//------------------------------// // The Oncoming Storm // Story: The Adventures of Doctor Whooves: Series 1 // by Time Pony Victorious //------------------------------// The barren desert of Skaro stretched out for miles and miles. The blazing sun beat down on the landscape like something terrible but the Doctor wasn’t concerned with it. No, he shouldn’t call himself that anymore, he isn’t any sort of Doctor, not now. His dark brown coat matched his dusty, rusty-colored leather coat and chestnut mane that stuck up wildly. His eyes were a deep silver and expressed exhaustion and weariness beyond his years. A massive plasma rifle was strapped to his back, jerry-rigged from a Dalek’s weapon and Time Lord technology, as a reminder that he refuses to stand on either side of this war. On his flank was his cutie mark, an Hourglass that’s been cracked with the golden sand spilling out. He walked through this desert for hours but it felt like thousands of years. Memories of when he first visited this planet flooded his mind, it didn’t exactly fill him nostalgia either. Glaring at the horizon, he finally spotted what he was heading to. A massive structure in the shape of a Dalek stood tall, reaching the skies, it was their base of command. Naïve to put it so easily accessible, but the Daleks probably figured no one would be stupid enough to walk right up to it. Just in case, however, the Doctor brandished a device shaped like an egg with a red button on top and pressed it. It buzzed to life and hummed quietly, it was designed to shield his presence from the Daleks. Sneaking up to the Daleks in a TARDIS was suicidal, even more than on hoof but the TARDIS is immense and difficult to shield. A simple unicorn, however, wasn’t. “Right then,” he mumbled in his gravelly voice. “Let’s go visit those lovely Daleks…” ~==~ Dalek Caz attended to the communications array, instantaneously receiving a million transmissions from a billion, billion Daleks, and sorting them out, sending them to the proper sub-channels so they could be attended personally. If the Daleks could feel emotions one simple and powerful emotion would be surging through his subroutines: anticipation. Their plan was going exceedingly well, at this rate, the whole of Gallopfrey will be exterminated. Caz focused back on his job and less on his newfound emotion. Daleks are the purest of the pure because of their lack of emotion and technological supremacy, delegating even the slightest bit of emotion would go against everything Dalek Caz knows. Looking back at the readings he did a brief soundcheck with the patrolling Daleks of sector 1-G, the first story of the command module. Dozens of green lights winked in acknowledgement to his soundcheck and Dalek Caz went to move on to another task when a hesitant amber light appeared on his board. Looking back at it, Caz noticed it was one of the meager security drones designed to guard the main entrance (although that was unnecessary given no one would be stupid enough to come here). Caz opened communications with the lone Dalek. “DAL-EK CAZ RE-PORTING,” he warbled over the relay. “WHAT IS THE ISSUE, SECURITY DRONE?” An amber light in any situation indicates extreme danger or an insurmountable threat to the Daleks. No Dalek would ever use the light in jest, it would always be investigated no matter what. But nothing responded, only dead air. Caz clicked the transmission again but the line died. He rebooted the system. There were triple redundancies in Dalek technology, protocols to prevent infiltration or destruction but none of them helped the communications array. When the system started up again, the line warbled and hissed and popped, “EMERGEN-CY, EMERGEN-CY!” the Dalek cried, there were a dozen more confused, panicked voices screaming in the background. “THE DOC-TOR IS HERE! REQUEST DE-PLOYMENT OF Z-NEUTRINO BOMB!” Caz was about to answer back but an explosion tore through the radio line and it went dead. Looking at his board, dozens upon dozens of lights flared up and turned off. Checking the schematics for the command base, Caz almost trembled in fear when he realized those Daleks on guard were all dead. “OPEN TRANSMISSION!” cried Dalek Ren, Caz’s commanding officer. “DISPLAY, DISPLAY!” Caz obeyed and opened the security feed on the large display before