The Masked Menace, Part 2
The fake Mare-Do-Well took a step toward’s Rarity, letting her mask fall to the floor of the Boutique. The marshmallow colored pony trembled with fear as her attacker drew forward, her own face frozen in shock. “Wha... What are you?! You horrible creature, get away from me!” Rarity cried, using her magic to throw one of her mannequins at the fake hero pony. Mare-Do-Well caught the doll in her hooves and ripped it in half slowly, then turned her attention back to the fashion pony.
Rarity threw everything she could find at the beast of a pony: pins, fabric, and even the cash register at the front desk of her shop. All of it had little effect on this strange attacker, this pony who’s face looked so hideous to the dress maker. As the fake Mare-Do-Well grew closer, Rarity did the only thing she could think of.
“This... Is... The worst... Possible... THIIIIIING!!!!” the marshmallow pony screamed, her high pitched voice echoing through the air. Suddenly, the large window on the left end of the boutique shattered as a masked pony jumped through. The fake Mare-Do-Well turned her head, it’s gaze meeting with another masked pony. This pony, however, didn’t seem to have time to put on her entire costume, as her mane of cotton candy colored hair bulged out from the hem of her mask.
“Rarity! Are you ok?” Pinkie Pie called out, “I heard screaming and then my hoof started tapping the ground while my teeth chattered, and I figured out a while ago that a combo like that meant one of my friends was in trouble. So, I cam zooming to the rescue!” The party pony looked toward the front of the store and finally saw the fake Mare-Do-Well. “Woah! You look like you could use a facial. Either that, or you’re some evil thingy...” Pinkie ducked as the false hero threw half of a mannequin at her head, “I’m gonna go with evil thingy.”
The fake Mare-Do-Well reached out and grabbed a metal bar from the torn up doll, then charged at Pinkie Pie. She cut through the air with the pole, aiming for the pink pony’s head. Luckily for Pinkie her Pinkie Sense was working in full swing, and she dodged before the bar even came close to her. The party pony then tried tripping the fake Mare-Do-Well, but it backfired once Pinkie’s hoof hit the false hero’s back hooves.
“Ow! It’s like you’re legs are made of rock!” the party pony took off her mask and stuck her right front hoof into her mouth, sucking on it to try and stop the pain. “Lucky for me, I brought my loyal sidekick! Choppin’! The Green Wonder!” Pinkie then ran outside and tossed a familiar looking alligator at her foe. Gummy, disguised by a small black domino mask and black cape, quickly opened his mouth and started ‘biting’ the fake Mare-Do-Well. The masked pony shook her head, trying hard to dislodge the little green lizard, but this only made Gummy bite down harder. The minor annoyance was all Pinkie Pie needed, she ran to Rarity and pulled her out of the boutique. The marshmallow pony slid out, stand frozen with a slightly dumbfounded look on her face.
Moments later, a now masked Pinkie Pie ran out of the shop with her costumed croc on her back. Rarity quickly followed, not wanting to know what the party pony had done to her attacker, and definitely not wanting to stay just incase the fake Mare-Do-Well returned. “Pinkie,” the fashion pony asked her friend, “where are we going?”
“Twilight Sparkle’s house civilian!” Pinkie answered, wanting to stay in character with the chance of the two being seen, “And please, refer to me as The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well! Thought, this Pinkie you speak of sounds like an amazingly super awesome pony!”
Rarity rolled her eyes, but continued to follow. In her mind, she kept seeing the disturbing face of the fake Mare-Do-Well. To her, a pony who’s soul craved beauty, that...That thing was a monster. A monster that could rip heavy mannequins and cash registers in two! As they neared the library, Rarity began wishing that they where fighting Nightmare Moon again. At least then, the fashion pony would know what they’re up against.
***
Under a large pile of broken stone and wood, made from a hole in the ceiling of the Carousel Boutique, Mare-Do-Well kicked her way out. She couldn’t figure out how she lost the battle with Pinkamina Diane Pie, she presumed it was when the pink pony ducked behind a support beam for the shop to keep from being hit with a metal pole, but for now it didn’t matter. According to her master, all six of the Element users and The Doctor would be at the library by this time. Slowly, the fake Mare-Do-Well shook the rubble off of her outfit and unfurled her wings. Then, she began to make her way to the home of Twilight Sparkle.
***
“Will she be ok?” Dinky asked The Doctor as he covered up Rainbow Dash. The TARDIS didn’t seem like a welcoming location for the blue pegasus to wake up in, so the group had moved into Twilight’s home. The Doctor tucked his Sonic Screwdriver into the band of his bow-tie and nodded to the grey filly.
