The sun shone down once again upon the garden of the castle of Canterlot that was filled with the statues of past heroes, villains, other noteworthy ponies and other beings for that matter. Princess Celestia found herself at the front of a small convoy of unicorns that were walking through the place. Three groups of six unicorns each held something within their magical aura. Though none of them truly knew what it was they carried. All that they know was that it was big and heavy. Three things that matched the height of the princess when they were carried through the garden. Luckily for the stallions, there was no sun that burned that hot upon their coats. It was a lovely spring one and a cool breeze of air went through each of their mane, giving some refreshment.
Celestia kept a keen eye on everything that happened in the garden. Quite literally she did that. One of them was always taken from the view by her ever so calm yet majestic mane. It caught everything from the littlest of birds chirping, to the branches moving in the trees thanks to the wind. Nothing would have slipped her attention. Yet nopony knew just how either she or her sister had gained them but it was all pretty obvious that it had to do something with the sun, the moon and the banishment. The cloudless skies caused the air was as blue as it possibly could but time to enjoy the view in the skies was unheard off as Celestia had something important to do.
“N-No offence, your majesty, but these, things, weigh a ton even if we carry it with the six of us. What are they made of, dwarf star alloy or something?” a stallion with a grey coat and green mane asked as he struggled to keep up. “And if they are from that material, who retrieved it and carved it? Your sister?”
“Does explain how bloody heavy these things are, what are they to begin with?” another asked as his eyes looked over to the princess. “Course there’s, no answer...” The last couple of words were added in a near inaudible muttering. But only when there wasn’t any form of answer was given to him or them. The princess always had been a mystery to decipher for everypony when it came down to it. Nopony could ever have just predicted what she was planning in that head of hers. And it was that what made her so well respected by her subjects in the land. But also rose fear in the hearts of some ponies that lived under her reign.
Princess Celestia on the other end never gave their complaints any hearing. All because of the fact that she didn't had any desires to do so. She had paid them well and their task was simple. A task that was clear for them. Carry the cloaked objects to the given location by the princess, it was literally that simple and easy to remember. With her one visible light magenta red rimmed eye she scanned the area for anything that looked like it could hold all three of the cloaked things.
They all went through the garden with a trot. They came across the statue of Discord himself as he was once again reduced to nothing but stone and it was how the princess preferred him actually. Some called her cold and heartless for the action but they hadn't seen the unnatural chaos that was spread by him. Either that or they didn't want to remember. Yet there were rumors that she wanted to set him free and let the very elements of harmony reform him. But it were just rumors.
“Creepy dude,” one of the carriers spoke up in a deep tone as he peeled up to the statue.
“If the gentlecolts found that the most horrifying statue in the garden, then I suggest them not to look over to the vine overgrown statue of Nightmare Moon. That one really looks like it wants to not just gobble you up, but devour you,” Celestia all of the sudden replied in an ominous tone. One that none was actually used from her and each of the stallions looked a bit suspicious to one another before they carried on with their duties. But within seconds the feelings were gone as their minds and muscles did the job again. The strain alone was actually enough to crush the feelings they had racing through their minds.
“Halt,” the princess spoke to them all. They had arrived by a pedal of grass that stood in the middle of four roads. “Would you be so kind to set them on the lit up area’s?” With a charge of her horn were three spots of grass illuminated with a white light, a wonderful one at that. All eighteen of the stallions couldn't be happier that their journey was almost over. All they had to do, was to place them and then it would just be done. Their jobs would be done and their day off could begin.
With some great care had they brought the objects over to the parts pointed to them. Moments later it would have been. The three dull plofs on the ground as they were set down on the grass. The only visible eye of the princess went over them and she gave a nod of approval. Each of the objects stood to her liking and a smile had grown on her face as the horn discharged itself. “Would the foreman please remove the cloaks and thus reveal, the new additions to the Canterlot statue garden?” Celestia spoke up in her usual calm and serene tone. But inside she was like a filly in a sweetshop, she couldn't be happier.
“Shouldn't there be like, a major opening for this or something?” the foreman asked to the royal. He walked up to the cloak, looking nervous out of his eyes.
