//------------------------------// // Hamstrung // Story: The Night String and The Servants of The Phoenix // by charredenay //------------------------------// Hephaestus looked out over the excited crowd and smiled with pride. Even those who usually shirked his weekly sermons, those who were members of his religion in name only, had shown up to witness the event that was about to occur. After today they will gladly come to every sermon, even the optional one on Thursday mornings. "Before we begin, I have some news that you all must know." The High-priest signaled to two robed griffons off-stage who, in turn, dragged forth the grey pegasus that they had captured, still in chains. The crowd began whispering amongst themselves, all wondering what the Servants of the Phoenix had brought before them. Indicating the chained mare, Hephaestus continued, "Naught but two days previous, our acolytes captured this creature, known as a pegasus, just above our town. She was wearing a magical disguise but the Grand Phoenix was easily able to dispel it, revealing her true form." The red-eyed griffon's tone turned to one of disgust. "This spy, this, this thing, was sent here to sow seeds of dissent and disharmony amongst our congregation!" The gathered griffons began shouting and booing. Every other one called for some form of harsh punishment. Some wanted her banished, others wanted a hanging, and a few even demanded a beheading. Turning to smirk at his hostage, Hephaestus was slightly disappointed to find no fear coloring her face, no hints of desperation emanating from her countenance. I suppose ponies are as willful as my lady led me to believe. -------------------------------------- As she was led unto the stage and threatened by the griffons below, Derpy had nearly broken down and cried. However, when she looked away, to shield herself from the emotional assault, her eyes caught on something metallic, something blue, something that had brought her comfort in times of need a million times before, the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. For some reason, it was in the claw of an old robed griffon. They caught him? The old griffon recognized that he had caught her eye and winking, gently waved the blue light across his face, flashing away the illusion just long enough for Derpy to see underneath. Empowered by the gesture, the grey pegasus became as steady as a rock. She could not allow herself to falter, she could not afford to cry. She would stand proud and unafraid because the Doctor was watching. -------------------------------------- Having failed to notice the quick exchange between his prisoner and his ally apparent, Hephaestus continued, "Foolish was she, to think that she could even hope to rock our faith!" He fed off the crowd's energy and kept going with increased gusto, "In fact, little did she realize that she would become the very instrument of our mistress's victory!" Trixie had first began to grow anxious when the crowd started baying for blood, but now had gone into full blown panic mode. Looking to the rest of the String for some signs of action, she found herself baffled by the lack of movement. Turning to the Doctor, she whispered, "Now that she is out in the open, shouldn't we attack?" "No. Not yet," He answered. In hopes of a second opinion, she turned to Blueblood, "Don't you think it's time?" "Not yet." Though his words mirrored the Doctor's, his face was contorted as he grit his teeth tightly around each syllable. A soft but repeated thudding brought Trixie's attention downwards to discover him continuously lifting his left front hoof and putting it back down. His every muscle was tensed up, half of them clearly wanting to jump into action and the second half occupied keeping the former in place. "Now, dear friends, let us call down the Grand Phoenix together!" The High-priest's declaration brought the blue unicorn's attention back to center stage. He quickly stepped away from the podium and bowed his head. The crowd obediently did like wise and began praying in quiet mumbles. -------------------------------------- Somewhere under GrassClaw, a lone robed griffon named Stephan lazily pulled a bronze lever at the precise moment he had been instructed to. His only task for the evening completed, he returned to the rather riveting chess match he had begun against himself while stifling a long yawn. -------------------------------------- A low rumbling shook the entirety of the village, until it grew into a cacophonous thunder centering on the podium. Finally, a bright red flame burst forth from the pipes that decorated it. "Greetings, my children!" the flame began. "Behold as I now appear before you!" The crowd simply cheered in response. "However, I cannot hold this form for long. I require a host in order for me to