“Is this really necessary?” the Doctor asked. As she had said, Rarity took him to her boutique. At the moment, she was using her magic to levitate a measuring strip around his body. The Doctor’s emotions were a mix of overwhelmed at how fast everything was going and fascination at the precision of Rarity’s magic with the strip; but the former was taking priority at this point.
“I normally don’t make suits for stallions,” Rarity said, “so I’ll have to start from scratch. And I do need your measurements to do that.”
“Couldn’t I just get a suit from someone else?”
“Oh, my dear Doctor, I will not have you wearing just any old thing. Your suit needs to proclaim loudly who you are as a pony.”
“I thought we agreed that I need to keep a low profile,” the Doctor quipped.
“Maybe not your exact identity,” Rarity conceded, “but enough so that ponies will see you on the street and say, ‘That pony is quite a character, so mysterious, and yet so stylish.”
“It’s just a suit. If it weren’t for the fact that I have nothing that fits me anymore in my current state, I could find what I need in my wardrobe.”
“Well, since that isn’t the case, you’ll have to make do with me. Trust me on this, I have had many good things said about my work.”
The Doctor sighed; Rarity wasn’t going to be talked out of this one easily. And while he did not appreciate the unicorn’s slightly pushy demeanor, he still needed a suit, even if only for practical reasons. “Fine. Just stick to something simple. If your usual work is any indication,” he waved toward all the dresses in sight, all of which were elegant and complex, “I wouldn’t want to walk around with an unnecessary cravat or frills.”
“Trust me, Doctor, your new wardrobe is in capable hooves.” After a while of more measurements, Rarity finally levitated the strip from the Doctor. “There, that should do the trick. You may go now, Doctor. It’ll take me a while to come up with something that works for a pony like you.”
“About time, too,” the Doctor whispered. “Thought I’d turn into a statue, standing still that long.”
“What was that?” Rarity asked.
“I said, ‘Hope it turns out well,’” he lied. We walked to the door as quickly, yet calmly, as possible.
As soon as he was outside, he saw the other ponies waiting for him. “You know, ladies,” he said with a playfully sarcastic tone, “the next time someone pushes me out of the house with unclear intentions, the least you could do is try to intervene.”
“Sorry,” Applejack replied. “It just happened so fast.”
“And even then,” Rainbow added, “we wouldn’t have been able to stop her anyway. Trust me, I’ve been on the receiving end of those dresses before. If she could, she probably would have glued my hooves to the floor.”
“Um, if it’s not too much trouble,” Twilight interrupted, “perhaps we could talk more about you, Doctor?”
“I don’t know,” the Doctor replied. “I think we covered all the important points back at the castle.”
“But there’s still so much more we don’t know,” Twilight said. “Celestia brought us into this because we didn’t know what we were dealing with. I like to think of this as continuing our mission for the princess.”
“Or as I like to call it,” Rainbow added, “Twilight going full-on egghead mode.” Twilight glared at her.
“Very well then,” the Doctor conceded. “What is your first question?”
Twilight refocused on the Doctor. “Uh, you said you were called a ‘Time Lord.’ What exactly does that mean? Is it a title, an occupation…?”
“I should think this would have been obvious by now, but it’s actually an entire species. Time Lords had the power to see throughout all of time and space.”
“Had?” Applejack repeated. “Ain’t that past tense?”
“It’s a rather long story,” the Doctor said. “One that I’d prefer not to tell right now.” His mood changed into something more negative.
Fluttershy was quick to change the subject. “So, uh, what do you do? For a living, I mean.”
“I’m actually a traveler,” the Doctor answered. “I go across the universe seeing the sights. And believe you me, there are some really amazing sights that you wouldn’t have come up with in your wildest dreams.”
“My turn!” Pinkie said loudly. “What color of frosting do you like on your cake?” There was a short pause.
“I… beg your pardon?” the Doctor stuttered.
Pinkie started explaining rapidly. “I’m planning your ‘Welcome to Ponyville Party,’ and I want your input on a few things. I mean I’ve never thrown a party for aliens before, and I want to make sure you have a good time with everypony else. Of course I’ll be as secretive as I can about the whole ‘you’re an alien’ thing, but that doesn’t mean I can’t at least try to make it enjoyable for you. That reminds me, what kind of party games do you play? Are there certain foods you’d want? What sort of things don’t work well with parties? How—?!” She was finally interrupted by the Doctor’s hoof over her mouth.
