Doctor Whooves: The Angels of Canterlot

by Rarity Belle

Clock is ticking

“Applejack,” the Doctor spoke to her. But the cowgirl didn't even dare to look up at him because of the Angel before her, “turn towards me, but never, ever, lose eye contact. Understood? And when I say run, you run as fast as you in reverse. Am I clear?”

“Clear as crystal! But where are we going to run?” she asked. That was something the Doctor hadn't thought up exactly. The more silent he went, the more Applejack became impatient to an answer. “Well?” She didn’t wanted to admit it to herself, but she became scared in the moment.

“We go towards the origin of the radiation, which is through this cavern. And then we just pray we don’t get caught,” he then explained to her as honest as he could.

“That’s nerve resting,” the cowgirl mocked as she winked both of her eyes independently.

“Three, two, one, Geronimo! Go, go, go!” the Doctor almost shouted. Both him and Twilight turned their pace into a full on gallop with Applejack hot in their trails. The brown maned earth pony and the unicorn had made a decent gap between themselves and the other mare. Who didn't liked it one bit that they could see where they went.

“For Pete’s sake,” she muttered and turned herself around just for a little bit. But when she looked back, there was the Weeping Angel that stood almost right in front of her. Applejack couldn't do much else then to release a yelp. A yelp which acted as an indicator for Twilight and the Doctor.

“We have to go back for her,” the Doctor said when he turned his eyes over to Applejack. But he knew there would be more. Such a mysterious power source, it was feast for them.

“No need to go back,” Twilight replied to him, she didn’t even break a sweat with the words.

“Are you insane!?” he returned to her and took the mare by her shoulders. “I am not leaving her behind, you understand me? I’m, not, leaving, her!”

“Just wait and see. What’s your top speed with running?” she asked then with a smirk.

“Uhm, ah, ha... I don’t know,” the stallion returned to her. He was surprised by the change of conversation. How on earth could that mare remain so calm, when a friend was faced with death?

“Well, time to find out. Applejack, hold on!”

“On what? The statue!?” she yelled in return.

“Point there. Anyway, orb incoming to pick you up!” Above the horn of Twilight, the charge become only more powerful. As said, it indeed emerged around the cowgirl. The raspberry colored bubble that would carry her away from the Angel but allowing her to keep an eye on it.

“Just, just don’t break eye contact!” the Doctor added while he watched the raw power output from the horn. Magnificent, such power output from within her body... What could it possibly be? Maybe there is such a thing as ‘magic’, though there has to be a better explanation for it, he thought to himself in a split second. But then he caught Twilight running away and Applejack in the orb passed him. “Huh..? Oi! Wait for me!” Within a split second was he also off. Off with them to the very source of what they were looking for.

---

Eventually their pace went to hold and the took liberty of the time to catch up with their breath. Twilight released Applejack from the hold and all three of them sat down for a moment. Their backs were against the other so in that way, they could see where the creatures would come from. All three of them were panting either from exhaustion or fear.

“Doctor...” spoke Twilight before she released an orb from her horn. An orb which created light within the stone room they sat. A room covered from nearly all the sides with diamonds that reflected the light, making it nice and bright. “...Just what, are those things. Tell us everything, you know about them, please. We have the right to know, what’s attacking us.”

The Doctor sighed deeply and all three rested their heads against one another. “You two really want to know just what those beings are?”

Both Twilight and Applejack didn't nod, but spoke a words in unison. “Yes.”

“Alright then, you asked for it. But not here on the ground. We gotta keep moving, understood?” The Doctor was the first of the three to stand up and the other two followed suit. “Twilight, you take the rear and Applejack takes the middle.”

“So you upfront?” the cowgirl asked with a gentle smirk.

“Well, yes. You happen to have a problem with that?” he replied to her. He did a couple steps back. His eyes never even dared to leave the front but one of his hooves was sneaking up to the hat of the mare. “Unless you know what you are dealing with better than I do and I have encountered them, at least three times. So...”

“Suppose ya have a point there,” Applejack replied. The Doctor gave her a smile and before she knew it her hat was too be found on his head. “Stetsons are cool, Doc, but there’s a place and time. And this is neither of em.” The mare took her hat back and they assumed their positions. Even though the stallion didn't like it when she called him that way, he couldn't do much else than just soak it up. She was a physical strong mare, one that could easily have beaten him in a fight.

In convoy they continued to follow the bleeping sounds of the sonic screwdriver. “The Weeping Angels, that’s what we are dealing with here. Creatures that are around since the dawn of creation but nobody has ever seen one in the flesh. For when they are observed, they turn into dead rock. When not seen, they are quick. You’ve seen it, Applejack, one look away and it was near you,” the Doctor explained to them in the most down to earth fashion.

“But, what if one of them gets you, what happens?” Twilight asked out of sheer curiosity.

