//------------------------------// // A Turn for the Worst // Story: The Doctor and the Pegasus // by RandomHamster33 //------------------------------// The Doctor bit onto his hammer and slammed it down on a panel with a ding. He then flipped a large silver lever, pressed a few buttons here and there, and turned his attention to the little screen floating by his head. The Time Lord groaned loudly. His sonic screwdriver was still not done. Only 15% left, though, which was a good thing. He would definitely need it soon. "Okay, so, three fillies that knew I'm not from here, gone within 24 hours, and now I have six ponies trying to figure me out. Fantastic," the Doctor grumbled, letting his head sink down, eyes dark. "Well, no time to be wasted! Investigation time!" The Time Lord bounced up, and waited until the TARDIS rematerialized and cautiously opened the door a crack. One large, brown eye scanned the landscape from the opening. The exact place he'd landed when he had gotten away from Rainbow Dash. . . the first time. He stepped into the alley and quickly went to the bush the CMC were talking about him in when he had appeared there. He pulled a magnifying glass out from his collar and looked around in the leaves. After a few seconds, he grinned. He slipped the magnifying glass back and found a pair of tweezers instead, using them to delicately pick up the thin pink hair from a leaf. The Doctor pulled his head out from the bush and sprung towards the TARDIS. He sprinted inside to the console and bit onto a nozzle. He gave it a tug. The silvery cord unraveled from somewhere inside the console. The Doctor rummaged under the board of the control panel. When he pulled his hoof back, in it he had a little silver tray and two, very small clips; one red and one blue. The Time Lord attached the tray to the end of the nozzle and then set the light pink hair in it. He then very carefully attached the clips to the hair. He went around to the other side of the controls and pressed a medium sized green button. A slight whirring sound filled the air as the TARDIS picked up the location of the filly's hair. The pink strand lit up for a moment. The Doctor flashed a glance at it, stretching his neck so he could see. He grinned and then looked up at the blue screen. It turned black. A single white dot appeared in the center. His face fell. "Oh, not good. Very not good. Blackness. Very dark, wherever those fillies are. And I'm sure that's also very bad for me," the Time Lord commented to himself, grimacing. He shook his head, looking down, and pressed a few square buttons next to him. "Of course, I don't even dare just materializing the TARDIS there." He stopped, his eyebrows furrowed. "But. . . if I flew the TARDIS down there. .?" He rubbed the back of his head, a frown on his face. "Maybe. First I'll have to find where that black is. Darkness, darkness, where would you find darkness. . ." He jerked his head up from where it had been lowered, standing over the controls on his hind legs. "Oh! A cave! A cave! That's it! Alright! Here I go!" The Time Lord yanked a large lever and the TARDIS shifted, groaning. He held onto the console as she rumbled. The Doctor grinned. Always dangerous and exciting, where he went. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The mouths of five ponies were on the ground. Literally. I mean, seriously, they were on the ground. Rainbow Dash hovered above them, her arms crossed. A knowing look was on her face as she floated, eyebrows raised. After about five more minutes of silent gaping, she rolled her eyes. "Well? What'd I tell ya?" She nodded firmly. "Alien." Several more minutes of appalled silence later, Twilight Sparkle finally reacted differently. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish's as she pointed at the spot where the TARDIS had once been and then at Dash, then to her and the other ponies. She did that for a few more minutes. Rainbow sighed, face hoofing herself. She lightly kicked Twilight in the back of the head, causing her to finally spit out an answer as she fell forward, landing on her chest with her front legs under her and her rump sticking in the air. "W-what was that?!" Twilight spluttered, blinking furiously for a few moments. She once again pointed a hoof at the spot where the TARDIS had been. "Can you explain that?! Can I explain that?!" She scrambled up, accidently bumping into Fluttershy, who was now laying curled up in the grass in fear. "It just disappeared! It just freakin' disappeared! That isn't scientifically possible!" "I wouldn't say 'impossible'," Rainbow commented, making quotation marks in the air, "as you have magic." "You-you're saying that was magic?!" Twilight fell onto her haunches. "No. Just, uh, never mind. Come on, I'll gloat along the way! We need to find that box!" "Now hold on just one dang minute!" Applejack shouted before the pegasus could fly off. "Ah demand an explanation! We just witnessed an alien, in a box, vanish! Right in front of us! Tell us what that was!" The earth pony stomped her hoof angrily. "I don't know! All I know is that the Doctor knows what he's doing. He'll know where the fillies could be. I mean, seriously, he made it pretty obvious. We can ask him when we find him. I need to say something though; ha! I was riiigghhhtt! Suck it!" Rainbow did a dance of victory, making sure to end with a hip thrust right at Applejack, who was standing there with a totally not amused face. "Booyah!" She laughed, a smirk on her face. "By the way, the Doctor is as skinny as a twig, like seriously. I swear, he was lighter than Fluttershy." "So it'll be easy to hog tie 'em and get answers?" Rainbow Dash smiled evilly. "Yeah." The pegasus developed a more serious tone. "Come on! Let's go!" "Alright! Alien hunting!" Pinkie Pie cheered as they, although some of them more reluctantly, traveled back into town. "Seriously?" Applejack deadpanned, looking at the bouncing pony. "You're excited?!" "Of course! I love meeting new friends!" She smiled so widely she had to close her eyes. "Even when we're probably goin' to be injurin' him shortly?" "Yep!" "Suit yourself." "I love wearing suits!" Applejack groaned. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What." The Doctor stood at the entrance to his TARDIS, a confused look on his face. He was not at a cave. In fact, he wasn't even near anywhere that remotely looked like a cave. Or a hole. Or anything of the sort. He was now right in the middle of a grassy field, the sun shining brightly down on him. Small clusters of flowers and wild strawberries were scattered over the landscape. The Doctor fell to the ground, groaning. This was no time for the TARDIS to be recalibrating. "Come on, old girl! We need to get some work done soon. I can sense something. And you can too. Something's off, just a little fuzzy feeling, barely noticeable," he commented to his ship, standing up and running his hoof down the side of her. He pressed his face against her wooden door, staying like that for a few moments before backing away. The Doctor looked around again, trying to see if he missed something. No. He hadn't. There was nothing there. The Doctor went back inside the TARDIS, slowly closing the door behind him. He was going to head back to Ponyville. As much as he didn't want to, he needed to ask around to see if there were any nearby known caves. If the TARDIS didn't go, then he would have to go on foot. He touched down in the alley and stepped outside. A large shaking motion made the Time Lord fall against the blue doors. A rumbling sound filled the air. Ponies stopped, perplexed and frightened. A scream cut through the air, causing ponies to go wild. They ran around in terror as the sky began turning black. Clouds swirled in the air, uncontrolled by the pegasi who were now being shot out of the sky. They crash landed in buildings and some were even sent hurtling into the EverFree Forest. Lightning crackled in the sky, starting fires randomly. The towns ponies were now shrieking in horror, running into their homes to hide as the sky darkened. The Doctor stared up at the blackness, his ears flattened against his head. "This would be it, then. I-owch!" A bolt of lightning struck the TARDIS, sending the Doctor careening across the ground. His violent journey stopped when, albeit painfully, he slammed into a building. The crash triggered another wave of DNA changes. The Doctor gasped in pain as a burning sensation ripped through his body. His back arching, the Time Lord groaned, pounding his hoof on the ground next to him. "Ahahaha!" he half laughed, half cried. The Doctor squeezed his eyes shut, a grimace on his face. Taking a deep breath, he managed to roll onto his stomach and look up at