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                                                Fandom  Crisis!

                                               By  Mr.  Boltitude

                                        (A.K.A  Autobot  Godzilla)

                                                   Chapter One

                                                Nyx’s  Nightmare

  Nyx  ran.  She  had  been  running  as  fast  and  as  hard  as  she  could.  The  sound  of  hoofbeats  behind  her  rang  in  her  ears.  Tears  streamed  down  her  face.  Foam  lined  her  sides.  She  couldn't  let  anything  stop  her;  It  was right  behind  her.  She  was  out  of  breath,  her  chest  was  on  fire.  This  was  it,  she  was  doomed.  Then  the  hoofbeats  disappeared.  She  dared  to  look  behind  her.  The  monster  that  was  chasing  her  had  vanished.

  The  scared  little  filly  wandered  through  the  wasteland.  Her  night  black  coat  was  matted  and  ruffled.  Her  wings  were  beaten,  her  feathers  torn.  The  alicorn  struggled  to  regain  her  strength.

  She  took  in  her  surroundings.  The  land  was  barren  and  scorched.  The  sky  was  blood  red  and  boiling.  There  wasn't  any  sign  of  life,  only  black  rocks,  contrasted  by  a  forest  of  sickly,  white,  dead  trees.  She  stopped  at  the  base  of  the  largest  tree  she  could  find.  There  was  something  familiar  about  this  dead  lump  of  wood.  When  she  realized  where  she  was  her  heart  stopped.  This  was  the  library.  She  was  home.  Everything  was  gone.  She  wanted  to  collapse.  She  wanted  this  to  end.

  Then,  one  of  the  trees  moved.  Nyx  looked  up.  How  could  one  of  these  trees  move?  They  were  petrified,  hard  as  stone.  And  besides  that,  there  wasn’t  any  wind.  The  tree  moved  again.  With  growing  terror,  Nyx  realized  it  wasn’t  a  tree.  It  was  a  stallion,  an  impossibly  tall  stallion.  His  skin  was  deathly  pale.  He  wore  a  tattered  black  suit  and  red  tie,  and  he  had  no  face.  This  was  the  evil  that  had  been  chasing  her.  It  walked  slowly  towards  her.  She  was  frozen  in  place.  It  grew  nearer  and  nearer.  Pressure  was  growing  in  her  head.  With  each  of  its  steps  the  pounding  grew  worse  in  her  skull.  

  She  had  to  move.  "Move  feet,  darn  it,  move!"  her  thoughts  screamed.  Finally,  her  hooves obeyed.  She  sprinted  away,  desperately  looking  for  some  kind  of  safety.  She  ran  into  a  little  grove  of  the  skeletal  trees.  She  slowed,  the  pressure  was  less  intense  now.  She  looked  back, the  tall  pony  was  a  dot  on  the  horizon.  She  sighed  in  relief  and  turned  back.  The  sight  she  saw  nearly  stopped  her  heart.  The  tall  pony  was  right  in  front  of  her.  She  bolted  in  the  opposite  direction.  It  stepped  out  from  behind  a  tree  in  her  path.  She  turned  the  other  way,  there  he  was  again.  No  matter  where  she  ran,  he  was  there.  

  She  just  kept  running,  it  was  all  she  could  do  now.  Her  hoof  caught  on  a  rock,  sending  her  tumbling.  She  tried  desperately  to  regain  her  footing,  but it  was  too  late.  The  tall  pony  was  right on  top  of  her.  The  pressure  was  unbearable;  she  was  afraid  her  head  would  just  pop.  The  tall  pony  raised  its  hoof  to  strike.  The  little  filly  closed  her  eyes  and  screamed.  "Twilight!"

=====================================================================

  Nyx  woke  up  screaming.  Instantly,  she  was  surrounded  by  warm  lavender  fur.  

  "Shh  shh  shh,  everything's  okay.  I'm  right  here,"  came  the  most  comforting  voice  in  the  world.  Nyx  looked  up  into  the  loving  purple  eyes  of  her  adopted  mother.  The  purple  unicorn  smiled  back  at  her.  Twilight  Sparkle  had  been  there  the  whole  time,  cradling  Nyx  in  her  fitful  sleep.

  "Momma,  it  was  terrible.  It  felt  real,"  Nyx  sobbed.

  "But  it's  over  now,"  Twilight  comforted.  She  nuzzled  Nyx's  forehead.  "C'mon,  you  want  some  warm  milk?"  Nyx  gave  a  little  nod.

  Twilight  lit  a  candle  as  they  walked  downstairs  to  the  kitchen.  She  put  a  pan  of  milk  on  the  stove.  "Let's  let  that  heat  up  for  a  minute.  Now  did  you  have  the  same  dream  from  before?"

  "Almost, there  was  more  this  time.  I  found  the  library  in  the  wasteland,  but  it  was  burned  like  everything  else.  It  gets worse  every  night."  Nyx  hung  her  head  and  whimpered.

  "Hey  now,  chin  up,  Missy."   Twilight  used  her  magic  to  levitate  the  pan,  and  poured  herself  and  Nyx  two  steamy  mugs  of  milk.  "Here,  maybe  this  will  help  calm  your  mind."  

   Nyx  and  Twilight  sat  in  silence  sipping  their  milk.  A  light  rain  pitter-pattered  against  the  window.  Combined  with  the  milk  and  the  candle  light,  it  had  a  very  soothing  effect.  Nyx  found  her  eyelids  growing  heavy.

   Nyx  licked  the  last  drop  out  of  her  cup.  She  accidentally  let  a  little  burp  slip  out.  "S'cuse  me.  Thank  you,  Twilight."

  "No  problem,  Nyx.  Now  go  wait  for  me  upstairs  and  I'll  read  you a  story,"  Twilight  said.  

  Nyx's  face  lit  up.  If  there  was  one  thing  she  loved,  it  was  for  Twilight  to  read  her  bed  time  stories.  She  scampered  up  the  stairs.  Twilight  smiled  at  the  sight.  Then  she  practically  collapsed  on  the  table  and  groaned.

  A  small  purple  dragon  poked  his  head  in  from  the  hall.  "Did  Nyx  have  another  nightmare?"  asked  Spike.

  "You  should  be  asleep,"  Twilight  said.

  "You  two  woke  me  up.  Now,  I  believe  I  asked  a  question."  

   Twilight  sighed.  "Yes,  she  says  they're  getting  worse."  She  rubbed  her   temples  to  fight  an  oncoming  headache.

  "It's  been  over  a  week,  Twilight.  Shouldn't  we  be  getting  some  help?"

  "I  was  hoping  I  could  find  a  solution  on  my  own,  but  I've  tried  just  about  everything  in  my  psychology  books.  Well,  except  for  the  mind  delve,  but  that's  not  ever  going to  be  an  option  for  her."

  "So  what  are  we  gonna  do?"

  "I'll  write  to  Celestia  in  the  morning.  Even  if  she  personally  can't  help,  she'll  know  somepony  that  can."  Twilight  put  the  mugs  and  the  pan  in  the  sink.  She  let  out  a long  yawn  and  headed  towards  the  stairs.   "Go  back  to  bed,  Spike.  I'm  going  to  read  to  Nyx  real  quick."  

  "You  know,  Twilight,  there  is  one  pony  who  is  guaranteed  to  help  us."

  Twilight  stopped  in  her  place.  "You  mean  him?"

  "Who  else?"

  "I'd  prefer  he  stay  away  from  Nyx.  Wherever  he  goes,  trouble  follows."

==================================================================

  Millions  of  miles  away,  and  a  thousand  years  in  the  past,  a  wooden  blue  box  drifted  past  a  crystal  moon.  Scholars of  mid-twentieth  century  British  history  would  recognize  it  as  a  police  call  box,  and  they  would  be  wrong.  The  box  was  really  an  alien  spaceship,  vastly  bigger  on  the  inside,  disguised  as  a  police  box.  Inside,  a  brown  stallion  frantically  flipped  switches  on  the  control  console.

  A  grey  pegasus  with  a  blonde  mane,  and  a  cutie  mark  of  bubbles  on  her  flank,  watched  as  the  pony  practically  sprinted  around  the  room.  "Doctor,  what's  going  on?"  she  asked.

  The  stallion  stopped  for  a  moment.  "The  phase  drivers  are  acting  up  again,  Derpy.  If  I  can't  correct  them  the  whole  TARDIS  might-"

   There  was  a  ghastly  grinding  noise  and  everything  started  to  shake.  Electrical  energy surged  throughout  the room.  A  little  unicorn  filly  stumbled  into  the  control  room.  The  static  in  the  room  caused  her  short  yellow  mane  to  stand  on  end  "What's  going  on,  Mom?"

  "Nothing,  Dinky;  Daddy's  just  trying  to  fix  the  TARDIS,"  Derpy  answered.

  "Well  this  can  only  end  well,"  Dinky  said  sarcastically.  She  found  the  nearest  seat  with  a  harness  and  buckled  up.

  The  Doctor  hurriedly  turned  knobs  and  pressed  buttons.  "It's  okay;  I  got this.  I  got  this,"  he  assured.  Suddenly,  a  huge  jolt  nearly  sent  him  and  Derpy  flying  across  the  ship.  "I don't  got  this!  Get  ready  for  a  crash  landing!"  

  "Again,"  Derpy  and  Dinky  sighed.

================================================================

  Brooms  and  feather  dusters  floated  through  the  air,  suspended  in  a  magical  aura.  They  flitted  around  the  main  hall  of  the  library,  cleaning  away  the  dust  off  the  bookshelves  and  furniture.  Both  Twilight  and  Spike  were  sleeping  in,  so  Nyx  had  decided  to  surprise  them  and  clean  up  the  library.  She  was  having  trouble  focusing,  however.  She  couldn't  go  too  fast,  or  else  she  might  lose  control  and  break  something.  But  she  really  wanted  to  finish  before  Twilight  woke  up.  She  decided  to  stop  and  take  a  water  break.  She  surveyed  her  work,  she  had  gotten  more  done  than  she  had  at  first  thought.  She  took  a  big  gulp  and  used  her  magic  to  pick  up  the  brooms.

  Nyx  had  just  put  the  finishing  touches  on  the  room,  when  she  noticed  something  odd.  A  slight  breeze  blew  through  the  library,  but  Nyx  hadn't  opened  any  windows.  A  light  appeared  for  a  split  second  in  the  hall.  Then,  it  appeared  again,  accompanied  by  a  strange  grinding  sound.  The  wind  grew  stronger,  blowing  the  books  of  their  shelves  and  nearly  knocking  Nyx  off  her  hooves.  A  big  blue  box  appeared  out  of  thin  air.  Nyx  hid  behind  a  table.  She  shakily  held  a  broom  for  protection.  She  dared  a  peek  at  the  strange  object.  It  had  doors  and  windows  like  some  kind  of  house.  There  were  words  written  on  the  top  of  it:  POLICE  PUBLIC  CALL  BOX.

  The  doors  on  the  box  swung  open;  thick  black  smoke  billowed  out.  A  brown  pony  with  a  spiky  mane  and  an  hourglass  cutie  mark  stumbled  out  of  the  box.  He  wheezed  and  coughed.

  "Who  are  you?  How  did  you  get  in  here?"  Nyx  demanded.

  The  strange  pony  struggled  to  get  his  breath  between  coughs.  " *Cough!*  *Hack!*  Ugh,  yes  hello,  I'm  The  Doctor.  This  is  the  TARDIS,  it  brought  me  here.”  Nyx  thought  his  accent  sounded  funny.

  Twilight  ran  into  the  room.  "Nyx,  what's  going  on?  Are  you-"  She  stopped  when  she  saw  the  blue  box  and  the  soot  covered  stallion.  "Oh,  speak  of  the  devil,"  she  groaned.

  "Twilight  Sparkle!  I see  I've  crashed  into  your  library  again."  The  Doctor  exclaimed.

  "Wait,  do  you  know  him,  Momma?"  Nyx  asked.

  "I  used  to  travel  with  him  in  that  box,"  Twilight  answered.

  "In  that  little  box?"  Nyx  asked.  

  "Hold  on  a  minute,  did  she  say  momma?  Since  when  did  you  have  a  daughter?"  The  Doctor  asked,  bewildered.

  Just  then,  a  wall  eyed  pegasus  and  a  small  dark  lavender  filly  tumbled  out  of  the  TARDIS.

  Nyx  cocked  her  head.  She  thought  she  recognized  these  two.   The  pegasus  looked  like  the  town  mail-mare,  and  that  filly  was  her  daughter.  "Dinky,  is  that  you?"  she  asked  the  filly.

  The  little  unicorn  regained  her  breath.  "Hey,  Nyx,  how've  you  been."

  "Wait,  you  know  her?"  The  Doctor  asked.

  "Yeah,  we  go  to  school  together,"  Dinky  answered.      

   "I  didn't know  you  were  travelling  with  the  Doctor,  Derpy,"  said  Twilight.

   "Well  of  course  I  travel  with  my  husband,  silly,"  Derpy  replied.

  Twilight  was  blindsided.  "Husband?"

  "Excuse  me,  Twilight  has  a  daughter.  How  am  I  the  only  one  to  not  know  about  this?"  The  Doctor  demanded.

  Derpy  rubbed  her  brow  with  her  hoof.  "Sweetie,  remember  when I  asked  you  to  go  get  juice?"

  The  Doctor  smiled  sheepishly.  One  day,  Derpy  had  sent  him  shopping.  He  had  hopped  in  the  TARDIS  to  surprise  her  with  some  rare  Venusian  beaver  juice.  Apparently,  something  went  wrong  with  his  steering,  and  when  he  returned,  he  found  he  had  been  gone  for  over  a  year.  "How  many  times  do  I  have  to  say  I'm  sorry.  And  that  juice  was  pretty  good,  you  have  to  admit."  

  Derpy  gave  him  a  dirty  look  (a  quite  impressive  feat  when  your  eyes  look  in  two  different  directions).

   "Ahem...right,  Hello,  Nyx  was  it?"  The  Doctor  greeted.

  "Hello,  Mr.  Doctor,"  Nyx  said  cheerfully,  yet  confused.

  "Please,  just  The  Doctor.  Now  let's  have  a  look  at  you."  The  Doctor  began  prodding  Nyx  with  his  hoof.  "Right,  black  coat,  purple  mane,  I  don't  think  I've  ever  seen  eyes  like  yours  on  a  pony  before,  so  very  green."  He  spun  her  around  and  examined  her  flank.  "Your  cutie  mark  seems  to  be...ah,  a  shield.  What's  that  mean?"

  "Twilight  says  it  means  my  special  talent  is  protecting  other  ponies,"  Nyx  explained.

  "Oh  that's  the  fun  job.  Believe  me,  I  should  know."  The  Doctor  said.  "Only  problem  is  someone  somewhere  is  always  in  trouble."  He  poked  the  horn  on  her  forehead.  "Ah,  a  unicorn  just  like  your  mother."

  "Doctor,  her  sides,"  Twilight  pointed  out.

  "What  about  her-wha!  Wings!  You’re  an  alicorn,  Nyx."  The  Doctor  exclaimed.  "Twilight,  who  did  you  have  this  child  with?"

  "She's  my  adopted  daughter."

  "How  did  she  end  up  with  you?"

   "Now  that's  a  long  story."

    "Time's  not  an  issue  for  me."

   "And  again,  husband!"  Twilight  exclaimed.

  Spike  ran  in  from  upstairs.  "What's  all  the  racket?"  He  eyed  the  newcomers  and  there  box.  "Oh,  it's  The  Doctor.  Wake  me  up  when  the  monsters,  or  the  robots,  or  whatever  show  up,"  Spike  said  as  he  turned  back  upstairs.

===================================================================

  Nyx  rummaged  through  her  closet.  The  adults  had  sent  her  and  Dinky  to  play  while  they  had  tea  in  the  kitchen.  She  moved  a  few  boxes  and  found  her  old  checkers  set.  She  carefully  picked  it  up  and  blew  the  dust  off  the  box.  "Do  you  like  checkers?"

  "It's  okay,  I  guess."

  "So...I  have  some  questions,"  Nyx  said  as  she  set  up  the  board.

  "Fire  away."

  "Well,  what's  that  blue  box  thingy,  and  who's  that  brown  stallion  without  any  sense  of  personal  space?"

  Dinky  chose  to  play  as  the  red  pieces.  Her  horn  lit  up  as  she  made  her  first  move.  "That  brown  stallion  is  my  dad.  The  blue  box  is  his  spaceship  and  time  machine."

  Nyx's  jaw  dropped.  "Spaceship?"

  "And  time  machine,  and  it's  your  turn."

  Nyx  moved  her  checker  piece.  "So  your  dad  has  a  box  that's  really  a  spaceship,  and  you  and  your  mom  travel  with  him."

  "Sometimes,  only  if  he  thinks  where  he's  going  isn't  dangerous.  He's  usually  wrong  about  that  though."

  "It's  seems  like  it  get  cramped  in  there."

  "I'll  let  you  see  the  inside  for  yourself,"  Dinky  said  with  grin.

  They  played  for  several  more  minutes.  Dinky  beat  Nyx  pretty  soundly.  Nyx  just  couldn't  wrap  her  mind  around  what  had  happened  that  morning.  It  had  appeared  right  in  front  of  her,  but  she  still  wasn’t  sure  she  wanted  to  believe  in  time  travelling  boxes.  Even  worse,  Twilight  had  said  she  had  travelled  with  Dinky's  crazy  father;  that  meant  she  had  travelled  through  space  and  time.  How  could  her  mother  have  done  something  like  that  and  never  told  her?  Nyx  wasn't  entirely  sure  she  was  awake,  maybe  this  was  all  a  very  weird  dream.

  "Wait,  where  did  your  dad  even  get  a  time  machine?"  Nyx  wondered.

  "Well  he's  a  Time  Lord.  They’re  sorta  all  about  time  machines."

  "A  Time  Lord?"  asked  Nyx.

  "From  the  planet  Gallifrey,"  Dinky  explained.  To  her,  this  was  like  having  to  explain  to  somepony  what  the  ground  was.[a][b]

  "Wait,  so  he's  an  alien?"

  "We  prefer  the  term  Xeno-Equestrian."

  Nyx  frowned.  Now  Dinky  was  just  messing  with  her.

==================================================================

 Twilight  served  coffee  and  pastries.  Derpy  nearly  exploded  with  joy  at  the  sight  of  the  plate  full  of  blueberry  muffins;  the  way  she  gobbled  them  down  frightened  Twilight.  The  Doctor  had  wished  Twilight  had  served  tea,  but  he  decided  not  to  look  a  gift  horse  in  the  mouth.

  "So  you  two  are  married,  huh?"  Twilight  asked  as  she  took  a  sip  from  her  teacup.  Unfortunately,  she  hadn't  allowed  her  coffee  enough  time  to  cool,  and  she  burnt  her  lip.  She  put  a  napkin  to  her  mouth  and  did  her  best  to  appear  nonchalant.

  Derpy  took  hold  of  The  Doctor's  hoof;  he  blushed.  "Yep!  Nothing  brings  two  ponies  together  like  stopping  a  Meep  invasion,"  she  said.

  "Well  I  guess  that  explains  where  Dinky  came  from,"  Twilight  said.

  Derpy  wrinkled  her  face.  "You  mean  you  didn't  know?"

  "No  one  knew,"  Twilight  answered.  Then  she  realized  something.  "Hey,  wait  a  minute.  You've  had  Dinky  way  longer  than  I've  known  The  Doctor."

  "Oh,  Twilight,  and  here  I  thought  you  had  truly  grasped  the  idea  of  time  travel,"  The  Doctor  giggled.

  "Still,  it's  weird  knowing  your  mail-mare  and  the  guy  you  used  to  travel  with  are  married,  and  you  knew  nothing  about  it."  

  "Yes,  well,  speaking  of  not  knowing  things;  let's  talk  about  Nyx."  said  The  Doctor  expectantly.

  Twilight  blew  on  her  cup.  She  carefully  took  a  sip.  She  closed  her  eyes  and  took  a  deep  calming  breath.  "It  all  started  about  a  year  and  a  half  ago.  A  crazy  cult  kidnapped  me  and  dragged  me  out  to  the  Everfree  Forest.  They  wanted  to  use  a  drop  of  my  blood  in  a  spell  designed  to  resurrect  Nightmare  Moon."

  "Oh  my,  you  mean  Princess  Luna's  evil  persona,  as  in  separate  from  Luna?"  The  Doctor  asked.

  "Yes,  but  Celestia  found  me  in  time  and  managed  to  stop  the  spell  halfway  through.  But  the  other  half  of  the  spell  was  already  in  effect,  and  Nyx  was  the  result,"  Twilight  explained.  "So  the  cult  succeeded  in  bringing  Nightmare  Moon  back,  but  they  brought  her  back  as  a  scared  little  filly  with  no  memory  of  her  past."

  "So  how  did  you  wind  up  as  her  mother?"

  "I  had  dropped  my  saddlebags  in  the  woods  that  night.  I  went  back  the  next  morning  and  found  her  trapped  in  a  bush,  so  I  took  her  home,  cleaned  her,  and  bandaged  her  cuts,"  Twilight  said.  She  stared  into  her  cup;  the  memories  of  those  early  days  flooded  her  head.  They  made  her  feel  warm  and  giddy.  "I've  been  doing  my  best  to  take  care  of  her  ever  since."

  Twilight  helped  herself  to  a  cookie.  They  sat  in  silence  for  a  few  minutes  more,  chewing  at  their  treats.  Derpy  started  to  get  antsy.

  "Twilight!  Tell  the  rest  of  the  story,"  Derpy  complained.

  "I  don't  think  The  Doctor  really  needs  to  worry  about  that."  Twilight  had  told  him  everything  she  felt  he  needed  to  know  about  Nyx's  origins.  The  Doctor  was  the  last  pony  she  wanted  to  have  a  doubt  about  her.

  "But  she  saved  Dinky  and  me  from  a  monster!"  Derpy  pleaded.

  Twilight  groaned.  Derpy  wasn't  going  to  let  this  go  very  easily.  "Doctor,  all  you  need  to  know  is  that  Nyx  is  my  daughter,  and  she's  the  sweetest  filly  in  the  world."  

  "But  Twi-"  Derpy  tried  to  reason.

  The  Doctor  cut  her  off.  "Muffin,  let's  not  pressure  poor  Twilight  here.  I  can  go  back  and  check  for  myself  later."

  "Okay,"  Derpy  relented.

  "Thank  you,  Derpy."  Twilight  said.  

  She  was  about  to  take  another  sip  when  a  thought  occured  to  her,  one  she  wasn't  sure  she  liked.  She  had  planned  to  ask  Celestia  for  help  with  Nyx,  but  here  was  The  Doctor  back  in  her  life.  If  anypony  could  help  Nyx  with  her  problem,  he  could.  Unfortunately,  it  seemed  anytime  The  Doctor  became  involved  in  anything,  things  always  took  a  turn  for  the  worst  (and  ridiculous).  She  sighed.  Against  her  better  judgement,  Twilight  decided  it  was  worth  the  risk.  "Actually,  Doctor,  there  is  one  more  thing  you  should  know  about  Nyx."

  "Oh?"

  "For  the  past  week  she's  been  having  very  vivid  nightmares,  and  they  get  worse  each  night,"  she  explained.      

  "Well,  I  might  have  a  solution  for  that,"  The  Doctor  said.

  "Really,  one  that  isn't  dangerous?"  Twilight  asked  cautiously.

  "Oh  no,  we  just  need  to  take  her  to  the  Singing  Lakes.  If  you  spend  the  night  there,  you'll  sleep  peacefully  for  the  next  two  years."

  "I've  never  heard  of  that  place.  Where  is  it?"

  "It's  north  up  the  mountains,  just  a  few  miles  outside  of  Canterlot.

  "Well  that  doesn't  sound  so  ba-"

  "And  ten  thousand  years  in  the  future."

  "Please  no  TARDIS  rides,  Doctor,"  Twilight  said  angrily.

  "It's  not  dangerous."

  "Is  what  you  say  right  before  the  monsters  show  up."

  Derpy  scarfed  down  her  last  muffin.  She  always  felt  a  slight  sense  of  loss  whenever  she  reached  the  last  muffin.  "Don't  worry,  Twilight.  The  Doctor  doesn't  go  to  dangerous  places  while  Dinky's  onboard."          

  "Never  takes  me  anywhere  fun  is  more  like  it,"  Dinky  mumbled  as  she  and  Nyx  trotted  down  the  stairs.  They  had  been  eavesdropping  for  quite  awhile  now.

  Nyx  tugged  at  Twilight's  tail.  "Momma,  can  he  really  help  with  the  nightmares?"

  Twilight  grinned.  Nyx  couldn't  help  but  notice  how  tired  she  looked.  "Doctor,"  Twilght  began,  "Can  I  talk  with  Nyx  in  private  for  a  bit?"

  "Right,  I  need  to  fix  the  TARDIS  phase  drives  anyway."  The  Doctor  ran  inside  his  box  and  returned  with  Derpy's  saddlebag.  "Here,  Honey,  take  DInky  and  get  some  more  muffins."

  Derpy  was  nearly  jumping  with  excitement.  She  kissed  The  Doctor  on  the  cheek,  then  grabbed  Dinky  Doo  and  ran  out  the  front  door.  Wow,  thought  Nyx,  that  mare  really  likes  muffins.  The  Doctor  braved  the  smoke  and  ventured  back  into  the  TARDIS.

  They  were  alone  now.  Twilight  took  another  sip  of  coffee.  "So  do  you  really  want  to  go  with  him?"  she  asked.

  "I  think  we  both  want  a  full  night's  rest," Nyx  answered.

  Boy  that  was  true.  Twilight  looked  out  the  window.  The  sunlight  gently  streamed  into  the  room.  She  closed  her  eyes  and  tried  to  gather  her  thoughts.  

  "Why  didn't  you  tell  me  you  travelled  with  The  Doctor?"

  "I  honestly  didn't  think  he'd  ever  come  back."

  "You  said  stuff  about  danger  and  monsters."

  Twilight  took  another  sip.  "I  did."

  "Is  The  Doctor  a  bad  pony? Is  he  dangerous?"  Nyx  didn't  like  the  idea  of  her  mother  zipping  around  the  universe  with  a  bad  pony.

  "No,  he's  a  very  good  pony;  he  tries  to  help  everypony  he  meets,  but  the  problems  he  helps  ponies  with  are  usually  very  big  and  dangerous.  And  they  usually  shoot  lasers."  Twilight  gulped  down the  last  of  her  coffee.  "That's  why  I  didn't  want  you  to  know  about  him.  If  you  did  you  would  probably  want  to  go  with  him."

  Nyx  scratched  her  forehead  in  thought.  "I  don't  know  whether  that  makes  me  mad  or  thankful."

  "It  was  probably  wrong  of  me  to  keep  it  a  secret  from  you,  and  I'm  sorry.  Like  I  said,  I  didn't  think  I  would  ever  have  to  deal  with  it."

