//------------------------------//
// The Vines Are Watching: Part Five (S1C4) 
// Story: DOCTOR 
// by Deidorimu 
//------------------------------//

Silver's eyes snapped open, darting about as he looked to everywhere and everything.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down, your okay, your alright", said the Doctor.

Silver's breath was frantic, as the elemental searched the scene vigorously. Something was wrong, the Doctor could tell. Silver's eyes moved like a hummingbird searching for food. "Silver?" the Doctor asked.

No response, Silver's eyes continued to dart back and forth.

Up, down, side to side, around and about, around and about, around and about. Searching, searching, searching. But, searching for what? Silver hadn't a clue, his search held no purpose. Yet, it was the most important thing in the room, he had to find it.

The Doctor didn't know what he was doing either. It appeared as a spasm at first, it certainly wasn't a seizure. But than he realized that Silver was moving on his own. If he were having a spasm attack he wouldn't be able to control his movements, and it took the Doctor a moment to figure out this wasn't the case. Silver was darting his eyes and appeared to be looking for something. Yet, it was odd; he couldn't tell what it was he was searching for and he didn't know why he needed to find "it" right this moment. But that wasn't what the Doctor thought the most. His primary thought was, "why are his eyes so empty?" His eyes darted, searching with a purpose. Yet, his eyes seemed lifeless. John didn't notice, he only saw a monster panicking. But ninety years with Silver told him otherwise, that something was wrong with Silver. And nothing he had mentioned before, this was new. 

Perhaps it was the effect of the device Pecan held? It was the Doctor's first guess. Perhaps it was causing some sort of lingering affect? Was Pecan using that device again? The Doctor turned his head for only a second to check.

Pecan stood facing the scene fearfully. She held the device loosely to her chest; both hooves on the device but neither on, as the Doctor could only assume what this piece was, the trigger.

"If Pecans not using that device, than what the hecks happening!?" the Doctor thought. "Silver I need you to relax."

Silver didn't listen. Or, perhaps he didn't hear? The Doctor couldn't tell. "Come on buddy, calm down. Please just try to relax, tell me what's wrong."

No response, the searching continued. Searching, searching, searching. Around and about, around and about, around and about.

"What the tarterus is wrong with him!?" John shouted.

Around and about and stop . . . he stopped. Upon hearing John's shout Silver paused and froze. His frantic breath remained heavy as his eyes went wide, and he stared to nothing. For only a moment, before Silver's eyes moved slowly, gliding towards the voice he heard. Silver stared to John with the wide eyes and the heavy breaths. His heart beating fast, and John, feeling his own begin to quicken. Then, from John, Silver's eyes drifted to the ground, staring at an object that sat close.

An object of wood, and harm, and death. The weapon that John had dropped. The purpose became clear now, Silver realized what he had been looking for. He gulped, "h- he s- shot you."

"What?" the Doctor asked in utter bewilderment. He turned his head and looked to what Silver was staring at. He tensed as he saw the bow and slowly came to realization. Looking back to Silver fearfully he asked, "is that what you were doing? Looking for that bow?"

Silver answered with a question, "he shot you didn't he?" Silver gulped and his breath quickened, "t- that's why y- your hurt, isn't it? He shot you? He hurt you?"

The Doctor nearly answered before stopping, as he felt something slide beneath him. It took a second to realize it was a vine. And in that same second to realize why the vine had moved, and why more were all beginning to move. Silver was becoming agitated.

"Even in this weakened state he can still use his magic!? the Doctor thought. He had to turn this situation around fast, he knew what would happen if he couldn't. "There was a bit of a mishap, that's all. A small dispute that lead to an accident. That's all this was, a simple acc-"

Silver shook his head, "no, no, no, he shot you, he shot you, your bleeding because he shot you."

"Silver, really, its not an issue. We're going back to the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T so I can patch myself up there anyway."

"He still hurt you! He shot you with an arrow, h- he shot you!" Silver spat.

"Phoenix Ponies have quick healing properties so I'm not that hurt!" the Doctor spoke fast.

"He tried to kill you, he tried to kill you!"

"No, Silver! It was only an acc-."

"Your lying!" Silver shouted for the first time, startling them all.

Everypony but the Doctor took a step back. John jumped to his hooves and rushed to his family. "Mommy!" Milly whined, cowering behind her mother. A split second later, Milly screamed. As did Pecan and Dean; John yelped when he was startled.

Each pony, including the Doctor, felt the entire ground start to move. Each vine covering the cave ground began slithering around, gradually moving faster and faster.

"Doctor! What's happening! The vines are moving!" Dean shouted.

"MOMMY!" Milly screamed.

John pointed to Pecan, "use the frequency immobilizer!"

Pecan positioned the device towards Silver, ready to fire. The Doctor turned to Pecan, glaring and shouting, "don't you dare use that!!!"

Pecan stopped and John intervened, "he's going to kill us if she doesn't use the immobilizer! Now use it on him Pecan!"

"I will make you regret it if you dare use that!" the Doctor shouted. He turned back to Silver, "Silver, come on buddy, you need to simmer down!"

Silver laughed, "simmer down? SIMMER DOWN!?!"

The Doctor could only gasp as a vine attacked beneath him, moving too fast to detect. Whipping the Doctor square in the chest, knocking him off his hooves. The vine threw him five solid feet away, and he landed on his back hard.

Silver wrapped his top shoulders with vines and used those like ropes, to help him rise as he stood to his hind hooves, glaring at the Doctor. "We were best friends! Best friends! And you abandon me for twenty years!!! You don't have the right to tell me to simmer down!!!"

Milly screamed, John gasped, both Pecan and Dean were confused; both having only heard the Doctor receive the blow.

"Doctor!" Dean shouted.

"John what's happening!?!" Pecan shouted.

"The elementals gone crazy! That's what happened! I knew he was monster!!!" John shouted.

Silver glared to John and roared, "monster!?! MONSTER!?! You foalnap me! Locked me in a prison carriage! Chase me through the country! Trap me in this swamp for a month! And now you shoot my best friend!?! Yet I'm the monster!?! ME!?!"

Rubbing his chest, the Doctor lifted himself up. "Silver this caves unstable! You need to calm down-"

"SHUT UP!!! You don't have the right to talk to me!!!"

"You're going to bring the whole cave down!" the Doctor shouted.

"I don't care!!! I don't care what happens to this stupid cave!!! I hope it falls apart and reduces to rubble!!! In fact-"

The vines began to rise, like giant snake like monsters. Every single vine, towering over the ponies, reaching towards the ceiling.

The Doctor and John looked up to the predators above, trying to look to each one; which neither could, there were far too many to count.  

"Silver?" said the Doctor, a slight tone of plea mixed with confusion. The Doctor was afraid as he turned and looked into Silver's eyes. The Frostealius's empty, soulless eyes. "Too empty", thought the Doctor.

Silver ignored the Doctor's pleas and shouted, "if doing this makes me a monster, THAN SO BE IT!!!"

"SILVER NO!!!" the Doctor shouted, rushing towards Silver. 

Too late, Silver attacked.

Not at the ponies, not directly. Instead, Silver attacked the very cave they stood in. Each blow with the vines, striking like metallic whips against the old stone ceiling. Each strike shook the cave, shaking more violently with every blow. Every vine, attacking together, adding to a hundred blows per second.

From the ponies perspectives, the ones who could see, it appeared like a monster with tentacles was thrashing wildly at the ceiling. Neither Dean nor Pecan could see, but both felt the cave and heard the rocks begin to crumble.

"DOCTOR!!!" Dean screamed, ducking and covering his head.

"JOHN!!!" Pecan shouted, holding onto Milly.

Large pieces of the cave broke free and plummeted towards the ground, crashing around the ponies, missing them by several feet.

John wrapped his hooves around his family, shouting, "we need to get out of here!!!"

The Doctor stood to his hind hooves when he was close to Silver, "sorry about this Silver!" The Doctor raised his left hoof and struck it down hard, hoof chopping Silver in back of the neck.

Silver was distracted commanding his vines to attack the cave, and he took the blow directly without noticing. He fell to his side almost immediately, unconscious and limp as a noodle. The attack had knocked him unconscious before he hit the ground, and the vines followed suit, falling limp to the ground in unison to Silver.

The attack was over, but the danger remained. The cave continued shaking and rocks still crashed.

Having not used physical attacks like that in many years, mixed with his old age, had made him sensitive to these certain blows. He felt an electric sting pulse through fore ankle, and it cracked as the Doctor held it, rubbing it to sooth the pain. "Ow!" he said aloud. 

Dean faced towards the ceiling in a panic, "Doctor what's happening!?!"

The Doctor shook his wrist gently and shouted, "the caves collapsing!" Quickly, he grabbed Silver's limp body around his torso.

"What!?!" Dean and Pecan shouted in unison.

The Doctor hoisted Silver onto his back while saying to the group, "its a miracle these mines have lasted as long as they have being so old! Silver's attack is all it took to bring this entire place down! So we need to leave right now!!!"

There was a crack, a loud one. A very loud one. Every pony looked to the ceiling to witness the largest chunk of the ceiling, half the size of the cave, ready to fall. Bits and pieces dropping beforehand, like a warning.

"Doctor?" said Dean.

"Oh boy", said John.

"Run", said the Doctor.

The hill size chunk broke free and fell directly above the ponies.

The Doctor thought quickly. The position of the boulder, angle, gravity, weight approximation, calculation after calculation, zapping like lighting through the Doctor's mind. It took a second, but the Doctor knew where the boulder would fall.

"RUN!!!" the Doctor shouted, grabbing and pulling Dean with his good hoof towards the safer exit.

Dean lost his step for a moment before biting the tip of the Doctor's tail. He held on tight, using the Doctor as guidance.

"Come on!!!" John shouted, taking Milly and placing her on his back as he pulled Pecan, making haste to follow the Doctor.

The six ponies ran together towards the exit and through a semi large passage. Small rocks crumbled and fell above their heads as they ran through the rocky hall way.

The Doctor could hear larger rocks begin to fall several feet behind the group, gradually approaching nearer.

"Hurry!" the Doctor shouted.

A minute of galloping that felt like seconds as the group arrived at a second deposit. Just in time for the Doctor to turn around and witness the passage collapse, preventing any way of returning.

John looked around, his family panting. They had ran to the second deposit. There were to passegways, just like the first deposit. One they just ran through and the other on the opposite end of the cave, and just like the first deposit, the ground in this one was covered with vines. He recognized this deposit, because it was the one that he and Pecan were prisoned in earlier. "You've trapped us!" John shouted.

