The Adventures of Doctor Whooves: Series 1

by Time Pony Victorious

Phoenix Island

"I can't believe I agreed to this," the Doctor muttered, trying his very best to remain still as Rarity went to work. Pins and fabric flew in a hurricane of color and awfully pointy things aimed at the Time Pony. Rarity gave a small smile as she went to work assembling the outfit as naturally as the Doctor would a timey-wimey device with all the expertise without the technobabble.

"Just a little more, darling, now hold still won't you?" Rarity set another fabric against the Doctor's cutie mark and he yelped as the pin went in a bit deeper than expected. "Oops, apologies."

"Honestly, Rarity. I am not a dress-up doll for anyone—"

"Anypony," Rarity corrected coyly.

The Time Pony rolled his eyes as the constant reminder of the equine themed lexicon was thrown against his face once more. He had initially figured that it would only take a few days to get used to the plethora of pony puns, seeing as he's mastered a billion languages and the advanced comprehension of multi-dimensional travel.

Obviously not.

Some words were just so unbelievable that the Doctor refused to acknowledge them, names of cities or towns, for example, were so bad that the thought of them made him cringe. He refused to believe a place called Trottingham actually existed, despite having claimed to hail from there as a front.

The girls were kind enough to correct him whenever he made a mistake and were infinitely gracious enough not to poke fun at him because of it.

"It is high time you learned how to speak like a regular pony, Doctor. We can't have you running around like a foal, now can we? Somepony who can traverse through time and space and can't remember a few idiosyncrasies is an embarrassment to travel with."

Most of the time.

"I'll have you know Rarity that I've seen things you wouldn't believe! The Lost Moon of Poosh. The Medusa Cascade. Demons' Run. Raxacorci—MMPHF!" Before the Doctor could continue his predictably long-winded rant, Rarity stuffed a pin cushion in his mouth and hummed as she continued her work.

"Yes, yes, very impressive Doctor," she absentmindedly said, uninterested in the stallion's attempt to woo her. Once she got in the zone, she was nigh impossible to detract. "I must thank you for volunteering. It isn't every day I get a model of your… physique. Big Mac would be an appropriate stallion model if not for his bulky figure. I've never meet a stallion with such a svelte figure. It would be a crime not to take advantage of that."

The Doctor would've corrected her on numerous things had he been able to speak. One, he hadn't volunteered as she suggested. Twilight tricked him into accepting the task in order to prevent the love-stricken Spike into offering all of his time at the Boutique as he always did. And two, he wasn't svelte, he was trim and well kempt.

Two more pieces were pinned against the Doctor's barrel and Rarity stepped back to take a look at her work. With a satisfied smile, Rarity levitated the pin cushion from his mouth, to which he gracefully spat out disgustingly. "Well? Some of my best work, obviously."

He took a hard look at the many mirrors that circled him and grimaced. It was very strange how many parallels this universe had from his home universe despite the equine populace. Although the differences are grand, the similarities are almost strikingly equal. Therefore, the very Victorian inspired dress that the Doctor now wore was so similar to the customs of the era in question that he suspected they were absolutely authentic.

He wore a black Victorian coat, with many exaggerated white frills under his neck. With a red waistcoat and proper cuffs, the outfit only reminded him of his eight life and the horrible fashion sense he apparently had back then. Honestly, what was he thinking?

"And you mock the bowtie?" sniped the Doctor. Rarity only frowned, she wanted to avoid the argument because it only had one possible outcome. With the Time Lord whining and complaining and Rarity having apologize and conceding to the fact that he "pulled it off well!"

She once made the mistake of poking fun at his eccentric choice of accessories and she never heard the end of it. She held up her hooves in surrender. "We're not getting into that Doctor, I've said my piece and that's that."

"But bowties are c—" She stuck a hoof in his mouth, stopping in his track. If she heard that dreaded statement once more she'll blow a gasket.

"No. Just… no. And anyways, I believe this looks quite dapper on you. For some reason, it just looks right on you," Rarity appraised the outfit on the admittedly suave Time Pony. She had expected him to take the compliment but he only made a face and tried to claw the outfit off.