permanently dwell among my cherished subjects." Many of the griffons and griffonnesses in the crowd began shouting, volunteering to give themselves for their flaming mistress. "Your devotion is appreciated," the deity of fire began. "However, thanks to the intrusion of this pegasus, such sacrifices will not be necessary. My spirit will descend upon her, and as it does, it will take possession of her mind and body." -------------------------------------- Sorry Doc, but I've heard all I need to hear. The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well launched herself from her nearby perch towards Derpy. She flew fast and hard, extending her forelegs out in preparation of retrieving her captive friend mid-flight. A griffon here and there saw her before she reached the stage, but none of them were fast enough to do anything to stop her. She had nearly reached Derpy when a red aura pinned her wings to her sides and stopped her short. "What? No, no, no, no!" she cried out as she was lifted end over end and brought before the gigantic sentient fire. "Now, what could cause a young griffonness, in clear defiance of her goddess, to try to rescue a creature she doesn't even know, Hephaestus?" the Grand Phoenix asked rhetorically. "Perhaps, my lady, she is not a griffonness at all. Perhaps she is yet another disguised spy," her servant answered, completely oblivious to what rhetorical even meant. "Perhaps. There is only one way to find out," she said, turning a deep purple and shooting out in all directions. -------------------------------------- Trixie shielded her face as the inferno reached her, only to discover that it had no heat at all. However, while the fire may have had no effect on her body, she certainly felt the effect it had on the illusions she had cast. She could feel it burning away the arcane energy holding them in place. Trixie can actually feel it burning. How is that even possible? Regardless, Trixie cannot allow the illusion fail. The illusionist mare quickly tried to replace their disguises, but she quickly discovered that without the benefit of Zecora's stamina potion, she was nearly devoid of magic. Trixie can't let this fail. Not yet. Judging from the Doctor's face, she could tell he knew what was about to happen. Wait! That's it! Shifting her focus to the alien stallion, she pushed forth her very last ounce of energy and collapsed. As the inferno passed, her vision began to fade. There is more than one string on Trixie's fiddle. Heheh, "String". -------------------------------------- As Hephaestus turned, probably in the hopes of receiving some form of praise from the High-Maester, he gasped in astonishment, "More spies! Spies everywhere mistress! Quickly, Lord Guildenstern, to me! They are right next to you!" Puzzled, the Doctor turned to discover the Night String's newest member collapsed behind him. "Indeed. It would seem that your entourage has deceived you, Lord Guildenstern," the Grand Phoenix agreed as she surrounded the other members of the Night String in her red aura, imprisoning them. Solemnly nodding at the Doctor, Blueblood shouted dramatically, "Confound you, Grand Phoenix! Were it not for your interference, we would have replaced the Maester with a spy and eventually the King himself!" Taking the hint, the Doctor bowed to the Grand Phoenix, "Thank you, Grand Phoenix. Without your intervention, I would have never seen through their disguise. Truly, I owe you my life and my worship." "Think nothing of it. I am only too happy to assist my children and destroy any heathens that stand in their way. Now, returning to the original purpose of our gathering-" "My lady," the Doctor interrupted contritely. "I hope you'll excuse my asking, but what you intend to do with these interlopers?" "A rather presumptuous question, Guildenstern." "I apologize milady, but I am of a quizzical sort." Sighing, the Grand Phoenix replied, "If you must know, once I have gained a permanent body, I will destroy them." "That seems a tad cruel for a goddess." "Cruelty is necessary when dealing with such deceitful creatures." "Do you feel the same way, Hephaestus?" the Doctor asked. "Well, I, uh, believe that," Hephaestus stammered his mind now caught between expressing two choices, each one staunchly supported by someone he had come to idolize. "I think that it would be better to um-" "Enough!" shouted the Grand Phoenix. "I thought that you might turn out to be a strong ally in our future plans to take over the kingdom, but you have proven to be more trouble than you're worth." "Oh, that's me. A regular firebrand," the Doctor chuckled at his own joke. "In addition," pondered the living flame. "I would very much like to know what happened to your cough." With that, another wave of purple flame washed out in all directions. -------------------------------------- Trixie