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The TARDIS
Dinky wandered the halls of the TARDIS, occasionally listening in on some of the conversations in the main console room. Sometimes it seemed like the one-eyed mare was just looking for reasons to argue with everypony else.
"Fluttershy, you must have killed dozens of Changelings from your turret; what was so different about those two?" She heard the one-eyed mare ask the pegasus who had saved her stepfather.
"It's not the same, Twilight, when I was shooting them down, I could detach myself from it, and not think about it. When I killed those two, I felt them die." Fluttershy answered. "That's not something anypony can just shrug off."
"But it is something you're going to have to learn live with." The Doctor said, putting his right foreleg around Fluttershy. "Twilight, you're not helping here; she's been through enough without you questioning her about it."
Twilight lowered her head in shame, and said, "I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I'll go."
Fluttershy was particularly sensitive, and being driven to an act of brutality like that wouldn't sit well with any pony. It was surprising that she was taking it as well as she was. She was about to turn and leave, when the Doctor said, "Wait, there's something I wanted to talk to you and Derpy about."
"What's is it?" Twilight asked.
"I want to know what happened in the War Room, when Chrysalis got there." The Doctor inquired in response.
"I don't know how much help I can be with that; I was still in shock from losing my eye, and I lost consciousness soon after." Twilight explained. "When I woke up, Derpy and I were about a four-day walk away from Appleloosa."
"That far?" The Doctor commented.
"It would have been farther, if Derpy hadn't used her wings to slow us down." Twilight elaborated.
"Fascinating. As powerful as she is, there's no way Chrysalis could have launched the two of you that far." The Doctor pointed out.
"She couldn't have fed on anypony for more power; my pain protected me, and she didn't try feeding on anypony else in the War Room; Mayor Mare was already dead, Flim and Flam were on her side, and Derpy evaded her attention." Twilight added. "Maybe she had just fed on some prisoners before she hit Town Hall."
"Maybe, but it would have taken a lot of feeding to make her that powerful." The Doctor pointed out.
"There seems to be a lot going on right now that just doesn't add up. I've been close to Princess Celestia since I was a filly, but I can't begin to explain the decisions she's made regarding the war effort; decisions that should be in Luna's hooves anyway." Twilight commented.
"I don't like the sound of it any more than you do, but there's not much we can do about it until we reach Canterlot. In the meantime, you should try to get some sleep. You look like hell, Twilight." The Doctor instructed. "I'll let you know when we get close."
Grumbling, Twilight walked out of the console room, and started to navigate the labyrinthine halls of the Doctor's strange vehicle, finding its dimensions fascinating. Not even Starswirl the Bearded could figure out figure out how to make things bigger on the inside like this. Passing by Dinky and Derpy, she entered the quarters the Doctor had set up for her. For everything the TARDIS was capable of, the quarters seemed rather spartan. There wasn't much there, other than a rough looking bed, and an end table with a lamp on top. Twilight slipped into the bed, and thought, It's not the best, but at least it beats sleeping on gravel.
Twilight awoke to find the bed much more comfortable than it was when she went to sleep. Looking around, the room she woke up in looked nothing like her quarters in the TARDIS. In fact, it looked very much like her bedroom in the Ponyville Library. She got up, and looked out the window, to see Ponyville, with no sign of the militarization she had instituted, or the damage caused by the Changelings' attacks. Then, she caught a glimpse of her reflection, and instead of seeing the burned mess covered by an eye patch she had grown accustomed to, she saw her right eye, perfectly intact. Instinctively, she turned her head around, and called out, "Spike?" No response. However, she did notice the number 8, plastered over her cutie mark in black, and she quickly checked her other flank to find it there as well.
"What is going on here?" Twilight asked out loud, not expecting a response. She trotted down the stairs to the main section of the library, hoping to find some explanation for her present circumstances. When she made it to the ground floor, she immediately noticed a book off the shelf, just sitting on the table in the middle of the room. Normally, she'd just put it back on the shelf without much thought, but due to the present circumstances, she instead decided to look it over thoroughly. The first thing she noticed was that the text on the cover was actually just a collection of odd symbols that resembled Equish text, and that even the words they looked like were pure gibberish. She then opened the book, only to find horizontal black lines in place of text. Confused, she pulled several books off the shelf to examine them, and found the same oddity in them as well.