“She’ll be fine, just a little wobbly when she wakes up,” the brown earth pony replied, “I’m more worried about you. You seemed a bit scared when the fake Mare-Do-Well found us Dinky.”
The foal looked away, blushing with embarrassment, “Well... Miss River told me about her, and... It’s scary thinking that Mare-Do-Well would hurt anypony. She’s the town’s hero...”
The Doctor nodded and kneeled his front hooves down to get eye level with Dinky, “I know, but it’ll be ok right? I mean, your mom’s here. Twilight’s here. And I promise nothing bad will happen to you.”
The grey foal looked up at this strange colt, the odd smile on his face actually made little Dinky feel a little better. “Do you like my mommy Mr. Doctor?” the filly asked.
“What? No,no, no... No. I’m spoken for, and I wouldn’t have any other woma... Um, mare in the universe.” The Doctor eyed the doorway and smiled, “And you can tell that to River when you get out into the hall!” he yelled the last part as loud as he could. Next to the door way, River Song blushed and shook her head.
“I hate when you do that.” the brown pegasus called out, looking into the room as her husband smiled back at her.
“I know, that’s why I do it.” the time colt walked out of the room and River gave him a small peck on the cheek, causing The Doctor to stumble a bit.
“I’ll just...um... yes, well...” he continued down stairs, trying to figure out how she always got the upper hand by doing that. Dinky followed, smiling at River as she passed. “So, Dinky,” The Doctor looked to his new friend, “do you know why your mom didn’t tell me about you?”
“Yep,” replied the little filly, “she said something about you being a secret, and that if you didn’t know about me I’d be safer.”
The Doctor stopped for a moment and mulled what he had just heard, then nodded. “That makes sense.”
In the main room of the small library, Applejack had already arrived. She had gotten Twilight’s note from Owlowiscious just seconds after finishing her chores for the day, and hurried over to the purple unicorn’s home after quickly grabbing her Mare-Do-Well costume. “Now, you’re sure you want ta stay, Apple Bloom?” the farm pony asked her little sister, “It aint goin to be a walk in the park sugar cube. If this imposter was able to knock out Rainbow Dash, we’re not dealing with a run of the mill pony.”
“I know that AJ,” the yellow filly said, “but I just can’t let ya’ll fight off this thing while I just sit in the background! Derpy and The Doctor are depending on me, and you keep forgetting I helped beat Discord and Blackspine.”
“Helped beat?!” Applejack shook her head, “You got mesmerized by that low down snake in the grass Blackspine! I don’t want you ta go through that again Apple Bloom! Now either you go home, or you leave this up to the adults.”
Tears began to form in little Apple Bloom’s eyes as she turned from her sister. The farm filly then ran out the door to the library just as Fluttershy entered.
“Is Apple Bloom ok?” the shy pegasus asked, her voice so quiet that only Applejack could hear her, “She seemed upset... Should I...”
“No Fluttershy... I’ll go.” AJ began to run out the door, “I shouldn’t have lost my temper... Dang it!”
The Doctor suddenly popped up behind Fluttershy, having watched the whole scene from the stairwell with Dinky, “Well that was fun!” he called out.
Needless to say, the yellow pegasus jumped onto the ceiling. “Oh... I’m sorry Doctor. You startled me.”
“Sorry Fluttershy, but I needed to get everyones attention.” The Doctor walked to the middle of the room, everypony as well as Spike looked to him. “Good... Now, I think I know what we’re dealing with. If I’m right, and I try to be right as much as I can, the fake Mare-Do-Well will be coming here in any minute. For my plan to work, I’m going to need Twilight to work up a net while Derpy goes home.”
“Wait, what?!” the cross eyed pegasus stepped forward, a look of conviction on her face, “I can’t just leave Doctor, what if you need me?”
“I don’t Derpy.” The Doctor said with little emotion, “I really don’t... Now go home.” The time colt looked into his friend’s eyes as well as he could, no motions radiated from them at all. The grey pegasus opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it. Tear began to well up in her eyes as she stepped back, struggling to try and keep a small amount of her composure.
“Dinky,” she said, “it...It’s time to go home.”
