Two dogs approached an obsidian castle not far from the town they had just left, slowing their pace to a walk. As they approached, they could see the black spires in full detail as they jutted up into the clouds.
One of the dogs reached out to grab the large wrought iron knocker on the main doors. A large echoing pound could be heard as he stuck the door once... Twice…On the third strike the castle shook, its inhabitant taking heed.
The black spires crumbled instantly into sand and came crashing down in a heap, burying the two. As the whole castle changed they could see a form in the midst, lying there between two palm trees on a hammock.
A snap was heard and a small tornado arrived to clear the sand from the covered figures who gasped for air as they surfaced.
“And why disturb me? I have my near absolute victory to lavish in.” spoke the king of disharmony.
One of the dogs lifted the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver. “The one you are searching for has returned. He has been sighted with the Alicorn sisters.”
“Sighted? Then why do you have his weapon?” Discord reached out and a swirl of air brought the sonic screwdriver to him.
“We… came across them. He dropped it.”
“You had them in your sights and you lost them?!” Discord asked incredulously.
“ We get gembz yesp?” the second dog asked only to be kicked by his brother.
“Not the time,” he scolded.
“Oh yes, you want payment for your failures.” Discord waved a hand and the two were encased entirely in crystal, looks of shock plastered on their faces.
Discord looked over the device in his hand. It was such a small thing, yet he could sense the immense number of memories it contained. It wasn’t a weapon, it was a simple tool the Doctor had gone on quite a few adventures with. Discord came upon a particular memory and grinned evilly.
“Lets see what happens when I bring a creature from your nightmares into this world, Doctor.”
~~~
The town was derelict. From the boarded up windows to run down cobble streets, its neglect showed nobody cared enough anymore to even bother fixing the problems. Even a building he passed that looked to be some sort of large library looked run down, but the most notable were the statues. One stone statue of a Pegasus pony with large angelic wings was pitted and half crumbled. The one on the other side of the stairs had fallen to pieces entirely.
He turned away, heading back through the town. “I never did get a name from either of you. If I am going to be galloping around saving this world in your names, shouldn’t I at least know them?”
“I am Luna, my older sister Celestia. We were named by our prophesied fate. I was to be the bringer of night, and my sister the one to bring forth the sun each day. I still don’t know how it could be possible, that is far too much magic to demand of even an Alicorn. Before Discord it took a legion of unicorn to do so.”
“Hmm… a planet that requires energy transfer to change from night to day… Strange indeed…” The Doctor mumbled. “ So this Discord? He now commands the sun and moon?” The Doctor was beginning to worry. If he had the power to do that, something that supposedly took a legion of magic users, he was a major threat to this world. He realized the girls had not answered him.
He saw a note scrawled out in chalk on the pavement: Doctor, yes you, duck now!
The Doctor did as commanded, and a piece of the cobble street flew past where his head had been. He wheeled around to find the earlier statue inches from his face. “No, no, no. This can’t be happening, not now. How could a weeping angel have gotten here?” He took a few steps back and could see past the angel where two ponies were running up to him.
They were older versions of Celestia and Luna. It seemed they had just become young adults. But if they were here… The Doctor made a quick glance to look for the younger versions. Gone. The two rounded the weeping angel pony and joined him. “Girls, I need you to listen very closely. Don’t turn your back and don’t look away. And most importantly don’t blink. It’s fed off your energy once; if it catches you again, you die.”
“We got your letter,” Luna retorted, sounding embittered. “Thanks for not coming to get us Mr. Space-and-Time.”
“It’s hardly my fault! Your coming here has fused the timeline. Now I am forced to write said letter and forced to leave you in the past after delivering it. But if you hadn’t come, that thing would have gotten me, so thanks for the surprise rescue.”
“Oh…”
“Eyes on the current matter!” Celestia yelled at the two who had looked away in their argument.
The weeping angel pony had moved forward slightly, its face fused in a stone sneer. Apparently Celestia had squeezed in a quick blink. The pitted form of the angel was now restored from feeding off the energy created by the paradox formed by sending the sisters back in time.
“How does it move?” Luna queried.
