The Doctor takes Applejack to the Everfree Forest where they are tasked with an impossible mission: Foal sit Princess Celestia and Luna.
The Doctor and Applejack are off! In her first ride in the TARDIS, Applejack wants to see the Universe and the Doctor is the only pony who can do it. Their first ride ends up back to Celestia and Luna's fillyhood where they are tasked with foalsitting the two future rulers of the world.
When foalsitting turns into a war between two kingdoms, the Doctor, Applejack, and the alicorn guard Sea Crest must fight to restore harmony, otherwise Celestia and Luna will never rule Equestria. Book 2 of the Destiny Saga
The following is a fanfic of the two television shows: My Little Pony and Doctor Who. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust and Doctor Who is owned by the BBC network. Please support the official release.
“In the very beginning of the world, there was nothing. There was no ocean, no sky, and no life. The planet Earth appeared to be nothing more than another rock floating in nothing. That is, until the magic happened. According to legend, a star had died and broken apart into billions of pieces. Some of those pieces crashed onto the planet anew. With nothing significant about these fragments, many assumed that they were just a random phenomenon. Nopony assumed that these fragments would later be revealed as the ancestors of the Elements of Harmony.
Born from chaos, these 6 fragments landed near each other, almost like they had a bond as a star. The stones dug deep into the ground, and after a few thousand years, the stones produced a miracle upon this world: a tree. The Tree glowed with the power of a hundred suns, thus heating the surface up. The rock melted and turned into magma. The magma already reached the shores of the Tree, but with a consciousness of its own, the Tree escaped its own destruction. With a power unlike any other, it rose from the ground. As it climbed, the magma followed, eventually overtaking the rock it once called home. The Tree climbed higher and higher until it couldn’t no more. To prevent its destruction, it created a shield over the magma. Theory suggests that this created the molten core of the planet.
7,000 years later, another phenomenon occurred. A storm of rock from a doomed planet flew toward the molten planet. Seeing a plan working, the Tree flew even higher than before with trillions and trillions of rock flying below it. The rock collided with the magical barrier between it and the magma below, heating the rock even more. Thanks to the magical barrier, it only heated the rock. The mountains of rock continued to grow as it chased the Tree. Eventually, the Tree couldn’t climb any more. It created yet another magical barrier, keeping the molten rock at bay. This created the mantle.
With magic running through its veins and the powers of a god at its disposal, the Tree could do more. Using the mysterious force it grew accustomed to, the Tree attracted what remained of the planet beyond. This will of magic created the crust where ponies lived and played today. Allowing nature to move on its own, and with a canvas for the Universe to draw on, the Tree of Harmony was free from its duty. Shielding itself inside a cave, the Tree slept. Overall, it took 10,000 years to create the body of the planet.
Over time, the Universe did paint on the planet. The Tree, seeing as it was unique, spread its magic throughout the Universe. Stars began to shine again and planets were formed. With a simple template to work with, the Universe was soon populated with canvases waiting for the right painter.
With the Universe and the Tree’s magic, the Earth began to breathe. Spots of green and blue began to surface, overtaking the planet. Rain began to fall, and meadows began to grow across our land. Trees grew and provided for the atmosphere we breathe in today. Nopony had ever guessed that—”
The alicorn put down the book. “Are you both sure you want me to read this? It’s too grown up for you,” she said.
Across from her, the two foals nodded their heads. “Please mommy, it sounds so cool!” the young one exclaimed.
“It’s almost like it was supposed to be born. Magic trees. Super stones. Everything sounds like it was planned!” the elder one said.
The mother alicorn smiled. “Well, I think that your father should take over this story, assuming he is coming back like he said he would. Have you heard from your father?”
“He said he was going to be out late, that’s all he said,” the young one said.
“Your father likes making sure everypony is asleep before he rests. I should’ve known he would be out like this. Anyway, you girls need to get your sleep as well. You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow.”
Immediately after the mother said that, the siblings yawned. “But I’m not tired yet!”
“Me nether!”
“Well, I am your mother, and mommy says it’s time to sleep.”
The siblings expressed their disproval for sleep, but they climbed into their beds. The elder was the first to be tucked in. “So mommy, how did the Tree die? I’m sure nothing lasts forever,” she asked.
“Oh, it just slept. It didn’t die. Remember kids, all things must sleep in the end, no matter how tired they get. It’s natural.”
The younger one smiled. “One day, I will sleep all day and run around all night,” she said with a smile on her face.
“Well, we have a long time to wait you know. I love you two,” the mother said.
“We love you too mommy!” they said in unison.
The alicorn smiled. She kissed the foreheads of her daughters. “Goodnight Celestia. Goodnight Luna.”
“Goodnight mommy!”
The mother alicorn smiled and walked out of the door. The alicorn sighed as she made her way out of the hallway and down the stairs of the castle. The alicorn radiated a glow that made everypony smile, literally. As the queen of the Sun, Queen Solaris shone with the power of the Sun. Her mane and tail were not of horse hair, but of stardust. Points on both mane and tail glowed brighter, symbolizing the stars she controlled. Her wings were of fire, but were calm. While she smiled for her subjects, she frowned everyday. The war between the alicorns and the Draconiquus Empire raged inside and outside the castle walls. With King Cosmos’s plan on creating a shield for their subjects working, Solaris had nothing to worry about.
Speaking of King Cosmos, Solaris heard her husband in the throne room on the opposite side of the wall. She smiled as she teleported. Inside the throne room, the King of the night stood proud as he talked to one of his advisors. King Cosmos was said to be born from the Moon itself, however, he claimed he had the memories of having a mother and father of his own. The two were destined to be united, and no pony disagreed. His mane and tail were made to reflect the Universe. His wings were purple and majestic once opened. His strength, coming from the stars his wife controlled.
The king turned his attention to his wife. “Dear Solaris,” he called out.
“Cosmos, you’re late,” she said with a smirk.
The king chuckled. “A small village in the east refused to sleep, so I put them on a special cycle. It doesn’t help with the lack of trust they are getting from us,” he said.
“I know, but the Draconiquus Empire grows stronger everyday. It is only a matter of time before a full-fledged war is at our door. Speaking of, have you news from the battlefront?”
Cosmos sighed. “We lost a brave general today. His actions could’ve spelled genocide to both races had he not been stopped. I had no choice.”
“Not Silverstar!”
The king bowed his head. “Yes, it was him. I do not understand what had gotten him upset, however, every action has a reason.”
“Yes, speaking of that. Your daughters wanted to hear that story again. The creation of our world. Ever since you found that book, they never stopped reading it. I’ve always had to pull them away from it before they finish reading it,” Solaris said.
“Yes, I probably should do something about that.”
Solaris smiled at her husband. “I don’t know how to tell the girls, seeing as how he was their foal-sitter.”
“I agree. We must find somepony to watch them, especially tomorrow night. Do you know anypony?” Cosmos smiled. “Why yes, and I think I still have his number.”
The Earth pony never knew that one day she would be the first pony in all of the history of Equestria to see her home from so far into space. She never knew that out of all her friends, she would be the privileged one to travel on an adventure no pony else could see. She knew, however, the Doctor had done this before, but she didn’t care. Applejack knew that the Doctor took ponies along who probably saw the galaxy where she was born into, and probably thought the same thing she was currently thinking.
What Applejack didn’t know, however, was why she was where she was. Any of her friends were more qualified to journey through the stars. Twilight would be cataloging all of time and space and learning the TARDIS inside and out. Rarity would want to journey to new worlds to study their cultures and, maybe, liberate them of a few rare gemstones. Fluttershy would want to meet every creature in existence. Rainbow would probably want to just fly everywhere. Pinkie would be able to stop wars and bring races together. The question remained: why was she there and not any of her friends.
As the earth pony watched space travel before her, the Doctor was busy at his console. Ever since he had returned from his old Universe, he had been running all kinds of diagnostics and running algorithms nonstop. In fact, he stopped the TARDIS, opened the doors, and told Applejack to look at the Universe while he worked. Applejack would often hear the Doctor mumbling about ‘Gallifrey’ and ‘Trenzalore’. While she didn’t know what he meant about Trenzalore, she knew it was important for him.
Applejack looked back at her friend and sighed. “Ya know, it ain’t fun watching this here galaxy spin if somepony don’t explain nuthin to me,” she said.
The Doctor looked up. “Huh, oh yes! Right, sorry. You know, something you thought you forgot suddenly reappears within your head and you have no say in how you distract yourself from said something is exhausting sometimes,” he said.
“Well, why don’t ya relax fer a little while?”
The Time Lord smiled and left the console. He approached his companion and sat down next to her. “So, Luna didn’t create the stars huh?”
“Well, no. You see, these stars were born with the Universe. Compressed energy and superheated mass creates these stars and they can live for billions of years, maybe more. The stars were always covered up by the mist that the planet still expels, making it so they appear created every night. After the blizzard, the nights were still blank and starless until Luna used her magic to unveil the beauty of the stars. Celestia and Luna have some ancient magic that allows them to still control the Sun and Moon that much is clear. It is amazing what can happen when you are directly related to the original Bearers of the Sun and Moon,” he said.
Applejack looked up at him. “What?”
“You didn’t know? Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are princesses because somepony is already the king and queen,” he said like it was not a big deal.
“They had parents?”
The Doctor nodded. “Everypony has parents, even gods. How else do you bear life?”
Applejack chuckled as she stared back into space. “Ah’ve been here fer an hour and ah’m already getting a headache,” she said.
“Why?”
“’Cause they never had parents. Princess Celestia believes she was born from the Sun. Luna too,” she said.
“Even gods have parents at some point in time. It’s a long line of understanding, and I won’t trouble you with the whole process of it all. Still, I do know the Princesses’s parents. I have tea with them every half century or so,” the Doctor said.
Applejack smirked at him. “Why can’t we see ‘em then?”
Before the Doctor could answer her, they heard a high pitched ringing. Applejack was immediately startled by the sudden noise, but the Doctor had a look of confusion on his face. He searched the room and couldn’t find the source of the noise. Applejack pressed her ear onto the door. “Doctor, it’s here,” she said.
The Doctor spun around. “That’s not a real phone! It came with the design,” he proclaimed.
“What’s a phone?”
“It’s a messaging system that allows you to talk to someone far away. If you and Twilight had phones, you all would be talking right now,” he said. “There are designs that work just for talking, but there are others where you can send messages, but that’s more advanced technology.”
“Spike’s gettin’ replaced then,” Applejack said.
The Doctor laughed. “I forgot that he is the royal messenger when it comes to Twilight.” He walked over and opened a sub-door inside the door. He picked up the phone. “Hello?”
There was some silence. “Oh hello, I was just telling my new companion about you. Yeah, she doesn’t believe me.”
Applejack had a face of shock. He was talking to somepony from far away. Spike’ll be jealous, she thought to herself. “Ok, just send the coordinates to my TARDIS and I should be there 3 minutes ago. You know how to do that, did you forget? Excellent.”
The Doctor smiled at Applejack. “Well, remember when I said I was going to let you choose where you want to go first?”
“Yeah.”
“Well that’s not happening. We have an appointment with the king and queen of Early Equestria, and we cannot keep royalty waiting,” he said as he ran to the console. “You might need to close the doors.”
Applejack did as she was instructed. She walked over to the console and sat down on the chairs. In her previous experiences inside the TARDIS, she only traveled through space with her friends when Sombra brought tyranny before. Time traveling and moving in a blue box were two completely different things, and she was about to experience it.
The Doctor punched in the coordinates on his typewriter and fidgeted with the various buttons on the console. Without a second thought, the Doctor released the brakes and the entire TARDIS started shaking violently. Applejack made a desperate grab for the railing as she clung onto her hat. The Doctor was laughing as he watched his companion cling on for dear life. He remembered when he first stole the TARDIS and how it was difficult to handle it correctly.
Inside Applejack’s mind, the thought of traveling through time was occupying fear. She didn’t feel it, but she knew she was going back decades after decades, centuries after centuries, and so on. After a while, Applejack went from clinging onto the rail to waving her Stetson high in the air as the journey continued.
Her fear returned a second after. The console exploded, scaring both the Doctor and the cowpony. “What’s happenin’?!”
“We’re entering a point in time that should never be entered! The TARDIS is resisting! I can’t land her!” the Doctor explained.
“What?!”
The Doctor steadied himself. “The era we are going to is sealed from time! There was an event in early pony time called the—”
The TARDIS crashed to a halt before the Doctor could finish his sentence. The console smoked as the engines cooled. Applejack’s balance was shaken up and she felt like the room was still moving. “Ah thought time travel’ll be smoother than silk,” she said.
“Well, that would be possible if there were more pilots. The TARDIS is supposed to have more pilots, but it’s only me who can fly her. That, and I failed my test when I was young,” he said.
“What test?”
“A test to see if I can fly the TARDIS correctly.”
Applejack gulped in fear. “I’m not a licensed pilot but they can’t arrest me, they’re dead…I think.”
“Yer people?”
The Doctor smiled faintly. “Yeah, my people. Anyway, you have just traveled back in time. Care to step outside in a different era?”
Applejack’s face immediately lit up as she fixed her Stetson. “So where are we?”
The Doctor threw open the doors. Applejack followed and her eyes immediately expanded 3X’s their size.
In front of the TARDIS was a giant castle. They were standing on one side of what appeared to be a canyon. The castle was on the other side, and the only way to get there was a small bridge at their hooves. In the background of the castle was a waterfall that led to a river heading down the edge of the canyon. Applejack’s eyes and mind tried processing everything at the same time.
“Welcome to the Everfree Kingdom! This is the castle where you found the Elements and the Tree if my memory is correct,” the Doctor said.
Applejack nodded. “Well, the Everfree Forest is the greatest cover for the Alicorn Kingdom afterall. Very few ponies ever came into the Forest because of the royal blood that pumps within. We are in the year 860 B.C., which stands for ‘Before Celestia’ and the very peak of the monarchy. The Alicorn Kingdom is currently 1500 years old right about now with King Cosmos and Queen Solaris leading the ponies,” the Doctor said.
“860?”
“Well somewhere around there.” He looked around for the guards who normally guarded the bridge. “Strange, I don’t see any guards.”
Applejack looked around and noticed that there wasn’t anypony around them. “That’s strange, but I—”
“HALT!”
The Doctor and Applejack turned to be met with several armed alicorns, each with spears raised at their necks. The Doctor noticed their armor quicker than the weapons. They were wearing black armor with glass shields over their eyes. The armor they were wearing had engravings of crests and a Suit of Armors over the center of the armor. The Doctor noticed this immediately and gulped.
“Doctor, who are they?”
“Silence! You both have been found trespassing on royal property after curfew! You are both under arrest!”
The alarm clock in Applejack’s head rang. “Curfew, but that means—”
“Yup, this is 311 B.C., the last year of the Alicorn War,” the Doctor said.
Queen Solaris sighed as she raised the Sun once again. While she may be the Goddess of the Sun, she enjoyed the moment when the Sun sets more than when it rises. The beautiful moment when the day and night no longer exist. That one split moment when time can stop. She remembered when the moment the Sun rose, she was born.
She walked over to her throne and sat down. Upon sitting, she was immediately flooded with ponies with different pieces of her grand agenda for the day. As she checked through her schedule, she noticed that there was one thing that stood out the most. The most important thing on her agenda was also the most risky: the Draconiqui Peace Talks scheduled for that evening.
The queen sighed as she overlooked the plan her husband wrote. While he was in charge of military, she had to overlook the final preparations when it came to things like this. Oh husband, what art thou doing now? She thought to herself. The plan alone was insane, and probably never work, but she had faith in her husband. His plans almost led them to greater times. Key word is almost.
As the queen began to ponder her thoughts on the upcoming evening, the doors of the throne room burst open. Solaris looked up and noticed one of her guards were there with a serious look on his face. He appeared to have been in an argument with that look of annoyance. Solaris knew this guard never got along with the common pony folk, even when she commanded that he should.
“Your Majesty, I bring news,” he said with his chest puffed out.
“Sir guard, while I value your loyalty and longing to the safety of the Crown, I must remind you that every pony who wanders into the forest is not out to assassinate myself or my husband,” she said.
“With all due respect, Your Majesty, I have pledged myself to the protection of the Crown and have since remained vigilant,” he said.
“Sea Crest, please. What is your news?”
“Two ponies were seen approaching the castle doors, ma’am. One of the ponies, an Earth stallion, claims he was invited by His Majesty, King Cosmos. He even planned on displaying a blank piece of paper as a letter,” the guard, Sea Crest said.
The queen thought for a moment before she sighed. “And the other?”
“An Earth mare, ma’am. They both seem to be a couple who plans on infiltrating the castle.”
Solaris mentally face-hoofed herself. “Bring them before me.”
“Your Majesty, is that wise? Remember the threat that we face if we allow strangers, especially in this time.”
“I am aware of the Changeling threat, however, we have no proof that they would infiltrate the Crown. Now, bring the two ponies before me!” Solaris commanded.
The guard raised his head. He walked outside the throne room and returned with two Earth ponies. The first one Solaris recognized immediately. The second, however, was new. The new pony had a blonde mane and tail with a bright orange coat. On her muzzle was a series of freckles, possibly from the Sun. On her head was a rather unusual hat.
The guard led them to a safe distance from the throne. Two more guards entered with spears in their hooves. “These two are charged with trespassing and breaking curfew, Your Majesty! What be their fate?”
Solaris scanned the two ponies. The mare looked amazed to be in the room. “I recognized the stallion, however, you have pointed out our recent dilemma with the Changeling Regime, so I shall take that into account.”
The queen rose and walked toward the two Earth ponies. “I have given the stallion three answers to three questions that only we share. If this stallion can correctly answer two of the three questions, then he and his companion are cleared of all charges. Oh, and sir guard.”
Sea Crest looked up. “Curfew doesn’t start when the Sun rises,” she said.
“Told you,” the mare said.
The guard sneered at his prisoners, but instead of submitting, the mare smiled. “I shall ask these questions. Respond correctly, and your clear to leave, is that a deal?”
The stallion nodded. “First question: what is my husband’s pastime while he is not planning war?”
The stallion thought about it for a moment. “Well, it’s a tie between playing with his daughters and baking and eating a fresh pumpkin pie,” he answered.
Ah guess all stallions like their pie, Applejack thought to herself while remembering the Grand Galloping Gala. Silence filled the room as all the guards looked to Solaris to give the verdict. “He has turned from eating pie to playing with his children, but you are correct.”
