//------------------------------// // The Timelord And The Plasmavore // Story: Doctor Whooves- Through The Cracks // by LemonDrizzle //------------------------------// The TimeLord And The Plasmavore Apple trees. Apple trees everywhere. The trio of assorted coloured ponies had been travelling for roughly five minutes, heading off in a direction that was obviously known to the hulking red stallion and the magically gifted unicorn but completely unknown to The Doctor, hence his needless whittling on over everything. Every shrub, house, pony or little, nearly invisible pebble that he'd pass he would take upon himself to investigate, mumbling and smiling to himself as the other two members of the group watched on, one in humour at his antics and the other with a small twinge of curiosity on his otherwise impassive face. Needless to say, The Doctor's constant need for explanations and investigations had resulted in him being chased from many houses by screaming mares or roaring stallions and yet that bizarre grin had not once left his face. The flora around was, to him, one of the single most beautiful, pure creations ever to be experienced by his age old eyes, the contrasting shine of the flower with the delicious scent it gave off, free from the cutting cloned plants back on Earth. He had, much to the horror of the other two ponies watching, ended up taking a hesitant lick of nearly every new type of pebble or stone he found on the way before his eyes would peer upwards as if he was searching the skies before he would recite the chemicals and elements that each mineral rock contained. At first the duo of unbridled confusion had just watched his display with bafflement but by the tenth time that the well repeated phrase of Calcium Carbonate or, CaCO3 had been repeated they had grown quite frustrated with the brown colt. Well, Twilight had at least. Big Macintosh was a hard pony to decipher and most certainly not one to give in or show any emotions other then happy ones to those around him. A true gentlecolt through and through. Of course the most spectacular sight for the knowledge ravishing Doctor had been the looping, soaring, laughing pegasi that sailed above him like birds in flight, completely at home in the somewhat brisk air. It had been Twilight's utmost pleasure to experience The Doctor's jaw drop at the sheer acrobatic grace that the pegasi exhibited, only accustomed to the light, hovering style flying that he had seen from one rainbow haired individual. At his first true encounter with the flying, winged ponies he had simply stood stone still, eyes wide and mouth opening and closing every few seconds, the occasional muttered word escaping his lips as he beheld the grace and the elegance that they showed as if they were born to fly which, The Doctor rationalized, was probably true. The wind had picked up slightly on the journey to the fabled farm of the honest orange mare, turning from a slight breeze into a wind that would most likely shake and scatter the leaves from the surrounding trees had they not been so stubborn to leave their posts. At first this new, crispy, chilly wind had caused The Doctor to shiver slightly but soon his new equine body had adjusted to the difference, fur fluffing up to smother his body in a content, warm shield. The same adaptation to the environment had occurred in Twilight, her purple fur slightly puffier then usual and yet Big Mac remained exactly the same as he had before, wizened, toughened body simply not giving a single buck about the state of the weather or the chill in the air. After walking for five minutes, a trip that should have taken three had The Doctor not been fascinated by every little thing, the first glimpse of the great apple orchard came into view, carpeting the massively large clearing before them in great shrouds of fruit and bark. Great, bulbous red and green fruit lay limply from the bushy green leaves, flailing slightly in the decently paced wind and bobbing up and down on their separate branches as if they were dancing. The trees themselves were made of strong, sturdy deep brown oak that seemed to resonate a power and a wisdom that stretched in for generations, each tree with a different, complex story to tell, each tree with a tale to whisper. The luscious green ground sinking across the trees feet was littered with small, brittle leaves and bruised, broken apples along with a few rather large looking brown weaved baskets, each nearly filled to the brim with shining red apples. The trees seemed to stretch on for miles and miles, great bending hills filled to the top with the beautiful, vibrant sight of the Apple family heritage, a few bare from apple bucking and yet four times as many completely weighed down by the sheer number of fruits that slept upon them. A large white fence that came up to The Doctor's fuzzy brown chest guarded the seemingly endless fields of trees, separating the soft, supple looking grassy land of the farm from the dirty, hoof trodden route of the path. No house nor farmyard had come into view yet, the sight muffled and hidden by the rows and rows of apple trees that stretched onwards for miles and miles, almost out of The Doctor's clear blue gazing sight. He tore his relentless gaze away from the fantastic orchard before him in surprise as a dainty little cough sounded beside his ear, causing him to whirl around to confront the figure from which it had escaped from who just so happened to be a small purple mare. Twilight looked particularly sheepish as she watched The Doctor's excited almost ravenous sight break away from the rolling, roaming field before him and instead settled it upon her, the ferocity and excitement now pumping towards her in great twisting arcs, causing her stomach to flip as he beheld her with such intensity that it was like he was burning into her. Then he blinked and the moment was gone. “Ah yes, sorry about that. Never seen a farm quite as...magnificent as this. Lead on Big Mac!” At the quirky but kind colts words the lumbering red farm pony known as Big Macintosh allowed a small, almost unnoticeable smile to break out across his face before it was swallowed up once more by his calm, hidden demeanour. He turned back towards the worn, dusty path signalling the others to follow with another gentle flick of his blonde, unkempt tail as a low, rumbling single word escaped his throat. “Eeyup.” The trio continued their walk for another half a minute, The Doctor silently observing every little detail around them from the blue winged butterflies to the almost too tame skies whilst Twilight continued to observe him, the inner scientist in her analysing his every word and movement. Yet, to her frustrations she could draw no conclusion on him, not even a single hypothesis. It was like he was hidden, shrouded by something that kept his emotions and intentions veiled and sealed away with an iron lock and steel chains. Pretty swiftly Big Mac pulled into an opening in the snowy white if not slightly decrepit fence, pushing a small white gate backwards until it swung around and hit the fence with a muffled crash and a small mouse like squeak. Big Mac trotted forward, followed swiftly but softly by a certain purple mare who, in turn, was followed by the still slightly stunned colt who was growing increasingly proud and astounded at the level which these ponies had adapted to. The dry, cracked dirt road had given way rather swiftly to the soft, dewy mush of the grassed ground, a trickling, wet but not unpleasant feeling sifting into The Doctor's hooves and through his entire body. The air was tinged with the sweet smell of apples, the wind laced so thick with the stench that The Doctor could practically taste the tang of the red fruit itself. The trees rustled around him, apples swinging around towards him as if they were attempting to reach him and the baskets laying scattered across the floor, the wind not even touching them as it whistled loudly above the trees, picking up and causing some of them to shake. Soon enough the true spectacle of sweet apple acres came into view, the beautiful wooden red farm house and barn. The household rose from the ground like a giant red super structure as if it was pinching the very heavens themselves, a large gleaming red drawn apple laying amongst the blue skies as if it was flying. The house itself was made of an unrecognisable wood, the colour red ending all visual investigations of the bark wrapped home, the deep exotic red mingling with the sun in a vibrant contrast. White outlined wooden beams supported the body of the structure, rising upwards in great pillars of strength and dove white protection, their job to guard those who dwelled within from the fear of total collapse. Great purple shingles and rooftops lined the head of the house, seemingly melting fluently into the red woodwork of the body with an effectiveness and an elegance that nearly defied belief. Many open windows lined the sides of the house allowing the brilliant sunlight to pour in and to grace and caress the multicoloured, alluring flowers that shone along the windowsills. The house, or barn, sat atop a dusty brown dirt covered hill, claiming the centrepiece to the vastness that was Sweet Apple Acres, like a king on a chessboard. The same dove white fence stretched around it, a small gap visible in front of the large double doored entrance to the household. The most surprising aspect of the household though was the green shrivelled up prune-like creature that was rocking back and forth in a chair of some kind on the wooden porch of the barn, the loud snoring reaching The Doctor's ears from where he stood at the edge of the tree-line. A loud, heavy thunking sound drew his attention away from the magnificent red house and the mysterious shrivelled guardian that defended the home. His eyes and ears turned