“I can’t say your welcoming party is really needed—I’ll only be here for so long—but I can answer all your questions and more with one sentence: Go with what normally works. I can assure you, nothing will alienate me in the slightest. Except pears. Hate pears. Other than that, go wild.” The Doctor removed his hoof. Pinkie smiled as soon as her mouth was free.
Soon, though, her front knees started shaking. Pinkie looked at them in confusion.
“Bad knees?” the Doctor asked.
“No,” Pinkie said. “They’re just a pinchy.”
“Wait, doesn’t that mean…?” Twilight started, but she paused like she couldn’t think of the words.
“Well, usually,” Pinkie said, “when my left knee is pinchy, it means something scary is about to happen.”
“I’m sorry, what?” the Doctor demanded.
“Pinkie Sense,” Applejack replied. “Don’t bother tryin’ ta understand it. Not worth the trouble.”
Rainbow continued the conversation with Pinkie. “So what happens when both knees are pinchy?” (“You’re really entertaining this?” the Doctor asked.)
“Don’t know,” Pinkie said. “Maybe something doubly scary will happen.”
Suddenly, they all heard a scream. Everyone jumped in surprise. There was a small moment of confusion before Fluttershy said, “That was Rarity!” Rainbow immediately charged at the boutique, blowing the door open. The others followed her inside.
Rarity was backed into the wall. She was shaking, like something had scared her beyond anything had before. “Rarity!” Twilight shouted. “What happened?”
“M-my ma-mannequin,” Rarity stuttered. “It-it just m-moved!” The others looked at the object in question. It was one of the many mannequins Rarity used to put the finishing touches on any of her designs; right now, the unfinished stitch-work of a blue suit was fitted over the front half of the body. However, contrary to Rarity’s outburst, it was completely still.
“Ah don’t see no movement, Rarity,” Applejack said.
The Doctor walked up to the mannequin. “Rarity, tell me, is this mannequin made of plastic?”
“Y-yes, b-but why should that matter?”
The Doctor just stared at the mannequin’s absent eyes. “It can’t be possible,” he whispered. He soon raised his voice to regular speaking levels, however, and said, “But if I’m correct and you can hear me, I know what you are. So there’s no point in hiding yourself.”
For a long time, nothing happened. The Doctor backed up a bit when he thought his hypothesis seemed for naught, but everyone soon caught sight of something very odd; the head turned toward him. Everyone gasped, causing the head to move in their direction. It surprised them even further when the entire mannequin came off its stand and stood on all fours unaided.
“So you are one, after all,” the Doctor said. “I don’t know what it is you’re thinking of doing, but I can help you find an alternative, I’m sure.”
The mannequin didn’t do much else for a while except look around the room. It seemed to spend an unusual amount of time staring at Twilight in particular. Finally, it raised one of its front hooves, pointing it at the group. The end of the hoof suddenly clicked open like a lighter, revealing a tube inside the leg.
“So much for diplomacy,” the Doctor said. “Girls, move!” He ran out of the way. Before the mares could react, a blast of light shot out of the mannequin’s leg. The blast only hit the wall, just above them, but it left a severe burn mark. Rainbow retaliated by launching at the mannequin. Before it could train its leg at her, she tackled it, causing the head to be separated from the main body. The mannequin fell over.
“Yeah!” Rainbow cheered. “That oughta take care of him for a long time.”
“I don’t know about that,” the Doctor said.
“Do you know what that was about?” Twilight asked.
“Before I answer that, let me ask another question. Rarity, are all your mannequins made of plastic?”
“Um, yes,” she said. “I first bought them when I was starting my practice. My budget was very low at the time. But they’ve worked so well that I never found a need to replace them.”
“Then we have major troubles coming our way,” the Doctor said. “And Rainbow, I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but the lack of a head won’t stop this one.” As if on cue, the mannequin started to rise. Despite its headlessness, it faced the group once more. Everyone’s fears were added to when several of the other mannequins moved off their stands and raised their forelegs, revealing more blasters.
“Okay, now I say we have more reason than ever to RUN!” The Doctor ran for the door. The others decided to follow his example, running out the door before the mannequins fired on them again.
Everyone kept running after they left the boutique. “Doctor!” Twilight shouted. “What’s happening?”
“If we make it through this, I’ll be more than happy to tell you!” he replied. Another blast hit the ground beside them. “But let’s focus on staying alive right now!”
They ran through the town hoping to find a place to hide. They passed several other ponies who were out and about. At first, the bystanders wondered why seven ponies, one of which didn’t look familiar at all, were running like Discord himself was on their tails. Then they saw Rarity’s mannequins following them and shooting at them. The townsfolk quickly understood, if only the basic danger of the situation, and headed into whatever building was closest.