Everypony in the room let go of the breath they were holding. “Next question: when my daughters feel sad, I do one thing above anything else to cheer them up, what is it?”
“Oh that’s easy: you fly into the clouds and come back with a beard. Your daughters would normally tear pieces of the cloud from your chin and make mustaches and laugh at each other,” the stallion said.
Everypony looked over at the queen. After a few seconds, she smiled. “You have passed. Guards, they are to be cleared of all charges and released, is that clear?”
They all nodded. Sea Crest walked over to the two ponies and performed a spell on them both. “You magically bound them to the floor?!” Solaris asked.
“In case they tried to leave,” the guard explained.
Solaris sighed as their enchantments were lifted. “Now then, leave us!”
The guards objected, but as they did, their loyalty to the Crown came first. They all exited the room without protest. Once the doors closes, the queen let out her breath. “Oh Doctor, it’s good to see you again,” she said.
“And to you as well,” the Doctor said.
The queen stepped down from the throne and hugged the Time Lord. Applejack had no idea what to do since she always referred to Princess Celestia and Luna as friends more than authority figures. All she could do, however, was remove her Stetson. The Doctor noticed this and smiled.
Solaris released the Time Lord. “I know I’ve never met you. Care to tell me your name?”
“Mah name is Applejack, proud owner of Sweet Apple Acres,” she said.
“Your own business? How extraordinary,” the queen said. “Well, I cannot hold you two anymore, yet I am hungry. Care for a late breakfast?”
The two ponies nodded.
Solaris poured the tea for herself and the Doctor. Applejack, deciding that she wanted something other than hot leaf juice, mashed up a few apples and made a personal mug of cider. While she did so, the Doctor and Solaris talked about the last 300 years they spent away. As Solaris talked about how Luna and Celestia were getting along, the Doctor munched on his breakfast: an English muffin with butter. As it seems, Luna had already named some of the constellations that her father brought into light for the pony folk below. The Doctor smiled as Luna’s fascination of space bore fruit young.
“And so, Doctor, how art thou with thy life?” Solaris asked.
The Doctor smiled. “Well, I seem to have stumbled onto some more friendships recently. Applejack here is the bearer of the Element of Honesty, a powerful ingredient in all friendships. She holds the power of the alicorns,” he said.
Applejack turned around when she heard her own name. “Pardon?”
“Oh nothing, just telling Her Highness about you,” he said.
Applejack smirked as she finished making her personal batch of apple cider. “As I understand, there are others who wield the other stones?” the queen asked.
“Oh yes, and I’ve seen them in action. Tis a fascinating subject that I can study first hoof. Speaking of the Elements, have you heard from them?”
“Yes, the cave below houses the Elements, however neither I nor my husband can wield them. I fear their magic will be kept for a long time.”
The Doctor sipped his tea. “The Elements are harsh to begin with, but I fear their future.”
Solaris nodded. Seconds later, Applejack came back with four mugs of apple cider on a silver platter. She set the platter down on the table and took one. “Mah granny’s special cider. Been in the Apple family fer generations. Well go on then, Yer Majesty, try it,” she said.
Solaris took one look at the mug of cider. “Maybe once I am done with my tea. Perhaps my husband will want to try your cider,” she said.
Applejack smiled as she sat down next to the Doctor. The queen took one last sip of her tea and sighed. “As you know, Doctor, Silverstar has been the foalsitter for Celestia and Luna, right?”
The Doctor nodded. Applejack froze at the name. Guess it is a real pony, she thought to herself.
“Well, the other day, we discovered that Silverstar passed away. We feel that maybe you and your companion can take his place for tonight, especially tonight,” Solaris said.
The Doctor’s eyes widened. “It is just for a few hours while my husband and I take care of some political matters. Since you are familiar with Celestia and Luna, seeing as you have helped with us before, we thought it was a good idea that you two should spend some time with them.”
“Why not tell ‘em about Silverstar?” Applejack asked.
Solaris fidgeted in her seat. “Well, why not ask me?” someone said.
Applejack and the Doctor turned to see King Cosmos standing at the doorway. He had on a Navy blue uniform with several badges on his chest. He appeared to be worn out like he was bored for several hours. The Doctor stood up and walked over to the king of the night. “Cosmos,” he said.
“Doctor,” the king said back. “It’s been 300 years.”
“300 years and two regenerations, but nevermind that.”
“Is that why you look like a donkey’s plot?”
“COSMOS!”
The two stallions laughed at Solaris’s outburst. “Oh Doctor, so good to see you again!” Cosmos said as he hugged the Doctor.
“And you as well. Good to see you!”
The two stallions eventually let go of themselves and Cosmos approached his wife. He gave her a kiss before picking up a pot of tea. “I see we’re having tea again,” he said while looking into the pot.
“Well, the Doctor’s friend made a beverage using apples earlier if you want that,” Solaris said.
Cosmos looked up. “Ah yes, that does look like a beverage. I tell you, it’s nothing but hot leaf juice.” He made a disgusted face while his wife smacked him playfully. He picked up the mug and took a sip. Immediately he licked his lips as he went for another swing. The king finished his drink in 10 seconds flat. “Delicious drink, and I am sorry if I am rude. Who might you be?”
“Mah name is Applejack,” she said.
“Applejack, eh? Nice name,” the king said as he sat down next to his wife. “So, what are we talking about?”
“Foalsitting for starters,” the Doctor said, “But I am curious about Silverstar. It’s one thing to mourn a fallen soldier, but I have yet to see any signs of grieving from you two. The way you decide not to tell Celestia and Luna that their favorite foalsitter is dead is also alarming. I sense he wasn’t a casualty for the Alicorn Empire like the others.”
The royals looked at each other. The Doctor leaned in. “So what’s the real reason why you won’t tell them?”
Cosmos sighed. “He tried to destroy the Draconiqui Empire without mercy or diplomacy. He tried to commit genocide,” he said.
King Cosmos sighed as he placed the mug on the table. He suddenly didn’t feel like drinking anything else. The silence between the two rulers upset the Doctor, but Applejack was confused. “What’s genocide?”
“The slaughter of an entire race or species. It includes the destruction of the population, religion, architecture, art, and so much more. It is like erasing an entire history from the planet,” the Doctor said with venom in his voice. “It’s a crime more serious than anything else, and I’ve paid the price for it.”
Solaris nodded. “That’s awful! Why would this Silverstar fella want to genocide the Draconiqui?” Applejack asked.
“That’s what I would want to know,” the Doctor said as he turned to Cosmos.
The king sighed. “Silverstar was one of my best generals and a friend to the family. When the war started, he had compassion and a heart to stop the Draconiqui from taking the world. He was smart, but that’s the nasty truth about war: it changes you.”
He looked down at his tea cup. “A few months ago, a battalion of Draconiqui laid siege to a settlement in the East. It was comprised of unicorns and alicorns, even his parents. When the Draconiqui arrived, the settlement was reduced to ashes. Silverstar was there as he watched them destroy his family. According to eyewitness reports, there were 150 Draconiqui in the area. The report said that all of them had their throats slashed by his wings.”
Applejack no longer wanted to drink her cider. “He was heartbroken,” the Doctor said.
“Yes. We tried consulting him and even tried to cover up the incident, but we failed in both. Word got out and our armies appeared to be comprised of vengeful gods. I even asked if Celestia and Luna can help him, and for a while it worked,” Solaris said. “He opened up to us for a little while.”
The two time travelers sighed. “The other day, we discovered a plot set by him. He had signed his team up to storm the royal fortress of the Draconiqui and capture the king. In reality, Silverstar wanted to kill him and all the others inside. By doing so, he would send up the red alert and bring all the Draconiqui there to finish him off. One alicorn against a whole empire is madness.”
“Tis suicide to consider being a lone soldier,” Solaris said.
The Doctor grimaced. “However he is not the first to do so, is he Doctor?”
Applejack looked over. “What happened then was because there was no other choice. I did what I had to do to ensure all of Creation would continue spinning. Billions and billions of trillions of lives would not exist had I stood by and watched Time burn,” the Time Lord said. “What separates me from Silverstar is that I did it because there was no other way.”
“And we believe you Doctor,” Cosmos said. “And in a way, we all understand his pain. We can all be vengeful gods should we be pushed too far. I had to deliver justice by removing Silverstar from his duties permanently otherwise worse things may’ve happened.”
The Doctor’s ears perked up. “Go on,” he said. “You mentioned Changelings earlier and I assume they are trouble.”
“They are a third party in this war. They despise both races and can gain from either one’s loss, and that makes them a threat. Nothing is more dangerous than an enemy that nopony expects. It’s especially dangerous when we cannot predict their actions,” Cosmos said.
Applejack sighed. “Ah hear ya,” she said. “Changelings interrupted Princess Cadence’s weddin’ in the future.”
“Their best attribute is infiltration, young mare,” Solaris said. “I pray the Changelings can learn from their impending doom.”
The Doctor looked up with concern in his eyes. “What are you doing?”
Solaris and Cosmos looked at each other. “We decided to seek an audience with the king of the Draconiqui in hopes of ending the war before the Changelings,” Cosmos said.
Applejack immediately stood up. “Ya can’t do that! Draconiqui are lyin’ snakes!” she said.
“While I agree with my companion, you do have a point,” the Doctor said.
Applejack looked over at the Time Lord. “Doctor?”
“No Applejack, they are wise to go through here. Draconiqui are known for their wits and speed. Alicorns are known for their brain power and strength. An alliance can work,” he said.
Applejack sighed. “Doctor, ya know Discord is trouble, don’t ya?! These Draconiqui are probably worse!”
“Yes, but look at where they are. Both sides are targets of the Changelings and both sides have held them back over the years. If Cosmos and the Draconiqui king, what’s his name?”
“Silver Heart,” Cosmos said. The Doctor looked confused. “A lot of ‘Silver’s in this time,” he said.
“Tis a common name,” Solaris said as she shrugged.
"If Cosmos and Silver Heart can hold their forces and combine to stop the Changelings from becoming a threat, they can probably achieve more than freedom."
“Indeed. Silver Heart and I will hold a summit in a secret location and discuss terms as to how the war will end. If we can agree to a formal event, Silver Heart and I can organize an attack on the Changeling homelands outside the kingdom and hopefully stop them from ever trying to interfere with our quarrels. If we can do this, and keep the treaty intact, we can have the peace we’ve been striving to obtain for over a thousand years. I want to raise my children in a world where Draconiqui and ponies can work together and live united through magic,” Cosmos said.
“Tis a dream every parent dreams about,” Solaris said. “And while I feel as though this can end differently, I have hope we can accomplish peace tonight.”
“And foalsitting Celestia and Luna?” the Doctor asked.
Cosmos sighed. “Being a family of magical might, we tend to make enemies. For a while now, Changelings have been trying to take the throne of the Empire in order to end the war. My daughters are clever enough to detect Changelings, but they know they can. We have discovered an attempt on their lives, and we feel with Silverstar’s passing, you two would be best in protecting them. I know you, Doctor, and how you helped us before. We have faith in you and your companion,” Solaris said.
Applejack blushed a little bit. Somepony had enough faith in her to protect, not regular fillies, but the royal sisters that she later befriends. If Twilight were here, she would call it heaven. “So, can we count on the last Time Lord in existence and his charming companion to look after our treasures?” Cosmos said.
Solaris smacked him in the shoulder, but the Doctor was already smiling. He looked over at Applejack and she smiled at him. “Shall we get started?”
Solaris and Cosmos let their new foalsitters through the castle. As they walked, the Doctor was able to keep Applejack up to date on the current events. Most of the stuff was restricted because there was a lot that Cosmos had not completed yet. The Doctor kept reminding himself that he is in their timeline and revealing future events was dangerous. Applejack was busy looking around the castle to hear anything from the Time Lord.
Applejack looked down a hall they were passing, and immediately recognized it. Down that hall was the Hall of Statues that she and Rainbow Dash got lost in. Why Rainbow thought she put her hoof around her, she will never know. Yeah, Rarity may’ve had something to do with it, but for RD to say it like she did raised an alarm in the Earth Pony’s head.
“—and that’s why I can never go to Zecora’s without at least one magical charm, although I don’t see why she would want a piece of my TARDIS, and I’ve told her several times that ‘NO’ means ‘NO’, but then she goes into a rap battle and in 900 years of time travel, I’ve never—”
“Doctor?” Applejack called out.
“Yes?” he responded.
“Shut up.”
Solaris held back her laugh while Cosmos shook his head and smirked. “I’m liking your new companion more and more, Doctor. She seems to burn with a fire that would outburn you,” he said.
Applejack smiled at the king. “Ok, Luna and Celestia should be around here somewhere. LUNA! CELESTIA! Where are you?!”
The Doctor looked around. “I suppose they are on the other side of the castle,” Solaris said.
“But we checked the Hurricane Slide, their bed chambers, and even in the garden. Where could they be?”
Applejack looked around. The Hall looked pretty much empty and everything looked the way they did back in her time. As the Doctor continued searching for the two fillies, Applejack began walking through the Hall. All the statues looked to be perfectly still and in place.
But not the last one.
“Uh, Doctor?”
The Time Lord came to her. “Hmm, what is it?”
Applejack pointed to the last statue. Unlike all the rest, this one was moved slightly to the right. The head was turned in the other direction, like somepony was playing with it. The Doctor smiled as he realized what was going on.
“Well, since we can’t find the two princesses, I guess we should just go back to our regular adult talks in the kitchen, right my faithful companion?” he said aloud.
“Oh ya, we aughta go back. Ah am mighty hungry after searching fer them. Ah don’t know about ya, but ah want me some chocolate cake,” Applejack said, catching on.
The statue moved slightly. “Cake?” came a small voice.
There was a pause. “Luna, I think they have cake,” one voice said.
“Sister, why are you in love with that frosty treat? It’s so messy!” Luna said.
“But-but its cake!”
The Doctor quietly walked over, and opened the breastplate of the statue. Two filly alicorns came tumbling out, Luna landing on Celestia. Applejack looked down at them. They looked so adorable like that. They reminded her of the Crusaders when they go off on their adventures.
“Tia, you made us lose! All for cake that probably isn’t real!”
Celestia facehoofed herself. “Whoops, sorry. Hi mister-”
The fillies looked up at the Doctor and his companion. “-and miss. You look familiar.”
The Doctor fixed his tie. “Well, maybe I am familiar. Hello Celestia and Luna, we’re your new foalsitters!”
Celestia looked around. “Where’s Silverstar?”
King Cosmos intervened. “He’s still out, but while we wait for him to get back, the Doctor and his friend here will take care of you for a little while,” he said.
Luna shrugged and approached the Time Lord. “Your nose is big.” Then she ran down the hall with blazing fast speed.
“LUNA!” Solaris yelled.
Celestia ran after her sister, both laughing. Applejack tipped her hat and ran after them, apparently playing with them. The Time Lord turned and looked at both of them. “Don’t worry, they’ll be fine,” he said.
“Ok, but don’t mention Silverstar. I want to save the news until after the war ends, which I hope is soon. We will be back before sunset,” Solaris said.
The Doctor nodded. The royal couple ran after their children and said their goodbyes to them. They later boarded their balloon carriage and flew off toward the rising Sun.
That was the last time Celestia and Luna ever saw their parents.
The laughter of young Princess Luna filled the halls as her elder sister chased her. It was bath time for the royal sisters, and since Luna refused to bathe while Celestia obliged, it was the task of the elder to hunt down and clean her target. However, Celestia was supposed to wait until her bath was finished.
Luna turned a corner into a grand hallway with a very sudsy Celestia behind her. One of the guards had managed to avoid a head-on collision with Luna, but when he turned to resume his patrol, young Celestia crashed into him. Without any sort of remorse or even a hiccup in her momentum, Celestia continued the chase. As they disappeared into another hallway, the guard sighed and continued walking for another 5 feet. Without any warning, the guard slipped on the soap Celestia was leaving behind her.
The guard was able to pull himself back up and changed his route to a less sudsy one. A few moments later, Applejack rounded the corner, almost slipping on the soap on doing so. She was soaking wet with her Stetson missing. She appeared to be out of breath when she reached the guard.
“Whe-where did they go?” she asked.
The guard pointed down the hallway. Applejack thanked the guard and ran off to find the royal fillies. The guard sighed and continued walking down the hall. As he turned the corner, he nearly ran into the Doctor. While he was not there when he first visited (because his grandparents weren’t born yet), he was a fan of the Time Lord. If the royal family can respect him and treat him like a family member, then he is worth spending time with.
When the Doctor stopped, the guard fumbled. He saluted, thinking of no other way of greeting the pony. The Doctor sighed. “I thought I said no saluting,” he said.
“Consider it my instinct when I meet anypony with meaning,” he said.
“Then start saluting the common pony folk,” the Doctor said. With that, he ran past the guard. Before he turned the corner, however, the Doctor stopped. “Um, where did they go?”
“Down that hall, sir. I should point out that they appear to be heading toward the garden. Take that hall on the right so you can cut them off,” he said.
The Doctor thanked the guard and ran down the hall. The guard chuckled to himself as he finally continued his patrol.
Luna had found the perfect hiding spot from her sister. While her flying was adequate, her ability to blend into the shadows wasn’t. Behind a large pillar, the young princess of the night hid, trying to suppress her giggles. There was no way her sister was ever going to find her here.
Luna was able to quiet her panting and look over her shoulder. Celestia was nowhere in sight. She sighed. It was almost sundown, and her parents were going to return soon. She looked around her for an exit and there it was. A large, unguarded doorway that led to the swirly slide she enjoyed. If she can get to the door, she can escape into the garden where her soaking wet sister cannot enter until she is dry. By then, she will need another bath.
With no other ponies in sight, she dashed for the door. She was so close to victory, just a few more feet…
“YEAH!”
Celestia jumped from the ceiling and landed on her sister. The two alicorns tumbled through the door and down the slide. The two argued and cheered as they raced through the castle and into the crisp autumn air. They both landed onto the ground, separating the two. Luna flew high in the air and into a bush while her sister flew into a pile of leaves left by their gardener.
Applejack burst through another door to see the two dirtier than they were an hour ago. She felt her tempers rising. She pounced at Celestia, who was too distracted glaring at her sister to notice. Applejack had the young princess in one hoof while she looked at the other. Luna shrieked as she ran past the earth pony and back into the castle. Applejack sighed as she ran after her.
