//------------------------------//
// (Part 4) The Game 
// Story: Doctor Whoof : Day of Discord 
// by Muleicous 
//------------------------------//


The Game
	Discord cracked his neck, bits of rubble falling from his fur. The draconequus’ smile never left his face as he surveyed the ponies surrounding him, as if they where just giant pieces for a huge chess board. 
“Well,” the chaos god began, “hello everypony! Long time... well, actually I’ve never seen you two before,” Discord motioned to Apple Bloom and Derpy, “and the colts I saw about and hour ago. Strange how time flies, but you should know all about that, huh Doctor?” The blue and red eyes of the draconequus looked over the time colt, studying his face. Discord could tell his new toy was thinking, wondering just how he and three fillies could stop a god. Then he looked to Fluttershy, he didn’t address the pegasus mostly because she blended into the other statues in the gardens. The poor thing was shaking, and he knew it was his doing... It warmed the cockles of his heart. 
“Now you... are brilliant,” The Doctor said, “you lured me here so that the four of us would bring the princesses. Then, you used their control of time to make an eclipse, which I’m guessing amplifies the power of the Element, that way you could use them to break out of that rock. That is just brilliant!”
“Thank you, thank you,” Discord said, bowing, “for my next trick I’ll pull a rabbit out of a hat.”
“But there’s something I don’t understand,” the time clot continued, his voice losing all happy tones and turning to a more questioning and quiet tone, “why do all this? Why all the theatrics? I understand that just killing everypony is boring, I’ve met whole civilizations who where like that. But why toy with us and hurt ponies? Why not help?” Discord slinked down to The Doctor, a smile still on his face as he looked into the time colts eyes.
“Because,” the draconequus said dryly, “it’s just too much fun.” The Doctor quickly backed away, the colts eyes filling with rage which made Discord laugh, “Oh come on Doctor, you’re almost as old as me! You can’t tell me that doing this,” the chaos god snapped his fingers, making storm clouds appear as a shower of sheep began, “isn’t entertaining, can you?”  
“Honestly... It’s makes me pity you.” the brown pony quipped in return.
“Oh ouch, that hurt.” Discord mocked, shaking his head as The Doctor’s expression, “If you truly feel that way, I guess I could have you replace me on that pedestal. After all, I’ve already won. Look around you Herr Doctor, I have the Elements,” the grey gems floated above his head, “I have Celly and Lulu,” the creature pointed to the still mesmerized princesses, “and I have the ponies.” Suddenly, Twilight Sparkle and the other four Element Bearers where teleported to Discord’s feet. Still frozen in their corrupted states, the chaos god picked up Applejack and pulled off a her hat.
“You leave my sister alone!” Apple Bloom yelled, charging at Discord. However, as she neared The Doctor, the time colt grabbed her and held her.
“Apple Bloom, this isn’t your fight... Leave this to me.” he said, letting her go as the filly calmed down. Discord examined AJ’s most prized possession, before plopping into his mouth and chewing slowly.
“Huh, it does taste like Applejacks.” the creature swallowed and laughed at his own joke, Blackspine snickering with him. The draconequus almost forgot about his follower, turning slowly and glaring at the colt. “What are you laughing at Mulicious?” Blackspine stopped and looked up at this master, fear filling his eyes.
“N...nothing master.” he replied.
“So you didn’t like my joke?” asked Discord.
“No, I mean yes master,” the pony shivered as he looked into the chaos god’s eyes, “it was hilarious... Though I don’t understand the whole thing...” Discord brought his lion’s paw to his forehead and sighed.
“Just got sit in the corner.” he lifted his claw and levitated Blackspine over to where Celestia and Luna stood. “Now, where was I? Oh yes... Maybe you’re right Doctor. Maybe I should destroy you four, what do you think?”
“Well that’s rather unsportspony like.” The Doctor replied. This made Discord’s eyes brighten up with malicious glee. 
“True... What about a game then?” the draconequus asked, “You, the little filly, and the cross eyed bat...”
“Hey!” Derpy shouted.