towards the direction of the noise only to be met with the sight of a vast number of trees shaking and jittering as if something was forcing its way towards them, the quivering display of trees growing closer and closer to the household. The Doctor's thoughts raced with possibilities of this hidden threat that was working its way towards them, automatically placing himself in front of Twilight as the heavy thunking and the shaking trees grew closer and closer and closer. A herd of buffalo? A rampaging rhino? A dinosaur, oh now that would most certainly be something! A flicker of movement at the edge of the tree-line caught The Doctor's eye as he braced himself to throw down with whatever violent, powerful creature that could cause the sturdy trees themselves to shake. So, of course, he was relatively surprised to see Applejack emerging from the trees, cold beads of sweat lacing her brow and running down her orange face in rivulets. The Doctor merely stared in unparalleled shock as the sunset orange mare galloped towards the group, raising one hoof to her brow to fling the perspiration across the air, creating a few sparkling twinkles in the wind. A fine layer of dust clung to her coat as the rolling droplets of sweat grappled it and pulled it closer, the orange hooves raising more of the musky substance as they pounded the ground carelessly to reach the small rag-tag group. The worn out Stetson atop her blonde streaked head bounced viciously at the speeds of which she was travelling, bucking and kicking like a bull. Soon enough Applejack arrived before the trio, two who greeted her warmly with smiles and one who greeted her incoherently with confusion. The Element of Honesty couldn't help but let out a small, muffled snort at the sight of her new bizarre brown furred friend looking so bewildered, the sight of his open mouth and somewhat twitching right eye caused mirth to flood her being. “So-hehe-Doctah, I see you-snort-came to check on mah farm. Whatd'ya think?” The Doctor blinked once, twice, three times before he opened his mouth to reply, the surprised expression never leaving his face as he spoke in an almost detached voice as if he wasn't truly there. “Its lovely. I especially like the apples. Nothing like a good apple.” Applejack smiled at The Doctor's admittance of the greatness of her fruit, allowing herself a small chortle of bemusement at the look on his face before she spoke up in a stronger voice that snapped him out of his daze. “Y'all alright there Doc? Ya looked a bit out of it.” “Yes, yes I'm fine. However, I would like to know why you were slamming a battering ram into those trees.” The Doctor spoke offhoofedly without thinking, closing his eyes as he raised a single hoof into the air before his eyes snapped open, widening slightly in fear at the consequences of what he had just said. “Y'all calling me a battering ram?” The growl that echoed from Applejack's throat would have easily turned the most hardened fighter to a quivering mess of fear. “No, no, no I-” “Y'all sayin' I ain't dainty?” “That's not what I meant at al-” “You sayin' just cause I got some muscle I can't be a lady?” “Oh for Pete's sake.” “Who's Pete?” “Twilight, now is not the time! Anywho, Applejack I really am sorry for my earlier comment and I hope you can- Wait, what are you doing?” Applejack, prior to popular belief, was currently not attempting to knock The Doctor's terrified block off and was instead rolling around the muddy floor, dust clinging to her more tightly as she belted out a loud, southern guffaw. “Y'all shoulda seen the look an ya face! Priceless.” The Doctor, for the second time that day, blinked once, twice and then three times before he began to chuckle softly as the young orange mare continued her hilarity roll around in the dirt. Soon the chuckle exploded into a full blown laugh as the red stallion and the purple mare behind him began to chortle to, the sounds ringing across the farm and waking a rather grumpy, green mare. “Shut up tha lotta ya!” The cry of the surprisingly strong-lunged elderly mare blasted through the farmyard, sending The Doctor's ears pin-wheeling backwards in fright as his laughter suddenly ceased, Applejack's dying down softly as the other two companions of his piped down. Mere seconds after the terrifying act of mare dominance yelling, the sounds of heavy snoring rattled across the clearing as the green mare once more folded into the arms of Morpheus. Applejack's laughter petered out as she rose back onto three legs, the fourth wiping careless, humour-filled tears from her eyes, the trails of earlier water creeping down from her eyes to her throat. The Doctor smiled weakly at the slightly shaking form of Applejack, sticking his hoof out in front of him in a sign of forgiveness and friendship. “Oh thank Time itself, I thought you were going to end me right there and then. Wome-Mares can overreact to the most fickle little things.” The orange hoof that clasped his brown one firmly spoke not of friendship or forgiveness, it spoke loudly of the incredibly high chance of imminent pain directed towards the wielder of said hoof. The grip was one of pure iron, capable of breaking bones but not applying enough pressure to, merely severely bruising the brown appendage. The Doctor yelped in pain, desperately struggling to pull his hoof back before it became detached and blue from the intense throbbing pain that bolted through his body. He looked at Applejack's green eyes which blazed with a little anger but mostly flared with, in The Doctor's personal opinion, a sadistic humour at his pain. “Y'all are soooo right Doctah, we really can overreact to the smallest things.” The Doctor stared into the emerald eyes of Applejack and as he beheld that evil look in her eyes he couldn't help but remember a certain purple mare that had held the same basic expression last night. He gulped slowly, feeling the grip tighten slightly to the feel of refined steel. “I've doomed myself again haven't I?” [.] “All the mares in this town are crazy!” The Doctor and his little purple companion trotted firmly away from the now descending sight of the apple farm. Well, Twilight was trotting quite peacefully, humming a little tune to herself whilst trying to keep the small smirk off of her face. The Doctor on the other hoof was limping quite profoundly, wincing every time his injured hoof made contact with the ground, moaning and groaning a little bit in a way that was most unbecoming of a stallion his age. Actually, there were no nine hundred and seven year old stallions but if there were this would not be how they would react. “Come on Doctor, Applejack was kind enough to show you around her farm.” “She chased me around her farm Twilight, there's a difference.” “Well, she was nice enough to shout out the names of certain places.” “That's what she was shouting about? I thought she was yelling threats at me.” “You are such a foal you know that right?” The Doctor continued to groan and moan to himself for another minute before his ears perked up as Twilight began to lead him in another direction, heading towards the very outskirts of the quaint, quiet little town. They followed a small dirt path for a few more minutes as The Doctor carefully and painstakingly inspected every aspect of his new surroundings. The trees were now more scarce, the odd brown oaked, lime green leafed pillar rising from the ground every few fifty metres, behind them rose the Everfree Forest, the vastness of its trees easily making up for the lack of them along the path. The dirt path had gotten more smooth, the little bump and rocks that had pricked The Doctor's hooves on his way to Applejack's now gone as he trotted forward peacefully, enjoying the almost mushy feeling of the dirt beneath his hooves. The grass around them was such a luminous, vibrant green that it would easily have burned into the retinas of any other creature not adapted to the constant changing of its location, a skill The Doctor had learnt a while back. Small, fluffy, snow white rabbits lay scattered around the luscious green grass, calmly nibbling on the bright flora or merely hopping and speaking to each other in serene ear flicks or light sniffing. The sun continued to beat down strongly on The Doctor's back, the sky completely clear of any sort of clouds, the bright blue expanse shading the sight above him. The wind had settled back down after the pair had left the farm. The Doctor, still in his state of annoyance and pain, had commented that it was probably just him escaping from Applejack that had allowed the weather to resort back to its calm, ideal, serenity. The soft smell of oak and freshly cut grass permeated the air, enticing in the wildlife and even earning a slightly hungry stare from The Doctor as he gazed at the grass which was beginning to look more and more delectable. A few stray birds fluttered across the tranquil sky, casting small shadows that writhed and darted along the ground magnificently. The duo continued their walk in a companionable silence, completely at ease with each others presence. The Doctor had met with many strange creatures before and whilst a talking purple unicorn was high up on the list he had grown to trust the gut feeling that he got when he looked at someone and, right now, his gut told him that she wasn't anything to be afraid of. Quite the contrary actually, she was someone to be friends with more then anything else. Twilight didn't fully know what it was about the brown colt that staggered and trotted beside her that had managed to capture and subdue her fear so easily, leaving only a calm, trusting attitude in her towards him. It felt like when she was around him she would be safe, she would be protected which Twilight, of course, reasoned was completely ridiculous. She was a logical thinker and as such she stated that it