard as she could the pegasus just couldn’t manage to climb the sleek stone.
A few moments passed until Derpy heard another scream, this one coming from above her. The pegasus looked up and gasped as she saw Apple Bloom being hurtled into the air, and landing next to what she thought was Discord’s servant.
“I’ll get you Apple Bloom! Don’t worry!” Derpy got into her take off position, but then remembered her missing wings. She closed her eyes, hiding her face in the dirty as she tried to keep from sobbing.
“Oh, poor Derpy Hooves.” Discord’s voice rang out next to the pegasus’ ear, making her jump.
“What do you want?” she growled at the draconequus, “You’ve already hurt so many, why even bother making us play this stupid...”
“I give up.” Discord said, matter of factly, “You and The Doctor win.” And with a snap Derpy’s wings returned to her back, and The Doctor returned to her side with the Sonic Screwdriver in his mouth.
“Well,” the time colt said with a smile on his face, “that was fun.”
“Fun?!” the pegasus said, “Fun! He trapped us in a maze!”
“You agreed to play.” Discord replied.
“You hurt my friends!”
“Blackspine lied to me and said he had split up their friendship like I had. He just used my magic.” Discord rebutted, “And, if you don’t hurry, he’ll hurt the little filly.” Derpy looked up to see Apple Bloom falling in the sky, her screams filling the air once again. The pegasus sped off after the falling filly, her eyes uncrossed as her wing glided through the air. Derpy grit her teeth as Apple Bloom landed in her arms, but the added weight meant it was too late for her to pull up and avoid crashing into one of the stone walls. Just as her life began to flash in front of her, Derpy felt her head hit a soft spongy material. Apple Bloom and the pegasus opened their eyes to see a big blue berry muffin where the wall would’ve been.
“I heard you liked muffins.” Discord said, taking a bite of the huge pastry. Derpy couldn’t help but laugh at how weird a picture this probably made, until The Doctor walked to her and pointed up.
“He’s up there, and I don’t think he’s done.” the time colt said, his eyes getting that serious look from before, “I can’t land the TARDIS up there, it would be like trying to fish with a ball of yarn.” As he looked to Derpy, the pegasus flew off with Apple Bloom still in her front legs.
***
So now it was Blackspine falling, the wind rushing past his head as he watched the ground close in on him. The colt closed his eyes and pictured himself soaring through the air with a pair of ornate wings, but he didn’t know how much pain would shoot through his body as the wings ripped out of his back. The newly formed wing slowed his fall, allowing him to glide to the top of the giant blueberry muffin. Blackspine’s blood dripped from his wings to the pastry as he laughed ominously, the colt’s eyes now on Discord.
“Don’t you see, you old fool?!” Blackspine called out to the draconequus in front of him, “I could use your powers to their full value... I could use them to make a perfect world for everypony! A perfect world for me!”
Discord glared at the pony, “I offered you a spot next to me Blackspine, but it looks like the power of chaos was a bit too much for you. I’ll be taking that back now... With interest!” He snapped the claws on his eagle talon, the chaos god picturing the fragment of power he gave to his servant returning to him, but nothing happened. The two stood, staring each other down, as Derpy landed next to The Doctor and set Apple Bloom down behind her.
“He should be,” the time lord replied, a buzzing sound coming from the Sonic Screwdriver until The Doctor flicked it forward, extending it slightly, “Blackspine tricked him. According to my scan, this spell that he used didn’t just break open Discord’s statue... It made a sort of invisible tunnel from him to Discord... Sucking energy right out of him the whole time.” The Doctor moved closer to the chaos god and the newly made pegasus, his eyes darting between the two figures, “Derpy, Apple Bloom... I want you to listen to me. Run to the TARDIS and stay there.”
“No! I’m not leaving you here alone!” the grey pegasus took a step forward, shielding the farm filly behind her.
“I wont leave either...” Apple Bloom said, her eyes stern as she stood next to her new friends.
“Listen to me,” The Doctor turned to Derpy, “Remember rule two? Run when I say to run? That applies now, otherwise you’ll both be in the way and get hurt. I’ll be fine, trust me... I’m a doctor.”
Derpy looked into the time colt’s eyes, tears slowly forming in hers. “Apple Bloom, get to the blue box ok? I’ll be right behind you.” The pegasus never turned her head as she heard the filly back away slowly, then run like the wind to the TARDIS. Derpy swallowed, “What’s rule three?” she asked, The Doctor looked away and stared at Discord and Blackspine. “You said you would get to rule three of being near you... Tell me what it is now, or I wont leave.”
After a few moments of silence The Doctor looked back at Derpy and smiled, “The Doctor lies...” Then, the time colt turned away from his companion and charged to the side of the giant muffin, jumping onto it swiftly as he began his climb to the top.