them. When it blinked to life, it showed the first floor of the command base in complete shambles. There were piles and piles of debris and rubble from the twisted and charred husks of the former Daleks that stood guard there. Smoke and fire still raged there and in the middle of the room stood a lone unicorn. “EN-HANCE!” Ren ordered but there was a microsecond of hesitation in that command. The image enhanced and focused on the pony. His dark mane stuck up messily, his gray eyes shone with murderous intent and the gun in his magical grip still smoked. His cutie mark of a cracked Hourglass was displayed on his flank. Alarms rang as the sprinklers went off on the first floor, dousing the pony. “EMERGEN-CY!” Caz cried. “THE DOC-TOR HAS INFILTRATED OUR BASE!” “I am no Doctor,” the pony quietly remarked, effectively silencing the Daleks. “Not anymore. Not since you took away everyone, I vowed not to be the Doctor… but to be your reaper.” The Time Pony sighed as he strapped his weapon to his back again. “Of course you lot wouldn’t understand that concept,” he grumbled. “The idea of being hunted by someone whom you deem inferior…” “TIME LORDS ARE THE INFERIOR,” Dalek Ren shouted. “DALEKS ARE SUPREME! DALEKS ARE SUPREME!” The entire regiment chanted that phrase over and over again until the entire base resonated with that insidious mantra. The Doctor chuckled under his breath and for the first time smiled. “Are you now?” he asked. Behind them the elevator opened and a group of Daleks entered but Caz and Ren did not look away from the Doctor. “Then how would you explain this?” he continued, brandishing a large device from his bandolier and pressing the button on it. The four Daleks that entered buzzed loudly, their eyestalks changing from icy-blue to fiery-red as they targeted every Dalek in this room. Explosions and energy blasts racked the room, Daleks were decimated in the firefight leaving only the damaged hull of their armor. It only took a few minutes but when the firefight ceased, only one Dalek remained, Caz. His eyestalk was badly damaged but his optical circuitry was still operational so he could just barely see the Doctor in the screen. “ALL UNITS, CONVERGE ON THE DOCTOR!” Caz cried out. “EX-TERMINATE HIM!” “How will they be able to do that?” the Doctor asked, twisting his device slightly and pressing the button again. Explosions thrummed beneath Dalek Caz’s hull and above him. More Dalek screaming over his radio as they experienced an incendiary end. The entire base rumbled from the mass of the detonations, it was just on the threshold of falling apart. Then it stopped. Everything stopped. Dalek Caz couldn’t hear anyone on the radio, just dust and whispers. “E-EMERGEN-CY,” Caz whimpered. “I’m afraid you’re correct…” Caz looked to his left and saw the Doctor standing beside him. He didn’t understand emotions, as a Dalek, but when he saw the Doctor’s eyes he didn’t see any regret… only hatred and satisfaction.  “Your base has been put down.” “WEAPONS SYSTEMS DISABLED!” Caz shouted but the Doctor paid him no mind. The Time Pony got up and worked on the console. “MOTOR SYSTEMS DISABLED! H-HELP! EMERGEN-CY!” “There will be no one to help you,” the Doctor said. “… M-MERCY!” The Doctor turned around, his eyes burning with barely contained anger. “Pardon me?” “MERCY!” Caz cried. “After what you’ve done?” the Doctor snarled. “You expect mercy?!” “YOU ARE THE DOC-TOR. RECORDS INDICATE—“ “Check those records again,” he growled. “And I’ve already told you, I’m not the Doctor.” He threw a lever and the base rumbled. Levitating the burned remains of Caz, he and the Dalek walked out of the structure just in time to see what he had done. From the top of the structure a massive beam erupted and shot toward the sky. Dalek Caz watched in horror as the beam of light completely vaporized the Mother Ship above. The blast was so strong it destroyed Skaro’s atmosphere, boiling it away but not before condensing and collecting above them. A massive storm roared overhead with arcs of lightning crackling in the air. The storm was as big as a continent and it drifted off to the west. It destroyed everything in its path, the cities, the other Dalek bases, everything. Nothing was spared. Except him. “S-S-STORM…” Dalek Caz muttered. “Whatever strikes your fancy,” the Doctor