"Alright, we've arrived! And the timing should be perfect! More or less anyway." announced Whooves as he stepped out of the TARDIS.
"We near Fillydelphiea?" asked Derpy
"I do believe so." replied the Doctor, "You know, I've never been to Philadelphia. I wonder if your version is just the same."
"Uh, what?" came Colgate
"Oh, I can explain!" cheered Derpy, "You see, the Doctor isn't exactly a pony! He's a human!"
"A what?" came Scrapper
"Perhaps some other time." interrupted Whooves, "So, where is this magical Gem seller?"
"In the old market! Some weird pony I met had one a few yea.... uh, a millennia ago."
As they walked into the city, two Guards atop a tower looked down upon them. Upon seeing a particular brown Stallion, they leaped down and unfurled their wings in front of the group.
"Halt! This Stallion is wanted with seventeen accounts of domestic disturbance, three accounts of civil unrest, fifteen accounts of vandalism, four accounts of resisting arrest, and impersonating a Doctor!"
"Hmm, is assault in there as well?" asked Whooves non-chalant
"With a weapon!" answered the guard
"That sounds about right!" said Whooves thinking to his Screwdriver
"Doctor, what did you do?" asked a stern Derpy
"I must've come back later to a earlier point in time and caused all these problems."
"You got a lot of nerve showing your mane around here again!"
"Well then, I might as well do the right thing!"
He took off running as fast as his hooves could take him followed quickly by a guard.
"We're not with him." said Scrapper nervously
"No sir, I recognize you, a friend of the Royal Princesses, I see you brought your sister as well."
Colgate smiled sheepishly.
"But, who is this?" inquired the guard, looking at Derpy
"Oh," started Scrapper, "she's a, a-"
"A Mailpony!" butted in Derpy, "I'm here to pick up a package with them!"
The guard pondered it for a bit, and then shrugged: "Sounds legitimate. Enjoy your say in Fillydelphiea!"
He moved away before sounding a alarm for the rest of the cities guard to be on the look out for the Doctor as they entered.
"I have to go find him don't I?" flat toned Derpy
"He is our only way home."
Bemused at her predicament, she flew off towards several screams and shouts of ponies and guards, respectively, to look for the time lord. Scrapper and Colgate watched as she flew off, not before launching a cart, hay, and several chickens flew into the air causing even more screaming.
"Those two are going to have lots of fun." said Scrapper.
"Alright, where is this gem thing?"
"Somewhere near the theater district." said Scrapper walking along.
"Theater?"
"You can find all sorts of strange and weird things from theater folk. You should try it around Canterlot some time!"
"I Will do it at somepoint."
The snap of what sounded like a roof collapsing distracted her for a brief moment before she caught back up with Scrapper. He was pretty silent with a determined look on his face. His wings kept twitching as if he wanted to take off and fly to where he was going, but since Colgate couldn't fly, he had to stay with her. Looking around for anything interesting, she finally decided talking would help pass the time.
"So, this, Eris, how did you come across her?"
"Huh?" came Scrapper
"Who, or what, is she?"
"I really can't say to be honest. She showed up at my workshop one day out of the blue, she didn't look like she did now when I met her, she was a Unicorn of the upper class of Canterlot. Naturally I didn't think much on it. I got those customers all the time."
He shook his head recalling it all, the memories long lost now flooding back to him, and he silently cursed himself for not seeing the signs.
"I was working on some Royal Guard sword order when she arrived. I knew something was wrong, she hid so many clues about what she was doing, I was just too ignorant."
"Like what?" asked Colgate
"Said it was for a time of change in Equestria, a gift for Celestia, stuff like that. Even the sword hinted at it, the whole thing. She wanted a reinforced Rapier with a dragons scale coat."
"Dragons scale?"
"That will deflect magic if you get it just right, which I can easily."
"Oh, go on."
"She wanted it done in five days, the same time as that years summer sun celebration. She wanted a diamond blade finish, no one ever orders those unless they want to cut gems and stones. The real seller in all this was the metal she made it out of!"
"What was it?"
"Titanium. Strongest metal we know when treated and refined correctly. Only a pony looking for a fight makes a Sword out of titanium."
"Why didn't you question it?"
"Money was tight, Half of Equestria was in a uproar because of Nightmare moon, and I needed to keep my mind off all the crazy happenings, plus she paid up front in full! I had a professional business to keep!"
They passed by several small colts and fillys playing with a ball in the street before Whooves exploded out of a shop next to them.
"There he is!" yelled a guard
Whooves looked in fear and ran off as three Pegasi Guards chased after them, trailed by Derpy. She waved to them before flying off to save the Doctor.
"Soo..." started Colgate after seeing the spectacle, "What clued you off at first?"
