Vae Victis

by Eggroll

Harbinger

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Harbinger

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Twilight Sparkle was spending a day in her library home reading as she had yesterday and the day before that. Spike was still sleeping in the sunny afternoon light in his basket bed, while Twilight went about reading from her seemingly endless stack of books she chose out this morning. She wasn't expecting anypony to come and visit her, seeing how all her friends were busy with their own jobs, unlike yesterday when Pinkie Pie threw a party for all her friends. They all went home late and were probably too tired from the party to even do their jobs. Twilight was partially right; none of her friends did visit her, but somepony else did. As Twilight was studying, a knock on her door startled her, causing her to knock down her ink pot and splattering the black substance over her research papers.

“Aah! My papers! Who could be bothering me now...” grumbled Twilight as she sauntered over to see who was knocking. She grouchily opened the door with her magic and was greeted by a stallion with an almond coat, blue eyes, a spiky, chestnut mane, and an hourglass on his flank.

“Ms. Sparkle? I was told that you know some things about teleportation. Could you please come with me?” said the strange pony.

“I'm sorry? Do I know you? And how did you know that I know a teleportation spell?” replied the confused Twilight Sparkle, who had gone from irritated at the rude interruption to slightly scared at how this pony she had never seen before knew who she was and what she was capable of.

“Ah, I'm sorry. Allow me to introduce myself. My companions call me the Doctor.” he answered proudly.

“Dr. who?” asked Twilight, even more confused than before.

“No, no, just the Doctor. Now, if you would please come with me--”

“Not until I know who you are and what you want from me.” interrupted Twilight getting annoyed once again.

“I already explained, I am the Doctor. Besides, I think what I have would be of high interest to you.”

“Color me interested.” sarcastically replied Twilight while rolling her eyes.

“I'm serious!” said the brown colt quickly. “Are you familiar with the theory of parallel universes? Well, I think with my technology combined with your magic, we can teleport an object from our world to the other universe!” the Doctor said, with a twinkle in his eye. “I saw what you did to that Ursa Minor. I'm more than sure your capable of such a task.”

Looking back at her ruined papers, she thought this couldn't be more than a coincidence, for she was reading a book on the subject of alternate and parallel dimensions. However, Twilight remembered what happened that one day with Pinkie Pie and her "Pinkie Sense".

“Your serious, aren't you?” said Twilight with a sigh, exhausted from this conversation. “Well, I guess it would help further my studies...” Twilight thought to herself out loud.

“I'm sure this experience would be very beneficial for you.” said the colt.

“All right, let me see this technology of yours. I'm fairly certain that no such thing exists. Even if it did, to teleport something from here the generator would have to be huge, so I have no idea where you would store such a device.” said the lavender unicorn with an air of finality.

“Ah, so you've read up on this before? Very well. Follow me! And keep lively now. I'm sure what I have will be very interesting.” replied the Doctor turning around towards the town square. “Oh, by the way, I live on the outskirts of the town, so it'll be about thirty minutes from here.” he added while walking away from Twilight Sparkle's library home.

“Wait!” cried out Twilight.

“What's the matter?” asked the Doctor with a worried tone.

“Nothing's wrong. I just want to grab a book and papers to take notes.” called out Twilight from the midst of her library. “And call a friend...” she said to herself, more quietly now.

Using her magic, Twilight Sparkle picked up her quill and dipped it in ink, jotting down a quick note for Spike explaining where she was. Making sure that the Doctor, if that was who he really was, wasn't in sight, she began to work on a new communication spell that allowed mental messages to be projected to any of the Elements of Harmony. She still had her doubts about the strange pony, and for insurance she wanted to have one of her friends follow her in case something happened. Immediately she thought of Rainbow Dash, the bravest pony she ever knew. She also carried the element of Loyalty, so she was the perfect candidate. Twilight focused all her mental and magic energy on Rainbow Dash, forming a picture of her. Concentrating on the picture, Twilight began to think, “ Rainbow Dash. There's a stranger that has something to show me, and I don't trust him. Could you secretly follow us in case something happens?” Hoping her message was conveyed, she grabbed her saddlebag and filled it with stacks of papers, her writing quill, and the only book in the whole library on the subject of alternate dimensions. Again hoping for the best, she headed towards the door, checking one last time that everything in her library was secure. Trotting out the door, she closed it behind her with her magic, and began the trek towards the strange Doctor's outskirt residence.

During the walk, the Doctor kept going on about how his new invention was the only one of it's kind, quite matter-of-factly. However, he was too busy to see how Twilight kept scanning the skies for any sign of her rainbow-maned friend. Getting more worried with every passing minute, and diverting her full attention to looking for Rainbow Dash, she didn't notice that the Doctor had stopped in front of a blue police box and was proceeding to open the door.

“Here we are!” he said.

“Huh?” said Twilight, snapping out of her trance looking for Rainbow Dash. “What are we doing at a phone booth?”

