The Doctor was sitting at a table a few rooms off from the console, having it on auto pilot, he was enjoying some nice crispy calamari and some chips

After the events at the Crystal Empire, the Doctor decided to try and find some other places to find adventure rather than Equestria

So the TARDIS was flying through time and space in order to find the most adventurous thing possible

[…]

The TARDIS landed and the Doctor poked his head outside

The air was dirty, and it appeared that he had landed in a back alley of some strange city block, there were sounds of cars and the taste of metal on the air

"Wonder where I ended up this time" the Doctor thought aloud

As he walked out of the alley he could see the sky, it was heavily polluted and not very pleasant to look at. There were two suns in the sky, and several planets were in view

"Out of the way!" some pony tackled the Doctor back into the alley

The Doctor almost protested but decided against it, several ponies in hazmat suits charged past the alley

It was then he got a look at the pony that had pushed him into the alleyway, it turned out that it wasn't a pony at all but a dragon that had been running on all fours

This particular dragon was purple with green scales, no wings and a sharp look in his eyes

'It can't be…' the Doctor thought to himself

"Looks like they're gone" the dragon turned to the Doctor, "You're lucky I hid you, otherwise they would have caught you."

"Ah yes" the Doctor said, "Who are they exactly?"

"Where have you been?" the dragon asked, "They've been sent to gas this sector, cleansing the place so others can move in."

"Did you get time to move out?" the Doctor asked

The dragon scoffed, "It isn't like we even have a choice, where would we go? The only place is the wilderness where we'd be slaughtered."

"Who would end up doing this?" the Doctor asked, "And where do you fit in?"

"The fifth great and bountiful Equestrian Empire" the dragon spat out the words like venom, "And the name's Spike"

"I'm the Doctor" the Doctor grinned, it was shocking but here he was, talking to a dragon thousands of years after meeting him the first time, a bit taller than he was but not as tall as when the Doctor was humanoid

"The Doctor" Spike repeated, "That sounds familiar…"

"I hear something over here!" a voice came from where the hazmat ponies ran past

"Come on, I know where to go from here." Spike hissed

The Doctor followed, not wanting to end up on the bad end of the stick

Spike was here, it seemed as if he was seeing a piece of Equestria out here in the thick of it, fighting to hold on to some amount of his home

The pair passed over a bridge, foul smelling sludge was crossing underneath it, almost making the Doctor gag

"We're almost there" Spike said as they reached a doorway, "You go first."

The Doctor entered the doorway, and what he guessed to be a frying pan knocked him to the ground, dazing him

"Looks like your one-hit KO streak is off" Spike's voice sounded distant

"It's not as if he would normally be able to move anyway" a familiar voice said, but the Doctor couldn't place it

"Tie him up anyway, and search him for anything useful." This voice was instantly recognized

"It can't be…" the Doctor managed to get out, when he looked up his suspicions were confirmed

"Twilight?"

Then it all faded to black

[…]

The Doctor woke up tied to a chair, which was to be suspected, it appeared his captors weren't aware he was awake yet

"He knew my name" Twilight's voice sounded hopelessly confused, "But I haven't used that name for hundreds of years! How could he possibly have known that!?"

"Why don't you ask him" that one voice the Doctor couldn't place suggested

"Ah well worth a shot" the Doctor stretched his neck, "Love a good interrogation, usually I break my captors before they do me."

"First things first" Spike held up the sonic screwdriver, "What is this? A weapon?"

"If I knew I was going to get captured why would I bring a weapon for you to take?" the Doctor countered, seeing Spike's expression he explained, "Oh come on, if you really were saving ponies lives you wouldn't have them go first."

"Then what is it?" Twilight demanded

"It's a sonic device" the Doctor said, "More specifically a sonic screwdriver, my personal favorite."

"Alright then, who are you?" Spike didn't raise his voice

"I'm the Doctor" the timelord answered, "I told you that."

"Doctor who?" Twilight asked the age old question

"It's just the Doctor" the Doctor smiled, "Nothing more nothing less."

"What's the blue box?" the third of the group was in the shadows, typical intimidation tactic

"That's my ship, don't knock it." The Doctor said, "And before you ask, it's a blue box for a reason."

"What are your connections to the empire?" Twilight finished, "We need to know your worth for ransom."

"Oh I'd be nothing to them" the Doctor said, "That's because they don't really know me."

"The Empire knows everypony" Spike asserted, "We have a scanner that we stole from them."

"Then why didn't you say 'we scanned you'?" the Doctor questioned, "Unless you didn't get a match."