"Maybe in my younger years, but retrospectively speaking I must've been half-blind back then. No, no, no, certainly not for me Rarity. Now, can you get this blasted thing off me?" He tugged at his clothes as if they were constricting him, like a foal would when wearing their school uniform for the first time. Rarity rolled her eyes and levitated the clothes off.

A few moments later, and the Doctor was redressed in his "normal" clothes. Adjusting his bowtie and fixing his wild curly mane, he smiled at his reflection. "Are you sure I can't adjust your ensemble a little bit? Your, ah, 'brainy specs' don't go with that coat." She wanted to mention the bowtie, but the Doctor was fiercely loyal to it.

"No, thank you Rarity," he answered quickly. Wiping a bit of unseen dirt off his lapel. "Traveling through time and space, you need style! And I'm chock-full of it!"

"Well, you're chock-full of something alright…" she muttered putting away her materials. Thankfully, the Doctor either wasn't listening or didn't hear.

"By the by," Rarity began. "I saw Rainbow Dash dropping by the library this morning, any particular reason?" The somewhat famed pegasus was well-known for her athletic ability paradoxically in tandem with her laziness and her self-proclaimed dismissal of books and anything "egghead worthy". So, the fact that she would visit the library very early in the morning was both a sight to behold and a mystery.

"Research!" The Doctor answered with a rakish grin.

"Researching what?"

To say Rainbow Dash wasn't categorically chaotic and inconsiderate toward Twilight's beloved books was like saying Spike only has a minor crush on Rarity. Using her esteemed pegasus speed, Rainbow flew around the library like a miniaturized tornado throwing books by the dozen off their shelves.

This mishandling of her precious books made Twilight cringe every time she passed another shelf.

"No! That's biographies!" Twilight tried to cry as the Volume of Influential Ponies fell to the ground.

Rainbow, thankfully, stopped for a moment with six books stacked on her back and a madpony smile on her face. Twilight was a bit thankful that her friend decided to visit the library for a change other than asking for assistance for a trick, but this was ridiculous.

Looking around at the mess, Twilight grimaced. "Got what you needed?" she deadpanned.

"Yep!" quipped the pegasus as she sat down with all of her books and began to run through them. "I wanna go somewhere awesome this time. I mean, no offense Twilight, but your choices haven't exactly been… oh, what's the word… fun?"

Twilight huffed. The witnessing of the 52nd Summer Sun Celebration was plenty fun! The only thing better was when they went back to see the writing of Magical Mysteries and Aliments. Sure, the author took thirty-two hours to write the foreword and eventually lost his copy in a bizarre fire and both the Doctor and Rainbow ran off and got in trouble with the Royal Guard but still!

Even though a number of comebacks have been carefully calculated by Twilight, she said nothing and began to clean up as Rainbow got to work studying. It was slightly weird to think just how much the Doctor has changed things around here. Rainbow would never drop by the library for the sake of studying up on history if the prospect of actually dropping by the see the events wasn't possible. And the fact that time travel has become so… commonplace for the mares that they actively plan their next adventure as easily as one would plan a vacation was a bizarre thought.

Although the trips haven't been as perilous as the first day the Doctor arrived, Twilight couldn't help but feel an undertone of danger. Whenever she stepped into the TARDIS or even talked to the Doctor every cell in her body screamed, "Danger! Get away from him!"

There was so much about the Doctor that none of them knew. He talked a lot (even more than Pinkie Pie) but he never really said anything.

She couldn't shake the feeling that he was infinitely more dangerous than anything she'd ever encounter. But, at the same time, she felt so safe next to him. It was complicated. Twilight hated when it was complicated.

"Ooh, how about when the Wonderbolts were first formed to combat an F4 storm?!" Rainbow suggested, joyfully shoving the book in Twilight's face. She considered for a moment and honestly didn't have a proper answer. Time travel always came with consequence, whenever they traveled, the Doctor always made sure they made little to no contact with important historical figure and often times refused to take them to certain places like the day Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon.

