Your favorite background characters are the Mane Six.
A time-traveling alien pony. A permanently cross-eyed pegasus. A prim and proper cellist. A hard-working confectioner. A future DJ with attitude. An aloof yet friendly lyrist. These six ponies have been in the background for three whole seasons. Now it's time they got their own story. A story involving secrets, new friendships, and the return of a mare long thought to be an old ponies' tale. Alternate Mane Six story. Due to five character limit, imagine Octavia tag.
Afternoon was just settling in around Ponyville. In the fields outside of town, a pegasus mare was floating along the wind, staying less than a meter above the sparsely populated wildflowers. Her blonde mane was caught in the currents of air she was making in her flight. After a while, she landed and knelt down to feel the wind’s gentle caress. She had just finished her daily rounds as a mailmare and wanted to relax after a hard day’s work.
She had her eyes closed, preferring to listen to the sounds of nature: the wind, the birds, that strange whirring sound…
The mare’s eyes shot open, revealing golden irises that faced different directions. The mare looked around for the source of this unusual noise. It was rhythmic and unnatural, both as a sound she never had heard before and as something that sounded out of place outside a city like Manehattan. The sound started becoming clearer and she could make out a form appearing in the distance. She flapped her wings, lifting her off the ground, and slowly flew towards it.
The object was shifting between visible and invisible almost as rhythmically as the sound it was making until it finally took solid shape: a large, blue box. It was easily five ponies tall, if not taller. She noticed there had been a light coming from the top as it was phasing in and out of existence. A black band across the top read “Police Public Call Box.” One side of the box had large doors; the mare was debating whether to try to open them or not.
After a few minutes of looking around the box, she heard a clicking sound and one of the doors slowly opened. The mare, already shocked by what she was seeing, broke into a gallop that turned into a glide, speeding away from the box; its sudden appearance had been strange enough, and she wasn’t in the mood to see what was coming out of it. If she had stayed, though, she would have seen a brown earth pony stallion with an hourglass cutie mark coming out.
The Doctor stepped outside and looked around. “Not the worst place we could have ended up,” he said to himself. He looked at his saddlebags. “Let’s see: psychic paper, check; sonic screwdriver, check; Equestrian bits, can’t say they’ll last, but they should get me a couple days’ worth of food. Hopefully, I’ll find a way to support myself by then.” He turned around and closed the door. “I’ll be back later,” he said as if to the box.
He turned again and began walking to the nearby town. The sign leading into it said, “Welcome to Ponyville.” He scanned the area; the town was simple enough to live in, with a few unpaved roads and unextravagant houses. The town seemed to be bustling with activity, yet everything seemed so calm.
“Like I said,” the Doctor mused, “not the worst place. And it has the advantage of being the least likely place for bad things to happen.” He walked into the town center and considered the buildings. One in particular that grabbed his attention appeared to be made of candy, pastries, and a variety of other sweets.
“Doesn’t seem the most healthful,” he said to himself. Just then, he felt a rumbling from his stomach. “But beggars can’t be choosers.” He walked toward the building and opened the door. The inside looked like a standard café. There were a few small tables in the main room, and several food items were on display near the service counter.
“Hello, welcome to Sugar Cube Corner,” a voice said. The Doctor turned and saw an earth pony mare behind the counter. Her coat was cream-colored and her mane and tail were blue with pink highlights. Her cutie mark was a set of three candies. Her face had a smile that was warm and welcoming.
Definitely worse places to end up, the Doctor thought. “Good day, my good mare,” he said. He walked up to the service counter.
“What can I get for you?” the mare asked.
The Doctor perused the selection in front of him. As he thought, a lot of the food was of the sweet variety. While he was tempted to try just about everything, he remembered that he was on a budget for the time being. His eye finally stopped on a particularly promising choice.
“I’ll have the banana bread muffin, please,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” the mare said. As she put her hoof in a sheet of tissue paper to grab one of the muffins, she asked, “Are you new here? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”
“Oh, uh, yes,” the Doctor replied, “the name’s Time Turner.” This name was one he had used whenever he needed to be discreet, and right now, the situation called for it more than ever before. “I’ve been traveling for a long time now, seeing the world, taking in new cultures. But I think it’s time I settled down and rested my hooves a bit.”
“You couldn’t have come at a better time,” the mare said as she handed him the muffin. “This year, Princess Celestia is going to be in here Ponyville.”
“Really? Why’s that?”
“Wow, you have been travelling a while, haven’t you? Did you forget what day it is?”
The Doctor chuckled. “Well, when you’re on the road for as long as I was, time starts to lose all meaning.”
“Tomorrow’s the Summer Sun Celebration, and the princess has chosen Ponyville this year. Everypony’s very excited.”
Summer Sun Celebration, let me think, the Doctor thought out. Oh, now I remember; the yearly event celebrating the planet’s summer solstice. And the reigning monarch is supposed to show the citizens of one settlement the magic of the sunrise. That explains the activity for such a small town.
“In fact,” the mare continued, “my bosses, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, have been working in the back for hours getting the catering ready.”
“Oh, so you’re taking over until the celebration is done with?”
“Pretty much, yeah. Oh! I almost forgot to introduce myself. I’m Bon Bon.” She held a hoof over the counter.
“Nice to meet you, Bon Bon.” The Doctor extended his hoof and shook hers.
“Hey, before you go,” Bon Bon said, “I was hoping you might want to try a free sample.”
“Of what?”
“I’m working on, well, let’s call it an experiment,” she explained. “You see, making candy is my passion, and I’m working on a new kind of flavor: strong as peppermint yet sweet as sugar. I just want to get some feedback before I do anything with it.”
“Well, I don’t see anything wrong in trying a new recipe,” the Doctor replied. Bon Bon smiled and reached into a bowl on her side of the counter. She threw him a small, wrapped candy. The Doctor unwrapped the candy and examined it: it looked like a traditional peppermint, but instead of red and white stripes, it was red and pink. He popped it in his mouth and started sucking on it.
“So, what do you think?” Bon Bon asked.
The Doctor moved the candy around in his mouth for a few seconds before answering. “It’s too soon to say. Mind if I get back to you?”
“Sure thing. Have a nice day!” The Doctor put the muffin in his saddlebag, threw some bits on the counter, and started toward the door. He was stopped however, by another mare coming in. She was an earth pony with a gray coat and an even darker mane and tail. Her flank bore a treble clef and she was wearing a collar and bowtie. She walked by the Doctor without taking notice.
“Oh, hey, Octavia!” Bon Bon said. “What’s up?”
“Good afternoon, Bon Bon,” the other replied. Her voice seemed to have an air of class and sophistication. “Have you seen Vinyl and Lyra?”
“Sorry,” Bon Bon replied. “Last time I saw Lyra was this morning before I came to work. Vinyl I’m even less sure of.”
“Oh, darn,” Octavia sighed. “I told them our rehearsal would be at three o’clock today and it’s now 3:30. I was just on my way to Vinyl’s house, but I was hoping you might have seen them. Thanks anyway.” She turned to leave.
“Mind if I help?” the Doctor suddenly said. Octavia turned and looked at him like she was unaware of his presence until now.
“And who might you be?” she asked.
“Time Turner. Just got here. I was hoping to see more of the town anyway, and you look like you could use some help finding your friends.”
Octavia thought for a moment. “Well, on the one hoof, you say you ‘just got here.’ Not sure how much help you can be in that regard. However, with Vinyl’s home, I may need all the help I can get. Very well, Mr. Turner, follow me.”
The trek to Vinyl’s house didn’t take long. The Doctor and Octavia had walked only a couple blocks away from Sugar Cube Corner before Octavia stopped. Much like the other houses, there wasn’t much to this one, just a simple two-story house.
“Huh,” Octavia said, “that’s odd.”
“What is?” the Doctor asked.
“It’s so quiet.” Octavia walked toward the door, leaving the Doctor in slight confusion. She knocked and lightly shouted, “Vinyl, are you in there?”
After a few seconds, the door opened. A white unicorn mare was on the other side. She had an electric blue mane and tail and a double eighth-note cutie mark. She was also wearing purple tinted sunglasses that hid her eyes from view.
“Oh, hey, Tavi,” she said with a slightly tomboyish tone. “What’s up? Who’s your friend?” She looked at the Doctor.
“I came to look for you,” Octavia replied. “You’re over a half-hour late. And to answer your second question, this is Time Turner. He’s new in Ponyville, and he offered to help me find you.”
“Nice to meet you, Timey. Name’s Vinyl Scratch.” Vinyl said. The Doctor winced at the nickname he had just been given. “Yeah, sorry ‘bout that, Tavi. I’m just having trouble looking for the right one.”
“One what?” the Doctor asked.
“Record,” Vinyl answered.
The Doctor looked past Vinyl into the main room; to put it mildly, it was an absolute mess. The variety of items on the floor was surprising, with records being among the most numerous.
“Gee, one would think that a record would be easiest to find,” he thought aloud.
“It’s always been like this,” Octavia explained. “Vinyl, I keep telling you that if you want to find anything in this house, you’ll have to clean it.”
“I can find stuff,” Vinyl responded. “I just have trouble looking for the right stuff.”
“Why do you need a record, anyway?” the Doctor asked. “I thought you were a musician.”
“What, you mean being a DJ ain’t the same thing?” Vinyl shot back.
“Er, well,” the Doctor started, “it’s just that when I heard you were part of a band, I would have expected, you know, an instrument of some kind.”
“I do have an instrument,” Vinyl said. “My amps. I provide the sound gear for the girls’ instruments and use my own records to give them just the right ambience.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Take our piece for the celebration tomorrow,” Vinyl replied. “We’re going for a slow, gentle piece, but with a bit of grandiosity, something to compliment the princess.”
“I see,” the Doctor said. He brought a hoof to his chin. “This is just a suggestion, but do you have any Beat Hooven records?”
“Beat Hooven?” Vinyl repeated. “Wait a second!” She ran back into the room and started shifting aside some of the records on the floor. “Aha!” she exclaimed. Using her magic, she lifted one of the discs and looked at the title. “Beat Hooven’s 9th Symphony. Perfect! You, sir,” she pointed to the Doctor, “are a genius.”
“Well,” the Doctor replied, “I don’t like to brag…”
“I’ll see you at the park, Tavi,” Vinyl said. As she galloped past them, still holding the record, she yelled back, “Nice meeting you, Timey!”
“Vinyl, wait, I—!” Octavia started, but she stopped when Vinyl was out of earshot. “I was going to ask her to help me find Lyra,” she whispered.
“You still have me, right?” the Doctor remarked.
“I suppose. Let’s look around, then. See if you can find a mint green unicorn; she’ll probably have her lyre with her. She never goes anywhere without it.”
“So, does Vinyl always do that?” the Doctor asked. Having walked throughout the town in silence looking for this Lyra was starting to make the search even more tedious.
“Which ‘that’?” Octavia responded. “The mess, the attitude, her insistence that being a DJ is a musical endeavor…?”
“I was talking about the nicknames. I noticed she called you ‘Tavi,’ and she was pretty quick to give me the name ‘Timey.’ Rather unsettling, really.”
“Just another thing Vinyl has little respect for: one’s given name. Unless it’s herself or a figure of authority, you can expect that anypony that gives her their name will have a new one in less than two seconds.”
“I’m sensing you don’t particularly like her.”
“I admit that my ideas on social decorum differ greatly from hers, but I do respect her as a friend and her skill in sound technology. I’ve learned to accept these… quirks, shall we call them, as part of who she is.”
As she spoke, Octavia only kept her eyes on the Doctor minimally; she was more focused on finding Lyra, as evidenced by her constantly shifting her head around in all directions. So far, though, it had been in vain. Even though the Doctor didn’t know exactly what Lyra looked like, he couldn’t find anyone matching the description Octavia had given him.
After a while, though, he started to hear something. He tried to separate the sound from the other noises of the town; they may have been few, but they still made it hard to discern what exactly he was hearing.
“Octavia, do you hear that?” he asked.
“Hear what?”
“I’m not sure. It sounds…” The Doctor stopped for a bit and strained to listen for the sound. “Soothing. Let’s go check it out.”
“But what about Lyra?”
“Do we have any better leads?” He trotted off in what he hoped was the direction of the sound. Octavia sighed and followed him.
The Doctor headed toward a more peaceful part of town; there weren’t a lot of ponies around, so the sound started to become clearer. The Doctor found it to be more than soothing, but also musical. Even Octavia started to notice. They both continued running toward the sound.
Finally, they stopped as they watched a unicorn under a tree, mint green in color, with a mane and tail of pale blue and white, playing a lyre that was wrapped in golden magic. The lyre she had looked like the one on her flank.
The Doctor could tell Octavia wanted to call out to the unicorn, who was obviously their missing Lyra, but she never made a sound. And to be honest, the Doctor didn’t want her to; the melody Lyra was playing was far too beautiful to interrupt. The two stood there for a few more minutes before Lyra finally ended her song.
