> Portals: No More Cupcakes (Book Three In The Portals Series)
>  by The Derpy Doctor
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Single Tear That Brings Many Others.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Based on Derpy’s Rainy Day.

Derpy sat on the floor to her house. The door, having recently been slammed in her face, remained shut. The local authorities escorted 	Derpy’s everything out to their carriages. Derpy looked away from any windows. She couldn’t bear to see her dear muffin be taken away.
Tears were shed, Derpy didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t very good at many things.The only two things she had was being a mail-pony 	and her dear Dinky. One of those was taken away and the other one would be taken away once she got to the station, since that was a government-related job.
Derpy felt the door with her hoof. The last place she saw her dear muffin before she was violently ripped from Derpy’s love and care.
Derpy lifted her heads to the sky: deep in thought.
“Why?” She thought.
“Why can’t they understand?”
She sunk her head down to the floor. and let another tear down from her eye and gazed at the vehicles being pulled away. Pain from inside of Derpy made her cringe and shut her eyes. She had tried so hard to be a good mother. She would never do anything to hurt Dinky. She had done nothing to hurt Dinky, but not matter what she did, the police named her mentally incompetent and did what they did to gain custody of her child. Derpy raised her hooves to her adorable crossed eyes and wiped them from the top to the bottom trying to contain herself.
When after many minutes of moping on the floor, Derpy finally got to her hooves and hoped for her daughter back.
“I just want my muffin back.” She teared before placing her hooves firmly on the ground and tearing up again.
The Doctor heard wishes. He couldn’t stand the cry of the innocent.
A wiring and a rusty scraping noise echoed in Derpy’s yard. The run-down apartment disguised it to seem like a household appliance. 	Derpy didn’t look up from her crying until the voice of her future called for her.
The Doctor stared at the mare as she had her cry.
Finally after about thirty seconds, she looked up and found the brown-colored earth pony frowning at the sight.
“Go away,” She urged in a scratchy voice.
“No,” said the Doctor shaking his head, “I couldn’t help but notice you had a problem.”
“It-I…” Derpy tried to speak to him to resolve his comment.
“I know what happened,” said the Doctor in an easy tone. He had a knack for knowing these things and had demonstrated this in several of his own episodes.
What happened to Derpy was a lot like what happened to him. The doctor had family and friends that were on Gallifrey that day. He lost everything he loved that day and was unwilling to let that happen to another.
“We need to get her back,” described the Doctor, “come with me, I know how.”

The Doctor pushed Derpy into the TARDIS and they both moved to the courthouse several blocks down from where Derpy was staying. 	He moved her into the courthouse avoiding any conversation about how The Doctor’s phone box was bigger on the inside. He put the witness against Derpy’s case: the mayor of Ponyville on the witness stand and argued as Derpy’s lawyer, showing the slightly psychic paper as evidence that he had graduated from law school as a lawyer.
The Doctor had everything lined up. Derpy’s case to get her child back into her custody was in session and he had a good solid argument.
“Look at this mare,” The Doctor pleaded.
The mayor looked at the grey pegasus on the defendant stand.
“Do you see anything odd about this particular mare?” He questioned.
The mayor looked at the mare as if it were difficult to point out that Derpy’s eyes were clearly off center.
“She has crossed eyes?” Said the brown earth pony.
“Exactly. Miss mayor, can you tell me if there are any medical services that can cure this ailment?” the Doctor sneered as the injustice to 	such an act against somepony so innocent ruffled his metaphorical feathers.
“Yes… There um… are advances in medicine that can allow the defendant…”
“She has a name.” interrupted The Doctor.
“...That Derpy can get her eyes fixed.” finished the mayor.”
“Don’t you think that the incidents having occurred for this court to take session might be caused by these eye problems?”
The mayor cleared her throat before continuing. “Yes,” she admitted.
“So before we go to the rash decision of taking away a filly from her loving mother, don’t you think it would be considerate to first get the defendant’s eyes fixed?” The doctor argued. The logic of this argument was completely all too generic. Wasn’t it all too easy to say that this whole thing could be fixed along with a simple operation?
“It would seem so,” The mayor said, marveling at her own stupidity to make up a child possession case due to a simple eye disorder. 	Derpy had just one mistake that became one big fit and resulted in a punishment that was too illogical for The Doctor to refuse.
“Your honor, I think you should take it from here.” responded The Doctor, “I need not ask any more questions.”
He then sat down on the chair beside Derpy.

The judge pulled down his thick glasses and stared at the small earth pony that now had a smile on his face and was winking at the now smiling defendant.
“I guess I have to choice but to give the defendant custody of the offspring until the defendant gets her eyes fixed. The court will issue one month to get her eyes fixed and when that period is over, we will come back into session and determine if the defendant is capable of taking care of the humble offspring,” the judge demanded before slamming his gavel on the stand. “Court dismissed! Please bring up the next case.”

Derpy leapt from her seat and just about tackled the Doctor in a hug.
The Doctor wasn’t awfully fond of hugs, especially when they came from people he helped just now simply because he’s a nice guy. This hug was different. She wrapped her hooves around him for a reason that meant more to her than her own life.
The Doctor hugged back. Soon tears started soaking into his fur as the grey pegasus started crying.
“Thank you,” Said the mare into the doctor’s waiting ear.
The Doctor patted her back and told the mare: “It was nothing.”

