For 1000 years a pony has been frozen in ice. Whee Twilight frees him, he doesn't know why he did it
1000 years ago, a mechanical savvy unicorn froze himself into ice, for reasons he doesn't remember. After getting his bearings set straight by Twilight Sparkle and meeting some of the folk in Ponyville, he sets off to try and remember why he did. As he does, the Doctor Whooves TARDIS goes near haywire picking up a massive disturbance in both time and space somehow connected to the mysterious Unicorn for reasons he does not know, nor can he figure as he tries to find out why understand. All the while, forces sealed away with him are coming back leading to somethign nopony wants
"Hurry up Spike! I can't wait!" said Twilight as she climbed up the side of the hill.
It was a bright and sunny day, the Pegasi had really outdone themselves and Celestia seemed to have taken a particular interest in this day itself as the sun shined perfectly across the land, smiling on everything it touched. Twilight looked around and couldn't imagine a single thing that could ruin such a perfect day.
"Whoa-Whoop!" yelled Spike as he fell over with the large pack he was carrying.
"Spike." Laughed Twilight, "You need to be more careful."
The little purple baby dragon stood up and brushed off some dirt that had gotten on him.
"Easy for you to say. You don't have to carry this backpack full of supplies!" He said pointing to a backpack just as tall as him, full of cave exploring equipment, "Why do we need all this stuff anyway?"
"Because the Guide to cave exploring said to be prepared for anything. I always want to be prepared!"
"Over prepared more like it." grumbled Spike.
Suddenly, the bag was surrounded by a magical aura and floated above Twilights head.
"Come on Spike, jump on. I'll give you a break. There's even a surprise for you in the rear patch!"
Spike eagerly jumped on and opened the back pouch. To his delight there were three gems for him and his mouth watered with excitement and lust for the tasty gems. He quickly took one of them and began to munch away on it.
"So, where are we going again?" he asked as he happily ate his valuable treats.
"Weren't you listening when I told you earlier?" asked a annoyed Twilight
"Kind of!" said Spike trying to sound innocent.
"Ugh, we're going to the Palomino Ice caves! I read in my books that that is where Clover the Clever, Private Pansy, Chancellor Puddinghead, Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane, and Smart Cookie hid out during the great blizzard!"
"You sure?" asked Spike before hiding under Twilights mane, "Are those Windigo creatures still there?"
He looked out through Twilights hair and around looking for the monsters, but Twilight just laughed.
"No Spike. Those creatures were defeated a long time ago by the power of friendship. There is no need to worry!"
"Oh. Well, how long until we get there?" asked Spike laying back.
"We're here!" said Twilight happily.
Spike looked up and saw a not so inviting cave entrance before him and shuddered with a little fear. Meanwhile, Twilight showed the exact opposite as she walked right on in, ready for the adventure. Water dripped from the stalactites as Twilight used her horn to illuminate the cave while Spike cowered on her back, jumping at the slightest noise.
"Are, are you sure this is safe?"
"Spike, your a dragon! Your kind live in these types of places!" laughed Twilight
"I'm more pony than dragon, and besides, I'm a baby dragon."
Spike wanted to get out of the cave as fast as possible, and lowering himself to say these things were his last attempt.
They failed. Miserably.
Twilight kept on walking, hoping that she would find something that could prove this is the historic cave that became the center of the founding of Equestria. Sadly, the further she walked on, the further she was convinced this was not. For one thing, that cave was a large open hole in the mountain, this cave branched off all over the place. Ice formed on the side of the walls so thick one could see their reflection. She pulled out a book from her backpack and went reading through it intensely. Spike meanwhile looked around, still nervous. The giant cave seemed to be closing in on them. He could almost see faces in their giant maws as he looked around. Teeth made of stone, ready to eat him and Twilight the moment they looked the other way. Spike turned fast to look away and saw a pair of eyes starring at him.
"GYAAAH!" yelled Spike as he fell off from Twilight's back and onto the floor.
"Spike what happened? You okay?" asked a concerned Twilight
Spike didn't move, blink, or even flinch. He just stared wide eyed and frightened at whatever he was looking at. Twilight turned to see a pair of green eyes off somewhere in fear, and it wasn't just eyes, it was a whole pony, a unicorn frozen in the ice! He was turquoise in color with a blue and white striped mane and tail. He wore a vest that had several gears and wires running around it, and above him looked like remains of some makeshift metal wings, now nearly destroyed by the ice that surrounded it. On his flank rested his Cutie Mark, a pair of swords crossed over a scroll.
"Come on Spike! We need to help him!" said Twilight as she fired a magical beam at the ice
Spike took in a large breath and breathed fire at the ice, melting some. As his flame died he saw something surrounding the Unicorn, a magical field. At first he thought it was Twilight, but the color of the magic was green, not the same color as Twilight. Twilight meanwhile still kept at her blasts to try and break him free until Spike stopped her.
"Twilight, look!"
Twilight stopped to see the green magic as it cracked the ice around the Unicorn, shattering it completely. Twilight shielded spike from the aura, but it seemed to dissolve away as it reached them. A bright light emitted from where the Unicorn was standing, before going away as fast as it was bright. Twilight and Spike looked again to see the Unicorn standing there, sort of. he wobbled around for a bit before falling over.
"Whoo hoo! I'm free." he said in a daze.
Twilight and Spike walked over to him. Upon noticing the pair, he quickly stood up and bowed before them both.
"Thank you kindly for getting me out of that icy prison."
"You're welcome, but I don't think we did it." said Twilight
"Well, the spell I cast would release me when another ponies magic tried to free me. So, technically you did! Names Scripted Sword by the way. Don't ask about the name I never understood it myself but it went with the Cutie Mark. Just call me Scrapper."
"Scrapper? What kind of a name is that?" asked Spike.
"Because I can turn any piece of scrap into a work of unimaginable art!" he said proudly, "and a functional one too."
"Your name is Scripted Swords and you make contraptions out of scrap?"
Uh, no." said Scrapper, "My main job was to script and craft elegant swords for the pony populace. Making my inventions was a hobby. And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"
"Twilight Sparkle. This is my assistant Spike!"
Pleased to meet you." said Scrapper bowing again, "So then, did Bennett send you here?"
"Bennett?" asked Twilight, "Who's that?"
"Bennett, Lord Augustus Bennett of the Royal Court? Subservient to Princess Celestia and Luna before she became Nightmare moon?" asked Scrapper as if they should know.
"Never heard of him." said Spike
"But that's impossible! He is known throughout Equestria and he is a personal friend of mine-"
He looked around behind him to see that the fake wings he wore were flat out destroyed, beyond any hopes of repair. He moved his hind legs, causing the wings to screech loudly until the broke off, falling to the floor in pieces.
"No it can't be!" he said, running for the cave entrance.
Twilight and Spike followed him as he galloped outside and looked on.
"No, no, no, no! There was no farm here! And that town! Where did it come from!? Oh how long was I in that ice!?"
"Uh, do you need a place to sit?" asked Twilight as she walked up.
"Maybe." said Scrapper.
Twilight pulled a pillow from her bag and put it under him as he sat down.
"That there is Apple Acres. Home to the finest Apples in Equestria and my good friend Applejack. Over there is Ponyville."
"Pony-Ville? When did that get there?"
"About 300 some years ago." said Twilight
Scrapper looked on in horror as Spike handed him some punch. The shocked Unicorn gladly accepted it and began to drink.
"What was the last thing before you became entangled in Ice you remember?" asked Twilight.
"Oh, Princess Luna transformed into Nightmare moon was was banished for a thousand-some years in the moon. Tragedy it was. I always enjoyed her nights. Even Celestia did, nearly everypony did. I just wish she understood that."
"That was a thousand years ago."
Scrapper spit out his drink all over Spike, who looked at him with distaste. Scrappy turned his head toward Twilight and looked at her in fear.
"You mean to tell me I was trapped in that Ice for a thousand years!?"
"Uh, I guess."
Scrapper fainted.
----
"Ugh....... what happened? Is anypony there?"
"Who." came a voice
"Anpony?" asked Scrappy as he rubbed his head
"Who."
"I don't know just anypony!" yelled Scrapper
"Who."
"Hey! Enough with it already!" said Scrapper jumping up, "I don't have time for this- owl. You're a owl."
Scrapper looked at the tiny owl sitting there looking at him constantly.
"Who." said the Owl
"There is a three letter word I know. It's not, when, it's not where, it's not how, it's:"
"Who."
"Exactly." said Scrapper as he walked downstairs
He was in a tree of all places, and books lined the shelves all over the place, giving to him the conclusion he was in a library. He walked down them until he saw Twilight Sparkle sitting at a desk reading a scroll.
"Twilight Sparkle!" said Scrapper
"Oh good you're awake!" said Twilight walking over to him, "Spike and I sure had trouble getting you over here."
"Forgive me, the shock of waking up a thousand years late tends to pull a cord or two in ones brain."
"What in the wide world of Equestria were you doing that you froze yourself for a thousand years?" asked Twilight
"Oh that's easy! I was-"
He stopped to think for a minute, but his mind failed him and he spoke in fear: "I don't remember."
"What? How could you not remember? Freezing yourself for a thousand years surely has a pretty big reason!" said Twilight, raising her voice.
"I can't honestly remember! I was sure I knew why! Maybe the thousand years part has done a number on my head."
"Hmm, maybe a walk around Ponyville could get your mind at ease! I'm sure a lot of ponies would like to meet you. Just watch out for Pinkie Pie."
"Why?"
"Trust me, you'll know why."
"Okay then. What will you be doing in the meantime?" asked Scrapper
"I'm writing to Princess Celestia! Surely she would know what you were doing and would love to meet with you again."
"Yes, I've met with the Princesses. I was a good friend of Luna's back then. Lovely Mare she is. However, I doubt a letter would get through to her. I'll save yourself the burden and try and find a way in myself."
"Oh no need. I'm her favored and private student! I send her reports all the time!"
Scrapper stopped as he made his way out the door and looked back to her in surprise: "You know the Princess personally?"
"Both of them actually." said Twilight, "It's a long story and you need to clear your head."
"You have no idea." said Scrapper as he walked out
The streets of Ponyville were filled with dozens of ponies of all races. They chatted idly as they went about their days, with only Scrapper feeling out of place. Pegasus flew in the air, some playing, others on weather duty. On the ground a party was being thrown in a large bakery that seemed to be made out of sugary treats, while others gathered around a Unicorn who was showing off several dresses. Scrapper looked at them until he ran into some pony and fell to the ground.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" said the pony he ran into.
"No, no, no! It's my fault sorry." said Scrapper
The light blue Unicorn mare started to pick up the things she dropped and Scrapper went to help. He noticed her cutie mark was of a hour glass as she went around, along with her mane being dark and steel blue. He placed them all back in her saddle bags and nodded his head.
"Who are you?" she asked, "Are you new in town?"
"Yes. Scripted Swords. Just call me Scrapper."
"Names Minuette. Or Colgate to most of my friends."
"Colgate? You mean the toothpaste?"
"Yeah. I don't know why, they say it's because my mane looks like toothpaste. Well, nice meeting you. Watch out for Pinkie Pie. She's, well, she's a happy one."
"That's what Twilight said." said Scrapper
"Oh, you know Twilight Sparkle? Wow! you must be form Canterlot or something! Explains why you have a vest like that on."
Scrapper looked down to see he was still wearing his old clockwork vest that had the dual function or working as elegant attire and to work what were his wings.
"Well, nice meeting you Scrapper. If your in town, swing by my place! I'm sure my roommate Berry Punch would love to meet you."
"If I'm around." said Scrapper
Scrapper walked off after that admiring the town and keeping an eye out for the one named Pinkie Pie. Soon he had walked the entire circle that was the town and saw many of the sights it had to offer. For a town that wasn't around before he froze himself, he would have wished it was. It was such a quiet, peaceful, and quaint little place. However, even a walk through it failed to fix his thoughts. Why did he forget why he froze himself. He didn't mean to do it for a thousand years that was for sure, but why? Why didn't his friend Bennett send someone to free him? Everything was a mix in his head and he decided to return to the library. Maybe a book there would help him and he made way for it. As he did, a grey coated yellow haired Pegasus crashed in front of him wearing a mailmare hat and a mail sack over her sides. Her eyes were looking in opposite directions of each other and one of them looked up to see Scrapper standing over her
"Hello." said Scrapper, "Do you, uh need help?"
"No I got it!" said the Pegasus as she stood up and brushed herself off, "My wing got stuck on my sack that's all."
"Who are you anyway and why are your eyes all?"
"Oh, it's just a condition I have. I'm Derpy Hooves!" she said extending her hoof
"Scripted Sword. Call me Scrapper."
"Okay Scrapper! You must be new here because I never met you before. I know because I'm the mailmare and-have you met Pinky Pie yet?"
Her demeanor changed from bubbly and happy to strict and serious which caught Scrapper off Guard.
"Uh, no not yet."
"Well you should meet her!" she said happily once again, "She throws wild partied for all the new ponies in Ponyville! Where do you come from anyway?"
"I come from a long time ago." said Scrapper uneasily
"How long ago?" asked a curious Derpy
"A thousand years." said Scrapper
"Oh wow! That's a long, long, long time!" she said in amazement, but nothing else
"That doesn't bother you?" asked Scrapper
"Oh, I live with a time travelling pony! It's nothing new to me!"
"Time travelling pony!?" asked Scrapper thinking this Pegasus had lost it, "No, no, no I don't do that! I was frozen in ice that is all."
"Well I'd give you a muffin if I had one, but I'm all out. Come see me again if you want a muffin!" she said before flying off, "Now to deliver these letters!"
"I need to get back to the library!" said Scrapper as he galloped off.
"Hey Twilight." said Scrapper as he entered the library, "You have a books that date back to a thousand years ago?"
"No, but I know where some are!" she said cheerfully, "Canterlot!"
"How does that help me?" he asked confused
"Princess Celestia replied to my letter! She has sent for a Royal Guard chariot to escort you back to Canterlot! She's excited to see you again and hopes you will go see Princess Celestia!"
"Wow, mail has really improved over the years!" said Scrapper in surprise
"Now, I have spike to magically send them to her, and she sends them back through him."
"It's not as pleasant and easy as it sounds." said Spike as he walked by
"So, when is the Guard escort getting here?" asked Scrapper
"Soon. Very soon. My brother is Captain of the Guard so he saw to it personally to get a Guard out here fast."
"Your brother is Captain of the Royal Guard!? Is there anything else about you I don't know?"
"Well, I am known for returning Princess Luna to her original form, and for defeating Discord when he was released! bragged Twilight
"Discord!" said Scrapper suddenly
"Yeah, King of Chaos and all that! he almost defeated the elements of harmony!"
"No, no, while yes that is impressive and I envy you for it, there is a reason his name strikes a memory in me! something about him is why I froze myself, I just don't know!"
"Well, he's defeated again! So there is no reason to fear now."
"It wasn't Discord though, it was.... I can't remember!"
"Well, maybe you could ask Celestia while your there. I'm sure you'll be welcomed warmly by her, I hope."
"I was on friendly terms with Princess Celestia before I froze myself. I'm a inventor you see! Made all sorts of contraptions and what not out of scrap."
"Oh. Well I guess-"
A knock came at the door followed by a voice saying "Royal Guard" as Twilight and Scrapper walked over to it.
"Wow, they got here fast." said Scrapper
"Well, I did send the letter not long after you left, and flying to Canterlot is much quicker than going by train."
They opened the door to see a brown coated blue haired Pegasus standing there in Guard armor. He looked like he didn't want to be there and gazed over the two Unicorns before resting his sights on Scrapper.
"So, is this the time frozen Unicorn?" he asked
"Yes, yes I am." said Scrapper, "And you sir are?"
"Staff Sergeant David, Royal Guard."
"David?" asked a confused Twilight
"Eeyup. I owed the Guards who normally do this a favor ever since the Wedding disaster."
"You're in the Guard?" asked Scrapper
"If I had a bit for every time some pony asked me that. Yes I'm the the Guard. We're not all a bunch of white and grey haired Ponies! Allot of us are, but not all of us!"
"Okay, sorry." said Twilight breaking them up, "So, this is Scripted Swords, or Scrapper. You're taking him to Canterlot?"
"Seems like it. Come on! Chariot is waiting! Got one of them new models that help Guards as they fly." he finished happily
"After you sir." said Scrapper
David walked away with Scrapper right behind him before Scrapper turned back to Twilight.
"Thank you Twilight Sparkle for freeing me! I hope to see you again one day!"
Twilight nodded her head as the Royal Guard Staff Sergeant spread his wings and kicked off the ground. The chariot flew off with Scrapper in it as he watched Ponyville shrink away into the ground below until it was a large dot in the distance. He turned back to the Guard pulling the chariot and decided to make conversation for neither had anything better to do.
"So, you owed the regular guys who did this a favor?" asked Scrapper
"Don't even get me started!" said David, "Those dang changelings impersonated everyone! I couldn't tell who was who!"
"Changelings! I remember them! Ugly vile creatures!"
"No kidding! Freaks went and impersonated Princess Candace, weakened Captain Shining Armor, broke through the shield! I still don't know why we had that stupid thing up! We could have taken them! All it did was put us in a false sense of security!"
"So what happened?" asked Scrapper
"Changelings broke through, terrorized the town, impersonated people! I broke the two ponies jaws i thought were changelings. Eh heh heh."
"So how did you win?"
"We managed to hold a few places. Once Captain Shadow of the Lunar Guard Corps gave the order to strike anypony who did not sound off when asked the hoof, we slowly pushed them back. Finally, Captain Armor and Princess Cadence managed to fix up the barrier and sent those Changelings over the horizon. A lovely sight!"
"You encounter yourself?" asked Scrapper
"Yep. Really helped hold off the area me and my squad were holding. Asked them if they wanted revenge on me for all the pain I put them through. Tore those Changelings a good one. Made me proud."
"You're not like normal Guards are you?." said Scrapper
"I'm married to Captain Shadow of the Lunar Guard Corps! You tell me!" said David as they flew along
"You're married to the Captain of Luna's Guard?"
"Long story! I got roped into it somehow! Meh, no complaints though."
"Well, I guess it would be good to see Canterlot again. See how much it has changed!"
"Not much from what I can tell. If what you say is true, you know the Royal Princesses?" asked David
"Yes! I was a good friend of Princess Luna and by extension Princess Celestia!"
"Well, they would be excited to see you! Most ponies from then, don't exist much anymore."
"Yes. This should be a eventful visit I can already tell!" said Scrapper as he saw Canterlot getting closer
----
"Excuse me, Twilight?" asked Colgate as she entered the Library
"Oh, hi Minuette! What brings you here?" asked Twilight as she walked over to meet the Unicorn
"Uh, that new Unicorn dropped this when we ran into each other. I picked it up by mistake."
She showed him a small blue orb that seemed to glow a dim light. She stared at it and looked it over Colgate held it. Despite her trained eye, she couldn't think of any reason why Scrapper would have it, or what it was for.
"I was just here to return it to him and be on my way."
"Well you just missed him. He flew back to Canterlot with a Guard escort."
"Shoot. Now what do I do?" asked Colgate
"Hmm, Spike, how's my schedule for the rest of today?"
"Just a bunch of reading!" called Spike from afar
"I'll take you to Canterlot!" said Twilight, "I get free train tickets so I can take you!"
"Well, that would be nice, but I really need to get home and, well, I do have to get something from there as is, and well, Berry Punch would understand if Spike were to tell her. How soon can we leave?"
"Well, I say now who nows what that Colt will do unpon getting there. Spike! I'm going to Canterlot! Tell Berry Punch Minuette is going as well!"
"Huh?" said Spike looking down to see the door close
----
"Well, we're here!" said David as he landed at a large landing balcony on the palace. If I am correct, Celestia is away at a meeting."
"Well, I guess I can wait awhile. After all I must not intrude on the Royal duties of the Princess!"
"Well, Luna I think had the day off. If what Raven told me is true, then she should be in her room."
"Raven?" asked Scrapper
"Captain Shadow. My wife! Come on, I'll take you to Luna's room."
The two walked down he large corridors of the palace until they saw Luna's room door, guarded by two of her Guards. As they walked up, they saw Luna enter the room from another hallway and close the door.
"Well then." said David looking on, "Found her and we know she's in there. Why don't you go say hi there Scrapper. Scrapper? Scrapper? Oh Scripted Sword!?"
He looked around and could not find a sign of the Unicorn anywhere. Getting bored fast he hit the side of a pillar and down came Scrapper falling to the ground.
"How did you know I was up there?" he asked
"I do this for a living." said David unimpressed by Scrappers hiding place, "Now then, why are you so shy all of a sudden?"
"Did you see her! Did you see what she looks like!?" asked Scrapper
"Looks the same as always." said David looking towards her door, "I'm sure she'll be glad to see you and-"
He was cut off by Luna screaming at the top of her Canterlot voice for a servant to bring her a glass of water. Her voice echoed through the halls and rattled the windows.
"Or somepony set her off and you're royally screwed."
"She always use the traditional Canterlot voice in that volume?"
"Not as much as she used to. My records ten seconds air time when she once addressed me. Guard record is a full minute!"
"What?"
"Huh? Oh, we Pegasus spread our wings and catch the gust of air that comes out of her mouth. It's fun."
Scrapper huddled where he lay shaking violently as David sighed.
"Here, I'll help you." he said lifting him up
"No, that's not necessary. You don't need to-"
"My orders are to escort you to the Palace, or escort you to the Princesses." explained David as he walked Scrapper to the center of the hall, "So, I may as well cover my rear and help you to at least Princess Luna."
Scrapper was resistant to the Guards push and sat down with a force and would not move.
"Maybe some other time." said Scrapper nervously
"Look, allot of ponies are nervous to see their Princess of the night. I'll help you get a kick start to seeing her."
"Kick start?" asked Scrapper still looking at her door, "Whatever do you mean?"
"Well, have you ever flown before?" asked David as he walked behind him
"I made myself a set of mechanical wings once. It was glorious!" said Scrapper
"Perfect. Hope you can steer." said David lining up his hind legs
"Steer?" asked Scrapper before he felt a sharp pain in his hind quarters
Scrapper next felt himself flying through the air once again. It was magnificent! The air rushing past his mane, the freedom in his veins, the sheer thrill of-he was falling. The ground came at him with incredible speed, or more over he fell to the ground with incredible speed. He landed head first and bounced across the palace hall until skidding to a stop in front of the two Lunar Guards. They moved their spears to block the door and looked at him suspiciously.
"At ease you two he's with me!" said David flying up
"Oh, Staff Sergeant." said one of the Guards, "If he is with you then never mind."
"Well then." said David to Scrapper, "You got this far. Might as well go in."
"But, but, but-" stammered Scrapper
"I can always kick you in again."
"No, no, no. I, i think i can take it from here. Nice meeting you Staff Sergeant."
"Well I can say you are one of the more peculiar ponyfolk I have ever met. Catch ya on the flip side."
Scrapper took in a large breath and walked through the doorway. Inside was elegantly designed and dark, all the tidings and trimmings for the Princess of the night. Luna herself was standing over a balcony looking out over the horizon as Scrapper shut the door. It thudded against it's latching and Luna turned to see who it was.
"Put the water on our stand and that will be all."
"Uh, I do not have water." said Scrapper nervously
"What!? Who are you and why are you in our room?" yelled Luna angrily
"Uh....... Hi?" said a nervous Scrapper
Luna walked up to him, ready to do everything in her power to make his life miserable until she decided to call in her Guards. Whoever this Unicorn was, showing up unannounced on today of all days was probably the worst thing to happen. She wanted to be alone, and he was going to receive her full fury. Scrapper felt himself rise up as she brought him closer and he braced himself for the worst. Just then, the door opened and Staff Sergeant David stuck his head in.
"Whoops, sorry I forgot to announce you there Scrapper. *ahem* Princess Luna! This Unicorn here is Scripted Swords, some unicorn from a thousand or so years ago who was frozen in ice and is here to say hi. I'll se myself out."
With that he left and closed the door. Scrapper looked on confused as to why the Guard had forgotten to announce him, how Scrapper himself let it slip by, and that he just saved him from certain pain. Suddenly, he felt himself rotating around in the air as Luna looked him over to see if the claim was true. Scrapper felt himself getting queasy in the stomach through being moved so quickly and violently before having all the air squeezed out of his body.
"Scrappy! You're alive!"
"Scrappy!........ That's a name I haven't......heard in a long time!" said Scrapper with some difficulty
Luna continued to squeeze him as hard as she could. After being locked away for a thousand years all the friends or associates she once knew outside her sister were long gone. The sight of one of her old friends was too much for her to handle, and she wouldn't let go. Scrapper meanwhile felt the last bits of oxygen leave his lungs as he struggled to make words.
"Luna, can you......stop trying to....... break me in half?"
