//------------------------------//
// Three 
// Story: The Weeping Pegasus 
// by ihaveofficiallyretired 
//------------------------------//

This is impossible, thought The Doctor.  There was but one Weeping Pegasus that they had to face, yet before the group stood three.  “Everypony, just focus on the Pegasi in front of you.  Whatever you do, do not look away.”

“Doctor, what happened?  Why are there three?”  A smattering of fear presented itself amongst Colgate’s words.  “You said that the only other Pegasi were trapped elsewhere, right?”

“They were.  They were trapped inside a small tomb just outside of here, looking at each other for eternity.”

Of all possible things, it appeared that the Weather Patrol had scheduled some form of torrential downpour to commence at exactly that moment.  The clouds rolled in, and the storm began.  Rain fell from the sky with such vigor it became difficult to see.  Lightning flashed frequently in the distance, illuminating the night sky.

“Hey Colgate,” The Doctor started, “Think you can freeze them for just a moment?”  Slowly the Pegasi crept ever closer to the trio of ponies.  The rain was obscuring their field of vision, and every so often one of the three momentarily lost track of their Pegasus.

“Maybe.  I’ve never tried it on more than one target before.”  She began to focus the magical energy into her horn.  In a sudden flash of magic, the three Weeping Pegasi were bathed in a light blue aura, frozen in time.  “I have no idea how long this will last, Doctor.”

“Then we’d better get moving!”  The three of them fled from where the Pegasi were, The Doctor trying to think of a plan to eliminate their enemies without destroying the entirety of Equestria.  This was three times now that The Doctor had been caught off guard in a single adventure, and he did not like it one bit.

“Doctor, where are we going exactly?” asked Ditzy.  It was a legitimate question.  Nopony really knew what was going on, just that they had to escape very quickly.

“Back to the TARDIS.  We should be able to sort things out there.”

“Okay then!”  The pony-made deluge continued to splash in the eyes of The Doctor, Ditzy, and Colgate.  They were probably going in the right direction, but they could barely see an inch in front of them clearly.  Past that things were mostly just shapes and colors.  Still the trio galloped onward, drawing closer and closer to the TARDIS.

“Doctor, I can’t hold the spell for much longer,” Colgate announced.

“Alright then.  We’d better hurry.  The last thing we need is to be trapped in the past without the TARDIS.”

Through the rain, The Doctor could vaguely make out the shape of the TARDIS off in the distance.  Perhaps three more minutes and they would be safe.  If they had thirty more seconds.

“Doctor!  The spell broke!”

It wasn’t Colgate’s fault.  The spell was very difficult to maintain.  She had actually lasted longer than The Doctor had anticipated.  “Okay.  Be ready.”  Sure enough, the Weeping Pegasi had surrounded them almost the second that the spell broke.  They had formed a circle around the group, a circle that should keep them frozen for eternity.

“There’s something wrong with its eyes,” stated Ditzy.

“Same with this one.  Hard to say what though, with all the rain,” Colgate responded.

Through the rain, it was difficult to make out, but there was definitely something wrong with the eyes of the three Pegasi.  Up close it became apparent what was wrong.  It also made it extremely difficult to stop them.  It appeared that something had destroyed the eyes of the statues.

“They destroyed their eyes.  They can’t see each other, so they can’t freeze each other.”  This was one of those rare times where The Doctor had no clue what to do.  Here were three extremely deadly foes, with one of their greatest weaknesses removed.  They could still turn to stone, a fact made clear by the three stone Pegasi surrounding The Doctor, Ditzy, and Colgate, but they now had to be completely destroyed.  They could no longer hope to deceive the Pegasi to look at each other.

“But they can’t see us?” asked Colgate.

“No, they can’t.  They don’t really need to though.  It only helps.”

“So what do we do?”

“Well…This is the part where you proceed to time lock them once more and then we run.”

“Doc, I don’t know if I can.”

“Colgate, you have to try.”

“I’ll do my best.”

There was a similar flash of magic and the group took off.  So close were they to the TARDIS.  Nothing they had to worry about.  The spell would hold and they would figure out what to do next.  Everything would be all right and The Doctor would save the day.

The rain had steadily been getting stronger, and it was at the point that they could not see in front of them.  The Doctor procured his sonic screwdriver and used it to track down the TARDIS’ location.  Colgate and Ditzy Doo only had to follow the beep beep beep and they would be home free.  Well, they would at least be in a position in which they could further evaluate the situation and come up with a clever plan to defeat the Weeping Pegasi once and for all.  The closer they got to the TARDIS the faster the beeping got.  Finally, through the rain and even in the darkness, a familiar blue shape appeared only a few dozen yards before them.

“Doctor, I can see it!  We are almost there!” exclaimed Ditzy, excited about something that actually makes sense.

“C’mon then!”  The Doctor reached the TARDIS first.  He put the sonic screwdriver in his mouth and procured the TARDIS key.  Unfortunately, the rain made it slip from his hooves and it fell in the mud.  “Guys, I dropped the key!  It’s somewhere nearby!”

Ditzy and The Doctor began frantically sifting through the mud nearby, trying ever so desperately to find the key to the TARDIS.  “Colgate, please help me and The Doctor.  We really need this key.”

Colgate could barely respond.  “Doc…I can’t…much longer…”  The spell was taking its toll on the unicorn.  A massive headache unlike any she had felt before made its presence known to her.  It was like somepony was trying to rip out her horn.

“Ah hah!  Got it!” said The Doctor.  He took the key and inserted into the door.  The TARDIS sprung open and in rushed Ditzy and The Doctor.  As The Doctor entered the TARDIS, there was a sudden flash of blue energy behind him.  Colgate collapsed.

“Oh no you don’t!”  He dashed back out, picked up Colgate, and threw her back into the TARDIS.

“Doctor, what about the Pegasi?” asked Ditzy.

“C’mon, they should be here any –“

The TARDIS door slammed shut.  The Doctor, however, was not inside.

“Doctor?  DOCTOR!”  Ditzy flew to the door as fast as she could, only to find that the door would not open.  The Doctor was gone.