The Doctor cheered as he put the final touches on his project that had taken him since day one of the war to complete, eight months ago. Derpy and Twilight ran over, curious as to the reason for the shouting.
"What is it Doctor?" Asked Derpy, with a glow that had been coming over her face for the last month. The Doctor held it out in his hooves. "Oh yay! You built a new one."
"That's right, and it was very hard to do with the limited resources here." Twilight just looked at it, confused.
"What is it?" She asked finally. The Doctor looked at her in surprise.
"What do you mean? 'what is it?' It's a sonic screwdriver." Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"It doesn't look anything like a screwdriver. And just how is it sonic, and more importantly, can it do anything practical, like… I don't know… fix my eye." Twilight said, referring to her right eye. The griffin's sword had caused considerable damage, leaving a scar on the eyebrow and down the cheek about halfway. But the real damage was done to the actual eye. It had filled up with blood, which had then clotted, causing the whites of her eye to go black, and for unknown reasons, her iris had changed colour from purple to white, giving the whole eye a very otherworldly feel.
"I'm afraid not Twilight, not this one anyway. My other sonic screwdriver might have helped, but this one is just too crude and simple." Twilight stared at him, her new eye making the Doctor feel very uncomfortable.
"You know Doctor, you and I are overdue for a talk. And by talk I mean I ask questions and you answer them." The Doctor stammered, trying to find the words to get himself out of the mess he was in. He was saved by Celestia, who walked in at that moment, covered in blood and breathing heavily.
"Princess! What happened? Are you okay?" Twilight asked. Celestia just panted, saying nothing for a moment.
"Dragon." She finally said, sitting down. "The griffins alliances are getting more desperate, they have even called in the dogs to assist them."
"Princess, how come you don't just go down there and vaporise the lot of them. Like you did when those Minotaur attacked the palace, after being let in by that stupid private." Derpy said. Celestia dropped her head.
"Two reasons. One, at the signing of the last truce, I agreed that in any future wars, I was not to participate unless directly attacked. In exchange, we opened trading routes between the nations. And secondly, the only reason I vaporised those Minotaur was because they had killed my best friend. She was one of the royal guards assigned to me. Her name was Firefly, and I got so angry that I couldn't stop myself."
"Wait, Firefly? I've heard Rainbow Dash talk about a Pegasus named Firefly." Twilight said, trying to remember what Rainbow had said.
"Yes Twilight, Firefly was Rainbow Dash's mother." Celestia said. The three ponies looked at her stunned.
"Hang on, that can't be, the last time I remember seeing you was centuries ago." Exclaimed the Doctor.
"Doctor, you really must learn to fly your Tardis properly." Celestia giggled. "And change that calendar." Twilight was once again becoming frustrated, and the Doctor could see it. Another interruption in the way of a Pegasus entering the tent allowed the Doctor to relax a bit, safe from Twilight's questions. Derpy walked over to her.
"Applethunder? Is there a problem?" Asked Derpy. Applethunder was second in command of the Pegasus forces and kind of idolised Derpy in a way. She also had the distinction of not only being Applejack's cousin, but also the first Pegasus born into the Apple family. Underneath her light yellow coat, her breathing was heavy and her gold and orange mane was drenched with sweat.
"We… We managed to capture a live griffin." She said between deep breaths. Derpy put her hoof on her shoulder and told her to take the rest of the day off. The group found their way over to the prison, a large tent, with iron barred cages lining the wall. Inside one was indeed a griffin, fastened to a post by a chain around its neck. The Doctor noticed that there was already someone there. Duskheart. The Doctors telepathic abilities went haywire around Duskheart, telling him not to trust this pony. Duskheart, stood at attention as Celestia approached.
"Princess, this griffin was captured trying to break through our defences. He also carried this." Duskheart picked up a knife and gave it to Celestia. The blade had her name carved onto it and a ribbon tied to the handle had the words 'For Gilda, For Gregor' written on it.
"What was your plan?" Asked Celestia, her voice filled with anger. "Attack me at my own base. How did you plan on getting out? Don't you see how Gregor is using you?" The griffin got as close as he could to the bars of the cage and spat in Celestia's face. She wiped it off and turned.
"Let him go, he is only following orders, a mindless soldier." She said and began to leave.
"No Princess." Said Duskheart. Celestia turned to see Duskheart enter the cage and draw his sword.
"Duskheart what are you doing?" Celestia shouted.
"My duty." He said, swinging the sword down and decapitating the defenceless griffin.
"NO!" Shouted the Doctor, Celestia picked him up with her magic and threw him against one of the other cages.