  The  Doctor  poked  his  head  out  of  the  TARDIS.  "Alright,  are  you  done?  Because  I  just  finished  in  here.  Turns  out  a  potato  crisp  got  stuck  in  one  of  the  actuators."

  "We're  done,  Doctor.  We  can  leave  as  soon  as  Derpy  and  Dinky  get  back,"  Twilight  said.  Nyx's  eyes  went  wide  and  she  smiled.

===================================================================

  Derpy  and  Dinky  returned  about  an  hour  later,  muffin  crumbs  adorned  their  lips.  They  were  content.  

  Nyx  had  packed  her  saddle  bags.  She  didn't  know  what  lay  ahead  of  her,  but  if  she  needed  a  scarf  or  sunglasses,  she  was  ready.  She  stood in  front  of  the  TARDIS  door.  She  gathered  her  courage  and  walked  inside.  Then,  she  ran  back  out.  She  checked  all  around  the  walls  outside  the  box.  This  was  impossible,  it  had  to  be  some  kind  of  trick.  There  was  no  way  this  thing  could  be  bigger  on  the  inside.  All  the  other  ponies  giggled.

  "I  love  it  whenever  they  see  the  inside  for  the  first  time,"  Derpy  grinned.

  They  all  went  inside  the  box,  Nyx  a  little  slower  than  the  rest.  They  entered  a  large,  roughly  circular,  control  room.  Several  big  screens  lined  the  walls,  displaying  complicated  graphs  and  charts.  A  large  glass  cylinder  sat  in the  center  of  the  room,  gears  and  motors  whirred  within.  A  mess  of  levers,  buttons,  and  switches  surrounded  the  base  of  the  cylinder.  The  whole  room  was  bathed  in  soft  orange  and  blue  lights.  This  was  crazy,  Nyx  thought.

  Twilight  looked  around  the  room.  The  Doctor  had  redecorated.  Wait,  were  they  forgetting  something?  "Oh  my  gosh,  we  almost  forgot  Spike.  Hold  on  a  sec,  Doctor."

  Twilight  ran  up  to  the  bedroom.  Spike  was  napping  in  his  little  bed.  Twilight  giggled  when  she  saw  he  was  drooling.  She  gave  him  a  gentle  nudge.  "Spike,  c'mon,  we're  going  with  The  Doctor."

  Spike  rubbed  his  eyes.  "Ugh,  count  me  out."

  "You  sure?"

  "Last  time  I  went  with  The  Doctor,  I  nearly  had  my  brain  put  in  a  giant  robot  scorpion.  Now  please  let  me  get  back  to  sleep."

===================================================================

  Twilight  returned  to  the  TARDIS.  The  Doctor  was  wildly  pulling  levers  on  the  control  panel.  Dinky  was  showing  Nyx  around  the  place.  Twilight  didn't  ever  think  she  would  return  here.

  "Now,  if  we're  all  ready,"  The  Doctor  said  as  he  flipped  a  red  switch.  The  engines  roared  to  life.  "Here  we  go!"  The  ship  gave  a  gentle  shake.  

"Did  we  take  off?"  Nyx  asked.

  "We're  already  there,"  The  Doctor  answered.  "Outside,  you'll  find  yourself  ten  thousand  years  in  the  future,  Equestria's  golden  age.  The  most  peaceful  and  advanced  period  in  your  planet's  history.  Go  on,  take  a  look."

  Nyx  bounded  for  the  exit.  She  opened  the  door  and  stepped  out.  Seconds  later,  everyone  in  the  room  heard  a  horrible  scream.

  Twilight  raced  out  towards  her  daughter,  Everyone  else  followed.  Outside  the  TARDIS  was  a  wasteland.  The  ground  was  scorched  and  the  sky  was  red.  The  smell  of  sulfur  hung  heavy  in  the air.  The  Doctor's  jaw  dropped.

  Nyx  started  to  hyperventilate.  She  was  too  scared  to  cry.  Twilight  embraced  her  in  her  forelegs.  "This  is  the  place,"  Nyx  said.  "This  is  the  place  from  my  dreams.  It's  real."

  Away,  in  a  forest  of  dead  and  whitened  trees,  a  tall  faceless  pony  in  a  black  suit  stood  unnoticed.  It  silently  watched  the  little  party.    

<-Past  Sins  by  Pen  Stroke  and  Batty  Gloom                                     Chapter  2->

Big  BIG  thanks  to  Pen  Stroke  for  allowing  me  to  use  Nyx,  and  for  suffering  through  the  rough  draft  of  this  chapter.  If  you  found  this  to  be  even  slightly  readable,  it  was  thanks  to  his  advice.

[c]

[d]

See Full Sized Cover

Art Done as a Commission By Valcron

Past Sins

What else can you be

when the world can only see

a monster?

By Pen Stroke

Assisted by Batty Gloom

Pre-read and edited by:

ActionScripter - Nightsong - Lightsideluc

Kim Fluttershy Dykas - Vimbert - Var/Varanus - Cloudvent/Filler

Chapter intro images by:

CiscoQL

=====================================================================

Dedicated to my loving aunt.

Among the first to encourage me to write.

She passed away while this story was being written.

She was a 3rd grade teacher, a mother, a wife, and a dear aunt,

And I will miss her greatly.

=====================================================================

Prelude

Resurrection

===============

Chapter 1>>

Amidst dim candlelight, a single unicorn sat with his head bent down, eyes shut. He sat alone at the edge of a still pond, his reflection dancing in the water. The pond was nestled deep within Everfree Forest, the darkened trees and gnarled branches surrounding all sides like silent sentinels.

While most of Equestria had just shifted into spring, Everfree was still gripped by clinging bits of winter. Snow covered the ground and there was a lingering chill in the air. The unicorn’s hot breath left puffs of steam to curl and rise for a few seconds before disappearing into the night.

For a long while, the unicorn had sat in the utter silence on the edge of the pond, with only a few nearby candles for company. The light from the tiny, flickering flames fell upon his black coat, though it wasn’t his natural color. No, his whole body, mane included, had been dyed the deepest black possible. Even his cutie mark had been covered by the dyes, his flank appearing utterly blank.

Only the quiet sounds of the forest were audible, the creaking of the trees and shifting of the pond water. It was a scene of tranquility the unicorn needed to prepare for the task of the evening. Yet, as he took in another deep breath and released it, hoofsteps began to echo across the trees.

“Nexus, we’re ready when you are.”

The black unicorn, Spell Nexus, took in another breath, turquoise eyes opening as he turned to look at the pony who had approached him from behind. “I will be along shortly.”

The pony who had interrupted nodded, disappearing back into the forest. After waiting for the hoofsteps to fade into silence, Nexus lit his horn. As his magic flowed, he reached to his side with the arcane energy, levitating a number of items into the air.

“Our queen, guide me this night,” Nexus said as he turned his gaze skyward, “for it is beneath this full moon that our efforts come to fruition.”

Nexus spoke the words slowly, his voice carrying the tone of a pony well practiced in preaching, whose words could inspire the loyalty of his brothers and sisters. A voice that had drawn great minds and strong bodies to the cause, though at the moment he was speaking only to himself.

The black dyed unicorn lowered his head and touched a hoof to his chest as he said, “Let me be merely a vessel for your will and strength until the deed is done.”

The levitating items drew close to him: a cape of midnight blue with white stars all across its surface, a chest plate, comprised of grayish purple metal, with a turquoise crescent moon set in its center, horseshoes to match the chest piece, and an armored plate for the back of his neck.

“Let me bear your mane,” Nexus spoke as he drew the cape over his back, “both powerful and beautiful, a depiction of the endless sky. Let me stand in uniform,” he continued as the armor began to secure itself to his body, “in the armor that pays tribute to your image and greatness. Let me be your agent this night, for it is you I serve above all others.”

The final piece of armor levitated towards Nexus, a helmet made of the same metal as the chest piece. The unicorn guided the helm carefully, bringing it down across his horn as it fit snugly onto his head.

“May your power be with me, for, tonight, you shall breathe and taste the cool night air for yourself,” Nexus spoke as he rose to his hooves. “You shall look upon the world with eyes of your own, and no longer be forced to share a body with a weak foal as you have in the past. Tonight, you shall be your own mare, never again to be threatened by the Elements of Harmony.”

Nexus stood, looking at his reflection in the pond. He now appeared the ultimate doppelganger of his mistress, taking on the visage of an eager acolyte, ready to receive her power and knowledge. Through the efforts of him and his group, they would see their queen rise again. Yet it was only he that was allowed to look so much like the queen, to lead the spell that was about to be cast. It was his place of honor, one no pony would steal from him.

“Tonight, Nightmare Moon, your followers shall grant you a life of your own, and the tyrants of sun and moon shall fall.”

Mentally prepared, Nexus turned and began to walk into the forest, following the trail that connected the pond to another part of the Everfree. Another clearing, which came into view quickly and was occupied by several unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies moving about the space as they constantly checked their work.

The ground had been cleared of snow, though a few piles were left dotted about the space. On both the exposed ground and on the piles of snow there were wooden bowls filled with oil soaked powders. Paint had been used upon the ground to draw arcane lines of power, and in the air above cloaked pegasi worked to gather clouds, pushing them together to hide the clearing from prying, sky-bound eyes.

All the ponies Nexus saw wore the black cloak of the order except for three, who stood giving orders: a pair of pegasi and an earth pony. They, like Nexus, wore the honored armor, though he alone wore the flowing, star field cape and the helmet, vestments only he had the honor of wearing.

“How close are we, Night Wind?” Nexus asked as he approached the trio.

“Cloud cover is almost complete, and the pegasi only need a few minutes to get their bowls,” the dark purple pegasus answered, staring back at Nexus with her turquoise eyes, a sign of the order. Through the work of a spell, Nexus blessed each of the Children of Nightmare. It was a blessing that carried enlightenment along with special eyes, which bore their majesty’s regal turquoise color.

“Good,” Nexus said before turning to the earth pony, “Stonewall, do you have the items?”

“They have not left my sight since our departure from Canterlot, Nexus,” the earth pony replied, motioning to the bowl that was currently resting on his back.

“And Gray Gale, is our special guest awake?”

“Oh yeah, she just woke up,” the gray pegasus of the trio answered, talking far more casually. “And boy is she scared!”

“That’s because you told her Stonewall would snap off her horn if she tried to escape,” Night Wind snipped.

“Hey, it kept her from trying anything,” Gray Gale defended.

“She couldn’t try anything even if she wanted to. She’s got an anti-magic brace on her neck.”

“You have all done well,” Nexus spoke, stopping the argument before it could go any further. “But now we must all take our places. Stonewall, take the sacred items to the center of the ritual. Gray Gale, Night Wind, prepare your torches and head to the sky.”

The three nodded, going to their assigned tasks while Nexus turned his attention to one side of the clearing. There, lying on the ground, was a pony, hogtied with rope and a cloth bag over her head.

Treading carefully, Nexus moved between the wooden bowls and approached the hogtied pony. When he was a few steps away, the cult leader used his magic to remove the bag. The unicorn captive was now fully visible, her violet coat dirty in a few places from the fact she was lying on the ground. Her darker purple mane was a mess as she looked up at Nexus in fear, undoubtedly noticing the resemblance the unicorn had with a certain fallen princess.

“I’m so happy you were able to join us this evening, Miss Sparkle,” Nexus whispered as he looked down at the purple pony.

“Who are you? What are you going to do to me?” Twilight asked in a panicked squeak, just barely managing to find her voice as she struggled at the ropes around her legs. She had likely tried to use her magic to escape, but she was not just bound physically: a metal brace, secured around the unicorn’s neck, kept her from making use of her magic.

“Inquisitive, though I should expect no less from Celestia’s star pupil,” Nexus replied, his horn glowing as he picked Twilight off the ground. With the unicorn floating in his magic, Nexus walked back towards the center of the clearing. There, the earth pony Stonewall had set up a metal pedestal, upon which he had placed the wooden bowl from his back.

“What we have planned for you, Twilight Sparkle, is very simple. As to who we are... well, consider us simply the loyal servants of Equestria’s true queen, her regal majesty Nightmare Moon.”

“Are you crazy!?” Twilight asked, twisting a bit as she was carried upside down by Nexus’s magic. “Nightmare Moon is gone. How can you serve somepony who is gone?”

“It is much easier than you think, Miss Sparkle. I will not, however, spoil the surprise. For the moment, all you need to know is that your... contribution is appreciated,” Nexus replied as he placed the bag back over Twilight’s head, securing it tightly and placing a sound dampening spell across the fabric. The mare continued to protest, despite the fact her words were muffled by the spell-infused bag.

Leaving Twilight floating in the air, Nexus walked over to the metal pedestal. He examined the contents of the wooden bowl set upon the tall, narrow metal table, eyes glinting in anticipation. Inside the bowl were curled shreds of what looked like paper, but they were a purple color and one of the pieces had a big turquoise crescent moon on its surface.

He then turned his attention to a dagger resting beside the bowl, picking it up with his magic. The stallion then looked back at Twilight, who continued to twist, flail, and shout muffled protests. He drew close to Twilight, and, after lowering her a little closer to the ground, Nexus proceeded to give the mare a swift kick in the stomach.

The kick quickly made Twilight stop flailing, the unicorn hanging limply in Nexus’s magic as she tried to catch the breath that had been knocked out of her lungs. In the moment Twilight hung motionlessly, Nexus drew the dagger’s blade across part of Twilight's leg, leaving a very shallow wound. It was no worse than a paper cut, but it brought muffled screams of panic from the unicorn, as if he had done far worse.

The wound began to bleed gently, a few drops of blood weeping out. Nexus set the dagger against the wound, gathering several drops of blood on the blade before placing it into the wooden bowl with Nightmare Moon’s remains.

“Yes, steal the life from the blood of the bearer the of Element of Magic. Let it give you strength, so that you may shed the rest of her blood with your own hooves, ” Nexus whispered. He then levitated Twilight back to the edge of the clearing, and dropped her unceremoniously at the base of a tree before approaching the metal pedestal.

Slowly, Nexus drew in a breath, releasing it and watching the puff of steam escape into the night air. Then, with one final deep breath, the unicorn leader looked out across the rest of the Children of Nightmare, his voice echoing across the trees as he preached to his fellows.

“Brothers and Sisters, for months, we have toiled in secrecy. We worked behind the backs of the guards and tyrant princesses, putting our own safety at risk. Personal fortunes have been spent along with many hours to bring us to this point. But now we are ready; the spell is prepared.

“Tonight we, the Children of Nightmare, shall see our queen given life, blood, and form of her own.

“Once, she and Luna were one and the same, but the Elements of Harmony could not destroy what our queen was. No, that power could only peel her away from the weak foal Luna, could only trap her essence in these precious shreds. It was a horrible fate, but it is because of the Elements of Harmony’s inability to destroy our queen that we can stand here tonight.

“For tonight, this spell will give the essence of our queen life of its own. Never again shall she be shackled to the meek Princess Luna, and, with our aid, she will come to rule all of Equestria within a year of her tragic defeat.

“Now lend your magic to the spell, for the time of our victory is at hoof!” Nexus called out, rearing back triumphantly before slamming his fore-hooves into the ground.

“Let Nightmare Moon be born anew!”

The cult members quickly went about their work. The unicorns formed a circle around the clearing, their horns glowing as the lines of paint they had drawn on the forest floor came to life with a blue incandescence. Stonewall, one of the few earth ponies walked around the circle and, with a torch, lit the bowls filled with oil soaked powders, which burned with an eerie blue flame. As the fires grew, the air in the clearing became so thick with magic it was almost tangible.

Above the ritual, the cloaked pegasi cult members also held bowls of burning powder. With torches of their own, the armored Gray Gale and Night Shade flew around to light the bowls kept aloft above the clearing.

When all the bowls were lit, Nexus used his magic to take the fire from one, gently holding it in the air and keeping the flickering flame alive. He brought the fire over the bowl containing the shreds of Nightmare Moon and the bloodied dagger, and then dropped the flame inside.

The contents burst into flame almost instantly, Nexus quickly retreating to the edge of the circle to join his fellow unicorns. There, they all began to twist and form the magic in the air, working like potters with clay. They shaped the free magic, molded it, and began to force it down into the bowl that contained the shreds of Nightmare Moon.

After a few anxious moments, Nexus saw what he had hoped for; the blood soaked dagger started to float above the fire. The blood was drawn up from the dagger by the spell and formed into a single crimson sphere before the dagger itself was launched away, its polished metal surface sinking deep into a nearby tree.

Black smoke billowed from the central bowl, the shreds of Nightmare Moon starting to burn. The smoke began to form and swirl around the large drop of blood. The fires from the wooden bowls were drawn in, swirling and orbiting the spell’s focal point like water in a whirlpool.

The drop of blood became encased in a black sphere, and that black sphere began to slowly grow. It drew in the fire and smoke and everything, and grew larger with each passing moment.

“Yes... it is working my brothers and sisters. She is beginning to take shape. Our queen shall soon be-”

KRAC-CROOO-OOOM!

The cult ponies jumped probably a foot in the air when a single bolt of lightning raced down from the sky and struck the very center of the spell, sundering the metal podium and wrapping the drop of blood, the shreds of Nightmare Moon, and the wooden bowl in crimson flames.

Eyes turned upward to the source of the lightning; the cloud cover the cult’s pegasi had carefully placed was blown back as a full battalion of royal guards flew down from the sky.

“FREEZE! YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST!!!” several of the guards shouted as dozens of other gold armored pegasi landed in the center of the clearing. Still, not a single pony froze, the cultists instead charging the guards in an all out assault.

Nexus stood flabbergasted, watching as the center of the spell and the precious shreds of Nightmare Moon were destroyed. All their plans, decimated by a single surge of magical lightning: lightning that could only have come from one source.

Turning his eyes skyward, Nexus glared at the next figure to float down through the hole in the clouds. With a single flash of her horn, the figure brushed away the rest of the cloud cover like froth from a cup of hot cocoa.

“Celestia...” Nexus forced out through gritted teeth, his turquoise eyes locked on the sun princess as she floated down amidst the fighting, casting back anypony that dared attack her with barely a flick of her horn. Inside him, a hatred billowed. Every fiber of Nexus’s being wanted him to attack, to smite down the sun princess for daring to interrupt the ritual, but he knew better.

“Don’t think you’ve won today, Sun Tyrant. You have merely delayed me at best,” Nexus hissed, his own horn starting to glow. Gray Gale, Night Wind, Stonewall, and a number of cultists gathered near Nexus as magic flowed from the unicorn’s horn. The group then seemed to disappear into thin air, though a number of hoofprints took shape in the soft ground as the now invisible cultists fled into the Everfree Forest.

===========

“Have you apprehended all involved?” the sun princess asked, her eyes locked on the guard that stood before her.

Celestia currently sat in the Ponyville library. After rescuing Twilight, the princess had taken her student home and sent her straight to bed. Twilight resisted a bit, but, after going through such a stressful situation, it didn’t take much to get the unicorn to fall asleep. Celestia had turned the library into a base of operations, keeping guard of her student personally while having her guards bring their reports to her.

“We have captured a great number of those involved, but we believe some were able to escape by using magic to disguise themselves,” the guard reported, head bowed respectfully to the alicorn. “We followed their tracks but they eventually ended, as if they realized their mistake and corrected it before we could catch them. Still, we are continuing to search the forest with the aid of the zebra that reported your student’s ponynapping.”

“Yes, Zecora. Please make sure that she is properly thanked for all she has done this evening. Also, please extend to her an invitation to the palace so that she may join Luna and I for dinner on an evening of her choosing.”

“Of course, Princess,” the guard answered as he raised his head. “Though, if I may ask, what were these ponies trying to do?”

“I do not know,” Celestia admitted. “All we were able to get from the information we gathered prior to this night was that something was going to happen, and that Twilight had her head covered by a thick sack for most of her ponynapping. She doesn’t know enough for us to ascertain this group’s purpose.”

“What about the spell?”

“The spell is not something I recognize. If it is from a book or ancient scroll, then I have not read of it, but it could just as easily be a new spell. A ritual crafted for a specific purpose, though that purpose still remains to be unearthed. Make sure that the details of the spell itself remain preserved; it will need to be studied.”

The guard snapped into a salute. “Of course, Princess. We will gather any evidence at the scene and have it taken to the castle until such time it can be examined.”

“Good. I have no doubt that the spell’s purpose was dark, and I will not stand for my student being threatened,” Celestia said, her eyebrows furrowing with determination. “I want the truth of this revealed, Captain, with all haste.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

===========

The unicorn guards searched the area, sweeping it with their magic to try and detect anything left behind. What remained of the wooden bowls were gathered and any unburnt powder was collected together into a single bag. Everything and anything that was not natural to the Everfree Forest was taken from the clearing, though the guards did not extend their search into bordering trees and bushes once it became clear the ritual’s radius ended at the treeline.

All that was gathered was loaded into a waiting chariot, and once the unicorns were finished, the pegasi hitched to the chariot took flight. They rose quickly into the sky before banking towards Canterlot as the unicorns below watched their fellow soldiers until they vanished beyond the treetops.

“All right stallions, let’s go join the groups searching the forest for any of the cult members that might have escaped,” the lieutenant directing the clean-up ordered. “Give higher priority to any that appear to be unicorns; one of them used some kind of crazy magic to get away, and we don’t want that to happen a second time.”

“Sir, shouldn’t some of us remain here?” one of the soldiers spoke up, a newer recruit to the royal guard.

“What for?” the lieutenant snapped, glaring down the soldier that dared to question his orders.  

“To guard the crime scene, Sir,” the younger soldier replied, standing in staunch attention as the lieutenant walked right up to him.

“No, we’ve gathered everything of importance.”

“But what if the cultists come back, Sir?”

“Listen close, ‘cause I’ll say this only once,” the lieutenant snapped, glaring down the overly vocal soldier. “Any criminal worth his salt will get as far away from the scene of his crime as possible. These ponies are crazy, but they’re not stupid. They won’t be coming back.”

The younger guard opened his mouth to speak, but the lieutenant continued on, ignoring him. “Besides that, this isn’t the central park in Canterlot. Everfree is dangerous. There are monsters in here that could eat a pony twice my size in a single gulp, armor and all. This isn’t a place where we want to spend any more time than necessary.

“But, if you want to stay here and guard the scene of the crime, be my guest. Just watch out for the hydras,” the veteran guard concluded, beginning to walk out of the clearing. The rest of the soldiers followed behind him, heading out into the forest to join the search. Only the guard who had spoken up did not move, remaining in the clearing as the others disappeared amongst the trees.

He remained there for a minute at best before the lieutenant’s words got to him. The soldier broke into a gallop as he left the clearing, sprinting to catch up with his comrades.

Still, the magic that lingered in the air like a heavy mist began to shift, sparkling in the cool night air as it was drawn to one side of the clearing. There, hidden away by a bush, a black sphere lay amongst the dirt. A sphere which was cast away from the center of the spell by Celestia’s bolt of lighting.

The tiny black ball was nestled into a crook of the cold ground, and from there it drew in the lingering magic, like a magnet attracting metal. It pulled in the energy, and with each ounce it absorbed, it grew larger.

Then, when the sphere had doubled its size, it pulsed. That pulse caused the tiny drops of blood to weep from pores in the sphere’s surface. It was blood had been harvested at the edge of a dagger only moments before, but now it was black and gooey. The life had been drained from the blood, and it was now being discarded like trash.

With each pulse, the sphere excreted more of the dead blood, which formed a smear on the ground. Then, when none of the used blood remained, the sphere’s pulsing shifted. It became a weak, but distinct pattern. A pitter-patter that lived in the chest of almost every living creature: a heart beat. All the while, the sphere continued to grow larger, continued to draw in the magic of the clearing, and continued the process begun by the spell Celestia had interrupted.

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Chapter 1>>

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I do not own the intellectual properties this fan-fiction is based on.

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                                                   Chapter  Two

                                           Things  Get  Complicated

  "Everyone  get  back  in  the  TARDIS,"  ordered  The  Doctor.  He  bounded  towards  the  blue  doors.  His  hoof  was  on  the  handle  when he  heard  Twilight's  voice.

  "Doctor,  can  I  talk  to  you  for  a  minute?"  she  asked.

  The  Doctor  turned  around.  "What  is  it,  Twilight?  I  need  to-"  He  was  cut  short  when  Twilight  delivered  a  vicious  hay maker  to  his  jaw.  He  stumbled  to  the  ground,  sharp  pain  ripping  through  his  face.

  "WHAT  THE  HAY,  DOCTOR!"  Twilight  boomed  in  a  near  growl.  Her  breathing  was  heavy;  she  was  practically  foaming  at  the  mouth.

  Derpy  rushed  to  her  husband. "Doctor!"  

  "It's  okay,  Derpy,  we're  all  okay.  Twilight,  Nyx,  I  am  so  sorry.  I  didn't  know  this  would  happen.  Please  get  back  in  the  TARDIS."  The  Doctor  begged.  

  Twilight  looked  into  The  Doctor's  eyes,  and  her  anger  began  to  turn  into  alarm.  He  was  scared,  very  scared.  She  offered  her  hoof  to  the  time  pony  and  helped  him  off  the  ground.

  "We  good?"  he  asked.

  "No,  but  I  apologize  for  hitting  you,"  Twilight  responded.  She  levitated  Nyx  onto  her  back  and  trotted  back  into  the  blue  box.                                                                                                                      

   Derpy  examined  the  growing  red  welt  that  now  adorned  The  Doctor's  face.  "Wow,  it  seems  like  somepony  might  be  holding  a  bit  of  a  grudge.  What  did  you  do  to  her?"  she  asked.

  The  Doctor  brushed  the  black  dirt  of  his  coat.  "I  think  it  be  best  for  everypony  if  Twilight  revealed  that  on  her  own  time.  Anyway,  back  in  the  ship  you  two."  He  pointed  to  the  door  with  his  hoof.

  Dinky  was  flabbergasted.  "Wait,  we're  just  leaving?  Dad,  you  never  want  to  just  leave.  You  always  have  to  look  around  first,  usually  until  some  bad  guy  captures  us."

  "Hey,  I've  only  let  that  happen  thrice,  and  I  never  would  have  let  you  come-"

  "-If  you  knew  it  was  dangerous.  Yes,  Dad,  I  know."

  "Hey,  don't  get  smart.  Now,  in  the  ship."  He  once  again  pointed  at  the  door.  Dinky  obeyed.  Her  father  wasn't  acting  like  himself,  and  that  was  never  a  good  sign.

  "Doctor,  what's  wrong?"  Derpy  asked.

  The  Doctor  furrowed  his  brow. "I  don't  know."

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  Nyx  buried  her  head  in  Twilight's  fur.  She  whimpered  softly  as  Twilght  rocked  her  back  and  forth.  Derpy  and  The  Doctor  stepped  into  the  ship.  