“Against me.” Discord continued, creating a magical bubble around Fluttershy to keep her from running, “I make the terms,  the rules, and the game. Winner gets the ponies, the princesses, and... The chance to use the Elements of Harmony once.”
“How do I know you’ll keep up your end?” The Doctor asked. Discord smiled, he finally had a pony that could match his cunning and craftiness. The god pulled his pedestal from the earth and took a hammer and chisel from thin air. Quickly, he pounded and reshaped the column into a rectangle with a small contract written on it.
“That’s how,” Discord smirked as he placed it in front of the three ponies, “If I win I get all of Equestria by default, as well as the ponies, princesses, yadda yadda. And if you three win, You get to use the Elements once, and I free your friends.”
“What’re the rules?” Derpy asked, the look in the draconequus’ eyes made her worry. After all, he wasn’t known to keep his word.
“Rule one,” Discord snapped his fingers and Derpy fell to the ground, her wings gone, “no flying, no magic... No TARDIS.” He snapped again and the Sonic Screwdriver appeared him is claw. “Rule two, all of you must play of the game is over... and I win. Now, the game...” the six Element users flew into the air and landed with hard thuds in the maze. “I’ve put all six of your friends into the maze, as well as a copy of each. The game is simple, find the real ones and I’ll restore them. Good luck my little ponies!” With that, Discord disappeared into the sky.

***
 	As soon as he entered the maze, The Doctor was separated from his companions by large stone walls. The colt gazed a head and noticed the leafy walls of the maze transforming into stone as well, but the time colt didn’t have time to analyze them. He shook his head and groaned, he didn’t have the tools to either.
“Apple Bloom! Derpy!” The Doctor cried out, “Head to the middle of the maze, I’ll meet you there.”
“What if we see Fluttershy or the other ponies?” an unseen Apple Bloom called out to the time lord. She both hopped and feared that she would run into her sister rambling the maze, lies spewing from her mouth.  
“Just run for the middle... And don’t touch the walls!” the time colt added, then began to make his way through the corrupted corridors. A thought sprang to his mind, one that made him stop in his tracks and look to where he thought the pegasus and filly had gone. Discord hadn’t said what would happen to the ponies if they picked the fake. Still, this was not time to stop and ponder the possibilities, he had to make it to the center of the maze before the draconequus decided to alter the rules of the game. 
The Doctor’s hooves hit the ground hard as he ran around the stone corners of the maze, he had to admit he was getting tired but he couldn’t slow down now... Not until he had Derpy and Apple Bloom out of this damned place. Suddenly, the time lord heard a soft voice muttering to itself. Slowly, he peeked around the corner to see Twilight Sparkle talking to Twilight Sparkle. 
“I can’t go back there...” the first Twilight said, “it was too much. I... Oh Celestia help me.”
“M... Magic Kindergarten!” the second one screamed out, her eyes on The Doctor’s head. “Wait! There! I can use him!” The two unicorns raced to the time colt, muttering about a letter and how Princess Celestia would be disappointed. Needless to say, The Doctor took his own advice and made a break for the left turn in the maze, only to be cut off by another huge stone wall with a menacing carving of Discord’s smiling face on it. The time colt had no choice but to turn and examine both Twilights, looking for some flaw in their appearance that would tip him off, but he could find none. Both ponies had cracked horns, insane smiles, and a disturbed look in their eyes, but The Doctor knew that if he didn’t choose one he’d half to deal with both of them. 
“Ok, let’s see,” the time colt spoke quickly as he thought out loud, “they both look the same, talk the same, and twitch the same. There has to be something, Cracked horns, insane eyes, think Doctor think! Wait... That’s it!” he turned to see the Twilight’s just feet away from him, “I killed you dragon!”  One of the unicorns stopped smiling and tears started streaming from her eyes, that was all he needed, “That one’s the real Twilight Sparkle!” 