“Lovely as always, Lyra,” Octavia said. Lyra looked up in surprise.
“Oh, hi, Octavia,” she said. Suddenly, her face had a spark of realization. “Oh, did I miss practice?”
“Yes and no,” Octavia answered. “It is now almost a quarter till four, but we haven’t started yet. We only recently found Vinyl.”
“Sorry about that,” Lyra apologized. “I guess I just wanted to spend a few minutes just playing for fun and it, well, turned into almost an hour.” She turned and saw the Doctor. “Who’s he?”
“This is Time Turner,” Octavia responded. “And if it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t have found you so quickly.”
Lyra stood up, levitating her lyre to her back, sealing it in place with her magic. “Nice to meet you, Turner. I’m Lyra Heartstrings.”
“Pleasure meeting you as well,” the Doctor returned. “Well, since you’ve found your companions, Octavia, I guess I’ll be on my way.”
“What’s the rush?” Lyra asked.
“I just got into town today,” he replied, “and I’d like to see more of it before finding a place to stay for the night.”
“But tomorrow’s the Summer Sun Celebration,” Lyra pointed out. “Everypony’s supposed to stay up to watch the sunrise. Don’t you know that?”
As a matter of fact, I don’t, he thought, but I can’t really tell you why, now can I? “I suppose it’s been a long time since I last celebrated,” he said. “I’ve been… traveling for more than a few years now and I don’t usually make it to any cities or towns in time for some of the major celebrations.”
“Really?” Octavia asked. “How is that possible?”
Ah, a question I can answer, he thought. “When you’re me, time is merely something that is allowed to be. Days could pass you by and you might never know it. I prefer to live in the present, not worrying too much about the future, nor looking back toward the past with regret.”
“Well, you’re here now,” Lyra pointed out, “so you might as well celebrate it right. Why don’t you come with us to watch our rehearsal?”
“Really?”
“I have to agree with Lyra on this,” Octavia added. “You went out of your way to help total strangers. Let us at least give you a taste of what you’ll be experiencing tomorrow.”
The Doctor thought about this. Sense told him that he couldn’t afford to waste any more time; he was going to be stuck on this world for a long time, and he needed to find a support system. Also, he didn’t want to form any attachments for the time being; experience with his past companions was plaguing him harder than it ever had before. On the other hoof, it didn’t seem right to turn down the offer of somepony he helped.
Just then, he felt his stomach rumble again. He had never eaten the muffin he got at Sugar Cube Corner. Looking at their faces, it was obvious Octavia and Lyra heard it too. The Doctor chuckled in embarrassment. “I guess I can stand to rest a spell.”
“Just follow us, Mr. Turner,” Octavia said.
The park was quite spacious. It wasn’t hard to find the spot for the girls’ rehearsal. Of course, the Doctor probably would have figured it out even if the park was crowded. The large speakers were what gave it away, likely belonging to Vinyl. He and the girls headed toward the speakers. He could see Vinyl checking the wires and hooking them up to a turntable. When they finally arrived, Vinyl looked up from her work.
“Hey, ladies,” she said. “You’re just in time. I just got the amps hooked up and we’re ready to go.”
“Just promise us you won’t be too loud this time,” Octavia said.
“Come on, Tavi, I’ve kept a good track record,” Vinyl replied.
“She’s right, Octavia,” Lyra added with a smirk. “Four days in a row is the best she’s done so far.”
“Can’t tell if that’s helpful or not, Ly,” Vinyl said disappointedly. She then noticed the third member of their group. “Oh, hey, Timey. Come to listen to some rockin’ tunes?”
“Well, they offered,” the Doctor replied, “and I do need to rest after walking across town today.”
“Cool,” Vinyl said. “There’s a park bench over there,” she pointed to the side. “It’s got the best acoustics in the whole park.” The Doctor thanked her for the recommendation and sat down while the girls began to set up. He slipped off his saddlebags and pulled out the muffin he had bought earlier. It was still in the wrapper, so when he took it out, it was still soft.
He bit into the muffin, tasting the flavor. Not only was it soft, but it still had a certain moistness that made the flavor that much more satisfying. I’ll have to make it a point to go back there often.
The girls started playing. In addition to Lyra’s lyre and Vinyl’s sound equipment, Octavia had a cello. Both of the stringed instruments made graceful notes that blended well together. The whole piece was just as Vinyl had described: simple and gentle, but with a sense of majesty. The sounds from the lyre were fast-paced but smooth, and the cello sounded slow and deliberate. The Doctor also noticed the sound of Vinyl’s Beat Hooven record in the background. He had been skeptical at first, but now that he heard it, the record did somehow enhance the experience; it was played at just the right volume, not too quiet, but not so loud that it overshadowed the other two. In fact, the Doctor had to strain his ears to separate the sound of the record from the others.
The girls continued playing for long time, about half an hour, stopping occasionally to address some problems with their playing or the composition. The Doctor watched with curiosity at these three friends, each of whom was very different from the others: Vinyl was brash and outspoken, Octavia had a strong sense of class and etiquette, and Lyra seemed content to be in her own little world. Yet they all worked together to play some good music.
This caused the Doctor to think of the friends he had made throughout his life. He quickly stopped thinking too much of them, though, since a lot of them, more than he cared and especially recently, were forced to leave him. He didn’t want to shun those who might become close, but he learned that one way or another, even close friends have to say good-bye. And he hated good-byes.
The trio played their music one final time, ending with a grand finish. The Doctor looked up from his musings and clapped his hooves together. “Bravo, ladies,” he said.
“We are so ready for tomorrow!” Vinyl nearly shouted.
“Yes, I must agree,” Octavia added. “This is probably as close to perfect as we can make it.”
“Glad you liked it, Turner,” Lyra said.
“Well, what isn’t to like?” the Doctor replied. “The way the music blended so well with a prerecorded piece was fantastic.”
“I merely suggested a composer,” he pointed out. “It was you who picked the song. I didn’t even know if you had that kind of music.”
“Hey, the future DJ-PON3 has to study all kinds of music, am I right?”
“DJ-PON3?” the Doctor asked
“Stage name,” Vinyl explained. “It’s a work in progress.” Octavia sighed while Lyra giggled.
Then she gasped. “Oh, I almost forgot,” she said. She turned to the Doctor. “Turner, there’s a party tonight at Sweet Apple Acres for the Summer Sun Celebration. Why don’t you come?”
“But I thought the celebration was tomorrow.”
“It is,” Lyra answered, much to the Doctor’s confusion, “but we always have a party the night before. Keeps us awake for the sunrise.”
The Doctor thought for a second. “If that’s how things are done here,” he mused, “then I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.”
“Great!” Lyra said. “Party starts at nine.”
“I’ll be there,” he affirmed. “I think I’ll continue looking around town until then.” He replaced his saddlebags and cantered off, waving his farewell to the girls.
The Doctor spent the next few hours getting acquainted with the town. His main points of interests were the businesses and establishments. By the time dusk was approaching, he had found several prospective places of employment. The ones that seemed the most intriguing to him were a library, whose librarian was looking for some assistance, and a clock repair shop that would be in need of new management, as the elder pony currently running the place was looking to retire soon.
The Doctor realized what time it was and began to make his way to that party Lyra had told him about. He quickly realized, however, that he hadn’t yet encountered Sweet Apple Acres. Luckily, he saw a small group of ponies heading to the outskirts of town. He followed them and soon found himself looking at a barn surrounded by an apple orchard. This combined with the strung lights and a small town’s worth of ponies around the farm assured the Doctor that he had found the right place.
He looked around at the large variety of attractions; whoever set up this party seemed to want nopony left out of the festivities. There were several party games: pin the tail of the pony, bobbing for apples, seven-legged racing, etc. He also saw several tables with food laid out. Having not eaten since that afternoon, the Doctor decided to make that his first stop.
He took a small plate and filled it with a slice of cake, cookies, and some banana slices. He was about to look for someplace to sit down and eat when he was met by a pair of golden-yellow eyes next to his muzzle.
The Doctor yelped in surprise, almost causing him to drop his plate. He shifted his body so the plate stayed in his hoof with the contents intact. He turned back to the eyes and their owner: a gray pegasus mare with a light-blonde mane and tail. The Doctor could see her cutie mark in the shape of bubbles.
“It’s the eyes, isn’t it?” she asked.
Strange way to greet somepony, the Doctor thought. Then he realized that the mare’s eyes were shifted in different directions from each other. He now understood what she meant.
“Oh, no, it’s just that, well, you startled me,” he explained. “I mean, you were practically touching my snout.”
“Oh, sorry,” the mare said. “I guess I was staring because I’ve never seen you around here before. And as a mailmare, that’s saying a lot.”
“Well, unless you’re one of four other mares I’ve met today, you’re not alone. The name’s Time Turner.”
“Derpy Hooves. So you’re from out of town?”
“Well, that’s the simplest way of putting it. Anyway, it was very nice to meet you, Miss Hooves, but I’ll just run along now.” The Doctor started to walk away.
“Wait!” Derpy shouted, stopping him in his tracks. “Don’t you wanna hang out? I mean, this is a party after all. What kind of party would it be if we just stayed alone the whole time?”
The Doctor noticed there was something in Derpy’s voice that made her request more than what it sounded like. He couldn’t quite put his hoof on it, however. He wasn’t looking forward to making yet another friend, but he had to admit Derpy had a point; social interaction was pretty much inevitable at this point.
“I suppose, since I am going to be here a while,” he said, “I might as well get to know whom I can.” Derpy smiled as she followed him to one the seating areas. The two talked and got to know each other better. The Doctor, of course, told Derpy the same thing he had told the others about being a traveler ready to take it easy for the foreseeable future.
“So, if you don’t mind my asking,” he said in the middle of their conversation, “why are your eyes the way they are?”
“Oh, these?” she replied, lifting a hoof to her face. “They’ve been like that since I was born.”
“Do they cause you any trouble?”
“Actually, I have had a few depth perception issues. Let’s just say that more than a few mailboxes fell over when I was on the job. Other than that, no real problems. Well, except for the ponies who don’t know how to be polite about my, uh, ‘nonconformity.’” He held her hooves up and waved them vertically as she said the last word. “It doesn’t happen that often, though, and really only with ponies who never met me before.”
“If you ask me, I don’t think it looks that bad,” the Doctor said. Derpy gave him a confused look. “I mean, aside from the fact that your eyes can’t agree on where to look, what’s the big problem? When I first met you, I barely noticed it until you pointed it out.”
“Hey, Turner!” a voice called out. The Doctor and Derpy turned and saw Bon Bon and Lyra walking toward them.
“Oh, hello, ladies,” the Doctor returned.
“I see you’ve made quite a few friends since this afternoon,” Bon Bon said. “Between me, Octavia, Vinyl, Lyra, and her,” she pointed at Derpy, “you’re really getting to know everypony in Ponyville.”
“Personally,” the Doctor replied, “I like to think of it as everypony getting to know me, since, aside from Vinyl and Lyra, I wasn’t actively seeking anyone out.”
“Yeah, Lyra was telling me about what happened today,” Bon Bon said. She turned to Derpy. “You look familiar. Have I seen you around town before?”
“Well, I do fly around town delivering mail,” Derpy replied. “Name’s Derpy Hooves.”
“Nice to meet you Derpy,” Bon Bon said.
“Come on, Bon Bon,” Lyra said, pulling the earth pony by the hoof. “We better hurry before the cake’s all gone.”
“Right, sorry,” Bon Bon apologized. “It was nice seeing you again, Turner,” she said before she and Lyra walked off together. Once again, the Doctor was left alone with Derpy.
“So what are you gonna do first?” she asked.
“Beg pardon?” he replied with his mouth filled with cake.
“The party, silly. What are you gonna do first? Bobbing for apples? Seven-legged racing?”
“Oh, um,” he started, “I guess I might try horseshoes. It’s been a while.”
The Doctor did manage to partake of pretty much everything the party had to offer. But he noticed that no matter where he went, Derpy was never far behind. Something about Derpy’s behavior struck him as suspicious, but he couldn’t find any other motive than merely being friendly. He decided to move these thoughts aside for the time being.
The night seemed to go by quickly for the Doctor; he hadn’t even started to feel sleepy yet, although this might have been due to the sodas. When the party was over, all the ponies were heading to town hall to officially begin the Summer Sun Celebration. The Doctor was looking forward to this: within the first 24 hours since arriving in this world, he was going to see the princess of Equestria with his own eyes. Things could definitely have turned out worse, he repeated to himself.
The town hall had been spectacularly decorated; there were several banners depicting the Equestrian royal seal or a sun, and the colors of pretty much everything were either bright or sparkling. There were also a few royal guards in front of the stage, no doubt to keep the ponies from stepping too close to the princess. The Doctor looked toward the left and saw Octavia, Vinyl, and Lyra setting up for their upcoming performance.