The little grey filly looked to her mother, a pained look on her face as well... Then she turned to The Doctor. “You’re a mean colt Mr.Doctor!” Dinky called out, ignoring her mothers scolding calls to stop, “My mommy’s been your friend since you came to Ponyville, she’s been nothing but nice and you treated her like Diamond Tiara treats...well everypony! And you said all those nice things to me, but you’re nothing but a...A jerk!” The Doctor looked away from the little foal, and Dinky had finished speaking her mind. She looked at her mother, who still had tears in her eyes, and then followed her as the two grey ponies left.
“I need that net Twilight...” The Doctor said, turning away from the remaining ponies and dragon in the room. The Doctor headed upstairs as the sound of hooves filled the quiet house, sounds loud enough to help The Doctor cover up the sounds of a couple of tears hitting the floor.
***
Pinkie Pie knocked loud on the door to the library as Rarity shouted at the top of her lungs.
“Twilight! Darling! Let us in!” the fashion pony called out, looking over her shoulder at the form of the fake Mare-Do-Well closing in on them. Suddenly, the door to the library opened and the two ponies stumbled in. “She’s right behind us!”
“Who?” Fluttershy asked as she hid behind a table. Twilight had just finished making the net The Doctor wanted, her mane a bit of a mess but nothing big. She could fix it after dealing with the insane alicorn that was trying to kill her and her friends.
Just as Pinkie had moved away from the door, it burst open again to revile the fake Mare-Do-Well, her masked ripped open to show a small portion of her face. Fluttershy couldn’t believe her eyes, she had never seen a pony like that before. It looked like... Like a monster!
Quickly, Twilight threw the net over the false hero. However, the masked alicorn slashed through the rope with her horn, then made a blind charge for Twilight. The purple unicorn teleported out of the way, just in time for The Doctor to jump out of the kitchen. His plan was working perfectly, and he aimed his Screwdriver at the charging Mare-Do-Well. Quickly flipping it on, the fake hero came to a complete stop and fell to the ground with a loud clang.
“Exactly as planned!” The Doctor called out.
“Exactly as... You said the net would stop her!” Twilight called, her teleport spell moved her on top of the table Fluttershy was hiding behind.
“I said I needed the net, never said it would stop her.” He smiled as Celestia’s number one pupil glared at him, “Now, let’s see who the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well really is gang.” The Doctor paused and waited for the other ponies to laugh, “See... It’s funny because it’s a Scooby-Doo reference.”
Fluttershy poked her head out from behind the table, “What’s a Scooby-Doo?”
“Right.. forgot I’m not... Anyway, let’s see who you are...” The Doctor bit the end of the masked pony’s disguise and ripped it off, making Twilight and Fluttershy gasp. Under the dark purple mask was a pony with bark green metal skin, instead of eyes it had a sideways hourglass shape, and instead of a mouth there where markings like a human would find on a microchip.
“Doctor...” Twilight sadi, her voice shakey, “What is that?”
The Doctor turned to Twilight, a smile on his lips that slightly unnerved the purple unicorn. “This... Is a TARDIS.”
Suddenly, the TARDIS Mare-Do-Well’s entire body opened, and a greenish brown colored mare with long dark brown hair stepped into view. She wore an all red outfit, including a cape, and as she turned an hourglass cutie mark began to come into view. Her eyes narrowed as she saw The Doctor, and she smiled menacingly. From her front pocket she pulled a metal tube, much like River’s gun, but with a small red ball at the end. “Hello, Doctor.” she said, her voice sweet yet powerful at the same time.
“Hello... Rani.” The Doctor replied.
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Author’s Note: It’s time for Doctor Who Trivia! This is just a little thing to help non-Doctor Who fans understand what just happened. Now, The Doctor says he’s the last of the Time Lords (an alien race that can travel time in TARDIS’) but he’s kind of lying... He does that.
There are actually four more Time Lords: The Monk, The Master, The War Chief and The Rani. I’m going to focus on The Rani (pronounced Ron-nee). The Rani is a female Time Lord, or Time Lady, who also has a TARDIS. Her TARDIS has a working Camelion Circuit, which allows her to change how it looks on the outside. The Doctor’s broke, which is why it’s stuck looking like a police box (a sort of blue phone booth). The Rani also is an evil genius, who uses her time travel abilities to try and get test subjects for her experiments. She views everything as a test subject, which includes humans and (most likely) ponies. She and The Doctor have faced off a few times, with The Doctor coming out on top. Well... Hopefully that cleared up a bit of questions. As for The Monk, The War Chief, and The Master... I’d go to Wikipedia to look them up because I only know about the Master, and well... Spoilers.
See you next time as The Doctor and his pony allies face off against The Rani in The Purple Fear.