Luna instantly let go as Scrapper dropped to the floor with a thud.
"Owe."
"Sorry. I'm so excited to see you again! Celestia told me you went off on some quest after Nightmare Moon was imprisoned and were never seen from again."
"Yes I apparently froze myself in ice." said Scrapper cracking his back from the hug he received, "I don't remember why I did it though."
"Strange. How did you escape."
"Some pony named twilight-"
"Twilight Sparkle. A dear and close friend of mine!"
"Yes she seems to know both you and Celestia." said Scrapper as he gave his back one final twist, "Owe."
"Oh, I cannot believe this is true! You standing here in front of me! Right now! I can't believe it-er, what happened to your wings?"
"Huh? Oh they broke off when I came out of the ice. 1000 years tends to do that to frozen metal."
"Well, we must get you a new set! Come! I wish to fly with you once again like old times!"
"I guess I can whip up a new pair. Would be nice to go flying again. By the way why were you so angry earlier?"
"I don't want to talk about it." said Luna darkly
"Okay then." said Scrapper nervously quickly changing the subject, "So, how has your new found freedom been?"
"Oh I have loads of stories to tell you!" said Luna as they walked off
----
Meanwhile in Ponyville Derpy landed at her house. She had finished early today and Dinky and Dizzy was not yet home from school so there was no little Unicorn and Pegasus to greet her. Sparkler wasn't back either from where she went, all that was left was her good friend the Doctor, who was out back working on some strange device before his magical time box. She skipped merrily over to him and tried to watch him with both eyes, but one ended up looking at the TARDIS.
"Hello Doctor!"
"Gyaaa! Oh, hello Derpy! How are you today?"
"I met another time traveling pony just like you!" she said happily
Doctor Whooves dropped his sonic screw driver and nearly fell over before looking back up at Derpy.
"But that's impossible! Your kind wont be figuring out how to develop time travel technology for another few millennia!
Unless of course you use magic but even then it's only for a short time!"
"Well, he did say he was frozen in ice or something."
"Oh, that makes more sense, cryogenics. That explains everything!"
"Why would one want to cry over genetics Doctor?" asked Derpy
"Huh, oh no Cryogenics is the process of-"
"I keep forgetting how strange you are Doctor." said Derpy happily
"No wait you-"
"Ohmygosh! I just forgot! My after work Muffin! See you later Doctor."
She quickly flew off to her house leaving the Doctor just standing there bewildered.
"*Sigh* Might as well get back to fixing this device. Wait a minute a thousand years ago!"
The Doctor stopped what he was doing, picked up the device he had in his hands and ran to the TARDIS. He jumped through the doors and ran to a panel that he had undone a few nights ago. he plugged the device in and ran over to the central station.
"Set this big red red lever here, slam this squishy button here, hit this wibbley thingy here."
"Doctor? What are you doing?" asked Derpy as she walked in holding a Muffin
"Oh, hello again Derpy. You see, a few nights ago the TARDIS picked up a massive vortex of energy that didn't make sense. I traced it back and saw that it was left over residue from a massive blast a thousand years ago that had been transcending through time and space. Now at first I thought it was maybe a bidirectional mid-stellar surge that just happened to pass by your planet, but it didn't read on he right charts. So, then I thought maybe it was a cross-dimensional giga-plex super-"
"Okay you're not making sense." said a confused Derpy, "but was it?"
"No." said the Doctor
"So what was it?"
"I thought this device here was broken so I tore it off and tried to fix it!" he said putting it back on
"So was it broken?" asked Derpy
"Nope!" said the Doctor cheerfully, "Not at all! This little device here is working just fine! Better than ever I should say actually seeing it picked that up!"
"Wait, so what was it?" asked Derpy
"No idea! However, if what you say is true, then if that particular Unicorn was from a thousand years ago it had to be him!"
"Now hold on a minute Doctor. There were allot of ponies 1000 years ago. Just because some random pony appears from then doesn't mean he's responsible!"
"Yes, but this particular vortex had the markings of ice all over it! That's why I thought it was space because, well, space is cold. But if this pony was cryogenically frozen that means the vortex came from him! That explains everything!" exclaimed the Doctor finishing with laughter as he jumped around the TARDIS
"Okay Doctor. I'm just going to finish my muffin now."
"Oh can I have one too?" asked the Doctor, "It's been quite awhile since I ate!"
The train sped along towards Canterlot, a regular trip for this particular train since being laid down. Transporting everything, and anything, to and from Canterlot to Ponyville and back again. In the main passenger car, Twilight and Colgate sat out and looked toward Canterlot.
"So Minuette, you okay ever since the Changeling Queen took over your mind?"
"Ah ha ha ha, let's not get into that please." she answered, still not completely over what had happened to her.
Twilight smiled nervously and returned to looking towards the city. The shield protecting it powered by her brother had long since been removed, and all damage done by the changelings had been repaired in the days since. As far as most ponies were concerned life had returned to normal but some were still on edge. Before the Changeling attack there had been a incident involving a Diamond Dog who used some old enchanted stone to enslave the Guard and try and take over the Palace, but was fortunately stopped by the Guard themselves and the Princesses. It was if life here in Equestria was getting crazier and crazier by the minute! She read in a paper about ponies complaining about how weird life had gotten, but officials played it off as the remnants of Discords own power still snaking it's way through the landscape to foul up the peace. Twilight herself wanted to believe that, but she and her friends had locked Discord and his power away in stone, forever trapped again. That couldn't have been the reason life was getting strange now a days. As they entered a tunnel she stopped looking and walked over to Colgate.
The blue Unicorn was still unnerved by her previous experience in Canterlot, and Twilight couldn't blame her. Being mind controlled by the Changeling Queen into becoming a evil slave would do a number on somepony. While it wasn't enough to break the temptation of a wedding flowers, it did do a number on all of them. Even know her Brother Shining Armor and Candace had sent a letter about their honey moon in Seychelles that Shining Armor still felt dizzy sometimes. He was the Royal Guard Captain and while he got most of it, he was trained to resist that. Colgate was your normal, near everyday pony and not trained to resist and recover from it. The Doctors gave her a clean bill of health and she went on her way, but Twilight just knew that physically she was okay, mentally she was not.
"So Twilight, where did you find this Scrapper guy?" asked Colgate
Twilight snapped out of her though as she looked to see Colgate looking at her waiting for a answer. She shook her head and took in a breath to speak.
"In a cave. Frozen in ice."
Colgate herself was a little offset by this. Off all the answers she could have been given, it was in a cave. Frozen in ice.
"Oh. That's, kind of random. Why were you in that cave?"
"I thought it was the main cave that was where the founding of Equestria took place in the Hearths Warming Eve. I was wrong, but I did find him."
"He seemed nice. What did he do?"
"He made swords and inventions. That's all I know." said Twilight
"Why does he call himself Scrapper?"
"I never understood why myself. He said he took scrap metal and other parts and made works of art, but I've read allot of art books and never saw anything listed under him."
"Well maybe they haven't been published yet." said Colgate
"That's impossible! he's 1000 years old!" said twilight
"WHAT!?"
"Oh, did I not tell you that?" asked Twilight suddenly figuring out what she did wrong
"He's a thousand years old?"
"Well, probably older." explained Twilight, "He's not a little Filly, he looks older than me!"
"Then why does he not look a thousand years old? is he like the Royal Princesses?"
"No." said Twilight, "He's your average Unicorn who just so happened to be frozen in ice that kept his body from ageing I guess. There may have been a spell thrown in there as well to help."
Colgate sat down taking it all in. She knew Twilight had gone on many a crazy adventured with her friends. Some on Royal Decree, others on their own personal agenda, and now she was on one of them. She just wanted to return this gem Scrapper had left. She picked it out from her pack and looked at it.
"So, what was he doing with this?"
"I honestly couldn't tell you." said Twilight looking at it
A ray of sunshine hit against it and it began to glow and lift up into the air. Twilight and Colgate stepped back as they watched it float in the air and glowed bright with such intensity that it blinded them. The whole train shook as it started to pulse with each moment the sunlight hit it and Twilight and Colgate were knocked down. As they recovered to get it, objects began to levitate by a unknown force. Blankets, beds, even their saddle bags were lifted up and started to orbit around the floating stone. The two scared Unicorn mares held each other and braced for whatever was going to happen as it got continually worse. They could almost hear what sounded like a females voice laughing when the train entered a tunnel and it cut out. The gem fell to the floor and a blanket fell upon it.
"What was that?" asked Colgate
"I don't know." said Twilight, "I have never seen anything like that before."
"Was it like your elements of harmony things?"
"Yes but those were activated by friendship and magic! This was activated by sunlight, you think Celestia would know?"
"Well, I'm already on this crazy train trip, we might as well. I'm not touching that thing though!"
"Here, I'll take it." said Twilight putting it into her saddlebag.
It was still covered in the blanket that had fallen on it as she she closed the bag.
----
"Huh, well that's funny." said Doctor Whooves, "Another vortex!"
he looked all over his equipment and tried to tell what it was using his near infinite Time Lord knowledge and putting it to the test. He ran to every knob, wiggly lever, green squishy thingy, red pushy blob, and a big blue panel he didn't even know why he was going to it, that was panel to tell what time it was. After several minutes of running around trying to find out what it was he sat in the middle of the TARDIS stumped. The readings for the vortex died away leaving the Doctor with nothing to go one but what he saw when checking everything, and the curiosity burning in his rump. Wait, his rump really was on fire! He jumped up to see that he had sat on his Sonic screw driver and activated it by accident. After running around trying to cool off his flank it ended as he looked upon the panel where the signal he originally picked up not too long ago, and the one from just a few minutes ago.
"It doesn't make any sense! It was the exact same vortex! Same everything! Well not exactly it was a reverse in its polarity but it was still the same! What could it be!?"
He went back to try and figure out by doing it the old fashioned way. He grabbed his sonic screwdriver and aimed it toward the control console and readied to fire. he was about to go at it when the door to the TARDIS opened and in jumped a little Filly Unicorn.
"Hello Doctor..... what are you doing?"
"Oh,...huh? Oh, hello there Dinky! What are you doing here!?"
"Sparkler just came back from Sugar Cube Corner! She has cake, cupcakes, pies, muffins! Lot's of muffins!"
"Oh, well I would love to sit and enjoy a meal with your family there Dinky, I have work to do!" said the Doctor as he went back to work
"But Doctor! She brought English Muffins!"
Whooves stopped what he was doing, frozen where he was as he dropped the Sonic Screwdriver as his mouth watered for the particular bread Dinky had mentioned.
"Did, did,..... did you say....... English........ Muffins?"
"Yep! With butter and they are still all warm and toasty!" said Dinky happily
"Well then!" said the Doctor walking out of the door with Dinky in tow, "I'm sure that vortex can wait. No warning sounds or sparks, bah the cloister bell hasn't even rung! I don't need to worry. To the muffins! Allons-y!"
"Yay!" said Dinky as she skipped past
----
"So, this is your new home after the old palace was destroyed huh?" asked Scrapper as he looked around the palace, "Not as humble as the last one."
"Celestia was not the original designer." said Luna "She didn't want it. She preferred to keep it the old way of the regular ponies having their capital, and the Royal Palace separate."
"But the rest of the ponies insisted on the grounds it would make it look like Equestria was still whole. Yeah, I remember that debate before I froze myself. I really wish I knew why I did that!"
"Worry about that later my dear friend." said Luna as she tried to ease her old friend
Just then a Royal Guard rounded the corner and spotted the two. Scrapper recognized him as the Guard who flew him here as he walked up.
"Apparently I'm the go-to pony for you." said the Guard, "Princess Celestia wishes for Scripted Swords to join her for lunch. If you will please follow me."
Scrapper started to follow before turning back to Luna who was still standing there.
"You coming?" he asked
Luna perked up at this and walked up to join them.
"Well, since I wont be sleeping this afternoon thanks to Royal duties, I might as well eat. Besides, if Celestia knows you're here she would love to see you again! Take us tot he room Guard!"
"Great now my job is on the line." grumbled the Guard, "Please follow me your majesty and guest."
He walked them through the hall of the palace to the rear center of it as the other two followed.
"I wonder what she looks like now." said Scrapper
"What do you mean?" asked Luna
"A thousand years ago you were shorter had a lighter color, and light purple hair. Now you're this! A thousand years ago for Celestia, she was probably shorter and had pink hair."
"And we are here." said the Guard, "Pleas enjoy your lunches, I have a desk post to get to and i take my leave. Your Majesty. Uh..... Scrapper."
He saluted to them both and promptly left the scene. A moment later there came a creak at the doors to the Royal Banquet hall. They opened to a bright light which waned to reveal Celestia and all her regal glory as Scrapper and Luna stood there.
"Now she has a flowing rainbow mane. And is also taller. I liked it back when you two were my height! I didn't feel so short."
"Scripted Swords! how wonderful to see you again!" said Celestia greeting him
"The pleasure is mine your highness. Also, just stick to Scrapper. Allot easier in conversations."
"Very well. I see you will be joining me for lunch?" asked Celestia
"Well, seeing I got nothing else to do right now sure why not!"
"That and your house is probably gone too." said Luna thinking
"There's that too." said Scrapper realizing that, "Got any spare rooms?"
"There will always be a room available to a old friend, especially one I thought lost so many years ago."
"Yes and you can thank your student Twilight Sparkle for freeing me." said Scrapper as he sat down at the table
"Why did you freeze yourself in a cave?" asked Celestia before taking a bite from her sandwich
"I don't remember! I actually came here to Canterlot to go through the library to see if I could find some answers."
"Well I hope you do." said Celestia
Just then, a knock came at the door before a Guard entered.
"Your Royal Majesties! Twilight Sparkle and a guest is here!"
"Send them in!" said Celestia, "I wonder what she is doing here? her letter didn't say she was coming. I would have sent a chariot for her as well!"
"I hope I didn't forget something." said Scrapper
Twilight and Colgate ran through the door and stopped in front of the Princesses and Scrapper. Both bowed before them, but both were out of breath.
"Hey! I remember you!" said Scrapper pointing to Colgate
"My dear student, what is it?"
"Scrapper dropped something and Colgate here picked it up and while on the train to return it to him something happened." explained Twilight
"Well, what is it?" asked Celestia
Twilight used her magic to shut all the shades in the room and removed the gem from its covering. All eyes were upon it gazing at it's mystery. It seemed to glow faintly in their presence as if it was near something, but too far away to get power. Scrapper stared into it, and all eyes were moved to him as he got up. He walked around to look at it closer and stared at it closely. After several moments he finally spoke.
"Okay, what is it?" he asked
"We were hoping you could tell us!" said Colgate
"Yeah but I got no idea what this is!" said Scrapper, "Was I carrying it?"
Colgate nodded her head yes.
"Yeah I got no clue."
"I can tell you." said Celestia walking up to it looking at it.
"What is it Princess?" asked Twilight
"I do not know of what power it holds, or what it can do. I only know that it was mentioned to me by Lord Bennett a long long time ago."
"Who?" asked Colgate
"Lord Bennett!" said Luna, "He was a scholar and member of the Royal Court before i became Nightmare Moon!"
"He was also a close friend of mine. I told him to send somepony to free me, but instead I'm a thousand years in the future! Where is he! If he knows, then we need to ask him!"
"Impossible I'm afraid." said Celestia, "Bennett died of age 700 years ago. Unless Scrapper you can do the time travel spell."
"I can but I already used it. I had to get to the cake before.... never mind. Either way, it's only for a short time and he talked din long sentences."
"I remember." said Luna in a flat tone
"There any other way we can time travel?" asked Colgate
"No, I don't think there is." said Celestia
"Wait!" said Twilight perking up, "I may know somepony who can help! He's back in Ponyville though! We need to get to him right away!"
"Can we finish lunch first? I haven't eaten in a thousand years and I'm kinda hungry."
"I guess it can wait." said Colgate eyeing the food, "I've never been at a Royal Lunch before."
"It can wait Twilight. If you're thinking of the Pony I'm thinking, you will have all the time in the world."
A knock came from the door, which Derpy heard from the kitchen as she tried to make muffins on her own for the, well, she forgot but it had been allot. Putting the mixer down she flew to the door and opened it. Dinky got there first and opened the door for whomever it was. After greeting them, she heard the voice of Twilight Sparkle and she dropped to the ground and began to to trot over to greet her friend as the Unicorn entered, and it wasn't Twilight. Derpy stopped and tried her best to shift both eyes toward whomever this was to get a better look. This Unicorn was blue and had a two toned mane! Twilight was at least purple, or was it lavender? Pink? Then a larger Unicorn entered and she recognized it from the new Unicorn in town she saw earlier delivering mail across Ponyville. She loved delivering mail, it was not just a job, it was a way of life! She couldn't imagine doing anything-oh there was Twilight! She trotted over happily as Twilight met her with a look of determination on her face. Derpy hoped she hadn't failed to deliver one of her letters!
"Is he here?" asked Twilight
Derpy breathed a sigh of relief as it wasn't her failing to deliver a letter. Twilight raised a eyebrow and Derpy took flight.
"He's out back working on the TARDIS."
"Good." said Twilight, "Lead the way."
"Uh, Twilight?" asked Colgate, "What are we doing here?"
"Yeah, what exactly are we doing here? This is the home of that mailmare I met earlier!"
Twilight stopped in her hoof steps and turned around to look at him dead in the eye. Scrapper took a few steps back and looked around nervously before starting to sweat.
"Uh, what?"
"Did you meet Pinkie Pie?" she asked him in a serious tone
"Umm..... no?" said Scrapper nervously
"Good." said Twilight turning back around
"Awe, I want Pinkie Pie in this too." said Derpy, "Oh! I know! I'll go get her!"
"Ah ha ha ha no." said Twilight grabbing her with her magic and bringing her back, "As much as I love my dear friend Pinkie Pie, I don't want to put her in this kind of danger!"
"Awe, okay Twilight."
"Now then, can we please see him?" asked Twilight
"Yeah, yeah, follow me." said Derpy disappointed
She lead them through the house and out to the back where a blue police box sat. As both Twilight and Derpy went over to it, Colgate looked up to Scrapper, who just shrugged.
"Uh, Twilight, what is this?"
"This is what we are going to use to go back a thousand years!" said Twilight
"We get to go on another time journey! Oh boy!"
"We?" asked Twilight
"Where's the Doctor goes, I go!" said Derpy defiantly
"Fine, fine." said Twilight before knocking on the door to the TARDIS, "Doctor! You there!"
She waited a few seconds before knocking again. It was all silent until the door opened and a brown haired and maned colt poked it through.
"Hello Twilight! What brings you here!" he said before looking at Scrapper and Colgate, "Um, who are these ponies!?"
"That over there is Minuette. I believe you've met before?"
"Yes. We met at the Hearths Warming Eve play. Hello again!"
"Hi there." waved Colgate nervously
"And this is the 1000 year old pony I told you about doctor!" said Derpy pointing to Scrappy
"I'm not 1000 years old!" defended Scrappy, "I was just frozen for a long-"
In a instant the Doctor was looking over him with his Sonic Screw Driver as Scrapper looked on not knowing whether to feel that his privacy is being invaded, or that just freaked out that some random earth pony was pointing at him with some weird metal thing.
"Can, uh, I help you?" asked Scrapper
"No, no, no." said the Doctor, "I can do this one on my own."
He continued to scan Scrapper but nothing happened. Everyone looked at the two as the Doctor sat down again stumped.
"Tell me, does that vest have any wood in it?" asked Whooves
"Uh, no." answered Scrapper
"Blast. I was hoping it was for once!"
"What is that thing?" asked Scrapper
"Oh, it's a Sonic Screwdriver! The most useful too ever invented!"
"It drive screws at least?"
"Well it should." said Whooves, "Now hold still I'm going to scan you again."
"Doctor, uh, what are you doing?" asked Derpy
"Yeah." said Twilight, "I'm curious too."
"I don't even know what's going on." said Colgate
"Well if what you say is true and this Unicorn is 1000 years old, I wanted to know if he has any residue of the vortex I picked up!"
"What?" asked everyone there
"Well I don't mean the vortex a thousand years ago. It would have worn off by now. I mean the vortex I picked up a couple hours ago."
"Huh? What?" asked Scrapper
"Well if you were the cause for the first one according to Derpy, you must've caused the second one. How did you do it?"
"I don't remember. In fact I have no idea what you're talking about." said Scrapper
Whooves facehoofed upon hearing this: "Shows what happens when I go on Derpy's word alone. So if you aren't the cause what is?"
"This." said Twilight pulling the gem from her bag and unwrapping it so the sunlight wouldn't hit upon it.
Whooves looked at it confused before pointing his Screwdriver at it and began to scan it before the Screwdriver itself shorted out and exploded. The Doctor jumped up startled at what just happened and looked at the smoking remains of the Screwdriver.
"You got to be bloody kidding me! Now I have to get a new one!"
"Well what did you get from it?"
The Doctor looked back to the gem pondered it for a second before coming to a conclusion.
"That's allot of power locked inside that Gem." he said
"Really? That's what you got?"
"Well I'm sorry my Screwdriver exploded!"
"We knew that already." said Colgate, "What's is it."
"No clue. Screwdriver shorted out." said the Doctor as he walked back to the TARDIS.
"Hmm." pondered Whooves as he pointed his Sonic Screwdriver at it
"We need a lift to 1000 years ago."
"Huh, what!?" asked the Doctor turning back around, "Excuse me? You want a what?"
"A trip to one thousand years ago." said Twilight
"Yay! Another adventure!" yelled Derpy, "Wait....oh no! Another adventure!"
"Excuse me! I just don't give free rides! The TARDIS is not just a-"
"Doctor!" said Derpy, "I just realized! If we go back then to 1000 years ago we can find whatever that strange thing that made you cry over genetics!"
"What?" asked Colgate
"Long story. Everyone aboard!" said the Doctor
"Sparkler!" yelled Derpy as she entered, "You're babysitting for the night!"
"Huh, what?" asked Sparkler sticking her head out the door
She was met by the TARDIS door slamming shut. Sparkler just shrugged and went back inside. The thought of "Here we go again" running through her mind.
"You know what I don't get?" asked Colgate as the door closed
"What?" asked Twilight, "That this is bigger on the inside?"
"No but that does come to my mind." said Scrapper
"No, it's actually about him!" said Colgate pointing to Scrapper
"What? What did I do?" asked Scrapper
"Your from a thousand years ago right?"
"Yes." said Scrapper
"Well, why do you not sound like it? You know, like Luna did at the Nightmare Night event?"
"Only royalty talks like that! I'm far from royalty. I just know them personally."
"How?" asked Colgate
"I sell swords," said Scrapper, "and sword accessories. Back then, those made one have quite the living."
"So you don't talk like them, you just know them?" asked Colgate
"That's me!" said Scrapper
Inside the control room of the TARDIS the Doctor ran around getting the settings just right for their trip back to 1000 years ago. As he did, Derpy flew by holding something and went into another room. Colgate and Scrapper looked on amazed as Twilight pulled out a book and began to read it. Whooves continually ran back and forth trying to set everything right as the TARDIS warmed up.
"Okay!" said the Doctor, "Seeing that I can lock onto the vortex's signature from here using this, and then run it through a filter with this, thus allowing me to backtrack it through time with this, so we can land anywhere in Equestria when the vortex took place."
"Uh, Doctor." said Twilight, "We're not going to the vortex."
"We're not!? Why not?"
"Well, we need to get to Canterlot! There is a pony there who will describe what that Gem is!"
"I already know what it is!" argued Whooves, "It's a powerful item that can short out Sonic Screwdrivers!"
"Well, can you maybe drop him us off in Canterlot and then swing by towards it as we go?" asked Colgate
"Hmm, maybe. I'll have to make some adjustments." said the Doctor, "By the way what exactly are you doing here?"
Colgate looked around nervously as she tried to find a answer. Suddenly, a Pegasus came to her aid.
"Why isn't she here Doctor?" asked Derpy as she flew over Colgate
Whooves just shrugged and powered the TARDIS on and the Old Girl came to life. the familiar whirring sound of the TARDIS taking off was music to the ears of Whooves, Derpy, and Twilight, but unnerving to the other two. Scrapper and Colgate were unsure what was going on, and Colgate began to back up to the door.
"No, no, no!" said Whooves as he ran over to her, "You can't go outside!"
"Why not? This place is creeping me out!"
"Trust me on this Minuette!" said Twilight, "You do not want to go outside now."
"We are traveling through time and space as we speak!" explained the Doctor, "Going out into the rift would well, be very painful."
"Oh." said Colgate backing away from the door
"So this is time travel?" asked Scrapper looking around, "Allot different from when I did it."
"The TARDIS doesn't use magic! It uses technology! Much like the gears and wires on your vest, only light years ahead of it."
"Huh?" asked Scrapper
"It's complicated." said Twilight
"Not really!" said Derpy as she flew past
"Now, hopefully the TARDIS will be nice today and drop us off where we need to be!"
