> Doctor Whooves and the Assistant: The Living Paradox
>  by Prodigy Skyfire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Ch. 0 - An Unexpected Meeting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s been….almost three months since I came to live in Ponyville. So far, I have yet to figure out who I am or what my cutie mark stands. Even with the help of Ms. Twilight Sparkle and my assistant Strawberry, I have not penetrated the block that is my case of amnesia. What more, I am still looked at funny due to the HUGE mistake I made: I turned all the citizens of the entire planet into anthrofied versions of themselves. 

“Prof. Prodigy!”, a small voice rang out.

Even so, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both said to not think so badly about this mistake. Everypony will adapt to this new change, as they said….

“Prof. Prodigy!!!”, the voice rang out again.

I just wish there was a single clue other than my suspicion: that the Princesses know more about me than they let on….

“PROF. PRODIGY SKYFIRE!!! PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!”, the voice rang out again. I snapped to attention and saw my filly assistant Strawberry hiding behind a desk. “Huh? What the?”, I said out loud, looking down to see a chemical I was mixing blow up right in my face. I coughed slightly as I wiped away the soot on my glasses and said, “Well, that’s one way to get my attention. Strawberry, label this experiment as failed attempt #306-E.”

Strawberry did just that, and then heard me sigh softly. She looked over towards me and said, “Professor….is something wrong? You look rather bummed out.”

“I’m sorry….all this is just starting to seem pointless. I’m an alicorn with a broken horn, a positive label that I am an outcast here in Equestria….and I don’t even know what my cutie mark stands for….or who I am, for that matter.”, I said, adjusting my glasses on the bridge of my nose.

“You just need to relax and take a breather. Regaining your memory is no easy feat. I should know. Hmm….I have an idea! Let’s go to Sugarcube Corner to get some cupcakes! As Pinkie Pie says, ‘Can’t go wrong when your face is stuffed with cupcakes!’ So how ‘bout it?”, the pink filly said.

“Pinkie never said anything like that….”, I said calmly.

“I know, but I want a cupcake! Let’s go!”, Strawberry said, dragging me out of my lab and out of the house. I muttered softly as she skipped along the road ahead of me. “Don’t go too far ahead! Don’t need you getting yourself hurt!”, I said to her.
“I’ll be fine! Look, here we-OUCH!”, Strawberry yelped. I saw her fall back and a bunch of muffins surrounded her. I sighed and said, “See? This is what happens when you run too far ahead and you don’t look where you are going.”

“I’m sorry, Professor….”, Strawberry said, a few tears in her eyes. I patted the unicorn filly’s head and looked in front of her to see another pony on the ground, a gray Pegasus mare. “Miss Ditzy Doo?”, I said, looking over her. The mare opened her eyes, looking back up at me and said, “Oh, hi there, Prodigy! Umm….w-what did I hit?”

“You ran into Strawberry. My guess is that all these muffins on the ground is yours?”, I said, picking one up. Ditzy nodded as her eyes went to her usual wall-eyed expression. “Uh-huh! ….Oh no, my muffins! ….Now I gotta buy some more….”, she said sadly. I chuckled and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll pay for them. It’s the least I can do.” I used my magic to levitate the ruined muffins, then I noticed something: she had enough muffins for at least 3 months’ worth of stock.” …Umm…Ditzy, pardon my curiosity, but why did you have so many? I understand that you like muffins, but 3 months’ worth of muffins is just a bit too much, don’t you think?”

“What? Oh! These muffins aren’t just for me!”, Ditzy said, patting the dust off her clothes. “It’s for my friend too!”, she continued, walking back into bakery. Me and Strawberry followed her, watching her order even MORE muffins than she began with. “Ditzy….why so many? It’s almost like you are planning on going away for a while.”, I said, pulling out a sack of bits from my labcoat, placing the amount necessary for the muffins she bought on the counter.

“Me, go somewhere with the Doctor?! What makes you think that?! …..Uh-oh.”, Ditzy said, clapping her hand onto her mouth. My ears twitched when I heard mention of a doctor. “Doctor? What Doctor? Does he work at the hospital?”, I asked, picking up the crates of muffins for the mare.

“Umm…no, he doesn’t work at the hospital. He’s a Doctor and prefers being called the Doctor.”, Ditzy said nervously. ‘Hmm…why is she avoiding my questions? Is this Doctor pony really such a big deal? And again, WHY SO MANY MUFFINS?!’, I thought to myself, following Ditzy down the street with Strawberry following behind.
Ditzy looked around the Town Square and said, “Now where is he? Doctor said he would meet me right here near the fountain. Perhaps he went to go prepare the TARDIS….”

“TARDIS? What’s that?”, I asked, sitting down the crates to catch my breath. “Oh, uh, it’s nothing. Nothing important.”, Ditzy said, looking away from me nervously. “Hmm….anyway, Ditzy, I must take my leave of you here. I got a few things that must be taken care of before this day comes to an end.”, I said to her.

“Oh, ok! Bye, Prodigy!”, Ditzy said to me. “Let’s return to the lab, Strawberry. More work that must be done!”, I said, turning to the direction of my home before stopping. “Just as soon as I make a quick phone call. I’d like to check up on Ms. Sparkle.”
“Ok, Professor! Can I talk to Twilight too?”, Strawberry said, walking beside me towards the nearest phone booth. “Of course, Strawberry. Now, where is that phone booth? …Umm…it was right here yesterday…”, I said, standing in a spot where a phone booth used to stand at.

“Is that it?”, Strawberry said, pointing at a blue telephone booth in a nearby field. “Huh, that’s odd. What pony would put a phone booth way out there? Let’s check it out, Strawberry.”, I replied. We both jogged over to the phone booth, and I looked it over a bit. ‘Hmm….very odd. Why would a telephone booth be in the middle of this field? It’s completely out of the way.’, I thought to myself.

“What’s wrong with this door!? It says pull to open, yet it won’t open!”, Strawberry said, pulling on the door handle of the telephone booth. “Professor, it won’t open!”, she whined. I chuckled softly and said, “Here, let me do it.”, I said, pulling at the door handle. I frowned when the door didn’t budge an inch. I growled as I kept pulling and pulling, but to no avail, the door wouldn’t open. “Wow, you weren’t kidding! This thing won’t open! …..Unless…..unless if you don’t pull it, but push it open.”, I said to Strawberry, pushing the door for it to open wide. I blinked twice when I saw the inside of the telephone booth. “Whoa, what is this thing?!”, I exclaimed, seeing a lot of highly advanced technology surrounding us.

“It’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside!”, Strawberry said, about to touch a lever on the wall. “Don’t touch it! You have no idea what it can do, assistant!”, I exclaimed to the filly, watching her snatch her hand back. “Sorry, Professor…”, she said softly. I walked around in the odd room, looking at everything I saw.

“Let’s see….flashing buttons, levers, dials and knobs….and the strong scent of muffins and butter? Hmm….”, I muttered softly, walking around observing everything. I stopped at the control panel and something caught my eye: a portrait of a stallion with a oh-so familiar gray mare.

“Strawberry, I think I found something. Looks like Ms. Ditzy Doo has a very peculiar friend.”, I said, looking at the picture. “Derpy, is that you? Thank goodness you’re back, I was practically starving myself in here!”, I heard a voice rang out. I looked around quickly and saw a door open on the far right of the room, and the exact same stallion walked into the room, wearing a brown sleeveless overcoat, a pair of blue jeans, his chest wrapped up in bandages, a black headband and a blue tie. “Wha…hang on. You’re not Derpy.”, the stallion said.

“Derpy?”, Strawberry said quietly, looking over towards me. “Derpy is the name most of the ponies in Ponyville called Ditzy Doo a while back.”, I replied to Strawberry. I turned my attention back on the stallion, only to see he was staring at me rather hard. “Uhh…is there something on my face?”, I asked him.

“….No….it can’t be….”, he muttered. He then looked directly on my black shirt, eyeing the symbol on it. “I take it that this is your cutie mark, Mr…”, the stallion said, before I said, “Professor. Prof. Prodigy Skyfire is my name. And who are you?”
“Me? I’m the Doctor.”, the stallion replied.

“The Doctor of what?”, I asked.

The Doctor chuckled softly and said, “Ditzy said the exact same thing when we met. It’s just the Doctor. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have this as my cutie mark.” He flashed an hourglass on his jacket, and I nodded in earnest. Then he looked back at me and said again, “So, this is your cutie mark, huh? Interesting symbol. I suppose you know what it means?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t. I get the feeling Princess Luna does, however.”, I replied. “Yes, and I can see why….you couldn’t be him....”, he muttered. “What was that?”, I asked.

“It’s nothing, my good fellow. Anyway, I’m guessing since you have seen the inside of this thing, you are gonna ask me questions on what this is.”, the Doctor replied.

I was just about to reply to his statement, but suddenly, Ditzy had walked inside the booth as well. “I’m back, Doc….Prodigy? Strawberry too?! How did they get inside the TARDIS?! Isn’t it impossible to do that, Doctor?!”, Ditzy said to the Doctor.

“Yes, it is quite impossible, unless you have a large amount of energy of course.”, the Doctor said. “Really? All I did was push the door.”, I replied. “You just….pushed the door?”, the Doctor asked. “That’s right. I only pushed it.”, I replied again.
The Doctor put a hand to his chin and muttered softly. Ditzy whispered to him, “Hey, Doctor. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get in here, isn’t it?” The Doctor nodded and said, “It is. That’s what has me worried. The TARDIS has been acting rather strange all day, and out of nowhere, this…uhh…is he a Pegasus or a unicorn?”

“He’s both, Doctor. He’s an alicorn.”, Ditzy said.

“Ah, right. This alicorn comes around and is able to get inside the TARDIS without a problem? Ditzy, I don’t think he is a pony.”, Doctor said. ‘Not to mention the fact his cutie mark seems familiar for some reason….’, the Doctor thought to himself.
I blinked at the Doctor and said, “You recognize my cutie mark, don’t you? WHO ARE YOU?” The Doctor looked back at me and said, “I’m the Doctor. The real question is: WHO ARE YOU, Prodigy Skyfire?”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean, ‘Who am I?’ If I knew that, I wouldn’t be a scientist.”, I assured to the Doctor. He muttered something and said, “Alright. Derpy….”

“Ditzy! My name is Ditzy Doo!”, Ditzy replied.

“Aw, come now. I thought we finally settled that it was ok for me to call you Derpy Hooves.”, the Doctor whined. Ditzy mumbled and said, “Fine. What is it, Doctor?”

“I need you to go back out and get some more muffins and butter. Also, help Prof. Prodigy bring some of his things back here to the TARDIS. He’s coming with us.”, the Doctor said. “WHAT?! I don’t even know what this thing is!”, I exclaimed.
“It’s a time machine, Prodigy. Now, answer this one question: do you want to regain your memory?”, the Doctor asked.
‘Regain my memory? He can actually help me? ….How can I refuse that statement!?’, I thought to myself, a wide grin appearing on my face. “Looks like the Professor has made his decision. Come on, Ms. Hooves. I’ll help you bring our things!”, Strawberry said.

“Was that a baby unicorn?!”, the Doctor said, watching Derpy and Strawberry walk out of the TARDIS. “Yeah, that’s right….WAIT. You said that this thing is a TIME MACHINE?! You’re joking, right?!”, I asked.

“No, I am not joking. TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimension in Space. It’s how this telephone booth is bigger on the inside than how it looks on the outside.”, the Doctor said. My eyes flashed when he said that. “Amazing! Finally, a piece of equipment I have yet to create myself! What else is in here that I need to know about? I must know everything!”, I said, running down a hallway.

“Careful, the indoor…”, the Doctor said before hearing a loud splash. “….Pool is down that way….”, he finished, seeing me come back towards him dripping wet. He smirked and chuckled loudly, I myself breaking out into a laugh as well. “An indoor pool, genius!”, I said.

After that, the Doctor took me on a tour of the TARDIS. It was amazing! There was so much technology within it, it had to take the Doctor YEARS to make it. I had asked him about it, and he told me he was a Time Lord, an alien with the ability of traveling through time and space. Remarkably, he also said he had an amazingly long life span, saying he was at least over 1000 years old. I didn’t ask for a specific age, but I was still impressed nonetheless. An hour passed by when…

“Ah, nothing soothes the spirit like a good cup of tea, eh Doctor?”, I said to the Doctor, sipping tea from a teacup. “I say, do I detect a British accent coming from you, Prodigy?”, the Doctor asked. “Uh, what’s British?”, I replied. “Nevermind…”, he said.
“Doctor, we’re back! I brought the muffins and butter!”, Derpy said. “Excellent, Ms. Hooves! I was starving!”, said the Doctor, unwrapping a stick of butter and eating it hungrily. My eyes widened when I saw that. “Uhh…you….eat butter….straight from the pack?”, I asked.

“What’s wrong with that? Butter is cream-covered salt! It’s good!”, the Doctor asked, finishing the stick of butter. “Forget I even asked. Uh, Ms. Hooves?”, I began, before she said, “Derpy is fine, Prodigy.”

“My mistake. Derpy, where is Strawberry?”, I asked. “Right here, Professor!”, Strawberry said, dragging in a huge trunk, despite her small size. “I got everything we need: pajamas, toothbrushes, toothpaste, clean clothes, an extra pair of glasses for you, your red wristbands and legbands, the potions cabinet, and I even brought my teddy bear!”, she finished, obviously winded from saying all of that.

“Excellent! The Doctor showed me our room, so I’ll take it there now.”, I said, picking up the trunk and walking down the hallway. “Alright, if everything is all set, let us be on our way!”, the Doctor said. “Derpy, if you would please start up the TARDIS.”

“Right away, Doctor!”, Derpy said, starting up the machine. A loud whirring noise was heard, and with that, we were gone.

If only I knew how things would turn out for me and Strawberry then. What awaits us on our journey with the Doctor and Derpy? Only time can tell. LITERALLY.

> Ch. 1 - Luna & Celestia: Missing in Action?!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It's day one here on the TARDIS. So far, things have gone swimmingly....literally. Can't list how many times I have fallen in the indoor pool in this thing trying to find my way to the bathroom. That is not a pretty way to wake up, but I do manage. I just hope we don't run into any problems along the way...

Strawberry leaned over my shoulder, watching as I continued writing away in one of my journals. "Professor...you never did tell me what you write in these things." she said, picking up one and tilted her head as she couldn't read cursive just yet.

"Oh, these? They are just the journals of my new life. Since I have amnesia, I keep track of everything I can learn about the ponies I meet and the friends I make.", I replied. I continued writing in the journal, thinking to myself on what the first place the TARDIS would encounter would be. That's when Derpy walked into our bedroom with some muffins.

"Breakfast time, you two! Doctor says we'll be landing soon.", Derpy said, placing two blueberry muffins down on my desk. Strawberry grabbed her own muffin and was nibbling at it hungrily. I laughed as I placed the leather journal back into my labcoat and turned my attention back to Derpy.

"So, does the Doctor have any idea on where we are heading, Derpy? Do I have to dress warm?", I asked.

"No, the Doctor says we are heading 25 years into our future. I wonder if I am a full-fledged mailmare in that time?", Derpy asked. She giggled over something, making me confused on what she was really thinking.

"I don't think it works that way, Derpy. I bet anything that since we are in the TARDIS, time actually stops for us and nothing dealing with us progresses. In any case, let us join the good Doctor in the control room. Let's go, Strawberry.", I said, walking out of the bedroom door.

"Coming, Professor!"

So, the three of us returned back into the control panel, seeing the Doctor chomping on ANOTHER stick of butter! WHAT DOES HE SEE IN BUTTER?! I don't see it!

"Doctor, are you paying attention to the controls!?" I exclaimed, looking around at all the blinking lights and hearing rapid beeping noises.

"Of course I am, Prodigy! I'm the Doctor! I think I know how to fly my own craft." the Doctor said, taking another bite from the stick of butter.

"Then why does this panel say we passed the place we needed to land?!" I replied.

"Uh-oh. HANG ON!", the Doctor exclaimed, taking back the controls. I was thrown into the wall of the TARDIS when it took a sudden stop, heading back the way we came. What seemed like years outside of the TARDIS was only seconds to us as we landed in year 1026. "Well, I think that worked out just fine!", the Doctor said.

I muttered as I opened up my eyes, noticing I was clinging to a beam on the top of the ceiling. "How did I even get up here!?", I asked.

"I don't know, Professor! Maybe you should come down! We landed!" Strawberry said, hopping behind the Doctor and Derpy out of the doors. 

"Hey, wait for...me?" I said, walking out of the TARDIS doors to be amazed at what I was looking at. In every direction as far as I could see, everything was technologically advanced. Even some of the elderly ponies had some sort of technology to help them with their daily needs! "Where are we?, Doctor?" I asked.

"Why, we're in....uhhh.....Derpy, you know more about Equestria than I do. What was this city called?" the Doctor asked the pegasus.

"Why, it's amazing! We're in Canterlot!", Derpy said, pointing out the royal palace in the distance.

"CANTERLOT!? But this is only 25 years in the future! How did we get this advanced in technology?!", I said, looking at a mini robot pony tending to the nearby flowers.

"I don't know, but keep your eyes out for anything peculiar. The TARDIS landed on this specific day for some reason, I can feel it." the Doctor said.

"Are they a good reason, Doctor?", Strawberry said, looking down into the crowd of ponies in front of us.

"What do you mean?" the Doctor asked the pink filly.

"Well....if memory serves me....that's Princess Celestia's Royal Guards over there." Strawberry replied, pointing off towards a crowd of armored ponies. I could tell something was wrong, from the way they looked. I then turned my attention to my feet. I blinked a few times before I squatted down and kept my attention to the ground

"Well, that does seem kinda odd, but why? This is Canterlot, so seeing the Royal Guard in the Town Square wouldn't be strange. ....But this time.....it feels off." the Doctor said.

"That's not what is disturbing me right now." I said out loud. "Haven't you three noticed something yet?"

"Noticed what, Prodigy?", Derpy and the Doctor said at the same time.

"Well, for starters, the ground is rather warm for this time of day. That contradicts THREE facts I know already." I stated.

"Prodigy, you have an amazing sense of foresight. So what do you see that is wrong?" the Doctor said.

"Well, first, let's get some info on something that is puzzling me. Excuse me, guard!" I said, walking over to one of the guards. Derpy, the Doctor, and Strawberry followed, wondering what I was gonna ask this stallion.

"Hmm? Sorry, young alicorn. I am too busy to talk to you at the moment.", the guard said, not facing me at all.

"I was just wanting to know what is going on. Me and my friends just arrived in Canterlot a few minutes ago and are kinda out of the loop at the moment." I replied.

The guard looked at me with a funny look and said, "Out of the loop? OUT OF THE LOOP?! Are you MAD!?"

"No, but I did ask a question: what is happening? The ground is too hot, the sun hasn't moved AN INCH, and according to the clock tower, it is 10 o'clock!" I said, pointing at the clock tower in the distance.

"What's so bad about the clock saying it is 10, Professor?" Strawberry asked. I was just about to answer her when the guard replied for me.

"10 p.m. It's 10 p.m., meaning it should be NIGHTTIME." the guard replied.

Derpy gasped as her eyes shrank in shock. "Nighttime!? B-but....THE SUN IS STILL OUT! How is that possible?!" she exclaimed.

"Hmm.....follow me. This is something that should be discussed in private." the guard said. He straightened up his uniform and walked off towards the royal castle. Reluctantly, the four of us followed, each of us having the same thought in mind: what is going on in Canterlot?

The royal guard took us directly to the throne room where Princess Celestia could normally be found. I recognized the place from my first visit there: around the time Princess Luna returned to Canterlot. It was here I got the suspicion that those two mares knew something about me....what could be the reason for my return here?

"Alright....I am going to be frank with you four, since I think you can be trusted......Her Majesties, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia has been missing.", the guard said to us, looking back towards us.

"MISSING?!", Strawberry gasped.

The guard shushed Strawberry and said, "Yes, missing. For exactly three days. We've been telling the people of Equestria that both Princesses have taken ill, so changing the sun and the moon is impossible, but I think they are all starting to wise up to the truth slowly but certainly. We guards have searched almost everywhere in Equestria, but there is no sign of the Princesses anywhere."

"Interesting. Well, you are luck we happened along. We just happened to be special investigators for this case. The High Council themselves sent us here." the Doctor said.

The guard gave the Doctor a shady look and said, "Really? Where is your proof? Who are you four, anyway?"

"Oh, forgive me. Name's Time Keeper, Private Investigator. These are my associates, Detective Muffinhead, Detective Skye, and our apprentice Boysenberry. Here is our credentials, sir guard." the Doctor said, flashing a wallet with what looked like a small slip of blank paper.

The guard muttered and said, "You four's credentials are sound."

"Thank you. Now, if you could, please tell me exactly where the Princesses were last seen." the Doctor stated.

The guard crossed his arms, obviously contemplating on where the Princesses were last seen at. That's when I took a step back and leaned to the Doctor and asked, "Detective Skye? Boysenberry? Detective Muffinhead? Time Turner? What's that all about, Doctor?"

"Secret alibis. We don't want him to know who we really are, do we?" the Doctor asked.

"Good point." I said before the guard interrupted.

"Ah yes, I remember! They were at Ponyville the last I heard of them. They were visiting that purple unicorn student of Her Majesty, Princess Celestia." the guard said.

"They went to go see Ms. Twilight Sparkle? And they haven't returned from there? Very mysterious....very well, we'll be on our way there now. Thank you, kind sir." I replied.

"Something's going down in Ponyville, huh? Odd place to go, but it's the only clue we have. To the TARDIS!" the Doctor said, running back out of the throne room with me, Derpy, and Strawberry following behind. He looked at the clock and said, "It's 2:00 in the morning right now. At this rate, finding the Princesses will be the least of our problems. We'll have to worry about the sun setting the planet ablaze. Let's hurry!"

I ran into the TARDIS and took a seat, Strawberry sitting down beside me. "Let's go, Doctor! We don't have time to waste!" Derpy said, handing him the key.

"Right! AVANTE!" the Doctor replied, and with a slight whirring noise, the TARDIS disappeared. Within minutes, we reappeared on the outskirts of Ponyville, not far from Twilight's library. "Ok, keep your eyes out for anything suspicious. And also make sure not to get seen by anypony you may know or recognize."

"Doctor, what kind of thing would be suspicious?" Strawberry asked.

"Anything that may be out of the ordinary. Why do you ask, little one?" the Doctor replied.

"W-well....that building over there is where me and the Professor stayed....and I don't remember any STATUES on the roof." Strawberry said. She blinked once and gasped loudly. "N-no way, that's not possible!"

"What happened, Strawberry?" I asked

"Th-the statues! THEY MOVED!" the filly said, running behind me quickly.

"Moving sta....OH NO. Quickly, get to the library, and whatever you do, DON'T BLINK!" the Doctor said, bolting towards the library door, only to see another statue blocking it. "Just as I thought....this universe has them too..."

"D-Doctor...we're surrounded by those things! What are they?!" Derpy asked with a nervous tone.

"Weeping Angels. In this case, Weeping Pegasi. They are a dangerous bunch. You'd never know that they are alive unless you blinked. So, whatever you do, DON'T BLINK." the Doctor commanded.

"But we have to do something! We can't just stay here and do nothing!" I said. I took a quick look inside of the library window and gasped. "Princess Celestia's in there! So is Luna and Twilight! They are....attached to some sort of device, Doctor!"

"That's it! They are trying to harness their magical energy to make the Weeping Pegasi power even stronger. If that happens, things could get really bad for Equestria." the Doctor said.

I muttered to myself, placing a hand to my chin. "Come on, Prodigy. Think! There must be a way to get past them and get to the others inside the library. Ugh, come on!" I said to myself.

"Professor, if you have any ideas, now would be a good time! Even with my Sonic Screwdiver, there is just one too many here!" the Doctor exclaimed, pointing what looked like a metallic stick at one of the statues, it evaporating into dust.

"Well, I have one, but it's mad, and I don't think it'll work!" I said.

"WE'RE LISTENING!" Doctor, Derpy, and Strawberry replied.

"Well, when in doubt....RUN!!!!" I said, running past two statues, watching as most of them started chasing after me.

"Professor, what are you doing?!" Strawberry yelled in fear, watching as I kept running and running around the tree.

"Quite honestly, I don't know, but it is distracting them! And with any luck, they might get dizzy and crash into each other!" I replied.

"But there are more coming from the other direction, Prodigy! LOOK OUT!" Derpy said, flying towards me.

"Quick decision!" I said. In one move, I grabbed Derpy and dragged her to the ground, ducking out of the incoming Weeping Pegasi and watching as each of them collided into one another, shattering into nothing but pieces of rock. I chuckled softly and said, "See? My plan worked perfectly. Now, let's get those other ones out here. Doctor, if you would please?"

"My pleasure!" the Doctor said, kicking the library door open, only for a Weeping Pegasus to meet him face-to-face, baring its teeth at him dangerously. "Oh dear. Ditzy, I have a problem!" he said, running the other direction as the statue followed him.

"Coming, Doctor!" Derpy replied, following after him quickly.

"Professor, there's still two more in there!" Strawberry said, seeing the statues open up their wings, making a makeshift gate in front of the three hostages. "What now? These look like they won't make things easy"

"My dear assistant, you forgot the most important rule with predicaments like this: USE YOUR HEAD. HAVE AT THEE, VILE DEMON!!!" I yelled, charging into the library.

"Prodigy!" Twilight said, watching me slam into the two statues.

"Mr. Skyfire, are you alright?" Princess Luna asked.

"Oogh, that one hurt!" I said, sitting up and shaking my head slightly. "You girls alright?"

"J-Just barely. They've practically drained us of everything we had." Princess Celestia said weakly. I crawled over to them, looking at the machine the statues had attached them to. It was a interesting piece of work, but I am certain I could stop it.

"Strawberry, I need my screwdriver!" I said.

"Uh, I forgot it back on the TARDIS!" Strawberry said with a whine. She shrieked when she saw the pebbles on the ground behind me move. "PROFESSOR! IT'S STILL ALIVE!!!"

I heard a growl behind me as I looked back to see the two statutes baring razor-sharp teeth at me. My life in Ponyville flashed before my eyes as they pounced towards me. "Oh no you don't, you monsters! I'm the Doctor, and the Doctor is IN!" I heard the Doctor's voice say. He pointed his Sonic Screwdriver at the statutes, two loud screeches was heard before they evaporated into dust. "You alright, Prodigy? Come on, old chap. Speak to me." he said.

"R-R-Retsu...." I murmured softly before passing out.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow when that name was said. 'Retsu? But that name.....can you really be him, Prodigy? ....No. It's too soon to tell. I need more proof.' the Doctor thought to himself, laying me back onto the ground. He pointed the Sonic at the machine, and watched as a small smoke wisp erupted from it. He walked over to the three captives and removed the contraptions that was draining them of their energy, the three mares sighing as they knew they were safe.

"Well done, my little troublemakers. Once again, you stuck out your necks to save our lives." Celestia said, nodding her head slightly.

"It was no trouble, your Majesty." the Doctor replied. He looked over to me and said, "If anypony, you should thank the Professor over there. Even in the face of danger, he showed an immeasurable amount of courage."

"Yes, Prof. Skyfire has always been like that...even back when he still had his memory...." Luna said softly. Both Twilight and the Doctor's ears perked when Luna said that.

"Princess Luna....does that mean you and Princess Celestia know about Prodigy's hidden past?" Twilight asked, brushing Prodigy's hair softly with her hand.

"....It's best if Prodigy figure it out on his own." Celestia stated. She looked at the Doctor with a serious face and said, "Heed caution, Doctor. This path has many twists and turns, and each one goes further down a path of darkness. Stay vigilant."