The Doctor led the pegasus and her unicorn into his TARDIS, allowing both Derpy and the little filly Dinky into the bedroom behind the console room.
It was at this time that Dinky emphasised her emotions. “It’s…”
“Bigger on the inside?” asked The Doctor.
“I was going to say GIGANTIC on the inside!” said the adorable Dinky.
“Aw,” said The Doctor.
“Now before we go on any great adventures,” continued The Doctor, “It is my policy to ask: Will you run away with me?”
“Don’t we first need to get my eyes fixed so that I can keep custody of Dinky?” asked the grey mare.
“What if I told you that this could travel in time and space and you’ll never have to get your eyes fixed. Every day would be one month 	from now. What would you say to that?” He smirked.
“Yes!” Said the mare.
“Great. Where are we running off to, then?” asked the brown-coated extraterrestrial.
“Somewhere exciting!” Said the pinkish filly below to the side of Derpy.
The Doctor smiled. “Somewhere exciting it is, then.”

> Why?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Kevin was at a picnic with his most recent friends. Twilight brought Blizzard Blast and a platter of Spike’s homemade nachos (hoof-licking good), Fluttershy brought sandwiches, Applejack brought tarts and Rarity brought an odd assortment of edible gemstones. They were about to start without Pinkie as she was quite late, when she finally showed up with a tray of cupcakes.
“Hi, guys!” said Pinkie upon arrival.
The group stared at Pinkie blankly and gave their mildly confused looks. It seemed very odd that Pinkie would show up so late. It seemed even weirder that the Element of Loyalty was not showing up at a date that she was promised to come to.
Kevin in particular looked at the mare with a cautious eyebrow look. None of this seemed to make sense. The earth pony stood with a concerned emotion on her face.
Kevin started remembering various parts of an animation he had seen a month and a half ago. The look on Rainbow Dash’s face echoed every thought in Kevin’s mind. The thought of her crying in pain and screaming as she was torn apart… How much he wanted to be in her place. It seemed a terrible fate for even the person watching.
Kevin’s thoughts increased as he started seeing the whole thing happening only moments before. Kevin saw it as a vision that Rainbow Dash had already been mutilated.
He finally tried to stop the thoughts and eventually found himself looking into the very worried eyes of Pinkie Pie.
“What’s the matter?” she asked with her nervous expression curling itself into a weak smile.
Kevin gave a blank expression: coming to the conclusion that one of his greatest role models had been tortured until death, and another one 	was a serial killer.
After staring blankly at Pinkie Pie and concluding his final thoughts, he knelt down. He wanted to scream at Pinkie. He wanted to run into her basement and tear the rainbow pegasus off of the operating table and revive her. It was too late, though. Kevin wanted to scream in pain, but he didn’t. He cried into his hooves.
Fluttershy looked confused at the pegasus on the ground as he wept.
“What’s wrong?” she asked patting him on the back.
Kevin continued to cry for several minutes. The rest of the group gathered around him.
Finally, Kevin got to his hooves and walked off to Fluttershy’s cottage where he was staying. He ignored all of their remarks to try to help him.
“Kevin?” Twilight asked as he walked away ignorantly.

Kevin arrived at the cottage and made up a bag of his closest possessions.
Fluttershy opened the door a near minute after he had already entered the small house himself.
“Kevin?” she yelled, her voice echoing the home.
A tear dropped from Kevin’s cheek. as he stared at the bag, he added a few more items to it as he talked to the mare that he admired for so long.
“I have to go,” stated the unsure stallion as he finished packing his bags.
“Where?” Fluttershy asked confused and on the verge of tears.
Kevin turned away from what he was doing towards the upset mare. Watching the animation, Kevin had told himself over and over that if it had come to something like this, that he would throw himself in Rainbow’s place. It was different, now. He actually had somepony that loved him. He had friends. He had everything he had ever wanted, and the thought of looking into his closest of friend’s eyes as she tore him apart.
Kevin brought the bag over to Fluttershy and put it on the ground in front of her. He put his arms around her for several minutes, concluding 	it by kissing her on her forehead.
A tear drove its way from his eye and fell to the floor. He went over to the table and started scribbling on a piece of paper. He turned and put it in the bag.
“What’s happening?” Fluttershy asked staring at him with tears in her eyes.
“I can’t tell you that,” Kevin said staring at her on the verge of tears.
Fluttershy burst into tears. It was too much for her. It seemed so weird to love someone as much as she loved him and then find him to act so weird and so upset. It was especially bad with how shy she was.
Kevin raised her head and gave his instructions.
“I need you to open this bag and complete the instructions, but only after I go through the portal.”
“Portal?” Fluttershy asked, “Why?”
“That will be in the instructions,” Kevin told, barely being able to hold his own tears.
He gave the mare one last hug before he backed out the front of her cottage and ran into another pony.
“Sorry…” Kevin said trying to identify the face silhouetted by the sun. He bent his neck over to see who it was.
“…Blast.  I need you to come with me.”
“What’s the problem?” the Blizzard asked as the two of them started trotting away, Fluttershy following.
Kevin bent over and whispered, “I need you to open the portal on the other side.”
“Why are we whispering?” Blast asked back over.
“I can’t have anyone else knowing,” Kevin responded with his voice cracking.
“Is everything okay?” he came again.
“That’s why I need helping,” Kevin responded.
Finally arriving at the site of the portal (now lined with police tape to avoid accidental use), Kevin turned to meet him and explained his	 plans.
Blast gawked in amazement as he explained.
It was extremely hard to grasp that Pinkie was doing such things and even harder to afterwards understand that Kevin was doing what he was.
Blast pulled away and asked, “It’s not that I’m questioning this, but you do realize you are asking more of me than just opening the portal?”
“I do, but it will be worth it,” Kevin obliged.
Blast rolled his eyes to the back of his head in thought trying to plan what he was going to do before smiling and turning back to Kevin.
“I’ll do it,” he said.
Kevin gave a weak smile and turned to look at his own mare.
It hurt to look, and he found himself turning right back around: trying to clear his thoughts of all of his regrets.
Kevin put his hoof on Blast’s shoulder and guided him through the blackness.