The sound of the TARDIS slowing down caught their attention as Whooves looked over the controls.
"Ah, here we are! We're coming into the right time! Ah yes here we go, Canterlot, 1000 years ago, two hours before the vortex! So, who's staying and who is going?"
"I'll go with Scrapper!" said Twilight, "I'm known around Canterlot so-"
"Uh, no offense Twilight, no your not. If this is from where I'm from ,you don't exist yet. No one knows who you are, or what you are, not even Celestia."
The fact of the matter hit Twilight but she recovered.
"I'm known around here, I can maybe take one of you ponies and get by, but any more I'll need documentation I don't have."
"Hmm, the Scrapper is right." said Whooves, "We can't have you running around in the past again Twilight, and well, I don't exactly trust Derpy."
As if on cue there was a crash from another room.
"Oops, my bad! It's just the wardrobe!"
Whooves facehoofed.
"I can go!" said Colgate, "I want off this thing as fast as I can!"
"Alright then! The door is right there. Once I see this vortex we will come back to pick you up!"
Scrapper and Colgate stepped outside and looked around. A peaceful field now laid where they stood with the image of a grand city in the distance. Scrapper recognized it instantly but Colgate still had no idea where she was.
"Uh, Doctor! Where are we?"
Whooves poked his head outside and looked around.
"Oh right, Ponyville didn't exist, bother how could I forget this! Come back inside then, I'll take you to Canterlot in a jiffy!"
Sighing, Colgate stepped back inside with Scrapper in tow.
"Alright, this should be Canterlot." said the Doctor as he looked around, "Yep it is! Step lively! I am on a schedule here!"
Scrapper and Colgate stepped off and looked around in the capital of Equestria. To Scrapper it basically looked the same as it had always been to him, being this was the place from his own timeline. Colgate meanwhile was a little uneasy at the sight of it. It looked like the Canterlot she knew, but for some reason it wasn't. Maybe it was the thousand years in the past thing, or that there seemed to be no Grand Palace whatsoever. Even the ponies were different, each one wearing clothes, although a few didn't and that made Colgate fit in a little better. Still, she couldn't help but think all eyes were starring at her as if she didn't belong. Shaking her head to rid her mind of the thoughts, she continued to walk with Scrapper as he looked around.
"Feels like yesterday!" said Scrapper, "Well, technically for me it was yesterday in a sense."
"Yeah, not for me." said Colgate, "This is weird."
"I'm not a expert on time travel, but I don't doubt you. Anyway, tell me about yourself."
"Huh?" asked Colgate
"Well Bennett's place is a good walk from here if I am not mistaken, so I might as well get to know you."
"Uh, well, I really don't have much to talk about. I'm just a student that's all."
"Well you're cutie mark is a hourglass."
"Yeah I never understood it myself." said Colgate looking to her flank, "However, I have been known to have impeccable timing."
"Well that's something." said Scrapper trying to lift her spirits, "you said when we first met you had a roommate?"
"Yeah. Her name is Berry Punch. She likes to drink."
"Well that isn't so-" started Scrapper
"Allot." exclaimed Colgate
"Oh." said Scrapper realizing what she meant, "Well, I'll have to meet her then. She sounds fun at the very least."
"Yeah I guess." remarked Colgate, "You?"
"Bah, I just make styled swords for the upper class of Canterlot." he said, "Not much to go on from there."
"So why do you call yourself Scrapper? Scripted Swords sounds allot better name then 'Scrapper', wouldn't you agree?"
"Yes but calling myself Scripted, Scripted Swords, or Swords in a conversation is boring. Besides, I prefer Scrapper as it defines my hobby!"
"Which is?"
"You see this vest I'm wearing?" asked Scrapper
"Yeah."
"It allows me to control a set of mechanical wings with my legs! I can make anything from scrap metal. I started to learn how after I got my cutie Mark. I would craft intricate swords and script them into various machines and what not."
"Script?"
"It helped when ponies asked what I was doing." mentioned Scrapper sheepishly, "Speaking of which, we're going to make a detour."
"Where?" asked Colgate
"My house!" said Scrapper turning sharply to the left, "I need to get my spare set of wings!"
"Spare?" asked Colgate following him
----
On a open field that would soon become Sweet Apple Acres, a blue box mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. As it fully materialized in the field, the front door opened and out flew Derpy.
"Wow! Look at it! It feels so, so, so, uh, Doctor, what does it feel like?"
"Like a thousand years ago!" responded the Doctor cheerfully, "Come on Derpy I thought we covered this already!"
The Doctor and Twilight stepped out and looked over the land.
"Wow, it looks so weird like this." said Twilight, "I want to see Sweet Apple Acres and Ponyville, but I can't!"
"Oh come now Twilight," the Doctor replied, "it's not like I've taken you back a thousand years."
"Not to Ponyville." answered Twilight
"Really? I could have sworn I did. Anyway! Onward to the cave! Twilight! Lead the way."
"WOW! I can't believe it! Look at it all!" came a hyperactive voice from inside the TARDIS
All three looked back to see Pinkie-Pie trot out with the biggest grin on her face they had seen as Pinkie marvelled at the land around her.
"Everything is so 1000 years ago! I can't believe it! Ooh! Look at this!"
She ran over to a piece of grass and eyed it.
"I think I've seen this piece of grass before! That means it's 1000 years old when I saw it! And this rock! And that tree! This is soo amazing!"
Derpy clapped her hooves happy for Pinkie while the Doctor and Twilight looked on confused. As she went about marvelling all the 1000 year old stuff, Twilight grabbed her with her magic and brought her over.
"Pinkie, what are you doing here?" she asked setting her down
"Well, I saw there was a new pony to Ponyville! A Unicorn, and well I couldn't just let him go without a party! Problem was I was already throwing one at Sugar Cube Corner when it happened and I can't just abandon a party!"
"That makes sense." said the Doctor
"Anyway, when I was done I went around looking for him but I couldn't find him anywhere so I kept looking, and then I saw him at Derpy's house and I went *GAAAAASSSSP!* I was like "There he is!" Then I saw you guys go in the magical blue box and I heard you say "As much as I love my dear friend Pinkie Pie, I don't want to put her in this kind of danger." she said finishing in a imitation of Twilight's voice
Twilight was unimpressed, but Derpy and the Doctor found it funny.
"I thought to myself: Danger? What Danger? What possible danger could come from travelling with the Doctor? His adventures are always fun!"
"Yeah, they are also dangerous!" exclaimed Twilight
"Not always!" defended the Doctor
"They kinda are Doctor."Derpy added
"So I snuck in when the TARDIS was lifting off and was going to throw the new Unicorn a party, but I got lost. Then I found myself! Then I got lost again, Then I found you guys! Then I lost you, then I found you out here! Isn't that crazy!?"
"I guess." said Twilight, not really understanding the pink pony.
"So I'm here, and where is the new pony!? I'm ready!"
She reached into the TARDIS and pulled out her party cannon, much to their surprise
"How'd you get that in there?" asked the Doctor
"Huh? Oh I always keep a Party Cannon inside the TARDIS just in case of a party emergency."
Derpy again clapped her hooves while the other two looked on confused.
"Well, since your here and we're burning time here, we might as well get moving. Come along then!"
"You get your spare Screwdriver Doctor?" asked Derpy flying over
"Oh yes, thank you for reminding me Derpy." said the Doctor going back into the TARDIS and grabbing his spare Sonic Screwdriver, "Remind me to thank Sparkler about telling me the importance of spares."
"Yep! That's my daughter!" said Derpy happily, "So, how long until we get there. I'm really starting to get hungry."
"Come on Derpy, you just ate." said Twilight
"I had a muffin break! I need dinner too you know! We can't run on just muffins! That's just silly!"
Twilight didn't feel the need to respond and just kept on walking. The Doctor however felt the need to.
"Well Derpy if you think about it, you wont be eating for another thousand years more or less. You'll be fine."
He laughed at his time-based joke as Derpy gave him a dark look. The four time travellers walked the distance to the cave as Whooves took out his screwdriver and pointed it all over.
"Hmm, we're two hours early. So! We play the waiting game."
"Ooh! I love the waiting game!" cheered Derpy
"Me too!" added Pinkie
They both sat down with a determined, but happy look on their faces and just waited.
"Glad I brought this." said Twilight as she used her magic to teleport in a book.
----
"Ah, here it is, my humble abode."
Scrapper stepped into the two story house followed by Colgate. She looked around to see various smelts, swords, and other devices he used to create the speciality swords he claimed to create. However, he showed no interest in these items and walked up the stairs. Colgate followed up and her jaw hit the floor. There were machines and contraptions all over the place. One was stoking a fire, another was opening the door she was stepping through. Steam pipes, wires, and gears powered it all. A third machine, while not operating, controlled a wardrobe where Scrapper kept all his clothing. A fourth could be seen that was more complicated and grander then them all: A pair of wings. Scrapper looked them over proudly and then lifted them up with his magic and placed it on his back. It locked into place and he moved his legs and they flapped like they were flying before he used magic to put them away.
"Yes, now I can fly again!"
"Hooray?" said a unsure Colgate
The wings themselves looked like defunct swords he had remade into wings, while the base of the wings themselves had gears and pulleys so they could interact with his vest when he flew. Scrapper admired them, but he knew they weren't perfect compared to the set he had lost. These were just a prototype he invented, but hopefully he would get used to them again. Just then, the door opened below and closed. The sound of hoofsteps on the hardwood alerted them both as Colgate hid and Scrapper eyed the stairs.
"Who is this?" asked Scrapper
The mysterious intruder started to walk up the stairs. Scrapper prepared himself for anything when he saw a Unicorn mare that was all too familiar to him.
"Menuet!" said Scrapper running over
The Unicorn looked on surprised as Scrapper hugged her. Colgate looked from afar to see the Unicorn mare and was shocked to see she looked almost exactly like her, just the mane was reversed, and since she couldn't see the cutie mark under her dress, she couldn't tell. Scrapper hugged Menuet and let ago happy to see her.
"Swords! What are you doing here?" she asked
"I should ask you the same." said Scrapper
"The front door was open and I wanted to make sure no pony was stealing from my kid brothers house!"
"Awe, thanks big sis." said Scrapper
"Well that makes more sense." said Colgate from her hiding spot
"Still, what are you doing here?" asked Menuet, "You said you were going away for a long time!"
"Right I did." remembering at least that part of this time, "Well, it's allot more complicated then you think."
"You can tell me." said Menuet, "I've heard plenty of crazy stories from you."
"Okay." Scrapper replied preparing himself for the worst, "If you insist. I'm not the same Scrapper you saw earlier today. I'm actually a Scrapper from the future."
Menuet laughed thinking it was a joke. She looked to her little brother and saw he wasn't joking.
"Did you hit your head or something?"
"No, I'm serious! I froze myself and then I was thawed out a thousand or so years in the future!"
"Okay, I think I need to take you to a doctor Swordsy. Come on."
"No, I'm serious, here, Colgate! Come out!"
Menuet seriously thought her brother had completely lost it by spending too long at the smelter since he was now calling for toothpaste. Then, she saw movement from afar and looked to see a Unicorn mare step out from behind some barrels full of metal scraps and was stunned. She looked just like her, save a opposite styled mane. Her cutie mark was different, Menuet having three musical notes on her flank and this one having a hourglass. They looked to each other in awe before Menuet broke off.
"Who is this?"
"This is Colgate from Ponyville." said Scrapper
"Hello." said Colgate nervously
"Ponyville? Where is that?"
"Near the Everfree forest." said Colgate
"Everfree forest? You mean where the Pony sisters castle ruins lay?"
"Yes. That's where!" answered Colgate
"What is going on here!?" cried a distraught Menuet
"Look, I'll explain later! Right now I need to get to Bennett's place. He has answers I need!"
He ran down the stairs and out the doors followed not far behind by Colgate and Menuet.
As the other two stared at her in amazement. Whooves thought on it for a second and gasped in amazement: "Wow you're right!"
Playing it off as Pinkie being Pinkie, they continued to wait. It was another few minutes when Derpy felt a shaking behind her and looked to see Pinkie's tail twitching!
"Pinkie! Look!"
Pinkie, too concentrated on the waiting game, looked back to see her tail twitching.
"Twitchy twitcha twitcha twitch!" said Pinkie
"Wait, twitchy tail...." pondered Whooves
"HIDE!" yelled Twilight
Whooves leaped behind a rock as Twilight and Pinkie hid in a bush. Derpy herself looked around for a hiding spot and flew up into the air and blended in with the clouds behind her, except her hair. Either way, she hovered there and looked on as she saw Scrapper nearly crash landing not far off. Knowing the rules of time travel, she didn't hide as she and her friends looked on as Scrapper quickly ran into the cave, tripping over a rock as he ran. From the looks of it, he was a nervous wreck and was already falling over himself. The wings on his back, which looked as if they had been fine crafted from scrap metal and swords, were starting to fall off. He ran into the cave as Whooves stepped out of his hiding place. Scanning the area with his Sonic Screwdriver he looked on alarm.
"Quickly! The event is about to take place! The vortex is starting!"
Twilight, Derpy, and Pinkie followed close behind the Doctor as he headed towards the cave entrance.
"How do you know?"
The entire cave shook with ferocity as a green light glowed at the end of where they were running to.
"Call it a hunch Twilight!" yelled Whooves
They ran to through an opening to find Scrapper facing off against a large glowing green cloud that seemed to be laughing.
"I know that laugh!" claimed a horrified Twilight thinking back to the train
Scrapper stood his ground and looked at the could defiantly before slamming his hoof down.
"I am warning you! Leave this place at once!" he yelled to the cloud
"Oh I will!" mocked the cloud, "I will easily leave this cave and will regain the throne that is my masters birthright!"
"You leave me no choice!" called out Scrapper
As Scrapper pulled out the green gem and shined it at the cloud, it screamed in agony.
"NO! I will not go in there!"
"Too bad!" yelled Scrapper
He fired a magical beam at the cloud, which arced over to the gem and caused both Scrapper and the cloud a great deal of pain. The cloud itself, in a last ditch attempt shot yellow beams to the cave ceiling, and ice began to form. The frozen liquid quickly surrounded Scrapper, but he did not give up, in fact he began to laugh.
"I planned this you witch!" he yelled through grunts of pain, "Within a few days a rescue party will come to release me from your icy prison!"
"Not if you don't remember who you are!"
Scrapper looked on in fear as a white beam struck his horn. He yelped in pain but shot out his own beam to resist it. Yet, this caused the cloud to only laugh.
"Choose you pathetic pony! Lock me away forever, or lose all memory of why!"
Scrapper grunted in pain and agony as he began to lose strength. He couldn't choose for each one would have him fail. Already he was beginning to forget the past few moments, and he could feel his enemy trying to shatter the gem he was trying to seal her with. Not far away, the Doctor and crew watched in horror at the sight beholding them. Derpy and Pinkie ducked for cover afraid what was going on as Whooves shut off his Screwdriver knowing what was about to happen. The battle between the two went on and on until Twilight could stand it no more and aimed her horn at the cloud.
"Twilight!" Yelled the Doctor, "What are you doing!?"
"We have to help him!" she yelled
Whooves tried to drag her back down, but Twilight was too strong at the moment. In desperation he began to plead with her.
"You know what will happen if we mess with the time stream!"
"Whatever that thing is it is sealed away in the gem, and Scrapper still knew who he was!" explained Twilight
Whooves pondered it for a moment before shrugging.
"I guess that's time for you. Fire away!"
Twilight smiled and prepared herself for her most powerful attack spell. Her horn heated up as the power entered it before it was discharged in a pink beam of energy that struck the cloud dead center. It screamed in pain and was temporarily distracted, giving Scrapper all the time he needed and doubled his energy output in the sealing spell as the ice closed around him. His opponent was locked away inside the gem as the ice fully covered him, and he didn't know why.
"Is, is, is it over?" asked Derpy as she came out of hiding
"Yes Miss Hooves, I think it is."
She was still nervous, shaking as she stepped out, followed by Pinkie, who had no words to say whatsoever. They walked into the cavern where the frozen Scrapper lay. The ice was so cold that Whooves first idea was to check the temperature on the ice on the Sonic Screwdriver.
"Brr, I'm going over there where it's warm!" said Derpy walking out
"It sure is cold!" exclaimed the Doctor, "That is just the surface! I'm not going to begin on the internal temperature! Let's just put it this way, the way this ice is formed and how cold it is, everything in there stops. Movement, life, magic, even time!"
"Then, how did your TARDIS pick up the Vortex a thousand years in the past?" asked Twilight
"Simple." said the Doctor putting his Screwdriver away, "The Vortex resonated in the ice for so long once it began to thaw it started to escape! It was sheer coincidence that you found Scrapper here not long after I picked up the left overs."
"You s-s-s-s-s-s-sure?" asked Pinkie walking to where Derpy stood
"Of course I'm sure! You forget who I am!"
"Some crazy pony with a magical time box." claimed Twilight walking out
"Hey!" yelled the Doctor “It's not magical!”
"He's right Twilight!" argued Derpy
"Thank you Miss Hooves."
"His box is not magical!"
Whooves didn't say a word and just walked out behind Twilight before she suddenly stopped frozen in fear.
"What is it Twilight?"
"Scrapper still has that Gem! That cloud is sealed up inside of it and he has no clue what it does!"
"A power that great could easily over power Princess Celestia!" said a shocked Pinkie
"You're right Miss Pie! Quickly! To the TARDIS! We need to get to him now!"
----
Meanwhile the "future" Scrapper ran through the streets of Canterlot trailed by his sister and Colgate.
"So, where did you meet my kid brother?" asked Menuet
"Huh?" asked Colgate
"Swords here. Where did you meet him?"
"In Ponyville walking home."
"Tell me, what was he doing there?"
"I don't know! I was just returning a item he dropped and I got roped into this."
"What item was it?"
"Am I being interrogated or something!?" snapped Colgate
"Sorry. I'm a bit protective of my brother." replied Menuet
"Not to worry miss. Nothing against Scrapper, but I'm not interested."
"Really?"
Colgate gave her a look and Menuet understood it all. With no questions left they ran behind Scrapper as other ponies looked on curious as to why they were running. The answer became apparent as they arrived at a high end home near the edge of the capitol city with the word "BENNETT" scribed over the door. Scrapper himself wasted no time and knocked on it with his hoof a few times, but was then forced to wait. A few moments later he knocked again until a male pony was heard yelling "I'm walking down the stairs!" Colgate raised her eyebrow until she heard the same voice grumbling again as he opened the door. He was a short and round burnt orange Earth Pony with a travelers vest on and wearing a pair of spectacles on his face. He was appeared older than Scrapper, but it seemed premature. His eyes laid upon Colgate and he looked on in wonder.
"Menuet? Why are your clothes off?"
"I'm over here Augustus." said Menuet
Bennett looked between Menuet and Colgate amazed and dumbfounded.
"There's two of you!?"
"Bennett! Now is not the time!"
Bennett looked up to Scrapper and adjusted his glasses. He stared in proud amazement as he marvelled at Scrapper sheer appearance.
"Swords! You made it! You defeated her! Please come in, come in!"
He ushered all three of them in and closed the door. His house to Colgate seemed like the very house Daring Do would live in. Ancient treasures, old worn out maps, bones of animals long since extinct ranging from what Colgate read as a Raphus cucullatus, a Thylacinus cynocephalus, and a Harpagornis moorei. As she looked the fossils over, Bennett sat down with Menuet and Scrapper and poured himself a drink. He passed the tray with the pot and cups, but only Menuet proceeded to pour herself a drink.
"So, tell me Swords, how did you defeat her."
"I don't think I did. In fact I don't even know who she is." said Scrapper
"A memory lapse spell." said Bennett, "It will pass."
"Actually, I'm here for this."
Scrapper pulled out the gem from his sleeve, and Bennett spit his drink all over the place. He looked to the green gem in horror and doubled over his chair and hid behind a curtain. Colgate walked up and saw the gem and took a few steps back herself. Even Menuet, seeing the rest of the ponies react in such a way, backed away from the gem which Scrapper held.
"Why did you bring that accursed thing in here! I thought you hid that monster away never to be found!"
"I don't even know what this is Bennett!" yelled Scrapper
"How can you not know what that thing is! You were describing it to me a few hours ago!" yelled Bennett
"I wasn't talking to you a few hours ago." said Scrapper
"Yes you were! You were sitting right there!"
"A few hours ago I was having Lunch with Princess Luna and Princess Celestia."
Bennett tore from his hiding place and grabbed a sword and pointed it at his friend.
"She has corrupted you hasn't she!" he cried, still speaking clearly with the sword in his mouth, "Princess Luna, or as she called herself Nightmare Moon, was locked away months ago in he moon!"
"Calm down Bennett! Let me explain!"
"Explain what!? You've gone insane! She's gotten to you!"
"Who is this "she" you speak of? Bennett, I'm going to be blunt with you: I'm not the Scripted Swords you spoke to a few hours ago."
"Then what are you?" asked Bennett still holding his sword
"I'm Scripted Swords from the future, a thousand years in the future."
"How does that help me? Time travel spells for this long are impossible!"
"Well, I didn't use a spell. It was a box."
"A box? Like a time machine?" asked Bennett, "You really have gone insane."
"Bennett, please listen!" tried Menuet
"I bet you're in on this aren't you!" snapped Bennett, "You, I bet you're her! yes! You are all here to finish me off!"
Colgate looked around and saw no other pony and assumed that meant her. Bennett began to slowly walk forward, brandishing the sword in his mouth when the wall began to shake and light objects flew around the room. Bennett backed up in fear as an orange glow materialized in the center of his room. Another flash came from the center of the room, bringing a big blue police box with it. The door opened and out jumped the Doctor, Sonic Screwdriver at the ready. Twilight was right behind him, her horn charged in preparation. Whooves looked over the area for his target. He saw the gem still in Scrappers hand and aimed his screwdriver toward it. Scrapper felt a sharp pain and the gem flew up into the air before Twilight caught it with her magic.
"Quick! Put it into the TARDIS." ordered Whooves before turning back to the his new crowd, "Oh, hello there!"
"Uh, who, who are you?" asked the pony Whooves mistook for Colgate at first.
"Oh, I'm the Doctor! Time Lord, slayer of Cyberponies, enemies of Daleks, savior of the galaxy!"
"What?" asked Menuet with a puzzled look on her face.
"He's a time specialist. Let's leave it at that." said Twilight walking out.
"That makes it sound dull and boring!" grumbled Whooves.
Upon finishing his grumble, he spotted Bennett shaking, still armed with a sword.
"Hello! I'm the Doctor! How can I be of assistance?"
"You were right!" said Bennett, sword dropping from his mouth
"Well, of course I was!" Whooves said triumphantly whilst poking Twilight
"No he meant me!" Scrapper corrected the Doctor, "I told you Bennett!"
"Sweet Celestia, so that means you are trapped in the caves! I will set up a search party immediately!"
"Ah, no! Can't do that!" said the Doctor rather flatly.
"Why not? He's trapped!" yelled Bennett
"Like he very well should be!" argued the Doctor, "He needs to stay trapped for the next thousand years or else Twilight will never discover him, we'll never come back here, and you will never know!"
"I can't abandon my friend!"
"For the sake of everypony else on this planet, and every other species in this universe!"
Bennett stopped what he was doing and looked to the brown maned stallion standing before him.
"The whole Universe?"
"Well, not at first, but the paradox will start to slowly rip space and time apart until everything is destroyed. Forward and back. Not to mention you will destroy this Scrapper in the process!"
Bennett sat down and looked towards Scrapper. He, though having very little idea what the Doctor was talking about, agreed with the Pony Time Lord. Bennett shook his head and pulled himself together.
"Well, alright."
"Brilliant! Very well then, come along Ponies, back to our original timelines! We mustn't wait!"
"We can show up at anytime Doctor, there is no hurry." said Twilight
"Hold on!" said Menuet, "Will this Scrapper ever be coming back?"
"Yeah can Menuet come?" asked Scrapper
"Don't know." said Whooves, "Maybe, but, well I guess maybe. However, the TARDIS is not a toy and I don't like giving free rides."
"Can I go with him then?"
"Nope." said Whooves
"Why not Doctor?" Asked Derpy, "I don't think she has any real connection to this timeline."
"The grey one is right." commented Bennett, "Menuet has no kids or is even married."
"Exactly my point!" said the Doctor, "If I am correct, Colgate would you stand next to her please."
Colgate stood next to Menuet as Whooves scanned both with his Screwdriver. The two looked at each other in confusion as the Doctor laughed in joy.
"Just as I suspected! She can't go into the future with us because Miss Colgate here is Menuet's great great great Granddaughter."
