In the midst of studying, a strange blue box appears in the Twilight's library, containing a strange stallion calling himself 'The Doctor'. Twilight enters his box to question him, but the doors shut, whisking them off to the past.
Ponyville-1002 C.E. Twilight begins to learn how to become a Master Unicorn. Then, in the midst of reading, a strange blue box appears, along with a stallion who calls himself the Doctor. Twilight stops him just as he is about to go, but the doors shut and the TARDIS disappears. ..... Canterlot-297 C.E. Celestia prepares for the Summer Sun Celebration, but something else has other plans.
Episode Written by: Perceptive Key Cover art is my own, but will be elaborated upon and improved.
The sun filtered through the windows of Canterlot Castle, reflecting off of the pure white, marble floors, walls, and pillars. Celestia was alone in her room, standing in front of a large mirror. She had received it as a gift from a traveling merchant who was passing through the city. He said that it could show you anything you wished to see, except for the future. Celestia had agreed, for there was only one thing that she had wished for.
For a moment, she saw her sister's reflection. One that was filled with care and love, one without the hate or anger of Nightmare Moon. Celestia lowered her head, a single tear falling to the floor.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly to herself, "you gave me no choice."
"It's alright, I understand."
Celestia looked around, "Who's there?!"
"It is I, sister."
She turned towards the mirror, and Luna's reflection was still there. 'No,' Celestia looked away, 'it's only an image. I must be imagining it.'
"Why do you doubt what is real?" said the image.
Celestia now saw that the image really did speak. "Who are you?" Celestia asked.
The image of Luna appeared shocked, "Why, it's me, Luna. Your sister."
The image of her sister was painful for Celestia to see, and hearing her was even worse. She began to feel tears welling up inside her eyes once more.
"I'm so sorry, Luna," she began crying, "I did what I had to do. I miss you so much."
"I know," the image's voice replied kindly, "I know."
Celestia was too involved in her sadness to notice her own reflection act on it's own. It lifted its head and blinked, and it's eyes changed from pink to a dark, almost blood-like, red. Slowly, it stepped through the mirror...
The Ponyville library was enjoying a normal afternoon. This mainly consisted of Twilight's fevered search for different research books. Spike dodged as books flew at him, thrown by Twilight's magic. The books suddenly stopped and fell to the floor, Twilight's ears perking up upon finding the ancient tome.
"'Spells and Magic for the Advanced Unicorn: Master's Edition,'" Twilight read aloud. "This is exactly what I need!"
"Ya know," Spike said, picking himself up from under a book, "you don't have to try to become a 'master unicorn' so soon, Twilight. You should just take this one step at a time."
Twilight simply ignored him, "Oh, Spike! Don't worry about it."
She began flipping through the pages. Page after page went by without a single hint of what she was trying to find. "No, no, no! It has to be in here!"
Suddenly, a strong wind began blowing and the pages of her book started to flap and turn, interrupting her reading.
"What?"
"Uh, Twilight?" Spike called, "Can you stop that? It's freaking me out!"
Twilight was just as freaked out as Spike, "I'm not doing anything!"
Small bolts of lightning shot out of the center of the room and the wind began to reach gale force speeds.
VVRROOMMP! VVRROOMMP! VVRROOMMP!
Twilight and Spike cowered in a far corner of the library, both watching in bewilderment as a large blue box began to appear in the center of the library with each blast of noise. When the box was fully formed, the wind died down, the lightning stopped, and the noise subsided. Papers were now scattered all around the library, some of them sticking to Spike and Twilight.
"'Police public call box,'" Twilight read aloud.
Suddenly, the door creaked opened slowly, and an earth pony stallion with a chestnut coat, dark brown mane, and wearing a brown suit stepped out.
"Well," said the strange stallion, looking around the room, "that was a little unexpected." Then he noticed Twilight and Spike, staring at him in shock, "Oh, my. Horses. Well... this is new."
"I'm the Doctor," he said standing erect, or at least as much as he could on four legs. "My, it appears that I have four identical appendages! That's new, too! Let's see," he examined his new body, "four legs, hair, a- TAIL! What?!" He turned in circles to see if this was true. "I'm... I'm a horse?! What is this? Wait a minute!" he pointed a hoof at Twilight, "you just spoke! Ha ha!" The doctor was instantly giddy, "This must be an alternate dimension, or a rift in the fabric of time and space! How did I miss that? No, it's an alternate dimension! That would explain the talking horse, but I'm a horse too and I'm talking, but that's impossible. Nobody can cross through to an alternate dimension anymore!"