The Twilight clone stopped running and wobbled a bit, its mutterings growing faster and more high pitched as the fake pony’s head began to spin like a record; until finally, the imposter exploded with a radiant light and hit The Doctor and the real Twilight Sparkle with a wave of orange juice. The real unicorn stopped running and shook her head, the purple color returning to her coat as the horn on her head repaired itself. She looked at The Doctor, confused and a bit fearful, until the colt shook his head to deny his claim.
“He’s fine,” the time colt said, “I just said it to test a little theory of mine...” but before he could finish, Discord appeared behind Twilight and snapped his fingers. The unicorn disappeared, teleported into the draconequus’ lion paw at about an eight her normal size and coated in plastic.
“I wonder how much this would be to a collector?” Discord mused, his eyes shifting to a furious Doctor, “Don’t give me that look, she’s fine. Frozen, but fine. I said you and your two friends could play, not the six of them. And I promise that, at the end of the game, I’ll either free them or keep them as little statues... Like they made me.” Discord’s eyes glazed over slightly as he said this, his mind full of white hot rage at the ponies who had encased him in that cold, hard prison. He waved his claw, lowering the wall with his face carved into it so that The Doctor could pass. “If I where you, I’d try and catch up to you friends... after all, you don’t want them to get lost do you?”
The time colt ran off quickly, starting his search for his companions anew as Discord floated above the stone halls. The draconequus gazed down at the true and false ponies held within the maze and chuckled. He ensured that The Doctor would stay separated from the mares for the remainder of the game, but as a scream echoed through the air Discord knew he had another problem to deal with.

***
 	Apple Bloom quickly turned the corner, her little heart beating like a thousand war drums. She had been separated from Derpy and The Doctor for a little while now, but she thought that she was safe once she saw another pony in the maze. It was grey, so the filly assumed Derpy had climbed the wall to get to her. Instead, a deranged looking Pinkie Pie turned and began to chase after her, yelling about being alone and how her friends hated her parties. Needless to say, little Apple Bloom didn’t want to take a chance with the crazy pony. 
As the filly looked down the stretch of dirty in front of her, a second Pinkie Pie hopped into view and began to bounce closer and closer to her. Apple Bloom didn’t know what to do, there was not where to hide, so she let out a scream in the hope that The Doctor or Derpy would come to save her. The second Pinkie Pie hopped closer still, a wild grin on her face as her pupils contracted. Suddenly, a stone wall erupted from the ground just in front of the second Pinkie and blocked her from the scared filly, but just as the farm pony sighed in relief a deep laugh filled the air.
“You have to admit,” Discord said, walking through one of the stone walls next to Apple Bloom, “it’s nice to see she’s kept her spirits up.” 
Apple Bloom backed away from the chaos god, until she looked at the wall blocking one of the second Pinkie Pie from her. “You saved me.” the filly said softly.
The draconequus crossed his arms and shook his head, “Well I... I just don’t like my play things broke is all.” He glared at Apple Bloom as she smiled at him, “You’re just lucky that you’re just a filly, otherwise I would’ve let that Pinkie Pie make you into cupcakes!”
Apple Bloom shrunk back from his shouts, but got up enough courage to ask something that had been bothering her, “What’s wrong with them? My sister told me what happened, and well... She never said anything about Pinkie going crazy or about... What happened to Twilight.”
Discord looked down at the little pony, “I think it has to do with my assistant... He may have gotten the wrong idea when I told him to get me out of my statue by any means...” The chaos god glared into the air at Blackspine, the pony hovered above the maze using Discord’s magic. Apple Bloom looked up as well, finally recognizing the green capped colt as the one who asked for directions to Twilight’s library. The filly shivered as she realized if she had lied her sister’s friend would’ve been ok, but it was too late for regret now. She turned to Discord, a confused look in her eyes.
“You don’t hurt ponies, do you Mr. Discord?” Apple Bloom asked, “Even in Ponyville, when everything was all loopy, you didn’t hurt anypony.”
“Your point?” the draconequus floated above the ground on his back, yawning in fake boredom.
I think,” the filly began, edging her way around Discord, “you like ponies.” As she finished, another stone wall grew from the ground and blocked Apple Bloom’s path.