“I can’t believe it’s finally happening!” Derpy said, trying very hard not to shout. Just like at the party, she was never too far from the Doctor as they entered the town hall.
“You’re excited, aren’t you?” he asked.
“Who wouldn’t be?” she replied. “How many ponies can say that they’ve seen Princess Celestia with their own eyes? And on the Summer Sun Celebration, no less.”
“Fair point.” Suddenly, a fanfare began playing from Vinyl’s stereos accompanied by Lyra’s lyre. When it was over, an aged earth pony mare came out on the main stage.
“Fillies and gentlecolts!” she greeted. “As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning the Summer Sun Celebration!” Almost all the ponies in the room cheered. “In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this, the longest day of the year!”
As the mayor continued, the Doctor caught a slight twinkle out of the corner of his eye. He turned to the window and saw the moon in the sky. He hadn’t noticed it before, but it appeared as though a pony’s head was imprinted in the craters. But what really intrigued him were four bright stars surrounding the moon; they appeared to be moving towards it. At first, the Doctor thought this was a nighttime illusion, but he soon saw that he was wrong; the stars not only crept closer to the moon, but when they touched its surface, the craters that made up the pony’s head flashed and disappeared, leaving the moon almost completely white.
“And now,” the mayor continued, unaware of the events the Doctor noticed, “it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria…” she raised a hoof to the balcony above her, “Princess Celestia!” The Doctor momentarily forgot the strange event that had occurred, and his emotions returned to anticipation at seeing the princess.
Vinyl and Lyra played their fanfare once again, this time with Octavia joining in. A spotlight fell on the balcony, and a white unicorn pulled the drapes aside.
But when they opened, the platform was empty: no sign of the princess anywhere.
Almost everpony was talking amongst themselves about this strange occurrence. Most of the voices were a mix of nervousness, confusion, and fear. I think things just got worse, the Doctor thought.
“Keep calm, everypony,” the mayor said, although she sounded far from calm herself. “There must be a reasonable explanation.”
“Turner,” Derpy said, “what’s going on?”
“I wish I could say, Derpy,” the Doctor replied. The white unicorn went to check behind the stage area.
When she came back, she could only say, “She’s gone!” This caused more murmuring from the crowd.
“This just doesn’t seem like the princess,” Derpy said. “Why would she not show up for the biggest event of the year?” The Doctor also found it odd that the ruler of an entire planet was not present at a place and time she herself likely appointed.
Suddenly, somepony screamed. Everyone looked up and saw a blue mist flowing from the balcony.
“Um, Derpy,” the Doctor asked, “is that normal?”
“Who in Equestria can look at that,” she thrust a hoof at the mist, “and honestly ask ‘is that normal?’”
Somepony who’s not from Equestria, for one, he responded, though not out loud. He watched as the mist began to rise and form a coherent shape. The resulting form looked like a pony, taller than most, with a coat as black as space itself. It looked like a mare, but the Doctor was more interested in the fact that it had both wings and a horn. An alicorn. The horn was poking through a light blue helmet; she also wore a large chest plate and knee-high footwear of the same color. Her cutie mark was a white crescent moon over a field of purple.
The mare surveyed the crowd below her and began to speak. “Oh, my beloved subjects. It’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious, little sun-loving faces.” Her voice was calm, but not at all gentle. In fact, she had spoken the last few words almost as though they were venomous to her. The Doctor could tell that, even though she referred to the crowd as “subjects,” this could not have been the famed Princess Celestia.
“What did you do to the princess?!” Vinyl shouted. Octavia quickly stepped in front of her, trying to calm her down.
The dark mare simply chuckled at this display of defiance. “Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Don’t you know who I am?” The Doctor thought back to what he had seen with the stars and the moon. That and the appearance of this mare couldn’t have been a coincidence. “Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?” One thousand years? the Doctor thought out. “Do you not recall the legends? Did you not see the signs?”
“Nightmare Moon,” the Doctor finally said softly.
“What?” Derpy asked.
The Doctor looked up at the alicorn. “You’re Nightmare Moon,” he said to her. “The Mare in the Moon. Imprisoned within the moon itself for trying to bring about everlasting night.” The other ponies gasped at this.
“Well, well, well,” the mare said. “Somepony who does know the old legends. It’s so good to hear that I am not completely forgotten.” She looked across the room again at the ponies, who were now shaking even more visibly than before. “Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last… FOREVER!” She laughed as though she were victorious.
Nightmare continued laughing until there was a shout from the mayor. “Seize her! Only she knows where the princess is!” The guards at the front of the audience, all pegasi, leapt up and prepared to tackle Nightmare.
“Stand back, you foals!” Nightmare’s eyes flashed and her horn glowed. A bolt of lightning appeared, the sudden appearance and noise of which blew the guards back to the ground, battered and shaken but otherwise unharmed. Nightmare decided to make her exit and, shifting into a blue mist like before, flowed out of the building.
Vinyl finally galloped past Octavia and burst out of the door. Octavia ran after her. Lyra also followed them, herself being followed by Bon Bon. When they were all outside, Vinyl removed her sunglasses and looked around the town and sky. But Nightmare was nowhere to be seen.
“Hayseed!” she cursed. “She’s gone!”
“Did she really mean that?” Bon Bon asked. “I mean, the whole ‘night shall last forever’ thing?”
“If the legends are true,” Octavia said, “I have no doubt.”
“Hey!” a voice shouted behind them. They all turned and saw Derpy running toward them. She stopped and panted when she came close.
“Derpy!” Bon Bon said. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Turner,” she answered.
“Timey?” Vinyl asked. “What about him?”
“After that mare left,” Derpy answered, “I looked around and noticed Turner wasn’t there anymore.”
“Maybe he ran away from the dark alicorn thing promising to create eternal night,” Lyra said.
“Wait, didn’t Timey know who that was?” Vinyl asked.
“True,” Octavia said. “He was the one who correctly identified her.”
“Are you saying Turner has something to do with all this?” Bon Bon asked.
“No!” Derpy shouted. Everyone looked at her. “Turner seemed too nice to be involved with Nightmare Moon.”
“Still, we’ve all heard this story at some point in our lives,” Octavia pointed out. “We should have figured it out along with him. He must know something we don’t.”
“If only we knew where he was,” Lyra said. “Maybe then we can ask him.”
Everypony thought hard for a moment. Suddenly, Derpy spoke up. “I think I may have an idea.”
Derpy led the others to a field just outside of town. Even with the sky still dark, she was able to locate her destination easily; of course, it helped that lights were coming out of the box’s windows.
“This is it?” Vinyl said. She didn’t sound convinced. The other mares had looks of doubt on their faces as well.
“I saw it appear this afternoon,” Derpy explained. “I didn’t tell anypony about it because they’d all think I was crazy. But when I saw Turner today, I thought he might have had something to do with this.”
“But Derpy,” Octavia pointed out, “there are plenty of other ponies from out of town. They came for the Summer Sun Celebration.” (“Can’t say they won’t forget it anytime soon,” Vinyl added.)
“But Turner’s the only new pony since this afternoon,” Derpy argued. “Either way, we don’t have much else to go on.” She put her hoof around the doorknob and pulled.
“Come on, come on,” the Doctor kept repeating to himself. “I know you can do it.” He was pacing around a large room with his sonic screwdriver in his hoof. He put it to a console in the center of the room; the screwdriver made strange whirring noises when he had it where he wanted it. Right now, he had it next to the monitor.
“Ugh, they just had to take out everything didn’t they? ‘Since he won’t be using the TARDIS anymore, might as well shut down the computer, right?’ And they wonder why I don’t particularly like them sometimes.” The Doctor continued to work on the console. “I mean, yes, I realize I won’t get her up and running anytime soon, but did they ever stop to think that something might just happen anyway that only I can handle, and that I might just need information, and that I might just need the computer for said information?”
The Doctor was very irritable; between his current situation and the one that just fell onto his back, he was amazed he managed to stay as calm as he was.
Finally, the monitor blinked on and started going through information at a rapid pace. “Finally,” he groaned. “Okay, sweetheart, what we need is Nightmare Moon.” He started typing on a keyboard. “And we better hurry up. The longer we wait, the less chance we have to—!”
Suddenly, the Doctor heard what sounded like screams. He looked behind him and saw, to his surprise, all five mares he had met today piled on top of each other in the doorway.
“Told you you had to push,” Vinyl said.
“Give me a break,” Derpy defended. “The door said pull.”
“Um, girls?” Lyra said. She was looking all around her. “Not to interrupt this lovely conversation, but you might want to take a look at this.” The other ponies looked up and were speechless for a few seconds.
“Um, are my eyes playing trick on me?” Derpy asked. “Because, honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were.”
“That depends,” Bon Bon replied. “Are you seeing a room inside a box that is bigger on the inside?”
“What?” the Doctor blurted out. Everyone turned to look at him now.
“Turner!” Derpy shouted. She got out from the pile and ran over to him. “Thank Celestia you’re okay.”
“What?” the Doctor said again.
“What’s going on, Timey?” Vinyl asked. “You know who Nightmare Moon is on sight and you just run away into a box with a huge room inside it?”
“What?!”
“And what is all this stuff?” Octavia asked as she looked around. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anything quite like it.”
“What are you all doing in here?!” the Doctor almost shouted. (“That’s better,” Lyra said.) “More importantly, how did you get in here?”
“We opened the door,” Vinyl said, pointing at the opened doors. “I’d think that’d be obvious.”
“But I had those doors locked! And the only ones who could open them are myself and…” The Doctor stopped and thought for a few seconds. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me, you have got to be kidding me!” He turned back to the console. “You let them in? I thought we were trying to keep a low profile! This…” He waved his hoof toward the girls. “This does not fall under ‘low profile.’”
“Um, you might have lost ‘low profile’ when you started living in this box thing,” Bon Bon pointed out.
“And why the hay are you talking to that… thing there?” Vinyl asked.
“Technically,” the Doctor replied, “this ‘thing’, as you so quaintly put it, is a she. And she is very much alive and aware of everything I and even you are saying, and yes, I realize that saying that out loud makes me sound like a madpony!”
Derpy continued to stare at the Doctor throughout his entire tirade. “Who are you?” she asked.
The Doctor sighed. “Well, since you came this far, might as well go the whole way. First of all, my name isn’t really Time Turner. Just call me the Doctor.”
“Doctor Who?” Octavia asked.
“Just the Doctor. And this box is my ship, the TARDIS: Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.”
“Time and space?” Lyra repeated. “So does that mean you’re a space traveler?”
“Or an alien?” Vinyl added.
“Put simply,” the Doctor replied, “yes and yes.”
“Then give me one good reason why I shouldn’t buck you to the moon!” Vinyl said, her voice filled with anger. “You know all about Nightmare Moon, then you just disappear after her escape, and now you admit to being an alien? Forgive me for being more than a little suspicious.”
“Vinyl, think about it,” the Doctor said with his hoof to his face. “If I really was dangerous, I would have taken care of all of you for just finding me here. Instead, I’ve been answering your questions and staring dumbfounded that the TARDIS let you in in the first place.”
“Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt, Vinyl, okay?” Bon Bon said.
Vinyl sighed. “Fine. But if he makes a move I don’t like, he’ll have two hoofmarks right in the teeth.”
“Agreed,” the Doctor said. “So, any other questions?”
“Yeah,” Lyra spoke up. “If you’re an alien, why do you look like a pony?”
“Actually, I’m a Time Lord,” the Doctor answered. “Our species have the ability to look like any other race in the universe.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound pretentious in the least,” Octavia mused. “Time Lord?”
“It just means we can perceive beyond time and space, while some, like myself, can travel through it.”
“How is this place bigger inside than out?” Vinyl asked. “I don’t think there’s a spell that can do that.”
The Doctor hummed in thought. “In the simplest terms I can employ, the doors to the TARDIS act as a gateway between two dimensions. Granted, one of them is a small pocket dimension that is supposed to exist within the other, but the idea’s the same.”
“Why did you run away?” Derpy asked. Her eyes seemed sad. “I was so worried. I thought Nightmare Moon did something to you.”
The Doctor sighed. “Sorry, Derpy,” he said, “but I had to find more information on her.”
“You seemed to know enough,” Bon Bon pointed out. “More than we did, anyway.”
“Oh, please,” the Doctor replied, “your planet’s been telling that story for the past thousand years. Anyone who even looks up a brief anthology of myths and legends could know the same. But I want to know the specifics. What happened all those years ago? Were there any tricks to her initial defeat that may still prove useful?”
Suddenly, there was a small ding. The Doctor turned around and saw the computer had pulled up a file. “Speaking of which…” he said. He started scrolling through the text on the screen. He was mostly quiet, mumbling to himself.