"STOP!" Twilight shouted. The Doctor calmly faced her and smiled. Twilight had grown impatient and her horn was glowing a threatening red color. "Who in the hoof are you?!"
"I'm the Doctor, and I am intrigued by your luminescent... horn... thing."
Twilight wasn't sure if she should be insulted upon hearing that comment, so she kept her horn aimed at the Doctor. "I want to know exactly who you are and why there is a flipping box in my library!"
"Ooohhh. So that's why you had shocked expressions, speechlessness, and frightened staring! It was me all along. Why didn't I figure that out sooner?" The Doctor tapped his head, "Horse-like brains must work differently. Oh well, then I guess I'll be going, intruding your house and all. Farewell!" and with that, the Doctor stepped into the box and shut the door.
Twilight stood there confused for a moment. "Hey!" she shouted, "What do you think you're doing?! You can't even fit in there!" She began banging on the doors with her hooves, when the doors swung inward, and she fell inside. She got back to her feet, and she froze. Twilight looked around the massive control room in awe.
"It's bigger on the inside," she breathed.
The Doctor stuck his head around from the other side of the main control panels.
"Really?" he said sarcastically, "I suppose you are quite similar to the people on Earth."
Twilight was too busy gawking to pay attention to his comment. She quickly shook her head to clear her mind. "What... what is this?"
The Doctor examined the controls and answered, "It's the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space. Quite fitting, I might add. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be out of your hair- er... mane... shortly."
Twilight nodded, still in shock "Of course, um, Doctor." She turned to leave, but the doors had shut themselves behind her. "Um, Doctor? Could you let me out now? Please?!" Twilight added urgently.
"Not a problem Miss..."
"Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle."
The Doctor nodded, "Okay, Ms. Twilight Sparkle." He clapped his hooves together and pointed at the doors.
Nothing happened.
"Was that supposed to do anything?" Twilight asked quizzically.
The Doctor said, "That usually works."
That's when the noise started:
VVRROOMMP! VVRROOMMP! VVRROOMMP!
The TARDIS shuddered violently, the piston in the center began to move, and they were off. Twilight and the Doctor both lost their balance and fell to the floor. Twilight wrapped her forelegs around one of the railings to steady herself, while the Doctor scrambled up to the controls.
"What are you doing?! Now is not the time to be playing games!"
"I'm not doing anything!" Twilight shouted at him.
The TARDIS's form flickered until it was fully formed.
On the inside, Twilight and the Doctor were struggling to get to their feet.
"What... was... that?" Twilight demanded an explanation.
"That..." the Doctor answered, "that was the TARDIS, but that's not important right now."
"I know that. I mean, what did it just do?"
"It moved."
"What? Where?"
The Doctor just stood there with a sly expression on his face. "The real question," he began, "is when?"
Twilight just stared at him like he was crazy, "When?! What do you mean when?"
"Well... we just traveled through time."
She continued staring, "Time travel is impossible and requires immense amounts of magic for it to-"
"Magic?!" the Doctor shouted, "That's what you thought that was? Magic? Oh-ho no. Nope, niddo, nadda, noodlie, nippity no! This is most definitely not magic, but that now explains why the cone shaped appendage on you head was glowing. That must mean that you're a unicorn! Ha ha! A real unicorn! Strange, I never thought that I would ever say that in all of my-"
Twilight slapped the Doctor across the face.
"OW! What was that for?!"
"I needed you to stop talking!" Twilight yelled.
The Doctor shook it off and stumbled to the doors, ignoring Twilight and pushing past her. "I'm going to open these doors right now, and all you have to do is just simply wait until I get back. Can you do that?"
"Oh, no," Twilight shook her head insistently, "You're not going anywhere until you get me back home."
The Doctor nodded, "Yes, yes. But let's just see where we are, shall we." He opened the doors...
... and was face to point with half a dozen spears.
"State your name, rank, and intention!" shouted one of the guards, his stone-faced expression barely moving.
"Well, um. The Doctor. Doctor. And I was just leaving."
"All intruders must answer to the Princess or the captain of the Guard."
The Doctor laughed sheepishly. "Um, Ms. Sparkle?" he called over his shoulder, "We may have a minor setback on the 'getting you home' plan."