"Why Duskheart, I told you to release him." Celestia shouted in his face.
"What for!? so he could try again? It's my duty to protect you Princess, and I take that very seriously. In fact, my other protective measure is already on its way."
"What new protective measure?" Asked the Doctor, suspicious of Duskheart.
"I call it operation: Pinkamina." By now the other elements had heard Celestia's shouting and came galloping to the source.
"What! Pinkamina. What do you mean? What did you do to Pinkie?" Fluttershy yelled, cocking an arrow and aiming it at Duskheart's head. Meanwhile, the Doctor's eyes had widened and he kept whispering "No" under his breath.
"I released her full potential." Duskheart said, proud of himself.
"And what does that mean?" Asked Rarity, staring daggers at Duskheart.
"None of you would understand, you don't have the guts for war." Twilight added her magic to the mix, cutting Duskheart's face with the assassin's blade.
"Fine… I'll tell you. It started six months ago, when I sent Pinkie and a group of ten others to destroy a griffin stronghold. From the report, I found out that Pinkie had gotten 'close' to a female corporal under her command. Rosethorn was her name. They stormed the stronghold, hoping to gather intelligence that we could use. But it was a trap; it came down to Pinkie, Rosethorn and three others. They were almost out and away, but then, Rosethorn was cut down. From what I read, it was something like beauty, vicious, savage beauty. They said that Pinkie's hair had straightened, her coat became darker and she had picked up two swords. Walking on two legs, she had killed every single griffin and Minotaur in the stronghold. The private who wrote the report stated that she refused to be called Pinkie, and only responded to Pinkamina."
"That's not explaining what you did to her." Said Twilight, holding the blade to his face once more.
"I used her. I took her to a secret research lab in Canterlot, and the Unicorns there played with her mind. Releasing Pinkamina while making her controllable." Duskheart explained. The Doctor became furious. Walking up and Punching Duskheart.
"Do you know what you've done? Do you have any idea?" He shouted. Celestia looked at the Doctor in fear.
"What is it Doctor?" She asked. The Doctor sighed, before turning to face her.
"Ten years from next Tuesday, the war has been over for a while, and things had begun to go back to normal. But then an assassin breaks into the Royal palace of Canterlot and kills Princess Celestia. The assassin calls herself Pinkamina, angry over what was done to her; she seeks revenge on the ponies she believes are responsible for what happened. Princess Luna mourns the loss, and in an angry rage, kills Pinkamina. She then disappears into the stars, leaving Celestia's successor, the Alicorn Twilight Sparkle to rule over Equestria as sun and moon." The Doctor's story leaves everypony quiet, even Duskheart.
"Twilight Sparkle… the Alicorn?" Said Twilight, breaking the silence. Celestia's eyes welled up as she listened to the Doctor.
"Is there any way to prevent this?" She asked.
"Yes, but we have to get to Pinkie quickly, before she starts killing. As soon as she begins to enjoy it, the timeline will be fixed and there will be no way of stopping her." Celestia looks at Duskheart, using her magic to squeeze him. He groaned in pain.
"Where is she?" Celestia asked. Rage building in her voice.
"She's on her way here; I've got pegasi carrying her in a large metal egg. On contact with sunlight, her mental programming will kick in and she will start killing any and all griffins and Minotaur." Duskheart said, still being crushed by Celestia's magic. Celestia threw him into a cell, locking the gate. Twilight added her own touch, electrifying the bars. The group galloped outside and saw the egg, suspended by four pegasi, hover over the battlefield. The Doctor begun to gallop towards it, sonic screwdriver in mouth, followed closely by the rest. The pegasi droppped the egg, which fell with a loud bang. The Doctor was still hallway towards it when it opened. Pinkamina stepped out, still walking on two legs, and unsheathed two swords from behind her back. The Doctor watched in horror as she was attacked by a group of Minotaur. Pinkamina didn't lift her head, but still dodged every swing of the Minotaur blades.
'That must be because of the Pinkie sense Twilight told me about.' The Doctor thought as he watched her. He reached her as she put both of her swords through the last Minotaur's chest. The Doctor grabbed her, placing his front hooves on either side of her head. Then he felt it. The cold blade of Pinkamina's sword as it went through his stomach. The Doctor's eyes opened wide and he looked down to see that the sword had been buried all the way to the hilt. Pinkamina pulled the blade back, and the Doctor fell to the ground. His eyes became heavy, and his breathing shallow. He saw Derpy tackle Pinkamina. He closed his eyes, hearing Derpy's voice very faintly.
"No Doctor, No don't leave me."