Luna looked back and saw the orange pony chasing her with her sister under her arm. “Get back ‘ere!”
The lunar princess grinned. “NEVER! I AM THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT! THE FUTURE RULER OF THE LAND! I WILL NOT TAKE MY BATH TODA—”
She ran into the chest of the Doctor. She gulped as the Doctor smiled down at her. “Even gods need to bathe. Nopony likes a stinky filly.”
Luna groaned as she was led off by the Time Lord. Celestia wiggled out of the grip of the earth pony and ran off to join her sister. Applejack looked at the both of them, and smiled. They reminded her of the Crusaders when they tried getting their Cutie Marks in Stealth Ops back home. Took everypony a record time of 5 minutes to find them.
“Mister Doctor, why must we take a bath? I don’t think I smell bad,” Luna said.
The Doctor chuckled. “Celestia, sniff your sister real quick.”
Before Luna could protest, Celestia took a big whiff of her sister and immediately gagged. Luna mocked a laugh and punched her sister in the shoulder. Celestia gasped and returned it with an equal punch to her. Before she knew it, Applejack was watching the two sister beat each other while the Doctor was busy walking ahead of them. Feeling the presence of maturity on her, Applejack ran over and broke up the fight.
Well, sort of.
As Applejack tried to pry them away from each other, Celestia and Luna both fired magical spells at each other. Since Applejack’s head was in between them, she absorbed both spells. One side of her face was shaped as an apple while the other was shaped like an orange. The two fillies stopped fighting, and laughed at Applejack’s current situation.
The earth pony looked at both of them, and mocked a roar at them. The girls thought she was a monster and ran. They ran past the Doctor, who was too busy talking to himself. As the fillies ran, Applejack was close behind them, growling and roaring like she was a dragon. The Doctor noticed this, and smiled.
The two sisters were finally cleaned, and with some persuasion, Applejack’s head was returned to normal. With their coats smelling like lavender, they all sat down for some more fun and games. While Applejack hung out with the Doctor, the sisters were hard at work playing on their chess set. While she didn’t understand it at first, Applejack needed the Doctor to explain how that board game was considered a game.
The Doctor smiled as he watched the girls play chess together. It almost brought back a pleasant memory of his grandchild before they went off on their marvelous adventure beyond Gallifrey. Applejack noticed this and smiled. “It’s nice to see ‘em playin’ together,” she said.
“Yes, it is. Strange how in 1,000 years, they end up dueling each other, isn’t it?”
Applejack nodded. “Ya look like ya have seen it before,” she said. “Children playin’.”
The Doctor smiled. “I’m a parent and grandfather. I’ve seen children playing when I was still on Gallifrey. Children need to play, to imagine a world unlike any other. Imagination is what gets ponies through the day,” he said.
Applejack looked back at the fillies. Celestia was beating Luna. She still had her Queen while Luna had only one Rook left. “What’s it like, bein’ a parent?”
The Doctor chuckled. “It’s strange. It’s different. You find yourself having this sense that everything needs to be perfect of your fillies. You are responsible for them growing up right. It’s, well, the best feeling in the world. You have something to call yours and it’s not something you buy.”
Applejack nodded. She looked back over at the game. Celestia had won the game. Luna sighed and surrendered her King. "Chess is a Gallifreyan game. I know all the tricks and secret moves no other race knows. That makes me a cheater, doesn’t it?”
“Only if ya use it.”
The Doctor agreed. Suddenly, the royal fanfare began to blare. Celestia and Luna both rose up and ran for the door leading out of the room. The King and Queen were back. The Doctor and Applejack packed up what they brought along: towels, squeaky toys for stress, Sonic Screwdriver, and coat. Applejack fixed her Stetson and they both followed the sisters out.
They all ran to the landing platform where the Royal Airship was just coming into view. The guards were in position and the red carpet was rolled out. Celestia and Luna waiting at the doorway, waiting for their parents.
Applejack looked up at the balloon with amazement. She had always seen the balloon in Canterlot parked outside the castle for the princesses, but seeing it for a King and Queen was an once-in-a-lifetime encounter.
The Doctor also smiled as he watched the balloon descend. The balloon was slowing its descent. As Applejack looked around, she noticed the guards who were playing the trumpets. They all were levitating the instruments with their magic. As she looked around, she noticed one thing that made her blood turn cold. One of the guard’s magical aura was green. It was a sick green that she had seen somewhere before.
“Um, Doctor?”
The Doctor followed her gaze to the guard with the green energy. As he focused in on the guard, the Doctor’s mind raced. With his mind on track, he could only speak. “NO!”
It was too late.
The Royal Airship exploded just above the landing zone. The guards all were shocked for a moment before their weapons were raised. The one guard with the green energy had suddenly changed into the one thing Solaris and Cosmos feared: a Changeling.
“DEFENSES UP! INTRUDER!”
The Changeling fired magical blasts at whatever guards were around it. Alicorns were supposed to be powerful, but they fell as the intruder laid waste to them. The Changeling stood strong against the guards on the platform. As it felt victorious, another wave of guards arrived. One of those guards somehow looked too much like Applejack. The Doctor turned to his companion to see that she wasn’t there. “Wait Applejack! Don’t!”
The earth pony sped up, jumped, and bucked the Changeling before it could fly away. It flew alright. It flew up in the air and off the side of the platform. The last thing it saw was a rather pointy statue right under it.
Before anypony could move, a crash of thunder rocked the castle. Applejack looked up into the sky. Dark clouds had rolled into the area, blocking the Sun. More Changelings appeared from the heavens with their horns charged up. The alicorn guards were ready for the attack. The Doctor and Applejack tried to lead the sisters from the platform, but they weren’t moving. Celestia and Luna were both frozen. They had just witnessed their parent’s death.
Celestia was the first to speak. “MOM! DAD! NO!”
They both sobbed out of control. Applejack felt her heart break. Suddenly, she jerked. The memory of her and her family in the Everfree Forest came back to her. She, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom were in a wagon with their mother while their father pulled it. The sound of Timberwolves filled the night.
The Doctor snapped her out of it. “We have to get out of here! Celestia! Luna! We have to go!”
They wiped the tears from their eyes. “There’s nothing we can do, come on! Applejack!”
The earth pony breathed in a deep breath. As the Changelings and Alicorns attacked, they managed to escape the platform. Behind them, what remained of the Royal Airship laid burning. The Alicorn Empire was without its rulers.
As the Doctor and Applejack ran through the castle, the two sisters continued to cry out. The image of the balloon blowing up was still fresh in their minds. The Changelings swarming the castle and attacking the guards was still fresh as well because it was still happening. As they ran through the halls of the castle, the Doctor had to restrain himself from fighting with the Alicorns. He wasn’t supposed to even travel, but interfering with a war that never happened was something different. He was underpowered, even with the TARDIS.
The TARDIS. The Doctor just remembered that his TARDIS was still parked outside the castle’s walls. If the Changelings noticed it before their attack, they may certainly try to open it. But nothing can open those doors, absolutely nothing.
Unless I didn’t lock it, he thought to himself. Pony feathers.
Applejack led the group through the halls, mainly because she is more familiar with them. She had seen the castle while she was helping rebuild it for the sisters. Boy that ended a lot differently than she expected. The hidden spring trap wasn’t supposed to go off right in the middle of the ceremony.
Applejack stopped and turned around. Luna and Celestia were still in tears, but they were more afraid than sad at the moment. Applejack looked around her surroundings. She was in the Hall of Hooves. So the castle’s many traps and gadgets were built with Solaris and Cosmos.
She turned to the Doctor, who immediately got what she was thinking. The Doctor looked around, and found one spot where there wasn’t a hoof on the wall. Before he could do anything to the wall, another explosion rocked the castle. Two Alicorn guards came crashing through the opposite wall. The head guard, Sea Crest, looked battered and bloodied. Next to him, his partner laid. The Doctor didn’t move, thinking that the Alicorn was dead. He checked his vitals.
Sea Crest sighed. “He was just a rookie. This was his first century working with us. If we survive, it will be Hell to deliver the reports to their families,” he said.
“But ya will survive, right?”
“I’ve survived three hundred years in the war and two swims in the volcano realms of the Badlands. I think I can survive a couple of bugs buzzing about,” he said.
The Doctor smiled. “You look like you survived a war of your own, Doctor. I can see it in your eyes. I see fire and rage,” Sea Crest said.
The Doctor fidgeted. Applejack immediately noticed this. “I’ve seen a lot of fire and rage in my days,” he said.
Sea Crest shook his head. “I see your rage, Doctor. I have seen fire in your eyes, sir. Do you regret?”
The Doctor was silent for a moment. “Yes,” he said. “Every bit of it. I try to live beyond that horrible day, but I can never right that wrong. There is no other way.”
Sea Crest nodded. “Apple one, take care of your friend. I fear there will be times where he needs a shoulder to cry on. Nopony can stay strong forever.”
Applejack nodded. Suddenly, another explosion rocked the castle. The hole where Sea Crest flew from was suddenly filled with blood-thirsty Changelings. They immediately attacked with their magic, but Sea Crest immediately responded by forming a shield over the ponies behind him. Already he seemed to be struggling.
Sea Crest strained to hold the shield. Behind him, little Celestia and Luna looked upon him with worry. Luna ran up to Sea Crest and hugged his forehoof. Celestia did the same, fearing for his life.
The guard’s eyes began to water. “There is a secret exit on your left, Doctor. I will hold them back for as long as I can, but you have to move! Get them out of here!”
Applejack's eyes widened. Get them out of here!The Doctor nodded and raised his Screwdriver once more. This time, a lock from the other side of the wall came undone, and the wall spun around, revealing a tunnel. Celestia and Luna didn’t budge from Sea Crest’s legs.
“Luna, Celestia, we have to go,” the Doctor said.
Luna shook her head. “No! Sea Crest, come with us!”
The battered alicorn continued to struggle underneath the shield. His magic was waning. He looked down at the two foals. He wasn’t going to die like the others, but he was a guard. He was supposed to prevent this. His comrades were dying around him, but if he could defeat the Changelings at their source…
Sea Crest made up his mind. Using what he had left of his magic, he thrusted up with his power, knocking the Changelings back. He immediately went on the offense. Charging up his horn, Sea Crest fired a lightning bolt at the Changelings. They all fell over, fried. He led the sisters through the hole, Applejack and the Doctor close behind him. Once the Doctor entered, the door sealed itself.
Thankfully, the Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver also worked as a torch. Keeping a steady rhythm with his instrument of awesomeness, the Doctor lit a path down the tunnel. Of course, Sea Crest stayed in the front with the sisters behind him. The Doctor kept the light with his companion close next to him.
As they walked, Applejack’s mind began to race as her heart went into overdrive. The sudden flash of her parents the night they died upset her deeply. The smell of the Everfree Forest filled her nostrils. It was autumn when they attacked. The howling of the Timberwolves broke through the night, and boy did it frighten the mare today.
‘Big Mac, take your sisters and get out of here! We will hold them off!' her father said to them.
She remembered being dragged by Big Mac with Apple Bloom on her back. The trees were dense and the fog was unbearable. Applejack’s heart began to race as the memory continued to unfold in her head.
Young Applejack heard the piercing screams of what may’ve been her mother behind her. She almost wanted to jump into her memory and rescue them. Maybe she can stop her parent’s deaths.
The memory of arriving back at Sweet Apple Acres brought her temporary relief. She heard herself scream Granny Smith, it’s the Timberwolves!
Somewhere inside the barn, Granny Smith managed to raise the alarm, which was the sound of iron bells. The ringing echoed through to the forest, scaring the Timberwolves away. Applejack’s young heart was racing as the sounds of the Forest were reduced to the grasshopper’s chirping.
“Applejack? Applejack! Wake up!”
The voice echoed through the farm. It was the Doctor calling out to her. Her vision blurred and the last scene she saw was the Sun rising and the Everfree Forest filled with fully armed ponies.
“Applejack! Wake up!”
Applejack’s eyes shot open. Somehow, she collapsed onto the ground of the cave. The Doctor was scanning her with his Screwdriver, searching for whatever was the cause of her blackout. When he saw her eyes opening, the Doctor gave a big sigh of relief. “Are you OK?”
The farm pony looked around her. Sea Crest was with the royal sisters further down the cave. They seemed to have calmed down a little bit because they weren’t crying as much. The Time Lord, however, wasn’t concerned about them at the moment. The sudden shift of attention made the mare blush a little bit.
The Doctor helped Applejack to her hooves. He scanned her one more time with his Screwdriver, convinced something forced her to the ground. Finding nothing to help him, the Doctor gave up. Instead of saying anything, Applejack gave the Doctor a hug. She needed somepony to cry on, but crying wasn’t on the agenda for today.
The Doctor hesitated for a little bit, but returned the hug. “What is that for?” he asked.
“Later,” the farm pony said.
The Doctor didn’t push for any information. “Come on, we have to get out of here. If the Changelings are looking for the little ones, they will be looking for magic. We have to hide.”
Sea Crest came over with the fillies. “I remember a small town where we can stay for the night. I can probably look for a spell to hide our magic for the time being, but we have to go now.”
“Do you have access to the Alicorn Army?”
“No, all castle personnel refrain themselves from the war effort. I was relieved of duty after my service, so I lost personal communication,” Sea Crest said.
The Doctor sighed. “I can’t get my TARDIS from here. No remote control,” he said. “I should probably fix that.”
The guard nodded in agreement. “What’s wrong with your companion?”
The Doctor looked over, expecting Applejack to answer. Silence. “Personal problem. Right now, we need to get out of here. You know the tunnel routes, you lead from here.”
Sea Crest agreed. His horn charged up and they continued walking. This time, Applejack was in front of the Doctor. If she fell over again, he would be there to help her right away.
After 10 more minutes of walking, the 5 ponies found the exit, and with Sea Crest’s magical cloak, left the castle undetected. They followed the river downstream and out of the Forest. They were safe, for now.
The Sun had set itself after they escaped Everfree Castle, and since there was a village of unicorns nearby, Sea Crest used them as the perfect place to hide their magical powers. Disguising all alicorn magic at their disposal and their wings, the 5 looked more like traveling companions rather than survivors.
Thanks to a kind unicorn, who Applejack said looked very familiar, they had been given a room in a nearby hotel. With a few bits and a couple bales of hay, the 5 set up their room and finally rested. While the Doctor and Sea Crest continued to handle the security, Applejack had tucked in Celestia and Luna. With a blanket over them and a soft pile of hay underneath them, the two quietly fell into their sleep. Applejack smiled as Luna snored into her sister’s ear.
The farm pony removed her hat and placed it on the ground in front of her. The Stetson that was given to her by her father. She remembered her mother and father clearly. It was like she was recalling the day before. The last day she was happy around her parents. With Apple Bloom fresh into the family, Applejack’s father started teaching her how to buck apples. She would normally miss or nearly break her hind legs when she first tried, but after a while, she had gotten used to bucking apples.
If only he could see her now.
The Doctor knocked on the door to the girl’s room. Applejack looked up and opened the door. The Time Lord had a look of concern on his face. “Are you OK?”
Applejack found interest to the ground. The Doctor lifted her head with his hoof. “Well?”
Silence. Applejack looked up at the Time Lord, expecting impatience. Instead, the Doctor showed signs of fatigue and understanding. “It’s ok if you don’t want to say anything. I shouldn’t ask you to divulge information you don’t want to share, but I want you to know that I worry,” he said.
“Ah know, and ah appreciate it, but ah need to make sure of it mahself,” Applejack said.
The Doctor smiled. “Sea Crest has finished with the security detail. Some unicorns are already on high alert with the attack. You just get some rest.”
The thought of rest worried Applejack. “Um, Doctor?”
The Time Lord looked over. “Twilight said that Celestia and Luna had no parents.”
“Well, the history books got confused as time progressed. With so many events in early Equestria, like the Cataclysm, Age of Ice, Chaos Empire, and the Shadow Revolution, history kept getting rewritten. It was after the Age of Ice when Celestia and Luna emerged. The time between the Cataclysm and Age of Ice have been known as the Dark Ages. Separation between the three tribes grew during those dark times, and much of early pony history was burned,” the Doctor said. “There may be a scroll out there with the Alicorn family tree, but that is highly unlikely.”
“Cataclysm?”
“The end of the Alicorn and Draconiqui Empires. The Changeling Empire is believed to survive the event, but there was never a confirmed report. The Cataclysm—”
“—could’ve ended the war in the beginning.”
Both the Doctor and Applejack turned over. Sea Crest was standing by the door with his wings extended. He had a stern look on his face. “The Cataclysm is also a top secret project. Do I need to have a reason to doubt that you are an ally, Doctor?”
The Doctor stood. “You shouldn’t. From our time, the Cataclysm is an event, but you are making it sound like it’s more than that.”
Sea Crest sighed. He walked over, fashioned a bed of hay using his magic, and sat down. “The Cataclysm was an idea pitched by His Highness, King Cosmos. It’s a magical time bomb designed to cut all magical power in the land.”
“So a blackout?”
Sea Crest looked over at the Time Lord. “In a way. We’ve studied a Draconiqui up close. Our science department had discovered that a Draconiqui is born of different body parts of different animals.”
“No kidding,” Applejack mumbled.
The Doctor tried really hard to suppress his laugh. Sea Crest looked at the Earth Ponies with a raised eyebrow. “Well, something like that doesn’t happen naturally. They are born through magic.”
The Doctor looked up. “Oh, now I see.”
Applejack looked at the Doctor. “What?”
“The Draconiqui are composed almost entirely of magic. If we caused a massive magical blackout, yes it would shut down our magic, but we can still fight without it. The Draconiqui depend on magic to survive, and without it—”
“They would die off over time.”
Sea Crest nodded. Applejack, however, was confused. “Wasn’t that what that fella Silverstar wanted?”
“Silverstar tried running at them head first. This is using the mind over strength. We were trying to even the playing field, but his…er, intervention set us back a few centuries.”
The Doctor looked over at Sea Crest. “But that’s still considered genocide.”
Sea Crest sighed. “We didn’t intend on killing them all off. All the royal family wanted was the Alicorns and Draconiqui working together to bring harmony. That is the work of the gods.”
“You’re wrong. If the goal was to create peace and harmony, holding a magical timebomb over their heads would not accomplish that. By creating the Cataclysm, you guaranteed the continued rise of the Draconiqui," the Doctor said.
“It was the only option we had. Either we eliminate all magic or continue fighting until magic kills us all. We made our choice by creating the Cataclysm—”
“—which may be back at the castle.”