Then, Twilight heard a knock on the front door, and quickly ran over to open it. On the other side was Derpy, wearing a saddlebag, full of muffins on the left side, and three books on the right.
"Hey, Twilight! I'm just here to return these books I took out for Dinky last week." The mailmare said.
"Um, what happened to the TARDIS, and how did I get my eye back?" Twilight asked, magically removing the books from Derpy's saddlebag.
"The what? I didn't know you lost it. Your eyes look fine to me." Derpy responded, confused by Twilight's bizarre question. As Derpy entered the library, Twilight couldn't help but notice a number 7 over the wall-eyed pegasus's bubbly cutie mark.
"You know, your husband's freaky blue box thing?" Twilight added, trying to jog Derpy's memory.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Twilight. You know Time Turner is just a clockmaker. Now, can we hurry this up? I still have packages to deliver, and I have to pick up Dinky from school." Derpy retorted, starting to get annoyed
"Pick her up from school? It's only eight in the morning." Twilight said, pointing to a clock on her wall, showing that it was 8:00.
"No, it's half past three in the afternoon." Derpy replied, pointing to the same clock, now showing that it was actually 3:30.
Though she was confused by this, Twilight set the books down on her desk, and marked them down as returned.
"Thanks, Twilight. Be seeing you!" Derpy said, about to fly off, before Twilight asked, "Wait. Derpy, do you know anything about the numbers over our cutie marks?"
"I'm Number Seven, and you're Number Eight." Derpy answered.
"Who's Number One then?" Twilight inquired.
"Here, have a muffin. I think you need one." Derpy then pulled a muffin out of her bag and hoofed it to Twilight. She then flew off, once again leaving Twilight alone. Twilight was just as confused as before about her present circumstances, and she quickly decided that staying in the library would do little to remedy that situation.
"If anypony knows what's going on here, it'll be Pinkie Pie." Twilight thought out loud as she stepped outside. She couldn't help but notice the absence of other ponies in the vicinity. The library wasn't exactly in a busy part of Ponyville, but it was never this empty.
"Where is everypony?" She asked out loud, doubting she'd get a straight answer. After an uncharacteristically short walk to Sugarcube Corner, she heard the tune of "For She's A Jolly Good Filly" inside. Entering, she found one of Pinkie Pie's signature parties, but something seemed off. To begin with, the Cakes, Pinkie Pie's employers and landlords, were nowhere to be seen, nor was anypony other than her close friends, and each of them had a number on their flanks as well, ranging from Six to Two. In addition, there was little in the way of party supplies, except for anything currently in use by one of her friends.
Seeing Twilight enter, Pinkie approached, and said, "I'm so glad you could make it, Number Eight. We've been wondering when you'd show up."
Quickly checking Pinkie's flank, Twilight said, "Thanks, um, Number Four. What's the occasion, anyway?"
"Oh, it was Number One's idea. She said you were under a lot of stress, and you needed something to help you unwind." Pinkie Pie explained.
So, Number One is a mare. That'll help narrow it down. Twilight thought. Then, she asked, "And who is Number One, anyway?"
In response, all of her friends started laughing. "Can you believe Number Eight here? She doesn't know who Number One is!" Rainbow Dash, marked as Number Two, said. "That's a good one, sugarcube." Applejack, marked as Number Three, remarked.
"I'm serious! Who is Number One?" Twilight shouted, but it did little to stop their laughter. Frustrated, she charged up her horn, and ended up shooting a hole in the ceiling. After the dust cleared, all of her friends were gone, except for Fluttershy, marked as Number Six.
"I'm sorry, Twilight. I can't tell you who Number One is, but I can tell you where she is." Fluttershy said to her.
"Then where is she?" Twilight asked.
"Town Hall-" Fluttershy was about to say more, but Twilight had bolted the moment she knew where to go. Still, she let out a quiet, "Be seeing you." anyway.