had finally returned to Ponyville to have her rematch with Twilight Sparkle, though this occasion was all in good fun. She and the new Princess had pushed themselves to their absolute limit and eventually collapsed, exhausted, but laughing in enjoyment. "You've gotten better, Trixie," Twilight admitted, panting. Trixie was about to reply when a quaking grabbed her attention. Turning to the sound, she saw a tidal wave surging towards her over the fields of Sweet Apple Acres. It was gigantic, and would most certainly destroy the whole town. "Quick, Princess Sparkle! You have to-" the illusionist began, spinning back around towards her new friend, only to discover her and the entirety of Ponyville had vanished into thin air. She was now standing on a small sand bar several miles out to sea from some tropic isle she did not recognize. As the wave hit her, she expected to be washed away but instead she came out on the other side unscathed. "Well done, Trixie," a Trottingham accent congratulated her. As if from nowhere, the Doctor walked up to Trixie and laid a hoof across her back. "What's going on, Doctor?" she asked, now completely certain that this was a dream. "You're dreaming." "Yes, Trixie understands that. But why are you here?" "No idea, really. It's your dream, after all." "Fair point," Trixie sat down and let the waves lap at her hooves as she considered why she would be having such a specific dream. "Trixie supposes something is going wrong in the real world right now and you're here to wake me up." "Probably. So wake up. We've got some racist griffons to thwart." "Wait, what does-?" Before she could finish the question on her lips, another tsunami swept over her, washing it from her memory. -------------------------------------- Trixie slowly opened her eyes to discover the magic holding the Doctor's disguise had burned away completely. "Oops," he said weakly as the Grand Phoenix's aura enveloped him as well. The blue illusionist bolted wide awake and immediately tried to stand. When she found that she couldn't, she settled for yelling at the time pony from her current position on the floor. "TRIXIE PUTS THE ENTIRE REMAINDER OF HER MAGIC POWER INTO ONE LAST DITCH EFFORT, RISKING MAGICAL OVERLOAD, AND YOU RUIN IT BY BREAKING CHARACTER?" "No worries. We've still got this," he whispered as the High-priest fell to his knees apologizing to his only remaining idol. "My sincerest apologies, my lady. I was completely fooled by his deception and even considered turning against you. As for you," Hephaestus, clearly in the mood for some gloating, stepping forward to continue. "I must admit that your charade was well acted last night, but it did not matter in the end, for no power can even come close to that of my mistress!" Suddenly remembering an important detail, he called out, "Mistress, Teresa was incredibly bent on accompanying us. Perhaps you should seize her as well?" The aforementioned griffonness had taken the sudden kerfuffle as an opportunity to slip over to the chained pegasus. She was certain she had just about succeeded in picking the locks that kept the grey pony bound when she too was engulfed in the red aura and dragged in line with her co-conspirators. "Oh, Teresa. We knew from the beginning you had ulterior motives, but to suddenly give up your cover like this? Very sloppy," Hephaestus taunted, clicking his tongue. "But I am curious. Before these, (What did you call them, mistress? Ponies?) Before these ponies arrived, what was your original intention?" he inquired, poking her in the chest. "Careful there, priest," she snarled. "These ponies might be fair game because of their foreign status, but I am a representative of King Marcellus himself! Harm me and you'll quickly have the army of Griffonia breaking down the doors of your temple and lances engraved with the royal insignia at your throat!" the spy retorted proudly. "Clearly, I should have slipped that potion into your drink instead!" the red-eyed griffon laughed. "Potion?" Teresa asked, suddenly worried. "Yes, when its key ingredient is activated by my psychic command, it turns anyone who has imbibed it into my willing slave," the Grand Phoenix answered. "With your fiery spirit and connection with his majesty, you would have made a fine slave. But no matter, as this pony," Hephaestus said, indicating the Doctor, "obviously has a very intelligent mind, well suited for strategy and espionage." "Excuse me," interrupted the brown stallion. "The intelligent pony has some intelligent things to say." "Oh, I am very much inclined to hear this! What will such a clever pony say in his last desperate attempt to save his own life? What ploy do you still think you have up your sleeve?" the burning goddess inquired tauntingly. "No desperate attempt, no ploy. Just