"Your Majesty," the captain of the Royal Guard addressed Celestia, "we have captured an intruder and his accomplice who were trying to break into the castle."
"Who were they?"
"We are not entirely sure, but the stallion says that he's 'The Doctor.'"
The Princess's eyes grew wide, "and what of the accomplice?"
"She has refused to give her name, but she has a lavender coat with a black and dark pink mane."
"Bring them to me," she ordered, "I wish to speak with this 'Doctor' and his companion."
The guard left the chamber and Celestia closed the doors behind him. She quickly stepped down from her throne and proceeded to a tall, wide object covered with a beige sheet. She removed the cover just so she could see the reflective surface of the mirror. "I must thank you, Your Majesty," began the Princess, "for being more useful than I expected."
On the other side of the mirror's surface, Princess Celestia was beating on the glass. Her banging was muted by the seemingly thick glass. "You'll never get away with this," she screamed, her shout coming out barely louder than a whisper.
The false Celestia just laughed gently, "My dear Princess, I'm not even halfway done."
Twilight shot a blast of red light at the stone walls, but it bounced off and shot around the room a few times before dissolving in the air. Twilight groaned, "This is not how I was planning in spending my time this afternoon." She turned around and she saw the Doctor staring intently at a spot in the rock formation.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
He told her to shush, "I'm listening."
"To what?"
The Doctor put a hoof to his lips and pointed to the wall. He could hear the guards conversing on the opposite side of the cell:
"She want's to see them both."
"Really? Now? We have to set the guard schedules for the celebration, immediately."
"No, she ordered us, so no questions asked, okay."
"Alright. But if you ask me, she's been too paranoid and demanding lately."
"Just do your job. Now, come on, let's get them out."
A few seconds later, the two guards opened a door in the cell and stepped in. The captain addressed the time travelers, "You will come with me, now. If you step out of line, you will be detained immediately. If you resist, you will be detained immediately. If you try to escape, you-"
"Will be detained immediately, we get it," Twilight finished.
The guard gave Twilight a piercing glare that sent chills down her spine. "Now, come."
The Doctor exited first and Twilight followed. They were met by a small escort of about eight guards, four for each of them. "What a unique system," the Doctor mused.
On their way to wherever they were being led, the Doctor asked, "Pardon my intrusion, but what's the date?"
The captain responded, "The year 297 in the reign of Princess Celestia the Kind. Shouldn't you know that?"
"Sorry, I... had momentary amnesia. Happens to me a lot."
Twilight overheard this and thought, '297? I know that. What was so special about this year. There's something important, I know it, but where have I heard that before?'
The doors opened and the small group entered the room. There was a large, queen-sized bed (quite fitting), the floors were made of polished marble that was dyed in the colors of the rainbow, and a large window that led to the balcony
The Doctor marveled at the decoration, "Superb. I love what you've done with the curtains."
"Silence, Doctor!" Princess Celestia stepped in from the balcony and walked towards them slowly.
Twilight was prepared to greet the Princess, but thought twice. 'The Doctor said that we had traveled in time, right?' she thought, 'So that meant that Celestia wouldn't know me.' Twilight proceeded to just stand there as Celestia approached the Doctor.
"Now, I wish to know what you two are doing in my castle, Doctor," Celestia asked sternly.
"Ah, yes. Well," he started his explanation, "you see, my... ship... ended up here because of a slight... navigation mishap. I think. Still, my colleague and I-"
"I'm not your colleague," Twilight replied insistently.
"Alright, my non-colleague and I accidentally landed here, but we'll be going as soon as possible if need be."
Twilight noticed a slight reflection in Celestia's eyes as the light touched them, kind of like glass.
"I'm sorry," Celestia apologized sweetly, and Twilight thought that she was overdoing it a little, "I'm just very anxious about the Summer Sun Celebration. I haven't felt like myself lately."
The Doctor understood, "That's perfectly logical, Princess..."
"Celestia."
"Princess Celestia," the Doctor finished.
"Listen, I'm quite sorry for the inconvenience. Please, let me allow you some rooms as an apology for my misunderstanding."
"We'd be delighted!" the Doctor smiled.
Twilight rolled her eyes. This crazy stallion wasn't getting her home anytime soon.
Celestia addressed the guards, "Please bring the Doctor and Twilight to the west wing suites."
