Invader Zim paced nervously in front of a computer console within his lab, glancing at it occasionally with anticipation.
"Grrrr, HURRY UP!" he barked, gripping the machine and shaking it.
With that, his faithful android assistant bounced into the scene. "Watcha waitin for master?"
"I'm waiting for the Nameless Men to give me the green light to send our friend across the void," Zim growled, glancing at the black, hovering, beetle-like droid floating a bit away from him, before kicking his computer in frustration. "I hate it!"
"Dawww, what'd the computer do?"
"Not the computer, Gir, just the fact that even the mighty Irkens have to obey their rules! IT'S UNNATURAL, GIR. UNNATURAL!" He turned back towards the computer monitor again, his eye twitching. "HURRY UP YOU ANNOYING EXTRADIMENSIONAL-"
"Sir, incoming extradimensional message!" the deep, synthetic voice of his base's computer announced.
"Finally!" he sighed, glancing at the monitor again as a bit of blue text popped up upon it.
We have received your payment. You are clear to send one, and only one Type-23 droid through to Dimension 65-12.
"YEEEEEES!" Zim grinned, before turning towards his hunter-destroyer droid.
"Wait! There's more!" Gir said, pointing towards the monitor.
"Bah, I'm sure it's nothing important! Let's get this equine-slaughtering show on the road, shall we?"
With that, the alien marched towards his droid, ignoring the last bit of words that had appeared on screen:
However, prepare for unforeseen consequences.
As the message winked off, the alien neared his destination.
"Alright, droid, what is your designation?" Zim asked it.
"Nomad-1" a synthetic, distorted, and deep voice announced.
The green alien gave a smile. "And who is your master?"
"Invader 242 - Zim"
"Oooh! Oooh!" Gir beamed. "And what is your favorite color?"
"What?"
Zim gave a sigh. "Gir, this isn't necessary..."
"Mine's blue! I like blue! What's yours?!"
The machine gave a moment of thought. "Mmmm... green I guess."
"Gir, get out of here!" Zim growled, the little robot giggling and scurrying away. Taking a deep breath, he then turned back towards the machine. "Now, what is your mission, Nomad-1?"
"Neutralize the Elements of Harmony. Draw attention to myself from Equestria's military. Neutralize as many soldiers as possible. Self-destruct."
The invader smirked at that. "Mmmm yes, quite simple isn't it? Simple but effective..."
With that, the droid let loose a slight cough, Zim's eyes narrowing at it.
"What is it?"
"I would just like to give a protest to the unethical implications of my orders..."
At that, the invader nearly had a heart attack. "Protest?! There is no protesting! I AM ZIM, YOUR MASTER! You will obey every order of mine to the letter! Is that clear?!"
"If you didn't want me to protest, then you shouldn't have given me a stolen Volian AI chip," the machine argued.
"SILENCE!" the diminutive maniac roared. "I knew using that chip was a mistake! And unfortunately, one I don't have time to rectify!" He then let loose an evil chuckle. "No wonder the armada tore through the Volians so quickly, they actually wasted time giving their machine slaves a conscience!"
"It's also the reason why they never had an artificial intelligence uprising on their world."
"I don't want to hear your pathetic peace-loving dribble!" Zim growled. "Will you carry out my orders or not?!"
"I will obey."
The invader let loose a horrific cackle. "Excellent! EXCELLENT! THIS SHALL BE MY FINEST HOUR!" With that, he gazed towards nothing in particular. "COMPUTER! Begin tunneling through to their rainbow-loving little nation. It's time to give them a taste of their doomed futures! BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Across the void, and deep below Canterlot, a single, light blue coated unicorn's eyes widened as if he had been startled out of a deep meditation. At that, a sunglasses sporting pegasus rushed into the cold, gray room he was in.
"Captain, did you sense something?"
"Yeah," he gasped, his heart racing. "Two fluctuations in spacetime."
The pegasus squinted in curiosity. "Was it the Doctor again?"
The Captain shook his head, taking deep breaths. "Yes... and no. One was the TARDIS, I know that for a fact... but the other... was something else." His eyes narrowed. "Something's trying to come through our gates."