a compliment... and a warning." Trixie supposed that the flame might have raised an eyebrow in interest but since flames don't have eyebrows she could really only guess. The Doctor, on the other hoof, seemed certain that he had its attention. "You are beautiful, you are. Very clever, obviously, and I'd love to learn exactly what you are." The Doctor's face brightened with a wide smile. The jovial attitude did not last long before he became serious and pleading. "So don't do this. Just stop this right now. If you stop right now and you absolutely need a host to survive, I'll get you one. Just not one that comes at the cost of another living being. Just let me find another way, please." The Doctor's eyes narrowed and his voice suddenly became so much more frightening, "But if you don't stop this and you continue on this path... We will stop you. I only give one warning, and this is it." Hush dominated the stage as the last rays of sunlight disappeared under the horizon, the only remaining illumination coming from the windows of the nearby houses and from the Grand Phoenix herself. As Trixie tried and failed to move her neck in hopes of getting a better view, it appeared to her that perhaps there were even a few griffons who silently hoped that their fiery goddess would accept the offer. But what will the Doctor do if she says no? She's caught us, all of us. Unless... Trixie glanced at Blueblood's horn, praying to see the tell-tale gold aura that had accompanied his magic grasp when they met, only to be disappointed to find his eyes shut tight, clearly struggling just to emit the occasional spark. No such luck. This field must interfere with unicorn magic. So how does the Doctor hope to follow through on such a threat? The Grand Phoenix had obviously come to the same conclusion when she burst out in laughter. "He'll stop me, he declares. How? You are trapped, all of you! It's impossible to bluff when all the cards are face up on the table." "No bluffs. Just facts. We will stop you." "I was enjoying our little conversation, but now it's become monotonous. So I believe it has run its course," she replied, bored, as her color began to change once more, this time passing purple and settling at blue. "It's time that you saw things my way," she finished with a sinister tone as a column of blue light shot straight up into the sky from the center of her being. Once again hush fell for several moments. Trixie attempted to peer at the Doctor, worried that her new mentor might've already fallen to the goddess's control but could only barely see his backside through her peripheral vision and he wasn't moving. "Nope. Nothing," came his signature Trottingham accent from in front of her. Trixie let out a breath she hadn't even realize she had been holding. "What?" shouted the goddess. "Hephaestus! You said you had given this pony the potion!" A flat, emotionless voice replied, "Yes, my lady. I gave the potion. He took the potion." Every eye in the village turned to the High-priest to discover the griffon's eyes, once as red as his mistress's flame, were now pure white, interrupted only by the black of his pupils. "You switched the cups," Teresa said, amazed. "You saw him add the potion and switched the cups when he wasn't looking." The Doctor beamed at the praise. "Do not allow this go to your head!" retorted the Grand Phoenix angrily. "While I may have preferred to keep you as a slave, I will gladly settle for destroying you outright. And once I take this pegasus' body as my own, I'll have plenty of power to do just that!" Without warning, the flames turned bright green and descended upon Derpy's chained form. As the bonds that once held her down shattered like glass, her body slowly levitated off the ground and her eyes actually synchronized themselves. Having grown accustomed to Derpy's signature look, Trixie found this new expression almost horrifying, to say the least. The glow surrounding the pegasus slowly turned red and remained in place, as she looked down upon the Night String, still held in place by the goddess's red magic and began laughing maniacally. She then flared her wings triumphantly and roared in a voice that was not Derpy's, "See, Doctor? I'm more powerful than ever!" The Doctor cocked a single eyebrow in surprise. "Oh yes! I now know who you are, Doctor! I know everything that your companion knew. Which is why I'll be taking this," the newly formed Grand Phoenix replied to the Doctor's unvoiced question as her levitation field dragged his sonic screwdriver from his hoof. "Oi, I need that!" "And I just can't wait to have a look at that Tardis of yours," she continued confidently, landing on the stage. She visibly flexed her leg muscles, then her wings, and finally her neck, slowly acquainting herself with her host's body. "What have you done