They nodded and turned to lead them out. The small party turned around and headed outward, but not before Twilight thought that she heard something coming from the far corner of the room.
Gaia; Equestria; Canterlot; Canterlot Castle, West Wing Suites; 297 C.E.
It wasn't until they reached the rooms and settled in, that Twilight noticed something: Celestia knew her name. Twilight tried thinking back to a moment that she may have given it, but thought of no such instance. 'How does she know who I am?' she thought. Luckily, their rooms were right across from each other, so Twilight knocked on the Doctor's door, ran in and said, "She knows me!"
The Doctor was holding a small metal cylinder with a blue light on the tip, in his mouth, and was pointing it at the walls. He moved it around the room a bit before placing it back in the pocket of the new suit that he was wearing. It was a dark grey, pinstripe jacket with matching pants, a white, collared undershirt, and a dark blue tie.
"Sonic screwdriver," the Doctor answered her confused stare, "I was checking to see if anyone was spying on us."
"Anypony," Twilight corrected.
"What?"
"You said anybody not anypony."
The Doctor was deep in thought for a moment, but he quickly understood, "Ah-ha, I get it, you being horses and all. Quite strange, though."
"Yes, but answer my first question: Celestia knows me. Actually... that wasn't a question."
"Answer one: I know," he said, "And answer two: no, it wasn't."
"Then, why didn't you say anything? Was it going to destroy the universe or something?"
"No."
"Then why didn't you say anything?!"
"Because," the Doctor said in a prideful tone, "Whoofever that was would have known we were on to her."
"Wait, did you just say 'whoofever?'"
"Yes."
"We don't talk like that."
"But you just told me to say anypony-"
"Because it makes sense," Twilight concluded. "Sheesh, where are you from anyway?"
"Gallifrey."
Twilight tilted her head to the side in confusion but brushed it off quickly. She headed out the doors, but the Doctor stopped her before she entered her own room.
"How do you feel about an investigation?"
Twilight saw where this was going and grinned, her sense of excitement getting the best of her, "Let me think about it."
The false Celestia realized her slip immediately after the words left her mouth, but she continued like nothing had been wrong. "Damn, my mouth!" she silently fumed. She went over to the mirror and raised the sheet, revealing the real and utterly exhausted Princess Celestia. "Oh, are you giving up?" the impostor asked in false concern.
Celestia raised her head slowly and turned to the impostor. "I have not yet given up," she said defiantly, "I have simply resorted to patience."
"How sweet. Now, tell me what spell I must use."
Celestia just turned her head away.
"You're sticking with the 'iron resolve' tactic, eh? Well, I have ways of making you talk." The false Celestia's horn began to glow a bright red.
Suddenly, Celestia began to scream in agony. It felt to her as if every bone in her body was breaking ever so slowly. "Fine!" she screamed, "FINE!"
The false Celestia smiled wickedly, "Now tell me, my dear," she leaned in close to the glass, "how do I control the sun?"
Twilight and the Doctor waited until late in the night before they began their investigation. Twilight led the Doctor through the twisting layout of the castle while he, in turn, opened the locked doors with his Screwdriver. There were times when they had to hide behind columns and around corners because of the guards patrolling the castle interior.
"You never told me what it does, you know," Twilight whispered, pointing at the sonic screwdriver.
"It opens things, among other stuff," the Doctor whispered back.
"But is it magic?"
"No, it's technology."
The rest of the journey to Celestia's room was spent in silence, with the occasional, whispered, "Hide!" They reached the doors and they were unsurprisingly locked. The Doctor pointed the screwdriver at them, activated it, and, with a click, they swung open noiselessly. Twilight and the Doctor entered and began searching the room. They opened drawers, checked jewelry boxes, and even looked under the large bed.
Twilight looked around the room silently before she felt something drawing her to a covered object in the far corner of the room. The Doctor, who had been scanning the room as well, watched her approach the sheet.
"Find something interesting?" he asked.
Twilight turned around, "Oh, well. When we were with Celestia, I heard something coming from over in the corner." Twilight then noticed a faint noise coming from beneath the sheet, and she grabbed the cover and pulled it off. Twilight had to bite her own leg to prevent herself from screaming.
Celestia was sitting within a separate room, identical to the one they were in, within the mirror. She had several minor cuts and bruises along her body, her multicolored mane was a mess, and she had fresh tears streaming down her face. Then she noticed Twilight standing in front of the mirror. "Please help me!" she pleaded, her voice was hoarse.