“Oh my dear, mister Trails, these statues are not that important that they require the full attention of every living soul in the land. They aren't from Starswirl or somepony alike. Now if you please.” Celestia insisted the stallion with a reassuring smile across her lips.
---
But back inside the castle there was nopony else than Luna who had found herself gazing through one of the windows. One that had a clear view on what happened in the garden. On the sight she saw, she could only release a deep sigh through her mouth and shook her head in a negative manner. “Sister, my sister, what have you gotten this time?” she mumbled to herself as she leaned against the wall to be more ‘casual.’ It was something she had to try every so often. Not for Celestia though, but more for herself. The thousand years on the moon had her mindset still back in that time. The one that she carried was the mindset of regal and posture that hadn't been seen in the land for at least five centuries. Something that was replaced with casual and down to earth over the passage of time.
The blue eyes of the royal mare never lost their attention from the events that went on in the garden but she never seemed to actually be excited about the whole happening. Luna had tried to warn her sister about that what remained under the cloak. That it was best left destroyed or left in peace. But a stubborn Celestia didn't listen to her sister and waved it off with a joke. A wave they would come to pay in great numbers. “Captain Armor, what do you think of the whole situation?” she asked to the white coated, multiple blue maned stallion that stood against her. His broad posture was something that wasn't uncommon by the guards, yet it made him stand out from all of them.
“I, am not sure just what I have to think about it all, your highness. I was given very little information about this operation,” the captain replied in all of his honesty. A sigh left through his nostrils afterwards. The eyes took themselves away from Luna and he looked to the outside world, to the events happening. He too tried to figure out just what was going on, what was happening even.
“And that troubles me the most...” Luna said to him in a quiet tone. Her eyes fell shut for a moment. It wasn’t long after that, that she allowed herself to be submerged in her own thoughts.
---
While the horn of the foreman kept itself charged which caused the cloaks to get shrouded within their aura’s and looked to one another. The three of them nodded to one another. At the same time, they all removed the pieces of cloth from the objects. What they revealed was something breathtaking to say the least, but perhaps not in the good way of the word. All of the workers gasped for air whereas Celestia only smiled more. Twenty-one set of eyes were all focused upon three statues of what appeared to be just stone.
Statues whose weight was as much as if they were made from a material that came out of space itself. Making the connection with space, some thought the beings were carved out by nopony else then Luna. A right they had of course, but they couldn't be further from the truth itself.
But the real truth was something far more deadly. Far more scheming even.
“W-What are they?” a worker with a bright blue mane asked to the princess.
“A very good question that is to be asked. Gentlecolts, that where you are looking at right now are three statues that will serve as the spiritual protector of Canterlot. I give you, the Angels of Canterlot,” she spoke proudly to the ponies that were present.
---
Luna had opened her eyes again and she had just rolled them away when she saw the hoof motion her sister made. Captain Armor on the other end looked at it all in pure horror. “This is...” he said.
“Unbelievable?” Luna interrupted him without a warning. She had opened her eyes straight again. Though she placed her eyes on the captain, eyeing his reactions.
“Well, quite, your highness. I never expected these kind of statues to enter the garden. They are more home at a,” captain Armor spoke up as he looked back into the deep blue eyes of the princess. but he had lost his touch for words and fell in silence.
“At a..?” Luna pried unto him to get it loose. She was curious to hear what he had to say.
“At a cemetery,” the stallion spoke up in the end. An eerie reality that the alicorn of the night had to admit that much. They indeed looked like the guardians of the dead in their eyes.
---
All three of the statues had the identical pose and structure to them which made them look like exact replicas of one another. Their pose was that of a pony who stood on its hind legs while the forelegs covered the faces but above all, the eyes themselves. They held in such a manner as if they were weeping over something, or somepony. Their hind legs were invisible as the statues ‘wore’ a dress that went to the very base of them. The spread wings gave them the impression that they were from the pegasus race. And that fact only rose more questions by the workers.
“If you ask me, they look more like weeping angels then spiritual protectors, your highness,” the green maned stallion spoke aloud. “You sure there isn't anything special about these things? Cause they look, I shouldn't question.” He held his mouth quickly when Celestia gave him an utmost uncomfortable glare with her one visible eye. The deadly glance she gave caused shivers to others.
