I. Count the Shadows
There was an old castle, somewhere's not very far from Ponyville. It belonged to a young pony, Charlotte. Or so she thought. She was sitting down at a table, levitating some crayons and drawing. She drew the library and other parts of her castle while her father and Dr. Moon talked.
Dr. Moon walked over to Charlotte soon after they were done talking. He began to ask her about her castle. She closed her eyes and described every little detail. She began to hesitate when she heard some banging. Nopony ever came into her castle except for her. Dr. Moon slightly frowned. "Are you okay?"
The doors flew open and two ponies entered. A brown earth pony and a grey Pegasus. Her eyes quickly flew open. She frowned and looked up at him. "Somepony is in my Library."
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Whoosh, Whoosh! The T.A.R.D.I.S materialized in the entrance room of an old castle. The Doctor stepped out of the blue box, followed by his lovely assistant, Derpy Hooves(Or as he likes to call her, Ditzy). Derpy slightly frowned, "What is this place?"
"It looks like an old, abandoned castle." He smiled and looked around. He had been to a few other ones before, but there was something about this one. "Come on, Ditzy." The Doctor began to walk around, examining the ruins of the castle. Derpy followed him. She had heard some stories about this place when she was just a filly. Her mother used to tell her stories about how hundreds of years ago, Princess Celestia and her sister Princess Luna, used to live there. But she also remembered that the reason the castle was abandoned was because the Everfree forest grew too wild and began taking over.
The Doctor stopped walking when he reached a certain room that caught his attention. He entered and inside were tons of books. It was like heaven on earth. The Doctor smiled as he looked around. He took a deep breath and smiled. Derpy soon began to explore the old library. She spotted a sculpture and walked over to it. It turned around and had the face of a pony in it. Derpy quickly backed up and the eyes opened. It spoke:
"Count the shadows. For pony's sake, remember. If you want to live, count the shadows. Message ends."
"Um, Doctor...?"
"Yeah?" The Doctor walked over and the message played once more. The Doctor frowned. "Ditzy, stay out of the shadows."
"Why? What's in them?" Derpy asked. She had a puzzled look on her face.
"I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure it's not good...."
Derpy nodded and stepped away from the shadows. She frowned, wandering what could be in them. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began to sonic the shadows. The Doctor frowned. He couldn't quite make out the readings. He looked around and backed up into the light.
The Doctor frowned as some words appeared on his physic paper. The words read: The castle, come as soon as you can. x Derpy walked over. She slightly frowned when she read the note. "Who's that from?"
The Doctor examined the paper then put it away. "I'm not sure." Derpy nodded, still looking at where he put the note. She wondered who the other pony was. Was there something the Doctor didn't want her to know about.....? Derpy shook the thought out of her head. Even if there was something he wasn't saying, this wasn't the time to talk about it.
Th lights began to flicker and the Doctor backed up. "Ditzy run!" They soon began running towards the nearest door. He tried sonicing it open but it wouldn't budge. Stupid wood! He thought. They began banging at the doors and the lights were turning off one by one. The door flew open and both ponies quickly entered the room, locking the door behind them.
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"Who's in your castle, Charlotte?" Asked Dr. Moon. Charlotte simply shook her head. Dr. Moon looked over at her father.. "Has this ever happened before?"
Her father shook his head. "She's never mentioned anyone else, it's always just her."
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When they entered the room, the Doctor smiled. He noticed a small metal globe and slightly smiled. "Oh. Hello. Sorry to barge in like this. Mind if we stay here for a bit?"
The metal globe fell and Derpy frowned. "What was it?"
"A security camera, I think.....It's shut itself off."
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Charlotte was pacing back in forth across the living room. "How were they in my library?" She kept on repeating the question to herself. Dr. Moon walked over to her and sat down.
"Who are they?"
Suddenly Charlotte put her hooves to head, closing her eyes. "What's that noise?"
Charlotte's father looked over at Dr. Moon ,with a concerned look on his face, then back at his daughter. "What noise, Charlotte?"
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The Doctor examined the security camera. He frowned when he noticed some words scrolling across it: No. Stop it. No. No. He put his sonic screwdriver away. "Ooh, I'm sorry. I really am." He looked over at Derpy.
"It's alive."
"What do you mean alive? You said it was a security camera."
"Yes, it is. An alive one."
Derpy nodded and sighed. She looked at her hooves then back at the Doctor. "Are....are we safe here?"
The Doctor gave her a reassuring smile. "Of course. There's a little shop here." He looked over at a door with a sign next to it. It read: The Shop and the Entrance this way.
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Charlotte sat up as soon as the noise had stopped. Dr. Moon looked at the young filly, "Are you alright, Charlotte? Can you hear me?"
Charlotte frowned and looked at her hooves. "Other's are coming."
"Who's coming? Who are the others?"
"Others are coming. The castle is breached."
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Derpy looked at the words sliding across the orb. "Others? What does it mean others?"
The grey Pegasus walked over to one of the sculptures. "Excuse me? What does it mean by 'others'?"
"It can't help you." The Doctor said.
Derpy frowned. "So....then why does it have a face?"
The pony's eyes opened and spoke. "This flesh aspect was donated by Morning Stone on the date of his death."
Derpy backed up. "It's a face. I mean like a real face."
"It has been chosen individually for you from the many facial aspects saved to our extensive flesh banks. Enjoy."
"It chose me a dead face it thought I'd like? The statue has a dead pony's face."
The Doctor shrugged. "This isn't exactly your Equestria....this is another dimension. And It's basically like donating a park bench....except it's a face."
Derpy backed away from the statue. The Doctor frowned. "No. Wait, no.....it's not- The shadow. Look."
Derpy looked over at the shadow. "Yeah....what about it?"
"Count the shadows."
"One. There's one shadow. What about it?"
"What's casting it....?" The Doctor examined the triangular shadow. He then put a hoof to his forehead. "Oh, look at me! I'm so thick!"
The lights in the halls began to flicker. "Um, Doctor? I think the light's are going out...."
"This place runs on fission cells...they'll out burn the sun."
"Then why is it dark?"
"It's not da-"
"The shadow. I-It's gone." Derpy stammered.
"We need to get back to the T.A.R.D.I.S. The shadow hasn't gone, it's moved."
The statue spoke again. "Reminder: The castle has been breached. Others are coming. The castle has been breached. Others are coming. The castle has been breached."
As the statue continued to speak, one of the doors blew open in a flash of light. Both the Doctor and his companion were blinded for a second. Six ponies entered the room, each wearing a space suit. The leader of the six ponies adjusted her helmet so that they could see her clearly.
She had a peach colored coat and frizzy, golden mane. She smiled when she noticed the doctor and said, "Hello Sweetie."