"No, I just saved you! Your welcome", the Doctor growled.

"Saved us!?! We're even deeper into the cave now!!!" John shouted.

Dean released the Doctor's tail, "what!?! Why are we deeper!?!"

"If we had ran towards the main exit we would have been crushed! This was safer!"

"Safer!?! Oh, of course!!! I feel so mush safer now!!! I think I'll go pray to Celestia in a nice cozy corner with my family before WE DIE!!!" John roared.

"John stop it! You're scaring Milly!" Pecan shouted, having heard the filly whimper before crying.

"Yeah John, your daughters watching, simmer down", the Doctor said with obvious sass.

John growled, "oooh, do you want me to beat you!"

"Yeah you can touch me while you kiss my-"

"DOCTOR!!!" Dean shouted, blushing and flabbergasted.

"Flank! I was going to say flank!" the Doctor shouted defensively.

"We are going to die! Is now really the time for petty arguments!" Dean shouted.

The Doctor growled, "alright! Alright!" John glared as the Doctor turned, running and standing to his hind hooves at the deposit wall. The Doctor then placed an ear to the wall as he felt around the rock.

"What in Celestia's name are you doing!?!" John shouted.

"Right now I'm rubbing the wall", the Doctor said simply.

"Okay . . . why?" Dean asked, just as confused as the others.

"Do you remember earlier when you asked why I needed to know every little detail about our situation?"

"When you found out that the shed outside was actually a miners shack?"

"Eeyup! That be the one!"

"Yeah I remember, why's that important?" asked Dean.

"Because if I hadn't known that I would have thought that this cave was just that, a cave". The Doctor moved to a different spot, continuing to rub. "But this cave isn't a cave, its a deposit! One that had miners at one point! Miners, who of course are working a dangerous job, would have made some safety precautions!"

"Safety precautions?" Pecan asked.

"In case the minors ended up in the same situation we're in now! They would've needed a quick way out! Running from deposit to deposit until they eventually reached the main exit would have been suicide! Not to mention sheer stupidity! So, as a solution to this problem, each and every deposit had a mandatory emergency exit that lead straight to the outside!" the Doctor explained, moving to a new spot and repeating the process.

"But this is the deposit that monster had us imprisoned in! I've been trapped here for over a day and I haven't seen any "emergency exit!" said John. Angry at the Doctor, he purposely put infuses into calling Silver a "monster", hoping to tick him off.

It did, and he muttered under his breath, "oh, go suck a fat one". He shouted suddenly, "Yes of course it would be difficult to find one! This cave is so old that the possibility of rocks falling were high even before we arrived! But, if my assumption is correct, which I'm really hoping it is, than the exit should be-"

The Doctor stopped as he felt around a large boulder. A boulder that hadn't appeared to be part of the wall. He smiled as he felt the tiniest breez touching his hoof through a crack. The Doctor walked backwards, observing the boulder. "Than the exit is right here actually."

"You've got to be kidding me!?" John shouted.

"Not at all! John give me a hoof here!" the Doctor commanded.

John handed Milly to Pecan and rushed to the Doctor's side. The Doctor quickly dropped Silver and made haste to the boulder. The two then stood to their hind hooves on the left side of the boulder, placing their forelegs to the rock firmly.

"Alright, push!" the Doctor shouted.

It was a struggle, with the Doctor's injury John did most of the work. The two grunted as they pushed; the stone moving slowly, leaving marks on the ground, the only spot that wasn't covered with vines. The breeze grew stronger as the opening widened, the space allowing air to enter more easily. 

As half of a passage was revealed a light had begun to shine within. A weak, dim light; yet strong enough to blind the eyes of the ponies who could see. Their eyes having been adjusted to pitch black now were adjusting to the sudden light.

"I see the way out!" Milly shouted, pointing.

"Really!? Oh thank Celestia!" said Pecan, gratefully.

The cave shook hard and rocks fell from the ceiling, causing the two to stop their efforts and turn around.

"That'll have to do! This cave won't last-" the Doctor stopped. He almost missed it, he was so close. In the nick of time, the very nick of time, the Doctor saw a large stalagmite break free from the ceiling. As big as a carriage, dropping right above the others. John had noticed it too, but a second slower than the Doctor. The others hadn't noticed. Dean and Pecan felt the shake, but their lack of vision continued to best them. Milly hadn't notice, she was distracted by the light entering the deposit.

Instincts kicked and an extra dose of adrenaline moved the Doctor faster then he should have. Without a second thought, the Doctor bolted forth. Just as John shouted, attempting to gallop to his family, the Doctor's wings extended. And the Doctor took flight.

Bones cracking, spine stabbed with piercing pain, wings that hadn't been used in forever now stretching forcefully wide. The Doctor bent forward, leaned, extended his wings to maximum length. Then, like a bullet, shot forth towards the three ponies.

It happened in a second; the Doctor bolted, caught Dean and Pecan around the torso, and crashed against the ground hard. The carriage sized stalagmite fell and crashed on the very spot they previously stood.

Now sitting a few feet away, not including the Doctor who laid there painfully; the three slowly stood to their hooves, panting and catching their bearing from the sudden save.

"What the tarterus!?!" Dean shouted.

"What happened!?! Milly are you alright!?!" Pecan shouted, frantically.

"I'm okay mommy", said Milly, rubbing a bump on her head that she received from the landing.

Dean felt around and touched the Doctor, just as he had heard him groan. "Doctor!? Are you alright!?! What just happened!?!"

The Doctor groaned again as he planted a shaky hoof to the ground, feeling his kneecaps crack as he did so. His back was so much pain, all he could muster was a moan, "ohhhhh!"

Dean felt the Doctor shaking and helped him to his hooves as John approached and hugged his family.

John kissed Pecan on the cheek, "oh Celestia that was close!"

"Ow, ow, ow!" the Doctor groaned, standing and taking a step.

"Are you hurt? What happened?"

"H- Had to use my wings, n- not supposed to though", said the Doctor, panting.

The cave shook, giving each pony the same thought. "The exits open so lets move!!!" John shouted, pulling Pecan towards the emergency exit.

"Come on Dean!" the Doctor growled, doing the same and pulling Dean.

The five galloped to the exit as rocks, boulders, and stalagmites crashed at an alarming rate. John arrived first and helped his wife and daughter through the opening, assisting Pecan by the hoof as she slid through before handling her Milly. Which was easy enough thanks to her size.

John stood to his hind legs and stepped sideways through the gap. He stopped halfway as a thought occurred, looking back to the approaching ponies as hopes of escaping nearly caused John to forget them. Then John looked down, two feet away from the boulder, where the unconscious Frostealius laid, still and unaware of the dangers crashing above.

John frowned, looked to his family, back to the Frostealius, hesitated a moment, then groaned. "Ohhh! Celestia dang it!" Making haste, John slid out from the gap and rushed to Silver.

The Doctor approached as John grabbed Silver around the torso, "what are you-"

"Get the kid through! I'll help the Elemental!" said John, hoisting Silver atop his back.

With the collapsing deposit, the Doctor chose not to question the change of heart. For now, the Doctor grinned and nodded before turning to the opening. "In you go!" said the Doctor, helping Dean enter first before following. Through the opening and into what appeared to be another deposit.

It had the same size and shape as the deposit, with certainly its fair share of stalagmites hanging like spikes. Only, the ponies stood on what appeared as a stone like platform, one large enough to hold a dozen more ponies. The platform wasn't pony made but was part of the cave, only mined and shaped to appear as a platform.

The platform hung, attached to the opening, above a seven story drop to the cave ground below; with piercing stalagmite spikes scattered around. The entire deposit was like one large bowl, with the platform elevated a hundred feet above the bottom. The only other place elevated at the same height as the platform was a second platform, across a wide stone bridge on the opposite side of the deposit. From there, the source of the light could be seen. A large, semi circle opening, calling to them with blinding, warm, sunlight. The way out, only a gallop away.

The Doctor turned back to the opening. Seeing John struggle with Silver, the Doctor rushed forth to help. It took a second, John on one side and the Doctor on the other. Silver was through and John followed, assisted by the Doctor.

The deposit on the other side collapsed, not entirely, but most of it. The Doctor could still see just a bit of space within the opening to the deposit. He reckoned two minutes more is all it would take for the deposit to collapse entirely. The new deposit shook just as bad as the others, with rocks beginning to fall loose from the ceiling. The entire mine was crashing down like dominoes.

A few minutes, that's all it would take for their exit to fall into the same fate as the rest of the mine. Realizing this, the Doctor rushed forth, hoisting Silver to his back and pulling Dean by the back of the neck; keeping a firm grip to make sure he didn't fall off the bridge. "Come on! We're almost there!" the Doctor shouted, jogging carefully atop the bridge towards the exit.

John nodded and followed, placing Milly atop Pecan and keeping hold of the two as they walked.

The opening brightened the closer they approached. Brighter and warmer, the suns rays beckoning, begging for their arrival.

The cave shook, foreboding dangerously around the deposit. Rocks beginning to fall, dropping larger and larger by the second. As if the cave itself was alive and forbid the ponies to accept the suns beckon. Boulders fell, a great attempt to prevent their escape.

The ponies lost their balance but were quick to regain their footing. Ignoring the caves collapse and determined to escape, the Doctor growled as he sped his pace; John taking notice and following suit with his family.  

They were so close, a mere dozen yards away, but the cave wouldn't allow it. The first stalagmite fell, a massive spike like rock, breaking loose from the ceiling. Many followed soon after, but one stalagmite fell first to attack. Plummeting down like a missile, right above the stone bridge.

None of the ponies could have prepared for the stalagmite. It crashed with fierce velocity, crumbling the middle section of the once great bridge to pebbles. It wasn't far from the group and they felt the impact. Luckily, the ponies were close enough to the end of the bridge, or they all would have fallen with the collapsing bridge behind.

Each pony lost their balance, gabbing onto one another for help. The Doctor wrapped a leg around Dean and, forcefully, locked a wing around Silver, holding both close. Though the Doctor was quick enough to take hold on his friends, John was not. The impact felt worse to John and he tripped over his own hoof when the bridge shook. He bumped into Pecan, knocking her sideways. She yelled as she stumbled close to the bridge's side.

Quickly regaining his balance, John gasped and rushed forth, swinging his legs wildly to grab his wife. He took hold of her foreleg, stopping her abruptly and jerking her back, but the jerk caught Milly off guard and she lost her grip. She released her mother's neck and fell backwards off the bridge in a flip.