Even though it had been only a few days since that fateful night, it was still clear in her mind.

Horsehead Nebula glowed before them in a brilliant display of cosmic wonder as the vastness of space looked ablaze from inside the TARDIS. With some assistance from the Doctor and Rainbow Dash everypony took turns flying around the miniaturized atmosphere shell around the TARDIS, gaping in awe at the sight of deep space. Even the usually timid Fluttershy was rendered speechless from wonder rather than fear.

"The TARDIS is still acting up," the Doctor muttered to himself as he fiddled with the controls. "I figure it would've been safer to take you up here rather than the moon, she won't go there properly for some reason."

"Still, it's beautiful," Twilight said, trying to keep down her joy.

The Doctor gave her a brilliant smile: smug, arrogant, and way too confident. "I know!"

Excitingly, the Time Lord, with librarian in tow, ran down the stairs and poked his head out the doors. Just above the TARDIS were the mares floating gleefully in open-space, hooves hooked together so they wouldn't careen too far with Rainbow holding on to the TARDIS as a tether.

"My little ponies!" he called. "I need you all to come down here for a bit."

They obliged. Within a few minutes, they stood before the Doctor all chattering about the possible implications with this wondrous machine and its brilliant pilot. The Doctor, although sharing their excitement, wore a serious expression trying to calm them down.

"Now, it's been a while since I've addressed a group this big, so, bear with me. But there are a few ground rules I'd like to go through first."

Rainbow groaned, obviously annoyed at the prospect of restrictions.

"Don't worry, nothing too major, but with a time machine there must come some sense of responsibility and diligence."

Twilight rolled her eyes but didn't bring up the fact that he abused time travel only a few minutes ago to show off for them.

"One: no messing with established events. See, with time travel things can get complicated very fast and I try not to interfere too much; it's a rule that I've always stuck with and it's worked out so far. Now, with time there are events that must always happen; fixed points. Time is always in flux and history can be altered around it, but fixed points can never be altered, trust me, it isn't pretty."

The group listened intently, humor and mirth lost as the Doctor explained. As goofy and care-free as the Doctor appears as it was easy to tell that he took these rules seriously, as if he witnessed the consequences and didn't want them to happen again.

"Two: I'm in charge. There will be no arguing that, this is my time machine after all. Follow my orders and anything I say in our travels and everything will be fine, oh, and try not to wander off. And three, the simplest one that I know you all will follow. No matter how scared you get, no matter how dark and hopeless everything may seem, never run when you're scared." The Doctor smiled at them, it was such an honest expression that it was incredibly contagious and eventually everypony shared his goofy smile. "Trust me."

Whenever the Doctor explained time travel, it always gave Twilight a headache but she tried her best to follow. She wasn't sure what the implications were in some scenarios, like, what if the founding of the Wonderbolts was a fixed point in time? What if it wasn't and only occurred because they traveled back to influence the event? What would happen if the storm didn't? If one little thing was off in one major event, everything could change. She always deferred to the Doctor with stuff like this, but considering him a serious and responsibility chaperone was difficult.

"Maybe, but I don't know Rainbow. That sounds like a pretty major historical event, I'd hate to imagine what would happen if we interfered too much," she finally answered.

Rainbow made a face and looked at the book. "I guess you're right, but still Twi, isn't this awesome? We've got our own personal time machine!" She saw Twilight expression and quickly corrected herself. "Well, not ours but still! All of time and space available for us? Ha! Next stop anywhere, am I right?"

Twilight couldn't help but smile at her friend's enthusiasm and decided to help her out a little. She took a seat beside her and tried to pick out every sensible destination possible.

Ten minutes later, all of her suggestions were immediately rejected.

Twilight groaned and slammed her head against the table. Twenty-three suggestions were even considered by Rainbow, as soon as Twilight held up a book Rainbow immediately shook her head and suggested an outlandish location. It was frustrating! Twilight felt like she was dealing with the Doctor whenever he got fussy like not bothering to lower the TARDIS's shields before landing or just sauntering off to find trouble.