The pony in the corner used the scanner on the Doctor, it whirred and Spike crossed his arms confidently

"He is no one"

"What?" Twilight turned around to look at the scanner

"No identification found"

"Like I said" the Doctor smiled warmly, "They don't know me."

"Then who do you work for?" the pony in the corner demanded, her voice betraying her shock

"Ah I'm a bit of a freelancer" the Doctor shrugged despite the ropes, "Usually looking around for some fun, instead I get kidnapped, that's the least of my troubles however."

"What is the worst of your problems?" The pony stepped forward a bit

"Well I'll give you a heads up" the Doctor motioned to Spike, "He's holding a tracker leading the Empire straight to us."

"Spike!?" Twilight whirled, and was knocked back with a swipe of a claw

"I did what I had to" Spike hissed, "To keep us all alive, but then they demanded I hand over any nonentities, and he appeared."

"This has gone on long enough" the mare in the corner shot a bolt of energy that knocked spike to the ground

The Doctor threw off the ropes, as he had plenty of time to untie them

"You killed him…" Twilight was shocked

"That was a kill spell but dragons have tough scales" the Doctor said quickly, his wings twitching, "That'll wear off quickly."

The mare in the corner stepped into the faint light of the small room they were in

"Starlight?"

Chapter 2

Starlight ignored the question and grabbed Twilight's mane with her magic

"We don't have time for this!"

The Doctor nodded, "The sooner we stop what's going on the sooner we can grieve."

"Don't act like you're part of this!" Starlight snapped, "We all could do just fine without you!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes, he forgot how stubborn she could be when she was angry

"We don't have time to blame me for anything" the Doctor asserted, "We can take your poorly hidden secret passage."

Twilight had gained her senses and was working on moving the wooden pallet in the way of the ventilation systems

"Right then, Adelante!" the Doctor grinned

The Doctor was pushed into the large vent first, as Starlight wanted him where she could see him

The Doctor was sure that there was something he missed, something important but being recently regenerated he still wasn't working properly, and likely missed the important clues

He pushed out a grate out of the way and came out nearby the stinking sludge river

"What's in that thing?" the Doctor asked as he got out of the way

"That's where they get the things they put in the gas, and where they put the ones who died because of it." Twilight stretched her wing

"For a Pegasus you don't use your wings much" Starlight observed as she put the grate back

"Brand new me, haven't gotten the hang of anything yet." The Doctor waved it off, "But I think that the castle should be our next stop."

He knew where he was now, he thought he was on another planet but something was wrong

The Empire was still in Equestria

[…]

The queen was looking at her kingdom with her daily smirk of triumph, it had been easy to usurp the throne and take the kingdom for herself

The not so easy part was getting the machinery, luckily for her the Equestrians had already supplied her with the hard parts

One of her loyal subjects had entered her throne room, "My queen, the dragon was exposed."

"One with his mindset it was bound to happen sometime soon" the queen responded, waving a hoof

"But he told us that they found somepony else" the little holed hoof creature persisted, "And this one's clever, even more so he's a nonentity!"

"Another one?" now the queen was interested, "That makes three in the last week."

"What do we do?" the creature asked, smirking in anticipation

"Don't let those stolen emotions control you" the queen scolded, "As for our plan, we do the usual."

[…]

The Doctor led the charge, but his destination wasn't the castle, it was something parked a few blocks away from it

Unfortunately they were spotted by a few hazmat ponies, and they were being chased through the streets

"Where are we going exactly?" Twilight panted

"You better not be leading us into a trap!" Starlight growled

"Just shut up and run!" the Doctor said irritated

It was one thing to run into a former companion, it was another that they were going to use every opportunity to take pot-shots at you

The TARDIS was in view, and the Doctor subconsciously began to run faster, throwing open the doors

"Get inside!" the Doctor shouted, "We'll be safe in here!"

"Are you kidding?" Starlight stopped in front of the timelord, "There's no way that thing will protect us!"

"Just for you" the Doctor rolled his eyes, "Shut up, and before you ask, shut up! Now get inside!"

Twilight wasn't looking where she was going, and knocked the other two inside the TARDIS, and the Doctor closed the doors behind them

"Whoa…" Starlight was awed

During the trip the Doctor took the time to improve the TARDIS design, there were four floating pillars on the outside of the hexagon of metal grating, the whole console room was a decagon while the light blue lighting were shaped like octagons

The time rotor was a cylinder like before, but the inside it held several upright crystals that moved up and down whenever the TARDIS began to travel, as for the controls they were on a hexagon much like the metal grating, including the old computer screen and keyboard and the random buttons and switches, the handbrake was that of an old fashioned car

The Doctor ran up to the controls, now friendlier to his hooves, and began to press buttons

"What… It's bigger…" Twilight was in shock, "But how… This isn't possible!"