the sky. Dark clouds covered the sky. No rain fell, though something was falling. Medium sized, black creatures shot from the clouds, creating dents as they hit the dirt. They had crooked horns and thin, transparent wings, with a shiny greenish-blueish carapace. They were only about the size of a filly, but had sharp teeth and dark blue eyes with no pupils. Their legs were gnarled, holes covering them. Their short grey manes stuck up in a Mohawk, and their tails were no longer. The creatures hissed at the ponies left in the streets, the ones that hadn't had enough time to reach their homes. A strange webbing was shot at them, sticking the equines to the ground. The Doctor tried to sit up, but found he couldn't as another round of searing pain shot through his body. He coughed, lungs refusing to take in air. His twin hearts beat out of control. As darkness crept across his vision, he looked up again. A large creature, much larger than the others, descended from the heavens. Her blue mane waved in the wind as her translucent wings carried her down. A three-pointed crown was atop her head. Her large horn, misshapen and filled with holes, lit up with a green aura. The clouds shifted and a single beam of light hit her, marking her descent. She landed. Dust flew up in all directions. "Bow before me, mortals! I am the Queen of the Changelings, and you will all be fed upon by my minions!" she snarled boastfully as she hovered in the air. "Now, my minions, feed! Feed on the love! Spread across Equestria, sparing no one! I shall deal with the Princesses!" The Queen cackled as she prepared to take off. Her drones hissed in delight, immediately attacking the ponies that were stuck in the goo from earlier. Screams of horror rang around the town as the changelings invaded homes and businesses. "No! Stop right there!" a voice called. The Doctor looked over with the last of his strength, and saw the six mares standing in front of the Queen. He tried to stand up, but failed. "We won't let you take over Equestria!" Twilight shouted at the Queen again. She pointed an accusing hoof at the changeling. "Oh ho ho, really?" the Queen asked smugly. She buzzed over to the group. "And why not?" "Because we're going to stop you!" Rainbow Dash growled, holding up her hooves in a fighting stance. "Well, I think not! Your defenders are gone! They're all the way over in the Chrystal Empire!" She laughed. "How-how did you know that?" Twilight stuttered. "Seriously, Twilight Sparkle? The changelings have been watching the ponies for a while. Months, now. My minions have reported back to me the status of Equestria and all that's been happening in it. We know all about it, now. You are alone! Cadence and Shining Armor are in the Chrystal Empire, and as we speak, my drones are invading their kingdom, feeding on their love." The Queen hovered over the mane six threateningly. She smirked. "Equestria belongs to me!" "But you haven't been feeding on any love! You're not strong!" Rarity countered, one eyebrow raised. "Oh, to the contrary! We have been! We've found a way to feed on love in secret! So, we're stronger than ever!" The Queen threw out her arms. The drones rose into the air, following their leader's command. "Now, devastate this land!" The millions of changelings spread across Equestria, a black cloud covering the sky. The Queen waved a hoof at the ponies below her. "Toodaloo~" "No!" Twilight shouted, firing a blast at the teleporting Queen. It missed, and the magenta beam shot off into space. The unicorn stomped her hoof and ground her teeth together. "She got away!" The ponies started yelling at each other randomly. "Um, you guys, I found something. . . " Pinkie Pie said, motioning with her hoof. The other five looked over at what she was staring at, stopping their arguments. Rainbow Dash flew ahead, her mouth open. "The Doctor!" the light blue pegasus gaped. She flew down and landed next to him. She furiously waved her hoof for the others to come over there. They hurriedly trotted over. "Is he. . . alright?" Twilight asked cautiously. The six ponies looked down on him, eyes full of curiosity. "Fluttershy, analysis?" Applejack inquired like a surgeon. The yellow pegasus had the back of her hoof on the Doctor's forehead. She pulled it away and glanced up at the others, her face grim. She shook her head. "High temperature, erratic