“So, uh,” Derpy started, “what are you doing here in Equestria?”
The Doctor stopped paying attention to the screen for a brief moment. “Uh, like I said, I just wanted to rest my hooves for a bit. Even a pony who travels, no matter where he’s from, has to stop every once in a while.” He put his focus back on the screen. Derpy wanted to ask more, but she heard Lyra make a sharp hissing noise at her, signaling her to rejoin them.
Derpy walked back to the group, stopping periodically only to look back at the Doctor. When she finally got to the others, Vinyl whispered, “Can we really trust this guy, girls? I mean, even if he isn’t an alien, he’s still pretty weird.”
“Oh, Vinyl,” Octavia chided, “weirdness alone does not mean he’s a bad pony. After all, I’ve stuck with you for this long, haven’t I?” Octavia just a got a dirty look from Vinyl in response.
“I say we give him a chance,” Bon Bon said. “It looks like he wants to help. Besides, if he does pull some shifty moves, there’s five of us and only one of him. No alien can be good enough to beat those odds.”
“I like your style, Bon,” Vinyl said.
“Like I said, Vinyl,” Bon Bon reminded her: “last resort.”
“We may not need to, anyway,” Lyra pointed out. “He’s just looking at that screen thingy of his.”
“I’ve been with him all night,” Derpy said. “If there was anything going on, I think I would have found something by now.”
“So, it’s agreed, then,” Octavia said at last. “For now, we trust him.” Everyone nodded; Vinyl just grunted a reluctant agreement.
“Oh, now this is interesting,” the Doctor whispered. The other ponies ran up to the console to get a look at the screen.
“What is it, Doctor?” Bon Bon asked.
“It’s a prophecy,” the Doctor replied. “It reads, ‘On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars shall aid in the nightmare’s escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal.’ Tell me, how long has the Summer Sun Celebration been observed?”
“That’s easy,” Lyra responded. “This marks the 1,000th celebration. There were a few reports of protests from the bigger cities like Manehattan and Canterlot that the princess chose Ponyville of all places as this year’s location.”
“That’s it!” the Doctor suddenly shouted. The other ponies shrunk back.
“What’s it?” Derpy asked.
“The stars! The moon! The image of a pony’s head in the Maria!” he continued shouting. “Back at the Celebration, I noticed some of the stars actually getting close to the moon, even touching. That explains why Nightmare Moon is back! She’s been trapped within the moon for a millennium, slowly regaining power for her escape and takeover! And she was gathering the stars, the strongest source of energy in the universe, to engineer it all! Brilliant!”
“So, how do we stop her?” Vinyl asked.
“Still working that part out,” he replied. “But I should be getting close to an answer.” He continued scrolling through the text on the screen. “Ah, this should prove useful: the original legend of Nightmare Moon.” The Doctor looked at the words. “Hmm, not much we don’t already know. Oh, wait, here’s something.”
Everyone else loudly said, “What?”
“It says here that Nightmare was once one of the two sisters who ruled over this land, one to raise the sun at dawn and the other the moon at dusk, that’s her; But she felt useless because everypony sleeps at night. She went mad with jealousy and became the force of darkness we saw back at town hall. To stop her, her sister used something called the Elements of Harmony to banish her in the moon.”
“Does that mean these element things can stop Nightmare Moon?” Lyra asked.
“It’s about as good an answer as we can get,” the Doctor answered. “Worst case scenario, we’re no closer to failure than we are now; all that would have happened is that time would be wasted on a lost cause, and I really hope that turns out not to be the case. The question is where can we find these Elements?” He started typing into the computer. New information started rolling across the screen.
“Ah, here we go!” he said eventually. “The Elements of Harmony are said to contain the strongest magic in all of Equestria. In total, six Elements exist: Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, and the last, whose name remains a mystery. Oh, that’s interesting.”
“What is?” Octavia asked.
“Speaking modestly, I have a treasure trove of knowledge, and the TARDIS easily provides me with what I wouldn’t be able to call up automatically. So to have one detail missing is quite surprising. Unsettling, even.”
“Who cares what they’re called?” Vinyl said. “We just need to find them and use them to knock that alicorn back to where she came from.”
“Uh, quite,” the Doctor replied hesitantly. “Very well, then. The last known location of the Elements of Harmony is the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.”
“Are they there?” Derpy asked.
“It’s as good a place to start as any,” the Doctor pointed out. “Just let me run a quick scan on my UPS and… Bingo! The Castle is in ruins, but it’s still standing. And, as a bonus, it’s close by. In a place called… the Everfree Forest?”
“You can’t go in there!” Derpy shouted. After the Doctor verified the location of the forest, he ran out of the TARDIS and toward his destination. The other ponies had followed him out of concern.
“If I don’t, Nightmare Moon will create eternal night,” he pointed out. “One can only imagine the damage that would do to the entire planet.”
“But that forest isn’t natural!” Derpy argued.
The Doctor looked at the entrance to the forest. “Looks natural enough,” he said. “Trees, moss, I’m sure I can hear maybe a bird or two. Or is that a bat? What with it being night and all, that wouldn’t surprise me.”
“That’s not what she means,” Octavia said. “The Everfree Forest defies the laws of nature.”
The Doctor paused for a second. “In what way?”
“The wildlife,” Bon Bon started, “plants and animals alike. They grow, feed, and live on their own, without anypony to help.”
“And the weather,” Derpy added. “Clouds move on their own, it rains whenever it wants, and pegasi can’t do anything about it.”
The Doctor just stared at them for several seconds. Suddenly, he burst out into laughter. “Really? That’s all?” he said, trying to stifle his laughter.
“Whaddaya mean, ‘That’s all’?” Vinyl said. Her voice still had that suspicious tone from before.
“It’s just,” the Doctor explained, still trying to prevent himself from bursting again, “I’ve been to several planets in my life—and trust me, that’s a very long life—and everything you’ve described is completely natural for those planets. In fact, yours might be the only planet that counts as the exception.” He finally managed to pull himself together. “I can assure you all, I’ve seen and done things much more dangerous than a little wild weather.” He turned back toward the forest. “Besides, any danger, real or imagined, can only pale in comparison to Nightmare Moon’s reign.”
“Then I’m going with you,” Derpy suddenly stated. Everyone turned to her. “I am not letting a friend of mine go in that forest alone.”
“I must agree with her,” Octavia said. “This mission, or whatever it is you’re planning, would best be done with a group.”
The Doctor sighed. “Ladies, I’m sorry, but I cannot allow this. Nightmare Moon may be thinking the exact same thing I am. She may be there waiting for somepony foalish enough to make a bid for the Elements.”
“All the more reason to come with you,” Lyra said.
“No! I cannot and will not allow you to put your lives in danger for the sake of a pony you barely trust!”
“You ask me,” Vinyl said, “I’m the only one with trust issues. And I’m going too.”
“Well, that settles it, then,” Bon Bon finished. “If Vinyl’s going, we’re all going.” All five mares stood in a line with determined looks on their faces.
“Oh, fine,” the Doctor said resignedly. “But, if on the off-chance there is something in there, when I say, ‘I told you so,’ don’t blame me.” With the Doctor taking the lead, the six ponies walked into the forest.
The trees were so thick, the forest was actually starting to become darker than before as the ponies walked through it. Vinyl and Lyra cast low-level illumination spells to allow everyone to see.
“This isn’t so bad,” the Doctor said when they were well into the forest. “A little gloomy, perhaps, but that’s to be expected at night.”
“Wait till we get to the animals, Doc,” Vinyl said. “You’ll change your tune.”
“I assure you,” the Doctor replied, “I’ve faced scarier things than a wild animal.”
“Even so, don’t get cocky,” Bon Bon cautioned. “I’ve heard plenty of stories of ponies who’ve come in here but never came back out.”
The Doctor was still uncertain of the others’ fear of the forest, but he decided against arguing further; it just led nowhere and, though he didn’t want to admit it, there might have been some credence to these fears.
Everyone continued to look around for any sign of the Castle. However, it was hard to see anything over the thick canopy. It was a miracle they were able to see the sky. Their journey was made more difficult by a sudden fork in the path.
“Now what?” Derpy asked. “We don’t know where the castle even is. How are we supposed to choose which way to go?”
“I say we pick the path that has the highest chance in aiding us on our quest,” the Doctor said.
“And how do we do that?” Octavia replied.
“Both paths have an equal risk inherent in them,” the Doctor explained. “No matter which path we choose, we don’t know if it will lead us to the castle or not. In cases such as this, we assess what we know about both paths and make a decision based on that. And what we know is simple: the path on the left seems to incline and… uh, could one of you ladies shine your lights this way?” The Doctor pointed to the left path. Lyra turned toward that direction and concentrated her light into a beam. She led the light through the trees. “The incline does seem to be constant,” the Doctor continued, “so we can assume it leads to higher ground. And, if I’m not mistaken, just by a quick estimation of trees per square decameter, this path becomes clearer as it goes on.”
“So what does all that mean, exactly?” Vinyl asked.
“The combination of a higher vantage point and significant lack of foliage should give us a hint as to where the castle might be. Go up there, and we may spot it more easily.”
“Well, we don’t have any better options,” Lyra said. She started walking up the left path while everyone followed.
The group had walked for several minutes. No one had said much until the Doctor heard a small cough; it sounded like someone was trying to get his attention. He turned to find Bon Bon beside him.
“Hey, um, Doctor?” she started. “I never got the chance to ask you earlier. How was that candy?”
“I’m sorry?” the Doctor replied.
“From this afternoon?” Bon Bon reminded him. “When you came to Sugar Cube Corner?”
“Oh, yes, that. Is this really the best time?”
“Probably not,” Bon Bon admitted, “but I need something to think about besides the possibility of never seeing the sun again.”
“Good point.” The Doctor thought for a bit. “Well, I’m not sure what you were going for exactly, but the flavors you described seemed to clash a bit. I could taste both the sweet and minty flavors, but the sweetness overpowered the mint by a lot.”
“Oh, okay,” Bon Bon replied. If she was disappointed by his response, the Doctor couldn’t tell.
By now, everyone had reached a clear spot on the hill. Like the Doctor surmised, the trees had diminished significantly. The hill had become a rocky terrace, and the ponies were standing on a ledge that was fortunately wide enough to hold more than just them.
“Wow,” Derpy said in awe. “You can see the whole forest from here.”
“Anypony see a castle?” Lyra asked.
“I think that might be it!” Octavia said. Everyone huddled around her and looked into the distance. It was hard to tell, since it was so dark, but there was a silhouette in the distance that looked taller than the trees. It just might have been a tower of the castle.
“Okay,” Bon Bon said, “we have a direction. Now what?” But before anyone could answer, a loud cracking sound was heard. Most of the mares looked up at the rocky wall above them to see if there was an imminent rock slide. The Doctor, however, was looking elsewhere. The sound seemed to come from the side. He noticed Octavia was looking with him as well.
“Girls, Doctor,” she said, “I suggest we move back slowly and make no sudden movements.” There was a silent agreement among all as they did as Octavia said.
But before they could even take one step, the ledge completely crumbled away, taking five ponies with it. Derpy was the only one not falling, thanks to her wings, but she followed after the others. She grabbed Octavia and started floating towards the ground, slowly though, so as not to accidentally hurt her.
Meanwhile, Lyra and Vinyl were trying to keep their hooves on the ground trying to slow their fall. “Hey, Ly!” Vinyl shouted. “Remember that dance we choreographed?”
“What about it?” Lyra asked.
“Maneuver four, now!” Vinyl’s horn started glowing. Lyra got the message and activated her horn as well. They waited until they reached the edge of the newly formed cliff and activated their spells just as they were about to go over. Lyra was caught in a glowing blue aura and Vinyl in a golden one. They kept their levitation spells going and slowly landed back on solid ground.
Bon Bon was on her back when she fell and was sliding out of control. It would have been worse if she had not caught sight of a stray root in the rocky hillside. She grasped it with her mouth and held on tight. Then she noticed the Doctor being nowhere near as fortunate; he was on his stomach and was almost spinning as he slid down. He finally came to a stop when his forelegs grasped the edge of the cliff.
Bon Bon let go of the branch and positioned herself so that she was on her stomach and facing him. Because she started falling from a lower position, she fell just fast enough to slow down as she reached out for him and grabbed his hooves.
“Just hang on, Doctor,” she said.
“I don’t know if I can hold it much longer,” he replied.
“Derpy will be here soon,” she reassured. “She’ll get you out of this.” She looked down and saw that Derpy was almost on the ground with Octavia.
The Doctor held on as best he could, but hooves weren’t as ideal for holding things as he would have liked. Why did I have to be an earth pony? he thought. I’m always an earth pony. He could feel himself slipping further and further as he tried to grip onto Bon Bon’s hooves.