was the hormonal rush of excitement she had felt over the last few days that had led her to trust him. After all, rushing from a spaceship crash sight to an actual alien itself was not something that happened everyday so that simply must have been what was affecting her in such a way. Together they rounded a particularly large hill that had ascended from the usually smooth, flat ground, the brown colt and the purple mare passing over it to witness the fantastic sight that rose up into the sky before them, the farm house being nothing compared to the pinnacle of sheer, unbridled awesome that hovered in the sky. Great, fluffy, snow white clouds hung gracefully in the air, the apparent lack of the dove white cumulus clouds quickly becoming clear as the structure continued to rise up and up, the clouds swirling and melding into each other. A light, ice blue path of sorts stretched down a white cloud lawn, intermingling with the colour easily like the perfect mix of spectrum on a painters palette. The house itself, if it could merely be called a house, rose upwards like a lighthouse crossed with a mansion, multiple dark blue windows dotting its surface as it continued to spiral higher and higher until it appeared to push into the skin of the sky itself. Marble white coloured pillars rose around the household, as if supporting the incredibly light clouds that mixed into the house. The doorway was barely visible, a soft looking cloud that appeared to be equipped with a small, cloud handle, defying the laws of every weather man and scientist that had ever been. The most stunning aspect of the almost obnoxious house was the vivid, sprinkling, sparkling rainbow falls that were gushing great streams of colour across the whole house, pooling together at the bottom in what appeared to be a specifically made cloud bath designed just for keeping the rainbow liquid in one place. A great, gigantic fountain of rainbow exploded from the very tip of the house, streaming outwards in a wide arc that fizzled and dispersed in what must have been cool, crisp air, dazzling the blue sky with droplets of every colour. The stunningly beautiful sight was soon interrupted by a loud, high whistling sound that seemed to burst from the sky, the crackling sound of static following it. Mere seconds later a cracking, loud, nervous voice smashed through the other noises as it steadily began to increase. “Look out beeeeellllloooooooooooowwwwww!” Twilight had the clever planning to dart away from the scene, eyes shrunk in fear and mane bouncing dangerously as she pushed herself as far away from the scene before her as possible. Naïve as The Doctor was he cast his gaze upwards at the sky, looking for the direction at which the sound had come from before he was so rudely interrupted in his search by a cyan blur slamming into his side. The pair, the battered, bruised Doctor and the cyan tormentor, flew backwards from the collision, the rainbow maned wonder following the winded brown colt as they both took a long, drawn-out tumble directly off of the path. The Doctor spun and spun too many times, his hoof slamming painfully into the ground and drawing low, hissing breaths from his clenched mouth as he continued his spin along with the cyan blue at incredible speeds that would have put a washing machine to shame. Eventually the pair ended up at the purple hooves of Twilight who, instead of her usual smirk, was looking down on them in worry, nerves and anxiety spread across her face in a way that brought out the beauty of her smile compared to the contrast of her worry. “Are you both okay?” The faintest tremor was visible in her voice as she called down to the tangled, knotted pair of ponies that lay at her hooves, bending her neck down to inspect both of them for any injuries they may have acquired. The cyan blue blur, now visible as Rainbow Dash detached herself from the huddle of limbs first, shaking herself slightly as she stood up to clear her head of the looming, tweeting figures of yellow birds. She turned to see the other member of the two pony mashup, only to wince as she took in the sight of the rather bruised and dazed looking stallion that she had charged into before a small smile played across her lips as she remembered back to her and Twilight's first meeting and how similar it had been. Rainbow Dash leaned down and extended one fuzzy hoof to her bewildered brown friend, gripping him strongly and hoisting him to his hooves so fast that he nearly went toppling over in the other direction. “Did anypony get the license plate of the train that hit me?” The Doctor's voice was somewhat slurred, though the sparkle of mischief and humour had returned to his blue eyes as Dash burst into great hoots of laughter at the sight of the almost drunk looking, wobbling, voice slurring and yet still strangely strong looking brown colt. Twilight snickered somewhat before her expression turned to anger, body twisting around to glare at Rainbow Dash who immediately fell silent under the deathly gaze Twilight was sending her way. “Dash, how many times have I told you to not practice your Sonic Rainboom so close to the town!? One of these days you're going to hurt yourself or somepony else!” Rainbow Dash looked meekly at the ground shuffling her hooves awkwardly as she mumbled a number that sounded suspiciously like it belonged in the hundreds list. The Doctor, head still swimming with cooing yellow birds, merely turned to her with a look that betrayed no anger or annoyance at her actions, instead it held curiosity. “No damage done my rainbow maned mare, let bygones by bygones and whatnot. Now, I believe I heard Twilight mention something called a “Sonic Rainboom”. Anyon-pony care to explain?” Twilight sighed in frustration as The Doctor once more shrugged off and forgave an injury that could have left him seriously hurt, instead opting out to find out more behind the reasoning why his injury happened then declaring punishment for it. Still, she couldn't help but admire his carefree, never angered attitude which always made him seem warm and approachable. On hearing The Doctor ask for an explanation behind her signature move, Rainbow Dash's eyes had gone wide with wonder and boastfulness and her pupils had shrunk to pin-pricks in excitement. Her voice quivered slightly as she told the tale of the Sonic Rainboom to The Doctor, her ears pinning backwards as she continued to rattle onwards in a voice that could have broken glass. “You have the privilege of speaking to the only pony ever to have performed the Sonic Rainboom not once, but twice! Basically, it all started when...” Twilight zoned out as her over-excited friend began to unveil the tale of her one-of-a-kind move having heard the tale more times then she cared to count. Swiftly, her mind began to ponder the implications of the strange new alien and how he had come to Equestria. More so though a somewhat dark revelation came to her. Trust was a gift that had to be earned, not just gained over the course of one night and yet the strange brown colt from the sky had strolled into all of their lives and taken their trust as if it were a house-warming gift, a thought that caused Twilight's blood to boil in anger and small amounts of fear. Was he perhaps using some form of secret alien mind trick on all of them? He is an alien and yet here they were treating him like one of their own, laughing and playing with him like it was nothing out of the ordinary. It did help that he looked shockingly like a pony, a fact that Twilight found rather convenient for the fallen alien. Her suspicions raised and her paranoia increasing Twilight began to picture the worst possible outcomes of this strangers arrival and his conversion of her friends trust. What if he eats ponies! Maybe he's not a pony and he's just using a disguise! What if he's telling his people all about us! What if he's telling them to invade! Oh no, oh no, oh no! Whilst on the outside Twilight was merely nodding and smiling along to Rainbow's story, inside she was on the verge of a complete and utter breakdown. She hadn't felt this sure of something since the Smartie Pants incident where she had had the ingenious plan of using a want-it need-it spell on her precious doll to make a friendship report. This reasoning alone made her stop the panic attack of the mind, physical brow furrowing slightly as she contemplated what in Equestria had just happened to her. Once more she had jumped to a near foolish conclusion, egged on by her own paranoid, nervous conscious which had told her of only the worst possibilities. On one hoof, maybe he was an evil, pony eating alien and yet he had shown no signs of being such whilst on the other hoof he may be a kind, caring alien that she could have alienated with her earlier accusations. Still, regardless of who he had shown himself to be so far and that had been nothing but gentlecolty if not a bit weird she would still have to keep an eye on him. Possibly two considering how prone to danger he seemed to be. When I get back to the library I need to write Princess Celestia a message concerning him. That single thought allowed all traces of worry and anxiety to leave her knowledge filled and curious mind. Celestia would know exactly what to do about him and whatever the Princess said about the matter she would agree with her. After all, what else was a magical protégée of the Princess supposed to do? Twilight keyed herself back into the rather one sided conversation as her mind cleared, just in time to hear the end of the interesting tale Dash was telling. “...and then I dived straight through the window and took out all of the ninjas whilst saving the family from a burning building. All thanks to my Sonic Rainboom!” Twilight frowned in confusion as her loyal but over exaggerating friend finished her rather over the top tale. Her