"It's bigger on the inside!" the Doctor smiled, "Welcome to the TARDIS, that's Time And Relative Dimension In Space."

"I'm not impressed" Starlight simply said

"Of course you're not" the Doctor said, "After all, you've seen this sort of machine before."

"What are you saying?" Starlight raised an eyebrow

"Being newly regenerated I had missed it, but the TARDIS helps me along" the Doctor explained, "And you were a companion to the Doctor and Ditzy Doo, or Derpy Hooves."

The Doctor went on, "I had missed this piece of information, but only someone who had been with the Doctor and been abandoned would act as critical and suspicious as you've been."

"You're as clever as he warned me" Starlight smiled slightly, "Okay you're right."

"Starlight what's he mean?" Twilight asked

"I was a companion to a time travelling alien" Starlight said simply

"Well that's underselling it" the Doctor said

Twilight shook her head, "This has to be some kind of prank."

The TARDIS shook, it seemed that the hazmat ponies were ramming the sides

"I thought you said it'd be safe in here!" Starlight shouted

"Nothing can break through those doors" the Doctor said calmly, "But that doesn't mean they can't pick it up."

"So they're moving the TARDIS, but where?" Starlight asked

"Who took over Equestria?" the Doctor asked

"Queen Chrysalis" Twilight answered, "She's who we planned to stop."

"Ever met her face to face after her takeover?" the Doctor persisted

"No" Twilight looked at him like he was crazy, "She'd capture me like she did my friends."

"Well prepare to meet her" Starlight said, "They're likely taking us straight to her."

The Doctor knew now what he had to do, all of the beauty of Equestria would never happen if the queen won, it was his job to stop her

'And to think I was going to escape into space…' the Doctor thought

[…]

Queen Chrysalis looked at the blue box brought before her, judging it

"Have you tried to door?" she asked

"No magic could get it open" her changeling explained, "Nor brute force."

"Watch and learn" Chrysalis began to use her magic on the door

*click*

"You see?" Chrysalis felt a surge of stolen pride, "It was simple to-"

The door opened, and out stepped a few ponies

"You didn't unlock that door" the Pegasus stallion said, "And you won't be able to, ever."

"Now this is interesting" Chrysalis said, "What is your name?"

"I'm the Doctor" the Doctor answered, "And it's interesting, what you've done with this place."

"I simply took it, the machines were from years ago." Chrysalis said, "Doctor, you seem… off."

"I don't suppose that you've captured a stallion named Time Turner have you?" the Doctor changed the subject

"He was not a match once he was cornered" the queen smiled, "What is your worth I wonder."

A changeling scanned the Doctor

"He is no one"

"The clever nonentity" Chrysalis felt adrenaline, "What is your species name?"

"He is nothing"

"You don't have my species in the databanks" the Doctor smirked, "Interesting"

The Doctor hadn't noticed a group of changelings gathering some sort of goop, until it was flung and splattered all over the hooves of our trio

The Doctor remained uninterested

"You know something else I noticed when I got my gears turning?" he asked Starlight

"What?"

"It's that Spike would never in his right mind have worked for the queen" the Doctor explained, "And I seem to remember that Chrysalis here has the ability to control minds."

"You mean…" it dawned on Twilight, "He wasn't a traitor?"

"Not at all, he was simply under the influence of a big bug." The Doctor said, "I should have noticed but you know why I didn't."

"And now you are here, powerless."

"Not me, never!" the Doctor frowned

"I can taste your emotions from here" Chrysalis continued, "Such rage, pain and anger, it is so delicious!"

"Mind you I quite like hope" the Doctor turned to the window, "And I can see it coming now."

Several ponies crashed through all of the windows, all of differing shapes sizes and kinds, there were pegasi and earth ponies and unicorns, all of them wearing basic weaponry

The Doctor was able to name a few he recognized, there was Big Macintosh, Scootaloo and Colgate

"Changelings!" Colgate shouted as they raised their weapons

"Your plan was to rush my castle?" Chrysalis laughed, "I can easily over power all of you!"

"You know one of the interesting things about your ability to steal emotions" the Doctor continued, "Is that the bodies of ponies resist it, thus allowing you to drain them."

"I hope you're going somewhere with this one" Starlight said, "I hate it when you stall these things!"