“You really think I’d fall for the old ‘heartfelt talk’ huh?” the draconequus asked, putting on a pair of oversized sunglasses, “I invented that move.” He snapped his fingers and catapulted the filly into the air, making her land on the glass platform Blackspine stood on.
“Hello again Apple Bloom,” the colt said, his eyes never leaving the maze, “seems like you keep on running into me in the strangest places.”
“Why did you do it?” the farm pony asked, “What did Discord promise you?” The little filly’s eyes get wide with fear, as a small smirk crossed Blackspine’s face.
“He promised me nothing...” he paused and chuckled in his throat, “so I’m going to take everything. Equestria, Discord, even The Doctor and his blue box.” The malicious pony’s eyes grew wider with rage, and he turned quickly to Apple Bloom, “I followed you their you know... Or maybe you wouldn’t...”
Suddenly, it all came back to the filly... She was in Sugarcube Corner when she saw Applejack being corrupted.

***
	Blackspine took his hoof off Applejack’s forehead, and turned his attention towards the filly running down the stairs. He tapped his hooves on the wood floor to lock the first floor doors, trapping the pony inside with him. It had been a long time since Blackspine Mulicious played hide and go seek, but with the powers of an angry chaos god in his body the colt was sure it would be easy to remember. The evil pony slowly walked down the stairs, a completely frightened Apple Bloom curled up as small as she could was hidden behind the counter. The filly closed her eyes and listened for the colt to walk past her into the basement, then she would make her escape through the kitchen window. She breathed heavily and bit her bottom lip to keep from sobbing as the hoof beats came closer and closer to the counter, but then they turned and made their way down the stair to the left of it.
Apple Bloom stood and rushed towards the exit, only to have Blackspine appear in front of her and scream like a cat being stepped on. “Hello my little pony!” the colt yelled as he forced the filly to hover in the air with his mind, “Now listen to me carefully, or your sister mite have a little... accident.” Blackspine’s eyes began to swirl as Apple Bloom’s mind filled with pictures of a blue box in the forest, and a brown pony with an hourglass cutie mark. Then Blackspine began to weave a spell in her mind, “Find this pony, find him fast, or the danger here will have to last. Forget me now, forget this place, but remember me and your sister’s face.” 	
A bright light filled the kitchen, and Apple Bloom stumbled out of the bakery, making her way to the Everfree Forest. There she would find The Doctor, and Blackspine’s plan would truly begin to take effect. 

***
	Apple Bloom shook her head free from her recovered memories, tears streaming down her face as she looked Blackspine in the eye. She backed away from the colt, but her back hooves soon reached the edge of the platform. Blackspine moved closer, his head down as he charged at the little filly and knocked her off the platform. The colt laughed insanely as he turned from the scene to view the maze once more, only to be greeted by the belly of a grey pegasus. In Derpy Hooves’ front legs was Apple Bloom, safe but shaking with her eyes closed from fear. The cross eyed pegasus landed on the glass floor, placing the filly down gently before she turned and bucked at the colt with her back hooves.
“Don’t you ever try to hurt this filly again you bastard!” she called out, her legs hitting Blackspine’s chest and sending him flying to the other side of the platform. 
“H...how?” Mulicious asked as he stood, one of his front hooves holding his chest in pain, “The no flying rule...”

***
	Derpy had been running to the center ever since she and The Doctor had been separated, but even then her thoughts kept going back to Apple Bloom. The poor little filly had been split from both of the older ponies, forced to face whatever Discord had placed in that maze with them. It wasn’t long before the pegasus with no wings heard the sound of a filly screaming not too far away, and Derpy made a b-line for the noise. Derpy could hear Discord and Apple Bloom’s voices coming from the other side of the wall, but as hard as she could the pegasus just couldn’t manage to climb the sleek stone. 
A few moments passed until Derpy heard another scream, this one coming from above her. The pegasus looked up and gasped as she saw Apple Bloom being hurtled into the air, and landing next to what she thought was Discord’s servant.