purple eyes moved across to meet The Doctor's blue ones and what she saw there made her burst into great ringing peals of laughter. He looked so hopelessly, utterly scared and confused about how the conversation veered off in such a peculiar direction. His whole body language, tense muscles and grinding jaw, screamed oh please let it end and yet Rainbow Dash remained completely oblivious to it, recounting the numerous awards and medals she got for her heroic actions towards saving Equestria. The Element of Loyalty didn't even notice her purple friend curl up into a ball of generous laughs, completely intent on finishing her intense story, much to the horror of The Doctor. “So then I flew off into the sunset all heroic and stuff. Y'know that feeling when you're flying and the sunset is like right there?” “Yes...” Rainbow Dash smiled widely at the colt before the smile drooped at his continuance. “...Actually, no.” “C'mon dude, its like really warm and you feel all hero like, y'know?” “Oh right yeah...” Rainbow Dash smiled again before, once again, her toothy grin fell and she muttered a silent curse under her breath at his reply. “...nope, still no.” “Oh jeez dude, I mean its all lik-” “Oh yes Rainbow, ahaha, I'm sure The Doctor knows exactly what you're talking about!” The creepy, stretched smile on Twilight's face was enough to get The Doctor to understand what she was trying to do, the hefty, obvious wink sent his way only doubling his belief. “Oh, now that Twilight mentions it I do remember that feeling entirely. All heroic and...sunsetty.” Rainbow Dash smiled for the third time, buying the lie hook, line and sinker which made Twilight feel a little bit bad inside. However, when Rainbow began to open her mouth Twilight immediately forgot her doubt on her actions and instead lunged towards her friend to stop the excited chatter before it could really begin. Plugging her cyan friends mouth with one hoof and, much to her horror, feeling Dash's tongue scrape her sensitive hooves, Twilight spoke in a rapid fire voice that spoke of her impatience to escape from the conversation with the excited Wonderbolts fan. “Ahaha, see? Anyway, we must be off. Ponies to go, places to see...I mean, Ponies to see and goes to places...wait that's not right it's-” “Ah yes Twilight, quite right. We should be heading off, we have that really important thing to do.” The Doctor had watched in morbid horror as his purple friend had begun to dig herself and, to some extent, himself into a deep hole from which they could not escape and he soon took it upon himself to go spelunking to save her and him from the surprising chatterbox before them. He threw a casual wink at Twilight as he spoke, hoping with both of his hearts that she would get the message which, thankfully she did. “Oh yes, that important thing we need to do. We must be off Dash, byebye now!” Rainbow Dash could only watch in surprise as her egghead of a friend grabbed the brown colt with one purple hoof before she began to drag him away at incredibly speeds back towards the town, the velocity she was travelling at would give Pinkie a hard time topping. A thin layer of smoke wafted from the direction that the duo had run off, small skid-marks from a particularly sore set of brown hooves stretched across the soft grass and over back onto the path. In the distance she could just make out the figure of her two friends, one frantically pulling the other along, streaming back towards town in the direction of Carousel Boutique. Rainbow Dash shrugged at her friends incredibly odd reaction before she flung herself into the air and winged her way over to her house, kicking the door open with a careless movement before she flung herself down on her nice, comfy cloud sofa to have a little after stunt nap. A single thought raced through her head as she drifted off to sleep, a smile forming on her lips and a soft chuckling escaping her mouth at the thought. He totally bought the story. [.] It watched them, the putrid purple pony and the astoundingly familiar bumbling brown colt as they charged off back towards town, leaving the sickening cyan mare behind in a wake of dust and confusion. It snickered from its hiding place in the dense foliage of the Everfree Forest as those whimpering, snivelling creatures called it. Bah, the supposed monstrous forest was more of a home for it then that wretched town with all its kindness and its happiness, such vomit inducing emotions. For a split second it contemplated emerging from the forest, charging the cyan mare down and draining her of every single drop of blood until its veins ran thick with the life-bearing liquid and its body changed to one more strong, more powerful, more graceful. That idea was soon scattered to the wind as the cyan blue and rainbow maned pegasus, as if judging is contemplation on the topic, extended her wings and blasted up into the sky to settle into that obnoxiously bright house of hers, the house that burnt its eyes every time it forced itself to look at it. It spat in disgust at the sight of lost prey before it turned its gaze once more to the brown stallion and the purple mare who were both far off into the horizon, now seemingly slowed down enough to be regarded as walking at a normal pace, as if that brown colt was normal. It could picture him now, the caramel fur, the red bow-tie, the scribbled, black mess of hair, the timepiece mark, the cold, blue eyes... ...and the blue box. Its memories began to return, shrouding its mind with an icy chill once more as it staggered backwards into the forest, one deep green hoof pressed tightly against its head as it struggled to remain conscious amidst the swirling reminiscent events. It tripped, tumbling backwards down a steady, disgustingly green weed-infested hill until it emerged at the bottom, covered in dirt and sporting cuts and bruises across its whole body. Once more the pressing darkness returned to its mind, swallowing it up amidst a heavy sea of memories. It no longer fought the sensation, giving into it without any signs of struggle as it let out one long breath, expelling all traces of doubt from its mind as it did so. It lost consciousness to the soft chirping of birds and the gurgling of a stream. And it sickened it. [.] Jdukin- Plasmavore Home Planet 2 years ago It needed to be here. This was the end after all. Time was collapsing. The universe was dying. And all because of him. It had been so long, so very, very long since it had last heard anything of The Doctor. It had been so long, so very, very long since it had last thought of The Doctor. And yet, here he was again performing the ultimate crime on the face of the universe, his power and his mind gone insane and corrupt, intent on destroying the universe. It was he, The Doctor that had destroyed its life, that had created the cracks in time through which only silence prevailed. It was he who had found the final way to cheat the universe, to cheat it. It was he who had doomed them all to a fate much, much worse then merely dying. Never being born, never being remembered was a type of death that no creature, no matter how lonely would ever have wanted. It knew its planet had a little amount of time left, it could see the spreading, churning crack in time from where it stood alone and naked in the fields of hatchlings, the goo and the sap of the world oozing against its taloned feet. It had come here to say its last goodbyes, not to the creatures of this world that had shunned it, kicked it out and forced it into a life of exile and strife. No, it had come to say goodbye to the planet itself. It had missed its home, missed it so very dearly. The waterfalls of Poe were a sight to behold, a sparkling oasis of luminous yellow water that sparkled and shimmered in the feeble yet prominent light from the sun, static electricity infused within the chemical mix-up of the liquid producing a beautiful and yet surprisingly tingling sensation of water running over squishy, white bodies. The hatchling fields still had their same dry yet comforting look about them, the holes punctured ruthlessly into the ground. It missed the days of its fights and its squabbles with its peers, the days it would win and emerge as the triumphant one only to be met with a new challenger, a new creature to battle and thwart. It even missed the feeling of its taunters head between its talons, crushing it and watching the liquefied brain go spurting across the- It remembered the Moonlit Cliffs where the twin moons, Lufanu and Tyri would show themselves, the only available area from which a young plasmavore could see the moons through the dense pollution that littered the atmosphere and stopped the heavy radiation of the sun. It was a fine set of cliffs, made of hardened, solidified goo so that you no longer had to sink into the earth to stay still, you could lay back and merely admire the view as your mind turned to thoughts of murder and anger and draining the life from all who stood in your way. Then there were the shining dying sunsets that would spread a brilliant golden and orange glow across the skies surface, turning the pollution a rather pleasant burning fire colour as if the sky was in flames. As if this world was merely the first to burn among many others. Whilst a terrifying thought for any other creature for a plasmavore it was natural, kill what asked to be killed and if that was your own people then so be it. Finally there was the Hall of the Elders, its place of banishment and the spawn of a hatred that would, over time, cross universes. It was here that the memories were the most prominent however poor they may have been. The long white walls, the loud, clunking wood floor and the order of the elders that had banished him without a second thought then called him back to merely tell him of his mothers imprisonment. They were monsters