  The  Doctor  rushed  to  the  control  console  and  pulled  a  small  computer  monitor  in  front  of  him.  It  flickered  to  life  as  The  Doctor  furiously  mashed  buttons  and  pulled  levers.  A  set  of  coordinates  and  a  date  appeared  on  the  screen.  The  Doctor's  ears  fell.  "Oh  that's  bad.  That  is  seriously  very  not  good."  He  ran  his  hoof  through  his  mane.  "Twilight  Sparkle,  a  moment?"

  Twilight  looked  down  at  her  daughter.  "I'll  be  right  back,  ‘kay?"  She  got  up  and  met  The  Doctor  at  the  control  console.  He  whispered  something  in  her  ear.  "Okay,"  she  said  with  a  nod.

  Dinky  came  up  to  Nyx  and  put  her  hoof  on  Nyx's  shoulder.  "You  okay?"

  Nyx  brushed  away  a  remnant  tear.  She  took  a  deep,  mucussy  breath  to  try  to  regain  her  composure.  "I'll  be  fine."

  "Please  don't  hate  my  dad  or  me  for  this.  Sometimes  this  old  junker  goes  wonky  on  us;  it  takes  us  places  we  don't  want  to  go,"  Dinky  explained,  tapping  her  hoof  on  the  glass  floor.

  "You  guys  were  just  trying  to  help,  but  please  just  take  me  home  now,"  Nyx  sulked.

  The  Doctor  had  been  listening  in  on  the  fillies'  conversation.  "Your  wish  is  my  command,  Nyx,"  he  announced.  He  pranced  wildly  about  the  controls.  He  put  his  hoof  on  a  big  lever  with  an  eight  ball  knob  on  the  end.  "I  flip  this  switch  and  va-vooooom,  ooohh,  oh,  that  was  a  close  one."

  "What  is  it,  Doctor?"  Derpy  asked.

  "I  need  to  set  this  location  as  an  anchor  point,"  The  Doctor  explained.

  "Anchor  point?"

  "A  sort  of  link  between  this  time  zone  and  the  TARDIS'  engines,  in  case  we  need  to  come  back."

  Nyx's  breathing  quickened.  "Why  would  we  ever  want  to  come  back  here?"  she  asked  as  fresh  tears  began  to  form.

  "Oh  no  no,  don't  worry  Nyx.  It's  just  standard  time  travel  procedure,  something  I  do  every  time  we're  about  to  leave  somewhere."

  Derpy  frowned  and  cocked  her  head.  "Doctor,  you've  never-"

  She  was  cut  off  when  the  Doctor  began  to  cough  sonorously.  "*Hack*  We'll  *Cough*  ta-ha-alk  when  *Wheeze*  *Cough*  *Hack*  Nyx  is  go-ha-ne."  He  cleared  his  throat.  "Right,  sorry,  had  a  tickle.  Now  then,  let's  take  you  home."  He  flipped  the  eight  ball  lever.

  Suddenly,  the  ship  began  take  shake  terribly.  Trails  of  steam  erupted  from  the  edges  of  the  room.  The  lights  dimmed  and  turned  red.  The  shaking  grew  worse  and  worse.

  Dinky  and  Nyx  held  on  to  each  other  for  dear  life.  "Oh  no!  Not  again!"  Dinky  shouted.

===============================================================

  Nopony  knew  how  long  the  shaking  went  on  for,  it  stopped  just  as  suddenly  as  it  began.  Derpy's  limbs  felt  like  jelly  and  she  stumbled  across  the  room.

  "Everyone  alright?"  asked  The  Doctor.  He  checked  the  monitor,  only  to  find  the  screen  black.

  "Honestly,  I  kind  of  want  to  do  that  again,"  Nyx  chimed.

   Twilight  took  a  shaky  step  forward.  "I  think  I'm  going  to  be  sick."  No  sooner  had  the  words  left  her  mouth,  than  she  put  a  hoof  to  her  mouth  to  plug  the  oncoming  rush  of  stomach  contents.

  The  Doctor  reached  into  a  compartment  under  the  console  and  produced  a  small  plastic bag.  "Here,"  he  said,  "consider  yourself  lucky.  On  most  worlds,  equines  don't  have  the  ability  to  relief  their  digestive  systems  in  an  emergency."

  "Dad,  what  happened?  That  was  worse  than  this  morning,"  Dinky  said.

  The  Doctor  pressed  every  button  he  could  find,  but  the  monitor  refused  to  turn  on.  One  of  these  days  he  was  going  to  have  to  sit  down  and  actually  learn  how  these  controls  worked.  "Bah!  The  scanner's  died.  Derpy,  sweetie,  see  if  we've  landed."

  Derpy  opened  the  doors.  Sunlight  flooded  the  dim  room,  causing  her  to  squint.  A  cool  breeze  came  through  the  entrance.  "It  looks  like  we  made  it  back  to  Ponyville."

  "Excellent!"  The  Doctor  exclaimed.  "Now,  Nyx,  pack  your  bags  and  go  get  our  little  dragon  friend."

  "What?"  Nyx  pondered.

  "We're  going  to  stay  with  Princess  Celestia  in  Canterlot  for  a  few  days,"  Twilight  answered.

  "Why?"  asked  Nyx.

  "The  Doctor  was  just  about  to  explain  that  to  me.  I  need  you  to  go  to  the  Library  and  pack;  I  have  a  feeling  I  might  say  some  words  to  The  Doctor  I  don't  want  you  to  hear.  Oh,  and  have  Spike  send  a  message  to  the  Princess  telling  her  we're  coming."  Twilight  reached  down  and  gave  her  daughter  a  farewell  hug  and  kiss.

=======================================================================

  Nyx  found  it  hard  to  believe  that,  just  minutes  ago,  she  had  been  walking  through  her  nightmares.  Here  was  Ponyville  like  it  always  was,  with  its  wooden  cottages  and  straw  roofs,  welcoming  her  back  as  if  this  morning  had  just  been  another  dream.  The  sun  was  shining  bright,  its  warmth  felt  great  on  her  coat.  The  TARDIS  had  landed  just  half  a  block  away  from  Sugar  Cube  Corner,  the  local  bakery.  The  Library  was  just  a  five  minute  walk  away.

  Dinky  came  running  after  her.  "Wait  wait!  Let  me  come  too."

  "You  sure?  I'm  just  packing."

  "Between  helping  you  pack  or  having  to  listen  to  Dad  drone  on  about  neutron  flow  this  and  time  vortex  that,  I'll  go  with  option  A.  Besides,  we've  never  really  hung  out  before;  maybe  this  could  be  the  start  of  a  great  friendship,  or  we  might  end  up  as  mortal  enemies.  Let's  find  out,  shall  we?"

  The  two  made  their  way  down  the  street.  As  they  passed  Sugar  Cube  Corner,  Dinky  happened  to  peek  up  at  the  window.  A  sign  proudly  displaying the  words: "Muffin  Sale,  All  Muffins  75% Off!"  hung  there.

  "Oh  wow,  I  know  what  I  said  about  hanging  out  and  friendship  and  stuff,  but,  um,  muffins,"  Dinky  said,  shifting  nervously.

  "Go  ahead,  but  you  and  your  mother  have  a  serious  addiction  going  on  there,"  Nyx  called  out.  Dinky  didn't  hear  her,  she  had  already  disappeared  into  the  pink  building.

  Nyx  grinned  and  continued  on  her  way.  There  weren't  many  ponies  out  today,  not  unusual  for  a  Sunday  afternoon.  What  was  unusual  was  the  fact  that  Nyx  didn't  recognize  anypony  she  saw.  Some  looked  familiar,  but  when  she  saw  a  filly  she  thought  she  knew,  it  turned  out  to  be  a  colt.  This  happened  three  times  before  she  reached  the  Library  door.  A  small  but  steadily  growing  sense  of  unease  started  chewing  at  the  back  of  Nyx's  mind.  She  shook  it  off  and  stepped  inside.

  Finally  home!  It  felt  so  good  to  be  back  in  the  Library.  The  fallen  books  and  papers  from  this  morning  had  been  picked  up,  Spike  must  have  cleaned  the  place  once  he  had  gotten  out  of  bed.  She  tread  quietly;  when  dragons  are  babies  they  can  take  up  to  five  naps  a  day,  and  Spike  was  most  certainly  not  an  exception.  

  She  didn't  want  to  pack.  She  just  wanted  to  draw  a  hot  bath,  then  eat  a  big  bowl  of  celery  soup.  She  sighed,  then  made  her  way  up  the  stairs  to  her  room.  

  She  came  to  her  door  and  stopped.  Her  drawing  was  gone.  The  crayon  drawing  of  Spike,  Twilight,  and  herself  she  had  made  when  she  first  came  to  the  Library,  wasn't  on  her  door.  She  burst  into  her  room.  All  her  belongings  were  gone.  Her  bed  had  been  replaced  by  a  writing  desk,  and  her  toy  chest  had  been  replaced  by  a  bookshelf.  All  her  pictures  were  gone,  as  were  her  books.

  A  voice  came  from  behind  her.  "Um,  excuse  me,  little  filly,  the  Library's  closed  today.  And  even  if  it  wasn't,  this  area  is  private."

  Nyx  whirled  around.  A  baby  dragon  stood  behind  her.  She  looked  like  a  copy  of  Spike;  the  only  real  differences  were  her  eyes  being  slightly  bigger,  and  her  skin  was  a  slightly  darker  shade  of  purple.      

  The  little  reptile's  eyes  widened  in  shock.  "A-a-Anarchy?"  she  stammered.  

  Nyx  briefly  wondered  what  this  dragon  had  against  regular  government.  Then,  a  conclusion  clicked  in  Nyx's  brain.  Rage  built  in  her  belly  and  she  gritted  her  teeth.  Her  eyes  shown  white  with  energy.  "Burglar!"  she  roared.  Raw  magical  power  surged  through  her  horn,  and  she  brought  her  wings  to  full  spread.  "You  have  fifteen  seconds  to  get  out  of  my  home!"

  The  dragon  recoiled  and  then  sprinted  down  the  hall.  "Dusk!  Dusk!"  she  called  in  a  panic.  Nyx  was  hot on  her  tail.

  Now  Nyx  is  very  intelligent  for  her  age,  and  had  she  been  thinking  properly,  she  might  have  stopped  to  wonder  why  a  burglar  would  replace  all  their  stolen  items  with  different  items.  Unfortunately,  Nyx  was  very  tired  and  had  had  a  very  rattling  day,  so  she  was  not  thinking  properly.

=================================================================

  The  Doctor  laid  underneath  the  TARDIS  control  console,  goggles  over  his  eyes  and  a  metallic,  cylindrical,  very  noisy  device  in  his  mouth,  tinkering  with  a  jumbled  mess  of  wires.

  "Alrighty,  Doctor,  I  think  it's  time  you  start  explaining.  What  happened  this  morning,  and  why  do  Nyx  and  I  have  to  stay  with  Celestia?"  Twilight  demanded.

  The  Doctor  spat  out  his  sonic  screwdriver.  "First  off,  what  do  you  think  happened  this  morning?"

  "I  don't  know!  That's  what  I'm  asking  you  for,"  Twilight  bemoaned.

  Derpy  put  her  hoof  to  her  chin.  "If  I  had  to  guess,  I'd  say  the  TARDIS  landed  in  the  wrong  time  period  again."

  "That's  what  I  thought  too,  until  I  checked  the  scanner.  We  arrived  at  exactly  the  point  in  time  I  intended  us  to  go,  barring  three  seconds,"  explained  The  Doctor.  He  pulled  himself  out  from  under  the  controls  and  sat  up.  "We  came  to  the  right  time,  but  everything  about  it  was  wrong.  Something  has  changed  the  timeline  and  I  didn't  sense  it."

  "So  what  changed  it?"  Derpy  asked.

  The  Doctor  took  a  deep  breath  and  slowly  exhaled  as  he  ran  his  hoof  though  his  mane.  "I  have  absolutely  no  idea.  I  can  see  the  ebb  and  flow  of  time,  the  past,  present  and  possible  futures,  that's  why  I'm  called  a  Time  Lord.  But  something  must  have  found  some  sort  of  blind  spot  in  my  vision,  because  the  time-stream  was  changed  from  right  under  my  nose.  And  honestly,  ladies,  any  force  with  that  kind  of  power  over  the  vortex  frightens  me,  a  lot."

================================================================

  Dinky  sat  slumped  over  a  table.  A  sign  on  the  bakery  counter,  reading:  Out  of  muffin  ingredients,  back  in  five  minutes,  taunted  her.  She  had  counted  the  seconds,  she  had  been  sitting  there  for  seven  minutes,  and  not  a  sign  of  the  owners,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cake,  or  their  crazy  assistant.  She  was  just  about  to  give  up  and  leave,  when  she  heard  a  crash  from  the  kitchen.

  "Hello,  is  everything  all  right  back  there?"  she  called.

  A  frizzy  mess  of  pink  fur  stumbled  out  through  the  swinging  doors,  a  picture  of  three  balloons  on  its  hind  quarters.  Dinky  was  overjoyed  to  see  the  Cake's  assistant.

  "Pinkie  Pie,  my  good  mare.  Would  you  please  get  me  two  blackberry  muffi-"

  "Dinky!"  Pinkie  Pie  shouted  ecstatically,  "I'm  so  super  glad  to  finally  find  you."

  It  was  now  that  Dinky  got  a  proper  look  at  the  mare.  Her  hair  was  covered  in  twigs and  leaves.  She  was  wearing  a  strange  metallic  eye patch  over  her  left  eye,  and  she  had  a  beaten  looking  bracelet  device  on  her  foreleg.  And  she  was  missing  a  tooth.

  "Here,"  Pinkie  said,  handing  a  small  blue  bag  to  Dinky,  "you'll  need  this.  Remember,  the  password  is  CHERRY  CHYPS,  all  caps  and  the  'I'  is  a  'Y'."

  "Hurry,  Ms.  Pie!  They'll  be  here  soon."  came  a  voice  from  behind  Pinkie's  head.  His  accent  reminded  Dinky  of  her  father's.  Dinky  looked  around  to  see  a  white,  brown  spotted,  colt  she  had  never  met,  duct  taped  to  Pinkie's  back,  his  legs  flailing  in  the  air.

  Right!  Bye  bye  Dinky,"  Pinkie  said.  She  pressed  a  button  on  her  bracelet  and  disappeared  in  a  blue  flash.

  Dinky  stared  at  the  spot  where  Pinkie  Pie  had  just  stood.  She  wasn't  sure  if  she  wanted to  know  what  had  just  happened.  She  jumped  when  another  flash  signaled  Pinkie's  return.

  She  had  a  very  large  mallet  in  her  mouth,  which  she  spat  on  the  ground.  "Oh,  and  if  you  see  either  me  again,  or  Rainbow  Dash,  hit  them  with  this.  Don't  think,  just  do.  Okay,  bye  for  real!"  she  said  as  she  disappeared  once  more.

  Dinky  needed  to  sit  down.  What  just  happened?  What  did  any  of  that  mean?  "And  where  are  my  muffins!"

===============================================================

  Nyx  fired  a  bolt  of  white  lightning  from  her  horn,  blasting  at  the  little  dragons  feet.  She  had  the  thief  cornered  now.  "All  right,  just  put  everything  back  the  way  you  found  it,  and  don't  ever  come  here  again,  and  I'll  let  you  go  scotfree."

  The  dragon  just  stood  there,  terrified.  "Dusk  Shine!  Help!"  she  shouted.

  "Barb!  What's  wrong?"  came  a  voice  from  behind  Nyx.

  She  turned  around.  Nothing  in  all  the  world  could  prepare  her  for  what  she  saw.  There,  standing  in  the  door  way,  was  a  young  stallion,  who  looked  almost  identical  to  Twilight  Sparkle.  His  mane  was  much  shorter  and  his  features  were  more  masculine,  but  he  had  the  same  lavender  coat,  the  same  dark  mane  with  a  pink  and  purple  stripe  running  through  it,  the  same  starry  cutie  mark,  the  same  caring  eyes,  the  same  everything.  Nyx's  mind  went  blank,  refusing  to  process  what  her  eyes  were  seeing.

  The  stallion  looked  stared  into  Nyx's  dragon  eyes,  and  his  face  contorted  into  a  look  of  surprise,  fear,  and  anger.  "Anarchy  Artemis?"  he  asked  in  shock.

  "Wah-what?"  Nyx  managed  to  squeak.  

   "Help,  Dusk!  She's  crazy!  She  called  me  a  burglar  and  started  shooting  lighting  at  me,"  the  baby  dragon  pleaded.

  "Right  then,  I  don't  know  who  or  what  you  are,  but  I  will  not  let  you  break  into  my  home  and  attack  my  friend!"  Dusk  Shine  snarled.

  "What?"  Nyx  stammered.

  The  stallion's  horn  glowed  red.  He  fired  a  beam  of  concentrated  magic  and  hit  Nyx  right  between  the  eyes.  She  felt  herself  slipping  into  unconsciousness,  he  must  have  hit  her  with  a  sleep  spell.

  "Barb,  send  a  message  to  Prince  Solaris.  Maybe  he  can  help  sort  this  out."  Nyx  heard  the  stallion  say  right  before  her  world  turned  to  blackness.

====================================================================

  "Alright,  that  should  do  it.  Derpy,  hit  the  switch,"  The  Doctor  said  from  under  the  console.

  "This  blue  one?"  Derpy  asked.  She  toggled  the  switch  and  looked  up  at  the  monitor,  "Still  nothing."

  "Blast!  I  hate  wiring."  

  Twilight  paced  nervously  around  the  room.  She  tried  to  take  a  seat  on  one  of  the  red  seats  around  the  console,  but  she  couldn't  stop  her  legs  from  bouncing.  She  had  been  trying  to  get  The  Doctor  to  explain  why  she  and  Nyx  needed  to  stay  with  Celestia  for  nearly  eight  minutes  now,  but  he  kept  changing  the  subject  on  her.  Finally,  she  couldn't  take  it  any  longer.  She  magically  dragged  The  Doctor  out  from  under  the  controls.  "Doctor,  explain;  what's  this  all  have  to  do  with  Nyx?"

  "Believe  me,  Twilight.  That's  what  I'm  trying  to  find  out."  He  tried  to  return  to  his  wiry  mess,  but  Twilight  pulled  him  back.

  "Ehh!  Not  good  enough.  Tell  me  everything  you  know."

  "Well  then,  where  to  start?  I  guess  the  Big  Bang,"  He  chuckled.  Twilight  was  not  amused.  The  Doctor's  goofy  grin  disappeared  and  he  became  very  grim.  "Okay,  I'll  be  straight  with  you,  Twilight.  I  don't  know  what's  going  on,  but  whatever  it  is  means  very  bad  news  for  your  daughter."

  "Tell  me."

  "The  reason  the  time  period  we  went  to  this  morning  was  supposed  to  be  Equestria's  golden  age  is  because  Nyx  led  it  there.  She'll  go  on  to  replace  Princess  Luna  as  the  stewardess  of  the  moon  and  co-ruler  of  Equestria.  So  if  that  future  was  replaced  by  what  we  saw  this  morning,  Nyx  could  be  in  a  lot  of  trouble."  The  Doctor  connected  two  wires  together,  and  the  monitor  screen  flickered  to  life.  

  "Are  you  telling  me  my  little  Nyx  is  in  danger,  and  we  just  let  her  go  out  alone?"  Twilight  asked,  concern  and  anger  rising  in  her  voice.

 "Well...yes,  sorry,  but  I  figured  that  if  Ponyville  is  okay,  whatever  happens  to  change  the  timeline  hasn't  happened  yet.  And  I  highly  doubt  this  timeline  could  change  with  me  in  it,  and  I  not  notice."

  The  computer  monitor  began  bleeping  and  flashing  a  mauve  warning  screen.  The  Doctor  checked  the  warning  and  his  ears  dropped.  "Unless  of  course  we're  not  in  our  own  timeline."

  Twilight  was  already  out  the  door.  She  didn't  understand  most  of  what  The  Doctor  had  said,  but  if  Nyx  might  be  in  trouble,  she  pitied  anything  that  got  in  her  way.

  "Wait,  Twilight!  Derpy,  we  have  to  catch  her."

  "Doctor,  I  don't  understand  what's  going  on."

  "Good,  just  hang  on  for  the  ride."  And  with  that,  they  dashed  out  after  Twilight.

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  Twilight  raced  to  the  Library.  The  tree  was  in  sight  now.  Twilight  slowed  when  she  saw  the  Royal  Chariot  with  a  full  compliment  of  guards  outside  her  door.  Why  was  Celestia  at  the  here?  

  A  tall,  white,  regal  alicorn  stepped  out  from  Library,  but  it  wasn't  Celestia.  It  was  a  stallion,  clad  in  golden  armor;  his  short,  fiery,  red  mane  swirled  magically  in  the  air.  He  held  a  black  limp  figure  in  his  magic.  

  Twilight  gasped.  He  had  Nyx;  this  strange  stallion  had  her  little  girl.  She  gritted  her  teeth  and  stamped  at  the  ground.  He  wasn't  taking  her  without  a  fight.  Now  Twilight  was  a  very  powerful  magician,  able  to  temporarily  transform  objects  into  other  objects  at  will,  but  alicorns  can  control  the  flow  of  whole  solar  systems.  This  was  going  to  suck  and  Twilight  knew  it.  

  She  put  all  the  energy  in  her  body  into  her  horn.  She  fired  the  most  powerful  and  deadly  spell  she  knew  at  the  alicorn's  head.  The  red  bolt  streaked  down  the  street,  leaving  a  thunderclap  in  its  wake.  It  hit  the  stallion  in  a  shower  of  sparks.  She  was  to  far  away  to  properly  make  out  his  face,  but  from  what  she  could  tell,  he  only  seemed  slightly  annoyed.  Her  heart  sank  as  she  saw  him  fire  a  huge  lighting  bolt  towards  her.  And  then  she  didn't  feel  anything.

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  Derpy  and  The  Doctor  arrived  at  the  Library  just  in  time  to  see  a  chariot  and  a  mess  of  ponies  ascending  into  the  sky.  The  Doctor  noticed  Nyx  and  Twilight  were  being  carried  by  the  guards.  He  cocked  his  head,  he  could  have  sworn  he  saw  another  Twilight  riding  in  the  chariot.

  "Wait!  Wait!"  Derpy  called.

  "They're  too  far  gone.  We  need  to  find  help."

  "Maybe  Twilight's  friends  can  help  us."

  "Right!  If  the  Element  bearers  exist  in  this  timeline..."  The  Doctor  saw  a  shadow  cross  the  corner  of  his  eye.  "Derpy,  do  you  ever  feel  like  you're  being  watched?"

<-Chapter 1                                                                                  Chapter 3->

                                                  Chapter  Three

                                               Eye  of  the  Storm

   Nyx's  eyes  fluttered  open.  Her  head  throbbed  and  her  throat  ached  in  thirst.  She  took  in  her  surroundings.  She  was  lying  on  a  big  comfy  bed,  under  a  blanket  of  silk.  She  was  in  a  dome  shaped  room;  an  expertly  painted  mural  of  ponies  frolicking  in  a  field  stretched  around  the  wall.  A  skylight  surrounded  by  purple  banners  let  the  sunlight  peek  in.  From  the  position  of  the  sun,  Nyx  guessed  it  was  a  little  past  noon.  The  floor  of  the  room  appeared  to  be  made  of  marble;  it  was  so  polished  Nyx  could  see  her  reflection.  A  golden  sun  was  emblazoned  in  the  center.

  How  did  she  get  here?  She  tried  to  remember,  but  everything  was  fuzzy.  She  remembered  being  terribly  afraid;  had  Twilight  missed  another  deadline?  Ever  so  slowly,  the  events  of  that  morning  came  back  to  her.  She  had  to  find  Twilight.  They  had  to  get  home;  back  to  the  Library,  and  Spike,  and  the  Cutie  Mark  Crusaders.  Where  she  didn't  have  to  worry  about  time  travel  boxes  or  stallions  who  looked  like  her  mother.  Where  the  only  thing  in  her  life  that  didn't  make  sense  was  Pinkie  Pie.  

  She  hopped  out of  the  bed  and  galloped  to  the  doors.  They  swung  open  just  as  she  got  to  them.  A  tall  snow  white  alicorn  with  a  fiery  red  beard  stood  in  the  entrance.  He  could  easily  step  on  me  if  he  wanted  to,  Nyx  thought.

  "Aw,  good,"  he  said,  "you're  awake.  Hello,  my  name  is  Prince  Solaris."

  "Um,  hi...I'm  Nyx."

  "Well,  Nyx,  it  looks  like  we  have  a  lot  we  need  to  talk  about."

  "Maybe  sometime  later,  right  now  I  need  to  get  a  glass  of  water  and  find  my  mom,"  Nyx  said  as  she  tried  to  walk  past  the  royal  stallion.  He  held  her  back  with  his  wing.

  "I  don't  think  you  understand  me,  little  one.  I  need  to  know  who  you  are  and  where  you  came  from,  it's  vitally  important."

  Nyx  sat  down  and  forced  tears  to  form  in  her  eyes.  She  looked  up  at  Solaris  with  the  saddest  puppy  dog  face  she  could  muster.  "Please,  sir,  just  take  me  to  my  mommy.  I  don't  know  where  I  am.  I  can  try  to  answer  your  questions  on  the  way."  Sometimes  Nyx  was  surprised  her  special  talent  wasn't  crying.  It  could  be  so  useful.  

  "Hmm,  I  don't  see  any  reason  why  not.  Come  this  way,  child."  said  Solaris.  The  two  alicorns  walked  out  into  the  marble  hallway.

  Nyx  glanced  out  arch  windows  at  the  skyline  below  her.  "Hey,  we're  in  Canterlot.  This  is  the  castle."

  "Why  yes,  this  is-"

  "Where's  Celestia  and  Luna?  Just  who  are  you,  mister?"  Nyx  asked,  panic  growing  in  her  voice.  Was  this  Solaris  pony  some  kind  of  invader  trying  to  take  the  throne?  What  did  he  want  with  her?

  "I  told  you,  I  am  Prince  Solaris,  Co-Ruler  of  Equestria  and  Steward  of  the  Sun.  What's  a  Celestia?"

  Nyx  couldn't  believe  her  ears.  "Um,  you  know,  the  REAL  ruler  of  Equestria.  This  is  her  castle.  I  don't  know  who  you  are,  but  I  won't  let  you  take  over  Equestria!"  Nyx  challenged.

  "Nyx,  I  assure  you;  this  is  my  castle  and  I  am  the  ruler  of  Equestria.  I  have  been  for  over  eight  thousand  years."

  Nyx  let  Solaris'  words  sink  in.  Then  she  remembered  the  female  baby  dragon  and  the  stallion  that  looked  like  Twilight,  and  she  came  to  a  vague  realization  of  what  had  happened.  "Oh  my  gosh!  Mister  Solaris,  do  you  know  if  there's  a  word  for  when  something  starts  to  make  sense,  and  becomes  way  more  confusing  at  the  same  time?"