“They send you back or forth in time. Placing you long before or after your were born and died. And they consume the energy from the days you could have lived within this age. Perfect consumers and filled with kindness.”

“Kindness? How can that possibly kind?” Applejack exclaimed. Her green rims went from side to side. Twilight had managed to leash the orb of light and she carried it with her, above the group as their source to see within the darkness.

“Well, unlike the Cybermen who delete you or upgrade you, or the Daleks who exterminate everything that isn't a Dalek, a Weeping Angel only send you back or forth, usually back. You live your life but in another time period. Basically they let you live to death,” the Doctor replied to Applejack. “They still give you the chance to live, cowgirl, the greatest gift of it all if you ask me. Though they can be violent from time to time. And I reckon, these is one of those times. Especially with me here.”

At the hearing of the names, the mares tilted their heads and wanted to know more about those kinds. But given that what they were already dealing with, it didn't seem to be the best idea. “And, what do they do then, when they get violent?” Twilight asked.

“Break a couple bones, snap your neck, use your mind to speak to the others. Nasty stuff. That’s why you don’t need to blink. Though, never there have been made good readings on the creature behind the stone. It’s, difficult to describe them,” the stallion spoke to them in all honesty. It was clear within his voice that even he didn't knew just what to do think of them. His knowledge was infinite but on the subject he knew so little.

Both of the mares shivered at the words and Twilight let down her guard just for a mere two seconds. Two seconds that were enough for a hidden Angel to burst out of its hiding and stop literally before Twilight. “What..!” she shouted out to the rest of them as the creature of stone just pointed up. Up to the ball of energy.

---

The Doctor turned himself around and went past Applejack with some words. “Now you’re at front.” With his blue eyes he inspected the situation around Twilight and followed the hoof up. “Oh no...” was all he was allowed to say before the orb flickered. In response did both of the mares took their eyes away from their position and gazed upon the orb. “Run,” the Doctor whispered at first. “Run!”

With that one word within their ears, all three of them just kicked their legs into the highest possible gear and ran. They ran through caverns old and deep. They ran away from the Angels that could and also would chase them around. But they still had the light even though it was fading in energy. They galloped through the dark caves while blindly following the bleeping of the screwdriver.

As ridiculous as it looked, neither of the mares had problems with it. Because they couldn't complain about them given the fact they were running for their lives. The charge around the horn of Twilight never ceased to exist nor did it seem to fail in power. “This way, quickly! We are closer than I thought! One last sprint to the end! Geronimo!” the Doctor shouted while he tucked the device back inside his jacket. Then he continued to gallop as fast as he possibly could.

Before them it became visible as a lit up area in a raspberry color. The light that was reflected against the gems and send it in all possible directions. But the Angels were hot on their trail. Twilight swung her head from side to side almost every possible second in order to keep the creatures off. From time to time she even turned herself around to face them.

They were getting closer and closer to the room, but so did the hooves of the Angels to them. It would only be a matter of mere seconds before they would get them. Though one mare wouldn't end up as their dinner and as both the Doctor and Applejack made it through. Twilight turned herself around and faced the dark cavern before her.

“Are you insane!?” the Doctor spoke before he wanted to pull her in but Twilight just pushed him off. Without a word spoken from all the parties present had the unicorn risen up on her hind legs. There she thus stood bipedal while only more power raced through her horn.

Silence had taken over everything and the unicorn could only hear her own heartbeat. Everything played itself out in slow motion. With the orb still flickering, she could see the Angels coming closer towards her. Under a roar of power had she lowered herself on all four of her legs again. Then she released the charge of her horn. All of it as one massive blast of magical energy.

All of it got sent towards the beings of stone in a brilliant raspberry color. It didn't kill them but the lights revealed that the entire cave was swarming with them. And then the darkness fell again. The energy of the horn faded away and Twilight huffed into the room while walking backwards.

“W-What did ya do Twi?” Applejack asked in a worried tone. She kept her eyes on Twilight. In the time they had entered had neither the Doctor nor the cowgirl had been able to find another entrance, or exit for that matter. Something they were lucky with. Only problem was that the exist was crowded with the beings. Their only entrance, was also their only exit. All of the sudden had it become the worst spot they could possibly be in.

“You didn't kill them, did you? Oh tell me you didn't!” the Doctor yelled. It almost seemed like he would charge Twilight with everything he got.

“I didn't kill them, Doctor. I only locked them up in a time block. Out of this room, in that cavern, time stands still,” explained Twilight to him, hoping he would get it.

“Impossible... How, how can you do such a thing without, without anything!?” the stallion wondered out loud. He rubbed both of his forehooves through his mane. “How!?”

“Was rather simple. Just a couple spells from Starswirl the Bearded himself,” replied Twilight with a cocky smile. She took strange delight in seeing him that confused before her.