Fluttershy opened the bag to find the note that Kevin had wrote and read it, gasping seconds after she began.

Blast’s horn began to glow the minute they went through the portal. He lifted a great shield over them: a force field. The attackers came 	from several sides shooting at the pegasus and the unicorn. The attacker from several weeks ago had certainly hired some help, and would 	succeed at finally getting rid of at least one pony.
Blast waited until they had all ran out of ammo and had to draw their knives.
“Now, now,” spoke he, “let’s be reasonable. You have been waiting here, for days at least, just waiting like a lioness in a bush for one gissel like us to part from our group. And since you’ve been so… patient... to stay here for us, I am prepared to offer you a deal.”
Kevin gasped. It seemed that Blast was honestly going to trade Kevin for his own life. He was almost instantly reassured when Blast winked at him over his shoulder.
“Take me,” said the blue unicorn. “But he goes where he needs to.”
This was more stunning than Kevin’s own first impressions. Kevin gazed wide-eyed as Blast dropped a small portion of the shield and 	reached out his hoof.
“Deal?” Blast said, putting his hoof in the form of a shaking position.
One of the people in the group stepped forward rubbing the back of his head before reaching out the same ugly hand and shaking Blast’s.
As they did so, The shield dropped completely and Kevin ran back for the portal.
He turned and found Blast being taken away in a great mob. Fortunately, his face was free enough to give Kevin a second wink, before his horn glowed, changing the portal a slightly different color.
Kevin broke the air between the edges of the slick frame and looked back to see the mob growing a lot more faint as it shrunk into the distance.
Kevin was in the day before this day.

Fluttershy’s hooves hit the ground hard as she moved relentlessly towards her friends. Tears fell from her streaked cheeks.
Twilight dropped her sandwich and looked around at Fluttershy.
“What’s wrong?!” she shouted in surprise.
Fluttershy held up the note that shook Twilight and brought her to tears in front of all of her friends.
The note read:

Dear Fluttershy,
I regret to tell you that today, I will die. It appears that due to specific events, I will have to suffer a terrible fate to save a friend of yours. Do not fear for me, live your life. Never stop smiling. And always remember how much I loved you.

Fluttershy looked over the paper before continuing reading

I was saving this for your birthday, but your parting present is in the gold box in the bag you probably hold in your hooves.

Fluttershy went to pick the untold treasure up from the remaining nonsense in the bag.
She opened it to find a necklace that shined with the brightness of polished mythril. It was carved in the shape of Fluttershy’s cutie mark. The back of it was inscribed with the words: “Somepony I love”
Twilight had to read the rest. Fluttershy started getting hysterical.

Please assort these according to which pony you think is most appropriate.
However, the uniform is what I would like to buried in.
I love every one of you,
Kevin.

Twilight gave various items to each of the few mare’s left. Twilight drew a diamond for Rarity, a Rainbow Dash fan club tee shirt for a Rainbow Dash that had not yet shown up. Twilight stopped when she drew out a jacket and white shirt with a bowtie from the bag. Each of them was built for a moderately large filly. Twilight looked over to Fluttershy in questioning: wondering who it should go to. She looked up from her hooves and looked shortly at the small pile of cloth before looking down and crying into her hooves. It was Kevin’s suit from the night he had spent with her. It was his outfit from the dance that they had both spent together.
Fluttershy tried to answer Twilight this, but it came out in whimpers as she cried relentlessly into her arms.
Twilight stood over Fluttershy and attempted to make her feel better as she teared over her lost friend.

Kevin walked along the path through Ponyville looking painfully on the sites that he had once admired. He looked at the town hall and thought on how he had not yet visited it. He thought about the jewelry store across the street from the spa. He planned to take Fluttershy there on her birthday to get her fit for her necklace just a few days from now. 
It didn’t matter, though. He would never be able to take her back. He had to give himself in order to help others be happy watching the show. The characters will all be happier with him gone than Rainbow. He was insignificant. He would take her fall.
He stopped clacking his hooves on the ground and turned his head reluctantly looking in the direction of Sugarcube corner.
It was his time.