of a race full of monsters, destroyers of any emotion one may retain and yet he couldn't help but thank them deep down. If not for them he would not be in the position he was currently in and quite the position it was. It was one of the workers of a project to bring The Doctor to his knees, a project that it had put forward to a league of the worst creatures throughout the universe. And they had agreed. The Pandorica they called it. It called it The Prison, that was its cause and that would be its name for as long as it would live. It was no scientist, nor was it any genius of any kind. It merely was. It had the plan, it got what needed to be used without the guidance of any creature telling it what to do, laying down rules. It acquired the pieces of The Pandorica, the components and from there it was merely a matter for the true leaders, the real genii of the universe saving group to band together and create the prison box. It had picked up on certain aspects of the mysteriously built cube though, for instance the fact that an influx and override of power would be met with an explosively disastrous consequence. It had keyed onto the simple basic facts of the box, the whirring machinery and hard, cold, metal clasps that would entrap The Doctor were merely some of the more known facts about the box. The smaller, less noticeable facts were that the box would retain The Doctor's life, making him live out thousands upon thousands of years inside the box, never ageing, never dying. The perfect prison but most importantly the perfect hell. Now all they had to do was create the fairytale from the memories of his foolish flame haired companion, to set the trap and create bait that The Doctor simply could not ignore. Stonehenge the humans would call it, the band of villains and allies and aliens would delicately weave the name into the minds of the stupid, thick apes that walked the planet, the apes that The Doctor so loved. And when all was said and done he would come sauntering into the trap, like a moth to the flame. It allowed itself one more high, cold cackle at the fate of its worst, most hated enemy before it felt the shift. The end was coming. The crack was expanding. The planet was falling. The hardened, hate filled plasmavore turned around and strolled away towards the sight of a platoon of sleek, metallic ships, smiling gruesomely to itself as it thought of The Doctor's fate. It may have been too late to save its world but it could make sure that The Doctor paid for what he had done. And pay he would. [.] It opened its cold, black pools of sight, flickering its dark gaze around the shrub shrouded clearing with malice and hatred. The memories had brought it to the final point, the final piece of evidence that suggested only one thing. That creature was The Doctor, or at least The Doctor of this universe. Along with the anger and the hatred came another feeling that sat in the monsters stomach like a ball of ice. Cold, hard fear. This pony, once man, had possibly managed to escape from the impenetrable prison and had, without a doubt, left the universe to die and collapse upon itself. If The Doctor had managed to do that, burn a universe and escape, then what hope did it have of defeating him in such a weak, pathetic body? It spat on the leafy, moist and surprisingly brittle ground in disgust before a long, fat burst of tainted air wafted across its face, directed from the mountains that hung away from the dark, sinister forest. There it smelt something, something unnatural and beautiful and more powerful then possible. The smell of strength and unwavering loyalty, the type that could command an army to simply kill themselves and still they would do it. The plasmavore sniffed the air again, catching the tantalizing scent, before it raised its head to peer at what appeared to be a bright white castle of sorts attached to the side of a large, grey mountain, the area where the smell was emitting from. It licked its green lips with unquenchable lust as a dark plan began to form in its mind, its way to beat The Doctor once and for all, to repay the debt of pain and anger that he had installed upon it. Find and take the powerful host body. Return to this wretched town. Get rid of the purple mare and her friends. Kill The Doctor. [.] It had taken the duo little more then five minutes to reach Carousel Boutique from Rainbow Dash's cloud house, mostly due to the extreme speeds at which Twilight had dragged The Doctor away and also because they had been travelling down a path The Doctor had seen before, thereby stopping his process of investigation over every little thing that they encountered. Still, he had taken to admiring the multiple houses of Ponyville, commenting on their structure and the materials that they had been built from. He had attempted to inspect the first house he had seen up closer by means of visual and taste testing, his tongue protruding from his mouth before he was chased off by a particularly scared but terror fuelling looking pink mare with a vivid orange mane. Along with her trio of cutlery cutie marks, including an incredibly vicious looking knife she had managed to persuade The Doctor to flee via means of a rather large, rather heavy looking saucepan brandished in one hoof. After that specific experience The Doctor had swiftly become more wary of the houses, eyes flickering and muscles clenching every time there was even the smallest traces of movement from the houses he was watching from afar. Even a display of aggression as powerful as a blunt object wielding mare had not distracted The Doctor from his findings and his analysis of his surroundings. However, it had perhaps put a dampener on them as he continued to trot at a pace that Twilight would have called surprisingly casual for the strange brown colt, his eyes only shifting to stare at the houses he walked past and never stopping to inspect them. This had lead to the relatively short trip to Carousel Boutique, yet another household and shop that had caught The Doctor's glinting blue eyes with its beautiful, radiant glow and its relatively astounding structure. Stunning, ice blue and midnight blue walls rose up from the soft green grass, white diamond patterns criss-crossed majestically over the almost luminous blue surface of the Carousel walls. Twin windows hung either side of the dark purple door like eyes, a soft shroud of orange overhanging fabric laying above them to act as curtains to block out the stunning light or create secrecy. Pink and purple support beams rose from the ground and around the door, twirling up the sides like colourful candy canes, melding into the household with apparent ease. A large, white sign hung above the stunningly deep purple door, an image of a carousel, orange pony decorated onto its wooden surface with care and attention that knew no bounds. A fine layer of thin looking purple and white diamond shrouded silk stretched from the top of the first floor to the start of the next, spiralling around the Boutique in an elegant and sophisticated manner that spoke tales of whoever may own such an astoundingly beautiful shop. A small line of sunset orange wood spun gracefully around the top of the purple and snow white roof, allowing the folds of the fabric safe harbour to bolt itself down lest it fly away among a stormy night. The second floor started with an almost violent coloured ring of bright pink wood spinning around the circular head of the heightened floor, decorated with strange white swirls and small white stars. Four sets of purple, iron looking bars sprung up from the swirling pink and white patterned wood, the two on either side of the Carousel's face decorated with twin images of purple, sheet metal mares that simulated the orange pony that hung above the front door. Marble white walls surrounded the second floor of Carousel Boutique, rising up to a height that was barely below the size of the very first floor, this time the walls were decorated with faint blue scrawlings, diamonds and stars that seemed to reflect the blinding sunlight. Three windows, each one relatively small compared to the duel glass giants below, stretched across the surface of the snowy white walls, two on either side opened almost hesitantly to allow only a tiny breath of fresh air in and the one on front closed shut, a small pink curtain just visible from outside the Boutique. Yet, not even that was the top of the illustrious and fantastic Boutique, a wide winding ring of orange wood stretched around the top of the stacked floor with thin beams of wood, the inside of the body filled with a cloud white background and purple and pink markings that looked suspiciously like hearts. The same fabric as before stretched from the top of the orange gilded wood to the bottom of the next floor, the same white and purple marked diamonds stretching across its length. Twin navy blue balconies burst out of the sides of the white and purple rooftop, allowing the owner of such a view an extraordinary overlook on the whole of Ponyville and the countryside surrounding it. Multiple purple bars rose from the flat ending of the roof, stretching upwards to form a carousel-esque appearance with a crown shaped display of purple metal. On top of that all, the last ending of the towering tower that was Carousel Boutique was a yellow and orange striped cone of fabric which rose upwards until a rough red flag carved its way into the equation, springing up from a final pole as it waved above the other houses like a teasing child. Once more The Doctor had been baffled by the intricate structures and simply extraordinary decorated layers that each house, or shop, went through to make them look their best, a talent that a human or even a Timelord would have a hard time reciprocating. With a light tug on his scraggy black tail from Twilight, the pair