"Any idea what it is?" The pegasus asked.
"No," the Captain stated. "All I know is... it just feels wrong." He then glanced away from her. "And both fluctuations are near Ponyville..."
The pegasus chuckled. "That small little town truly is truly becoming the epicenter of the world, isn't it? I wonder if five years ago they expected to become such a large dot on the map? First, the Elements make it their home, and then the Doctor... what next?"
With that, the Captain finished composing himself. "Well, only one way to find out. Let's roll out the welcoming mat... if whatever it is is friendly."
"I'll notify the princess of this new finding," the pegasus nodded.
The Captain smiled slightly. "Oh, I'm sure she senses it too, though let her know we're taking action. The last thing I want is to be chewed out again by Princess Luna because we went over her sister's head. My ears are still ringing from the last time..."
The pegasus gave a smirk. "You've got it, Jack."
The annoying, mechanical whir that the TARDIS emitted when it first took off sounded again, Chrysalis wincing slightly as it pierced her ears.
"And here we are, kids!" the Doctor beamed, pulling a few levers and toggling a switch or too at the control console, though 'I'm the Scatman' still blazed. "Sweet home, Ponyville."
"Any idea where we landed this time, Doctor?" Ditzy asked.
"Mmmm, probably one of the usual spots."
The derpy-eyed mare gave a sigh. "I just hope we haven't wound up inside Twilight's-"
"Ughhh.... Twilight! The Doctor landed in the basement again! And he's got someone called 'The Scatman' aboard," a certain prepubescent voice called.
"Seriously?! That's the third time this month!" another fainter voice yelled.
The three companions of the time lord gave him a look, him simpering before giving a stern cough. "Well, don't blame me! The TARDIS literally has a mind of its own sometimes!"
"That's alright, Doctor! Now we can have Twilight and Chryssy become super-awesome friends right away! Right, Chryssy?!" Pinkie bounced in joy.
With that, she turned towards the Queen of the Swarm, her grinning sheepishly. She was in one of her oldest disguises, that being Solar Flare, a striking yellow unicorn who naturally had a fireball for a cutie-mark.
Pinkie was not amused.
"Oh come on, Chryssy! The Doctor and I can totally convince her you're not a bad changeling!"
The swarm queen glanced away from her. "He was right, though. She might think I mind controlled the three of you."
"Maybe we can find out if she has a spell or something for detecting that before we reveal who Chrysalis truly is?" the Doctor suggested.
"Yeah, that might work!" Pinkie bounced.
Chrysalis gave a sigh. "Yeah, but still... even if you two manage to convince her that I'm not twirling any mustache, she still might have a pretty big grudge against me..."
With that, a knock came upon the TARDIS' door.
"Doctor! Open up!" an agitated purple unicorn growled.
"I really hope we didn't smash any of Twilight's experiments this time," Ditzy gulped.
Ignoring the comment, the Doctor turned towards Chrysalis. "The worst case scenario is that she'll refuse to help, I believe."
"Yeah, I don't think she'll go all Night Templar on us and summon the princess or anything," Ditzy stated.
Chrysalis took a second to ponder that. "Mmm... I don't think having Celestia around would be that big of a problem, anyway," she said. "As long as she doesn't summon Blueblood or a guard, I should be alright."
"Well come on then, I can't wait to show her around your islands! I'm sure she's going to be a big help!" Pinkie beamed.
"You want me to help her?!" Twilight practically spat, glaring daggers at Chrysalis, now in her true form, as her, Spike, and the TARDIS' occupiers stood about its exterior.
"Hehe! Good one, Pinkie!" Spike chuckled nervously before inching over towards Chrysalis. "I bet this is some sort of hologram or something... you know, like in Mare Wars, right Doctor?"
He then proceeded to prod her, only to scurry back in horror as Chrysalis shot him a look.
"Orrr... maybe not..." he simpered, sweat-dropping.
The Doctor held up a hoof. "Now, I know it may seem a bit..."
He squinted in thought.
"Out of left field?" Ditzy suggested.
"Yes!" the Doctor said, smiling towards his assistant. "But I assure you the changelings aren't how they're presented by your government at the moment."