Sea Crest froze. “If the Changelings know about that weapon, and they use it, they can hunt and kill whoever stands in their way. You left the codes of the Doomsday device wide open, now they need to find it!”
The alicorn started to hyperventilate. “But-but it’s heavily guarded by the strongest alicorns in existence. They won’t be able to get to it—”
“—unless every alicorn in the castle went to war against the Changelings that invaded.”
Applejack started to worry now for the foals. “But Doctor, their future—”
“There might not be a future if the Cataclysm is used against the world. Time is in flux, Applejack. Anything can happen. Celestia and Luna might not even live long enough to see the throne,” the Doctor said.
“Then we have to stop ‘em!”
“HOW?!” Sea Crest shouted. He realized the fillies in the room and hushed his voice. “I mean, how? We have no army, no king, no queen, and at the moment, no power to stop them.”
“But we have princesses.”
The Doctor and Sea Crest looked over at Applejack. “Yes, I completely forgot.”
Sea Crest smiled, but it quickly disappeared. “But, they’re too young.”
“So? A princess is a princess, right?”
The Doctor smiled. “Yes, and they are just at the right age to tap into their vast storage of raw magic. Their Magic Cores are producing tons of energy by the minute now, if I remember the aging process of alicorns correctly,” the Doctor said.
“You’re correct,” Sea Crest said. “For an Earth Pony, you sure know quite a lot about magic.”
The Doctor smiled. “In my old dimension, science dominated the Universe. Here, it’s the same, but more advanced. I’m still learning some of pony anatomy and history.”
Applejack smiled. “Ok, we need to get the sisters back into the castle somehow without detection. We can’t use magic, can we?” Sea Crest shook his head. “Unless we want them to know what we are doing, I suggest stealth. If we can fight them off, we can use the Cataclysm to—”
“No.”
Sea Crest looked over. Both the Doctor and Applejack stood together. “If the Cataclysm backfires, we all could feel its effects.”
“No more magic. No future,” Applejack said.
“But-but it’s a temporary effect. We take their magic, drive them away, and wait for the effects to wear off. That’s the beauty of the Cataclysm: we can use magic again afterwards,” Sea Crest said.
“But they’ll be back.”
The Doctor smiled. The gears in his head started to turn, and all his past lives began chatting in his head. They all came to the same conclusion. A plan that would keep the Changelings in check for a few thousand years. Applejack noticed his thinking face and became concerned.
Sea Crest also expressed concern, but after a few moments to think about it, he too came to the conclusion. Applejack felt almost left out because of the two geniuses in the room. Celestia and Luna were asleep, but they probably had the same idea.
The Doctor looked over at Applejack. “How well do you know the castle?”
“Not much like Sea Crest,” she said.
“Well, we need some help. It appears this plan cannot go through without some sort of organist playing in the background, if you know what I’m saying.”
Applejack raised her eyebrow. “Ya want me behind the curtain…again?”
“Well, this time you are pulling the strings. You will be putting on the greatest musical the Everfree Castle had ever seen. It’ll be mind-blowing, and the king of the Changelings will be bouncing all over the place.”
Applejack caught what he was saying, and smiled evilly. She was lucky to have Pinkie around that organ. “Ah’ll need to practice.”
“Excellent. We grab the Cataclysm, blast the Changelings away, and save our future.”
The three ponies cheered quietly. “Ok then, we have an empire to recapture.”
“Right! We should get started—”
“—when the Sun comes up.”
The three agreed. Sea Crest yawned and made himself comfortable in his bed of hay. Applejack did the same, but noticed the Doctor didn’t do anything for sleep. “Aren’t ya going to sleep?”
The Doctor shook his head. “I’m not much of a sleeper.”
“Well, ya are now tonight. Ah got some space left on mah hay pile. Ya can sleep here tonight,” Applejack said.
“But I—”
Applejack gave him a stern look. The Doctor, admitting defeat, agreed and joined his companion on the pile of hay. Applejack curled up on one side while the Doctor did the same on the other. Once he rested his body on the hay, the Doctor suddenly felt some exhaustion wash over him. Applejack turned her face away from the Doctor, and felt herself grow hot at the face area.
He’s the first pony to sleep by me.
She looked over at the Time Lord, who was already snoring quietly. She turned her head back over.
The Doctor yawned as he awoke from his dreamless sleep. Since he didn’t make it a habit of sleeping, he didn’t know what to dream about. His mind was rushing as his past lives debated the structure of the plan. He knew that this plan needed to go perfectly, otherwise Celestia and Luna will never reach the throne and Twilight will never reach her destiny.
Maybe that won’t be so bad, especially with what Starswirl saw, he thought to himself.
The Time Lord shook his head. Twilight’s future isn’t set in stone…yet. She has 2,000 years until she decides whether or not to accept her fate. I hope you were wrong, Starswirl, because the world isn’t ready for the End to come.
The Doctor sighed. He rose from the hay he shared with Applejack. He walked out of the room and out the door leading to the balcony. The door creaked as it opened, but the Doctor didn’t mind. Greeting him was the rising sun. The colors of red, orange and yellow danced above his head, welcoming a new day. The Time Lord knew, however, this day was going to end in one of two ways: victory for the Alicorn Empire or the end of all magic in Equestria.
The Doctor sighed as he replayed yesterday’s events. Celestia and Luna managed to watch as their parents were destroyed and the castle they thought was safe was attacked. It is sad that there will be plenty of chaos in their lives before they can find peace. Just the idea of it made the Doctor wish he could alter their timelines, but even couldn’t do that.
Behind him, the door opened. The Doctor turned to see his companion standing at the doorway without her Stetson. She had bags under her eyes and her mane suggested that she didn’t sleep well.
“You look awful,” the Doctor said.
“Ya look worse,” Applejack responded.
The two chuckled. “You look like you had a nightmare,” the Time Lord pointed out.
Applejack bowed her head and kicked the straw on the balcony. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Silence came from the companion. “Problems don’t go away when you keep them to yourself, you know that right?”
“Well, yeah but—”
“I understand if you don’t want to share what’s been bothering you. I won’t pry, but I just want you to know that if you isolate yourself with a problem, the problem will grow into a situation, and it will be difficult to remove. My door is always open,” he said.
Applejack looked up. Her heart started to beat faster than one of Rainbow Dash when she performs a Sonic Rainboom. “Ah need to ask ya somethin.’”
“Go ahead,” he said.
“Do ya find yerself feeling regret when ya lost yer family?”
The Doctor sighed. “Yes.”
Applejack looked up. “I’ve felt regret, mainly because I was too scared to use the power I had to save them. Instead of using my brilliant mind to save them, I used an old weapon that destroyed them. I had to face a difficult choice. Either stay in the war and watch the Universe burn and later die, or destroy both my people and the Daleks with me at the heart of the explosion. Either way, I died that day. Stay and die or fix everything and die.”
He paused. “I wanted to die that day. I wanted my body to erupt in flames as my regeneration kills me but the Universe didn’t give me that salvation. I survived when I didn’t want to. I guess in the end, the Universe saved me. Because I survived, I base every action on what happened on Gallifrey that day. Either everybody dies, or everyone goes home and lives another day. Gallifrey falling is my strength that I use every day to ensure it never happens again to any civilization.”
Applejack looked down. “What about ponies ya lost, like family or companions?”
The Doctor smiled. “Every companion I’ve ever had brought something incredible to the TARDIS. Losing them over time has taken a toll on my hearts, but what they bring in the TARDIS never leaves. They turn me more human, in this case pony, every day. Their strength is my strength. The strength of your parents is your strength as well.”
Applejack looked up. “Ah didn’t mention mah folks.”
“You didn’t need to. I sensed what was troubling you yesterday.”
The farm pony sighed. “Either ah stay with ‘em and die, or ah run and die inside. Either way, ah died that night.”
The Doctor smiled. “Your parents saved you from an early death. They knew you will become somepony simply amazing. Let’s prove them right.”
Applejack smiled. Then from the doorway to the house, Sea Crest cleared his throat. The time travelers looked up. “Good Morning Sea Crest. Sleep well?”
“Not really, but I think I can manage.” He looked out toward the Everfree Forest. “Today is the day, isn’t it?”
“Well, tonight is probably the best time. There’s a storm coming, and I do believe it is the best time to hit the Changelings hard,” the Doctor said.
Sea Crest sighed impatiently. “I just want this nightmare done and over with.”
“And it will end, we just need to go over the plan.”
“He’s right,” Applejack said.
The alicorn guard sighed. “Very well.”
The Doctor smiled as he looked out toward the Everfree Forest. “Time is in flux. That means anything can happen and the future can be changed. This is where we are: we have the Princesses, the last of the royal family sleeping in the house. We have a castle filled to the brim with Changelings and maybe the king himself. We have a doomsday device that, if it is unlocked, can cause a magical blackout that can destroy the future for all of us, and we have the Draconiqui Empire silent as the grave somewhere in the world. Am I forgetting anything?”
“Yes, you’re forgetting the fact that if this does not work, I have the full power of the Alicorn Empire to activate the Cataclysm as a Plan B,” Sea Crest said.
Applejack sighed. “That is not an option,” the Doctor said.
The alicorn approached the Time Lord. “I’m sorry, but which one of us is a royal member of the Alicorn guard? Which one of us actually fought in the war against the Draconiqui? ME!”
“And which one of us knows that if the Cataclysm doesn’t work, the whole future will be doomed? Celestia and Luna have a great destiny ahead of them, one that will span eons and be remembered as the Time of Peace that lasts over 6,000 years. If Celestia and Luna die because the Cataclysm was never tested, you destroyed the future,” the Doctor said.
Sea Crest growled. “Doctor, I am acting on orders—”
“From a dead empire! Face it, the Cataclysm is a weapon that can be used against anypony and everypony. It will be taken apart once we get inside,” the Doctor said. “End of discussion.”
Sea Crest huffed in annoyance. “Ok, Applejack I hope you remember how to use the organ inside the castle. Now, I bet there will be guards both inside and out. Once you are clear of the guards inside, I need you to take the ones outside. I checked the castle last night and I saw two on the towers. I assume you can deliver.”
Applejack smiled. “Ah promise ah’ll always deliver,” she said.
“Ok. Once the guards are gone, Sea Crest and I will enter through the front. I’ll give you some earpieces so we communicate. I will give you the hallway number of where the guards are the heaviest. You take care of them, we get inside, and we wing it from there.”
The alicorn sat up. “Whoa wait a minute. Did you say ‘wing it’?”
“Yup,” the Doctor said.
Sea Crest facehoofed. “Wing it? You are going to infiltrate the most heavily guarded structure in the whole world and just wing it??” He laughed. “I must still be asleep right now, because there is no way on any world that winging it is considered a plan!”
“Well guess what? Not everything in life is planned. There is room for improvising in anything in life. We can get this all done with no problem, I guarantee you. Nopony else will die tonight,” he promised.
Applejack looked at the Doctor. She knew when ponies were lying, and the Doctor was lying through his teeth. While he was, he was trying his hardest to tell the truth at the same time. This pony is really confusing, she thought to herself.
Sea Crest looked back to the house. “What about the girls?”
“I say leave them behind, mainly because what we are about to do will pretty much declare war against the Changelings,” the Doctor said.
The alicorn guard chuckled. He looked at the Time Lord with darkness in his eyes. “They started a war when they attacked and killed my comrades. Trust me, they will be begging for mercy once we are done,” said.
Applejack took a defensive stance. The Doctor only shook his head. “We move at nightfall.”
Thunder crashed as lightning ripped the night sky apart. Over the course of the afternoon, clouds coming from the Badlands began rolling into the kingdom. The winds picked up, making flying a challenge for pegasi and Changelings all over. Changelings, who had no control over the Sun and Moon, allowed the cycle to resume naturally instead of forcing their will upon it. The Changelings had every corner of the castle well-guarded, including the TARDIS sitting just in front of the bridge.
Hidden in a bush near the South Wall was Applejack. Her mission was as simple as it was: sneak into the castle. While she was with the girls when they fully explored the castle, she managed to find some secret entrances all over the place. The 400th torch handle in the lower levels of the castle opened a secret room that led directly to the throne room and so on. Twilight had fun with those.
Applejack snuck up to the wall and pushed a stone. Immediately, a section of the ground near her gave way to a staircase that led into the castle. With a wild grin on her face, the earth pony ventured off into the interior.
Applejack fixed her Stetson as she crawled through the tunnel. She had no light to help her through the darkness that was the Everfree Castle. The Doctor had offered her his Screwdriver, but she had no idea what it could do or how it worked so she elected to go through under the embrace of the darkness. It was lucky for her that it wasn’t a waste disposal duct that she was crawling thro-
Squish
The farm pony cursed as she moved her rear left leg. “Yew got to be kiddin’ me,” she mumbled. “Doctor, ya owe me fer this.”
She continued crawling through, ignoring the stench of the waste she stepped in. Eventually she found the light of a torch and crawled faster. She knew that getting through the castle with a stench as strong as the one on her hoof was going to be more difficult.
Applejack reached the grate leading into the castle. She looked around for any Changeling that would be in the area. Seeing no bugs in pony clothing nearby, Applejack pushed the grate open and snuck inside. She wiped her hoof on the carpet and took in the surrounding area. She was a floor above the Organ Room. All she had to do was sneak through and take her spot. The Doctor and Sea Crest were counting on her. Celestia and Luna were counting on her.
Celestia and Luna.
Applejack turned a corner and froze. There were two Changelings standing guard at the staircase she was supposed to go down. She shifted her hat and fished for her rope that she always kept around her. She tied it to her ponytail and readied herself. She threw her lasso and tied the first Changeling around the waist.
Before the mutant bug knew what was going on, it felt itself fly backward through the air and toward the farm pony. She rose on her hind legs, caught the Changeling, and slammed it on its back in a Suplex. It was knocked out instantly. She did the same for the second one, this time slamming it into a nearby wall.
The farm pony smiled. Her self-defense classes were very helpful, even though she didn’t need the defending part of it. She ran down the staircase and toward the empty hallway. Of course, there were some Changelings in her pathway, but they fell to the power of Suplex City.
Applejack turned a corner and staring right at her was the pipe organ that controlled all the traps and various gizmos in the whole castle. The organ was first introduced after Pinkie’s pranks against them on their first night at Everfree Castle a few years prior. The Doctor did say that time would be moving different while in the TARDIS. She just had to guess these days.
The farm pony started walking into the room, but her blood froze. Standing in front of the organ were two Changelings, and they saw her enter. Before she could ready her lasso, they began charging at her. She turned on a dime and started running back through the hallway, leading the Changelings away from the room. She turned a corner leading to the staircase and hid.
“C’mere ya varmits,” she whispered.
The sound of hooves clopping on the hard stone floors grew closer. She readied her hind legs for a good dose of apple bucking. When the sound of hooves on stone got to their loudest, Applejack pushed back with her front legs and bucked at the Changelings. Her legs made contact as the sound of bugs in pain made its way to Applejack’s ears. The Changelings flew through the air and fell into the darkest shadow of the corridor. “And that’s how ya do it,” she said to an empty room.
Applejack continued into the hallway. She entered the Organ Room and sat at her post. Being that she last saw this piece with her friends upon restoring the castle, Applejack never saw it all cleaned up and ready. She also remembered that there was a music book filled with all the traps and what keys activated them.
There wasn’t one here.
The farm pony sighed. She was going to have to remember the book completely. This gave her the notion that she would be the first pony to actually play it. Applejack smiled as she thanked history for giving her this opportunity. Applejack slammed her hooves into the keys and began to play.
The two Changelings on the towers were suddenly shot into the air by a spring-loaded platform. They flew off into the air, leaving the Doctor unsure as to where they were landing. With the lines of sight cleared, Sea Crest willed the bridge to appear from the heavy fog nearby. “So what do we got?”
The Doctor sighed. “The Cataclysm would most likely be in the throne room with the leading Changeling if they have it. If not, it is probably still in the vault. From what you’ve told me about it, the magic sealed within emits a negative field of energy that can cancel already existing magical fields. It sounds more like an Electromagnetic Pulse to me,” he said.
Sea Crest chuckled. “While designing it, we didn’t like to use the term ‘Negative energy’ since it is impossible to form such power, but yes. The whole purpose was to cancel out a Draconiqui’s natural magical aura that kept together most of its power and form. Once we formally tested the power, we would then force them into a summit and organize the terms for surrender,” he said.
“Did you think that would work?” The Doctor asked.
Sea Crest shook his head. “Draconiqui don’t take a lot seriously. King Cosmos planned on a peaceful summit to discuss how we both can emerge victors in the war, but whenever we did…”
“The Changelings attacked?”
The alicorn nodded. “It’s almost like they wanted us to cause all this chaos. In the 1,300 years that I’ve been on this rock, I’ve never seen such devotion to destruction before, and I’m fighting Draconiqui for crying out loud.”
“And how did the war start again?”
Sea Crest sighed and shrugged. “I don’t remember. The war started when I barely turned 500 years old. While ponies think of us as gods, King Cosmos never liked being addressed as such. Alicorns have a basic life span of 5,000 years and have great memory spans. I’m sorry, but I don’t remember how it all started.”
The Doctor put a hoof to his chin. “Maybe I’ll work it out once we get inside. C’mon, off we pop.”
The two stallions ran across the bridge and into the castle. Changelings immediately met them at the front door, but Sea Crest’s quick thinking allowed them to keep the noise to a minimum as they moved.
While they ran through the castle, the Doctor kept tabs on the hallways they were in. Most were labeled as they ran, giving him the idea that they corresponding numbers on the walls matched the codes below ground that Applejack had access to.
After running through the castle for what felt like forever, Sea Crest came to a stop in front of two large doors. These doors, unlike all the others, had no handles to open. The Doctor stopped a few meters away and returned to where the alicorn soldier was standing. He was staring right at the wooden doors.
“Do we push?” the Doctor asked.
Sea Crest shook his head. “These doors don’t open at all. These doors only reveal where the entrance to the vault where The Cataclysm is hidden. Doctor, I know how much you are against using that weapon, but it is the only chance we have at stopping this madness before the world is destroyed,” he said.
“Changelings don’t have the technology to destroy the world, and that’s the problem,” the Doctor said.
“I know, but they can if we let them stay their welcome any longer. King Cosmos had a lot of military secrets at his disposal, secrets that can benefit and doom all life on the planet.” Sea Crest chuckled. “He even wanted to build an entire kingdom in the north completely made of crystals. He was mad.”