"What?" asked everyone around him
"Grandma?" asked Colgate, more out of confusion
"She's my granddaughter?" asked Menuet
"Why sure!" exclaimed the Doctor, "Colgates real name is Minuette, a respell of Menuet! You have the same color, near exact match for manes! Also, my Screwdriver said so and it is never wrong!"
"So, that means if I go into the future, I wont be around to have, whoever, and then Minuette here wont be born?"
"Yep!" answered Whooves, "She wont be born and will cease to exist!"
"Well, I can't do that to my Granddaughter. I'll stay."
She smiled at Colgate, who smiled back. It was a little awkward between the two, but in the past few minutes they had seen stranger things happen. Twilight and Derpy entered as Pinkie stuck her head and hoof out to wave goodbye before Twilight pulled her back in. As Colgate entered the TARDIS behind Whooves and Scrapper before Menuet poked her on the flank.
"Do watch after your Uncle, for me please?" she whispered to her
"Sure thing Grandma."
They entered the TARDIS and it powered up, slowly disappearing from sight as it re-entered the time stream.
"Alright Gentlecolt and Fillies!" Announced the Doctor with a smile on his face, “Welcome back to the Royal Palace, not twenty minutes after we left."
He stepped out silently gloating. The rest followed him out and looked around with impressed expressions.
"Not bad Doctor." remarked Scrapper, "I'm rather impressed."
"The TARDIS actually landed where it was supposed to." Added Twilight, "I'm impressed Doctor. You outdid yourself this time."
"Uh, I'm not sure." spoke Scrapper, "The sun is going down."
"You got to be kidding!" yelled Whooves, "I set it for twenty minutes after we left! Not a couple of hours!"
"That's the TARDIS for ya." laughed Derpy
"Wow, Canterlot! This is so amazing! Are we near the royal Kitchen?" asked Pinkie tumbling out of the TARDIS
"Ooh! I think it's over there!" Exclaimed Derpy flying out behind Pinkie.
"Quick let's go!" Pinkie ordered
The two ran off while Colgate walked out of the TARDIS and marvelled at the large hall they were in. She smiled at her memories of studying here before moving back to Ponyville, not long after Twilight left for Ponyville.
"Step lively! I still need to deliver Miss Hooves back to her house, after she gets back from the Royal kitchen."
As he spoke, he heard a hoof slap the side of the TARDIS. He turned angrily. Why anyone would dare touch his sexy without his permission, he never knew. On the front was a ticket from the Equestrian Royal Guard, with a fine for 60 bits. He tore it down and looked at it in shock.
"What, what is this?"
"Ticket sir." came a voice
Whooves looked up to see a brown coated Royal Guard standing above him.
"I demand to know why I got this ticket!" Yelled Whooves,
"You parked too close to the Canterlot Royal Palace!"replied the Guard,
"I did no such thing!" Rebutted Whooves, "I-!"
"You parked your box right in the middle of the Palace!" Interrupted the Guard, "I didn't even think that was possible!"
"Then explain to me why this ticket is for 60 bits! That's my weeks pay check!"
"Doctor, you don't work." claimed a confused Twilight
Whooves tried to shush her as the Guard stood his ground.
"Standard fine for parking one cart, wagon, chariot, or other means of transportation is 15 bits. For every foot to the castle past the allotted mark is a added bit, and since it's 30 bits to the closest wall, that's 45 bits. Touching the palace wall is a added 15 bits, bringing it up to a total of 60 bits. Take it or leave it."
Whooves was left there with his mouth wide open, eye twitching involuntary.
"Who do you think you are giving me this?" He asked throwing the paper down, "Do you know who I am? I'm the Doctor! THE DOCTOR!"
"And I'm Staff Sergeant David, Royal Guard." Finished the Guard with a smug smile.
Whooves had half a mind to send this Guard to a myriad of planets all across the Universe, or set him up with a date with doom, when Twilight came to the rescue.
"Oh, he's riding with you." said David, "Well, never mind then. Use that paper for a book mark or something, your fine. Though, uh, I'd move that before some other pony tickets it."
"Where would you be without me Doctor?" asked Twilight walking past him
"Paying 60 bits for parking violations." chuckled the Guard
Twilight smiled, rubbing it in Whooves face, when she turned to the Guard and recognized him: "You're that Guard that picked up Scrapper!"
"Yep. I guess I screwed one up big with the ticket. Terribly sorry for the inconvenience, kinda."
With that, he walked away behind the TARDIS. Whooves looked to see him sit at a desk right behind the TARDIS, and made mental note not to park the Old girl in random large hallways again. Twilight herself charged her magic and in a few moments both Pinkie Pie and Derpy popped in out of nowhere, Pinkie was stuffing a cake in her mouth whilst Derpy filling her mouth with muffins. Twilight looked at them angry, and in turn they gave Twilight a sheepish grin and hurried into the TARDIS.
"Coming Miss Sparkle?" Whooves asked Twilight.
"No, I think I'll be needed with Celestia when Scrapper tells her of the gem."
"Alrighty then! Miss Colgate, will you be joining us?"
"Sure I guess." she called to him, "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you Uncle Scrapper."
"Uh, yeah. I guess seeing you are the only family member I know I guess I'll visit."
"I'll be in touch, Grandma Menuet told me to keep an eye on you."
Scrapper snorted at this, but nonetheless he gave his niece a hug before she stepped back into the TARDIS, followed by Whooves. He nodded goodbye before shutting the door. The TARDIS whirred up and slowly faded into nothing.
"Is that pony really named after Toothpaste?" asked David sitting at his desk
Twilight and Scrapper didn't know what to say and just looked at him.
"Never mind."
----
"Princess Celestia?" asked Twilight poking her head through the door
"Hello my dear Student." greeted the Princess, "Have you come back from your quest?"
Twilight entered with Scrapper in tow. Twilight had walked them to Celestia's private study, and Scrapper had to admit, this was allot of books. So many books his head spun dizzy from the sheer sight of it.
"Scrapper, I see you got your wings back." noted Celestia
"Huh? Oh yes, I got my old prototypes." Scrapper answered her, coming out of his daze
"So, what did you learn about that gem?" asked Celestia
"It's not pretty." answered Scrapper
"There's some powerful mysterious entity trapped away in it." continued Twilight, "Even half sealed inside the gem it was almost able to escape and wreak havoc."
"Do you know who it is?" inquired Celestia
Both Twilight and Scrapper stopped dead at the question Celestia had asked. Neither did their entire trip back to then. Did they even think about asking who it was, despite the fact it was so obvious! It was especially obvious when Bennett went crazy and tried to attack Scrapper. Celestia, from their expressions, figured out they didn't know the answer, but gave them a reassuring smile either way.
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter. So long as whoever it is sealed away inside that gem stays sealed up, there is no harm to come from it."
"Whoever it is though, she can break free from the gem when the sun shines on it." Twilight spoke up
"She?" inquired Scrapper
"When I was in the cave, there was a mare's voice talking inside a giant green cloud, and it was the same voice as on the train."
"Scrapper, ring any bells?" Celestia Questioned him.
Scrapper thought hard on it, digging into the deepest recesses of his mind to try and figure out who this mysterious voice could be. He knew what Twilight was talking about, he knew the voice now, laughing, mocking him almost for not knowing who she was. He hit the side of his head with his hoof, it was right there, right there! Hanging just out of his reach.
"It's okay Scrapper you can stop."
Scrapper pulled out of his thoughts as Celestia spoke, but he hung his head in shame and stomped his hoof in anger.
"I know that voice! I know that voice! Why can't I remember it!?"
"She put a memory spell on you, made you forget." Said Twilight, hoping to calm Scrapper "It's not your fault."
Scrapper snorted at his failure and sat down. He shook his head, he knew that name, he knew it, it was right there on the tip of his tongue.
"She's an Alicorn." he finally spoke
"What?" came a union of both Celestia and Twilight
"Not by birth, somepony transformed her into a Alicorn, Pegasus Unicorn if you will, either way, she's twisted, evil... that's all I got."
He looked up to see the Twilight and Celestia pondering the idea of a evil Alicorn, but none came to their minds.
"I'll look into it." finally came Twilight
"I will too." seconded Celestia, "In the meantime, where is the gem?"
"Right here." answered Scrapper
He pulled the gem out of his vest, still wrapped in the blanket Twilight and Colgate had from earlier on the train and handed it over to Celestia. Celestia held it mid-air and could feel the magic radiating off it.
"I will gather up some of my Guard and we will deliver it to the deepest parts of Tartarus. Where the sun never shines. It will be safe there."
"That will work!" remarked Scrapper, "But, how will you move it there? If the sun hits it by accident-"
"It will travel in the night." Celestia interrupted him, "There it will have no chance of getting hit by the sun."
Scrapper smiled and nodded in respect for the idea.
"In the meantime," added Celestia, "I guess we'll try to find out who this mysterious Alicorn is."
Scrapper nodded in respect, until a thought crossed his mind.
"Hold up, in speaking of the moon and travelling in the night, where is Luna?"
Celestia looked outside at the starry night sky and had what he was looking for: "She should just be finishing up the night sky."
She turned back, only to see Scrapper running out. She smiled before grabbing five books from her shelves, and handing two to Twilight.
"Best get to studying." she told her student
Twilight felt giddy at the chance to study with her mentor once again.
----
Luna landed on the Palace tower as she finished all the stars in the night sky. She looked over the land and smiled.
"Rest my subjects. The night shall welcome your sleep."
"Well, I always did my best work in the night." came a voice
A surprised Luna turned around to see Scrapper standing on eh top of the tower looking over the night sky in admiration. At first she was elated to see him, but confusion soon set in.
"How did you get up here? Only ponies with wings or my sister and I with the right password."
Scrapper just smiled and unfolded his makeshift wings. Luna looked on and smiled.
"Aren't those your old wings?"
"Yeah, I didn't have time to make a new pair, so I went with the tried and true." answered Scrapper
"How is that possible?" noted Luna, "But that would mean- The Doctor?"
"Brown hair, brown mane? Hour Glass Cutie Mark?"
"That's him." finished Luna, "Yes, my sister and I have had many run-ins with him before. A ingenious time meddler he is. So, what was the gem?"
"A prison." replied Scrapper, "A prison for some powerful entity which I have little to no idea who she is. All I know she is a Alicorn like you, Cadence, and Celestia, but nothing else."
"I do not know of this Alicorn of which you speak. We are very rare."
"Tell me about it."
"And the gem is?" Luna inquired
"Celestia has it. It's in good Hooves."
"Yes. I take it she is searching in her study for this mysterious individual?"
"With Twilight."
"Of course." chuckled Luna, "Those two will find out your answer soon enough."
She finished and looked out again over the horizon. Scrapper smiled and looked up at the night sky again. This was the first night sky he had really looked out upon in a long long time. Stars twinkling in the distance, constellations set up long before Luna took the throne of Pony heroes past, even the moon seemed perfect. As he gazed past, he spotted a light trailing past at high speed leaving a trail of light behind it, a shooting star!
"Luna, did you do that?"
He turned to her and saw her blush. He laughed and looked back at the shooting star as it trailed off into the distance.
"It's been a wish of mine to watch the night sky for a while now, but everypony is too scared or too formal." mentioned Luna
"I'm not either of them." chuckled Scrapper
Luna moved closer to Scrapper as the two of them watched the night sky.
----
The TARDIS took off towards the Home of Derpy Hooves as Colgate walked into her house. She couldn't wait to tell Berry Punch about her crazy adventure, and the fact she not only met her Grandmother from a thousand years ago, but her Uncle as well. As crazy as it sounded, Berry Punch was probably so far into her drinking that she would believe anything she told her. She was sure that Berry Punch would believe this when she noticed that the lights in her house were off. She opened the door and called out to her friend.
"Berry! Berry! You wont believe what I did today!"
She tried to turn the lights on, but nothing happened. She tried switching them on several times, but nothing was happening. It was at this point she was starting to get worried. She lit her horn to see, and recoiled in fear.
Berry was there, unconscious, strung to a wall in what looked like webbing. Colgate took a few steps back in fear and tried to run for help. As She turned, she bumped into a large, imposing dark figure standing behind her. It looked like a pony, but the outline revealed other, frightening aspects of it's form, such as the fact it had two horns on it's head that didn't match, and three tails.
"Hello, Miss Colgate is it?" The dark beast spoke.
In the night sky above Canterlot, joyful laughing could be heard. If one looked, they could swear they could see stars darting in and out of clouds, almost as if they were dancing. If only they knew who it really was.
----
Colgate turned around to see a similar pony shaped creature walking up to her. It's eyes were that of a bug and also that of a regular pony, but yet she still couldn't see exactly what it was. It had three horns, one of a ram, one of a Unicorn, but the one in the middle looked eerily like that of the Changeling Queen's horn. But this thing was far from a changeling. What really got her was the fact It's tail reflected the moonlight brightly, as if it was made out of metal. It stayed in the darkness, swinging his tail around.
"You know some things we want, and you are going to give it to us." The creature spoke.
"Or what?" asked a scared Colgate
"Either Bruturr there is going to squeeze you like a tube until you pop, or your friend there gets eaten."
Colgate looked over to Berry to see a eight legged creature standing above her, it's jaws dripping, ready to feast. Colgate trembled in fear. Sweat was running down her face. The thing in front of her smiled darkly, revealing a set of razor sharp teeth.
"So, what will it be, you have three choices."
It's mouth was brimming with teeth. Colgate looked at each individual tooth. They formed a similar set to that of a normal pony, but were much more deadly. Colgate was still trembling, but she couldn't speak. Then, from Berry's direction, she heard an object falling. Before anyone could react, a rainbow coloured blur took out Bruturr, who was still standing behind Colgate. They both looked on in confusion before Bruturr landed in between them, bruised and unconscious. The creature look surprised as the rainbow blur made it's way back into the room before swirling around the spider like creature on the floor. Colgate and her would be assailant stared at Bruturr, who was now tied up in it's own web. Whilst all this was happening, Berry Punch still lay on the floor, still snoring. Colgate and her attacker looked around trying to catch a glimpse of the blur again when the sound of hooves stomping and a angry snort sounded from the doorway.
"Rainbow Dash!" cheered Colgate
"Yep! That's me!" announced Dash, beaming with pride. "Now, I don't like freaky ponies coming into Ponyville and bullying others. I'll give you one chance to surrender! Or else!"
She moved into a attack stance before the two, and aimed towards Colgate's attacker. It simply looked at the two ponies, lit all three of it's horns causing it, and Bruturr to disappear. Rainbow and Colgate looked on in shock before Dash commented in surprise:
"What was that?"
Colgate could only shrug in answer.
"Why were they after you?" Dash asked before flying up to Colgate's face, "Do you know something important?"
"Uh, maybe." Colgate said sheepishly
"Hmm, well, it's not safe for you here, and you're not a Pegasus so-"
"No, no, no. I don't think it's too big of a deal."
"Too big of a deal!?" yelled Dash, "Come with me!"
She picked up Colgate and began to fly. After a short journey, they landed in front of the Ponyville Library. The place had been ransacked. The windows were broken, the doors flung wide open. A few candles inside were still lit and Colgate could see some books strewn across the ground. The area was closed off with police tape, but there was no pony to be found.
"Good thing Twilight went to Canterlot." Commented Colgate with a shocked expression on her face.
"Yeah it is. Spike got lucky he was at Fluttershy's house delivering some books. Now they're after you? What do you know? What do they want from you!"
"I don't know what they want!" cried Colgate
"Oh yes you do!" said a angered Rainbow Dash bringing her face within millimeters of Colgate's, "I have been chasing these guys all day, they're not idiots! If you have something they want, you'd better tell me right now!"
"Well, either way, you got some questions to answer! Starting with what this gem is!"
"Naw hold on there Dash. I know y'all want to find those idiots who trashed Twilight's house, but I doubt Colgate has the answers for ya."
From afar, Applejack walked up, having been looking for the very creatures Rainbow had attacked, but had lost her high flying friend when she spotted them at Colgate's house. She walked onto the scene seeing nothing there except Rainbow Dash grilling Colgate. Rainbow sat Colgate down in front of Applejack, making sure she kept an eye on the unicorn at all times.
"I doubt that." Dash replied, "Go ahead Colgate, tell Applejack here about the gem."
"Gem? What y'all goin' on about?" Applejack turned her attention to Colgate.
"Look, all I know it holds some great and powerful enemy, that's it."
"What? You're not makin' any sense."
"Start making sense now!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"Oh wait! I know!" said Colgate in a Epiphany, "The Doctor!"
"The Doctor?" Rainbow asked, looking at Applejack.
"Doctor Who?"
----
"TEN HUT!" called Sylver
The five Royal Guards went to full attention. Behind them sat an armored wagon that looked as though it had been designed to survive shots from the biggest of the guards cannons. Their silver armor shone brightly in the moonlight, giving way to their name of the Silver Guard. The personal and elite retinue of Shining Armor, the Royal Guard's Captain. All of them had seen combat in defending Canterlot and the Palace from Nightmare Moons comeback, to the Changeling rebellion, to a few other incidents intheir service. Their leader was Captain Quick Sylver, personal Unicorn Body guard to Shining Armor, his left eye gone and his face slightly disfigured from a steaming hot pie thrown at him during a riot. From their right walked in Shining Armor himself, dressed in his full Guard Armor, ladened with enchantments to give him maximum protection against whoever was foolish enough to cross him.
"Alright, listen up! Princess Celestia herself has informed me we are taking a very important and potentially life threatening object to Tartarus. I don't know what it is, and I don't want to know. We have our orders, now get ready move out! Charger! strap yourself onto the cart."
"Sir!" said a Pale green Earth Pony
He ran to the front and hooked himself up to the cart.
"Crescent, cover us from the air." ordered Armor
A white Pegasus nodded and took off, hovering over the cart and scanning the horizon.
"Flower, Starlight, cover the rear," Ordered the Captain. The two Unicorns were quick to respond, "Spirit, Sylver, on point with me."
The two Captains ran into position behind Captain Armor, dropping into a V formation. Guard Captain Armor, confident that everything was ready, opened a large wooden door guarded by two Lunar Guard, who saluted to them as they passed.
"It's a four hour trip to Tartarus from here." said Spirit, "Seven hours until sunlight."
"We have time." said Armor
"This is going to be a long night." grunted Charger as he pulled the cart
----
There came a pounding at the door, followed by a pony falling down the stairs and crashing to the floor. Despite this, the knocking still continued as Derpy stood up and strolled over to unlock the door. Before her stood Colgate, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.
"Hello, what are you doing here?" greeted Derpy, a happy expression stuck on her face.
"Derpy? Derpy is the pony who is going to answer all the questions?" asked an irate Rainbow Dash.
"I think you want to speak to the Doctor." said a sleepy Derpy.
"Yes. That's who." answered Colgate, "Is he still awake?"
"Who the hay is this Doctor y'all speakin of?" Asked Applejack in a rather frustrated tone, "Why are we at Derpy's house anyway? Ah though we'd be goin to the hospital if we wanted to see a Doctor!"
Derpy nodded yes and pointed outside to the back. Colgate lead the two through the house as Derpy fell to the floor asleep. The three stepped through the back door to see a police box standing there in the dark, the lights on and flashing inside. A violent crashing sound could be heard inside, causing the door to open slightly ajar, allowing them to hear everything going on inside the box. Applejack and Rainbow Dash tried to look into the box before a voice sounded.
"Ooh, look at all the lights!"
It was Pinkie Pie. Applejack and Rainbow stared on, both in shock, and in silence.
"You mean to tell me this Doctor is Pinkie?" asked Applejack
"What else do I not know about her?" asked Rainbow
"It's not Pinkie." Colgate told them, "It's someone else."
"Pinkie!" came a stallions voice, "I told you not to touch that purple flippy lever! You touched it! In fact, you touched everything!"
"But everything in here is sooo cool to touch! Look here!" came Pinkie.
"Pinkie, what did Twilight and I tell you about touching things?"
"That I may accidentally open a black hole in Ponyville......again."
"Exactly." the Stallion replied, "You're lucky I was there to stop it when it did!"
He continued on about the dangers of messing with the TARDIS as Applejack looked to Rainbow Dash confused, but Dash wasn't doing any better than she.
"Now then Pinkie. Go outside and point this device at the moon."
"Why Doctor? What does it do?"
"Well it's solar powered, and the moon reflects the light on the of the sun, although it may not work considering where I am, oh not to worry I'm sure it will work!"
The door opened further to reveal Pinkie Pie holding a large triangular device in her hooves. Upon seeing Colgate, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all stood outside, confusion crept onto her face.
"Oh! Applejack! Rainbow Dash! Colgate! What are you doing here?" she asked, setting down the device before angling it to towards the moon.
"We came to get answers." started a shocked Rainbow Dash.
"But, Ah think we got more questions than answers." finished Applejack.
"Hmm, well, you can go ask the Doctor! He has a answer for everything! Even things that don't have answers!"
"Huh?"
"Wha?"
Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood in front of Pinkie looking dumbfounded.
"Pinkie, we need to see the Doctor about the gem."
"Why?" Pinkie inquired with a curious tone,
"The Library and my house have been attacked! I think they want the gem!"
"Are you sure?"
Pinkie looked closely into Colgate's eyes, with the eye closest to Colgate bulging out of it's socket, a Pinkie Pie signature special. She stared for a few seconds before the TARDIS door opened again and out stepped the Doctor.
"Perfect job there Pinkie, it's working better then I-"
He took one look at Applejack and ducked in behind the TARDIS door.
"AH! It's the apple sellers sister! Please don't hurt me! I was going to buy those apples eventually!"
"Hey! Ah know you! You're that one pony who Apple bloom sold them apples to!"
"Yes! I'll buy more, just please leave me alone!" said the Doctor, the fear showing in his voice.
"And aren't you the one pony who flipped the hour glass when the Flim Flam brothers challenged the Apple Family farm?" asked Rainbow
"That's just a part time job so I can get some extra bits!"
"Colgate, Pinkie, what's the meanin' of this?" asked Applejack
"I don't know?" said Pinkie, "What is the meaning?"
"You brought us here to this joker?" Rainbow shouted pointing at Whooves, who was still cowering behind the door looking fearfully at Applejack, "What is he going to do? Tell us what time it is?"
"Doctor, they need to know about the gem!" yelled Colgate
"What?" Whooves stuck his head around the door.
"You know, the green gem that has the evil cloud that Scrapper sealed away and is now in Canterlot." answered Pinkie.
"You know of this too!?" came a shocked Rainbow Dash.
"Uh-huh!" answered Pinkie.
"N-n-no Apples?" asked Whooves.
"Does it look like ah want to sell you mah apples?"
"I don't know, do you?" inquired Whooves.
"No." Applejack snorted at Whooves.
"Alright then." said Whooves standing up, "Right this way then. Inside the TARDIS, I'll answer all your questions."
"Oh no! We do this out here in the open!" ordered Rainbow Dash, "Not in that cramped little police box."
"It's allot bigger on the inside!" said Pinkie.
"What? How is that possible?" asked Applejack.
"Come on inside and see!" said Pinkie skipping into the TARDIS
Rainbow and Applejack were unsure of what to do as Colgate strolled in after Pinkie. With no other option to get what they needed, they walked in. Their jaws hit the floor. It was massive. The main room was several times larger than the outside, with hallways branching off nearly every direction. The center held a console that shone with bright lights and vented steam out of several pipes, all surrounding a blue column in the center, finishing the room of rather nicely.
"Wha-wha-wha-" stammered Rainbow Dash
"What is this place?"
"A TT type forty Time and Relative Dimension in Space, mark three of course, or TARDIS for short. Capable of flight, and time travel across the know universe! In some cases Universes! But then it gets all complicated and only under special circumstances..." Whooves noticed that his two new visitors were completely taken aback by his wondrous machine.
"I don't understand, is this all magic or somethin'?"
"Not at all apple sellers sister! It's technology! Technology far more advanced than anypony on this planet could fathom!"
"Mah names Applejack."
"Very well then Applejack. So, you had a few questions about the gem?"
"Yeah!" Interrupted Rainbow Dash, "What is it, and why did these thugs trash Ponyville just to get it?"
"Thugs? Trashing Ponyville? I don't know what you're talking about."
"What? They trashed the Library not too long ago!" yelled Rainbow Dash
"Ooh, Twilight's gonna hate that." mumbled the Doctor before Rainbow Dash flew in his face
"Where have you been all day?"
"Oh Canterlot, Canterlot a thousand years ago, Canterlot again, here. So, mainly Canterlot."
"Wait a minute?" Applejack spoke up, "Canterlot a thousand years ago, I thought Twilight already used that spell!"
"Oh, that's because this machine doesn't work on magic. Here I'll show you! When did you say that the Library was trashed?"
"Ah didn't. But it was at 10:30 tonight."
"Alrighty then, 10:32 it is!"
"Ah said 10:30!"
"Yes but then we wont see them leaving!" said the Doctor, "Pinkie! Yellow wobbly button and the main gear lever!-ah, will someone get Derpy"
"Uh, why?" pried Rainbow Dash.