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  Derpy  and  The  Doctor  galloped  through  the  streets  as  fast  as  they  could.

 "Doctor,  where  are  we  going?"  Derpy  asked.

  The  Doctor  skidded  to  a  stop.  "Um,  good  question.  We  need  to  find  out  who  that  alicorn  was.  Then  we  probably  need  to  get  the  Elements  of  Harmony  together.  If  that  alicorn  is  hostile,  the  Elements  would  be  our  only  real  defense.  In  any  case,  we  have  to  get  to  Twilight  before  it's  too  late."

  "I  thought  we  were  worried  about  Nyx."

  "We  are.  We're  worried  about  both  of  them.  Nyx  is  going  to  control  the  moon,  so  somepony's  going  to  have  to  go  on  to  move  the  sun."

  "Oh,  I  get  it!"  Derpy  exclaimed.  Then,  a  shocked  look  of  realization  came  over  her  face.  "Oh  Celestia!  We  have  to  make  sure  they  stay  safe!"

  "Exactly,  the  future  depends  on  it."

  "So  then,  where  are  we  going?"

  "Let's  see...we're  close  to  the  market.  The  Element  of Honesty  hangs  out  around  here,  right?  The  orange one  with  the  terrifying  little  sister?"

  Derpy  put  her  hoof  to  her  chin.  "Well,  it's  just  past  noon  and  it's  harvest  time,  so  yeah,  she  should  be."

  The  couple  came  to  the  farmer's  market.  Everywhere  ponies  milled  about  the  produce  stands,  admiring  the  fresh  fruits  and  veggies.  They  wandered  about  till  Derpy  found  a  stand  surrounded  by  barrels  of  big  bright  red  apples.  An  orange  pony,  with  a  blonde  mane  and  a  picture  of  three  apples  on  her  rump,  worked  the  stand,  her  back  turned  to  them.

  "Well,  this  is  the  place,  Doctor,"  Derpy  said.

  "Right,"  said  The  Doctor.  He  trotted  casually  to  the  nearest  barrel.  He  picked  out  the  biggest  apple  he  could  find  and  carefully  looked  it  over.  "Excuse  me,  Applejack  is  it?  I  need  you  and  your  friends  to  help  me  with  something.  It's  very  urgent."

  The  pony  turned  around.  "Well  howdy,  Ah  don't  recall  ever  meetin'  ya'll.   How  can  Ah  be  of  assistance,"  he  said.  

  Derpy  and  The  Doctor's  jaws  dropped.  Standing  before  them  was  a  stallion  who  was  a  dead  ringer  for  Applejack.  

  The  Doctor  began  to  chuckle.  "Hehe,  all  of  reality  pulled  a  'Crying  Game'  on  us."

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  Twilight  felt  a  tap  on  her  head,  rousing  her  from  the  blackness.  She  was  finally  getting  some  good  sleep  too.  "Nyx,  stop  it,"  she  mumbled.  Nyx  would  sometimes  tap  her  horn  when  she  wanted  her  to  wake  up  on  the  weekends.  Wait  a  sec,  she  had  been  hit  by  a  sleep  spell.  She  had  to  get  up.  Nyx  was  still  in  trouble.  

  Her  eyelids  burst  open.  She  quickly  scanned  the  room  she  was  in.  It  was  a  small,  dark,  stone  room  with  a  heavy  door.  She  saw  her  reflection  in  front  of  her,  except  something  was  off  about  it.  Her  jaw  looked  squarer  and  her  mane  looked  shorter.  Then,  she  realized  there  wasn't  a  mirror  in  the  room  and  she  screamed,  which  caused  the  stallion  in  front  of  her  to  scream.  "What's  going  on?"  she  exclaimed.  "Is  this  some  kind  of  joke?"

  "That's  what  I  would  like  to  know,"  the  stallion  said  accusingly.  "You  look  just  like  me,  and  not  just  kinda  like  me,  exactly  like  me."

  "Except  I'm  a  girl?"

  "Well,  I  mean,  that  goes  without  saying.  I  guess  this  might  go  over  easier  if  we  introduce  ourselves.  I'm  Dusk  Shine."

  "Twilight  Sparkle,"  she  said,  offering  her  hoof.  Dusk  cautiously  shook  it.  "Where  am  I?"

  "In  the  Royal  Castle  in Canterlot,"  Dusk  answered.  "Your  trial  will  start  in  an  hour."

   "Trial!"  Twilight  exclaimed.

  "You  attacked  the  Prince!  What  did  you  think  was  going  to  happen?"

  "The  same  thing  that  will  happen  to  anypony  who  tries  to  hurt  my  daughter."

  "You  mean  that  little  monster  was  your  daughter?"

  "I'm  beginning  to  not  like  you  very  much,  Dusk  Shine."

  "She  nearly  killed  my  assistant!  She's  the  spitting  image  of  Anarchy  Artemis."

  "What's  an  Anarchy  Artemis?"

  "You're  kidding,  right?"  Dusk  Shine  asked  incredulously.

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  "Anarchy  Artemis  was  created  when  my  brother,  Prince  Bulan,  lost  his  way,"  Prince  Solaris  explained.  "I  am  tasked  with  control  of  the  sun,  and  he  is  tasked  with  control  of  the  moon.  He-"

  "He  felt  like  nopony  appreciated  the  night  he  created,  so  he  allowed  the  bitterness  in  his  heart  to  transform  him  into  a  stallion  of  darkness.  So  you  banished  him  to  the  moon  for  a  thousand  years.  Then  he  escaped,  and  this  Dusk  Shine  of  yours  and  his  friends  had  to  gather  the  Elements  of  Harmony  to  defeat  him,"  Nyx  interrupted.

  "Yes...I  thought  you  said  you  didn't  know  the  story."

  "I  didn't.  I  come  from  a  place  where  this  all  happened,  except  you're  a  mare  named  Princess  Celestia,  he's  a  mare  name  Princess  Luna,  and  Dusk  Shine's  name  is  Twilight  Sparkle.  She's  my  mom."

  "That's  quite  a  claim,  Nyx."

  "Oh,  that's  not  the  half  of  it.  That's  not  an  eighth  of  it,  actually,"  Nyx  mused.

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  "That's  quite  a  story  yah  got  there,  Doc,"  Applejack  said.  He  walked  with  the  two  strange  ponies  towards  Sugar  Cube  Corner.  "Time  travel,  alternate  realities,  another  me  that's  a  girl;  If  Ah  understood  it,  Ah  still  wouldn't  believe  it."

  "It's  The  Doctor  not  Doc,  and  I  assure  you;  I'll  try  to  make  everything  clear  once  we  get  our  friends  back,"  The  Doctor  said.

  "Hey,  Doctor,"  Derpy  asked,  "If  this  Solaris  guy  is  this  timeline's  Celestia,  wouldn't  that  mean  they're  as  safe  as  we  could  make  them?"

  "I  don't  think  anywhere's  safe  until  we  can  get  back  to  our  timeline  and  fix  what  went  wrong,"  The  Doctor  answered.

  The  trio  came  to  the  pink  swinging  doors  of  the  bakery.  "Welp,  here  we  are.  Bubble  Berry  should  be  here,  and  Ah  think  Butterscotch  was  coming  to  help  Berry  set  up  for  the  party  he's  throwin'  later  tonight,"  Applejack  said.

  "Now  Berry's  the  pink  one,  right?"  asked  Derpy.

  "Yes,  mam,"  Applejack  replied.

  "And  Butterscotch  is  the...yellow  one?"  The  Doctor  guessed.

  "You  got  it,  partner."

  The  little  bell  above  the  door  rang  as  they  stepped  inside.  Mr.  Cake,  who  would  be  Mrs.  Cake  in  their  timeline,  was  behind  the  counter,  polishing  it to a  perfect  shine.  Dinky  sat  at  the  table  closest  to  the  window,  having  just  finished  a  muffin.

  "Welcome  to  Sugar  Cube  Corner.  I'll  be  with  you  in  a  minute,"  said  Mr.  Cake.  He  added  another  spit  shine  to  the  counter  top,  much  to  The  Doctor's  disgust.  "Oh,  and  Applejack,  Berry  and  Butterscotch  are  in  the  back  if  you  want  to  help  them  out."

  "Well,  I  guess  I'll  be  back  in  a  sec,"  Applejack  said  to  the  couple.  He  disappeared  into  the  kitchen.

  "Hey  guys,"  greeted  Dinky.  "I  saved  you  a  muffin,  Mom.  Oh,  and  apparently  all  the  boys  are  girls  and  all  the  girls  are  boys."  She  couldn't  have  been  more  casual.

  "Dinky!  We  were  totally  looking  all  over  for  you,"  lied  The  Doctor.

  "Weren't  you  supposed  to  be  with  Nyx  anyway?"  asked  Derpy.

  "There  was  a  muffin  sale.  I'm  only  pony!"  Dinky  pleaded.  "Why,  where  is  she?"

  "She  was  taken  by  this  timeline's  Celestia.  They  don't  know  what  she  is  here,"  Derpy  said.

  "So  if  I  had  been  there,  I  could  have  explained  everything."  Her  head  sank  to  the  table.  "Aw!  Now  I  feel  like  butt."

  "I'm  sure  everything  will  turn  out  okay.  It's  my  fault  really.  I  knew  time  was  going  wonky  and  I  still  let  you  two  go  out  alone,"  said  The  Doctor.  He  noticed  a  blue  bag  and  a  giant  mallet  under  Dinky's  chair.  "What's  all  this  under  here  then?"

  "Oh,  Pinkie  Pie  appeared  out  of  thin  air  and  gave  me  these,"  Dinky  explained.

  "Out  of  thin  air?  Tell  me,  did  she  have  a  big  bracelet  on  that  made  a  blue  flash?"  The  Doctor  asked.

  "Yeah,  how  did  you  know?"

  "She  must  have  been  wearing  a  vortex  manipulator."

  "A  vertical  manywhatnow?"  asked  Derpy.

  "It's  a  sort  of  mini  time  machine,  a  rubbish  time  machine.  Anyway,  did  this  Pinkie  Pie  say  anything,  Dinky?"

  "She  said  the  password  was  CHERRY  CHYPS,  all  capitals  and  the  'I'  is  a 'Y'.  Oh,  and  if  I  saw  her  again  or  Rainbow  Dash,  I  should  hit  them  with  this  thing,"  she  said,  brandishing  the  hammer.

  The  Doctor  pressed  his  front  hoofs  together  and  rested  his  nose  against  them.  His  eyes  narrowed  in  thought.

  "What's  this  all  mean,  Honey?"  Derpy  asked.

  "I  have  no  idea.  Something's  altered  our  timeline,  then  transported  us  to  an  alternate  timeline  to  keep  us  from  fixing  it,  and  now  it  looks  like  we're  already  fighting  it  in  the  future."

  "Well  I'm  confused,"  Dinky  said.

  Just  then  a  pink  pony  burst  out  from  the  kitchen.  "Ah ha!  New  ponies!"  he  shouted.  Dinky  grabbed  the  mallet  and  was  about  to  charge,  but  The  Doctor  held  her  back.

  "She  said  another  her,  right?  This  is  a  guy."  The  Doctor  explained.

  The  pink  pony  bounced  all  around  the  place.  "Oh  my  gosh!  Hi  I'm  Bubble  Berry!  You  guys  must  be  new!  I've  never  seen  you  around  here  and  I  know  everypony  in  town.  I  don't  know  if  anypony  else  has  said  it  yet,  but  I'll  say  it  anyway.  Welcome  to  Ponyville!  Oh,  I'll  have  to  throw  you  a  welcome  party.  I  know!  We'll  turn  the  party  I  was  going  to  have  tonight  into  your  welcome  party.  I  just  wish  I  could  have  made  it  a  surprise  party,"  he  said  without  taking  a  breath.

  "Wow,  I  didn't  think  it  possible,  but  we  actually  found  a  pony  who  talks  faster  than  Dad,"  Dinky  smirked.

  The  Doctor  scratched  at  the  back  of  his  head.  "Oh  wow,  a  party  sounds  really  lovely,  I  mean  really,  but  we  have  something  really  important-"

  "Wait,  Doctor!"  Derpy  said.  "Mr.  Berry,  you  have  a  friend  who's  a  really  fast  flyer,  right?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Well  can  he  go  to  the  castle  for  us?  We  have  a  couple  of  friends  who  are  with  Prince  Solaris  right  now,  and  it  would  be  really  cool  if  they  could  make  it  to the  party."

  Bubble  Berry's  eyes  went  wide  and  the  corners  of  his  mouth  went  up  as  high  as  they  could  go.  "Even  more  guests?  This  party  is  gonna  be  awesome!  I'll  go  tell  Blitz  to  get  your  friends  right  away."  And  with  that  he  galloped  out  the  door.

  "Oh  Derpy,  that  was  brilliant!"  The  Doctor  praised.  Then  he  got  an  idea.  "I'll  be  right  back,"  he  said  as  he  headed  towards  the  door.

  "Where  are  you  going?"  asked  Derpy.

  "I  think  I  might  know  someone  who  can  help  sort  out  this  mess,"  he  said  right  before  heading  out.

  A  yellow  pony  with  a  pink  mane  poked  his  head  out  from  the  kitchen.  He  kept  his  head  low  to  the  floor.  "Oh  hello,"  he  said  timidly.  "Have  you  seen  Berry.  I  think  the  cakes  are  starting  to  burn."

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...So  then  Celestia  officially  put  me  in  charge  of  raising  her,"  Twilight  said.  She  had  been  telling  Dusk  her  and  Nyx's  story.  He  seemed  to  be  intrigued,  but  she  wasn't  sure  if  he  believed  her.

  Dusk  chewed  at  his  lip.  "Hmm,  I  guess  that  sort of  makes  sense,  but  how  did  you  end  up  in  our  world?"

  "Well,  you  know  The  Doctor  right?"

  "At  Ponyville  Hospital?"  Dusk  asked.

  "No,  the  one  with  the  time  traveling  box,"  Twilight  answered

  "Okay,  how  stupid  do  you  think  I  am?"

  "You  don't  have  to  believe  me,  but  at  least  listen  to  the  whole  story.  Anyway,  The  Doctor-"  then  she  trailed  off.  "The  Doctor!  Why  that  miserable,  he  knew  about  Nyx  this  whole  time.  He  pretended to  not  have  ever  heard  of  her,  but  he  knows  more  about  her  than  I  do!"  Twilight  fumed.

  "Whoa!  Did  I  miss  something?"

  Twilight  was  about  to  answer  when  she  heard  voices  coming  from  outside  the  door.

  "Then  the  box  started  shaking  terribly,  and  we  just  landed  here,"  she  heard  Nyx  say.  Twilight  hurriedly  opened  the  latch.  She  practically  tackled  Nyx  in  her  haste  to  hug  her.

  "Ooof!  Hello...momma,"  Nyx  gasped,  "too  tight."  Twilight  wasn't  known  to  be  the  strongest  pony,  but  man,  could  she  give  a  bear  hug.

  "Nyx!  I'm  so  glad  you're  okay."

  "Yeah,  I  was  just  telling  Mr.  Solaris  about  this  morning.  He  said  you  blasted  him  in  the  face  trying  to  save  me.  That's  so  cool."

  Twilight  could  almost  feel  Solaris'  stare.  "Yes,  well,  I  certainly  didn't  mean  any  offense,  Your  Majesty,"  she  said  sheepishly.

  "Normally  such  a  crime  would  be  punishable  by  banishment,  or  worse.  However,  after  Nyx  told  me  your  side  of  the  story,  I  think  some  leniency  might  be  in  order,"  Solaris  said.

  Nyx  noticed  Dusk  Shine  gazing  at  her.  "Um,  hi  I'm  Nyx."

  "Dusk  Shine,"  he  greeted  nervously.

  Nyx  cleared  her  throat.  "I'm  sorry  I  attacked  your  friend.  I  thought  she  was  a  burglar."

  "Well,  I  thought  you  were  the  reincarnation  of  an  evil  nightmare  being, so  I  guess  we're  even."

  "So  what  happens  now?"  Twilight  asked  Solaris.

  "Well...I  suppose  you're  free  to  go."

  "What!"  Dusk  shouted.  "Your  Majesty,  can  I  talk  to  you  for  a  moment."

  "As  you  wish,  student.  Ladies,  if  you  would  remain  here  a  moment."  Solaris  and  Dusk  stepped  out  into  the  hall,  Dusk  shutting  the  door  behind  him.

  "With  all  due  respect,  Your  Majesty,  you're  not  seriously  just  going  to  let  them  go,  are  you?  I  know  they  seem  nice,  but  they  still  attacked  us.  And  their  stories  are  simply  ridiculous,"  said  Dusk  Shine.

  "I  know,  Dusk  Shine.  Which  is  why  you're  going  to  watch  them  for  me."

  "...What?"

  "You'll  escort  them  back  to  Ponyville  and  help  them  find  The  Doctor,"  Solaris  ordered.

  "...But!"  Dusk  began.  The  stern  glare  in  Solaris'  eyes  quickly  shut  him  up.  

  The  Prince  knelt  down  to  his  student's  level.  "I  appreciate  your  concern,  Dusk  Shine.  They've  given  you  no  real  reason  to  trust  them  and  that  filly  looks  just  like  Anarchy  Artemis.  But  if  they're  telling  the  truth,  then  you  once  again  get  to  learn  not  to  judge  a  book  by  it's  cover."

  "And  if  they're  lying  and  are  trying  to  bring  about  eternal  night?"

  "Then  learn  the  most  effective  form  of combat;  the  best  way  to  defeat  an  enemy  is  to  make  them  your  friend."

  Dusk  sat  and  mulled  over  what  his  teacher  had  just  said.  Why  did  Solaris  trust  these  ponies  so  readily?  Heck,  for  all  they  knew  these  could  be  monsters  disguised  as  ponies,  they  had  just  copied  him  and  Anarchy  as  females.  Dusk  decided  to  swallow  his  fears  and  obey  Solaris.  "I'll  try  my  best."

  "If  we're  going  back  to  Ponyville,  can  we  stop  for  ice  cream  on  the  way?"  came  Nyx's  voice  from  behind  the  door.

  "Wow,  that  door  isn't  as  thick  as  it  looks,"  said  Dusk  Shine.

  Twilight  and  Nyx  cantered  out  of  the  room.  Twilight  looked  around;  she  was  always  enamored  by  the  white  pillars  and  the  hanging  gardens  full  of  purple  flowers  inside  the  castle  halls.  Her  admiration  was  cut  short  when  a  grey  unicorn  guard  came  running  up  towards  them.

  "Your  Majesty!"  exclaimed  the  guard,  "A  very  abrasive  pegasus  is  demanding  to  see  your  guests."

  They  all  heard  a  shouting  coming  down  the  hallway.  "Do  you  have  any  idea  who  I  am!  I'm  the  Element  of  Loyalty  and  the  best  flyer  in  all  of  Equestria!  You  should  be  asking  for  my  autograph,  not  trying  to  kick  me  out!"

  "Typical  Rainbow,"  Dusk  and  Twilight  said  in  unison.

  An  electric  blue  pony,  with  a  mane  cast  with  all  the  colors  of  the  spectrum,  swooped  around  the  stone  columns.  He  made  a  three  point  landing  right  in  front  of  Dusk.  "Hey  guy,  get  your  new  friends  and  let's  go."

  "Hello,  Blitz,  what's  the  big  hurry?"  Dusk  asked.

  "Berry's  got  that  party  tonight.  He'd  be  real  upset  if  you  didn't  make  it."

  "Oh  right,  I  forgot  about  that."

  "And  he  said  you  had  to  bring  your  new  friends  because-"  he  stopped  when  he  noticed  Twilight.  "Whoa!  Dusk  shine,  there's  two  of  you...and  one  of  you  is  hot!"

  "I'm  both  flattered  and  disturbed,"  Twilight  said.

  Dusk  rubbed  his  temple.  "I'll  explain  her  later,  Rainbow."

  "Whatever  man,  but  if  we're  gonna  make  it  to  Berry's  party  we  gotta  leave  now."

  Dusk  looked  to  Solaris.  The  Prince  gave  him  an  approving  nod.  Solaris  watched  as  the  little  group  scampered  down  the  hall  and  out  the  heavy  oak  doors.  He  sighed  and  looked  out  the  the  giant  arch  windows  at  the  land  below.  Everything  appeared  to  be  as  it  should  be.

  A  great  weight  fell  upon  the  Prince's  heart  as  he  returned  to  his  throne.  The  truth  was  he  agreed  with  Dusk.  To  lay  a  hoof  on  royalty  was  a  crime  worthy  of  execution.  For  a  split  second  Solaris  thought  he  saw  a  shadow  behind  him.  In  that  second,  it  was  as  if  a  voice  in  his  head  told  him  to  order  Twilight  back  and  throw  her  in  the  dungeon.  He  looked  around,  but  there  was  no  one  there.  He  quickly  dismissed  the  idea.  

  Nyx  had  said  The  Doctor  had  brought  them  there.  Even  though  it  couldn't  possibly  be  his  Doctor,  he  owed  that  poor  time  mare  more  than  he  could  repay.  The  Prince  sighed.  That  mailstallion  would  never  forgive  him  for  the  sins  he  committed.

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  The  Doctor  galloped  down  the  Ponyville  streets.  He  was  just  a  couple  blocks  away  from  his  house;  well  not  his  house,  his  alternate  genderbender  timeline  counterpart's  house.  

  Beside,  it  wasn't  like  he  was  ever  at  the  house  much  anyway.  Dinky  had  school  and  Derpy  had  her  mail  route,  so  he  spent  his  mornings  and  early  afternoons  adventurin'  through  time  and  space.  He  generally  took  his  family  out  to  eat,  usually  on  another  planet,  so  evenings  were  out.  And  he  and  Derpy  slept  on  the  TARDIS,  because  he  simply  could  not  sleep  without  the  soft  hum  of  the  chrono  drive  in  his  ears.  So  it  wasn't  so  much  a  home  for  him,  more  like  a  parking  spot  for  the  TARDIS.  He  did  keep  a  lovely  flower  garden  in  the  front,  though.

  He  rounded  the  corner  and  came  to  a  stop.  He  was  at  the  house,  but  it  was a  complete  mess.  The  lawn  was  overgrown,  the  white  paint  was  chipping  away,  the  straw  roof  was  moldy  and  decayed,  and  his  flower  garden  was  dead.  What  was  going  on  here?  Derpy  would  never  allow  the  house  to  fall  to  this  kind  of  state.  

  The  Doctor  cautiously  approached  the  door.  He  knocked  thrice  and  waited.  After  quite  some  time,  he  finally  heard  a  stirring  from  inside.  The  door  swung  open,  and  he  was  certainly  surprised  by  what  he  saw.  

  The  stallion  before  him  looked  like  his  wife,  but  he  was  quite  overweight.  His  blonde  mane  was  matted,  long,  and  unkempt.  He  had  a  short  beard  that  had  (what  The  Doctor  assumed  were)  muffin  crumbs  stuck  in  it.  Dark  circles  surrounded  bitter  sad  eyes  that  looked  in  two  different  directions.  

  "Well  this  is  just  morbid,"  said  the  stallion.  "So  what  are  you,  a  past  regeneration?"

  "Um...alternate  timeline,"  The  Doctor  answered  apprehensively.

  "Oh...can  I  help  you?"

  "Well,  I,  um,  I  was  wondering  if  there  was  another  Doctor  here."

  The  stallion's  lips  curled  into  a  snarl,  his  nostrils  flared.  He  looked  like  he  was  about  to  cry.  "No.  No  there  isn't."  He  shut  the  door  and  The  Doctor  heard  the  latch  close.

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  The  sun  was  low  in  the  sky  by  the  time  The  Doctor  returned  to  Sugar  Cube  Corner.  He  heard  the  sounds  of  the  party  coming  from  inside.  He  walked  in  and  saw  Dinky  playing  pin  the  tail  on  the  pony,  nine  other  ponies  cheering  her  on.  He  was  relieved  to  see  Nyx  and  Twilight  there,  safe  and  sound.  Dinky  stumbled  around  blindfolded,  a  purple  tail  in  her  mouth.  She  placed  the  tail  on  the  picture  of  the  pony  on  the  wall,  firmly  in  its  eye.  Everypony  chuckled.

  The  Doctor  tried  to  remain  inconspicuous,  but  it  was  too  late.  Berry  had  noticed  him.

  "Oh  hi!  I  was  wondering  when  you  were  gonna  get  here.  The  party  started  without  you,"  Berry  squeed.  "Come  here  and  meet  everypony."  Berry  took  The  Doctor  by  the  hoof  and  led  him  to  the  rest  of  the  group.  Applejack  was  talking  to  a  white  pony  with  a  well  kept  mane  of  wavy  purple  hair.  "You  already  met  Applejack.  This  here  is  Elusive."

  "Hello,"  The  Doctor  greeted.

  "A  pleasure  to  make  your  acquaintance,  sir,"  Elusive  said.

  Before  The  Doctor  could  say  anything  else,  Berry  shoved  him  around  the  room  towards  a  light  yellow  pegasus.  "This  is  Butterscotch.  Say  hi,  Butterscotch,"  Berry  said.

  "Um,  hello,"  Butterscotch  mumbled.

  Berry  shrieked  in  delight  and  pushed  The  Doctor  towards  Dusk  and  Rainbow  Blitz.  "We're  all  going  to  be  such  good  friends!  Okay,  now  meet  Dusk  Shine  and  Rainbow  Blitz.  Dusk  Shine,  Rainbow,  this  is...um,  what's  your  name  by  the  way?"

  "The  Doctor."

  "This  is  The  Doctor."

  Dusk  Shine  looked  the  mysterious  pony  over.  "So  you're  The  Doctor  the  other  me  keeps  bringing  up  but  never  explaining."

  "I  suppose  so."

  "Okay  everypony,  let's  dance!"  Bubbly  Berry  shouted.  He  put  a  record  in  the  player  and  cranked  the  volume  up  as  high  as  it  could  go.  A  fun,  fast,  little  tune  came  out  of  the  speaker.

  Derpy  bobbed  her  head  with  the  music.  She  felt  someone  nuzzle  her  just  behind  her  ear.  She  turned  to  see  The  Doctor,  a  sad  smile  on  his  face.  "Hey,  time  muffin,  did  you  get  done  whatever  you  were  doing?"  she  asked.  He  didn't  answer.  He  gently  put  his  forelegs  around  her  neck  and  hugged  her.  "Aww,  thanks  sweetie."

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  Silence  overtook  the  heart  of  the  Everfree  Forest.  Not  a  creature  dared  to  make  a  sound.  Something  wrong  and  unnatural  slinked  through  the  shadows.  A  nameless  faceless  entity  as  tall  as  the  trees  around  it  twisted  the  growing  evening  shadows  towards  itself.  