Twilight ran to the Town Hall as quickly as she could, but upon her arrival, she found the interior to be vastly different from how she remembered. In place of the bright lighting and the high ceiling, she found a dark corridor, sporadically lit from a low ceiling. At the end of the corridor was a double door, leading into a small office, and sitting at the desk was none other than Princess Celestia, typing away at a typewriter on her left, and drinking a cup of tea on her right.
"Princess Celestia? I should have known you'd be Number One." Twilight said.
"I am not Number One, Number Eight. I am not part of the system, and therefore have no Number. You abandoned and alienated your friends, all in the name of your obsession with Number One. Was it worth it, Number Eight?" Celestia asked.
"Enough with the Numbers! My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered! My life is my own!" Twilight shouted, slamming her hoof down on Celestia's desk, and breaking the saucer under her tea cup. At that point, the typewriter released the page it was typing onto, and the page fell onto the desk. Upon a quick examination, Twilight saw that it was actually a photograph of her, and Celestia had crossed it out with the typewriter's 'X' key.
"We'll see about that, Number Eight. Be seeing you!" Celestia replied, and Twilight started to hear the sound of machinery from above. She looked up to see that the office's ceiling was gone, just as a large mechanical claw reached down and grabbed her. It then pulled her up and out of the office, revealing a massive hall of gigantic filing cabinets. Off in the distance, she saw a drawer open as if it was expecting her. Twilight was terrified, knowing she was powerless to escape, and fearing what else might be in that drawer. She struggled to break free, but to no avail. The claw then stopped over the open drawer, and let Twilight fall in. As she fell, she saw only darkness inside the drawer, and focused on the light from outside, but lost even that as the drawer closed on her.
"This has gone on long enough! Tell me! Who is Number One?!" Twilight shouted, in a combination of panic and anger. In response, a light seemed to turn on above her, revealing a window, with Chrysalis looking at her through it.
"I am Number One! I am everything you despise. Your hatred for me drives you, gives you focus. You are nothing without me!" Chrysalis answered.
"No!" Twilight responded, raising a hoof to the window, but then she discovered to her horror that it wasn't a window she was looking at Chrysalis through; it was a mirror. She was Chrysalis.
"I twist everything to my will, but you, I'm particularly proud of. All I had to do was make you aware of me, and you did the rest." Chrysalis explained, practically taunting Twilight.
"NO!" Chrysalis/Twilight charged up her horn, and shot the mirror. While it did not break, the reflection changed, and she changed with it. She was once again the grizzled, one-eyed soldier that the war with the Changelings had made her into.
"I am Number One. I am the soldier who destroyed Ponyville in order to save it, and failed." Her reflection said to her.
"You're wrong! Chrysalis destroyed Ponyville!" Twilight tried to counter.
"Did she? You took an idyllic farming village, and turned it into a warzone. You destroyed Ponyville well before any Changeling set hoof there." Her reflection explained.
"I did what I had to do!" Twilight shouted at her reflection.
"You tell yourself that every night, but you don't believe it." Her reflection said in response.
Not wanting to hear any more, Twilight shot the mirror again, and this time it shattered. However, behind it was another Twilight, naked and with both eyes intact, who said, "I am Number One. I am everything you claim to be fighting for, but at what cost?" The second Twilight asked. Then, pointing to her right eye, she said, "Do you think this will just grow back?"
"No, of course not." Twilight answered.
"There is no going back. Be seeing you." The second Twilight then produced a small white ball, and threw at the first. As it approached, it expanded, becoming large enough to contain an adult pony. Once it reached Twilight, it took on a more malleable consistency, and then simply enveloped her.
Twilight awoke in a cold sweat, back in her quarters in the TARDIS. I must have just been dreamt all of that. She thought. She then ran back to the console room, to find the rest of the group waiting there. "Twilight! I was just about to call you. We're within range of Canterlot, and we should be there in a few minutes." The Doctor said, still hard at work on the controls.
"Good. Celestia, we need to talk." Twilight replied. Then, with a smile on her face, she added, "Be seeing you."