One of the many things Cosmos accomplished was create the Crystal Empire? Alright then, the Doctor thought. “He once said building a crystal kingdom would be a sort of the first step in branching off into unknown territories around the world and beyond. An empire completely made of magic,” Sea Crest said. “While I wasn’t against the idea of building the kingdom, I was against the idea of it being independent from the empire.”
The Doctor shrugged. “I don’t know, building the Crystal Empire is a grand idea. I’m not using future knowledge in this, but Cosmos did have the right idea in building an empire entirely out of magic alone. Imagine the magical breakthroughs that could be discovered while in the process,” he said.
Sea Crest sighed. “It doesn’t matter about the empire, right now I need to see if they have The Cataclysm. Come with me Doctor, and see what the Alicorn Empire left behind.”
“Using the most dangerous weapon in the history of ponykind as a legacy for a grand empire was a poor decision,” the Time Lord said.
“Says the Time Lord who used another ultimate weapon to destroy entire civilizations,” Sea Crest said.
The Doctor rolled his eyes. Sea Crest charged up his horn and teleported himself and the Doctor to the other side of the room. Since the Doctor had experience with teleportation using unicorn (or in some cases, alicorn) magic, the process was supposed to be smooth.
The journey was anything but smooth.
Once they disappeared in a flash of light, the Doctor felt his entire body being pulled and twisted. His eyes stung and his body felt as though he was being electrocuted. His vision was clouded by smoke as he was pulled into the light.
The smoke started to clear out as his body slowed its speed. His mind, still reeling from the experience, began to make rational thought. The room they were in was circular and lined with multi-colored crystals. There were no windows and the doorway they came through wasn’t there anymore.
In the center of the crystal room was a crystal pedestal with a glowing glass ball. The Doctor’s eyes widened as he approached the artifact. “That…is the Cataclysm.”
The Time Lord turned to the alicorn behind him. “I thought it was an event in time that destroyed civilization!”
Sea Crest shrugged. “King Cosmos believed that a magical counterspell would sever magical connections between the Draconiqui. We tested it by magically infusing two pillars together, then the monsters we found patrolling Tartarus. The counterspell works by separating the structures down to a molecular level. This spell can even break down the strongest shield spells by shutting down a Magic Core.”
The Time Lord simply stared at the orb. “At least it’s still here, so the Changelings haven’t fully searched the castle.”
“We have to destroy it.”
Sea Crest looked over at the Doctor. “Are you serious?! This orb can help us in defeating the Changelings once and for all! If we are to use this against them, then we can survive!”
“And if this gets out of control, everypony in every single settlement on this side of Equis will feel a magical blackout that will throw everypony into chaos! Pegasi will not be able to control the weather, unicorns cannot raise and lower the Sun and Earth Ponies will lose their connections to the earth. The future that my companion belongs in will be destroyed, or worse. This weapon must be destroyed.”
Sea Crest charged his horn. “The Cataclysm is the only thing keeping the Alicorn Empire and all her allies in power. If it is destroyed, and improperly I may add, there will be more harm done than good.”
The Doctor raised his Screwdriver at the Cataclysm, zapped it, and then raised it at Sea Crest. “If you lose control of the weapon, you will be giving the Changelings ultimate control over the artifact. The last relic of the Alicorn Empire will be a doomsday weapon. Every pony, Changeling, Draconiqus and every other magical creature under Solaris’ Sun. You cannot do this!”
Sea Crest pieced together what the Doctor did to his Screwdriver. “Then we are at a standstill. I cannot take the Cataclysm because you can shut down my Magic Core, and you cannot take it because you cannot teleport.”
The Doctor looked around. “There must be a third option then.”
A low explosion rocked the room. The Changelings were acting the next step in their plan.
As the roof crumbled around them, Sea Crest and the Doctor reappeared in the main hallway. Strapped onto Sea Crest’s back was the chest containing the super weapon known as the Cataclysm. The Doctor was still against the idea of using it, but history was on the line. With the hallway clear, the duo ran off toward the lower levels for Applejack.
Speaking of Applejack, the apple farmer dove out of the way as a massive stone chunk crashed into the organ. Metal flew in all directions as Applejack ducked for her life. She looked back up to see the once beautiful oak and gold relic turned into scrap. She picked herself up and ran toward the door and into the Doctor and Sea Crest.
“Applejack! You’re alright!” the Doctor exclaimed.
The apple mare cracked a grin. “Ah survived Nightmare Moon an Tirek. Trust me doc, ah’ve had worse days,” she said.
Sea Crest peered into the organ room. He chuckled lightly. “Beside the fact that a 300 year old organ was just destroyed, I think it’s about time we get out of here,” he said.
The Doctor looked inside and both of his hearts dropped. The seat that Applejack was on was impaled by the debris from the ceiling. Applejack waved for his attention before taking off.
With the Time Lord in tow, the two stallions explained the plan very briefly as they continued to run through the castle. From the sound of it, there was a battle going on outside and the changelings paid the intruders no attention. In fact, what was happening outside was more important than the ponies who escaped the day before.
“Ah though ya said…”
“I know what I said, but we have no choice. Sea Crest, what exactly are we looking at?” the Doctor asked.
“Once the Cataclysm is up and running, we must find cover. The energy burst acts as an explosion so something sturdy will work. The changelings in the room will lose their shape-shifting abilities as well as whoever is leading them. Without their power to help them escape, we will force the leader will be forced into an ultimatum. Those changelings will pay for what they did to His and Her Majesties!” Sea Crest cheered.
Applejack felt uneasy. With the Elements, or Rainbow Power, they’ve always been able to reform their enemies. Sea Crest’s plan was taking their victory to the next level with revenge. “And yer sure Celestia and Luna are safe back home?”
The alicorn nodded. “The Cataclysm won’t affect them so long as they stay out of the Everfree Forest. We keep them there, and the worst that could happen is me losing my ability to fly and conjure magic. Unfortunately there are entire settlements within the area. Either they’ve got the evacuation order or they’re going to experience a great magical blackout.” The chest on his back was getting heavier the longer he thought about the plan.
“So ah don’t understand. Doctor, ah thought ya didn’t like that there Cataclysm,” Applejack explained.
The Doctor gulped. “I feel like I’m running around in circles right now. I did the same thing once a long time ago, but this is the end of it. Either Equestria burns before it is created, or entire generations will go without magic for a temporary amount of time. We cannot risk it.”
“But Celestia and Luna are already princesses in Equestria,” Applejack argued.
“Time is in flux, Applejack. Today could very well be the day Celestia and Luna die and history as you know it would cease to exist. There wouldn’t be a future to go back to. Hell, you wouldn’t even exist if we fail here,” the Doctor said.
Panic filled the apple mare as she continued running. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. This should not have happened,” he mumbled.
Another explosion rocked the castle, creating a giant hole in the wall. Fearing the worst, the Doctor shielded Applejack as debris landed around them. Sea Crest cautiously peered out of the hole and gasped.
Royal Imperial Airships bearing the Sun and Moon on the flag descended from the heavens. The cannons were blasting away at the castle, destroying entire nests created by the enemy drones. Changelings scattered as they tried to return fire, alas, the alicorn military was proving too strong for them to do anything. The airships slowed their descent as they neared the landing docks.
Sea Crest gave a sigh of relief. “The Alicorn Army. Somepony on site must’ve been able to send a message to our troops in the north. The changelings now don’t stand a ghost of a chance.”
One of the balloons touched down at the landing port nearby. Sea Crest never stopped smiling as the inhabitants of the balloon flew toward the trio. The alicorns were all decked in gold armor and visors and wielded spears. The lead pony touched down in front of Sea Crest and chuckled. “As I live and breathe! Commander Sea Crest, its been too long since I have last seen you.”
The pony removed her helmet. Sea Crest chuckled. The alicorn mare in front of him wore a yellow mane with white stripes and hypnotic emerald green eyes. Her mane was short and curly, surely showing off her sharpened horn. Her arm, much different than the rest of the gold armor, was decorated with beautiful battle scars and obvious signs of damage. “Solar Shine? By the stars, its been too long since I’ve last seen you. How long has it been?”
Solar grinned, her smile illuminating the room around them. “I remember the siege of Rainbow Falls, but then again, the armor makes us all look the same," she said. "The years have yet to be kind to you, have they?"
Sea Crest nodded in agreement. “Doctor, Applejack, this is captain Solar Shine. Solar was the first mare to enter the armed forces and engage in active combat. She is, by far, the greatest warrior I’ve seen on the field.”
Solar smirked. “And Sea Crest wets himself at night.”
A spark of magic shot from Sea Crest. “I-I don’t do that. It was a long day and somepony put my hoof in a bowl of warm water.”
“The perks of having an understanding commander. We got your message requesting backup and came as soon as we secured the Griffon Embassy in the north.” She revealed a scroll and levitated it towards the trio. "Thank goodness you sent it, otherwise we wouldn't have ever know what had happened."
Sea Crest met the Doctor’s eyes. “I didn’t sent you a message. We were just wondering who sent it.”
Applejack nodded. Solar Shine looked over and smiled. “King Cosmos requested we work with the population, and the last thing I expected from you was work with Earth Ponies. Very interesting Crest,” she said. “Anyway, we’re here in full force. I am the commanding officer of the reinforcements you see above you, but we’re at your command sir.”
Sea Crest grinned. “Brilliant. Okay, first we need the entire castle back under our control. Changelings have already armed themselves with alicorn technology, except for some of the private sector equipment. What do we have on the outside?”
“Three hives around the castle have been destroyed and reinforcements are being driven toward the west. Remaining forces must’ve reinforced the throne room where their king is. Sentries around the castle are currently engaged with our remaining forces.”
The Doctor nodded. “Okay, I want remaining alicorns to continue engaging the sentries. Changelings must have another battalion of drones and soldiers hidden within the castle walls. Inform the Higher Command and have them dispatch more troops. Once I give the word, I want our forces to immediately retreat from the forest. We’re going to utilize Project Cataclysm.”
The soldiers beside Solar gave uneasy looks to each other. “Are-are you sure? You won’t be able to utilize your magic nor your flight for a very long time. If this doesn’t work, you will be vulnerable.”
Sea Crest nodded. “That is payment for total victory in this war.”
Solar Shine nodded. “I trust you Sea Crest. Make us all proud.”
The Doctor smiled. “Remember, once you get the signal, get to safety. There’s a small village not too far from here. Go there and hold your position until further orders. The Changelings may try to rebound,” he said.
Solar Shine looked over at him. “Excuse me?”
Sea Crest chuckled. “Sorry, but he is a trusted pony of their Royal Majesties. He and his companion were charged with protecting the young princesses until King Cosmos and Queen Solaris returned from their meeting with the draconiquus king,” he explained. “What he says is correct.”
Solar agreed hesitantly. “All forces, move out! Secure the perimeter!”
The alicorns flew off. "Good luck Crest," Solar Shine said before leaving the trio once again alone in the hallway of the castle. The airships ascended, firing upon the hives the Changelings created. Applejack turned to Sea Crest, who was busy watching the airship Solar Shine was in fly off. “Ya didn’t tell ‘er about Celestia and Luna?”
He sighed. “Not yet. I doubt they even know Cosmos and Solaris are dead. We must continue the mission before everything falls apart!”
The two Earth Ponies nodded in agreement as they continued their trek toward the throne room. Changelings tried to slow them down, but it was Applejack’s quick thinking that got them through so many blockades. With her apple-bucking strength and lasso, any Changeling who tried to stand in their way were either strung up or knocked out.
Another explosion rocked the castle. Outside, alicorns descended from the heavens as entire hives grown on the spires were attacked. Changelings immediately charged their horns to defend whatever was left of their earlier victory. Solar Shine roared her battle cry as armored ponies clashed with Changelings. Already ponies and Changelings were falling out of the air with spears embedded within them, although neither side was currently worried about numbers.
The three ponies dodged a falling stone pegasus as they finally arrived at the throne room doors. While the Doctor kept his eyes on the statue, Sea Crest wiped the sweat from his brow as he readjusted the chest on his back. Kicking the stone head off, the Doctor could now rest a little bit easier. “Are you ready?”
Applejack stomped the floor. “Ready!”
The Doctor eyed the chest. “I asked myself that last time and I still wasn’t.”
Sea Crest ignored him as he kicked open the door.
Green fire enveloped another airship as it was sent crashing down toward the royal gardens. Solar Shine deflected a magical bolt as she reared up. “LONG LIVE THE KING!” she called out.
The troops behind her cheered in response as the continued the surge. They slammed into another hive, shaking out the remaining Changelings inside. As the alicorns charged in with spears and magic, the Changelings took the form of soldiers wearing the same armor. One thing they didn’t count on, however, was how the real alicorns fought alongside each other.
As alicorn forces stormed one of the hives grown on the castle, an entire battalion of alicorns surged from the airship with one of them carrying a very well important flag: the symbol of the cosmic night and the beautiful day converging to create a spiral galaxy. As the flag bearer charged onto the castle. “ASSUME RANK!” the lead alicorn commanded.
The alicorn troops cheered and stood in formation. Fifteen alicorns stood shoulder to shoulder, creating a wall. As more changelings began to arrive, the alicorns had their magical arsenals charged and ready for any kind of action. “MAKE READY!”
Changelings stormed the tower where they met the alicorn wall and immediately tried running to safety. “FIRE!”
Once their backs were turned, the alicorns let loose their magic bolts at the Changelings, stunning all of their targets. Solar Shine touched ground in front of her troops and raised a hoof into the air. “Victoriam Equinus!”
The troops behind her repeated their victorious battle cry as they surged through the castle with reinforcements already arriving from the North.
The wooden door of the village cabin opened slowly as the young Princess Luna poked her head out. “Sister, do you hear that?” she whispered. Princess Celestia, with her pink mane obstructing her vision, followed suit. “That’s a lot of booms and bangs. Where’s Sea Crest?”
“I saw him enter the Everfree Forest. Maybe he’s got a surprise for us,” Luna deduced.
Celestia shook her head. “I don’t know. He didn’t let us know he was going in there,” she argued nervously as she eyed the forest borders. “Maybe we should wait here until he gets back.”
Luna chuckled. “What, you’re not scared of going into the spooky forest, aren’t ya?” she teased.
Celestia’s face burned pink. “W-what? O-of c-c-course I’m not afraid. Why would I be afraid of a big and spooky forest?” she responded. “I say we should find Sea Crest.”
Luna giggled. “You’re scared of the dark, aren’t ya? C’mon, you know you are.”
“Stop it Luna! I swear, once we get older, I’m gonna get you back for this,” Celestia promised.
Luna laughed. “The day you get me back, I’m gonna be living on the Moon.”
The two alicorn fillies exited the cabin they were in and quietly snuck into the Everfree Forest, unaware a unicorn stallion was watching them leave their sanctuary.
Once the trio burst into the throne room, they were all overwhelmed by green lights. Sea Crest tried to throw up a magic shield, however it was unsuccessful as he conjured the shield too late. Within a second, the three heroes were boxed, tagged and ready for shipping. The chest containing the Cataclysm was then captured by the bug-like creatures.
Applejack was the first to wake up. Her vision was blurred as the room she was in felt like it was spinning. A loud ringing in her ears couldn't help her focus on what was going on, but she knew there were voices in the room. Her vision cleared as she caught sight of the room.
The throne room where they first met Queen Solaris had changed dramatically. The walls were littered with green chrysalises filled with alicorns. They didn't kill all of them during the initial invasion, which was both good and bad. The ceiling housed a black canvas. The canvas turned out to be Changelings waiting for orders. The windows had flags depicting a glowing Changeling in a chrysalis as the symbol.
Where Solaris's throne was, a tall and male Changeling lounged. He wore black armor with green boots for his hooves. On a pedestal next to him sat two crowns: the golden crown of the Sun and the Obsidian crown of the Moon. Neither the king nor queen were wearing those specific crowns, meaning they were there to intimidate them.
Applejack felt somepony shift next to her. The Doctor was just beginning to regain consciousness. It was then when she realized that she was tied up on the floor. "Oww, 900 years and that still doesn't feel good," he mumbled.
"Doctor? Are ya alrigh'?"
A large shadow loomed over the two. "Yes, dear physician, are you alright?" a low voice echoed.
The Doctor and Applejack looked up. The lead Changeling flashed a toothy grin. "Welcome to the new Changeling Empire, equines," he growled.
Next to Applejack, Sea Crest began to stir. He opened his eyes and glared at the Changeling. "King Wolfsbane, how dare you show your face," he growled.
The king boomed in laughter. "Would you prefer a different face?" With a flash of green, his body shrunk and bulked up. In the matter of a second, Wolfsbane's black armor turned blue, turning into the shape of the late King Cosmos. As the Changeling King shifted his new weight around, the changelings around him started laughing.
Sea Crest began screaming in rage as he attempted to rip through the rope he was in. His horn was already coated with a green gelatin blocking his magic. Wolfsbane winked at the trio as he transformed back into himself. "I can see you prefer something else. Don't worry, Crest, the alicorn race will be reunited with its king and queen soon enough," he said as he licked his lips.
The Doctor wiggled in his prison. "You would commit genocide? For what purpose?" he asked.
The king shrugged. "Do I need a reason? Well, if I were, it'd be this: the war between the alicorns and the Draconiqui have raged for far too long. Lives have been lost, powers have surged into the hooves who do not deserve it, and love and harmony are now a thing of the past. This world has been burning by their damn race, and I'll see to it that it is purged," he spoke.
"So you're going to slaughter millions? For the sake of peace, you'll destroy modern civilization just to end a war?!" Sea Crest roared.
The Doctor's eyes grew heavy. He once thought that during the Time War. "I've watched your beloved king dance around the idea of peace! Your race has continued the pursuit of peace through destruction!" Wolfsbane argued.
"Much like what you're doing now? You killed the king and queen with their daughters watching! You spared no alicorn trying to defend themselves because you wanted peace?!" the Doctor spoke. "That isn't the pursuit of peace, that's starting a whole new war!"
The Changeling King flashed a grin. "Earth ponies cannot possibly have the mental capacity to retain that much knowledge. Tell me, why would you spare them when they started the war?"
"YA VARMIT!" Applejack shouted. "How about y'all say that in mah face?!"
The king's eyes glowed green as he approached the apple farmer. "You dare address me as such, filthy equine? Once I'm done with the alicorns, I'll gladly take care of you," he growled.