with Derpy?" the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well demanded. Annoyed by the interruption, the Grand Phoenix answered gruffly, "She was blinked out of existence the moment I took over h-" she was cut off as her own hoof slipped upward and smacked herself across the face. "No, I wasn't!" came Derpy's original voice from the now shared mouth. "What?" demanded the Grandly Surprised Phoenix, "You should have been destroyed! Get out this instant! This body is mine now!" As each consciousness fought for more control, the pegasus' muscles seemed to fight themselves. Each statement was accented by a jerk in a new direction and a change in timbre and tone. "No! I have to go on more adventures with the Doctor!" declared Derpy's voice. "Your adventures are over, pegasus! This is now property of the Grand Phoenix!" "F'raid not, Grand Phoenix!" the Doctor countered. "You see, mind control is so common around here (I mean it happens in my universe sometimes but certainly not as often as it does here), when I got around to choosing my companion, I decided it was best to find one who was resistant to it. And the moment I saw Derpy, I knew she had just the right timey-wimey stuff in her to put up a good fight." The next jerk presented a pegasus on the verge of crying, "The moment you saw me?" It was clearly Derpy's voice. "Hey now, no tears. Those eyes that some think make you less of a pony actually mark you as a very special one. One who has a hardy, resilient mind. A mind that is much stronger than yours, Grand Phoenix!" "No! That's impossible! There are none stronger than me! This should have gone perfectly!" Derpy jerked her eyes forward and looked straight out over the crowd, at an opponent only she could see and, with a combination of mock innocence and real confidence, replied, "Well, I just don't know what went wrong." A red flash burst forth from the shared body, followed by a shrieking scream that sent shivers down Trixie's spine. Once the light faded and the shrill noise ceased, she finally chanced a glance around, only to quickly discover that she and the others were once again in control of their muscles, the red aura holding them in place now completely dissipated. Overjoyed, she jumped to her feet to express her thanks to the pegasus who had undoubtedly saved their lives, only to discover that the Mysterious Mare had beaten her to it, lifting a once again wall-eyed Derpy high into the air in a flying hug. Suddenly remembering that she was in public, Double M quickly replaced Derpy on the wooden stage and rubbed her left foreleg with her right in embarrassment. "Um... Yeah, I'm glad you're safe. I was, you know, worried about you." "I glad you're safe too," Derpy replied happily, ignorant of the masked pegasus' embarrassment. "As touching as all this is," Blueblood said pointedly, strolling across the stage. "I would suggest that we enjoy it in the comfort of the Tardis, rather than in front of this crowd of cultist griffons whose idol you probably just killed?" Up to this point, the audience had been so preoccupied watching the events transpiring before them that they hadn't even realized that they might be able to affect their outcome. In fact, they might have remained oblivious had it not been for one griffon in the back numbly realizing out loud, "Hey. They killed the Grand Phoenix." and another, in response to the first, angrily shouting, "Seize them!" The Doctor's eyes went wide, "And now comes the running. Coming Teresa?" "Do you even have to ask?" the griffonness called from her head start. "Oi! You're going the wrong way!" "Very well," the griffon answered, coming back around. Reaching down, she scooped up the Doctor in one arm and Zecora up in the other, each one squeezed tightly around the barrel of its respective charge. "Point the way, Doctor." "There, towards the forest!" he replied. "Blueblood! The Grand Phoenix was kind enough to gather all this bronze piping together for us. I hope you won't disappoint by not making use of it!" the Doctor called over his shoulder. "Quite. I know just the spell," he shouted as his horn lit for just a moment before galloping after them. "Double M, a little help?" "Right! I gotcha," The masked pegasus quickly answered the call, lifting the royal unicorn into the air as the pipes snaked to life behind them. Each one slithered out and wrapped themselves around many a surprised griffon. "Derpy! Trixie!" Though the blue illusionist was busy admiring Blueblood's hoofi-work, the grey pegasus was already lifting her high into the air. "I've got her!" As the seven made their escape, Blueblood lived up to his promise as the combat magician by toppling several walls on top of their pursuers. None were gravely injured, but at the same time none of them would be able to continue following