"Who knows when you may need her!"
Colgate lit her horn, and moments later, a still sleeping Derpy floated in surrounded by Colgate's magical aura. The light from the TARDIS stirred her from her rest. Looking around seeing she could see that she was back in the TARDIS. As Colgate put the Pegasus down, Derpy stood up tired, but ready to go on another adventure and closed the TARDIS door.
"Welcome back aboard Derpy!" cheered Pinkie
Derpy was still too tired to answer.
"Yes! Pinkie! Squiggly-jibbly pushy button!"
"You got it Doctor!"
The TARDIS whirred to life and slowly disappeared from sight altogether.
The TARDIS landed a block and a half away from Colgate's home. Whooves opened the door and stepped out into the night air, Applejack and Rainbow Dash following behind him. Not far off they could see the library surrounded by other ponies. Applejack saw herself standing there and her jaw dropped while Rainbow could see herself barking out orders to the other Pegasi.
"Alright, sorry but we have appeared to arrive at about, oh, five to eleven? TARDIS is acting up a bit it seems. No matter!"
"Is, is, is that me?" asked Dash, unable to remove her eyes from the past Rainbow Dash.
"Yep. You four hours ago!" answered Whooves
"Yet, we're right here." commented Applejack
"Yes, well, that's the magic of time travel." chimed Whooves rather happily,
"Uh Doctor?" came Derpy, "Won't this cause the whole pair of boxes thingy since they are seeing themselves?"
"No! This is the past. Just so long as their past selves don't see us, we'll be good."
"Pair of boxes?" asked Applejack
"Oh he means Paradox!" sang Pinkie
"So what happens if I, I mean me, her, sees me!"
"Well, a big hole will be torn in the universe that will destroy everything!" explained Whooves
"How big a hole you talkin about?" asked Applejack
"Oh, about the size of Belgium I think." remarked Whooves, "Maybe smaller. Wonderful this time nonsense isn't it?"
"Oh." said Applejack a little nervous before
The ponies at the library all flew or ran off in random directions. Colgate walked over and looked around when she saw her attackers enter her house.
"There! There they are!" she yelled, "They are going into my house!"
"Oh no they are not!" yelled Rainbow Dash
She reared back to take off as fast as she could before Whooves grabbed her tail and took her off balance. Rainbow Dash fell back and into the TARDIS.
"No! You can't go out there!" he yelled
"Why the hay not!" questioned Rainbow angrily
"The pair of boxes, oh I mean Paradox!"
"What about it?" yelled Rainbow
"You can't go stop them because if you did then you wouldn't be able to stop them later, leading Colgate there to lead you to me, leading you back here with the TARDIS. You'll blow a hole in the Universe!"
"How big?" asked Rainbow
"The size of a cake?" asked Pinkie Pie from nowhere, seemingly oblivious to the whole severity of the situation
Whooves pondered on this before his eyes went wide with wonder, "Actually, Pinkie you're right!"
"Thank you!" she said skipping down the TARDIS
"Well, that's a risk I'm willing to take!" said Rainbow getting up
She tried to fly out again, but Whooves tackled her to the ground. Applejack tried to rush to her Rainbows aide, but Pinkie stopped her, popping out of the ceiling above. She shook her head with a stern look on her face, and Applejack sat down.
"Quick! Derpy! Sit on her tail!" yelled Whooves before being hoofed in the face.
"Okay Doctor!" said Derpy.
The grey Pegasus flew down, ungracefully landing on Rainbow's tail. Whooves quickly jumped away from Dash as she tried to take off. Derpy's buns of steel won out and Rainbow soon realised she wasn't going anywhere, any time soon. Whooves nodded and smiled at Derpy before running over to the central console.
"Alright! We're getting out of here before anything else happens! Why did I even think to show them the past!"
As he worked on the TARDIS, Applejack and Colgate looked on, ready to head back into the TARDIS when they heard a rather posh voice from behind them.
"Applejack, Colgate? What are you two doing that drab box?"
They turned to see Rarity standing there confused.
"I thought you were going to check your farm darling." she finished
"Well, Ah was, and I did, but..."
"How can you already have? I just saw you run off there a few seconds ago. What is this thing anyway?"
She looked inside, taken back by how large the interior actually was, and how it could fit inside such a small box.
"Wow, this is some interesting magic! I sure could use this at the boutique! Anyway, how did you get here, and... is that Ditzy Doo sitting on Rainbow Dash? I could have sworn I just saw her-"
She looked back to see the Rainbow Dash of this time fly past trailing her signature rainbow trail. A single hair sprung up on Rarity's mane, Panic crawling onto her face at the sight of a second Rainbow Dash.
"How, but, this, how can, that's not?" Rarity stammered.
"Later!" yelled Applejack
She grabbed Rarity's tail and dragged the shaken Unicorn in whilst Colgate closed the door. The TARDIS whirred into life and slowly disappeared from view.
Upon landing, Whooves checked his instruments and other devices, confirming this was the right time, and patted the central spire of the core.
"Alright, we're back where we belong!" said Whooves turning around seeing Rarity, "When did she get here?"
"A few seconds ago." answered Colgate, "Applejack dragged her in."
"Are you insane!?" yelled Whooves "Are you ponies actively trying to destroy the Universe?"
He ran over to double check the consoles, scanning for signs of any unusual activity. Surprisingly, nothing had changed, everything seemed right.
"When was the last time you saw Rarity?" inquired Whooves as he continued to work over the TARDIS console
"This morning." sang Pinkie sipping by,
"Yesterday." mentioned Derpy with Rainbow still trying to get out from under her tail
"A few days ago." commented Colgate
"No I meant Rainbow Dash and Applejack."
"When we started the search." said Applejack
"Yeah." seconded Rainbow Dash, "She was going to check out her shop and that was the last we saw of her. Will you get off my tail!"
Derpy smiled nervously and stood up, freeing Rainbow Dash. Rainbow herself dusted off her tail before continuing.
"After that we didn't see her."
"What does all this mean?" asked Rarity who was completely lost at the situation
"Well." exclaimed Whooves, "It seems the TARDIS sent us there because it knew Rarity was supposed to be picked up by us. Fancy that! Incredible! Well, no harm done here. I guess we can go on about our day, or night." Whooves began to ramble on, debating what time they should be using before Rarity interrupted his train of thought.
"I don't understand!" She Rarity
"Well, if it will help,"Whooves started, "You're now four hours younger than you should be."
"Ooh, really?" said Rarity happily, "I'm actually younger now?"
Applejack and Rainbow Dash rolled their eyes.
"Yes. Now then, if you will please, LEAVE MY TARDIS!"
"Doctor!" scolded Derpy, "That is no way to treat guests!"
"Well, I want them out before they break something!"
"Yet, you keep her around?" asked Applejack pointing to Pinkie Pie
The pink pony skipped out of one hallway door and into another. The doors closed to that hallway before a violent crash was heard.
"I'm okay!" yelled Pinkie cheerfully
"You have a point." noted Whooves
----
In the Canterlot Royal palace, a strange unicorn mare walked through one of the many palace courtyards. To those who had seen her, she seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and just walked along. Her skin was black, almost like a changeling, but there had been no changeling reports since the Royal wedding. Plants seemed to wither away at her very presence and animals quickly hid from sight as she walked by. The doors opened with the mere flash of her horn, revealing a large hallway decorated with several statues and pictures of the Royal Guard. The aura about her made the pictures lose color and the statues almost turned away from her. At the end of the hall sat a desk with a single Royal Guard Pegasus reading a paper. She smiled, knowing this would be too easy. With a flash of her horn, a black bolt of magic shot out and bee-lined at the unsuspecting brown Pegasus, stallion. Or did it? Just as the bolt was about to hit, the guard pulled a hand mirror from his desk and sent it back towards the shocked mare. The spell now affecting her, she floated up into the air and was stuck, trapped by her own magic. The Guard flapped his wings and flew up next to her with a smug smile on his face.
"Well Howdy Ma'am. Seems you got yourself stuck." said the guard sarcastically
She glared at him intensely.
"Just a bit of warning next time, do not force open doors in an open hallway when there is only one guard present."
She tried her hardest to attack him, but her new prison prevented that.
"So, what's your name?" asked the guard.
Obviously the mare didn't answer him. He knew it, but he was not going anywhere any time soon.
"Fine, I'll break the Ice. Names David. Staff Sergeant."
"Why would I waste my breath on a low rank grunt like you?" she sneered
His reaction was not what she expected, Instead of a show of anger or belittlement, he smiled a very unsettling smile.
"You know, I could just go directly to the top and report you to Celestia. Be allot less stress for me."
"What is your prissy Princess going to do? Banish me to the moon for a thousand years?" laughed the mare.
"Well, with the Changeling attacks, and a score of other incidents recently, plus the fact Luna would never let you deface her glorious moon, she'll just banish you to the sun for a thousand years."
The Guard's sarcastic demeanor changed midway through the sentence, and a sadistic grin on his face was not one of the joking variety. The mare looked around nervously, a little unsure what to make of his threat when he instantly flew around behind her.
"You're right. Wasting your breath on me is pointless. Let's go meet my Prissy Princess."
"No, no! Wait!"
"Too late. I'm already pushing." said David.
"Rrr.... it wont matter! Once the light hits that gem! It will be all over!"
"What?" yelled David flying around to face her, "What about that gem?"
"Once the Queen is released she will descend upon Canterlot and nothing shall stop her from freeing the rightful true king of Equestria!"
"Yeah right! It takes the light of the sun to activate that thing." laughed David facing the mare to the window, "And as you can see, we have quite the moon tonight."
The Guard smiled, but the mysterious mare only laughed upon seeing this. A pit formed in his stomach as the mare finished with a evil cackle.
"Where does the moon get it's light? The sun! It doesn't matter!"
David said nothing as fear gripped every inch of his body. The mare laughed hard as the petrified Guard slowly floated to the ground as he realized what was about to happen, especially to the Guards who were escorting that thing.
"Oh, I am going to enjoy what is about to happen!"
She looked down to see the still and motionless Guard, but he was gone. Instead, he was flying next to her taking measurements with his hooves and wings.
"What are you doing?"
"You'll see." answered David
He finished whatever he was doing before lining himself up perfectly with the back of the mare, rearing his legs for one heck of a buck.
"Send my regards to the Princess for me!"
"NO!" screamed the mare.
Her plea fell on deaf ears as the Guard bucked her down the hallway and off into the palace. David flew towards the doors and burst out them. He had to make it to that escort before it was too late.
----
Back in Ponyville, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Colgate, and even Derpy sat on a park bench underneath the moon light near a tree. The TARDIS sat not far off with its mad doctor working inside it. Derpy, Colgate, and Pinkie themselves were fine, while Rainbow and Applejack were troubled at the recent events. Rarity, meanwhile, after learning about all that had happened, was admiring herself and her new found youth.
"That was weird." commented Applejack, "And y'all go on time stuff with that crazy stallion all the time!?"
"Not all the time. Allot of the time, but not all of it." answered Pinkie
"I do most of the time." Derpy added
"So, there is a Stallion with a magic time box that travels around saving the world from aliens and time threats?" asked Rainbow
"That's the idea." said Pinkie
"That would be a interesting to watch." noted Rainbow, "Anyway! we need to find out where those mysterious things that attacked the library and Colgate's house went! Teleport spells can't take you that far!"
"Well, if I was such a awful looking creature," butted in Rarity putting her mirror down, "I would go to the one place where all the hideous thing lay, aside from Zecora, and hide myself away."
"Everfree?" asked Pinkie, a little nervous
"Yeah!" said Rainbow perking up, "I bet that's where they went, and I bet that's where they are now! Come on!"
She flew off, trailed by Derpy and Pinkie Pie. Colgate was a little unsure, adventures like these weren't really her thing. She started to back away when a orange mare stopped her.
"Scared there Sugarcube?" she asked
"A little. These things you ponies do, not exactly what I do in my spare time."
"It's okay, I'll be right there with ya in case things get hairy.”
Colgate was still a little unsure, but Applejack gave her a confidant reassuring smile, and the blue mare nodded. They were about to run off when they saw that Rarity was still sitting there with the mirror in her face.
"Ah don't mind her. She can keep that Doctor company." laughed Applejack
Near the rear edge of the Palace in Canterlot sat the Royal Garden. It was full of majestic plants from near and far, and inhabited by just about everything that was native to Equestria. In the middle sat a vast and majestic Courtyard where parties and other social gatherings in the palace were often held, but now it was quiet, peaceful, and still. Scrapper landed with Luna a few steps behind him. It had literally been a thousand years since the two had flown together as they just had, and it was just as enjoyable as they had remembered. The two walked under a tree and sat down, looking up to the moon.
"Is it easy raising and lowering that thing all the time?" asked Scrapper
"Not really." answered Luna, "But it is satisfying to see it every night."
"What's it like? You know, on the moon?"
"It's a rocky desert, but most of my time there was spent as Nightmare Moon, and she did not partake in fun."
"I would bet." commented Scrapper
Luna rested her head on Scrapper's side and the two didn't say a word. Time seemed to stand still for the two of them, until they heard the flapping of wings from behind. They both looked to see a Lunar Guard flying towards them. The guard's red eyes pierced the darkness and she looked as fierce as Nightmare Moon could ever be.
"Who's that?" asked Scrapper
"My Guard Captain." replied Luna, "Captain Shadow! What is it?"
Shadow saluted as she landed before speaking: "My Princess, there has been an intruder in the Palace."
"Why hath the alarms not been sounded."
"The intruder has been captured before she could do any harm."
Scrapper immediately went into a state of panic
"She!?"
"Yes. She." answered Shadow, "She has refused to give her name but claims she is a messenger for some Queen. She is not a Changeling though."
"Where is she? Take us to her?"
"Right this way Princess-wait, us as in the Royal we, or him too?"
Shadow pointed to Scrapper, who smiled nervously.
"Us as in him too." said Luna
"Right this way your majesty. The Mare arrived in Celestia's study a few minutes ago."
They flew up to Celestia's study, which was not far from the garden itself. Inside, Celestia and Twilight stood before a strange Black Unicorn mare inside a black swirling mass of magic. Several Unicorn guards stood around the mare aiming their horns at her, while two more stood at attention holding spears.
"Apparently she was caught in her own magic when a guard reflected it back at her." spoke Celestia
"Who was it?" inquired Luna, "Such a guard should be commended!"
"A Staff Sergeant David." answered Celestia
"Wait, what!?" came Shadow,"David did this?"
"You know him?" asked Celestia
"He's my husband! Of course I know him!"
"That guy is your-"started Twilight, "Never mind."
"Tell us why your here?" demanded Celestia
The mare just laughed. Celestia gave her a dark scowl. Glancing over to her sister, a twisted smile began to form. As Celestia backed down, Luna began to charge her horn. In an instance the black swirling magic vanished. The mare started to charge her own horn when Luna hit it, causing the horn to disappear. Everyone looked on in awe and fear.
"How'd you do that?" asked Twilight
"Being Nightmare Moon teaches one a few tricks." Luna smiled.
She took a few steps up to the mysterious former Unicorn, who despite the loss of her power, was still not talking. Luna glanced to her sister, who nodded in answer. The Mare was still floating there when the spears that the guards were holding glowed with Celestia's magic, and came to life. Like snakes, they constricted the mare, squeezing the life out of her. Most of the Guards were in awe as Twilight, Scrapper, Shadow, and Luna smiled.
"So, are you going to tell us why you're here?"
Even with her breath slowly being squeezed from her, the mare just laughed.
"It .... wont ...... matter ..................... so ................ long ................. as light ................ hit's ............ that .............. gem!"
She passed out right after that.
"You may have squeezed a little too hard sister." commented Luna
"No matter! Lock her in the dungeon!" Ordered Celestia "We have to find that Guard Caravan fast!"
----
Not far away, the air was much more tense. The Royal Guard caravan escorting the Gem to Tartarus made it's way through the woods underneath Canterlot with the moon seeping through every now and then, lighting their way so the Unicorns wouldn't have to.
"Don't get me wrong, I love the night and the work Luna puts into it," said Charger, slowly pulling the wagon, "But why is it so creepy?"
"It's dark." said Spirit, "Luna's moon lights the way, but in these trees, the darkness seeps in."
"Ignore it guard." said Shining Armor, "It's a long walk to Tartarus."
"Easy for you to say, you ain't carrying this." grumbled Charger
This was followed by a slap on the head from Crescent, flying just above him. Unbeknownst to them, each time the light of the moon hit the wagon, there was an ominous green glow.
----
The five ponies stood outside Everfree, the forest uninviting as always. An ominous wind blew through it, and it's eternal fog snaked it's way across the ground. Evil, unwelcoming eyes blinked at them, just daring them to enter. Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood ready to enter, while Colgate and Derpy were hanging back, both mares feeling rather nervous. Meanwhile Pinkie was just giggling to herself.
"Are you sure we have to go in there?" asked Derpy nervously
"Yep! Ah'm sure of it!" said Applejack, "There's no other place they'd have gone."
"This is the perfect place for those creeps!" added Rainbow Dash, "Come on!"
Rainbow flew in, followed by Pinkie and Derpy. Colgate meanwhile was still standing there, her nerves holding her still. She looked to see Applejack giving her a reassuring smile, but was still too nervous to go in.
"I got yer back." said Applejack
"How do you ponies do this?"
"It ain't easy!" replied Applejack, "But Ah always think of it as Ah have a job that's more important than mah own fears."
"Does that help?"
"Ah don't know yet. Now come on! We got to catch up with the rest."
Colgate smiled, at least knowing she wasn't the only scared one was a little helpful. Running off down the trail, they soon caught up to Pinkie and Derpy as Rainbow lead the way. Pinkie smiled happily before looking back ahead, the smile she wore on her face was determined one. Derpy meanwhile was basically acting as a marker for where Rainbow was going so the rest could keep up. Rainbow herself was in a constant struggle between flying fast to find them quickly, and flying slow enough to look for any clues. Her rainbow trail flying brilliantly behind her as she scanned the ground looking for anything to give her a sign of where they were going. Once again, she had rushed into a situation not entirely knowing what she was looking for. Everfree was huge, larger than Ponyville and Canterlot combined. It would take days for them to search the entire forest, and even then they may never find them. However, it would take as long as it needed for these, things or whatever they were, were not going to get away that easily after what they did in Ponyville. Then, by chance, she spied a strange clearing that looked out of place, and flew down to it. It looked like a pricker bush, but the branches were broken as if several bodies just appeared in it. In fact, it looked as if they appeared right out of nowhere. This was it, this is where they teleported to. Rainbow immediately began looking for hoof prints to see where they walked off.
"You find it Rainbow Dash?" asked Derpy
"I think so." she replied, "They went off this way!"
She pointed down to what looked like Hoof prints, but they appeared to come from several different animals.. Just the creatures they were looking for. Applejack nodded toward Rainbow Dash and the cyan Pegasus flew up in the air to follow them through the forest. The prints themselves were getting farther and farther apart, seemingly running away from something. That answer was given in a clearing. Laying in the middle was a Manticore, it's chest smoking from a magic blast on it's chest. Rainbow tapped it a few times with her hoof and recoiled in fear.
"It's dead!"
Everypony gasped.
"Who would do that!?" cried Colgate.
"Somepony who obviously has anger issues." said Pinkie.
"Didn't you guys say you were about to do the same to one when Nightmare moon took over?" questioned Derpy
"Not now Derpy!" broke out Dash, "I see more tracks over there!"
The Pegasus flew over the Manticore and pursued her targets, now gearing up for a fight with something that could easily take down a Manticore. Her friends followed behind her, just as nervous, and just as ready for a fight. They tore through the brush and woods until coming to the gaping maw of a monster ready to eat them, its sharp jagged teeth ready to devour them. Rainbow stopped just short of it before Derpy crashed into her, followed by Pinkie and Applejack while Colgate managed to stop in time. They covered their eyes ready for the monster to eat them, when Applejack realized it was just a cave.
“It's ok, it's a cave.”
"A evil looking cave." Derpy exclaimed.
"Well, the tracks go off in there." Applejack noted, looking at the tracks
They're cornered." laughed Rainbow Dash, "Let's do this!"
Derpy, Colgate, and Pinkie gulped nervously as they took their first hoof steps into the cave.
----
Whooves stepped out of the TARDIS happy and satisfied. For the past few hours, he had been modifying the TARDIS in case the mysterious power inside the gem ever reared it's face. If it did, he would be able to detect it ten minutes before it actually happened thanks to the wonders of time. He looked around to the bench where everyone had been sitting at, but saw none of them, well he saw the purple haired one, but she was talking to Fluttershy, who was not there when they came back. Walking up, the two were unaware of him as he stood looking on with a curious eye.
"So, where did all the others go?" asked Fluttershy
"Oh they were talking about going to Ever free forest."
"Oh my, I wouldn't want to go there. It's dark and scary, especially if those strange creatures are there."
"Yes, well, they decided since I was in awe of my new youth to stay around and keep the Doctor company." continued
Rarity
"The Doctor?" asked Fluttershy
"Hello!" answered Whooves
Fluttershy screamed and jumped into the air before flying and hiding in a tree. Whooves looked on surprised while Rarity facehoofed.
"Well, that's the first time that's ever happened to me." mentioned Whooves
"Fluttershy dear, you can come down! He's not going to hurt you, are you dear?"
"No, of course not!" answered the Doctor, "I love all things, except pears. I hate pears."
"You're not helping." grunted Rarity through her teeth
Fluttershy poked her head out and looked down. She flew down from the tree and looked at the ground nervous and shy. She knew Rarity was not one to lie and extended her hoof to shake it.
"I'm Fluttershy." she greeted quietly
"I'm the Doctor!" exclaimed Whooves shaking her hoof
"Doctor who?" came Rarity
"Just the Doctor!" answered Whooves, "I'm a Timelord!"
"Time what?" asked both
"I'll explain later. Now where did you say that were going Miss Rarity?"
"The Everfree forest!"
"Right then! I'll just lock onto Pinkie's tracker and we'll be there in a jiffy!"
"You have a tracker in Pinkie?" spoke up Fluttershy
"No. Twilight does in case she goes missing in the past, or future. Only way to track it is in the TARDIS. Now then! Let's go help them out!"
He and Rarity walked back to the TARDIS while Fluttershy backed away. Rarity noticed and walked over to comfort her friend.
"Darling, you've been in the Everfree forest before. You live on the edge of it. Surely you've grown used to it?"
"Um, no, I think I could go home."
"I can take you! No walking through the dark!"
"You will!? Oh thank you Doctor!" Fluttershy exclaimed happily
"Yes, just don't touch anything please."
Fluttershy galloped into the TARDIS followed by Rarity as Whooves closed the door. He walked over to the console and began to work his magic at the controls, setting the TARDIS to lock onto the tracker in Pinkie Pie. The musical noise that was the TARDIS warming up filled their ears until there came a loud bang followed by a rumble throughout the TARDIS. While the two mares looked on confused, Whooves felt a pit forming in his stomach as his hearts beat faster.
"Uh, is that normal Doctor?" inquired Rarity
"Somethings wrong." was the Doctors answer, "Hold on to something!"
"Just how far does this cave go?" Derpy's voice echoed as she flew around it.
"As far as it needs to Ah guess." Replied Applejack, "Rainbow, you sure you know where yer goin'?"
"Yes! I'm sure of it!"
On the ground were the hoof prints of their targets. They soon came to a large opening inside the cave where three routes branched off.
"Dang! We'll need to split up!" stated Rainbow Dash.
"I'll take Colgate! Left!" said Applejack
"Pinkie and I can go right!" twirled Derpy right up to Rainbow
"I'll go in the middle." finished Rainbow, "Let's move out!"
The five took off, ready for anything they were to encounter. Or so they thought. Derpy was flying in front of Pinkie when she suddenly saw a a silhouette of a pony ahead. Zooming forwards, Derpy tackled the figure and was ready to deliver a heavy blow when she realized it was Pinkie!
"How did you?" tried Derpy.
"I don't know!" came Pinkie.
The two mares looked around, this wasn't going to end well.
Elsewhere, Colgate was right on the tail of Applejack, glancing around the cave. Upon looking back, Applejack was gone. Colgate scooted to a stop and looked around in fear. It went as far forward as she could see, and the entrance wasn't in site. There was no way Applejack could lose her that fast, or turn around to run past her.
"A-A-Applejack?" stammered Colgate.
"Uh, down here." came a familiar southern drawl.
Colgate looked below her. She began to stare at the floor in confusion.
"Other way." Applejack's voice spoke again
Colgate looked up to see Applejack standing on the ceiling with a equally confused look on her face.
"How did you get way up there?" asked Colgate
"I should be askin' you that!" responded Applejack
"But, you're on the ceiling!"
"No, Ya'll is on the Ceiling!"