"Why wait? Ya ain't afraid to go an do it now, ain't ya? Y'all mighty Changelings, but y'all look like green chickens," Applejack said.
The Changelings in the room all began to murmur. The king's face now turned red with rage as he raised a hoof up into the air, poised to come down onto the Earth pony's face. Wolfsbane's horn charged, but one look in Applejack's eyes confirmed his suspicion: she was winding him up to do something reckless.
The king laughed as he lowered his hoof. His horn began to dim, sending worrying message through the Doctor and Sea Crest. As the king laughed, the other Changelings began to follow suit. The walls began to shake due to their laughter before the king had enough. With a few loud stomps onto the ground, the doors of the throne room burst open.
Two Changelings marched into the room with two familiar equines in tow. Applejack turned her head to meet the worrying eyes of Celestia and Luna, both instantly traumatized upon seeing a stranger on their parents' thrones. The two guards broke off to either side, knocking the two alicorns off balance, forcing them to stumble onto the ground in front of them.
Sea Crest struggled to turn his head, but upon facing the royal sisters, his blood began to boil. "You damn soul! They're innocent fillies!" he growled.
"They're a liability. Every day that they're alive, there is a chance they'll repeat their parents' sins. I will not allow that to happen, no matter who they are or how old they are. In my eyes, they're dangerous today!" Wolfsbane roared. "This is peace! This is order!"
Celestia rose up, her mane ruffled up and overshadowing her bloodshot eyes. "Yo-you're the one who-"
Wolfsbane raised an eyebrow. Luna looked up and recognized the Changeling. "Yo-you're on daddy's 10 Most Wanted thing! You're a bad guy!" she continued.
The king flashed a smile. "You want a bad guy? He posed to be your father for about 400 years. Dear young filly, your father orchestrated this war against the Draconiqui just to show the equine population that his power is great and should be feared! Your father is a bad guy, not me!" he roared.
The Doctor weighed the argument. True that King Cosmos was a bit of a mad pony, especially with new ways to end the war, however he ended each day wishing for a better life for his daughters. He knew Cosmos and Solaris enough to know that they wanted peace as well, not just for their country but for the daughters who were born during the war.
He was a stallion who loved his fillies.
The Doctor wiggled in his place. "You know, king Wolfinheimer or whatever you're called."
The king did a double-take. "I, uh what? I don't..."
"You see, you talk about war and peace and how Cosmos wanted to prolong the war, but you're missing one crucial piece of information. He loved his daughters more than anything else in this world, and even swore that if it meant giving his crown, he would bring peace for them. That's a stallion who would give the world just to see his daughters happy.
I have known Changelings all throughout my lives, and let me tell you, so many kings and queens sought the same thing he did. They all wanted peace and prosperity for those they loved, and for Changelings, love being a food source must be difficult to come by." The Doctor scanned the room to see the Changelings agreeing with him. The king also noticed this and felt his anger rising. "You want peace, don't you? I want something that doesn't end in bloodshed. Let us go, return to your kingdom, and I can provide for you a way to obtain a great source of love for all of you to feast on. Nopony will be hurt, we can end this long war and no drama has to unfold," he said.
The deal took both equines and Changelings in the room by surprise. Another explosion rocked the room, but the king hardly took it as anything serious. He was on the verge of coming to a conclusion with an idea sparked inside his head. A very cruel idea.
"You know, I care for my subjects, as they care about myself. For years, Changelings were labeled as predators and criminals. Nopony came to help us in out time of need, and I'll be damned if that injustice continues through today," Wolfsbane began.
The hairs on the Doctor's neck stood up. "So how about I make a counteroffer: you let me kill and replace little old Celestia and Luna so my Changelings rule in the future, and I'll ensure they reunite with their parents again? Sound good?"
The three equines gasped in horror. "Y'all ain't layin' one of yer filthy hooves on Tia and Luna!" Applejack cried out.
Sea Crest peered over. "'Tia'?"
Applejack chuckled nervously. "Got caught up ah guess," she explained.
Sea Crest rolled his eyes. Without waiting for an answer, Wolfsbane stomped the ground, summoning his two Changelings. They flew from the ceiling and landed next to the two fillies. Without a moment's hesitation, they transformed into the exact copies of Celestia and Luna. The two alicorns looked upon their exact copies in horror.
The Doctor's hearts began to race. Their future was at stake at this point. If nothing was done, Celestia and Luna wouldn't be who they were in Applejack's lifetime. He almost began to panic had he not thought ahead. His rear hooves were still free as well as his secret weapon.
"Say, I have one question before you incinerate the princesses and, later us: who exactly is keeping my colleague here restricted from using his horn?" he asked. "The science behind restricting one's magical properties is something I've been looking for."
Wolfsbane's laugh echoed throughout the entire castle. Seated next to him was the chest containing the Cataclysm. "I take the honor of sealing away his magical properties. Why would you ask, little Earth stallion?"
The Doctor smiled. "No particular reason." He began shaking his head violently, shaking loose his Sonic Screwdriver from his mane. Once it hit the floor, the Doctor slid forward and reached out using his rear hooves. Pressing the button on his Screwdriver, the Doctor released a small supersonic sound burst, disrupting the spell the Changeling had on Sea Crest.
With his horn freed, Sea Crest incinerated the ropes that kept them tied together. Utilizing the rope to make a lasso, Applejack wrapped two Changelings together to make a hammer.
King Wolfsbane shook the effects of the sonic burst off of him, and realizing his prisoners were freed, he let out a roar of anger. "DESTROY THEM!"
Applejack swung the Changelings toward the king, knocking him from the thrones. The Changelings were sent flying out of her grasp, enabling her to lasso the chest next to the golden chair.
The Doctor ducked as he dashed for the doors. He dove to the floor as two Changelings came crashing overhead. Using his Sonic Screwdriver, the two horns melted into one big one, capturing the Changelings. He smiled at he Screwdriver as he kissed it before replacing it into his mane. He burst through the doors, and pressed against the wall with a Changeling's spear wedged behind it was the TARDIS. The Doctor smiled as he burst through the doors.
Sea Crest blasted a Changeling, sending it into Applejack's line of fire. She bucked the Changeling into another as it was about to fire a spell at her. "Your Doctor friend better be right!" he shouted as he ducked a green magic bolt.
"Ah hope so too," Applejack muttered.
The Changeling King growled as he surveyed the court room. Sea Crest, seeing it is the perfect time, fired a red magic bolt into the sky and out of the throne room. The red blast burst through the roof and exploded high in the air, alerting the alicorns outside.
Solar Shine immediately threw her helmet down. "FULL RETREAT! I REPEAT: FULL RETREAT!"
Alicorns dropped their spears as they all flew back toward their airships. The Changelings all laughed as they regrouped around the castle, eager to share their victory to their king.
They weren't going to get that chance.
Applejack had slid the chest to Sea Crest. Without a second to think, he burst through the lock on the chest and opened it. Inside, Applejack expected to see like a magic staff or something like the Alicorn Amulet.
It was a book.
The book was bound in a red leather cover with golden brackets. The cover depicted an alicorn's silhouette poised to conjure a new spell with its hoof raised on a pedestal. The cover read: ALICORNIA BIBLE OF THE ARCANE fifth edition. Sea Crest took in a deep breath, said a quick prayer to the Creator and flipped through the book.
"This here is the Cataclysm? A book?" Applejack asked.
Sea Crest nodded. "The Alicornia Bible of the Arcane is a reference text containing powerful and dangerous spells. The Cataclysm is one of the more forbidden chapters, but I can still access it," he explained.
He began flipping through the pages of the book. He scanned so many spells, like Time Travel and Transfiguration. Applejack peaked over Sea Crest's shoulder, catching a glimpse of something called the Draconican Death Spell before he exclaimed in amazement. "Found it!"
Sea Crest began muttering the spell. Already the room began to glow green with the magic spell. Wolfsbane made the connection and fired a magic bolt at the alicorn. The blast impacted his chest, breaking his concentration as the book was sent flying into the hallway.
The two alicorn fillies, who were ducked in the shadows that Luna used to shield them, screeched. "SEA CREST!"
Wolfsbane's attention shifted to where Celestia and Luna were hiding. "Come on out little ones," he called.
The fillies had done just that, running toward their fallen friend. Aside from the singe mark on his silver fur, he was fine. Applejack sighed in relief to see him still breathing.
"Crest? C'mon ya knucklehead an get up," Applejack cooed.
Sea Crest's eyes rolled in his head as he tried to sit up. "Armor. Always wear armor, even when you don't think you need it. Gotta remember that," he muttered.
The alicorn soldier attempted to picked himself up, only to cry out in pain. Celestia's eyes watered while Luna began shaking. Her elder sister shut her eyes to hold back tears, and once they opened, there was nothing but rage. Luna raised her head to Wolfsbane and growled.
The two sisters eyed each other and gave a simple nod. With their horns charged up, they began their approach toward the king. Wolfsbane began barking with laughter, accompanied with his Changeling army. The king wiped a tear from his eyes. "You two are just adorable, you know that?"
The cold glares of Celestia and Luna silenced all the Changelings in the room. Suddenly they didn't feel so mighty. "Yo-you hurt Sea Crest," Celestia said.
"You hurt our parents!" Luna called out.
"And you just don't care, do you?" Celestia finished.
The Changelings shifted their attention toward their king. Wolfsbane only laughed as he stomped the ground. "You paint me a criminal and a killer, but do not forget, little fillies, that your father is responsible for hundreds of years of war and destruction! He has more blood on his hooves than I do," he argued.
"He didn't have a choice!" Celestia boomed. "He didn't start the war! Everyday my daddy has worked around the clock to bring peace! He cries when more lives are lost!"
"He may have a connection," Luna continued, "But he is not a killer! He isn't a criminal, and he is not a bad guy!"
"You, Mr. Wolfsbane, are exactly what you claim you're not: a criminal, a killer and a horrible excuse of a king! You have no right to tarnish our daddy's good name!" Celestia cried out.
Those words echoed throughout the castle walls. Sea Crest and Applejack were left stunned as they watched the two little fillies raise their voices and defend their father's honor. King Wolfsbane, however, simply laughed. With a stomp of his hoof, all the Changelings in the room surrounded the two princesses with their horns charged.
Celestia and Luna surveyed the ring of enemies. As their impatience and anger toward the Changeling king grew, so did their magic auras. The Changelings were itching for a fight at this point, and somewhere deep within himself, King Wolfsbane knew the outcome. With his own horn charged up, he stomped the floor again. "DESTROY THEM!"
The Changelings let loose magical missiles at the two fillies. With their magic auras still in play, the two fillies created a shield over themselves. As each magic missile impacted the shield, their auras began to take a certain shape. Growing to the point that they overshadowed the princesses, the auras began to grow bodies.
Sea Crest began to panic. "We have to get out of here," he advised.
"Bu-but, the girls-"
"Are better off without us at the moment. Together, there is nothing two alicorns cannot accomplish," he said.
And he was right. The Changelings continued their barrage of magic missiles, and as they continued to impact the shield, their auras continued to take shape. Desperate to claim victory, King Wolfsbane began using forbidden spells to pierce the shield, however each hit only hastened their growing auras. Soon, their auras began to take the shape of two alicorns, more specifically, the two alicorns they would later grow into.
Applejack had to agree with Sea Crest; it really was time to go. Picking up the alicorn soldier, Applejack dashed for the door and the TARDIS.
As their auras completed their transformation, Changelings recognized their situation and attempted to flee the scene. King Wolfsbane roared in outrage as he continued his barrage, not facing off against two fillies with godlike power. The two auras began to move by their masters' commands as their horns began to literally glow.
Having enough of short burst magic power, King Wolfsbane switched to a magic laser. The two auras copied his attack, and soon, the two energies collided in the middle of the room. The room began to shake as the ceiling began to crumble. The Changeling flag that hung on the window burst into flames as it fell from its perch and onto the ground.
Changelings outside the castle felt the presence of great magic, and instead of aiding their king, fled for the hills. Abandoning their king was one thing, but living to fight another day was another.
On her way out, Applejack swept up the Alicornia Bible. Behind her, the two energies continued to clash, but now the energy was in Celestia and Luna's favor. Their strength proved too great for Wolfsbane as he screamed bloody murder. With a final surge of magic, Wolfsbane attempted to gain the upper hoof.
Applejack and Sea Crest crashed into the doors of the TARDIS as the doors sealed shut. As they hit the floor, the entire ship shook violently as a large explosion took place outside. The lights inside the console room began to flicker and short circuit.
Cloister bells echoed throughout the castle of Everfree. Those echoes reached the settlements in the region, alerting the mortal equines nearby. Alicorn airships had dropped their flags for Sea Crest, the Doctor and Applejack, whom all were still inside when the explosion occurred. The sky turned gray as thunder and lightning crashed over the Everfree.
The castle was as silent as the grave. A wind howled through the castle and through the paneless windows. Images of Solaris and Cosmos on stained glass were all shattered along with the torn remains of Changeling flags. Multiple chrysalises littered the halls and surrounding areas, all of them were empty.
The TARDIS, in its great and infinite glory, sat in a cloud of smoke and dust. The light on top was shattered, however that would be easily remedied by her pilot. Imprints of spears and helmets belonging to Changelings were left on the TARDIS's doors, giving the impression the energy caused more destruction than anticipated.
The doors of the time machine opened up slowly. Stepping out of the TARDIS was the Doctor in a new attire. Dressed in a long brown coat with flight goggles attached to his head, the Doctor took in a deep breath. On the bridge of his muzzle was his traditional reading glasses, now a part of his ensemble. He cracked his neck before surveying the area.
He smiled. "Applejack, Sea Crest, they're gone!" he called out to his friends. He trotted to the throne room, his faithful companion in tow. Applejack also surveyed the area around her and took in a deep breath through her nose. The smell of smoke immediately filled her nostrils as she sneezed.
"Bless you!" the Time Lord called out.
Applejack chuckled. She peered into the TARDIS to see Sea Crest inching toward the door. The spell used by the Changeling King left more than a singe on the alicorn's chest. Applejack moved to help him move faster, but he shook his head. He was going to walk on his own, even if it killed him. He motioned for Applejack to go on ahead to find the Doctor.
The apple farmer reluctantly nodded before moving to find her friend. Sea Crest took in a deep breath, an act that caused him great pain in his chest, and fired a spell through the castle ceiling. The blast was low enough to stay out of sight of nearby settlements, but it attracted the attention of one of the remaining Alicorn airships still in the area. The ship began its descent toward the castle.
Sea Crest sighed as he slowly began to walk toward the throne room. A misstep threw him off balance, but before he could hit the ground, his long-time friend Solar Shine swept in and carried him.
The alicorn mare gave a coy smile. "You old stallion, you should know better than to walk without your wheelchair," she playfully quipped.
Sea Crest chuckled, fighting the urge to groan in pain from his action. "Love you too Shine. I thought I told you to leave the forest area," he said.
"Welll, if you know me at all, you'd know that I rarely listen to orders that a suicidal and fairly stupid stallion would bark. Besides, I felt no energy from the Cataclysm," Solar said. "Where is it?"
Sea Crest turned toward the TARDIS behind him. "The Doctor will have it. I trust it is better in his hooves than ours," he said.
"That is a foolish thing to say, even for you."
Sea Crest nodded in agreement. Suddenly, the Doctor's voice echoed through the halls. "Sea Crest, come here real quick!" he shouted.
The two alicorns faced each other before advancing into the throne room. Once entering, even Rarity would faint at the discovery.
The once clean throne room, the same that was transformed by the Changelings, was completely bare of anything and everything. The stained glass windows were all shattered without a single piece of glass in sight. The chrysalises were all vaporized, leaving shadows of what once was. Images of Changelings pressed into the walls haunted the former soldier as he continued to scan the room.
In the middle of the room were the royal highnesses Princess Celestia and Luna, both of whom were passed out cold on the floor. Their horns continuously sparked as though they were still trying to cast spells. Where King Wolfsbane once stood was empty with no evidence he was ever there in the beginning. The throne he had transformed into his own was destroyed.
The Doctor had finished scanning one of the nearby walls where a Changeling's shadow was. In his mouth was his Sonic Screwdriver, the device he soon spit out and sheathed behind his ear. "Welcome to ground zero," he muttered slightly.
As Sea Crest continued to scan the room in horror, Solar Shine addressed the Doctor. "Sir stallion, care to explain why the Royal Highnesses are sprawled out in the middle of the room?"
The Doctor sighed. "King Wolfsbane had captured them and wished to destroy them so his Changelings would take over the future," he said. "He's responsible for making them orphans in the first place."
Solar Shine's face fell. She bowed her head with a small light emitting from the tip of her horn. "Blessed be the souls of King Cosmos and Queen Solaris. It's terrible," she muttered. "The Changelings must answer for their crimes against the Alicorn Empire!"
Applejack, who was once curled up next to the fillies, shot up. "Y'all can't do that!" she cried out.
"They killed our king and queen! They killed hundreds of alicorns in the castle and they nearly killed Celestia and Luna while we have done next to nothing to their empire! To say that we don't have the right to enact revenge is..."
"Is what?" the Doctor asked sternly. His piercing eyes met Solar Shine's. "Vengeance is a short-term solution that will come with long-term consequences. You cannot simply march into Changeling territories and avenge the king and queen."
"Watch us," Solar dared. She turned her back on the Time Lord and trotted toward the doors with Sea Crest on her back. She barely made it out before the Doctor's voice cut through the room.
"You sound like Silverstar."
The air grew cold in the room. Solar stopped in her tracks. "To commit genocide on an entire race just because of the actions of a few soldiers sounds awfully like something he would do, Solar Shine. If I remember the report, Silverstar slaughtered dozens of Draconiqui because they destroyed the village he grew up in. It was his choice then to commit the worst war crime in the history only to fall short! You're not going to achieve what you want by using violence!" the Doctor boomed.
Solar spun around to meet the Doctor's eyes. Her own eyes sparkled with rage and a lust for revenge. "You're one to talk, Doctor! You don't know what it's like, having to endure days and years upon end fighting a war only to see everything you've been fighting for destroyed! I watched many ponies, alicorns and mortals die in front of me! I will not allow for this injustice to carry on!" she returned.