“It’s only stone when you look at it. It’s the angel’s defense and demise all in one. Back up slowly and turn your flanks to the left.” The group, under the Doctors orders, retreated towards the alley where the Tardis was stored. The Doctor bumped onto the Tardis. “Girls, I need you to be very brave and keep it from advancing without me for a moment.” The Doctor grabbed for the Key tucked inside his bowtie strap and inserted it into the lock. He gave it a quick turn and pushed the door open. “Thank you for not failing me now,” he mumbled to his hooves.
He turned back around to see the two girls staring down the statue. “Get in!” he yelled to them. They backed into the inviting light emanating from the opened door. The Doctor backed in after them, struggling to keep his eyes from the blink he felt coming. He got inside and began to close the door, but a stone hoof shot in. The weight of the statue was too much for him to push against alone, and the door was stuck open. Keeping an eye on the small portion of the angel he could see, he called, “A little help here?”
The two sisters joined him at the door. The statue was forced back slowly and its hoof caught between the two doors, keeping them from completely closing. “Keep your eye on that.” The Doctor mentioned at the stone hoof. The girls starred as the Doctor turned from the door. He squared off with the door and bucked it as hard as he could. The sound of crumbling stone could be heard and a few broken shards fell inside of the now closed door. The angel could be heard just outside as it clambered its way on to the Tardis, waiting for its victims to exit. But for the time being they were safe.
“Never had a chance to study this before!” The Doctor sounded amused as he scooped up the stone fragments and placed them in a pouch.
“We could be killed at any moment, and you are wondering over a few pieces of the monster that is waiting just outside?” Celestia asked, sounding annoyed at the Doctor.
“What’s the point of examining what’s already happened when it’s said and done. We should always be looking ahead. Never forget, but never dwell. So lighten up, princess.” The Doctor ruffled her mane.
The two Alicorn sisters looked around the Tardis in wonder. Luna was the first to question. “What magic is this? It’s bigger on the inside.”
“Not magic, Trans dimensional engineering. A key time lord development.”
“Without magic?” Celestia chimed in. “But, how?”
“To the rational mind nothing is inexplicable, just simply unexplained.” The Doctor left them with that statement to think on as he went about stashing the small pouch. “Now that letter. How much did I tell you? And how many years were you sent back?”
“Nothing past basic instructions that we must not interact with you or ourselves before the event of our disappearance, and where exactly to leave the note on the pavement so you would see it at the proper time. And we were sent back exactly eight years.”
“Good, I was hoping for simple, nothing like a note full of events that haven’t happened yet to mess up your day… Anyways, we have a creature to dispose of.” The Doctor began to flip switches and dials on the center console. “Geronimo!”
The Tardis faded from sight, as did the angel clinging to the side. “Just a quick dip into the sun’s corona should dispose of this thing,” the Doctor mumbled to himself. The girls overheard.
“Are you mad?” Celestia cried out. “Flying into the sun?!”
“Yes to the first and no to the second. I’m not flying into the sun per say… just very close.”
“Very reassuring…” Celestia said sarcastically.
“What’s wrong sister? You are supposed to be the embodiment of the sun. Just tell it not to kill us all,” Luna joked.
“If only it were that easy, sister.” Celestia let out a short laugh, remembering something. “Easy like that nobleman we robbed of his bits while he was in the back of his carriage stuffed to the hilt in some mare.”
“You should have seen the look on his face.” Luna laughed. “It was priceless.”
“Took to thievery to live these past eight years?” the Doctor queried as the Tardis let loose a shower of sparks. The two looked at the Doctor and then back to each other, continuing to laugh. Apparently it was one of those you had to be there to understand sort of things.
The two reminisced the funnier moments of the past eight years to keep their minds occupied as the Tardis groaned out under the strain of being so close to a star. A flame licked up one of the inside walls as a panel shattered out.
“That’s quite more than enough.” The Doctor mumbled to himself, certain that their unwanted passenger had been vaporized; he quickly adjusted the dials to take them away. The interior of the Tardis was quickly filling with smoke and the temperature rose.
The two sisters continued to laugh to dissolve their fears; even through the smoke that would soon begin to hinder breathing. But suddenly a bright spark formed above the two and began to grow. Light swept through the Tardis, clearing the smoke and snuffing the fire. The light took shape as a crystalline orb and floated down to the two girls who stopped to look at it in awe.
“Could it be? The prophesied elements are real?” Celestia asked.
“It seems our journey has just begun, sister. We have the element of laughter, now we must discover the others.”