***
“Oh boy... whew... That... was a climb...” The Doctor said as he stood at the top of the muffin, “No hands to grab onto those blueberries... Now that was a challenge. I’d like to see a Dalek do that.” His comments, however, went unnoticed as Discord and his former servant still stared each other down. The Doctor guessed that the two where locked in some sort of magical pony duel to get full control of the draconequus powers, but that didn’t matter now. The time colt had to figure out a plan fast... Then it hit him. “We won...” The Doctor ran to Discord’s side, “You said if we won the game that I could use the Elements once and...”
“Lied...” Discord said in a monotone voiced.
“... What?”
“I lied Doctor,” this time Blackspine spoke up, with Discord’s voice, “we never signed that contract, we never shook, I lied. Plus, even if I had told the truth, how would you use the Elements of Harmony?” The Doctor felt a pawing at the back of his head, as Discord’s voice began to echo inside his skull, “Oh sure, some would say that what you do is a type of magic, but you arn’t honest. You lie all the time, almost every day, and you’re still lying about being a pony. You don’t have any true laughter left inside your heart, that left when your people died out. As for generosity... You’re a selfish old man who tricks people into thinking what you want, but you are kind and loyal to your companions. I’ll give you that.”
The time colt shook his head, memories of his past lives pushing to the front of his mind. The Cybermen, The Daleks... all of his old enemies that had pushed him and fought against him had only seen what he, The Doctor, wanted them to see. But that wasn’t the true Doctor, inside the time lord was lost and alone. If it hadn’t been for his companions, he would have given up a long time ago... or gone insane like... like...
“No...” The Doctor said, whispering softly, “It can’t be.” He looked from Discord to Blackspine again, but he still couldn’t believe his eyes. He pointed his hoof at the draconequus first, “Insanity, chaos...” then at the pony, “malicious, power hungry... It can’t be.. No... NO! I wont let you!” The Doctor began to shake as one of his worst nightmares began to come to life. The return of an old friend... An unwanted, destructive, monstrous old friend. An old friend that would tare apart this world with his bare hands.
Before he knew it, The Doctor was surrounded by the small gems that the ponies called the Elements of Harmony, and with his sheer will power they blasted the two waring figures in front of the time colt with a rainbow colored ray.
Discord’s mismatched pupils broke their death stare with Blackspine and glanced around him, watching a large swirling hole opened in the sky next to the muffin. “How?” The draconequus asked, but was answered when he saw The Doctor’s pure white eyes staring at him, “The Elements? How did you get control of them?”
The Doctor blinked slowly, a small tear shed from his eye, “I’m sorry...” he looked to Blackspine, who was still in a trance, “Both of you, I’m so sorry... But I can’t let him back, especially not to this world. He would tare it in two.”
“Let who back?” Discord questioned, then the answer hit him hard. The draconequus had been in the time colts mind, seen his memories, and one name popped up over and over as a brother and a mortal enemy. “Master.” Discord closed his eyes and understood his fate, to save Equestria he and Blackspine had to either be killed or banished. The chaos god looked at his former servant and laughed, the deep laugh that he was infamous around Canterlot and all of the world for, “I’d rather be dead then let you get my world Blackspine... I’d rather let Celly rule for another ten thousand years then let this world die to become your perfect world...”
“You’re not going to die,” The Doctor explained, “the time vortex will take Blackspine and keep him away from any dimension... Like a window that wont open. I’ll let Princess Celestia deal with you.” Suddenly, the time vortex seemed to groan and start to pull Blackspine into it’s gaping mouth. This finally woke the vengeful pony, he shook his head as he came to the realization of what was happening to him.
“No... NO! I’m not going in there! I wont be sealed in time!” The colt lashed out with his powers, grabbing The Doctor with his mind and pulling him too. “I wont go alone you bastard! You’re coming with me!”
“No,” Discord said, “he’s not.” With that, the draconequus snapped and switched places with his former enemy. The mashed up creature smiled insanely as he held on to his former servant, “Say good bye to everypony Blackspine... It’s just you and me for the next millennium or so.”
“Discord no!” The Doctor galloped as fast as he could, but it was too late. The two figures where swallowed up by the vortex. The Doctor stood on the muffin, just staring into the sky as it brightened slowly. The moon began to set as the Elements floated away from him, and the six true Element Bearers popped up around the time colt. The blueberry muffin quickly morphed back into a hedge, sending the seven ponies hurtling to the ground as the whole maze returned to normal.
Twilight Sparkle looked to The Doctor as they all stood. “How,” she began, “in the wide, wide world of Equestria did you figure out how to use the Elements?”
“I think I can answer that, my student,” Princess Celestia answered, Luna walking next to her with Derpy and Apple Bloom following, “but first, let us return to the palace shall we?”
***
“So,” Apple Bloom started to ask, “what you’re saying is that The Doctor made the Elements work?”
“A bit yes,” Celestia started to explain, “The Doctor’s mind seemed to call out to the Elements, begging for aid when he needed it most. However, it was only when the Elements felt that Equestria was in certain peril did they answer.”
“Oh, I see!” Twilight said, “So, because the six of us where being controlled by Blackspine, the Elements went to The Doctor because they heard his mind calling to them.”
