//------------------------------// // All The Rage In The Universe // Story: Doctor Whooves- Through The Cracks // by LemonDrizzle //------------------------------// All The Rage In The Universe It woke to the sound of birdsong. It hissed in abject pain as it felt the boiling sun beat down on its exposed back, the translucent body being bombarded brutally by the celestial rays of shining light. Its pure body, free of impersonations was a very frail thing. The slight radioactive waves of gamma that emitted from the sun, the slight gamma rays that most creatures could merely shrug off, was burning into its skin with the pain of a thousand needles. Its strength was still there though, the strength that could level trees and crack holes in marble, the strength that could break bones with the ease of snapping a finger. Its taloned limbs felt scorched and crispy but not broken, the small thin bones still secured firmly in place. The aching in its head was still pounding, relentless banging and clattering shrieking and screaming smothering its mind, causing its large eyes to wince slightly. Hazy memories bubbled to the surface of its mind, the unbelievable agony of death and the sickening dulled feeling of life returning to his limbs, its molecules knotting back together without any hint of pain. It remembered the feeling of rebirth and of falling and falling, of slamming into the spongy, wet ground with a small thump. It remembered the host body fading with a slight fizzle as its molecules expelled the human blood from its own system, the seeping red liquid leaking into the ground and being absorbed by the earth. Then the darkness had engulfed it, its black eyes flickering softly before it gave into unconsciousness. And now, now it was here, wherever here was. Its bulbous, black eyes widened as it took in the ground that lay before it. Clear, free grass rustled tidily in the breeze, past that a deep, dark forest seemed to spread onwards for miles and miles, small gleaming eyes pouncing across its dark, hidden, shadowed treeline. Slowly, its back screaming in great convulsing throes of pain, the belittled, should be dead plasmavore rose onto its legs, shaking slightly from the agony of this short physical movement. Its head declined slightly as it took in its landing zone, a small grassy plain just on the outskirts of the ominous looking forest, a small plasmavore shaped imprint sticking to the weed tangled floor like a cartoon character. Its blank, cold eyes fell on the small object that lay beside the carefully crafted imprint, a thin, short white stump that's end glowed with soft trickles of red. The plasmavore bent down much to the protest of its quivering legs and, wrapping its taloned hand around it, picked up the straw with a soft smirk upon its horribly pale face. Then the plasmavore turned one hundred and eighty degrees to observe the new sight before it, the sight that brought a cold, broken laugh belching out of its throat with a horrible cackling sound. A small village lay about a mile in front of it, curly grey smoke wafting up from the rooftops of huddled houses. Even from where it was standing it could see the wide assortment of bright colours that decorated the village in a childish, pathetic glow, screaming immaturity. A few very large, very conspicuous objects caught its attention, buildings that jutted out of the town that seemed to beg for attention and shriek for eyes to bless their bodies. The first noticeable building was a large, red barn in the centre of a gigantic shroud of apple trees to the far left of the town. The barn rose upwards into the air, past the heads of the trees, red coated wood glistening brightly in the burning sunlight. A light lavender series of rooftops decorated the top of the barn, yellow and red flowers blooming from the open windows that allowed the bright suns light to seep into the household. A brilliantly red apple exploded from the roof of the barn, calling to everyone and anyone that this, this, was the prime place for apples and apple treats. The great groves of apple trees rose around the barn, red fruit littering the luscious green leaves like flies littering a corpse. Small white fences criss-crossed the farming ground, a border to keep trespassers and fruit devouring animals out of the prized apple collection. The second building was a great medley of human like confectioneries. Dripping chocolate, fluorescent white icing and a large, disgustingly pink cake rose from the roof of the sweet crafted building. Large purple candles extended from the cake-like roof and stretched upwards until they seemed to punch the face of the sky. Large, glassy windows exploded from the confiture shop and household, another botheringly cute building that allowed the dreaded sunlight to filter inwards. Flowers coated this house as well, blue and red and yellow mingling together in a washing machine styled swirl of colour. Even from where it was standing, a mile away, it could see the long line of multicoloured figures that stretched towards its entrance in a long, winding line, waiting patiently for entrance to the large shop. The third and final terribly attention seeking building, if you would call it that, was a brilliant white cloud palace that hovered along the border of the quaint looking town. Great cloud pillars rose up to support the structure, twirling fluffy clouds of the colour of snow moulded into the shape of a mansion. Sparkling, gushing fountains of rainbow coloured liquid burst across the cloud house, trickling down the sides in waterfalls of spectrum colours. It shuddered in disgust and repulsion as it took in the site of the new town, the sickeningly colourful village that seemed too peaceful, too quiet. Not for long. It thought to itself with a convincing, shady grin before wincing slightly as the sun continued its relentless assault on its radioactive prone body. The plasmavore's eyes narrowed slightly as it took in the distance to the town before it began its short but painful trek towards the village and its inhabitants, chaos and destruction on its mind. [.] It took the plasmavore ten long, arduous minutes to cross the sun swept distance between its falling point and the town border. It had walked achingly across the soft, wet ground, sticking to the shadows of trees whenever it ran across one. Partly for the darkened shadowed cover from prying eyes and partly to escape, even if for mere seconds, from the horrible, smouldering sunlight. Finally, finally after struggling, falling and cursing and shrieking in pain the plasmavore disappeared into the relative shadowed shade of one of the massive houses, eyes glittering towards the residents of the town with contempt. It had seen them, five minutes earlier, the adorable, wide eyed, bushy tailed ponies that trotted and cantered and waltzed around the town, a spring in their step and laughter in their voices. The alpha race of the land had caught the pale killer out at first, dumb, dull creatures from the other universe now sentient and lively. Such was its shock that it had simply stopped its approach and stared at the creatures that had yet to see him. Racing thoughts shot through its brain as it took in the sight before it, as it absorbed the knowledge that something had changed drastically when it had reformed. It had been thrust into a world that it should never ever be near, trapped on a planet that had yet to see any dark aspects of any other world. Soon, though, soon the feeling of