It dawned on her how dangerously similar Rainbow's taste of adventure was to the Time Lord.

"Ooh, what about this?" Rainbow slid a book toward Twilight. It wasn't a history book, she could tell from the cover Mythological Mysteries. Twilight resisted the urge to roll her eyes. This wasn't a credible source of information, it was a book of fantastical myths romanticized by very bored authors with overactive imaginations. Admittedly, some places and ponies mentioned in the book did exist in some form or another but nothing was ever concrete. Twilight, the paragon of logic, considered a book like this to belong in the fiction section of the library.

The page that Rainbow had opened to depicted an island covered in a rainbow hue of colors. Phoenix Island the picture's title ran. It was a lost island that adventurers sought for centuries, with impossible treasures and beautiful scenery. No such island ever came up during Polo Pony's worldwide exhibition and according to the myth, a massive tidal wave sunk the island to the depths of the ocean.

Very convenient.

"A mythical island that nopony has ever found? That sounds as plausible as an island filled with dragons," Twilight dryly remarked. Rainbow, however, wasn't deterred by her negativity and only maintained her powerful smile.

"What if it is real Twi? Then we can be the first ponies in history to find it!" she said, pumping her legs up in excitement. Twilight needed to think up of a counterargument, this type of impossible adventure was right up the Doctor's avenue. He's the first pony in line to argue that history was wrong about something and that he's right, like as always. He'll be drawn to this goose chase like Pinkie Pie to sugar.

"Think about it though, Rainbow. The island can't exist, otherwise we would've discovered it a long time ago. I mean, look"—Twilight flipped through the book and opened up another page - "This book also says that changelings originated from the moon. You can't exactly take a book like this seriously."

"Twi, I'm not sure you realize but we're now best friends with a time traveling alien with two hearts who has a box that's bigger on the inside. I think we're allowed to broaden our horizons a little bit," Rainbow argued.

"Still, it doesn't mean we should accept every little thing this book suggest about mythical islands and creatures that don't exist. All I'm saying is that we should maintain a little doubt and rationalize the situation rather than let our imaginations run wild."

Rainbow made a face and Twilight knew she had won the argument. Hopefully, this will get Rainbow to reconsider and choose a plausible destination rather than listen to idle mythical gossip.

"The Doctor will agree with me," Rainbow said.

Twilight's eyes widened. The conversation is going in the wrong direction. He will agree in a heartbeat and then Twilight will have to tag along to be the voice of reason but will inevitably be ignored by the excitable ponies. "We shouldn't waste the Doctor's time with this and we can't afford to use up any fuel the TARDIS doesn't have to spare."

"Pfft, you're just scared that you'll be wrong for once. I'm going to show this to the Doc and see what he has to say about it." Rainbow made for the door but Twilight teleported in front of her, stopping the pegasus in her tracks.

"No, that's fine. I'll take it to him. Just hand it over to me," Twilight kept the panic out of her voice as best she could but Rainbow arched an eyebrow in suspicion.

"That's fine, Twi. I can do it." Rainbow settled on her hooves in front of her, though her words were friendly enough her body tensed as if preparing to flee quickly.

"Rainbow, I insist."

"I don't want to bother you, Twi, it's okay."

"It's no imposition, just hand me the book."

"Twi…"

"Rainbow…"

Out of the corner of her eye, Rainbow spotted a large book in the corner. Hm, maybe… "Oh, what's that? The cover for that book is frayed!"

As expected, Twilight turned to where Rainbow was pointing and for a split second she was perfectly distracted. Rainbow leapt with all of her strength and took flight the fastest she was capable of. In a powerful gust of wind, Rainbow disappeared from her spot, flew over Twilight, opened the door and made her way outside.

Twilight cursed her weakness for a book's integrity.

She took chase.

The Doctor walked down to the library with Rarity at his side blabbering at his usual 900 mph rate of talking. Rarity did her best to keep up, but when the Doctor got rolling you'd need a translating to catch whatever he was saying.