  Frustration  overtook  the  abomination.  The  time  lord  and  the  Nightess  had  reunited  quicker  than  it  anticipated.  Perhaps  it  was  time  to  give  them  a  taste  of  combat  across  the  multiverse.  The  creature  concentrated.  Space  and  time  began  to  rip  away  in  front  of  him.  A  tear  appeared  in  the  surface  of  reality,  and  three  dark  forms  stood  in  front  of  the  monstrosity.

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  Twilight  and  Nyx  sat  against  the  wall  while  the  other  ponies  danced.  Nyx  did  her  best  to  appear  happy,  but  she  doubted  she  was  doing  a  good  job.

  "So  when  do  we  go  home?"  asked  Nyx.

  "Well..."  Twilight  looked  at  The  Doctor.  He  was  sat  at  a  nearby  table.  His  jaw  was  set  firm  and  he  was  staring  at  his  slice  of  cake  like  he  was  trying  to  move  it  with  his  mind.  "The  Doctor  has  his  thinking  face  on  right  now.  When  he  snaps  out  of  it  he'll  tell  us  what  we  do  next."

  Nyx  sighed  and  hung  her  head.  She  felt  a  tap  on  her  wing.  Dinky  placed  a  pink  party  hat  with  yellow  streamers  on  her  head.

  "C'mon,  Nyx!  I  hate  parties  with  sad  ponies.  They  stink,"  Dinky  said.  She  nudged  Nyx  to  stand  up.  "C'mon,  we're  about  to  bob  for  apples."

  "Alright  alright,  let's  have  some  fun,"  Nyx  said.  She  got  up,  and  the  two  fillies  ran  to  play.

  The  Doctor  felt  a  hot  sensation  over  his  cutie  mark.  He  had  a  pocket  taped  on  his  flank  and  painted  to  look  like  his  hourglass,  so  he  could  carry  his  sonic  screwdriver  and  psychic  paper  without  drawing  attention  to  himself.  And  it  looked  like  the  psychic  paper  had  a  message.

  He  pulled  a  little  black  wallet  out  of  his  pocket.  A  little  slip  of  paper  was  stitched  on  its  inside.  A  message  in  his  handwriting  began  to  appear  before  his  eyes.

  Dear  Doctor,

  The  things  that  have  happened  are  happening  now.

                                                        Love,

                                            The  Late  Great  Doctor

   The  Doctor  reread  the  note  twice.  This  didn't  bode  well.  He  scrambled  to  his  feet.  He  was  about  to  call  out  to  Derpy  when  another  message  came  through.

   P.S.  Sorry  if  Bright  Eyes  came  across  as  a  little  off-putting.  He  really  is  a  great  guy;  he's  just  dealing  with  some  things  in  his  life  right  now.  I'd  go  cheer  him  up  myself,  but  I'm  a  tad  dead  at  the  moment.  Also,  DUCK!

   The  Doctor  hit  the  floor  just  as  a  huge  tree  branch  crashed  through  the  window,  it  grazed  his  ears  and  embedded  itself  in  the  opposite  wall.  Everypony  was  too  stunned  to  move.  Then,  Butterscotch  screamed.  They  heard  a  faint  whining  noise.  It  grew  louder  and  louder  until  it  was  a  roar.  The  Doctor  rushed  outside  to  see  what  it  was.  Everypony  else  followed.  

  A  giant,  blue,  metal  shape  moved  impossibly  fast  in  the  sunset  sky.  It  cut  through  the  orange  and  purple  clouds.  Elusive  noticed  it  appeared  to  be  covered  in  some  kind  of  tarp.

  "What  is  that  thing?  Is  it  some  kind  of  dragon?"  Butterscotch  panicked.

  "It's  a  harrier  jet."  The  Doctor  said  inquisitively.

  A  voice  rang  out  from  above.  "Pathetic  organics,  your  doom  is  at  hand!"

  To  Twilight,  the  voice  was  all  too  familiar  and  incredibly  irksome.  "Trixie?"

  The  jet  began  to  twist  and  fold.  Metal  plates  shifted  around  and  changed  shape.  The  sound  of  gears  grinding  and  engines  firing  echoed  throughout  Ponyville  as  a  new  form  emerged  in  the  sky.  What  had  been  a  cockpit  was  now  a  chest;  what  had  been  a  fuselage  was  now  a  body  with  arms  and  legs;  what  had  been  an  aircraft  was  now  a  sleek,  humanoid,  feminine  robot.  It  wrapped  the purple  star  covered  tarp  around  its  shoulders  like  a  cape.  The  metal  monstrosity  fired  flares  into  the  heavens  which  burst  into  a  brilliant  display  of  golden  sparkles.

  "Behold,  you  miserable  ungulates,  the  most  beautiful  and  deadly  Decepticon  in  all  the  universe!  Behold  the  Great  and  Powerful  Slipstream!"  the  robot  declared.

<-Chapter  2                                                                                             Chapter  4->

Slipstream  inspired  by  this  person's  awesome  Transformers/MLP  pictures.

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[b]

                                                Chapter  Four

                                          The  First  Shot  Fired

   The  robot  circled  overhead,  cackling  haughtily.  She  positioned  herself  so  that  the  maximum  amount  of  sunlight  reflected  off  her  blue  and  white  armor  plating.  She  wanted  the  pathetic  organics  below  to  admire  her  beauty  before  she  smote  them.    

  "What  in  Solaris's  good  green  Equestria  is  that?"  Elusive  asked  in  a  panic.

  "A  Cybertronian,"  The  Doctor  answered.

  "A  What?"  Twilight  asked.

  "A  Cybertronian,  a  sort  of  living  machine  that  likes  to  disguise  itself  as  other  machines."

  "Fools!"  shouted  the  mechanoid.  "You  chatter  amongst  yourselves  in  the  presence  of  your  doom?  You  should  be  on  your  knees,  begging  for  mercy  from  the  most  beautiful  and  talented  Slipstream!"  The  twin  cannons  on  her  arms  began  to  glow  purple.  "Taste  the  might  of  my  null  rays  and  perish,  organic  scum!"  Two  bright  bolts  of  energy  struck  down  at  the  little  group  of  ponies.

  "Look  out!"  Dusk  warned,  but  it  was  to  late.  The  beams  hit  and  there  was  a  blinding  flash.  Then,  nothing  happened.  Dusk  checked  himself  over.  He  felt  perfectly  fine.  "Um,  did  that  do  anything?"

  "Everything  seems  okay,"  Butterscotch  answered.

  "Null  rays  null  rays  null  rays,"  The  Doctor  mumbled  in  thought.  Then  the  realization  hit.  He  reached  into  his  pocket  and  grabbed  his  sonic  screwdriver.  He  vainly  tried  to  activate  the  little  metal  cylinder.  "Blast!  she  shorted  out  my  sonic  screwdriver."

  "Hey!  that's  kinda  tongue  twistery,"  Berry  exclaimed.  "She  shorted  out  my  sonic  screwdriver. She  shorted  out  my  sonic  screwdriver.  She  sorted  out  my  shonic-  ooh,  I  didn't  even  make  it  to  three."  

  "What!"  Slipstream  wailed.  "My  null  rays  had  no  effect?  Impossible!  I  will  rain  down  my  fury  upon  you!  You  will  fear  the  name  Slipstream!"

  "Well  this  is  getting  annoying.  Ponies  with  horns,  if  you  would  kindly  bring  her  down,"  requested  The  Doctor.

  Nyx's,  Twilight's,  Dusk's,  and  Elusive's  horns  all  started  to  glow  and  sparkle  with  energy.  Dinky  tried,  but  she  couldn't  get  her’s  to  do  the  same.

  "Hey,  what  are  you  doing?"  Slipstream  asked.  Rays  of  color  streamed  from  the  ponies'  horns.  They  shot  up  and  wrapped  themselves  around  Slipstream's  arms  and  legs,  binding  them  together.  She  felt  herself  being  pulled  downwards.  "Stop  it!  You  can't  do  this.  I  am  Slipstream!  I'm  a ranking  officer  in  the  Decepticon  Battle  Fleet.  You'll  pay  for  this!"  The  alien  machine  landed  with  a  crash.  She  was  totally  immobilized  in  magical  energy.

  Dinky  strained  and  grunted.  Finally,  her  horn  lit  up  dimly.  She  put  all  she  could  into  an  attack  spell.  A  little  spark  sputtered  out  and  fell  to  the  ground.  "Y-Yeah!  Take  that!"  She  shouted  weakly.  Derpy  put  a  reassuring  wing  on  Dinky's  shoulder.

  The  Doctor  strode  up  to  the  captured  transformer.  "Bah-weep-graaanagh  wheep  ni  ni  bong,"  he  said  sarcastically.  Her  red  glass  eyes  glowered  back  at  him.  "What,  don't  care  for  the  universal  greeting?  Tell  me,  are  you  native  to  this  version  of  reality?  Because  in  my  corner  of  the  time stream,  your  kind  is  pretty  darned  extinct,"  The  Doctor  said.

  "You  don't  scare  me  Time  Lord.  I'll  go  offline  before  I  tell  you  anything."

  "Well,  you've  already  told  me  you  know  what  species  I  am,  and  you're  obviously  covering  for  somebody  else,  so  I  know  someone  sent  you  here  to  attack  us.  So,  I  ask  you  again,  where  are  you  from  and  who  sent  you?"

  Slipstream  frowned.  She  was  dealing  with  a  smart  one,  she  would  need  to  chose  her  words  carefully.  She  happened  to  glance  up  and  see  a  small  dot  disappear  into  the  clouds.  She  smiled  wickedly.  "Well,  Time  Lord,  all  I  have  to  say  is  that  I  was  hired  because  I'm  a  stage  magician  by  trade.  My  specialties  are  misdirection  and  distraction."

  Suddenly,  an  explosion  burst  behind  the  group,  raining  charred  bits  of  earth  on  the  ponies.  The  Doctor  swirled  around,  only  to  get  thrown  by  a  second  explosion  only  yards  away  from  him.  He  fell  bruised  and  scratched  on  the  ground.  He  didn't  move.  Derpy  screamed  and  ran  to  him.  

  "Watch  it!"  Slipstream  shouted.  "I  just  got  a  fresh  coat  of  paint."  She  felt  the  grips  on  her  loosen,  the  ponies  to  confused  to  focus  on  her.  She  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity,  transforming  back  into  her  jet  form,  and  rocketing  into  the  sky.

  Explosions  erupted  all  around  the  ponies.  Twilight  held  Nyx  tightly.  "Where's  it  coming  from?"  she  and  Dusk  shouted  simultaneously.

  Butterscotch  started  to  cry.  "I-it  can't  end  like  this!  Who  will  take  care  of  the  animals  if  I  die?"

  "Aw,  we're  not  gonna  die,"  Berry  said  cheerfully.  "There's  no  way  whatever's  causing  these  explosions  can  pop  one  of  Dusk's  shields.  Everything  is  gonna  turn  out  okey  dokey."  Butterscotch  looked  up  to  see  that  he  and  his  friends  were  surrounded  in  a  violet  aura  of  magic. The  lavender  unicorns  were  indeed  shielding  them  from  the  flames.  

  Dinky  looked at  her  father's  limp  form.  "Mom,  is  he-"

  "He's  breathing,"  Derpy  answered,  "but  some  of  these  cuts  and  burns  look  pretty  bad.  We'll  need  to  get  him  to  the  hospital."    

   The  blasts  kept  coming.  The  sound  was  deafening  and  they  could  still  feel  the  heat  through  the  shield.

  "Ugh!  This  is  dreadful!"  Elusive  complained.  "Dusk,  can't  you  wink  us  out  of  here?"

  "I  can  try,  but...  Twilight,  can  you  hold  the  shield  by  yourself?"

  "No  problem,"  Twilight  responded.

  The  explosions  came  faster.  Derpy  was  able  to  see  they  were  caused  by  missiles  fired  from  above,  but  she  couldn't  find  the  source.  Slipstream  joined  the  attack  from  high  in  the  sky  with  a  compliment  of  lasers,  although  she  made  sure  to  keep  her  distance.

  Applejack  saw  a  missile  impact  into  the  ground  just  inches  from  the  edge  of  the  shield.  He  watched  and  waited,  but  it  didn't  detonate.  Then,  it  started  spinning  around,  drilling  itself  into  the  earth.  That  can't  be  good,  the  orange  pony  thought.

  "Everyone  join  hooves,"  Dusk  said.  They  all  obeyed;  Derpy  and  Dinky  reached  down  and  gingerly  touched  The  Doctor's  hoof.  Suddenly,  the  missile  resurfaced  inside  of  the  shield.

  "Dusk!"  Elusive  shouted.

  From  above,  Slipstream  chuckled  as  she  saw  the  purple  bubble  disappear  in  a  flash  of  fire  and  smoke.

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  Eleven  magenta  flashes  appeared  into  the  kitchen  of  Sugar  Cube  Corner,  as  the  ponies  were  transported  into  the  room.  They  all  stumbled  around,  trying  to  regain  their  bearings.

  Dusk  popped  his  neck  and  stretched  his  legs.  "Whoo!  Sorry  everpony,  I'm  not  good  with  mass  teleports."

  Twilight  embraced  Nyx  and  squeezed  till  the  filly  could  barely  breathe.  "Nyx,  are  you  alright?"

  "Hnk!  I'm...okay...Twi-  light,"  Nyx  gasped.  She  managed  to  peel  away  and  give  her  mother  a  reassuring  grin.  

  "Could  you  have  cut  that  any  closer,  Dusk?  Ah'  swear,  mah  eyebrows  got  a  little  singed,"  Applejack  complained.

  Butterscotch  started  to  cry.  "Oh  Solaris,  that  was  so  scary."

  Elusive  put  a  comforting  front  leg  around  the  pegasus's  neck.  "There  there,  man,  we're  safe  for  now.  What  on  earth  is  going  on?"

  "These  folks  are  from  another  reality  and  now  a  metal  giant  is  trying  to  kill  us,"  Applejack  explained.

  "Well...I  suppose  that  makes  about  much  sense  as  anything,"  Elusive  sighed.

  "Butterscotch,  right?"  Derpy  asked,  motioning  towards  the  sniffling  pony.  "If  you're  anything  like  the  yellow  pegasus  where  I'm  from,  then  you're  good  with  treating  injuries,  right?"

  Butterscotch  gave  a  little  nod.

  "Then  could  you  please  help  me  treat  my  husbands  burns?"

  "Ooh!  Let  me  help,"  Berry  blurted  out.  "C'mon,  Butter  buddy,  I'll  show  you  where  we  keep  the  first  aid  kit."  Before  he  could  say  anything,  the  party  pony  had  grabbed  Butterscotch  by  the  hoof  and  rushed  him  out  of  the  room.

  "Mom,  Dad  still  hasn't  woken  up,"  Dinky  worried.

  "He  got  thrown  by  an  explosion.  The  force  might’ve  caused  some  internal  damage.  All  I  can  do  is  treat  the  cuts  and  burns  until  we  can  send  for  proper  medical  help,"  Derpy  explained.

  Dinky  looked  into  her  mother's  eyes.  She  had  the  serious  look  on  her  face.  Dinky  only  saw  the  serious  look  when  things  were  really  bad.  Derpy  had  only  explained  the  facts,  she  hadn’t  offered  any  kind  reassurances  or  hopeful  promises.  When  Dinky  realized  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  it  crushed  the  little  unicorn's  heart.  She  glumly  walked  over  to  Nyx,  who  gave  her  a  gentle  hug.

  The  fires  raged  outside,  casting  the  kitchen  in  an  oragne  glow.  Rainbow  Blitz  looked  out  the  window  and  frowned.  "Hey,  where  is  everypony?"

  "What  d'ya  mean,  bud?"  Applejack  asked.

  "Well  a  giant,  flying,  metal  monster  just  blew  a  crater  in  the  middle  of  town.  Where's  all  the  screaming  and  running  crowds?"

  The  farm  stallion  put  his  hoof  to  his  chin.  "Hmm,  maybe  they're  hidin'.  I  think-  Holy!"

  At  that  moment,  the  house  across  the  street  shattered  to  splinters.  Through  the  smoke  they  saw  the  shadow  of  Slipstream  stomping  wildly  at  the  ground.

  "I  think  she's  looking  for  us,"  Blitz  whispered.  Another  crash  shook  the  building.  "Aghh!  What  do  we  do?"

  "Okay,"  Dusk  began,  but  he  found  himself  interrupted  by  Twilight.

  "We  need  to  split  up  and  distract  it.  We  know  we  can  handle  the  robot,  but  I'm  worried  about  whatever  it  was  that  had  the  missiles.  Rainbow  Blitz,  do  you  think  you  can  catch  that  thing?"

  "Don't  make  me  laugh.  Nothing's  faster  than  me,"  Blitz  replied  with  a  cocky  grin.

  "Good,  can  you  catch  that  thing  without  getting  blown  up?"

  "Well  now,  that’s  the  fun  part."

  At  the  moment,  Butterscotch  and  Bubble  Berry  returned  with  a  a  white  medical  box.  "Here  ya  go,"  Berry  chimed.

  Twilight  took  the  box  and  handed it  to  Derpy.  "Okay,  kids,  stay  here  with  Derpy  and  The  Doctor.  Butterscotch  and  Applejack,  come  with  me  out  the  front.  Bubble  Berry  and  Elusive,  go  with  Dusk  Shine  out  the  back.  Blitz,  go  up  out  the  upstairs  window  and  try  to  take  out  Mr.  Missiles.  When  I  say  run  we  run."  Another  thunderous  crash  caused  the  pots  and  pans  in  the  kitchen  to  clang  and  clatter  together.  "Run!"

  The  ponies  scrambled  out  of  Sugar  Cube.  Slipstream  turned  from  the  house  she  had  just  wrecked  to  see  Dusk  Shine's  group  scurry  down  the  street.  She  laughed  devilishly  and  gave  chase.  

  Berry's  ears  perked  up  as  he  heard  the  metal  stomping  behind  him.  He  glanced  back  and  yelped.  "Here  she  comes!"  He  galloped  away  as  fast  as  he  could.

  "You  have  a  plan,  right?"  Elusive  asked  the  lavender  unicorn  beside  him.

  "I  have  a  few  ideas,"  Dusk  reassured  him.

==============================================================

  Blitz  tore  into  the  sky.  As  if  on  cue,  a  tiny  black  dot  appeared  above  him,  right  before  disappearing  into  a  cloud  bank.

  "There  you  are!"  The  cyan  stallion  ascended  higher  till  he  was  level  with  the  UFO.  He  swooped  into  the  yellow  and  orange  sunset  cloud.  The  world  went  dark,  wet,  and  cold  as  Blitz  accelerated  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  cloud  bank.  He  could  just  make  out  what  looked  like  another  pegasus  in  front  of  him,  before  it  veered  out  of  his  vision.  

  Suddenly,  everything  was  washed  in  color.  Something  slammed  into  Blitz's  side,  knocking  the  wind  out  of  him  and  sending  him  tumbling  through  the  air.  A  thunderous  boom  ripped  through  the  heavens.

  Everypony  on  the  ground  stopped  and  looked  in  awe  at  the  spectacle  above.

  Twilight  gasped.  "A  sonic-"

  "-Rainboom?"  Elusive  stuttered.

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    Blitz  landed  hard  with  a  splash  into  a  pool  of  brown  muck.  He  desperately  wiped  the  gunk  from  his  eyes  and  tried  to  get  a  view  of  his  surroundings,  to  try  to  find  what  had  hit  him.  He  was  in  a  clearing  in  the  middle  of  a  forest.  The  last  rays  of  the  sun  cast  long  skeletal  shadows  across  the  swampy  ground.  The  trees  appeared  to  have  monstrous  faces,  ready  to  chomp  at  his  neck.  He  had  landed  in  Froggy  Bottom  Bog.

  He  checked  himself  over.  His  side  hurt  like  mad  and  a  nasty  purple  welt  was  already  growing,  but  he  didn't  think  anything  was  broken.  He  was  fortunate  to  have  landed  in  the  mire;  mud  makes  a  great  impact  cushion.  He  breathed  deeply  and  relaxed  his  muscles  to  float  to  the  top  of  the  swamp.  This  wasn't  the  first  time  he  had  crashed  here,  and  if  he  could  get  to  solid  ground  before  whatever  had  attacked  him  came  back,  it  hopefully  wouldn't  be  the  last  time.

  He  caught  hold  of  some  reeds  and  pulled  himself  onto  the  shore.  He  laid  panting  for  a  moment,  then  shook  the  mud  out  of  his  fur.  He  got  to  his  hooves  just  as  a  horrible  screeching  sound  boomed  through  the  forest.

  The  silhouette  of  a  pegasus  zoomed  past  overhead.  There  was  something  wrong  with  its  wings,  though.  Two  cylinders  were  attached  to  foils  on  its  back.  Rockets,  that  pony  had  rockets  instead  of  wings.  With  a  metallic  clank,  the  mare  landed  just  a  meter  in  front  of  Blitz.  He  gasped  at  the  sight  in  front  of  him.  A  mare,  a  mare  who  was  practically  identical  to  him,  stood  there  with  a  wicked  grin.  A  metal  plate  covered  her  right  eye  and  tapered  down  her  cheek,  covering  almost  half  of  her  face.

  "Hey  there,  handsome.  Long  time  no  see,"  the  mysterious,  multi-color  maned,  mare  said  menacingly.  "I've  been  looking  forward  to  this  for  a  very  long  time."

  Blitz  just  stood  the  bewildered.  "W-what  are  you?  Are  you  me?"

  "What  are  you?  Are  you  me?"  the  mare  sneered  back.  "You  sound  like  a  jerk!"

  "Why  are  you  doing  this?"

  "Oh,  you  wanna  know?  'Cause  the  answer's  easy.  I'm  bad  Dash,  and  you're  good  Dash.  You're  a  goody  little  four  shoes."  The  strange  doppleganger  started  doing  a  silly  little  dance  and  singing,  "Goody  little  four  shoes!  Goody  little  four  shoes!"  Then,  she  socked  him  right  in  the  jaw.  He  staggered  back,  only  to  take  a  kick  to  the  shins.  All  the  while,  Rainbow  Dash  kept  up  her  song  and  dance.

  Blitz  fell  to  the  ground.  Dash  smiled,  the  last  rays  of  the  sun  reflecting  red  off  her  face  plate.

  "Blitz,"  muttered  the  muddied  and  bruised  pegasus.

  "What?"

  "My  name  is  Rainbow  Blitz!"  the  stallion  shouted  as  he  whirled  around  and  reared  up.  He  bucked  with  all  his  might,  sending  the  malicious  pony  careening  into  the  woods  beyond.  He  chuckled  weakly  as  he  rubbed  the  blood  from  his  jaw.  Suddenly,  a  report  of  *Rat-ta-tat-tat!*  rang  out,  as  bullets  whizzed  past  Blitz's  head.  He  scrambled  for  cover  behind  a  rock.

  Dash  emerged  from  the  woods,  smoking  machine  guns  attached  to  both  her  flanks.  She  turned,  and  Blitz  was  horrified  to  see  that  half  her  body,  from  just  behind  her  shoulders  down  to  her  rear  hooves,  was  made  of  metal.  She  was  mostly  machine.

  "Dash,  Blitz,  I'm  the  girl  with  the  gun,"  she  said  smugly.  She  hovered  in  the  air  and  took  aim  right  between  Blitz's  eyes.  "Now  this  is  the  part  I  like,  the  look  in  their  eyes  right  before  they're  killed  by  another  version  of  themselves.  But  from  you  especially,  ooh,  I'm  gonna  enjoy  this.  I  just  want  to  thank  you  first.  You  made  me  so  much  better  than  I  was."    

  Just  as  she  was  about  to  fire,  her  communicator  buzzed  in  her  ears.  Blitz  stared  up  at  her  befuddled,  as  she  started  talking  to  the  air.

  "Go  ahead,  what's  your  status?  Calm  down,  I  can't-  what?  Well  continue  with  the  mission,  kill  the  black  one  and  capture  the  purple  one.  What  do  you  mean  they  captured  you  again?  Stop  crying!  Hold  on,  I'll  be  right  there.  Lousy  heap  of  garbage,  No  one  can  do  anything  right  today,"  Rainbow  Dash  cursed  into  the  air.  First  the  tall  guy  couldn't  capture  the  unicorn,  and  now  the  robot  couldn't  take  care  of  a  little  filly.

  Dash  gritted  her  teeth.  Her  guns  folded  back  inside  her  body.  She  was  out  of  missiles,  so  she  needed  to  save  her  bullets  to  deal  with  the  unicorns.  "Well,  good  looking,  payback's  gonna  have  to  wait,"  she  said,  irritated.  She  blasted  off  into  the  sky,  saying  some  words  I,  the  author,  am  not  comfortable  relaying  here.

  Night  fell  over  forest.  Blitz  sat  stunned  in  the  mud.  He  couldn't  begin  to  explain  what  had  just  happened,  but  he  had  to  get  back  to  his  friends.  First  things  was  first,  though,  he  had  to  get  the  mud  off  his  wings.  He  couldn't  get  airborne  with  all  the  gunk  weighing  him  down.  He  sat,  bloodied  and  bruised,  in  the  cold,  scraping  the  brown  mess  from  his  feathers.

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  Berry  stepped  out  of  the  kitchen  with  a  plate  of  freshly  baked  apple  mini-pies.  "Here  you  go,  girls,  another  round  of  treats."

  "Thanks,  Mr  Berry,"  Nyx  and  Dinky  chimed.  They  sat  by  the  window,  watching  the  grown  ups  interrogate  Slipstream.  The  alicorn  filly  stuffed  one  of  the  treats  into  her  mouth,  then  instantly  found  out  the  value  of  letting  things  cool  after  they've  left  an  oven.  Dinky  just  half-interestedly  pushed  the  pastries  around,  while  Nyx  desperately  tried  to  dislodge  the  traitorous  pie.  

  "Well,  it  looks  like  it's  my  turn  to  be  scared  today,"  Dinky  sighed.

  "I'm  really  sorry  Dinky.  I  hope  your  dad  will  be  okay."

  "I  know  I  won't  lose  him.  It's  just... Dad  always  told  me  that  if  he  was  about  to  die,  his  body  would  go  through  this  change.  His  face,  body  and  even  his  personality  would  all  be  different.  He-  he  might  not  even  be  a  pony  anymore.  And  I  know  he  would  be  fine.  The  Doctor  would  still  be  alive,  but  my  dad...  my  daddy...  he'd  be  gone."  Dinky  couldn't  take  it  anymore.  Her  head  sank  to  the  table  and  she  broke  down  sobbing.  Nyx  ran  around  the  table  and  put  her  hoof  on  Dinky's  shoulder.

  "Dinky,  Dad's  waking  up,"  Derpy  called  from  the  other  room.  Dinky's  face  lit  up.  The  pure  joy  in  her  eyes  made  Nyx  giggle.  The  blonde  unicorn  bounded  into  the  kitchen.  She  wanted  to  wrap  her  front  legs  around  her  father's  neck  and  squeeze  as  hard  as  she  could,  but  Derpy  held  her  back.  "He  could  still  be  hurt,"  she  explained.