answered as he entered the TARDIS with his new Dalek in tow. “Anything but Doctor…” Placing Dalek Caz on the console, the Doctor began to hook him up to the TARDIS. Dalek Caz could feel the intrusive psychic force against his mind, the TARDIS was incredibly powerful in that regard but Caz had to be resilient! “CEASE AND DE-SIST!” Caz screamed as the TARDIS began digging through his mind. “OR YOU WILL BE EX-TERMINATED!” “I very much doubt that,” chuckled the Doctor. “Considering how heavily damaged you are… Ah, there we go.” Caz could feel his memory banks deplete as the TARDIS drained them so quickly it was almost terrifying. “There’s your formation,” the Doctor continued, pointing at the display. “Thank you, for your valuable information.” Dalek Caz screamed in agony as the TARDIS continued to ravage through his mind. His body sparked violently, jolts of electricity arced off him, and he shuddered and convulsed. It felt like a supernova exploded in his mind! “S-STOOOP!” Caz begged. “M-MERCY!” “There, that’s everything,” the Doctor said. The TARDIS had taken everything from the Dalek, everything the Doctor could use to turn this war around. “Who knew a Dalek could be so helpful.” “Release… me…” the Dalek warbled, no longer screaming. His voice seemed weakened, afraid, and exhausted. “I don’t think so,” answered the Time Pony, throwing a lever which started the TARDIS engines. “Since I’ve no use for you anymore and there’s no good reason to let you go…” The Doctor brandished a tiny knife with a silver tip to it. Psychic, of course, and stabbed it at the center of the Dalek’s “head”. The Dalek screamed again in bloody murder and more sparks exploded off him but finally its light dimmed and it was silenced. Pulling out the knife, the Doctor grimaced at the remains of the Dalek in disgust. He walked over to the doors and opened them. They were in deep space, far from the war in a region untouched by it. It looked so peaceful here, the Doctor almost wanted to stay but instead tossed Dalek Caz right out. The Dalek floated off in weightlessness, the alien looked graceful like that, but then again, the dead often do. He closed the doors behind him and headed back to the console, ready to review the information he stole. Glancing at the display, the Doctor noticed the Dalek’s last thought… RUN, RUN FROM THE ONCOMING STORM A smile filled the Doctor’s face. “Indeed you should…” ~==~ Applejack remembered this day. It was before she got her cutie mark, before she even left for Manehattan, it seemed like ages ago but it was about two months before all of that happened. She was sitting on a pier overlooking a glittery, perfect cobalt blue lake with her Ma’ and Pa’ beside her. They were teaching her how to fish for the sport of it. Whenever they caught something, they always immediately let it loose and back into the lake. Applejack inquired as to why that was and Ma’ just smiled and said, “Well, we wouldn’t feel right takin’ that poor critter away from their Ma’ ‘nd Pa’.” Applejack nodded, not entirely understanding her reasoning but feeling like she could relate. She’d hate the idea of being taken away from her family, so it’d make sense not to impose that on some other critter. They watched the sunset over the horizon, making the lake look like it was on fire, and Applejack yawned contently, leaning against her Pa’ and nearly dozing off to sleep. “DON’T!” That jarred Applejack up. She sat up and realized she wasn’t at the pier anymore. She was at Ponyville at Rarity’s boutique. The fashionista had offered to spruce up her old works duds into a nice formal dress but Applejack wasn’t terribly enthused by the idea. “I promise you darling, you’re going to look absolutely fabulous!” she promised with an almost schoolfilly glee. Applejack managed a smile from Rarity’s enthusiasm and handed her the clothes. “Ah’m not too keen on the whole frou-frou thing, Rare,” she told her. “Just make ‘em look presentable-like.” Rarity frowned at the clothes and looked at Applejack appraisingly, as if imagining her in the most frou-frou dress she could make. “I shall endeavor to do my best.” “APPLEJACK WAKE UP!” Applejack turned around to the source of the voice but there wasn’t anyone there. She was going to turn around and ask Rarity if she had heard someone yell her name but she