There was a awkward silence between the two as they both attempted to figure out what was goin on.
"Maybe we should keep going." Was Colgate's suggestion.
"Sounds like a plan!"
Admits this confusion, was Rainbow Dash. Her tunnel banked straight up vertically, and she was flying as fast as she could. She dodged rocks and stalagmites, or stalactites, and zoomed through a hole in a rock. It seemed to be endless, going on forever, and with her speed she must have travelled several miles straight up.
"Just how tall is this cave?" Her voice echoed through the cavern.
There, yes, there it was! A light, a tiny, minuscule, but oh so magnificent light at the very top of this Discordian blessed cave. Putting both hooves in front of her, she barrelled towards it, teetering on the edge of a sonic rainboom. She was about to break the sound barrier when she burst through the hole causing an explosion of rocks and rainbows.
"Good gravy Rainbow! You tryin' to kill us?"
"Huh? Wha?" said a shocked Rainbow Dash.
All around her were her friends. Derpy, Pinkie, Colgate and Applejack! All of them! Not only that, but there were three tunnels in this little cavern.
"How did you?" tried Rainbow Dash, "How did I, I was going up, not down!"
"Don't ask, we don't know." replied Pinkie with a worried tone,
This coming from Pinkie Pie, the pony who nopony else could understand, was more than enough for Rainbow to drop the subject. She looked to the central tunnel and threw her hoof forward. As the ponies approached it, the cave ended, revealing itself to be a tunne. They heard shouting, and sounds of fighting.
"Protect the cart Guard!" ordered a voice
"That's Shining Armor!" yelled Pinkie
"Twilight's brother?" Applejack looked concerned. “What in the hay is he doing way out here?"
"We got to help him!" Rainbow shouted.
The five ponies charged forward through the tunnel until they came to out to Everfree forest yet again. Down below was a small skirmish between seven Royal Guards in silver Armor, and the three creatures they had been chasing.
"Come on!" yelled Rainbow Dash diving into the fight.
Shining Armor heard what sounded like wings, and before he knew it, he saw five more ponies emerging from the cave. He almost fired when he saw the rainbow trail leaving the lead figure, and he only knew of one pony who had such a trail.
"We got reinforcements!"
"YEEEHAAA!"
Applejack leaped into the air and bucked the largest creature's head, followed by a blow to the side from Rainbow Dash. It stumbled around for a bit before it came face to face with Colgate.
"This is for Berry!"
With a quick buck, it sailed over the horizon and landed in a tree. The spider creature, who was holding back four Unicorns Guards, was sat upon by Derpy, allowing the guards to quickly escape and bound it's legs together with their magic. The leader of the group sprouted a pair of bat-like wings and began flying around the opening. Upon seeing what was happening, he dove towards the cart in a last ditch attempt to break it. He never made it. Just as he was about to smash it open, the Earth Pony leading the cart delivered a powerful blow, knocking him back into the celling. He was then struck twice in the stomach by the Royal Guard Pegasus before Rainbow Dash delivered the final blow. She had flown up and grabbed a stray thundercloud and positioned it right above him. With one jump, 3000 volts entered the creatures body and he fell to the ground. The battle was won, and the victors looked over them. Shining Armor stood over them before nodding to his Guards. The Unicorns charged their horns and each of the attackers was suddenly constricted in magical bindings and unable to move.
"Who are you?" demanded Shining Armor
"Like we'll tell you!" came the leader
"Oh we have ways." A small grin forced its way onto Rainbow's face.
"You do?" asked the Earth Pony Guard
"Oh yes." replied Rainbow Dash, "Pinkie! You have that Party cannon?"
Pinkie smiled happily before reaching behind a large rock to reveal a light blue cannon. She aimed it at them. The three looked on confused before Pinkie fired it. Confetti and party strings flew out, and the three were suddenly dressed like clowns.
"What the?" yelled the Pegasus Guard
"Party Cannon! Never leave home without it!" sang Pinkie
"Get this junk off us!" yelled the one of the creatures.
"Tell us who you are!" Shining Armor demanded again.
"No!"
"Pinkie?" asked Rainbow Dash
Pinkie fired again, and they were dressed like cowboys.
"This is even worse!" yelled the leader
"Excuse me?" asked Applejack, "Pinkie, fire again."
Pinkie fired again, going through a myriad of party styles. My First Birthday, Pirate, sweet 16, black and white, ancient Greece, Victorian, spaceponies, the Mane 6, all ending with them dressed as pretty princesses. Unable to contain themselves, they all doubled over laughing, even the Royal Guard couldn't contain themselves at how ridiculous their captives looked. The three "princesses" themselves grew red in the face at the laughter. Suddenly a bright light emerged from the darkness. They all looked, recovering instantly from the short laughing fit to see that Twilight, Celestia, Luna, Scrapper, and Captain Shadow had emerged from nowhere.
"Twilie!" said Shining Armor happy to see sister
She ran over and hugged her big brother before looking back to see her friends.
"What are you all doing here?"
"Long story Sugarcube." responded Applejack
"Captain Armor! You're going to be ambushed!" yelled Shadow running towards him.
"We know." said Armor revealing his captives
"Uh, why do you have three Princesses tied up?" Scrapper asked, not sure whether to be confused, or to laugh.
"Huh? Pinkie!" yelled Scrapper
Pinkie pulled the lanyard on the cannon, and the outfits were sucked back into the cannon.
"With these Mares help, we managed to stop them. Now we just have to find out who they are."
"Way ahead of you!" said Scrapper, "A fourth one was captured in the Palace had their names written on a scroll that fell out when we were taking her to the dungeon. The big on is Bruturr, the spider on is Aranea, while their leader is Turba.
"Fourth one?" came the Unicorn mare Guard, "Who captured her?"
"Sergeant David." replied Shadow happily
The Guards talked amongst themselves in amazement upon hearing this. However, this was hushed as Celestia and Luna walked up to the three creatures angrier than ever.
"You three are going to be locked up in Tartarus for a long long time." said Celestia.
"Locked so deep that nothing will be able to comfort you!" added Luna
"I don't think so." said Turba with a sinister sneer.
"You challenge me and my sister?" Luna quizzed the prisoner in a threatening tone.
"Not me, them!" sneered Turba again.
The sound of wood snapping from behind caught their attention, and they turned to see shadow-like ponies emerging from the darkness. There were hundreds of them covering the room.
"Guards!" ordered Celestia
The Guard formed a defensive line around the Princesses and their subjects while they themselves got ready to do battle.
"Do we stand a chance?" asked Colgate
"Of course we do!" responded Scrapper, his voice filled with confidence, "We got the Royal Princesses, Royal Guard Captain, Captain of the Lunar Guard, the Guards elite, you, myself, Twilight and some of her friends. This is going to be easy."
"I hope you are right Swords." Luna had a calm and cautious look on her face.
For his own sake, he hoped he was right too.
----
Sparks flew from the center console as Whooves shoved three levers into position and looked at a screen. Nothing, nothing was right, nothing made sense. Still, as Rarity screamed in fear in the background, he didn't give up.
"Doctor! What is going on!" yelled Fluttershy
"I don't know!" was his reply
He fought with the controls, he went to throw a switch, when it threw itself. It caught him off guard when this happened, and it happened again when several buttons pushed themselves he was planning on pushing. Seeing this, he knew whatever it was that was causing this mess, it wasn't his TARDIS.
"Alright old girl! Let's do this!"
With both the Doctor and his TARDIS fighting whoever it was controlling it, things became very chaotic inside. Fluttershy and Rarity hid under the console while the Doctor and his machine worked furiously to stop it. objects appeared on he walls and disappeared,. The room reshaped itself before instantly reverting back to the original form. Lights flickered, sirens wailed. Doors opened and closed by themselves, revealing different rooms each time. One opened to a forest, another to a pool. One to a bedroom, and another to the very room they were standing in. There was a awkward silence as the mirror counter parts stared at each other before the door shut again. Whooves looked around to see the everything going on when he saw it, the panel he installed. It was blinking and fluttering about, the source of all this! Looking around, the TARDIS opened a panel revealing his Sonic Screwdriver, He grabbed it, aimed it at the panel, and fired. Sparks flew before the whole thing erupted into flames and dissolved into nothingness.
"That's how we do it old girl! Great show!"
"Is... is... is it over?" Rarity asked coming out of her hiding place
Fluttershy still had her hooves over her eyes cowering in terror. Rarity coaxed her out until the lights started flickering again.
"Oh no! We still got quite a ride ahead of us!"
"What!?" gasped Rarity
"Oh yeah!" replied Whooves, "With the amount of stuff that happened, the TARDIS is going on a crash course!"
"Where?" yelled Rarity as the TARDIS flipped over
"Wherever the thing that was controlling us is!"
The TARDIS jerked violently throwing Rarity and Fluttershy into a wall while the Doctor held onto the console.
"Oh, this is going to hurt!"
----
The battle was intense. Even with the might of the Guard Elite, both of the Royal Princesses, Twilight and three of her friends, Derpy, Colgate, and Scrapper, the shadow Ponies still advanced towards them. When ever one was blasted away, another took it's place. Celestia shot a beam that evaporated several dozen, while Luna made the trees come alive and grab many more. Pinkie grabbed Twilight's tail and spun it like a lever, releasing magic bolt after magic bolt into the shadows. Applejack and Charger bucked them as they came, while Shining Armor formed a line with the Unicorn guards and with a move of his hoof, fired into the shadow ponies. The continuous stream of deadly magic drove the shadows back. They were joined in by Scrapper, Twilight, Colgate, Celestia and Luna. Pinkie aimed her party cannon and fired while Applejack bucked apples at them. From above, the Pegasus Guard, Captain Shadow, Derpy, and Rainbow Dash grabbed thunder clouds and struck lightning bolts down around the shadow ponies. All the while, the cart holding the gem stayed secure as Haze looked on to see his army falling, yet stood with a smile on his face.
"What do we do?" asked Bruturr
"Don't worry, I know what's going to happen." replied Turba
Then, as he finished his words, the world seemed to shake with incredible force. The Unicorn and Alicorn line stopped firing as they tried to keep their footing. The Pegasus' clouds dissolved into nothing and they slowly floated back to their friends and watched. From above, a yellow ball of lightning formed not controlled by the Pegasi. It struck out and dissolved several shadow ponies into ash before turning a tree to ash as well. One bolt struck out towards Luna who was busy with some shadow ponies, but Scrapper acted fast and rose up a shield. The lightning cracked the magic as if it was glass, but the barrier held firm. More bolts sparked and spewed from the ball, turning things to ash in a instant. Celestia rose up her own shield to protect the rest of the ponies as the lightning went out of control. They all looked on in fear before it exploded and out zoomed the TARDIS. It's familiar sound was heard, but it almost seemed like it was screaming in pain as it did. It flew up into the air, spinning violently before coming right back down toward the ponies.
"Take cover!" yelled Shining Armor
The TARDIS flew in between them as they dove out of the way, taking a few shadow ponies with it. It slammed into the ground, tumbling slightly into the air again before smashing into the cart carrying the gem. The force of the impact unleashed a wave of golden vortex energy that knocked everyone down and turned the shadow ponies into nothing. All was silent save for the steam coming from the TARDIS as the rest started to stand up. Suddenly, the door on the TARDIS was punched open by a brown hoof. Whooves emerged out of breath and slumped over the side of his machine and looked around.
"Oh, hello! Fancy seeing you here!"
"Doctor!" bellowed Celestia, "What is the meaning of this!"
"No, no, no! Wait! I'm not ready yet your Highness!"
He withdrew back into the TARDIS. Some grunting from him was heard before Rarity clambered out of the TARDIS. Her eyes were filled with fear, she was shaking, and her normally beautiful mane was frayed and messy.
"Rarity! What are you doing in there?" asked Pinkie
She shook her head and looked around. She could get a word out before Fluttershy flew out of the TARDIS and hid in a tree.
"Fluttershy?" came Rainbow Dash, "Who else do you have in there? Scootaloo?"
"Nope, that's all!" answered Whooves, jumping out of the TARDIS.
"Now then! What is the meaning of this?" demanded Celestia, "You could have killed us all!"
"Wish I knew!" spoke Whooves, "Apparently, someone had control of my TARDIS!"
"How is that even possible?" Derpy asked, looking rather worried.
"Well, whoever it was had no idea what happens when you try and control a TARDIS with her Time Lord present!" he answered proudly
"So, why did it send you here?" came Scrapper
"Oh right that. Well, you see-"
He was cut off by sinister laughing from behind him. He looked back in fear to see a thick green smoke rising from the destroyed remains of the cart. He quickly turned on the TARDIS invisibility before backing up to the rest of the group. The face of a demonic mare could be seen in the cloud, cackling, as if to mock them. The guards stood in attack position while the Princesses moved to protect their subjects. This made the demonic mare laugh even harder before it released a wave of energy that shook the ground and retracted the trees. It did nothing to anypony standing around them, except Scrapper. His eyes flashed green for a instant before his head throbbed in pain. He grunted loudly in pain and bent down, holding his head.
"Scrapper! You okay?" asked Shining Armor.
"I remember! It's Eris! That's her name!"
"Eris?" Armor responded, "Never heard of her!"
"I do." said Celestia, "Even Discord didn't like to be alone!"
"Huh?" asked Twilight
"What fun is there causing all that Chaos and to have no one to share it with who would understand!" Luna added.
"Pretty much Discords wife!" said Scrapper
"Where did that even come from?” asked the Doctor, but got no response
Eris laughed even louder from inside her cloud before another wave of magic was released, throwing them all to the ground. As they tried to get back up, they were suddenly constricted in bindings and unable to move. Their hooves, their wings, even their horns were caught in this strange magical rope. They all looked over the Alicorn flying above them, each one unable to move thanks to the spell she cast upon her release. She may have very well been Discord herself, for her form may have been a Alicorn, but it was almost a parody of it. A Grey mane with a brown body. One wing was bone, the other of a bat. Two horns sat atop her head. One looked similar to a Unicorns horn, but the other looked like a malformed tree branch. Her front hooves ended in razor sharp talons like of a griffon, whilst her hind legs were that of a Pony and a lizard. Her tail was of three, a dragon, a scorpion, and a lion. She floated the laughing down at them as they all struggled to get free.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Look at you all!" she sneered in an extremely irritating voice, "Despite your best efforts, all of you are now helpless before me!"
"You wouldn't be saying that if you didn't have us in these bindings!" snapped Rainbow Dash
Her response was just a laughed as she floated to the ground.
"Even the great Pony sisters failed to stop me! Scripted Swords it seems you have failed as I said you would."
"You wont get away with this Eris!" shouted Celestia
"I already have! Soon I will reawaken Discord so that he can take his rightful place on the throne and rule all of Equestria!"
"Seriously!" yelled Whooves, "You want to do that!?"
"Excuse me?" came Eris
"I've seen what Discord's power does! How can you even think that it's a good idea! It doesn't make sense!"
"It's Chaos and disharmony. it's not supposed to make sense!" snorted Eris
"She's got you there." whispered Rainbow Dash
"Even the Captains of the Royal Guard and their elite failed miserably. You have no chance, submit to Discords will, and maybe he will spare you."
"We will never surrender to the likes of Discord." Twilight shouted in defiance.
"Then you can sit by and watch as everypony in Equestria falls. None will be able to stand before me!"
As she laughed maniacally, Shadow looked up and noticed a star that shouldn't be there. It seemed to be getting brighter than the rest.
"You're wrong there Eris."
"HA! How is that?" the twisted Alicorn asked the Lunar Guard Captain
"A certain pegasus guard stands a chance." answered Shadow
"Who him?" with a flat tone Eris pointed to Crescent
"Who, me?" asked the confused Guard
As Eris laughed, rattling began nearby. They looked to see Pinkie's tail twitching violently.
"Uh oh, somethings going to fall from the sky!" yelled Applejack
"What?" asked Eris, "What is? What is falling from the sky?"
"An idiotic guard." answered Shadow
"How do you know that?" Eris demanded.
"Because I married this idiot!"
Everypony looked toward Shadow in confusion, but she just continued to look at the star. Whooves caught on to this and looked up, followed by Derpy, Pinkie, and everypony else on that little destroyed patch of roadway.
"That's not a star." Luna commented, staring into her night sky.
Before their eyes the star seemed to explode. A gold and blue jet trail flew right into Eris, whoever it was screaming the entire way, and impacting with a force. The ground shook and the magical restraints were shattered. It was over in a few seconds. Everyone slowly dusted themselves off, making sure that everyone was unharmed. Walking over to the crater left behind, they could see the dust rising from the impact.
"Whoever that was, was going fast." commented Scrapper
"Not as fast as me." commented Rainbow Dash
"Really Dash?" snorted Applejack
"It's true." answered Whooves, "Rainbow Dash here can go at least Mach 10. Whoever that was was going Mach 2."
Suddenly, a hoof rose out. Every Unicorn there charged their horns ready to deliver whatever was on their minds when the rest of the body the hoof was attached to stepped out, coughing and hacking all the way.
"Staff Sergeant!?" yelled Shining Armor in surprise
OWE-HOW! Sweet Celestia that hurt!" he yelled as he stumbled around, "I don't even know how I did that." said David in a daze before seeing Luna and Celestia, "Reporting your Majesties!"
While still stumbling around, he stood at a loose attention, saluted the best he could, and then fell over. Shadow was by his side instantly as the others looked on amazed.
"What was that!?" yelled Whooves, "Amazing as it was, who is this pony?"
"I think that's the pony who gave the TARDIS a ticket." answered Derpy
"Him? Some desk guard? You mean to tell me that some random guard pony just saved me, Derpy, the living embodiments for the elements of harmony, both Princesses, Shining Armor, and a whole platoon of Royal Guards? Who even though that up!”
*Meanwhile in another dimension, a particular Brony looked up from his computer and felt something odd, like he just pulled a really big douche move that was uncalled for. He shrugged off not caring, drank from his coke, and got back to his computer.*
Scrapper and Twilight peered over the edge of the crater, followed by Luna and Celestia. With a quick spell, Scrapper moved the dust away, revealing nothing.
"She's gone!" cried Scrapper
"I didn't think I hit her that hard." said a still dazed David
"No, she probably teleported away." Celestia said, still analysing the crater.
"So now what?" asked Armor, ready for orders.
"Captain! I want you and your Silver Guard to muster up and oversee the defense of every city from Canterlot to Las Pegasus, Trottingham, Concordia, and Manehatten!"
"Yes Ma'am!" saluted Armor
"Captain Shadow! Do the same!"
"As you wish my Princess." She saluted
Celestia then turned her attention to Scrapper, who was still looking over the crater.
"Scripted Swords, can you get another one of those prison gems?"
He looked up startled, but soon recovered, "Uh, not exactly. They're very rare, and the pony I got them from was a friend about a thousand years ago."
"We can help!" came Derpy, "Right Doctor?"
"Huh? Wha?"
He poked his head out of his TARDIS and looked around.
"Yes Doctor, you will." continued Twilight, "It would be a honor."
Trapped between a rock and a hard place, the Doctor had no choice but to agree.
"I'll go with Scrapper." said Colgate
"You sure?" asked Celestia
Colgate nodded her head adamant. Celestia smiled and couldn't deny her. Scrapper put his hoof around his niece and smiled.
"Lastly, that brings me to you Twilight Sparkle." spoke Celestia walking over to her student, "We'll need the Elements of Harmony."
"Yes Princess." said Twilight
"However, Eris is a cunning foe just like Discord. I want to assign a guard to you just in case."
"In all due respects your majesty!" spoke Rainbow Dash, "We can handle ourselves."
"I know Rainbow Dash, I'm just being safe. I can't risk it!"
"Yes your majesty." replied Twilight, "Who is it going to be though?"
"This guard right here?" answered Celestia
She pointed to David, who was rubbing the back of his neck in pain before turning around not knowing what was going on.
"Huh?"
"Him? He's just a desk guard!" yelled Rainbow Dash
"Yeah! I'm just a desk guard!"
"Captain Armor!" sounded Celestia, "What is this Guards accomplishments?"
Armor looked to David, and then thought on it: "He's a Veteran of the NLR's attack on Canterlot, an excellent fighter, fought against a incursion of mind controlling Diamond Dogs in the Palace, has been able to hold his own against Captain Shadow with a broken wing, fought in the defense of Canterlot during Discords attempted comeback, the Changeling invasion, a riot of steaming hot apple pie armed ponies, and recently, smashed Eris into the ground."
David sat there unbelieving his reputation had just betrayed him
"Oh, and these Guards here, the Canterlot elite, my own body Guards, he was their original CO and lead them through some harrowing combat."
"Except the Captains." corrected David
"Then it is settled!" spoke Celestia, "Luna and I will return to Canterlot to watch over Equestria for signs of Eris."
"Uh, I'll need some time to do some repairs!" shouted Whooves from his TARDIS
"Very well," said Celestia, "you'll come with us to Canterlot in the meantime!"
While the Doctor and his assistant worked on making sure the TARDIS was back in working order from the hostile takeover, Scrapper rested his hooves over the side of a balcony when he heard someone walking up. He looked over to see Colgate and she began resting next to him.
"So, you okay?" she asked
"The very Pony I froze myself for for a thousand years just escaped. Not really."
"It wasn't your fault." said Colgate, "These things happen."
"Not quite on this scale, but I know what you mean. Doesn't shake the fact she is still loose and ready to wreak havoc on all of Equestria."
"I doubt that." responded Colgate, "With Twilight and her friends, the insane Doctor, and the princesses, the odds aren't stacked in her favor."
"I don't know."
"Besides, unlike last time, I'm pretty sure you aren't alone in this fight."
Scrapper smiled, and hugged his niece. As they stared off into the night, the TARDIS came to life, its signature sound filling the room as the Doctor stepped out, proud of his handy work.
"She's ready to go! How far back?"
"One thousand and Five years!" announced Scrapper
"Perfect! Since the TARDIS knows what kind of a threat we're facing, I'm sure she'll take right where we need to go!"
Scrapper and Colgate stepped on board the TARDIS as the Doctor shut the door. As the door shut, Derpy threw three levers and pushed a button before giving the Doctor a nod. Whooves saluted back and turned a knob before the TARDIS began its flight through time and space once again.
----
Twilight and her friends entered the library. There were books everywhere, shelves tossed about, plants tipped over. As Twilight stared in shock, her eye twitching involuntarily, a scream was heard and Spike fell from above.
"Spike!" yelled Twilight as she ran over to the little dragon, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine." he answered picking himself up.
"Spike my dear, whatever are you doing here?" asked Rarity
"Well, after Fluttershy dropped me off here, I decided to clean up a little. It's not going so well."
"I can see that." spoke David as he stuck his head in.
"Uh, who's the guard?"
"Oh, he's an escort just in case something goes wrong." answered Twilight
"Royal guard escort? Why would you need that?" Spike asked, looking rather worried.
"I'll tell you in the morning Spike. Go get some rest. We'll clean up down here."
"Awe, thanks Twilight."
He gave her a hug and ran upstairs to his bed. The door slammed shut as they began to clean up.
"Uh, you want me to help?" asked David
"No, we're good." Twilight replied.
"Alright then, I'll just stand firm like every other Guard in Canterlot."
"Umm Twilight, why didn't we go to Canterlot to pick up the Elements of Harmony?" Rainbow Dash questioned.
As she finished her question, a large ornate chest appeared in the center of the room. It opened to reveal the Elements of Harmony.
"Never mind." was Rainbow Dash's response
"Uh, Twilight, Ah have another question. Are you sure it's safe to be here in Ponyville with that Eris out and about."
"Well, we can't put all our eggs into one basket. If we all went to Canterlot, then Eris could strike there and take on all of us at once!"
"Ah don't know."
"Applejack darling, I'm sure the princess has a reason. She has never failed us before."
"You'll be fine." said David
The all looked to him still standing at attention.
"Why? Because you're here?" asked Rainbow Dash
"Are you kidding? Seriously! You six are the saviors of Equestria! You beat Nightmare Moon, crashed the Gala, which I will add Twilight, if it wasn't for the Princess and your brother, you'd be all thrown in jail for that!"
Twilight smiled sheepishly.
"You defeated Discord, taken on dragons, and defeated Queen Chrysanthemum!"
"You mean Queen Chrysalis?" corrected Twilight
"Whatever! Point is! There is absolutely nothing here that could possibly be a threat to you!"
As he finished, a large metal pole was smacked across the back of his head. His helmet rung like a bell as his eyes went walled and his tongue stuck out.
"I stand completely corrected." he said before falling over
He thudded against the floor, his legs sticking up in the air and twitching. Standing behind him with a evil sneer across his face was Turba, holding the metal pole which had struck the guard down with magic from one horn; the others charging up ready for the attack. Seeing him, the rest drew into attack stance, save Fluttershy, who quietly tried to back away.