them tonight. However, the others quickly wizened to such tricks and started flying well above the town, out of the way of any falling debris. "Any chance that potion you're carrying would help, Zecora?" Blueblood shouted, casting a paralyzation spell at the closest griffon and cursing as its target dodged it with minimal effort. As if just remembering that she was still carrying the flask of red liquid, Zecora gave a double take, then quickly dropped it. This left Trixie understandably confused. Wait, shouldn't you throw that at them? Trixie tried to save the fragile vial with her levitation field, only for it to smash into the side of a house. Oh, well. I suppose that's- Suddenly, several vine-like crimson tendrils grew out of the red puddle now slowly dripping down the side of the wall. The strange new appendages then rapidly shot upwards and grabbed hold of the remaining griffons, ceasing their pursuit. Oh. The zebra simply chuckled happily and began humming a tune to herself as they approached their destination, the Tardis. -------------------------------------- Now inside the Doctor's time machine, Trixie slumped to the floor, exhausted. Outside, she could clearly hear the Doctor and Teresa talking. "So, need a lift back to Griffonia?" he said with all the confidence of a high-school hoof-ball player picking up mares. "I'm not sure your box can fit any more, Doctor." "Nonsense, come on in," he countered, entering the Tardis and waltzing right past Trixie. "I know that you ponies are small but I don't see how-" Teresa stopped short as she took her first peek inside the Tardis's doors. "What do you think?" The griffonness gawked for a good four seconds before finally stammering, "It, it is, it is..." "Yes?" the Doctor asked giddily. "It is larger within," she finished. The Doctor's brow furrowed slightly. Clearly this was not the response he usually liked to hear. Trixie smirked to herself, enjoying the Doctor's apparent annoyance. That's what you get for wasting Trixie's brilliant efforts earlier. Standing, she leisurely strolled towards a staircase that she hoped led to some sort of bedroom. However, seeing Derpy and the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well engrossed in conversation midway down, she decided she would try another passage, rather than interrupt them. Just as she was about to take her first steps into a particularly enticing hallway (It was the same color as her eyes), a cough stopped her short. Turning, she discovered Zecora behind her, a striped hoof over her mouth. Putting her hoof back on the floor, the zebra said, "You would be lost for many days, only to fall to foolish pride, if you walked into this maze, and did not think to bring a guide." The blue unicorn glanced down the hall. She had to admit that it appeared to stretch on for miles. "Trixie did not realize that walking through the Tardis was so perilous. If such is the case, however, perhaps you would be so kind as to direct her to a bedroom? Trixie would like to get some rest now that the mission is complete." "Complete?" called the Doctor from across the control room, popping out from behind the column of controls. "Yes, Doctor, 'complete'. That is what you call it when you finish a task. Now if you'll excuse me, Trixie thought she would take a short nap." Blueblood stepped forward, "Trixie, you do understand that we're not done yet, don't you?" "What? But we defeated them. Derpy killed their goddess!" "Yes, she did, at least I think so. And thank goodness for that! But think about it Trixie. If the Servants of the Phoenix were really well and truly defeated, long before the Griffon Kingdom was even formed, why would we even have come back in time in the first place?" the Doctor explained. "Well I, that is-" Trixie stuttered, trying to fully understand the Doctor's question. "If we really did defeat them in this time and they never re-emerged, it would create a paradox! And as wibbly-wobbly as the laws of time can be, that wouldn't make any sense at all." "I told you before, didn't I Trixie? This was merely reconnaissance. We came, we saw, and now we leave to fix the real problem," Blueblood stated plainly. "We've still got a lot of work to do back in our present." "Then what was the point of coming here?" Trixie stomped her hoof, confused for at least the second time that day. "We came to investigate." Trixie could feel her eye twitch from the vagueness of the response. "We might've done more than that, Doctor," Blueblood uttered sheepishly. "Yes, but the last time I checked, the Servants didn't have a magical goddess on their side, even in our time. So I'm pretty sure we didn't cause any paradoxes," the Doctor countered. Trixie sighed. The fact that somehow the Doctor always managed to avoid actually answering any questions was starting to