"MILLY!!!" John screamed.

Milly screamed and made a grab for her mother. Just barely, she manage to take hold onto her mother's tail. A prevention to falling, yet, the unexpected tug from behind made Pecan's hind hoofs slide off the bridge. Pecan screamed as the back half of her body plummeted suddenly, hanging off the bridge as John held desperately to her top half.

Milly screamed, swinging loosely from her mother's tail. John bit his tongue and clenched his teeth, holding with all his might as he felt his hind hooves begin to slowly slide out.

The Doctor hadn't notice John and his family, he was too concerned with the ones he held as he continued his dash for the exit.

John's hind hooves started sliding faster. They were too heavy, and he would soon quickly fall with them off the bridge. Realizing that, John arched his back, giving himself leverage and adding a small, extra bit of friction to himself. He looked over to the Doctor and shouted, pleading, "DOCTOR!!! HELP!!!"

The Doctor stopped only two feet away from the exit; the bright light preventing him from seeing the outside world. He looked over his shoulder to see John holding on to his family, about to fall. "Shoot!" the Doctor gasped. Quickly, he grabbed Dean by the back and pushed him to the exit, before grabbing Silver and tossing him to Dean.

Dean "oofed!" as he fell on his front. He turned on his back and gasped as he felt Silver collide into his chest. Feeling the air pushed out of him, Dean choked, "Doctor! What the-"

"The exits behind you! Take Silver and get out of here!" the Doctor shouted.

"Wait what's-"

"John needs help! Just get out of here!!!" the Doctor ordered, turning and galloping to John.

Coming to his aid, the Doctor took hold of Pecan's left leg as John took hold of the other. The weight distribution helped John when the Doctor helped. However, despite John pulling one half of the weight, the Doctor struggled with the other half. His age and strength proved too much for a task like this. His legs were wobbly as they lifted Pecan, and he felt a knot developing in his spin. 

Together, the two managed to pull her up so that her fore leg knees were at level with the bridge. However, just as Pecan was nearly high enough to place on the bridge, the Doctor felt his give in. It cracked loud enough to startle John, and the Doctor yelled out, "GHAAAGH!".  Falling to his knees, the Doctor lost his hold on Pecan. Pecan dropped half a foot as John felt all of the weight return to him. He lost his balance for a moment, his hind legs slipping out, and he fell on his front. Now, John only had a hold onto Pecan's right leg, as the rest of her body dangled above the spikes below. Milly felt the drop and nearly lost her hold on her mother's tail. She slipped, dropped a few inches, and in a panic, clenched her jaw down on her mothers tail, hard enough to rip the fur and pop Milly's jaw. A chunk hair from Pecan's tail had been torn, but the majority still remained, leaving Milly plenty to hold on to.

The cave shook hard, more violent then the first, as a large stalagmite broke free from its place and fell to the ground below. It missed the bridge but crashed close enough to topple over and knock into the wall that held the platform. The over bearing crash shook the bridge massively, so much so as to break off a large chunk not too far from the four ponies. With the bridge deteriorating, the Doctor and John noticed they hadn't much longer before the part they stood on would crumble as well.

John panicked and pulled, arching the top half of his back. At the same time shouted to the Doctor, "Doctor! Help me!"

The Doctor groaned and cursed, rubbing his back hard to release the knot. He only spared a second to his back before quitting on it, as he sprang to his hooves and grabbed hold of Pecan. She swung her left leg up, and the Doctor was able to catch it. Yet, however hard he tried, it didn't work in the slightest. In fact, after his back gave in, the Doctor was in pain and had become weaker. John, even with the Doctor's help, felt all of the weight remain on him.

The cave shook again, stalagmites and rocks fell, another chunk of bridge broke and fell. Milly felt the shake and nearly lost her grip, falling an inch before regaining her hold. Pecan screamed, feeling the painful tug at her hindquarters. John was panicking; the bridge was going to fall, and he and his family would fall with it. He looked to the Doctor and screamed, "PULL THEM UP!!!"

"I'm trying!" the Doctor yelled.

The Doctor truly was, but it wasn't even close to good enough. "TRY HARDER!!!"

The Doctor groaned, giving a strong heave. Strong enough to lift Pecan a few inches, before the Doctor's strength immediately left him. Pecan dropped slightly, but the two kept their hold on her. Despite so, however, the Doctor was unable to contribute any assistance to John. He held to her, but he didn't pull at all, so John was once again left holding on to his family's full weight.

The Doctor shook his head, "its no use! I can't pull them up!"

"Are you a stallion or not!?!" John shouted, angrily.

"A ninety four year old stallion!" 

"So your an old brittle stallion! And you'll give up just because of it!?!"

"Shut up!!! I didn't say that!!!"

"THAN HELP ME!!!"

"I AM!!!" the Doctor roared, his wings flaring up a bit.

The Doctor glanced to his wings for a moment. He found it odd, it had been years since someone had gotten him worked up enough for his wings to flare on their own. He might of found it funny had he not been in a crumbling cave. That small though brought an idea to mind. He remembered saving Dean, Pecan, and Milly earlier using his wings. He knew he was too old to use them, it would be like trying to fly with two pieces of paper. 

Quickly, the Doctor looked over the edge pass Pecan. He then looked up and saw a rock break free from the ceiling. Watching that rock, he counted how long it took for it to fall to the ground below. As soon as it did, he realized the exact distance he had between himself and the ground if he were to fall. Afterwards, the Doctor worked mental math quickly; his weight, Milly's weight, acceleration with air speed and power. He worked it in his head and, suddenly, it came to him. He smiled to himself and said allowed, "oh, brilliant!"

"WHAT!?!" John shouted, not having hear him.

The Doctor knew that he was old, though hated admitting it. He was old and his wings weren't strong. He couldn't flutter down and grab Milly, carrying her to safety. However, what if he could glide down to her instead? It would work at her current distance, a mere five feet down. He would drop down and grab her, but the combined weight of the two plus not enough air passing through him would cause him to fall with her, even with his wings extended. But he knew that was the case already, which is why he calculated the distance he had before falling below. Because, he know knew exactly how long he had to fall before the Doctor could catch Milly. After all, the Doctor realized, paper may not be able to fly, but give it enough wind, and it sure can float.

"John your not going to like this but I need you to trust me! I need Milly to let go of Pecan!" 

"WHAT!?!" John shouted.

"I'm not strong enough to pull them up! But I can use the velocity from the drop the catch her and glide back up!", the Doctor explained.

"Are you insane!?! Just fly down and grab my daughter!"

"I haven't used my wings in ten years! I can't carry her!-"

"You used them earlier!!!"

"That was the spur of the moment! And I hurt my wings doing that!"

"I won't let-"

"JOHN!!!" the Doctor roared, silencing John. "Trust me! This is the only way!"

John didn't have a response. Even after everything the Doctor has done, he still wasn't entirely trusting towards him. Yet, he also felt he had no choice as he looked to the collapsing ceiling above. 

The shakes were worsening and larger rocks fell and crumbled. The far end of the bridge was gone, reduced to pebbles on the ground below. And based off the developing cracks, it seemed that their end of the bridge wasn't far off from the same fate.

The Doctor couldn't pull them up and John certainly couldn't either. They were going to die unless John listened, and he realized this. He made his choice with an angered sigh, "alright! Fine!" Keeping his hold on Pecan, John cranked his neck to the right, peering down to his hanging daughter. "Milly! The Doctor is going to come get you! But he says he needs you to let go!"

"What!?!" Pecan and Milly both shouted.

"Trust us Milly! Its the only way!" John shouted.

The cave shook and the Doctor thought aloud, "we need to leave, NOW!!!" The Doctor stepped close to the edge and looked down to Milly. "I'm going to catch you Milly! Okay!?"

"But I'm scared!" Milly screamed, slightly muffled having to talk through hair and clenched teeth.

The Doctor cupped his hooves to his mouth, speaking loud enough for her to hear easily. "Do you remember the colt in that story!?!" He didn't wait for a response, "be brave like that colt! I know its hard but that colt was scared too! Remember that!"

Milly didn't take long to think. Her grip was sliding and she felt she was going to fall either way. She looked tearfully up to the Doctor, "you promise to catch me!?!"

The Doctor gave her a confident smile, "absolutely!" Another violent shake made the Doctor frown, concerned. "But you need to do it now!"

"Wait! I didn't agree to-"  Before Pecan finished, Milly screamed, released her grip, and fell. "MILLY!!!" Pecan screamed, reaching helplessly to her daughter with her free hoof.

With the reduced weight, John pulled Pecan up the bridge with a heavy grunt; sighing hard and nearly falling over as he dropped her on the bridge.

Meanwhile, the Doctor forced his wings to open, ignoring the galore of cracks rippling through his bones. He bent his knees, aimed downward, and pushed his body off the side of the bridge with full force.

The Doctor positioned his body like a dart, keeping his limbs to his sides and narrowing his wings backwards. This accelerated him, approaching Milly with great speed. He reached out to the screaming child, who flailed her legs in panic without noticing her rescuer. He came close, but the ground was approaching as well. The Doctor cursed as he reached out to the filly. 

They fell forty feet before the Doctor managed to grab hold of Milly. He screamed, "gotcha!" and extended his wings. The air and wind pushed against his wings hard, dramatically dropping the speed of the fall. The sudden deceleration startled Milly and knocked the air from her. She held to the Doctor with a death grip as she choked, trying to catch her breath.

The Doctor used the velocity of the drop and bent his wing upwards, flying in a sharp "U" shape to return back up to the bridge. He had to turn and swerve around as he rose to face the bridge again. Atop the bridge were John and Pecan; John watching the Doctor while Pecan held tightly to John. The Doctor noticed and shouted, "get to the exit!"

John nodded and grabbed his wife, "come on!"

As the two ran, the Doctor rose close to the bridge. The closer he came the slower the speed of his glide would drop. To get to the bridge faster, the Doctor forced his wings to flap thrice. It hurt and he shouted, but he pressed on; and within seconds the two were on the bridge again. The Doctor collapsed along with Milly, as the two rolled on the stone.

"Come on! Hurry up!" the Doctor heard John shout.

Growling, the Doctor pushed his body up. He didn't allow the filly a second to catch her bearing before he grabbed hold of her mane and tossed her atop his back. Taking off, the Doctor galloped to the exit, where he could see John waving for the two to hurry.