"What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash yelled at the aggressor
"Better yet! How did you get here?" Applejack added.
"I teleported." answered Turba, "It's a very easy spell to master."
Twilight snorted in anger as his three horns glowed.
"I'm just here for those." he laughed.
He pointed to the Elements of Harmony. Twilight's horn lit up as she quickly teleported the elements of harmony.
"You really think it's that easy?" asked Turba, all three of his horns glowing, "Just consider this a little parting gift." he spoke
They charged at him, but before they could reach him, he unleashed a blinding surge of energy, knocking the six mares into the bookcases. They hit the floor unconscious while Turba laughed once more.
"That was easier than I thought!" he sneered, "Pathetic guard got a lucky shot."
He kicked David across the room before dropping the pole and laughing in his victory.
"Ahem!" came a voice.
Turba felt a tapping at his side. Looking down, he could see a small purple and green dragon standing there with a scowl on his face.
"A baby dragon? What are you going to do?"
"I'm a dragon! What do you expect?" said Spike, the scowl still worked across his face.
Taking in a breath, he spewed green flames into the creatures face..
"I'm blind!" he wailed.
Turba took a few steps back before being grabbed at the neck. As his vision slowly came back, he was face to face with David. Turba smiled nervously as David glared at him.
"Pathetic?" asked David, "You're calling me pathetic?"
He grabbed the metal pole that Turba had used to strike him, and worked it over Turba's forward horn. Using his mouth and hoof, he pulled the metal pipe straight down, ignoring Turba's pain as he worked.
"Now the question is what to do with you?"
"Will this do?" asked Spike
He rolled up Pinkie's party cannon and pointed it out the window. David smiled sadistically before stuffing Turba face first into the cannon and adjusting it's aim. He saluted to Spike, who unleashed a green flame onto the fuse. With a mighty bang, the cannon sent Turba over the horizon. They could almost hear the thud from the library when he landed.
"Nice work kid." praised David
"It's Spike."
"Okay then. Let's see if the others are alright."
They looked over to Twilight and her friends. After regaining their balance, they shook their heads a little and looked to David and Spike, who could were wide eyed with confusion and some shock.
"What are y'all starrin' at?" asked Applejack, but it wasn't her voice
She suddenly clasped her hooves over her mouth. That wasn't her voice, it was Rarity's, but how could that be? She then realized that there was a purple lock of hair in her face. It was then that she saw herself standing up. She looked on in horror as Applejack looked at "her" with equal horror before looking at herself. "Applejack" screamed in a high pitch scream that wasn't like her before Pinkie Pie crashed into her.
"Whoop sorry Applejack! I'm not used to flying!"
She revealed her new wings before Fluttershy walked up, her own wings missing..
"Pinkie Pie!" yelled Twilight, "When did you get wings?"
"When did you go Rainbow?" asked Pinkie Pie
"Huh? What?"
Twilight looked herself over to see that her colors had changed to exact matches of Rainbow Dash. Her hair and cutie mark were the same, but she was wearing Rainbow Dash's colors! Rainbow Dash herself stood up and looked over herself, and froze at seeing Twilight's colors on her mane and skin. The difference was their mane styles were the same, just different colors. David himself struggled to contain a laugh at the situation.
"Well, this is going to get interesting real fast." commented David, "Alright, who is who?"
"Ahm Applejack." spoke Rarity
"I'm Rarity." spoke Applejack
At that, "Rarity" grabbed "Applejack's" Stetson and placed it on her head. While it looked incredibly out place on Rarity's head, it made easier to tell who was who.
"Where have I seen that before?" asked Spike
"You're Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy." deduced David easily, "Leaving Twilight Dash and Rainbow Sparkle."
"That's correct." said Twilight, "Wait, no I'm still Twilight Sparkle!"
"Spike hit me over the head again." requested David
"Why?"
"Just do it."
Spike picked up the pole that had struck David earlier, reared back for a big swing, and smacked the helmet right off the Guard. The others looked on confused as the odd Royal Guard put his helmet back on.
"Okay! Now that that's out of the way-" started David
"Why'd you do that?" asked Rarity.
"I needed it. Now then, any way you guys can fix this? An old spell book or something?"
Twilight perked up and started grabbing books off the shelves looking for anything. Seeing her dash around in Rainbow Dash's colors was a interesting sight, but it all availed to nothing.
"That's a required read for the Guard." said David
"Do you have a comment for everything?" asked Rainbow Dash
"Normally." replied David
Twilight meanwhile had a dozen books floating around her head, sifting through each one as she looked through them. Each one then suddenly dropped in to the ground as she cried out in frustration.
"No, no, no! Nothing!"
"You mean you don't have a spell book or some guide to this!?" yelled Rainbow
"Sadly no!" replied Twilight lowering her head
"Come on Twilight!" said Applejack with rarity's voice, "There has to be somethin!"
"You have a book for everything!"
She tried to use her horn, but came the realization that she was now a Earth Pony.
"Oh how do you Earth Ponies live like this."
"Excuse me?" came Applejack, "You got a problem with Earth Ponies?"
"Don't you two even start!" said Twilight coming in between them
"You guys know a magician? Alchemist? Doctor? Herbalist?" asked David
"Ooh! I know one!" said Pinkie buzzing by
"Who? Which one? I said three."
"Well, I know a Magician, a Doctor, and a Herbalist! So all three!" she cheered flying by, before crashing into another bookcase.
"That Doctor wouldn't happen to be Whooves would it?" asked Twilight
"Uh-huh!" was Pinkie's response
"Scratch off Doctor."
"So, who are the other two?"
"Well, there's Trixie the Great and Powerful-" started Pinkie
"NO!" came the communal interruption from everyone except David
"Trixie?" he asked
"She's a show off!" said Rarity
"A bag of hot air!" said Applejack
"And just plain mean." added Fluttershy
"Well then." commented David, "Lastly there's that Herbalist you know."
"Really? Who do we know as a Herbalist?" asked Rainbow Dash
"Zecora!" sang Pinkie as she flew around
"That's right! She's got to have a cure for this." exclaimed Twilight, "Come on girls! Let's go!"
The the newly transformed mares rushed out of the library leaving David and Spike behind. They stood in awkward silence at what they had just seen.
"Should I go after them?" asked David
"Well, you could help me clean!" replied Spike
David looked to mess that had been left behind and pondered it for a second. His eyes came across the party cannon and he just shrugged.
"Meh, Least I could do."
"Finally some help!" cheered Spike as he tossed the Guard a broom.
"Alright, we've arrived! And the timing should be perfect! More or less anyway." announced Whooves as he stepped out of the TARDIS.
"We near Fillydelphiea?" asked Derpy
"I do believe so." replied the Doctor, "You know, I've never been to Philadelphia. I wonder if your version is just the same."
"Uh, what?" came Colgate
"Oh, I can explain!" cheered Derpy, "You see, the Doctor isn't exactly a pony! He's a human!"
"A what?" came Scrapper
"Perhaps some other time." interrupted Whooves, "So, where is this magical Gem seller?"
"In the old market! Some weird pony I met had one a few yea.... uh, a millennia ago."
As they walked into the city, two Guards atop a tower looked down upon them. Upon seeing a particular brown Stallion, they leaped down and unfurled their wings in front of the group.
"Halt! This Stallion is wanted with seventeen accounts of domestic disturbance, three accounts of civil unrest, fifteen accounts of vandalism, four accounts of resisting arrest, and impersonating a Doctor!"
"Hmm, is assault in there as well?" asked Whooves non-chalant
"With a weapon!" answered the guard
"That sounds about right!" said Whooves thinking to his Screwdriver
"Doctor, what did you do?" asked a stern Derpy
"I must've come back later to a earlier point in time and caused all these problems."
"You got a lot of nerve showing your mane around here again!"
"Well then, I might as well do the right thing!"
He took off running as fast as his hooves could take him followed quickly by a guard.
"We're not with him." said Scrapper nervously
"No sir, I recognize you, a friend of the Royal Princesses, I see you brought your sister as well."
Colgate smiled sheepishly.
"But, who is this?" inquired the guard, looking at Derpy
"Oh," started Scrapper, "she's a, a-"
"A Mailpony!" butted in Derpy, "I'm here to pick up a package with them!"
The guard pondered it for a bit, and then shrugged: "Sounds legitimate. Enjoy your say in Fillydelphiea!"
He moved away before sounding a alarm for the rest of the cities guard to be on the look out for the Doctor as they entered.
"I have to go find him don't I?" flat toned Derpy
"He is our only way home."
Bemused at her predicament, she flew off towards several screams and shouts of ponies and guards, respectively, to look for the time lord. Scrapper and Colgate watched as she flew off, not before launching a cart, hay, and several chickens flew into the air causing even more screaming.
"Those two are going to have lots of fun." said Scrapper.
"Alright, where is this gem thing?"
"Somewhere near the theater district." said Scrapper walking along.
"Theater?"
"You can find all sorts of strange and weird things from theater folk. You should try it around Canterlot some time!"
"I Will do it at somepoint."
The snap of what sounded like a roof collapsing distracted her for a brief moment before she caught back up with Scrapper. He was pretty silent with a determined look on his face. His wings kept twitching as if he wanted to take off and fly to where he was going, but since Colgate couldn't fly, he had to stay with her. Looking around for anything interesting, she finally decided talking would help pass the time.
"So, this, Eris, how did you come across her?"
"Huh?" came Scrapper
"Who, or what, is she?"
"I really can't say to be honest. She showed up at my workshop one day out of the blue, she didn't look like she did now when I met her, she was a Unicorn of the upper class of Canterlot. Naturally I didn't think much on it. I got those customers all the time."
He shook his head recalling it all, the memories long lost now flooding back to him, and he silently cursed himself for not seeing the signs.
"I was working on some Royal Guard sword order when she arrived. I knew something was wrong, she hid so many clues about what she was doing, I was just too ignorant."
"Like what?" asked Colgate
"Said it was for a time of change in Equestria, a gift for Celestia, stuff like that. Even the sword hinted at it, the whole thing. She wanted a reinforced Rapier with a dragons scale coat."
"Dragons scale?"
"That will deflect magic if you get it just right, which I can easily."
"Oh, go on."
"She wanted it done in five days, the same time as that years summer sun celebration. She wanted a diamond blade finish, no one ever orders those unless they want to cut gems and stones. The real seller in all this was the metal she made it out of!"
"What was it?"
"Titanium. Strongest metal we know when treated and refined correctly. Only a pony looking for a fight makes a Sword out of titanium."
"Why didn't you question it?"
"Money was tight, Half of Equestria was in a uproar because of Nightmare moon, and I needed to keep my mind off all the crazy happenings, plus she paid up front in full! I had a professional business to keep!"
They passed by several small colts and fillys playing with a ball in the street before Whooves exploded out of a shop next to them.
"There he is!" yelled a guard
Whooves looked in fear and ran off as three Pegasi Guards chased after them, trailed by Derpy. She waved to them before flying off to save the Doctor.
"Soo..." started Colgate after seeing the spectacle, "What clued you off at first?"
"One day," began Scrapper, "An 'associate' of hers appeared at my door step. He was hidden in a cloak and didn't show his face. Just his very presence made me uneasy as he demanded to know how the sword was coming along. I explained to him I was smoothing out the metal, but he insisted I'd be done with that part by know if I had worked through the night. Unfortunately, for him, he chose to pick a fight with a pony who makes swords for a living."
Colgate laughed a little at the thought of that as Scrapper continued on.
"Yet, each day, he returned like clockwork, same time, always demanding to know how it was coming along. I was almost ready to call the guards on him just to make him leave, but if he really was a associate of my employer, I couldn't very well do that."
"So, you just dealt with it?" asked Colgate
Scrapper nodded yes.
"Wow." remarked Colgate
"Then came the night I actually made the sword. Normally, I would focus my magic around the blade to smooth out the sides, but this one was made so just the handle was affected by magic, and I was having trouble with it. By accident I dropped it, and it easily cut through the metal plates I had on my floor to protect my house from fires, and pierced itself so deep in the bottom floor that only the handle prevented it from going any further. I picked it up, and knew this weapon was designed to something, something evil. Just as I was planning on destroying it, the associate arrived, along with her.."
His tone deepened as his eyes darkened.
"She congratulated me on finishing it, and requested I'd give it to her. When I refused, her associate lunged at me. With a swift movement of that accursed sword, I sliced the cloak right off of him along with part of his face. Whatever that thing was , it wasn't a pony, and it wasn't natural. His body turned to ash right in front of me."
He let out a deep sigh which was noted by Colgate. His eyes grew darker as he recalled what happened next.
"Sword held above my head by magic, I was ready to fight. She jut laughed and in a instant stole the sword and pointed it at me. This is one of the few times my luck came through for me. Doing what I do, it's not that rare that somepony will hold me at sword point to get less of a pay. I have kill switches in every sword I ever created that only I can activate. This one especially was no different. I activated it, and the sword crumbled to dust before the both of us."
"I take it she didn't react to kindly to that?" implied Colgate
"Oh she was beside herself. but again, she was attacking a sword smith in his workshop. I sent every blade I could at her, a few striking her on the arm, flank, face, but none doing any real damage. Before I knew it, It was then she started to transform from a Unicorn to that twisted parody of a Alicorn. I knew that look anywhere, it was the Power of Discord, no way she did that on her own. She grabbed my swords with her magic, turning them into snakes, and sending them at me. I thought I was done for when low and behold Bennett appeared with a troop of Royal guard. They attacked her, but she teleported out before they could do anything."
"Did you alert Celestia?"
"The guard said they would keep it under wraps, and Bennett and I said we would, but no, we didn't."
"Why? She could have helped with all her power!"
"She was too distraught at the loss of her sister, and the news of a plot to release Discord would be too much for her to bear, so Bennett and I hatched a plan, to capture and seal that Alicorn of Chaos in a gem Bennett had learned about during his travels. It was our only option that wouldn't throw Equestria in a full scale panic, and we took it."
"So, This gem, it's found here in Fillydelphiea? Seems a little too easy don't you?"
"I never complained. That fact was the only reason we were so quick to act. Ah, here it is."
The place he was looking at was a wagon long since broken down and turned into a little shop. Colgate looked at it and marveled at all the odds and ends, weird objects, and creepy things from afar. The pony inside was actually a donkey who was surprised to see Scrapper again.
"Scripted Swords! Your back I see!"
"Hello Gregor. I need another one of those encasement gems."
"Ah, more bug collecting?"
"Bug collecting?" asked Colgate
"Eh heh, yeah, bug collecting."
"Here you go, a nice blue one this time! Three bits."
"Here you go!" said Scrapper happily before walking off
Colgate looked to he donkey, and then to Scrapper, and grew a look of absurd confusion of her face. Catching up to him, he already knew what she was going to ask but said nothing.
"You mean to tell me, that your whole secret weapon is a Child’s toy? A simple device to trap lightning bugs in the dark?"
"It's all we had to go on!" said Scrapper, pleading with her to understand
"No wonder she broke free at the light of the sun! That's what that thing is designed to do!"
"Well..... yes."
"I thought it was some ancient old super rare stone that would require years to acquire, but no! It's a kids toy! How'd you even get her in there?"
"I managed to trick her into trapping herself into it, and then sealed it myself with a spell and in ice."
"I'll give you credit for that. I'm disappointed in you Uncle. I really am. All that back story, all that lore, and this."
"You have any other ideas? We were on short notice! Besides, it was Bennett's idea!"
She looked at him unimpressed before the whirring sound of the TARDIS alerted themselves to it's presence. The door flew open to reveal the Doctor tied up in the back with Derpy looking at them angrily.
"We're going! NOW!"
"What happened to the Doctor?"
"Let's go!" yelled Derpy
The two smiled nervously and stepped in. The TARDIS slowly denaturalized and disappeared from this point in time.
"Alright, that's the last book." David called out.
"Finally, I can go to bed." said Spike in relief. He started to walk up to his bed when he tripped over a large purple book.
"Forgot one." laughed David as he walked over, "What book is this anyway?"
Spike stood up and opened it. A bright light flashed before their eyes, revealing the six Elements of Harmony.
"Oh, those things." commented David
"Yikes!" said Spike closing the book.
David took the 'book' from him and looked it over while Spike returned to returning to his bed.
"Hey, uh, Spike, these things are the most powerful, whatever they are, in all of Equestria right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Could they reverse a body switching spell?"
"Probably." answered Spike.
"Where's this Zecora live?" asked David.
----
"Applejack please be careful with my fur." Rarity begged.
"I can't help it!" replied Applejack, "I'm not used to feeling like a darn-"
As she tried to avoid the mud Rarity was complaining about, she tripped and fell into a larger mud puddle, covering the pair of them in mud.
"Sorry there Rarity."
"Don't worry." said Rarity, her teeth clenched and gritted, "It just means I can take a relaxing bath when I get home."
"That's one way to look at it." Applejack added in a light hearted tone.
Up above, Rainbow Dash was desperately trying to keep the inexperienced Pinkie Pie from crashing into just about every tree that came her way.
"No, no, no! Tail relaxed! Let it flow behind you and-LOOK OUT!"
Pinkie Pie, who had been concentrating on her tail at that moment, slammed into a tree and slid to the ground. Rainbow walked over to her as she stood up, wobbling for a few moments before shaking her head to regain her bearings.
"Maybe you should walk for the time being."
"Maybe!" said Pinkie, still a little out of it.
"How much longer Twilight?" asked Fluttershy.
Without her wings to save her, she was feeling twice as nervous as usual. She wasn't used to relying on her legs for a quick escape.
"Not much further. A few minutes, we're almost there!"
"You said that hours ago!" complained Rainbow Dash.
"I said that fifteen minutes ago." argued Twilight.
"How do you even know we're close?" rebutted Rainbow.
"Because I can see the lights of her house!"
Twilight moved a branch, and breaking through the forest were the dim lights of Zecora's house.
"Oh. Well come on! She's not far away!" Rainbow Dash ordered.
Meanwhile, a lone royal guard pegasus walked through the Everfree forest, and he was not happy about it. It was almost morning and the lazy Guard had gotten no sleep. What was worse, eyes of all the evil color spectrum were staring at him. Red, orange, yellow, white. Any normal pony would be in a panic, and even the hardiest of ponies would be unnerved. He on the other hand, was practically daring them to come out and try to take him on. It was to the point that it was a game of who was eyeing who! When a new set of eyes appeared from a hole in a bush, it caught one glance of the Guard, and quickly fled from sight. The Guard snorted and continued on. He took but a few more steps before a rustling came from behind him. It was a quick rustling, like something was trying to scare him into the thought he was being hunted. From above, leaves shook and fell to the ground. A tree branch snapped from behind before what sounded like a chicken clucking to his left was heard. Of course, it wasn't a chicken. David just sighed. Walking up to him was a hideous combination of a dragon and a chicken, it's red eyes glowing as bright as its red scales. The Cockatrice walked up to him and stared right into David's half shut eyes.
"The armor's enchanted. You're not getting anywhere." He told the monster with no expression.
The Cockatrice tried again, putting all it's power into one final stare. David grew wide eyed and froze as the cockatrice let out a evil smile. Not a muscle moved on David as the Cockatrice looked on in victory.
"Ha! I'm kidding!" laughed David
The cockatrice looked on shocked, confused, and horrified. Before it could feel any other emotion, it was struck in the face by a brown hoof and tumbled across the ground before it's head slammed into a tree. The cockatrice opened it's eyes to see three mice sitting around a piece of moldy fruit, now just petrified stone statues of what they once were. Smiling to know it's power still worked, it tried to remove it's head from the tree until it felt itself being grabbed by a large feathery arm and yanked out.
"You may be of use. You're coming with me!"
The cockatrice clucked in resistance and tried to fly away when it's tail was grabbed in David's mouth and slammed to the ground. David glared into it angrily.
"If not, I'm gonna find the closest mirror and make you turn yourself to stone, and then smash you, got it?"
The cockatrice smiled smugly at David at his false threat. Or was it?
"Don't think I know how? Reading the paper actually teaches you a thing or two!"
Using his wings, he grabbed the beast by it's tail and throat and pointed it at the hole where the monster had been stuck.
With a quick jerk of his wings, he stretched the cockatrice's neck out, and the cockatrice clucked in pain. A moment later, three mice scurried out of the tree, released from their stony prison. The cockatrice looked on horrified as David brought it up to his face again.
"Shall we?" he asked
With no choice, the cockatrice nodded nervously and resigned to it's fate as a weapon to help the Guard in his journey.
Iit wasn't long before they arrived somewhere else other than the forest. The light of the moon revealed a mass of apple trees and fields of crops stretching over miles. A red barn and farm house could be seen in the distance.
"Okay, I'll admit it whatever you are, we're lost."
He wandered through the farm hoping it would lead him to his destination until he came to a sign post.
"Sweet Apple Acres. Nope, that ain't it!"
Turning around, he began his walk back to the Everfree forest when he spied a large wooden object, or objects. Looking at them, they were wooden barrels stacked as tall as he could see. He looked it over the barrels. Labelled on each barrel was "Flim Flam Fields Cider." It had been quite some time since he had cider of any kind, Guards weren't supposed to drink on duty, and since most of his friends were high standing officers, going out for a night on the town for drinks was out of the question. Looking around for anypony, the Guard shrugged. He slammed the nozzle on the first barrel and opened his mouth eagerly for it. Now, unbeknownst to him, those barrels had been sitting there for months on end, baking in Celestia's sun, and the apples that had been left over had fermented, and the other "ingredients" mixed in during that fateful day only served to make the cider all the more potent. Since most of the sticks, leaves, and leaves had sank to the bottom of the cider over the time sitting there, there was no revolting taste in his mouth to send his nerves spitting the brew out in disgust. No, everything went fuzzy as he drank the first gulp.
----
"Zecora? Zecora are you here?" called Twilight as she opened the door
"Twilight my dear, what brings you here?"
"This." said Twilight showing the zebra herself and the rest of the ponies.
"Wow. My question, is how?"
"It's a long story. Can you fix it?" came Twilight.
"That would depend." said Zecora looking each of them over, "This will take a long time to mend."
"Well could ya please hurry?" came Applejack
"Rarity, I never knew you for a southern belle, that sounds like Applejack- she started
"That is Applejack!" came Rarity, "We've switched bodies!"
"That sounds like fun!" smirked Zecora, "For everyone!"
"It's not!" they both snorted.
Zecora laughed to herself. Grabbing a large book, she slammed it down on a table. Flipping through the pages, she found exactly what she was looking for.
"This condition you see, requires a certain remedy!"
"I could have told you that!" said Rainbow Dash in an annoyed tone
"For this to work, I need 5 leaves of the tree called birch."
"Pinkie! Rainbow Dash! Go!"
Rainbow saluted while Pinkie twirled around behind her and crashed into several old masks. Dash sighed in disapointment and went to help her friend out of the hut without crashing.
"I will also need five river stones and a bag of bones."
"Where in tarnation are we to get a bag of bones?" came Applejack
Zecora went under the table and produced a bag of bones and placed them on a table.
"You need not fear!" she spoke, "I kept these from my dinner last year!"
"Come on Applejack!" spoke Rarity in Applejack's voice, "Let's get those stones!"
"Worried ya hooves will get muddy?" laughed Applejack
The two galloped out to the river that ran not far away, Rarity not responding to Applejack's comment.
"The last part of this brew needs the scales of a dragon, and a chicken's feather, I guess you two are going together?
"I have chickens at my house!" said Fluttershy
"And I'm sure spike wouldn't mind giving up a few scales to help! Come on Fluttershy!"
"While you gait, I'll start the rest of the brew and wait." Zecora finished with a smile.
Twilight nodded and ran out the door with Fluttershy.
----
Rainbow flew from tree to tree, mumbling to herself as Pinkie giggled and laughed as she flew through the air, enjoying every second of it.
"Birch tree's, birch trees. Pinkie, do you know what a birch tree is?"
"Nope! I thought you knew!"
"Argh! How are we going to find a birch tree if we don't even know what one is!"
"Wait! I remember something from my days on the farm!"
"Does it help us find a birch tree?" asked Rainbow sarcastically as she kept on searching
"hmm, I remember running into a tree one day, a white tree! Mommy Pie gave me some medicine and ice and said I would feel all better in the morning!"
"Yeah, that' cool and all! Maybe that's the day you became, well, you. You know aside from the day you got your cutie mark?"
"Maybe! What were we talking about?" she asked doing a barrel roll right up to Rainbow Dash.
"Birch! Birch tree! 5 Birch tree leaves!"
"Oh yeah!" Pinkie giggled before flying on
The two went from tree to tree in a futile search for a birch tree, both knowing grabbing any old tree leaves would probably cause them to end up worse then they already were!
"This is a job for Applejack! She's a Earth pony and all!"
"Uh, hello! I'm a Earth Pony too you know!"
"Yeah, but you deal with cakes and sweets and food! Applejack deals with, well, Apples and farms! Come on! Let's go find her!"