"Then, the Cyberking stood from the Thames and I met him with the TARDIS, well, not the TARDIS exactly but still, and figure I didn't have much of a choice so I had—"

"Ah, Doctor. As engaging as that story is, I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you're talking about. What is a Cyberking?"

The Doctor pursed his lips and gave Rarity a severe look. He didn't very much enjoy repeating himself especially when he has explained things in such a simple manner that a baby could understand! That's one of the things that bothered him with his companions, it felt like whenever he spoke no one listened or looked at him with bewildered expressions.

"Never mind, not like that story was life or death," he grumbled sullenly.

"Darling, all of your stories are life and death," Rarity reminded him. "Now then, where have you planned our next adventure?"

The Time Pony raised an eyebrow. Rarity wasn't one to be interested in traveling in the TARDIS, sure, she had enjoyed it as the other mares had but she hadn't expressed where she wanted to go or any interest in wherever anypony else wanted to go. She was just around for the ride, so to speak. Still, enthusiasm like that should never be ignored.

Unless, of course, there's a pegasus racing toward you at remarkable speed.

The Doctor didn't have time to react as Rainbow smashed into him. The two rolled for a good while in a wild dust cloud of rainbow and brown manes before they finally stopped with Rainbow sprawled over a dazed Time Pony. Shaking her head, she looked at the Doctor under her and grinned. Pulling out her book, she showed him the Phoenix Island page. "Hey Doc, figured out where I want to go."

Poor Twilight Sparkle was unable to deter the Doctor's ecstatic mood once he had read all about Phoenix Island and sprinted for the library with her and Rarity in tow. By the time the unicorns reached the TARDIS, the Doctor was already dancing around the console, throwing levers, hammering buttons and toggling switches.

"Oh, horsefeathers," Twilight grumbled, she recognized that adventurous expression in the Time Pony's face. That's usually when things went horribly wrong.

"Phoenix Island!" cried the Doctor as he ran about the console, throwing switches and levers which made the TARDIS churn in response and jostle slightly. "An apparently mythical place that was said to be the pinnacle of technological advances of its time. Explorers had searched for this place to no avail and in the early years of Celestia's reign the island was said to be engulfed in a horrible wave sinking it to the bottom of the ocean."

Rainbow nodded, ensnared in the romantic depiction of legends and myth, while Twilight rolled her eyes skeptically. The Doctor was the type of pony who hated not knowing something so Twilight offered a few books and he ran through them so he could brush up on Equestria history. Naturally, Twilight expected the Doctor to pick something out of proper history, not chase myths and treasure maps.

"It's just a story," Twilight said. "No such island exist, Doctor."

"That's what they said about Atlantis," returned the Doctor. "Lovely place, don't try the fish. Ah! Here we go!"

He threw another lever and the overhead scanner blipped as it ran with data inconsequential to Twilight but disappointing to the Doctor as he grimaced and smacked the scanner. "Hm… navigation is still a bit off…"

"See?" Twilight quipped, a bit of satisfaction obvious in her tone. "Even the TARDIS agrees that the island isn't real."

"Hard to find does not impossible make, Twilight Sparkle, rule fifty-seven. We just need to adjust the settings. The book doesn't mention any helpful space-time coordinates, but no matter! Look at the date of publication and correspond with historical events the author mentions, that'll put us at about one-oh-two Celestia's Reign. And wide-range scanner!" He threw a lever and the TARDIS groaned and tilted, nearly throwing everypony off their hooves but they were already used to such a bumpy ride.

"Ooh, the TARDIS doesn't like that," the Doctor mumbled, running his hooves over the controls to stabilize the flight.

"Then why are we continuing? If she doesn't like it, there's probably a good reason we should go looking!" Twilight argued.

"Oh, come no Twilight, where's your sense of adventure?"

"I think I left it back in our time period…"

"Twilight is right," Rarity interjected. "The TARDIS sounds like she knows what she's doing, shouldn't we listen?"

"Oi!" The Doctor poked his head around the console to look at them properly. He pointed at his face and said, "I'm 1302 years old, I think I know what I'm doing!"