wasn’t at the boutique anymore. She was standing on top of Horseshoe Hill when the Doctor dropped them off from their first trip. Applejack’s mind still buzzed at the images she saw up in space, the kaleidoscopic nebulae, the raging supernova, Equis from orbit. It made the farm pony shiver with excitement. Apparently the others were feeling just the same as they could barely keep their smiles off their faces. “That was AWESOME!” squealed Rainbow. “That was super-duper-fantabulous!” agreed Pinkie. Applejack was about to offer her opinion when Twilight suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her away. “Applejack, please listen! You’ve GOT to focus on me!” Then she finally noticed that Twilight looked different. Rather, she looked like herself but there were huge purple wings on her back, her horn was slightly longer and a golden crown sat atop her head… Applejack gasped as she opened her eyes and sat up. She wasn’t anywhere now. She was literally in nothingness. She was “standing” but felt the sensation of weightlessness like she was in zero-gravity. Panic shook her body and she almost burst out into tears when Twilight finally showed up. Again, she wasn’t… Twilight but she was at the same time. Same vibrant purple coat, same straight dark mane, same cutie mark even. But she had folded wings on her back, a crown on her head and her unicorn’s horn was straighter and longer. Her best friend was an alicorn princess. “Applejack, thank goodness!” Twilight cried, approaching her. Applejack blinked and stared at Twilight. She was all grainy and unfocused like she was just a projection or something. Her image flickered with static but it was no doubt her. “Twi?” Applejack asked. “W-where are we? What is this place? What happened t’ you? Why’re you an alicorn?!” “It’s really difficult to explain,” admitted Twilight. “And I don’t have a lot of time. This projection is only barely holding together—“ “Thanks to me!” cried a voice that Applejack couldn’t see but it seemed to be coming from in front of Twilight. Twilight frowned. “Yes, thanks to you.” “Wait,” Applejack interrupted. “That sounded like… Trixie.” Suddenly, Trixie’s face appeared in front of Twilight. It was big and blown up so all Applejack could see were her eyes. She realized that she was looking through a camera of sorts. “Yes!” Trixie agreed. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is kind enough to lend you her aid—“ “Trixie!” Twilight complained, levitating her out of the way. “Keep an eye on the meter!” “W-why are you with Trixie?” Applejack asked, pronouncing Trixie the same way she’d pronounce Vampire Fruitbat. “It’s… complicated,” Twilight answered with a sheepish smile. “But anyways. This place is your mind, Applejack.” Applejack looked around at the blank empty void that surrounded her. “Gee, thanks.” “No, not like that,” Twilight said. “You’re asleep, technically. But you need to wake up.” “So, wait, Ah’m dreamin’?” “Yes, but this is real. The Doctor sent up a psychic connection to you guys. Trixie is helping maintain it that’s why we need to hurry.” “From where?” Applejack asked. “Last Ah remember, you weren’t an alicorn.” “Not where, when. I’m from the future, Applejack.” ~==~ Granny Pie was reading Pinkie a bedtime story. Pinkie always loved Granny’s bedtime stories, she made them sound so real and cool! It made Pinkie smile everything Granny Pie talked about metal ponies with glowing eyes. But some of her stories scared her… like the snowponies that were alive. This particular story was about that wonderful machine that was infinitely bigger on the inside than the out. How Granny Pie had to run around all of the corridors searching for somepony. Whenever Pinkie asked who she was looking for, Granny Pie would just give her that sad smile. The story was nice but it also scared Pinkie. To the extent where she dove under her covers and hugged herself. Granny Pie gently coaxed Pinkie out from her hiding spot with poking and prodding hooves that tickled Pinkie like crazy. She managed to get out of the covers but was such a mess from the tickling she just lay there for a moment, letting the last of her giggles out. “See?” Granny Pie said with a coy smile. “That’s how you face your fears.” Pinkie blinked and tilted her head. “How?” “Whenever the scary things makes you