“And who might that be?” the Doctor dared to ask of her.

“Oldest, strongest and wisest unicorn that has ever lived upon this land.”

“Enough with the chit chat will y’all. We are running outta time, remember.” Applejack had interrupted the two bluntly. Twilight and the Doctor, two beings with the same knowledge. Refusing to believe the science or magic. They attracted one another, but also were their exact polar opposite in certain cases. “So shut up and work! Ah don’t wanna die by one of those Angel bastards.”

“But it’s not over yet,” the Doctor said. He let his eyes fall upon the streams of raspberry light that were irradiated. “...That’s impossible.” They hadn't laid their eyes on the source yet, but the stallion already had made some sort of connection in his mind. Twilight had her own theory whereas Applejack was just astonished.

But the wonder within the green rims quickly turned into one of fear. “D-Doc...”

“Hm?” The Doctor followed the extended hoof of Applejack and looked almost right into the eyes of a Weeping Angel. It’s mouth was filled with fangs and it was just ready to devour the first thing it would meet. The fangs were a feature they hadn't seen before, but it certainly added up to the levels of creepiness the statues already had. “Wow!” As quick as the stallion could he turned his eyes to a lower part of the creature and continued to speak in despair. “Suppose that spell doesn't work indoors, because we might have slight problem right before us.”

“Oh no...” was all that Twilight said. She turned herself around and looked at the being. “Applejack, can you keep eye on it? Doctor, you as well.”

“And what about you?” the stallion asked when he reached out for one of Twilight's forelegs.

The unicorn looked him into the eyes. “I need to know what kind of power conductor it is, and we only have like, fifteen minutes left before those creatures are set loose, don’t we? Time is of the essence and we’re not having much of it, not anymore,” she said to him, hoping to solve it all.

“If we aren't too late already, yes,” the Doctor replied in a near whisper. Twilight let go of his hoof and walked past the both of them. With a normal pacing she walked up to the very edge of the cave, to the spot where all the beams of raspberry went from the gems, into the ground, into a pit.

What she caught within her violet eyes was something of the utmost discomfort. Her eyes caught a sight of something. Of something that was just so horrible that she didn't knew the words to speak, nor the ability to scream was granted to her.

---

“Excuse me, but do you happen to know where my sister is?” Celestia asked against one of the metal ponies that roamed through the front area of the weather factory. Luna had been gone for a long time and it worried the mare of the day to no end. She just had to know where her sister was. Whether it be good or bad.

“Negative. Please wait at the reception,” the pony returned in a near mechanical voice.

“Then so it has to be,” replied Celestia to herself. There was a worried expression which formed itself on her face. She did what was told to her and went to the reception of the building. Though along the way she kept an eye out for her beloved little sister. When she arrived, she did what she had done for a thousand years already. And that was waiting.

But as she waited, Celestia couldn't help it but to notice that there were more and more of those armored ponies literally stomping around. It was quite terrifying for her to see. To see her subject that were normally flesh and bone be like that way they were. The alicorn walked up to a clerk that sat behind the reception and she couldn't resist her question anymore. “Would the fine sir please tell me, what in the name of the sun those things are?”

The stallion behind the desk looked up at her and he let his blue rims fall upon her before he stroked his green mane. “Certainly miss. They are a product of utmost pegasus technology. Androids that look just like ponies. Designed to help out in the more dangerous part of the factory.”

“So no ponies are being stuffed inside them?”

“Depends. Some do have a pony inside if the job requires utmost precision. Though most pegasi don’t prefer it. They just want to use their wings and the armor prohibits that.”

“I, I thank you for your time,” the alicorn said. She gave the green coated pegasus a nod. Celestia turned around and continued to wait. All while letting the revelation made to her sink into the brain she had. The clerk returned the nod with a smile before he continued on with his duties.

With the passage of some time, had the clattering of a rather familiar set of hooves made their way down the corridor. While the chatting of two ponies became more apparent, Celestia rose up from her seated position. She would have smiled when both her sister and the stallion had finally entered. “I thank you kindly for the tour sir and good luck in the future,” the mare of the moon spoke to him. After which she gave him a gentle bow.

“Nothing to thank for, your highness, I only did that what you asked me to do,” the stallion said. He returned the bow with a nod of his own. “I suppose the two of you are on your way than?”

“Yes, yes we should be going. Don’t you agree, sister?” spoke Luna while she looked to her older sister. The time to leave had come again, the time to return home was there once more.

“I think that that would be the wisest of things, yes. We still have more things to do for ourselves today.” the mare of the sun replied as she also gave the stallion a bow. “Shall we, Luna?”

The mare of the moon nodded and both of the royals made their departure from the factory without much questioning. Though the moment they left through the door, there was a muffled scream that came from above the stallion. He calmly looked up into the thick pack of clouds. His lips curled up into a menacing grin at one side of his mouth.

