Chapter I: Allons-y!
Forty-two years before the founding of Equestria...
“AAAGH!”
“Derpy!”
“Nay, Doctor! Leave her be! She lies in no harm.”
A gray, yellow-maned pegasus with golden eyes, Derpy, sat beneath the only light in the library. Her snout was pointed up to the skylight. Her expression was blank and her eyes were focused on the light above her. She sat absolutely still, except for the occasional twitching. After screaming, she became perfectly silent, not even the sound of her breath could be heard. Derpy was fully immersed in a state of trance. Standing a few steps away from here were two ponies: an old bearded grey unicorn in elegant wizard attire, Starswirl the Bearded, High Sorcerer of the kingdom of Ponytopia, and a brown earth pony, the Doctor, the last remnant of what was once the greatest race in the Universe, the Time Stallions. Starswirl the Bearded relaxed as he sensed that his spell worked. The Doctor however, remained concerned for his companion.
“Are you sure it has to be her? I can’t take her place?” The Doctor finally broke the eerie silence. He tried to approach Derpy, but Starswirl stopped him.
“Neigh. The prophecy hath spoken of the pegasus who hath eyes that looketh into two directions. ‘Tis only she who can find the key to our salvation.”
As Starswirl finished speaking, Derpy began lowering her head. Suddenly her eyes went back to their usual position, with each pointing in a different direction, like the eyes of a chameleon. Derpy groaned and fell over. The Doctor galloped over and caught her in his hooves. When she regained consciousness, she rubbed her head and stood. Starswirl was the first to speak.
“What hast thou seen, Derpy?”
“I saw… I saw six things actually.”
“What were they?” asked the Doctor.
Derpy scratched behind her ear and told Starswirl and the Doctor of her vision.
“I saw a bunch of six-pointed stars, then three apples, then a cloud with colorful lightning, then three diamonds, then three pink butterflies and then three balloons. I didn’t see any muffins, though.”
Starswirl pondered on the vision. He had not heard of any vision like what Derpy had seen. The images seemed very abstract and he could not decipher their meaning.
“Strange. Strange, indeed,” he said, ”Doctor, mayhaps thine box can help us, as it mayest travel to any time and any place. I cannot interpret the vision, however, perhaps with thy companion and thou can search for these six things. I shall look into mine scrolls and attempt to find the meaning behind them. The fate of the world lieth on these six things and we must find them. Go.”
“Right away. Come along, Derpy.”
The Doctor and Derpy left the library and galloped down one of the long central hallways of Castle Equites, but stopped when they heard the roaring of dragons and pegasus battle cries. The pair looked through the stained-glass windows and saw dragons attacking the outer walls of the castle and unicorn guards, pegasus soldiers and earth pony soldiers keeping them at bay. The unicorn erected a magical wall to protect the castle from the fires as the earth ponies led the residents of the city outside the castle to safety behind the walls. As the Doctor watched the battle, he caught sight of the TARDIS which was on the walls and saw that the unicorns' wall was beginning to weaken and crack under the constant barrage of fires of different colors.
“We need to get to the TARDIS right away.”
The Doctor and Derpy galloped off, leaving the colorful windows behind them. Unicorn guards opened the giant doors of the castle for them as they hurried through the halls. They galloped through the courtyard and past the silver gates of the inner walls. When they reached the outer walls, the ponies were getting the upper hand, but the magical wall was on the verge of collapsing. As they climbed the stairs to get to the top of the walls, the magical wall finally gave way to a burst of white fire. The Doctor and Derpy crawled behind the battlements to avoid being roasted by dragon fire. Despite the collapse of the wall, the ponies were finally forcing the dragons back, but much to their dismay, when the Doctor and Derpy finally reached the TARDIS, a set of four dragon claws took hold of the TARDIS and carried it away. The Doctor stood and looked out at the battlefield. The dragons were retreating, and one orange dragon in iron armor was flying away with the TARDIS in its claws.
“Oh, that’s just great…” the Doctor sighed.
As the dragons flew away, all the soldiers immediately went to work putting out all the fires that blazed in the city. Shortly, a pegasus landed beside the Doctor. He took off his helmet and let his rainbow-colored mane flow in the wind. His black coat was ruffled and messy under his golden armor. He bore a weapon that he called a "sword" sheathed by his flank and beside his sword was displayed his cutie mark: A magnificent sword firing rainbow lightning. He stood a foot taller than the Doctor, but regarded the Doctor with the utmost humility.
“Doctor, forgive me for allowing the Blue Box to be stolen. Snatched from under my hooves by those sniveling dragons!”
“Oh, don’t blame yourself, Commander Rainbow Sword. Go and look after your soldiers.”