“I’ll get you Apple Bloom! Don’t worry!” Derpy got into her take off position, but then remembered her missing wings. She closed her eyes, hiding her face in the dirty as she tried to keep from sobbing.
“Oh, poor Derpy Hooves.” Discord’s voice rang out next to the pegasus’ ear, making her jump.
“What do you want?” she growled at the draconequus, “You’ve already hurt so many, why even bother making us play this stupid...”
“I give up.” Discord said, matter of factly, “You and The Doctor win.” And with a snap Derpy’s wings returned to her back, and The Doctor returned to her side with the Sonic Screwdriver in his mouth.
“Well,” the time colt said with a smile on his face, “that was fun.”
“Fun?!” the pegasus said, “Fun! He trapped us in a maze!”
“You agreed to play.” Discord replied.
“You hurt my friends!” 
“Blackspine lied to me and said he had split up their friendship like I had. He just used my magic.” Discord rebutted, “And, if you don’t hurry, he’ll hurt the little filly.” Derpy looked up to see Apple Bloom falling in the sky, her screams filling the air once again. The pegasus sped off after the falling filly, her eyes uncrossed as her wing glided through the air. Derpy grit her teeth as Apple Bloom landed in her arms, but the added weight meant it was too late for her to pull up and avoid crashing into one of the stone walls. Just as her life began to flash in front of her, Derpy felt her head hit a soft spongy material. Apple Bloom and the pegasus opened their eyes to see a big blue berry muffin where the wall would’ve been.
“I heard you liked muffins.” Discord said, taking a bite of the huge pastry. Derpy couldn’t help but laugh at how weird a picture this probably made, until The Doctor walked to her and pointed up.
“He’s up there, and I don’t think he’s done.” the time colt said, his eyes getting that serious look from before, “I can’t land the TARDIS up there, it would be like trying to fish with a ball of yarn.” As he looked to Derpy, the pegasus flew off with Apple Bloom still in her front legs.

***
	So now it was Blackspine falling, the wind rushing past his head as he watched the ground close in on him. The colt closed his eyes and pictured himself soaring through the air with a pair of ornate wings, but he didn’t know how much pain would shoot through his body as the wings ripped out of his back. The newly formed wing slowed his fall, allowing him to glide to the top of the giant blueberry muffin. Blackspine’s blood dripped from his wings to the pastry as he laughed ominously, the colt’s eyes now on Discord.
“Don’t you see, you old fool?!” Blackspine called out to the draconequus in front of him, “I could use your powers to their full value... I could use them to make a perfect world for everypony! A perfect world for me!”
Discord glared at the pony, “I offered you a spot next to me Blackspine, but it looks like the power of chaos was a bit too much for you. I’ll be taking that back now... With interest!” He snapped the claws on his eagle talon, the chaos god picturing the fragment of power he gave to his servant returning to him, but nothing happened. The two stood, staring each other down, as Derpy landed next to The Doctor and set Apple Bloom down behind her.
“Doctor, what’s wrong?” Derpy asked, “Discord looks worried.”
“He should be,” the time lord replied, a buzzing sound coming from the Sonic Screwdriver until The Doctor flicked it forward, extending it slightly, “Blackspine tricked him. According to my scan, this spell that he used didn’t just break open Discord’s statue... It made a sort of invisible tunnel from him to Discord... Sucking energy right out of him the whole time.” The Doctor moved closer to the chaos god and the newly made pegasus, his eyes darting between the two figures, “Derpy, Apple Bloom... I want you to listen to me. Run to the TARDIS and stay there.”
“No! I’m not leaving you here alone!” the grey pegasus took  a step forward, shielding the farm filly behind her.
“I wont leave either...” Apple Bloom said, her eyes stern as she stood next to her new friends.
“Listen to me,” The Doctor turned to Derpy, “Remember rule two? Run when I say to run? That applies now, otherwise you’ll both be in the way and get hurt. I’ll be fine, trust me... I’m a doctor.” 