The Doctor seemingly flew across the floor. "I know what it's like, watching loved ones and good soldiers die! I've endured over 900 years of that, and that includes the seemingly endless Time War! It never ends, Solar Shine! I know the consequences of committing genocide, and I live by that every day of my life. Every time I save somepony's life, I feel like I'm saving a Time Lord or Lady! Taking revenge will not make the situation better! You'll create another war, and I'll be damned if I stand by and watch you destroy civilization!" the Doctor swore. "You take one Changeling life, and you'll be answering to me!"
The room was quiet. Solar sighed as she returned to the throne room with Sea Crest. Applejack, who stood guard for the two fillies, scratched her head. "So, what do we do now?" she asked.
"Well, they'll wake up at some point, but if they remember what happened, they'll feel it's their duty to go after the Changelings. For the time being, it's best if they woke up with no memory of what happened," the Doctor said. "That way, we can avoid a future war in the process."
Sea Crest shook his head. "That's too much, Doctor. They need to know what happened," he said.
"Ah think the Doc is right," Applejack chimed in. "Ah wish ah could ferget all them bad days when ah was younger."
Solar Shine agreed. "I second that. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have always dreamed of peace, and this may be the only way they could find it," she said. "King Cosmos would want peace for his fillies."
Taken back at her remark, Sea Crest eyed his former companion. "A-are you serious? They're still too young to handle this! To forget this pain, they must forget everything up until now, including all of the alicorn race." He paused in realization. "We would have to disappear."
The Doctor set heavy eyes on the two fillies. Solar Shine shifted her weight as she looked toward the sky. "We could easily disappear Sea Crest. If anything were to happen, King Cosmos had us scout ahead for a fallback point. We found some unclaimed land just west of us, over the Celestial Sea. It's easily a week's journey by airship. We could all start a new life without war," she said.
The Doctor clapped his hooves. "And Celestia and Luna never traveled beyond the sea during their time as rulers. It'd be perfect, but they cannot remember their parents nor the Changelings ever invading. Those ill feelings could generate some bad things if they could act," he finished.
The two alicorns simply hung their heads low. The Doctor and Applejack eyed each other and silently held a conversation. "We won't get to see them grow up in person, but we can always be there in spirit," Sea Crest said. He chuckled slightly. "And I was just getting used to them."
Solar Shine cracked a smile. "Perhaps you should've thought about having fillies. Who knows, maybe it'll do you some good," she said.
"I'm 1500 years old. I think I'm a little old to have fillies," he quipped.
Solar Shine rolled her eyes. "1500 is just a number," she remarked.
The two time travelers had reached a verdict. "Ah don't like it, but ah don't like the idea of 'em goin' to war," Applejack said.
The Doctor nodded. "It seems that, even though it didn't go off, the Cataclysm still happened. The disappearance of the alicorns, the centuries of unrest leading up to Celestia and Luna's rise to power and the rise of Equestria. Who knew it all happened here, built on a decision by four ponies. Well, three ponies and a Time Lord," he said.
Applejack rolled her eyes. Sea Crest chuckled before he removed a foreleg from where Solar Shine had propped one up. Finally on all four hooves, he stood proud and strong as he extended his wings. "Doctor, Applejack, I trust that Celestia and Luna are in capable hooves," he said.
The two time travelers smiled as they nodded. "Ah doubt y'all can find better hooves than ours," she said. "It'll take years to find somepony better."
"Spoilers," the Doctor muttered.
Solar Shine smiled. "Then we proudly decree that you, sir Doctor and miss Applejack remain their caretakers until they are mature enough. Thank you for being the guardians to the last survivors of the alicorn race." She winked to move the point across.
The two earth ponies chuckled. Solar saluted to the two before taking off out of one of the pane-less windows and onto the airship. Sea Crest, who took in a deep breath, finally relaxed. "If it wasn't for you and those little fillies, I'd probably be dead by now. Thank you, Doctor and Applejack. I pray to the gods that Celestia and Luna finally find the peace they need," he said.
The two ponies nodded. "So what'll ya do now?" Applejack asked.
Sea Crest sighed as he peered out of the pane-less window. "You know, Solar Shine has a point. I'm 1500 years old and I've yet to have a single filly or foal of my own. I've always thought of Celestia and Luna as somewhat my foals, even though they were clearly Cosmos' and Solaris'. I suppose I should finally hang up my armor and settle down," he said.
The Doctor smirked. "Solar Shine knows you're thinking about this?" he asked playfully.
Sea Crest blushed violently, yet he did not try to deny it. "In the past, with me being her commanding officer, having an open relationship would've complicated so many things, such as the chain in command and personal attachment. Besides, how can one be quiet with someone in a tent in the middle of a military camp?" he asked.
Applejack rolled her eyes as she removed her Stetson. "Ah didn't want a hear that," she muttered.
"I swear, noise canceling spells only work when nopony knows you actually casted it. It used to keep me awake at night sometimes," Sea Crest continued.
The two stallions started barking in laughter, leaving Applejack as red as her barn doors. Celestia and Luna were still passed out, thankfully. She wondered if they ever had conversations similar to this in her time.
She didn't want to know.
Sea Crest wiped a tear. "Anyway, I'm sure she would be open to the idea. We've both made that clear in the past. Well Doctor, and miss Applejack, thank you for this horrible adventure we've had to endure," he said.
The Doctor chuckled. "All in a day's work," he said.
Sea Crest smiled. "Doctor, one more thing. If you ever need any help, you let us know. The remaining alicorns are forever in your debt for saving the royal bloodline. Stories will be told of this day; stories of heroes from a different time returning to ensure the alicorn race would live on in a new light," he declared.
The two earth ponies agreed. "Thank ya Sea Crest. Ah never would've thought y'all were existin' an such," Applejack said.
Sea Crest laughed. "Honestly Applejack, in your time knowing Celestia and Luna in the future, did you really think they were the only alicorns in existence? That they just popped up out of nowhere and ruled for hundreds or thousands of moons? Who would think that?"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow as he eyed the reader. Sea Crest hugged Applejack and the Doctor before flying out of the Everfree Castle, never to return. The alicorn ship, now with a new passenger, began to make it's final ascent before sailing west into parts unknown and for a new home.
Officially, there were now only two alicorns left in existence.
In her dreams, she was with her mother and father again. They were grown up and Solaris was teaching her how to properly wield the Sun while her sister learned how to wield the Moon and to dreamwalk. Celestia was always jealous that her sister got to dream walk while all she did was raise and lower the Sun, but it was a gift to do such things. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't get through basic training for dreams.
Now, she was happy with her assignment.
Solaris stood by as Celestia raised the Sun for the first time. "Remember to breathe, Tia. You cannot hold in your breath, otherwise you'll pass out and the Sun will fall," her mother advised.
Celestia began to sweat. The Sun was a lot heavier than it looked. "Breathe Celestia. Don't focus on the screams and cheers of thousands of ponies, just focus on the task." Solaris' hoof made it under Celestia's chin and raised it up. "A little more. That's it."
The princess began to struggle. The Sun began to wobble in place and even began to lose altitude. Her magic began to fade as her hold on the Sun began to loosen. Finally, Celestia's magic gave out, and with it her control of the Sun.
For a moment, Celestia was filled with panic. The Sun was without somepony to wield it. She looked up into the sky to see the Sun firmly held high in the sky. She turned, expecting her mother to be wielding it, however her horn was not charged. "Good work Celestia. Technically that's a summer Sun since it's still close to the horizon. Be thankful it's the solstice today," she said.
Celestia sighed before plopping down on her rump. Her mother chuckled before sitting down next to her daughter. "What did you think?" she asked.
"It's-it's waaayyy too heavy mom," Celestia responded. Her breathing became labored as she found her gaze on the Sun. "You make it seem so easy."
Solaris chuckled. "Well, for one thing, we have a long way to go before you're ready to lower the Sun. It's not supposed to look easy at all, to be perfectly honest. Thankfully the population wasn't as grand when I first started. I accidentally created a desert just south of here because I sneezed on my first attempt," she said.
Celestia was dumbfounded. "You had trouble too?"
Solaris nodded. "I make it seem easy because I've had a lot of time to practice. Your father and I worked together to raise and lower our celestial bodies in the past. He spotted me as I spotted him. Together, we found a little trick in raising the Sun and Moon."
Solaris extended her wings as she began to hover slightly above the ground. "With the Sun or Moon in your grasp, use your body to hoist the celestial object. We represent the powers of unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies. Utilizing our combined magic will give us strength in our natural magical arsenals, and it makes the celestial body feel like its not as heavy," she advised. "Raising the head slightly with the celestial body in hold will do very little, unless you're trained. Since the summertime is upon us, it is good that the Sun is closer."
Celestia nodded in understanding. Solaris gently set her hooves on the ground and wrapped her daughter in a hug. "One day, my beautiful little Sunspot, you will carry on the legacy which is the Sun and Moon. You will continue where your father and I left off, and I guarantee you, the future will be bright for you and your sister."
The solar princess tightened the hug. "Take good care of Luna, Celestia. She needs you just as much as you need her," Solaris finished. "I love you both so much," she said.
Celestia began to feel tears rolling down her cheeks. In an instant, the warmth of her mother's body had vanished. Celestia opened her eyes to see the world around her, the castle, the rolling hills and the golden rays of the Sun vanish. Instead, she was somewhere else. For a second, she thought she was in the middle of the ocean. All around her was the endless abyss filled to the brim with bright clouds and what looked like stars.
She had heard of this place before. It was her happy place: the Nexus.
"S-sister?" a weak voice called out.
Celestia turned to see her younger sister, the always beaming Princess Luna with fear in her eyes. "How did you get here?" she asked as her curious eyes grew bigger.
"This place? It's my happy place," she responded. She looked around, sensing that they were the only two in there. "Is this your happy place too?"
The younger sister nodded. "I saw daddy here. He was showing me how to raise the Moon and control dreams." Luna giggled as a thought came to mind. "I guess I'm doing good since I'm here."
Celestia chuckled as she grabbed her sister and pulled her close for a hug. "Daddy said that I had to help you. Are we working together on something?" Luna asked.
Her older sister nodded. "We're the last ones, Luna. We gotta look out for each other," she said half-hearted. She had lost her parents, so now she had to protect Luna all by herself.
The younger sister began to tear up. "I'm gonna miss them," she whimpered.
Celestia tightened the hug. "Me too, little sis. Me too," she muttered.
The world around them began to rumble. Luna's tiny ears began to flicker, searching for the noise. "Somepony's moving us," she muttered.
Celestia began scanning the sky. The rumbling grew louder as somepony was fumbling with their unconscious bodies. They were asleep in the real world, and somepony had them. The elder alicorn smiled as she nuzzled her younger sister's head. "I think it's time to wake up, wouldn't you agree?" she asked her sister.
Luna nodded as the world around them grew brighter. They were bathed in a great light that separated the two of them from each other. Celestia's eyes burned as the light grew brighter and brighter before it finally began to fade.
Her eyesight had returned to her as she immediately recognized her own room. Her ceiling was decorated with the image of the Sun breaking over the horizon, lighting up the world in a magnificent array of orange, violet and yellow. Her bed, decorated with yellow sheets and a frame that resembled the Sun's shape, formed to hug her entire body.
Celestia did a quick scan of her room before resting her eyes on Applejack, who had Luna on her back and fast asleep. Applejack approached the bed and gently set the younger sister onto the covers. Once she was safe on the bed, the apple farmer looked up to discover the future princess of the Sun was staring at her. "Celestia? Y'all are awake already?" she asked.
The elder sister nodded, and as she did she felt a sharp pain in her neck. Before she could exclaim in pain, Applejack moved out of the way to reveal the Doctor standing behind her with his Sonic Screwdriver in his mouth. He came over and quickly scanned the Solar Princess before coming to a simple conclusion that her pain was the result of the magical overload earlier.
Upon returning to the TARDIS once Sea Crest had left, the Doctor discovered that the Alicornia Bible had more than just magic spells in it. Within the red leather book, there was also a short alicorn biology section which explained an alicorn's magical capabilities upon great moments of stress. While this reflex would be known to many as a 'Fight or Flight Response', Alicornia had another term for it: Magic Overload.
In the process of a Magic Overload, an alicorn's, or in some cases unicorn's, magical capabilities greatly exceed the normal capacity of the species in question. Magic Overload occurs when a spellcaster's magical Core, located at the base of the horn, begins to generate a greater surge of magical power. Once this process has started, however, the only way to revert back to normal magical energy levels is to fully expend the full amount of magic disposable at the given time, the book had briefly explained.
Celestia scanned the room. "Wh-where is Sea Crest?" she asked.
Applejack and the Doctor exchanged looks. "Um, Celestia, I'm afraid that Sea Crest had to leave for a period of time. It seems that some alicorns survived and are currently in hiding," the Doctor briefly explained. "He couldn't stay to see you wake up."
Luna, who had still been asleep, finally began to show signs of consciousness. Her eyes fluttered as she scanned the room she was in before meeting her sister's wide eyes and expanding smile. The two sisters hugged each other, elated to see each other alive and well.
After a while, the two sisters broke the hug and remembered what their victory cost them. "S-so mom and dad are really..." Luna began as tears began to form.
Applejack approached the younger sibling and began to wipe away her tears. "Don't cry there Sugarcube. Ah know what it feels like to not have 'em around, but don't ya worry," she began.
Luna's eyes began to produce more tears, and now Celestia was following suit. "We're the last ones, aren't we? Besides Sea Crest and a few others, we're the only ones left?" Celestia asked.
Applejack said nothing more as she grabbed the both of them and held them in a big hug. Her own eyes began leaking tears as she felt the two alicorns tremble. "Ah-ah know how y'all feel, but y-y'all ca-can't be..."
She couldn't finish her sentence. She watched Celestia and Luna lose their mother and father in a merciless attack that had nothing to do with them. About 10 years prior in Applejack's timeline, she had lost her mother and father in a similar scenario. As each year went by, Applejack kept trying to remain strong for her family.
Now, she was grieving along with the two alicorns.
The Doctor couldn't say much of anything here. Sure he had lost some of his family along the past 900 years he had been traveling through time, yet in all that time, he somehow became immune to the loss. At some point, he realized that his exploits were the product of every scenario where he had lost loved ones.
After a few moments of hugging, Applejack broke away from the two fillies. "Ah wanna tell y'all somethin', alright? Mah Granny Smith always told me that mah Ma and Pa are always lookin' out fer me and mah brother an sister. Ah want y'all to know that yer Ma and Pa are watchin' over ya and will always be there for ya," Applejack told them. "They love y'all so much. Ah know they ain't leaving all alone in the world."
The Doctor coughed. "Yes, well now that the world is safe, there is the matter of the disappearance of the alicorn and the Draconiqui. I am afraid that, as of this moment, the Alicorn Empire has fallen," he said.
The two sisters gave each other uneasy looks. "...but we're the princesses. We can rule," Celestia suggested.
"And risk the changelings coming back?" the Doctor asked.
Luna rolled her eyes. "For what they have done to our parents, the changeling king must answer for his crimes. Justice will be dealt to him and his armies," she said.
The Doctor sighed. "I cannot allow justice be delivered if it's just revenge for good intentions. The changelings, however guilty they are of assisting in the destruction of the empire, are living beings too with husbands and wives. They have lives outside the military that are just as important. We cannot have either of you declaring war," he argued. "Some changelings have already died in this castle because of the Magic Overload."
Celestia stomped the bed in an act to show strength. It did nothing but look cute. "We cannot allow those responsible for our parent's...passing to get away like this! This is war!"
The Doctor reached forward and grasped Celestia's head with his hooves. "Princess Celestia, listen to me. Acting on revenge will not bring them back, no matter what happens. If you followed through with what you are planning, you are no better than those changelings in the first place." He shut his eyes to keep himself from revealing Silverstar's fate. "It's not the right answer."
Celestia was now shedding tears of anger and sadness. "They've taken everything, dear Doctor. Please," she sobbed. "They are monsters, Doctor! Greedy monsters who will stop at nothing until they get what they want! For our parents! For the alicorns that tried to stop them! For everypony!"
Luna, who had remained quiet for the past moment, hugged her bigger sister. "Tia, please stop," she pleaded.
The tears continued to flow down Celestia's face. Both of the Doctor's hearts began to beat rapidly as he made a decision. "Celestia, please forgive me," he muttered.
Before she could say anything, the Doctor placed his forehead upon Celestia's. The elder alicorn gasped as her mind opened up and began draining her memories thanks to the Time Lord. Inside her mind, everything was going.
The earliest memories of Celestia's life began to erode. From being an only filly until young Solaris came to her bedroom one morning to announce she was going to be an older sister. The 9 months it took for Celestia to see her newborn baby sister, a mare called Luna for the moon. The memory of getting their first foalsitter, a white coated stallion named Silverstar.
His first day foalsitting was when Celestia learned of the war. Silverstar was a private in the Alicorn Army, but he wished to focus his time on caring for the young fillies when Cosmos was in war meetings and Solaris attending court. While she was the older sister, Silverstar was her older brother. He was her knight in shining armor.
Then came the first assassination attempt against Cosmos. Solaris had hidden the young fillies away before disappearing for a few hours. Each hour was Celestia's worst nightmare as she continued to fear for her parents.
Finally, the day Silverstar stopped being the older brother. Celestia knew something was wrong, but she didn't know what had happened. Silverstar's family and an entire village of innocent ponies had been destroyed by Draconiqui. Silverstar had left to help the survivors, however once he returned, he was darker. He was sad.
She didn't know it, but that was the day Silverstar took his first life.
The day came when he disappeared and never came back. The next day, she got two new foalsitters: the Doctor and Applejack. All the moments from then to that very moment when she pleaded for justice disappeared, and the last two faces that vanished were the faces of Queen Solaris and King Cosmos.
The memory wipe was complete as Celestia slumped onto the bed. In her state, many would think she was asleep, especially from far away. The Doctor immediately felt regret as Luna cried out in fear. Applejack turned to the Time Lord in horror and confusion.
Luna tried waking her up by shaking her elder sister, however she was unsuccessful. She turned to the stallion responsible and pounced at him with her horn charged. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" she shouted.
The Doctor dodged as Luna fired a magic shot. "Take it easy, Luna," he pleaded.
"WHAT HAST THOU DONE TO THY SISTER?!" she boomed in a language that was eons ahead of her.
The Doctor was quick to force his hooves on Luna's mouth, stopping any future outburst from the young filly. "Celestia is alright, Luna. She's only in a post-memorial trance. She's currently rewriting her brain to process the sudden lack of a long-term memory," the Doctor said. "I've erased her memory of ever being involved in the war with the Draconiqui and the changelings."