“Everypony!” Twilight shouted. “Head to the Everfree Forest! It’s thick in there, so we might be able to lose them.” Nopony argued. They ran toward the part of town where the trees began to grow in number.
The six mares never thought they’d be so glad to see the forest come into view. The irony was lost on no one (save the Doctor, of course) that they would be looking for safety in arguably the most dangerous area around Ponyville. But once they reached the entrance, they all practically skidded to a halt when some of the mannequins appeared from behind the trees. A few of the ponies quickly turned around to make yet another escape, but there were still other mannequins following them.
“We’re surrounded!” Fluttershy nearly shouted. Twilight may not have needed Fluttershy’s sudden and uncharacteristic increase in volume to reveal the severity of the danger, but it was still nice to know that she wasn’t alone in feeling it.
“Twilight!” Applejack said. “Think you kin teleport us outta here?”
“Too many of us for one trip,” Twilight said, “and I am way too stressed out to even pull it off successfully.”
“Listen up, you lot!” the Doctor shouted. He was turning his head around from side to side, talking to the mannequins. “There’s obviously something you want, but you can leave these ponies out of it. They’re innocents; their species, their planet, has yet to fully grasp the wonders of the universe. They have no idea just how small they are in the grand scheme of things. They remind me of another race of which I’m quite fond, and like them, they have the potential to be great in spite of what some would call their ‘weakness.’ Whatever you need, I’m sure it can be done without having to sacrifice such innocent lives. If you have any shred of dignity, if you have any sense of logic in you, you will stand down and let me help you. The last time I saw your kind, I was forced to take action. Let us do this the way it should have been done.”
There was a pause, as if time had stopped. The mannequins just stared blankly at the Doctor as he made his speech and continued to stare for several tense seconds. Finally, the mannequins made their move; they raised their forelegs.
“No! Stop!” the Doctor pleaded. “I can help you!” Twilight and Rarity’s horns started glowing; both were visibly afraid. Rainbow and Applejack stood in fighting stances, their faces filled with false determination. Pinkie, meanwhile, was holding onto Fluttershy, who by this point had been reduced to all but a nervous wreck. The mannequin’s legs clicked open.
Then they stopped; the mannequins just simply fell over. Everyone waited, but the plastic figures didn’t move. The ponies all let out a chorus of sighs, except for Fluttershy, who started sobbing into Pinkie’s shoulder.
“Looks like you were right, Pinkie,” Rainbow said. “Although you might wanna try ‘triply scary’ next time.”
“But I don’t understand it,” Rarity said. “What happened to my mannequins? They were just mere plastic when I bought them. Have I been harboring some sort of creatures all these years?”
“No, they’re not living,” the Doctor said. He approached one of the fallen mannequins. “Something was controlling them, making them into Autons.”
“Autons?” Twilight repeated.
“Soldiers created by animated plastic through a psychic link.”
“Like a come-to-life-spell?”
“If that’s the parallel you want to make, sure.”
“So who’s pullin’ the strings?” Applejack asked. “Psycho or magic, somepony’s gotta be callin’ the shots.”
“A being called the Nestene Consciousness,” the Doctor answered. “And unlike your mannequins, Rarity, it is indeed of alien origin.”
“Whatever it is,” Twilight said, “it must have listened to you when you asked it to stop.”
“After it told the Autons to kill us?” the Doctor pointed out. “No, something happened to make it stop the attack. But what? The only way I’m going to find out is to ask it.”
“You wanna go to the alien creature that tried to kill us?” Rainbow asked hysterically.
“Not exactly the brightest idea,” Pinkie added. “Even I don’t want to meet it, and I try to be friends with everypony.”
“The only way to prevent more Auton attacks is to stop them at the source,” the Doctor replied. “And that source is the Nestene. No other way to go about this, really.” Everyone fell silent in the realization that he was right.
“So what do we do first?” Twilight asked.
The Doctor thought for a second. “First, we need that head Miss Dash left back at the boutique. Then we need to go back to the TARDIS and scan said head for telepathic activity. That should give us an idea of where to find the Nestene.”
“One plastic dummy head, coming up,” Rainbow said with a salute. She flew back to Ponyville, obviously heading for the boutique.
“Right, then,” the Doctor said. “The rest of us will head back to the library and the TARDIS.” Everyone galloped back along the path they just took.