//------------------------------// // The Answer to the Mystery // Story: Doctor Whooves Episode 18: The Mystery of Colgate // by Doctor Perseus //------------------------------// Chapter 6: The Answer to the Mystery Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, Equestria, Gaia, Winter, 1002 C.E. The Doctor, Donna, Colgate, Derpy, and Applejack carefully trudged their way through the snow and through the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres. The leafless apple trees blew softly in the cold, winter winds. The Doctor led them over to the barn, Applejack opened the doors, and the group slid inside. The Doctor made sure to leave the entrance door cracked. The Doctor turned to Derpy. "Derpy. I need you to fly up onto the roof and keep a lookout. Give us a sign if you see the Weeping Pegasus," said the Doctor. Derpy nodded. "You can count on me, Doctor!" she exclaimed with her usual, cross-eyed grin as she flew outside and onto the roof of the barn. "Weeping Pegasus?" Applejack asked. "Seemed like a fitting name to give it considering that it's a pegasus now," said the Doctor. "Yeah...how'd that happen?" "That's one of the questions that I hope we get an answer for. I think it'd be best for you to prepare yourself, Applejack. Get all the ropes you can find and get ready." Applejack nodded and began running around the interior of the barn and gathering up all the ropes, twine, and such that she could get her hooves on. "What do you want me to do?" asked Colgate. "You, Colgate, are to stand in the middle of the barn and wait." The Doctor placed his hooves on Colgate's shoulders and walked her into the middle of the barn. "So, I'm basically bait." A sad look appeared on Colgate's face. "What's so bad about being bait?" the Doctor asked. Colgate looked up at the Doctor with a confused look on her face. "If you ask me, being bait is just as important as any other job. It makes you special. You're the target of a powerful creature. One must have to be quite important for a monster to go into the line of fire in an attempt to capture them. And you, Colgate, are a very important mare." Colgate gave a small smile. "Only you can lead the Weeping Pegasus into our trap. You said that you can sense when he's near. Well I'm sure that he can sense you as well. Otherwise it would be quite a mystery as to how he was able to follow you all over the place." Colgate gave another sad look. "I'm going to end this today. I promise." "Thank you, Doctor," said Colgate. The Doctor smiled before walking off to the side of the barn with Donna. "I don't think anyone or anypony will have a relaxing day as long as they're near you, Doctor," Donna chuckled as she sat down on a large, cube of hay. The Doctor laughed as he sat down next to her. "Yeah. Maybe you're right," he responded. "So what do you need me to do?" "Just stay here with me and keep me laughing." Donna smiled at the Doctor but noticed a sad look appear on his face. "I hope you know that it wasn't easy for me to do what I did." Donna tilted her head at this sudden change in mood for the Doctor. "What do you mean?" "When I took your memories away. It wasn't easy." "I know it wasn't. Why are you bringing that up all of the sudden?" "I don't know. So much has been going on recently that I guess the two of us haven't had much time to just...chat." Donna turned away from the Doctor and watched as Applejack continued to gather up loads of rope while Colgate stood awkwardly in the center of the barn. "You're different from how you used to be. Have I told you that yet?" "No. But I think that goes without saying." "I'm not talking about you being a pony now. I'm talking about you." The Doctor turned to look at Donna. "You're different. When we first traveled together, you were usually really cut off about your past. Now you seem to bring up past friends and events all the time if what Derpy and Twilight have told me is true. You barely mentioned Rose and Martha when we traveled together but you mentioned me, Rose, and others a lot when you came here to Equestria." The Doctor leaned his head back and sighed. "Regeneration changes me, Donna. It may not be death but it sure feels a lot like it. I regenerate and the person I was before dies and disappears in a violent flash. From that flash, another person walks off. Same Time Lord, same hearts, same memories...different person. The Doctor you first met on that crazy Christmas Day in 2007 is gone. Parts of him live on in me as I was him...but the rest of him is gone." A sad smile appeared on the Doctor's face. "There are moments...many different moments where I find myself missing every single person I've been. I find myself missing the days in which I walked in the shoes of those different people. It never gets any easier." Donna reached her hand over and placed it on one of the Doctor's hooves. Suddenly, the sound of hooves hitting wood emanated from the ceiling. "It's here!" Derpy cried from the roof. Colgate began to shiver and she froze in place. "I...I can feel him," she stammered. "Applejack! Get ready!" the Doctor ordered as he and Donna hid behind a pile of hay. Applejack ducked behind another pile with her ropes at the ready. Everything fell silent. Colgate tried her best to relax and remain calm. However, she couldn't help but shiver a bit as the sound of the barn door sliding open reached her ears. Colgate closed her eyes and gave a few deep breaths as she heard a series of calm hoofsteps drawing closer and closer to her. "Are you done running, Colgate?" asked the voice of the Weeping Pegasus. Colgate kept her eyes closed as the hoofsteps began to circle around her. The warm, stagnant breath of the Weeping Pegasus rolled over her face and back like an army of tentacles. "I'm not afraid of you anymore," Colgate stated. "I never wished for you to be afraid of me. I only wished