shock vanished and was replaced by another feeling. Loathing. Oh, how it loathed them. How it wished to simply step from the shadows and crush them. How it wished to burn this quiet town, to hear the sounds of screaming and pain. How it wished to laugh and giggle as the creatures around him burnt with shrieks of agony. It had a simple matter to attend to first before it could thrust these pitiful creatures into a void of sadness and pain. It was hungry, so very, very hungry. When it had reformed in this strange new world it had lost all traces of its last meal and, right now, the plasmavore only had the thrill and thought of hunt on its deeply corrupted mind. It had recoiled slightly as it came to the conclusion that it would have to take the body of one of these awfully bright ponies, weakness shining through for a second as it vaguely wished that it could still be human, before it steeled itself to the thought. Survival was more important then honour. Once a meal had been claimed, it could go about ridding this land of these horrible, gruesomely happy sacks of fur and hair. Its eyes flickered slightly as it automatically went into its hunter-esque gaze, nose slits wrinkling slightly as it tasted the air with a hesitant sniff, getting a feel of the stench of the ponies. It was a warm, soapy, pleasant smell. A smell that showed no signs of rot or grease or fat. It was a happy, pure smell that brought bile to the aliens slightly convulsing throat, such pleasant smells like poison to the monster with the rotten core. Its eyes twitched slightly from behind the wall of darkness as it took in the sight of the ponies wandering around the clearing, dirty hoofs kicking up dust with loud thumps. Strong. I need a strong one. Yes, yes, yes. A good, tasty meal. it thought to itself as it expanded its gaze towards every creature that walked into view, gaping mouth trickling small amounts of hunger fuelled saliva. Soon, its eyes fell on its next victim, dark protruding tongue flicking out to roll around its gaping mouth in a sign of lust and hunger. The stallion was tall and muscular, a dark green colour that closely resembled the colour of the leaves that the plasmavore had seen earlier on the leaves of the forest trees. The eyes were a deep hazel colour, warm and friendly but also filled with power and strength, signs of battles won and lost flickering softly in the brown orbs. Long blonde hair streaked down its head and back, a light swishing tail of the same yellow trailing behind him. It was unkempt and wild, dirt coating the edge in a soft brown sheen. On the flank of the powerful, stockily built stallion was the mark of two crossed swords, glowing with a faint silver colour. The stallion had no apparel on but, even from this distance, secluded in the dark, the plasmavore could see the slight circular ring that cut around the colt's body, the lightly shaded area obviously clear as to be from a sheath of some sort that had been wrapped around the stallions body for many years. A warrior, the plasmavore mused softly as it took in the sight of its next victim, how very...fortunate. The plasmavore felt a little trickle of spit trail down the corner of his face as his mouth watered at the idea of a new, fresh meal. The plasmavore's eyes narrowed slightly as it pondered a way to get the dark green stallion over to itself, alone. Seconds ticked by like hours as the thoughts of the hungry monster raced through its mind at speeds that defied belief. A mere two seconds passed before the plasmavore's eyes gleamed and its mouth set itself into a cruel smile, a soft chuckle escaping the cavernous mouth. It waited and waited as the stallion drew closer to its hiding place, as the green colt trotted casually across the clearing, very nearly scraping some of the outer buildings with his large body. Just as the green stallion passed the plasmavore's hiding place, it let out a loud, broken cough and proceeded to break down into soft snivels and cries that made the stallion pause in his tracks and turn his head back towards the darkened area where the sounds were coming from. The stallion hesitated for a moment before trotting backwards towards the soft whimpers that were emanating from the shadows, pausing just at the edge to peer into the darkness, nothing distinguishable coming into view. He called out in a quiet, deep voice that crossed the darkened gap in a mere second, the powerful voice ringing with strength in the ears of the plasmavore. “Is anypony in there? Are you hurt?” The plasmavore just continued the crying and weeping sounds, raising the volume ever so slightly, trying to entice the emotionally torn stallion into the darkness. “Do...do you need help? Hello!?” The stallion called, louder into the darkness, voice permeating the shadows of the house but seemingly falling on deaf ears as the whimpering and snivelling only increased in volume, soft coughing joining the mix of sounds. The stallion braced himself, thoughts of protection and helpfulness flickering across his face, before he plunged into the dark shadowy sea. As soon as his hindlegs stepped into the shadows the crying and the whimpering stopped, a deathly silence following his arrival. The stallion felt a trickle of sweat roll down his coat as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up to attention. He began to turn, to head back the way he came before whatever was giving him these horror felt vibes caught up to him but he was stopped by a monstrous abomination standing between him and the shadowy exit. The plasmavore watched the foolish but brave stallion enter the shadows, watched as it looked around in fear at the sudden lack of noise and then watched it turn towards him, terror flying across his deep green face as he beheld the body of the plasmavore. It didn't even give him time to cry out in terror before it lunged towards the colt, grabbing its muzzle with white, shivering talons and forcing him up against the wall of the house with a slight thud. It rammed the stallion into the wall once, making sure the head connected with a thwack similar to that of a watermelon cracking before letting the stallion drop to the floor in a daze similar to the humans. Without wasting any time or breath, the plasmavore lunged forwards, exposed the neck with one long taloned hand and plunged the straw into the vein of the stallion with the second pale hand. The stallions eyes widened slightly as it felt the cold, slippery hand close around his muzzle, blocking of all sound as the creature dipped its head towards the straw that punctured his neck. The last thing the green colt heard was the rapid sound of sucking before he passed out in slightly shrivelling bundle of fur. No pony paid any attention to the green stallion that strolled out of the shadows. No pony glanced his way as he made his route slowly across the clearing, eyes glistening with unsuppressed malice. No pony paid any attention to the white straw that stuck out of his mouth like a cigarette. No pony even noticed the small drop of blood that fell from the straws end and hit the dusty floor with a soft plink. A loud, three belled chime echoed across the town as the plasmavore trotted casually through the friendly village, schemes and plans forming evilly in its mind. [.] It had taken The Doctor a good five minutes to close the jaws of the stunned ponies, trying to coax them back into the realm of the conscious to little effect. After her earlier introductory comment, Fluttershy had