“It looks bigger on the inside.” replied the Doctor nonchalantly, as if he dealt with the question before.

“What are you talking about? The only way that could be possible would be through magic, and...well, no offense, but your an Earth pony.”

“Ah, but your forgetting that I'm the Doctor! Well, I also possess the technology that enables me to do so.Here, follow me.”

Hesitating at first, Twilight Sparkle reluctantly stepped inside the phone booth thinking that the floor would give way into an underground cavern like in the old spy movies that Spike enjoyed so much. However, to her surprise, it really was bigger on the inside. She couldn't help herself but to stare amazed at the interior, eyes wide open in amazement. "B-but this is surely an illusion!"

"Huh. Not usually what people say. You really are different, aren't you?" said the Doctor while flipping what appeared to be levers and switches. “Now, I've modified the TARDIE to teleport objects to different dimensions. What I need you to do is to cast a teleportation spell on the box in that frame...” he said, nodding his head towards a small metal box, full of Celestia knows what “...while the TARDIE provides the power to finish the job. Got it?” finished the Doctor's instructions.

“One quick question. What's this TARDIE your speaking of?” asked Twilight.

“Well, Tardie is just an acronym for Time and Relative Dimensions in Equestria.” replied the Doctor.

“But, what is the TARDIE?” asked Twilight again.

“Your standing inside of her. Brilliant, isn't it? The chameleon circuit allows 'er to disguise as anything on the outside.” answered the proud looking Doctor. “However, the circuit's busted and I'm stuck with this police box and...well, I can explain it to you later. I don't even know what a police box is.. Right now, I think we should take her out for a spin. Now, just focus a teleportation spell on the metal box and the TARDIE'll do the rest.”

“For a teleportation spell to work, I need to have a picture in my mind of what or where I'm teleporting this box to.” said Twilight.

“No worries! If my calculations are right, you just need to think of anywhere in all of Equestria. If where we're teleporting this to IS a parallel dimension, we should be fine.” replied the Doctor.

“All right, if you say so...” said Twilight, preparing for the spell. Tilting her horn towards the metal box, Twilight pictured her library home, when she suddenly remembered something, interrupting the process. “Wait! If I picture the place where I want this box to be teleported to, wouldn't it be teleported to that place instead of the parallel universe?”

“Well...” said the Doctor, “The TARDIE is capable of jumping dimensions, but that costs a lot of energy, SO I created this right here.” explained the Doctor. “It's more like...a big amplifier, really, because dimension hopping is just teleporting. This'll amplify your spell an' convert the coordinates to the place you choose and amplify the spell. Real easy stuff.”

“Um...okay.” Twilight said, busy writing the information down on her papers. “Okay, I understand now.” Twilight said, taking up the stance for her teleportation spell again. “Here we go...” she said doubtingly, still not believing a word that the Doctor was saying. Focusing all of her energy on imagining her library home in Ponyville, her horn began to glow. Feeling the usual rush of adrenaline kicking in while performing a spell, she started to imagine the box disappearing with the usual purple implosion of energy, and then exploding with a purple light in her library home. She kept picturing this thought in her mind, when she heard and felt something different.

“Keep it up! It's working! It's converting the coordinates to the alternate dimension now!” shouted the Doctor over a loud rush of wind. “Don't mind the wind, it's just opening a miniature black hole into the alternate dimension!” shouted the Doctor once again.

The teleportation spell didn't feel right, though. She felt multiple presences besides the box she was teleporting, her self, and the Doctor. “Somethings not right! I feel something else!” shouted Twilight, her full attention on keeping her eyes shut and teleporting the box.

“What?!” said the Doctor in his usual way. “What!?” he said again. “Somethings coming through the hole! Stop the spell! Stop the spell now!” he screamed, frantically flipping switches on the control panel of the amplifier.

Of course, she couldn't. She had to let the spell continue. If she broke the spell now, she knew there would be a massive feedback that would totally obliterate the TARDIE, in addition to the Doctor and herself. Plus the force that was teleporting through was getting stronger now. It was almost like it knew what the Doctor was saying, and it was rushing to get through the black hole that was now a bluish hue.

“Gah!” shouted the Doctor. “Control's are broke! I can't shut it down!” said the Doctor, as the sound of an nearby explosion shook Twilight out of her trance between the being and her spell. Slowly opening her eyes, Twilight saw the Doctor at the control panel with some kind of steel pen with a blue light at the end of it in his mouth. However, she quickly ignored this thought as she saw something emerging from the now purple black hole. The first thing that came out was the head of a pony with spiky brown hair, a brown, leather jacket on, and a cutie mark of a red circle with an “X” through the center. She couldn't see his face, because it was hidden behind a mask so that all you could see were his eyes. He looked directly at Twilight and the Doctor, and pushed Twilight out of the way as he ran towards the exit. The force of his tackle was extraordinary, as it knocked her into a wall behind her, almost incapacitating her.