The Doctor nodded to Celestia and went over and picked Prodigy up over his shoulder. "I'll take him home, Ms. Sparkle. Would you take care of the Princesses?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes, Doctor." Twilight said, turning away from him.

"Strawberry, we're leaving!" the Doctor said, the small filly assistant followed after him. He looked around and said, "Ms. Hooves, where are you? It's time to get going!"

Derpy peeked from within the tree and said, "Up here! And I found something really weird, Doctor."

"Something weird?" the Doctor replied. He sat Prodigy on the ground and climbed up the tree to where Derpy was. She pointed at something attached to the tree. "A antenna? Hmm....there's something written on the base of it....his memory will be the key to total annihilation....wonder what that means?"

"I don't know." Derpy said, her eyes looking in every direction surrounding her and the Doctor.

"In any case, this thing must be destroyed." the Doctor stated, crushing the small mechanism with his hoof. He hopped down from the tree limb and picked the unconscious alicorn from the ground again and said, "Let's be on our way!", before re-entering the TARDIS. He saw Strawberry pat a nearby couch, telling him that the Professor should be sat there.

"Alright, Doctor! Where to now?" Derpy said.

"Anywhere the TARDIS takes us, my companion. Anywhere the TARDIS may take us." he stated, starting up the time machine, taking us to yet another destination.

What was that odd machine that the Doctor destroyed? His memory will be the key to total annihilation? What could that mean? All of these questions and more shall be answered rather soon....
> Ch. 2 - History of The Forbidden Cutie Mark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s already been one week since me and Strawberry joined the Doctor and Derpy on the TARDIS. As of today, we have protected the Princesses and the entire population of Equestria from possible planetary meltdown due to the attack of the Weeping Pegasi. I just wonder how long it’ll be before we find any clues to my missing memory….

Strawberry hummed softly as she continued reading over my shoulder, trying to make heads or tails on what I was writing about. “Writing some more stuff dealing with our last adventure, Professor?”, she asked, propping her head on my shoulder. “Yes, I am. It’s quite remarkable to learn of things that exist out of my own comfort area. I mean, who would actually believe that this sort of thing actually exists? Weeping Pegasi, the TARDIS, and the Doctor himself: it is just one giant mystery that the world is hiding beyond what we have seen, my assistant.”

“Yup! And to think, Ms. Derpy gets to experience this kind of thing all the time!”, Strawberry said. “Professor! Strawberry! Breakfast is ready!”, Derpy said from down the hallway. I immediately closed the journal I was writing in and locked it away with the others in a small black safe beside my desk. I turned around in my chair and walked out of the door. “Professor, just remember that the…”, Strawberry started to say before a loud yell and a splash was heard. She sighed and said, “The pool is in that direction….”

With a quick drying of my body and a change of clothes, I rejoined Strawberry in the kitchen, seeing her nibbling away at a muffin that Derpy placed in front of her. I saw the Doctor chomping on another stick of butter for his breakfast. SERIOUSLY, WHY DOES HE DO THAT!?

“So, Doctor, what seems to be our heading this time?”, I asked him, chewing on one of the muffins that was on the table as well. The Doctor swallowed the last bit of his butter and looked at me and said, “Well, since the first place we went was 25 years into your future, I decided that it would be interesting to rewind the clock a bit and go back to the day that a cutie mark was even mentioned.” I choked on my muffin when he said that. Derpy patted my back, asking if I was ok. “I-I’m fine, Ms. Hooves. Thanks for ack!-asking. C-can the TARDIS even go back that far, Doctor? Ms. Sparkle once mentioned that the history of the cutie mark dates back even farther than when Celestia and Luna were born!”

“It’s approximately 6000 years in Equestria’s past, when all of the pony races were still feuding with each other. It’ll be extremely dangerous to go there knowing this.”, the Doctor said. Derpy went wall-eyed when he said this and asked, “Why would it be so dangerous, Doctor? I mean, it’s not like it’ll bother us any, will it?”

“Well, since the races are feuding in this time, it could get a tad RISKY. Pegasi, Earth Ponies, and Unicorns don’t really get along then. This is before Equestria was even formed, mind you.”, the Doctor replied. I folded my wings when he said that, and thought silently to myself. “Well, I better go and get us landed before we miss our destination.”, the Doctor said, walking out of the room to the control room. ‘Maybe I can find some information on my cutie mark this time…’, I thought to myself, still eating away at the muffins, hearing the whirring of the TARDIS as it made a slight thump on solid ground.

“Well, let’s be on our way, everypony! ....Hee-hee-hee, I can never get over that! Everypony….HA!”, the Doctor said over the speakers. I stood to my feet and said, “Strawberry, please go and get my suitcase. I get the feeling I will be needing it this time.” Strawberry looked at me and said, “Ok, Professor!”, and then hopped away to the further recesses of the TARDIS. I walked towards the control room, where Derpy and the Doctor were wearing warm winter clothes, just looking at them made me sweat. “Uh….why are you two wearing winter clothes?”, I asked.

“The TARDIS says that in this time, it is snowing outside, so it is better to be safe than sorry and bundle up warmly.”, the Doctor said. Derpy walked over towards me with two jackets and said, “I picked out a warm jacket for you and Strawberry whenever she comes back.” I chuckled and said, “Thanks, but I’ll be fine with my labcoat. I may not look it, but I am a pony that really enjoys cold weather.”

“Very well! Let’s be on our way!”, the Doctor said, walking out the front door. Strawberry and I followed the Doctor, the cold wind whipping us in the face. I could see a bunch of ponies gathering food and running towards their huts. “I wonder if a bad storm is heading our way?”, Derpy said, looking at the clouds. “Perhaps. The TARDIS did indicate some strong winds, so that could be the case.”, the Doctor said, picking up some snow in his hand. “Ah, this way!”, he continued, quickly running down an alleyway. “Doctor, wait up!”, I replied, following him with Derpy and Strawberry behind me.

“Come on, come on! It’s over-ooph!!!”, the Doctor exclaimed, getting tackled by somepony in old rags. The earth pony wheezed when she said, “Eyes as red as spilled blood, and a voice that brings fear to all that hears it! It’s coming…the end of days is coming!” The Doctor raised an eyebrow and said, “Excuse me? Who are you?” The earth pony hugged the Doctor close and said, “Run, Doctor. RUN WHILE YOU CAN.” The pony gasped and then passed out, her mouth opened wide as black smoke exited out of her mouth, disappearing into the sky above. When I saw all of that, a thought immediately escaped my lips: “Doctor, what the heck was that all about?”

“I have no idea, Professor. This is something I have never seen before. That smoke is similar to the regeneration energy I give off, yet this one was way off the charts.”, the Doctor replied, scanning the pony with his Sonic Screwdriver. “Then, does that mean?”, I asked, before he said, “No, she’s still alive, but barely. Ms. Hooves, Professor, help me get her to a safe place! That barn over there seems to be deserted.”, the Doctor said. He lifted the mare up by her head while Derpy and I grabbed her by her legs. Strawberry ran ahead to the barn to keep out of sight while keeping an eye out for any ponies that could see us moving the sickly mare. Once inside, Strawberry closed the door behind me and sat my suitcase down, walking over to us who was watching over the young mare.

“Who do you think she is, Doctor?”, Derpy asked, looking around for something to wrap the mare up with. “I have no clue, Derpy. Once she wakes up, I’ll be certain to ask her.”, the Doctor said. I looked at the mare with a peculiar look and then said, “What do you think she meant? Red eyes that are the same shade as spilled blood and a voice that drives fear into the hearts of all who hear it?” “Perhaps it’s a pony that these kind folk fear?”, the Doctor said. He shook his head and said, “No, that can’t be the case.”
Strawberry heard the pony groan and said, “Look, she’s coming to!” The mare shivered and opened her eyes slightly, groaning as she said, “What happened? Where am I?” The Doctor pulled something out of his coat and said, “Sorry for the trouble, miss. You ran into us a little earlier and said some….rather strange things. My name is Time Keeper, this here is my assistant Muffinbrain, along with our friends Living Paradox and Raspberry. Mind telling us what you meant about ‘The voice that drives fear into the hearts of all ponies?’ What do you mean?”, the Doctor asked, giving us all false names to hide our identities. 

The mare sighed and said, “Well, it’s best if I tell you my name first. I’m Soothsayer. I’m what you would call the village fortune-teller. I have been seeing these….bizarre visions on this….mysterious pony lately. According to them, this pony would destroy our entire world with just a single breathe.”

“A pony destroying our world?! How is that even possible!?”, Strawberry exclaimed. Soothsayer shook her head and said, “Nopony knows, young child. Not even me. I am trying not to pay much attention to this vision, to be quite honest. Although….you, sir. The pony looked quite similar to you. Only his hide was different. His cutie mark was similar as well, just in different colors” She pointed a weak finger over at me when she said that. My eyes widened when I heard that. “My cutie mark?! Ms. Soothsayer, do you know anything else about it?!”, I asked frantically, perhaps finding another clue to my hidden past.

Unfortunately, she shook her head no. “I am sorry, Living Paradox. I do not know anything about your cutie mark. I’m certain the town librarian could help you….if she was still here.” The Doctor raised an eyebrow when Soothsayer said that. “Why, what happened? Did the librarian go missing?”, he asked. “It’s not an unordinary thing to notice ponies going missing during these times of war. Every day, at least one or two ponies leave the village in order to escape from the fighting. But recently, ponies have been disappearing in droves.”, Soothsayer replied.

“Time Keeper, what does she mean by droves?”, Derpy asked. “It means that the number of ponies disappearing is highly abnormal, even during this time. Soothsayer, do you know of anypony that may have a connection to the disappearances?”, the Doctor asked. “O-only one. She goes by the name of Pumpkin Pie. She’s the one that tends to the food supply here. You can find her on the outside of town, the last house you would pass on the right of this street.”, Soothsayer replied, coughing slightly. The Doctor nodded and said, “Very well. Ms. Soothsayer, you stay here and relax while we go and visit this Pumpkin Pie. Everything will be fine, trust me.”

Soothsayer sighed gently, and finally dozed off from fatigue. I looked over at the Doctor and said, “More ponies disappearing everywhere we go. This cannot be a mere coincidence, Doctor. What do you think?” He rubbed his chin as he thought silently to himself. “I think that these disappearances are not of natural causes. This Pumpkin Pie pony must know something on what is going on, so let’s find out quickly.”, he replied. The Doctor walked over to the barn door and shivered as the cold wind blew right into his face. “And let’s do it fast. It’s getting colder by the second!”, he continued, pulling up the collar on his jacket, and he stepped out of the door. I looked over at Derpy and Strawberry, and with a lift of Soothsayer onto my back, we left after the Doctor to Pumpkin Pie’s home.

The Doctor was right: the temperature was indeed dropping at a steady rate. If we stayed here any longer, we’d end up turning into pony-sicles! Faster and faster we went, noticing how empty the town was. It definitely did feel bizarre. We finally came across a small hut with a pony clad of a beggar’s outfit shoveling snow away from her front door….

“Excuse me! Are you perhaps Ms. Pumpkin Pie?”, Derpy asked, walking up to her. The mare flinched as Derpy stopped in front of her, falling over onto the ground in fear. She threw snow at Derpy shouting, “Go away, vile Pegasus! I’m just a cook! Leave us Earth Ponies alone!” Derpy whimpered slightly and sneezed loudly from the chill of the snow on her nose. “Doctor, why is she so mean to me?”, she whined slightly. “Now now, Derpy. Remember where we are: Earth Ponies and Pegasi don’t exactly get along here, remember?”, the Doctor replied, holding a hand out to the ginger mare. “I am quite sorry, ma’am. The Pegasus is with me. We just wanted to ask you a few questions about the disappearances here.”, he said softly.

The mare looked at the Doctor and took his hand, standing back to her hooves slowly. “O-Oh, is that right? I-I am very sorry. My name is indeed Pumpkin Pie. I’m the cook of this small village. Please, ask any question, and I will surely try to answer them.”, she replied gently. The Doctor was about to reply, but I quickly stepped in and said, “Why don’t we take this conversation inside? This poor thing is very sick.” I looked back at Soothsayer on my back, putting a hand to her head. I sighed and said, “A temperature of….101. A fever.”

Pumpkin Pie gasped when she saw Soothsayer. “Oh, dear! Please, bring her inside at once!”, she said, opening the door to her hut. We immediately walked inside behind Pumpkin Pie, noticing that there were two chairs in the entire house. I smelled the faint scent of freshly baked bread coming from her small kitchen, meaning we must’ve come in the middle of her dinner. “Just lay her down on the bed over there, child.”, the mare continued, pointing me over to an average-sized bed in one of the nearby corners of the room. I did just as I was told, tucking Soothsayer into the blankets.

“So, Pumpkin Pie, tell me: Soothsayer says you may have a clue to all of these disappearances that are happening. Can you explain?”, the Doctor asked, pulling out a chair for Pumpkin Pie to sit down in. The mare sighed and said, “It’s quite common for most ponies to disappear during this time of war, but things have been quite peculiar lately. Last night, me and my younger sister Lemon Pie was walking home from a shop we normally gather supplies for the village from nearby the Everfree Forest. Along the way, we both heard a sound over the wind: some sort of flute or something, I couldn’t really tell. My sister, being the curious one out of us, decided to go find the source of the sound. Everypony knows that the Everfree Forest is dangerous, more so at night. A few minutes passed, and my sister never came out. I decided to venture into the forest after her. It got rather late, and I was exceptionally close to the Royal Palace of our land. Nopony is allowed to be there at night, and yet, I came across the basket of food my sister was carrying, along with this.” She reached into the cloak she was wearing, and placed a piece of metal on the table. Upon it, the letter C was branded on it.

“D-Doctor….is that?”, Derpy started to say, before the Doctor softly said, “Cybers. Thank you, Ms. Pie. You can trust that me and my friends will find your sister and the rest of the ponies that disappeared.” Pumpkin Pie smiled slightly and said, “Please do. My sister is all I have left in this world.” The Doctor quickly stood to his hooves and walked out the door with Derpy quickly following behind. I looked at Pumpkin Pie and said, “Please take care of Soothsayer. Strawberry, let’s go!” Strawberry stood to attention and said, “Right, Professor!”, and away we went after the Doctor and Derpy. We had finally caught up with them and I immediately asked, “Doctor, what are Cybers?”

“It’s a race of perfect mechanical creatures. Back where I am from, they were known as the Cybermen. Here….they are called Cyberponies. Derpy and I ran across some in one of our earlier adventures, almost converted Princess Celestia into the Cyber Commander once. They are extremely dangerous, and if they got hold of Lemon Pie, it’s quite likely she has become one of them right now.”, the Doctor said, looking at his Sonic Screwdriver. “The entire area is surrounded with them. One false step, the Cyberponies will end up having a new member.”, he continued. Strawberry then looked at the Doctor and said, “Well, there has to be a way to stop them, right Doctor?”

“Yes, yes there is. Question is, what is the way?”, the Doctor replied. I mumbled softly and said, “Well….you said that the Cyberponies were trying to convert Princess Celestia into the Cyber Commander, correct? Why?” The Doctor replied, “Well, she was the Princess of Equestria, the most powerful being on the entire planet. She could raise the sun and moon at a whim, a goddess walking upon the beings of ponykind, in a way. With that much power, she could lead all of the Cybers against all different kinds of races until this entire planet was nothing but Cybers, then the Cyber Conversion would spread across the galaxy like a virus.”

“Hmmm…..and they are in this time….”, I said, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my muzzle. “If they are in the Everfree Forest trying to do the same thing, they need a power source SO TREMENDOUS, even Celestia looks small in comparison.”, I continued. “Is there even such a thing that exists, Professor?”, Strawberry asked as we reached the entrance of the Everfree Forest. I looked at my daughter, then at the Doctor. “I’m certain the Doctor would know what I am talking about.”, I said calmly. The Doctor looked at me and said, “I’m certain I do, since my first time here, both Celestia and Luna knew me quite well even though I have never seen them before. So, sorry, my lack of knowledge goes as far back to the day Nightmare Moon returned. What is more powerful than Celestia, Professor?”

“It’s not a matter of what, Doctor, but WHO. The only being that surpasses even Celestia in strength is her mother: Writing Glory. A pony riddled in legend that was said to exist in this time period. It was said that she disappeared around this time a few years after the birth of the royal pony sisters, Princess Celestia & Princess Luna. And her location: The Everfree Castle, in all its glory!”, I said. I shuddered at the mere mention of the castle. I still remembered quite vaguely the day I crash-landed there and fought against Nightmare Moon with Twilight and her friends. It was then that I gained the lost Element of Trust: the one thing that intensifies the power of the Elements of Harmony.

“Well then. Let us be on our way then, everypony. It should still be in the same location as last time.”, I said, leading the Doctor and the others into the darkness of the Everfree Forest. I shivered slightly as I lead the others deeper into the forest. It's still as dark and mysterious as I remember, even this far back in time. I felt Strawberry grab onto my hand, and I kept her close, feeling her trembling in fear. "Shhh, it's ok, Strawberry. It'll be alright. There's nothing to be afraid of in here.", I said to her, walking into a clearing. 

"Oh yeah, Professor? Then, can I ask a really interesting question?", Strawberry asked with a nervous tone. "Sure, I guess.", I said. She sighed and said, "There are four of us here, correct?" I nodded and saw the look of fear returning on her face. "Then....why are there FIVE shadows?", she asked. The Doctor immediately said, "All of you, behind me NOW!" I heard a loud clanking noise as what appeared to be a pony made of metal appeared right in front of me. I immediately did as I was told, looking at the weird creature. "Doctor, is that...!?"

"Yes, it's a Cyberpony alright. But, something seems truly off about it!", the Doctor said, pointing his Sonic Screwdriver at it, and looking directly at it. "The reading's are completely off on it! It's not like the Cybermen I faced before! Whatever this is, it hasn't destroyed the body inside it." Derpy looked around and said, "Doctor! There's another one! What do we do?!" The Doctor stammered and said, "I don't know! If we had some sort of electromagnetic pulse, we could short circuit the Cyber technology and shut it down from the outside, but electricity won't be invented or even thought of for another 600 years from now!"

"Out of the way! I never thought I'd have to use this thing before, but now I have a reason to!", I replied, pulling out a device from the inside of my labcoat. I fired the device, and shot both of the Cyberponies, watching them drop to the ground from the surge of electricity running through them. "Well, that wasn't too difficult.", I said, putting the device back into my pocket. The Doctor stared at me with a dumbstruck look and said, "What was that you just had?"

"Stun gun, my own creation. Back home, some crime has been occurring in Manehatten, and the Chief of Police came to me to create a device that could immobilize anypony. So, what better than a shock that can render a pony unconcious? Or in this case, a shock that can knockout a Cyberpony.", I replied. The Doctor chuckled and said, "Professor Skyfire, you are brilliant! Now, let's take a look at these Cyberponies. Maybe with a little luck, I am right about what I am thinking." He ran over to one of the unconcious Cyberponies and ran his Sonic Screwdriver across it. "Professor, Ms. Hooves, do you mind keeping an eye on the area around us to make sure no other Cyberponies sneak up on us? I need a little more time to examine this one.", the Doctor asked, changing the settings on his Screwdriver. "Sure thing, Doctor.", Derpy said, turning her attention in the other direction. I saw her use her eyes to look off in multiple directions, so I thought she had that side of the Doctor quite well watched. I removed my stun gun from my labcoat and looked around to make sure we weren't surrounded. I could hear Strawberry whimper behind me as she walked up and clinged to the leg of my labcoat.

"Professor, do you think it was a good idea to join the Doctor and Derpy? I'm scared.", Strawberry said. I patted her head gently and said, "Do not be afraid, Strawberry. If the Doctor didn’t know what he was doing, I wouldn’t have taken his offer to come along with him.” The filly sighed and lowered her head, keeping her attention on her surroundings. I flinched slightly when the Doctor said, “Of course! Why didn’t I notice it sooner?! Stupid stupid Doctor!”

“Did you figure something out, Doctor?”, I asked, looking back at him. He nodded as he turned back to the Cyberpony and used the Sonic Screwdriver once again. With a few whirrs, he continued to work around the neck of the being. A slight groan escaped from the metal body when that happened. The Doctor smiled as he placed his Screwdriver back into his pocket. He pried his thumb at the base of the neck and pulled on the head, it slowly coming off of the body….only to reveal the head of a young yellow filly. “Just as I thought.”, he said softly.

“What does this mean, Doctor?”, Derpy asked. “Unlike the Cybermen back in my universe, the host body is fully intact. My guess is that the technology of the Cyberponies has not advanced far enough to fully consume the body. This filly is only hypnotized, her mind being controlled by the helmet itself.”, the Doctor replied. “Oh, that is good news. Then there may be some hope in saving the other ponies that was abducted.”, Derpy replied. The Doctor nodded when she said that, his attention quickly being diverted by the young filly groaning slightly. “Oh, she’s coming to!”, he exclaimed, seeing a shade of blue appear from her eyelids. “Ohhh, my head….”, she whimpered softly. “Easy now. You’ve had a rough experience recently, young child.”, the Doctor stated. She looked around and her eyes widened the moment she spotted Derpy, Strawberry, and myself. “A Pegasus?! A unicorn and an alicorn too?! Demons of the pony world!”, she exclaimed, trying to remove herself from the Doctor’s grip. Derpy frowned slightly and said, “It’s ok, kid. We’re not going to hurt you. We’re friendly.”

I nodded and said, “She speaks the truth. Tell us, who are you? More to the point, why is this all happening?” The filly looked at us all, staring at Strawberry as she sighed softly. “Ok. My name is Lemon Pie. I live in the village on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest with my older sister Pumpkin Pie as the cooks for the Earth Pony tribe.” The Doctor’s eyes widened when she mentioned her name. “Oh, so you’re Lemon Pie! Your sister will certainly be happy that you are ok.”, he stated. “You know my sister, sir?”, she asked in surprise.

“She’s the reason that we came to the forest in the first place. We’re here to find the other missing ponies that have been disappearing recently.”, the Doctor stated. Lemon Pie gasped when he said that. She was just about to say something when I stated, “Doctor, something’s wrong.” The Doctor looked towards me and asked, “What’s wrong, Professor?” I immediately pointed towards the direction of the Everfree castle and said, “Well, correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t a bad thing if the Cyberponies are heading in that direction?!”

“What!? That’s not good! They must’ve gotten the orders to advance on the castle!”, the Doctor exclaimed. He looked down at Lemon Pie and asked, “Ms. Pie, do you happen to know another way inside the castle? It’s not just the ponies of your village that will be in danger if they get to Writing Glory. EVERYPONY, and I mean EVERYPONY will be in danger!” Lemon Pie looked at the Doctor with wide eyes and said, “Ok. You guys seem to know more of what is going on here. Quickly, this way!” She stood to her hooves and ran off in one direction, the Doctor and company following behind the young filly. Faster and faster they ran down the alternate path, finally arriving at a path underneath the bridge.

“I remember this path! This is the same path we took when Nightmare Moon reappeared, Doctor. Remember?”, Derpy exclaimed, flapping her wings to keep her afloat beside the Doctor. The Doctor nodded as he looked up at the castle, seeing the Cyberponies heading towards it. “We don’t have much time. Let’s go inside.”, he said. He walked up the path to the castle, Derpy flying behind him as me, Strawberry, and Lemon Pie continued in the rear. He motioned us towards a staff entrance door, and with a quick jog, we all entered into the castle. “Ok, we’re in. We need to get up to Writing Glory’s bed chambers. With any luck, that’s where she’ll be.”, The Doctor stated.

“Right. Let’s get….DOCTOR!”, I exclaimed, seeing the front door get blasted down, the Cyberponies marching in. “RUN!”, he exclaimed, the Cyberponies opening fire on us. “Delete! Delete! It is the Doctor! Show no mercy!”, said one of the Cyberponies, his attack barely missing my head. I fired my stun gun, taking out three of the Cyberponies at once. I watched in awe as Lemon Pie returned fire with what was left of her Cyperpony armor. “How did….”, the Doctor started to ask, but Lemon Pie interrupted and said, “Now’s not the time! MOVE IT! I can only hold them off for so long!” The Doctor nodded, and turned back up the stairs, running towards the bedrooms of the palace. “Ms. Hooves, split up! I’ll check this way with the Professor, while you and Strawberry go the other way!”, the Doctor said, dodging an attack that was aimed for his head. “Right, Doctor! Let’s go, Strawberry!”, Derpy said, taking hold of the young filly’s hand and running in the separate direction. I smirked and looked at the Time Lord and asked, “Is running something you enjoy, Doctor?” The Doctor grinned and said, “I so enjoy it. Let’s go!”

And so, we ran down the hallways, tearing open each room door we spotted, desperately trying to find Writing Glory. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the Doctor was fiddling around with his Sonic Screwdriver for some odd reason. I asked him what he was doing. He only said that he was planning ahead. Weird. We finally came across one final door, and the first thing I noticed was the many black wires that were going into it…

“Doctor, these wires….they are too technologically advanced for this timeline. What are these things?”, I asked, touching one of the cables that was next to me. “I’m afraid that we are about to find out.”, the Doctor stated, pushing the door open. I gasped as I saw a young mare, possibly no older than 35 strapped to some weird device. What shocked me the most was WHO the mare was. “Professor, who is that?”, The Doctor asked. “It’s Writing Glory: Princess Celestia & Princess Luna’s mother. I’ve seen photos, but none of them was precisely accurate on her. So this is what she looks like…”, I said softly. “They are using her as a power source. How awful.”, the Doctor said, looking her over. “And to make matters worse, she’s pregnant. They must be draining the power of her children as well. We don’t have much time.”, he continued, beginning to run the Sonic Screwdriver over the alicorn and the machinery. “DELETE!”, a loud voice was heard further down the hall. “Uh-oh! Doctor, they’re coming!”, I exclaimed. “I’ll need you to stall for time, Professor! This machinery is a lot more complex than the last time!”, he said, running his Sonic Screwdriver over the alicorn. 

“Last time?! This has happened before?”, I asked. “Yes! With Princess Celestia! Like mother, like daughter, huh?”, the Doctor replied, finally getting a few of the shackles removed. “What about Derpy? Strawberry? Lemon Pie too? Are they going to be alright?”, I asked worriedly. “Don’t worry! They are in the TARDIS. Remember when you asked me why I was fiddling with my Sonic Screwdriver? I was calling the TARDIS to pick up those three! They are safe.”, said the Doctor. A Surprised look crept on my face as I fired pulse after pulse down the hallway, shooting down one Cyberpony after another. “Got it!”, the Doctor exclaimed, the last shackle finally coming off of Writing Glory. He groaned as he lifted the mare into her arms and said, “SHE’S HEAVY! She must be at least 9 months pregnant! She could pop any second!”

“And that would be a bad thing, especially now. THEY’RE HERE!”, I said, keeping my stun gun pointed directly at the Cyberponies. “Release the mare. She is compatible for upgrading. She will become the Cyber Commander, and with her power, we will rule this universe.”, one of the Cyberponies said. “Not a chance! This alicorn is in my care, and she will not become YOUR energy source for universal domination!”, the Doctor stated. “He’s right! No way are we handing Writing Glory to you!”, I replied. The Cyberponies were silent for a few moments, then one of them said, “Then you must be DELETED.” The Cyberponies started marching towards us, all of them chanting the same thing over and over: “DELETE. DELETE. DELETE. DELETE.” I almost thought that this was it, until I heard a familiar sound. The Doctor laughed and said, “Professor! Time to go!”