trotted symmetrically up to the front of the fashion shop before Twilight raised one purple hoof upwards and rapped in the similarly purple door three times, the sound echoing around the quaint clearing. Swiftly the sound was answered by a loud, regal female voice calling from inside the depths of the Boutique. “Do come in~” The voice had a slight musical trill to it that rung through the wooden door to reach the recipients outside who, with a gentle shove of purple hooves, opened the Boutique and closed the door with a muffled squeak. The inside of the Boutique was just as magnificent as the outside, if not even more. Pink silk drapes hung around the interior of the Boutique, partially shrouding the dressed mannequins in shadowed darkness as if the fashionista did not want anypony to see her precious creations yet. Still, The Doctor couldn't help but notice the fine dresses and carefully crafted suits that were elegantly displayed on the soft, plush bodies of the dummies. A trio of small brown tables equipped with medium sized mirrors sat towards the back of the Boutique, an obvious “makeover” area for the beautiful mare to garb herself up. The floor was a deep, chill blue colour that reflected relaxation and calmness at its best. A large spiralling orange fabric hut of sorts rose from the corner of the Boutique, mirrors glittering around the edge in what was most certainly a viewing platform for any potential buyers of the white unicorn's wares. There were many racks of clothing that lay strung around the interior of the Boutique, flashes of blue and green velvet and silk splashing the insides with vibrant colours. Finally, a small purple and white desk sat towards the back of the Boutique, positioned to allow a full viewing of the clothing for customers before they would reach said reception area. Behind said desk stood the white fashionista herself, Rarity. Of course immediately as she had noticed the two she had dived straight into the arrangements for The Doctor's fashion and what sort of clothing he would like to wear. And so it began. “Darling that simply won't do!” “I happen to like brown jackets with bow-ties!” “But tweed darling, really? And I don't know where you got this preposterous fez notion from!” “Hey, I happened to like a good fez! Fezzes are cool...” “That is completely irre-” This had been going on for the better part of half an hour, the seemingly endless banter and challenges between the marshmallow white fashionista unicorn and the fashion slaughtering caramel brown colt. Even with her feeble knowledge towards the endless pool of fashion, Twilight knew that what The Doctor was proposing as his choice of wear was completely and utterly ridiculous. Blue suspenders? A white dress shirt? A tweed jacket? A fez? Despite the overzealous tantrums that Rarity had produced at The Doctor's request Twilight couldn't help but agree with the over enthusiastic and rather forceful mare in saying that what The Doctor had decided to wear was completely foolish and, in her own personal opinion, the epitome of fashion burial. Once more the duty of protector fell to Twilight as she took in Rarity's intense red colouring of cheeks, indicating anger that would soon pour forth if left unchecked, said anger that would sweep the oblivious colt off of his caramel hooves. The angered, conflicting pair had dissolved into mindlessly shouting at each other in vague attempts to get their points heard over the others. “Brown does not go with everything!” “It goes with everything if you're wearing a fez!” “Does not!” “Does so!” “Does not!” “Does s-” The battling, fuming pair, one a rather gruesome shade of red and the other the same brown but with a rather wonky bow-tie, both halted and whirled around in surprise at the sudden arrival of a particularly loud noise that blasted around the clearing. Two pairs of eyes widened at the sight before them, one in astonishment and the other in bafflement and small traces of anger. The interior of the Boutique was, to put it kindly, completely and utterly trashed, a lone, purple mare standing amidst the pile of destruction around her with a small sheepish grin and a light blush across her face. It looked, to all purposes, like a bomb had gone off inside of the once immaculate fashion shop, clothes and drapes strewn across the floor, mannequins and mirrors laying on their sides like they'd just been ripped from the floor and thrown foolishly across the room. Traces of dust smeared the floor from where the upper-most corners of the drapes that had not been cleaned for years had touched down on the blue floored ground. The heavy, screeching sound of Rarity grinding her teeth together in frustration spiralled around the room, causing The Doctor to stare at her in alarm and worry, his fear just outweighing his concern for her as he witnessed small traces of smoke beginning to pour from her ears in a fashion that would be most comical were it not for the situation. “I-ah-didn't mean to, I just grabbed a piece of lose string and everything just-” Twilight gestured around the ruined room with one hoof in a tone that spoke clearly of guilt but also increasing worry for her own safety. “-exploded.” The Doctor watched Rarity's expressions shift from rage to worry back to rage then to forced happiness, once more back to rage and then finally onto a poorly constructed smile. He shivered in small traces of fear as he watched the mares cold eyes and forced smile settle upon Twilight, fearing for her safety as the little purple unicorn started to slowly back away. “Oh Twilight, ahahahahaHA, you do the silliest of things! No worry though, I will just have to...postpone the kind Doctor's clothing details until further notice whilst I clean up.” Twilight shuffled in apparent awkwardness, casting her gaze fearfully up at Rarity before she once more averted her gaze, speaking in a quiet, hushed tone. “I-we could stay and help if y-” “Nonononono, its fine, you've done quite enough darling.” The Doctor cringed at Rarity's tone of voice, noticing the droop of Twilight's ears as she mumbled an apology, trotting despondently to the door to which The Doctor followed her with a swift glance over his shoulder to watch Rarity sigh and begin to magically levitate the objects back to their original places. The pair swiftly made it outside, escaping from the destroyed interior of the Boutique before Twilight let out a long, drawn out sign and turned her head to meet The Doctor's gaze, frustration glittering in her purple orbs. “You totally owe me.” With that she trotted quickly away, leaving The Doctor to ponder the meaning of her words before he staggered speedily to catch up to her moving form. [.] To say that the home of the shy, reclusive, timid butter yellow pegasus known as Fluttershy was filled with animals would have been an insult to the swarms upon swarms of little creatures that infested her household. Even from where The Doctor stood on the opposite side of the worn gravel bridge with the gurgling spring below it he could clearly see animals decorating windowsills and frolicking in the grassy area outside the small hut. It was truly a sight to behold, a house so in touch with nature and animals that it allowed them to claim its structure as their own. From Carousel Boutique, it had taken The Doctor and Twilight a good ten minutes to trot over to the hidden, hermit house of Fluttershy, stashed secretly towards the beginning of the Everfree Forest, an area for a house that The Doctor never would have imagined the easily spooked pegasus would choose to live in. Over the course of the ten minute walk Twilight's mood had greatly improved as she jabbered on and on about her and her friends adventures together, from their victory over Nightmare Moon the tyrannical princess, to their startling win over the spirit of chaos himself Discord and finally to, not their victory but her own brother and foalsitters victory over the queen of the Changelings, Chrysallis. The Doctor had paid careful attention to the supposed ramblings of the purple mare as they had continued their gentle trot to their destination, intent on learning as much about her as possible. Subtly he had shifted the conversation towards her past and her present where he had learnt that she was the apprentice of Princess Celestia, she and her five other friends were the bearers of Harmony and all about her past self, including a very vivid description of her BBBFF which had left The Doctor as confused as he had been upon arriving in Equestria. She had, of course, asked about him, what his planet was like, what his people were like, how he managed to travel through time and space which she had said with a quizzical if somewhat sarcastic look. So, realizing that it was only fair to give information when he had already taken some, he had replied that his planet was like no other, a paradise where the skies burned orange and the flora grew free and peacefully. He spoke of his people as if they were the very best they could be, the kind, caring Timelords that they were before the war started, of which he failed to mention to Twilight. Finally, and with apparent joy, he had told her all about his old TARDIS, of its colour, its programming and its true name abbreviation, time and relative dimensions in space. She had seemed unsupportive of the idea of a mystical blue box that could travel through time and space but before she could voice her opinions the pair had arrived at the outskirts of Fluttershy's household, the sight resonating with The Doctor in a different way to the other houses. Where they had been big and flashy and spectacular, this had a more humble approach that almost seemed to attempt to smother up the beauty of the comfy, cosy home. To the right of him stood a tree coated with birds and birdhouses alike, bright flashes of painted purple