But the scream was interrupted by a set of stomping hooves on the ground. The attention of the stallion was quickly taken away from the cloud ceiling and looked down a corridor.

“Sir?” was spoken in the mechanical voice.

---

Back within the deep caverns of the Canterlotian mines, Twilight was looking horrified at that what her eyes caught in the pit. The longer she stared at the mysterious object, the more she reached out for something on top of her head. “That’s, that’s impossible!” she almost shouted through the room. The shout also had a drawback to it and that was that it got the attention of both the Doctor and Applejack. Though it was the cowgirl who managed to keep her eyes upon the angel within the room.

“What is impossible, Twilight?” the Doctor asked before he walked up to her. Without words, the mulberry mare just pointed down into the pit. To the very source of the streams of magic. The blue eyes of the Doctor couldn't believe it either and he started to switch between the mysterious object and the same thing Twilight was, by then, rubbing in a gentle manner. “No, way,” the stallion said. He couldn’t believe the thing that his very eyes had captured. It was as she said, impossible.

For within the pit laid the very source of the Weeping Angels their food supply. The very thing that was nothing else than the very horn of Twilight Sparkle herself. But it couldn't be, as her horn was still attached to her head. It sat right there, ready to cast the magic in a moment’s notice.

The unicorn just wanted to go down to it and investigate it even further, but she was held back by the Doctor. Who had to put quite the lot of force upon her to push her back. “Twilight no! We have no idea of just what it is or does. For all we know, is that it is a duplicate. Who knows what happens if we touch it!”

“Ah don’t wanna be a bother but, hurry up!” spoke Applejack to them. She never lost the Angel out of her eyes. She was getting more terrified with every passing second.

“Quiet you!” the Doctor replied before he turned his attention back to Twilight.

“You don’t understand, if that is my horn, then how can it be still on top of my head!?” And with one yank had she freed herself from the stallion's hold. Before the Doctor could do anything, she had walked down into the pit. The Doctor feared for everything in existence when she went down. He couldn't bare the looks of it, but decided to keep watching.

Twilight just trailed around the object. Watching it with a keen eye as her mind made up the craziest of theories. Even the Doctor couldn't give a proper explanation to the situation and that was what made her grew desperate. But above all: the powerful unicorn got scared. Scared as a little filly.

“Hallo?” was all of the sudden spoken in a voice rather familiar to Twilight. But the origin of the voice was of a place rather unusual.

“What..?” Applejack said. She wanted to look to see where the voice could have come from. Though she made the decision to keep her attention to the statue.

“Well all,” the Doctor said while Twilight just looked up to the stallion. He reached inside of his jacket and took out his sonic screwdriver, only to meet it with a flashing, red light. “I got a message? On this? How bored was I when I made that feature into it?”

“Answer it!” Twilight spoke as she had placed the voice in her mind. And there was no doubt of just who it was, that spoke to them.

“Alright, alright, give me a moment,” the Doctor returned in an annoyed tone. Then he pressed a button upon the device. “The Doctor for the mysterious talker, do you copy me?” the stallion spoke into it. He then released the button again, almost as if it was a walkie talkie.

“Loud and clear, sir,” the voice spoke up again, fractions of a second after the Doctor spoke.

“Now, cut the chit chat and straight to business. Who are you and why are contacting me on my, screwdriver? Still pretty amazed by that feature. Just, just forget that and focus,” the Doctor rambled as he started to rise on his two hind legs.

Twilight crawled out of the pit with a confused look on her face. She awaited the reply to come. “Doesn't this remind you of someplace else, Doctor? Remember that time you threw us all through that crack in space and time?” the voice spoke again, indeed reminding the stallion.

“Angel Bob? But, that crack was supposed to destroy you all!” said the Doctor. It was in that moment that he became scared himself. The memories of what happened inside the Byzantium were still a bit too fresh in his mind. “Oh, no, no, no!” Though all of his words weren't spoken through the screwdriver so the Angel couldn't hear them. As his free hoof went through his mane, it was Applejack who nudged Twilight to keep looking at the creature.

The unicorn nodded and they relieved one another from duty. Whether it was the smartest decision had to be discovered. The Doctor pressed the button to talk again. Though hesitation filled him at first. He wasn’t so sure just what he had to say. “It, it’s a replay of the Byzantium, isn't it? Though do tell me this, who on earth are you? Because you don’t sound like Angel Bob, I know how he sounds like. But what about that horn? Those currents of energy, what is with all of that?”

“That, Doctor, is what kept us alive. The horn is the source, the gems just amplify the power of it. It’s basic but it's helping us a lot,” was spoken over the open channel of the screw driver.

“Helping you to tear down this world, you mean. Whose voice did took over?” If that question would be answered, the mind of Twilight was about to be shattered even more. Further than it already was with the made discoveries.