“Exactly my student.” the sun princess replied
Applejack held her sister close to her, not wanting to ever leave her unprotected as she had before, “And this was a one time thing?”
“Yes Applejack,” Celestia answered, “and it seems to have drained the Elements slightly.” The princess looked into the jeweled box that held the five necklaces and the tiara, “Which means my sister and I had better be ready to aid Equestria at a moments notice.”
“But what I don’t get,” Rainbow Dash said, flying around the room to get the feeling in her wings back, “is that Blackspine guy. What was up with him?”
“Who knows, he was creepy.” Pinkie said quickly as she entered the room, holding a tray of fresh banana muffins in her mouth.
Near the other side of the room, The Doctor sighed and looked at one of the stained glass windows. It showed Discord being circled by Celestia and Luna... The day he was first sealed in stone the time colt assumed. He couldn’t help but feel like it was all his fault, that he could’ve saved Discord from a fate many would think worse then death. Suddenly, he felt a hoof softly rest on his shoulders.
Derpy looked at The Doctor, smiling slightly but with a worried look in her eyes, “You going to be ok?” she asked.
“Yeah...” he replied, “it’s for the best I guess... At least he’s not a statue again.”
“Yeah. But I’m more worried about my new friend.” the grey pegasus kept her gaze as straight as she could, “And how he’s going to get home.”
“Naahh,” The Doctor replied, “I’ll find some other power source. The Element’s would probably just fire the spacial compositor anyway.”
“Hey love birds!” Applejack called out to them, laughing.
The two ponies turned, blushing deep and shouted, “We arn’t love birds!”
“Alright, alright, calm down,” the farm pony continued, “we where just wondering for ya’ll wanted to catch a train to Appleloosa with us. We need ta get Twilight ta Spike quick, or she’ll have a break down.”
The Doctor looked to his new companion, “Up for an adventure?”
“I’m game.” Derpy replied, taking a step towards the other ponies.
“Me too!” called Apple Bloom, standing between the six other ponies and her new friends, “Come on slow pokes, or we’ll leave ya here!”
And with that, The Doctor and his companions headed through the castle, setting off on a less eventful adventure then the one that had just finished. As the ponies left, Celestia turned to her sister and smiled, something told her that the strange pony with the blue box had just begun his adventures in Equestria.
Blackspine ran to his mother, cuddling close to her forelegs as he cried. “Mama... it hurts... Please make it stop!” the foal cried as his skin felt like it was burning off the bone.
His mother looked down at him and rubbed his mane softly with her nose, “I’It’ll be ok, my son. It is for your own good... Someday, you’ll be the pony who aids the great Lord Discord rule Equestria once more.”
“But... but mama, I don’t want to help him.” Blackspine looked over to the portrait of a draconequus standing over a group of ponies, “He scares me.”
“I know love, I know.” she tried to comfort him, but soon the foal’s brother and father dragged him away from her.
“NO! MAMAAAA!!!”
***
In the time vortex, Blackspine Mulicious turned in what normal ponies would describe as sleep. But he and his former master learned that time doesn’t sleep, and neither do those within it.
“MAMA!!!” the colt cried out, his red feathered wings wrapped around his body. He panted and looked around him, then settled once he realized it was all a dream. He had been searching for what seemed like years, but was most likely just a few days in Equestria, for Discord. The colt felt that if he had full control of the chaos god’s powers, then he could break through that time vortex and exact his revenge on the one who placed him there. The one who he would destroy before any other pony, the one they called Doctor.
“I will escape this place,” Blackspine said to himself, “and when I find him... I’ll show The Doctor just who is the master.”
***
The TARDIS phased at the edge of the Everfree Forest once more, far from the prying eyes of curious ponies. Derpy exited first, followed by The Doctor who was now wearing a pony sized tweed jacked and red bow tie.
“Why are you wearing that?” the pegasus asked.
“What?” the time colt looked at his companion and smiled, “Where I come from bow ties are cool.”
“Bow ties are never cool... Anywhere.” Derpy laughed as she floated into the air, “So you wana hit up Sugarcube Corner?”
“No thanks, the Apple Family invited me to dinner. I guess Applejack warmed up to me after Apple Bloom talked to her.”
Derpy smiled, her wings flapping slowly, “Good... Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Wait, Derpy!” The Doctor called out and waited for his friend to land in front of him, “There’s something I need to tell you. Something I’ve been keeping from you.”
“What? That you weren’t a pony before we met? I know.” the pegasus smiled at The Doctor’s deeply confused look, “Well, let’s just say for a pony you’re smart... But not with common knowledge. See ya!”
The Doctor waved as Derpy flew off into the clouds above Ponyville, a slight smile on his face. “Well, I think I’ll stay,” he said, then looked back at the TARDIS, “not that I have much of a choice...” The time colt’s smile widened as he rushed off towards Sweet Apple Acres, and hopped that the meal wouldn’t consist entirely of apples.