Derpy looked into the time colt’s eyes, tears slowly forming in hers. “Apple Bloom, get to the blue box ok? I’ll be right behind you.” The pegasus never turned her head as she heard the filly back away slowly, then run like the wind to the TARDIS.  Derpy swallowed, “What’s rule three?” she asked, The Doctor looked away and stared at Discord and Blackspine. “You said you would get to rule three of being near you... Tell me what it is now, or I wont leave.” 
After a few moments of silence The Doctor looked back at Derpy and smiled, “The Doctor lies...” Then, the time colt turned away from his companion and charged to the side of the giant muffin, jumping onto it swiftly as he began his climb to the top.

***
	“Oh boy... whew... That... was a climb...” The Doctor said as he stood at the top of the muffin, “No hands to grab onto those blueberries... Now that was a challenge. I’d like to see a Dalek do that.” His comments, however, went unnoticed as Discord and his former servant still stared each other down. The Doctor guessed that the two where locked in some sort of magical pony duel to get full control of the draconequus powers, but that didn’t matter now. The time colt had to figure out a plan fast... Then it hit him. “We won...” The Doctor ran to Discord’s side, “You said if we won the game that I could use the Elements once and...”
“Lied...” Discord said in a monotone voiced.
“... What?”
“I lied Doctor,” this time Blackspine spoke up, with Discord’s voice, “we never signed that contract, we never shook, I lied. Plus, even if I had told the truth, how would you use the Elements of Harmony?” The Doctor felt a pawing at the back of his head, as Discord’s voice began to echo inside his skull, “Oh sure, some would say that what you do is a type of magic, but you arn’t honest. You lie all the time, almost every day, and you’re still lying about being a pony. You don’t have any true laughter left inside your heart, that left when your people died out. As for generosity... You’re a selfish old man who tricks people into thinking what you want, but you are kind and loyal to your companions. I’ll give you that.”
The time colt shook his head, memories of his past lives pushing to the front of his mind. The Cybermen, The Daleks... all of his old enemies that had pushed him and fought against him had only seen what he, The Doctor, wanted them to see. But that wasn’t the true Doctor, inside the time lord was lost and alone. If it hadn’t been for his companions, he would have given up a long time ago... or gone insane like... like... 
“No...” The Doctor said, whispering softly, “It can’t be.” He looked from Discord to Blackspine again, but he still couldn’t believe his eyes. He pointed his hoof at the draconequus first, “Insanity, chaos...” then at the pony, “malicious, power hungry... It can’t be.. No... NO! I wont let you!” The Doctor began to shake as one of his worst nightmares began to come to life. The return of an old friend... An unwanted, destructive, monstrous old friend. An old friend that would tare apart this world with his bare hands.
Before he knew it, The Doctor was surrounded by the small gems that the ponies called the Elements of Harmony, and with his sheer will power they blasted the two waring figures in front of the time colt with a rainbow colored ray.
Discord’s mismatched pupils broke their death stare with Blackspine and glanced around him, watching a large swirling hole opened in the sky next to the muffin. “How?” The draconequus asked, but was answered when he saw The Doctor’s pure white eyes staring at him, “The Elements? How did you get control of them?”
The Doctor blinked slowly, a small tear shed from his eye, “I’m sorry...” he looked to Blackspine, who was still in a trance, “Both of you, I’m so sorry... But I can’t let him back, especially not to this world. He would tare it in two.”
“Let who back?” Discord questioned, then the answer hit him hard. The draconequus had been in the time colts mind, seen his memories, and one name popped up over and over as a brother and a mortal enemy. “Master.” Discord closed his eyes and understood his fate, to save Equestria he and Blackspine had to either be killed or banished. The chaos god looked at his former servant and laughed, the deep laugh that he was infamous around Canterlot and all of the world for, “I’d rather be dead then let you get my world Blackspine... I’d rather let Celly rule for another ten thousand years then let this world die to become your perfect world...”
“You’re not going to die,” The Doctor explained, “the time vortex will take Blackspine and keep him away from any dimension... Like a window that wont open. I’ll let Princess Celestia deal with you.” Suddenly, the time vortex seemed to groan and start to pull Blackspine into it’s gaping mouth. This finally woke the vengeful pony, he shook his head as he came to the realization of what was happening to him.