He grabbed me by the arm and ran towards the window, shattering it as we fell down towards the ground. I braced for the impact, until I noticed that the TARDIS was heading straight for us. With a quick turn, it caught us and we landed safely on the TARDIS floor. “Doctor, you’re ok!”, Derpy said, tackling the Doctor and hugging him tightly. “D-Derpy…TOO TIGHT!”, he wheezed. “Oops, sorry!”, she said. Strawberry walked over to me and helped me to my hooves, smiling at me and said, “You two made it.” I chuckled and said, “Yes, we did. Looks like Lemon Pie made it as well.” I looked over at the young filly, who was STILL in shock about the TARDIS. “It’s….It’s bigger on the inside!”, she exclaimed. “Yes, yes it is! But now, we need a plan to stop the other Cyberponies before they ruin this planet.”, the Doctor said, taking over the controls of the TARDIS console. I was about to say something, when a loud yell was heard. I looked back to notice that Writing Glory had finally woken up…..and was going in labor.
“They’re coming! Nurse! Nurse!”, she yelled. She looked around and noticed that she wasn’t in her bedroom anymore. “W-where am I?! Where’s the nurse?!”, she exclaimed. “Possibly dead, Your Majesty. You’re in the TARDIS. We just saved you and your two children from becoming the energy source of the Cyberpony race.”, the Doctor said. Writing Glory breathed heavily as the Doctor said that. “Doctor….you kept your promise…..OWWW!!!”, she yelled loudly. “Doctor! You worry about the Cyberponies! I’ll deal with the birth process! Strawberry, I’ll need some blankets and latex gloves!”, I said. “On it, Professor!”, she said, running back to our room quickly.”

“If only that stun gun of yours was more powerful, we could use it to fry the circuits inside the Cyber armor, allowing the ponies inside to regain control. But, that’ll take time.”, the Doctor said. I reached for my gun and tossed it to him. “Time is all we got now! We’re in a time machine! DO IT!”, I exclaimed as Strawberry returned to me with the blankets and gloves I asked for. I put them on and said, “Ok, Your Majesty…..let’s pray. PUSH!”, I said.

Side by side, the Doctor and I dealt with the two problems at hand: the birth of the two royal pony sisters and the Cyberponies. With an insane amount of luck, he figured out that he could use the energy source inside the gun to release a massive pulse that would wipe out all the Cyberponies in the area…..but at a cost. The Everfree Castle would be destroyed and the possibility that some causalities may happen. It was out of our hands on that problem, so we let him do as he would. Time was a bit slower for me as I continued the birthing procedure with Writing Glory. Finally, after some time passed, the two pony sisters were born. With a loud whirring noise, the TARDIS fired the stun pulse all across the Everfree Forest, and as a result, the castle went up with a loud bang. The Doctor landed the TARDIS on the outskirts of the castle, and silence fell….

“Did it work?”, Lemon Pie asked. “No detection of Cyber energy at all. It worked.”, the Doctor replied. He smiled softly and said, “Luckily, no causalities occurred. Everypony got out unscathed. Although, there have been a few altercations to the flora and fauna in the Forest….but, that’s something to worry about on another day.” I sighed heavily as I fell back on the floor, exhausted from the delivery. “That was tiring!”, I said, looking over at Writing Glory holding her children. The Doctor chuckled as he walked down to me and sat beside me. “Well, think of it this way, Professor: if not for you, Celestia & Luna wouldn’t be here.”, he said, nudging my arm. “Holy Celestia, you’re right. These hands just helped bring the lives of the Royal Pony sisters into this world.”, I said in surprise. “That’s right.”, the Doctor said with a smile. I looked over at Writing Glory and said, “Have you thought of names for them?”
“Hmmm….I think I will call them Celestia & Luna. What do you think?”, Writing Glory asked. “They are perfect names.”, I said with a smile. Writing Glory smiled softly, then happened to catch a glimpse of my cutie mark on my shirt. “That mark….it can’t be. What Is your name, young stallion?”, she asked me. “Hm? Prodigy Skyfire, Your Majesty. You know something about my cutie mark?”, I asked. “There lies a tale about it in the Everfree Castle. It states that the cutie mark you have is the symbol….of the end of time and space itself.”, she stated.

“THE END OF TIME AND SPACE?!”, I exclaimed. She giggled and said, “It’s but a harmless folktale, Prodigy. It tells about it and a being called The Living Paradox. He will bring destruction and ruin to our land, and with it, discord to the universe. He will be the end of everything. It’s only a story that is there to scare little foals.” I frowned slightly as Writing Glory said that. ‘Is that it? Is it really a folktale, or is there more to this story than she lets on?’, I thought to myself. My thoughts were broken when Writing Glory spoke again. “Dearest Doctor, it is indeed good to see you again. But, I cannot stay here for long. If you could, please land your vessel in the nearby village so I may take my leave.”, she stated. The Doctor’s eyes widened and he said, “Sure.” With a few knob twists and button presses, the TARDIS left its location next to the dilapidated castle and landed in Lemon Pie’s village once more. Writing Glory stood to her hooves slowly as she walked to the door. She bowed slightly and said, “We shall meet again, young travelers. I know it.” With a creak of the door, she stepped out and left the TARDIS. Lemon Pie cleared her throat and said, “I must leave as well. My sister will be worried!” The Doctor looked to Lemon Pie and said, “You are quite right, young filly. So, here’s a gift from me to you.” With a flick of his Sonic Screwdriver, the rest of Lemon Pie’s cyberpony armor fell onto the floor. “I doubt you’d want to see your sister looking like that, eh?”, the Doctor said.

Lemon Pie smiled as she bowed slightly and said her goodbyes, closing the TARDIS doors behind her. The Doctor pulled a lever, and once again, the TARDIS disappeared to who knows when. ‘The Living Paradox….it can’t be a coincidence anymore,,,’, The Doctor said, looking over to me while I talked with Derpy and Strawberry. He then spoke up and said, “Well then, to our next destination! ALLONS-Y!”

Meanwhile, back with Writing Glory in the Earth Pony village….

Writing Glory panted heavily as she continued walking through the village. She entered into the old barn where we treated to Soothsayer earlier, exhausted and drained of energy. “I….I can’t move….I can’t stay here much longer…I need to regain my strength….but my children….they’ll be alone…”, she wheezed. That’s when she heard somepony walk up behind her. “Who’s there? Answer me.”, she stated. “It seems to me that you need to take a breather, Writing Glory. Go, take as much time as you need to regain your strength. I’ll look after the children.”, the voice said, two hands reaching down to pick up her foals. She looked up and smiled softly as a familiar Pegasus stood beside her. “He came. Just as he said he would.”, Writing Glory said. “It’s probably the wrong one. Time tends to do that when it comes to him. But that isn’t important right now. Go to your Star Shrine. Get all the rest you need. Your children are in good hands.”, the stallion said with a smile. Writing Glory’s body glowed slightly as she slowly started to disappear. Her final words before she vanished were only this: “Thank you, Captain Jack Harkness.”

‘Well, Jack. Looks like you got work to do, and a Time Lord to catch up with. We’ll finally see each other again, Doctor. I know it.’, the pony thought to himself before he left the barn with the two foals.

While this was occurring, another problem started to occur back in the present day. It was night, and heavy rain was falling upon Ponyville…

A loud explosion was heard not far from the Professor’s home. Twilight rose from her bed with a startle from the noise. “What was that?!”, she exclaimed, tearing the covers from her bed to look out her window, to see a large crater right behind her library and Prodigy’s home. “Spike, quick! Something happened!”, she exclaimed, pulling the blanket off of the other bed to see her dragon assistant Spike, who looked as if he was possibly 17 by now, fall on the floor in his boxers. “What’s happening?!”, he asked, yawning loudly. “Slip on some clothes and come with me.”, Twilight asked as she put on a jacket and some boots. She picked up her umbrella, and both her and Spike went outside to check and see what was happening. When they arrived at the crater, they were shocked to see a young mare lying in the middle of it. “Oh, no! Somepony’s hurt!”, Twilight said as her and Spike went into the crater to see if the mare was alright. Twilight shook the mare gently, sighing in relief to hear a small groan escape her lips. “She’s fine. Spike, help me bring her into the library.”, Twilight said. “Ok, Twi.”, Spike replied, taking hold of the mare’s lower body as Twilight held up the upper half, the two carrying the mare into the library. Twilight used her magic to light some candles in the library as well as bring some dry towels to wrap the mare up in. The mare coughed as she opened her eyes gently to show a sliver of brown.

“Oh, you’re awake! Thank goodness. Are you ok? Nothing hurt, sprained, or broken?”, Twilight asked. “No….wait, you’re talking. How is that possible?”, the mare asked. “All ponies can talk. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head, miss….uhhh, what’s your name?”, Twilight asked. The mare looked around, noticing everything about her location and herself, then finally said, “Rose. Rose Tyler. And I am looking for the Doctor.”

To be continued…

> Ch. 3 - Return of Bad Wolf
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Time certainly flows differently inside the TARDIS, What felt like days were truly only mere minutes while traveling with the Doctor. Even though we only just met him, I do believe the Doctor to be a rather dependent stallion during times of trouble, as well as a really good friend. Although….today, I get the feeling that me and Strawberry are going to see another side to the Doctor….

“No, Doctor! I am not going to talk to your TARDIS! It’s a machine! It can’t reply!”, I said, walking around the console, looking it over. “Ah, come now, Professor! That is quite the rude statement! She really doesn’t like it when people refer to her as just a machine!”, the Doctor replied. He leaned over towards the console and stroked it gently, silently whispering “It’s ok, Sexy. He didn’t mean it.” I snorted and said, “AND ANOTHER THING! If this thing was as NICE as you claim, why is it that every morning, AFTER I explicitly asked to have my room moved AWAY from the pool, I find myself waking up from falling into cold water!?” The Doctor tried to hide a laugh, but his face crept into a smile rather quickly. “Well….I think she is just playing a joke with you, Professor. Nothing but harmless fun, you see?”, he replied wi1th an unsure tone.

I frowned even more, my face turning a darker shade of blue from how furious I was. Derpy was sitting next to my daughter, fiddling with an iPhone out of boredom. Strawberry was lying down on the floor, sighing softly. “Forget it, Doctor. Once the Professor gets upset, he doesn’t calm down as quickly as others. Sometimes, I wonder if he has a deeper pool of rage hiding inside of him or something.”, she stated. Derpy groaned slightly and said, “Doctor!”

“Derpy? Is something wrong?”, he asked. I looked over towards her as she took her iPhone to him. “It’s not working anymore. I think it broke during our last stop. I can’t call anypony or get any texts!”, she exclaimed. “Well, we can’t have that, can we?”, he replied, taking his Sonic Screwdriver from his pocket. He fiddled around with the iPhone for a few minutes, and then handed it back to Derpy. “There we go, good as new!”, he stated. I raised an eyebrow at the sight, then asked, “What did you do, Doctor?” He smiled at me and said, “It’s nothing special. I just made it where Derpy’s phone could be used anywhere in time or space. No matter where she is, she’ll always have a signal.”

My eyes widened when he said that. “Really? That’s incredible!”, I replied. The Doctor chuckled and said, “It’s no big deal.” I nodded and asked, “If that is the case, do you mind taking a look at me and Strawberry’s phonewatches? They haven’t been working right ever since we came with you and Ms. Hooves.”, I asked. The Doctor’s eyes widened when I mentioned the invention Strawberry came up with. “Phonewatches? What is that, if I may ask?”, he asked curiously. That’s when Strawberry stood to her hooves and said proudly, “They’re my latest creation! It’s a phone and a watch at the same time! I mainly made it for me and my friends, but thanks to Papa, they are going to be sold to everypony all across Equestria! Maybe the entire world!” She flashed the watch that she was wearing on her left wrist, and the Doctor whistled in awe. “My my, that’s a grand achievement you done there, Strawberry.”, the Doctor said. He removed the watch from her arm and walked over to me, taking mine as well. “Just give me a few seconds and these will be the only two in the entire universe that can be used across time and space.”, he said, fiddling with the watches in one hand, Sonic Screwdriver in the other. In a few seconds, he returned the watches to me and Strawberry with a smile. “There you go, good as new!”, he said.

“Excellent, Doctor.”, I said. My attention came to a startle when the phonewatch started to ring. I tapped the glass gently and said, “Hello? This is Prodigy Skyfire, who’s speaking?” “Professor! Oh, thank goodness you picked up!”, a voice said on the screen. My eyes widened when I saw twilight Sparkle’s face appear on it. “Oh, Ms. Sparkle. What are you doing up so late? I thought I was the only pony that stayed up as late as Princess Luna.”, I said. “Now’s not the time to joke, Professor! There’s a hurt pony here at the library, and we can’t get in contact with the hospital to get her checked on! Could you please come over and give her an examination?”, Twilight asked. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”, I said, hanging up on my end. “Doctor, we got to make a pit stop! It’s time for the Professor to go to work.”, I said, looking over at the chestnut-colored stallion. The Doctor nodded and said, “Alright then, back to Ponyville! Allons-y!” He flipped a few switches, and with a slight movement, the TARDIS launched forwards in time back to home.

If only we knew what was waiting for us when we arrived. The Doctor was about to come across his past once again….

“You don’t understand, I need to see the Doctor! Do you know where I can find him?”, Rose asked. Spike raised an eyebrow and said, “Uhh….I’m sorry, but we can’t reach the hospital. But don’t worry, we have somepony coming that may help you.” He handed Rose a cup of water and said, “Drink up. Twilight said to stay hydrated.” Rose shook her head and pushed the cup away, looking out the window at the steady rainfall. ‘Doctor….where are you? Where am I? What happened?’, she thought to herself, a bolt of lightning striking close by. 

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a group of ponies were watching the library in secret….

“Any sign of him yet?”, said one pony. “Negative, Captain Star Hunter. Our devices are definitely saying he should land here in any moment.”, said another. “Thank you, Tick Tock. Keep a vigilante watch”, said Star Hunter. ‘Star Hunter, huh? That’s what I call myself here. Only the Doctor would know the truth: I’m Captain Jack Harkness, Leader of the Torchwood V Institute here in Equestria. Although…something tells me that things are definitely going to heat up tonight.’, Jack thought to himself. He cleared his throat and said, “So, intel tells me that you’ve met the doctor, Tick Tock. Is that true?” Tick Tock chuckled and said, “That I did. He saved my entire village back in my time. Traveled with him and Derpy a while back, and I decided to open up a tinker shop in Manehattan. After that, here I am: working for Torchwood.” Jack smiled softly and said, “I see. Well then, that sounds like an interesting way of life. Keep looking out for him.”
“Yes, sir.”, Tick Tock replied, keeping a lookout on the library.

Meanwhile, back on the TARDIS…. 

The Doctor frowned when he stared at the Console’s screen, seeing it shut off. “Well, that’s odd.”, he said, flipping a few switches. “Doctor, what’s wrong?”, I asked, my attention diverted to him. A few sparks shot out of the Console, barely missing Strawberry’s hair. “Whoa! What in the name of Equestria was that?!”, she exclaimed, moving away from the Console. “Uh, nopony panic! Everything is going to be fine!”, he said, banging a rubber mallet on a few of the switches. “Doctor, are you lying!?”, Derpy asked, hearing the cloister bell give off a heavy gong. “Yes, I am!”, he said with a shocked tone as the TARDIS came to a complete stop. “Uhh….Doctor….are we….at a complete stop?”, I asked. He nodded slightly, then said, “Yes….we have come to a stop….the engines are offline….yet, we are right where we need to land.”
“Then why are we still in the air!?”, I asked. 

The TARDIS answered my question, cause in a few seconds, I felt the TARDIS lurch towards our destination at a rapid descent. I immediately grabbed on tightly to Strawberry and held on to the railing, feeling my entire body lift off the floor from the loss of gravity….

“Hold on! This is going to be ugly!”, the Doctor said, holding onto Derpy’s hand. Strawberry whimpered as the TARDIS finally came to a crash landing, the sound of wood crunching all around the outside of it. I coughed loudly as I came to in a cloud of dust, seeing that all the lights in the TARDIS had shut off. I looked underneath my arm and said, “You ok, Strawberry?” The young unicorn finally opened her eyes, looking up at me and nodded slightly, still trembling from the landing. “Alright, casualty check! Derpy, you ok?”, I asked. “I’m fine….yet how did I get on the ceiling?!”, Derpy exclaimed, who was hanging onto one of the rafters. “Alright. Doctor, are you ok?!”, I asked. The Doctor groaned slightly, and I looked to one side of the room to see him placed upside down near the wall. “A little help here, please? I’m stuck!”, he said. I immediately stood to my hooves and walked over to the Doctor to help him to an upright position. He stood up and said, “Well, we’re all safe and sound!” “Safe?! Doctor, we crashed! What in the name of Celestia happened?!”, I asked.

The Doctor frowned when I asked that. “I…don’t know, actually. The TARDIS didn’t detect anything. It could’ve been a temporal distortion that may have disagreed with her, or it might have been an engine malfunction. I really hate not knowing these things, Professor. I really do.”, he replied. “Tell me about it. This is what I have to deal with every day, Doctor.”, I said. Derpy finally landed on the floor and said, “Where did we land, Doctor?” “Ah, yes! Let’s see where we are, shall we?”, he said, opening the TARDIS doors. He peeked out and said, “Well, it’s definitely Equestria. Judging from the looks of things, we crash-landed in someone’s home a thousand years during Celestia’s reign, give or take a few extra years. And it’s raining.” I raised an eyebrow and said, “That’s truly amazing. You can deduct all of that just from a few pieces of debris?”

The Doctor nodded and said, “Just a little trick I picked up over the years. It definitely comes in handy when I travel to different planets and times.” I put on a look of amazement as I stepped out of the TARDIS, only to be met with a familiar sight. “Hey, this is MY house, Doctor! How in the wide world of Equestria did we crash land in MY house?!”, I exclaimed, seeing some photos of myself, Strawberry, and my roommate Arty. Strawberry squeezed past me and the Doctor and said, “This is our house, Papa? That’s amazing! Even though the TARDIS crashed, she took us exactly where we needed to go!” The Doctor locked the doors to the TARDIS when Derpy finally joined us on the outside, looking around at the mess that wasn’t caused by the crash. “Gee, Professor. I thought that with you and Arty being such celebrities, your home would’ve been a little cleaner.”, she said, picking up a dirty jacket.

“The famous life isn’t all glitter and glamor as everypony thinks it is, Ms. Hooves. What with the radio show, concerts, and raising Strawberry, I still have my duty to Equestria as a dragon researcher as well as a medical researcher. Now, pardon me, I must find my first aid kit.”, I replied, wading through the mess towards a bookshelf. I pressed one book and a silent click was heard, and a hatch door opened up in front of me as I left the three equines behind. Strawberry coughed as she brushed away some of the dust from the area, using her magic to repair everything that had gotten broken from the crash. She looked up at the clock that hanged from the ceiling and said, “Oh wow, we have only been gone for five hours?! That’s unbelievable!”

The Doctor chuckled and said, “Its brilliant, isn’t it?” Strawberry nodded, only to be interrupted by a loud rumble from beneath the house. “W-What’s going on here?!”, Derpy said, clinging to the side of the TARDIS. The hatch door to my lab opened up, and I stepped out with a large brown briefcase, smoke followed behind me as I coughed loudly. “Well, that experiment failed. Strawberry, write that down as failed amnesia attempt #306-F.”, I said with a sad tone. “Right, Professor.”, Strawberry said, taking a diary out of her overall pocket and quickly jotted a few notes down. The Doctor raised an eyebrow and said, “Amnesia attempt? What are you two talking about?” I looked at him and said, “It’s nothing. Come on, Ms. Sparkle is waiting.” The Doctor frowned softly and said, “Alright.” With the addition of Strawberry and Derpy, I locked my front door behind us, and we immediately ran over to the library.

Nearby, however, Tick-Tock had seen the entire predicament occur. He immediately left his post to tell what he saw to Captain Jack…

“What?! You saw the TARDIS crash land?!”, Jack exclaimed, standing up to his hooves. “Yes, sir. From where it landed, I can only deduce that the Doctor is traveling with Professor Skyfire.”, Tick-Tock stated. “Skyfire? You mean that dragon researcher Princess Celestia and Princess Luna hold high regard over?”, Jack asked. “The same, Captain Star Hunter.”, the ginger unicorn replied. Jack frowned and closed his eyes, then said, “Tick-Tock, take me to Prof. Skyfire’s home. There are a few things I want to check up on.” Tick-Tock saluted, and then did as Jack ordered. With a few minutes, Jack and Tick-Tock arrived at Prodigy’s home, and he immediately used his Squareness gun to open the door. With a turn of the dial, he replaced the lock on the door, and then smiled as him and Tick-Tock stood face to face with the TARDIS. “It brings back good memories to see this old girl again, doesn’t it, sir?”, Tick-Tock said, placing a hand on one of the doors. Jack nodded as he looked around and said, “This place is a mess.”
“Not surprised, Captain. The Professor leads a rather hectic life, so cleaning is probably the last thing on his mind.”, Tick-Tock said. “It sounds like you know quite a lot about him, Tick-Tock. Mind explaining?”, Jack asked. “Well, I only know a little. But, the fact that he does a lot of things is already a weird fact. We ponies are only supposed to have one talent, according to our cutie marks. For example, my cutie mark is that of two cogs, since I enjoy tinkering and inventing things. Yet, the Professor has no idea what his cutie mark means. He works as a jack-of-all-trades because of it. His main goal in life is to reclaim his missing memories in order to learn what his cutie mark means.”, Tick-tock stated.

“What is his cutie mark, anyway? I have never seen it up close, to be honest.”, Jack said. Tick-Tock looked around, and then used his magic to levitate a dirty jacket with Prodigy’s cutie mark emblazoned on the back. “Here it is. It’s a little dirty with mud and soot, but the symbol is still pretty visible.”, Tick-Tock replied. Jack’s eyes widened when he saw the symbol, a flashback of a memory of his past entering his mind instantly from it. “It can’t be…”, he said softly, taking the jacket in his hands. “It’s not possible that this symbol is here in this world. It can’t have reached this far.”, Jack said, tossing the jacket to the ground. “Where did they go, Tick-Tock?”, he asked with a soft voice. “From the location they ran, they were heading towards the Golden Oaks Library which isn’t far from here.”, the unicorn stated. “Well then, fancy reading a book, Tick-Tock? We’re going to the library.”, Jack said, walking out the front door, locking it behind Tick-Tock.

Meanwhile, back with the Doctor and company…

“We made it! Ew, I’m soaked.”, Derpy said, shaking herself dry at the front door. “Hey hey hey, watch the water display!”, I said, wringing out my lab coat. I knocked on the front door, only to get a purple claw dragging me inside. “Prodigy, thank goodness you are here! This pony is crazy!”, Spike said, dodging a book thrown at his head. “Now Spike, be nice. She’s just a little confused, that’s all.”, Twilight said, holding a bowl of water. “Ms. Sparkle, good evening. What seems to be the trouble here?”, I asked, watching Derpy, The Doctor, and Strawberry close the door behind me. “You didn’t hear it? Something crash-landed not far from your home.”, Twilight stated. I chuckled nervously and said, “I’m a deep sleeper. Mind telling me more?” “It would be better to show you than anything.”, Twilight said, walking up to the bedrooms of the library. I reluctantly followed, The Doctor followed behind me to see what the problem was. We were both welcomed to the sight of an injured pony lying in Twilight’s bed.

“What in the name of Equestria happened here?”, I asked, looking the pony over. “She’s what crash-landed. Problem is, I have no idea how that is possible, since she is an Earth Pony. It’s not like she crashed from Cloudsdale or anything.”, Twilight stated. “Hm, that is odd. Oh, lookie here, she’s coming to.”, I said, watching the pony open her eyes. She tried moving, but I placed a hand on her shoulder and said, “Hey, easy. You had a nasty fall and I’m here to tend to your wounds. Do you know who you are? Your name? Where you are?” “I told her why I am here and who I am. Why doesn’t anyone listen?”, she said with a groan, trying to sit up again. “My name is Rose, and I came to find the Doctor. Please, you must let me go! I have to warn him!’, Rose stated. I heard the Doctor gasp slightly when he heard his name. I then asked, “Doctor? Doctor who, Rose?”

“You wouldn’t understand. The Doctor isn’t a pony. He’s a…”, Rose stated, before I said, “Time Lord?” Twilight’s eyes widened when I said that. “Prodigy, how do you know what she was calling him? Only I should know that.” I stood to my hooves and then walked over to the Doctor and said, “This here is the Doctor. The same Doctor you are asking for, two hearts and all.” Rose tilted her head and said, “That’s not possible. The Doctor is humanoid.” I was about to say something, but then the Doctor said, “Rose Tyler. It really is you…but how? How could you possibly be here?” Rose groaned when she stood to her hooves and walked over to the Doctor, looking him in the face. She gasped as tears welled up into her eyes. She placed both of her hands on his chest, feeling the two beats of his hearts and said, “It really IS you. I found you, Doctor. I found you.”, she said with a sniffle. The Doctor hugged Rose tightly and said, “Rose. My Rose, it’s ok. Shush now, dry up those tears.”

“Prodigy, I have seen you do a lot of things, but you cannot expect me to believe that these two are from another universe. Spill it, WHO IS THAT PONY?”, Twilight asked, tugging on my ear. “Ow ow ow! Ms. Sparkle, cut it out! That hurts! I already told you, that’s the Doctor! No questions about it!”, I said, pulling out of her grip. “But how? How in Celestia’s name is it possible? Where did you meet him? For that matter, how do you even know him?”, Twilight asked. “Uh, that’s a long story, Ms. Sparkle. But I will certainly tell you about it later.”, I said nervously. Rose then spoke up and said, “I needed that. But, now is not the time for tears. Doctor, we have a problem. Have you seen Jack yet?” “Jack?! Jack Harkness? He’s in this universe too?!”, the Doctor exclaimed. “Yes, he is! He followed you here and accidentally brought a platoon of Daleks here! They’re out there now, Doctor. Just waiting for the proper time to attack!”, Rose said. The Doctor’s face went cold when Rose said that. “How long? How long has he been here?”, he asked.
“About a few months. He’s made another Torchwood here just to locate you to tell you the exact same thing, Doctor.”, Rose replied. “I see. Well, we better find him. We’ll need all the help we can get.”, the Doctor said. “Professor, you think you can tend to Rose’s injuries?”, he asked me. “Sure thing.”, I Said, using my magic to put a few bandages on her immediately. While I was doing that, a knock on the door was heard. “Spike, mind getting that?”, Twilight said, still a bit overwhelmed at everything that was occurring. “Sure thing, Twi.”, Spike said, walking over to the front door. “Who is it?”, he asked. “Torchwood.”, Jack said from the other side. Spike groaned and said, “It’s that weird Captain guy from Torchwood again, Twi! Should I let him in?”

“Weird guy from Torchwood?! Let him in!”, the Doctor said, looking down from the bedrooms. Spike flinched when the doctor shouted, but he did as he was told and opened the door. I looked down to see a sky blue Pegasus step inside the library, followed by a ginger unicorn. “So, which one of them is he, Doctor?”, I asked, looking over at the Time Lord. “Hey, it’s Tick-Tock! How’ve you been, gingy?”, the Doctor said, noticing the unicorn behind Jack. Tick-Tock groaned and said, “Are we really going to do this now, Doctor? Also, it is nice to see you again.” Derpy saw Tick-Tock out of the corner of her eye and immediately tackled him to the ground, hugging him tightly. “Welcome back to Ponyville, Tick-Tock!”, she said with a wide smile. “Nice to see you too, Lady Bright-Eyes. Have you and the Doctor been doing well?”, Tick-Tock asked. She nodded and said, “Yes, we have! Things have been going quite well for us.” Jack then walked up to where the Doctor and said, “It’s good to see you again, Doctor.”
“Likewise. Only, in this kind of predicament, I think any pleasantries have to wait until AFTER the Dalek attack.”, the Doctor stated. He then looked over at me and said, “Professor, let us return to the TARDIS. We can use it to see what the Daleks are up to.” I nodded then picked up my first-aid kit and walked downstairs, getting stopped by Twilight. “Prodigy, what is going on? Tell me, please.”, she asked with a worried tone. I looked at Twilight with a stern look, only to hear the Doctor say my name. “I’m sorry, I gotta go.”, I said, running after the Doctor. “Prodigy Skyfire, get back here!”, Twilight exclaimed, chasing after me with an umbrella. “Twilight, come back! You’re going to catch your death of cold!”, Spike exclaimed, following behind her.

