The Pegasi Take Canterlot

by Alkonium


Retrieval

The Doctor opened her eyes to find herself still on the mountain, but Canterlot was nowhere to be seen. "Mount Trinity, pre-Exodus. Simple enough. The Pegasi's victims would likely be holed up in some of the caves dotting the mountain," she thought to herself.

Making her way down the mountain, she was reminded of how much she admired the pony race. "Three tribes that hate each other's guts come here with nothing but the clothing on their backs, make peace, and start a thriving society. Truly inspiring," She thought before realizing something. "Wait, if the Weeping Pegasi's victims ended up here before the Exodus, the settlers from the three tribes would have found evidence of them, but they didn't."

The Doctor continued running across the side of the mountain, hoping to find some sign of ponies in the caves. She almost gave up when she heard a mare's voice calling, "Hey out there! Did you just arrive?"

Pausing a moment, she answered, "Yes. How long have you been here?"

"A couple of weeks," the other mare called back.

A bit more cleanup than I hoped for. The Doctor thought before examining the mare. Pegasus, sky blue coat, wedding band on the left fore hoof. Arrived two weeks ago, around when the disappearances started. She surmised.

"Mrs. Windsong, I presume?" the Doctor inquired. "Your family was the first to show up here."

"Yes. We've been trying to make the most of it, wherever here is," Mrs. Windsong answered.

"Actually, it's not a where, it's a when. Look at this mountain. It's the same mountain Canterlot was built on, or will be built on eventually," the Doctor clarified.

"You're saying we're in the past?" Mrs. Windsong asked.

"I don't know exactly how far into the past, but yes. Fortunately, I can get you, and everypony else back to your own time," the Doctor assured the mare. "Where's everypony holed up, anyway?"

"This way, miss..." Mrs. Windsong instructed, waiting for the Doctor to give her name.

"Doctor," The Doctor answered.

Assuming the Doctor was correcting her, Mrs. Windsong rolled her eyes, and muttered, "Typical doctors, use the wrong title once and they never let you hear the end of it."

"Alright then. Doctor..." Mrs. Windsong asked again.

"No, it's just the Doctor. Nothing else," the Doctor clarified.

"Star Swirl mentioned a mare who went by that," Mrs. Windsong commented, starting to lead the Doctor to the caves.

"Blue unicorn with great teeth? That would be me," the Doctor admitted. "Pride in the state of one's teeth? That's a new one. Not surprising, given my last body's fondness for sweets," she then commented.

"Your last what? Star Swirl said you had a tendency to ramble on about things nopony understood," Mrs. Windsong added, at which the Doctor rolled her eyes.

"Of course he did," the Doctor muttered. She then saw that they had arrived at the cave. It appeared that there were about a dozen and a half ponies here. She could see a campfire in the centre of the cave, along with makeshift bedrolls scattered along the walls.

She then heard a voice calling out, "Doctor? What are you doing here? They got you too?"

The Doctor turned to see Star Swirl at the fire. "Yes, but I can explain. It's all part of the plan," she reassured the stallion.

"After your last plan, I have my doubts," Star Swirl commented.

"That wasn't a plan, and I was in a hurry. This time I have a real plan," the Doctor insisted. "It's quite simple. I'm sure you've already figured out that we're in the past, but we don't know how far back. That's why I couldn't use my TARDIS to rescue anypony. Fortunately, I've got a way around that."

"And that is?" Star Swirl inquired. The Doctor produced a small device that looked similar to her sonic screwdriver, but with a few key differences: there was a small dish on the end and the rest of it was slightly thicker than her screwdriver. "This is a homing beacon for my TARDIS. Once I activate it, the TARDIS will home in and materialize around it."

"The TARDIS?" Star Swirl asked in a confused tone, and the Doctor realized she hadn't previously explained it to him.

"That blue box you found me with. I use it to travel through time and space," the Doctor quickly added. "Before we leave, though, we need to erase any evidence of you lot being here. If there's any sign of ponies in this area before the Exodus, it's going to cause a massive paradox when happens. They sent you back to a point at which your presence could drastically alter the development of Equestria, meaning that unless we're careful, the Canterlot you came from might cease to exist."

"And how does bringing us back to our own time stop the Weeping Pegasi?" Star Swirl pointed out.

"Remember what I told you before. They feed on potential time energy, but their ability to do so is dependent on the victim being temporally displaced. If I return you to your own time, we'll be poisoning them with a paradox of our own," the Doctor clarified. She then activated the beacon and set it down on the ground.

"The beacon's active. If you explain the situation to everypony, I'll go and look for any stragglers along the mountain," the Doctor explained to Star Swirl, and he nodded in response. Before leaving, she patted out the campfire and scattered the rocks containing it. She then ran back out of the cave, and several other ponies took over for her, each of them clearing out their own beds first.

The Doctor soon returned with about eight more ponies, who joined the rest in cleaning up the camp. A few minutes after they finished, they could hear a wheezing noise coming from the centre of the cave, and the group could see dust being blown around, without a clear course. As the noises continued, they saw a blue box fading into view. If anypony other than the Doctor knew what a police box was, they might have noted it. Instead, Mr. Windsong just asked, "How are we all going to fit in that, Doctor?"

"Like this," the Doctor opened the TARDIS door and with Star Swirl's help, ushered everypony in. She then entered as well, and announced, "Yes, it is bigger on the inside than the outside. I could explain, but it's really not important. What matters is that it's your way home. Now, I'm going to need you all to hold on to something. It's going to be a rough ride. She's not exactly fond of paradoxes."

The group then grabbed on to any railings or seats they could find, and some of the pegasi among them simply floated in the air. "Since you're all ready, time to go," the Doctor stated as she pulled on the TARDIS's ignition. It let off a more sickly wheezing noise than usual as it dematerialized, and sure enough, the Doctor was right to expect turbulence, if that was the right word for it.

"Star Swirl, see what you can do with the Helmic Regulator while I try to work the Blue Stabilizers," She instructed, and it seemed to help somewhat as the TARDIS touched down outside Canterlot's Palace.

"Probably not the best way to run her in after a big repair cycle, but it'll do," The Doctor commented, checking on the scanner.

"Looks like we made it," Star Swirl added, examining the scanner for himself.

The Doctor then touched a button on the console to open the doors, and led the group out. The first thing the Doctor noticed as she exited the TARDIS was that the Weeping Pegasi in the immediate vicinity appeared to have been broken apart, as if they had fallen from a great height.

The Princesses both rushed outside soon after. "Doctor! You've returned," Celestia remarked.

"Not just me, princess. I've managed to bring back every last victim of the Weeping Pegasi. They won't trouble you any more," the Doctor corrected her.

"We heard a loud bang just before we heard the TARDIS arriving; did you have something to do with that?" Luna asked.

"Well, our return created a paradox which poisoned the Weeping Pegasi, so presumably, they'd all have shattered simultaneously," the Doctor explained.

"Regardless, we're in your debt once again, Doctor," Celestia added as the group dispersed, each of them returning to their own homes.

"Just keep me out of the history books," the Doctor responded quietly. "Now, I should be off. Swirly, would you care do join me?"

Star Swirl shook his head before saying, "Oh no. I think one trip through time is enough for now. Besides, somepony has to help clean up this mess. Where were you headed, anyway?"

The Doctor thought back to where she was planning to go before all that business with the Time Urchins and her subsequent regeneration. With a smile, she answered, "Florana."