breathing. . . Dash, can you tell me when a minute's up?" "Sure thing," Rainbow responded. She closed her eyes and focused. Fluttershy put her wing on the Time Lord's neck, looking for a pulse. The time slowly passed. "Done." Fluttershy sighed. "145." "What?! How is that possible?!" Twilight exclaimed. "How can one have a heart rate of 145?!" The unicorn shook her head, putting a hoof on her forehead to calm herself. "Alright, alright. What do we do, then? What's happening to him? He's done this twice now." "I don't know, I've never seen anything like this. Random attacks. . . I don't think it's a heart attack or a stroke, or anything like that. I'm baffled." The timid pegasus shrugged. "Well, great, just great," Applejack muttered. "If anything, we should get inside. We're lucky that no changelings have found us, or come for us at all. Come on," Twilight instructed. She lit her horn, which was still smoking slightly from the magic beam earlier, and picked the Doctor's limp body up. "Wow, Dash, you were right, he is really light." "Can we focus here?" Rainbow Dash asked seriously. "Right, sorry." The six ponies rushed to the library and closed themselves inside. "Okay, everypony, grab your Elements. We need to get to Canterlot and defeat the Queen," Twilight said. She passed the Elements of Harmony out. "What do we do with him?" Rarity asked, casting a glance down at the unconscious Doctor. "We leave him here." Twilight lowered her own Element onto her head. "But what if the changelings find him?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Oh well. We know what took the fillies now. Isn't it obvious? We find the Queen, demand to know where they are, then use the Elements on her." Twilight prepared to open the door. "Simple as that." The door swung open. "Twilight, look out!" Fluttershy shouted, pointing outside. The unicorn spun around and was tackled to the floor by a changeling. The breath was knocked out of her. The Element of Magic was flung off, hitting the ground. It snapped at her neck, trying to kill her. Twilight blasted it off and sent it flying. Dash karate kicked it, and it hit the wall, falling to the floor. "We're not safe here. Twilight, are you okay?" Applejack asked, helping her friend up. Rarity levitated her crown back to her. "Thanks, and yeah, I'm okay. That was sudden," Twilight said, out of breath. She put a hoof on her chest to calm down. "What was sudden?" Six eyes shot to the pony who had just spoken. The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, looking down. He shifted uncomfortably and kicked the floor as the ponies stared. "Did. . . did I do something?" he asked. "What the buck is going on?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She flew up and grabbed the Doctor by his collar, shaking him in the air. "One moment you're laying, knocked out cold on the ground, the next you're completely fine and running around! Tell us, what's happening." The Doctor, from where he was in the air, looked at the group of ponies. He sighed, closing his eyes. "Alright. I'll tell you. It's going to be complicated, so listen." He paused. "And would you put me down?. . Nicely! Don't want to trigger another episode, do you?" "I guess not." Dash set the Doctor down. He straightened his tie and cleared his throat. "Start explaining, Doc. We don't have much time." Dash laid back on a hanging shelf, arms behind her head. The five others settled down in a circle. "So, I'm an alien." "Yeah, we knew that. What. . . kind?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "I'm a Time Lord." "A Time Lord? So-" "You're a Lord of Time?! Awesome!" Pinkie Pie cheered, bouncing up and down. "Does that mean you fix time?" "Well, kind of, but, I'm not going to go into detail about my species." The Doctor put his hoof on Pinkie's head and pushed her back to the ground. Man that pony was annoying. "So, Time Lord, what's that box? I mean, seriously, it's a box," Twilight commented. "That's my ship. She's called the TARDIS. That's 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space'. Best ship in the universe." "But it's so small!" "Oi! Don't knock it!" The Doctor gave the unicorn a quick glare. "Anyways, so, you're probably all wondering why I'm here exactly." He started pacing the room. "Well, my ship crashed here. That's when I ran into Dash—literally—and this whole thing began. I