for you to come with me." "Well you've definitely done a terrible job at convincing me." That familiar, parental laugh echoed through the air. "Probably so. But are you ready to come with me now?" Colgate exhaled deeply. "No." "No? I thought you were no longer afraid of me. Why not come then?" "I'm not sure how I feel about you anymore. Am I scared? I don't know. One thing I am sure of, however, is that I'm ready for some answers." "Answers?" Colgate remained still as she felt a wave of warm air wash over her muzzle. "Yes. Answers." Colgate then opened her eyes. The Weeping Pegasus was standing immediately in front of her with their muzzles barely a centimeter apart. "NOW!" Applejack jumped out from behind her pile of hay and proceeded to run around the Weeping Pegasus and tie it up with a mixture of rope and twine. Within a minute's time, Applejack had a numerous amount of ropes and twine binding the Angel to various parts of the barn. "That's how ya get her done!" Applejack exclaimed. Derpy flew into the barn through the open doorway while the Doctor and Donna emerged from their own hiding spot. "Don't take your eyes off it," the Doctor ordered. "The ropes will only be able to hold it for so long when it moves." "You smell...familiar, stallion," stated the Angel. "I didn't know Weeping Angels could talk," said Derpy. "I didn't even know they were awake while they were stone," said Applejack. "They're always awake. They know what's going on even in their stone states. As for the talking, Weeping Angels normally can't speak the languages of others...unless they steal the vocal cords from somepony else," said the Doctor. The others gulped and took a few steps back. "You know much about us, stallion. Yes, I acquired my equine voice from a stallion I came across on this very farm around seventy-two years back," stated the Angel. "So you were here before?" "Yes. This farm is the location in which I arrived in this universe. It was here that...ah...I remember your scent. The scent of time. I smelled it upon two mares that were here when I first arrived. Your scent. The scent of the Doctor." "Two mares?" "Yes. Companions of yours. Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie were their names, if memory serves me correctly." Derpy let out a gasp while the Doctor continued to stare the Weeping Pegasus down. "It looks like I managed to find you after all, Doctor. After all these years." "What about Twilight and Pinkie Pie?!" Derpy asked suddenly. "What did you do to them?!" "He didn't do anything, Derpy," the Doctor stated with a grin. "They managed to outsmart you, didn't they?" "How can you be so sure, Doctor? I might have defeated them and sent them further back in time...or maybe I might have snapped their necks for good measure," chuckled the Angel. "I don't believe that. I don't believe that for a second. They beat you. I can see it all over your stone face." "Believe what you wish, Doctor." "So, now that you've found me, I assume that you're going to try to get to my TARDIS." "Seventy-two years ago, that was my goal. Now, however, things have changed." "I can certainly see that. Last time I checked, Weeping Angels didn't resemble pegasi." The Angel gave an amused laugh. "Yes. A strange change brought upon me by an odd and unexplainable magic from this world." "What sort of magic?" "The magic of the zap apples." Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, Equestria, Gaia, Autumn, 930 C.E. Twilight kept her horn illuminated as she, Pinkie, and Annie ventured out into the dark apple orchard. She kept her eyes peeled for any sign of the Weeping Angel. She knew it was still in the orchard somewhere. Pinkie had a big bag slung over her back and in the bag was a series of smaller bags containing fresh zap apple jam. Twilight was still surprised that zap apple jam of all things proved to be this Weeping Angel's weakness, but she was carefully putting the pieces together to find a reasonable possibility as to how this all came about. A twig snapped nearby and Pinkie jumped high into the air. The three ponies raised their guards but were relieved to find that the source of the noise was an innocent squirrel. "Are ya sure that thing's even here? It could be long gone by now," stated Annie. "I have a feeling that it's still here," Twilight replied. "Keep your eyes open and your guard up at all times." Suddenly, the light on Twilight's horn began to flicker. "Twilight. Not meaning to be rude or nothing, but this is not the time for a light show!" Pinkie said as she crossed her forelegs. "I'm not doing this, Pinkie." Suddenly, the light went out and the mares found themselves lost in darkness. Pinkie screamed. "AHHH! Turn the light back on! Turn it back on!" Twilight struggled for a moment but she managed to illuminate her horn once more. Twilight shook her head as she turned towards Pinkie and Annie. "Keep your eyes open! The Angel's near!" Twilight ordered. Pinkie and Annie froze in place and their eyes became as wide as saucers. "I don't think we have to look far," said Annie. Twilight followed Pinkie's and Annie's gazes and turned around. She gasped as she found her face barely a foot from the face of the smiling Weeping Angel. She gasped again as the light from her horn turned off once more. Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, Equestria, Gaia, Winter, 1002 C.E. "Zap apples?!" asked a surprised Applejack. "Yes. That perplexing rainbow fruit," replied the Weeping Pegasus. "I was in my normal form when I fell into the crack between space and time." "A crack?" the Doctor asked. "Yes, a crack. I fell through and began to enter this world. However, something attacked me before I could enter. It was very powerful and very foreign to any amount of energy I had yet to come in contact with. I remember it resembling electrical sparks and, through the rift, I could see these sparks wrapping around apple trees as well as meteors raining down through a night sky. These sparks attacked every inch of my body and changed me. When I finally finished my passing through the rift, I had a new form." "That sounds like what occurs the night before the beginning of the zap apple harvest," said Applejack. "I always knew that zap apples had an odd and powerful magic to them...but I never knew that they could do that." "Mix powerful magic with a rip in the fabric of reality and anything is possible," said the Doctor. "But now let's get back to the main point, shall we?" The Doctor turned towards Colgate for a moment before looking back at the Angel. "You said that, when you first arrived here, your goal was to get to my TARDIS. Now, however, things have apparently changed." The Doctor took another quick glance at Colgate. "I think the new thing on your agenda isn't that difficult to guess. Perhaps you could explain to me why you have such a desire to take Ms. Colgate with you." "I don't believe I need to explain myself to you, Doctor," the Angel replied. The Doctor smirked as he noticed something hidden within the Angel's words. It was a certain feeling he sensed. It didn't matter that the Angel was a frozen stone statue at the moment, the Doctor could see the emotion etched all over the its face. "Do I detect...shame in those words?" "Shame, Doctor?" "Yes. Shame. That's not a common emotion seen in Weeping Angels. Do tell us as to why a Weeping Angel would feel shame in relation to chasing down a unicorn. Granted, Colgate is no ordinary unicorn. She's also part Weeping Angel; but you, of course, know all about that." "Yes...I know of Colgate's gifts." "These powers I have are no gifts! They're a curse!" Colgate snapped. "Perhaps...they are gifts," the Doctor said suddenly as he scratched his chin. "Unintentional gifts, I would say." The Doctor looked back at the Weeping Pegasus. "Gifts from you." The Angel was silent for a moment. "I do not deny...that I am responsible for Colgate's gifts," it eventually stated. The Doctor gave a gleeful, yet sad, smirk. He was finally putting the pieces together. "I want to know why. Why did you give them to me?!" Colgate asked. "He didn't make you the way you are intentionally, Colgate," the Doctor stated. He then looked at the Angel again. "I can understand why you didn't want to admit it. You feel shame for what you did...but you're trying to make up for what you see as a mistake." "Doctor, what are you talking about?" Derpy asked. "The answer, Derpy. The answer behind the mystery of Colgate." The Doctor took a few steps towards the Angel. "I understand why you didn't tell her. I can understand why you're refusing to acknowledge it here with the rest of us around to hear you admit it. But the truth must come out one way or another." "You...you can't possibly know! You don't know what you're going on about!" snapped the Angel. "Oh I bloody well know what I'm going on about. It's all so simple when you think about it. Unicorn that's part Weeping Angel. A ponified Weeping Angel chasing after her following her entrance into adulthood. I understand everything clearly now," the Doctor stated. "Doctor?" Colgate asked. The Doctor quickly turned back towards Colgate. "Tell me about your parents." "What?" "Your parents. Come now. Everypony has them. A mum. A dad. Tell me about them." "What do my parents have anything to do with this?" "Everything." Colgate could feel her legs growing shaky for some unknown reason. "I lived with my mother until I moved out when I was seventeen." "And what about your father?" Colgate fell silent and lowered her head a bit. "I never knew him. He left before I was born." "Oh, Colgate. I don't think he ever left." Colgate looked up at the Doctor with a confused look on her face. "No. I think he's been with you since you were born. You never knew it but he was always watching you...and he waited until the time was right to reveal himself." Colgate's legs grew a bit shakier. "Doctor...what are you going on about?" Her voice was even shaky now. "The answer to your mystery, Colgate," the Doctor replied as he looked back at the Weeping Angel. "When the magic of the zap apples changed you into a pegasus, it did more than just change your form. It gave you a few pony traits to go along with it. So you disappear for a while. Assumedly following your defeat at the hooves of Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, yes I still believe that they defeated you. So you eventually stumble across a beautiful mare. Your pony traits kick in and you can't control yourself. Sparing the details, your new pony genetics allow you to unintentionally conceive a child with this mare...and it's a girl. You quickly sense this not too long after and spend the next several years watching over her. Then when she's finally out of the house, when she's finally of mature age...you decide that it's time for you two to reunite. You wish to form a bond with her in order to make up for the troubles you gave her by simply passing down your genes to her. Suffice it to say, it doesn't go as planned. Now, here we are." The Doctor stared at the Angel again before turning back towards Colgate with a sad look on his face. "Father and daughter...reunited at last." Colgate's eyes darted between the Doctor and the Angel. "No. That can't be it. It can't be!" Colgate cried. "Doctor," Donna said. "Are you saying-" "Yes, Donna, I am," the Doctor replied. "No. I refuse to believe it!" Colgate snapped. "That thing can't be-" "It's true," said the Weeping Pegasus. Colgate froze in place. "I only wish that I could have told you myself, my child. Sadly, there was no time that previously proved appropriate." Colgate couldn't accept it. She couldn't. With a simple raise of her eyes, she fell back onto the barn floor and blacked out.