proceeded to squeak uncontrollably before resorting back into the quaking mass that The Doctor remembered so well from the butter yellow pegasus. The reactions of the sentient, hilariously confused ponies had been simply priceless though. The Doctor certainly wouldn't have traded that moment for the world, that moment when his new friends could seem him in his own light, free from the plaguing nightmares and horrors that whittled down his soul, weighing heavily upon his mind. He never wanted anyon-anypony to see him like that, to see his core. To see the monster that lurked in his heart and in his mind. Rarity's reaction had been one of the most comical reactions that The Doctor had seen in his age old life. First came the eye-twitch, a small tic seemingly embedded into her eye causing her right eye to furiously flutter for a solid minute. Then came the astonished, withdrawn, late gasp that seemed to create rolling waves of confusion across the clearing, rising upwards into the sky much like the great wafts of steam that had ascended earlier. Lastly, the metaphorical icing on the cake, a satin red couch had darted across the clearing, dust streaming behind it as if it was a fleeing antelope. As soon as it reached the bewildered mare, she collapsed onto its plump fabric and proceeded to faint in an almost lady like movement, one foreleg rising to her head as if to test her temperature before she let out one final sigh and passed out. Then came Applejack's reaction which, though not quite as extravagant as Rarity's, was still a sight to behold. The seemingly stable farm mare just stood stone still, mouth hanging open so wide that it was like staring into a blackhole. Her eyes were wide and brimming with every emotion known, confusion and fear, bafflement and astonishment, sadness and happiness. The strong farm pony seemed to quiver a little bit every once in a while, a slight muffled oh horse apples breaking out of her mouth before it expanded once more into the dark void. During Applejack's mental breakdown, The Doctor took the time to admire her or, specifically, the wonderful hat atop her head. Truly a beautiful Stetson. After all, Stetsons are cool. Not quite on the same scale as bow-ties and fezzes but certainly up there in the list of all things cool. Next there was Pinkie Pie's reaction which, if The Doctor had known Pinkie Pie for long enough would have known that the change was astronomical. Pinkie Pie the energetic, babbling, mad, odd, quirky, partying, insane mare was completely and utterly silent. She was just staring, straight at The Doctor as if she could see something, something that no one else could see. As if she were reading a book or deducing a mystery. She still held the whimsical look in her eyes that the rest of the mares wore but the rest of her body spoke a different tale, not suspicious but...prepared for whatever may lay ahead. There was something to her, that pink party pony. Underneath all of that bubbling energy she was smart and quick to the punch, thoughtful and calculating. Right now, all of those things were whispering around her, prompting The Doctor to force his gaze away from her before she saw anything that he would prefer to keep hidden. After the pink menace, Rainbow Dash came into view wearing the expression of a child that had first found ten pounds on the floor, then found a chocolate bar in the fridge and then found out that they are destined to be a cowboy astronaut. So, she was looking very, very happy. The smushed face had returned except this time the eyes twinkled with astonishment and slight fear, the sculpted, refined, athletic face wrinkling together as her cyan hooves pushed against the sides of her face. Her wings were beating furiously, an odd whining and buzzing noise flaring behind her with a gentle waft of smoke rising from the sparking blue wings. Similar to Applejack, she was muttering a slight speech over and over again, which sounded a lot like ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Fluttershy was curled on the ground, shivering and quaking with small squeaks bursting from the butter bundle of fur with a surprisingly high pitch. Her pink mane layered across her face, smothering her from view in a soft hue of bubblegum pink. Her wings were twitching slightly, small spasms racking their lengths as her nerves clenched tightly around her whole body, disabling her of the ability to not only speak but also to move. The Doctor simply smiled sadly at the pegasus, put off that he had not been able to get through to her but determined to go through every attempt to win her over in the future. Finally, The Doctor allowed himself to bask in the once grumblingly annoying lavender unicorns reaction. Her pupils had expanded to the size of dinner plates, sparkling slightly with amazement and questions. Her mouth was open slightly in the shape of an “o”, bafflement evident upon her purple and blue fringed face. Her legs were shaking ever so slightly, much like The Doctor's had been when he had first stepped out of The Pandorica an hour ago. The Doctor continued to stare at her for a few more seconds before sighing and turning away, And I so wanted there to be smoke coming out of her ears, The Doctor thought to himself in slight disappointment, ah well, can't have everything I suppose. “So, eh, anypony home? No? Not even a little?” The Doctor spoke in a loud, clear voice. Weaving between the ponies and desperately flailing one caramel hoof in their faces, with no reaction whatsoever. “I didn't break you did I?” The Doctor mumbled, hoping for any sort of reply, even if it was some form of drooling or incoherent babble. The Doctor, yet to hear any manner of speech from the bewildered ponies before him and desperate to learn about this new world, took things into his own hooves, striding up to still slightly sparking Pandorica with a careless saunter. He inspected the now cold metal on the side, bringing his head in close to feel the freezing metal before he took a careful lick of the mysterious box. Immediately he put his head back and licked his lips slightly, eyebrows raised and eyes diverted as he tried to discover the taste of The Pandorica. Steel alloy woven into the bindings with hints of dwarf star metal sewing some particles together, The Doctor thought to himself as he tasted the metallic tang, main body seems to be made of dense titanimite, pretty boring really. Oh, here we go. A slight taste of...Dalekanium. Clever. very, very clever. Still didn't work though. The Doctor, his thought process now complete, turned to the ponies, sure that his display of licking the strange box would have brought at least some of them around in confusion, questions forcing out of their mouths. However, the mares continued to stare blankly ahead, much to the frustration of the timelord as the endless stream of questions in his mind began to smother all other thoughts. The Doctor sighed again, pent up annoyance tracing the sound as, once more, he walked up to The Pandorica. This time though, instead of licking the metal he did something much more normal. Well, as normal as you can get when you're an alien with your own life bringing prison sitting on the ground before you. The Doctor raised back his hoof and pushed forward, bashing The Pandorica three consecutive times in a row, the loud sound ringing around the forest like the bells of a church tolling. Birds broke cover from trees, winging into the air as the sound continued to echo across the