could tell right away there was something wrong here. Little fuzzies in energy pulses, things like that. The fillies going missing, I'm guessing that doesn't happen very often. And then this 'Queen Changeling' comes in here with her army. Well, yeah, that's gonna happen when I'm here. Death and destruction follow me, wherever I go. . ." He sighed, rubbing his temples. "So, I'll need to get to my ship. Have an invasion to stop." He turned towards the door. "Wait a minute. You could take us to Canterlot! We'd get there much faster than walking or taking the train," Rarity said. The other ponies nodded. Their eyes focused on the Doctor. "I. . fine. Well, come on then! What are we waiting for?" The Time Lord leaped towards the door, taking the lead. "Allons-y!" The seven raced to the TARDIS, getting there without attracting any unwanted attention from nearby changelings. "Here it is! Alright, everybody in!" He unlocked the door and opened it. "Wait, how are we all going to fit. . in. . there. .?" Twilight's question faded as she entered the spacecraft. The ponys' eyes widened, staring, at the inside of the TARDIS. "It's bigger on the inside! Now, hurry up, we don't have much time!" The Doctor bustled the six ponies in farther. He closed the door and went to the control panel, beginning to click several buttons. "Hey, what's this do?" Pinkie Pie asked as she pulled a random lever. "No!" The Doctor flung himself at the pink pony, but it was too late. The TARDIS shuddered, and the next thing the Time Lord knew he was falling out of the ship. The TARDIS was in flight. He clung onto the bottom of the door step, hoping he didn't fall. Little harder to grip with hooves. "Well don't everybody help at once!" he snapped, trying to haul himself inside. Two orange hooves grabbed his brown ones and pulled him in. He jumped up, only to fall over as his legs gave out from under him. He gasped, grimacing in pain. "Q-quick, switch that l-lever off!" "On it!" Rainbow Dash called, grabbing hold of it and throwing it back into its original position. The TARDIS suddenly stopped, and lowered the fifty or so feet back to the earth. "H-help me up." He reached up,and the two pegasi in the room flew over to him and held him up. "Take me to the controls, n-now." He was moved painfully over to the console. "Alright, NO more touching stuff, you got that?" He glanced at the ponies, stopping at Pinkie. The pink pony smiled sheepishly, waving a hoof. "Eh heh, sorry." "Okay, so-GAAH!" He yowled in pain and the pegasi dropped him in surprise, letting him fall onto the floor. The Doctor winced. "You see that. . . that. . ." He stopped, forgetting what he was about to say. He couldn't remember anymore. "That what?" Fluttershy asked, leaning over the stallion. "I-I. . . I don't recall. . what was I saying again?" He tried lifting his head up but found he couldn't. "And who are you ponies? What are you doing in my. . ." He struggled to find the word, which was getting lost in his mind. "My. . oh, I, what? What's going on? Am I dead or something?" The Time Lord's head pounded. His whole body tensed. Another DNA fluctuation caused him to yell out, the feeling of fire burning in his veins. "AHH-I what? I don't know where I am. . . I think I'm Ten but I don't. . . wait, what's Ten got to do with anything? Is everything always this. . this hard to feel? Because I can't feel my legs. . ." His eyes rolled back in his head, which flopped over to the side, and he passed out. "Why does this keep happenin'?" Applejack asked, worried. "He never even said. And what's he talking about? Why didn't he know us? He didn't even know the name of his ship! And something about Ten, I guess, but I'm not sure what that means," Dash commented. "Well, we don't know how to fly this thing. We've gotta try and wake him up," Rarity said. She reached out her hoof and shook his shoulder, jostling him. "Here, let's try this." Rainbow shouted at the top of her lungs, causing the others to wince and cover their ears. Pinkie tried her handy-dandy flugelhorn, which didn't work either. Twilight summoned a bucket of water to douse him with, but all that did was make him let out a violent yell and thrash about a bit. Applejack pulled his eyelids up and looked at his eyes. "Well, this ain't workin'," the southern mare said, announcing their thoughts out loud. "Shoot. What're we going