Twilight called, "Doctor! Come quick!"
"What?" he trotted over to the mirror. "Oh... my. This could be a problem."
Gaia; Equestria; Canterlot; Canterlot Castle, Main Courtyard; 297 C.E.
The false Celestia stood on the landing overlooking the castle courtyard, feeling proud. She had single handedly taken down the most influential mare on the entire planet, she lured the mythical Doctor and his troublesome accomplice to her, they would be disposed of later, and she now had the power to destroy this pitiful land and everypony on it. "The task shall be completed soon, my Master."
A voice within her mind answered her, "You must not get too sure of yourself. Now that the Doctor's here, you must be wary. Do the same with his assistant. You nearly gave yourself away before."
She laughed aloud, "They never suspected me."
"How do you know, the mare is wise. Wiser than I."
"I don't count her as a threat. You saw how clueless she was."
"Perhaps. I could sense her uncertainty, which answers one of my thoughts. But, you forget," said the voice, "that I still see more than you. I see moments, glances, possibilities, even thoughts. You are still very unaware of my powers."
"Then I shall stay that way. My knowledge will aid me in the final stage, but it is you who will be victorious. I will be carrying on with the plan." The voice didn't say anything back, so she continued to watch the horizon. "Soon. Very soon."
"Hang on." Twilight turned to the Doctor, "Can you get her out of there?"
He pulled out his Screwdriver with his mouth, "Leth me shee wath I can do." The Doctor scanned around the mirror and went cross eyed trying to examine the Screwdriver.
"I can't get her out..." he said.
"What?!" Twilight screamed.
"... unless, we break the glass."
"Why didn't you say that first?"
"I felt like increasing the tension."
Twilight groaned, "Then let's get her out!"
"Alright, alright!" The Doctor addressed Celestia, "Madam, could you please step in front of the mirror, or window thing."
Celestia struggled to her hooves, but she was able to limp over to the frame.
"What must I do?" she asked.
"One moment." The Doctor turned to Twilight, "Now, you have to listen to me very carefully. I need you to fire an explosive blast at the mirror from about ten meters away when I tell you." The Doctor turned back to Celestia, "Can you run at all?"
"I- I think so," she responded shakily.
"Great! Now, I'll need you to stand ten feet away, and run towards the frame when I give the word. Then, you'll be out. Hopefully."
Twilight glared at him, "What do you mean by 'hopefully?'"
"Well, we either break the glass, freeing this Celestia, or we break the glass and she's trapped in an identical room in a nether-space for the rest of her life. I haven't thought out all of the outcomes yet."
"Wait, you mean that this might not work?!"
"Don't worry Ms. Sparkle. It'll be fine. Trust me, I'm the Doctor."
Twilight responded by looking worried while walking ten feet away, as did Celestia.
The Doctor checked their positions and proceeded to count down, "Three... two... one... NOW!"
Celestia ran towards the frame and Twilight shot a red beam at the glass. There was a large explosion, the sound of glass, shattering, and a cloud of thick, black smoke. Twilight coughed a little and fanned the air.
"Doctor? Celestia?"
There was some coughing from the side with the mirror, and the Doctor's voice answered, "I'm fine."
The smoke still obscuring her vision, Twilight stumbled around until she stepped on something sharp. She looked down and saw a sliver of the mirror had poked her left foreleg. The smoke began to clear, and Twilight saw the Doctor standing over Celestia's body. "Celestia!" Twilight cried upon seeing her. She faced the Doctor, "Is she alive?"
"She's fine, but she'll be getting a headache when she wakes up. That, and she won't remember what has transpired over the past two days since I've already wiped this from her memory."
"You what?"
"It's a little trick we Time Lords can do. Quite handy when you need someone to forget your face. Which, in my opinion, was important because you two probably haven't even met each other at this point in time," The Doctor deduced.
"No," Twilight said, "not for another seven centuries."
"Alright! Now, before she lost consciousness, the real Princess Celestia, here, told me what the Impostor wanted."
"'Imposter?'"
"It's what I've decided to name our new enemy. Not knowing her species and all. Plus, it's fitting."
Twilight sighed, "Fine."
"Good, but back to business. Celestia said that the Impostor wanted to know how to 'use the sun.' Does that make any sense to you?"
Twilight bolted upright and faced the Doctor, "What day is it?"