I immediately opened the door to my house, tripping over the mess in the living room. “Sweet Celestia, that hurt!”, I stated, standing up to my hooves as the Doctor, Jack, Rose, and Derpy ran by me. He snapped his fingers as the doors to the TARDIS opened up for him, Strawberry running in behind them as she said, “Come on, Professor! Let’s get going!” I nodded as I ran inside, not noticing Twilight and Spike had made it inside as well. With a flip of a switch, the TARDIS doors closed behind them. “Alright, everyone is here, let’s get going. Professor, turn around and hug Ms. Sparkle.”, The Doctor said, flipping a few switches on the console. “MS. SPARKLE!?”, I exclaimed, looking back to see Twilight and Spike looking at everything around them, their mouths wide from the shock of it all. She then looked at me as I hugged her and said, “Uhh….where to begin?” “It’s…bigger on the inside?”, Twilight asked. “Yes it is. It’s called the TARDIS. It’s the Doctor’s…spaceship.”, I replied.

“He an alien? A real genuine alien?”, Spike said, waving a hand in front of him as if he thought he was seeing a mirage. “Yes, he is. Strawberry and I have been traveling with him to find out the mystery behind my cutie mark. Seems like the mystery behind it goes even deeper than we thought.”, I replied. Twilight removed herself from my grip as she walked towards the TARDIS console and touched it gently, hearing it beep. “I didn’t press anything!”, she exclaimed, stepping back slightly. The Doctor chuckled and said, “It’s alright. She likes you, Ms. Sparkle.” I smiled, and then flinched when I felt the entire ship rattle. “What in Tartarus was that?!”, I stated, hanging onto the railing. “I don’t know! The entire ship shook from that!”, The Doctor said, looking at the TARDIS screen, the entire ship shutting power in an instant. “We’ve lost power!”, the Doctor stated. “Why? What happened?”, Derpy asked. “It must be the Daleks! They have us, Doctor!”, Rose stated. “That is correct, Rose Tyler”, a voice said. Jack and the Doctor’s eyes widened when the oh-so familiar voice chimed throughout the TARDIS. A video appeared on the small window on the TARDIS console as a peculiar figure appeared. “Well, even in a universe far apart from our own, you still show up, Doctor. How many more times must we come face to face?”, the alien stated, grinning a toothy smile. “Davros!? But it isn’t possible! You died when the reality bomb was destroyed!”, the Doctor said, his eyes widening in shock.

“And yet, here we are again: new universe and a new Dalek Empire, just waiting to scour across the reaches of space. I quite like it here, Doctor. So many feeble minds that knows NOTHING of our power, just ripe for the taking. And each of you in that infernal TARDIS is witness to it all, right here, right now.”, Davros stated. The Doctor went towards the TARDIS doors and opened them slightly, walking out to see that we had been moved to a new location: one filled with an entire race of Daleks breathing down our necks. Twilight moved closer to me as me and the others joined him outside and said, “Prodigy, what is those things?” I shook my head as placed a hand on her shoulder and said, “Trouble, Twilight. That’s as good as I can explain it. Who is he, Doctor?” The Doctor went quiet when I asked that. The silence was staggering, but Rose looked over to me and said, “Davros is the creator of the Daleks. Last time we met, he recreated an engine called the Reality Bomb with 27 different planets as the power source.” Davros chuckled and said, “It was a matter destruction device. With it, I could split anything apart until there was nothing left but atoms and then some. Of course, if it wasn’t the Doctor and THAT WOMAN, I would’ve succeeded!”

“That’s insane! From what you are saying, that would’ve meant EVERYTHING would’ve been destroyed!”, I exclaimed. “And then, the Dalek race would be the only things in existence. The masters with the keys of a brand new reality!”, Davros stated. I grimaced and said, “That’s horrible! What kind of being can literally say such a thing with such pride?!” “That’s the Daleks for you, Professor: anything that isn’t Dalek is MEANINGLESS.”, Jack said. “Precisely. Which is why we followed the Doctor to this new universe: a fresh new start.”, Davros replied. “A FRESH NEW START?! You couldn’t possibly thinking of recreating the Reality bomb HERE?!”, the Doctor exclaimed. He moved forward slightly, only for one of the Daleks “DO NOT MOVE, DOCTOR!”, the Dalek said with a robotic tone. Davros laughed and said, “Not quite. The Reality bomb can only work if there are 27 planets of the exact shape, density, and matter. We don’t have the time for that. No, the best approach is the old-fashioned way: we exterminate every being in existence with raw force!”

“Not if I have anything to say about it!”, Jack said, removing a gun from his jacket, firing it at Davros. The bullet evaporated the minute it reached him, Davros laughed harshly. “Captain Jack Harkness, your weapons are useless here!”, Davros stated, shooting him with a bolt of electricity from his hand. Jack grunted loudly as he fell over on the floor dead. “JACK! Oh Celestia, he killed him!”, I said, kneeling down on the floor, checking the pegasus’ pulse. Spike was in shock over it, then looked over at Davros and said, “Why did you have to kill him?!” Davros laughed, ignoring the dragon as he looked over at me, noticing I was staring at him with the coldest of stares he has possibly never seen. “You…those eyes have seen pain like nothing before. And yet, there is a certain….hidden mystery behind them. You are no ordinary pony, are you?”, Davros asked. Twilight placed a hand on my shoulder as I said, “As if you know anything about me! Don’t you dare try to understand me, you murderer!” The Doctor placed a hand on me and Twilight and said, “Leave him be, Professor.” “No, Doctor. We’re not leaving Jack!”, I said. “I know that, but let him go and wait a few minutes.”, the Doctor said. Me and Twilight looked at the Doctor strangely, but we quickly learned why: in a few minutes, Jack gasped loudly, sitting up fully alive. “What? …WHAT?!”, I exclaimed, looking at Jack. Davros raised an eyebrow and said, “Of course. I forgot that you cannot die. You are quite lucky.” Jack chuckled and wheezed slightly, standing back up on his hooves and said, “Lucky is just an understatement.” Davros frowned then turned his back to us and then said, “My Daleks, now is the time! We shall start with the planet below! Make it burn with the blood of its inhabitants! For the glory of the Dalek race!” “No!”, Twilight exclaimed, seeing some Daleks head for the hanger doors. Immediately, she used her magic to put a barrier around the doors, keeping the Daleks on the inside.

“What is this trickery?! Explain! Explain!”, one of the Daleks stated, looking over at Twilight. “The female shows hostile intent! She shall be exterminated!”, the other said, aiming its weapon at her. My eyes widened in horror when I saw that. “Ms. Sparkle, MOVE!”, I exclaimed, pushing her out of the way, getting shot through the back. I gasped as I saw tears fill up Twilight’s eyes. “D-Don’t cry…don’t….cry.”, I said, falling out of consciousness. “PROFESSOR! Oooh, now you done it!”, The Doctor exclaimed. He turned to everyone and said, “IN THE TARDIS, NOW!” Everyone nodded as Twilight held me in her arms, dragging me inside. “The Doctor is escaping! Exterminate! Exterminate!”, said the Daleks, each of them fired at the TARDIS. The Doctor ran to the console and flipped a few switches, the power turning back on as the TARDIS vanished. Derpy looked at the screen on the console and said, “They’re following us, Doctor!”

“And that’s EXACTLY what I want them to do!”, The Doctor said, heading back to the planet. “Excuse me, but how is taking the Daleks back down to the planet a GOOD THING?!”, Spike exclaimed. “I do hope you have some sort of plan instead of just going at this with hardly an idea at all, Doctor. This is serious.”, Rose said. “Hey, I always have a plan. Trust me.”, the Doctor said. Rose looked at the Doctor with a strange look and he chuckled nervously. “Alright, I have no idea what we’re going to do. I’m stumped here!”, he said. “If only we had some powerful weapons that we could use to fight them back with. Sorry, Doctor. We’ll need the TARDIS’ help on this one.”, Jack stated. The Doctor frowned when Jack said that. He looked over at Twilight and Strawberry huddled over my body and sighed. “The Professor would know what to do. He always knows what to do.”, Twilight said, running a hand through my hair. Strawberry tugged on my arm and said, “Wake up, Papa. Please wake up. You can’t be dead. You just can’t.”
“I’m sorry, you two. There is no way that he survived that. That was a shot that went straight through his back, so all his vitals was easy to target.”, Rose said. Twilight frowned and said, “NO! I refuse to believe he’s dead. He has so many things to do! And then there is that dream of his! He was so close to figuring out who he is!” Jack frowned when Twilight said that. “Twilight…you might just be right. I don’t believe he’s dead. If he is who I think he is, that shot was a bug bite compared to what he is used to.” The Doctor widened his eyes when Jack said that. He watched as Jack walked over to the Professor and said, “PRODIGY! STAND TO ATTENTION, MISTER!” I growled as I stood up on my hooves, kicking Jack square in the jaw. “Shut up, Harkness! You’re not my boss! I WAS SLEEPING!”, I shouted. Jack winced as he rubbed his jaw, then said, “Yup, that was expected. OW!”
I shook my shoulders as I looked around and said, “How did I get here? I should be dead!” “Yes, you should! What are you, Professor?!”, Twilight said, bonking me in the head. “Ow! Really, Twilight?! Now’s not the time for hitting me! We got Daleks to fight!”, I said, running towards the hallway to my room. Twilight’s eyes widened when she heard what I said. “He….he said my name.”, she said with a surprise. The Doctor raised an eyebrow as I came back with my suitcase. “What are you doing with that, Professor?”, he asked. I opened it and pulled out a small black bundle. The Doctor flinched when he realized what it was. “Professor, please tell me that isn’t dynamite!?”, he exclaimed.

I smirked when the Doctor said that. “This is no mere dynamite, Doctor. This is the T-213. It’s twenty times more powerful and it is set to completely destroy anything at the sub-atomic level. So, let’s experiment, shall we? What would happen if this was placed in one strategic spot in the Dalek warship? I wonder what would happen then?”, I said with a huge grin. “Are you saying that this one bomb would not only destroy the Daleks that are chasing us, but all of the Daleks that is in that warship?”, Jack asked. I nodded in reply then said, “Yes, but the tricky thing is that it has to be planted on the inside of the ship. Otherwise, it won’t work.” The Doctor frowned and said, “So in either case, we still have no choice but to fight, huh?” Rose placed a hand on the Doctor’s shoulder and said, “This is our only option, Doctor. In this world, most ponies abhor violence as much as you do. You wouldn’t find a single weapon anywhere. Isn’t that right, Twilight?”

“You’re correct. The only ponies that I know that has even the smallest arsenal to counter against enemy attacks is myself along with my friends, Princess Luna & Princess Celestia, and the Professor.”, Twilight stated. I smiled softly and then said, “Alright then. Jack, take this. It’s a miniature Gatling gun. Lay continuous fire out on the Daleks that are chasing us. Derpy, I want you to stay here on the TARDIS and look after Strawberry while The Doctor and I go onto the ship and head for the engine room. There, we shall set off the bomb, taking out the Daleks once and for all.” Twilight looked over at me when I said that. “No way are you two going alone. I’m coming too!”, she stated. “Ms. Sparkle, I insist that you stay here on the TARDIS to stay safe!”, I replied. “Tough luck! I’m going!”, she exclaimed. I frowned and said, “Fine! Spike, Rose, Derpy, Jack, Strawberry! This is an order: STAY ALIVE.”
“Understood. Doctor, get the TARDIS inside now!”, Jack said, looking at the gun I handed over to him. The Doctor nodded as he flipped a few switches on the console, the TARDIS making a small ding as it landed back inside the warship. Jack ran out first as he shot a few Daleks that were heading for us in the eyestalks. I ran out and said, “Huh, a Dalek’s weakness is their eyestalk, huh? I have to remember that.” “Now’s not the time for conversing! We have to get going! Which way?”, Twilight asked. “This way!”, the Doctor stated, running in the opposite direction with Rose following behind him. I nodded as I ran behind them, Twilight running right beside me as Jack continued to lay fire out at each Dalek that chased after us. Faster and faster we ran, until we finally made it to the engine room, finding that it was miraculously empty.

“It’s empty!? This has got to be a trap.”, Jack exclaimed. I frowned as I immediately walked towards the energy source and attached the bomb to it. I flipped a switch on it and pulled a remote from my jacket. “Alright, it’s set. One push of this button, this entire thing goes up with a bang.”, I stated. I looked over and saw the Doctor staring at me with worry. I sighed and said, “What? There’s nothing else we can do, Doctor. It’s either this or everyone down below will die.” The Doctor shook his head and said, “I know, Professor. I just never thought that you would ever think of something like this.” I looked away from him and said, “Sounds like you have experience in this kind of predicament, Doctor. What happened?” The Doctor’s eyes grew sadder and colder than I have ever seen since I have met him. “There was a war….a Time War between my people and the Daleks. In the end, both sides lost and my planet was lost forever.”, he said. My eyes widened when he said that. He was just about to say something else when a small laugh was heard. I turned around, and then saw a light flash in front of us. I tilted my head to see a wrecked Dalek sitting right in front of us, chained up to the wall.

“What…is that?”, I said. “It’s Dalek Khan! He survived our last encounter!”, the Doctor said, walking over to me. Dalek Khan laughed again as he stared directly at me. “The Doctor and the Living Paradox, traveling together through time and space, going on adventures and saving the day like heroes. This was something I HAD to see, Time Lord.”, Khan stated. “Again with the Living Paradox. It’s like those words are following us! What do they mean, Doctor?”, I asked. The Doctor furrowed his brow in annoyance, Khan saying, “I saw everything. A being from another world that shouldn’t possibly exist, warping time and space to the point he is necessary to the universe. And yet, the threads of fate are unbinding themselves with him. The shadows shall return, everything will be lost to the chaos, and the Paradox…will forever die across the cosmos.”

“No! He can’t die! Everything would come to an end if that happened!”, the Doctor stated. Khan laughed again when the Doctor said that. “Death of the mind, death of the soul, death of the heart. His own will shall be the final nail in his own casket. The Council of Six shall be reborn, and the Paradox shall be no more.”, the deranged Dalek said that. He laughed as a bunch of Daleks started to fill up the Engine room, each of them shouting the same word: “Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!” “Oh crud, we’re surrounded!”, I said, keeping a tight grip on the bomb remote. “What do we do now?!”, Twilight exclaimed. The Doctor looked around as he heard the TARDIS engine noise fill the room. As if on cue, the TARDIS materialized around us, Derpy and the others smiled at us. “I’ll tell you what we do: WE RUN LIKE CRAZY!”, Derpy said, flipping a few switches as we disappeared once again.
“Derpy?! You can fly the TARDIS? How?!”, the Doctor said. “Ananta taught me!”, Derpy said, walking over to us. She tripped on my suitcase and fell right on top of me, making me press the detonator button in the process. A loud rumble and a bunch of yells were heard over the TARDIS intercom. The Doctor snapped his fingers as the doors to the TARDIS opened, revealing a giant fireball plummeting to the earth below. “It worked…they’re gone.”, the Doctor said softly. He then looked over at Derpy and said, “Who’s Ananta?” Derpy giggled and said, “That’s what I have been calling the TARDIS. She was really nice on teaching me what to do.” The Doctor chuckled and then looked at me and said, “Told you that this old girl was alive.”

“Alright, alright. I guess there are some things I have to start believing. Like the Living Paradox, for example.”, I said. The Doctor and the others went silent when I said that. “It’s true: those words are following us, and it doesn’t seem to be for a good reason. Still, there is plenty more out there for us to find.”, I stated with a soft smile. The Doctor nodded and said, “That’s right. Well then, let’s get everypony back home, shall we?” He walked over to the console and flipped a few switches, returning the TARDIS to the ground next to Twilight’s library. Spike ran out the TARDIS doors and smiled when he saw the library standing in front of him. “Home sweet home! Sorry, Doctor,, but you live a way too hectic life for me to understand.”, he said, walking back inside. The Doctor chuckled as Twilight walked out. I followed her and said, “Give me a few minutes, Doctor? There’s something I need to do first.” He looked at me and at Twilight and said, “Of course. I’ll be waiting inside.” He closed the TARDIS doors with a click, leaving me and Twilight alone. I cleared my throat and scratched the back of my head. “Well…guess this is good-bye for a while, Ms. Sparkle.”, I said. Twilight looked at me with sad eyes and said, “Do you really have to go? This is exceedingly dangerous.”

“I must. The Doctor is my only chance of finally learning who I truly am. But, do not worry. I promise to come back soon.”, I replied. Twilight sighed and said, “Why though? Why risk your life in order to get your memory back?” I looked down and said, “It’s because something feels wrong. It’s like a big piece of me is missing, and it is definitely important that I figure out what it is.” Twilight sniffled as tears formed in her eyes. “Still, it’s way too risky! How do I even know that you’ll truly come back?”, she asked. I looked at her and said, “Remember that day I told you that I wanted to ask you something? Something very important?” Twilight raised an eyebrow, and I chuckled as I held her close to me, kissing her lips gently. She blushed brightly, but she immediately fell into the kiss, crying softly. I pulled away from her and said, “I promise I will come back. Otherwise, the question I am gonna ask will mean nothing. Twilight Sparkle, will you marry me?”

She gasped, and then smiled widely. “How long have you been wanting to ask me this?”, she asked. “Ever since the incident with Discord two years ago.”, I said. I patted her head and said, “You’ve saved me so many times, all I have ever felt was gratitude. But, I was afraid if I ever told you my true feelings, you would say no. That’s why I always called you Ms. Sparkle…Twilight. So, will you?”, I asked. Her smile grew even wider as she nodded yes. “You and your daughter better come back to me safely, ok?” I nodded and said, “We will.” I turned away from her then walked back into the TARDIS, seeing the Doctor and the others staring directly at me. “What?”, I asked. “No ring?”, the Doctor said, tossing me a small red box. I caught it and saw a silver engagement ring inside it. I grinned and said, “Thanks, Doctor. Well, Strawberry, do you think I made a good choice?”
“Twi’s going to be my new mommy!”, Strawberry said happily. I chuckled as I walked back outside quickly, seeing Twilight still standing in front of the TARDIS. Immediately, I placed the ring on her ring finger and said goodbye once more, stepping back inside the TARDIS. Jack patted my back in congratulations as the Doctor said, “Next stop, Manehatten!”

After that, the Doctor dropped Jack back off in Manehatten. According to Jack, it was the closest place where he could jump from one universe to the next to return back to this place called Cardiff, wherever that was. We finally went to another location on the other side of the Planet, where we saw a beam of light sitting right in front of us. According to Rose, it was a portal back to the universe she was living in. I was amazed with how she changed from a pony to a human being once she stepped into the portal, leaving us behind. Finally, the Doctor left this location, and then Strawberry asked him something…

“Doctor, can we do something different?”, Strawberry asked. “What do you mean, Strawberry?”, he asked. “Well, we’ve traveled through time. Can we travel through space and go to another planet?”, she asked. “Hey, she’s right. I want to go to another planet too.”, I stated. “Very well, where to?”, he said, chomping on another stick of butter. “Alright then. I want to go….to someplace awesome.”, Strawberry said.

“You heard the little filly. Someplace awesome, Doctor!”, Derpy said. “Alright! Next stop, adventure! Allons-y!”, he said, sending the TARDIS to its next destination.

So long, Equestria. Next stop, anywhere the TARDIS can go. Where will we end up this time? Who knows…

> Ch. 4 - The Dark Flame of Zixtra Madora
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s been almost five hours since we departed from Ponyville. Even now, I wonder how things are occurring while we were gone. I do hope Twilight will be ok while we are gone. The Doctor says that we are going to visit a planet this time. I wonder what the TARDIS has in store for us…

“You have no idea what this new planet is going to be, Doctor?! Then how do we even know that we are going to a new planet!?”, Strawberry exclaimed, staring up at the Doctor. “Now now, Strawberry. I promised you a planet, so a planet is exactly where we are going!”, the Doctor stated, fiddling around with a few switches. Strawberry rolled her eyes as she walked out of the console room back towards our room, only to hear a loud yelp and a splash. She groaned as she walked towards the swimming pool and saw me sitting in the pool soaking wet. “Did you enjoy your swim, Papa?”, she asked. I spat out some water, pulling a few strands of hair away from my glasses. “HA-HA, very funny, Strawberry. Help me out of here.”, I stated, wading over to her. I grabbed onto her hand as she helped me out of the pool.

I groaned as I flopped onto the floor soaking wet and said, “So, what did the Doctor say about our destination, Strawberry?” Strawberry frowned when I said that. “HE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW!”, Strawberry yelled, stomping away with a pout. I chuckled as I stood to my hooves then walked back into our room to change out of my wet clothes. Strawberry walked down the hallways of the TARDIS and raised an eyebrow as she looked around. “I could’ve sworn this was the way to the console room. Where did I end up this time?”, she asked herself, seeing her being surrounded by a few rooms. She opened one door and her eyes widened to see a giant library standing behind it. ‘Alright, Doctor. Now this is just showing off!’, she thought to herself, amazed at the many books she saw. If there was one thing she loved more than chemistry, it was always relaxing with a good book to read. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw something that was sticking out like a sore thumb in the library: large framed pictures of an odd person, 10 in total.

She tilted her head as she looked at the odd photos, having the strangest feeling she knew the person in the photos. It was only when she got to the last photo that gave her a shock. She watched as the photo alternate between the odd being in the photo to a photo of the Doctor. “Wait….is this….no way. But it is! It’s the Doctor! But that would mean….all of these photos is of him? But how is that possible?”, she asked. Her answer came to her when she heard somepony behind her say, “Regeneration to a molecular scale, my dear filly.” Strawberry looked behind her to see the Doctor walk up behind her. “We Time Lords have a unique ability: after being dealt a mortal injury, our bodies can repair itself and give us another lease on life. We get a new personality, a new face, but we keep the same mind and memories of every other life.”, he said, looking at the last photo of himself as it alternated between his real self and his pony self. “Although, this last regeneration is a very peculiar one.”, he said softly.

“Why is that?”, Strawberry asked. The Doctor smiled and said, “Why don’t you try and think on it?” Strawberry crossed her arms and closed her eyes in thought. She muttered slightly then said, “Is it because you are in our universe that makes it peculiar?” The Doctor nodded and said, “The TARDIS was on the verge of ripping itself apart during the entry of this universe. I should’ve regenerated the moment I landed, but I didn’t. Instead, I turned into a pony.” Strawberry tilted her head and asked, “But, did you have an injury that depended on regenerating, Doctor?” The Time Lord nodded and said, “I did. It should be eating away at this body right now. My regeneration is on delay for some reason.” He frowned slightly and Strawberry could swear he heard him mutter to himself: “Why haven’t I changed yet?” The Doctor shook his head and then said, “In any case, we should be landing soon. Shall we go?”

“Really!? Yay! New planet!”, Strawberry exclaimed, following the Doctor back to the Console Room to see Derpy and myself staring at the console screen. “Doctor, it keeps beeping for some reason.”, I said with a concerned look. The Doctor ran over and picked up a rubber mallet, smacking a button on the console. “Behave, I’m here!”, he said, fiddling with a few switches, the TARDIS rocking slightly as the sound it usually makes rang through our ears. With a small ding, the TARDIS landed on the ground. “Alright, we’re here! Let’s be on our way.”, the Doctor said, heading to the TARDIS doors. I saw him move quickly and immediately said, “Doctor, just a minute! Shouldn’t we do environment checks? This is another planet after all!” The Doctor looked back at me and said, “Sure thing, Professor. Environment checks.” I sighed softly, then saw him immediately poke his head out of the TARDIS doors. He looked back at me and said, “It’s night time. And the air is definitely breathable.”

I slapped my hand to my forehead and said, “Honestly, Doctor. Sometimes, I wonder if you are a genius or just crazy.” The Doctor grinned and said, “Both are true. Now, shall we be off?” Strawberry immediately ran past me and said, “Don’t have to tell me twice! So many things to learn today!” I shook my head as Derpy and I stepped outside with the young filly, hearing the Doctor lock the TARDIS doors behind us. My eyes widened when I saw the sight around us. With the addition of the two moons in the sky, every rock and tree sparkled as if they were made of diamonds. In the distance, I was certain I heard something that resembled an owl back at home. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something sparkle next to us. I immediately bent over and picked up the peculiar rock, seeing it shimmer in every color of the rainbow. I then realized that it, in its own way, was producing its own light source.

“Wow….this place is amazing, Doctor. Where are we, anyway?”, Strawberry asked, jotting down notes on everything she saw in her diary, even writing down the details of a peculiar reptilian creature she was staring at in a nearby tree. “I have no idea, Strawberry. This is not my universe, remember? And yet, that is the beauty of discovery: always finding something new and magical.”, he said with an eager expression. I smirked as I looked around with the rock and frowned as I saw a bunch of other lights flare up in the distance. What disturbed me even more that the lights were moving, one in particular even faster than the others. I re-adjusted my glasses and looked even closer, noticing that the light was another rock similar to my own, attached to a necklace on a young mare. “Hey guys, look. We’re not alone. This planet is habited.”, I said, pointing over at the mare.

The Doctor looked over at the mass of beings in the distance and frowned. “Is it just me or does that look like a hunt?! Let’s move!”, the Doctor said, running in the other direction to get down to the crowd. We followed in pursuit, moving quickly to see a gray mare with red eyes run right towards us. “No, no more!”, she said, trying to run from us. “No, it’s alright! We’re friendly!”, I said. “They’re going to kill me! I’m innocent, I tell you! Innocent!”, the mare exclaimed. The Doctor’s eyes widened when the crowd got closer and closer to us. “Yeah, I think a quick retreat to the TARDIS would be the best cause of action! RUN!”, he stated. “I’m with you!”, I replied, following behind the Doctor, Derpy and Strawberry running behind the gray mare. The yells of the mob grew louder as we reached the TARDIS. “Hurry up, Doctor! They’re catching up!”, Derpy said, watching the mob get even closer to us. The Doctor continued to fiddle with the lock, dropping the key a few times. “Ugh, this lock can be a little sticky at some times.”, he said, snapping his fingers immediately to see the doors open wide. “Oh! I forgot that even worked. Everyone in!”, he stated.

“But it’s just a small blue box! We’ll be all torn to bits!”, the gray mare stated. “I know it’s tough to explain, but just go inside!”, Strawberry said, pushing the mare inside. She raised an eyebrow, only for her jaw to drop when we stepped inside the TARDIS, the doors closing to another snap of the Doctor’s fingers. “Yes, it’s bigger on the inside! No, I don’t have time to explain!”, the Doctor stated, the TARDIS immediately roaring to life. “Wait…but….what? HOW?”, the gray mare stammered, trying to figure out how the inside was bigger than the outside. “Allons-y!”, the Doctor exclaimed, the TARDIS beginning to rock violently as it moved from its location. He flicked a few switches, the rocking coming to a stop. “Alright, we’re all clear now. We can go back outside.”, the Doctor said, walking past the mysterious pony, only to be stopped by her. “Wait, don’t go out there! They’ll be waiting!”, she said. The Doctor chuckled then moved the mare aside and said, “It’s a spaceship, miss. We’ve moved from our last location.”