Twilight was happy that Rarity was sensible enough to agree with her. With her, it was now two against two, maybe she could convince Rainbow to agree and the Doctor will take them back.

Suddenly, a wave of emotions splashed against Twilight's mind. It wasn't her own, it felt like it resonated off the console and into her mind. A mixture of emotions ranging from resentment, annoyance, and confidence registered to Twilight. She shook her head to get rid of that sensation, but as she looked at Rarity and Rainbow, she realized they felt it too.

"Ha! See, the TARDIS agree with me," declared the Doctor with a proud smile.

"That… that was the TARDIS?" Twilight asked.

"Telepathic circuits, it's sort of her way of communicating. Upgraded them last time a, ah, friend got in an argument with her and she locked her out."

"Wait, the TARDIS is alive?" Rainbow asked, running her hooves through her mane as if to get rid of that odd sensation.

"Yep. But don't worry, she's nice, you'll get along with her. Told you, best ship in the universe. And now that she agrees with me, that's three against two, we're going!" The Doctor flipped another lever and the TARDIS careened into existence, jumping out of the Time Vortex.

Everypony grabbed hold to avoid being thrown everywhere. The Doctor wrapped his legs around the console and looked at the scanner. "Oh, dear. Brace for impact, we're falling fast!"

"Can't you control it?" Rarity demanded.

"No one likes a backseat driver!"

"Nopony!" snapped all three mares.

"Now? You want to do that now?!" The Doctor slammed his hoof against a button while simultaneously pulling a control and the TARDIS's descent slowed but not fast enough to soften the fall.

The TARDIS slammed into the forest canopy, scattering all sorts of wildlife and no doubt announcing their location to every living thing in the vicinity. Although the exterior was barely scratched, inside everypony could've been a little better.

Twilight was hanging against the railing, groaning and cursing. Rainbow was flush against the doors, equally dazed and annoyed while Rarity had somehow landed on top of the Doctor. Although he would never say this aloud, Rarity could stand to lose a few pounds.

"I-is everyone alright?" the Doctor asked.

"Everypo—ugh, my head," groaned Twilight.

"Fine over here," announced Rainbow.

"I'm fine as well, landed on a very comfortable couch," Rarity said.

"Yeah, good for you. Mind getting off? This couch is getting achy." The Doctor stood after Rarity got off and assessed the damage.

"Not bad," he grumbled looking at his console. Patting it affectionately, he smiled at the Time Rotor, glad for the TARDIS's reliability and dependability. "Whew. Well! That was some trip, huh?"

"Not the words I'd use to describe that, but yeah, sure," sniped Twilight. "Where are we?"

"Scanner is down, but we don't need it, that's the point of being explorers! We go out and see where we are. Smell the air, taste the water, feel the alien earth underneath you, isn't that exciting?!" The Doctor grinned proudly and joyfully that Twilight felt compelled to return the smile but she wasn't like him. She didn't jump into the unknown as easily as he did, she studied the unknown until she knew everything about it then she carefully trots into it.

Still, it was difficult to not get excited by the feeling of the unknown. That just right outside those doors is a world nopony outside this group will ever know. The companions straightened up and followed the Time Pony outside the doors.

An impossible jungle opened out before them. Trees twice as tall as the trees of the Everfree Forest surrounded them, the sweet almost sickly scent of a multitude of flowers hit them. Birds and wildlife chattered all around them, it was hard to tell if they were on Phoenix Island or even on an island entirely! The forest was so thick, they were unable to see ten feet into it.

"Doctor, you didn't mention anything about heat!" complained Rarity, fanning herself with her own personally embroidered fan.

"How are we sure this is actually Phoenix Island?" Twilight asked.

"We aren't. Well, come on then!" The Doctor sauntered off, leaving Rarity to her complaints before she was forced to jog to catch up.

"Stay close," the Doctor warned Rainbow who looked eager to take flight. "I'm not sure what kind of wildlife we'll find here. Judging by the environment, I'd hazard to guess we'll encounter relatively primitive locals. Maybe not the technologically advanced Phoenix Island but still something at least."