forest, even reaching the small, quiet town of Ponyville without The Doctor's realization. Six multicoloured mares jumped quite suddenly at the loud ringing sound, hearts pounding in their throats as their eyes and heads darted towards the source of their fear. Slowly, all six gazes fell upon The Pandorica and The Doctor, who was now looking quite sheepish. “Ah yes, you see I needed to get your attention. Looking at the circumstances now, I may have hit it a little too loudly.” The Doctor gulped slightly in fear as he felt the burning, angry looks that the five girls, and one still cowering but ticked off pegasus, were giving him. Rarity spoke up, slight anger lacing her voice as her heart attempted to slow down, with little effect. “You could have just asked us you know!” “I did. No pony responded.” The Doctor deadpanned quietly. Roles were reversed as the six mares immediately broke out into sheepish grins, small blushes covering most of their faces in a strawberry tinge. The Doctor just smiled, waving his front hoof in a simple gesture that showed that all was forgiven. With a hop, skip and a jump The Doctor landed before the mares, causing Rarity to squeal in horror as dirt rose up and laid down upon her perfectly groomed coat. Both The Doctor and Twilight stepped towards each other, purple and brown nearly colliding as they both simultaneously began to speak. “I have so many questions!” “I have so many questions!” Twilight looked away awkwardly, a light blush decorating her face. The Doctor stared at her for a few seconds, surprised that she had recovered from the previous five straight minutes of blank staring and then immediately dived into the beginnings of questioning. The Doctor shook his head slightly before a large grin spread across his face, Pinkie mimicking the happy display with a dazzling, toothy smile. “Oh, oh, oh. I know, I know! Lets play....twenty questions!” Pinkie Pie bubbled furiously, bouncing and twirling around the clearing, a rather large spring in her step as she observed the two ponies that stood before her. Now behind her. Now before her. Spinning was super fun! The Doctor glanced at the spinning mare swiftly and then returned his gaze to Twilight. She was looking at him now, a hopeful gleam in her eyes that he couldn't ignore. “Seems like a plan. Ok, go ahead Twilight.” Twilight blinked once, sorting the questions into order of importance. It took longer then expected, a good twenty seconds of complete silence that made the other mares watching kick the ground awkwardly with their hooves as their friend continued to remain in absolute, stone-dead silence. Then Twilight's lavender ears perked up and she raised her head to stare into The Doctor's luminous blue eyes. “What in the name of sanity is that thing!?” Twilight raised one purple hoof to point solidly at The Pandorica. The Doctor turned to look at it, a slight frown on his face before he turned back. “That...that is my house...” Twilight raised one eyebrow in disbelief, the obvious look of are you kidding me crossing her features. “Well, if that's your house then what was it doing in the sky?” “Well it was falling of course. I thought you would have figured that out by yourself!” Twilight and her five best friends groaned in annoyance, multiple hoofs rearing up to slam into their occupants faces with a small slapping sound. The Doctor's eyes widened as he watched the odd display of face-hoof, looking down at his own hoof before wondering if it would hurt to do such a thing, I mean he was incredibly furry. Before he could test however Twilight spoke up once more. “And how did it get into the sky?” The Doctor blinked slowly, his master lie crumbling around him as he watched the lavender mare poke a rather large hole in his otherwise foolproof deception. “Well...you see I-ah. Its really a big, metal bird that...doesn't. Have. Any. Wings. Hmm, Ok, fine, you win. Its not my home.” Twilight beamed happily, spinning her hoof around in a clockwise motion, informing The Doctor that he should keep going. “Well, its name is The Pandorica. It was made as a prison for...for the worst thing in the universe, the most vile creature to ever grace worlds. The creature that could just walk onto a battlefield and have both armies flee in terror. The creature that took people and turned them against each other. The creature that destroyed its own race.” The six mares looked on in terror, eyes widening as The Doctor continued his explanation behind the mysterious box, the same box that had now crashed onto their planet. Had it escaped, this terrible monster? Where was it now? A quiet, shaking voice piped up from behind the mass of shivering, terrified ponies. “What...what happened to the-to the mons-s-s-ster?” The Doctor turned towards Fluttershy who recoiled at the look in his eyes. There was such pain there, such unbridled pain that seemed to flow through him. Guilt bubbling up in the irises before it was washed away by a blank expression. “It escaped. Now, my question! I've seen the lovely Rainbow Dash here fly but I have yet to see any of the old unicornian magic that I have heard sooo much about. So, my questions is, can unicorns here perform magic?” The Doctor watched in a shock as the bottom lips of every mare near began to quiver slightly, terror flooding his veins as he desperately tried to think of what he had said to upset them. Just as The Doctor closed his eyes and braced himself for waterworks, some new sound exploded from the mares, a sound that he had not expected to hear. The Doctor hastily opened his eyes and took in the sight of all six ponies, even timid Fluttershy, rolling across the floor in fits of laughter, tears streaming down their faces as they hugged their sides with iron grips, trying to keep their bodies together. Twilight Sparkle was laughing the hardest of all, fat tears rolling down her cheeks and staining the ground with dark blots of water. The laughter of the six giggling girls was infectious and soon enough even The Doctor was chuckling slightly, if not a bit confused about what was going on. Still, unexplained laughter was a lot better then unexplained tears. The laughter soon died down enough so that The Doctor could resume talking in a slightly humour laced voice, a tinge of disappointment echoing on his words. “Ah yes, silly me. I mean, magical ponies? Its quite the ludicrous thought.” This comment just caused the girls to sink into even deeper laughter, thoroughly confusing The Doctor as he watched six grown mares rolling around the floor like infants at a school. The Doctor frowned slightly in vague annoyance. “Now, I know that I made a foolish mistake but I don't think its fair that you'd laugh at me quite like this. I'm new here remember?” The girls immediately stopped laughing, a faint trace of shame wafting across the air. Twilight stood up onto all fours again before raising on hoof to wipe away the last traces of tears that lay upon her eyelids. She looked sheepishly at him for a second. “Oh, we're sorry. It was just too funny. Especially when you thought that unicorns couldn't do magic!” Twilight chuckled slightly towards the end before she gasped in surprise, moving backwards lightly as The Doctor thrust his face right into hers, gentle breath playing across her features and ruffling her fringe carefully. “You mean to say that you can...do magic?” His voice sounded hopeful, a slight tremor of excitement coursing through his speech, making him sound like a new foal experiencing