//------------------------------// // A Devious Stranger // Story: Doctor Whooves Episode 4: Young Armor // by Doctor Perseus //------------------------------// Chapter 2: A Devious Stranger Childhood Home of Twilight Sparkle, Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 987 C.E. Twilight the younger sat on her couch quietly as she watched her older brother practice his guard poses in the middle of the living room. She giggled silently at the sight of her brother's overconfident face. "What are you laughing at?!" he snapped. "You look funny!" she laughed. "Hey! I don't laugh when I watch you practice your magic!" "I'm not the one who makes those hilarious faces!" Shining Armor sat down on the floor and took a deep breath. "Are my expressions really that funny?" he groaned. "Not all of them!" she said quickly. "Some of them are really good! It's just...I think you're trying way too hard with some of them." "Trying too hard?" "Yeah! You're trying to look stern and tough like the actual guards. Maybe you could try...loosening up a bit." "I guess." The young ponies looked at their mother as she entered the room. "I'm heading out for a little bit, okay?" she said. "Your father should be home in a couple hours." "Okay. See you later, Mom," said Shining. Twilight Velvet nodded at her two children and walked through the front door. Twilight watched as her mother walked down the street. "So, you ready to go the park?" "We're going now?!" asked an excited Twilight. "Yeah! I promised that I would take you there today, didn't I?" "Yay! There's been a trick that I've been dying to try!" Shining smiled as he led his sister out of the house and down the street. Kirke Avenue, Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 987 C.E. "Strange," said the Doctor as he sniffed the air around him. He and Twilight were now standing in the middle of an abandoned alleyway. Two large brick buildings bordered the small path on both sides. "What are we doing here?" Twilight asked. "Can you smell it?" "Smell what?" "That smell? The smell of...dirty spices." "Dirty spices? I don't even know what that smells like!" "At least tell me that you smell something strange!" Twilight lifted her nose up and took in a few whiffs of air. He was right. There definitely was a peculiar odor in the air. It wasn't a good smell but it wasn't a bad smell either. It was just...funky. "Yeah. I smell it too," she replied. "What is it?" "Power. Raw and incredibly unstable power," the Doctor replied. "How can you tell?" "Everything leaves a trace, Twilight. Even magic leaves some kind of marking. Something, or somepony, left a large remnant of raw energy here." "Who?" "I believe it was our cloaked friend." Twilight thought back to the cloaked pony she had seen earlier while she and the Doctor had been at Hamlet's Cafe. "Sounds possible. That pony sure did look suspicious," said Twilight. "I smell trouble, Twilight," the Doctor continued. "No doubt about that." The Doctor chuckled and then cleared his throat. "I do believe that this is worth looking into," he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver. "What are you using that for?" Twilight asked. "Tracking." He activated the Screwdriver with his tongue and it proceeded to emit its strange sound for a few seconds. He then turned it off and placed it back in his suit pocket. "Well?" Twilight asked. "I've got it. The trail has been made," he replied happily. Twilight felt it. The smell seemed to change into a mental pathway in her mind. A pathway that the mind desperately begged her to follow. "Huh. I thought all that thing could do was open stuff." "It can do more than that...to an extent." "So what are its other abilities?" "Hmm...to be honest, I'm not quite sure. I can sense that the Screwdriver has other abilities but most of them are new. I do believe this is your world's doing. Your dimension is doing odd things to my Screwdriver." "How?" "The laws, magics, and workings of your dimension are worming their way into my possessions and mixing with their original abilities. In fact, I've noticed some changes in the TARDIS as well. I'll have to look into it more once the TARDIS is fully healed." "Interesting." "Yes. But let's think about this later. There's a certain cloaked pony out there somewhere who needs to answer a few of my questions." The Trinity Apartment Complex, Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 987 C.E. The third floor of the Trinity Apartment Complex was almost completely abandoned. It was now only home to around ten ponies at max. Opal, a young earth pony with a yellow-red mane, yellow coat, and hazel eyes, was one of them. She had recently moved into the complex following her graduation from Princess Celestia's School for the Gifted. In fact, Opal was thinking of her graduation as she quietly approached her room. "Huh. I just noticed that Princess Celestia has an uncanny resemblance to her ancestor, Princess Madeline," she said to herself as she walked down the hallway. "I'll have to mention that fact to her when I see her again." Opal approached her room and was about to unlock the door when she heard something. It was the sound of uncontrollable sobbing. She instantly knew who it was. Opal looked down the hallway and saw a gray earth pony slumped against the wall. "Poor Sirena," Opal breathed. She hadn't known the depressed mare for that long but she knew that Sirena's life was far from perfect. The poor pony suffered from paranoia, night terrors, and was even rumored to have a few mental diseases. Opal didn't care for the darker and more sinister rumors. In her eyes, Sirena was just a young mare who hadn't had the best of luck in life. She tried to ignore the sobbing but it was too much. The least she could do was help the saddened pony feel better. Opal turned away from her apartment door and approached the crying mare. "Sirena. What's wrong?" "Huh? Oh...nothing. I just...felt like...crying today," replied Sirena. Opal reached down