As if trying to disprove them, hoofsteps broke through the forest and a dozen armored ponies jumped into view, quickly surrounding the group. They wore silver armor, billowy capes, large helmets and wielded large guns with their sights firmly fixed on the intruders.

"Freeze!"

The Doctor and the girls raised their legs in surrender. "Well, I have been wrong before."

Twilight almost face-hoofed when they were taken to these large vehicles of sorts. It reminded her of the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, except it was able to fit at least twenty ponies and was silver instead of the extravagant red the Flim-Flam brothers had. Primitive locals, she thought, primitive my right hoof.

But there was something off about this. The Doctor mentioned that they were in the year 102 C.R. but the technology these ponies had were hundreds of years beyond her time. Had the Doctor made a mistake and took them to the wrong time or an alien planet?

She looked at the guards, quietly appraising them. Nope, they looked like regular ponies with multicolored fur sticking out from their armor and a hint of cutie marks somewhat concealed. As far as she was concerned, these were absolutely normal ponies.

But they looked at Twilight and the others as if they were the weirdos.

"It's true," she heard one of them whisper. "Actual ponies!"

"Probably runaways from the Tower," returned his partner.

"Can't be. Why are they… naked?"

Twilight blushed in spite of herself.

"Lovely ride!" quipped the Doctor with a smile. "Never have I been taken captive in such a nice vehicle! Amazing design! Though, the silver isn't my thing, what do you think Rarity?"

Rarity looked as comfortable as Twilight felt but she said, "A bit tacky if you ask me."

None of the guards reacted, but they looked at the Doctor strangely, as if they could recognize that he was the leader of this group.

Throughout the twenty minute ride, the Doctor rambled on and on trying to elicit responses from the stoney-faced guards to no avail. Twilight had regained her composure finally, that is until she saw the city.

Plopped in the middle of a massive bowl-shaped canyon sat the silver city, its buildings towered and dwarfed the gigantic trees and it gleamed proudly under the evening sun. Massive domed buildings side by side with skyscrapers ringed the city. From here, Twilight could see the rail system encircle the perimeter of the city and leading outside into the forest. When they got closer, she could see the force field. A silver, practically invisible, bubble covered the entire city and the rails. It reminded her of Canterlot's defense system but it was much larger in scale.

"The Lost City," one of the guards said. "Enjoy how it looks from over here, it'll be the last you can see it like this."

"Lovely," muttered the Doctor.

They traveled into the city which was starkly different from the rugged and wild forest. Modern streets and advanced technology betrayed the untamed outside world they were just in moments ago. Fillies and colts played on the streets dressed modernly and fashionably which, again, made Twilight feel very self-conscious.

They weaved through small streets and alleyways until they reached the center of the city. It was a building that wasn't as tall as the surrounding structures but was nonetheless impressive. Like the city from the outside, it was a large domed shaped building with a transparent bubble surrounding it and showing off some of the interior structure.

Twilight was pushed off the vehicle and prodded to enter the building with the Doctor right at her side and Rainbow and Rarity off the either side. Although she felt fearful, she also felt excited to see what was inside.

"So! Fantastic place! I love what you've done with the place, though, I'll admit, the chrome theme is a bit hard on the eyes. Still, much better than I thought, still, inappropriately named don't you think? Phoenix Island? More like Silver Domes Island," the Doctor remarked.

One of the guards screwed up his face in an expression of disbelief. "Pardon?"

"Phoenix Island, that's what this place is called isn't it?"

The guards chuckled. "No," another answered. "Not sure where you got the name from. This isn't Phoenix Island."

"You got it wrong?" hissed Rainbow.

"Where are we then?" the Doctor asked, ignoring the pegasus's death glare.

The guards stopped and gestured to the right of the city. From there, they were able to see the sun beginning to set but just before it would disappear into the horizon of the forests it hit the force field that surrounded the city. A massive rainbow exploded into view, so large it no doubt could be seen from anywhere in the city.

"Welcome to Rainbow Island."