He opened the door and stepped out, telling us all to join him outside. I looked at everyone else as I stepped outside to see the TARDIS had landed within the boundaries of a village. I could spot a castle in the distance surrounded by guards. “Whoa, where are we now, Doctor?”, Derpy asked as she walked out with Strawberry, the doors closing with a click. Her answer came from the young mare as she said, “This is the village of Dragonbreath. Its home to Dragonbreath Castle where the ruler of the entire planet resides.” I had noticed she had hidden her face with the scarf that was around her neck and I asked, “So, why are those other ponies chasing after you anyway, miss…uhh, we don’t even know your name.” She looked at me and said, “It’s NightShade. And it’s because the Queen has sentenced me to death.” Strawberry’s eyes widened when she said that. “Death!? But why?”, she asked. NightShade’s eyes narrowed slightly and then said, “It’s not safe to talk here. Follow me.” We watched as she slipped down a nearby alleyway as we reluctantly followed her.  She walked up to a nearby dumpster a she revealed another one of those light rocks around her neck. I could see that the rock glowed a bright blue, as if it was itself on fire. The dumpster rumbled as it moved to the side, revealing a large hole behind it. “Alright, everyone in.”, she said. The Doctor nodded as he stepped into the hole, the rest of us following him inside with NightShade as the hole came to a close behind us.
NightShade looked around for a few moments, then a child’s voice said, “Who is there?! Reveal yourself!” ‘A kid?’, I thought to myself, raising an eyebrow as NightShade replied, “Only the Wild Flame that burns ever so brightly, Your Majesty.” The silence was stifling, but then a loud laugh was heard from the child. Even more laughs were heard around us as a bunch of lights came on to reveal a bunch of children. “The Princess is home, guys! Safe and sound!”, the main child stated as the other four ran over to NightShade to give her a hug. “Princess?”, the Doctor asked curiously. “I didn’t mention that? I’m the princess of this planet, Princess NightShade.”, NightShade stated. “Princess?! You’re the ruler of this planet?!”, Strawberry said. One of the children shushed Strawberry and said, “Precisely! That mean old Queen DarkFlame has the entire royal guard searching for her. It’s just not fair!”

“What? But why would your mother do that?”, I asked. NightShade raised an eyebrow and said, “STEPMOTHER. My mother has long since passed, as well as my father. And the reason why she has done so is because of our family heritage.” The Doctor scratched his chin and said, “Mind explaining?” NightShade walked over to a nearby box and sat down on it, sighing softly. “Well, it’s the fact that my entire family has a stronger touch to their dragon heritage.” My eyes widened when she said that. “Dragons? There are dragons here?”, I asked. NightShade chuckled and said, “There hasn’t been a pureblood dragon for almost 6000 years, mister. Each being on this planet, however, has a touch of dragon blood within them, the royal family having the strongest ties. You haven’t noticed, but out of each of us here, I’m the only one with dragon eyes and wings.” My eyes went wider when I finally noticed her wings flap slightly behind her back. “Fascinating. So each being here is a crossbreed of a dragon and a pony! Never have I thought such a thing would be possible!”, I said, looking NightShade over. NightShade chuckled and said, “By the way, I never got your names. It’d be strange if I continued to refer to my helpers by YOU, now wouldn’t it?”

“Ah, where are my manners? It completely slipped my mind. My name is Prodigy Skyfire, but most call me the Professor. The little one is named Strawberry.”, I said, Strawberry waving to everyone with a large grin. “Nice to meet everypony.”, she said happily. The Doctor then said, “I’m the Doctor, and this is my traveling companion, Derpy.” Derpy smiled and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you all!” NightShade nodded then frowned as I asked, “So, the Queen is your stepmother and she hates you for your dragon heritage. It still doesn’t explain why she would want you dead.” NightShade looked up to the roof of the hideout and said, “It’s a blood feud between the race of dragon me and her share. Her kind has always hated our family line, and she would want it no other way than to see the last of my kind dead. As for me, my race has always been on the more docile side than most dragons, so we had no means to defend ourselves way back when. We may have had claws, fire, and sharp teeth, but we barely used them for fighting purposes.”

“Huh, who’d believe it? Another dragon pacifist among dragons.”, I said softly. I then turned my attention to the Doctor and said, “Well, Doctor? Any ideas? We can’t just leave these poor people like this. We have to help them.” The Doctor nodded in agreement and replied, “Quite right, Professor. Although, I do have to ask: you’re the princess of this planet. So, why is it that you are being chased by the royal guard?” NightShade looked down at the ground and said, “I don’t know. It all changed when I was five. That was the night of The Great Fire.” The Doctor’s ears twitched when he heard that. “The Great Fire? What is that, pray tell?”, he asked. “Every mare, stallion, and filly knows the tale. Around 15 years ago, a giant black flame engulfed our sister city Zixtra, the original home of our great society, laying waste to all that was within it. A few of our people escaped, but I….I lost my mother in that flame. After that, a few years later my Father remarried to my stepmother. She always hated me, but once I turned 18, that’s when she had told everyone this: my father and I were the cause of The Great Flame.”, NightShade stated.
“She said that?! How horrible!”, Derpy remarked. NightShade nodded and replied, “Everyone knew that my father and I were capable of breathing fire, so they arrested him on the spot. As for me, I ran. I ran as far and fast as I could so I could find the truth on what happened that night.” The Doctor grinned and said, “Well then, only one thing to do then: we got to go and get the truth directly from the source!” I chuckled and said, “That sounds interesting and all, but that is a fixed point in time, is it not, Doctor? That incident has to happen, no matter what.” The Doctor nodded and said, “Of course. We are just going to get some answers. Lady NightShade, care to accompany us on a little journey?” NightShade raised an eyebrow and said, “Where are we going?” Derpy patted NightShade on her shoulder and said, “We’re going to show you!”

NightShade had a look of utter confusion on her face when Derpy said that, but she just agreed as the five of us returned to the TARDIS….

“This thing still disturbs me to no end.”, NightShade said, staring at the console of the TARDIS, “Don’t worry, it rubs off on you after a while. So, what is the name of this planet, NightShade?”, the Doctor asked. “It’s called Zixtra Madora.”, she replied. “Odd name for a planet, but it matters not. Planet Zixtra Madora, 15 years in the past. Let’s see what knowledge we can learn about it!”, the Doctor stated, the TARDIS engines roaring to life as he flipped a lever, sending us off to our newest destination. “What is he talking about? We already know what happened back then!”, NightShade exclaimed, looking over at me as she clinged to a rail. “It’s a time machine! We can easily go back in time to see what happened way back then!”, I replied. NightShade’s eyes widened when I said that. “You four are incredibly impossible!”, she stated.

“Welcome aboard the TARDIS, Lady NightShade! Allons-y!!!”, the Doctor stated.

Meanwhile, at the exact same time eighteen years ago….

A loud boom rang throughout the night, stirring a younger DarkFlame from her slumber. “Ughh, now what’s going on? Can’t a woman get some sleep in peace here?”, she stated, walking out of her hut to see a giant crater sitting right in front of her home. “What in the name of Zixtra is that!?”, she exclaimed, looking into the crater. Her ears twitched when she heard a sound she least expected to hear: someone coughing within the crater. She hopped into the crater, sliding down the wall as she slowly approached the being within it. “Oi, are you alright?”, she asked. “Ughhh, that wasn’t a pretty fall….where am I?”, the being asked, his sight adjusting as he saw DarkFlame. “Ugh, I must’ve hit my head harder than I thought. I’m seeing things.”, he stated, trying to stand to his feet, only to groan in pain. “Are you sure you’re alright, sir? You’re certainly the weirdest creature I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something!”, DarkFlame asked. The being chukled as he looked at her, his face morphing from what it was to a skull, his hands glowing a bright gold. “Well, you certainly ask a lot of questions, don’t you? I can easily fix this problem by regenerating.”, he stated.

DarkFlame’s eyes widened as she saw the being glow even brighter. She had no idea what was going on, but she immediately hid behind a large rock. The being yelled loudly as he exploded in a radiant gold light, his body frame shrinking down from his bipedal shape to the shape of a pony. DarkFlame peeked from behind the rock, only to see the strange pony staring back down at her with cold eyes. “This isn’t possible! I know I regenerated, but I still feel like I am dying!”, the pony stated, his face morphing into a skull yet again. He looked at his entire body and said, “And why am I a horse!? I feel disgusted!” He raised an eyebrow and looked down, then grinned cheekily and said, “Although, there is a few perks to it, I suppose.”

“Y-You….changed! How did….what the heck are you?! For that matter, who are you?!”, DarkFlame asked. “What I am is not important. As for who I am….that’ll change your life forever”, he said. DarkFlame flushed slightly when the stallion placed his hands on her, then walked over to the rock which opened up to show a room inside. DarkFlame’s eyes widened and then she said, “Who are you?” The pony grinned as his face morphed into a skeleton again. “My name….is the Master.”

A few years later…

The TARDIS engines whined as the vessel came to a sudden stop, it whined silently as the Doctor said, “Well, we’re here. Planet Zixtra Madora, fifteen years in your past, four hours before the Great Flame too. The truth to why everything that happened to this planet lies beyond those doors.” NightShade looked at the Doctor and said, “You’re serious?” The Doctor smiled and flourished his hand to the doors, watching as NightShade walked to them. She pulled her scarf over her face and stepped outside, her eyes widening as she stood in her old hometown. “Zixtra….but this is impossible.”, she said as we joined her outside. “Not impossible, just quite unlikely.”, I stated, looking around the entire location. “So, Doctor, where do we even begin?”, Derpy said. The Doctor was about to speak, but a loud alarm went off as a bunch of ponies ran to their homes. “It’s the Veracuri! Run for your lives!”, a pony exclaimed as he ran past us.
My eyes widened as I saw a crowd of ponies heading towards us, carrying weapons and war armor. “Uh, Doctor, I say we run!”, I exclaimed, picking Strawberry up and running in the opposite direction. “I’m with you, let’s go!”, The Doctor exclaimed, Derpy and NightShade following behind us quickly. We ran and ran until we came across a blockade of ponies with javelins pointed directly at us. “Hold your ground, men! Do not let the enemy pass through!”, a powerful booming voice rang out. “We’re not the enemy! We’re not the enemy!”, the Doctor exclaimed. “How can I trust you?!”, the voice exclaimed. “If we were the enemy, why would we run directly into the hands of our opposition?!”, I stated. “Hmm….good point. Let them pass!”, the voice stated, the soldiers parting a path towards the castle behind them. “Well, let’s go!”, Derpy said, running through the path with the Doctor. NightShade ran past and looked in one direction, seeing a familiar face. ‘Papa?’, she thought to herself, running past him quickly. With a few passing seconds, the gate to the castle closing shut. I breathed heavily as I placed Strawberry on the ground and said, “That was too close for comfort. Anypony hurt?” The Doctor shook his head and said, “No, I’m fine. Ms. Hooves?” Derpy breathed heavily and said, “Just tired. NightShade, are you ok?”

NightShade was silent for a few minutes, only for her attention to return when the Doctor asked, “NightShade, are you still with us?” NightShade flinched slightly and said, “Yes, I’m alright. It’s just…the voice we heard. I know who it belongs to. It was my father, King Diamond.” My eyes widened when she said that. “Your father? That voice belonged to him?”, I asked. My eyes widened even more when I saw tears form into the mare’s eyes. “He’s been locked in jail for fifteen years, falsely accused for something we didn’t do. Doctor, we got to fix this.”, she said, looking at the Time Lord. “I’m sorry, but this is a fixed point in time. Everything that happens today has to happen, or the entire timeline could collapse on itself. It’s tough, but you have to fight this.”, the Doctor stated. I handed NightShade a handkerchief and said, “We’ll get your father out, but for now, let’s figure out why this happened in the first place.” NightShade nodded as she dried her tears, only to look in one direction to see a face that made her cry once more: her mother.
I looked in the direction she was looking then saw a small filly run out to the mare, hugging her tightly as she cried from the loud noises outside the gate. “Is that….your mother, NightShade?”, Strawberry asked, looking up at NightShade, noticing the similarities they both had. “Her name is Queen Radiance. She truly was one of the most beautiful mares on the entire planet. She was only 34, so young…”, NightShade said. “Mama, is Daddy going to be ok?”, the younger NightShade asked, still sniffling as Radiance dried her tears with a handkerchief. “Of course he’ll be alright. He is your father after all, with a will as bright as a flame and strong as a diamond.”, she said. NightShade smiled softly as she said, “It’s why he is named Diamond, after all. Right, Mama?”, she asked. Radiance nodded, then she looked over at us and said, “You five, come here. It’s dangerous to be near the gate right now.”

The Doctor smiled as he led us over to the Queen, NightShade looking away from her the entire time. “It is quite the dangerous time indeed, is it not, Your Majesty? Perhaps you should retire to the castle with your daughter in case something goes wrong?”, the Doctor suggested. Radiance chuckled softly and said, “You must be new here if you think things will go wrong. My husband is the strongest stallion on all of Zixtra Madora. Actually…I do believe this is the first time I have seen any of you five. I make it a key fact in my life to know the names and faces of all my citizens. My name is Queen Radiance, and you are?”

“Ah, quite right! My name is Time Keeper, and these are my companions Skyfire, Muffins, Dark Flare, and Lily. I have our credentials here, if you wish to see them.”, the Doctor said, showing the Psychic Paper to the Queen. She smiled and said, “Funny piece of paper there. It’s blank.” The Doctor’s eyes widened as he said, “Well well, beautiful and clever too. She can see right through the Psychic Paper. Alright then, let’s try this again. My name is the Doctor, these are my traveling companions Dark Flare, Prodigy Skyfire, Strawberry Skyfire, and Derpy Hooves.” I chuckled and said, “We are just passing by from Equestria. The Doctor promised us a trip among the stars, and your lovely planet was our first stop, Your Majesty.” Queen Radiance’s eyes widened and said, “Well, I am sorry to disappoint you. This was certainly not the time for Zixtra Madora to have any visitors from other planets. Our people, the Racuri, are at war with the Veracuri at the moment. I am so sorry.”

“And who exactly are the Veracuri, if I may ask?”, The Doctor asked. “The Veracuri is our sister race, and I say that lightly. Unlike us, they live for one thing: to fight. We Racuri despise fighting, and are quite kind at peaceful at nature, yet the Veracuri are always raiding our village just for the adrenaline rush of a kill.”, a voice said from behind us. The Doctor looked around and saw a light yellow pony walk up to him in a suit. The Doctor raised his eyebrow when he looked at the pony from top to bottom. I don’t know why, but the look on his face showed a look of concern for this stallion. “Ah, Lightning Spark. My most trusted bodyguard, how are things looking outside?”, Radiance asked. “The enemy force has settled down and has been pushed back out of the village, your majesty. Only a few minor injuries, but no deaths.”, Lightning stated. “Excellent! Another day, another victory. Oh, pardon my manors. These are our guests: The Doctor, Prodigy Skyfire, Strawberry Skyfire, Derpy Hooves, and Dark Flare.”, Radiance replied.

The stallion looked directly at the Doctor and smiled softly. “The Doctor, huh? Doctor Who?”, he said, holding his hand out politely. The Doctor frowned as he took the stallion’s hand and shook it softly and said, “It’s just The Doctor. You certainly don’t seem to be from these parts, Lightning Spark.” Lightning shook his head and said, “No, I’m not. I’m a long way from home. The royal family took me in as one of their guards when they learned that I had no recollection of my home world. I do so hope to return there someday.” The Doctor’s eyes narrowed when Lightning said that. “Yes, I bet you do.”, the Doctor said softly, the gates groaning open as the King and his army followed him inside. The young filly ran past her older self as she ran over to her father, hugging him immediately. Diamond chuckled and lifted NightShade up onto his shoulder as he walked over to Radiance and kissed her gently. “Everything is taken care of, love.”, he said, looking at us right after. “Welcome to Dragonheart Castle. I am sorry if I gave a negative vibe to you earlier. Please, allow us to treat you to a good meal while you are here.”, Diamond stated.
“Sir, if I may, I must insist. Perhaps these ponies should retire for home. I am certain they have someplace else to be at the moment.”, Lightning Spark stated. “Why, nonsense! We’d love to join you.”, the Doctor stated. “Excellent! We shall have a glorious feast of our latest victory!”, the King stated, his army roaring in agreement as we were led inside with the king and queen. I looked back as I saw Lightning Spark staring back at us with a cold smile, more so at the Doctor than anyone else.

Three hours passed by as the feast began. We were served many varieties of food. Some of it vaguely reminded me of the Hayburgers Twilight had treated me to once before back on Ponyville. After the feast, the king and queen insisted we stayed for the night, so each of us retired to our rooms. However, the Doctor’s mind was uneasy…

The Doctor stood on the balcony of his room and inhaled the night air deeply as he thought silently to himself. He then said out loud, “I know you are here, so you might as well stop trying to hide.” The room was silent for a few minutes, then a voice replied from within the dark saying, “Even though we change our faces and bodies, we can never forget the smell of a Time Lord, right Doctor?” The Doctor watched as the moon shined brightly into his room, the face of the stallion from earlier sitting in his room staring back at him. “Master, what are you doing here?”, the Doctor asked. “I’d like to ask the same thing to you, Doctor. You are in an alternate universe of our own, and I’m here as well when I should’ve returned to the time-locked Gallifrey. How is it that I am here?”, the Master asked, his face morphing again from a pony to a skull. He groaned in pain as he shook his head, his face returning to normal. “You’re still dying too. How could you even survive for this long?”, the Doctor asked. “Too? You are in a stage of regeneration as well?!”, the Master retorted. “Yes. Radiation poisoning from that machine of Joshua Naismith’s. You remember the one. It was to save my friend’s life.”, the Time Lord replied, only to get a throaty laugh from the Master.

“Forever the soft hearted, Doctor. How are we still here then?”, the Master said, slowly removing the gloves that were on his hands, his fingertips showing small signs of lightning bolts jolting from them. “Now, let’s talk this out, Master. I have no idea why we are here, how we are here, or why we haven’t regenerated, but there is no way back. Believe me, I have tried.”, the Doctor said, only to get a lightning bolt to the chest. “Don’t you dare lie to me, Doctor. There is always a way. And you better tell me now.”, the Master said, crouching down to look the Doctor in the face. The Doctor coughed loudly as he looked up at the Master and said, “We don’t have to do this, Master. Please. We can find a way back together, you and I.” The Master grinned as loud yells were heard from the village below. The Doctor turned as he saw a large black flame growing from the town and heading straight for the castle. “What have you done?!”, the Doctor said, looking down below. The Master laughed as he completely disrobed of what he wore, showing an outfit that looked similar to what he was wearing the last time he and the Doctor last confronted each other.

“What have I done? I just gave the Racuri a chance to change their lives forever. Also, it’s a shame too. The guards here really are the best on the planet. Shame they fell asleep on the job. It’s amazing with what limited materials here, I could make a device that could unlock the untapped dragon embers that resided in the Racuri, don’t you agree?”, the Master stated, levitating himself with two lightning bolts and out of the window quickly. The Doctor growled slightly as his room door was opened, NightShade running in with myself and the others. “Doctor, the entire town is on fire! How could this happen?!”, NightShade asked, removing her scarf from her face. “It was the Master. He was the cause of this!”, the Doctor said, running out the door. I looked at everyone as I ran after the Doctor with the others following behind.

“Who is the Master, Doctor?”, I asked. “We knew him as Lightning Spark, but his real name is the Master. He’s a Time Lord like me, but he is completely diabolical. My guess, his existence here is completely connected to why I am here in this universe in the first place. According to him, he made some device that could make it where any Racuri could breathe fire at will. NightShade, he’s part of your history. Do you remember anything that could help us?”, the Doctor stated. NightShade shook her head, then said, “No, I don’t.” The Doctor sighed and said, “Alright then, it was worth a shot.” NightShade sighed and said, “However, there is the legend of the Firestones that the members of the Royal Family has.”

“Firestones?”, the Doctor asked. NightShade showed the stone that dangled around her neck and said, “It’s just a theory, but it has always been said that each member of the royal family had one of these, and each one glowed in the same shade of flame that we may carry within us. As you can see, this one glows in the shade of red, which says I can breathe a red flame. Also, it is said that if we keep this in close contact to us, our flames are even stronger than normal. However, the only way a person could have a stone shaped like this is if they were part of the royal family themselves.” The Doctor’s eyes widened when NightShade said that. “That’s it! The Master must’ve gotten his hands on one and manufactured it in order to make the legend real! And maybe….just maybe.”, he said. I caught on to what he was thinking. “Maybe DarkFlame has one that is pure black! Oh, that is quite brilliant, Doctor!”, I stated.

“But how can we use that to help King Diamond in the future?”, Strawberry asked. The Doctor was just about to say how, but a loud yell was heard further down the hall. “That’s our cue!”, the Doctor said, running down the hallway.

Faster and faster we ran down the hallway until we finally got to the room where the yell was coming from. The Doctor opened the door wide as we saw a horrifying sight, a young filly NightShade unconscious on the floor, while her mother was injured fatally while another mare was fighting King Diamond hand to hand. What gave her identity away was the black Firestone that dangled around her neck…

“How dare you! How dare you bring harm to my family!”, Diamond said, tears rolling down his face from seeing the sight of his wife. “Oh, finally, I get to see the top man shed tears. Who knew that I would just have to bring harm to his family in order to see them?!”, a distorted voice came from behind the robed mare. ‘She’s using a voice changer!?’, I thought to myself, hearing a slight cough come from the weakened Radiance. Using what strength she had, she crawled over to the sleeping NightShade and rubbed her cheek gently. “Only five years old…I won’t be able to see you grow up, Shadey.”, Radiance said softly. NightShade ran over to Radiance and put her hand onto her wound and said, “Don’t speak like that, Your Highness. You’re going to get through this, ok?” Radiance smiled softly and said, “Shadey, what have I told you of lying? It is unbecoming of a young lady.”

My eyes widened when she said that. “You knew?”, NightShade asked, her eyes welling up with tears. “We both knew. We dragons can sense our own. I don’t know how you are here now, but its proof you are going to make it through this! Now go! Return to where you came!”, Diamond replied, running over to a nearby wall and picking up a sword, attacking DarkFlame once more. NightShade shook her head furiously, her mother’s life leaving her body quickly. The Doctor’s ears twitched as he heard the familiar sound of a TARDIS engine roar to life. He looked out the window and saw a giant rock fly off into the sky, and then it hit him: it was the Master. “NightShade, we need to go.”, he said, walking over to her. “I won’t.”, she said softly. “Nightshade…”, the Doctor said, only for her to say, “No, Doctor! I won’t leave her!” I walked over to NightShade, then looked at King Diamond as he nodded at me. I placed Queen Radiance’s body on the ground gently and lifted NightShade over my shoulder, the dragon Pegasus flailing madly within my grasp. “Let’s go! No time to waste!”, the Doctor said, running out of the room quickly, the rest of us following behind.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the TARDIS, NightShade still screaming for us to return. As the Doctor locked the doors behind, he quickly flipped the switches to his TARDIS, and with a groan of its engines, we were off once more…..

“Come on, hurry! Don’t lose him!”, the Doctor said, chasing after the Master’s TARDIS. A beeping noise went off on the console, and he immediately picked up the phone and said, “Master, stop this! Stop it now! It isn’t worth it!” The Master laughed as he replied, “Oh, but it is worth it, Doctor! The past was fun, so let’s see how you react to the future! Bye-bye!” With a click, the Master disconnected with the Doctor, and with a bright light, his TARDIS disappeared. “Damn it, he got away!”, the Doctor exclaimed, kicking the console and returning to his chair.“Relax, Doctor. We’ll find him. Look, it’s not like he got away. As you once said, you are the last Time Lord. Finding the Master will be easy. But, let’s worry about the problem at hand.”, I said, looking over at NightShade. “Oh. Sorry, NightShade. Are you alright?”, the Doctor asked.
NightShade sniffled as she rubbed her nose gently. “I’m fine. It was just a bit much for me.”, she said. I walked over to NightShade and asked, “NightShade, I wanted to ask you something about that blade you carry. What’s the story behind that?” NightShade removed the sheathed blade from her back and said, “It’s called the SoulFire. It’s my birthright to the royal throne. My father gave it to me on the night of the Great Flame before we were separated.” I looked at her and said, “May I?” NightShade nodded as she handed me the sword. I looked at the blade in sheer awe as I removed it from its sheathe, only to hear NightShade say, “Is something wrong, Professor?” My eyes widened as I said, “We couldn’t be that lucky, could we? NightShade, tell me: have you ever used this blade in combat? At all?”

“No, never. It was never to be opened. My father told me that only when the time is right, I could unsheathe it.”, NightShade replied. “Doctor, do you have any blood testing equipment?!”, I asked. “Yes, I do. What are you getting at, Prodigy?”, the Doctor asked, handing me his blood testing kit. “Doctor, he used this blade! King Diamond was fighting DarkFlame with this blade before we left back there!”, I said, using the kit on the blade. “You’re joking!”, the Doctor exclaimed, getting the same excited look on his face. “No! And if I am lucky, and make that VERY lucky, then King Diamond just may have left us the proof we need to set him free!”, I stated, using a cotton swab on the blade, a small tint of red appearing from it. I grinned and showed the cotton swab to everyone and said, “Checkmate. Blood, we have a sword and sheathe completely caked with the blood from Queen Darkflame.” I then looked at NightShade and said, “We have her now, NightShade. You’ll be reunited with your father soon!”

And then we saw it: NightShade smiling. And for once, I could feel that the smile was genuine. After that, we returned to the present time and presented our proof to the authorities, who then arrested Queen DarkFlame on the spot. And we finally saw the most beautiful thing: father and daughter, reunited at last….

A few hours had passed by, and the Doctor sighed deeply as he stroked the side of the TARDIS and said, “Well, another day done, another good deed done. And no deaths either.”, he said, looking up at Derpy as she landed on the roof of the TARDIS. “NightShade looked so happy when she saw her father. I’m glad she got to be reunited with him. Oh, here comes Strawberry and Prodigy! Hey, guys!”, Derpy said, waving a hand at us. “So Strawberry, I promised you a new planet. What did you think?”, the Doctor asked the young filly. She grinned as she punched the Doctor playfully in the arm. “You did good, Doctor. You did good.”, Strawberry stated, retiring to the insides of the TARDIS. “So, what did you two do while I was getting her ready?”, the Doctor asked. “I was just giving NightShade a gift from Equestria: a bar of Sugarcube Corner’s chocolate. She really liked it.”, I replied. The Doctor smiled, but then saw the King running towards us with a frantic look on his face. “Professor! You have trouble!”, Diamond stated, wheezing heavily as he came up beside us. “Goddess Oraci, I am not as young as I used to be. Professor, you didn’t give my daughter a bar of chocolate, did you?”, he asked.

“Uh, yes. Yes I did, why?”, I asked. A bead of sweat formed on his forehead and said, “Well, it was an old custom back when Queen Radiance was still alive….you see, giving a mare a bar of chocolate is, well, a….marriage vow.” My eyes widened and jaw dropped when he said that. “What?!?!?!!?!”, I yelled loudly, only to hear NightShade say, “Where is he? Where is my fiance?” I saw her eyes connect to me, then noticed she was already in a wedding dress. I then looked at the Doctor and said, “You, blue box, now! Good-bye, Your Majesty! It was fun!” He laughed loudly as I dragged the Doctor inside, the TARDIS vanishing quickly as NightShade stood beside her father and said, “I do hope I get to see them again someday.”