He could hear the deposit crashing behind him. Everything was collapsing, probably even the very bridge he stood on. He couldn't tell, and at this point the Doctor didn't care either. The exit was right there, and he wouldn't spare a second to look back as he approached it.

The light was blinding as he leaped out into the open air, through the exit. John practically pulled the Doctor out as he came through. 

The three ponies collapsed side by side several feet outside of the exit. The exit, which turned out to be a large hole on the side of huge hill, spewed a cloud of dust towards the ponies, as the deposit caved in. Its last legs gave in, and the mine deposit was no more.

The ground shook for a minute, then slowed, before coming to a stop. The dust cleared, and what was left of the hole was now a pile of rocks on the side of a plain, grassy hill. Its useful exit fulfilled, and now reduced to rocks and boulders that sealed the exit shut.

As the noise died down, the only sound that remained were of the three ponies panting. 

Each of the ponies, equally exhausted, perhaps the Doctor more so because of his age, all lied together without moving. They stared to the exit they came from, breathing, in shock and disbelief. Each taking forever to catch their bearing. After several minutes, the Doctor felt a tap to his shoulder. The Doctor looked up to find Dean, who had one eye squinting down.

"Doctor? You alright?" Dean asked.

At that, the Doctor felt his energy return. He smiled and stood to his hooves too quick, ignoring the stars that popped in his eyes from doing so. "I'm brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

The Doctor smiled ecstatically to John, which helped John come to realization. As the stallion looked back to the exit, then back to the Doctor, John's eyes widened and he smiled as well. "We made it . . . we're alive!" John leapt to his hooves and rushed to his daughter, picking her up and spinning her, receiving a yelp in response from the smiling filly. "We're alive!"

The filly giggled and cheered with her father, "we're alive! We're alive!

"John?" 

John stopped and looked to his wife, who stood a few feet away beside a still unconscious Silver; her eyes still shut and her head facing their general direction.

Tears welled in John's eyes as he galloped to his wife while holding Milly, nearly knocking them all down as he wrapped  her in a strong hug. "Pecan! We made it! We actually made it!"

Pecan laughed, both happy and exhausted, hugging her husband and kissing her daughter on the head once she felt around and found her. "I can't believe it! We actually, really survived!"

The Doctor chuckled and looked away from the happy scene to Dean, who was still squinting. "Are you alright?"

Dean, who had been watching the family looked to the Doctor, "hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"What about your eyes? Seems like one of ems doing better."

"Oh, actually it still hurts. Its not as bad as my right eye, but I had to open it to find my way out of the cave", Dean explained.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "yeah, sorry about throwing Silver at you like that. And for you getting hurt and, well, everything that's happened today really."

Dean shook his head, "no worries, you said John needed help and you helped them. We all survived and that's what matters. Sure I got a little dinged up but we all did today. Besides, weren't you the one who said "not every win can be won painlessly?"

The Doctor smiled for a moment, before quickly frowning, "but you wouldn't have gotten hurt if-"

"Doctor" Dean interrupted. He waited a moment to make sure the Doctor was listening, then continued. "No more of that, alright? You've expressed that you feel this is your fault and your wrong. I chose to come with you, this was all my decision. So stop looking down on yourself that your friend got sap in his eyes or he almost died in a collapsing cave. I mean, its not like you forced me into that cave against my will, am I right?"

The Doctor chuckled, "yeah, I guess your right."

Dean smiled, "plus, I think you have another friend to worry about right now." Dean pointed to Silver, "he needs your help more than I do, that's for sure."

The Doctor gave a nod that Dean did not see, "your right. He needs medical attention real bad. And you and Pecan need an eye was station and phoenix tears."

"You mean your tears?" Dean asked, smirking.

"Don't make me feel weird about helping you", said the Doctor.

Dean chuckled, "hey, I'm the one who's going to use your tears as medicine."

The Doctor laughed, "yeah, I guess so". The Doctor took a deep breath and looked around.

He looked to the family, who had released their hug and were being checked for injuries by John. John held Milly's good hoof while Pecan rubbed her daughters back. He looked to Silver, unconscious, possibly in serious condition, but was in the Doctor's care so he knew he would be fine. Silver was alive, that was what mattered. Then he looked to Dean. His new friend, his new partner, his new companion. It was odd, this warm feeling the Doctor felt surging through his gut; knowing that the stallion that stood before him would return to the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T with him and stay while the others left. He wouldn't leave alone this time. It was an odd warm feeling he hadn't felt since . . . a long time ago. Before the days he became alone. What struck as odd was that the Doctor hadn't felt this way earlier, not when he had first invited Dean. Sure he had wanted a friend, but for him to feel like family so soon.

No, it was because of the high stress situation they were just in. Dean wouldn't stay permanently, he would probably leave as soon as he gets the chance to return to his studies. It was a sad thought, but it was true. He knew Dean was brilliant, it only made sense he'd want to go to school once it reopens, whenever that'll be. Whatever the case, he knew their time would be short, but at least he could enjoy it while it lasts.

The odd feeling went away, and the Doctor smiled and took another breath. "Everypony lives."

"Hmm? What was that?" Dean asked.

"Nothing, hey!" the Doctor yelled, waving to the family. "Let's get out of this swamp already!"

John smiled, "couldn't agree more!" 

The Doctor trotted to Silver and, with John's help, hoisted the Elemental onto his back.

John grabbed Milly and placed her on his back before holding onto Pecan to guide her. "Alright Doctor, you said you had a place to help us?"

"Yes, back at my carriage I have medicine to help your wife."

"Then lead the way", said John.

The Doctor nodded and looked to Dean, "ready for this adventure to be over?"

"Sleep in bed with a bowl of cereal? Yes please!" said Dean, excited.

The Doctor smiled and nodded, also excited, "alright than, lets get out of here."






One and a Half Hours Later





"Woah!" John said in awe, looking around the console room to the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T.

"I know! Its so cool, right!" said Milly, trotting on three around the console.

"What is? I still can't see", said Pecan.

The family, all patched and healed from any injuries received the past few days, waited patiently for the Doctor to finish tweaking with the console. "Don't worry, you're sight will return to you shortly. 

The Doctor checked a monitor and flipped a switch. As he did so, the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T emitted a high pitch squeal before dropping to a monotone "humm". The lights flickered for a moment, the systems shut off, and within seconds everything was back on and active. The machine shook, followed by the familiar metallic groan "WHOOZ! VIRRR! WHOOZ!", before a stomping sound emitted loudly. Like a piston dropping firmly against a hardwood floor. The shaking stopped and the machine made one last soft "humm" before slowly dropping silent.

The Doctor smiled, pressed a button, pulled a lever, then walked to John. "Sorry about that, I had my M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T's defenses on max while we were gone. It used up a lot of energy so I have it on power saver mode". The Doctor clasped his hooves together, "now then, where were we?"

John nodded, "right, as we were saying on the way here. My family has always been in hard time, you figured that out yourself. My wife used to be a stay at home mom and took care of our daughter while I worked. We teach her the best we can but we're no teachers, the two of us were actually bakers that was just starting to bring in money until-."

"Until Discord came and you lost your bakery along with your entire life savings. We got to that, I want to know more about this job of yours. You and Pecan came here for Silver but why? Who hired you?"

John shook his head, "no idea. We were camping out at the unicorn plains where the other ponies who've lost their homes go to stay when we got the job. Well, I was the one who received the job, I just told it to Pecan."

Pecan interjected, "I swear Doctor my husband and I aren't criminals! We were just trying to provide for our daughter-."

"I understand Pecan, I completely understand. Don't worry, none of you are in trouble. I just want to know about who gave you the job."

"Like I said, I don't know what he looked like. He wore a big red and black coat with fire on it. His collar covered most of his face, I barely even saw his eyes. Gave me a letter with all the job descriptions on it next to a tree", John explained.

"Do you still have that letter?" the Doctor asked.

John nodded, "yes". He slipped his hoof into a pouch on his quiver and extracted a large, dirty, semi white paper. He handed it to the Doctor and continued, "oh, before you read it there's something else you should know."

"What would that be?" the Doctor asked, holding the folded paper half open.

"Well, I want to apologize before hoof about my behavior back in the deposit. I'm normally not the one to be so, well, cautious around other ponies."

"You mean earlier when you panicked and almost shot Dean?" the Doctor asked, raising a brow and smirking.

John rubbed the back of his head, blushing, "heh heh, well, er, yeah". He cleared his throat, "its just that, I've never done anything like this before. Foalnapping, sneaking into other countries, heck, we really hurt that friend of yours. So my wife and I were buck nervous from the gecko. And I feel just awful about it. So I am apologizing for that. But, I became worried when you told us your name because, well, we were warned about you."

The Doctor paused for a moment, thinking to himself as he looked to the letter in his hoof. He nodded before looking back to John, "I figured as much. You said that back in the deposit, when you were-"

"Panicking, I know", John interjected, still sorry for his actions based on his tone.

The Doctor grinned to him, letting John know he was fine. "And this warning, I presume, is written here?"

"Yes sir", said John, pointing to the paper. "It gave us everything we needed to know about our job: where to find Silver, what to do with him once we've captured him, it even told us how to use that nifty little machine that subdues Frostealius. Said it would make capturing Silver a lot easier if we had it."

"Your talking about that Frequency Immobilizer you had back in the deposit. You still have that?"

"Sorry Doctor, I dropped it when we were running in those caves", said Pecan, drooping her head slightly.

"Don't worry about it. If it was destroyed than at least it won't harm any Frostealius anymore. Still, I'm curious about how it works. You say it subdues Frostealius? Do you know how it works?" the Doctor asked, intrigued.

John shook his head, "the letter tells us how to us it but nothing more then that."

"I see, does it only work on Frostealius?"

"As far as I know, we never tried it on anypony else."

The Doctor placed a hoof to his chin, thinking. "Hmmm, and this stranger, he's the one who gave you this device?"

"The letter and the frequency immobilizer, that's everything he gave us", John explained.

"He didn't fund you for this mission?"

John sighed, "no, he didn't. Pecan and I ended up using what was left of our life savings on this job. I think a have some bits left in my quiver, but now much."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Odd that a stranger would trust you with this level of technology. It must be advance if it only subdues Frostealius- hey, wait a second. If this was used to subdue Silver than how were you able to acquire it back in the deposit? In fact, where did the bow come from as well? I'd have thought Silver would've destroyed it."

