Pinkie Pie had found the six foot metal man in her closet funny at first.
It was certainly funny looking. It just stood there. Looking straight ahead. Not uttering a word. Pinkie tried to talk to it, but no response. So she settled on decorating it with streamers and going about her job.
She had to clean the rest of the storeroom, and make sure the twins were in bed. If Cup and Carrot came home to find them hurt, Pinkie would never forgive herself.
She finished sweeping, and she went upstairs to check on the kids...
And Pound Cake, and Pumpkin cake were gone.
Immediately Pinkie panicked. The bed had obviously been disturbed, and someone had come into the room. How could she not have heard them crying? They cry at almost anything.
Pinkie frantically searched the entire bakery. They had to be somewhere. She had to hear something. She had to-
CRASH
Pinkie stood stock still. That came from downstairs.
Pinkie rushed down to find Pound and Pumpkin Cake being cradled in the magical aura of a red eyed Changeling. He was backed up by more of the same metal men she had found in the closet.
"Shh...," said the Changeling softly. "The children are sleeping. We certainly don't want to wake them."
Pinkie Paused for a moment. "Who are you?" Pinkie whispered angrily. "How do you know Mr. Shiny?"
"I'm the Master," he chuckled. "'Mr. Shiny.' You know, most people would be terrified at the site of a Cyberman in their closet. Ah, but your friend Rarity told me that any attempt I made to frighten you would simply be thrown back in my face with a laugh. 'Giggle at the Ghostie' and all that?"
Pinkie smiled proudly.
"Well let me try this," the Master started to walk toward Pinkie. "The creatures you see before me are Cybermen. My confederate and I are the only things keeping them from taking your brain out of your body and putting it in a metal shell. You would become like them. In the process, everything that was Pinkie Pie, all the laughter, all the happiness, all that wonderful care and affection you have for your friends gone. I could crush these infants in front of you like wine grapes..." The blankets swaddled around Pound and Pumpkin became a little tighter. "And you wouldn't care. Because you simply wouldn't be you anymore. That is the horror I face you with. The horror of uniformity"
For the first time in her life, Pinkie Pie was speechless. To lose everything she was... To just become another face in the crowd... To not be able to make her friends smile...
A tear rolled down Pinkie's cheek. She had never been more scared.
"I'm waiting, Ms. Pie," the Master said smugly. "Your talent for finding the joy in hopeless situations is legendary. It's partly why I came to meet with you. Impress me with it now. Go on..."
The Master leaned in directly next to Pinkie Pie's ear.
"Laugh."
They were met by Discord halfway to the church. "I hope you realize you only have ten hours left," he said, holding a large ornate pocket watch bigger than his head. With a snap of his fingers the watch disappeared. "You don't have very much time left."
Eleven walked directly past him without stopping. "I think we have less time then you think," he said. "Actually, I'm not sure if we have any time at all..."
"What the hoof is that?!" Sweet yelped.
"Oh, hello!" Discord smiled. "I'm Discord. Reformed spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. I'm with them. What do you mean 'no time'?"
"I'm fairly certain that we only have about half an hour before the whole universe is sucked into a state of non-being," Eleven said. "It is saying a lot when you aren't the main threat Discord, but here we are."
"Quite," Discord said thoughtfully. "Well, if you're right it would certainly prove your case. I'm not sure how much of a comfort that would be to you..."
"A great one!" Eleven said. "Though I don't know when I'll take the time to enjoy it. The one thing I do know is that we won't be able to stop it until we get to the church."
"Will you be able to stop it then?" Silver asked.
"Ah," the Doctor interrupted. "Hence you come to the flaw in his plan. The fact that he has none. I can't say I have one either though. You at least seem to have some idea what it is we're dealing with."
"Oh come on, Doctor," Eleven smiled as they continued their rush to the church. "We share a brain, how can I be more clever than you right now! Think about it, the Preacher's goal is to take out this entire universe, right? There's no possible way he can do this by himself. So he needs something, something to help him end this world. In all the places he could have chosen to make his congregation, he chose here. So either he landed here, and felt no urge to leave, or the thing he was looking for was right here in Dodge Junction. Something he knows can end the universe, because he's seen it nearly end a universe. In fact, because of this, I had to remake my universe. Not that I want to brag, but I think I did a good job..."
It suddenly hit the Doctor, and he picked up the pace. "You're sure?"
"It's the only thing that makes any sense," Eleven answered.
"What in tarnation are you two talkin' about?" Applejack asked.
Then they burst into the church.
Almost the entire town's population was there. They were staring straight ahead to an altar that enshrined a familiar fault.
A crack in the wall. About three feet wide. With an unearthly light shining through.
"There it is," the Doctor said sadly.
"The crack in Amy's bedroom wall," Eleven confirmed.
"Who's Amy?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Long story," the two Doctors sighed.
"Pardon me," Discord stepped up. "But how is that crack a threat to anything other than the structural integrity of this church?"
The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a single bit. "Do you see this?" he asked Discord.
"Yes," Discord answered.
"You won't in a moment," the Doctor threw the bit into the light emanating from the crack. Immediately the coin disappeared. "What did I just throw in there?" he asked Apple Bloom.
"You just threw somethin' in there?" asked Apple Bloom.
Discord was taken aback. "Yes!" he said shocked. "Yes he just threw a bit in there! Didn't you see..."
The Doctor shook his head. "No," he answered. "She didn't. Because there was no bit. There was never any bit. The minute the bit touched the light coming from behind that crack, not only did it cease to exist, it never existed in the first place. Anything that comes near that crack will be erased from history."
"And it looks like..." Eleven scanned the crack with his Sonic Screwdriver. "The Crack is getting wider..."
"What's with them?" asked Scootaloo as she examined the congregation. "Why haven't they... like... shushed us yet? I mean we've been sitting here babbling pretty loudly after we sort of burst through the door during dome kinda ceremony, but their just looking at the crack like total zombies."
"Their not just looking," the Doctor said.
"You're feeling it too, eh?" Eleven asked.
The Doctor nodded. "A massive amount of psychic energy is being shoved into the crack. Their not just staring at it, their forcing it open."
"Blessed are the sacrifices of the faithful," came a voice from behind them.
The eight turned to be faced by a humanoid figure dressed as a priest. It had a larger head then Eleven. Under it's arm it carried a copy of Ellipses.
The Silent walked past them toward the Altar. "Greetings, Doctors," he said kindly. "I am a confessional priest from the Church of the Silence. High order. Kevarian branch..."
The Silent put his book down on a podium.
"But you can call me 'Preacher'."