  The  Doctor  let  out  a  hoarse  whisper.  Mother  and  Daughter  leaned  in  closer  to  make  out  his  words.  "Bag,"  mumbled  the  time  lord.

  "Bag?  Oh!  The  bag  that  Pinkie  Pie  gave  me.  All  the  craziness  today,  I  forgot  all  about  it,"  Dinky  said.  She  rushed  back  to  the  table  and  grabbed  the  blue  bag.  She  galloped  back  to  her  family  and  opened  the  sack.  "It's  filled  with...a  bag  of  cookies?"  She  emptied  the  bag  and  checked  it  over  twice.  All  that  had  been  inside  were  a  plastic  bag  filled  with  eleven  chocolate  chip  cookies  and  a  note  reading,  “One  for  everypony”.

  The  Doctor  wheezed  and  coughed.  “Eat  your  cookie,”  he  whispered.  “Give  one  to  everybody.”

  “It’s  a  big  sacrifice  but  I’ll  do  it  for  you.”  

  The  family  ate  their  cookies.  Then,  Dinky  took  the  bag  and  ran  out  the  door.

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  Nyx  yawned.  Twilight  and  the  boy  versions  of  her  friends  were  still  arguing  with  the  robot,  and  Dinky  had  gone  back  to  her  mom  and  dad  in  the  kitchen.  That  left  her  alone  with  a  nearly-empty  pie  plate.  The  stars  were  shining  bright  and  it  was  past  her  bedtime.  She  wondered  where  she  would  sleep  tonight,  since  she  doubted  they  would  fix   her  problems  any  time  soon.  Maybe  the  boy  Twilight  would  let  them  sleep  in  his  library.  Her  eyes  got  heavier,  looked  like  she  would  be  sleeping  there  on  the  table.  She  just  hoped  she  wouldn’t  have  the  nightmare.

  The  night  lit  up  and  a  horrendous  popping  sounded  out.  Nyx  bolted  straight  up  and  looked  out.  The  unicorns  had  erected  another  force  field.  Sparks  flickered  around  it  and  chewed  up  the  ground.  The  form  of  the  metal  giant  rose  up  behind  the  glowing  bubble.

  Without  hesitation,  the  alicorn  galloped  to  the  door.  Twilight  would  yell  at  her  for  heading  into  such  a  dangerous  situation,  but  she  knew  she  could  help.  

  She  tried  to  open  the  door,  but  it  wouldn't  budge.  She  pushed  against  it  with  her  magic,  but  got  the  same  result.  What  was  going  on?

  Nyx  recoiled,  as  a  strip  of  what  looked  like  blood  started  oozing  from  the  top  of  the  door.  She  watched  in  astonishment,  as  her  own  shadow  grew  to  meet  the  dark  red  liquid.   Her  amazement  turned  to  unbridled  terror  as  the  shadow  stepped  off  the  wall  towards  her.  Its  head  turned  a  deathly  grey  and  the  blood  had  become  its  tie.

               sO,  At  laSt  WE  mEeT  iN  ThE  wAkiNG  REALm,  nIGhtESSsss.

  It  didn’t  speak,  but  it  still  formed  words.  It  was  as  if  it  made  space  itself  know  its  thoughts.  It  communicated  by  forcing  its  will  through  the  air,  and  the  wood  in  the  building,  and  through  Nyx's  bones.  The  effect  was  like  nails  on  a  chalkboard  times  a  hundred.

  Nyx  had  never  felt  fear  like  she  did  at  that  moment.  She  felt  a  force  on  her  muscles.  She  couldn't  move.  She  could  barely  breathe.  Pressure  grew  in  her  head,  and  her  nose  and  ears  started  to  bleed.

                             IT  WilL  wEep  foR  tHe  CHild.

  The  monster  raised  its  hoof  above  the  filly  to  strike.  Nyx  couldn't  run,  she  couldn't  use  her  magic.  Tears  welled  in  her  eyes  as  she  tried  to  get  her  mouth  to  work.

                      NOw  you  WILL  bE  NOwhERE.

  "TWILIGHT!"  Nyx  screamed  with  all  she  had.

  Twilight's  ears  perked  up.  She  dashed  out  from  the  shield  towards  the  bakery.

  "Twilight,  wait!"  Dusk  shouted.

  Bullets  whizzed  by  her.  She  felt  a  pain  like  a  bee  sting  on  her  flank.  Had  she  been  hit?  It  didn't  matter.  She  just  had  to  get  to  her  daughter.  She  busted  down  the  door.  All  she  saw  was  Nyx  standing  there,  blood  running  down  her  face.  Instinctively,  she  cast  her  most  powerful  protection  and  healing  spells  over  her.

  Nyx  felt  the  force  on  her  body  lift.  Her  horn  glowed  white  hot,  and  she  blasted  the  horror  with  her  most  powerful  attack.  The  monster  stumbled  back  and  fell  over.  It  writhed  on  the  ground,  its  legs  flailing  in  the  air.  It  reminded  Nyx  of  the  time  she  saw  a  spider  get  wet.

  "Nyx,  what's  wrong?  What  happened?"  Twilight  asked  in  a  panic.

  "It's  the  monster  from  the  dream.  He's  here!"

  "Okay,  where  did  he  go?"

  "W-what  do  you  mean?  He's  right  behind  you!"

  Twilight  looked  around.  "I  don't  see  anything."  She  grabbed  a  napkin  from  the  counter  with  her  magic  and  started  wiping  the  blood  off  Nyx's  face.

  Nyx  pushed  the  paper  away.  "What  are  you  doing?  He's  getting  up!  Help  me  fight  him  off."

  Chunks  of  wood  and  dust  fell,  as  something  burst  down  from  the  ceiling.  Twilight  and  Nyx  looked  up.  A  half  flesh/  half  metal,  light  blue,  mockery  of  nature  hovered  above  them.

  Twilight's  mouth  hung  open.  "Rainbow-"

  "Dash?"

  The  cyborg  pegasus  laughed.  "Yeah,  I  get  that  reaction.  Well  well,  if  it  isn't  Ms.  Know-It-All  and  the  little  crybaby."  She  landed  and  two  machine  gun  barrels  unfolded  from  her  sides.  "Grab  her,  Mr.  Tall."

  A  black  mist  swirled  around  Twilight's  neck.  "Hey!  What's  happening?"  She  shouted.  The  facless  terror  loomed  over  the  unicorn.  "Doctor!  Nyx!  Help!"  The  darkness  engulfed  her,  and  then  both  she  and  the  monster  disappeared  into  a  shadow  in  the  corner.

  "Twilight!"  Nyx  screamed.

  Rainbow  Dash  chuckled.  "You  got  your  own  problems,  squirt."  Her  targeting  systems  locked  on  to  the  black  alicorn.  "Say  goodnight,  sweetie."

  With  a  crack,  a  mallet  slammed  into  the  back  of  Rainbow's  head,  sending  her  sprawling  on  the  floor.  "Goodnight,  sweetie,"  Dinky  smirked.  She  whirled  her  giant  hammer  around  for  a  second  strike.  "Mallets  are  fun."

  "Screw  this!  Rust-bucket,  we're  leaving,"  Dash  declared.  She  blasted  off  through  the  hole  in  the  ceiling.  A  blue  and  white  harrier  jet  joined  her  in  the  sky.  A  green  hole  appeared  in  the  clouds,  and  they  vanished  into  it.  Then,  all  that  was  left  in  the  sky  were  stars.

  "Sorry  I  couldn't  come  sooner,  the  door  wouldn't-  Whoa!  What  happened  to  your  face?"  Dinky  exclaimed.

  Nyx  ignored  her.  She  fell  to  the  ground  and  started  to  cry.

  "What  in  tarnation's  going  on  in  here?"  Applejack  asked.  He  and  the  others  galloped  into  the  room.

  "Where's  Twilight?"  Dusk  asked.

  Nyx  stood  up  and  set  her  jaw  firm.  Crying  wouldn't  help  her  mommy  right  now.  She  marched  into  the  kitchen.

  The  Doctor  was  still  lying  on  the  floor.  Derpy  was  applying  some  kind  of  ointment  on  his  burns.

  "Nyx,  what's  happening  out  there?"  Derpy  asked.  Nyx  just  pushed  her  aside.

  "He  kidnapped  Twilight.  He  kidnapped  Twilight  and  they  disappeared  into  thin  air.  Help  me  get  her  back."  Nyx  demanded  from  the  Time  Lord.

  "O-okay,"  The  Doctor  gurgled.

  "What  do  you  need?"

  "The  sensors  on  the  TARDIS,  they  might  be  able  to  pick  up  any  energy  signatur-"

  Nyx  didn't  let  him  finish.  She  stomped  her  hoof  on  the  ground,  and  she  and  the  time  pony  vanished  in  a  flash.

  "Nyx,  wait!"  Derpy  yelled.

  Rainbow  Blitz  ran  through  the  door.  "Okay,  I'm  back,"  he  panted.  "Where  are  they?  There's  another  me."  Then,  he  found  a  chocolate  chip  cookie  shoved  into  his  mouth.

  "Yeah,  you  just  missed  them,"  Dinky  answered.

  "What's  with  the  cookie?"

  "I  have  no  idea,  but  it's  important  apparently."

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  Nyx  and  The  Doctor  reappeared  right  in  front  of  the  TARDIS.  The  filly  tried  to  open  the  door,  but  she  couldn't  quite  reach  the  handle.  She  jumped  for  it  but  missed.

  "Help  me,  Doctor.  There  might  not  be  much  time,"  Nyx  cried  frantically.  She  could  have  just  used  her  magic,  but  her  emotions  were  overriding  her  thought  process.

  Painfully  and  shakily,  the  Time  Lord  got  to  his  feet.  He  nearly  stumbled,  but  Nyx  held  him  up.  He  pulled  out  his  key  and  opened  the  door.  He  slowly  made  his  way  to  the  controls,  Nyx  doing  her  best  to  support  him.  Finally,  they  made  it  to  the  center  of  the  room.  The  Doctor  stood  up  on  his  hind  legs,  let  out  a  cry  of  pain,  and  fell  onto  console.

  Nyx  gasped.  "Are  you  okay?"

  "Err,  I'm  fine.  I  think  I  can  work  the  sensors  from  here,"  The  Doctor  groaned.  He  reached  over  and  flipped  a  few  switches.  The  monitor  above  him  flickered  to  life  and  weird  symbols  began  displaying  across  it.  "Could  you  tell  me  what  that  screen  says?"

  "There  are  a  bunch  of  circles.  I  can't  make  out-  Wait,  it  says,  'Spacial  disturbance detected,  tracking  particle  emissions'."

  "Haha!  That's,"  The  Doctor  started,  but  then  started  coughing  and  hacking.  Finally,  he  regained  his  breath.  "Right,  sorry,  anyway,  we  have  a  lock  on  your  mother."

  Nyx  sighed  in  relief.  They  weren't  out  of  the  woods  yet,  but  at  least  she  knew  Twilight  wasn't  lost.

  The  Doctor  turned  some  knobs  and  pressed  a  big  green  button.  "There,  I  set  an  anchor  point  for  this  timeline.  Now,  let's  go  save  us  a  unicorn.  Nyx,  if  you  would  pull  the  big  lever."

  The  little  alicorn's  horn  lit  up  and  the  big  lever  came  down.  The  gears  inside  the  glass  column  began  to  turn,  and  the  time  machine's  engines  roared  to  life.  

  Nyx  watched  as  the  mechanism  in  the  cylinder  rose  and  fell.  She  thought  she  saw  something  in  the  reflection  in  the  glass.  Then,  her  blood  ran  cold.  She  saw  the  image  of  the  faceless  monster  behind  her.  She  whirled  around,  but  there  was  nothing  there.  

  "Is  something  wrong?  You  look  terrified."

  "I  see  the  monster  that  took  Twilight."

  "Where?"  The  Doctor  asked,  his  voice  stone  serious.

  "In  the  reflection,"  Nyx  answered,  pointing  at  the  column.  

  Suddenly,  the  shadowy  creature  burst  forth  from  the  glass.  Nyx  screamed  as  the  monster  wrapped  its  hooves  around  The  Doctor's  neck.

                                    dIE  TImE  LOrD

  Sparks  flew  from  the  control  console.  A  blinding  light  filled  the  room.

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  Bubble  Berry  looked  out  the  window.  "Hey,  what's  that?"

  "What's  what?"  Applejack  asked.

  "There's  some  kind  of  light  outside."

  All  the  ponies  in  Sugar  Cube  crowded  around  the  window.  There  was  a  white  light  coming  from  the  center  of  town.

  "My,  what  a  dazzling  display,"  Elusive  said.

  "I  think  that's  coming  from  the  TARDIS,"  Dinky  exclaimed.

  Dusk  frowned.  "Something  seems  bad  about  this."

  The  light  tripled  in  intensity.  Suddenly,  the  ground  started  to  shake.  Derpy  hugged  Dinky  and  held  tight.  Butterscotch  screamed.  The  light  continued  to  grow.  The  world  was  engulfed  in  a  blinding  white.

===============================================================

  Prince  Solaris  soared  through  the  midnight  sky,  a  full  compliment  of  pegasus  guards  followed  in  his  wake.  Reports  had  been  pouring  in  about  an  attack  on  Ponyville.  The  Prince  gritted  his  teeth.  He  prayed  he  wasn't  too  late.

  The  little  town  appeared  on  the  horizon.  "Onwards  and  prepare  yourselves!  We  are  almost  there,"  announced  Solaris.  Just  then,  an  overwhelming  explosion  burst  from  the  little  town.  Solaris  doubled  his  speed  till  he  reached  the  city's  limit.  He  was  shocked  by  what  he  saw.

  An  empty  brown  waste  lay  below  him.  There  weren't  any  buildings,  trees  or  grass.  Not  a  single  sign  of  life  was  left.  Ponyville  was  gone.

<-Chapter  Three                                                                             Chapter  Five->                           

[a]

                                               Chapter  Five

                                       The  Other  Hooves  Daughter

                    Inspired  by  My  Little  Dashie  by  ROBCankeran53

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  I  stared  dull  eyed  at  the  blank  computer  screen  in  front  of  me,  locked  in  an  epic  duel  with  the  foul  beast known as  writer's  block.  "I  haven't  updated  in  over  two  months,"  I  scolded  myself  mentally.  "There  are  people  out  there  who  actually  like  the  crap  I  write.  Do  not  keep  them  waiting."  I  exhaled  in  frustration  and  decided  it  was  break  time.  I  minimized  the  document  and  went  online  to  Equestria  Daily.  After  checking  the  updates,  reading  a  comic,  and  listening  to  really  cool  new  track  from  Wooden  Toaster,  I  checked  the  page  for  my  fan fiction.  

  Fandom  Crisis!,  my  crossover  fan fiction  of  other  My  Little  Pony  fan fictions.  Boy,  had  this  story  ballooned  out  of  control.  I  had  just  meant  it  as  quick  little  exercise  to  celebrate  the  one  year  anniversary  of  Friendship  is  Magic,  but  I  missed  that  deadline  by  over  a  month  and  a  half.  And,  unfortunately,  a  crossover  of  all  my  favorite  pony  characters  was  too  tempting  for  me  to  use  any  self  control.  The  story  grew  and  grew,  until,  after  only  four  chapters,  there  were  too  many  characters  and  plot  threads  for  me  to  remember.  If  I  was  ever  going  to  get  it  make  sense  again,  I  would  have  to  add  a  few  more  characters  and  plot  threads.  It  was  a  vicious  cycle.

  I  sighed  and  checked  the  feedback.  One  hundred  and  fifty-eight   comments,  that's  quite  a  bit  more  than  I  had  originally  expected.  I  had  read  them  all  before,  but  I  didn't  have  anything  else  to  do  that  day. I  scrolled  down  the  list.  One  of  the  comments  caught  my  eye.  A  user  named  Kevin  had  asked,  "Will  their  be  any  references  to  My  Little  Dashie?"  I  noted  he  had  misused  'their'  for  'there',  but  hey,  when  has  grammar  ever  mattered  on  the  internet?  It  certainly  hadn't  mattered  in  my  story.

  The  question  got  stuck  in  my  head.  I  had  heard  about  My  Little  Dashie  over  and  over  and  over  and  over  again,  but  I  had  never  actually  read  it.  Those  who  had  said  it's  pretty  sad,  and  I  don't  watch  ponies  for  sad.  On  the  other  hand,  maybe  I  could  use  it  for  a  future  crossover  in  Fandom  Crisis!.  I  found  the  story  on  the  site  and  clicked  the  link.

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                                       Over  an  hour  later...

  The  story  was  pretty  good.  The  tragic  tale  of  a  man  who  discovers  a  filly  Rainbow  Dash  in  a  cardboard  box  and  raises  her  as  his  daughter.  I  got  a  little  teary  eyed  towards  the  end,  I'll  admit.  I  thought  it  was  a  tad  over-hyped,  though.  What  really  put  me  off  was  the  beginning.  The  audience  surrogate  character  was  a  little  too  close  to  my  actual  life  for  comfort.  If  the  author  had  made  him  a  Doctor  Who  obsessive,  I  would  have  to  check  my  house  for  cameras.  Mind  you,  I  live  in  a  sunny,  little,  rural  town,  and  the  main  character  lived  in  a  grey,  hopeless,  run-down,  trash  filled,  half-abandoned  city,  so  it's  safe  to  say  the  story  probably  took  place  in  New  Mexico.  Also,  my  parents  are  still  alive.  Still,  the  main  character  had  a  life  like  mine, and  he  spent  all  of  the  first  act  whining  about  how  crushing  and  painful  it  was.  Hey,  I  think  my  life  is  awesome,  and  I'm  very  happy  to  be  living  it.  The  rest  of  the  story  after  that  was  pretty  good,  but  I  didn't  see  how  I  could  use  any  of  it  for  my  fanfic.

  I  returned  to  my  document.  The  white  void  stared  back,  mocking  me.  Just  then,  inspiration  struck.  I  knew  what  would  make  a  perfect  fifth  chapter.  I  put  my  hand  to  the  keyboard  and  prepared  to  type.  Then,  I  heard  a  whimpering  behind  me.  Shotgun,  my  dog,  was  pawing  at  his  kennel  door.  He  looked  at  me  with  big,  brown,  pleading  eyes.  It  was  time  for  a  walk.  I  put  on  my  shoes,  got  his  leash,  let  the  lovably  dumb  creature  out,  and  away  we  went.

========================================================================

  It  was  a  wet  February  day.  Shotgun  happily  bounced  through  a  muddy  field.  I  always  let  him  run  free  until  we  get  close  to  a  house  where  a  dog  lives,  then  it's  back  on  the  leash.  His  ears  perked  up  and  he  disappeared  into  a  bush,  no  doubt  after  some  poor  small  mammal.  

  My  thoughts  returned  to  My  Little  Dashie.  Although  I  wasn't  as  enamored  with  it  as  much  as  the  internet  said  I  should  be,  its  basic  premise  spoke  to  one  of  my  silliest  yet  deepest  desires.  I  wanted  to  meet  a  real  My  Little  Pony.  Even  if  it  was  just  to  say  hello  and  pet  its  mane.  I  supposed  there  were  only  two  real  life  alternatives.  You  could  either  buy  the  toys  or  pet  a  real  pony,  but  the  official  toys  were  rather  ugly  and  the  better  fan-made  toys  were  roughly  the  price  of  a  small  car,  and  real  life  ponies  are  fat,  miserable,  bitey  animals  that  poop  on  everything.

  My  train  of  thought  was  derailed  when  Shotgun  started  barking  at  something  on  the  side  of  the  road.  It  was  a  cardboard  box,  just  like  the  one  from  the  story.  Ooh,  this  was  eerie,  I  jokingly  thought  that  maybe  there  really  would  be  a  talking  filly  in  the  box.  Whatever  was  in  there  got  Shotgun's  attention,  at  least.  I  was  walking  over  to  check  it  out,  when  a  sudden  earsplitting  noise  caused  my  poor  dog  to  roll  on  the  ground  in  pain.  I  ran  to  make  sure  he  was  okay.  He  whimpered  a  little,  but  he  seemed  okay.  The  noise  had  stopped  almost  as  soon  as  it  had  started.  I  looked  inside  the  box,  and  the  sight  I  saw  nearly  caused  me  to  faint.

  There  was  an  animal  sitting  there  unlike  anything  I  had  ever  before.  Well,  unlike  anything  I  had  seen  in  real  life,  anyway.  I  had  seen  plenty  of  them  in  Friendship is Magic.  It  was  little  unicorn  with  giant  purple  eyes,  She  had  a  dark  pink  coat  and  a  violet  mane.  She  had  some  sort  of  silver  bracelet  on  her  foreleg,  with  little  lights  flickered  across  its  surface.  She  was  smaller  than  she  appeared  in  the  show,  but  I  instantly  recognized  her  as  Sparkler.

  I  was  absolutely  dumbfounded.  My  brain  refused  to  process  the  sight  in  front  of  me.  It  couldn't  be  real.  It  just  couldn't.  She  was  a  TV  character.  No,  less  than  that,  a  background  pony,  a  fan  character.

  "Hello  there,  human.  Could  you  please  leash  your  dog?"  the  filly  asked.

  My  brain  called  it  quits  and  I  blacked  out.

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  I  felt  something  warm  and  wet  on  my  cheek.  I  opened  my  eyes  to  find  Shotgun  licking  me.  I  shooed  him  away  and  sat  up.  I  must  had  been  out  for  a  few  hours;  it  was  almost  dark.

  "Ah  good,  you're  awake.  Tell  me,  have  you  seen  any  glowing  lights  in  the  sky  or  unusual  liquids  bubbling  out  of  the  ground  recently?"  came  the  pony's  voice  behind  me.

  I  decided  I  would  try  my [a] best  to  keep  my  wits  about  me.  I  could  think  of  four  explanations  for  what  was  happening.  Number  one:  I  was  dreaming.  I  found  this  to  be  the  most  likely.  Number two:  I  had  gone  crazy,  also  very  likely.  Number  three:  this  was  all  some  very  elaborate  joke.  I  had  no  idea  how  this  was  possible,  but  I  liked  it  better  than  number  four.  Number  four:  this  was  really  happening.  Sparkler  was  real  and  talking  to  me.

  "Are  you  just  going  to  stand  there  slack  jawed  all  day?  It's  getting  cold  out  here.  Do  you  have  somewhere  we  can  go?"  the  unicorn  asked.

  I  mumbled  a  bit  before  I  found  my  voice.  "Um,  yeah  just  down  the  road."

  "Well  alright  then,  onwards  and  upwards."

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  I  was in  a  daze  as  the  three  of  us  arrived  at  my  door.  Shotgun  jumped  up  and  down  to  be  let  in.

  "Say,  why  hasn't  my  dog  been  barking  at  you  any  more?"  I  asked.

  "Your  canine  and  I  had  a  little  psychic  conversation.  We  managed  to  come  to  an  understanding,"  Sparkler  replied.

  I  opened  the  door  and  let  the  quadrupeds  into  my  house.  Sparkler  hopped  up  and  stretched  herself  out  on  my  couch,  while  I  put  Shotgun  in  his  kennel.

  The  pony  popped  her  neck.  "Oh,  that  felt  good.  Believe  me,  sleeping  in  box  is  not  all  it's  cracked  up  to be.  And  I  don't  know  anyone  who  cracks  it  up  in  the  first  place.  Say,  could  you  be  a  dear  and  fetch  me  some  tea?  Oh,  listen  to  me,  just  barging  into  your  home  and  making  demands.  I'm  so  sorry.  Perhaps  I  should  introduce  myself.  I'm-"

  "Sparkler,"  I  interrupted,  "a  pony  from  Ponyville,  daughter  of  Derpy  Hooves  and  sister  to  Dinky.  The  pony  who  is  lying  on  my  couch  asking  for  tea."

  The  pony  looked  around  her  behind  her.  "Okay,  spooky.  Have  we  met  before,  or  later?  That  happens  to  me  too."

  "No,  I  know  that  because  you're  not  real."

  "I'm  not?"  She  rubbed  her  cheeks  and  then  her  tummy.  "No,  I'm  pretty  sure  that  I  am."

  "I  mean...you  are  a  fictional  character  from  a  TV  show,  a  cartoon.  You  can't  be  real,"  I  sputtered.

  "A  television  program?  Interesting,  could  I  see  an  episode,  perhaps?"

  I  turned  on  my  computer  and  went  to  YouTube.  I  found  the  clip  of  Rainbow  Dash  trying  to  help  Sparkler  open  a  jar  of  peanut  butter  for  a  green  unicorn  filly.  The  unicorn  watched  intently.  She  giggled  when  it  had  ended.

  "I  remember  that  mare.  Little  Minty  and  I  must  have  laughed  for  ten  minutes  straight  after  that,"  Sparkler  smirked.  "Alright,  up  up  up.  I  need  the  chair."  

  Her  horn  began  to  glow  slightly.  A  magical  aura  surrounded  my  keyboard,  and  the  words  My  Little  Pony  popped  into  the  search  bar.  Sparkler  pressed  a  button  on  her  bracelet  and  pointed  her  hoof  at  the  screen.  Suddenly,  a  jumbled  mess  of  colors  flashed  across the  screen,  and  an  earsplitting  noise  blasted  from  the speakers.  Finally,  it  stopped  after  about  ten  seconds  or  so,  far  too  long.

  "What  was  that?"  I  asked,  snapping  my  fingers  near  my  ears  to  make  sure  I  could  still  hear.

  "I  got  it."

  "Got  what?"

 "Everything.  Everything  on  the  internet  related  to  My  Little  Pony.  Now,  if  you'll  excuse  me  for  a  moment."  To  my  horror  she  began  violently  bashing  her  head  against  the  desk.  "Sorry,  I  saw  some  things  I  needed  to  forget."        

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  "Here  you  go,"  I  said, handing  Sparkler  a  mug  of  tea.  "Sorry  if  it's  not  to  your  liking.  I've  never  really  been  in  to  tea."

  "I'm  sure  it'll  be  fine."  She  took  a  sip  and  grimaced.  "Anyway,  I'm  sure  you  have  a  lot  of  questions."

  "Now  there's  an  understatement  for  you."  I  plopped  down  on  the  couch  and  tried  to  gather  my  thoughts.  "Okay,  how  can  you  even  be  real?"

  The  filly  giggled.  "Oh  how  I  long  for  the  simple  days,  when  words  like  'real'  and  'fictional'  had  some  distinction.  Well,  I've  always  been  real,  just  not  a  part  of  your  reality.  Are  you  aware  of  the  idea  of  parallel  universes?"

  "Yes,  and  I  think  I  see  where  you're  going  with  that  explanation.  But  how  can  there  a  TV  show  about  you?"

  Sparkler  put  her  hoof  to  her  chin.  "Oh,  I  wish  my  dad  was  here  to  explain  all  this."

  "Your  dad?  You  mean  The  Doctor?"

