Soren The Alicorn Part 2: The Effects Of War

by KingNyroc15

Late Arrival

Dear Princess Celestia,

It's been two weeks since Soren and the Doctor left Ponyville. Everypony is starting to worry, especially Luna and I. This isn't like the Doctor to be gone for this long (granted, the Doctor can usually be late, but never like this).

Luna and I had an interesting conversation today. For the past few days, your sister has been thinking about what Soren told us about Night Wing, who, as you already know, is technically called Nyra. Luna explained to me that maybe we're wrong about her, that maybe she can actually change. I am not yet ready to believe this, but eventually we came to an agreement.

According to the battle plan you gave us, Soren is supposed to fight Nyra alone, and then we will catch up to him when the Shadow Horses' forces (who as you know are predicted to attack Canterlot) die down. Luna and I have agreed that if both Soren and Night Wing are not fighting when we catch up to Soren, then I'll give her a chance for redemption. But at this point, we are all still hoping for the safe return of Soren and the Doctor. The eclipse is in a few more weeks, and we just got word from our spy yesterday where the Shadow Horses may be hiding.

See you soon,
Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

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Inside The Time Vortex
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"So do we have everything?" the Doctor asked Soren. Soren looked at and counted all of the books about elemental spells that he and the Doctor have collected over their visits to many different libraries. The Doctor suggested to Soren that he should simply collect the books he needs and then study them when they return to Ponyville. Soren greatly missed that little town, and he especially missed his friends.

"Yes, I have everything I need," Soren answered after counting that he had six books. The Doctor nodded and began to pilot the TARDIS back to the present.

The Doctor smiled as he realized that this seemingly little adventure has changed him for the better. He was becoming his normal self after he had been strictly solitary for Celestia knows how long. And it was all because of that incident with the Weeping Pegasi in the abandoned Royal Archives three hundred years in the past. Soren was the one who got them out of that mess, and as a result, the Doctor was put in the position that some of his past companions were in. The Doctor's smile grew bigger as he thought about what Twilight's reaction will be. She'll be so excited when she sees him.

'And I her. I can't wait to go back to Twilight,' the Doctor thought to himself as he aimed the TARDIS for Ponyville.

---------------

The Ponyville library was dead silent as a purple unicorn was sitting in the lobby, studying a geography book about Canterlot and the surrounding area. She was trying to figure out where exactly in this area the Shadow Horses were hiding, but she was interrupted by a whirring sound that seemingly came from everywhere. Twilight Sparkle looked behind herself to see the wonderful sight of the TARDIS landing near the bookshelves. She began trotting towards the machine once its doors opened but found herself stopping when she heard an interesting conversation taking place.

"How could you get the year wrong?" Soren asked the Doctor. "You're a time traveler, you should know these things."

"Well excuuuse me, Mr. Alicorn, but I didn't see you correcting me when I got it wrong the first time," the Doctor childishly responded.

"And two times after that," Soren muttered. A split second later, he noticed Twilight standing in front of them.

"What are you two arguing about?" Twilight Sparkle asked the two stallions.

"As we were returning, the Doctor forgot what year we were suppose to return to. Unfortunately, so did I." Twilight was now standing next to Soren as they faced the Doctor and the TARDIS.

"Well I can slightly understand that happening to you. You had amnesia after all, and you never asked the year. But Doctor, I'm surprised at you. You're never this...this..."

"Foalish?" the Doctor suggested, while suppressing a laugh. Twilight tilted her head at the Doctor's different behavior. She leaned over to whisper something to Soren.

"Is this the same Doctor you left with?" she asked. Soren laughed.

"Yes it is, and I believe he's back to normal," Soren replied with normal volume. "Don't you think so, Doctor?" The brown stallion walked up to Twilight as Soren took two steps back.

"Hello again, Ms. Sparkle. It's been too long since we've been together like this." Twilight gasped, smiled, and quickly (and tightly) hugged the Doctor. Soren couldn't help but smile at the tender moment.

"What happened during your travels?" Twilight asked. "How did you change back?" The Doctor chuckled.

"Still as studious as ever, I see," he said. "Why don't I let Soren answer that one. I need to make sure the TARDIS is working properly, but don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. We just had a little bit of a mishap inside the TARDIS is all." Their hug broke and they just looked at each other for a few seconds. Twilight decided to make the first move, so she gave the Doctor a quick kiss. The Doctor blushed. "Umm, right, uhh, TARDIS...fix...now." Twilight giggled as he walked inside the machine.