A pink earth pony was busy at her job: baking cupcakes. She heard a knocking at the door seconds before she put the baked goods in the oven. It was awfully rude to her that someone would interrupt her at this time. She was soon to start her work on her secret ingredient. It was always so rude to disturb her at a time like this.
She went to answer it, but the intruder walked himself in and began towards the edge of the hallway.
The pink mare walked over to try to stop him, but he kept walking until he reached the end of the hall and started towards the edge of the stairs. She offered him cupcakes “in the oven,” if he wanted them.
The white stallion ignored all attempts with a blank expression on his face.
He held off the mare with surprising ease as he opened the door to the basement. It seemed weird that a pony like Pinkie Pie: that managed to out-race Rainbow Dash and to have done all the things that she had done would be so easy to hold away from a simple door. It seemed just as odd that ponies like Applejack and Rainbow Dash had no different body tones than the others. They all had the same shape no matter how much they worked out.
Kevin tried to think about this as he forced himself down the stairs. He almost immediately felt about a thousand times worse when he smelt the dank air and looked upon the moist, disgusting stairs. It was the only thing that he could look at, though. He knew about the horrendous decorations that were strewn about the ceiling. He stared at the floor as a pink mare tried to force him away from the floor below. He trudged onward until finally, he was there, still staring at the ground. He looked up slightly to see the stunned face of a mare that 	he had, and did still admire: staring at him in fear and worry.
“Kevin? What’s going on?” she said, frightened.
Kevin detached the bands connecting her hooves to the table.
“It’ll be okay,” Kevin said to the cyan mare. 
He unbuckled the other bands, taking a momentary break after each one to glare behind him at the mare behind him.
Finally, Kevin unbuckled the last strap and let Rainbow Dash fall the few remaining inches to the ground before placing himself in the same position.
“Now, Pinkie,” said Kevin looking at the pink mare below. “I do understand that no matter what I do, you will have to tear me up and turn me into cupcakes, or you’d have to do that with Rainbow Dash. That’s why I’ve put you in this predicament. You will have to let one of us go and that one will be the reason you get caught. The other one will be your sacrifice to get better cupcakes. That one will be me.”
Pinkie straightened and found the logic in his argument before responding.
“And why don’t I just kill both of you?”
“Simple,” Kevin said, “You only have one of these operating tables and both Rainbow Dash and I are pegasi, so if you are unable to obtain another chair by the time a pegasus can get out of your basement, you will be caught either way and we might both escape. You will make your decision.”
After reading the fanfiction Cupcakes, Kevin realized that Pinkie would be very hard to convince to stop. With this setup, she would be forced to stop doing this one way or another.
Pinkie choked as she realized she was doomed to be found out, and that her rules towards her job were interfering with her decision.
Kevin stared at the ashamed earth pony. He had nothing else to look at, due to the array of colorful pony parts that surrounded him. It was terrible to consider what more than likely coated the area around him.
Rainbow Dash thought about how she could prevent this from happening: what was soon to come to her friend. A friend that had helped two of her friends beyond a measure of worth was now in a large predicament with another friend that meant Rainbow Dash’s life. To stop it, Rainbow Dash only knew of one thing to do.
Pinkie was about to open her mouth to speak when the cyan mare leapt onto her back and brought her to the ground.
Kevin, not having been tied to the table, started down to bring the pink mare to where he was.
It didn’t occur to Kevin that Rainbow would have it in her to so this act. In such a sense, the brought the ties around Pinkie’s wrists, so that she couldn’t use any weapons against them as they went for help.
There will be no more cupcakes.