  "Yes,  indeed."  The  unicorn  took  a  sip  of  tea  and  cleared  her  throat.  "Alright,  now  normally  there  are  barriers  between  universes.  They  keeps  matter  and  energy  from  escaping  from  one  and  potentially  destroying  another.  However,  intangible  things  can  sometimes  slip  through;  thoughts,  ideas,  fears,  dreams.  It  makes  it  a  real  pain  when  you  come  across  an  infestation  of  mind  vipers.  Anyway,  these  ideas  from  other  universes  can  seep  into  the  thought  processes  of  receptive  people,  usually  artists  and  writers."

  "So... how  much  of  fiction  is  real  then?"

  "From  what  I  can  gather,  almost  all  of  it."

  I  was  blown  away. I  had  to  get  up  and  pace  the  room.  Then,  slowly,  a  smile  of  nerdy  delight  spread  across  my  lips.  "So,  it's  all  real,   Friendship  is  Magic  and  Doctor  Who?"   Images  of  all  my  beloved  stories  and  characters  danced  in  my  mind  "Oh  hey,  I  suppose  this  could  solve  any  religious  debates!  If  you  want  your  gods  to  be  real,  just  go  to  a  universe  where  they  are.  If  you  don't  want  any  god,  just  go  to  one  where  he  never  existed.  Oh,  I  can't  take  it!"  I  collapsed  on  the  love  seat.  The  universe  was  exploding  in  front  of  me.  My  whole  perception  of  reality  had  ripped  away.

  Then,  my  heart  descended  into  my  stomach  and  my  delight  turned  into  abject  terror.  "Oh  dear  God,  Cupcakes  could  be  real.  Sweet  Apple  Massacre  could  be  real!"  The  realization  was  like  being  punched  in  the  soul.  I  started  to  cry,  and  I  felt  like  I  was  about  to  vomit.

  Sparkler  ran  to  me  and  gave  me  quite  a  surprise  by  hugging  me.  "Easy  now.  Easy  now.  Listen,  my  team  and  I  have  been  popping  about  the  multiverse  for  a  while  now,  been  doing  some  cleaning  up.  We  can't  make  it  all  go  away,  but  we  can  make  some  dreams  fail  to  come  true.  Now,  any  other  questions?"  

   I  sniffled  and  looked  up  at  her.  "Um,  if  matter  can't  get  through  the  barriers,  how  did  you  get  here?"

   "I  did  say  normally  the  barriers  block  matter,  but  something  has  broken  them  down. My  friends  and  I  modified  some  old  vortex  manipulators,  and  we've  been  jumping  across  the  multiverse  ever  since.  If  we  can't  find  the  cause  of  the  universe  leaks  and  fix  it,  all  of  reality  will  be  destroyed."  

  The  filly  yawned,  and,  I  have  to  admit,  it  was  probably  the  most  adorable  thing  I've  ever  seen.  "I've  had  a  very  long  day  and  my  TARDIS  is  over  a  hundred  miles  away.  I  know  we've  just  met,  but  can  I  stay  here  tonight?  This  couch  is  quite  lovely,  and  I'd  hate  to  sleep  in  that  box  again.  I'll  answer  any  other  questions  you  have  in  the  morning."

  I  put  our  mugs  away  and  handed  Sparkler  a  spare  pillow  and  blanket.  "Well  then,  goodnight,  Sparkler.  Holler  if  you  need  anything  else."  I  said,  still  sniffly  from  crying.

  The  unicorn  nodded  her  thanks,  then  drifted  off  to  sleep.  She  started  snore  in  soft  little  squeaks.  Well,  if  My  Little  Dashie  actually  might  have  happened,  then  I  guess  history  repeats  itself.  And  like  the  protagonist  in  that  story,  the  sight  of  the  sleeping  filly  made  my  heart  explode  twice.

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  Despite  having  the  secrets  of  the  omniverse  revealed  to  me  in  less  than  an  hour  and  given  the  knowledge  that  everything  that  exists  is  facing  imminent  doom,  I  got  to  sleep  pretty  fast.  However,  when  I  hit  my  first  REM  cycle,  my  dreams  became  incredibly  bizarre.

  I  found  myself  in  darkness.  Then,  I  heard  a  a  small  soft  voice  call  out  in  the  distance,  but  I  couldn't  make  out  what it  said.  I  turned  to  see  a  tiny  white  light  in  front  of  me.  I  walked  towards  it.  As  it  grew,  I  looked  down.  I  was  walking  through  snow,  following  little  hoofprints.  But  I  wasn't  leaving  any  footprints.

  "Hello!  Is  anypony  there?  Twilight!"  the  voice  called.  I  could  start  to  make  out  the  form  of  a  filly  ahead.  Then,  I  saw  her  horn,  then  her  purple  mane,  and  finally  her  wings.  It  was  Nyx,  illuminating  the  darkness  with  her  magic.

  "Hello,"  I  greeted.  She  just  kept  walking.  "Hello!"  I  tried  again  louder.  The  alicorn  still  ignored  me.  "Can  you  hear  me?"  I  asked,  circling  around  in  front  of  her.

  Nyx  let  out  a  yelp.  "W-What  are  you?  Are  you  a  ghost?"

  "A  ghost?  No  I'm-"  I  looked  down  at  my  hands.  They  glowed  purple,  and  I  could  see  straight  through  them.

  The  pony's  horn's  glow  changed  from  white  to  red.  "Look,  I  don't  know  what  you  are,  but  if  you’re  here to  hurt  me,  you'll  regret  it."

  I  quickly  backed  away.  The  last  thing  I  wanted  to  do  was  get  disintegrated  by  a  baby  horse  (Although  'disintegrated  by  a  baby  horse'  would  simultaneously  be  the  best  and  worst  thing  to  have  written  on  your  tombstone).

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  There  was  a  flash  of  purple  light,  and  for  a  moment  I  was  afraid  Nyx  had  blasted  me.  Next  thing  I  knew,  I  was  standing  in  some  sort  of  cathedral.  Sinister  rays  of  green  light  fell  from  massive  jade  windows.  I  looked  around  to  see  Twilght  Sparkle  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  room.  Before  her  stood  some  shadowy  writhing  mass.  Before  I  could  make  out  what  it  was,  There  was  another  flash.

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  Now  I  was  standing  in  front  of  a  mop.  I  appeared  to  be  in  a  broom  closet.  I  turned  around,  only  to  be  met  by  a  pair  of  startled  yellow  eyes  that  looked  in  opposite  directions.  There  was  another  flash.

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  I  jumped  when  I  found  myself  standing  over  an  inferno.  I  was  on  a  walkway  overlooking  a  room  made  of  clouds,  that  was  exploding.  On  the  other  side  of  the  room,  what  looked  like  two  Rainbow  Dashes  were  grappling  with  each  other  above  some  kind  of  machine  with  an  opening  at  the  top.  One  of  the  Rainbows  was  bigger  with  a  more  defined  jaw,  I  figured  it  must  have  been  Rainbow  Blitz.  The  other  was  dressed  in  a  black  cloak  with  her  tail  dyed  to  match.  Blitz  whirled  around  and  bucked  the  other  pony  right  in  the  nose.  She  stumbled  back  and  nearly  fell  into  the  machine.  Blitz  managed  to  catch  her  just  in  time.  There  was  another  flash,  brighter  than  the  ones  before,  and  I felt  something  poking  my  face.

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  "Hey,  human.  Hurry,  wake  up.  We  have  about  four  minutes  or  so.  Wake  up,  human.  Hey,"  Sparkler  said,  pressing  her  hoof  against  my  nose.  "Ah  good,  you're  awake.  Get  up  and  get  dressed.  There  was  a  massive  psychic  burst  in  this  room.  We  have  about  four  minutes  before  they  get  here.  Listen,  I  realized  something  while  you  were  asleep."

  "Ugh,  a  psychic  what  now?"  I  asked,  still  not  fully  awake.  "Who's  coming?  What  did  you  realized"

  "I  saw  it,  human.  When  I  scanned  your  computer,  I  saw  it,  but  it  just  didn't  click  in  my  head  till  now.  A  story  that  perfectly  described  my  dad's  journey.  Well,  not  perfectly.  The  sentence  structure  was  wonky  and  the  pacing  and  editing  were  all  over  the  place.  And  the  author  really  should  work  on  show  don't  tell."

  It  was  at  this  point  that  I  realised  Sparkler  hadn't  asked  for  my  name  and  was  unlikely  to  ask  for  it  any  time  in  the  near  future.  I  decided  to  let  the  issue  slide.  

  "A  story?  What  was  it  called?"  I  asked  as  I  put  on  my  shoes.

  "Fandom  Crisis!  I  believe."

  "I'm  the  one  writing  that  story."

[b]

  "You're  writing  that  story?  Good,  everything  makes  sense  then.  Um...  and  I  guess  your  sentence  structure  wasn't  that  Celestia  awful."

  "You're  too  kind,"  I  said  sarcastically.

  "Anyhow,  the  reason  I  came  to  this  particular  universe  was  because  I've  looking  for  a  TARDIS  black  box.  My  family  fell  into  another  universe  and  got  the  TARDIS  blown  up.  They're  in  a  lot  of  trouble,  and  they'll  be  going  nowhere  fast,  unless  I  can  piece  the  TARDIS  back  together  and  get  it  back  to  them.

  "Okay,  what's  that  have  to  do  with  my  story?"

  "Well,  a  TARDIS  black  box  transmits  data  psychically.  So  if  your  story  is  an  accurate  account  of  the  flight..."

  I  stared  at  her  for  a  few  seconds.  "I  don't  understand  at  all.  The  cast  of  Alice  in  Wonderland  makes  more sense [c] than  you."

  Sparkler  grunted  and  grabbed  my  head.  "It's  here!  A  chunk  of  a  TARDIS  is  somewhere  in  this  house  and  it's  beaming  the  story  into  your  head,"  she shouted.

  Suddenly,  the  realization  hit  in  my  brain.  She  had  explained  it  all  earlier,  but  I  never  considered  that  my  story  could  be  real.  "So  wait,  Nyx  and  The  Doctor  really  are  out  there?  There  really is  a  Trixie  transformer?  Wait,  what  was  that  about  beaming?"

  The  pony  searched  around  the  room  like  a  bloodhound.  "Oh,  where  are  you?  The  black  box  just  let  out  a  massive  burst  of  psychic  energy.  I'm  surprised  it  didn't  fry  your  brain."

  Then,  my  bed  started  glowing  blue.  My  day  had  been  so  weird  and  confusing,  I  didn't  even  question  it.

  "Ha!  Found you."  Sparkler  exclaimed.  She  used  her  magic  to  rip  open  my  mattress.  Slowly,  she  levitated  a  strange,  crystalline,  vaguely  leaf  shaped  object  out  from  the  springs.  I  had  to  cover  my  eyes  from  its  brightness.

  "What  is  it?"  I  asked.

  "This  is  a  TARDIS  flight  computer.  This  should  help  me  track  down  all  the  other  TARDIS  bits  that  the  explosion  sent  out  across  the  universes."

  I  was  startled  when  a  barking  coming  from  down  the  hall.  Something  was  driving  Shotgun  crazy.

  Sparkler  nervously  glanced  at  my  alarm  clock.  "Four  minutes,  yeah  they're  here.  I'm  so  sorry,  but  you're  going  to  have  to  be  ready  to  drop  and  run.  Get  outside  and  sprint  as  fast  as  far  as  you  can.  I'll  hold  them  off  here.  Goodbye."

  Suddenly,  a  hail  of  bullets  tore  apart  my  room.  We  hit  the  ground  just  in  time.  I  felt  something  hairy  in  my  mouth.  Sparkler  had  put  her  hoof  over  my  face,  and  I  realized  I  had  been  screaming.

  There  was  a  whir  of  jet  engines.  My  bedroom  window  melted  away  in  a  blast  of  super-heated  air.  Faster  than  I  could  see,  something  flew  into  the  room  and  landed  just  inches  from  my  head.  I  looked  up  to  see  a  mare  with  rainbow  colored  hair  leering  at  me.  A  metal  plate  covering  half  her  face  glistened  in  the  moonlight.  I  gulped.  It  was  the  evil  cyborg  Rainbow  Dash  from  my  story.

  "Hehe,  aww  look,  a  human,"  Dash  taunted.  "These  little  monkeys  are  a  little  too  slow  and  fragile  for  my  tastes."  She  tapped  on  my  head  with  her  hoof.  "I  think  I'll  let  the  Equons  deal  with  you."  

  Rainbow's  eyes  went  wide  as  purple  energy  surrounded  her.  Then,  she  was  thrown  violently  through  the  wall.  She  landed  in  a  twisted  heap  of  splinters.  Sparkler  tapped  me  on  the  shoulder,  her  horn  cooling  down  from  her  attack.  "Hey,  remember  when  I  told  you  to  do  that  running  thing?  Now's  the  time  to  do  that."

  I  staggered  back  to  my  feet.  "Yeah,  no  way  I'm  staying  here,  but  what's  an  Equon?  I  never  put  those  in  my  story."

  An  emerald  light  poured  through  the  window.  I  spun  around  to  see  what  I  at  first  thought  was  a  green  fire.  As  my  eyes  adjusted,  I  discovered  that  the  fire  was  contained  inside  a  suit  of  horse  shaped  armor.  The  flickering  pony  reared  up  on  his  hind  legs  and  roared.

 Now,  I  would  like  to  take  a  moment  to  point  out  that  soiling  yourself  in  the  face  of  danger  is  a  completely  natural  biological  defense  mechanism,  and  is  by  no  means  a  sign  of  cowardice  or  lack  of  masculinity.  I  had  had  a  very  rough  and  confusing  day,  a  psychotic  cyborg  pony  had  exploded  my  room,  and  a  flaming  horse  monster  was  about  to  attack  me.  I  dare  you  to  do  better.  

 "That  is  an  Equon.  I'll  lead  them  away.  Now.  You.  Run.  Go!"  Sparkler  ordered.

  I  ran  faster  than  I  ever  thought  possible.  I  was  about  to  sprint  out  the  door,  when  I  noticed  poor  Shotgun  whimpering  in  his  cage.  I  quickly  freed  him  and  we  dashed  outside.  The  dog  disappeared  into  the  bushes,  while  I  ran  down  the  road.  Behind  me  a  hellish  fireworks  display  was  going  on  in  my  house.  Lights  flashed  and  bangs  and  booms  sounded  out.  An  epic  battle  was  taking  place  in  my  home,  one  I  was  going  to  avoid  at  all  costs.  I  ran  and  ran  and  ran,  until  the  firsts  signs  of  sunrise  appeared  on  the  horizon.

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  I  slowly  trudged  home.  My  pants  reeked,  and  I  was  fairly  certain  I  had  damaged  the  bursa  sacs  in  my  knees.  I  couldn't  help  but  once  again  draw  the  comparison  between  my  life  and  My  Little  Dashie.  The  hero  of  that  story  had  met  a  pony  in  real  life,  and  became  a  loving  father  and  grew  as  a  person.  I  had  met  a  pony  in  real  life  and  fainted,  cried,  screamed,  pooed  my  pants,  ran  away,  and  torn  up  my  knees.  I  wished  I  could  find  another  reality.    

  The  sun  had  fully  come  up  by  the  time  I  got  back  to  my  house.  Everything  was  still.  Shotgun  was  waiting  by  the  door  to  be  let  in.  I  left  my  pants  in  the  yard  and  went  inside, I  could  clean  them  after  some  sleep.

  There  was  a  note  taped  to  the  fridge.  It  read:

  Dear  Human,

   You'll  be  happy  to  know  that  I  successfully  escaped  from  Rainbow  Dash  and  her  Equon  squad  with  the  TARDIS  flight  recorder.  With  the  black  box  in  hoof,  I  can  get  the  TARDIS  back  to  my  father  and  we  can  get  on  with  saving  reality.  I  also  had  some  of  my  team  cross  over  into  your  universe  to  fix  any  damages  that  might  have  befallen  your  property.  As  you  can  hopefully  see,  they  work  very  fast.  That's  the  PPPPP  for  you,  always  reliable.  I  doubt  we'll  ever  see  each  other  again.

                                                                       Sincerely,

                                                                       Sparkler

I  sighed.  So  reality  was  saved.  I  needed  some  ibuprofen.

<-  Chapter  Four                                                                               Chapter  Six->          

[d]

                                                Chapter  Six

                                     Derpy  and  the  Rainbow  Factory

          _________________________________________________________________

 Based  upon,  adapted,  and  gleefully  taken  from  "Rainbow  Factory"  by  Aurora  Dawn

                                                  Used  with  Permission

                                I  take  no  credit  for  Aurora  Dawn's  work

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                                In  a  bubble,  adrift  in  the  sea  of  reality... 

   "Hurry,  Tia!  It's  getting  away."

   Two  little  fillies  galloped  in  a  panic  through  the  hedge  maze.  Alicorns  both,  one  was  white  as  snow,  with  hair  colored  pink  as  a  blooming  cherry  blossom;  the  other  was  the  darkest  of  blues  in  both  mane  and  coat.  The  young  princesses  were  chasing  a  creature  their  father  had  brought  home  from  a  far  away  land.  He  had  called  it  a  lemur.

  "Oh,  I  wish  the  little  fellow  would  slow  down.  It's  scheduled  to  rain  in  a  few  minutes,"  Celestia  moaned.

  "As  long  as  we  get  him  back  in  his  cage  before  Mother  finds  out  we  let  him  loose,  we  should  be  fine,"  Luna  replied.

  "What  do  you  mean,  'We  let  him  out,'  dear  Sister?"

  "Okay,  I  let  him  out,  but  it  was  just  too  cute,  hanging  upside  down  by  his  tail.  How  could  I  have  resisted?  Besides,  it's  obviously  your  fault.  You  should  stop  your  little  sister  from  opening  things  she's  not  supposed  to."

  They  ran  for  several  minutes  more.  Finally,  they  were  able  to  corner  the  rascally  primate.  He  looked  up  at  the  ponies  with  its big  scared  eyes.

  "It's  okay  little  monkey,"  Celestia  cooed.  "We're  not  going  to  harm  you."

  Suddenly,  a  thunder-crack  boomed  in  the  sky.  The  monkey  disappeared  into  the  bushes.  The  rain  came  down  like  a  hammer.  The  girls  found  themselves  alone  and  soaked  in  the  middle  of  a  labyrinth.

  "I'm  frightened,  Celestia,"  Luna  whimpered.  

  "It  will  be  alright,  Sister,"  Celestia  assured.  She  raised  her  wing  over  Luna  as  an  umbrella.  

  The  rain  started  really  pounding.  Celestia  could  barely  see  ten  feet  ahead.  The  water  was  coming  up  to  her  ankles.  What  were  the  pegasai  doing  up  there?  She  was  almost  ready  to  give  up  and  cry,  when  a  ray  of  sunshine  broke  through.  She  looked  up  and  her  heart  leapt  at  the  sight  of  majestic  white  alicorn  with  a  fiery  red  mane  descending  from  the  clouds.

  "Mother!"  Luna  exclaimed.

  The  High  Princess  touched  down  and  shielded  the  fillies  in  her  wings.  "What  are  you  two  doing  out  here?"

  "We...um...we  let  the  lemur  out.  I  let  the  lemur  out,"  Luna  confessed.  "I'm  sorry."

  "We  can  talk  about  it  later.  Right  now  let's  get  you  two  inside  and  dried  off.  Then  we  can  have  some  nice  hot  coco,"  their  mother  cooed.  She  glanced  up  and  smiled.  "Girls,  look  up."

   The  little  princesses  obeyed  and  were  greeted  by  the  most  wondrous  sight  they  had  ever  seen.  A  ribbon  of  shining  colors  stretched  across  the  sky.

  "What  is  it,  Mother?"  an  astonished  Celestia  asked.

  "It's  a  rainbow.  The  pegasai  use  them  to  signal  the  all-clear  after  a  storm.  Now  come  on,  before  you  catch  a  cold."

========================================================================

  "ACHOO!"

  Celestia  shivered  sick  in  her  bed.  She  curled  up  in  a  ball  and  tried  once  more  to  go  to  sleep.  Mother  had  said  to  try  to  focus  on  peaceful  thoughts.  Her  mind  turned  to  the  rainbow  that  afternoon.  How  beautiful  that  was.  A  beacon  of  harmony  to  signify  the  end  of  confusion  and  chaos.

  The  filly  grabbed  a  tissue  and  blew  her  nose.  Then,  she  turned  over  and  finally  managed  to  get  to  sleep.

  A  shadow  snaked  across  the  room  towards  her  bed.  It  rose  above  her,  almost  touching  the  ceiling.  The  blackness  melted  away  from  the  figures  head,  revealing  the  deathly  white  featureless  face  underneath.  The  abomination  stooped  down  to  the  Princess'  ear.

  wHEn  YoU  bECoME  HIgH  PRiNCeSSss,  YoU  CaN  ORdeR  tHE  pegAsuSss  tO  MAke  yOU  rAiNboWs  EVERYdaY

  Celestia  sniffled  and  opened  her  eyes.  She  was  alone  in  her  room.  She  grabbed  another  hoof-ful  of  tissues  and  tried  to  get  back  to  sleep.  She  didn't  see  the  black  cloud  floating  away  from  the  castle.

  The  shadow  reformed  in  a  mountain  cave  overlooking  Canterlot.  He  looked  down  at  the  castle  with  a  sense  of  accomplishment.  The  seed  had  been  planted.  In  several  millenia  it  could  reap  the  harvest  of  blood.

========================================================================       

                       Eight  Thousand  Seven  Hundred  and  Ninety-Five  Years  Later...                                   

     The  filly  ran  to  take  her  seat  inside  the  giant  cloud  stadium.  “C’mon,  Orion!  We’re  gonna  be  late  for  our  final  test!”  Scootaloo  called  to  a  friend  of  hers.  The  orange  pegasus  was  in  her  last  year  of  flight  school.  She,  like  every  other  foal  in  the  school,  was  terribly  nervous  of  the  final  test.  Those  who  passed  were  granted  freedom  into  the  world,  to  find  their  cutie  marks  if  they  hadn't  yet , and  become  working  ponies.

  A  little  known,  or  at  least  little  thought-about  fact,  was  of  what  happened  to  the  foals  that  failed  their  test.  While  uncommon,  one  or  two  from  every  class  didn’t  have  it  in  them  to perform  the  rigorous  acts  and  maneuvers.  Those  that  failed  their  tests  were  looked  down  upon  in  the  worst  of  ways,  shunned,  and  hated.  Cloudsdale  had  always  bred  a  form  of  nationalism  amongst  its  occupants.  If  you  weren’t  the  best,  or  didn’t  show  the  potential  of  being  the  greatest,  you  weren’t  allowed  to  be  part  of  the  ‘glorious  collective’.

  Scootaloo  moved  a  little  to  the  side  as  Orion,  a  tall,  yet  fairly  skinny  pony,  settled  next  to  her.  He  fluffed  his  light  brown  feathers  and  gave  a  worried  attempt  at  a  smile  as  he  stared  around  where  he  sat.  They  were  sitting  in  the  large  open  waiting  room  onlooking  the  coliseum,  with  all  the  other  graduating  pegasi.  Just  visible  in  the  distance  was  The  Factory.  Orion  glanced  at  it,  and  gulped.

  “What’s  the  matter,  Orion?  You  afraid  of  getting  a  dead  end  job  on  the  snow  line?”

  Orion  chuckled  a  bit,  then  closed  his  eyes  and  sighed.  “No...It’s  just...I  don’t  know.  I  don’t  think  I  can  do  this.  What  if  I  fail?  What  if  I  *don’t*  fail,  but  do  just  bad  enough  to  still  be  disliked  by  everypony?  I  don’t  know  if  I  can  take  being  deported.  Where  do  we  even  go,  anyways?”

  Scootaloo  gave  Orion  a  friendly  punch.  “No  one  knows,  you  dolt.  And  we’re  not  going  to  fail.  Everyone  here  is  going  to  be  fine.  I  know  I  will  at  least  pass, ” she  laughed.  “Thanks  to  the  tips from  Rainbow  Dash,  I’m  sure  to  be  fine.”

  “Oh,  yeah,  sure.  That  reassures  me.  That’s  actually  just  as,  if  not  even  more  reassuring,  than  the  psychopathic  hate  everypony  here  seems  to  love  to  spread.”

  “Quit  panicking,  scaredy-wings,”  Scootaloo  replied.  “The  only  one  here  I  think  even  might  fail  is  that  yellow  pony  with  the  dark  green  mane.  She’s  the  one  who  was  out  sick  for  that  month,  you know.”

  “Oh,  yeah,”  Orion  remembered  as  he  craned  his  head  in  the  other  pony’s  direction.  “The  one  who  had  that  bad  case  of  hoof  and  wing.  She  looks  pretty  confident  though.”

  “I  suppose  we’ll  see,”  Scootaloo  trailed,  turning  to  look  at  The  Factory  herself.  It  gave  her  chills,  not  of  fear,  but  pride.  “I  hope  I  get  some  cool  active  weather  job.  Can  you  imagine?  Everyone  in  Ponyville  or  Fillydelphia  staring  up  at  me,  going  ‘There  goes  Scootaloo!  Such  an  amazing  flier!  And  from  Cloudsdale,  there  can  be  no  doubt!’”  She  smiled  in  excitement,  forgetting  her  tension  for the  moment.

  “That  would  be  something,  I’ll  admit.  Mind  you,  just  coming  from  Cloudsdale...who  wouldn’t  be  in  awe?”

  “Exactly,  praise  the  Flock.”

  “Praise  the  Flock.”

  “Places,  places,  every  pony.”  A  massive,  buff  Pegasus  walked  towards  the  entrance  to  the  coliseum.  “We’re  going  to  do  this  by  name.  Your  adjudicators  are  on  the  east  side  of  the  field.  Do not,  I  repeat,  DO  NOT,  fly  too  far  west.  If  they  lose  sight  of  you  for  any  reason,  you’ll  be  failed,  immediately.  Take  deep  breaths.  Stretch  your  wings  one  last  time.  The  test  will  consist  of  three sections.  Weather  clearing,  Agility,  and  finally  Recovery.  Clear  the  clouds,  fly  through  the  hoops,  and  then  fly  to  the  marked  elevation.  Close  your  wings  for  at  least  three  seconds.  Any  less  and you’ll  fail,  but  keep  in  mind  there’s  no  ‘extra  points’  for  extra  seconds.  Finally,  recover  before  you  hit  the  cloud  floor.  Understood?  Any  questions?”  The  instructor  paused,  and  carefully  glanced  at every  single  pony  in  the  room.  Everyone’s  eyes  were  completely  focused  on  him,  and  none  were  creased  with  confusion.  “Alright.  Aurora  Dawn.  You’re  up  first.  Clear,  Fly,  Fall,  Complete.”

  The  yellow  pony  nodded  and  walked  quickly  up  to  the  starting  ramp  with  purpose.  She  stared  at  the  watching  judges,  waited  for  a  nod  from  all  three,  and  then  took  off  with  powerful  force.  The ramp  bounced  slightly  from  the  force  of  the  take-off.