“I don’t think I can make it,” he said at last. “By my calculations, I’ll fall long before Derpy can get here.”
“There’s gotta be something,” Bon Bon said. There was a pause. “Doctor,” she said at last, her voice almost pensive, “I’m going to tell you to do something, and I don’t want you to overreact.” The Doctor didn’t respond. “Let go of my hooves.”
“Are you insane?” he shouted.
“Doctor, think,” she replied. “What possible reason could I have for wanting to hurt you?” The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, but Bon Bon interrupted, “And don’t say because you criticized the candy. I wanted some honest criticism. You were honest with me, so trust that I’m being honest with you. Let go, and you’ll be safe.”
The Doctor didn’t know what Bon Bon had planned, but he was running out of time and had already run out of options. He sighed, slackened his grip on her hooves, and closed his eyes. “Allon-syyyyyyyyyyyy!” he shouted, almost like a spirit cry, as he fell.
Gravity was pulling on him, causing him to fall faster and faster. Soon, though, his speed began to decrease. He opened his eyes and saw that he was covered in an aura of magic, like a mixture of blue and gold. He looked down and saw Lyra and Vinyl with both horns glowing.
The unicorns lowered the Doctor down to the ground. As soon as he was safe, he looked up and saw Derpy carrying Bon Bon. Everyone waited until both ponies were on solid ground.
The Doctor walked up to Bon Bon and said, “Thanks.”
“Thanks for trusting me,” she replied.
“Okay, we survived that,” Vinyl said.
“But how did that happen?” Derpy asked. “It felt sturdy enough.”
“Let me check it out,” the Doctor said. He walked up to one of the fallen rocks. He reached a hoof to his flank and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He put it to the rock and it started making whirring sounds.
“This was no mere collapse,” he said at last. “Something infiltrated the rock structure and broke it apart mineral by mineral allowing it to affect the rest of the wall and cave in on itself. The question is what or who was able to pull this off?” He turned back to the mares, but most of them had shocked looks on their faces; Vinyl even looked like she was suppressing the urge to throw up. “Um, is something wrong?”
“What was that?” Octavia asked, fear evident in her voice.
“Oh, um, this is my sonic screwdriver,” he said. “It allows me to scan objects with a sonic resonance, unlock doors, access computer files, and…”
“I think she means what happened to your flank,” Lyra said.
“My… Oh, I see,” the Doctor replied. “Keep forgetting to bring that up. Nothing to worry about, girls, that was just my pocket. Perfectly normal.” The looks on their faces didn’t change. “Well, normal for a Time Lord, anyway.” They still didn’t change. “Don’t we have more pressing matters? We just survived an avalanche that, if I’m not mistaken, was intentional. And I have only one hunch as to who caused it: Nightmare Moon. She knows we’re here and she just tried to kill us!” There was another pause, although this time, it wasn’t caused by the Doctor’s pocket.
“Ladies, I’m afraid I cannot stress this enough,” he continued: “get out while you still can. Now that we know Nightmare Moon is out there, I cannot let you continue to risk your lives. Besides, if every one of you gets wigged out by Time Lord physiology, then you probably shouldn’t be here at all.”
There was another pause before Derpy finally spoke up. “I’m still going.” The Doctor stared at her, unable to believe that she had denied him a second time, and after a life-threatening situation no less. “We all agreed to see this through,” Derpy continued. “I know we nearly died and all, but we just proved that if we stick together, nothing can take us down that easily.” The other mares nodded. They all looked a little shaken, but they still had that confidence they brought with them when they entered the forest.
“If that’s what you want,” the Doctor said. “If my memory isn’t too juggled, the castle should be that way.” He pointed off to the side. Lyra and Vinyl lit up the area once again and took the lead.
It wasn’t long before the darkness started to win out over the ponies’ vision once again; having fallen from the higher road, everyone found themselves surrounded once more by the thick trees that had greeted them at the entrance. To add to the uneasiness, the silence had also returned.
The group had been walking for probably another half-hour after the avalanche. Vinyl tried to think of a good subject to talk about. When nothing came out of her head, she tried shifting her head to get some possible inspiration. However, she couldn’t see much, due to the only light in the area being herself and Lyra; all she ever saw were the trees, the shrubs, and the other ponies beside and behind her. The first pony she had seen was Derpy.
That was when something sparked in her. “Hey, uh, Derpy,” she said, trying to sound as casual as possible. Derpy turned toward Vinyl, humming in response. “I just realized something.”
“What’s that?” Derpy asked.
“Out of all the ponies here,” Vinyl answered, “you’re the only one I haven’t really met yet.”
“Um, I’m sure you’ve seen me delivering mail at some point.”
“If I did, I don’t remember it,” Vinyl pointed out. “Either way, I never knew you personally until tonight.”
“Vinyl,” Octavia warned. “Is this really the best time?”
“Well, in my defense,” Vinyl replied, “the whole Nightmare Moon thing was kinda taking priority. Besides, if those two,” she motioned back to the Doctor and Bon Bon, “can talk about candy, I think I’m allowed to talk about something that’s a little more important.”
“What are we talking about, exactly?” Derpy asked, almost nervous.
“And what do you mean candy’s not important?” Bon Bon interjected.
“I’m talking about a name,” Vinyl said ignoring Bon Bon's outburst. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Derpy. I’m sure your name is perfectly fine; after all, you’ve lived with it for this long. But if you’re gonna hang with me, I need something that makes you sound cooler, you know?”
“No,” Derpy replied.
“Perfect.” Vinyl started scratching her chin with her hoof. “Okay, this one’s gonna be a little trickier than most.” She hummed in thought for nearly half a minute. “How about ‘Ditzy?’” she finally asked.
“Ditzy?” Derpy repeated in confusion.
“Well, my first choice would have been ‘Derp,’” Vinyl explained, “you know, like short for ‘Derpy.’ But that just sounds kinda mean, and I do have my limits, regardless of what Tavi would tell you.” Octavia harrumphed at this. “Now, ‘Ditzy’ on the other hoof, that has a nice ring to it, it still has the same idea behind it, and as a bonus, it makes you sound cute. Normally, I don’t deal with cute, but I can afford to make exceptions now and then.”
“I don’t suppose I have much choice in the matter, do I?” Derpy asked. All the other ponies started talking at once to the effect of “No” or “Not really.” Lyra even sounded like she was saying, “None whatsoever.”
“Well, I can still call you ‘Derp’ if that’s what you want,” Vinyl said.
Derpy sighed in resignation. “Fine, ‘Ditzy’ it is.”
“Awesome!” Vinyl said. “Welcome to the DJ-PON3 fanclub, Ditzy!”
“Fanclub?” Derpy repeated.
“Gotta build up a rep, right?”
“I’m confused.”
“Don’t bother thinking too hard,” Octavia said. “She has that effect on ponies.”
“Don’t I know it,” the Doctor said. “Just be glad she gave you a choice, Derpy. I had one almost immediately. Twice,” he added, remembering how Vinyl had called him “Doc” not long ago.
“Well, to be fair,” Vinyl pointed out, “your names were easy to work with. Hers, on the other hoof,” she pointed at Derpy, “I wanted to make sure I wasn’t being insensitive.”
“You mean more than you already were,” Octavia muttered. Vinyl was about to come back with a retort when something crashed in front of them. The ponies quickly looked ahead and saw a large creature that looked like a lion, with the exception of the dragon wings on its back and its scorpion-like tail.
“A manticore!” the Doctor shouted.
The manticore reared up and roared like it was ready to kill. It crouched down and leapt at the ponies. Everyone scattered before the manticore landed. Bon Bon was just inches away from its face, so, taking advantage of her facing away from it, lifted her hind legs and bucked, hitting it in the nose. Bon Bon smiled to herself before the manticore roared again, angrier than before.
Suddenly, there was a loud whirring noise. The manticore turned to the Doctor, who held his sonic screwdriver out. It started moving toward him.
“Okay,” the Doctor thought aloud, “that got him away from Bon Bon. This would be a great time to come up with step two.” He started backing up.
The manticore stopped advancing, however, when it felt something on its back. Lyra had hopped and started powering up her magic. The manticore jumped around, breaking Lyra’s concentration on whatever spell she was going to perform and forcing her to hold on tight as the beast kept moving. Finally, however, her grip failed her and she flew off the manticore.
She landed next to Octavia, who, having never gotten into a hooffight in her life, stayed far enough away from the battle. When Lyra landed, Octavia noticed something fly away from her. The object fell in front of Octavia, giving her a clear look at Lyra’s lyre. I hadn’t even noticed, she thought to herself. She’s carried it with her everywhere she goes for so long, I had completely forgotten she even had it.
“Ditzy!” Vinyl shouted. “Keep him distracted! I have an idea!” Derpy started flying around the manticore, just out of reach of its paws. Vinyl started walking up behind it; her horn was glowing intensely. Derpy tried to keep the manticore’s vision focused on her. However, when the area started to become even brighter with the light coming from Vinyl’s horn, the manticore glanced behind it.
“Uh-oh,” Vinyl managed to get out before the manticore swung its tail knocking her backwards. She tried firing the spell in her flight, but she was only able to hit the canopy, far off-target. By the time she stopped, she was near exhaustion. Derpy flew away from the manticore and landed near Vinyl. The Doctor, Bon Bon, and Lyra also came closer to inspect the damage done.
The three standing ponies turned toward the manticore again. It was on all fours, ready for another attack. “Let’s rush him,” the Doctor said. “He should be easier to subdue if it’s all three of us.” The other two nodded. They took an attack stance and charged.
“Everypony stop!” a voice shouted. The three ponies halted in surprise; even the manticore seemed confused. Octavia stepped out between the two sides. She stood up on her hind legs and revealed the lyre.
“Where’d you get that?” Lyra asked.
“It fell off after you were playing rodeo,” Octavia replied. “But I have something more important to think about.” She turned toward the manticore and began softly strumming the lyre. As she played, she sang:
Hush now, quiet now, It’s time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now, It’s time to go to bed.
The manticore started to relax and let out a big yawn
Drifting off to sleep, The exciting day behind you, Drifting off to sleep, Let the joy of dreamland find you.
The manticore’s eyelids started to become droopy. The other five ponies looked on in amazement as Octavia’s lullaby seemed to actually be working against the creature.
Hush now, quiet now, It’s time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now, It’s time to go to bed.
Octavia finished singing and played one last glissando on the lyre. By then, the manticore had fallen asleep completely. Octavia stood herself back on all fours. The other ponies finally drew closer, albeit cautiously.
“That was amazing, Octavia,” Lyra said in awe. “I didn’t know you could even play the lyre. Hay, I didn’t even know earth ponies could play a lyre.”
“Lyra, please,” Octavia responded. “I can play a cello, an instrument that requires much more delicate and precise hoofwork. Playing a lyre, by comparison, is foal’s play.” From the way she said it, the Doctor got the feeling she wasn’t trying to brag.
“That was indeed impressive, Miss Octavia,” he said. “And very effective, from the look of things.”
“Not everything can be solved by violence alone, Doctor,” Octavia said. “If there is a calmer approach, I’ll be glad to take it.”
“But why did it attack us?” Derpy asked. Vinyl had recovered by now and they both met up with the rest.
“It’s a manticore,” Vinyl responded. “Big, mean, nasty, and that tail isn’t just for show. I should know that firsthoof.”
“Not everything fitting those descriptions picks a fight because it can,” the Doctor said. “We were nowhere near it, so it had no reason to even look at us.”
“Then what happened?” Bon Bon asked.
“Best case scenario,” the Doctor answered, “it was just confused by the lack of sunlight and was merely lashing out.”
“And the worst case…?” Lyra added.
“Nightmare Moon must have sent it into a rage,” the Doctor finished. “I realize I probably can’t stop you from following me at this point, so we’d best keep moving.”
Everyone was now very nervous. Not that they weren’t nervous before, given their location, but with two attempts on their lives, possibly by Nightmare Moon, no less, the common mindset was that it was only a matter of time before the next big crisis happened. They tried their best to hide it, but fear could be felt among everypony, and they were all aware that the others were feeling the same.
It was Derpy’s turn to break the gripping silence as she moved closer to the Doctor. “So, Doctor, um…” she started, though she wasn’t sure what she was going to say.
“Yes, Derpy?” the Doctor responded.
“Um, uh…” Derpy struggled to think of something to say. She finally settled on a question. “What’s your home planet like?” She hoped the answer would take a long while to actually explain, keeping the silence at bay for that much longer.
But the Doctor said nothing, like he was lost in thought. “Doctor?” Octavia said. “Are you all right?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” he said. “I’m just trying to figure out how to best describe it to you all.”
“Just describe it, then” Vinyl said. “No big words, no artistic license, or all that jazz.”