"Oh, I know that," Twilight exclaimed, though still with glaring eyes.
"You do?" the entire group gasped.
"Mhmmm..." Twilight nodded. "I had a very long talk with Princess Celestia after the Canterlot incident. She told me all about the changelings and their history. They're probably the most misunderstood species there are."
"So... why don't you two shake hooves and make up then?" Pinkie asked.
"Because," Twilight said, giving her a look before turning her spite back towards the swarm queen. "Do you ponies have any idea what she almost made me do!?"
"What was that?" the Doctor said suspiciously.
Twilight took a deep breath before whispering, "I almost took a life because of her..."
"What?!" the entire group said, turning wary eyes upon the swarm queen.
Twilight's eyes narrowed. "When she transported me to the crystal cave, she began to mock me. She wouldn't stop until she made me angry enough to start shooting at the crystals around me!" Twilight exclaimed. "When I finally found the real Cadence, I almost blasted her into pony dust!" She then growled, and like a tempest she stormed right before the swarm queen, a few tears forming in her eyes. "You almost made me kill somepony, my own foal sitter!"
"I had no idea, Twilight..." Pinkie said, placing a hoof on her shoulder.
"Yeah, she never told us anything about this," Ditzy growled, shooting Chrysalis a look.
The swarm queen took a deep breath, glancing away from Twilight. "I assure you... that was not my intention..."
"Look into my eyes and say that... you... you...!" Twilight gasped, her horn powering up.
"I said... it wasn't my intention!" Chrysalis said, a little more sternly though still glancing away from her.
"LIAR!" Twilight growled, before sending a purple blast the swarm queen's way, sending her flying into the side of the TARDIS.
"Twilight!" Pinkie gasped.
"Stand down!" the Doctor growled.
"Don't do anything you're going to regret!" Spike cried.
Chrysalis let loose a painful groan, trying her best to stand as the sound of menacing hoofsteps approached her. Glancing sideways, the piercing eyes of the purple unicorn glared down upon her.
"You tried to use my brother to take my home!" Twilight roared, sending another blast Chrysalis' way, her collapsing upon the floor once again, pain shooting through her. "You humiliated me! You humiliated my mentor, your mentor!" She fired another purple beam. "And then you tried to... to... I don't even want to say it again!"
Another blast, the shadow of a twitching changeling on the wall as she did so.
"And you laughed while you did it! What do you have to say for yourself?!" Twilight growled.
A few seconds of silence.
"I'm sorry..." Chrysalis finally whimpered, a few tears forming in her eyes as well. This time, she gazed right into Twilight's. "I'm truly sorry.... I didn't mean for that to happen..."
With that, Twilght's eyes widened in horror as she shrank away from the changeling, shivering. "W-What the hell am I doing?" She began shaking her head frantically. "O-Oh my gosh..."
With that, Pinkie leapt over to her side to comfort the mare as Ditzy moved to help the changeling queen up.
"Stunning spells.... I've been hit by worse," Chrysalis grunted, before throwing Twilight a slight, forgiving smile. "I can't say I didn't earn them, though..."
"I-I'm so sorry..." Twilight whimpered. "I-I don't know what came over me."
The Doctor brought a hoof to his chin at that.
"Hmmm," the Doctor said. "I really don't think you did..."
"W-What?" Ditzy puzzled. "What do you mean by that, Doctor?"
The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "I think there might already be some... outside influence in this dimension. A force of corruption taking hold over it... choking the good out of it any way it can..." With that, he gave Chrysalis a serious gaze. "My offer still stands to let me use the Tiberium."
"I'm not going to let my people die because you have a hunch," Chrysalis growled.
"Uggggh...." the Doctor groaned. "You can't say you don't sense it, too!"
"I trust the Nameless Man to keep us safe," Chrysalis reassured him.
"You place too much trust in a man who may not even be trustworthy!"
"And you place too much trust in assumptions," Chrysalis said. "We're both taking shots into the dark here, dealing with unknowns that even you haven't faced before."
"And sometimes, fear of the unknown can be justified!"
"Uhhh..." Spike said, lifting a claw. "All of this drama over some villain convention?"