John looked to the Doctor confused and responded, "no, after I was free from those vines I found our weapons lying in a corner, in the deposit my wife was trapped in."

The Doctor looked utterly befuddled, " . . . really, just . . . in a corner, as in . . . just there? Out in the open?"

"Well, yes."

The Doctor resisted the urge to face hoof, though it was clear he wanted to. " . . . Good . . . god . . . okay, uh, I'll have to talk with Silver on that later". The Doctor cleared his throat, "so, you were saying about a warning?"

"Oh, right. As I was saying, the letter gave us all of the instructions we needed for our job and the instructions were clear enough to understand, that is, until we read the end. At the bottom of the letter it warned us about a stallion simply named "the Doctor". Which I assume would be you, right?"

The Doctor nodded, "that's right."

John continued, "It didn't tell us anything more than that. No age, no appearance, not a single thing more than that. Just "beware of a pony named the Doctor. He will be a threat."

"Anything after that?"

"Just to avoid you at all costs. The letter ends after that."

"I see . . . I . . . sort of see . . . hmm, strange they would classify me as a threat. Oh well, maybe it makes sense."

"It does?"

"In a way."

"But how are you a threat? You've helped us so much", said Pecan.

"Oh well not a threat to you of course. I'm glad I was able to help. But this stranger, whoever they are, clearly know who I am. So they'd be aware that I would try to help you once I found out you needed help. Although, the same could be said if you had gone to anypony, like guards."

"We couldn't, he said we weren't allowed", said John.

"I presumed as much, wouldn't want to let the guards on to something illegal. But he knows I would help you whether you asked for it or not, and that would disrupt his plans. I wasn't a threat to you, in a sense, I'm actually a threat to this stranger. But still, he specifically warns you about me? Warns you not to go to guards, yes,  but specifically warns you about me? Its strange because, well, its not like I was traveling about searching for you lot. Everything that happened these past few days have simply been coincidence. Dean and I were searching for a friend of mine actually and we just so happened to be here when Milly needed help. We didn't try to find you, it just happened. So, why warn you about me?" The Doctor paused for a moment, thinking, before turning to walk towards the left side wall, where a series of flashing panels were placed. 

"Oh well, I'll figure it out later. For now, I think its time we found you somewhere safe to stay". Approaching the wall, the Doctor pressed a button, hearing a robotic "beep" in response. A moment later, a panel opened from the wall to reveal a large, pearly white and silver, metallic chest. The Doctor proceeded to the chest, typed a code on a panel placed on the left side of the chest, then opened the box.

The family stood aside and watched, unable to see the contents of the box from their position. 

As the Doctor extracted a paper, letter, and pen from the chest, John curiously asked, "um, Doctor? What are you doing there?"

The Doctor shut the box, a lock clicking into place as he did so, then returned to the panel wall and pressed the same button. The panel sealed tight, the cracks blending so well with the wall that the panel had might as well not even be there. He received a "beep" from the panel before returning to his spot next to the console. The Doctor then placed the paper atop the console and began writing for a few moments, before smiling and turning to John. He raised the paper, folded it, and placed it into the letter, making it clear for John to watch. Once finished, the Doctor licked the glue trimming and sealed the letter. He then tapped the tip of his tongue on the center of the letter, leaving a small scorch mark. Oddly enough, John noticed the mark resembled the Doctor's cutie mark very similarly.

John was both impressed and intrigued. However, before he had the chance to ask about the mark, the Doctor held the letter out to John. "Here, I'm giving this to you."

Raising a brow, John asked, "what is it?"

"Its a letter to Princess Celestia."

Pecan gasped upon hearing the princess's name, Milly exclaimed in excitement, and John looked skeptical. "A letter to Princess Celestia?"

The Doctor nodded, "I didn't tell you on the way here, but I'm not just a doctor. I also work for the princesses as their adviser."

"Does that mean you know the princesses!?" Milly yelled, smiling.

The Doctor responded, "indeed I do!"

"Wait, your serious? You actually work for the princesses?" John asked.

"John, after everything we've been through, don't you trust me?" the Doctor asked innocently.

John's eyes were wide as this information sank in. His skepticism changed, now he looked to the letter like a sacred artifact. He was both excited and afraid to receive the letter. "So, than . . . w- why are you giving me this?"

"Oh, its not just for you. This letter is for your whole family", said the Doctor.

John's heart sank at that and was about to ask before Pecan beat him to it. "Are we in trouble for what we did Doctor?" asked Pecan.

The Doctor shook his head and smiled, "I already said none of you are in any trouble. This letter isn't to punish you, its to help you."

"Help us?" John asked.

"Yes, I've written to Celestia about your situation and have asked her to take a generous amount of my own money and give it to you. It should be enough to provide for the three of you until you get your bakery back. And don't worry, I've left out everything about what's happened this past month. We'll keep that to ourselves", the Doctor explained.

While Pecan couldn't believe what she heard, John literally didn't believe what he heard, it was just too good to be true. "Can I see the letter?" John asked.

"It's already sealed, you'll rip the envelope."

"But . . . that's . . . impossible", John said through shakes.

Pecan walked to John and placed a hoof to his shoulder, "John? Honey?"

John ignored Pecan as tears welled in his eyes, "b- but, h- he's your friend and . . . and we treated him so terribly. We don't deserve this we . . . h . . . how much are you giving us?"

"Well, I wasn't sure how long it would be before you can get your home back. That and with bits being the new currency I'm still a little fuzzy with how much bits are worth. So I'm going to give you fifty thousand, that should be enough, shouldn't it?", said the Doctor.

John jerked, hearing that ludicrous amount made his heart skip a beat, as Pecan clung to her husband in astonishment. A single tear fell as John continued, "n- no . . . no! We don't deserve that! W- We deserve to be in jail! Why!? Why are you helping us!? This . . . this can't be true . . . it-"

The Doctor smiled, came close to John, and placed a hoof to John's unoccupied shoulder. John blinked through tears, looking to his shoulder, then to the Doctor. The Doctor said, "I believe that even the worst of deeds are acceptable, so long as that deed is for a noble and selfless cause. Silver is my best friend, I have known him ever since I was a colt. And if I had lost him, well . . . I can't say for sure how I'd feel. That's something I'd prefer not to think about."

"But then-"

The Doctor raised a hoof, cutting John off, "however, I know Silver more than any other pony would. I know, that despite everything he has been through, he will be alright. Silver will live another day and will go back to his own life. You on the other hoof will leave this M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T empty hoofed. No money, no home, no food, nothing, and that is unacceptable. You took this job in the first place as a means of providing for your daughter, and I will not allow you to end your troubles with nothing."

John stood listening to the Doctor, holding back tears as they fell anyway, "w- why?"

The Doctor tilted his head, silently asking, "why what?"

John choked, and took a moment to compose himself, before he asked, "w- why are you helping us so much? N- No pony else would ever do what you've done today. N- No pony else cares! W- Why do you care about a couple of strangers so much?"

The Doctor smiled warmly and replied, "because most ponies believe that in a time as chaotic as ours, the only way to survive is to fight fire with fire. That they need to be greedy, and steal, and fight, and conquer, and be ruthless to gain what they want. But . . . I believe that, in a time such as ours, the alternative is the best solution. In a time full of greedy, evil, terrible ponies, the best thing to do is to show friendship. To be kind, and honest, and loyal to the ones you love. To be generous to a stranger or to just make a crying child laugh; because, John, because the best thing to do, in a time such as ours, is to start putting water on the flame. To share friendship with one another and make Equestria a magical place again."

John sniffed, "e- even after everything we've done . . . y- you'd want to be friends with us?"

The Doctor replied happily, "absolutely! Especially after what you've done!"

John asked, astonished, "but why!?!"

"Because a pony can do the wrong thing to do the right thing. It may have never been the right thing, but that doesn't make it wrong. So long as you believe you are doing the right thing. You fought bravely for your daughter, and though you weren't doing the right thing, I won't dare look down on you for what you've done. Because you fought for your daughter, you fought for love. And if you ask me, I couldn't admire you enough, and that is the honest truth."

The Doctor's final words struck John hard and the stallion shivered. He was close to crying, but choked and stopped himself. Placing a hoof to his mouth, John clenched his eyes shut, taking deep breaths. John needed a minute before he composed himself enough to talk, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" the Doctor asked.

"Just . . . for everything. And . . . thank you, thank you so much for everything you've done for us" said John, smiling as happily as he had after escaping the mine.

Pecan stepped in, "yes, thank you so much Doctor! And we really are sorry for the trouble."

The Doctor raised a hoof, "no more apologies. I forgive the both of you entirely and I'm sure Silver will as well. As soon as he wakes up I'll tell him the reason for this whole mishap.

"Now then, are you going to take this letter or am I just going to stand here holding it all day?"

John looked to the letter uneasily, "are you certain we can have this? Fifty thousand bits is a lot of money."

"John if I wasn't serious I wouldn't have written it in the first place. Take the letter and give it to Princess Celestia as soon as her court opens to the public again", the Doctor ordered, nicely. "Oh!" the Doctor exclaimed. He reached into his inner vest pocket and pulled out a large, lumpy, brown pouch. Taking John's hoof, the Doctor placed the pouch into his grip, "almost forgot. You'll be needing this for where your going."

Jiggling the pouch, John asked, astonished, "is this-"

"Just some money to hold you off until the courts open. You can use this for now and then give that letter to the princess. That letter won't help you without the court, and you said you didn't have any money left."

Pecan was taken aback, and practically frozen stiff as she looked to her husband with her jaw hanging open. John was hesitant to accept the money, before the Doctor decided for him. "Go on, take it!" the Doctor practically ordered. John nodded and, slowly, placed the pouch into his empty quiver. Looking to the Doctor, John said, "thank you. I'll have to pay you back though."

The Doctor thought for a moment and answered, "Tell you what: keep out of trouble, enroll Milly into school, and just be happy. Do that and you'll pay me back in full."

John's eyes widened, and was about to question him. At this point, however, he knew the Doctor was serious and simply nodded. "Alright . . . alright, you can count on us!"

The Doctor smiled, "I'm happy to hear that."

John frowned suddenly as he pointed to the first letter, still in the Doctor's hoof. "But, what will you do about that?"

The Doctor looked to the letter and responded, "oh this?" He slipped it into his inner vest pocket nonchalantly, "I'll look into this later. For now I think the three of you would like a place to stay?"

"But we don't have a home. Our house was engulfed in chaos magic", Pecan explained.