"The... 21st of June if I'm not mistaken," the Doctor replied, "Just a guess, though."
"Oh, my Celestia," she said quietly, "she's going to use the sun."
"I heard the 'use the sun' part, but what does that mean?"
Twilight's expression grew solemn when she faced the Doctor, "She's literally going to use the sun."
The crowds of excited ponies were chattering excitedly, waiting for Princess Celestia to make the sun rise for the 297th Summer Sun Celebration. The trumpets then sounded loudly and the discussions ceased, signaling the start of the event.
"Announcing her royal highness, Princess Celestia!" a herald addressed the crowd/
The applause and cheering that she heard when she came out gave the false Celestia renewed purpose. She would destroy this pitiful country with the white-hot heat of the sun's relentless flames. That would be enough. They deserved their fate.
"My subjects," she addressed the crowds, "today will be the dawn of a new era! And in its wake the creation of a new empire."
Some of the assembled ponyfolk began to talk amongst them selves, wondering what she had meant.
The horn on the Princess's head began to glow, and the sun rose slowly above the hilltops.
Gaia; Equestria; Canterlot; Canterlot Castle, Main Corridors; 297 C.E.
Twilight and the Doctor ran through the palace. Past guards, servants, and one very strange looking clown. Each time they raced past a window, the sun was higher in the sky and the temperature kept rising.
"I hope you've got a plan!" Twilight shouted.
"Do you have any liquid nitrogen canisters?"
"What are those?"
"Then, I need a new plan!"
"Perfect!" Twilight complained.
"Halt!" A well sized group of guards blocked their way.
"You shall stay where you are!"
The Doctor sighed, "I don't have time for this," and he pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "Miss Sparkle, cover your ears."
Twilight obeyed, and just before the Doctor held up his screwdriver, and it let out a long, piercing whine that made windows crack slightly, and made the guards clutch their ears and flail about, swatting the air to get rid of the noise. The Doctor pocketed it and galloped towards the doors, Twilight close behind.
"That was handy... and fast," she complimented.
"They don't call it a sonic screwdriver for nothing."
Gaia; Equestria; Canterlot; Canterlot Castle, Main Courtyard; 297 C.E.
The mood of the onlookers slowly changed from awe to worry while the sun rose in the sky. It was beginning to get warmer and warmer far too quickly, as the sun was closer than usual. Sweat began finding its way down everyponys' brows with each second. Suddenly, a small patch of dry grass caught fire, the heat too much for it to bear. As it spread, so did a wave of panic that reverberated through the crowd. Some ponies screamed while most others ran for their lives.
The false Celestia laughed devilishly, her voice amplified with power, "FOOLISH CREATURES, SOON YOU SHALL BE NO MORE!!! HA HA HA!!!"
The Doctor and Twilight burst through the palace doors, both sweating profusely. The sun's heat increasing with each passing second. "Cease this madness now," The Doctor ordered the Impostor, "or I'll be forced to stop you myself."
The false Celestia turned to face the pair. "Well, well, well," she said, her horn ceased glowing for a moment, "It seems that you made it out, but you're too late."
Twilight wasn't listening. Instead, she noticed something: when the Impostor's horn stopped shimmering, the sun appeared to recede. Slowly, but it did.
"Doctor," she whispered out of the side of her mouth, "keep her focused on us. Her concentration is what's controlling the sun, so it'll back away when she's not using the spell."
"Hmm," he whispered back, "I guess you are more observant than I am. That's rare."
The Impostor laughed and shot a bolt of yellow light at the two of them. Twilight and the Doctor dodged and ran at her from both sides. "You think that you can defeat me? I've taken Celestia's body, I have total control of the sun, and now I will destroy you, Doctor!" She fired another blast of magic that caused the burning grass to spread in a circle around the Doctor. He tried to escape, but the fire would grow on the side that he tried for, each time. The Impostor gave a throaty laugh and continued her spell.
Twilight, who had sneaked around the Impostor's opposite side, watched her entrap the Doctor within a wall of fire and continue her reign of terror. Next, she did what she would later call the stupidest thing she'd ever done.
"Hey, you!"
The Impostor turned in surprise.
"Stop now!"
"Really," the Impostor said, "You're threatening me?"
"Umm... yes!" Twilight shot a focused beam of light out of her horn, but it reflected off of the Impostor's body. "What?! How?!" she stammered in disbelief.