The Doctor thought for a bit longer and spoke. “My planet is called Gallopfrey,” he started. “It’s many, many light-years away from this planet; you won’t find it on any star chart. Put simply, it’s absolutely stunning. The skies are a burning orange, the fields of the mountains are red and capped with snow. One of the most beautiful sights you’ll ever see, at least in my humble opinion, is the rising of the twin suns.”
“Wait, two suns?” Bon Bon said. “What kind of pony has that much power?”
“Well, remember what I said about your planet being the exception to what most races, even I, would call normal? Your planet is a geocentric system, with the sun and moon revolving around it and controlled by magic, the only one of its kind, I might add. But my planet, and pretty much every other planet in existence, is heliocentric; it revolves around the sun, or suns in this case, and its rotation creates the illusion of sunrise and sunset.
“The most impressive part of Gallopfrey, however, has to be the Citadel, the seat of power over all Time Lords, surrounded by the glass dome.”
“It sounds beautiful,” Octavia said.
“It is,” the Doctor replied wistfully.
“So, why didn’t you go there?” Derpy asked.
The Doctor did a wild take for a second and turned to the pegasus. “What, are you saying you don’t want me here?”
“No! It’s not that!” Derpy defended. “But if you were looking to take a break from your travels, why didn’t you just go home?” The Doctor paused again, although this time, it seemed more out of reluctance rather than searching for the right words.
“Doctor,” Bon Bon started. “Have you been lying to us?”
“It’s not like that!” the Doctor said nervously. “Not entirely, anyway,” he added quietly. He stopped walking, prompting the others to stop as well. “The High Council, back on Gallopfrey, we don’t always see eye to eye. The Time Lords are happy to just sit on their flanks all day and watch the universe pass them by. But I don’t want to just watch; I want to experience. I’ve gone on many an adventure. I’ve even made several close friends.” He stopped again.
“Did something happen?” Octavia asked. Before the Doctor could speak, however, something caught everyone’s attention. No one could describe what had happened, and when they looked around, everything was as it should be.
“Maybe we just imagined that,” Lyra suggested.
“At the same time?” Vinyl pointed out.
“It could happen,” Lyra defended, although she looked less than sure about it.
“We’d better keep moving then,” the Doctor said. “We can deal with my story any day, but we have a world and a sun to save and the possibility of something out there makes me uneasy.” He was about to walk forward, but he walked into a tree. He rubbed his head and looked at the offending obstacle.
And it looked back at him.
The Doctor immediately moved back out of surprise. The tree had seemed to grow a face. It looked angry and had a mouth full of sharp teeth.
“Okay, we won’t be going this way then,” he said. But when he turned around, he saw more trees similar to the one behind him. By now the others had turned and saw the same thing. They may have had different faces carved into the wood, but the message was clear: the ponies were doomed.
“Lyra! Vinyl! Lights! Now!” the Doctor shouted. The two unicorns cut off the magic that allowed them to see. With any luck, the trees would also be blinded by the darkness.
But there was no such luck. The outlines in the bark glowed a deep violet, not only relighting the area, but making the features on the trees much more frightening. No one could see a way out of this, so they took the only available option left: they screamed.
Everyone was huddled together and screaming loudly, almost as if someone or something would hear them and help. Everyone knew that wasn’t likely, and screaming wasn’t going to do anything to trees, but their panicked states left them with very few solutions. Their screams were so loud, they could only hear one other noise. When they could make it out, however, everyone stopped screaming and turned. Derpy was on her back, rolling around with laughter.
“Derpy!” the Doctor shouted. “Are you crazy?”
“Sorry, Doctor,” she said, trying to keep the laughter contained. “It’s just that, you’re all scared of trees!”
“Trees with faces that want to rip us to pieces!” Vinyl shouted indignantly.
Derpy giggled some more. “No, they’re just trees. Look.” As she started laughing again, Bon Bon took very cautious steps toward the nearest tree. Strangely, its face hadn’t changed at all; it wasn’t moving, not even to blink or breathe. Feeling a little braver, she reached a hoof out and touched it. Solid bark.
“She right,” she said. “The trees just have faces on them, but they’re not real.”
“You were laughing at us because we fell for a stupid joke?” Vinyl said.
“Then in that case,” Derpy said, “you’re not gonna wanna hear this part.” She struggled to suppress more laughs.
“And what’s that?” Lyra asked.
“I was really laughing because you were all screaming like little fillies!” She couldn’t hold back any longer and started laughing again.
“Well, we are girls, Derpy,” Octavia defended.
“No,” Derpy said. “I mean all of you.” The others realized what she meant almost immediately and turned to the Doctor. Some of them already had small smiles on their faces.
“What?!” he shouted. “Me? I’ll have you know I have never screamed like a girl in my life! And again, it’s a very long life!”
“Actually, Doctor,” Lyra said, “I never really did hear a masculine scream.”
“Females have a higher pitch,” the Doctor pointed out, still defending himself. “The four of you outnumbered me.”
Vinyl smiled mischievously to herself and stepped backward a bit. There was a branch near her and when she got close enough, she stomped her hoof down on it, causing it to break.
The Doctor screamed almost immediately. It was short, loud, and high-pitched. The other ponies broke down in laughter.
“Hey, now stop that!” he said. “Give me a break, I don’t scream often.”
“Face it, Doc,” Vinyl said, “you could easily audition for the soprano section of the Royal Choir.” The laughter became louder at the joke.
“Well, I admit I’m a…” Something came out of the Doctor’s mouth that wasn’t a word nor a real breath. “…a little bit, um…” The sides of his mouth started to stretch to the side. “…loud when screaming, but you… you don’t hon… honestly ex… expect me to…” Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore; he fell on his stomach, laughing all the way down. He had to admit the absurdity of it all: the only male of the entire group, and he could probably still beat them in a screaming contest.
The laughing continued for a while, but by the time they had regained composure, they felt happier than when this adventure first started. The Doctor got up and walked to Derpy. “Thank you, Ms. Hooves,” he said. “I think we all needed that.”
“You mean the laughter, or the screaming?” Derpy replied with a sly look on her face.
The Doctor chuckled a bit. “Either way.”
“I just have one question,” Octavia said. “How did these trees get like this? Not five minutes ago, these were just normal trees.”
“Allow me,” the Doctor said. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and started waving it around.
“You know, I’m probably never going to get used to that,” Vinyl said.
“Just take slow, deep breaths and you should keep your stomach in one place,” the Doctor suggested.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to use that thing on the trees?” Lyra asked.
“Normally, I’d agree with you,” the Doctor answered, “but, as I said, the sonic only reacts to objects that resonate with a sonic pulse. Wood does not resonate.”
“So what are you doing?” Bon Bon asked.
“I’m hoping I’ll find the cause by scanning everything else,” he replied. He started moving around almost frantically. “The air, the dirt, the rocks, anything that might produce a lead.” He was about to move again, but he suddenly moved back, like something was pulling him. “Oh now we’re getting somewhere. Come on, girls, allons-y.”
He put the sonic screwdriver in his mouth and ran further into the forest. The others followed after him. His path was not as straight as anyone would have liked; every so often, he would turn as though the sonic was forcefully directing him. The really odd thing was that no matter where they went, the trees still had those frightening faces. After a several minutes of running, the Doctor finally stopped.
Everyone could tell this was their final destination for two main reasons. First, the tree they found was the only one around that didn’t have a face. The second reason was the creature sitting on its roots. It looked humanoid, female in appearance, and was dressed in flowing garments that seemed to be made of plants. She also had a transparent look about her, like she was a ghost. But what really interested them about her was the fact that she was crying.
The Doctor put his screwdriver away and approached the creature. She noticed the sound of his footsteps and looked up. “Who are you? And why are you here?” she asked. Her voice almost echoed.
“I’m the Doctor,” he said softly. “And these are my, um, associates.” He indicated to the other ponies. “And who might you be?”
“Just a dying dryad,” the creature replied. “One who wishes to be left alone in her final moments.”
“Dying?” Octavia repeated. “Why?”
“See for yourself,” the dryad answered. She pointed off to the side; a rather large branch was lying next to the roots. The side that was formerly connected to the tree indicated the branch had been torn off, which, given its thickness, was surprising. “A force like a dark cloud came here and damaged me,” the dryad continued. “It was dark magic, so the damage is too severe. I cannot even hold the branch to repair myself.”
“But that’s just a branch,” Vinyl said. “What’s that got to do with you?”
“Dryads are spirits that inhabit trees,” the Doctor explained. “Whatever happens to the tree happens to her as well. That’s why those trees grew faces to frighten us off.”
“I have already been hurt,” the dryad added. “It is the way of the trees to protect us from further harm when nothing can be done. Whatever business you have in this forest, please take it elsewhere and leave me in peace.”
“Hang on,” Lyra said. She walked toward the tree. “Maybe I can help. I know a reparation spell that might put the branch back into place and even destroy the dark magic.” She paused in thought for a moment. “But this could be tricky. Fixing two problems at once will be hard enough, and the tree is a living thing to boot. Vinyl, think you can lift this branch for me? I’ll need every ounce of power I’ve got into that spell.”
“Sorry, Ly,” Vinyl replied, “but after that manticore gave me a good wallop on the head, my magic’s not so good right now. I could barely keep up the light spell.”
“Figures,” Lyra whispered. “Okay then, Plan B.” She lifted the lyre from her back and held it in front of her.”
“Lyra, what are you—?!” the Doctor started before one of the strings was ripped off the instrument by Lyra’s magic. Three more strings followed it, leaving the lyre with a small gap. She replaced the lyre on her back and went to work.
She tied all the strings together to make one long strand. Then, using her magic to levitate the branch, she brought both objects to the spot on the tree where the branch had been torn. The branch placed itself on the tree and the string began to wrap around it, holding it in place.
“Okay,” Lyra said to herself, “now for the tricky part.” Her horn glowed gold once again and the branch was surrounded by a similar aura. Lyra was visibly struggling as she continued to work the spell. Soon, though, the aura around the branch began to extend throughout the tree itself. The light from the magic grew brighter and brighter and finally stopped altogether.
The branch was now connected to the tree completely; the tear was no longer visible and the strings that held it in place were gone. The dryad, who watched the whole scene with curiosity and fascination, glided up to the branch and touched it, even lightly pressing on it.
“It’s gone,” she said. “The pain is gone. The dark magic is no more.” The dryad looked at Lyra and flew to her. She was smiling. “Tell me, little pony, what is your name?”
“Lyra Heartstrings.”
“Thanks you, Lyra Heartstrings. Your name will be remembered as a friend to all trees in the Everfree. If there is anything you need, do not hesitate to ask.”
“Actually,” Lyra said, “we were on our way to a castle somewhere in this forest. Can you point us in the right direction?”
“I can do more than that.” The dryad clapped her hands.
The ponies could feel a low rumble and they were soon met with an astonishing sight: the trees were moving. Everyone watched as the normally stationary trees seemed to slide along the forest floor. They had even lost the faces that made them look intimidating. It was soon obvious, however, that there was a reason for their movement. When they stopped, they had created a clear path.
“Follow this path,” the dryad said, “and the castle will be but mere paces away.”
“Thank you very much, milady,” the Doctor said with a bow.
“And thank you, Physician,” the dryad returned, “for bringing your friend in my time of sorrow.” After she finished speaking, she disappeared into her tree.
The Doctor looked back at the other ponies. “Well, shall we?”
There was no need for light this time. With the trees having separated into a rather straight path with only the odd turn here and there, the moonlight was shining through much better than before.
“So what did you mean by ‘associates?’” Vinyl asked suddenly.
“Come again?” the Doctor asked.
“When you were talking to that dryad back there,” Vinyl explained, “you introduced us as ‘associates.’”
“Not only that,” Bon Bon added, “but it sounded like you didn’t know what to call us.”
“I don’t know how things work on this Gallopfrey planet,” Vinyl said, “but I’m pretty sure ‘friends’ isn’t exactly inaccurate.”
The Doctor didn’t respond. “Doctor?” Derpy asked.
“I suppose we’ll have to get back to that story now, won’t we?” he said at last. “On my last adventure, I was forced, to put it lightly, to come before the High Council. They said that I was flaunting my rights by traveling through space and time, or some such drivel. Like I said, we don’t always see the universe from the same perspective. And for my trouble, I was exiled to Equestria.”
“But what does that have to do with the whole ‘associates’ thing?” Lyra asked.
“I wasn’t alone then,” the Doctor continued. “I had two companions with me, Bright Bulb and Flashing Steel. We’d been through so much together up until that point. But the Time Lords decided to make my punishment more crushing. They sent them back to their own homes, alive and well, but without their memories of our time together.” He paused for a short second. “Even if I could see them again, they wouldn’t know who I am.”
“That’s it?” Vinyl asked. “You had a lousy last day with your friends?”