  Every  pony  watched  as  Aurora  quickly  reached  the  starting  altitude,  and  then  began  a  direct  and  purposeful  attack  on  the  positioned  clouds.  With  expert  timing  and  intelligent  angles,  the  sky was  soon  empty  of  any  moisture.  Scootaloo  and  Orion  watched  with  open  mouths  as  the  first  testee  pulled  fast  and  tight  turns,  expertly  shooting  dead  center  through  each  and  every  hoop. Finally,  Aurora  pulled  herself  up  to  the  proper  altitude,  hovered,  and  closed  her  wings.

  The  group  of  students  gasped  as  she  started  plummeting,  down  towards  the  clouds,  and  counted  breathlessly.  One...Two...Three.  They  sighed  as  they  watched  her  wings  open  in  the  correct amount  of  time,  collectively  holding  that  relief.

  Suddenly,  Aurora’s  wings  whipped  upwards,  and  the  group  of  students  flinched  in  horror  as  they  all  heard  the  loud,  hollow  SNAP,  only  to  be  suddenly  replaced  by  an  unending,  piercing  scream. Many,  like  Orion,  shielded  their  eyes  with  their  wings.  The  others,  like Scootaloo,  could  only  watch,  terrified,  as  the  blur  of  yellow,  green,  and  red  plummeted  into  a  cloud  with  a  dull  ‘thump’.

  Wasting  no  time,  the  instructor  walked  forwards  again  as  the  three  judges  simply  pointed  down  and  started  shuffling  papers  around.  Speaking  loudly,  as  if  nothing  had  happened,  he  called  out again.  “Daisy  Fields  clear,  fly,  fall,  complete.”

  Scootaloo  and  Orion  stared  slack-jawed,  as  another  pony  gulped,  than  walked  forwards  onto  the  path  and  took  off.  They  turned  back  to  the  tuft  on  the  cloud  where  Aurora  landed  and  stared.  As the  wind  blew  the  fragments  that  were  thrown  up  from  the  collision  away,  they  saw  the  shivering  yellow  body  attempt  to  move,  only  to  collapse  with  a  cry.

  “Faraday  Spots  clear,  fly,  fall,  complete.”

  Aurora  still  struggled  to  walk,  wailing  with  every  step.  Her  legs  weren’t  broken,  she  could  use  them  fine,  but  it  was  obvious  the  pain  from  her  wing  joints  and  the  loss  of  her  potential  life  was crushing  her.  Scootaloo  felt  Orion  shuffle  uneasily,  tears  welling  in  his  eyes  as  a  frown  formed  on  his  face.

  “Holiday  Shine  clear,  fly,  fall,  complete.”

  “No  one’s  coming  to  help  her,”  Orion  seethed  through  closed  teeth.

  Scootaloo  felt  extremely  sad  for  the  yellow  Pegasus,  but  couldn’t  see  herself  helping  her.  She  would  be  failed  herself  and  sent  away,  far  away  from  Cloudsdale  and  any  familiar  place  on Equestria,  to  a  place  where  she  and  any  other  failed  students  could  never  stain  Cloudsdale’s  reputation.  It  was  a  terrible  shame,  but  Scootaloo  couldn’t  fail  herself.  She  couldn’t  fail  her  friends, and  she  definitely  couldn’t  fail  Rainbow  Dash.  Not  after  the  care  and  help  she  had  given  her  Scootaloo’s  whole  life.  She  blinked  the  tears  from  her  eyes,  and  forced  herself  to  watch  the competing  students.  One  after  another  took  off,  successfully  passed  the  test,  and  flew  to  the  east  gate,  under  the  judges’  spot  in  the  stands.  That’s  all  Scootaloo  focused  on. Pass  the  test.  Fly to  the  gate.  Live  a  happy  life.

  “Orion  Comet,  clear,  fly,  fall,  complete.”

  “...No.”

  “What?”  The  instructor  took  a  step  back,  one  leg  left  raised  in  the  air.  “You  can’t  just  refuse  your  flight  test.  Get  out  there  before  you  piss  the  judges  off.”

  “No.  D-Don’t  even  pretend  you  care  about  my  future  if  you  don’t  care  about  hers,”  Orion  defied,  unsure  about  himself.  “You  say  you  want  me  to  get  a  good  life,  and  yet  you  let  those  that  fail suffer  unbearable  pain.”

  “Get  the  clop  onto  that  field  before  I  fail  you  myself,”  the  instructor  shouted  menacingly.

  “Fine,”  Orion  spoke  sharply,  before  walking  onto  the  ramp.  He  stared  at  the  Judges,  waited  for  the  individual  nods,  and  the  second  they  came  he  took  off.  However,  long  before  the  starting altitude,  he  turned  sharply  and  landed  gently  next  to  Aurora.  She  turned  and  looked  at  him,  blood  running  down  her  forehead  and  sides,  and  tears  streamed  down  her  face.

  “Wh...What  are  you  doing?  You’ll  fail,  like  me.  You’ll  be  exiled.”

  “I’d  rather  be  exiled  from  a  place  that  treats  ponies  like  this  than  live  my  life  while  other’s  don’t  live  theirs.”

  Aurora  smiled,  happiness  briefly  replacing  her  sadness  in  her  blackened,  puffy  eyes,  until  she  stumbled  again  and  intense  pain  flashed  across  her  body.  Orion  leaned  in  close,  using  his  wing  to brace  the  yellow  pony  against  himself.  He  stared  up  at  the  judges,  beaming  hate  with  his  vision.  They  stared  down,  unaffected,  and  simply  pointed  down,  before  looking  back  towards  the  ramp  for the  next  contestant.

  Scootaloo  stood  shocked,  hardly  hearing  her  name  called.  She  moved  numbly  up  the  ramp,  never  taking  her  eyes  off  her  friend  and  the  pony  he  sacrificed  himself  to  help.  After  a  brief  moment, she  shook  her  head,  recovered  her  thoughts,  and  looked  to  the  judges.  Thoughts  crashed  through  her  head  as  she  watched  them  all  nod.

  Oh,  Celestia.  What  do  I  do?  I  can’t  let  everypony  I  know  down...but,  I’ll  never  see  Orion  again...I  suppose...I  hope  he  knew  that  risk  when  he  did  that.  I’m  sure  he’s  thinking  the  same  right  now.

  She  glanced  at  Orion.  He  wasn’t  looking  at  her.  She  took  off,  heartbroken.  Instinct  kicked  in  as  the  familiar  rush  of  wind  cooled  her  and  blew  her  thoughts  away.  She  stopped  at  the  right altitude,  and  then  launched  again,  sensing  and  seeing  every  cloud,  formulating  a  game  plan.  In  a  matter  of  a  couple  dozen  seconds,  the  sky  was  clear.  She  did  a  quick  loop  in  mid-flight,  aiming at  the  first  hoop.  With  a  powerful  flash  of  her  wings,  she  propelled  forward  through  the  first  ring.  And  then  the  second,  and  then  the  third,  expertly  turning  and  drifting.  She  curved  in  towards  the second  last  ring,  near  the  bottom  of  the  field.  As  she  descended,  she  caught  sight  of  Orion  and  Aurora,  almost  at  the  west  gate  now.  Orion  turned  his  head,  and  smiled  weakly.

  Scootaloo’s  focus  shattered.  Orion  knew  what  he  did.  He  cared  about  her.  He’d  miss  her,  and  he’d  never  get  to  say  goodbye.

  Scootaloo  cranked  into  the  bottom  part  of  the  ring,  falling  backwards  several  feet  and  hitting  the  ground.  With  a  sudden  intense  flash  of  fear,  she  flipped  herself  onto  her  feet  and  began  flapping her  wings,  levitating  off  the  ground.  Maybe  that  didn’t  count  as  a  failure,  she  thought.  I  can  still  fly.  There  was  a  distraction  on  the  field.  She  spun  around  to  the  judges.

  Three  hooves,  pointed  down.

  Scootaloo  started  crying  there,  tears  welling  up  and  blurring  her  vision.  This  wasn’t  right.  This  shouldn’t  have  happened.  None  of  it.  Orion  should  have  passed  his  test,  and  cheered  her  on  from the  east  gate.  She  shouldn’t  have  looked  at  him,  she  should  have  focused  on  flying.  But  there  was  no  room  for  excuses.  Defeated,  she  slowly  hovered  towards  Orion,  and  settled  down  next  to him.  She  looked  at  him  through  her  teary  purple  eyes.  He  looked  back,  offering  a  smile.

  “You  did  a  good  job.”

  Scootaloo  dropped  her  head  and  sobbed.  She  then  walked  around  Orion,  lifted  a  wing  of  her  own,  and  helped  Aurora  walk  to  the  west  gate.  Before  them  stood  a  long,  unlit  hall,  with  only  a cheap  sign  stuck  to  the  wall,  notifying  ‘Test Failees’  to  proceed  down  the  corridor.  They  waited,  only  briefly,  to  gather  themselves  and  prepare  for  where  they  would  be  taken,  and  then  all  stepped forward  together.

=================================================================

  Against  an  empty  carriage  at  the  end  the  lonely  hall  were  three  imposing  ponies,  leaning  in  a  disinterested  and  bored  pose.  One  of  them  happened  to  look  up  as  the  sorry  looking  trio  stumbled out  into  the  open.  They  were  on  the  bottom  edge  of  the  coloseum,  with  the  vast  rolling  hills  and  plains  of  Equestria  visible  far  below.

  “Hey,  Boss.  We  got  some  ‘dem  worthless  pegasusses,”  the  first  one  called  to  an  even  bigger  pony  on  the  other  side  of  the  carriage.  “I  suppose  it’s  get  ‘ta  work  time  is  it?”

  “Cool  it,  hot  shot . There  may  be  more,  too.”

  “N-no...I  was  the  l-last  student  to  go,”  Scootaloo  spoke  in  sobs.  Orion  could  only  hang  his  head.  “It... It’s...”  She  paused,  and  then  breathed  deeply,  determined  to  remain  as  strong  as  she  could.  “It’s  just  us  three.  Aurora’s  wings...they’re  broken.  She  needs  help.”

  “Ain’t  dat  just  a  cryin’  shame,  it  is.  What’s  it  to  us?  All  da  better  she  don’t  come  flying  back  to  us  no  more.”

  “We  may  have  failed  our  damned  test,  but  that  doesn’t  mean  we’re  not  worth  keeping  alive!”  Scootaloo  shouted  in  a  flash  of  rage.  She  was  determined  to  hold  on  to  as  much  dignity  as  she could.

  “Alright,  alright,  sheesh.  Hey,  Patches,  doctor  her  up  before  we  head  out.  I  don’t  want  any  blood  on  dem  seats,  I  just  washed  dat  ting.  You  otha’  two,  in  the  cart.”

  Orion  and  Scootaloo  hopped  into  the  carriage  and  got  as  comfortable  as  they  could  on  the  hard  seats.  They  made  sure  to  leave  plenty  of  room  for  Aurora.  As  soon  as  the  third  of  the  large ponies  finished  bandaging  her  wings,  Aurora  carefully  stepped  onto  the  vehicle.  

  She  briefly  caught  a  metallic  glint  in  the  corner  of  her  eye.  She  spun  around  and  saw  a  tiny  speck  flying  off  in  the  distance.  It  was  shaped  roughly  like  a  bird,  but... was  that  a  cape  it  was  wearing?  And  how  could  it  be  made  of  metal?  She  shrugged  it  off;  she  had  more  important  things  to  worry  about  right  now  then  strange  birds.  

  Aurora  carefully  laid  down  on  the  bench  in  the  very  back.  Scootaloo  inched  closer  to  her,  and  leaned  down  to  talk  as  the  door  to the  carriage  slammed  shut.  The  Boss  pony  was  inside  the  back,  standing  by  the  door,  watching  each  of  them.

  “So,”  Scootaloo  began  quietly,  trying  not  too  speak  too  loud.  “You’re  Aurora?  I’m  Scootaloo.  I’m  sorry  we  had  to  meet  like  this.”

  “Any  meeting  of  a  friend  is  a  welcome  meeting,”  Aurora  spoke  gently,  with  sincerity  in  her  eyes.  “We  did  our  best.  That’s  all  we  can  say.  That’s  all  any  of  us  can  say.  Who’s  to  say  that  the city  of  the  deported  isn’t  a  good  one,  anyways?”

  The  thought  struck  Scootaloo  as  she  considered  it.  No  one  was  ever  told  about  where  the  pegasi  were  brought.  Most  ponies  considered  it  to  be  some  odd  land,  like  where  the  Zebras  hailed from.  That  made  Scootaloo  realize  something  even  more  profound.

  “Hey,  if  where  we’re  taken  is  where  Zecora’s  from,  than  there’s  got  to  be  a  way  to  get  back.  It’s  not  as  if  we’re  banned  from  Equestria.  Flutteryshy,  an  old  friend  of  mine,  she’s  a  Pegasus  who  lives  in  Ponyville.  She  never  passed  flight  school,  she  never  took  her  test.  They’ve  never  come  and  taken  her  away.”

  “Exactly,”  Aurora  agreed  with  a  nod.  Orion  overheard,  and  offered  his  thoughts.

  “I  think  the  reason  we’re  sent  far  away  is  because  no  pony  from  Cloudsdale  ever  wants  to  admit  that  someone  who  failed  flight  school  could  come  from  their  city.  What  a  clopping  horrible  place,  now  that  I  think  of  it.  I  never  want  to  go  back.”

  “Maybe  that’s  why  no  pegasus  ever  comes  back.  They  just  don’t  like  Cloudsdale.”

  “You  damn  worthless  ponies  can  hardly  call  yourself  ‘Pegasus’,”  Boss  spoke  from  the  door.  He  was  swaying  ever  so  slightly  as  the  carriage  was  lifted  and  moved  to  an  unknown  location. “Useless  failures  is  what  you  are.  No  pony  comes  back  from  exile,  regardless  of  reason.  Can’t  even  pass  your  damn  test,  you  three  make  me  sick.”

  Scootaloo  jumped  up  from  her  seat,  lifted  herself  into  the  air  with  her  wings,  and  dove  legs  first  at  Boss.  “You  shut  the  HELL  up  about  us,  you  have  no  right  to  treat  others  like  this!”

  Boss  raised  a  hoof  and  backhanded  Scootaloo  out  of  the  air,  onto  the  floor.  “I  can  treat  you  however  I  want.  You  hardly  classify  as  ‘Ponies’  to  Cloudsdale,  or  any  of  Equestria  for  that  matter. Now  sit  the  clop  down  and  shut  up  until  you  get  to  your  destination.”

  “Where  are  we  being  taken,  anyways?  Not  like  we  can  tell  anyone  now,  and  I’m  sure  as  the  deliverers,  you  guys  should  know,”  Orion  cautiously  reasoned.

  “Hell  if  I  know.  We  hand  this  carriage  of f to  ponies  in  suits,  and  we  get  a  bagful  of  coins  to  keep  quiet  about  the  whole  thing.  It’s  how  it’s  always  been,  for  a  thousand  years.”

  The  three  foals  huddled  together  again,  scared  of  the  unknown.  They  kept  quiet  as  they  waited  through  the  unbearable  trip,  all  lost  in  their  own  thoughts.  Friends,  family,  loved  ones  and  pets,  all  would  never  see  them  again,  and  some  would  never  find  out  why.  An  hour  passed,  and  then  another.  Finally,  the  uncomfortable  quiet  was  broken  by  a  sudden  lurch  as  the  carriage  stopped  in its  flight.

  “Ah,”  Boss  smiled.  “There’s  my  stop.  You  ponies  play  nice  now.  Have  fun  in  wherever  the  hell  you’re  sent  to.”  The  carriage  door  shuffled  open  and  Boss  hopped  out  with  a  gust  of  cold  wind.  It was  night  outside  now,  with  hardly  any  light  to  see  at  all.  Scootaloo  stared  outside,  and  noticed  another  figure  staring  in.  It  was  dressed  in  a  black suit,  its  tail  died  an  unnatural  black.  Its  face  was  covered  by  a  dark,  loose  fitting  mask,  concealing  its  mane.  All  that  was  visible  were  rose  coloured  eyes,  staring  indifferently  at  the  three  ponies  inside.  They stopped  on  Scootaloo  momentarily,  unrecognizing,  but  she  stared  back.  A  second  passed.  The  dark  pony  slammed  the  door  shut,  and  the  carriage  took  off  once  again.

  “At  least  we  can  talk  now,”  Aurora  whispered  in  the  dark.

  But  they  had  nothing  to  talk  about.

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  The  carriage  finally  shuddered  to  a  stop.  The  three  desolate  foals  blinked  their  eyes  awake,  having  all  resolved  to  conserve  energy  for  whatever  came  next.  With  a  loud  scraping  noise,  the  doors shook  and  swung  wide  open.  Scootaloo  blinked  against  the  light.

  They  were  in  a  cloud  building.  As  her  eyes  adjusted,  she  noticed  more  details.  Several  ponies,  in  suits  and  masks  like  the  rose-eyed  pony,  were  rushing  around,  some  holding  clipboards,  some  carrying briefcases  and  other  important  looking  items  on  their  backs.  The  complex  was  full  of  machinery  and  signs.  Pipes  ran  along  the  ceiling,  and  a  loud  ‘whirr’  ran  in  the  background,  occasionally  joined  by  loud  crashes  and  alarms.  Scootaloo  gasped.

  “This  place...the  architecture...it’s  all  so  familiar...I  think  we’re  in  the  weather  factory!”

  Orion  frowned.  “That  can’t  be  right.  We  were  travelling  for  way  too  long.  We’ve  got  to  be  far  away  from  Equestria  now,  not  to  mention  the  city.”

  “Actually,  Scootaloo  may  be  right,”  Aurora  mused.  “I  noticed...it  was  maybe  the  same  amount  of  time  from  when  we  left  the  coliseum  to  the  place  the  carriage  drivers  swapped,  that  it  was from  the  swap  place  to  here.  But...I  don’t  know.  I’m  confused.  Maybe  that’s  just  a  coincidence.”

  “Welcome,  mules,”  a  large  and  powerful  voice  commanded.  Several  of  the  suited  ponies  moved  to  make  way  for  a  deep,  dark  red  pegasus  dressed  in  a  white  lab  coat.  “You  degenerates  are probably  wondering  where  exactly  you  are.  Stupid  foals,  you’re  in  Cloudsdale!  The  Rainbow  Facility,  to  be  precise.  Allow  me  to  show  you  around.”

  “What’s  going  on  here?  Do  you  expect  to  use  us  as  slaves?  Because  I’d  rather  be  deported,  thanks,”  Scootaloo  yelled.  Orion  and  Aurora  got  off  their  seats  and  stood  behind  Scootaloo,  nodding in  agreement.

  “Like  you  failures  have  a  choice.  You’ll  be  here  for  the  rest  of  your  lives!  Oh,  I’m  sorry,  where  are  my  manners?  I  am  Dr.  Atmosphere.  My  degree  isn’t  a  medical  one,  I  shall  reassure  you;  in case  you’re  picturing  some  dreadful  surgery  going  on  behind  the  scenes.  Strange  how  so  many  worthless  pegasai  get  that  idea.  No,  no,  my  degree  is  in  engineering.  I’m  one  of  the  Forecolts  in this  facility.  I’m  sure  you’ve  all  had  the  tour  of  the  lower  factory,  yes?”

  The  three  ponies  nodded  slowly,  unsure  of  what  was  going  on.

  “Excellent!  Who  can  tell  me  where  the  tour  begins?”

  Orion  spoke  up.  “Where  the  Spectra  comes  from  upstairs  and  is  mixed.”

  “Very  good.  What  a  pity  you’re  utterly  useless  to  the  Flock,  you  could  have  been  a  smart  one.”  Dr.  Atmosphere  smiled  sadistically  and  patted  Orion  on  the  head.  “But  today  we’re  on  the  upper floor.  Please,  follow me,  and  don’t  get  too  far  behind,  or  one  of  my  helpers  will  be  forced  to...encourage  you.”  With  that,  he  winked  at  the  suited  ponies.

  With  nods,  three  of  them  at  the  rear  leaned  forward  and  jabbed  each  of  the  foals  with  tasers,  shocking  them  to  the  ground.  Dr.  Atmosphere  whinnied  in  laughter  as  they  all  yelped  and  fell,  and continued  into  a  soft  chuckle  as  they  all  stood  up  again.

  Scootaloo  blinked  more  tears  from  her  eyes,  and  shook  herself,  trying  to  lose  the  tingling  in  her  nerves.  She  turned  and  quickly  looked  at  each  of  the  suited  ponies,  catching  each  of  them  in the  eye  when  she  could.  None  of  them  were  the  rose-eyed  pony  from  the  carriage.  Begrudgingly,  she  started  walked  behind  the  red  engineer.

  “You  simply  must  be  careful  in  this  department,”  Dr.  Atmosphere  began  in  a  tone  not unlike  the  many  tour  guides  in  the  lower  floors.  “There’s  plenty  of  nooks  and  crannies  and  vents  and  vats one  could  fall  into.  One  must  be  careful  not  hurt  themselves.  After  all,  you’re  all  hopeless  as  it  is,  any  more  so  and  even  we  couldn’t  use  you.”  He  glanced  behind  himself  maliciously  as  the three  foals  frowned  at  the  insult.

  They  were  walking  down  a  series  of  halls  with  vibrating  machines  and  assembly  lines  lining  the  way,  occasionally  ducking  under  low  hanging  wires  or  carefully  stepping  over  steaming  pipes.  As they  walked,  though,  the  building  became  cooler  and  cooler . All  three  were  watching,  sensing,  looking  for  any  way  out.  They  couldn’t  find  any.

  “Now,  let  me  tell  you  a  story.  Cloudsdale  is  where  the  weather  is  made.  Without  us,  the  rest  of  Equestria  would  starve,  freeze,  drown,  and  generally  be  a  not-very-happy  place.  That  gives  us  a  special  honor,  one  that  can’t  be  tainted  by,  er,  incompetent  foals  like  you.  How  could  the  world  look  up  and  trust  us  if  pegasai  like  *you*  are  flying  around  wearing  the  Cloudsdale  name?  No,  no, we  needed  to  do  something  with  all  of  you.  And  then  we  got  a  delicious  idea,  one  day,  over  a  thousand  years  ago.  Those  were  some  smart  ponies  back  then,  I’ll  say.  You  don’t  find  too  many of  them  these  days,"  Dr.  Atmosphere  said.

  They  came  to  a  big,  red,  metal  door  in  a  cramped  corridor.  A  devilish  smile  spread  across  Atmosphere's  face.  "Well,  children,  we've  come  to  our  stop.  Please-"

  "Hi!"  A  grey  pegasus  with  a  blonde  mane  and  crazy  yellow  eyes  bounced  out  from  behind  Atmosphere.  The  red  stallion  jumped  nearly  five  feet  straight  into  the  air.

  "Agghh!  Wha-Who?"  he  muttered  in  suprise.  He  whirled  around  and  glared  at  this  strange  mare.  "You  there!  Who  are  you?  Where  did  you  come  from?"

   "Well,  I'm,"  The  pegasus  closed  her  eyes  and  inhaled  deeply,  "Dame  Derpalina  Ditzy  Doo  McMillian  Rosemary  Bright  Eyes  Bubbles  Stevenson  Stoneface  Ashley  Christopher  Harmon  O'Donnel  Ramirez  Biscuit-Barrel  Hooves  IV.  You  can  all  call  me  Derpy,  or  Ditzy  on  Wednesdays.  

  "As  to  your  second  question,  Mr.  Hooves  and  Mrs.  Hooves  met  at  a  square  dance  one  night  and  they  loved  each  other  very  much-"

   Dr.  Atmosphere  grunted  in  frustration.  "I  meant,  how  did  you  get  in  this  building?  Do  you  have  clearance?"

  "Well,  I  think  something  happened  to  the  TARDIS,  then  then  there  was  this  weird  light,  and  then  I  swore  I  saw  a  purple  monkey.  Then  I  woke  up  here  in  that  storage  closet  over  there."  She  pointed  at  a  door  behind  them.  "Which  is  weird,  because  I  passed  out  in  Sugarcube  Corner,  well,  Sugarcube  Corner  in  another  universe.  So  no,  I  probably  don't  have  clearance."

  "In  another  what  now?  Never  mind,  it  doesn't  matter.  You've  trespassed  in  a  secure  area.  You  are  under arre-"  He  stopped  when  he  noticed  the  mare  was  walking  away.  "Hey!  Stop  right  there!"

  Derpy  ignored  him  and  examined  the  three  foals.  "Hello  there,  who  are  you?  And  what  happened  to  your  wings,  kid?"

  "My-my  name  is  Aurora.  My  wings  broke  while  I  was  taking  my  flight  test."  The  green  haired  pony  answered  quietly.

  "Oh  I'm  so  sorry.  That  must  have  really  hurt."  Derpy  tenderly  put  a  hoof  on  Aurora's  shoulder.  Whoever  had  tended  to  her  wing  had  done  a  mediocre  job.

  "I'm  Orion,"  the  brown  colt  said  glumly.

  "Scootaloo."

  "Pleasure  to  meet  you  all!"  Derpy  said  with  an  impossibly  stupid  grin  on  her  face.  She  turned  around  to  Atmosphere,  and  her  expression  changed  to  one  of  cold  fury.  "You  know,  you  are  a  really  REALLY  sorry  tour  guide."

  "Umm...excuse  you?"  Dr.  Atmosphere  asked  puzzled.

  "Taking  these  kids  on  tour  of  the  weather  facility,  then  having  these  thugs  scare  them  with  tasers,  while  one  of  them  needs  medical  attention!  Just  who  the  hay  do  you  think  you  are?" Derpy  furiously  demanded.

  "Madam,  do  you  have  any  idea  where  we  are?"  Atmosphere  inquired.

  "Well  yeah,  we're  in  the  weather  factory,  right  outside  the  Spectra  Machine.  My  dad  used  to  be  the  engineer  for  the  thing.  Oh,  I  used  to  love  coming  here.  They  would  pour  in  flowers  to  color  the  rainbows,  and  it  would  release  all  their  scents  at  once.  It  smelt  so  good,"  Derpy  said  dreamily.  She  walked  through  the  steel  doors.  "Oh...well  that's...different."  She  felt  a  nudge  behind  her  as  the  guards  pushed  her  and  the  foals  into  the  room.

<-Chapter  Five                                                                                     Chapter  Seven->

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A  chapter  taken  from  a  story,  which  was  based  on  a  song,  which  was  based  on  a  cartoon,  which  was  based  on  three  other  cartoons,  which  were  based  on  a  toyline,  which  was  based  on  another  toyline,  which  was  based  on  an  animal.

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The  lemur  was  never  caught,  but  apparently  it  was  pregnant.  To  this  day  there  is  a  family  of  lemurs  living  in  hedge  maze  at  Canterlot  Castle.  [a]

.

...