"Foolish child! I'm a reflection! No amount of magic can destroy me! HA HA HA HA!"
Twilight looked in the Doctor's direction and watched him battle the flames that were closing in on him.
The Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver, and it let out a long, piercing whine which caused some windows to crack...
Piercing whine...
... caused some windows to crack...
A lightbulb instantly went off in Twilight's head. "Doctor!"
He turned and faced Twilight, screwdriver clutched between his teeth.
"Throw me the screwdriver!"
It took the Doctor a moment to realize what Twilight had in mind, and he did his best to toss the screwdriver through the flames. It landed a few meters from Twilight, and she made a mad dash for it.
The Impostor decided to have a little fun and shot concentrated bursts of golden light near Twilight. The bursts exploded upon impact, and Twilight, her strength reduced from the constantly increasing heat, dodged them with inches to spare. She made a leap for the Sonic and grabbed it in her hoof. She found the button, and aimed the device at the Impostor.
"What are you going to do," she said, feigning fright, "blink me to death?"
"No," Twilight said, "I'm going to make some noise."
Twilight held the Sonic aloft and pressed the button. The whine that left the Screwdriver was louder than before and sent a small sonic wave through the area. The Impostor covered her ears and lost concentration, causing the sun to recede once more. An ever growing web of cracks began to grow up her legs.
"What is this?!" she cried as her left foreleg splintered, followed by her right. "This is not what he promised! No! NNNOOOOOOOOOO!"
And the Impostor exploded into a shower of glass shards. The bits of glass rained down, bouncing off the grass in the surrounding area.
By now, the sun had backed far enough away, allowing weather pegasi to bring in clouds to douse the fires in the courtyard and around the city. Once the Doctor was freed, he ran over to Twilight and shouted, "That was brilliant! A sonic frequency that disrupted her power and was able to breach the defenses she created to protect her real form, while at the same time destroying her state of fragility as an easily damaged glass substance. Hmm, did that make sense. If not, I'll try to rethink that later."
"Yeah..." Twilight swayed a bit, the heat overwhelming, "It... worked..."
"Are you alright Miss Sparkle?"
"Yes... of course... Doctor," and with that, she passed out on the ground.
Twilight awoke inside a well lit room. As her eyes adjusted, she realized that she was in a hospital. A nurse pulled back the curtain that obscured her view of the main ward and greeted her. "Hello, dear. Are you feeling better?"
Twilight took a few seconds to reassess what happened. She had found and saved Celestia, destroyed a malevolent mirror creature, and saved all of Canterlot from burning to a crisp. Then there was the Doctor...
"Wait. Where's the Doctor?"
"He'll be here shortly," the nurse said.
The Doctor poked his head around the curtain and walked in. He was wearing a white coat and a stethoscope around his neck. "Hello, Ms. Sparkle. Are you feeling any better?"
"Y-yes, Doctor. What happened to me?"
"Simple. You fainted. Excessive exposure to the ultraviolet rays of the sun. In other words, you overheated and nearly died."
Twilight blinked, "So... nothing unnatural."
"Of course not. Oh, one moment." The Doctor turned to the nurse, "Madam?"
"Yes, Dr. Smith?"
The Doctor put his two fore-hooves on both sides of the nurse's head and she collapsed, out cold.
Twilight was staring in shock, "What did you do to her?!"
"Just a simple memory wipe. That's what I've been doing while you were passed out. It took me a while to wipe the entire city, but now I'm finished."
"Wait," Twilight said in disbelief, "you wiped the minds of everypony in the entire city of Canterlot?!"
"Yes," the Doctor said, "plain and simple. Well, it was much simpler to tell most of them that they hallucinated the entire experience because of well poisoning."
"Then if you've done that... how long have I been out?"
"A week."
"A WEEK?!" Twilight shouted.
"No, I'm just kidding," the Doctor laughed, "It's been twenty-eight hours and twelve minutes precisely."
Twilight fell back onto her pillow. 'A day,' she thought, 'I've been asleep for over a day!'
"Now, Ms. Sparkle," the Doctor said, interrupting her thoughts, "shall we return you home?"
Twilight responded by getting out of the bed, "I think so."
Gaia; Equestria; Canterlot; Canterlot Castle, Main Hall; 297 C.E.