“They weren’t the only ones,” the Doctor said, a little more forcefully. “I’ve had many friends before, but I’ve had to part from them time and time again. Sometimes the circumstances behind our partings made Bright and Flashing’s seem like a simple good-bye. No matter who I meet, no matter what we do, eventually, even the ones we care about the most will have to leave us.”
“Is that why you wanted to do this on your own?” Octavia asked.
“I didn’t know if this would be dangerous or not, but I just can’t afford to take the risk anymore.”
“Doctor…” Derpy said sadly.
“But enough about my troubles,” the Doctor said. “We have more important things to think about.”
“Like what?” Lyra asked.
“Mainly that castle in front of us,” he answered. Everyone looked ahead and saw a rope bridge over a steep canyon leading up to the entrance of a castle.
“We’ve found it,” Octavia said in awe.
“Come on, then!” Vinyl said excitedly. “The sooner we get the sun back, the better.” She started running toward the bridge.
“Careful!” the Doctor called out. “One false step on that bridge, and you’ll be a white and blue stain on the rock walls.”
“Hey, that should be the title of my next composition,” Vinyl said. “Thanks, Doc.” Despite her carefree attitude, she did slow down once she actually set foot on the bridge. The others followed her, albeit with more caution. Fortunately, they all arrived on the other side safe and sound.
“Come on!” Vinyl said. “Last one to the elements is a rotten hay bale!” She ran toward the castle entryway…
…And was immediately knocked on her back. Everyone ran up to her to see what was wrong.
“Vinyl, are you okay?” Octavia asked.
Vinyl grunted as she got up. “What is it with me and getting knocked around today?” They all looked at the portal that Vinyl should have gone through. It was covered in a strange blue field that almost looked like the brightest night possible.
“A force field?” Derpy said, giving voice to everyone’s thoughts.
“How are we supposed to get past that?” Bon Bon asked.
“Let me take a look,” the Doctor said. He took out his sonic screwdriver and ran it back and forth across the barrier. “Well, the good news is I can identify what this is. It’s a force field projected by powerful unicorn magic; in fact, I’d go so far as to say that it’s actually alicorn magic.”
“And the bad news?” Lyra said.
“I can only think of one alicorn that would be here of all places.” It didn’t take long for everybody to get the hint.
“Now what do we do?” Bon Bon asked.
“Right now, Nightmare Moon suspects that this barrier is impenetrable and that it’ll be enough to make us give up. But what she doesn’t suspect is that I’ve got a plan. Or half of one at least, but it’s better than no plan, right?”
“Care to fill us in?” Vinyl asked.
“Alicorn magic is powerful, but not infallible. In a shielding spell as big as this one, there are bound to be small fault lines along it. Normally, even for a unicorn, they don’t really matter unless pushed to the brink, which by itself could take hours at the very least. But, all I have to do is find the right spot and it should weaken it long enough to slip inside.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” Lyra urged. “Do it!”
“But this is where things get complicated,” the Doctor continued. “If it were just me, I could slip in and this would already be done. But I can’t afford to leave you out here; between the creatures and Nightmare Moon, anything could happen at this point. And that’s where we run into a slight problem. When I weaken the barrier, there will only be enough time for just one of us to get through. What we need to do is open from the inside, where the barrier is weakest. And to that, we need a shield spell of our own.” He looked at the two unicorns.
“Leave it to me, Doc,” Vinyl said, putting her hoof to her chest. “I’ve had to use a sound barrier to, uh… How did you say it, Tavi?”
Octavia hummed in thought “I believe I said, ‘to keep the peace and protect you from being charged with murdering everypony’s eardrums.’” She finished her quotation with a smirk.
“But what about your magic?” Lyra reminded. “You said it was drained.”
“Well, not having to use our light spell for so long made it easier to heal,” Vinyl pointed out.
“Sound barrier,” the Doctor repeated. “Perfect! Vinyl, stand here please.” Vinyl walked up to the portal. The Doctor started waving the screwdriver again. “As soon as the fault line appears, head on through. After that, you have a very limited time to get your shield up.”
“Piece of cake,” Vinyl said with confidence. They stood there for more than a minute before something finally happened. A small wave appeared, almost as big as an average pony.
“That’s it!” the Doctor nearly shouted. “Go!” Vinyl immediately jumped through. To everyone outside the barrier, she had disappeared from sight.
Vinyl landed on all fours into the castle courtyard. She lost no time in turning around back toward the force field. The wave was still there, albeit smaller and with less motion. Her horn lit up as she prepared her spell.
As she was charging, however, she heard something. “Vinyl…” It was very low and whispering; she almost couldn’t hear it. “Vinyl Scratch…” Vinyl turned around slowly.
“Who’s there?” she called out. At first, nothing happened. She was about to turn back, but a soft blue light stopped her. She stood her ground, ready for anything but never resting her shield spell. The glow started to take on a solid shape: a stallion made of light who looked right at home in a museum of classical portraits.
“Are you Vinyl Scratch?” the figure asked.
“Who wants to know?” Vinyl returned.
“I have been waiting a long time for a musician who is worthy,” the ghost-like figure continued.
Upon hearing this, Vinyl relaxed a little. “Worthy of what?”
“My secrets. You probably may not recognize me, but I was once one of the great composers of the Romanetic period.”
“In that case, you’ll be wanting Tavi, not me.”
The ghost chuckled. “Your modesty amuses me, young one. But Octavia is a musician of the classics. For music to thrive in Equestria, it needs to grow and evolve. You understand this better than anypony.”
Vinyl thought for a quick moment. “What do you want from me?”
“I was engrossed in my compositions, always perfecting them, always coming up with the next musical classic. But in my passion, I had forgotten something important: to teach the next generation of musicians. I have been here for a long time, watching and listening to the music of Equestria change and grow. But my soul will not rest until my lessons have been passed on to one who truly knows how to harness the new and even future music.”
Vinyl started taking the ghost’s words into consideration. This was the chance to truly make her music more than it was now.
“Vinyl!” she heard, snapping her out of her thoughts. But it wasn’t the ghost. It was almost muffled. She realized it was the Doctor speaking. “What’s taking so long?”
“Oh, uh, yeah, I’m almost ready!” she called back. She was glad she didn’t stop charging the spell.
“Well, you better hurry up!” the Doctor replied. “The fault line is almost repaired.”
“Vinyl!” the ghost said firmly, bring her attention back to him. “I do not have long. I can only maintain this form for so long. If you choose to help them, it will be a long time before we can meet again like this. It’s either them or me.”
Vinyl didn’t have much time to think it through. The wave was even smaller now, almost the size of her horn. “If I go with you,” she thought aloud, “I could be the best musician in Equestria.” The ghost was smiling. “But what good is that when the world’s in eternal night?!”
She turned back to the barrier and fired her spell. The wave separated into a small hole that got bigger and bigger. The only indication that it was an actual shield was water-like effect on the air nearby. Once the shield was big enough, the other ponies quickly ran through.
They all looked at the ghost in front of them; his face was now contorted with anger. He made a move for Vinyl, but the Doctor held out his screwdriver and turned it on. The ghost stopped and started to shake violently until his gaseous form broke apart.
“What was that?” Derpy asked.
“Will-o-the-wisp,” the Doctor answered. “They take the form of somepony you care about and then lead you astray. This one must have been really powerful if it could take on the form of Clopin, who, by the way, no one has seen alive for almost 200 years. Guess Nightmare Moon wasn’t so unprepared as I had thought.” He turned to Vinyl. “You all right?”
“Yeah, totally,” she replied. “That willy wisp thing was just trying to talk me into abandoning you guys.” She scoffed. “As if I would.”
“You sure took your time,” the Doctor pointed out.
“Give me a break!” Vinyl said, affronted. “You expect me to deal with a creature that can convince you to follow it? Besides, despite what you may think about friends, Doc, I’d never leave mine.”
“We can discuss this later,” Bon Bon said. “The Elements of Harmony are almost ours!” she and the others followed, leaving the Doctor behind for a few seconds.
Even after all that’s happened between us, he thought, Vinyl Scratch, of all ponies, called me a friend. He found himself smiling a little.
“Doctor!” Derpy shouted from up ahead. “Are you coming or what?”
The castle was a mess. The Doctor guessed that it had stood for more than a few centuries above a thousand years, and it showed; entire sections of the walls were missing, to say nothing of the ceiling, and moss and vines were growing wild even along the floor.
The group made their way to the throne room. Surprisingly, despite the Doctor’s concern, there was no sign of Nightmare Moon. He hoped it was a sign of things to come. The throne room was just as dilapidated as the rest of the castle, but it still contained an air of regality. At the end room were two thrones, cracked and chipped in various places. Between the thrones was an oddly shaped stone statue. It looked like a pedestal with five arms spreading out of it. At the end of each arm was a small platform, almost like an egg cup, and each one was holding a sphere, each with its own gemstone-like design carved in it.
“Is this it?” Derpy asked.
“Where better to keep some of the most powerful magic is Equestria?” the Doctor responded. “Right by the side of the sisters who once ruled this land together.”
“Let’s just get them down here,” Octavia suggested. Derpy flew up and wrapped her hooves around one of the Elements. As she lifted it off the pedestal, two other Elements, influenced by Vinyl and Lyra’s magic, floated up and toward the ponies. All three Elements landed slowly on the ground in front of the group. The two unicorns grabbed the other two once their hold on the first disappeared.
Bon Bon counted the Elements they had. “Five,” she said. “I only get five. Wasn’t there a sixth Element?”
“Ah, yes,” the Doctor said, “the elusive sixth Element that not even the TARDIS could identify. Luckily, I did glance over a passage just before we left.”
“Well, don’t be shy, Doc,” Vinyl said. “Spill.”
“It said that the sixth Element will appear when the others resonate and focus on a single point.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Derpy asked.
“Not a clue,” the Doctor said unabashedly. Before anyone could protest, however, he continued, “But I’ve got a hunch.” He took out his sonic screwdriver. “If I can find the right frequency, I may be able to simulate this resonance and bring out the Element.” He moved toward the Elements on the floor. “Just for your own safety, you might want to stay back. I don’t know if this is a good idea and I’d rather not have you around if things get messy.”
He turned on the screwdriver and started adjusting it. The volume shifted between high-pitched to barely audible. The other ponies moved back to the door, staying just outside the entrance into the throne room. The Doctor continued to work on the screwdriver, keeping his eyes on the Elements in the hope they would do something.
After several minutes of almost pointless tinkering, he noticed something around the Elements. He stepped back and watched. They were all being surrounded by a blue wind that became a small tornado. The Elements were caught in the wind and flew up and into the vortex. The Doctor didn’t know what to expect, but he could tell this wasn’t supposed to happen. With little time to think, he relied on instinct and jumped into the tornado.
The other ponies outside saw what was happening and tried to run to the Doctor and possibly help him. But the wind was too strong and kept them back. Eventually, the tornado disappeared, but the Doctor and the Elements were nowhere to be seen.
“Now what?!” Lyra demanded.
“Doctor!” Derpy called out. “Doctor, where are you?”
“Look! Up there!” Octavia shouted. She was standing next to what was left of a window. A tower could be seen not too far away from where they were. Light was flashing through the windows.
The Doctor rubbed his head as he got up. It took him a moment to realize that he was no longer in the throne room. Whatever happened there must have teleported him here. His thoughts were quickly replaced however, when he saw what was in front of him: Nightmare Moon with the Elements of Harmony laid in front of her.
“It’s so nice to see you again,” she said in that same calm voice. “I admit, I didn’t want it to end like this, but you were just so persistent.”
“Can’t help it,” the Doctor returned. He was very scared, but he couldn’t let Nightmare know it. “It’s something of a character flaw.”
“I suppose we can also add hubris to that list of flaws, believing you, a mere pony, could use the Elements of Harmony against me.”
“Oh, you’ll find that there’s nothing ‘mere’ about me.”
“Maybe, but even Celestia, with all her power and the Elements combined, could only send me to the moon, and even that failed in the end. What could you possibly hope to accomplish?”
“Trust me. Everything I’ve seen and done makes your bid for eternal darkness seem like a middle school prank. Besides, if I couldn’t possibly use the Elements, why did you take them from me when I was working with them?”
“I learned a long time ago, one thousand years to be precise, to leave nothing to chance. I had already sent Celestia away before I even revealed myself tonight. And while I wasn’t going to try to retrieve the Elements at first, you made me take measures.”
“You mean trying to kill us, delay us, and even dissuade one of us? Very poor attempts, I must say. However, if you are willing, I can help you. You were once a great leader, beloved by your subjects. You can still be that.”
“At the cost of my glorious night shadowed by the sun? Here is my answer, my little pony!” Nightmare reared up and slammed her hooves on the ground. The Elements, still close to her, shattered on impact. All that was left were tiny shards around Nightmare’s hooves.
The Doctor was stunned. “What?! That can’t be possible! The Elements should be stronger than a simple stomp on the ground!”