> Elsewhere
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A thundering screeching rumble roared throughout the walls of Tartarus as the well-known phone box made its entrance at the edge of the awful scenery. The Doctor stepped away from the panel only to be caught in something he almost always found to be an issue.
Derpy quickly wrapped her hooves around The Doctor’s neck, slightly folding back his tie as she gave him a hug. It was the least Derpy could do. Dinky meant everything to her, and a complete stranger had won her back for her. Beyond that, he was prepared to offer her everything else she had ever wanted: a home where she was wanted, appreciated, and safe from the hate of others.
The Doctor wasn’t fond of hugging. It seemed rather odd for somepony to show appreciation by nestling themselves in each others’ shoulders. This seemed especially awkward, as the person doing it had no hands, and had difficulty raising any limbs over their heads (or should have difficulty). It was still an awkward feat for the Doctor, but as the mare felt wanted in the Doctor’s presence she pushed herself into himself harder, the Doctor could see into the shiny eyes of the misfit pegasus. Her eyes were unlike that of any humanoid he had ever met. They seemed to motion with a want that words alone could not express and her smile told him that that need was met. and it reminded him of his home. It reminded him of the family he had left behind, and it gave him a sight of what happiness he felt when he brought his race back into reality.
The Doctor had everything he wanted. He hugged back as the mare hung in his arms. No form of hugging was right in the eyes of The Doctor, but this was perfectly fine and it left dear Doctor feeling better than he had felt since before the fall of Gallifrey.
After Derpy found she had given the Doctor only the best of her appreciation (and though she feared to admit it, and expression of friendly love towards the lonely alien), she pulled away and wiped a tear from her soft cheek.
The Doctor smiled the best he could as he glanced over at the door to the outside world. It was a world of darkness and despair. That wasn’t the point of being here. Although a terrifying place, it was also beautiful. It was filled with adventure and excitement. Not everything would be safe and fun all the time. Not everything was a nice thing for anyone, but it would never be fun if you never thought of it that way. This place was one of the most feared places in Equestria, and The Doctor recognised it this way. It would be an adventure. This feared place would be great.
The Doctor stepped outside as the sweet mare followed close behind with her little filly.
Doctor didn’t like having little fillies travel with him. It seemed all too realistic that they wouldn’t obey him, and when his companions didn’t obey him, it was all too likely that the person that doesn’t obey him would be killed by the dangers of being his companion.
This time, the Doctor would have to make an exception. Although he was in the most dangerous place in Equestria, it was Equestria. It was possibly the least dangerous world in the universe and it was unlikely that anything could happen to the filly.
The Doctor took several steps toward the great abyss that stood before and practically shook itself in his face. The walls of the surrounding 	hell towered over the Doctor and his current companion. It seemed strange and surprisingly calm, but there would certainly be adventure somewhere in this strange world. The Doctor trudged onward, leading his small party along the edges of the chasm that surrounded the deep pit of imprisonment.
An archway carved out of rock stood several meters away and looked as if it were to hide whatever were behind it and a wall sitting adjacent to it. The distance between the party and the archway closed as they continued walking and looking for the possible adventure ahead. The Doctor turned his head as he crossed under the arch as if investigating the pit that stood to the side of him.
It was as if to be a great holding cell for behemoths that wouldn’t be able to survive on the small islands near the center of the great prison. It went all the way down to the darkest and deepest part of the ugly rock-carved walls and ascended barely to the ceiling of the floor that the group was in the middle of. It perplexed the Doctor. Yet it seemed as though the family soon following him was a little less than amused. They continued, passing many archways, before crossing one that struck the Doctor. He passed under the archway, feeling a sickness as if he were trapped in a terrible condition. It got worse the closer he was to the arch before he crossed it.
He went under the arch and turned his head to see a similar pit to many of those that he crossed before. The only difference was that this one glowed red. The archway collapsed behind him as if it were just a doorway. The Doctor turned his head to the pit. Out of it rose a red, scaly creature with sharp teeth that curled into an evil smile. The Doctor recognised it as the same face of the demon that attacked Equestria two months ago. It was Bellus.
“Now, Doctor,” sneared the demon, “Before you stand two jars. One of them holds the key to your TARDIS…
“Pardon?” interrupted the Doctor, “Why do you know my name and how’d you get my key?”
“That’s simple magic when you’ve spent so long absorbing the magical traits of Tartarus” laughed the evil being, flickering his eyelashes in a humored manner.
“Now as I was saying before you interrupted, there are two pots on the ground at your feet. One holds the key to your TARDIS, you can summon it and leave.”
“And the other?” The Doctor questioned.
“The other holds the key to my chains,” said the Demon, smirking.
The Doctor stood confused. He should very easily be able to find his key. It was light, and the pots beneath him both looked heavy. They looked heavy, but as the Doctor went to lift them, they both seemed light. He tried to clear his mind and find some reasoning. He had to find some way to figure out which one was his.
Finally, he looked up at the wide grin of the despicable creature. He was obviously using some form of magic to throw him off. Questions formed in the Doctor’s mind.
“Why can’t you smash the pots and give yourself the key?” he then asked.
“The type of magic that is used to keep me here requires deals and bets. It is demon magic. This is the most I can do to insure my escape.”
Doctor looked down at the pots again before selecting a single one of them and lifting it above his head. He thought about his action. He thought that this pot contained his key, but the demon could be using magic to make him feel that way. The Doctor put the pot down and stared confused at the other one. He looked down into his pocket where his sonic screwdriver was. It was useless for finding out what things were inside of other things. The decision was all his.
Derpy walked forward toward The Doctor.
The Doctor looked back to see the confused expression of the cross-eyed mare.
“Do you think you know which one’s it?” The Doctor asked.
Derpy shook her head before making her way to The Doctor’s side.
“I know that whatever decision you’ll make, though, you won’t have to make it alone.” replied the mare.
The Doctor smiled at her before realizing how close her hoof was to pot he had just held up.