Luna moved away from the Doctor. "Wh-why would you do that? Did you make her forget everything?" she asked.
The Time Lord nodded. "For her protection, when she wakes up, she'll have no memory of anything that has happened in her life up until this exact moment. No alicorns, no changelings attacking, no us and even..."
"No parents?" Applejack finished.
Luna was horrified. "Bu-but wh-"
"So when the time comes, and it is your turn to rule, the pain and hatred from this day will not be felt. You and Celestia are destined to rule the world with grace and wisdom. Ponies will be looking up to you for guidance and peace. This world will know harmony from centuries of war and chaos," the Doctor said. "You will lead by example, and taking revenge or bottling up feelings of anger is not a way to rule."
Luna looked back on her sister, who had now taken a fetal position in her bed. She was drooling now but she was at peace. The lunar princess looked back at the Time Lord and sighed. "S-so we won't remember?" she asked. "A-anything?"
The Doctor nodded. Luna's heart raced before coming to a decision. "Okay, I understand. Will you do the same with me?" Luna asked.
Applejack eyed the Time Lord, who had nodded. "For your safety Luna. I hope you can forgive me," he said.
"I already do, Doctor," Luna said.
The Doctor sighed as he pressed his head onto Luna's forehead, and every memory she had began to turn to dust. The moment when she first learned how to perform a spell vanished as memories with her elder sister continued to flood her mind.
They were alone in the castle when Luna first learned teleportation. Celestia was watching her so she wouldn't get in trouble by the palace guards. Luna had fired the spell, but it had done nothing except give her a burn on her flank. It didn't hurt or anything, but she was scarred for life because of a simple miscalculation.
When Luna mastered teleportation, she secretly learned a shadow spell, which made her disappear into the night or in any shade. She always won at hide-and-seek when she was seeking. While hiding, however, Celestia had a way of finding her.
Memories of her parents and foalsitters faded into nothing, leaving the two sisters alone in the castle with royal guards to protect them from the outside world. Eventually they had all left for unexplained reasons, leaving the two sisters to fend for themselves. The last memory that had faded, however, was that of her mother and father's faces. For a moment, they smiled upon her, assuring her everything was going to be alright.
The memory wipe was complete. Luna's eyes rolled up the back of her head as she fell backward, landing on the plush bed next to her sister. The Doctor's two hearts began to race with the knowledge of what he had done. Applejack took a deep breath and approached the Time Lord. "Do-Doctor? W-why would ya do that to 'em like that?" she asked. "Ah wouldn't wanna ferget mah parents like that."
The Doctor turned to his companion with sad eyes. "Sometimes its better to forget the pain than remember it. I couldn't forget the end of the Time War, no matter how much I tried. They have it easy, especially with what they've seen," he said.
Applejack walked toward the bed and adjusted the two sisters so they were asleep next to each other. She drew a blanket over them and kissed each of them softly on their heads. She turned to the Time Lord, who was smiling at her. "You have the instincts of a mother," he said.
The apple farmer blushed as she looked down on the floor. "When mah parents passed, ah was worried about mah sister Applebloom. Granny Smith was werking overtime helping the farm with Big Mac, so ah was there helpin' Applebloom. Ah wanted what was best fer her an' all," she said. She stole a glance at the two sisters and gave a sad smile. "It's what a big sister is fer."
The Doctor nodded. He understood the importance of family, and with his family regenerating early in his life, he was on his own. No one stopped him from causing mischief with his old friend, now known as the Master. No one stopped him from stealing the TARDIS with his granddaughter. He smiled as he remembered it all.
The Time Lord looked out toward the Sun, which was setting on its own. The celestial bodies must've realized that their controllers were missing and decided to work themselves. The Doctor knew that soon, ponies would realize what had happened and chart a course that would lead to the Eternal Blizzard and finally, the return of the alicorns. The Doctor led Applejack out of the room, and before he switched off the light in the room, the Doctor sighed.
"Goodnight young ones. See you in 400 years," he muttered. He switched the light off and left.
Applejack sat in the corner of the Console Room back inside the TARDIS.
Ever since she first met Twilight, there was a sense that something incredible would happen and it did. They had banded together to defeat Nightmare Moon, stopped Discord in his tracks, reform Rarity from her Nightmare state and even traveled to an alternate dimension. All of those adventures and so many more, and Applejack never expected this: time traveling to the distant past, watched the fall of three empires and the hibernation of the two alicorns she knew in the future.
It's definitely something she wasn't expecting.
The doors of the TARDIS squeaked open before sealing themselves. "So, the walls of the throne room have been scrubbed clean off, the Hall of Statues are back in order and the changeling sentry points on the pillars of the castle have been scrubbed clean off! I'd say this was definitely something I wasn't expecting: watching the end of the Alicorn Empire," the Doctor said as he approached the console.
The Doctor stopped to see Applejack staring off into space. The Doctor flipped a switch before approaching his companion and sat next to her. "A bit for your thoughts?" he asked.
Applejack chuckled. "Sorry, ah'm just not used to this, is all," she said.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't expecting you to be comfortable the first time around. Everypony that has ever trotted through those doors never experienced anything like this before in their lives. The TARDIS, time travel even, is a learning experience," he said. "It's a chance to learn outside history books and urban legends. It's a chance to watch history play out in front of you."
"But we ain't been watchin', we've been playin'!" Applejack said.
The Doctor nodded. "You never know what will happen. There are points in time, fixed points where an event must happen. Your friend creating the Rainboom is a fixed point in time, and I understand that somepony did something to that a while ago?" he asked.
Applejack nodded. "Well, fixed points can be altered, but there are consequences to altering those fixed points. If Cosmos and Solaris had not gone to the Draconiqui and died, where would Equestria be in your future?" the Doctor asked.
"Uhh, ah don't..."
"Equestria would still be called Alicornia and the new monarch would solely be Celestia and whoever she would marry. Luna would be a Mare of the Heavens and alicorns would still be the dominate race in Equestria. Celestia and Luna being left alone set forth a chain reaction, and somewhere deep in their mind, they know that their duty is to the ponies they love and care about," he said. "That would not have happened if we never came here."
Applejack thought for a moment before nodding. The Doctor smiled. "I can take you home if you want to. This was a new experience and I won't be surprised if-"
"Ah wanna stay," Applejack said.
The Doctor smiled and sighed. "I had the whole speech planned out and anything. Okay then, off we pop then?"
The apple farmer nodded and they both raced to the console. "Alright then, where to next?" the Doctor wondered.
He pressed buttons and threw switches, starting the TARDIS's engines. The magic machine whirled to life as the little blue box started to fade from the castle. The last words that ran through the castle hallways were the Doctor's own "ALLONS-Y!"
The TARDIS was there one moment and gone in the second.
The winds howled as a fresh carpet of snow blanketed the Everfree Forest.
Two weeks prior, the famous expedition of Princess Platinum, Chancellor Puddinghead and Commander Hurricane turned into the greatest event in the history of Equis. News traveled fast in the Old Kingdom that a new land had been founded by three different ponies, but not the ones who had set out to conquer the land for themselves. Clover the Clever, Smart Cookie and Private Pansy all had accomplished what their superiors failed to do and even built a bond between the three tribes that had not existed in recorded history.
Today, settlers are moving in to the new land. Unfortunately with the move, winter had actually come, but now it was manageable. Ponies crafted new food items, built stronger homes on ground and in the air for all races and relations had been grand ever since.
In the Everfree Forest, two ponies were seen trotting along each other. One was wearing a cloak with a suit of green armor underneath while another was wearing a blue robe and a rather funny hat. The pony in the robe also sported a rather magnificent beard.
"Clover, explain to me again how you did this. I'm finding it difficult that friendship destroyed the Wendigos," the pony with the beard said.
The cloaked pony, Clover, stammered before speaking. "E-excuse me Starswirl, b-but I seem to recall your teachings opening my mind to impossible situations! What I have said to you is complete fact! You can even examine Her Highnesses claim if you are not convinced," Clover had said.
Starswirl sighed. "I have interviewed her several times and she cannot recall what actually occurred. Being frozen alive can do wonders to one's short-term memory, in case you had forgotten," he argued back.
Clover sighed in impatience. "Y-you are so infuriating, you know that?! I swear, I am thinking that you're doing this just to dig under my skin and provoke another attack by those beasts!"
Starswirl smiled. "My dear, the purpose of friends is to simply dig under your skin. You have much more to learn if you are ready to become a great mage. The new world needs strength in mind and heart if it's going to survive," he said.
Clover caught on to his earlier teasing and smiled. "Very well then," she said.
"Good, now Princess Platinum has recently caught wind of an ancient story, is that correct?"
The mare nodded and reached under her armor with her magic to produce a scroll. "It depicts of a creature with a unicorn's horn and a pegasus's wings. It's a strange one since such a creature has never been seen before," she said.
"Ponies have been saying the same thing about trolls, but they exist. If such a creature exists, perhaps we may learn more about our combined magical potential," Starswirl said. "Is there a name for this creature?"
Clover nodded and opened the scroll. "They are called the 'Alicorn'. Legend has it that the alicorn possess unicorn magic, pegasus flight and earth pony strength. They are wise and very powerful with rumored connections to the gods," she read from the scroll. "Her Majesty believes that if an alicorn exists, they would be beneficial for the new land."
Starswirl nodded and had taken the scroll from his student for future reading. "Then perhaps we shall keep an eye out." They stopped walking near a ravine. Beyond from where they stood and about 200 feet below them was where impossible magic was stored: the Elements of Harmony. "The world needs a good story. The world needs hope."
The mare nodded in agreement. "I must return to the Diamond Castle soon, teacher. Shall I carry the message that you are interested in the alicorn myth?" she asked.
Starswirl chuckled. "Sure, why not? Who knows, maybe we will find something even more than the alicorn myth" was his response.
Clover smiled and turned in the other direction. "You'd best be heading to shelter, teacher. The winter blizzard will do murder to your bones," she said with a smile.
Starswirl rolled his eyes. "I'm old, not ancient. When you grow old like me, you will understand," he said. "Onwards."
Clover smiled. "Onwards." She lifted her hood and disappeared into the forest, leaving the old stallion standing where he was.
Starswirl sighed as he turned back to the ravine he had come across. He had noticed the ravine earlier but he had not noticed that by taking a closer look, he could see there was an old stone bridge connecting the two plots of land. What had struck him as odd was the fact he had never seen the bridge during the time he would come to the forest.
Starswirl inspected the bridge by wiping the snow off of it. The stone was fairly new, perhaps a few years old at best. Nopony would build a bridge unless there was a reason so, and the ravine ran deep but not far.
Tentatively, Starswirl began walking on it. Along the way, he had considered using a melting spell to get rid of the snow, then again it would just start accumulating once he was done. He decided against his proposed idea.
When the wizard reached the other side, his jaw dropped. Standing in front of him was a giant stone castle. Torches previously left unseen lit the doorway up. The castle was topped with gargoyles and faint evidence of wear on the stone. Just based on the torches, somepony was using this castle as a home. The old wizard approached the doors and began knocking.
Throughout the castle, the knock echoed. The sudden sound startled the two residents in the castle before they started moving.
Starswirl heard nopony approach the door. He knocked again, getting a similar result in the process. Deciding against his better judgment, he had to get inside. The weather was starting to become tiresome. He opened the doors, finding them unlocked and slipped inside. The doors closed, earning a loud bang. He was inside and he was warm.
A little too warm.
The castle was cared for. The hallway he had entered led to a grand hallway where two thrones sat perched on the balcony, overlooking the main room. The old wizard began approaching the thrones in front of him, unaware of the shadow that had moved above him.
The wizard stopped in front of the balcony where the two thrones were. One was gold in color while the other was purple. Before he could say anything, the sound of a saber unsheathed from a scabbard rang through the ears of the old wizard. He turned to see a purple mare with a dark blue mane standing behind him. She wore a cloak that covered her body and in her magical grasp was a long sword raised to his neck. "Who art thou, trespasser?" she asked.
Starswirl gulped as he began backing up. The purple mare followed his every step with the sword level to him. Her gaze never broke. "I uh, I'm sorry I-I didn't know that this place had a resident," he said.
The mare narrowed her eyes. "You lie. I had watched you look upon our door with intrigue. The torches blowing in the winter blizzard looked awfully like somepony had freshly lit them. You had knocked twice before entering and you realized how well kept the castle interior is. You knew very well somepony lived here," she said.
Sweat began to form on the back of Starswirl's neck. "I uh, well..."
"Speak the truth, or you will be slain," the mare threatened.
"Sister!" a voice boomed.
The purple mare looked up behind Starswirl. "We do not execute trespassers in this castle. If anything, we would do that in the gardens in spring," the voice, mare judging by the pitch, said.
Terrific, I can't wait for a spring execution, Starswirl thought.
"Sheath your weapon sister. Perhaps he is uncomfortable with a sword at his Apple," the other voice said.
The purple mare sighed as she reluctantly sheathed her blade. She walked past the old wizard and approached the balcony. Starswirl turned to see another mare on the balcony. Her mane was pink as her coat was white. She was tall, almost taller than the other mare. The mare was also wearing a black cloak.
The mare narrowed her eyes as her sister joined her on the balcony. "Speak, wizard. Who are you and why do you trespass on our grounds?" she boomed.
Starswirl sighed and shifted in his place. "I am Starswirl of Unicornia, I serve under the monarchy as an advisor and royal mage. I apologize for trespassing; I am only seeking shelter for the night," he said.
The two mares eyed each other for a moment before turning back to Starswirl. "We have heard of the kingdom of Unicornia, sir mage. The blizzard outside is not for a weathered stallion like yourself," the mare with a pink mane said.
"Sister..." the purple mare muttered.
The other sister ignored her. "You are granted a stay in our castle, and since you are a guest, perhaps introductions are in order." The white mare flipped her hood back. "I am Celestia of Everfree."
The purple mare rolled her eyes and flipped her hood back. "And I am Luna of Everfree. Welcome to our castle, young wizard."
Starswirl chuckled. "Young? You flatter me Luna," he responded. "I am old enough to be your grandfather."
The two sisters eyed each other and gave similar smirks of amusement. "Dear Starswirl, we are not as young as you think we are. You see, however old you perceive yourself to be, we are five times older," Celestia said.
Starswirl eyed the two mares curiously and chuckled. "Certainly you are not..."
The two mares opened the wings they had tucked under their cloaks. The old wizard's jaw hit the ground as he stared at the two pairs of wings in front of him. Celestia's wings were far bigger and grander than her sister's wings. Starswirl conjured the paper than Clover had given him and read the description of the alicorn myth.
A unicorn's magic... check.
Wings of a pegasus... check.
Power beyond any other... check.
The wizard gulped nervously. He had found alicorns. "Oh...oh dear me. I-I am...wow I-"
The sisters retracted their wings. "It probably was not wise for either of us to reveal our true forms to you wizard, however since you will be seeking refuge here in the castle, we simply cannot withhold our secrets from you," Luna said.
Celestia nodded. "We feel we have given you more than you intended on learning. Please, Starswirl," Celestia pleaded. "Speak."
The gears in the unicorn's head continued to spin erratically. "I-I...wow this is unbelievable. You are real," he muttered. Starswirl suddenly began laughing as he reviewed the scroll. "Alicorns? I just met two of the most powerful equines on the planet?! By the gods this is incredible!"
Luna coughed nervously. "Y-yes, we are...erm powerful," she said uncertainly.
Starswirl looked up at the two. He didn't need magic to see what was wrong. "Y-you do know magic, don't you?"
Celestia blushed. "Sir Starswirl, and I must be honest, the most we have done so far is simply teleportation and flight. W-we are novices at magic at best," she said.
Suddenly, Starswirl had an idea. "Dearest Celestia and Luna, while I may not look like one, I am an instructor in magic. Recently, my student dispelled the Wendigos using unknown and very powerful magic. Perhaps I can instruct the pair of you in the same," he said.
The two sisters eyed each other. "And what is it for you?" Luna asked.
"Oh nothing at all. I will teach you magic to its very best. I can teach you teleportation, environmental manipulation, transformation and anything else we can learn together. Every day I am researching new and pre-existing magic tomes. We can learn true magic together," Starswirl proposed. "If you feel like paying for anything, it is up to you."
The two sisters suddenly became locked in an intense, and silent conversation with each other. As silence reigned in the castle, Starswirl suddenly realized what he had just proposed. If I fail them, what will happen to me?!
The two sisters finally made a decision. "Sir Starswirl, your offer does seem generous and without any negative implications. My sister and I have survived solely on levitation and...hoofwork. To perform and understand magic would certainly be an advantage," Celestia said.
"However, there is one thing we must understand: for you to instruct us and help us perfect our magic, you must be available to us. We are prepared to offer you a room in the castle, and when the time comes, we shall reveal ourselves to the world beyond," Luna continued. "If you are willing, we will prepare your chambers."
Starswirl's heart sunk. They trusted him enough to offer a stay in the castle and become a full-time teacher to the pair of them. It took a moment before Starswirl made his decision. He removed his hat and bowed to the two alicorns. "Then it is settled," Celestia said.
The wizard raised his head. "Very well. Tomorrow morning, the both of you will meet me in the gardens. I will evaluate what you both have learned so far, and we will progress from there," he said as he stood proud and strong.
The two sisters smiled. "Will that be all, Professor Starswirl?" Luna said, playfully.
The old wizard smiled. "That is all. Class is in session, dear Celestia and Luna. I typically prefer apples since I absolutely hate pears," he said with a smirk.
The two sisters chuckled. Learned that from an old friend, Starswirl thought.
A few moments later, Luna had led the old wizard to his new chambers. The two braved the blizzard once more to the north tower where the room was. The room consisted of a small bed and a desk in the far wall. A simple window overlooked the ravine below the castle. It wasn't much...yet. If Starswirl was serious about his proposal to the two sisters, he would conduct his research here.
On the desk, Starswirl had found some parchment and a quill. The old wizard needed to have Clover there as well for some lessons that she had learned herself. He would also have to pen a letter to Princess Platinum to let her know his change in employment. He penned his first letter to Clover, telling him to return to where she had last seen him.
As Starswirl wrote the letter and the snow fell outside, magic was in the works. Directly outside the window, for a brief moment, two small sparkles of magic flickered. For one simple moment, a moment lost to time, the two sparkles winked to the old wizard.