"I don't think I've ever seen you this happy before," Soren commented. "Anyway, let me tell you the glorious tale of how the Doctor returned to being the Doctor." Soren spent the next five minutes explaining the adventure to Twilight. He told her how a Weeping Pegasus snuck its way in and how they ran into more of them at the Canterlot Archives. Soren even went into detail on how the Doctor felt during their escape. After the story was completed, Soren pulled out the six books he collected and explained to Twilight where they went to find them. She was very happy about this, yet she still showed signs of sadness after hearing how many places they went to.

"What's wrong?" Soren asked.

"How long do you think you two were gone?"

"I can gather that we came back later than planned. How long has it been?"

"...fifteen days..." Soren's eyes widened.

"What?! Half a month? We've been gone for half a month? Even though it's been a few days for me and the Doctor, I figured he would take us back to day after we left. How did this happen?"

"Sometimes the TARDIS does what it wants. I've explained this to everypony. They understood...for the first few days anyway."

"Oh no, everyony must be so worried. How's Luna?"

"It'll be better if you're the one to go check on her. Come on." Twilight Sparkle led Soren back into the TARDIS. "Doctor?"

"Yes?" he answered from the other side of the console.

"Soren is leaving to go check on his friends. I can't wait to tell you how long you two have been gone."

"I didn't take months again did I?" Twilight laughed.

"No." She looked at Soren. "Go on, Luna should be at her home. I'll stay here with the Doctor." Soren hugged Twilight and then ran out of the TARDIS. He then ran out of the library and headed straight for his marefriend's house.

The day was nice, warm, and quiet as Soren ran through Ponyville. He had a steady pace going...that is until Pinkie Pie tackled him. No pony could ever seem more happy to see Soren than her. Pinkie Pie was literally bouncing with excitement, but since Soren was under her, his body became a trampoline.

"Ow, Pinkie, get off!" Soren levitated Pinkie Pie off of him. "Remind me never to be gone so long next time."

"Oh my gosh, Soren, you're back!" Pinkie exclaimed. "You have to go say hi to everyone. They really missed you, I really missed you, so did the princess. She's really patient but I can tell she missed you. Wanna know how-"

"As much as I would love to know how you know, I'm going to see Luna right now. Why don't you go say hi to the Doctor? He's back to normal and is at the library with Twilight right now." Pinkie's eyes and smile both widened considerably.

"Perfect!" Pinkie ran off, leaving a puff of smoke where she once was. Soren rubbed his head and continued on his way.

Within the minute, Soren finally made it to Luna's house and knocked on the door. At first there was no answer. 'Twilight said she would be home. Or maybe she doesn't want to answer because she's mad at me.' Eventually, the door opened and out walked Princess Luna. Before Soren could even get a word in, Luna used the Royal Canterlot Voice on him.

"COME INSIDE RIGHT NOW!" she yelled. Soren, wide-eyed, saluted and hurried inside.

While inside, Luna and Soren sat down and faced each other. Soren was about to speak but Luna stopped him.

"We will do the talking, thank thee very much," she said. Soren was already feeling bad about how long he and the Doctor were gone. "You and the Doctor were gone for two weeks. By Twilight Sparkle's explanation, that is about ten days too long. After a few days, all of us assumed the worst. Lucky for you two, Twilight Sparkle was able to calm everyone. As a good faith to your return, I began contemplating about what thou said about the Nightmare Guardian. Thou will be glad to know that we are on thy side for allowing a chance for redemption, but be warned, Twilight Sparkle is not.

"Since your absence, a spy managed to infiltrate the Shadow Horses. We now know when and where they will strike. They will attack Canterlot during the day of the nearest eclipse. On this day, you and you alone will traverse the forgotten Canterlot Caves in search for Night Wing. Once the Shadows are dealt with in the city, Twilight Sparkle and her friends will accompany you in the cave. I have also made a deal with her. We agreed that if you and Night Wing are not fighting when they catch up to you, she will be willing to give the Nightmare Guardian a chance to prove herself worthy of forgiveness. We cannot say the same for the rest of our friends, but back to business. What is your progress on studying the Elements?"

"I have a decent amount of Air and Earth magic learned," Soren answered hesitantly. "I'm beginning to learn Water and its variant of Ice. But Luna..." Soren walked over to his marefriend and hugged her. Luna returned the gesture. "I'm sorry for how you felt when I was gone. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Of course, my stallion. 'Twas not your fault a crazy machine decided to not arrive on the correct day."

"Thank you. Do you want to go meet our friends at the library?" Luna nodded.

Author's Note:

I'm glad I finally have a way to count how many words are in each chapter now. I type on my phone and have no way to check, until now that is.