run and hide, all you have to do is laugh,” Granny Pie answered. “Just laugh and make them disappear. So… giggle at the ghostie, Pinkie Pie.” To prove her point, Granny Pie poked Pinkie again in the stomach making her collapse in a fit of laughter. Then the memory changed, torn away from Pinkie like someone pulled the rug from under her hooves. Blinking, she noticed she was standing… nowhere. It was just emptiness, all around her going on forever. “Granny Pie!” she called out, looking around for her in vain. “Pinkie!” Pinkie turned to face the voice but it wasn’t her Granny Pie. Golden eyes looked at her in wayward directions, followed by a golden mane, a light blue coat and a cutie mark consisting of bubbles. “Ditzy?” Pinkie asked. Ditzy nodded grimly. “Okay, Pinkie. This is where it gets complicated…” ~==~ Applejack blinked and shook her head, trying to understand what Twilight was telling her. “So, you’re from… th’ future,” Applejack said slowly. Twilight nodded impatiently. “How far into th’ future? When’d ya become an alicorn?” Twilight spread her wings and looked at them like she couldn’t believe they belonged to her. “About a year or so,” she answered. “And as for that… that’s a really long story and I can’t tell you anyways.’ “Why not?” “Spoilers,” she warned. “It’s bad if you know too much of the future. And on that note, you can’t tell me that I become an alicorn. Uh, I mean past me, like, the me that you know… ugh.” She shook her head like she was getting a headache from this explanation. “Time travel is still confusing…” “Okay, well, what’s goin’ on ‘ere?” Applejack asked. “First I’m on Gallopfrey, then I’m with my Ma’ and Pa’ and—“ “It’s Nightmare Moon.” Applejack’s heart dropped. She laughed nervously but swore for a second that the air around here dropped 20 degrees. “W-whaddya mean? We got rid of Nightmare Moon with th’ Elements of Harmony a while back.” “No, Nightmare Moon isn’t an actual pony,” Twilight explained. “She’s a primordial force, something that existed for millions of years just waiting. She’s a powerful magical force but without a body she can’t do much. That’s why she had to possess Princess Luna. She’s like a symbiot, requiring a host body to survive.  She took advantage of Luna’s anger and envy and warped her into something evil.” “Even still, we beat her with th’ Elements of Harmony, right?” “Well, yes and no. Yes we beat her physical form but her mental form still existed, just banished so thinly that it took her a few thousand years to regenerate into a consciousness. When we defeated her, she went back to the moon and to lay in wait. Then you guys arrived…” Applejack suddenly remembered everything that happened when they went to the moon. The Changeling-Pony war, the Doctor’s daughter, everything came back to her. How could she forget all of that? “Ah didn’t see Nightmare Moon while we were there.” “She invaded the TARDIS as soon as you landed,” insisted Twilight. “And when you guys went through, she pounced, shutting off the TARDIS and putting you all in a deep sleep.” “Why?” “They don’t call her Nightmare Moon for nothing…” Applejack gulped, completely aware that Nightmare Moon may be watching this conversation. “The Doctor is in danger,” Twilight continued. “Nightmare Moon plans on possessing him like she did with Luna.” “Where is th’ Doctor, anyway?” “I told you, Nightmare Moon put everypony—“ “Not him,” Applejack interrupted. “Your Doctor. You’re on his TARDIS, right?” “His?” asked Trixie off-camera. Twilight shot Trixie a glare. “Y-yeah, in a way. The Doctor is… busy. But my Doctor isn’t important now, it’s your Doctor that’s in danger.” “What do Ah do?” “Stop him from regenerating.” ~==~ “Ditzy?