Her tail swished once and knocked the pot over, putting a crack in the side at a right angle to the rim.
Derpy quickly scooped the container up, but it only made the crack grow until a corner in the bottom of the pot finally broke off and a key quickly made its way out of the new hole. The pot on the other side of the pair quickly shattered revealing another key.
As everything happened, the key from the only mildly shattered pot flew at the demon and clacked against his claws as he pinched it tight.
“Your key is to your left. You have your TARDIS, I have my freedom. I’ll race you to the surface,” spoke the demon as he loosened his cuffs.
The Doctor pressed hard on the TARDIS key, summoning it to a relatively close location. He waited a few seconds, letting it slowly come into existence. He started into the door as it was still appearing.
The Doctor started slamming on the console: telling it to get to Ponyville. He had to get there before the demon would. He’d have to warn everypony.
Derpy and Dinky walked in behind him. They stood worried as the Doctor angrily pounded on the keyboard.
Derpy slowly approached the Doctor to apologise.
Derpy came close to his side to talk to him.
“Doctor?” She asked
“I can’t talk right now, Derpy,” he responded.
“I just wanted to say sorry for breaking the wrong pot,” She described.
“That’s alright,” came the accented voice again, frustrated, “I would have chose that pot anyway.”
Derpy responded, “I really am.” her voice cracked slightly and the Doctor recognised it as a symbol of some different emotions than he had thought she’d be experiencing.
He turned to see the mare’s face coated with tears. It then fell upon the Doctor that Derpy had just considered herself responsible for the 	possible future destruction of all of Equestria, and his tone didn’t do much good for her poor feelings.
The Doctor immediately put his arms around the startled companion and tried to make her feel better. The Doctor didn’t blame the poor mare. He wanted more for her.  After seeing her eyes, he felt he would never have enough to give her. She meant more to him than any amount of treasure or adventure or any possession was worth. She meant the world to him.
It wasn’t her fault. None of this was. She was just a companion. She was his companion. The both of them didn’t want to be alone and neither would. They had each other. Companions.
> Darkness in The Light
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rainbow Dash looked down at her wings. She had hurt one of them in bringing Pinkie Pie to the ground. Without knowing, a tear was gliding its way from her eye. Her own friend had wanted to brutally rip several pieces of the pegasus’s body off in the cause of making a cannibal cake. Kevin was ready to sacrifice himself to stop that from happening. Never before had Rainbow felt so loved, but so betrayed.
Kevin watched as the mare’s tear tracked its way down her face and then slowly fall to the floor. Her ears twitched and curled back as her face fell into a sorrowful state.
Kevin drew himself near to her. He slowly ran his hoof across her mane and around her ears. Rainbow did the rest. She moved her head under the swoop and brought it to a rest on his shoulder. Her tears hit his coat and were quickly absorbed. Kevin continued to pet her mane: keeping the tears out of it and trying to calm her.
Kevin waited for a pause a he kept brushing through her tangled mane. Before long, she had calmed and backed herself away from him. 	Kevin turned to see that Pinkie had seen all of the moment and was likely going to comment on it. He hesitated before gently guiding the mare towards the top of the stairs so that they could speak without being looked at by a particularly psychotic technicolor pony.
They had to find some way to get Pinkie to stop doing what she was doing, if at all possible with no police or violence. Rainbow Dash sat down at the Cake’s kitchen table and Kevin gently passed before realising her position. He stopped to sit at her side. She stared at the counter before turning to him.
“Was it something I did?” she asked complaining.
“You mean to make her do that?”
Rainbow nodded slowly.
“No, Rainbow Dash. It was a random selection that brought you here. A death raffle.”
Rainbow stared at him in surprise.
“How do you know this much?” She asked, scared.
Kevin sighed, now realizing how much he looked like a psycho in the eyes of the mare.
“As a human, we get to see through devices that show us what happens in your world. One of the visions produced by the screen was of your demise. I thought it wasn’t true. I thought the box was a big lie, and I told myself that it was fake. I didn’t want any of this to happen.” 	Kevin looked at Rainbow as if asking her acceptance for his mistake in assuming.
Rainbow stared at the table as another tear dropped from her cheek. “So none of this has anything to do with any of my flaws?” She interrogated softly.
“What flaws?” Kevin answered with another question.
Rainbow turned her head farther from the perspective of Kevin and as a tear glided very quickly from her adorable eye. “There’s... my voice,” 	She commented, “Sometimes ponies say that it’s scratchy and masculine.”
Kevin looked back on the first episode that he had seen and remembered that he had thought that she was a stallion just based on her voice. After watching the series for long enough, the voice became one of the more friendly, womanly voices in his mind. He considered how well she sang and how every time she did, it emphasised specific aspects of the song in a stylish manner. Then he realized there was nothing wrong with her voice. It was nothing to be ashamed of.
Kevin brushed the back of mane as she wept, holding back as many tears as possible. She tried to make herself look strong, but failed just enough to prolong a small flow of tears for a longer period of time.
“There’s nothing wrong with your voice,” he stated, “I find it amazing that someone would be looking for flaws enough to point out your voice as something wrong with you. I’m sure when you find a stallion that loves you more than anyone, he’ll love hearing your voice just as 	much I have grown to love it.
Rainbow Dash started to recover from her trauma. It wasn’t that she wasn’t still scared by the matter of fact that her own friend had both wanted to murder her and torture her. It was that Kevin believed in her. He knew that she wasn’t going to let things like this bring her down. 	That she would find a special somepony to love her. She wasn’t alone.
It gave her strength knowing that he didn’t want her to be alone. She had great friends that would follow her anywhere. She had a friend now that had almost gave himself up for about an hour of unimaginable torture before dying slowly. She had a particularly powerful stallion of a largely powerful family that would never let her down. She also had an alicorn princess that she knew would care about her long after her time on throne would expire. One thing she didn’t know was that she had more friends than she could count. She had friends that appreciated her regardless of whether she knew the or not. She was loved, and someday, she would be loved by somepony special. She’d have a special somepony. Rainbow Dash stared awkwardly at him until her tears dried. Although an awkward situation to be stuck in, Rainbow Dash appreciated she’d had a friend guiding her through it.