The Doctor turned to his console, flipped a switch, and pressed a button. The machine activated, responding with a metallic "squeal" and light tone "humm". "Tell me, where did you three live?"

"Lemon Drop", said John.

"Lemon Drop? Near the mountains?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes."

"Eeyup, your right about that. That place is completely covered in chaos magic. So, I'll just have to take you somewhere else for now."

As the Doctor turned a switch and trotted to the other side of the console, John asked, "somewhere else? Where do you have in mind?"

"Oh I don't know, how about-" The Doctor pulled one last lever and the machine jerked.

The M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T's familiar squeal emitted loudly, "WHOOZ! VIRRR! WHOOZ!". And the machine shook as the bumps knocked against the sides. As if metal beams were knocking into walls.

Then, as soon as it had began, the machine stopped. The M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T went still and silent with one last "thump".

The Doctor smiled and approached the front door to the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T, opening it excitedly. As the door was pulled open, he stood back to allow the family view of the outside world. The warm sunlight, inviting them out, shining through the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T door.

The Doctor then finished his sentence, "the Dela Hayburg hotel in Trinitia!"

The family shared equal gasps of shock as they each slowly exited the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T, looking to the beautiful ten story building before them.

It was a shimmering red, blue, and gold castle like building, made entirely out of crystal. A twin set fountain spewed crystal clear water from the bottom of the tall stairs, leading to the building's front entrance where two ushers awaited to assist. The water fell into a large pool with a sign posted at the front. A sign with the hotels name on it, written in silver. Surrounding the area was a very large chunk of green, grassy land with more then plenty of trees. If one were to look right they would see other building above the trees in the distance, indicating a city close by. If one were to enter the hotel and look to the left at the top floor, one would see a small, shimmering, crystal castle, far into the distance.

Other ponies close by looked to the family and Doctor oddly. Each and every pony in the vicinity confused, shocked, or appalled at the sudden appearance of a blue box and four ponies stepping out. Some were curious, the more snobby ponies found them rude for suddenly popping here like this. The richer ones close by saw the dirt plastered on the four and stepped away in disgust.

But the family paid them no mind, with the exception of the Doctor who was annoyed. The family was too shocked in awe to care about the surrounding ponies.

John stuttered, "w- we're, t- this is-"

Pecan finished for John, "were back in the Crystal Empire!"

John looked to the fountain, then to the trees around the building, then to the Doctor, "b- b- but this is-"

The Doctor cut John off, "the same hotel that you three stayed in a month ago?"

Pecan nodded as John replied, "y- yeah. How'd you know?"

"Because I told him we stayed here!" Milly yelled, jumping into the conversation.

Both John and Pecan raised a brow as they looked to their daughter. "You told him?" John asked.

Milly nodded as the Doctor explained, "she told me you three stayed in a hotel in the Crystal Empire before coming to Equestria. And since the Crystal Empire, the city I mean, doesn't have a hotel, I just had a hunch that you three stayed here."

John smiled, "huh, you know, you really do seem more like a detective then a doctor."

The Doctor chuckled, "yeah, I certainly feel that way sometimes."

John nodded and extended a hoof, "thanks again Doctor, for everything."

The Doctor shook John's hoof before turning to Pecan, who gave a pleasant hug in substitute to a shake. "Goodbye Doctor, thank you so much!"

"It was my pleasure Pecan. Just keep taking good care of Milly, alright?"

"Of course!" said Pecan, stepping back from the Doctor.

The Doctor then turned to Milly, who was frowning to the Doctor. "Hey, what's the matter? Aren't you happy to be safe with your parents again?"

Milly nodded and replied, "yes but . . . will I ever see you again?"

The Doctor chuckled and knelt close to Milly, "I might see you again someday. Maybe I'll pop around and see how you and your parents are doing. Would you like that?"

Milly fidgeted, "yes but . . . what if . . . what if monsters try to hurt us again?"

"Now Milly, you know Silvers not a monster right?"

"Yes but, what if?"

Milly seemed genuinely frightened and the Doctor found this odd. Perhaps she didn't want the Doctor to leave? Perhaps she felt him as a sort of guardian now? The Doctor thought so, this wouldn't be the first time. However, he couldn't stay and he didn't want to poor filly to be in distress during their stay at the hotel. But he needn't worry about this, the Doctor had an easy solution to this problem.

"Here", he said, reaching into his inner vest pocket and extracting a long, bamboo like tube with a mouth piece at the end. It had red painted carvings that resembled odd faces and birds. He handed the smooth object to Milly, "take this."

Milly simply raised a brow confused as she looked to the tube. "What is it?"

The Doctor pointed to the object, "this is a Soaroinim Whistle. If you or your family are in any danger and you feel that nopony else can help you, blow into this whistle and no matter where I am; I will hear you and I will be there."

Milly gasped excitedly as she looked to the Doctor, then back to the whistle. She nearly blew into the whistle as a test to see if it worked before the Doctor stopped her.

"Wait!" he said, extending a hoof to Milly. "This whistle is only for the utmost emergencies. And when I say utmost I mean only emergencies that I am needed. If you can get your parents or guards to help you then go to them instead. But only blow this whistle if you absolutely have no choice, do I make myself clear?"

Milly nodded and obediently placed the whistle to her chest, "yes Doctor."

The Doctor nodded approvingly and stood up. He turned to his M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T and looked back to the family as he waved, "goodbye everyone. Stay out of trouble this time and make sure she's responsible with that whistle."

John, Pecan, and Milly waved together. "Don't worry, we will! Goodbye Doctor!" said John.

"Goodbye!" said Pecan.

"Bye Doctor!" said Milly.

Just before the Doctor turned back, John looked past the Doctor with a raised brow. "Eh, Doctor. Is your box supposed to do that?"

"Hmm?" said the Doctor, turning to his M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T.

It was then that the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T's high pitch "WHOOR! VIRRR! WHOOR!" screeched loudly, and the box appeared to faze in and out of existence.

It was dematerializing, and the Doctor realized this with a high pitch squeal of his own. "Wait, WHAT!!!" the Doctor shouted, tossing himself to his precious machine. "WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!!!" It was too late, as quickly as it had arrived the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T was gone. The Doctor jumped through nothing and landed face first onto the ground.

The Doctor jumped to his hooves and shook off the dirt, before standing slack jawed in the very spot his machine had been. His eyes like blank marbles staring into a disbelief nothing, as he could only croak like a stallion receiving a blow to his lower region.

The family looked to one another before John spoke, "um, Doctor? Are you alright?"

The Doctor appeared not to have heard him. He stood like a statue for a solid minute before finally moving. And it was a solid motion of hoof to face contact, before aggressively extending both legs and shouting, "WHAT!?!" The Doctor looked to the ground where his M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T was supposed to be, "WHAT!?!" He then looked to the family, then back to the ground, "WHAT!?!" He then flapped his legs about and stomped the dirt hard, "WHAT!?!"

No less then a second later did the same sounds of the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T's screech reappear. It was quiet and soft at first, then gradually grew louder and louder as the box appeared to faze in and out back into existence; rematerializing no less than two feet away from the Doctor.

The Doctor stared at the box, somehow further into disbelief then previously. Though the Doctor felt a strong surge of relief, he did not express it. A few moments passed before the Doctor stood suddenly. Turned away from the family, he muttered under his breath, "just pretend it was supposed to do that."

"Uh, Doctor? Was your box meant to do that?" John asked.

Quickly, the Doctor straightened his tie, cleared his throat, and dusted the dirt off his vest as he turned. "Oh it was just, eh, recalibrating its central orbiting controls. It does that every so often."

"Really? You seemed awfully upset when it disappeared", said John.

"I'm an old stallion, I forget it does that sometimes. Any who, time to be off. Goodbye everyone!" said the Doctor, waving. He made haste into the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T quickly, fearing that it would disappear again.

"Oh, goodbye-"

WHOOR! VIRRR! WHOOR!

"- Doctor", said John, waving to nothing as the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T was already gone.

Pecan chuckled and looked to her husband, "he's a strange pony, isn't he?"

John smiled, "you know, I was thinking the same thing."

Milly looked up to her parents, smiling as she watched the two laugh and embrace each other. Not wanting to be left out, she quickly jumped to the two. To which John and Pecan happily accepted her into their hug.

The three held each other for a minute, happier then they had all been in a long time. John holding his wife and daughter, Pecan holding her daughter and husband, and Milly holding her father, mother, and the Soaroinim Whistle.





Inside the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T







The Doctor slammed the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T door before galloping to the center console. His mind was frantic in panic as he checked all the controls to make sure everything was functioning properly. He flipped a switch to dematerialize the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T before placing it into a "stand by" mode. Just as he was about to press a button to run diagnostics, he looked to his side and noticed Dean. A very nervous and sweating Dean at that.

The Doctor paused and slowly looked to the colt as a thought came to mind. Frowning, he asked, "Dean."

"Y- Yes", Dean replied.

"Why did my M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T just take off without me."

Dean chuckled nervously, "about that, i- its not my fault! I swear! L- Let me explain!"

"Oh please do" said the Doctor, calmly. Though it sounded quite menacing to the Dean.

The colt spoke fast, "I- I know you told me to keep an eye on Silver back in the medical room, but Silver woke up and he wanted to leave but I told him no, I swear I did! Then he asked me for a glass of water so I turned my back to get him one and when I turned back he was gone! Then I heard the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T activate and-"

The Doctor stopped Dean, "hang on, hang on! Silvers awake?"

Dean nodded.

"Did he fly my M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T?"

Dean nodded, "I was just getting to that. You see- hey, where are you going!?"

The Doctor ignored Dean, having already walked past the colt towards the double sided doors on the other end of the room. As he entered he asked, "is Silver back in the medical room?"

"Y- Yes", Dean stuttered, keeping his space between the Doctor as he followed.

"Good."

It didn't take long for the two to arrive at the medical room. In fact, Dean noted that it took a fraction of the time for them to arrive at the medical room then it did for him to find the control room. He assumed it helped that the Doctor already knew his way around the place.

As the two entered the large, rectangular, pearly white room, the two could see Silver lying on his back; on a hospital like bed in the corner of the room.

The room had a very large area full of cupboards on one end of the room and beds lying in a row throughout the rest of the room. A few bottles with odd liquid sat on a coffee table next to the cupboards. Whether chemicals, potions, or medicine, Dean couldn't tell, though it did show what the cupboards contained. 

The Doctor marched straight to Silver baring an expression that a father would have punishing a child. Standing beside Silver, the Doctor cleared his throat.