to do now?" Dash asked. "We're going to go to Canterlot, remember? You know, defeat the Queen?" the Doctor reminded them, having just opened his eyes. "What!? How-!? Okay, tell us what's happening to you! We need to know," Twilight demanded. "Isn't it simple? I'm not supposed to be a pony. I changed. My DNA's now trying to fix everything, and it's slowly making me forget who I am. It's going to change me permanently into a pony, and I'll be gone. Boom. No more Doctor. So, if you'd please stop getting me thrown out my own ship, or kicking me into a bookshelf, or tossing me in the air, that'd be great. I don't have much longer until the full transformation, so we need to get this over with," the Time Lord told them. He stood up and got the TARDIS on its way. The wheezing of the engines announced their arrival as the materialized in Canterlot Castle. "Okay, let's turn this thing invisible. Don't want any changeling getting involved here." He flipped a switch and the cloaking device turned on. "Stay in here while I quickly check it out." He poked his head out. "I thought Cadence and Shining Armor sent you packing last time we met, Chrysalis," a tall white alicorn commented sourly from where she was stuck in green goo. "Oh, but we unpacked here in Equestria, setting up base. There's no stopping us now, Celestia," Chrysalis gloated. She paced the throne room, smirking. "Release us, foul mare!" another midnight blue alicorn snarled from across the room, where she too was enveloped in the sticky green goo. "We shall smite thee!" She flapped her wings, which were free from the goop, trying to escape and tackle the Queen. "Oh, please, Luna, all that formal talk is really getting quite irritating." The changeling flew around the younger alicorn. "I would stop talking if I were, less anything happen to your sister. ." "Leave her alone!" Celestia growled, struggling in her bonds. "Silence! No more talking for either of you!" Chrysalis shouted, sending a wave of energy across the room. The two sisters cried out as they were hit with the magic, not talking anymore. "I go to see how my minions are faring." She hovered out of the room. Ding! The Doctor flashed a glance at the screen as he closed the door. His sonic screwdriver was done! He went up to the console and grabbed the probe out of its slot. "Alright! Sonic screwdriver!" he cheered, flipping it in his hoof. "What's that thing?" Rarity asked, pointing at it. "My sonic screwdriver. I'll explain more later." The Doctor motioned to the ponies to stay there. He crept out, keeping low behind the throne. The TARDIS had landed right next to it, but thankfully the Queen had been too focused on the Princesses to notice the sound of the engines or the ship itself. The ponies in the TARDIS were waiting, anxious to know what was happening. Meanwhile, Twilight was inspecting the controls. She reached the screen, tapping it. It flickered on, and she saw what was happening outside. "Hey! Look at this!" Twilight hissed, waving her hoof. The five mares scurried over and watched silently. The Doctor reached Celestia, who was trapped on the other side of the throne. "Who are you?" the Princess asked, baffled, as the Doctor broke the strands of goo sticking the ruler of Equestria. "I'm the Doctor. Now sh!" he silenced, and Celestia fell quiet. He continued breaking the strands. He didn't notice that the Queen of the changelings was entering again. "Now, what do we have here?" she asked slyly, standing at the entrance of the room. The Doctor spun around, ears flattening against his head. "Oh! My, I didn't notice you coming in. Hello!" He backed away slowly, back towards the TARDIS. Chrysalis stalked towards him. "Freeing my prisoners? Naughty, naughty, naughty!" She licked her lips, horn glowing. "I, um, I should be leaving! I-" Smack! The Doctor turned around just as he ran into the TARDIS. He fell over. "Quick! Grab him!" Twilight hissed. Rainbow Dash quickly opened the door and tugged the Time Lord inside before a bolt of green magic slammed right into him. Outside, the Queen raged. "That's it! These games, Celestia, they will end! Time for my secret weapon!" The whole country was hit with what seemed like a giant earthquake. Buildings crumbled. The earth cracked, giant splits running across the ground. The Princesses screamed as Chrysalis laughed, her cackling filling the air.