As we left the planet, a piece of ease washed over us all, knowing we were finally able to reunite NightShade with her family. But, as the Doctor reminded us, we must ever stay vigilant. We never know when the Master could return, or where he could be now…

A loud whirring noise was heard as the Master’s TARDIS rematerialized once more. He sat silently in his TARDIS and said, “Just you wait, Doctor. You haven’t seen the last of me….or I should say, you have seen the last of this form. The Master….reborn once more.” He laughed as he exploded in a blast of golden light, regenerating once again.

As he laughed, even within the Time Vortex, the Doctor knew that him and his companions would meet again very soon, and his unescapable fate would show its face once again….

To be continued….


> Ch. 5 - Beginning Anew
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

According to the Doctor, it has been exactly ten days since we left Zixtra Madora. Even now, I can still see the unease on his face when we encountered his old foe, the Master. Although….it was a bit odd, really. It seemed to me that the Doctor was looking rather sickly as of late…

“What do you mean, we’re heading back to Ponyville!?”, I exclaimed as he fiddled with a few switches on the console. “Just need to make a pitstop, Professor. Ponyville is quite the odd place, but Ms. Hooves and I realized something during our last visit there.”, the Doctor stated. I looked at Derpy and said, “Alright, explain?” Derpy looked up from the muffin she was about to eat and said, “According to the Doctor, there is a tear in the time vortex right on the outskirts of the town. Apparently, it stretches so far, we believe the source of it all is in the Everfree Forest. Through that, we can fuel up the TARDIS engines in order to continue traveling!” Strawberry’s eyes widened when Derpy said that. “Is this time rift dangerous?”, she asked. “It’s very dangerous. However, with the TARDIS, we can easily close it off once we refuel.”, the Doctor said, the engines groaning as we landed. He looked at the screen and said, “Well, give a stallion a medal. We landed on the exact day we left Twilight and Spike here, only five minutes difference from when we last left.”

Strawberry smiled as she stepped out of the TARDIS and stretched her arms towards the sky. She frowned as she looked around and said, “Uh, Doctor…I thought you said only five minutes had passed since we last left?” The Doctor wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and said, “That’s right, only five minutes. Why?” Strawberry looked around and said, “Because we’re in the middle of a forest!” I frowned when she said that. I immediately looked at my watch and said, “That can’t be right. The only forest around here would be the Everfree Forest.” When that was said, Strawberry screamed as she ran back inside the TARDIS, closing the doors fast behind her. “Strawberry, what’s wrong?!”, I asked, worried beyond belief. “I saw a timberwolf!” she replied.

The Doctor looked at Strawberry in shock and said, “A timberwo-AGGHH!!!” We all looked at him in worry as he fell over, clutching at his stomach. He looked at his hands as they glowed slightly. “No, not now! It’s not a good time!”, he wheezed, his hands returning back to their original brown. Strawberry gasped and said, “Doctor, was that what I think it was?” He nodded as he looked at me and Derpy and said, “We’re short on time. Strawberry, I’ll ask again: are you sure we landed in a forest?” Strawberry frowned as she peeked out of the doors again and said, “Well, you guys won’t believe this, but there is a huge forest outside covering all of Ponyville. We definitely landed next to Twilight’s Library, there’s no doubt about that! See for yourselves!” She opened the doors wide open, my jaw dropping immediately at the immense forest that had grown over Ponyville. I helped the Doctor to his hooves and we joined my daughter outside of the TARDIS, hearing the doors close with a click. “This is…this is amazing. How is this even possible, Doctor?”, Derpy asked, looking at a nearby flower which was definitely an enlarged Poison Joke flower.

“I have no idea, Derpy. But we best get some answers. Let’s go check on Ms. Sparkle before we do anything too drastic.”, the Doctor replied, walking towards Twilight’s front door. He knocked on it three times, a flash of purple was seen as he was whisked away inside quickly. “Get in here, you three! Quickly!”, Twilight said hastily. I looked at Strawberry, but I shrugged as we did what we were told and immediately walked inside. Twilight locked the door behind us, and I was surprised to see the remainder of her friends within the tree as well. “Professor! Where in the hay have you been all this time!? All of Ponyville is being attacked by the Everfree Forest!”, Rainbow Dash exclaimed, zipping up to me and looking me in the face. “I’ve noticed that, Rainbow. There is no need to yell at me over it.”, I said, covering both my ringing ears. “Sorry, Mr. Skyfire, but it’s my fault that Rainbow Dash is yelling at you. I had told her that if anypony could answer why the Forest is growing out of control, it would be you.”, Fluttershy said quietly, huddled up among her many pets.

I raised an eyebrow when she said that, but the Doctor beat me to the punch with the exact same question I was thinking; “Why him?”, he asked weakly. Spike stood to his feet and said, “”It’s the trees. For some reason, they are speaking and all of them are calling out Prodigy’s name, as if they are possessed or something! It’s really spooky! Everypony in town has been frantic for answers for the last few minutes ever since you left last time!” I looked at Spike in utter confusion when he said that. “Are you saying all of this has happened in only five minutes, AND IT’S MY FAULT?”, I asked. Twilight shook her head and said, “Not five minutes, Prodigy. FIVE DAYS. It’s been five days since you left with the Doctor in the TARDIS.” I immediately shot a dark look at the Doctor, only to see him clutching at his chest in pain. “Doctor, are you ok? You’re not looking well.”, I asked in a worried tone. He coughed slightly, gold smoke escaping his mouth. Strawberry walked over to the Doctor and said, “You’re dying, aren’t you, Doctor?”
Applejack walked over to us and said, “Dying, talking trees, him coughing up gold smoke, what the hay is going on here? Y’all seem to know more than you’re telling, and I think we deserve some answers!” Strawberry looked back at the mare and said, “As far as the entire tree predicament, we are at a bit of a loss. As for the gold smoke, I think I can explain that a bit more. Best get comfy, this will be a crazy explanation.” I looked at my daughter and said, “The shortest explanation possible, Strawberry. We don’t have time.”

Once I said that, she explained the many conversations she has had with the Doctor, even explaining the time she got lost within the TARDIS and found proof of his past lives as a humanoid time traveler and not the stallion we saw before us. By the time she finished telling about how she and I was traveling through time and space with him and Derpy, everypony in the entire room was silent….

“Time travel without the use of a magic spell? It almost sounds way too impossible to believe.”, Rarity stated with a disbelieving look. “An alien from another universe that can change his physical appearance on the verge of death? That’s way too crazy to think that exists!”, Rainbow Dash stated. She looked over at Twilight and said, “You look like you believe this story.” Twilight nodded and said, “I’ve had first-hand experience of traveling in the TARDIS, as well as Spike. What felt like hours was only a couple of minutes for you girls. During then, it was when the Professor proposed to me.” I looked at Strawberry and then to the Doctor and said, “Radiation poisoning? You should’ve died before you even made it to our universe, Doctor.” He chuckled softly, another puff of gold smoke escaping his lips and said, “Yeah, well, even I can’t explain how my regeneration has been delayed for this long time. I’ve been here on Equus for almost two months traveling with Derpy.”

“Well, that would explain why you haven’t been seen in such a long time, Ditzy! I was so worried about you!”, Pinkie said, hugging Derpy tightly. “P-Pinkie! Choking!”, Derpy wheezed, Pinkie immediately letting her go. I chuckled but immediately said, “I know it is painful to me, but I must return to the forest to get to the bottom of this problem. You think you can make it there, Doctor?” He was just about to reply, but a loud bell was heard from outside. His eyes widened as it rang again, immediately springing to his hooves. “No! No no no no no!”, he exclaimed, running outside quickly. “Doctor, what’s wrong!?”, Derpy exclaimed, following him immediately. He snapped his fingers as the TARDIS doors opened immediately, a bright red glow exiting from within it. I ran outside as I saw Derpy and him walk into the TARDIS, I followed reluctantly. I was in shock at how the TARDIS sounded once I walked in. “Doctor, what’s going on here? What’s with that bell?”, I asked. “It’s the cloister bell. It’s an alarm that only goes off if the TARDIS or its inhabitants are in danger.”, he replied in a solemn tone. He looked to his right and said, “This is your doing, isn’t it old friend?” I looked immediately to his right and flinched slightly to see yet another alien staring back at us. He was humanoid in shape, but he had what looked to be octopus tentacles dangling from his face and dark amber eyes. He had no nose, and he was completely clad in what appeared to be a dark blue jumpsuit with the symbol of Sigma emblazoned on the right side of the jumpsuit. He was holding a small sphere in his hand which was connected to the inside of what seemed to be his mouth. “Doctor, what in Tartarus is that thing?”, I asked in a surprised tone. “Don’t be rude, Prodigy. That’s Ood Sigma. And we go way back, way too far back. How is it that you are here now, Ood Sigma?”, he asked the alien.

“This is a hologram that was created through the power of the Ood brain back on the Ood Sphere, my friend. It had sensed your presence and thought it best for me to talk to you. My question, however, is probably more important: how are YOU still alive?”, Sigma asked gently. The Doctor shook his head when Ood Sigma asked him that, watching the entire TARDIS console glow from its normal color to a shade of sickly red. “The TARDIS has become a paradox machine.”, he said, his eyes wide in horror as he watched his ship twist and contort itself to a different form around us. “You are being shown an impossible truth, Doctor. The only reason a paradox machine would exist if it is keeping a paradox intact. I can only think of one reason what it could be though, and I think you can easily deduce what that is.”, Sigma stated.

The Doctor looked up to the roof of the TARDIS in thought for a few minutes, only to gasp in shock. He looked at Sigma as he nodded and said, “You thought correctly. You are the reason this is happening, Doctor. The TARDIS must’ve known you were needed for something, so she turned herself into a paradox machine and kept you from regenerating. She even put up a very convincing perception filter around herself in order to keep the truth a secret. But now, you are weakening and as a result, so is she.” I watched as Sigma walked over to the console and placed a hand on it gently, hearing the TARDIS engines whine weakly, the cloister bell going off lowly once again. He looked at the Doctor and said, “I say you have three hours, Time Lord. Hurry, save the world one more time. But remember, the song is ending, so make it count.”
With a bright flash of light, Ood Sigma vanished from among us. The Doctor sighed as he ran towards a nearby corridor. “Professor, Derpy, Strawberry, follow me! We don’t have much time!”, he stated further along. We looked at each other as we immediately followed the stallion further into the TARDIS. Faster and faster the alien ran as he came to a screeching halt in front of a door, breathing heavily. Derpy placed a hand on him in worry as he waved her away to ensure he was alright. He opened the door and my eyes widened as I saw the most peculiar of contraptions lying about, but as far as I could tell, they looked like different modes of transportation. The Doctor tossed Derpy, Strawberry, and myself a helmet and said “Put them on. Turn the key to the right, right handlebar is the ignition, both of the gears are the brakes.” I raised an eyebrow as him and Derpy hopped onto one of the strange contraptions and drove out towards the front door of the TARDIS.

“Stop gawking, Papa! Let’s go!”, Strawberry said, sitting in a little carriage. I sat on the larger part of the mechanism and did just as the Doctor said, the machine roaring to life as we drove out quickly out of the TARDIS behind the Doctor. My eyes widened as I looked at the Time Lord and said, “What the hay is this thing, Doctor!?” He grinned and said, “It’s called a Motorcycle! It’s from my universe! Never mind that, to the Everfree Forest!”

With that, I followed the Doctor towards the Everfree Forest, making sure I didn’t crash into anypony or anything along the way. As I saw the forest come into view, I saw how it was growing out of control and immediately a sense of dread entered my heart as I could only imagine what we would come across this time….

The Doctor came to a stop within a clearing in the forest, a shaking Derpy hopping off of his motorcycle immediately afterwords. As soon as I turned the engine off on my own ride, I noticed that there was a lot of animal cries within the forest. Strawberry clinged to my leg and said, “What is making all the animals do that, Papa?” I shook my head at her question, even I had no idea why the animals were so restless. “Well, Doctor? Any ideas? I’m a bit of a loss right here.”, I said, looking around us all cautiously. He shushed me slightly then cupped his ears and said, “That’s not possible….this is bad, very bad.” Derpy looked at the Doctor and said, “What’s bad, Doctor?” He removed his sonic screwdriver from his coat and said, “I can understand the languages of all animals, and every animal here is saying the exact same thing. Listen!” My eyes widened when he said that as he activated his Sonic, but then everything went quiet as all of the animals spoke in unison, saying something that froze me down to the very core: “The being wrapped in death escapes to the world of life when the cursed immortal leaves her mark on him to join a neverending fight. With impossible facts to block his path, he must slowly see just what kind of person he is and what he must live to be. The bond of eight with destinies intertwined shall decide…whether the Living Paradox continues to live….or finally DIE.”

“Ok, that is certainly not a good sign.”, I said as a low growl as heard behind me. I turned around, only to barely miss a large paw scratch at me and my daughter, the paw belonging to a manticore,  an angry one at that. “Uhh, Doctor, Derpy, Strawberry, you want my suggestion?”, I said with a worried tone. “We’re all ears!”, the three said in unison. “Well, in this case, I say…RUN!!!”, I exclaimed, lifting Strawberry up as I ran in another direction, the Doctor and Derpy immediately followed as the manticore chased after. As a few minutes passed, more and more of the animals within the forest soon gave chase after us. “Professor, what is happening here?! Every animal in the forest is after us!”, Strawberry said, ducking into my labcoat as a hydra spat fire at us. “I haven’t the slightest idea! Doctor, anything?!”, I asked. The Time Lord was just about to reply when a flash of purple snatched him up and into a nearby cave. “Over here! Quickly, or your lives are forfeit!”, a voice rang out from the cave. None of us hesitated as we ducked into the cave, watching the animals run past us quickly.

Strawberry sighed heavily as she said, “That was way too close.” I panted heavily as the Doctor came towards us and said, “This way, quick. You’d never believe who just helped us!” Derpy looked at me with a confused face, but did as we were told as we followed the Doctor deeper into the cave. A soft glow was emitting from deep within as I began to see lots of markings on the walls. “No way, these marks on the walls. Doctor, this is ancient Zebrabwaen text! I’ve seen it at Zecora’s place before! But why would it be here of all places?”, I asked. “What does it say, Professor?”, Derpy asked, before the voice from before said, “This world is corrupted by the war. Only HE can mend its pain. Or cause its destruction.” I looked to my right to see a young mare looking back us with light pink eyes, a familiar shade that I remember seeing before in my travels.

“Wait a minute….you. You’re that pony from the past, what was it? ….Soothsayer! But how?”, I asked, before she raised a finger to her lips and shushed me immediately. “It’s not safe to talk here. Follow me.”, she said as she returned to the furthest depths of the cave. The four of us followed as we came to a sole cavern filled with many objects that seemed like they should’ve been in a museum. “What is this place?”, Derpy asked, looking at an old hourglass. “This is my home. Other than Zecora’s home, it’s the second-most safest place in the forest.”, Soothsayer said, sitting down on a wooden chair. “I don’t get it. How could you possibly be here, Soothsayer? We met you during the Cyberpony invasion back before Celestia and Luna were born. Soothsayer chuckled and said, “Well, I am certain your time traveler friend can answer that for you.”

The Doctor wiped his forehead of sweat as he said, “Let’s see….fixed point in time, perhaps? It’s the only explanation for you not aging in over a thousand years.” Soothsayer smiled softly as she ran a hand over the necklace that was on her neck. “This choker has been in my family for centuries. However, it has only ever been a normal trinket…until three years before you four arrived to my home, that is. It’s been contaminated by the dark energies that are constricting this planet, even as we speak. Every planet outside our own has had an adverse effect to this energy, and it is spreading. But, thanks to my skills as a fortuneteller, this necklace also enhanced my abilities to perceive the past, present, and future right down to the smallest detail.”, she said. The Doctor scoffed as Soothsayer looked at him and said, “I’ll not have a dying man laugh at my abilities, especially not you, man of Gallifrey. So far from home you are, yet many things from your universe is bleeding into our own. Haven’t you ever wondered why?”
The Doctor looked away slightly with a concerned look on his face as Soothsayer said, “Ah. You already know why. For some time, I wager. The effects of the war has leaked from its source and it has spread out so far. It even reached you, dear Doctor.” I looked at the Doctor and said, “What does she mean, Doctor? What war?” The Doctor stayed silent for a few minutes, looking at his hands as they glowed again, showing his regeneration was quickly approaching. He finally said, “You know what we are looking for in this forest, don’t you, Soothsayer?” The mare closed her eyes in thought, then reopened them to show that they were glowing a ghastly white. “Yes, I do indeed. At the very core of the forest, an odd occurrence is happening as we speak.”, she stated. “It’s the Everfree Forest, everything is odd in here.”, Derpy replied. Soothsayer shook her head as she said, “Not like this. As you all know, the Everfree Castle is not far from this location. Professor, I am certain you can imagine the location I am mentioning.” I shuddered slightly when I said, “Unfortunately. It’s like fate or a curse that the Everfree castle keeps coming up during my travels with the Doctor. Why?”

“A being from another world has taken refuge within the castle. It’s even safe to say that this being is even out of the wrong time as well. But, it has been consumed by this dark energy and it is bleeding into the very surroundings of the castle, including the Tree of Harmony. You’ve got to bring a stop to it, otherwise this world will crumble.”, Soothsayer stated, before falling into a chair behind her, completely drained of strength. I cleared my throat slightly and said, “Alright then. Looks like we know where to go.” Strawberry looked at me and said, “Are you sure, Papa?” I shook my head and said, “Not at all. However, as the girls said, these things are connected to me somehow, so I gotta go. There is no other option. Doctor, think you can make it there without dying on us?” He smiled softly as he said, “I have enough time to get there. Allons-y, everyone!” I nodded as I looked at Soothsayer who had fallen asleep on her chair, then walked out of the cave with the others towards the distant castle.

As we could see the castle looming over us, I looked around and saw how the plants in the nearby vicinity was withered and dying. Soothsayer was definitely right when she said that something was corrupting the area nearby. I looked towards the gorge and saw a bright light flickering within it. The Tree of Harmony was definitely in danger as well from whatever was inside. Whatever it was, however, was the last thing I was expecting to see….

The Doctor and I pushed the large oak doors to the castle open, a cloud of dust greeting us as we walked inside. I looked around and said, “Is it me, or does something seem different about this place?” Derpy flew around the room and said, “It looks like everything is brand new in here! How could that be?” The Doctor looked at Derpy and said, “Remember what Soothsayer said: this being is not only from another world, but another time as well. They could’ve easily did this. …Wait. It couldn’t be him, could it?” I raised an eyebrow when he said that, easily realizing what he was thinking of, but our thoughts were brought to a halt when a loud noise was heard from the throne room. “They’re in there! Let’s go!”, I said, moving towards the throne room. I pushed at the door to realize it was locked. “Sorry, Twilight. I know you said you wanted to refurbish this place, but saving the world takes priority!”, I said, ramming into the door, only to grunt in pain. “Professor, take it easy! That’s not like a normal door, you know!”, the Doctor said, running his sonic screwdriver on the door. He growled as he said, “This is embarrassing! I need to tune this thing so it can work on wood!” Strawberry frowned and said, “So, we can’t get in then?” The Doctor and I went silent for a few seconds, but then Derpy immediately stated, “Leave this one to me, guys! Iron posterior, away!!” I was at a loss for words for what happened next: Derpy ended up knocking the doors off their hinges with a flying bum tackle. “What? Doctor, did she?”, I asked.
“Yes.”, he replied. “With her?”, I stated. “Yes. Don’t ask how, I don’t even question it.”, the Doctor said, walking into the room immediately. Strawberry and I followed, only to see a sole being in the entire room, sitting on Writing Glory’s former throne reading a book. However, he looked right at us with a familiar shade of red eyes. “T-That’s not possible! How?!”, I stated. “Professor, what? How are you….over there?”, Derpy said, looking at the being as well. The Doctor frowned angrily as Strawberry looked in confusion as we were looking at an exact duplicate of myself. He smiled coldly as he stood to his feet and said, “Well, I was wondering when you four would appear before me.” He looked at a pocketwatch and frowned as he said, “Yet, you are a couple of years too soon for it. I am disappointed, Doctor. You are losing your touch.”

“Imposter. A changeling imitating me is the cause of all this trouble? How dare you take my face?!”, I exclaimed to the other me. He frowned as he flew over to me quickly and looked me dead in the eyes. “Do I seem like a changeling to you? Do I even remotely act like one to you?”, he asked, before grinning coldly. My eyes widened as I saw his eyes flash from red to a dual-colored pair of silver and green. I went into shock after that, since I recognized those eyes very clearly. “No…not you. It couldn’t be. You were a nightmare I had!”, I stated, watching as his entire body morphed in front of us: his fur fading to a pale gray, his hair morphing to a similar shade with strands of jet black. He chuckled as he ran a hand through his hair and said, “A nightmare, huh? Seems like an appropriate title to label me as, considering how hard I tried to destroy you.” He looked at me and chuckled then said, “But, when it comes right down to it, what seems to be more believable: your life or the nightmares you have each night?”

I breathed heavily as he leaned in close to me and whispered in my ear saying, “You can feel it. I am you. At least, a part of you. You can thank your….friend Discord for allowing me another chance of burning you alive, right down to the core. You should’ve never left home, little boy. Now, you’re all alone with me.” I froze when he said that, but then, a stick hit the imposter in the back rapidly. He frowned as he looked back and saw Strawberry behind him. “You leave my Papa alone, you bully! What has he done to you?!”, she yelled. The imposter narrowed his eyes as he said, “What has he done?” My heart dropped as he slapped Strawberry hard on the cheek, knocking her onto the ground. “Everything.”, he said. “You monster! How could you strike a little filly like that!”, I said, kneeling near Strawberry, holding her close to me. “What, you actually care for her? Or for those other ponies you call friends? Or for the Doctor, neither of which you know?”, the imposter said, only to notice my cutie mark glowing brightly on my forehead. He laughed slightly as he said, “Oh, so you are in there. So, which one are you: the brat or the Egyptian?”

“What are you doing here, Arufunu? I sealed you away during the war! That was the only thing I could do to stop you!”, I said. Arufunu smirked and said, “You would like to know. Unfortunately, I’m not going to tell you, Yami. Oh wait, that’s not what they call you here. What was it again? ….Oh right, the Phantom Nightbolt. Ha, what a laugh! Even back in our world, you were a bit…abnormal.” The Phantom frowned as Arufunu said, “I could kill you right now, but where’s the fun in it for me? You’ll see me again, but you better be prepared, cause this time you WILL die.” He laughed loudly as he vanished in a black cloud, leaving me alone with the Doctor and the others. The entire castle rumbled as it reverted back to its normal state, all of the surroundings outside returning to how it should be very slowly. I sighed softly as the mark on my forehead vanished, groaning immediately as I said, “W-What happened?”

“Don’t you remember?”, Derpy asked. I shook my head as I said, “I remember that imposter slapping Strawberry, then everything went black. Where did he go?” The Doctor said, “Gone. He’s gone. You stopped him, Professor.” I smiled softly as I looked at Strawberry in my arms and said, “Let’s return to Twilight’s library.” The Doctor and Derpy nodded as we retired from the castle, heading back to ponyville immediately.

As we returned to Twilight’s library, everypony bombarded us with questions on what happened. However, the Doctor insisted that nothing had happened. Doctor, what are you trying to hide?

As we sat inside the library, the Doctor groaned in pain again. “Doctor, is it?!”, I said as he raised a hand, it glowing even brighter now. “It’s time. Derpy, Professor, can you help me?”, he asked. I nodded as Derpy and I helped him to his hooves and walked out to the TARDIS. He snapped his fingers as the doors opened, the cloister bell ringing even louder than it was earlier. “Sorry, but you two have to leave now. I must do this alone.”, the Doctor said, walking over to the TARDIS console. “Sorry you have to go so soon, Doctor. It was fun, it really was.”, I said. He chuckled softly, but it came to an end when the doors closed behind Derpy and I, the TARDIS engines roaring to life on their own. “Doctor, what’s happening?”, Derpy asked. “No idea, I didn’t do anything!”, the Doctor said, groaning in pain again as his body glowed again. The TARDIS lurched and groaned and shook violently as it began to fall apart on the inside, the doors opening immediately to show the time vortex outside of it. “Hang on, you two! Hang on!”, the Doctor said. Immediately, we grabbed onto the console, trying to hold on as tight as we can. “I can’t do it! I’m gonna fall!”, Derpy said, her grip slipping slightly. “Just hold on!”, the Doctor said, reaching a hand out as some of his regeneration energy blasted Derpy in her eyes. “It hurts! It hurts! Doctor, help!”, Derpy exclaimed, before finally losing her grip on the console. “Derpy!!!!”, the Doctor yelled as she fell out the door. I frowned as I let go of the console, flying after her. “Professor, come back!”, the Doctor said, before I looked at him, my cutie mark glowing on my head once again. “Go, Doctor! I’ll save her! You can count on that!”, I said as a bright light enveloped me as I caught Derpy in my arms, vanishing from the time vortex, leaving the Doctor behind.

“But….I don’t wanna go...”, the Doctor said softly as he finally exploded in a burst of radiant gold, his body shifting with a new one, the TARDIS reformatting itself into a normal time machine. The Doctor yelled as his regeneration neared completion, before finally emerging from his transformation into an entirely different being. The Time Lord looked at himself and said, “Well, that was painful. Let’s see here: legs, still have those. Excellent, hands and fingers, LOTS OF FINGERS! Arms, two eyes, nose…definitely had worse, chin-blimey! Hair? STILL NOT A GINGER! Regeneration, it’s an unfair gamble! And why is my chest heavy?” He immediately looked down and said, “Oh. I regenerated into a woman. It’s been a while since that happened, what, 850 years ago perhaps? Wait, no! I’m forgetting something! Something very important!” The Doctor grunted as she was thrown onto the floor by the exploding TARDIS, laughing as she said, “Of course, I’m crashing! GERONIMO!!!” She laughed as she flipped a bunch of switches as the TARDIS launched itself out of the time vortex to who knows where.

Meanwhile, back on Ponyville…

Twilight rubbed a hand on Strawberry’s head gently as she slept. She looked out the window of her library as she noticed the TARDIS was long gone as well as the remainder of the Everfree forest. “Everything is back to normal now.”, she said, but soon after, a loud boom was heard outside. “What was that?!”, Spike asked, coming out of the kitchen with a bowl full of gems. “No idea!”, Twilight stated as her front door was pushed open, I walked in carrying Derpy on my arms, my cutie mark still flashing rapidly on my forehead. “Help me, Princess Twilight! She got hurt!”, I said. “Phantom Nightbolt, what happened?!”, Twilight asked as she led me to her bedroom. I placed Derpy on the bed gently and said, “She was hit with some of the Doctor’s regeneration energy. She also fell into the time vortex. If I didn’t jump after her, she may have not made it.”

“Oh, the poor girl! She isn’t hurt too badly, is she?”, Twilight asked. “Well…she’s unconscious, so I can show you without any regrets.”, I said, lifting up one of Derpy’s eyes, showing that her eye had changed from its normal yellow shade to a shade of bright blue and a very familiar shade of blue as well. “Is that what I think it is?”, Spike asked, seeing me nod in agreement. “It is: it’s the same shade as the Doctor’s. However, what it means, I haven’t the slightest idea. We can only wait and see what happens next.”, I stated before falling over onto the bed, my cutie mark returning to where it should be once again. Spike and Twilight looked at each other with a worried face, both thinking the same thing what was to happen next.