Pinkie had had just about enough of sitting in the dark alone. She was tied in a gnarled position to the metal operating table. She didn’t need to sit here, but in order to protect the balance of the number selection system and to protect the secrecy of the cupcake’s secret ingredient, she’d have to blow cover to some two ponies that messed up her cupcakes way of life. It was her destiny. It was her vindictive, psychotic, destiny.

Kevin cradled the sad mare’s head in her shoulder as she finished her crying. He gently patted her head every now and then to comfort her.
As the the tears flowed, Kevin noticed a movement in the corner of his eye. The door to the basement had opened and the poised, unhappy mare poked her head through the doorway. Pinkie Pie smiled evilly as her ears slanted slightly towards the back of her head. Her mane became a matted mess of pink hair.
Kevin stared at the mass with a very confused expression.
Pinkie cocked her head to the right before speaking. the words of the psychopath almost startling the fearless mare at the table into falling off of her chair.
“I know you want to get rid of me,” she started, “You’re not. In fact, your little predicament from earlier meant nothing to me. I could just as easily kill both of you and take both your remains into a recipe.”
“Why?” Kevin asked in a begging and demanding tone.
“For cupcakes, duh!” shouted the mare excitedly.
“But the cupcakes wouldn’t taste as good with pony organs in it. Why do you need to kill ponies when it would truly be better otherwise?”
“BECAUSE YOU PONIES DESERVE IT! My queen broke her hoof because of you!”
Kevin’s look again became confused.
Pinkie chuckled madly and put her face towards the ground, her eyes still staring up at Kevin.
Her hooves were the first thing to change. They shimmered and then became see-through in specific outlined parts. A wave of magical essence rolled up her body, reaching her face until finally escaping through the pink mane of what was no longer an innocent, pink pony.
“My name is Novo,” said the Changeling standing before them.
Kevin gawked, realizing how she had gotten out of the cuffs. She used magic as an alicorn-like being and teleported herself out.
“When Queen Chrysalis was thrown out of Equestria, she fell a considerably long fall all the way to the cold earth. She broke her hoof!” The vindictive Changeling revealed.
Kevin was more surprised at the matter of fact that she was this upset over that small incident than that she was even a Changeling.
Rainbow, now having a stronger emotion on her face, burned with a pain that she wasn’t before destined to feel. She burned with hate. 	Her irises shrunk and her fur ruffled all over her. She had a stronger urge than to cry. It wasn’t that she was going to torture Rainbow, it was that in order to be here in front of her, she would have had to do something to her dear friend, Pinkie Pie. The Element of Loyalty was not going to stand for such acts against her friends.
Rainbow Dash threw herself at the sickly beast. Her wings wrapped around Novo and bringing her swiftly to the ground before removing her wings and stomping her hooves on either side of the monster’s head.
“What did you do with Pinkie?!” she shouted in a more wanting tone than a demanding one.
The Changeling smiled as she uncovered the answer.
“Downstairs, left room,” she said rather happily.
Rainbow quickly shot down the stairs directly behind the startling feature in the room.
Novo then cocked her head to the right, eliciting a few cracks before doing the same to the other side.
“So,” said the unguarded Changeling, “Now that the fighter is gone, let’s see the gentle one fight.”

Rainbow reached the bottom of the stairs and looked to her left. A small door stood slightly open. Marks were placed on the outer edges, stating that it had been slammed shut a number of times. The doorknob was scratched and the entirety of it was disturbed with dents and chips.
It was an eerie scene, but Rainbow wanted to see her true friend. She wanted to see the friend. She wanted to know that the friend that would really not betray her was still alive, or at least that she’d had the decency to put her in some sort of a reasonable funeral position.
Tears started again towards the rainbow mane. She started slowly towards the door until finally pressing her hoof against the dented steel of the scratchy doorknob.
The door opened slowly inward to reveal a much more innocent and vulnerable Pinkie Pie. Her face was pressed deep into her front hooves.
Rainbow quickly trotted over to the weakened, pink mare. She wrapped her hooves around the back of her mane, startling another fearless pony. Pinkie Pie looked up to see that her friend was still alive. The Changeling in her basement said that she stood no chance. She was already dead.
Pinkie’s hooves shot around the sides of Rainbow Dash as she started crying over another matter.
“She made me swear not to tell,” Pinkie said into the arms of the cyan pegasus.
“If I would, she was going to reveal herself to everypony and kill all of you. I had to…” Pinkie weeped about every three words.
Rainbow Dash helped her arms out from around the mare and guided her towards the door: no longer a prison to keep the mare in as 	her imposter took apart her friends.

Fluttershy cried in the bed. She sandwiched herself between the mattress and the bedspread. It wasn’t fair that Kevin had to die. He 	would leave her all alone? After all he had done for her, he was honestly going to just die one day leaving her all alone with a lost love. Her heart burned for him every time he was near. It seemed that her longing to be with him would only be fulfilled with his embrace. After being noted that he was dead, it seemed that desire would never be met. Not ever again. She looked down at the necklace he had left her. It fit well around her neck. It was a truly fine piece of craftsmanship. To her, it was only just a reminder that he would never return to her loving presence. An extra large tear fell from her cheek as she turned it over to read the words on the back. They were his last words to her. 	Hopefully they meant something more than what she had read before.
The writing was deeply engraved. It would never be etched out. It was her only remaining part of her best friend ever.
Somepony I love
it read. Fluttershy covered her eyes to wipe away the tears from knowing that he had in fact had very mutual thoughts about her. She felt so alone. She’d never feel his embrace again. She’d never hear his voice again.
Her hoof moved away from her face. The words on the back had read across:
You will never be alone.
Fluttershy was now a mix of confused and devastated.
Not a few moments later, the text changed again.
You have your friends that love you, Kevin still loves you.
“What’s happening?” Fluttershy asked to herself, below a whispered tone.
You felt alone. changed the necklace.
Kevin wanted to be there for you.
“But you’re not Kevin,” came Fluttershy’s response.
I am a bit of Kevin.
He gave a bit of his own personality to make me the ideal companion for you. The necklace changed twice
I will always be there for you.
I am one with Kevin. I will be there for you, just as he was.
The device did seem to creep Fluttershy out, but being that it was just Kevin trying to cheer her up from beyond the grave in the form of a piece of jewelry he gave her for her birthday made it seem better. She had a friend that would always be there for her and she still had Kevin beside her no matter what.
It was Kevin’s love to her in a convenient hoof-sized jewel piece.

