//------------------------------//
// The attack 
// Story: Destiny Book 2: Time Traveling Foal Sitters 
// by SirScribe 
//------------------------------//

	The laughter of young Princess Luna filled the halls as her elder sister chased her. It was bath time for the royal sisters, and since Luna refused to bathe while Celestia obliged, it was the task of the elder to hunt down and clean her target. However, Celestia was supposed to wait until her bath was finished.
Luna turned a corner into a grand hallway with a very sudsy Celestia behind her. One of the guards had managed to avoid a head-on collision with Luna, but when he turned to resume his patrol, young Celestia crashed into him. Without any sort of remorse or even a hiccup in her momentum, Celestia continued the chase. As they disappeared into another hallway, the guard sighed and continued walking for another 5 feet. Without any warning, the guard slipped on the soap Celestia was leaving behind her.
The guard was able to pull himself back up and changed his route to a less sudsy one. A few moments later, Applejack rounded the corner, almost slipping on the soap on doing so. She was soaking wet with her Stetson missing. She appeared to be out of breath when she reached the guard.
“Whe-where did they go?” she asked.
The guard pointed down the hallway. Applejack thanked the guard and ran off to find the royal fillies. The guard sighed and continued walking down the hall. As he turned the corner, he nearly ran into the Doctor. While he was not there when he first visited (because his grandparents weren’t born yet), he was a fan of the Time Lord. If the royal family can respect him and treat him like a family member, then he is worth spending time with.
When the Doctor stopped, the guard fumbled. He saluted, thinking of no other way of greeting the pony. The Doctor sighed. “I thought I said no saluting,” he said.
“Consider it my instinct when I meet anypony with meaning,” he said.
“Then start saluting the common pony folk,” the Doctor said. With that, he ran past the guard. Before he turned the corner, however, the Doctor stopped. “Um, where did they go?”
“Down that hall, sir. I should point out that they appear to be heading toward the garden. Take that hall on the right so you can cut them off,” he said.
The Doctor thanked the guard and ran down the hall. The guard chuckled to himself as he finally continued his patrol.


Luna had found the perfect hiding spot from her sister. While her flying was adequate, her ability to blend into the shadows wasn’t. Behind a large pillar, the young princess of the night hid, trying to suppress her giggles. There was no way her sister was ever going to find her here.
Luna was able to quiet her panting and look over her shoulder. Celestia was nowhere in sight. She sighed. It was almost sundown, and her parents were going to return soon. She looked around her for an exit and there it was. A large, unguarded doorway that led to the swirly slide she enjoyed. If she can get to the door, she can escape into the garden where her soaking wet sister cannot enter until she is dry. By then, she will need another bath.
With no other ponies in sight, she dashed for the door. She was so close to victory, just a few more feet…
“YEAH!”
Celestia jumped from the ceiling and landed on her sister. The two alicorns tumbled through the door and down the slide. The two argued and cheered as they raced through the castle and into the crisp autumn air. They both landed onto the ground, separating the two. Luna flew high in the air and into a bush while her sister flew into a pile of leaves left by their gardener.
Applejack burst through another door to see the two dirtier than they were an hour ago. She felt her tempers rising. She pounced at Celestia, who was too distracted glaring at her sister to notice. Applejack had the young princess in one hoof while she looked at the other. Luna shrieked as she ran past the earth pony and back into the castle. Applejack sighed as she ran after her.
Luna looked back and saw the orange pony chasing her with her sister under her arm. “Get back ‘ere!”
The lunar princess grinned. “NEVER! I AM THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT! THE FUTURE RULER OF THE LAND! I WILL NOT TAKE MY BATH TODA—”
She ran into the chest of the Doctor. She gulped as the Doctor smiled down at her. “Even gods need to bathe. Nopony likes a stinky filly.”
Luna groaned as she was led off by the Time Lord. Celestia wiggled out of the grip of the earth pony and ran off to join her sister. Applejack looked at the both of them, and smiled. They reminded her of the Crusaders when they tried getting their Cutie Marks in Stealth Ops back home. Took everypony a record time of 5 minutes to find them.
“Mister Doctor, why must we take a bath? I don’t think I smell bad,” Luna said.
The Doctor chuckled. “Celestia, sniff your sister real quick.”
Before Luna could protest, Celestia took a big whiff of her sister and immediately gagged. Luna mocked a laugh and punched her sister in the shoulder. Celestia gasped and returned it with an equal punch to her. Before she knew it, Applejack was watching the two sister beat each other while the Doctor was busy walking ahead of them. Feeling the presence of maturity on her, Applejack ran over and broke up the fight.
Well, sort of.
As Applejack tried to pry them away from each other, Celestia and Luna both fired magical spells at each other. Since Applejack’s head was in between them, she absorbed both spells. One side of her face was shaped as an apple while the other was shaped like an orange. The two fillies stopped fighting, and laughed at Applejack’s current situation.
The earth pony looked at both of them, and mocked a roar at them. The girls thought she was a monster and ran. They ran past the Doctor, who was too busy talking to himself. As the fillies ran, Applejack was close behind them, growling and roaring like she was a dragon. The Doctor noticed this, and smiled.