Catching Silver's attention, Silver turned his head to the Doctor. His fatigue hiding all emotion, Silver simply whispered, "you seem upset."

The Doctor nodded, "well you of all ponies should know that I don't appreciate having my M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T pop off without me."

Silver laid his head back, facing the ceiling once more. "Sorry, I . . . needed to . . . get something."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

Silver shakily lifted a hoof, pointing to the ground beside him.

As his hoof drop almost immediately, the Doctor and Dean looked to the spot Silver pointed to find what looked like a large, square, metal saddle bag.

"Is that?" said Dean.

The Doctor's frown flipped to an astonished grin as he rushed to the device. He quickly picked up the device and flipped it around, checking every side of it. "My magic trace scanner! But, we forgot this back in the swamp! Wasn't it in the deposit when it caved in?"

"No . . . I never . . . brought this into . . . the deposit . . . didn't want to waste energy . . . so I left it in the swamp . . . near the cave entrance", Silver explained, having to pause and take breathes every so often.

"But why would you return for it?" the Doctor asked.

"I knew what it was . . . the scanner . . . I could tell by the feel of it", Silver explained.

"How would you know what it was just by the way it feels?" Dean asked.

"Silver traveled with me for a very long time before settling in the Ice Lands. He and I experimented with a lot of Phoenix Pony tech back in those days. So I'm not surprise he'd know what this is, even with him being blind", the Doctor said.

"How much time?" Silver asked.

"How much what?" Dean asked.

"He said time, how much time for what?" the Doctor asked.

Silver took a deep breath, struggling to stay awake now. "Scanner . . . the . . . scanner."

The Doctor and Dean both raised a brow. "I don't understand . . ." The Doctor gasped and quickly flipped the device to its backside, where a small panel was located.

"What is it Doctor?" Dean asked.

"I know what he's talking about!" said the Doctor, pulling open the panel.

Inside was a small monitor with various buttons set in rows of ten by ten. The Doctor pressed the button at the lower right hand corner and waited as the screened flickered to life. The screened flashed brightly and, though Dean couldn't see what the screen said, the Doctor cheered happily.

"We still have fourteen minutes before the memory is erased!"

"Wha- oh! Oh my gosh! That's right! It loses that trace after twenty four hours! I had forgotten about that!" said Dean, realizing what the Doctor had cheered for.

"With everything that's happened I almost forgot too. Thanks Silv- Silver?"

Silver didn't hear the Doctor's gratitude, he had already fallen unconscious again.

The Doctor sighed and placed the device atop his back. "Thank you Silver. Alright, let's hook this up to the console and see where we need to go next."

"Right", said Dean.

As the Doctor walked to the exit, he said to Dean, "oh, and if you catch Silver up and about again, come tell me as soon as possible. I'm glad he helped and all but he really shouldn't be out of bed."

"R- Right, of course", Dean stuttered, looking away from the Doctor as he followed him down the hall.

The Doctor raised a brow and looked to Dean, "you know your not in trouble, right?"

Dean looked back to the Doctor and chuckled nervously, "yeah, I, uh, just thought you'd be upset."

"Oh I was upset alright, just not at you", the Doctor explained.

"R- Right, of course."

There was a seconds pause before the Doctor asked, "is that why you didn't notice Silver bring in the scanner? You were afraid you were in trouble?"

Dean chuckled once more, "yeah, I suppose. After I saw that Silver was gone I ran in a hurry to find him. Though, the panic caused me to lose my sense of direction and I found myself lost in your hallway. By the time I finally found your console room you came in."

"Ah, I see. Well don't you worry, your not in trouble. In fact, I do believe our efforts after today deserve a reward!"

"What do you have in mind?"

"A cold bowl of cereal, while we sit by the fire, wearing Serilian gold weave cotton robes. How's that sound?"

Dean blinked, "you have a fire place?"

"In one of my rooms, though I haven't used it in a while so it might take a bit to find."

"And Serilian gold weave cotton? What's that? Some fancy fabric?"

"Fabrics sewn to have the same quality as clouds."

"Wait, so these robes feel-"

"Like your wearing a cloud, exactly!"

"But can't you just sleep in clouds whenever you like? You have wings after all", asked Dean.

"Ah, that's a common misconception amongst my species. See, pegasus magic allow pegasus to control the weather and have full physical contact with clouds. Phoenix magic on the other hoof doesn't work the same way. Our magic works around fire mostly, so we can't control the weather. And if we tried to sleep on clouds we would just fall through like any other pony would."

"Oh, interesting. You know what, I think that sounds perfect. I am exhausted after today!" Dean said with a sigh.

The Doctor chuckled as he and Dean entered the console room.

The Doctor walked to the center console and place the device on his back to the floor. He then opened a panel placed to the side of the device, revealing a thin cable. Grabbing the cable, the Doctor attached the male end to the female end; placed on the side of the console.

As soon as the cable attached, the monitor beside the Doctor flickered on and a loading screen appeared. As the screen loaded, slowly from zero percent to three percent, the Doctor looked to Dean. "So, how are your eyes doing?"

"Hm? Oh, my eyes are doing fine. They feel a lot better after the eye wash station and, eh, your tears."

The Doctor chuckled, "that will never stop being awkward."

Dean laughed, "nope. But really, I appreciate you healing me and all but don't you worry about what others think when you say your going to "heal them with your tears?"

The Doctor shrugged, "not really, I stopped caring a long time ago."

"Hm, alright. Say, your tears work really well as healing potions. Have you ever thought about selling it?"

The Doctor cringed, "Ugh, no I would never, that's just wrong."

"It is?"

"Well, imagine if someone paid you to drool for them, wouldn't that be disturbing?"

"I see your point, but your tears can heal."

"Yeah, and eating unicorn horns extends your lifespan, but you don't see unicorns chopping their horns off."

"Oh yeah, I did read about that. But this is different, you can produce more tears quicker than unicorns growing their horns back, if they even grow back, that is."

"Those are still my genes I would be selling. And the last thing I need is for some dark enchantress to find my genes and do as she pleases with them.

"Besides, they're tears, how much of that do you really think I can produce at once?"

"Well you wouldn't have to do it at once. Wouldn't it make sense for Phoenix Ponies to just cry a lot on one day and then cry again the next? Or if they had multiple Phoenix Ponies taking shifts in crying. I mean, if they can just make themselves cry on command like you can than they can have as many tears whenever they want."

"But other Phoenix Ponies can't make themselves cry on command. Some actually don't cry at all."

Dean tilted his head, "really? Why's that?"

The Doctor chuckled and shrugged, "I don't know! That's the same as me asking "how come some pegasus don't work for weather control?" Or, "how come those unicorns are wizards?" Just because I can cry on command doesn't mean everyone else can. Its my own personal function, not something were all born with. Kind of like you with your western accent, not everyone in Equestria has one of those."

"I see, so some phoenix ponies aren't able to heal others like you can?"

"Eh, they probably can. I mean, yes I can do it much better than them because I can cry on command. Personally, all I have to do is think of something that makes me sad and it just happens. For them, I don't know, everyponies different."

"But if that's true than what about leaving Alburnia? You said that its a law that you can't leave. That kind of makes it sound like all phoenix ponies are the same. At least, in that aspect.

"I don't know. That law is . . . strange. It made sense in the older days when phoenix ponies were sparse. But with generations of new ponies, there's been a lot of mixed feelings on it. Though, the law is controlled by phoenix ponies from the older days, who are all used to that law, so I doubt the law would change either way. But your right about that, despite mixed feelings most of the phoenix ponies don't do anything about it."

"Except for you", said Dena, grinning.

"Well, not just me. I said most don't do anything about it. Some, a very small number, have."

"There were others that have left too?" asked Dean.

There was a pause as the Doctor thought for a moment. He licked his lips, almost hesitating to answer, before chuckling. "Heh, yeah . . . there was one other."

"Really? Who?"

"He . . . he was . . .", the Doctor paused, as if he was having trouble answering. He wanted to, but to Dean, the Doctor seemed hurt to answer. Slowly, the Doctor replied, "he was a really good friend of mine."

Dean took notice of the Doctor's shift in tone and asked, "did something happen to him?"

There was a pause as the Doctor answered slowly, "he, uh . . . honestly . . . I don't know what happened to him."

"What do you mean?" asked Dean.

"Well . . . it was a long, long, long time ago. Back when he and I used to live in Alburnia. You see, I left Alburnia because I was bored and my friend was no different. The both of us wanted to see what this world had to offer so much! So the two of us, no older then ten at the time, made a plan to escape. He caused a diversion while I go steal a M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T. Easier said than done, we already knew that from the start. But we were determined to escape, so we set the plan to motion and . . . well . . . it ended badly."

"How bad?"

" . . . Bad enough to land a ten year old colt in high security prison."

"Wait, what!?!" Dean exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Phoenix Ponies are very strict with their laws and stealing a M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T isn't exactly something they'd gloss over. They didn't care how old we were, he was thrown in prison the next day once they caught him."

"Without a trial!?"

The Doctor shook his head, "from what I heard, no. But if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have escaped. And I tried going back for him, I really did. But when I broke into the prison I found out that he had already escaped. I searched for a while, searching through the surrounding countries and beyond. But . . . I never found him. And I haven't seen him ever since. Whether he's alive or not I honestly don't know."

The Doctor frowned and looked to the ground, "he escaped about a month before I arrived. Can you believe that? A month? Hah! If I had only been there just one month earlier, just one month, I could have broken him free". There was a pause before the Doctor continued, "I was too late . . . one month too late . . . or . . . even about two years too late."

"Two years?" Dean asked.

The Doctor sighed, "I was only ten Dean. Ten years old and all alone. And my only friend had been taken from me and thrown in prison. I didn't know what to do. I was lost and scared. I mean, eventually I found some ponies to help me. They taught me things and made me strong. It wasn't until I was twelve that I thought I was ready to return to Alburnia and rescue him. But . . . of course that didn't turn out well either."

There was an awkward pause as Dean stood there, feeling sorry for the old stallion. He glanced away for a moment, imagining the hardship one would have to surpass at such an age. He couldn't imagine his own self accomplishing such feats, even with his current age, let alone a ten year old child. Looking back, Dean said empathetically, "I'm sorry that happened."

The Doctor sighed and grinned slightly, "its fine, that's all in the past. I've moved on, and if my friends still alive than I'm sure he's moved on too. Heck, he's probably adventuring just like I am. Perhaps I'll run into him someday. Or maybe I already have and didn't realize it. I mean, the both of us are the same age so I wouldn't be surprised if he's already regenerated. Who knows . . . heh . . . who knows."