“It must pain you to know so much only to come up short where it truly matters,” Nightmare said with a grin. “Don’t worry, though. Even in the state you found them in, you couldn’t possibly have used the Elements.”
“Maybe the Elements are gone,” the Doctor said, “but if this path is your final decision, then I’ll keep fighting.” He held out the sonic screwdriver, hoping that it would do something miraculous. But he barely turned it on before a blue beam struck it, causing him to let go. The screwdriver landed on the floor, the top portion destroyed with only a few wires hanging out.
“You little foal!” Nightmare gloated. “Thinking you could defeat me! Now you’ll never see your princess. Or your sun. The night will last forever!” She laughed triumphantly.
The Doctor was crestfallen. He had failed. The planet would be plunged into everlasting darkness, and the only hope he may have had in restoring the light had literally been crushed. He bowed his head in humiliation, eyes closed like he was about to cry. He could hear the cries of ponies, cried of fear, cries… that sounded like they were calling his name.
The Doctor lifted his head up; those cries were real, and they were actually calling out to him. “Doctor!” “Doc, you up here?” “Doctor, where are you?” He recognized those voices. He turned his head and saw some shadows through the doorway, followed by the five ponies who had followed him this far. He felt a strange mix of happiness, excitement, sadness, and anxiety all at once. He turned back to Nightmare.
“Actually, Nightmare Moon, there might still be a chance,” he said. “I was right; you can’t destroy the Elements of Harmony so easily. Especially when those Elements share their spirits with five amazing ponies.”
By now, the others had entered the room proper. They stood behind the Doctor and, upon hearing his words, started feeling more confident, like they could take on Nightmare with their bare hooves. The shards of the Elements also seemed to react; they lifted themselves off the ground and started glowing faintly.
“Like Bon Bon,” the Doctor continued, “who asked only to be trusted in a time of doubt, representing the Spirit of Honesty!” The shards that were glowing yellow floated to Bon Bon and began circling her.
“Or Octavia, who tamed a wild manticore with nothing but a soothing melody, representing the Spirit of Kindness!” The same thing happened to Octavia, except the shards were glowing black.
“Derpy Hooves, who was able to find humor in a scary situation, representing the Spirit of Laughter!” Shards glowing silvery grey surrounded Derpy.
“Lyra Heartstrings, who helped a dying creature with all her heart, representing the Spirit of Generosity!” Light blue shards flew to Lyra
“And Vinyl Scratch, who wouldn’t leave her friends behind even if it meant furthering her own goals, representing the Spirit of Loyalty!” Shards of royal blue circled Vinyl.
“Your tricks and traps have failed before all of these ponies and their devotion to their virtues,” the Doctor continued.
“You still don’t have the sixth Element!” Nightmare hastily reminded him. “Your little gamble with the resonance didn’t work!”
“Maybe that’s because I had it on the wrong frequency,” the Doctor replied. “And I was using the wrong tool.” He turned to the others. “When I heard you all calling me, I felt something I thought I’d never feel again. Maybe friends will eventually go their separate ways, but you’ve just shown me that our friendship will last forever.” He turned back to the alicorn. “Do you hear that, Nightmare Moon? Your night won’t last forever, but the power of our friendship will!”
Suddenly, there was a flash of light from above. Everyone waited until the light died down before looking up. It was another stone sphere, much like the Elements before Nightmare shattered them. It floated down until it was just above the Doctor’s head. “You see, Nightmare Moon, when all five Elements find a common focus and resonate with it, like these five have when they were looking for me, such a process reveals the sixth Element: The Element of Friendship!”
The sphere started glowing brighter. So many things happened at once, it was nearly impossible to see it all happen. The shards surrounding the five collided together on each of the ponies’ necks, creating a necklace with a golden band and a charm in the front, with each charm being a different color. The sphere above the Doctor dissolved and flowed to the remains of the sonic screwdriver. The device lifted itself off the ground and floated into the Doctor’s hoof. When it finally stopped, the silvery plating of the screwdriver had become gold, like the necklaces.
Instinctively, the Doctor held the screwdriver above him and turned it on. The usual whirring noise seemed louder than normal. The other Elements started creating a rainbow stream that converged on the screwdriver. Once the streams combined, the rainbow shot up and headed straight for Nightmare.
The dark alicorn had just enough time to scream, “NOOOOOO!” before the rainbow landed and started swirling around her, eventually drowning her out. By now, the ponies were only barely aware of what was happening. After a constant stream, the Doctor felt the power growing stronger and hitting its peak. Soon, his vision went completely white.
The Doctor knew that it was only a few minutes at most since he lost consciousness, but it felt like hours. He saw the others getting up.
Bon Bon spoke first. “Everypony alright?” she said slowly
“I think so,” Lyra said.
“Did we win?” Derpy asked.
The Doctor looked at where Nightmare Moon had been standing. There was no sign of her, except perhaps for the pony that was lying on the floor a short distance away. Like Nightmare, the mare was an alicorn, except she was smaller and her coat was a much lighter shade between black and blue and her mane was now comparable to any pony in Equestria. Nightmare’s shattered armor was lying around the alicorn, like it had been hastily removed and discarded.
“Yes, Derpy,” the Doctor said. “I think we did.”
“Awesome!” Vinyl shouted. “Though, I think I could do without this necklace,” she added, looking at the object on her neck.
“What’s wrong with it?” Octavia asked.
“Well, me and jewelry have never gotten along,” Vinyl explained.
“If it makes you feel any better,” Octavia said, “the charm looks very much like your cutie mark.”
Vinyl looked down at her necklace; the blue charm did indeed look like a pair of eighth notes. “Hey, you’re right,” she said. She looked up again. “Yours does, too.” Octavia glanced down to see a black gem in the shape of a treble clef. The other ponies looked at their necklaces: Derpy’s had a silver set of circles combined to look like a stream of bubbles; Bon Bon’s was yellow and looked like a candy still in the wrapper; and Lyra had a light blue gem that easily looked like a lyre.
The Doctor looked more closely at his sonic screwdriver. He turned it in his hoof and saw that the button had become a set of two orange triangles with the points touching each other. Just like the hourglass on my rump, he thought.
“It’s like the Elements already knew who we were,” Lyra said.
“And here I thought the Doc was getting all sappy on us,” Vinyl stated.
“Come on, Vinyl,” Derpy chided. “He has a point. Maybe we are supposed to represent harmony.”
“You certainly are,” a new voice said. Everyone started looking for the speaker, but they were distracted by the sight of the sun peeking over the horizon. Upon appearing in the sky completely, a flash of light appeared and then quickly dissipated, leaving a large, white alicorn in its place. She was almost similar to Nightmare Moon in body structure, except her adornments were golden and her mane, while still carrying that ephemeral feel, was filled with a rainbow of bright colors. The Doctor needed no introduction as he and the others immediately bowed down to Princess Celestia.
“Rise, my little ponies,” she said. Her voice was commanding but gentle. The five mares slowly stood back up; the Doctor, however, stayed down. “You too, Doctor,” the princess added.
Surprised that she knew him, the Doctor rose, even more slowly than the others had. Octavia was the first to speak. “My apologies, Your Highness, but do you know him?”
“Only by reputation,” Celestia answered. “But all that I’ve heard has been nothing but good things, how his hearts are always in the right place, and how he risks his life for the sake of every pony and living creature in the universe, yet expects nothing in return.”
“I… I’m honored,” the Doctor stumbled, surprised he could speak; meeting someone of such great importance would have been enough to keep him quiet for days.
“Which is why I told the High Council to bring you here,” Celestia continued. The Doctor could only stare dumbfounded. The other mares seemed surprised by this as well. “I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon’s return, but after our last encounter, I couldn’t use the Elements of Harmony as I had done before. But when I heard of your troubles, I figured I could lend a hoof for the benefit of everyone.”
“But how…?” the Doctor started.
“I am a being who can control the orbit of the sun and moon,” she answered. “The Council respects my authority. I ‘suggested’ that your exile be served here. Ponyville’s naturally friendly atmosphere would allow you to forge new friendships to make up for the ones you had lost. And those friendships would, in turn, allow you harness the Elements of Harmony and defeat Nightmare Moon.”
The Doctor listened intently to Celestia’s explanation. “I… don’t know what to say. Thank you, Princess.” He bowed again. “Were it not for you, I probably would have remained friendless for the rest of time.”
Celestia smiled. “I’m happy to be of service, Doctor. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some unfinished business to attend to.” She walked past the ponies and toward the unconscious alicorn.
“Princess Luna,” she called gently. As if by command, the blue alicorn’s eyes popped open and she gasped in surprise. She looked up at Celestia, her face filled with nervousness. “It has been a thousand years since I’ve seen you like this,” Celestia continued. She knelt down and looked at Nightmare, now Luna, at eye level. “Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister.”
“That’s what I was just telling her,” the Doctor whispered to Derpy.
Celestia stood up. “Will you accept my friendship?”
For a moment, no one said anything. The ponies looked on nervously, unsure of what Luna would do. In fact, it even looked like Luna herself had some indecision. Finally, she jumped to her hooves and pressed her head against Celestia’s body. She seemed to be crying, though her face contained a smile. “I’m so sorry!” she said. “I missed you so much, big sister!”
Celestia seemed surprised by Luna’s actions, but she quickly adjusted. Like her sister, tears began welling up in her eyes. “I’ve missed you too.”
As the alicorn sisters continued to enjoy their long-awaited reunion, the other ponies watched everything with a mix of curiosity, sadness, and pure joy. “Well, as they say,” the Doctor said: “All’s well that ends well.”
“Hey, um, Doc?” Vinyl said.
“What’s up, Vinyl?” the Doctor responded.
“Celestia said your hearts were in the right place,” Vinyl said. “That’s hearts as in plural. Any reason for that?” The Doctor just paused.
Celestia and Luna flew the six ponies, sans Derpy, who could already fly, out of the castle and the Everfree Forest and into Ponyville. The sight of the Princess of the Sun flying overhead was a welcome one for the townsponies. A few were curious and even apprehensive over the presence of Luna, whom nopony had ever seen before, but a few words of assurance by Celestia put their minds at ease.
With the sun and princess back, the Summer Sun Celebration was finally in full swing. If the Doctor had thought the party from the previous night had been fun, then this party was an absolute blast. Everything about it seemed to be bigger: the games were more numerous and allowed for more ponies at a time; the amount of food seemed to never end; and the Doctor swore there were more ponies than last night as well. Even when Octavia, Lyra, and Vinyl began playing their full concert (after Lyra repaired her lyre, of course), it seemed better than the rehearsal.
Celestia spent most of the day showing Luna a whole new world. The rechristened Princess of the Night was treated quite well considering the mysterious nature behind her appearance; she attributed this to the uplifting mood caused by the celebration. She was glad to see that even though the town had only expected playing host to one princess, everyone could easily accommodate for two.
The Doctor watched everything, from the party in general to the reunited princesses, feeling happier than he had for what seemed like a long time.
“So, what are you going to do now?” he heard. He turned to find a pair of inverted, golden irises staring at him.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Well, you saved the world,” Derpy said, “and it seems like that’s a normal thing for you.”
“Only on a good day,” he said. Derpy giggled at his frankness.
“So what do you do after you save the world?” she asked.
The Doctor thought for a bit. “Normally, I’d go back to the TARDIS and head off to the next adventure. But…” He paused almost teasing Derpy. “But I still can’t get it to run right. I mean, I only just got the computer working. It’ll take several weeks at best to get the global traveling systems up to full capacity, and then there’s the time manipulators, and of course, the biggest nail in the proverbial coffin, I’ll be mainly sticking to the Equestrian space-time continuum until the High Council says otherwise.”
“Just say what you mean, Doctor,” Bon Bon said, having walked up in the middle of his explanation. The other ponies had also finished their concert and seemed to be expecting an answer as well.
The Doctor smiled. “I’ll be staying for the foreseeable future, possibly beyond.”
“Awesome! Welcome to the DJ-PON3 groupies, Timey!”
“Groupies?” Octavia repeated.
“Timey?” the Doctor added.
“I figured ‘fan club’ sounded too laid back,” Vinyl explained.
Derpy cleared her throat. “And we all talked it out a little bit ago; if you were going to stay, we’d like to go back to calling you Time Turner. After all, we made friends with him.”
“Indeed,” Octavia said. “The name ‘Doctor’ seems too formal for the relationship we have going.”
“It’s your choice, though,” Lyra said. “We’re not going to be like Vinyl here.” (“Hey!”)
The Doctor considered his new friends’ reasoning. He would still be on this world for a while, and he still needed to be discreet in who he really was. It would definitely be better for them to make it a habit in calling him Time Turner.
“Very well, then,” he said at last. “Time Turner it is!”
“Then Turner,” Derpy said, “let us be the first to welcome you to Equestria.”
Things could definitely be worse, the Doctor thought.