The two sisters were finally cleaned, and with some persuasion, Applejack’s head was returned to normal. With their coats smelling like lavender, they all sat down for some more fun and games. While Applejack hung out with the Doctor, the sisters were hard at work playing on their chess set. While she didn’t understand it at first, Applejack needed the Doctor to explain how that board game was considered a game.
The Doctor smiled as he watched the girls play chess together. It almost brought back a pleasant memory of his grandchild before they went off on their marvelous adventure beyond Gallifrey. Applejack noticed this and smiled. “It’s nice to see ‘em playin’ together,” she said.
“Yes, it is. Strange how in 1,000 years, they end up dueling each other, isn’t it?”
Applejack nodded. “Ya look like ya have seen it before,” she said. “Children playin’.”
The Doctor smiled. “I’m a parent and grandfather. I’ve seen children playing when I was still on Gallifrey. Children need to play, to imagine a world unlike any other. Imagination is what gets ponies through the day,” he said.
Applejack looked back at the fillies. Celestia was beating Luna. She still had her Queen while Luna had only one Rook left. “What’s it like, bein’ a parent?”
The Doctor chuckled. “It’s strange. It’s different. You find yourself having this sense that everything needs to be perfect of your fillies. You are responsible for them growing up right. It’s, well, the best feeling in the world. You have something to call yours and it’s not something you buy.”
Applejack nodded. She looked back over at the game. Celestia had won the game. Luna sighed and surrendered her King. "Chess is a Gallifreyan game. I know all the tricks and secret moves no other race knows. That makes me a cheater, doesn’t it?”
“Only if ya use it.”
The Doctor agreed. Suddenly, the royal fanfare began to blare. Celestia and Luna both rose up and ran for the door leading out of the room. The King and Queen were back. The Doctor and Applejack packed up what they brought along: towels, squeaky toys for stress, Sonic Screwdriver, and coat. Applejack fixed her Stetson and they both followed the sisters out.
They all ran to the landing platform where the Royal Airship was just coming into view. The guards were in position and the red carpet was rolled out. Celestia and Luna waiting at the doorway, waiting for their parents.
Applejack looked up at the balloon with amazement. She had always seen the balloon in Canterlot parked outside the castle for the princesses, but seeing it for a King and Queen was an once-in-a-lifetime encounter.
The Doctor also smiled as he watched the balloon descend. The balloon was slowing its descent. As Applejack looked around, she noticed the guards who were playing the trumpets. They all were levitating the instruments with their magic. As she looked around, she noticed one thing that made her blood turn cold. One of the guard’s magical aura was green. It was a sick green that she had seen somewhere before.
“Um, Doctor?”
The Doctor followed her gaze to the guard with the green energy. As he focused in on the guard, the Doctor’s mind raced. With his mind on track, he could only speak. “NO!”
It was too late.
The Royal Airship exploded just above the landing zone. The guards all were shocked for a moment before their weapons were raised. The one guard with the green energy had suddenly changed into the one thing Solaris and Cosmos feared: a Changeling.
“DEFENSES UP! INTRUDER!”
The Changeling fired magical blasts at whatever guards were around it. Alicorns were supposed to be powerful, but they fell as the intruder laid waste to them. The Changeling stood strong against the guards on the platform. As it felt victorious, another wave of guards arrived. One of those guards somehow looked too much like Applejack. The Doctor turned to his companion to see that she wasn’t there. “Wait Applejack! Don’t!”
The earth pony sped up, jumped, and bucked the Changeling before it could fly away. It flew alright. It flew up in the air and off the side of the platform. The last thing it saw was a rather pointy statue right under it.
Before anypony could move, a crash of thunder rocked the castle. Applejack looked up into the sky. Dark clouds had rolled into the area, blocking the Sun. More Changelings appeared from the heavens with their horns charged up. The alicorn guards were ready for the attack. The Doctor and Applejack tried to lead the sisters from the platform, but they weren’t moving. Celestia and Luna were both frozen. They had just witnessed their parent’s death.
Celestia was the first to speak. “MOM! DAD! NO!”
They both sobbed out of control. Applejack felt her heart break. Suddenly, she jerked. The memory of her and her family in the Everfree Forest came back to her. She, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom were in a wagon with their mother while their father pulled it. The sound of Timberwolves filled the night.
The Doctor snapped her out of it. “We have to get out of here! Celestia! Luna! We have to go!”
They wiped the tears from their eyes. “There’s nothing we can do, come on! Applejack!”
The earth pony breathed in a deep breath. As the Changelings and Alicorns attacked, they managed to escape the platform.
Behind them, what remained of the Royal Airship laid burning. The Alicorn Empire was without its rulers.