Chapter 5: Attack and Rescue
Equestrian Camp, South of Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 56 C.E.
Twilight returned to Celestia's tent to find Celestia alone with the Doctor.
"Your majesty!" said Twilight as she entered the tent.
"You have returned, I see," said Celestia.
"Yes. I need to speak with you."
"Of course. Is something wrong?"
"Yes. There's a farmmare who works here named Angie. I was walking and I came across a trio of soldiers trying to take advantage of her. I got her out of there and immobilized the soldiers." A look of familiar disappointment appeared on Celestia's face.
"Thank you, Twilight. I shall deal with these soldiers. Where are they?"
"Towards the western edge of the camp." Celestia nodded before quickly exiting the tent. Twilight turned to look at the Doctor. "Why do I get the feeling that this doesn't come as a surprise to her?"
"It isn't," the Doctor said with a sigh. "This has happened before." Twilight's eyes widened.
"You mean soldiers have...taken advantage of Angie before?!"
"Angie's not the first farmmare to work for the Equestrian army. Celestia was telling me about this before you came in. Some of the soldiers have given into their...carnal instincts and have sought to appease these desires with...well...unwilling help from the mares working here. There's been at least three farmmares before Angie who've fallen victim to this, and a few of the nurses."
"That's horrible."
"That's war. Even some of the good guys can fall victim to dark desires." Twilight lowered her head. The Doctor placed his hoof on her shoulder. "Come. You look tired. I think it'd be best for you to turn in for the night."
"What about you?"
"I'll stay awake for a while longer. I have a few more things to discuss with Celestia." Twilight nodded as she and the Doctor exited the tent.
Once Twilight had been sent to bed in one of the special sleeping quarters, the Doctor set out in search of Celestia. A fair amount of the soldiers had gone to bed now with only a few remaining awake. The night watch stood atop the wooden towers above the camp and scoped out the surrounding land with illumination spells cast by the unicorn soldiers. The Doctor had expected it to be easy to locate the Princess but quickly found himself lost in the maze of tents and torches. Eventually, he found himself at the southern border of the camp.
"Now how the hay did I end up here?" the Doctor asked himself as he rubbed his temple. A second later, the Doctor heard a yelp followed by the sound of several items falling. He turned around to see that a mare, who had been carrying a basket of crops, had fallen. He ran over to her and helped her up. "Let me help you."
"Thank you," said the mare. The Doctor was suddenly taken aback by the mare's resemblance to a friend of his.
"Applejack?"
"No. Name's Angie." The mare began putting the crops back into the basket.
"The farmmare. My friend Twilight told me about you."
"You're friends with Twilight Sparkle?"
"Indeed I am. I'm the Doctor."
"I've heard about you. Celestia and her generals have mentioned you."
"How do you know that?"
"Working for the camp chef allows you to hear a bunch of stuff."
"Well...it was nice meeting you, Angie."
"Is it true?"
"Is what true?"
"That you can travel throughout time and space?"
"Yes, it's true." Angie took a few steps towards the Doctor.
"What's the future like?"
"I'm not sure if I should be giving away sneak previews like that."
"I don't need the details. Just tell me if the future is good or bad." The Doctor cleared his throat before giving a warm smile.
"It's going to be fantastic!" Angie gave a warm smile in return. Suddenly, Angie's face became white with fear. The air became extremely warm and a yellow glow illuminated the surrounding area.
"Look out!" Angie cried as she pushed the Doctor to the side. The Doctor, acting upon instinct, covered Angie's face and watched as a fireball fell from the sky and crashed into the spot of earth that he and Angie had been standing upon seconds earlier.
Changeling Camp, South of the Silent Forest, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 56 C.E.
Everything in the cave fell silent once the army had left. Derpy, Donna, and Flarewing simply sat in tense silence. After several moments of silence, Donna angrily punched one of the bars of the cage.
"I feel so useless! The Doctor and Twilight are probably at the camp, about to fall victim to a raid along with the other Equestrians, and we can't do anything about it!" she snapped. Derpy walked over to Donna and placed a hoof on her shoulder.
"I feel the same way, but we've got to have faith that the Doctor can stop Esmeralda and her army," Derpy said.
"We can only hope," said Flarewing. Suddenly, the sound of hoofsteps began echoing from the tunnel.
"I thought you said the entire army had gone," said Donna.
"They have gone."
"Then who's coming down the tunnel?" The three prisoners watched as a cloaked figure emerged into the light of the torches. Donna wanted to question the visitor of who they were but was too nervous to utter any words. The figure approached their cages and came to a halt. The figure then turned towards Flarewing and removed its hood. Flarewing's eyes widened. Derpy and Donna were surprised to see that the cloaked figure was a male changeling wearing a pair of spectacles.
"Long time, no see," chuckled the changeling as he smiled at Flarewing.
"Bass?!" asked a shocked Flarewing.