“No... NO! I’m not going in there! I wont be sealed in time!” The colt lashed out with his powers, grabbing The Doctor with his mind and pulling him too. “I wont go alone you bastard! You’re coming with me!”
“No,” Discord said, “he’s not.” With that, the draconequus snapped and switched places with his former enemy. The mashed up creature smiled insanely as he held on to his former servant, “Say good bye to everypony Blackspine... It’s just you and me for the next millennium or so.”
“Discord no!” The Doctor galloped as fast as he could, but it was too late. The two figures where swallowed up by the vortex. The Doctor stood on the muffin, just staring into the sky as it brightened slowly. The moon began to set as the Elements floated away from him, and the six true Element Bearers popped up around the time colt. The blueberry muffin quickly morphed back into a hedge, sending the seven ponies hurtling to the ground as the whole maze returned to normal.
Twilight Sparkle looked to The Doctor as they all stood. “How,” she began, “in the wide, wide world of Equestria did you figure out how to use the Elements?”
“I think I can answer that, my student,” Princess Celestia answered, Luna walking next to her with Derpy and Apple Bloom following, “but first, let us return to the palace shall we?”

***
	“So,” Apple Bloom started to ask, “what you’re saying is that The Doctor made the Elements work?”
“A bit yes,” Celestia started to explain, “The Doctor’s mind seemed to call out to the Elements, begging for aid when he needed it most. However, it was only when the Elements felt that Equestria was in certain peril did they answer.”
“Oh, I see!” Twilight said, “So, because the six of us where being controlled by Blackspine, the Elements went to The Doctor because they heard his mind calling to them.”	
“Exactly my student.” the sun princess replied
Applejack held her sister close to her, not wanting to ever leave her unprotected as she had before, “And this was a one time thing?”
“Yes Applejack,” Celestia answered, “and it seems to have drained the Elements slightly.” The princess looked into the jeweled box that held the five necklaces and the tiara, “Which means my sister and I had better be ready to aid Equestria at a moments notice.”
“But what I don’t get,” Rainbow Dash said, flying around the room to get the feeling in her wings back, “is that Blackspine guy. What was up with him?”
“Who knows, he was creepy.” Pinkie said quickly as she entered the room, holding a tray of fresh banana muffins in her mouth.
Near the other side of the room, The Doctor sighed and looked at one of the stained glass windows. It showed Discord being circled by Celestia and Luna... The day he was first sealed in stone the time colt assumed. He couldn’t help but feel like it was all his fault, that he could’ve saved Discord from a fate many would think worse then death. Suddenly, he felt a hoof softly rest on his shoulders.
Derpy looked at The Doctor, smiling slightly but with a worried look in her eyes, “You going to be ok?” she asked.
“Yeah...” he replied, “it’s for the best I guess... At least he’s not a statue again.”
“Yeah. But I’m more worried about my new friend.” the grey pegasus kept her gaze as straight as she could, “And how he’s going to get home.”
“Naahh,” The Doctor replied, “I’ll find some other power source. The Element’s would probably just fire the spacial compositor anyway.” 
“Hey love birds!” Applejack called out to them, laughing.
The two ponies turned, blushing deep and shouted, “We arn’t love birds!”
“Alright, alright, calm down,” the farm pony continued, “we where just wondering for ya’ll wanted to catch a train to Appleloosa with us. We need ta get Twilight ta Spike quick, or she’ll have a break down.”
The Doctor looked to his new companion, “Up for an adventure?”
“I’m game.” Derpy replied, taking a step towards the other ponies.
“Me too!” called Apple Bloom, standing between the six other ponies and her new friends, “Come on slow pokes, or we’ll leave ya here!”
And with that, The Doctor and his companions headed through the castle, setting off on a less eventful adventure then the one that had just finished. As the ponies left, Celestia turned to her sister and smiled, something told her that the strange pony with the blue box had just begun his adventures in Equestria.