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head. “What’re you doing in my dream?” Ditzy Doo stood before Pinkie but it wasn’t her real body. Pinkie realized that Ditzy was two-dimensional, just an image a very low-quality image but an image entirely. She flickered in an out of existence but her expression remained grim. “I’m trying to wake you up,” Ditzy answered. “Right now, you’re trapped on the TARDIS with Applejack and the Doctor asleep because of Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon wants to possess the Doctor and to do that she put him to sleep to weaken his mind until she can take over it. If that happens… the universe will suffer, Pinkie!” Pinkie Pie poked Ditzy in the chest, her hoof going right through the pegasus. Pinkie laughed and snorted. “Ha, no guts, no glory!” “Pinkie!” “I was listening!” Pinkie promised. “Nightmare Moon is being mean and we have to stop her but how? I’m asleep, right?” Ditzy nodded and looked off to her left, off-camera. “Twilight is ready with the spell.” “What spell?” A flash of light blinded Pinkie and warmth radiated all over her body. The light was so bright she could see it even with her eyes closed. When it died, she opened her eyes and saw Applejack next to her. “AJ!” Pinkie cried, hugging the farm-pony. “A-are ya real, Pinkie?” Applejack asked, hugging her back. “Yeppers! Even my tail is real!” Pinkie wiggled her bushy tail for emphasis. “I brought you too together,” Twilight said, her face beaded with sweat. “Dream spells are kinda hard but Princess Luna taught me how to join two dreams together.” “Twilight, you’re an alicorn!” Pinkie yelled excitingly. “We should throw a YAY Twilight is an Alicorn party!” Applejack settled Pinkie down and gave her the abridged explanation. “So, we can’t tell Twilight she becomes an alicorn.” Pinkie nodded, though it was a bit sad. “Aw, okay… Wait!” She looked at Twilight and frowned a bit. “But, how do you know we’re here, Twi?” “You two tell me.” “But Ah thought you said—“ “You guys explain everything that happened to you without mentioning the alicorn part,” Twilight amended. “That’s how I knew and sent this message to you guys.” “So, th’ only reason you’re here is because Ah told you, because you told me to tell you because… ugh… my head hurts…” Twilight smiled sympathetically but then Ditzy reappeared next to her. “We should probably get on with this!” Ditzy said. “Ditzy?” Applejack asked. “Never mind that,” interrupted Twilight. “Ditzy is right. Look you guys, what you have to do is wake up and save the TARDIS from Nightmare Moon.” “You said we’d have t’ stop th’ Doctor from regeneratin’,” Applejack said. “What’d ya mean by that? An’ what’s regeneratin’ anyway?” Twilight and Ditzy shared a nervous look. “Regeneration is… when a Time Lord is… dying, they use this to cheat death. They heal their whole body but they get a new face a new personality, new everything. They become a new pony.” “A whole new personality,” Applejack mused. “Does this happen to your Doctor?” Twilight didn’t say anything. Pinkie gasped. “Wait, so he can be whoeverrr he wants to be?” “Within reason, I suppose,” admitted Twilight. “I’d want to be a lizard so I can talk to Gummy!” “Why, other than th’ fact that we have t’ protect th’ Doctor, do we have t’ stop his regeneration? He doesn’t die when he uses it, right?” Applejack asked. “If he regenerates now, he’ll create a paradox so massive it’ll tear a hole in the fabric of the universe the size of our galaxy,” Twilight answered. “He can’t regenerate here.” “Oh.” Applejack squeaked. “That’d be bad…” “Yeah,” Ditzy agreed. “So, you have to wake up!” “Wait, wait,” Pinkie interrupted. “You guys are from the future, right? Doesn’t that mean we won here? If the Doctor regerminates like you said, then the future wouldn’t exist, you guys wouldn’t be talking to us.” “Time can be rewritten,” Twilight answered. “If you fail here then we won’t exist. The future will be erased and time will collapse bringing the end of the universe!” “N-no pressure then,” Applejack muttered. “Okay. So what do we do?” Pinkie asked. Applejack stared at her in confusion but noticed the determined look in her eyes. She might’ve been scared but she still wanted to try. “We’re going to wake you up then you’re going to run down from the console room and head to the left corridor.” A voice called from the background but Applejack didn’t understand it, Twilight frowned and rolled her eyes. “Sorry, right corridor. You need to find the TARDIS’s ventilation system and dump everything in there. That’s how Nightmare Moon got inside, if you dump it, she’ll be expelled into space.” “Wow, that sounds easy,” Applejack grumbled. “You think that’s hard, wait till you meet the We-“ “Spoilers!” hissed Trixie and Ditzy. Twilight blushed and meekly rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry, time travel gets a bit confusing…” “How are you gonna wake us up?” Pinkie