As Derpy, Strawberry, and I slumbered and slept the fatigure of the events that transpired that day, the Doctor continued hurtling towards her newest adventure. Where she will land, who knows…


> Ch. 6 - Sleeper
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was dark and stormy on this Equestrian night.  Everypony was preparing for a good night's sleep, all except for three  ponies in Ponyville…

"Button, time for bed!", Cream  Heart stated as she walked into her son's room, watching him play on his  video games as he normally does. "In a few minutes, Mom! I need to beat  this level!", the young colt said. His mother smiled gently and said,  "Alright then, but once you are done, straight to bed mister." He nodded  as his mother left his bedroom. However, on the other side, another  pony was also dealing with sleeping issues. "Come on, Lyra, time for  bed!", Bon-Bon said to the mint green mare who was plucking a few  strings to her favorite harp. "Just a couple more minutes, Bon-Bon. I  gotta finish practicing or Ms. Octavia is going to be cross with me!",  Lyra stated with a frantic look on her face. Bon-Bon shrugged her  shoulders as she left Lyra to herself. Lyra sighed softly as she  continued to practice on her harp, not noticing a bright light within  the sky.

Meanwhile, high above the sky….

A  loud explosion rang out from within the TARDIS as it ripped itself  apart from within. The Doctor groaned loudly as she clinged to the floor  of the TARDIS from the outside, previously being thrown out of it. "I  said behave, old girl! Easy!", the Doctor said, activating her sonic  screwdriver to flip a switch on the console, the TARDIS immediately  lurching as it threw the time lord back inside. She sighed softly, but  was immediately thrown into a nearby wall as the TARDIS flew  uncontrollably among the sky. As this occurred, the young colt had  finished his video game and was just about to crawl into his bed, but  suddenly a loud boom was heard in the distance. Button walked over to  his bedroom window and saw smoke rising in the distance and immediately  bolted to his mother's room and knocked on the door. "Mom! Mom, wake up!  I think the Professor blew something up again!", he exclaimed, Button  blinked as no reply came from within his mother's room. He opened the  door quietly as he peeked into his mother's room, hearing soft snores  coming from the bed. He shrugged as he went back into his room and  picked up his beanie and a flashlight and ran out of the front door to  the source of the smoke.

Meanwhile….

"What  was that?!", Lyra exclaimed, hearing the loud noise as well. She  clicked her teeth as a string from her harp snapped. "That's not good. I  gotta repair that as soon as possible. …That's strange. Bon-Bon isn't a  very heavy sleeper, so that noise should've woke her up.", Lyra thought  to herself. She looked out the window towards the pillar of smoke and  said, "I should go and check that out and make sure nopony was hurt."  With that, Lyra slipped into a robe and walked out the door, using her  horn as a flashlight as she headed towards the source of the smoke. At  the same time, Button walked through some bushes as he came closer and  closer to the source of the smoke. "Perhaps over here?", he said softly,  only to turn around as he heard a branch snap. He smiled softly as he  saw Lyra walk up behind and say, "Easy with that flashlight, kiddo.  Shouldn't you be asleep, Button?"

"Hi, Lyra. Sorry, my video game  kept me up just a little while longer than I expected. Then, I heard  this huge explosion before I went to bed. I had come to check it out,  thinking it was the Skyfires working on something again.", Button said,  only to get a small giggle from Lyra. "Something tells me you came to  see Strawberry more than anything else, Button!", Lyra said. Button  blushed heavily when she said that. "I haven't the slightest idea what  you are talking about, Lyra!", Button exclaimed, pointing his flashlight  towards the smoke. "So, you going to come along to find out what's  happening?", he stated, holding his hand out. Lyra smiled as she took  his hand and the two of them walked towards the smoke.

A  few minutes had passed, Button and Lyra finally getting to the source  of the smoke. Their eyes were disbelieved at what they had found…

"Whoa.  That is one giant crater. Prof. Skyfire certainly did a number on this  place!", Lyra said. Button shook his head and said, "I don't think it  was the Professor this time, Lyra. Take a look at that, there's  something down there." Lyra squinted her eyes towards the center of the  crater and then saw exactly what the young colt saw as well: a navy blue  box, about the size of two fully grown ponies lying down on its side,  the source of the smoke billowing out from it. "What do you think it  is?", Button asked softly. Lyra shook her head as she and the young colt  walked cautiously down into the crater towards the box. Lyra walked up  closer to the box and ran a hand on it gently, jumping back slightly as  the doors opened up on it, a grappling hook landing next to her,  attaching to a hook. A loud groan was heard from within as two gray  hands grabbed onto the base of the box, the head of a mare appeared from  within. The mare panted slightly as she looked at Button and Lyra and  said, "Do either of you happen to have any carrots?"

Button raised  an eyebrow when the mare said that. "Carrots?", he replied, the mare  nodding her head and saying, "That's all I can think of right now. I  think I am having a craving! That's new, never had cravings before."  Button and Lyra looked at each other with a confused face as the mare  pulled herself out of the box and said, "Well, that's quite the mess!  Sorry if I woke you two up from your sleep. Just had a bit of a hiccup  with the old girl here." Button walked up to the box and said, "What is  this thing?" The mare looked at Button and said, "It's a Police box. But  enough about that, where is everypony else? That explosion couldn't  have just attracted you two!" Lyra's eyes widened when the mare said  that. She looked all around them and noticed that she was right: where  was everypony else? "That is peculiar. Ponyville's a pretty small town.  That should've had at least half of the citizens searching for the  source of that explosion, so why is it just me and Button?", Lyra asked.

The  gray mare was about to speak again, but she coughed loudly as she fell  to her knees in pain. "Are you alright?!", Button asked with a worried  tone. "No no, it's fine.", the mare said, coughing up a puff of gold  smoke. "What in Celestia are you, lady?", Lyra asked, confused when she  saw the mare's hands glowing the same shade of gold. "No idea. Still  cooking. So, something is definitely wrong here. If that explosion was  as loud as you claimed, more ponies should've investigated the noise.  So, let us investigate this problem together! My name is the Doctor, and  you two are?", the Doctor said, standing to her hooves and quickly  walking over to Lyra and Button. "My name is Lyra Heartstrings, and this  is Button Mash.", Lyra said. The Doctor smiled as she said, "Excellent!  Lyra, Button, let's be on our way!" The two equines nodded but looked  at the Doctor confusingly as she walked in the opposite direction,  walking right into a nearby rock. She yelped as she fell over on her  back and winced as she put a hand to her head. "Are you alright?",  Button asked.

"It's fine, early days. Steering is a bit off. So,  which of you live closest to here?", the Doctor asked. Button raised his  hand as the Time Lord said, "Very well, we'll start at your place,  young one!"

A few minutes passed by as the trio left  the TARDIS behind to return to town. The Doctor was indeed right: it was  like a ghost town in POnyville, not a single being was stirring at all.  As Button opened the door to his home, the Doctor immediately walked  towards Button's kitchen, ransacking the entire room…

"What  are you doing?!", Button exclaimed as the Doctor chomped into a carrot,  spitting out immediately. "What is this thing?! It's horrible!", the  Doctor exclaimed. "It's a carrot.", Button replied. "Carrots are  rubbish, I hate them!", the mare exclaimed, tossing the carrot into a  nearby trashcan. "Didn't you just say you loved carrots a few seconds  ago?", Lyra stated with a confused face. "Sorry, it's a new mouth, so  the rules are new as well. Everything tastes wrong! Why are you just  standing there, Button? It's your house and I need food!", the Doctor  said, sitting down in a chair. Button shrugged slightly as he went to  the refrigerator and retrieved the milk, fixing the Doctor a bowl of  cereal. "Ah, cereal. Now this is the way to go,", the Doctor said,  eating a few pieces of the cereal, only to immediately run to the  trashcan and spit it out. She groaned and said, "Sorry, no. Never again.  How about doughnuts? I like doughnuts. Do you have doughnuts?" Button  and Lyra looked at each other as he continued to give the strange mare  different varieties of foods, each one either getting thrown outside or  spat back at the young colt. He sighed as he looked into his last  cabinet and said, "We have pears. Would you like one?"

"PEARS?!  Even in a new regeneration, pears are still awful! Wait, that's it! I  know what I need!", the Doctor said, looking in Button's refrigerator.  "What I need is….Strawberries and zap Apple jam!", she said with a  smile, sitting down at the table. She chuckled happily as she ate a few  of the strawberries dipped in the jam, nodding in content. She then  said, "So, young one. You said your name is Button Mash, right? I take  it your mother is home?" Button nodded as he replied, "Yes she is. She's  asleep right now, at least, I think she is. With all the noise that has  been going on down here as well as the….I guess, your crash landing?"  The doctor then looked at the young colt with concern and said, "Then  where is she?"

Button and Lyra's eyes widened when the Doctor said  that. Button looked immediately to the stairs and said, "That is  strange. Mom? Mom, are you awake?" Silence was heard in reply and Button  looked at Lyra with a look of worry. "That's not right. Mom always  replies if I call her.", the young colt said. The Doctor popped her last  strawberry into her mouth, then immediately bolted upstairs. She looked  at the doors and walked into the master bedroom, seeing Button's mother  fast asleep in her bed. Lyra and Button entered the room cautiously and  Lyra immediately said, "She really is asleep. That isn't possible, is  it?" The Doctor frowned as she removed her sonic screwdriver from her  pocket and ran it over the young mare. She then peeled back her eyelid  and said, "Green eyes. Button, what is your mother's name?" The young  colt said, "Cream Heart. Her name's Cream Heart. I don't understand,  Doctor. What's wrong with her? Why won't she wake up?" The Doctor sat on  the edge of the bed and said, "It's not just her, Button. I am guessing  at least 75% of all Equus is suffering from the same symptom. Your  mother is trapped within a dream-like coma. She won't wake up, not from  any sort of stimulus. I'm pretty certain that we are the only three that  is still awake."

"Is there anything that you can do to help her,  Doctor? Please, she's my mom.", Button said worryingly. The Doctor  kneeled down in front of the young colt and rubbed his shoulders gently.  She smiled and said, "I'll save her, Button Mash. I'll save her and  everypony else as well." Button smiled gently, then the Doctor said,  "First things first, we need to figure out if everypony in town is  suffering from the same symptoms. I need the two of you to check every  house, every building where someone could be living at." Lyra raised an  eyebrow when the Doctor said that. "What will you do then?", she asked.  "I don't know. Still cooking. Need to let my own mind do the talking!",  the Doctor replied, bolting out the door. Button and Lyra looked at  each, shrugging their shoulders as they did as they were told.

As  the equine duo scoured across Ponyville to find any source of anypony  else being awake, the Doctor returned to her TARDIS, still surprised to  see it smoking and on its side.….

"Oh. Well, we  cannot have that, now can we?", the Doctor said as she picked up the  rope she used to climb out, tying it immediately to her. She opened the  doors to the TARDIS and said, "Whoa, that's a bit of a mess. Extractor  fans, on!" She was surprised when the TARDIS activated exhaust fans  within it, removing the smoke from the main console room. "Oh, so that  actually works! Geronimo!", she exclaimed as she jumped down into the  TARDIS, dangling over the console. "Alright, first things first: getting  you right-side up!", she stated, flipping a few switches. With a  rumble, the TARDIS engines groaned and squealed as it dematerialized and  rematerialized in the same spot, standing right-side up. The Doctor  grinned as she untied the rope around her and went down one of the  hallways to search for supplies. "Alright, let's see here…..Sonic  Screwdriver, check. Weird thingamajig that goes ding if it detects an  alien presence within sleep, check! And one Time Lord to look absolutely  clever, check! Now, let's see if this thing still works!", she stated,  looking at the machine she carried as she walked out of the TARDIS,  locking it behind her and returning back to Ponyville.

Meanwhile…

"Any  luck, Lyra?", Button asked as the two of them came together in front of  his home. "No such luck. Everypony on the other side of town is  completely out cold. Even the train station is shut down. How about  you?", Lyra stated. Button shook his head and said, "Same with me. I  even checked the castle and both Princess Twilight and Spike are asleep!  Whatever that is doing this must be super strong!" Lyra frowned  slightly when the Doctor ran up behind Button and said, "Not to worry,  we'll soon have some sort of idea on what we are dealing with thanks to  this handy gadget I got from a fellow human in the year 5000 Alpha-1. I  almost thought that it was a piece of worthless metal. How wrong was I!"

Button  looked at the machine and said, "What is it?" The Doctor looked at  Button and said, "No idea. It doesn't have a name. Think I'll call it the Sleeper,  seems appropriate. It detects parasites and alien lifeforms that attach  to others during their sleep. Anyway, come on. No time to lose!" Lyra  immediately gasped and said, "Wait, Doctor, the door is!", before  getting a loud yelp from the Doctor as she fell back from hitting her  head on a closed door. "Ow!", the Doctor exclaimed. "Sorry, the door's  closed. Didn't you see it?" The Doctor groaned and said, "That was an  oak wood door. That hurt, but on the plus side, that helped. A quick  bump to the head to get the engines upstairs fully functioning." The  Doctor immediately stood to her hooves and used her Sonic Screwdriver on  the doorknob, frowning as it sparked and fizzed in her hand. "What  happened to you? Did you get damaged in the crash landing?", she said  softly to the Sonic as she keep fiddling with it, the door springing  wide open as she bolted upstairs to Cream Heart's room. Button and Lyra  followed as the Doctor walked over to Cream Heart's bed quietly as she  held The Sleeper in her hands. She connected what seemed to be a headset  to Cream's head and fiddled with a few switches on the device and said,  "Now, let's just see if I can get a reading here. With any luck, this  will shed some light on our predicament here."

Button crossed his  fingers as the machine beeped a few times and a few blinking lights went  off on the headset, hoping that his mother was ok. Finally, with a loud  ding, the Doctor said, "Ah-ha, results! Let's see what we have  here….oh. Oh dear, that's not good. That's not very good at all." Lyra's  eyes widened when she asked, "What? What is it, Doctor?" The Doctor  directed the screen to the two equines and said, "I don't know. I've  never seen anything like this before. I don't really like it when I come  across something that I know nothing about, either." Button tilted his  head at the creature he saw on the screen and said, "Isn't that a  Dremure?" Lyra rolled her eyes when Button said that, only for the  Doctor to ask, "What's a Dremure?" Lyra immediately stated, "It's just a  child's fairytale, Doctor. The Dremures are supposed to be mystical  creatures that exist within the dream world. They live off of bad dreams  and are only supposed to give everypony good dreams. It was always said  that they are shapeshifting entities that always changed shape  depending on who was having a specific dream, however the form of a  centaur was always how they were depicted. A centaur with green eyes so  pure they looked like emeralds, long flowing manes mixed with silver and  gold, light blue fur with patches of white that looked like clouds and a  smile that warmed you to the very center of your being. They are the  very epitome of peace, love, and happiness."

The Doctor looked at  the screen and said, "This creature looks nothing like that description.  I know the face of evil too well, and this screams it. But, I can say  this for certain: this is no fairytale. Whatever this thing is feeding  off the dreams of Button's mother as well as everypony that may have  fallen into slumber and it needs to be stopped. NOW. But how do we even  begin on stopping an entity that exists in a dream world?" Button  crossed his arms, then snapped his fingers and said, "What if we ask for  Princess Luna to help us? She is the princess of the night AND she does  take care of everypony's dreams while we sleep." Lyra smiled and said,  "That's a great idea, kid! Princess Luna can easily help out with this  predicament. But there's a problem: the train station is closed. My  guess is that the stationmaster and the train engineer is also caught in  this spell." The Doctor laughed and said, "That's not a problem! We can  take the TARDIS!" At that, the gray mare ran out the door and  downstairs. Button and Lyra looked at each other with a confused look  and immediately followed after the mare, realizing that she was heading  back to the strange blue box within the crater.

"Doctor, exactly  what is this thing anyway?", Lyra said, looking at the box. "It's  directly in the center of this crater and it doesn't seem to have a  single scratch or burn on it!", she said. The Doctor grumbled as she  continued to fiddle with the lock and said, "Come on, not now! This is  not the time for this to happen! She won't let me in, still repairing.  Now we have no method of transport to get to Canterlot!" The Doctor  sighed as she leaned on the doors of the TARDIS and said, "There is no  possible way to get to the capital now. The train is shut down, my….ride  is incapable of flight at the moment. If only there was another  possible way to get to Canterlot ASAP, this wouldn't be a problem!" The  Doctor grunted as she bumped her head on the door of the TARDIS in  thought. Button scratched his head gently until his eyes widened in  surprise and said, "Actually, I think I may know of one way we can get  to Canterlot pretty quickly. Follow me!", Button said, running back into  town. Lyra ran after the young colt as the Doctor hopped to her hooves  and gave quick pursuit.

As time passed by, The Doctor  finally caught up with the two equines only to come across a place she  didn't expect to see so soon after her regeneration…

"Wait,  this is Prof. Skyfire's home! How is this going to help us?", the  Doctor said as she coughed up more gold smoke from her mouth. Button  raised an eyebrow when the Doctor said that. "You know Strawberry's dad?  Wait, not important right now. What is important is not the house  itself, but what's underneath it. The Professor has been working on some  sort of underground tunnel system that branches out all the way to all  sides of Equestria. Right now, he's only made it to Canterlot, but  that's exactly what we need right now! Now, where is that key?", the  young colt said as he looked around under a few stones near the door.  "Ha! Who needs a key when you have a Sonic Screwdriver? Let me at that  lock!", the Doctor said as she pulled out her Sonic from her pocket and  fiddled with it again, opening the door with an audible click. "Never  fails!", the Doctor said before the Sonic burst into sparks once again,  exploding in her hand. She dropped it immediately as it sizzled across  the cool ground. "No! No, not now! This is just great! No TARDIS, no  Sonic, what next?!", the Doctor said. "Now's not the time, Doctor! Let's  move!", Lyra said as she walked inside alongside Button, the Doctor  sighing as she left the Sonic Screwdriver behind.

As the Doctor  walked in, Button closed the doors as he looked around for a flashlight.  Finally, he found exactly what he was looking for and flipped on the  light, pointing it over to the couch to spot a sleeping Prodigy Skyfire.  His ears twitched as he heard some light snores from upstairs and said,  "Prodigy, Arty, and Strawberry are out like a light. Quickly, follow  me." The Doctor nodded as she and Lyra followed the young colt to a  door. He turned the knob and opened the door, showing a flight of stairs  that go straight underground. "Down here we'll find exactly what we  need.", the young colt said as he walked down the stairs, the other two  following him down to come to a very large room. Button looked around as  he saw a large switch on the wall and pulled on it, getting a few  sparks as a bunch of lights flooded the room, showcasing a few tunnels,  three in total. Button ran over to the tunnel in the middle and hopped  into what looked like a golf cart with railcar wheels instead of normal  wheels. "Here, hop on!", Button stated as he sat down at the wheel of  the contraption. Lyra sat down beside the young colt as the Doctor  climbed on the back as the colt turned the machine on, the three moving  rather quickly down the rails to their next destination. "Why, I can't  believe it! It's a subway system! The Professor is making a subway  system underneath his very home!", the Doctor exclaimed in astonishment.  'That side of him is starting to bleed out even more. I just hope I can  help him before it's too late', the Time Lord thought as Button said,  "The Professor has been working on this transport system for a few years  now. He hopes it can help out other ponies get to places a lot quicker  than the normal train station or using magic or wings to get from place  to place. Once it is finished, he plans on cutting off his access to  these tunnels then fill everything with concrete, that way, the dirt  doesn't cave in on anyone!"

"The Professor is always thinking up  some crazy ideas, but this one is beyond anything I have seen him do  before! By the way, Button, how soon will we be in canterlot going this  way?", Lyra asked. "It should only take us a few more minutes! This last  turn should be our exit!", Button stated as he took a turn to the  right, the light of the moon flooding the exit of the tunnel as the  three came to a stop on the outskirts of the city. With that, the three  of us made our way to the castle.

As the three of us  made it to the castle, we found it rather easy to get inside with  everypony being asleep. However, as we got inside…

"Alright,  you two, keep your voice down while we go in here. We are entering the  very heart of Equestria, so who knows what may be awaiting us inside?",  the Doctor said as he pushed the door to the castle open slightly, only  to notice that most of the lights were indeed on inside the castle.  "Somepony must be awake for all the lights to be on, Doctor!", Button  said. "You're right, my young friend. Let us go and find this  somepony!", the Doctor said, walking inside immediately, only for her  attention to catch a reflective mirror, seeing a strange mare staring  back at her. "Well, that's just rubbish. Who is that supposed to be?",  she asked. Lyra looked at the reflection and raised a curious eyebrow as  she said, "That's you, Doctor!" The Doctor looked at herself and said,  "Are you sure about that? Doesn't look like me." Button looked back at  the Doctor from the top of the stairs and said, "Will you two hurry it  up already!?" The Doctor's eyes widened and said, "I refuse to meet  whoever it is that is still awake here looking all raggedy! What we need  is a quick pit-stop, right there!"

Button raised a curious  eyebrow as the Doctor ran into the first door, Lyra and he following the  mare into the room to see it was nothing but a giant walk-in closet.  The Doctor rummaged through all the clothes as Lyra said, "The fate of  the world is at stake, and you're stealing clothes?" The Doctor looked  back at Lyra and said, "Sue me if it makes you feel better. This kind of  thing is normal to me." As the Doctor undressed, Button laughed as Lyra  immediately covered the young colt's eyes. A few minutes passed and the  Doctor said, "Perfect! Let's be on our way!" Button raised an eyebrow  at the outfit the Doctor was wearing which consisted of a brown skirt, a  white button-up shirt, a red fez, and a matching red bowtie along with a  matching brown jacket on her shoulders as if it was a cape. "You look  silly.", he stated. "More like awesome!", the Doctor said, readjusting  her bowtie as she ran out the room, Lyra and the young colt following  her as she made her way to their destination: Princess Luna's bedroom.  The Doctor opened the door wide as they saw Luna groaning in pain, her  horn glowing wildly. "Princess Luna! What's going on!?", Lyra said. She  opened her eyes slightly as she looked at the three strangers, her  attention immediately landing on the Doctor. "Y-Ye….ye are the Doctor,  aren't ye? My sister has told me stories about ye and your adventures.  We thank thee for thou's services to Equestria. Is it possible ye  already know of what is occurring now?"

The Doctor shook her head  and said, "Perhaps you can fill us in a little more. All we truly know  is that everypony is plagued with a never-ending sleep." Luna groaned as  she said, "Well, it's the Dremures. The Dremures are a collection of  entities that work alongside me to regulate good dreams as well as bad.  Unfortunately, one Dremure by the name of Caius regulated the many  nightmares of most of us princesses. And he….well, he absorbed my  Tantabus." The Doctor raised an eyebrow as she asked, "What's a  Tantabus?"

As Luna told the story about her Tantabus,  the Doctor was shocked on how much she has missed since she was last on  Equestria. She couldn't believe that the timespan of events that  occurred while she regenerated was so quick here. At least she knew what  they were all dealing with now…

"Alright, now that  we know what we're dealing with, all that is needed to be done now is to  separate the Tantabus from the Dremure. Your Majesty, is that even  possible?", the Doctor asked. Luna shook her head and said, "Unless if  we can catch Caius and keep him constrained long enough to separate the  Tantabus from him, then perhaps. Why, do ye have any ideas, Doctor?"  Button and Lyra looked at the Doctor as she fiddled with her bowtie  slightly and said, "Well, only way to catch a dremure is within the  world of dreams. So, let's go into the dream world and meet with our  nightmarish friend, shall we?" Luna nodded and said, "If that be your  wish, we shall assist in every way we can. But be warned: with each pony  that sleeps, the dremure grows stronger in power. Be ever vigilant."  The Doctor as Button stated, "Hold on! I'm going too! This dremure has  my mother trapped in this never-ending sleep, so I want to help." Lyra  stood straight as she said, "If the kid is going, then so I am. No way  am I going to sit by while this is all happening." Luna nodded as her  horn glowed slightly, a bright flash consuming the three ponies as they  fell into a pile on the floor fast asleep. Luna panted heavily as she  said, "Good luck, you three. I shall wait until the opportune moment.

A few minutes later….

The  Doctor groaned as she sat up and shook her head slightly, picking up  her nearby fez as she placed it back on her head and said, "That  definitely did not feel pretty. Lyra, Button, wake up. We've got work to  do." She looked to her left as she saw the other two ponies stir,  finally sitting upright as Button said, "Where are we?" Lyra looked  around as she saw a field full of flowers, sniffing the air as a sweet  scent filled her nostrils. "This place is so peaceful, it can only be  the dream world, kid." The Doctor stood to her hooves and said, "Yes  well, do be on your guard. Dreams are definitely good, but they can  quickly turn bizarre quickly. As Princess Luna said, we must forever be  vigilant as we walk among here." Button and Lyra finally stood to their  hooves as Button asked, "Alright then, so which way do we go? This field  is massive!" Lyra looked dead ahead of her, "Well, if I was a dremure  being controlled by a nightmare entity that is corrupting my very being,  I'd be in the creepiest looking place in this world." The Doctor and  Button raised an eyebrow as they looked in the direction Lyra was  staring at to see a giant black vortex of clouds in the far distance.  The Doctor smiled slightly as she said, "Yes, that'll definitely be the  post we are looking for. Very well then!" The Doctor began to ran  towards the area, only for Button to say, "Doctor, there's no way we can  run all the way there and make it in time! There has to be a faster way  of getting there!" The Doctor stopped as she scratched her head and  said, "You know what, you're absolutely right, young child. What we need  is a method of transportation! Fortunately, I have that covered!"

"How  do you have it covered?", Lyra asked. The Doctor laughed as she said,  "Have you two already forgotten where we are? We are in the dream world,  where anything can happen! So, hang on to your pants. Things are about  to get wild." Lyra and Button looked at each other as the Doctor took  her TARDIS key out of her coat pocket and she said, "Please let this  work." She tapped on the key slightly as she waited patiently as a loud  grinding noise was heard. She laughed as the TARDIS materialized in  front of her, Lyra's eyes widening as she said, "It's that blue box  again!" The Doctor placed the key into the lock as she said, "Not  precisely. As I said, we're in the dream world, so whatever we desire  can easily be created with the power of our minds. Come inside!" Button  raised an eyebrow as the Doctor vanished within the box, following her  immediately as his voice said, "NO WAY!" He ran back out as he walked  around the entire box and said, "But that can't be! There's no way that  the real box back home is the same way as this one!" Lyra looked at  Button in confusion as he walked back in, She shrugged as she walked  into the box, her mind being blown from what she saw.

The Doctor  opened her arms wide as she said, "Welcome to the TARDIS, Ms. Lyra. So,  what do you think? I've heard it all." Lyra's eyes blinked furiously as  she looked all around her and said, "I-It's….bigger. It's bigger on the  inside! This thing has its own world inside of it!" Button came out from  a nearby corridor with a slice of pie and said, "It has way more than  just this! It even has its own swimming pool!" The Doctor chuckled  softly as she snapped her fingers, the doors closing behind her. The  console of the TARDIS beeped as a Sonic Screwdriver materialized near  the Doctor. "Oh lovely, a new one!", the Doctor said, pressing a button  on the screwdriver as it hummed slightly, a green light glowed brightly  at the tip. "Even if it is fake, this will definitely come in handy! So,  what are we waiting for? Caius is not that far away! GERONIMO!", the  Doctor exclaimed as she pulled a lever on the console, the TARDIS  roaring to life as it lifted off from its position, flying quickly  towards the vortex. Button and Lyra grabbed onto a nearby railing as the  spaceship rocked back and forth as Lyra said, "It's a bit of a bumpy  ride!" The Doctor grinned as she said, "I know! It's part of the fun!"  Button laughed as he said, "I like it! Let's get this taken care of and  save everypony!" The Doctor nodded as the trio headed for their  destination.

As the trio rapidly traveled to their  destination, a sense of unease washed over them. What was in store for  them in this peculiar world and exactly what were they about to  confront? Their questions were about to be answered as the TARDIS  finally came to a landing….