and white wood oozing from the tree as birds of every colour chirped and soared around the barked structure. To the left stood an even taller tree of dark brown wood that was simply smothered in hay and grass nests, squirrels and birds darting around its exterior and interior as they popped their heads out to inspect the two newcomers. A yellow gravel path roamed from the edge of the other side of the worn bridge to the beginning of the house, rabbits of brown and white and black hopping around it. The house itself was made from sand coloured, dulled yellow walls that seemed to bend and wobble around the house in a fashion that made the whole thing seem structurally unsound. A bright orange wood split door faced towards the pair of ponies, the top half opened allowing a bright yellow light to flood outwards. Multiple brown wood stitched glassy windows lay scattered around the walls of the house, each one letting luminous yellow light out to stream across the slightly darkening surroundings. The roof of the house seemed to consist of dappled green leaves and vines that sprung up and lay upon the house thickly, tangled and clawing towards the sky. A single, large, sand yellow chimney rose up from the head of the leafy rooftop, pinnacling into the air almost majestically. Pools of soft grey smoke rose from the dully yellow chimney to rise into the air, wafting through the sky. Birdhouses dotted the house itself, colourful critters flapping in and out as the sound of young, whining birds tore through the air with shrill shrieks and muffled chirps. Having already been flabbergasted enough times today The Doctor merely shook his scraggly black haired head and proceeded to trot quite calmly over the bridge and towards the house, followed quickly by Twilight. His hooves crunched down on the gravel, rocky path, drawing the attention of the numerous rabbits who darted away from the noise, disappearing down crusty, dirty holes all except for one pure white rabbit who almost seemed to glare at the mysterious colt before bolting into one of the open windows of the house. The Doctor approached the orange wood door before he rapped onto its surface three times, hopefully drawing the attention of the house owner. Luckily, it did draw the house owner outwards but quite unluckily at the sight of a brown hoof and a somewhat recognizable but scary figure the butter yellow pegasus proceeded to eep quite furiously and slam the door onto The Doctor's face, causing blood to dribble from his nose as he was sent spinning backwards into the enveloping purple hooves of Twilight. The purple mare took a moment to inspect the bleeding nose of the dazed, confused brown colt who was blinking quite rapidly as if he had no idea what had went on before her horn lit up with a faint purple glow. The Doctor felt a faint, vague fuzziness tighten around his muzzle, the surprising pain vanishing in an instant as the blood flow ceased and the bruises healed lightning fast. Only then did Twilight move forward to pound on the door, eliciting a squeak from within. “Fluttershy open up!” Seconds ticked by slowly like sand falling into an hourglass before the door began to creak open, twin teal eyes peeking through the small crack in the doorway before the whole door was flung open with a bang, the butter yellow pegasus blasting outwards to inspect the wounded colt on the gravel floor. The Doctor tried to scramble backwards as Fluttershy practically pounced on him, worry and guilt making her eyes glisten with unshed tears as she beheld the dried blood on his face. “Oh my, I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to I just..Oh, what hav-” “I'm fine Fluttershy, really, Twilight fixed me up good and proper. Never felt better actually.” That was a complete and utter lie, being stuck inside an equine body and then being brutally punished by four mares had left The Doctor in a pretty bad condition but to cease the endless, worried rambling he had to step in and lie. This comment made the timid pegasus smile before she forcefully grabbed his hooves to the surprise of The Doctor and dragged him down to the winding stream beneath the bridge, making him kneel down whilst cooing to him as she brought water up into her hooves in yet another way that defied physics, washing away the excess blood. “All better. I really am sorry about that t-though.” The Doctor repressed a weary sigh as Fluttershy began to tear up again, raising a hoof to put on her shoulder in a friendly gesture which still made her eep in shock. “Fluttershy I'm fine honest. See, completely bette-gluburgh” In his apparent haste to please the saddened, teary eyed Fluttershy, The Doctor had bounced to his hooves, completely forgetting the aching sensation in his somewhat crushed hoof before he began to topple over straight into the stream, limbs flailing around in shock as he pulled his drenched, sopping wet body out of the sparkling water. The sound of Twilight's laughter was most probably heard in Canterlot as The Doctor raised his head to squirt a stream of mucky water out of his mouth, sparkling liquid flashing through the air as it hit the stream with a soft tinkle. Even Fluttershy was on the verge of laughing at his unlucky fortune, suppressing giggles with one hoof over her mouth before she began to softly chuckle, the small adorable sound ringing through the air. The Doctor muttered to himself as he attempted to let loose the dripping water form his fur, shaking his body rapidly until his vision swam and danced, eyes twirling in their sockets. Uncomfortably gradually the laughter died down, the only sounds remaining was the babble of the stream and the singing of the birds, both mares turning to inspect the still sodden Doctor before the bright dipping light of the sun drew Twilight's attention, making her frown. “Its getting late, we should start to head home.” The Doctor perked up at this, eyes widening and mouth hanging open as he imagined the food at the library, both literary and literally. Twilight turned to mutter to Fluttershy before both mares turned to walk up the grassy incline and other the bridge, The Doctor following them with a slight limp, raising his eyebrow at Twilight as he took in the form of Fluttershy walking with them. “If I may ask, why is Fluttershy with us?” At this Fluttershy cringed just a little bit, expecting an insult as Twilight spoke up in a calm voice. “I've asked the girls to meet me in Ponyville so we can discuss, well, you.” “Ah, I see. I am pretty great aren't I?” “Uh...” “Pretty nice?” “Hmm...” “Just, pretty?” “Weeeell...” “...You aren't giving me a lot to stroke my ego with here Twilight.” “I-I think you're q...quite nice.” “Why thank you Fluttershy. See, here's a mare the knows her stuff!” The Doctor strolled forward happily, trotting past both mares as Twilight cast an annoyed glance at the back of his brown head, Fluttershy merely smiling contently at the antics of both of her friends, one old and one new. [.] The trio of ponies were joined rather quickly by a bolt of rainbow and cyan pegasus as Rainbow Dash alighted beside them, causing Fluttershy to jump and The Doctor to laugh and praise her for the display of air acrobatics. They were then joined by the bubbly, bouncing form of Pinkie Pie who was balancing a tray of delicious scented cupcakes on her head, offering them to her friends who greedily devoured them. The Doctor's mouth had watered at the mere sight of them, let alone the taste as he destroyed the blueberry and strawberry flavoured cupcake with gusto, his stomach still rumbling in hunger despite the food in his belly. They entered the sweet, nearly silent town of Ponyville just as the sun began to set, flooding the village with shimmering orange light. The group was joined rather swiftly as they entered by two mares, one white furred, purple maned unicorn known as Rarity and the other an orange furred, blonde maned earth pony known as Applejack. The pair had obviously been arguing over something or another as both appeared flustered, faces flushed with a blush of anger and unconvincing smiles stretched across their faces but when their friends had arrived they settled back into the routine of mindless banter of which The Doctor found amusing. The hefty group of seven were wandering through the darkening town, laughing and joking with each other as the ponies of the village began to close up their stores for the night, retiring to their beds to get a head start on the next day. It was at that moment, all members of the rather large group being captivated by each others conversations, that a large, burly green stallion bumped into the group, plowing through them as easily as if they were a shallow, slow stream. The Doctor was sent spinning to the floor before he raised his head along with the six other similarly floored mares to glare at the colt. Once more, simultaneously, the seven grounded ponies sniffed the air, a peculiar scent wafting off of the stallion as he trotted away, throwing an angered glance back at them before he continued on his way towards the Ponyville train station. As the rude, cruel stallion vanished out of sight The Doctor whirled his head around, eyes blazing softly as he inspected each mare, helping them to their hooves before he questioned them. “You all smelt that right?” Six heads nodded in unison as The Doctor continued his questioning. “What did that stallion smell of?” “Why my dear, he smelt of freshly unfolded fabric and lace.” “Nah, he smelt of apples on a fine summer day.” “Umm...I thought he smelt of bunnies and b-birds.” “No, no, no silly he smelt of cupcakes!” “Hehe, you're all wrong. He smelt of the Wonderbolt brand perfume!” “Well, I thought he smelt of a freshly opened book...” The Doctor nodded at each one of them in turn before he cast his glance towards the direction the colt had travelled