Destiny Book 3: Fast as a Weeping Angel

by SirScribe

Introducing the Doctor

Aside from the sparks flashing in the room due to the damaged equipment, there was silence in the room. For a moment, the Doctor thought he heard his hearts beating rapidly. He chuckled nervously as he removed his hat and threw it into the TARDIS. "So sorry about the rough landing. See, I've been trying to reach Barcelona since I last regenerated and I can never seem to find the time, excuse the pun. I thought I had the coordinates right this time," he said as he raised his hoof up to his face.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Howdy y'all. Mah name's Applejack, and this here is the Doctor," she said.

Lapis slowly approached the duo. He inched closer to the Doctor, who had now realized he didn't have his watch on. "I-Incredible. H-how did you managed to cross through the rift in Time to this exact moment? Your ship should've burned up the second it entered the Vortex," he asked the Doctor.

The Doctor smiled. "Benefits of being me. Right, so what year is it?"

Before anypony could answer, the Doctor rushed toward one of the griffons and sniffed his tail. Before the griffon could strangle him, the Doctor was gone and standing in the middle of the room. "3205? Interesting year, that one. I'm due for tea with Princess Flurry Heart in a few months." He rushed to a nearby pony and whispered "She cheats in chess, just so you know."

He returned to the center of the room and stomped on the metal ground. He bent down and licked it, earning a disgusted exclamation from his companion. "High density tungsten carbine crossed with iridium-sulfate with a hint of Negative Ore from the core of Sidestream, a planet long lost to a supernova 63 billion years ago? You're building an energy converter to...oh yes!"

Everypony jumped at his exclamation. "You're trying to harness Dark Energy in the universe to stabilize the affects of wormholes for interdimensional travel, aren't you? Incredible, however you need more space in order to perfectly stabilize the properties of the Ore so you must have more than one facility nearby," he asked Lapis.

The stallion only stared at him in wonder. "Y-you figured all that out by just licking our floor?"

"Yup." The Doctor popped his P as he trotted over to his companion.

"Doc? What's Negative Ore?" she asked.

"Negative Ore used to be found at the very beginning of the Universe actually. In a liquid form, Negative Ore creates an antimatter property with can disrupt anything it touches. Impossible to find and even more difficult to grind into powder for the base of the platform." The Doctor looked up. "Who's the chief scientific officer in your division miss..."

The griffon blushed. "B-Belinda," she responded.

The Doctor smiled. "Belinda? I used to know a griffon called Belinda a while ago. Tell me, were you born in the higher kingdom of Stallionsgrad?" he asked.

Belinda nodded. "I-I was. Best city for multiple species to live in harmony, I'd think," she said.

The Doctor said nothing more and approached Belinda. "C'mere real quick," he beckoned.

The griffon took cautious steps toward the Doctor, who pulled her and Applejack to a window overlooking the other towers. "For you to properly use the Negative Ore and the Dark Energy, you'd need fission cells to power the towers, correct?" he asked Belinda.

"That is correct, but how'd..."

"So tell me something: there's 16 towers, including this one all running on fission cells, correct?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, but..."

He pointed toward one of the towers. "Why isn't that one working then?" That question was for both Belinda and Applejack. "Any guesses Applejack?"

She shrugged. "Fergot to plug 'em in?" she guessed.

One of the ponies stepped forward. "All towers were functioning perfectly until a few moments ago, sir," he called out.

A griffon stood up. "We're checking on Tower 4 now, but..."

The Doctor sighed. "Fission cells are supposed to be the most effective energy cells in the universe. They can outburn entire generations, and if you have enough, an entire star. That tower isn't transmitting because their fission cells are no longer working. They've been drained," he deduced.

"Wait a minute," Lapis said. "You said fission cells can outburn generations, but you're also saying that they've been drained. How's that possible?"

"I agree," one of the griffons said. "It's impossible. We would've had somepony or somegriffon come over or transmit a message relating to the cells if anything happened. The platforms are running on the fission cells while the towers are being powered..."

"That tower is dead, and everypony inside is a sitting duck," the Doctor said. "Equestria has it's military mobilized, yes?"

Lapis nodded. "Pray it's enough for this," the Doctor muttered.

---

Hidden deep within Tower 4, 10-foot tall fission cells were fastened into the power core. The Royals of Canterlot believed that this new type of energy could rival that of the unicorn's Magic Core. Fission energy was the big step in Princess Twilight's campaign toward a more effective future for Equis. While there were complications (and more craters on the Moon due to testing), the latest model was designed to last hundreds, even thousands of years on a single charge.

For the two ponies patrolling in the power core, that theory was incorrect.

The two ponies, one unicorn and one pegasus, were used to running maintenance throughout the tower, never expected to be assigned to restoring the fission cells in the base of the tower. With flashlights in the unicorn's magical grasp, the two continued their inspection of their charge.

The pegasus let out a yawn that rivaled the roar of a manticore. "Can we hurry this up? I was in the middle of my well deserved break?" she complained.

The unicorn fought the urge to yawn. He too was on break when the power went out. "In a minute. We probably installed the cells wrong and they got loose. Whatever the case, it'll be quick and painless," he said. "So shut up and look for anything weird."

The pegasus rolled her eyes. "That cargo shipment the other day was weird. Who delivers a ship with nothing but a stone pegasus statue? I mean, we need art to make this place feel like home, but that's a poor excuse of art if I've ever seen it," she said.

The unicorn had to agree. They had requested power couplings from the planet nearby and instead received an empty ship with the statue inside of it. The mysterious gift immediately flew into storage and was never seen again. It freaked everypony out.

As the unicorn swept the area around him with the light, the pegasus resorted to taking her own flashlight and moving in her own direction. They would've both made their way back up to report to their captain had the lights not started flickering.

The unicorn cursed under his breath. The lights had brand new batteries installed so they'd last for months without a single fault. He shook the flashlight, trying to get it to cooperate. When he settled the flashlight, what he saw nearly made his heart stop beating. Standing right in front of him was the pegasus statue.

Everything about the statue was wrong. For one thing, when it arrived, it was on all fours with one hoof raised and its wings covering its eyes. Now, it was on its hind legs with its mouth wide open, exposing a set of razor sharp teeth. Its eyes suggested only one thing: murder.

The unicorn made the mistake of blinking. For a second, not even a full second, the statue had left the moment the unicorn lost sight of it. Sweat began to pour down his neck as his heart started to race. The flashlight continued to flicker as he quickly scanned the area he was in. It was too quiet now. His partner had not said a word in over a minute.

The unicorn's search for the statue became more erratic. With a free hoof, he reached for his radio. "Blackout to Crown 3, we have an intruder. Lock down the main facility, over."

Static was all he received. "Blackout to Crown 3, do you copy? We have an intruder!"

Again, nothing. The unicorn waited for a reply. His heart continued to race as the flashlight continued to flicker. Where was the pegasus statue?

He got his answer when he turned behind him to meet the stone cold eyes of the pegasus. The light shut off, and with a short thud and the sound of bones cracking, Blackout was down.