wear on her. Trixie supposes she should have known it wouldn't be this easy. "Alright. Trixie understands. However!" she said, pointing a hoof at the Doctor. "The rest of us don't have two hearts to keep us going as long as you can, Doctor. Us ponies need rest whenever we can get it!" "Ah. Yes. Good point," the earth pony admitted before pulling out a piece of paper and pencil. "Okay list of things to do: One, take the Tardis to Griffonia. Two, drop off Teresa." "Trixie thinks you can include that with number one, Doctor," Trixie yawned before turning to leave. "So, Zecora, the bedrooms?" she asked, gesturing for the zebra to lead the way, and was quickly obliged. -------------------------------------- As the two mares jaunted down the hallway, Trixie finally felt relaxed enough to ask a question that had been bothering her for quite some time, “Why do you speak in rhymes?” She inquired of her zebra companion, who gave her a look in response. "If the subject upsets you, you don't have to answer. It's just that Trixie has been wondering ever since we first met, but she has yet to have a moment in which she felt it would be appropriate to ask." Zecora shook her head to show that she was unoffended. “Tis one petty pony’s curse, that does make me speak in verse.” Trixie had heard of curses that cause the victims to make fools of themselves, indeed, she had used a couple, but it just seemed cruel to force that on someone for their whole lifetime. She studied the zebra’s countenance for any sign of well-deserved resentment or anger but found none as Zecora continued to lead the way, humming to herself possibly the same tune she had been humming earlier. She doesn’t seem to mind it that much. -------------------------------------- "Right," the Doctor answered the now-absent illusionist, scratching the item off the list. "And I should probably try to make that last eight hours. Two, take the Tardis back to the present. Four - no, wait a minute, three, discover who is now leading the Servants of the Phoenix and stop them. And lastly D... No. Four, head to Las Pegasus and celebrate our victory with banana daiquiris." Finally finished with his list, the Doctor set about flipping a series of switches to set the Tardis on a leisurely course to Griffonia. Teresa, who had just been quietly listening so far, sneaked up behind him. "Two hearts, eh? Do you have two of anything else?" she asked in a sultry whisper. The Doctor did his best to keep the Tardis on course, though he admittedly was finding it a little difficult to focus on anything besides the burning sensation coloring his face. Note to self: Griffonnesses are significantly more forward than ponies with their advances, especially when alone. -------------------------------------- Canterlot, Present Day As she closed the door to her private quarters, Princess Luna was acutely aware of the uninvited presence in the room. "Under normal circumstances, we would have already summoned the Lunar guard to remove you, Miss Scratch," she stated without even bothering to glance over her shoulder at the moving shadow. The white unicorn flinched, but stepped into the moonlight nonetheless. "Fine. I'm not as sneaky as I'd hoped," she replied. "So? Why haven't you called the guards?" "Firstly, we know why you are here. Secondly, you are not the only one hiding amongst these shadows." Before Vinyl could process the sentence she had just heard, one of the shadows launched itself at her, pinning her to the ground. Judging from how heavy it was, she guessed it was the thing Luna had with her at the club. "That was extremely unnecessary," the blue alicorn chided, prompting the creature to release Vinyl and remove itself back to the darkness. "Our sincerest apologies, Vinyl. Our associate has a... flair for the dramatic." "Unless you've got some explanation for blacklisting Octavia, I would say his knee on my throat was an appropriate reaction," the D.J. half-joked, half-choked. "We are not responsible for her predicament, though we were aware that it would happen." "So, what, then? You expect me to join you for the sake of petty revenge?" Vinyl growled. "Revenge?" asked a soft, deep voice from the shadows. "Revenge will not restore Miss Octavia's position in the musical community, nor will revenge bring her any happiness," Luna's companion continued as he advanced on the unicorn menacingly. She could feel her every muscle tense as he drew closer, her every instinct telling her to engage her flight response, to run as fast and as far as she possibly could, but Vinyl wouldn't be cowed by anyone tonight. She clenched her teeth and glared right back at him, which for some reason only served to make the creature smile. "What you want, what you really want, Vinyl Scratch, is change. And if you join us, we will change everything."