Dean grinned and asked, "what was your friend's name?"

The Doctor smiled and replied, "his name was Coal Burns."

"Bleep Bloop", the monitor beeped.

The Doctor looked to the monitor and became excited, seeing the load screen reach one hundred percent. "It's finished!" he said happily, quickly pressing a few buttons before looking back to the monitor.

"Excellent! Where are we heading?" asked Dean.

"It seems the next location is . . . a . . . forest! A forest just outside the fifty mile scanning radius. We'll have to stop there and rescan before we can continue."

"Alright, well what are we waiting for?" 

The Doctor looked to Dean curiously, "you excited?"

"More anxious to find your friend already. But I'll admit, I am a bit excited."

"You aren't worried about running into more danger?"

Dean shrugged, "of course I am. But, all of Equestria is dangerous at the moment when you think about it. It just seems . . . different this time. Like, its still scary but it has . . . more of a thrill to it now. Does that make sense?"

The Doctor laughed, "I know exactly how you feel!"

As the Doctor pulled a lever, activating the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T's signature squeal, Dean asked, "hey Doctor. I don't think you've told me your other friend's name. The one that we're looking for."

"Oh you'll find out soon enough!"

Dean raised a brow, "why's that?"

The Doctor chuckled, pressed a few buttons, then rested a hoof on a lever, "because I think you'll recognize this pony once we meet her". Before Dean could ask, the Doctor shouted, "alright! Next stop, a random forest!" The Doctor pulled the lever, the M.E.I.D.P.H.A.T shook and squealed, "WHOOZ!!! VIRRR!!! WHOOZ!!!"


And together, the two were off to their next location.



( ( ( NEXT TIME ) ) )


Dean Do quickly followed, taking in the sights of the forest around him. "Wow", he breathed, turning in a circle as he walked to look at everything.

"I know! Beautiful isn't it?" said the Doctor, smiling.

"Where are we?"

"I told you, a random forest."

"No, I mean, where in Equestria are we?"

The Doctor laughed, "ah, but that's just it. We're in a random, unnamed forest outside of Equestria!"


TRANSITION


"Welcome to the edge of Equestria! We are just five miles outside of the border in the unnamed forest."


TRANSITION


He was a baby blue stallion with purple and white hair. He had scruffy hair, a messy, dirty tail, and a cutie mark of what appeared to be a large white and purple flower. The stallion was dirty and had cuts from the fall. He was noticeably shaking and was crying, as evident by the glistening eyes and trail of tears running down both cheeks. 

Dean relaxed and asked, "are you okay?"

The stallion didn't respond. His breathing continued at speed and he shivered before wincing from the pain.

Dean noticed and took a step forward, "your hurt aren't you-."

The stallion saw Dean approach and shouted, "stay away!"

Startled, Dean stopped and took a step back.

The stallion, openly crying yelled, "I- I don't know who you are! Y- You better stay back!"

Dean raised his hooves to his chest and responded softly, "I'm not going to harm you. Honest, I just want to help."


TRANSITION


"Sorry I don't believe I caught your name."

Through heavy breathes, the stallion managed to stutter, "A- Aster."


TRANSITION


"He went to where I saw the pony to check if someone was actually there. I tried to tell him not to, I really did. But . . . he went anyway and . . . he . . . he . . .". Aster's eyes teared as he gave a slight sob.

The Doctor and Dean shared equal care to Aster's distress, evident by their expressions of pity. The Doctor, however, was the one to walk close to Aster and pat his back gently.

Feeling his touch, Aster sniffed and looked into the Doctor's eyes; wanting to smile to the kind stallion, yet unable to. He whimpered, wiped his eyes, and pressed on. "When he c-checked he . . . he was attacked."

"Attacked by what?" the Doctor asked softly.

Aster gulped once more and looked away, seeming too scared to even describe the event.

So the Doctor, continuing to pat, said, "I know it hurts to think about it. And it probably scares the ever loving daylights out of you. But if you want me to help, then I need to know what it was that attacked your coltfriend. You said you saw a pony out of the corner of your eye? And you called her "she"? Did this mare attack your colt friend?"

A tear fell as Aster looked back to the Doctor with wide eyes. "She wasn't a mare! She was a ghost!"

"A ghost?"

Aster nodded, "a ghost! A phantom! A- er, I don't know what she was! But she wasn't a pony!"


TRANSITION


Ten feet away from the three stood the very mare Aster had ran from. The mare without fur and leaking eyes, a wasp like mane, no cutie mark, and pale as an ocean blue. Before them was the phantom, smiling carelessly.

"Oh my god", thought the Doctor, standing up straight and adjusting his tie. He cleared his throat, "hello there!"

The mare didn't respond. She continued staring and drooling with her malicious smile.

Will Aster remained hidden in the bushes, covering his mouth to prevent himself squealing by accident, Dean dropped the leg he pointed with and gulped. "N- No, no that's not . . . that's not a ghost, it . . . i- it can't be!"

"Don't be rude Dean, ghost or not she is still a mare", the Doctor whispered over his shoulder to Dean.

"B- But ghost aren't real! Their not real! T- That's impossible!" Dean shout whispered, shaking to the sight before him.


TRANSITION


The phantom laughed, "don't you wanna be a pretty princess mister? It'll be fun!!!"

Aster sobbed while gasping for air, feeling his lungs reaching their limit. "Stay away from me! Stay away!"

Aster's please were futile, the phantom merely laughed in response. She didn't appear tired or scared, and she had no trouble maneuvering through forest. Following Aster allowed her to foretell when an obstacle would approach. If Aster stumbled on something or bumped into a tree, she would see and avoid it. And with every obstacle, Aster, through very slight, would slow down. Allowing the phantom to seal the gap further and further.

"Ow!" Aster shouted, bumping into another tree and scratching a mark to his right shoulder.

"Your friend would be happy to see you mister! He's a princess! And you can be one too! Wouldn't that make you happy to see your friend again!?!" the phantom shouted with glee.

Aster sobbed, "no! Stay away from me!"


TRANSITION


Growling, the phantom marched straight to Dean. Standing above him, she took hold around his torso once more with her tendril mane and lifted him again. Holding him upside down, and keeping him inches apart from her, so that she could look into his eyes face to face.


TRANSITION


The Doctor's flame illuminated the rest of the room, exposing the secrets the had hid in the dark.

The size of the room was to that of a living room, and what had once been furniture and décor helped the Doctor assume this room had, at one time, been a living room. However, whatever was or had been certainly wasn't anymore, for the room, at one point, had been tampered drastically.

A rug clothed the center of the old wood floor. Old, ripped apart, and stained in black, far to ruined to distinguish its original color and design. A small wooden coffee table sat atop the rug, withered, chipped, and had two plates of rotted food. White and blue fuzzy lumps of mold caked the plates, as dozens of flies buzzed around it. A chefs knife popped out from one of the plates, stabbed into the food and stained black, the bottom half coated in fuzz.

Beside the table was a green coach. The fabric was ripped apart, exposing its feather and spring insides. Battered, dented, ripped with holes, and stained in black, the coach look ready to fall apart at any moment.

Along the walls were a few picture frames. Many had fallen at one point with shattered glass covering the ground, the ones stills hanging were all blotched in black liquid. One in particular had a knife sticking out the center.

Across from the front door was an entry way leading to two separate staircases, one leading up and one heading down. The wall on the far side was heavy coated in mold and black stains. Larger pieces of glass covered the edge of the wall, along with chunks and bits of rotted food. Several knifes and cleavers were stabbed around the wall randomly. And in the center of the wall in big, bold, black letters, was a message written sloppily. "THE DOCTOR HAS FALLEN, THE CHILDREN HAVE FALLEN, LONG LIVE THE KING, LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!!!


TRANSITION


The phantom blurted out laughing, too hard and causing her to choke. All the while she felt her magic course through her heart and soul, and through her leg to the Doctor.

And the Doctor felt it. Like hot boiling oil rushing through a tube, he felt her magic flush into him. His head was suddenly heavy, and his body's weight suddenly lifted off his bones. All his pains and aches gone, leaving him numb. Her magic burned, yet only for a moment, as all his senses began to leave him, so did his sense of hot and cold. Her magic no longer burned, and the ground was no longer cold.

He felt nothing, he felt like nothing, or, being reduced to nothing.


TRANSITION


"The end of the past begins with a lullaby. You die so you can live, but you will remain dead as he arises. And he will live on as you, but never in your image. For, he is not truly you, and he never will be. You know that, you do . . . and you cannot stop it . . . no one can."

"No! Please no! Please!"

The flame completed its crawl, the Doctor's body was covered top to bottom in golden fire. Burning more powerful than before, reducing the Doctor's body to ash. And he felt it, starting from his lower half, his physical body disintegrating.


"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"



TRANSITION


The phantom filly, smiling and glaring at Dean, had spotted him. She rushed from no where and pushed Dean with all her might, slamming him into the tree.

Her tendril hair hovered about, aimed to Dean like a squad of pythons ready to strike. The phantom giggled as she stepped towards Dean. "Pretty, pretty, PRINCESS!!! You can't run anymore!!! Let the Queen of the Forest make you HERS!!!" 

Dean rose to his hooves coughing. He felt pain surge around his right ribs, and it made him strain to stand. But he managed and glared at the phantom. He had done so much tonight, and reminding himself of what he had done empowered him with a surge of energy. A will to fight back and win against this phantom. Mixed with a sudden mass of hate. 

The persistent phantom, chasing him and attacking over and over. She hurt the Doctor, she hurt Aster, and she wouldn't stop attacking him. He wanted her to stop, he wanted her gone. She just wouldn't leave him alone, and that made him angry. 

His will to fight, his anger to the phantom, he stood to his hind hooves. Breathing heavily, Dean roared at the phantom, "I've had about enough of you, your highness!" Dean attacked with his whip, shouting, "you will not take me!!!"


TRANSITION


"G- Ge- off!!!" Dean sputtered, grabbing meekly at the phantom's ankle.

She laughed and lowered her tendril hair slowly, encircling Dean's vision with black, hanging snakes. The tendrils extended to the ground and atop Dean, covering the surrounding ground and Dean's torso. A few of the tendrils slithered up his neck to reach his face. 

"S- S- op!" Dean choked.

She laughed, "nighty night PRINCESS!!!"