"The one and only." Bass the changeling presented a chain of keys and proceeded to unlock Flarewing's cage. Flarewing flew forward and wrapped Bass in an emotional hug.
"I thought I'd never see you again!"
"You thought wrong then 'cause here I am!"
"Flarewing, who is this?" Derpy asked. Flarewing broke his hug with Bass and turned back to Derpy and Donna.
"This is my childhood friend, Bass. He's an intellectual changeling like me. He went into hiding after the murder of my father. The last time I saw him was right before I went to find food for Kell and got captured," Flarewing replied as he wiped tears of joy from his eyes.
"Don't worry, Flarewing, Kell eventually got his food," Bass laughed.
"How did you know where I was?"
"At first, the others assumed that you had been killed by Esmeralda. Eventually, however, I managed to learn the truth about what happened to you through two drunk soldiers at a tavern. I prepared myself and set off for the north. I changed my appearance slightly to sneak into the army and tonight provided the perfect opportunity for me to free you."
"Speaking of that, could you free us as well?" Donna asked. Bass turned to Flarewing and Flarewing nodded. Bass then proceeded to unlock Derpy and Donna's cage.
"So what now?" Derpy asked as she exited the cage.
"We help the Doctor and Twilight, of course!"
"It would be unwise to go to your friends' aid now. The camp is probably already under siege," said Flarewing.
"Then what are we supposed to do?!" Donna snapped. Flarewing's face suddenly lit up. He looked at Donna before turning to Bass.
"Tell me, have the others been able to break into the castle?" Bass sighed.
"No. It's impossible. Remember? Esmeralda had that dark unicorn place a shield around it."
"Yes. A shield that keeps everything in this universe from passing through it."
"Exactly."
"But, what if I told you that we have something that isn't from this universe?" Flarewing then directed Bass's attention to Donna. "Bass, let me introduce you to Donna Noble. She's a human, a species that exists in another universe." Bass's face suddenly lit up as well.
"This might actually work!"
"What are you two going on about?" Donna asked as a slightly uneasy feeling coursed through her body.
"You two want to help your friends and save the Equestrians, right?" Flarewing asked.
"Of course!" Donna and Derpy exclaimed simultaneously.
"Then our only option is for us to lead you two south, to the Changeling Empire."
"Why?" asked Derpy.
"Because, that's where Esmeralda's greatest weakness lies." Flarewing turned to look back at Donna. "And you, Donna Noble, are the only creature in the universe that can access it." Donna was silent for a moment.
"This is our best bet?" she asked.
"Yes." Donna and Flarewing locked eyes.
"Then I'll do it. Anything to stop Esmeralda and help the Doctor, Twilight, and the Equestrians."
"Excellent!" exclaimed Bass as he beckoned Donna, Derpy, and Flarewing to follow him. "We best hurry! There's a long trek before us."
"I'm assuming that you have some form of transportation to get us back to the Changeling Empire quickly," said Flarewing. Bass gave an even bigger smile.
"Of course." Derpy, Donna, Flarewing, and Bass then quickly made their way out of the cave. Their trek to the Changeling Empire had begun.
Equestrian Camp, South of Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 56 C.E.
"THE CHANGELINGS ARE HERE! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" yelled the night watch as they rang the bells and fired arrows and spells upon the invading changelings. Soldiers jumped from their tents and charged towards the southern border of the camp to fight the invading army. The Doctor and Angie, meanwhile, ran towards the northern border as fast as they could. The Doctor's hearts were pounding. He needed to find Twilight. He needed to find Celestia. The Doctor looked for any sign of the alicorn princess flying into battle but saw no such thing. The Doctor and Angie tightened their grips on their linked hooves as they made their way past the charging sea of soldiers.
"This way!" said Angie as she led the Doctor down an empty pathway. They made a few more turns before finding themselves just a few yards from Celestia's tent. Another fireball fell from the sky and crashed a few feet from the tent. Fire flew into the air and set the edges of the tent on fire.
"TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" the Doctor cried into the night. There was no response.
"Come on! We need to get further north!" Angie ordered.
"I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT MY FRIEND!" The Doctor looked for any sign of the lavender unicorn. She was still nowhere to be seen. "Come on, Angie! Follow me!" The Doctor began dragging Angie in the direction of the tent that Twilight had gone to bed in. More fireballs rained from the sky. Shouts, screams, and battle cries filled the air. The Doctor and Angie caught glimpses of Equestrian soldiers and changelings fighting in the distance. When the Doctor finally arrived at the tent he had left Twilight at, his hearts sunk. The tent had collapsed in on itself and was completely on fire. Three changelings emerged from the smoke cloud being produced by the burning tent. They each had varying injuries of sorts and fresh blood was dripping from their bodies. The Doctor's stomach turned as he concluded that some of their blood wasn't their own. His attention was then drawn to the changeling nearest to him and Angie. Dangling from the changeling's mouth were a few, thick strands of purple hair. "Twilight...no."