asked. “Will it hurt?” asked Applejack. “No, no, of course not,” Twilight promised in that way Applejack just knew she was lying. “Just… take a deep breath and open your eyes.” A pulse of pain washed over Applejack’s mind. It felt like a sunburn on her brain. It burned and ached so much but she could remember everything. The memories flooded back. The adventures on the moon, the aftermath, the trip the Doctor had planned afterward. When he reactivated the TARDIS, the lights had shut off and the engine went dead. “What’s wrong?” Applejack had asked. The Doctor scrutinized the console and pressed his stethoscope against the time rotor. “Not sure, she’s not… feeling well.” “Ooh, does she have a cold?” Pinkie asked. “We can get her some soup!” “I’m not sure that would help…” the Doctor muttered. Then the console exploded. A brilliant purple light sparked from the time rotor and snaked around everypony. It knocked them off their hooves and as they landed they convulsed from the pain. “Much like a snake on the prowl, I strike!” spoke a quiet, venomous mare. “And you will all bow!” Applejack opened up her eyes and found herself back at the TARDIS. It was freezing, so cold her legs were going numb and she couldn’t feel her lips. She shivered but then she realized the cold was from her. The purple smoke had fully materialized into an alicorn mare. Her violet coat shifted and moved like the souls of the damned were part of her. Her mane was starry and obsidian black and on her cutie mark was merely a black hole. When she turned, her purple eyes and wicked fangs reminded Applejack of Princess Luna so much she nearly called her that. “The little ponies rise from their slumber,” she purred, staring coldly at Applejack. “It is such a shame really. You would have died less painfully… But don’t cry.” Then she turned her evil eyes to Pinkie and bared her fangs. Applejack choked back a sob as she realized she was standing over the Doctor. She was getting too strong and he was getting weaker! Nightmare Moon pounced on Pinkie who yelped in surprise. Applejack jumped to intercept and hugged Pinkie to protect her. But she yelped as she was repelled back from a mysterious force. Nightmare Moon hissed disdainfully at the console. “Damned machine!” she roared. “You can’t protect them forever! It’ll be soon… He will die, you will see.” She turned her attention back to the Doctor. If the TARDIS was protecting her then… Applejack broke out in a sprint and ran for the Doctor. Nightmare Moon tried to attack her but once again her progress was impeded by the TARDIS. She reached the fallen Time Lord and touched him on the shoulder. A jolt of electricity went through Applejack. Through her entire body and into her mind where it burned thousands of years’ worth of memories on it like a brand.  It nearly drove her insane as the memories flooded her. For a brief moment, her eyes glowed a brilliant gold as tears formed. “Doctor… Who?” she muttered in a trance. But as quickly as the memories appeared, the psychic link broke and the shockwave sent Applejack flying back to Pinkie. She shook her head and sat up weakly then Twilight materialized in front of them, still in a grainy, unstable image. “Applejack, run! Get to the corridors!” “But, the Doctor!” Twilight turned and looked at the Doctor. Her eyes glistened with tears and she looked absolutely devastated, as if she didn’t want to see him that way again. “Just.. go! You’ll help him when you find the TARDIS ventilation.” Applejack wanted to protest, but Pinkie took off running and the farm pony had to follow. They ran down the steps and took the first available corridor and veered right, Twilight following them like a ghostly unicorn. She hoped they weren't too late. ~==~ The Doctor gasped as he sat up, blinking and trying to push his nausea down. Strong hands gripped his shoulders, trying to calm him down. Wait. Hands? “Whoa, easy there,” the person said, his voice was deep and powerful with a distinctive Northern accent. “You’re okay, mate.” “Who…” the Doctor gasped, looking up and finally noticing who he was. The big nose perfectly complemented by his oversized ears, his military-cropped hairstyle and shell-shocked eyes. The Veteran. The Ninth Doctor patted his shoulders. “I’m the Doctor,” Nine told him. “And, apparently, so are you.”