"Surely you shall need a team to find the Box? Shall I assemble my team of elites to go in search of it?"
"No, no, no. I won't be needing that. I can find it myself."
"Very well, sir. Kali tychi!"
Rainbow Sword flew off, leaving behind a trail of rainbow. Derpy looked at the Doctor and asked, "What now?"
“Well, I’ll just have to go and get the TARDIS back. We need to find those six things you saw. You stay here.”
“Awwww, why can’t I go with you?”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“But I’m hungry and I want muffins.”
The Doctor tried to retort, but he knew he could no longer argue. He knew of nothing more stubborn than a hungry Derpy. They went down to the iron gates of the outer wall and, under the noontime Sun, galloped through the city and into the countryside, heading in the direction of the Moonrise Mountains, the border between the kingdoms of Ponytopia and Drakonia.
~~~~~
"My tummy's rumbling."
"Quiet, Derpy. We can't let them hear us."
Two and a half days had passed since the Doctor and Derpy left Equites and now they were sneaking down a narrow path along the side of a pale blue mountain range. The Sun was beginning to set and numerous dragons patrolled the orange-tinted sky. So far, no dragon had spotted the pair. The Doctor carefully went down the path, taking one step at a time, with the sonic screwdriver in his mouth. Derpy followed close behind. At that time, the Doctor desperately wished that he had regenerated as a unicorn so that he could teleport to the TARDIS.
A dragon roar overhead startled the Doctor and he dropped the screwdriver. He quickly snatched it back before it rolled off the edge of the path. As they continued down the path, Derpy looked forward with one eye and looked down the mountainside with the other. Jagged rocks lined the bottom of the mountain and any slip would end in disaster. After a few minutes that felt like hours, the Doctor and Derpy finally reached a cave that seemed safe and hid inside.
The cave was too small for dragons to go through, but just big enough for the Doctor and Derpy to walk in. The air was dry and hot, and the only sources of light were the ends of a few tunnels that branched off of the main tunnel. The Doctor took a quick look out of the cave to ensure no dragons caught sight of them. Finally able to relax, the Doctor sat on a rock and gave a long sigh before speaking.
"Brilliant. We made it. Now, the TARDIS should be inside these cave networks somewhere. My screwdriver should find a signal from her and we’ll follow that." The Doctor began pressing various buttons on his sonic screwdriver, shook it and tapped it on the rock.
"Uh, Doctor..."
"Not now, Derpy. I'm trying to configure the frequency reception setting so I can pick up the signal."
"Doctor..."
"Derpy, please. Can't you wait?
"The TARDIS is right there."
Derpy pointed down one of the paths to her left. Down at the end of the path, in the middle of a large open cavern, was the TARDIS, illuminated by the yellow glowing stones that lit the cave.
"Oh... Blimey. That's embarrassing."
Derpy giggled at the Doctor's reaction."Oh, Doctor."
"Shh-shh-shh!"
The Doctor grabbed Derpy and covered her mouth with his hoof. He whispered.
"Listen."
The sound of monstrous snoring disturbed the silence. And the sound came from the direction of the TARDIS.
"We're not alone in here..."
The Doctor looked around the cave and cautiously tip-hoofed towards the TARDIS, carrying the sonic screwdriver in his mouth. Derpy cheerfully trotted down the tunnel, proud of having upstaged the Doctor. A hot foul-smelling breeze blew towards the pair from the cavern they headed towards. The odor grew worse as they got closer.
The tunnel path they followed ended in a cliff. Derpy, not watching where she trotted, fell off the edge. The Doctor dropped the sonic screwdriver and grabbed Derpy's tail. Derpy dangled above the rocky cavern floor far below her. The Doctor pulled her back up to safety.
"Careful, Derpy. Looks like we'll have to climb down to- Oh, no..."
The Doctor looked out at the cavern and saw that it was full of sleeping dragons. The TARDIS was on a platform where the orange dragon who stole it was sleeping. The dragon's head was resting right in front of the TARDIS doors.
"Ah, well... um... basically... This is a problem," the Doctor whispered.
"Don't worry. I can just fly us to the TARDIS."
"Are you sure? Can you handle my weight?"
" Of course! I used to work for a furniture moving company and I carried pianos and anvils."
The Doctor consented to her offer. The Doctor raised his front hooves and Derpy grabbed them. She flapped her wings and lifted the Doctor into the air. She prepared for a fast dive for the TARDIS. Before committing to the daring maneuver, the Doctor had to speak.
"And Derpy, if I don't make it, it's up to you. You have to find them. Those six things from your vision."
"Yup. Gotcha. I'll find them."
"Alright then... Ready?
"Ready."
The Doctor breathed in deeply and whispered, "Allons-y."