and helped the gray pony back onto her hooves. "Why don't you come over to my place? I'll make you some tea." "That...that sounds nice." Opal smiled awkwardly and led the depressed mare into her apartment. Across from the Trinity Apartment Complex, Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 987 C.E. The cloaked mare stood in the shadows, eying the exterior of the apartment complex. The mare was definitely a problem, she thought to herself. She knew it. She could see it from the moment in which they first made eye contact. Sure she had been useful in the case of identifying the one but now she was a disaster waiting to happen. Mentally unstable and full of grief. She was sure to spill the beans eventually. Now it's probable that she probably won't open her mouth, but the risk is still too great. She has to die. The mare looked down the street and cocked her head. Two ponies were walking up the street. One was a chestnut stallion in a blue suit and the other was a yellow mare with a flowing green mane. Strange, thought the mare. She had definitely seen those two ponies somewhere before. Of course! She had seen them at the cafe sitting next to the young unicorn and his family. Had they followed her here? Impossible! What reason would they have to follow her? However, the one in the suit had been eying her suspiciously. He must have suspected something. Damn! Now she had another pair of dead weight to deal with. No matter. She could take care of Sirena and her unwanted stalkers all at once. She just had to wait until they were in the perfect position. The Trinity Apartment Complex, Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 987 C.E. Sirena sipped her tea quietly as Opal watched her from the other side of the room. "So, do you feel better?" Opal asked. Sirena placed her tea down and reached into a bag slumped around her back. She pulled out a brown sack and clutched it in her hooves. "No," she replied sadly. Opal walked over to Sirena and sat next to her. "What's the problem?" "Why do you care? We hardly know each other." "I'm just trying to be friendly here. I try my best to make other ponies happy. That's why my cutie mark is that of a hammer and a smiley face." Sirena looked down at Opal's cutie mark and smiled. "It's a nice cutie mark. I hope you enjoy doing what you do," she said. "Of course I do!" Opal stated. "How could somepony not enjoy performing the talent that makes them special?" "I don't enjoy what I do." "Well...what do you do, exactly?" "I see things." "You see things?" Opal looked down at Sirena's cutie mark. It was an eyeball with a question mark in it instead of a pupil. "I can see things that most ponies can't," Sirena continued. "Like ghosts and stuff like that?" Opal asked. "In a way. I can see more that spiritual auras. I can see...connections." "Connections?" "Connections between ponies. I can see their connections stretching through time and space. I can see some of your connections right now." "Really? Like what?" "You...you once dated a stallion named Jumping Jack. Then he got sick and moved away. You're still sad about it." "How...how the hay did you know that?!" "I told you. I can see connections. I don't like to, though. It can be a grueling talent. I see horrible things in my dreams. The connections of ponies leading to brutal pasts and dark presents. Bloody futures and sad tragedies. I can sometimes see them all at once, only to forget about them within a few seconds. It wares on the mind." Sirena raised the brown bag and presented it to Opal. "I...I just revealed a connection...that could ruin us," she continued. "What do you mean?" asked Opal. "She...she's going after him. The Queen is going after Shining Armor." "Who's the Queen? Who's Shining Armor?" "She's going to kill him. She's going to kill Celestia. She's going to rule us all!" "What the hay are you talking about?!" "She-" Sirena looked at the bag in her hooves. It was vibrating slightly. Suddenly, Sirena's eyes emitted a bright flash of white light. Opal jumped at the sight of her glowing eyes. The light went away and Sirena turned towards Opal. "Run," she breathed. "What?" Opal asked. "Run! RUN! GET OUT OF HERE! YOU'LL DIE IF YOU DON'T RUN! DON'T LOOK BACK! DON'T STOP RUNNING! JUST GET OUT OF HERE!" Opal obeyed the now sobbing Sirena. She didn't know why but she had the urge to follow the pony's orders. Years later, Opal would look back on this moment and always be grateful that she did what she was told. Outside the Trinity Apartment Complex, Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 987 C.E. The Doctor and Twilight walked alongside the windows of the ground floor of the Trinity Apartment Complex as they followed the trail implanted in their minds. "She should be close," said the Doctor. Twilight then grabbed the back of the Doctor's collar as she came to a sudden halt. "What was that for?!" "There she is!" Twilight replied. The Doctor looked across the street to see the cloaked pony looking straight at them. The pony then removed her hood and the color slowly drained out of Twilight's face. "Twilight, what's wrong?" "It...it's her! It's her!" The Doctor looked back at the mysterious pony. He found himself examining her muzzle and, as he did so, she mouthed, "Now!" The Doctor wrapped himself around Twilight as the air around them exploded. Quinn Park, Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 987 C.E. Shining Armor was busy watching Twilight the younger attempting to levitate a broken tree branch when the ground shook violently beneath their hooves. "What the hay?!" exclaimed Twilight as she caused the branch to fall back to the ground. The siblings turned around and watched in awe as a plume of smoke rose into the sky. "Sweet Celestia!" breathed Shining Armor. Shining then grabbed his sister and put his hoof over her eyes. "Don't look, Twilight. It'll all be over soon." Twilight began to cry silently as the plume of smoke towered over the city like a hungry demon.