"Well, we're here. Let's  just see what we are dealing with, shall we?", the Doctor said as she  walked over to the doors, Lyra and Button following in quick pursuit.  The Doctor immediately opened the doors as the three of them were  standing directly in front of what appeared to be a massive labyrinth  that appeared to have endless twists and turns. Directly in the middle,  they could vaguely make out the outline of a giant castle similar to  Canterlot castle, just on par of the creepy variety. "Well, that  definitely screams out NIGHTMARE when you look at it. Well then, shall  we be off?", the Doctor stated. "We have to go through….that? How can  you be so sure we won't get lost in there?", Lyra said nervously,  looking at the entrance of the labyrinth. The Doctor pulled her Sonic  Screwdriver from her skirt and pressed a button on it and said, "My  Sonic shall lead us down the right path, that's how!" She pointed the  Sonic at the entrance of the labyrinth, her eyes widened as the Sonic  blinked and flickered rapidly. "High energy readings, very high ones.  Button, Lyra, keep your guard up. This Labyrinth definitely is a  dangerous one!", the Doctor stated.

"But Doctor, it's just a maze.  And let's not forget, we're in the dream world. It's not like anything  can hurt us here!", Button replied. "No, you're wrong, Button. Very  wrong indeed. Where we are right now, we are in the midst of the  dremure's nightmare. Anything held within that labyrinth must be  considered very dangerous and VERY lethal." Button's eyes widened when  the Doctor said that. "Maybe I should, you know, stay close to Lyra.  She'll need a big strong stallion to protect her, ya know?" The Doctor  smiled softly as Lyra took Button's hand and said, "Come on, follow me.  And remember, don't wander off."

With that being said,  the two ponies followed the Time Lord into the Labyrinth. To explain  the interior of the Labyrinth was, in short, treacherous. One moment,  everything was fine, but Button definitely could swear there was a pack  of timberwolves following them. Another moment, there could've been a  giant man-eating buttered pear stalking their path. Lyra and Button  thought of that one as a bit peculiar since the Doctor seemed to fear  the buttered pear a lot. Another time, Lyra saw a statue in the shape of  a Pegasus, but the Doctor insisted that she should keep her eyes on  that statue AT ALL TIMES, but it immediately turned into a puddle of  water the moment she did. In a word, the inside of the Labyrinth was on a  scale of one to insanity in a matter of seconds. Finally, after what  seemed to be hours, the three ponies finally found their way to the  center of the labyrinth to find….

"Whoa. This castle  is massive, now that we are closer to it. Even Canterlot Castle seems  tiny compared to it!", Lyra stated. The Doctor nodded as she said, "It  sure is, but us just standing here and admiring this Nightmarish place  is not going to help all the ponies in Equestria. So, let's go find  ourselves a Dremure, shall we?" Lyra and Button nodded as the three  walked to the front door and pushed on the giant doors, the doors  creaking loudly as they opened wide. The three immediately walked in and  looked around, seeing all the many doors leading up to another set of  giant doors at the top of a flight of stairs. As they looked around, the  doors slammed shut behind them, the Doctor immediately running to the  doors and tugged on them, but to no avail, they would not open. She  frowned and said, "We're trapped inside. We can only move forward from  here." Lyra immediately got worried when the Doctor said that, but then  Button looked at the stairs and said, "that must be the spot! Come on,  you guys!" The Doctor's eyes widened as she said, "Wait, Button stop!"  Button looked back at the Doctor when she said that, only to stop  immediately when a giant hole appeared before him. He flailed wildly as  he restrained himself to fall, Lyra and the Doctor immediately dragging  the young colt back from the hole. Button screamed as he said, "Where  did this giant hole come from?! I could've fallen in!" The Doctor looked  at the hole and said, "I was trying to warn you, but this castle is  quite possibly part of the Dremure's nightmare too, and possibly way  more dangerous than the labyrinth that surrounds it. Even moving forward  is a risk factor now."

"Then how do we move forward, Doctor? We  can't just stay here!", Lyra stated. The Doctor crossed her arms and  thought silently, then said, "What if we don't need to move forward, but  back?" Button and Lyra looked at the Doctor and said, "Come again?" The  Doctor walked over to the doors and tapped around them slightly and  said, "Remember, we are in a dream world. Nothing is as it seems. So  maybe, if we are lucky, and I mean very very lucky….ah-ha, found it!"  Button stood to his hooves as he said, "Found what?" The Doctor pulled  out her Sonic once again and ran it across a section of the door and  said, "There's another door built into this one! Alright then, let's see  where it takes us!" With a push of her hand, the smaller door she stood  in front of opened wide, the three equines immediately taking the exit  to find themselves once again in a field of flowers once again, a giant  white couch in the middle of the field as a giant centaur-like creature  was sprawled on top of it fast asleep.

"Button, is that it?", The  Doctor asked, the young colt nodding his head as he said, "It's just how  my mom has always described it. That is indeed a dremure." The Doctor  nodded as she looked at the creature and said, "Ok, so we've gotten this  far. Now what do I do?" Lyra frowned as she said, "You mean you don't  have a plan on what to do next?!" The Doctor grinned as she said, "You  know what I say about plans?" Lyra shook her head and said, "No, what?"  The Doctor smiled as she replied, "I don't have any! But right now, we  are at the very heart of the nightmare, yet look around us: it's  peaceful. The calm in the eye of the storm, as it were. Which means,  this Dremure has at least some control over the Tantabus since, as we  can see, this place hasn't been corrupted yet." Button was immediately  about to reply, but then a soft but low voice said, "A Tantabus, you  say? Is that why I am confined in this area? Princess Luna's mischievous  pet decided to latch onto me. That is not a good thing, not good at  all." Button's eyes widened as he immediately pointed behind the Doctor,  the Time Lord turning to see the Dremure staring down at the three of  them.

"Oh, sorry! We didn't mean to wake you! Well, actually we  did. You see, the Tantabus inside of you is causing some major damage on  the outside world. We've been sent here by Princess Luna to retrieve  it.". The Doctor stated as the Dremure sat upright and looked down at  the three equines, its attention squarely looking down at the Doctor as  he breathed heavily. "You….are not of this world. Even more so, not of  the universe outside this world either.", the Dremure stated. "Yes, I  know, but I did put a lot of work protecting it and that thing is  ruining that hard work. So, may I come up, mister….name?", The Doctor  asked as the Dremure wheezed softly before saying, "Caius. My name is  Caius. I am lord of this dominion. Please, can you truly help me?" The  Doctor cracked her knuckles as she said, "I don't know. But I am going  to try my best." Caous frowned slightly, but lowered himself down as he  placed a hand on the ground for the Doctor to stand on, lifting the Time  Lord up towards his shoulder. The Doctor placed both her hands on each  side of her as she tried to keep her balance, using some of Caius' mane  to look around for the Tantabus, finally finding it on the back of his  neck, the black blob morphing and shifting with the beat of Caius' own  heart. "Ok, Doctor. Removing a nightmare from a dream entity…..how hard  can this be?", the Doctor said softly to herself as she reached into her  pocket and frowned as she immediately remembered that she didn't have  her Sonic Screwdriver anymore.

"Right, no Sonic. Fortunately,  we're in a dream world, so I can just materialize one in my hands like  so!", The Doctor said as she looked at her hands, the Sonic Screwdriver  from earlier reforming in her hands. "Pardon me, Caius. This may hurt a  bit.", the Doctor stated as she pointed the Sonic at the black blob, the  blob giving off a loud screamlike sort of sound as the Doctor did so,  Caius yelled in pain as the blob grew even larger on his back. "Doctor's  its hurting him!", Lyra exclaimed from below, the Doctor switching the  Sonic off as she said, "Not good, not good at all." Button yelled as he  said, "Sorry, but what's not good?!" The Doctor looked over Caius'  shoulder as he said, "This thing is giving off a certain energy reading,  but I can't tell what it means. Best guess, this thing is only latched  to Caius here because it sensed how powerful he is. Caius, do you have  any idea why the Tantabus was attracted to you now of all times?" Caius  wheezed as he said, "As a dremure, it is my duty to bring about sweet  dreams to everyone on the outside realm. But recently, there has been  one nightmare that cannot be controlled properly."

"A nightmare?  Of what?", the Doctor asked. "A being….known as the Living Paradox.",  Caius stated, a look of shock appeared on the Doctor's face. "Again? The  Living Paradox again? Even now, that entity is still following me.",  the Doctor said softly, her face growing colder with concern. "Doctor!  Doctor!", a voice yelled out, the Doctor's attention returning down to  Button and Lyra down below. "Sorry, where was I? Oh yes, the Tantabus!  Now, removing it is the easy part. The problem is luring it back. You  see, the Tantabus feeds off of nightmares, so it needs an incredibly  powerful one in order to get lured away from here." Button raised an  eyebrow and said, "Which means?" The Doctor frowned as she pointed her  Sonic at the Sleeper, the Tantabus giving off an audible roar as Caius  yelled loudly, the machine detaching the two from each other as the  black blob shifted into the form of an alicorn, the being staring at the  Doctor with malicious intent. "WE RUN!", the Doctor said, sliding down  from Caius' arm and landing next to Button and Lyra, the Time Lord  pushing the two back towards the door out of Caius' domain.

"You!?  It's chasing you now?!", Lyra exclaimed as the Doctor shut the door  behind her. "Less talking, more running! The farther we get from here,  the better!", the Doctor exclaimed as the three ran towards the front  door of the castle. "I don't get it! What did you do?!", Button  exclaimed as the door behind them rattled violently, the Tantabus roared  loudly from the other side as it tried to break the door down. "Trust  me, it's hard to explain! We need to get back to the TARDIS and get back  to that field of flowers as soon as possible!", the Doctor exclaimed as  the three ponies ran from the door outside of the castle, immediately  running to the TARDIS. The three looked back as the castle's front doors  exploded off their hinges as the Tantabus stood at the top of the  stairs, roaring loudly again as its form shifted again into a peculiarly  familiar one to Lyra and Button. "D-D-Doctor! It turned into Nightmare  Moon!", Lyra exclaimed. "Yes, I can see that! Inside now!", the Doctor  exclaimed as she pushed the unicorn into the spaceship, the Tantabus  charging quickly behind them as the Time Lord closed the doors shut  behind her. She immediately ran over to the console and flicked a few  switches on it, hearing a loud slamming noise at the door. "Doctor, will  that hold against that thing?", Button asked. "Yes, of course it will,  Button!", the Doctor replied, messing a bunch more switches and dials on  the TARDIS console. "Are you lying?", Button asked. The Doctor went  silent when Button asked that, pulling one final switch as the TARDIS  engines roared to life, the oh-so familiar grinding of the gears filling  the three equines ears as a cold voice said, "Fools! You'll never  escape me! I will chase you three down to the ends of this realm and  feast upon you for all eternity!"

"That's it. We're dead! We are  so dead!", Lyra said in a panicked voice. "No, I promised I would save  your friends and family, and that is exactly what I plan to do. All we  need is to just lure the Tantabus away from Caius and then we can direct  it to another energy source.", the Doctor exclaimed as the TARDIS came  to a stop. "Right, everyone out!", the equine stated as Lyra said, "Are  you mad?! We're going to get ourselves killed if we go out there!" The  Doctor looked at Button and Lyra and said, "Trust me. We won't die. I  promise." Button looked at Lyra, then back at the Doctor as he nodded  and said, "Alright, Doctor, I'll trust you. What do we do?" The Doctor  smiled as she said, "Open a path for the princess to get here. Think as  hard as you can to give her our location. I'll stall for time." Button  nodded as the Doctor sighed and walked out of the TARDIS, stepping into  the field of flowers as she looked up to see that the entire sky was  pitch black. "Well, come on then! The Doctor will see you now!", the  mare stated.

As she said that, a pillar of dark light fell from  the sky, the Tantabus remerging in front of the Time Lord as it took on  the form of Nightmare Moon once again and said, "I can smell it. Such  raw energy. You shouldn't be here, yet you are. Your nightmare is going  to be a delectable one to feast upon." The Doctor chuckled and said,  "Yes, yes, I am guessing you have had your fill on plenty of nightmares,  but never one quite like the nightmare of the Living Paradox, eh?"  Nightmare Moon grinned cruelly as she said, "It is a nightmare like no  other. Always re-occurring, and always so full of energy. The sadness,  the anger, the pain, it pleased me more and more until I grew strong  enough to break free from Princess Luna's control once more!" The Doctor  raised an eyebrow as she said, "But you're harming an innocent while  you are feeding off of this nightmare! And this nightmare is not one to  mess with." The alicorn looked at the Doctor and said, "Same could be  said about yours, Time Lord." The Doctor's eyes widened when Nightmare  Moon said that, the alicorn immediately stating, "Ah, so you didn't  know? Princess Luna's control of the dream realm knows no boundaries,  including that TARDIS of yours. I have seen your hearts and your mind,  Lady of Gallifrey and your lies will come to haunt you."

The  Doctor went silent again as Nightmare Moon stated, "He doesn't believe  you, Doctor. He can see it in your eyes and know that you are holding  something back. Even as we speak, I can sense the mind of the Professor  and there is nothing but endless questions and no answers in sight. How  would he react if he knew that his very existence was in the balance?"  The Doctor raised an eyebrow as she stated, "His very existence? What do  you mean?" Nightmare Moon tilted her head as she said, "The  re-occurring nightmare of the Living Paradox and the Professor's  connection with the being whose soul inhabits his body? Don't you know  what it means?" As the Doctor was about to reply, the TARDIS doors  opened wide as Princess Luna ran out from within, firing a beam of magic  at Nightmare Moon, the entity losing its form as the Tantabus roared  loudly again. "That's enough out of you! Now come back to me at once,  Tantabus!", Luna stated. Nightmare Moon reformed once more as she said,  "I felt that! How is that possible?!" The Doctor grinned as she said,  "It's because you were lured away from the Dremure! Despite you feeding  off the energy of the Living Paradox's nightmare, you were also feeding  off from him at the same time. Cut you off from your power supply,  therefore you get weaker!" Nightmare Moon yelled loudly as she slowly  started losing her form, her yell turning into a demonic shriek as Luna  continued blasting it with her magic. As time passed, Luna reduced the  Tantabus back down to a small black orb. The alicorn walked over to the  orb and her horn glowed slightly as the orb was levitated in front of  her face. "Never again will you escape from me. Now, back home you go.",  Luna stated as the orb was absorbed into her body.

Button and  Lyra walked over to the Doctor and Princess Luna, the young colt looked  around as he asked, "Is that it? Did that fix everypony back home?" Luna  nodded as she stated, "With any luck, everypony should be back to  normal, young colt." The Doctor nodded as she stated, "Yes, indeed. We  should return to Ponyville as soon as possible to check out the damage.  Now…..how do we go about doing that anyway?" Luna chuckled as her eyes  glowed bright white, her horn flashing brightly, consuming the four  equines in a bright light. Button groaned as his eyes fluttered open,  trying to focus on his surrounding area as he found himself back in his  room. 'But this is….Princess Luna brought us back here?", Button thought  as he stood to his hooves. "Doctor, Lyra, Princess Luna brought us back  to my place!", Button exclaimed as he looked around, finding that he  was all alone. "Doctor? Lyra?", Button asked out loud, his bedroom door  opening wide as his mother ran into the room and hugged him tightly.  "Mom, you're crushing me!", Button exclaimed, hearing his mother sniffle  softly.

"You're ok! I thought the worst had happened to you!",  Cream stated. She looked at her son as she said, "What were doing with  Princess Luna? You should've been asleep!" Button tilted his head in  confusion and said, "How do you know that I was with Princess Luna,  Mom?" Cream looked at her son and said, "Wait….what am I saying? I must  be even more tired than I thought. Sorry about that, Button. I just had a  really bad nightmare and I was trapped in some sort of coma and there  was this ridiculous equine that called herself the Doctor and  this…..weird creature called a Dremure. It's funny, it seemed so real.  Lyra and Princess Luna was there too!" Button broke out in sweat in  shock at what his mother said that. 'She actually saw all of that?!  Unbelievable! But if that's the case, then where is the Doctor and  Lyra?', Button thought.

What Button didn't realize was  that Princess Luna had actually done the exact same thing for Lyra as  well, Lyra getting a shock from her friend Bon-Bon as she told her about  her adventure in vivid detail. As for the Doctor….

"Doctor.  Doctor. Doctor, wake up.", Luna stated. The Doctor groaned as she shook  her head slightly, looking around as she found herself within the  throne room of Canterlot Castle alongside Princess Luna. "Ooph, that was  a very weird experience. Where are Button and Lyra?", the Doctor asked  as she stood back to her hooves. "I have sent them back to their own  homes. Now, Doctor, we have much to discuss.", Luna stated as she walked  over to her throne and sat down, the Doctor looking at her with a  serious look on her face. "So Doctor, tell me: what do you know about  the Living Paradox? And no lies, please. It is quite known that the  Doctor is an avid liar.", Luna asked. The Doctor frowned when Luna asked  that. She looked up at the ceiling as she said, "Quite a bit, actually.  And none of it is any good. We could be here for a while." Luna nodded  as the Doctor began her story about the Living Paradox. As time passed,  Luna was in shock over the Doctor's story about the Living Paradox and  her theory over it all. When the Doctor stopped, Luna shook her head in  worry. "If what you say is true, our world is very much in danger."

The  Doctor frowned as she said, "No. No, this world is protected, even more  so since I am here. I swear to you, this problem shall be solved….just  as soon as the solution presents itself." Luna was silent when the  Doctor said that, but then the Doctor groaned as she reached into her  skirt pocket and pulled out the TARDIS key, it glowing brightly in her  hands. The Doctor grinned widely as she looked at Luna and said, "Sorry,  Your Majesty, but I must be on my way! We'll meet again, count on it."  Luna stood to her hooves and said, "Just one more question, Doctor, and  you may go." The Doctor looked at Luna and said, "Yes, what is it?" Luna  stood to her hooves as her eyes locked directly into the Doctor's and  said, "How is it that you, a Time Lord, is here in Equestria?" The  Doctor's eyes widened when Luna asked that. "I…I don't know. I really  hate not knowing stuff. It's rather strange, to be honest. I definitely  need to figure that problem out as well. Anyway, I must be off. Have a  pleasant morning, Your Majesty.", the Doctor stated as she ran out of  the throne room, leaving Luna by herself. She sat back down in her  throne as a voice stated, "She has no idea, does she?" Luna looked out  of the corner of her eye to see a mare standing nearby her. "Her very  existence in this universe is wrong, including your own. The Living  Paradox is warping everything around us and she has yet to question how  it is that she is here.", Luna stated.

The mare laughed as she  said, "That's how the Doctor is: a bit slow to catch up with the  obvious. She will realize why she is here and everything will fall into  place once more, for her journey shall once again lead her to  Trenzalore." Luna frowned as she said, "How can you be so sure about  this?" The moon light glowed brightly into the room as the mare was in  full view, her hand clutching a blue diary. She smiled as she said, "Now  now, sweetie. As I always say, spoilers."

Meanwhile,  the Doctor ran and ran as fast as she could, returning to the  underground passage that connected Canterlot back to Prodigy's backyard.  She continued running until she returned to the crater that the TARDIS  sat….

"Alright, old girl. What do you have to show  to me this time?", the Doctor stated as she placed the key into the lock  and opened the doors wide, the engines of the TARDIS humming softly  from within. The Doctor's eyes glistened in glee at the sight of her  newly repaired TARDIS and she walked inside, closing the doors behind  her, the TARDIS roaring to life as it vanished from the spot it once  sat.

A few days later….

Button  walked down the stairs to the kitchen and found his mother downstairs  making breakfast. Button sat down as Cream placed a plate of pancakes in  front of the young colt. He nibbled at his food as he thought, 'Where  did the Doctor go? Her TARDIS wasn't where it was those nights ago. She  just left without saying good-bye. Maybe….maybe she left our planet  again?", Button thought silently. Cream looked at Button and said,  "Button, are you alright? You're barely eating." Button smiled softly as  he looked at his mother and said, "I'm fine. You haven't had any more  of those nightmares, have you?" Cream sighed softly and nodded and said,  "Yes yes, I am much better than I was before. I guess a good night's  sleep is all I need. Now, eat your breakfast before it gets cold."  Button nodded as he returned to his pancakes, his mind still on the  Doctor.

Meanwhile, over at Lyra and Bon-Bon's home, Lyra too was  thinking of the Doctor. She plucked a couple of chords on her harp  nonchalantly as Bon-Bon said, "Lyra, are you alright? You haven't been  playing your harp for a while now." Lyra looked over at Bon-Bon and  said, "Sorry, just got my mind on something else at the moment." Bon-Bon  frowned slightly, but shrugged her shoulders and returned to work on a  new candy concoction. As Lyra continued to pluck away at her harp, her  attention finally returned as an oh-so familiar grinding sound was  heard. At the same time, Button heard the same noise, dropping his fork  in shock. "Was that?", Button exclaimed, the griding noise getting  louder and louder. "What in the name of Celestia is that noise? Is Prof.  Skyfire working on a new experiment or something?", Cream stated before  Button hopped out of his chair and ran out the door quickly. "Button  Mash, get back here!", Cream exclaimed, running after her son. Button  ran faster and faster, coming across Lyra along the way. "Did you hear  it too, Lyra?!", Button exclaimed. Lyra panted heavily as she said,  "Yes, yes I sure did! She must've come back!" Button nodded as they ran  into a couple of nearby bushes, Cream and Bon-Bon following in close  pursuit.

The two equines continued to run through the  many bushes, hearing their loved ones coming closer and closer behind  them. Finally, Button and Lyra found themselves at the TARDIS crash site  once more, the TARDIS sitting in the middle of the crater once again,  the Doctor wiping down the box with a handkerchief….

"Button,  Lyra! Sorry for disappearing like that! The TARDIS finally repaired  itself, and it was just too tempting to give it a test run.", the Doctor  stated. "You came back!", Button exclaimed. "Of course I came back, you  cannot get rid of me that easily.", the Doctor exclaimed as Button and  Lyra walked up to the Time Lord. The Doctor looked behind the two  equines as she said, "Oh, it looks like we have some guests. Hello  there!" Button and Lyra looked behind them as they saw Cream and Bon-Bon  standing behind them in shock. "I-It's you. You're that pony from my  nightmare. But you can't be real.", Cream stated. "I assure you, I am  quite real. I am the Doctor. I'm friends with your son, Cream. And you  must be Lyra's friend Bon-Bon! It's a pleasure to see that all our hard  work was able to save you two as well as everypony on the planet.", the  Doctor stated. "Whoa, so like, that dream wasn't a dream at all? And you  two kept it a secret?", Bon-Bon asked. "We're sorry, but we had to. I  think it would've been too much of a shock if you two knew.", Lyra  replied. Cream knelt down to her son and said, "So, you did all of that  to save us, Button?" Button nodded as he said, "I had to, Mom. You're my  mom, after all. I had to do it to help you." The Doctor smiled as she  said, "Your son is quite the brave young colt, Cream."

Cream Heart  nodded as she said, "He sure is." Button smiled, but then looked at the  Doctor and asked, "But, why did you come back, Doctor? You have your  TARDIS back, so why?" The Doctor smiled as she said, "Well, you two know  about the TARDIS now, so I figured you might enjoy it." Lyra tilted her  head as she said, "Enjoy what?" The Doctor replied, "All of time and  space at our disposal and we can always be back in time for tea, so what  do you say?" Button's eyes widened as he said, "Are you asking us to go  traveling with you in the TARDIS?" The Doctor nodded as she said,  "That's if you want to, of course." Button's eyes flashed with  excitement as he said, "Of course I do!" Cream hugged Button close to  her as she said, "You can't! I won't let you!" Button frowned as he  replied, "Please, Mom! Let me go with the Doctor. I promise everything  will be alright!" Bon-Bon looked at Lyra as she asked, "Are you wanting  to go with her, Lyra?" Lyra crossed her arms as she said, "The idea of  traveling through time and space truly is a remarkable idea. And all the  many sights that I could see would be too much to pass up. So I have to  say yes, I have to go." Lyra then turned her attention to Cream Heart  and said, "Ms. Cream, if I may, please let Button go with us. I promise  I'll take care of him."

"But….but he's my son.", Cream stated,  before Button said, "Please, Mom? Please?" Cream Heart frowned and  sighed as she looked at the Doctor and said, "Doctor, I only know you  through my dream, and I cannot say I fully trust you. Can you promise to  me that you can bring my son back unharmed?" The Doctor nodded as she  said, "I swear to you, ma'am, your son won't be hurt. Cross my hearts."  Cream was silent once the Doctor said that, but she finally sighed as  she said, "Just make sure to call me EVERY NIGHT, ok Button?" Button  nodded as he replied, "Of course!" The Doctor laughed as she said, "Well  then, you two best go and gather your things. Meet me back here as soon  as you are ready!" Button and Lyra nodded in agreement as the Doctor  went back inside the TARDIS.

With that, the four  equines went their separate ways. As the Doctor prepared the TARDIS for  its new occupants, Lyra and Button collected the things that figured  they would need for their travels. An hour later, the two said their  goodbyes to their loved ones and returned to the crash site….

Button  walked up to the doors of the TARDIS alongside Lyra and looked at her  as he said, "Ready?" Lyra nodded as she took the young colt's hand as  she said, "Let's do this, kid." Button grinned as he knocked on the  TARDIS door, the door opening with a slight click. The two equines  walked in, the Doctor smiling as she leaned against the TARDIS console  and said, "Again, welcome to the TARDIS. We've already been through the  whole bigger on the inside bit, so I'll let you just look at our lovely  home away from home in awe." Button chuckled as he said, "The inside of  the real TARDIS looks exactly like the one from the dream world!" The  Doctor smiled as she said, "I liked the way that one looked, so I kept  it." As she said that, the TARDIS beeped as a Sonic Screwdriver rose  from a slot on the console. "Oh finally, a new one! Lovely.", the Doctor  stated as she took the Sonic from the TARDIS and activated, the light  glowing a bright green. "So, you two! All of time and space, where shall  we start?", the Doctor asked.

"Doctor, I am still in awe over  this miraculous contraption. I mean, earlier I would've believed that  you were just a mad pony in a box since we were in the dream world and  all.", Lyra stated as she walked up to the console. "Now Lyra, you have  to realize something and something exceptionally important. Both you and  Button need to realize this right now because what you are about to  learn may save your life someday." Button and Lyra looked at the Doctor  with a confused look on their face as she said, "I am DEFINITELY a mad  pony in a box." Button and Lyra chuckled in reply as the Doctor laughed  and fiddled with a few switches as she said, "So long, Ponyville! Hello,  EVERYTHING!" With those words, the Doctor pulled one final lever, the  TARDIS lurching violently as the engines roared to life, the TARDIS  dematerializing from its resting spot. As the sound filled the air, both  Bon-Bon and Cream Heart looked out their windows as the sound died  down, making silent wishes for the duo's safe return.

Meanwhile….

The  area was silent as the wind blowed gently throughout Ponyville. As time  passed, Prodigy Skyfire walked down the streets as they came up to an  object giving off a small flash of light on the ground. Prodigy picked  up the object, recognizing it as the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver, or at  least, what was left of it as he said, "This is…..Doctor, please come  back soon." As he looked up to the sky, he pocketed the Sonic  Screwdriver's remains in his labcoat as he pulled out his journal once  more, silently thinking to himself on how to repair the futuristic  device as he walked for home.

And so, the Doctor's  travels begin once again with new companions on a quest for adventure.  Where they will end up, no one really knows. Be ever vigilant, brave  travelers of time and space. Danger is always around every coner…..