Cornered by the Weeping Pegasus, the Doctor used her horn to grab a lamp off a nightstand, and threw it through the bedroom window. She then dragged Star Swirl over to the window, and threw him out, just before jumping out herself. The two landed hard on the ground, sustaining only minor injuries.
Slowly getting back on his hooves, Star Swirl said, "Bruised everywhere! Warn me next time, Doctor!"
"Did you have better idea on getting out of there?" the Doctor retorted, rising to her hooves as well. "I didn't exactly have time to yell 'Let's jump out the window!' now, did I?"
"If you ask me, you did! You could have said something when you were smashing the window," Star Swirl pointed out.
"You know what? Regardless of whether or not I could have said something, we're out of immediate danger from the Weeping Pegasi, so you should at least be thanking me for that," the Doctor responded, brushing a bit of dirt out of her coat.
"You threw me out a window," Star Swirl flatly stated.
"And saved your life, which I think overrides the whole defenestration thing," the Doctor answered. "The princesses will want to know what we found. Come on."
She then examined her surroundings in an attempt to find a way off the property. The window appeared to overlook a fenced off backyard, but she didn't see a gate that let out into the rest of the city. "Alright. It looks like we'll have to go back through the house. Just a straight run for the front door. It should be easy to keep our eyes on the Weeping Pegasi."
Star Swirl examined the door back into the house and tried to open it. "It's locked," he stated.
"Easy enough to break down, or you could just cast an unlocking spell," the Doctor suggested.
"I'm not breaking anypony's door down., Star Swirl countered. "Couldn't you cast a spell like that?"
"After spending a few centuries as a pegasus, my magic's somewhat rusty," the Doctor answered, withdrawing a small wand like device from her ear. "Luckily, I've got this." She then put the device up to the door's lock and activated it. Amid the buzzing made by the device, Star Swirl could hear the door unlocking.
As the Doctor opened the door and entered, Star Swirl asked, "What was that thing?"
"Sonic screwdriver. I like to think of it as my skeleton key," the Doctor explained.
Star Swirl then asked, "How does it work?" That brought a smile to the Doctor's face.
"Nopony's ever asked me that before," she commented. "It emits a sonic vibration at a frequency that the material the lock is made out of is responsive to. These vibrations manipulate the lock into releasing."
Star Swirl looked astounded by the explanation. "I'm one of the leading experts on magic in Equestria, and I've never heard of anything like that," he remarked.
"That's because it's not magic at all. It's technology," the Doctor clarified. "To be fair, any sufficiently advanced form of technology is indistinguishable from magic."
"How advanced are you talking?" Star Swirl inquired.
"After we sort this out, maybe I'll show you," the Doctor offered, and saw that they finally made it to the front door again.
"One step at a time, Doctor," Star Swirl quipped, opening the door.
Just as the Doctor crossed the threshold, she heard what sounded like a gust of wind from behind her. She turned around to see a Weeping Pegasus where Star Swirl was supposed to be.
"No!" she shouted at the Pegasus. "He had a future! You've changed the whole of history by taking him!"
Taking several deep breaths, the Doctor backed away from the house, keeping her eyes on the Pegasus as long as possible, and then started to make her way back to the Palace. On her way there, the Doctor saw even more Weeping Pegasi lining the streets, as if they knew something more appetizing than a mere pony was in the city.
"I know you lot can hear me, so listen to this. This isn't over," She called out to them. "I'm the Doctor, and I swear I will not let you take another pony from this city!"
Panting heavily upon her arrival at the palace, she told the guards, "I need to see the Princesses NOW," the guards simply nodded and opened the door for her.
As the Doctor approached the dual thrones, Celestia stated, "Doctor, you've returned. Where's Star Swirl?"
"They got him," the Doctor answered. Noting the confused expressions on the princesses' faces, she added, "I'm sorry. It's the statues. The statues are actually creatures known as Weeping Pegasi. They look like statues when they're observed, but they're most definitely not."
"How are they responsible for the disappearances?" Luna asked.
"If they touch you in their unobserved state, they send you back in time and feed off the potential time energy of the days you would have lived," the Doctor explained.
"If they're in the past, wouldn't you be able to get them back in the TARDIS?" Celestia suggested.
"If I knew where and when they were, maybe. I can't because there's no way to know that without simply being sent back myself," the Doctor countered. "On top of that, the TARDIS was badly damaged by the time I arrived. For all I know, it's not done repairing itself yet."
"If it were repaired, would it be able to follow a beacon of sorts to where the Pegasi have been sending ponies?" Luna offered up.
The Doctor pondered the idea for a moment, and then said, "In theory, yes. That could work."
"Then get to it, Doctor," Celestia instructed. The Doctor turned around to leave, but then added, "There's just one thing: after getting a look at me, the Weeping Pegasi will have moved to a war footing. Keep as many eyes on them as equinely possible."
The Doctor then started to make her way to the city gates, trying to remember exactly where she had "parked" the TARDIS. Fresh out of a regeneration, her mind hadn't exactly been firing on all cylinders at the time. As she recalled, her mind had been more focused on the prospect of spending at least the next regeneration as a mare, and then on meeting a celebrity like Star Swirl the Bearded. I'm still surprised at how quickly my mind adjusted, but that's regeneration for you. she thought.
Coming to the gates, she noticed even more of the Weeping Pegasi guarding them. Keeping her eyes on them, she carefully dashed through the gate and continued on her way to the TARDIS.
After about a fifteen minute walk through the outskirts of Canterlot, the Doctor finally found herself at the TARDIS. Pressing her hoof against the door, she opened it to find the console room completely redesigned. The LED dome was gone, replaced with a grey sandstone texture. The console itself was housed on a hexagonal platform with a grated floor, railed off and overlooking the lower levels of the room.
"I love what you've done with the place, dear, but I really don't have time to appreciate it right now," the Doctor commented, and trotted down to a set of storage cabinets below the console.
"What I'd really appreciate right now is a homing beacon of some sort. Something you can follow through the time vortex," she said while rummaging through the containers. As if on cue, she found one as soon as the TARDIS would acknowledged her request. "Perfect! Thanks, dear."
Trotting back out of the TARDIS, the Doctor found the Weeping Pegasi waiting for her outside. "You're not getting in," she told them. "But I'll make you a deal. Take me, feed on my energy, and leave this city," Waiting a moment, she added, "Are we agreed? Very well then."
The Doctor closed her eyes, and waited for the Pegasi's touch.