----
"Use the magic, yes that's it!" cheered Rarity, "Now the stone!"
Applejack struggled to pick the stone up out of the water since Rarity still refused to let either her or Applejack herself get in the mud. So far, she had managed to lift half a stone out of the water.
"Concentrate." coached Rarity
"Hey Applejack!"
Rainbow's words broke Applejack's concentration and the rock splashed back into the water. She snorted and stomped her hoof in anger as Rainbow Dash landed and Pinkie Pie slammed into the ground next to them.
"You gotta work on your landing."
"What is it Rainbow Dash?" came Rarity, "We're trying to get stones if you don't mind?"
"What's a Birch tree?"
"Yer kiddin' right?" came Applejack
"Nope!" replied Pinkie Pie sticking her head out of the dirt, "We have no clue!"
"Even I know what a Birch tree is!" said Rarity, "It's a white tree with thin flakey bark!"
"Oh, ok thanks!" replied Rainbow Dash before zooming off
Pinkie flapped her wings as hard as she could and took off after her as the other two looked on bewildered.
"Alright, let's try this again. Concentrate on the stone."
Applejack began to lift the stone again, forcing every ounce of her will into the horn and slowly, the glow of her magic could be seen glistening into the water. The water itself bubbled at the movement of the rock and it's reaction to the magic.
"Found it!" yelled Pinkie Pie appearing before the Unicorn
"Whoa-whoop!" screamed Applejack falling over, her concentration breaking
"Oops, sorry." she said helping her friend up
"Can you believe it? We were passing over them the entire time!" said Rainbow Dash flying in before seeing the look on her friends faces, "We broke your concentration again didn't we?"
"Yes you did!" replied Rarity in frustration
"Allow me!" announced Rainbow
She quickly dove toward the river and began picking up stones and holding them. Applejack removed her hat and Rainbow placed all five in there.
"Alright, now just to get back to Zecora's and put these in!" declared Rarity happily.
"I wonder if Twilight and Fluttershy had to go find anything." pondered Pinkie Pie.
"Well, tonight has been quite the interesting turn of events." spoke Twilight
"I guess so." replied Fluttershy
"So far, we've seen the release of a powerful evil pony spirit, been given a Guard escort, had our bodies switched around, and forced to go on a trek to find ingredients for some ancient pony brew."
"Yes." spoke Fluttershy
Twilight didn't know what else to say. Fluttershy was already nervous as it were because she couldn't fly anymore, and being in Everfree forest at night made it worse. Figuring talking would make the trip go faster, that's what she was trying to do. Of course, her short answers weren't helping the situation.
"Well, I think we're near your house. Then it's just a small walk to my library and then back to Zecora's."
They came to a clearing, and in the center stood a timber wolf, ready to attack. Fluttershy hid behind Twilight as she charged her horns magic, preparing for the worst. Nothing happened.. Curious, Twilight walked closer to it as Fluttershy stayed behind. As she neared it, the clouds above Everfree cleared the moon and the light shined upon it.
"It's stone!" called out Twilight, "A stone statue!"
Fluttershy removed a hoof to see and saw Twilight standing by it, looking it over. Picking herself up, she walked over to it and sure enough, it was stone.
"Now who would make a Timber wolf statue in the middle of the Everfree forest?" asked Twilight
"As a warning?" shuddered Fluttershy looking around
"Well, I don't hear any more. Hmm..."
She gazed into the statues eyes and could swear they were looking back at her, frozen in anger, but showing a certain fear at it's fate. Images flashed in her mind to a few months ago when she herself walked through Everfree and was turned to stone. A pit formed in her stomach as she looked around quickly and then ducked low.
"It's not a statue! It's a real Timber wolf!" she cried
"Then who could do this?"
"A cockatrice!"
"I thought I told that nasty creature to never return here!"
"There's more than one Cockatrice in the world Fluttershy! Come on! we need to hurry before it returns!"
The two galloped out of the clearing and back into the forest. Their heightened senses made the fear all the more real. Everything seemed to be starring at them, waiting for the slightest sign of weakness to just reach out and grab them. Even as they seemed to think they were safe and started to slow down to catch their breaths, something behind them snapped a branch. Scared for their lives, the two bolted, running as fast as they could, but whatever was chasing them was closing in as more branches broke. The flapping of it's wings could be heard as it closed in. One look was all it would take, and then it would all be over. Twilight rounded a corner when her life flashed before her eyes, or her image did. Was this her image? The colors were all correct, the purple and pink highlights, the mane was messed up though, and a little short for her tastes.
"Any particular reason you're running at top speed there Twilight?"
And the voice belonged to Rainbow Dash, wait, this was Rainbow Dash! Twilight slammed on her hooves and skidded to a stop, Fluttershy bumping up behind her.
"Rainbow Dash? What are you?"
"We got our leaves, and were on our way to Zecora's when we stopped you."
"We?" came Fluttershy
The tree branches snapped again before Pinkie Pie came tumbling out of them and smashed into the ground, this time managing to keep her hooves on the ground. From behind her stepped Rarity and Applejack, Rarity carrying "her" hat on her back full of stones.
"Good gravy! You guys ran like Y'all saw a ghost!"
"No, we saw much much worse!" spoke Twilight
"What?"
"A cockatrice!" spoke Fluttershy
The others huddled up close next to the two in fear and looked around. The idea of one of those monsters lurking around her in Everfree was not the most settling.
"Maybe we should wait until morning. Cockatrice's are nocturnal right?" asked Applejack
"I think so." said Fluttershy, "I never raised one myself, so I wouldn't know."
"Twilight, you have anything to add?" came Rarity
"Most ponies who tried to study a cockatrice were turned to stone. So, no."
"I say we wait at Zecora's." motioned Pinkie Pie
"Agreed." came the universal answer
As they went to make their way back to the zebra's house, they came face to face with a evil set of eyes starring at them.
"COCKATRICE!" yelled Pinkie Pie
At that, several more eyes appeared, dozens of them hundreds even. All starring at them, ready to pounce. As the ponies looked on in fear, Twilight's fear grew greater as she recognized what those eyes exactly belonged to. Lighting her horn, she shined a light at them, revealing them to be what they really were: Shadow Ponies.
"RUN!" yelled Rarity
The 6 broke and ran, outnumbered and vulnerable in their mixed up states, they ran towards where they figured Zecora's hut to be. Thankfully, their assumption was correct as they saw the lights of her hut sitting right in the middle of Everfree forest.
"Zecora! We have incoming!" yelled Twilight bursting in the front door
Zecora barley had time to look up before a blast overtook the door to her hut. Outside, the Shadow ponies laughed wickedly as they closed in on the zebra and the mixed up mares.
"We have most of the ingredients." said Rarity giving her the stones while Pinkie Pie handed her the leaves."
"We still need dragon scales and chicken feathers for the brew, just these simply will not do!"
"Then we'll fight them off until we can get the rest!"
As two shadow ponies appeared inside Zecoras hut, the Zebra grabbed a staff she kept in the back just for such an occasion. Turning around and swinging at them, a powder flew out of it, hitting both before each shadow pony was turned into helpless frogs. They hopped away in fear as the Zebra witch doctor aimed her staff at several others, who quickly bolted. With the Mane 6 formed up around her door, and the Witch Doctor inside, the army of Shadow Ponies prepared for a fight worthy of legend. Instead, they got a hiccup.
"*hic* Now, wash*hic*wash goins ons heresh?*hic*"
From the side of the would soon to be battlefield, David wobbled in, barely able to stand, let alone keep his armor on. He tripped his way up to the hut and looked them over.
"*hic*You*hic*you*hic* you have no idea*hic* wash it tooksh me*hic* to finds thish place!*hic*"
"What are you doing here?" asked Rainbow Dash, still eyeing the shadow ponies surrounding them
"Uh huh!*hic* I deshided*hic* to deliver*hic* the Elements of*hic Ponies*hic* to the Harmonic sixsh.*hic* Or whatever*hic* you*hic* call yourself."
"Mah ah ask why?" came Applejack
"*hic* In *hic in*hic incashe *hic* Zecorafella *hic* didn't haves*hic* a cure. She*hic* elementsssh *hic* could *hic* fixsh it!"
"We'll keep that in mind." said Twilight
He smiled as stupidly as a pony could smile, and nearly fell over.
"Sir, are you, drunk?" asked Rarity
"I'm'sa*hic* Sersheant! *hic* Nosh a *hic* nosh a *hic* nosh a *hic* Offisherer! Don't *hic* calls me*hic* a sh*hic*sh*hic*shir!"
"Well are you?" replied Rarity
"*hic* Are you wash?*hic*"
"Are you drunk Sergeant?" came Twilight
"*hic*...*hic* No, I ain'ts drunk!*hic* Nots allow*hic*allowed to*hic* be drunk!" he told her nearly falling over when he did.
He stood back up, this time facing the army of Shadow Ponies that had been attacking the hut before he arrived.
"Whash *hic* are you *hic* all looking ash?"
The shadow ponies looked at themselves, not exactly believing this Guard to be real. He stumbled into the center of the would be battlefield with a disgruntled look on his face.
"At least he coherent enough to know who the bad guys are." uttered Applejack
"How'd he get that drunk?" came Rarity, "The only substance I would know would be Applejack's cider!"
"Impossible! We ran out months ago!" remarked Applejack
"You sure you don't have any lying around you forgot about? This guy seems pretty far gone!" said Rainbow Dash on the brink of laughter
"The only cider close to mah family's is that Flim Flam bilge." answered Applejack
"Thash*hic* some good*hic Shtuff!" yelled David
"Sergeant!" yelled a alarmed Twilight, "How much did you drink?"
"I don'ts*hic* remember.*hic* Now then*hic*, you's Shhhhadow thingys*hic* better *hic*get out of here*hic* before I*hic* before I*hic* whip out out my cock*hic*"
Everypony's mouth dropped upon hearing those words. David, barley coherent enough to understand what he just said, snarled at the Shadow ponies and did just what he was said, and whipped out the cockatrice he had hidden under his wing. With one cluck, a shadow pony was instantly petrified into stone. With another cluck, another statue appeared right next to it. The rest of the Shadow ponies charged and attacked the drunken Guard, only for a vast majority of the first dozen to be instantly be turned to stone in one cluck from the cockatrice. A few managed to escape the drunkards weapon and made a bee line for the other ponies. Those few mere met head on by Rainbow Dash and Applejack, who tackled them to the ground while Twilight fired at any who got too close. Pinkie Pie and Rarity, outside their normal elements, bucked and kicked any they could while Zecora used her staff to good effect. Lastly was Fluttershy , who was using her hooves to cover her eyes and avoid the fighting. Unable to fly away into cover, she watched as three Shadow Ponies emerged, laughing at the little insignificant pony. Images of Iron Will's training flashed in her mind as she stood up angrily and looked at them. The Shadow ponies looked at her in fear as her rage grew before she swung at them, taking two and just missing the third. With every pony fighting them, the Shadow ponies were losing ground. Any stragglers were turned to stone, while the rest were beaten to a shadowy pulp. Seeing how this wasn't working, the shadow ponies looked at each other and opted for plan two. transforming into almost snake like beings, and started to form together in a large cliche enemy. It towered over them, and looked down with large evil eyes.
He aimed up his cockatrice, but kept on aiming up and up until he was on his hind legs, and even then kept on raising his aim. He spread his wings to balance himself, but he kept on going and soon fell over.
"Well that was anti-climatic." said Rainbow Dash
As the Shadow Beast took form, Zecora stepped out and threw her staff at it. The powder inside landed all over the beast, and in seconds hundreds of croaking frogs landed where the beast once was.
"Oh how the mighty has fallen!" she laughed, "Of course, you decided to mess with a Zebra shaw woman!"
The scared little frogs croaked and hopped away as the others looked on amazed, and kind of horrified.
"That was awesome!" cheered Rainbow Dash
Zecora smiled proudly and returned to her hut and began to add the ingredients to the brew. The others watched as the zebra began to work her own special kind of magic.
"Birch leaves and river stones, all we need now is a bag of bones!" she chanted
Adding in the brew, Twilight suddenly realized that they didn't have all the ingredients. Zecora however didn't seem worried.
"Now for the final part of this potions piece, the scales and feathers of a cockatrice."
"What?" came Rainbow Dash
"The potion required such both of those items as a part, but since finding a monster is dangerous I thought using those other items as substitute would make this brew start."
Twilight looked back to see David trying to stand, but still wasted enough to not know what leg was what. The cockatrice was still clutched in his wing, too wore out and tired from being used as a weapon to try and run away. Twilight quickly snatched it from his wing, David not even noticing. She held the creature over the brew as Zecora used a fork to remove some feathers and scales. As soon as those items hit the cauldron, it simmered and exploded in a festival of lights before settling back down in a bright blue liquid.
"Drink up my friends!" said Zecora, "For this, your problem, it will mend!"
Although nervous, each one drank from it, and felt the world spin around them. When it finally stopped, Applejack was starring at rarity, Pinkie Pie fell onto Fluttershy's wings, and Rainbow dash was hugging her rainbow tail.
"Thank you Zecora."
"Any time Twilight!" she replied, "Just don't bring your shadow friends alright?"
Twilight happily nodded.
"You knows?*hic* You rhyme a lot!*hic*"
"I do?" asked Zecora
"Uh huh*hic*" answered David, "You're *hic* alsho kind*hic of attract*hic attractive in shome*hic* wierd way.*hic*"
Zecora looked around uncomfortable at this remark. The others looked at the drunken guard and he chuckled to himself a little.
"*hic BUT!*hic I'ms married!*hic* I feel shorry for you*hic*"
"Come on Sergeant." said Twilight pushing David out the door.
"Bye Zecora!" waved Pinkie Pie
Zecora waved goodbye, unable to make sense of what just happened when she noticed the cockatrice laying there.
"Hello there, my aren't you a mess. Quite tired I asses."
The cockatrice barely had the energy to look up at the Zebra. After seeing what this mare was capable of, it was shaking in fear.
In the moonlight, a small, gray pegasus was lying on a bed in a spare room in the Canterlot palace. She slept peacefully, dreaming of a world of Muffins and Bubbles across green rolling hills and a background of blue skies. She pranced and danced around before soaring high into the bubbles. She had never felt more alive than right this moment in time, well, there was one with the Doctor, but that was beside the point. In fact, she could swear she could hear him right now, calling her name. She stopped on a muffin that had been floating nearby and listened hard, trying to hear him.
"Deerpy! Wake up! Quick! Wake up!"
The muffins exploded into nothingness, leaving Derpy starring off into the moon.
"Derpy! Quick! We need to go!"
"Why?” she said sleepily getting up, "Is the palace under attack?"
"What? Heavens no!" exclaimed the Doctor, "But we need to go somewhere!"
"Where?" she asked before he grabbed her
"To the TARDIS, and a thousand years in the past!"
"What? We already went there! Why do we need to go back?" yelled Derpy as the Doctor carried her through the halls to his TARDIS.
"Eris! That's why!"
"She's a crazy psychotic pony-thing who is in love with Discord. What else do you need to know?"
"What else do I need to know?" came the Doctor, stopping and turning to his assistant, "She said it was Chaos and Disharmony and that it's not supposed to make sense!"
"Well, yeah it's not." answered Derpy
"Exactly! Why? Why does it not make sense? Even Discord made sense! He wanted power, and he thought all the Disharmony was funny. She, she's just doing it to because she's plain crazy!"
"Yeah, she's crazy! Crazy doesn't make sense!" yelled Derpy at the top of her lungs
"And we are going to find out why! Come on!"
He took off again despite protests from Derpy. She let out a cry of frustration and followed after him. The TARDIS was parked just outside in the main Palace garden, with the Doctor already setting coordinates into the complex machine.
"Now, answer me this," came Whooves, “When did we first meet Eris?"
"A couple of hours ago?" was Derpy's response
"No, no, no, the first time!"
"We didn't. We saw Scrapper seal her in!"
"Exactly! Eris was frozen in ice when we saw her, but why?”
“Because she's a insane Pony-thing! I told you that already!”
“Why did she become a insane Pony-thing!? Why is she so blind to do Discords bidding? How was she created, and why did she wait so long to strike? If what Scrapper is saying and he sealed her a thousand years ago, why did she wait until after Nightmare Moon left?"
"Because Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were powerful and defeated him, so going up against them would silly."
The Doctor stopped what he was doing and looked to Derpy in surprise.
"Bloody brilliant! Amazing Derpy, I completely missed that fact! Still, that’s only half the answer. That just wont do! Off we go!"
The TARDIS came to life as it powered up and started to travel through time and space once again.
"Off to where, good Doctor?" came a voice both recognized
"What?" yelled Whooves
"Princess Luna!" cheered Derpy
"What?" came the Doctor again
"Hello Miss Hooves. I see you and the Doctor are on another adventure."
"How did you...?"
"And you get to come on one too!" cheered Derpy
"Seems that way!" replied Luna happily
"What?" said Whooves as he stepped in between them, "With all due respects your majesty, how did you even get in here?"
"I saw it sitting out here, and decided I wanted to see it from the inside. It's a lot bigger than I thought."
The Doctor looked at her, his mouth agape, when his brow furrowed down and he clenched his teeth in anger.
"You planned this didn't you?" yelled Whooves, but it wasn't to Luna, or Derpy, "Is this payback? Payback for attaching that one device so I could track those particles!?
"My good mare, what is he doing?" whispered Luna
"He's, talking to the TARDIS." whispered back Derpy
"Does it talk back?"
"Huh? Decide to let some random stranger in without my knowledge?"
The entire ship rocked back and forth, only throwing Whooves off balance.
"Alright, alright, I get it! No more strange panels without your permission." he yelled walking back in between the two mares,
"Can you believe that? I tell you she takes human form once and she get's an attitude from it."
He grabbed a hammer and then walked back to the console, "An attitude!" he yelled, "Well, since we are in the presence of two ladies, and Royalty for that matter, can we please go where I set you to go?" With that, a lever threw itself with a bang.
"Thank you!" yelled the Doctor as he hit a panel with the hammer
Luna looked to Derpy, hoping she had an answer for her.
"You get used to it." was all Derpy could give
"Right then, a thousand years in the past, tell me Princess, was it lovely then?"
"I was Nightmare Moon, you tell me."
"Riight....didn't take that into consideration. Guess the palace would be the safest place. To the Royal Palace!"
Two more levers threw themselves and the Doctor himself tossed his hammer, hitting a button dead on.
"Doctor, why the Royal Palace?"
"Simple, really. Eris, sensing the weakness of the Princess sisters thanks to Nightmare Moon figured now was the time to strike! The best way to under stand her mindset is," he yelled happily pushing a button, "to be right where she wanted to be!"
The TARDIS bucked and jerked traveling through the time stream, much to the Doctors joy.
"We'll be landing shortly your Highness! Time travel is quicker than you think!"
The TARDIS buckled again, much to Luna's discomfort, and Derpy's delight. Seeing that the gray pegasus was having much more fun in the air, the Alicorn took flight just as the whole ship bounced again. The TARDIS roared as it began to settle into the current time stream.
"Tell me Doctor, you do this all the time?" yelled Luna
"Not all the time, just most of it!” The Doctor yelled back
The TARDIS eased up as it landed, and a jet of steam poured out from above, and right onto the Doctor.
"Yes, yes, you are literally venting on me!" remarked the Doctor as he began his walk to the door, "I get it! I'm sorry. It wont happen again."
He opened the doors revealing a bright, lush green forest, covered in the air by pink clouds.
"Right, welcome to Canterlot Royal Palace, or where it's still being built."
He opened the door to see several construction workers in old uniforms working to set up the halls that would soon be the gilded palace. Royal Guards stood before them and watched them, making sure to keep a keen eye out for intruders.
"Very well then," announced Whooves, "It's a bright sunny day! Time to start investigating!"
The moment his hoof stepped on the ground, it suddenly shifted to night.
“I did not do that.” answered Luna
“Celestia must have tried to bring about the night on her own.” said Derpy
"Right then, It's a beautiful and peaceful night! Time to start investigating. Come along Derpy, and uh..... well, after you your Highness. Oh.... hmm, we do have a problem."
"What is it Doctor?” Luna asked
“Well, look at you Princess? Remember Nightmare Night?”
Luna remembered to that fateful night, and had generally pleasant memories from it. The concerned look from the Doctor reminded her of the beginning of it.
“Oh.... I see.” she said, realizing her predicament
“We can't have you walking around like that.” spoke Whooves pondering, “Nowhere in Equestrian history did Princess Luna reappear a few days after her banishment.”
“Hmm...” thought Luna turning away
“Well. Maybe she could stay in the TARDIS.” said Derpy
Whooves shook his head and shivered in fear: “No, no telling what she could accidentally bump into in there.”
There was a flash behind them that neither bothered to notice.
“What? Dinky, Dizzy, and Sparkler go in there all the time!” explained Derpy
“Well, I trust them!” answered Whooves
“Aside from Sparkler, you trust my two little Fillies over the Royal Princess?”
“Well, your two Fillies,” he tried to say as a bucket of paint floated past him, “Well, I know them.”
“You know Pinkie Pie as well and you won't let her near the TARDIS without somepony with her.”
“Well, Pinkie Pie is not your filly.” responded Whooves, very 'matter-o-factly'
Derpy looked at him in the usual way when he thought he made sense as a red neckerchief floated past her as well. She stomped her hooves in anger and Whooves smiled nervously.
“I just don't like random mares walking in and around my TARDIS. I mean, it's my TARDIS!”
“This is the younger Royal Pony sister! The Princess of the Night! She's just not some random mare!”
“Ready!” said a strange mare from behind.
The two looked to see a small light blue Pegasus standing there with purple colored hair and a red band around her head. She smiled and posed a little, giving off her Cutie Mark, a single crescent moon.
“Just call me Moonbeam.” she said Happily
“Princess Luna!?” came a astonished Whooves
“Wow, you look great!” Said Derpy with a surprised look on her face, “I didn't know you could do that!”
“I learned a few tricks as Nightmare Moon. Transformation is foals play for me. Shall we?”
She stepped in front of the two amazed Time travelers and looked around. She could recognize what would soon be a few new rooms when suddenly, a Royal Guard Pegasus stopped them short.
“Halt! Who goes there!”
He eyed them down from behind her armor. Luna was about to announce who she was when she realized it and stopped. She backed down a little wondering what to do when Whooves came to her rescue armed with his psychic paper.
“Canterlot Palace Inspection team! I'm Mr. Tennant, this are my assistant Miss Hooves, and Moonbeam, the Palace Interior Decorator!”
The Guard looked at the paper and shook his head.
“Alright. Don't stay long. Since it's apparently night now it wont be long until closing time.”
“Yes, of Course! Come along now!”
The three walked away and soon Whooves and Derpy were looking around for any signs of their target. Luna, meanwhile, was marveling at the construction of the palace and remembered when she and Celestia were just joking around and trying to make a better Palace design to their current one in Everfree before it was destroyed. She never noticed it before, but a lot of the architecture was based of her own additions to Celestia's paintings. As she did, she wandered off down a hall away from the other two, oblivious to that fact. Fortunately, Whooves caught sight of her.
“Princes-err... Moonbeam!”
Luna turned around to see them standing there behind her.
“This way!” said Derpy
“I know my way around the Palace!” she replied, “I'll catch up later!”
“Okay!” answered Whooves, “On we go!”
“Are you sure your okay on you own Princ-err, Moonbeam?”
Luna nodded yes happily.
“What could go wrong Derpy?” asked the Doctor as he walked on
“With you around, a lot.” replied Derpy
Whooves grunted something out of earshot, but he let the comment slide. Luna returned to her walk, smiling at the various works that were completed or being completed. Even in the light of the moon, the palace looked splendid. Looking up the the moon, the idea that she was there, right now, fuming as Nightmare Moon made her shudder in fear. Remembering to all those cold lonely years... Lost in her memories, she didn't look ahead and bumped into another pony.
“Oh, I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going.” she apologized
“No trouble at all.” said a voice Luna recognized
She looked up to see the flowing hair and marshmallow skin of her sister, Princess Celestia. She stepped back in shock upon seeing her sister here, not looking just like she remembered before being imprisoned on the moon. Of course that difference was just the flowing pink hair. Celestia, saw this and just smiled.
“It's alright. Tell me, who are we to make the acquaintance?”
“Uh.....” stammered Luna, both at seeing her sister, her use of the Royal We, and other obvious reasons, “Moonbeam.” she said finally
Celestia gave out a sad sigh, remembering to her sister locked in the moon, but recovered and smiled at the disguised Alicorn.
“Pleased to meet you. Tell us, what is that you do here?”
This time Luna was ready: “Palace Decorator.”
“Hmm, a new one they let on?”
“Yes.” answered Luna
“Hmm, why don't you show us around and give us some of you insight?” asked Celestia