all the wonders of the world. Twilight smiled with glee as she made herself out as the bearer of good news. “Did you think our horns were just there for the sheer visual effect? Watch this Doctor!” Twilight's horn glowed a faint purple colour, transparent lavender mist swirling around the appendage before she disappeared in a brilliant flash of bright white light. The Doctor's eyes widened in utter amazement as he watched Twilight vanish in the bright light before a slight zapping sound and a flash of similar light exploded behind him, causing him to turn around quite suddenly. There stood Twilight, a confident smile on her face as she watched the disorientation on The Doctor's face as he looked back and forth between her vanishing points before he turned towards her with a massively goofy smile on his face, making him seem so friendly and warm. “Oh my, complete atomic de-configuration and reconfiguration in order to move from point A to point B without the use of kinetic energy. That took humans over 30,000 years to produce and here you are, Twilight Sparkle, performing miracles as if they were simple party tricks!” The Doctor watched as Twilight blushed lightly from the praise, humbleness setting in directed at her abilities. “How much magic can you do? What sort of magic can you do? How does it feel?” Twilight blinked as he bombarded her with questions left, right and centre. She answered slowly at first, thinking out the responses to each of his questions. “Magical ability depends on the willpower and metal strength of the individual. I, myself, can usually exhaust myself after roughly three straight hours of magical exercises whilst Rarity can usually tire herself out after one and a half hours... ...I can perform all sorts of magic since my special talent is magic as distinguishable by my cutie-mark. However, many unicorns follow a certain specialist type of magical teaching like Rarity who, with her fashion business, is more interested in the daintier, fine working magic then large, bulky magic... ...Finally, magic feels...fantastic. It's really what I live for, when things come down to the basics. The joy of completing a spell, the adrenaline and powering flooding your veins. The feeling of magic, its-its indescribable.” The Doctor smiled slightly, the feeling she had discussed was a well known feeling for the time travelling, never-ageing space explorer. The ability to do what you want, when you want. To have control over something, to have the joys of success and completion. The joys of knowing that what you do today could help many for years to come. That is one of the things that kept him going, kept him running. Still her response had brought another question to his mind so, quite bluntly, he spoke up once more. “Fascinating, simply fascinating. If I may ask though, what is a cutie-mark?” Twilight pondered for a second, opening her mouth in order to respond to the question at hand when a soft plink of rain fell from the sky and smacked against her muzzle, a single tear shaped trail winding down her face. Twilight frowned slightly, looking at the ominous skies above the Everfree Forest before she turned to Rainbow Dash. “I don't suppose there is anything you can do about that Dash?” Rainbow Dash looked up towards the dark, rainy cloud with a thoughtful expression on her face before she turned her gaze back onto Twilight's. “Nah Twi, no can do. Weather works different in the Everfree, it could be an unstable cloud and I'd rather keep my wings on my body.” Twilight frowned once more, wrinkles crossing her brow as she watched the cloud that seemed to sigh once before letting out a loud crack of thunder and lightning, rain now pouring out of it like a miniature waterfall. Twilight turned to The Doctor, her mane quickly plastered to her face as the rain flattened it, her friends darting into the cover of the trees whilst The Doctor simply stood and stared at the rain as it felt down on his body, drenching his fur. “C'mon Doctor, we need to get out of this rain and back to Ponyville!” The Doctor turned towards Twilight, an expression of are you kidding me plastered across his face much like his mane, mirroring Twilight's earlier expression. “Ponyville? Well, that really shouldn't come as a shock. I'll be right there, I just need to get something from The Pandorica.” Twilight was puzzled slightly at the name before remembering that it was the name of the cube that she had previously known as “screaming metal box”. Twilight darted towards the trees and dived into cover, her fur stuck to her body in tight packs as the rain water caused her to shiver slightly. She turned to see The Doctor inside The Pandorica, trying to pick up a strange cylindrical object with his hoof and dropping it. Again and again and again. Rainbow Dash sighed in annoyance before winging her way over to him, shivering at the feeling of water hitting her sensitive wings. The Doctor turned to see her land beside him, shaking the droplets of water off of her wings sending them careening everywhere. Rainbow Dash looked at the strange cylinder on the floor, flecks of bronze and white lining its side with large hints of metal twisting around it. On the top there was a strange, slightly green bulb. She raised one eyebrow at the device before looking at The Doctor who was muttering something about blasted hooves. “What is this thing?” The Doctor looked at Rainbow Dash with confusion for a moment before brightening, a grin spreading across his face. “That, my dear, is my sonic screwdriver. We've had so many adventures, me and her and I was just-WAIT, NO, NO, NO!” Whilst The Doctor had been happily explaining his handy dandy device, Rainbow Dash had stuck her head close and bumped the button on the side carefully with her nose. Immediately, the screwdriver sprung to life, green light blazing from its end and a loud whirring, high pitched noise bursting from its edges. Rainbow Dash reared up in terror, forelegs raised and then, in an impossibly thoughtless move, slammed both down onto the screaming screwdriver, forcing it into the ground and shattering it into two pieces. The Doctor watched as his precious screwdriver lay broken and twisted on the ground, green bulb cracked and sparking slightly. “My screwdriver....” Rainbow Dash darted forward, an apologetic tone to her voice. “Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I just..I thought it...” The Doctor shook himself out of the daze with a little flick of his head, forcing a smile onto his face which was incredibly, obviously fake. “Oh, no worries. I can just get another one. Now, unto Ponyville!” Rainbow Dash glanced at him sorrowfully again before she burst out of The Pandorica, streaming towards her friends. The Doctor followed close behind, hooves now splattered with mud as he pounded the ground in great leaps. The two reached the clearing in seconds, The Doctor shaking the droplets off of himself much like Rainbow Dash had done before, an instinctive measure of his new body. Twilight grimaced at the sight of The Doctor returning empty hoofed before glancing to Rainbow Dash with a small scowl that caused the pegasus to look at the ground in sadness. Sighing, Twilight turned around and started to trot to Ponyville. “C'mon everypony, Ponyville is calling us!” The others followed close behind, The Doctor and Pinkie Pie bringing up the rear. The Doctor smiled softly as he fell in line behind the pink pony, raising his head to glance around at the flora and fauna