Kevin brought his head back and twisted it sideways. A great crack came as he moved it from side to side. He bent his hooves as far as he could to create the same noise.
His wings spread apart and extended over the height of both of the mythical creatures. Kevin’s eyes narrowed in on the face of the intruder. He didn’t want to fight anyone. He was always the one to make the victim feel better. He wasn’t usually the one to actually finish off the evil that started the whole thing. However, because he would likely be the next of her victims and then many others: Kevin had no other choice. Besides, Kevin wasn’t unprepared to “Dance with the devil in the pale moonlight” He had done fitness training on earth. He was not a 	weak stallion.
The wings of the white pegasus came down furiously fast as his legs thrust against the ground, the force shooting him at the corrupt beast.
He brought all four hooves down on the head and back of the disgusting thing. The force threw it into a wall and  pressed its head into the far corner of the hall.
Quickly, it summoned a beam of light and threw it in Kevin’s direction.
Kevin tried to duck under it, but it came to swoop right into his head. He was thrown downwards with the ball. All he saw was a great presence of light until it finally came to rest. The whole of his body ached with what felt like the aftermath of a shock of electricity. He looked up to see that he was actually a few feet below the floor. He was in a small pit provided by the changeling.
Novo stood at the edge of the pit and looked down at the stunned stallion.
“You don’t get it, do you?” it started. “I used the hearts of those ponies as food for a Changeling’s power. We use the love of ponies to gain in magical strength and pony hearts are just filled with it!”
Kevin looked back on the logic behind her reasoning and found that such a thing was probably true.
Kevin was against an unstoppable force. It seemed likely that with all of the destruction she had dealt, Kevin wouldn’t be able to face her.
That was until about five seconds later. Its eyes narrowed and its mouth curled into seductive grin.
A green bottle cracked against the back of the dark head and shattered. Black syrupy liquid poured down the greenish hair and onto the floor by the hole that Kevin laid in. The changeling lay out-cold.
A faint squeak was heard coming from the front entrance. Mrs. Cake had found her way into her own house.
Kevin glared at the downed body of the insect. Black liquid still drained from around the area of the green glass container.
He got out of the ridiculous pit and dabbed his hoof in it to taste it.
He then looked back at the thrower of the weapon: Cup Cake. She stood several feet in front of her spouse: Carrot Cake. Each of them stared at the dark figure.
Kevin finally broke the silence with his best attempt at a joke.
“Nice use of that molasses,” He smiled.
As molasses was a thick, heavy fluid, it was clear that Mrs. Cake had actually selected a great weapon. And apparently becoming a look-alike Pinkie Pie didn’t grant the Pinkie sense.
The door to the basement erupted open and Pinkie and Rainbow Dash stood at the doorway looking upon the scene.“What happened?” 		Pinkie asked, more excited now that she knew all of her friends were okay.
Kevin chuckled as he turned to tell her about what he had just done.
There were no more cupcakes, and the evil intruder had been stopped.

> Into Life
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Kevin stayed over at the Cake’s house to conceal himself from his own future self before going out the next day. He waited an hour after he thought he had left for the portal before going off into the world. He bound off to Fluttershy’s house. She had seen her birthday present early, and although it seemed a bit creepy, he knew that it would become something great for her. She would always have him at her side, and given that he had a pocketwatch at her cottage that did the same for him, Kevin would have Fluttershy with him at all times. Neither of them would ever be alone. They’d always have each other.
Kevin stopped by Rose’s storefront to buy a bouquet of flowers, hoping that it would help make up for his accidental, unnecessary disturbance of her delicate emotions. He wanted to take away whatever despair she felt during that short period of time. It hurt knowing that she could have felt any bit so hurt.
As he arrived, Kevin knocked on the solid oak door. He waited only for a few moments before Fluttershy answered.
Kevin had come back for her, and he would always be. He had to help her even when he couldn’t be there. It hurt them too much. It was called love.

> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The TARDIS parked itself wearily on the innermost part of Ponyville. The Doctor stepped out to warn somepony and, if possible, everypony. The impending danger of the great beast that was about to make itself known to the whole of Equestria.
It was a bright, new day in Ponyville. The streets were filled with ponies of all races all with a place to go.
The Doctor stopped upon seeing the mayor. She could easily notify the whole town of the incoming danger.
He trotted quickly over to the mare and told her of the happening in Tartarus, before going on to spread the word. Hell was coming.

On the other end of the portal, a sky-blue unicorn sat duct-taped to a chair.
Blast looked up to see twelve disturbing-looking men. All of them glared at him with distasteful looks.
Another man in crutches finally made his way into the room. Blast recognized him as the man he had fought about a month ago. The man’s eye twitched as he arrived.
“Why didn’t you kill him already?” came the man.
Silence was his response until one man gained the nerve to step forward and speak.
“We thought you would like to do the honors. You were the man he injured. You also hired all of us to get him. He’s yours to kill.”
The man smiled weakly as if to acknowledge that it was a true observation.
He drew a gun and pointed it at the stallion’s head.
“Last words?” he offered.
“If you would please allow, I would like my last words to be an answered question.”
The man rolled his eyes.
“Fine.”
Blast responded, “Of the assassins you hired, which ones are here?” His voice came out shaky and worried.
“What?” asked the man as he stared blankly in search of a reason for asking something so off-subject from a regular last few words.
“Of the assassins you hired, which ones are here?” he came, even shakier.
The man turned around and counted each of the men that surrounded him.
He finished counting and glared at the unicorn. “It’s not an unreasonable question.” He thought to himself.
“All of them,” was the final response of the angry human.

It was music to Blast’s ears.
He glared up at the cripple: more smug than blaming.
“All of them?” he spoke, his mouth curling over mostly the right side as he was finally going to finish off the conflict with one swift movement.

Kevin looked down at his pocket watch. The letters on the inside wall inscribed fluttershy's moments of content as he stood by her side. Finally.