"One day," began Scrapper, "An 'associate' of hers appeared at my door step. He was hidden in a cloak and didn't show his face. Just his very presence made me uneasy as he demanded to know how the sword was coming along. I explained to him I was smoothing out the metal, but he insisted I'd be done with that part by know if I had worked through the night. Unfortunately, for him, he chose to pick a fight with a pony who makes swords for a living."
Colgate laughed a little at the thought of that as Scrapper continued on.
"Yet, each day, he returned like clockwork, same time, always demanding to know how it was coming along. I was almost ready to call the guards on him just to make him leave, but if he really was a associate of my employer, I couldn't very well do that."
"So, you just dealt with it?" asked Colgate
Scrapper nodded yes.
"Wow." remarked Colgate
"Then came the night I actually made the sword. Normally, I would focus my magic around the blade to smooth out the sides, but this one was made so just the handle was affected by magic, and I was having trouble with it. By accident I dropped it, and it easily cut through the metal plates I had on my floor to protect my house from fires, and pierced itself so deep in the bottom floor that only the handle prevented it from going any further. I picked it up, and knew this weapon was designed to something, something evil. Just as I was planning on destroying it, the associate arrived, along with her.."
His tone deepened as his eyes darkened.
"She congratulated me on finishing it, and requested I'd give it to her. When I refused, her associate lunged at me. With a swift movement of that accursed sword, I sliced the cloak right off of him along with part of his face. Whatever that thing was , it wasn't a pony, and it wasn't natural. His body turned to ash right in front of me."
He let out a deep sigh which was noted by Colgate. His eyes grew darker as he recalled what happened next.
"Sword held above my head by magic, I was ready to fight. She jut laughed and in a instant stole the sword and pointed it at me. This is one of the few times my luck came through for me. Doing what I do, it's not that rare that somepony will hold me at sword point to get less of a pay. I have kill switches in every sword I ever created that only I can activate. This one especially was no different. I activated it, and the sword crumbled to dust before the both of us."
"I take it she didn't react to kindly to that?" implied Colgate
"Oh she was beside herself. but again, she was attacking a sword smith in his workshop. I sent every blade I could at her, a few striking her on the arm, flank, face, but none doing any real damage. Before I knew it, It was then she started to transform from a Unicorn to that twisted parody of a Alicorn. I knew that look anywhere, it was the Power of Discord, no way she did that on her own. She grabbed my swords with her magic, turning them into snakes, and sending them at me. I thought I was done for when low and behold Bennett appeared with a troop of Royal guard. They attacked her, but she teleported out before they could do anything."
"Did you alert Celestia?"
"The guard said they would keep it under wraps, and Bennett and I said we would, but no, we didn't."
"Why? She could have helped with all her power!"
"She was too distraught at the loss of her sister, and the news of a plot to release Discord would be too much for her to bear, so Bennett and I hatched a plan, to capture and seal that Alicorn of Chaos in a gem Bennett had learned about during his travels. It was our only option that wouldn't throw Equestria in a full scale panic, and we took it."
"So, This gem, it's found here in Fillydelphiea? Seems a little too easy don't you?"
"I never complained. That fact was the only reason we were so quick to act. Ah, here it is."
The place he was looking at was a wagon long since broken down and turned into a little shop. Colgate looked at it and marveled at all the odds and ends, weird objects, and creepy things from afar. The pony inside was actually a donkey who was surprised to see Scrapper again.
"Scripted Swords! Your back I see!"
"Hello Gregor. I need another one of those encasement gems."
"Ah, more bug collecting?"
"Bug collecting?" asked Colgate
"Eh heh, yeah, bug collecting."
"Here you go, a nice blue one this time! Three bits."
"Here you go!" said Scrapper happily before walking off
Colgate looked to he donkey, and then to Scrapper, and grew a look of absurd confusion of her face. Catching up to him, he already knew what she was going to ask but said nothing.
"You mean to tell me, that your whole secret weapon is a Child’s toy? A simple device to trap lightning bugs in the dark?"
"It's all we had to go on!" said Scrapper, pleading with her to understand
"No wonder she broke free at the light of the sun! That's what that thing is designed to do!"
"Well..... yes."
"I thought it was some ancient old super rare stone that would require years to acquire, but no! It's a kids toy! How'd you even get her in there?"
"I managed to trick her into trapping herself into it, and then sealed it myself with a spell and in ice."
"I'll give you credit for that. I'm disappointed in you Uncle. I really am. All that back story, all that lore, and this."
"You have any other ideas? We were on short notice! Besides, it was Bennett's idea!"
She looked at him unimpressed before the whirring sound of the TARDIS alerted themselves to it's presence. The door flew open to reveal the Doctor tied up in the back with Derpy looking at them angrily.
"We're going! NOW!"
"What happened to the Doctor?"
"Let's go!" yelled Derpy
The two smiled nervously and stepped in. The TARDIS slowly denaturalized and disappeared from this point in time.