in the forest before whispering softly to himself. Geronimo. Pinkie turned her head to him, exactly one hundred and eighty degrees much like an owl which The Doctor found both fascinating and terrifying at the same time. She frowned slightly at him before the signature smile appeared on her face. “You know, I actually preferred Allons-y but whatever works for you.” Pinkie happily bubbled before turning her head back around, oblivious to the confusion and surprise that had appeared on The Doctor's face at her outburst. [.] “So, what you're telling me is that these tattoos on your rumps symbolize your life talent? Twilight frowned slightly, an expression that she had used far too much today, at the way in which The Doctor had described cutie-marks. “Basically, yes.” The Doctor nodded once, a muttered understandable forcing out of his throat as his mind began to wander towards the ideas that he had begun to build about the town. It would of course be large but humble. Colours would simply explode from buildings, much like the colourful bodies of the ponies around him. He imagined that there would be a bakery of some sorts, along with a school and probably a church, if ponies could get married. The Doctor's curiosity got the better of him and just as he was about to ask if ponies participated in matrimony he was stopped by a question from Pinkie Pie. “So, Doctor, what were you doing in the forest?” The Doctor paused in his routine step, mind desperately trying to conjure up a convincing lie. A dark frown carved through his face as he realized with a shock that due to his little knowledge of “Equestria” and to his mysterious arrival that there simply was no way that he could make a convincing lie to the girls around him. Only the truth remained to be said. Oh well, better to be truthful and feared then lying and loved. The Doctor thought to himself sadly. The mares had noticed his sudden silence and had stopped to stare at him as his face slowly fell, the signs of warmth and excitement fading from it like the dripping of wet ink off of a page. He slowly raised his head to look at the girls, sadness and weariness echoing around his features. “I...I haven't been entirely honest with you girls. You see, I-” It hurt The Doctor's hearts to reveal himself to his soon to be ex-friends in such a way. Fortunately, or unfortunately as it may be, he was swiftly brought silent by a deep low growl that reverberated across the dusty, dirty forest path. Only then did The Doctor realize that the forest had grown silent a minute ago, the birdsong fading away and the crackling of leaves and twigs vanishing. The growl broke through the silence once more as the mares in front of him backed up fast, pushing themselves behind The Doctor. Not knowing of the situation at hand, The Doctor merely stood his ground and stared at the mares as they back-pedalled wildly behind him. His expressions morphed into a small frown before he brought his gaze back to the clearing and, more importantly, the lumbering figure that now stood in the centre. Lightning flickering behind its massive body. It was unlike anything The Doctor had met before and yet he recognised it perfectly. The lions head that was littered with sharp teeth and a red mane. The similar lions body that was coated in yellow fur with large, powerful paws glued firmly to the ground. The wings of a griffin that rose off of its back, blotting out the trees behind it with a dark red membrane that seemed to stretch on for metres in both directions. Finally, the large, swelled scorpions tail that trailed behind it raised in the air, pulled back and ready to strike with the strength of a stampeding buffalo. The Doctor took in the manticore with its teeth and its claws, its wings and its barbed tail and he smiled. “My this is truly a sight to behold. Pegasi, unicorns and now, now I get to meet a manticore!” The manticore roared in an unholy, blasting voice that reeked of foul odours, causing The Doctor's nose to wrinkle up in disgust. The beast stepped forward, its large paws cracking the earth lightly as it prowled towards the foolish pony, its new meal. The girls watched in horror as The Doctor simply stood there, observing the manticore as it drew closer and closer to him. As it roared and pawed the ground with brutal streaks of its clawed paw tearing great chunks out of the ground. Still The Doctor just stood there smiling and speaking softly to himself. Twilight's eyes widened to inconceivable lengths as she called out loudly to The Doctor, voice stained with terror. “Doctor, get out of there! Manticores eat ponies! The Doctor turned his head slightly to Twilight's voice, one eye never leaving the manticore and the same goofy smile splayed across his face. He raised his voice so that it could carry across the clearing and yet still remain relatively quiet. “Oh no, not this one Twilight. In fact, I'd say he's never going to eat another pony again.” The Doctor turned his head back in time to watch the manticore take a great leap towards him, claws extended and wings pumping furiously as it crossed the short distance between them with one great bound. Just as it was about to crush him, just as the girls diverted their eyes in horrible anticipation The Doctor took a light step backwards, just out of the reach of the manticore. The great shaggy, mane ringed head bolted upwards, a low growl in the predators lips as it locked gazes with its prey. And faltered, the sound of a growl choking in its throat. The great blue eyes were blazing with an inhumanely cold light, rage pouring out of them like liquid fire. Lightning flickered softly in those eyes, a storm tossing and turning behind cleverly disguised orbs. The small smile that had once formed across his face was now a dark, deep-set frown with a pale white, cold line spreading across his face as the lips and smile morphed into a look of unbelievable anger. As much as the manticore squirmed it couldn't escape the blisteringly blue eyes as they bore into its very soul, as they tossed and inspected the spirit of the lumbering monster. The manticore had never felt so terrified in its long life. It had grown accustomed to being the hunter, to having those smaller then it flee at its loud growl and here, here it was reduced to a quivering, whimpering wreck by those painfully blue eyes. And then its tormentor spoke in a voice that resembled the roar of thunder, the oncoming storm. “I'm going to give you this one simple chance. Just one. Leave. Leave and never hurt a pony for the rest of your life”. The voice was so icily cold and quiet, a whisper that carried all of the anger that the universe could muster, condensed into this small, brown earth pony with the eyes of a god. “Because if I find out that you have, if I find out that you have killed or even scraped another pony, I'm going to come back here. And you will wish that you still had the choice of my offer.” The Doctor took one simple step forward until his face nearly touched that of the beast before him, rank breath playing across his cold face as he continued to stare the manticore down. “Now...run.” The manticore whimpered once more, the gaze burning into its soul before the eyes flickered for a second, allowing the manticore to avert its gaze and plunge into the dense foliage, intent on escaping from the monster of terror that it had so foolishly, so haphazardly, attacked. The cold, blue eyes still flickered slightly in its vision, taunting him as it mewed in fear