in, speaking in an oddly quiet voice for the usually bubbly, quirky stallion they had come to know. “It was the smell of each of our most favoured things, the smell of what we love most.” “W-what did he smell like to you Doctor?” The caramel brown colt was quiet for a few seconds, blue eyes fizzling softly in the still darkening day before he spoke up in a curiously detached voice. “...Home.” Before any of the mares could question him on his rather peculiar behaviour he whirled around, smile lighting his face and washing away all the worries of the six mares around him as he continued to speak in a rather normal tone, bouncing back into his cheerful if somewhat thoughtful voice whilst pointing a hoof in the direction that the colt had travelled. “And what lies in that direction my dear Twilight?” Twilight pondered the noticeable sights that would stand in the northwest, the direction the colt had walked before she replied in a tone that simulated that of a tour guide. “The mayors office, the joke shop, the train station, t-” Twilight was silenced rather forcibly by The Doctor's loud voice and brimming smile. “Train station it is!” “And why are we going there?” “Because my dear Twilight, it is the only place that that rather rude, rather alien colt can escape from.” Six mares shivered at The Doctor's statement, Rarity stepping forward after a moment of hesitation to voice her fears, hoping that she was wrong. “Are you saying that there is..another alien here?” “Yes, yes I am. No creature from this world, no magic from this world could possibly know the smell of my home. Therefore, that colt is not of this world. Simple deduction really.” He spoke in a proud, almost cocky tone as he began to trot in the direction that the green stallion had taken, sure of himself as he called back to them with a little smile and a trill of excitement in his voice. “C'mon then, we best not leave whatever it is waiting.” [.] Much to the annoyance of Rainbow Dash she had been specifically told by The Doctor to stay with the group instead of blasting off on her own merry way, the brown colt informing her that not all aliens were as nice as he was, that mere statement making Rainbow Dash shiver in traces of worry. The steady, tired group of seven arrived at the train station just as the sun disappeared over the horizon, plunging the world into darkness before the moon rose almost forcefully, white light gleaming across the clearing. The train station was relatively small, consisting of a single wooden hut that was most certainly used as a ticket booth. Besides that there was only the single set of train tracks with a bright purple steam train perched on the metal, steam chugging softly out of its chimney as the coal was set ablaze. The whole platform was partially raised off of the ground, wooden stairs connecting it to the loamy dirt path and there, atop the flight of stairs, stood the green colt, ticket behind ear and a megalomaniac smile upon his face, as if he had been awaiting their arrival, a fact that The Doctor found most foreboding. “I've been expecting you.” The voice was deep, not Big Macintosh deep but most certainly deep enough to appear powerful and strong. “Oh, they always start with that line.” Compared to the green stallions voice The Doctor's was a fair bit higher and held an almost girly pitch but, to the surprise of the six mares, it held all the strength that the other did, if not more. The green stallion kept up the smile before speaking in a soft, cold voice. “Finally my mortal enemy, finally I shall be able to get my revenge after all you have done to me.” The Doctor frowned, tilting his head to the side in puzzlement. “Have we met?” This mere question caused the stallion to hiss in an unearthly way, proving to The Doctor that this thing was most certainly not pony and it most certainly was not nice. “You have the gall to forget me! You ruined my life!” The deep voice was practically yelling now, the train in the background beginning to gain enough power to start its journey. “Honestly, that gives me no indication as to who you are.” “Jdukin Doctor, do you not remember? You destroyed my ritual and then imprisoned my hatch mother!” “Oh, ooooh, that's who you are. Yes, well sorry about that second one but in my defence she was trying to suck my blood.” The alien creature disguised as the stallion allowed the creepy smile to return to its face, disturbing the six mares who were looking on in fear before it hissed quietly at The Doctor. “Oh, its quite alright Doctor. After all, after tonight I will have an invincible, un-killable body and you and the six little companions you have brought with you will lay dead.” This alone caused the warmth of The Doctor's voice to fade out, replaced by a blank, inhumane tone that caused the mares behind him to shiver, both in fear of the alien and in fear of him. “First mistake of the day, you never, never threaten those around me. I've lived for so long now, my patience has worn thin so I am giving you only one chance, just one, to leave this silly little vengeance behind you.” “Or what?” The voice was a taunting whisper, the green stallion disguised monster leaning down to mock The Doctor. “Or what you saw on your home planet all that time ago, the failing of your ritual will seem petty and weak compared to what I will do. For once, use your head and just take the chance I am offering you.” “Hmm....nah!” The train behind the mysterious alien colt was moving now, chugging across the tracks as it began its last journey of the day to Canterlot. Before The Doctor or any of the six mares could move forward the strange colt had leapt backwards and landed quite skilfully on the metal platform of the moving train. The Doctor raced up the wooden steps only to be met by the tauntingly bowing form of the alien on the diminishing train, the deep voice calling out to him in the darkness of the night. “I'll be seeing you and your friends very soon Doctor.” The six mares charged up the steps after The Doctor only to find him staring into the distance where the train had gone, eyes locked into the darkness. Fluttershy stepped forward to the surprise of everypony else, speaking in a quiet, hushed voice. “Doctor...what was t-that?” The Doctor turned to face the six, a curiously blank expression on his face. “A plasmavore I believe, a creature that can take the form of those it has killed by draining them of their blood.” Five mares paled in fear at the explanation whilst one white unicorn toppled to the ground in a dead faint. “I lied though, when I said that was its first mistake. It was, in all purposes, the second.” “W-what do you mean? Where is it going? Why i-is it going?” “Its first mistake, the mistake that keyed me into its little plan Fluttershy will hopefully answer all of those questions but I'm not sure you're going to like it... ...Its first mistake was telling me that it would claim an invincible body. Now. I've read enough history books to realize that this world has only a few beings, one locked in stone and two still here to this day, that could be considered invincible and they are-” “The Princesses!” “Yes Twilight, the Princesses. It will head to Canterlot to absorb the body of one of the Princesses, never ageing and never dying with enough power in its body to kill anything and everything. And its going to kill everything merely because it can... ...It will take the body of the Princess, it will hide and return to Ponyville. It will find you and most certainly kill you and then, it will kill me. And when all is said and done I wouldn't be surprised if it attempted to destroy Equestria.” The five mares gasped in shock and fear, eyes widening and legs shaking in terror as they heard the beastly terrible plan against Equestria and them whilst Rarity continued to snooze on the floor without a care in the world. “But don't worry...” The five heads bobbed up to face the now smiling Doctor. “You've got me.” The Doctor turned back to face the shadowed lands where the train had disappeared into, smile vanishing as his face took on a look of contemplation. He spoke quietly as if to himself, six ears perking up to listen at what he was saying. “No screwdriver, no TARDIS, no backup plans, new equine body and aches and pains that refuse to be silent. And you know what? It still won't be enough to stop me.” The Doctor turned back to them and to his surprise he was met by the faces of five steel eyed, hardened and battle-ready mares, along with, not to his surprise, one drooling marshmallow furred pony snoring on the floor. “What are we going to do?” “I'll tell you what we are going to do Twilight. We are going to go to Canterlot. We are going to save your Princess and then, and then, we are going to save all of Equestria and lock away that monster. That I can promise you.” The Doctor trotted past them, head turning to swivel towards the group of confident mares as he started to descend the wooden steps with low creaks. “C'mon then, we can't leave our megalomaniac villain waiting now, can we?” With that he disappeared from view, five mares beginning to steadily trot towards the stairs before The Doctor's head burst from the floor of the heightened platform, causing Fluttershy to lose her hardened demeanour and squeal in fright. “Oh, and you should probably bring Rarity to.” In reply to his statement, the white mare herself merely let out a loud snore and turned over in her sleep. Authors note: Here it finally is. I'll try to get updates out more regularly but I still have a few exams to do so I can't say anything too much about it at the moment. Also, sorry that it has only just gotten into the actual plot but I wanted to make sure The Doc knew the ponies he was actually with before he charged off to save, or lose, the day. Once more, enjoy and tell me what you think about the chapter.