“So, where do these come from? Obviously not from Cloudsdale given their weight. Ancient times perhaps?” yet another worker asked out loud. He was hoping to reduce the rage of the mare.
“They do come from that age actually,” replied Celestia under her signature, calming smile. “These were supposed to be the protectors from the pegasus kingdom until it took off in the form of Cloudsdale’s predecessor. But, enough about these statues. How about we have a little celebration within the castle? Who's coming?”
Of course none of the workers could say ‘no’ to the offer that was made and they all followed the high alicorn back into the castle. Each of them was more than glad they didn't had to carry those things around anymore yet they never felt comfortable with them.
The Angels of Canterlot were everything except what they looked like. They were deadly, vicious, without mercy and lightning quick creatures. How would that be possible, one might ask? Only one being held the answer to that question. A being who had come into some trouble on his own. A being who never believed in the concept of coincidence itself, yet was going to be part of it whether he liked it or not.
---
Inside the machine that was called the TARDIS itself, the eleventh incarnation of the mysterious and perhaps mostly unpredictable Doctor was working. He ran around the clock to get her back on track while the sparks flung around his ears. “Come on Sexy, you can do this! You never left me alone and you for certain wouldn't do it this time!” he spoke just before he pulled lever after crank. The Doctor didn't care about the flying sparks that were sent everywhere around him. He would find out just what had set him off course. “Come on, come on, come on. Let’s see now...”
Despite the moaning and groaning of the machine, the Doctor took hold of the screen and looked on the data that was readable on it. “Well, good thing I send Amy and Rory back to Earth. A rift in space and time, and I’m getting sucked right into it!” The further he spoke his words, the bigger his eyes got and the more they were filled with a disbelief. He knew he had to work fast to make sure he didn't entered through it. But little did he know that it was in fact, inescapable. He had to go in.
It was literally all hands on deck for the last Time Lord. He did everything in his might to make sure he would get away from the rift. He would even burn up every circuit the TARDIS had in it would help. If the Time Lord would have gone through the rift, it was uncertain just where he could end up. If he would end up anywhere to begin with. Holes within space, just as unpredictable as humans.
The TARDIS itself had it even heavier in the situation. For it was almost impossible to pull itself away from the strength that dragged it and the option to dematerialize simply wasn't there. That came due to the fact it was a little, broken. “Stupid blue lights! You were good for nothing! And can somebody shut that siren off, please!” the Doctor shouted to himself. Yet the dangers only rose. Much of the machine’s alarms were ringing as loud as they possibly could, sparks of electricity were sent into every single direction. Nonetheless, he did everything that was possible to save his skin. Even button not pressed in years were finally pressed again. But all was in vain hope.
“Don’t you dare to quit on me today! We have so much more to do!” the Doctor shouted to the console just before he went to work again. “So many things to see!”
Without any form of warning, there was a moment of silence. Almost as if time itself stood still inside the TARDIS. The Doctor took note of the events and began to question if it was too late already. Slowly he stepped away from the control board and fixed his bow tie under a gulp. “Indeed we do, but now, you need to sleep,” a voice spoke to him. A voice that came as a shock to him as he had heard it before. Right on the planet outside the universe.
“W-Who is there?!” he questioned to it. He couldn't believe it. The Doctor refused to believe that what he heard. Then time came back into motion. It was a rather small explosion which caused the console next to him to go up in smoke. “And that were the stabilizers,” the Time Lord mumbled. Before he could get an answer to the question, he was flung from one end to the other like a toy, until he fell from the stairs. It was only seconds after he landed that his body fell unconscious.
With nothing to guide the machine and its systems shutting themselves down one after the other by either power shortage or overload, the TARDIS flew right into rift. The closer it came, the more violent it shook up and down. In an instant there was nothing but calm. No lights to be seen, no sudden splashes of water from the library pool. Nothing, absolutely nothing went through the thing.
The worst that could have happened to the man was that he found himself in the inescapable void of nothing. A universe that walked right between two others where he would be able to peek at both but never enter. It was a concept that was used to create the infamous Pandorica, the ultimate prison. Yet the Doctor managed to escape that, because it wasn't watertight. The universe he could have found himself in however, was.