smashing deeper and deeper into the forest, the sounds of its retreat softly fading from the clearing where the girls were starting to trot forward cautiously towards the brown stallion in the middle of the path. The mares had watched first in fear and then in unbearable confusion as The Doctor held his ground with the beast, looking into its eyes with an expression that was unreadable from their position behind him. They watched in complete shock as the great mismatched monster began to quake, watched in bafflement as The Doctor whispered something softly to the beast. They watched in befuddlement as The Doctor stepped closer to the vicious predator. Then they watched in uncontrollable bewilderment as the manticore whimpered once before bolting from the path, sounds of mewling and smashing following it until the noises faded into the background, life returning to the forest with a soft bird call. Only then did they trot forward, fear prickling in their necks as they slowly cantered up to the still silent figure that stood solidly in the centre of the path. The Doctor turned as they drew closer, an unconvincing smile playing at the corners of his lips. The mares stopped a metre from him and regarded him with befuddlement and fear before Fluttershy's once quiet but now hard, truth telling voice broke across to The Doctor, piercing his hearts. “What. Did. You. Do?” The voice was not loud but nor was it quiet. It echoed with just the right amount of anger and passion, not a single trace of fear evident in the voice as the animal loving pegasi stared at the terror inducing figure with a look that could turn ponies to stone. The Doctor, for his part, merely returned the gaze with a blank expression, not willing to show any hint of emotion as his voice rose up. “I told it to leave. It did.” Applejack's eyes narrowed as she searched the voice for any traces of deceit, the previous trust in the stallion now diminishing with the sight that she had witnessed before her. No pony could stare down a manticore and live to tell the tale. Still, after searching fruitlessly in those blue eyes for a few seconds she came to a shocking conclusion. The Element of Honesty paced forward until she stood beside the butter yellow pegasus with the freezing glare, whispering softly into the ear of her friend. “He ain' lyin' Fluttershy.” The yellow pegasus turned to her orange friend, the cold stare disappearing as she stared in belittled surprise at her friends revelation. As Fluttershy gazed into the green eyes of the Element of Honesty herself she began to come to her senses, anger washing away like sand messages at the beach. Fluttershy squeaked softly as she went over the previous minute in her head, when she had tortuously talked to the stallion with such anger in her own voice, the animal caring pony with the cold, hard voice of a monster. She turned slightly to look at The Doctor, the crestfallen face that she beheld very nearly broke her timid little heart in two. She opened her mouth, the words I'm so sorry forming before an orange hoof silenced her, laying upon her mouth with the gentleness of a butterfly. Fluttershy averted her gaze from the stallion to the Stetson wearing mare that had quieted her down, a cold look in those deep green eyes. “I ain' ever seen ah pony stare down ah manticore before. Not even mah brother Big Macintosh could do that an' he's the biggest stallion in town. So, what are you?” The Doctor's gaze rose to meet the green eyes, a curiously blank expression on his face as he inspected those green orbs before he sighed softly, averting his gaze. “I was going to tell you earlier and then it showed up and I just...” “Y'all ain' answering mah question. What are you?” “If you'd just give me some time to expla- “I'll say it again, what are you?” “Applejack, pleas- “What are you!?” “FINE!” The Doctor roared in a voice that tore his throat and silenced the forest, birds blasting out of trees. He took a deep shuddering breath before his voice quieted to a whisper, “fine.” The Doctor turned towards all the mares, an odd gleam in his eyes. Of pride and guilt and sadness and fear. Fear of losing them like he had lost so many others before. “I'm a timelord, I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the Constellation of Kasterborous. I'm nine hundred and seven years old and I'm the pony that has saved your lives and every billions of lives in the universe that mirrors you. Now, do you have any more questions because I would really, really love to see this Ponyville!?” The Doctor finished his speech with a slight crack in his voice, a sliver of fear seeping through as he desperately tried to avert everyponies thoughts towards Ponyville and other inhabitants instead of towards him. Needless to say, it didn't work. The mares stared at him, their expressions perfectly symmetrical to their reactions at the opening of The Pandorica. However, their dull, glazed look quickly vanished as a loud crack of thunder and lightning burst across the forest, making everypony jump and smearing the landscape in a blue blur. Twilight gazed at him with an expression of confusion, fear and...pity? Quickly though that expression morphed into one of leadership like hardness as she wheeled around to talk to the other mares in a loud voice. “We're going to get all of the answers we need girls but right now, with thunder, lightning and rain pouring down on us, we need to reach Ponyville. So, snap out of it!” The five other mares turned to stare at Twilight before the glazed expression melted off of their faces and they nodded at her almost sagely. The purple unicorn spun around and trotted up to the fallen, somewhat depressed looking Doctor. He raised his head to greet her, eyes sparkling slightly with unannounced fear before he reared back in surprise as Twilight raised her head to nuzzle him slightly, hot fur rustling against hot fur. She broke off the contact with a small blush before looking up into his gleaming, confused eyes. “You have some explaining to do but if you thought for one second that we would abandon you in this forest then you were dead wrong”. Twilight spoke to him with hints of exasperation and happiness in her voice. “Friends stick by each other, even if they didn't understand any of what the previous friend just said to them.” The Doctor's small smile forced its way upon his face as he beheld the lavender unicorn before him that had forgiven him so easily. Of course, she had no idea what he had just said and the actual confrontation on his species was bound to be awkward and revealing but at that moment The Doctor simply didn't care about that. A long time ago, someone had said to him that Gods must be strong but today, today The Doctor had felt at his lowest and his weakest since a very long time. Woken in a new equine body, on a new planet, no TARDIS, a broken screwdriver, no hope of seeing Amy or Rory again, friends that he had made and then nearly felt the heartbreak of losing and now forgiveness of his lies. All of these thoughts exploded in his timelord mind as he instinctively reached forward and pulled the lavender mare into a strong, hearty hug that spoke feelings that he simply couldn't say. When he pulled back he was his usual plucky, arrogant self with hints of unhampered joy in his great blue eyes. He leaned down to whisper into her ear so that only she could hear. “Thank you.” The Doctor then turned to the other mares who were throwing him suspicious looks, raising his voice so that