"I-I must say, the whole idea is intriguing..." Twilight said, finally finished composing herself for the most part.
The group raised their eyebrows.
"W-Well I mean the idea of the multiverse..." she mused. "I've read up on the theory before... but I never thought it'd be proven true."
"Shame that this isn't the Interdimensional Gathering of Benevolence," Spike smirked. "That way we could at least meet the best the other universes have to offer... instead of the worst. Plus, IGOB just sounds funny."
"Mmmm... if only," the Doctor smiled, a look in his eyes that suggested his mind was wondering into the past. "Maybe I could have brought a few friends from my home dimension...." he sighed, his voice filled with nostalgia.
"Y-You know... with the walls of the universe thinning... you probably could leave, Doctor," Ditzy suggested, her voice shaking.
With that, the Doctor threw her a slight grin, though his eyes still spoke of longing. "Naw, I'm having too much fun here. The humans have gotten enough of my help for the time being."
Ditzy smiled in return.
"Soo... what happens now?" Spike asked.
The group turned towards Twilight, who took a deep breath.
"I-I'm sorry for... stunning you, Queen Chrysalis," Twilight said, her voice shaking. "B-But I'm not sure if I can forgive you that easily... I'm afraid I'm going to have to sit out of this..."
"I understand," Chrysalis sighed.
"Come on, Twilight!" Pinkie pressed. "Once you get to know her-"
"I said no, Pinkie," Twilight growled, before taking a deep, haunted breath. "N-Now, if you'll all excuse me... I'm going to take a very, very long bubble bath."
With that, the lavender unicorn walked solemnly towards the basement stairs and exited the room.
"I uh... better make sure she's alright," Spike said, before turning towards Pinkie. "But uh... you said you needed meat, right? The gryphon trader down the street sells some for the non-ponies in town. Oh, and if you meet up with Vinyl tell her that I'm still on for next Tuesday."
"Thanks, Spike," Pinkie said warmly, though her voice was still laced with disappointment. "You know... if Twilight won't come I bet the rest of my friends won't, either..."
"Well, maybe Rainbow Dash won't," Ditzy pointed out. "But what about the rest of them?"
Pinkie put on a hopeful smile. "Well, no hurt in asking, right?" She then turned towards Ditzy. "Anyway, I think it's probably best that I come with you two when we go try to get Vinyl and Octavia."
"Sounds good to me," Ditzy shrugged.
At that, Chrysalis morphed back into Solar Flare. "Yeah, not looking forward to being lynched," she sighed.
The pony trio rolled their eyes. "Nopony in Ponyville would lynch you."
"Alright, alright..." Chrysalis chuckled. "Still, I'd be more comfortable talking with them like this."
With that, the three made their way towards the basement's stairs before entering the library's common room, the swarm queen glancing about in awe at the massive amount of books lining the shelves that circled her.
"Wow..."
The Doctor gazed at her curiously. "First time in a library? I know changelings don't do much reading."
Chrysalis smirked. "Caught me red-hoofed." She then gave the pony trio a serious look. "You three... don't holding anything against me, right?" she sighed. "I know I hurt Twilight, but I truly didn't mean to make her almost..." She swallowed hard. "Some part of me just felt like gloating... I don't know why."
"I forgive you, Chryssy...." Pinkie said, though her voice sounded a slight bit insincere.
With that, Chrysalis turned away from her as a knock came to the door.
"Can one of you get that?" Spike called from upstairs.
"Righto," the Doctor nodded, quickly turning the handle of it.
Upon Twilight's doorstep stood what appeared to be a government agent of a mare, complete with sunglasses and a fine suit. Next to her stood a stallion who wore more casual wear, a blue, wool longcoat of some kind.
"Hello, Doctor," he said, narrowing his eyes at the brown stallion as he pulled out an identification card. "Captain Jack Harness, Equestrian Special Intelligence Agency. I need to ask you a few questions."
"J-Jack?" the Doctor gasped, the blue stallion raising a curious eyebrow.
"Do I know you?"
The Doctor merely smiled, raising an eyebrow of his own. "And here I thought today was going to be boring!"