“Oh, this is bad...” Twilight heard nearby her. She felt a hoof help her up and push her towards the direction of the door to the TARDIE. “Run! Run as fast as you can to Ponyville! And don't come back!” instructed the Doctor.

Stumbling towards the door, she looked behind herself to see the Doctor being attacked by a completely white creature, making a series of growling and snarling similar to Applejack's pet dog Winona. It crawled low on the floor and pounced on the Doctor, pinning him to the door as it started to rake him with long claws, one claw on the end three-jointed columns attached to where it's hooves should be. Finally making it to the door, Twilight glanced over at the Doctor who was laying still on the floor with the creature on top of him. Still too a bit groggy from the tackle from that strange pony in a mask, she took one last glance at the portal, to see one last creature emerging. The first thing she noticed was how tall and skinny this new pony was. It was wearing a completely black suit, which was a huge contrast to it's white skin that was similair to the creature that got the Doctor. Still, something was off about it, besides the white skin and how freakishly tall it was. Continuing to scan upwards, she saw it's head. It had absolutely no mane at all, but the most horrifying thing about it was that it had no face. There was no trace of eyes or a nose, ears or a mouth. Twilight stood horrified, her back to the door of the TARDIE, paralyzed with fear.

“Who are you?” Twilight whispered through tears. “What are you...” she said, this time more quietly and to herself. This new creature seemed to hear her, and it just stood there, looking at her. Black tentacles flared out of it's back as Twilight started coughing violently, even spitting up her own blood. Fear filled the purple pony as she suddenly doubled over in a coughing fit, snapping her out of her trance. Turning around, ran out the door of the TARDIE, never looking back to the horrible place where They first came to Ponyville. She just ran. She didn't know where she was running too, she just knew she had to get away from there. After running for what seemed like all eternity, Twilight saw the lights of Ponyville. It must have been somewhere around night time. Approaching the quiet town, she finally slowed down. She wasn't used to this kind of running, as she hasn't ran since last year's Running of the Leaves. She finally saw the door of her library home. Pushing the door in without any magic, she closed it behind her and saw that Rainbow Dash and Spike were talking in the middle of her library home.

“Geez, 'Twi, where've you been all day?” asked Spike as he got up. “You've been gone since, like, eleven this afternoon! And what happened to you? Looked like you just saw a ghost.”

“Spike...” weakly replied Twilight. “T-tea...please.” she continued in the same strained voice.

“Yes, ma'am!” said the purple baby dragon, snapping a salute and marching into the kitchen to fix her favorite tea.

Rainbow Dash just hovered silently, waiting until Spike was in the kitchen and out of hearing range to talk to Twilight. “Hey, 'Twi.” said the prismatic maned pony quietly.

“Rainbow...” said Twilight in the same weak voice. “Did you...did you get... m-my message?” she inquired, growing more and more tired.

“Yeah...what was that about?” answered Rainbow after a short while. “I'm sorry I couldn't be there.” she said. “I was sleeping at the time an' I've been having these weird dreams and I thought it was another one. I keep hearing this voice telling me to do horrible things and... I just don't know. I didn't know...”

“It's fine, Rainbow.” reassured Twilight, growing a bit of strength back for a moment, then collapsing on the floor.

“Twilight! Are you all right? Maybe you should go see nurse Redheart...” said Rainbow as she helped her friend up.

“It's fine! I'm fine.” quickly replied Twilight. “I just need to sleep, that's all.” she said.

“Are you sure? I could, uh, stay over for tonight and help.” offered Rainbow Dash.

“It's fine, Rainbow. You've got work tomorrow, anyways.” she replied to Rainbow.

“I could take the day off tomorrow! And I'm sure they'd understand if--”

“It's fine, Rainbow.” cut off Twilight.

“But--!”

“I'm absolutely fine. Besides, I feel better already. And I've also got studying to do, so...” cut off Twilight again, not wanting to argue anymore.

“Okay...” said Rainbow in a defeated tone. “But if you need any of us, Twilight, we're here for ya. Cya tomorrow, I guess.” she said as she walked to the front door.

As Rainbow walked out of the door, Spike walked into the room with a tray, two teacups and a pot. “Where'd Rainbow go, 'Twi?” he asked, setting down the tea tray on a nearby table.

“She went home.” Twilight replied.

“Well, you sound better. I guess talkin' to her helped a bit, huh?” said Spike as he poured a cup of tea for Twilight. Handing it to her, he announced he was going to go to bed and left Twilight by herself in the library. Looking around the big library and drinking her tea thoughtfully, Twilight began to plan on her how she would take care of this. She didn't want to research it, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. Finishing her tea, she decided to deal with it when morning came and went to bed.

That night was the first in many long nights to come.
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Comments

[ninonybox]

Had this fic on standby for awhile and I have to say....holy shit.