they could hear him over the crackle and boom of the thunder. “As Twilight said, I will explain everything to you once we have made it back to your humble settlement. I am sorry for the confusion and the lies I have said, you must feel so angry but I promise to tell you the whole truth when we get to Ponyville.” When the mares still did not look convinced by his talk The Doctor used his secret weapon. His ace in the hole to convince them towards his honest behaviour. “I Pinkie Pie promise.” The smile burst once more onto Pinkie Pie's face as she calmly trotted towards the stallion before looking him right in the eyes with a happy, carefree expression. “I was never angry at you silly, just a teesny bit scared.” With that comment the pink party pony trotted away to join Twilight, signalling with her hooves for the others to follow. Rarity passed him with a slight huff in her voice, then came Applejack who eyed him warily but not angrily. Then there was Fluttershy who whispered a small sorry to him before lowering her head and trotting past. Finally, Rainbow Dash flew past him, eyes watching him but not dripping with anger or hate or fear. Instead they gleamed with interest. The Doctor sighed before following the snaking line towards the quaint town that waited him. Well that could have been worse. [.] By the time the seven members of the bedraggled group had made it to Ponyville darkness had fallen across the town, great storm clouds that had drifted from the Everfree forest blocking all view of the sun and its light and smothering the village of Ponyville in a dark shadow, abstract shapes barely visible across the dark town. The Doctor had his eyes wide open, roaming the streets for any signs of housing but only finding dark, shadowy objects that could resemble anything from houses to boulders. The Doctor resigned himself to the fact that today was not the day that he explored and investigated the town, a light sigh escaping his parted lips. His ears perked up slightly as he felt the gaze of another burning into the back of his head. The Doctor turned his gaze around to stare into the eyes of a muscular green stallion with light, unkempt blonder hair that flowed down his neck. The stallion eyed The Doctor for a moment longer, malice glinting in the hazel pupils before he slinked into the dark shadows and vanished from sight. The Doctor frowned before swinging his head back around to follow the mares as they came up on their final destination. The Ponyville Library. The Doctor couldn't make any guesses towards the building in front of him, shadows dripping down from the abstracted, impossible shape like bats hanging from rafters. For a second The Doctor could have sworn that it was a tree before the thought was swiftly whisked away as he heard Twilight opening the front door with a loud creaking noise. After all, who would build a house inside a tree? The Doctor's question was answered simply by a lavender unicorn as he stepped through the open door and into the flickering, candle lit, hollowed out tree. The Doctor's eyes widened as he took in the beautiful sight before him, eyes flickering softly in the candle light, a wonder-filled smile on his face. In the centre of the yellow flickering room there rose a great wooden horses head, extending from a circular wooden table that was littered with multicoloured books. Small vines snaked down from the ceiling and crawled down the wall like great, green snakes, choking the wooden walls. The rough, swirling barked floor twirled round and round in great ringed circles, indicating that the tree had been perhaps three hundred years old when it had been carved out and formed into the house that it was now. The walls themselves were a browny orange colour that seemed to mix together like paint swilling around a pallet, the resulting colour creating a beautiful shade of colour that brought much needed light to the interior of the house. Ladders lay perched on the walls, wooden poles tied loosely together with fraying, brown string that looked like they would crumble after their next use. Darkened windows lined high above the spiralling tower of hollow wood, metallical black lines criss-crossing their lengths like a spiders web. A large wooden staircase rose upwards around the room, leading to the dark upstairs where the faint snoring of a baby dragon could be heard, dozing in blissful warmth. That however, was not what had amazed and astounded The Doctor. The whole area was littered with great spectrum coloured books. Hardbacks and paperbacks lay strewn across the floor and in the nooks and crannies of the great bookcases that spiralled around the library. At least three hundred hues of books cluttered the library, spilling out from shelves in great bursts of papered knowledge. There was so many classifications, history, science, fiction, non-fiction, storybooks, horror, adventure, action and romance alone decorated only one fourth of the whole area. Tomes of old lay on great wooden displays, locked by glass cabinets to signify their importance. The Doctor could have happily stared at the blissful sight before him, smelling the lovely stench of knowledge but his thoughts were interrupted by a slight cough behind him that drew his attention. The Doctor turned to find three, shuffling, embarrassed and awkward mares pawing the ground softly, barely making eye contact. The rainbow mane, navy blue mane and pink mane bobbed slightly as they raised their heads to stare at The Doctor, eyes brimming with questions. One pink maned mare just stared at him with a wide smile and sparkling blue eyes that seemed to call to him to play with her, to dance and sing and be free like a true Pie. The final two pairs of eyes bore into him with a relentless burning sensation. The Elements of Generosity and Honesty stared at The Doctor, challenging him to make his speech, daring him to try and disrupt the peace that this neighbourly little town had acquired. All of the eyes, even the stunning blue eyes of Pinkie Pie, called to him, forcing him without consent to tell his story. To reveal to them his identity and his arrival. To bear his secrets to them. The Doctor sighed before slowly looking at each one of them in turn, clearing his now parched throat as he did so. “I am guessing you've never seen anything quite like me before right?” Six heads shook violently, Pinkie's head very nearly popping off from the speed. “Then, I'm the first. The first alien to land upon your planet.” The six mares eyes widened in bewilderment as The Doctor began to lay his metaphorical cards upon the metaphorical table. “Your first visitor. The first, great Timepony.” The Doctor muttered to himself, pausing for a second to glance at the astonished faces of the mares around him, each eye twinkling with confusion, excitement, fear and...pity? He cleared his voice once more, to continue his speech before a cracking, excited voice broke through the acoustic prone library. “What I tell ya Applejack? Aliens!” Authors note: I know not a lot of the actual story has occurred yet but I can tell you with all the honesty in my small, shrivelled heart that the next chapter will contain some major adventure/plot development. I'll even give you the name of said chapter, it shall be called “The Timepony And The Plasmavore”. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Stay tuned for some kickass Colgate and The Doctor action from my next project that will be coming out at some point the next month...I hope