Twilight and the Doctor spent their time walking to the TARDIS in silence. The Doctor pulled the key out of his suit, having returned his white lab coat to the hospital, and, after a few tries, inserted it into the lock. He pushed open the doors and motioned for Twilight to step inside.
"Thank you, good sir," Twilight said, speaking in a royal tone.
"You're quite welcome, madame," the Doctor replied. He followed Twilight inside and shut the doors behind them. He reached the controls and pulled out a small sliver of a mirror from inside his suit pocket. Twilight noticed this and came over.
"Is that part of her?"
"It," the Doctor said, "Not she. It. but, yes. It is a piece."
"Why did you keep it?" Twilight questioned.
"In case she's one of those creatures that can re-form after being destroyed."
Twilight nodded, understanding his theory.
It was subtle, but the glass slowly began to shimmer an a pair of blood-red eyes appeared. The Doctor looked at the shard and dropped it on the ground in surprise. Twilight wondered why he did this and, she too, looked at it, and froze when she saw the eyes.
"Doctor..." the sound that came out was a mix of a demonic male and female voice. "You may have won, but the numbers will find you, Doctor. They will find you."
The Doctor recovered from his shock, "What numbers?" he asked. "What are they?" he demanded.
The voice laughed in a distorted, half-screeching sound, "I am not the keeper of them... but he is. The numbers will find you, Doctor. The numbers will win!" The eyes then faded from the surface of the mirror, and the Doctor was left looking at his own reflection.
Twilight was trembling slightly, "D-Doctor. Wh-What did s-she mean, 'numbers?'"
The Doctor waved her off, "I'm... sure it's nothing to worry about. Now, come on. Let's get you home."
Twilight peeked her head out of the TARDIS and slowly stepped out, the Doctor following behind. "Are you sure you got the date right?" Twilight asked him.
"Yes. I simply told the TARDIS to go right back to where I traveled to most recently. It's a very handy feature. You should have left approximately three minutes ago."
The door to the library was thrown open and Spike ran in.
"Twilight!" he jumped up and hugged her around her neck, "I was really worried about you."
"Spike," Twilight playfully detached him from her body, "I've only been gone for a few minutes."
Spike gave her a disbelieving look, "No, Twilight. You've been gone for a few days."
Twilight turned and faced the Doctor who had stepped back a few paces. She gave him something close to Fluttershy's signature 'Stare.' "You said it was a few minutes."
"Not everything is accurate, you know," the Doctor said defensively. He then turned around an headed back to the TARDIS, but he stopped before opening the doors.
"Are you sure that you want to stay here?" he asked Twilight.
"What do you mean?"
"Well... I was going to offer you the chance to... join me. Like a... companion through the universe." The Doctor let those words hang in the air for a few moments while Twilight looked like she was considering the idea.
"Is it always that dangerous?" Twilight questioned.
"Not all the time. I do have my quiet moments."
Twilight turned to Spike, and then back to the Doctor, "Would you guarantee that I'll be safe?"
"No," the Doctor answered, lowering his gaze, "I can never guarantee that. I'm... sorry for bringing it up," and he headed back into the TARDIS.
Twilight watched him enter the TARDIS and turned back to Spike.
"Are you going with him?" Spike asked.
"I don't know Spi-"
The Doctor opened the doors and said, "Don't forget: It's a time machine," and he closed the doors again.
Twilight said to Spike, "Actually, I'll se you in a minute." She gave the baby dragon a big hug and ran up to the TARDIS and threw open the doors. The Doctor was standing at the controls, grinning. "Time travel is too tempting to pass up, isn't it?" he asked her.
"Too tempting if you ask me."
The Doctor smiled and began running around the control panel. "Where to, Miss Sparkle? The future? The past? The depths of space? Don't do anything with a lot of slop. I hate slop."
"How about the future?" she said, stopping him before he hurt himself, "I mean, we've already done the past."
"Excellent!" The Doctor flipped a switch and the TARDIS shuddered violently as it began it's journey. "Allons-y!"
VVRROOMMP! VVRROOMMP! VVRROOMMP!...
Outside, Spike watched as the TARDIS faded from the room, it's telltale engines echoing after it disappeared. He stood there a while before lowering his head. "One minute," he sighed. Spike slowly went upstairs and went to his small bed/basket. He pulled up the covers and settled in. Just as he was about to close his eyes, he noticed a small ripped piece of paper settled under Twilight's bed. Curiously, he grabbed the paper and looked at the writing on it:
