“Don’t blink.” A voice warned, a familiar brown stallion coming from around the corner.
“D...doc--” she began to turn to see if it was him.
“Don’t look at me, look at them!”
“Doctor, what’s going on?”
“But don’t look them in the eyes! Anywhere but there!””
Derpy was beginning to shake so much she could barely speak. “I’m scared!”
“It’s alright, Derpy. I’m here now.” He nodded, not quite looking back to her. His hoof raised up his sonic screwdriver, which made an odd sound and lit up, “walk backwards with me, and don’t...blink.” She nodded, scooting to the edge of the house and backing up where they could just barely make one out, “now...run!” He pulled Derpy with him as fast as they could gallop.
Finally being able to look at him, she felt safer. Everything would be fine now. But she wondered how he could be here? “I thought you left!”
“I’ll explain later!” He nodded looking behind him, “the weeping angels must have found a rift too!”
“Weeping what?!”
“Moving statues, Derpy! Though I don’t know why they haven’t given chase yet. They’re much faster than we are.”
“Maybe they don’t want to deal with two poni-ow!” Derpy stumbled and rolled, feeling a sharp pain in her left hind leg.
“Derpy?!”
“I’m okay...I think something hit my leg!”
The Doctor turned a corner, “let me see.” He demanded.
“Why aren’t we running?!”
The Doctor turned her leg, finding a grey feather in her leg. He tried to pull it out. Derpy whimpered. “It’s stuck pretty tight. This is new...why would they--”
“Doctor!” Derpy pointed behind him. The Doctor turned. The three were closing in again. They had an odd look in their faces. The Doctor dare not look directly in their eyes, but if he didn’t know better, he would think them relieved. Why? What did this mean?
“Derpy, run. Don’t worry about me. Fly as far as you can.”
“No!”
“Don’t argue with me!”
“What will they do?”
“What?!”
“What will you they do if they get you?!”
“They’ll send me back in time, no telling how far.”
“Back in time? Why? What would be the point?”
“It’s how they eat. Feed on the potential energy of lives I might have lived here.”
Derpy could barely make sense of that, but there was one thing that did make sense to her. “Wait, so you could be sent a thousand years back? Without your box?!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
“I might never see you again!”
“Find a unicorn that can destroy these angels when they’re still. They can’t move when you look at them. I’ll keep them here while you escape!”
“Friends don’t leave each other! I’m not going anywhere! You just got back here and I’m not about to lose you again!”
The Doctor’s mind was racing, traumatic thoughts of the last time this happened running through his mind. “Raggedy man, goodbye.” Arguing with Derpy would be fruitless, and not even he could keep from blinking forever. They had to keep going. “This way!” He pulled Derpy, running as he kept his eyes on the statues as long as possible. He ran around house making a maze to confuse the angels. Derpy was slowing steadily as they ran, “I know it’s hard, Derpy, but keep going.”
“I’m trying Doctor, but my leg!”
“I’m sorry. I know it’s hurt, but-“
“No, it’s heavy!” The Doctor looked over to her leg. The feather had shrank a bit, and a portion of her back leg had turned a different shade of gray. The Doctor’s hearts plummeted. He hid under a nearby bridge, looking closer. Derpy caught her breath. He tapped the darker gray. Derpy noticed worry grow on his face. “Doctor? What’s wrong?”
“It’s...it’s nothing.” Her leg was hard as stone...and it was spreading. The angels found a new trick. “This doesn’t make any sense. They’re from my dimension, so why would they attack you instead of me? And why are they chasing us, this isn’t normal behav--” He looked into Derpy’s eyes and a look of fear came over him.
“Doctor, what is it?”
“Your eyes… I’ve seen this before. I know what this is. But why?”
“Doct--”
He heard the rapid scampering of heavy feet and quickly turned to face the attackers. “Alright, angels, something is afoot and I want to know what. You’re here, out of place, just as I am. But you’ve got a whole town here full of easy prey, fast asleep in their beds, which means instead of picking off the slow and sick members of the herd, you’re ignoring them and going straight for the ones who have the highest chance of escape! For an alpha predator, that strikes me as very intriguing, since I know you’re much smarter than this. And I can see a familiar shimmer in the eyes of my companion here, which also suggests that since you stabbed her in the leg with your concrete quill pen, you should also have no problem communicating with me. There’s something more going on than just feeding, so let’s just cut past the chase and get to the point. What… are… you… doing… here?”
“Doooooctor,” Derpy said in a particularly creepy voice. He turned, noticing Derpy’s eyes surrounded by a dark blue glow.
“Ah-ha! I thought so. Talking through other voices is your forte, though I’m glad you didn’t have to break a neck to do so…”
Derpy continued speaking with the alien voice, her mouth moving mechanically, her face devoid of emotion. “We have had our conflicts in the past, but presently it would be mutually advantageous to put our differences aside.”
“What do you mean?”
“Leave that one to us, and depart peacefully.”
“Why? For what possible reason could you have such a vested interest in her?”
“For one who has seen as much as you, so often you are still the last to know. The mare is more dangerous than you would believe.”
“Wait… you’re... afraid of her? Angels fear nothing! She’s just a pony!”
“She who sees to worlds beyond will fall through the void, stringing them together, and then nothing will follow.”
“Well then there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
“Precisely. You agree then.”
“Agree to what?”
“To leave her. Get in your time machine, and leave. Or find a new companion. Do this one thing, and we will not try to stop you.”
“...if I did, what would happen to Derpy?”
“The one with eyes crossed will turn to stone, a statue forever more.”
“That’s a new trick. You’ve never done that before.”
“This world offers different advantages, but this is something old. Long ago when we were strongest, a feather and a breath of life was all we needed to multiply. But the breath of life was lost long ago.”
“What do you do if you hit the wrong target?”
“If you are looking for the antidote, you do so in vain.”
“Ah-Ha! So there is a way to reverse it!”
“...it seems you do not understand. We should have known your bleeding heart would win out. But no matter. We will take her. We will turn her before chaos intertwines with her magic.”
“And what of everyone else in this world? So I leave and give Derpy to you, what happens to them?” No words were conveyed to Derpy to speak.
“Exactly as I thought.” He pointed his sonic screwdriver at Derpy. It’s tone changed a few times, searching for something and then her eyes returned to their usual color.
Derpy shook her head, and her eyes seemed a bit dazed. From her reactions, he hazarded a guess that she had no recollection of the conversation. It was better that way. He looked over to Derpy’s leg. Most of the leg was stone now. She was shaking...terrified of what was happening. Who could blame her? He gave her a reassuring smile.
“What, what happened?”
“No time now!” He grabbed her and pulled her away from the angels while she struggled to gallop on her three good legs. ‘We need mirrors!”
She nodded, too scared to speak. She wondered if her heart was going to fly out of her chest. “Right, mirrors,” she said, barely conscious of what she was saying or thinking.
“Derpy, where do you think the most mirrors would--oh, of course! Rarity’s shop, the Carousel Boutique! How do we get there from here?”
“Over that way!”