"But what happens if a pony were to allow you to steal their emotions?" the Doctor asked, "It was be as if someone were overloading a circuit!"

"And we just so happen to have a creature with quite a bit of emotion" Scootaloo looked at the Doctor

The Doctor shook off the goop, and began to slowly walk up to the queen

"Because I know why I'm not on your list of species" he said, "I can tell you exactly what I am."

"Is it important?"

"Oh yes" the Doctor said, "Because with all your stolen emotions one that you have is fear, fear of the timelords."

Chrysalis reared backward, "They all died years ago!"

But she could feel it from the Doctor, emotions of guilt and pure cold fury, the fury of a timelord

"And yet you know I'm exactly what I claim to be" the Doctor said, "Let's make a deal, I find you and your children a new home, and you never return to Equestria."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I'd have to stop you." The Doctor sighed, "Why does nobody ever just take the offer?"

It was then that all of the ponies in the room let out what they were feeling, opening their hearts and letting it all out

It was too much for most of the changelings, as they passed out and hit the floor, convulsing

Queen Chrysalis was fighting the immense pain in her head, she didn't want to give up but she had her children to think about, her loyal subjects

She had to protect them, at any cost, but if that cost was her own pride? This was her revenge!

"Alright, alright!" Chrysalis shouted, "I take your offer!"

It was then that the pain stopped, and she stumbled to check on her changelings

"Why was it that easy?" Twilight asked

"The changelings are her kids" the Doctor said, "Would you sacrifice your pride in order to save yours?"

"What will you do with my species?" Chrysalis asked

"Do as I promised" the Doctor said, "Take you to a new planet and let your race live on, until time does what it does."

"You mean you aren't going to execute them?" Colgate asked

"Why would I?" the Doctor frowned, "They gave up, no need to kick them while they're down."

The green goop on the floor dispersed, and above them two cocoons gave way as the two princesses fell to the ground

"We won, we finally won." Twilight breathed a sigh of relief

"And that does it for me" the Doctor said, "I'll drop off the queen and be on my way."

"Where will you go?" Starlight asked, "Why not stay here?"

"If there's danger I'll arrive" the Doctor looked to the TARDIS, "But the TARDIS is my home, and it's the last piece of my home planet I have left."

[…]

Celestia and Luna woke up to find a note on the throne

You're welcome

-the Doctor

The Doctor quickly went about, steadying the TARDIS for flight into the past, he had to know what happened that day

As he traveled he was hitting several ripples in the time vortex that meant something major had happened, and it was up to him to figure out what went wrong

The land he was going to land in looked nothing like Equestria, there were strange pink clouds and rabbits with long legs and all sorts of odd and chaotic things

"What on Earth happened there?" the Doctor muttered aloud

He set the handbrake and parked

[…]

As soon as the Doctor stepped outside the TARDIS he could smell that strange energy on the air, as if there were a nest of prickling ants in his nose

He appeared to be in Canterlot, there were ponies milling about and quite a few of them looked miserable and dejected

The Doctor looked towards the sky, the dead planet was nowhere in sight

"I got my dates wrong" he stated flatly

A unicorn guard walked past, languid. The Doctor started to walk, a feeling of curiosity overwhelming him now

There were all sorts of ponies he hadn't met, but if his memory served there was a picture in the castle that he could take a look at, with that draconequus or whatever it was called

As he walked, he constantly had to put up with pink clouds raining chocolate milk down at him, and it was annoying him. A lot.

The Doctor reached the gates to the castle he subconsciously expected to be there, instead there was a pile of rubble, and a sign

Discord has risen

The Healer arrives

The rulers were murdered

Just in time

The strange sign made the Doctor feel a bit nervous, he had received cryptic messages in the form of Gallifreyan texts, but this message was in Old High Gallifreyan

At this point in time he wasn't sure if anyone else could read Old High Gallifreyan or not, so it wasn't a very narrow search, as for the rulers being dead the Doctor could easily tell it wasn't Celestia or Luna as they were in his present time

But that implied that it was their parents, and the Doctor hadn't heard much about them from either of the princesses, not even in folklore from the Canterlot libraries

As for the Healer, it may be the pony that left this note, or one that knows about this Healer at least, the Doctor tried to avoid thinking what else it could mean

Naturally it wasn't hard for him to turn and search for other clues, the smell that he could smell as soon as he exited the TARDIS was really strong here, he put it down to a magical energy he didn't recognize

The Doctor took out the sonic screwdriver, taking a brief scan before putting it away, it only proved his conclusion to be true

"I guess the negative effects have worn off." The Doctor said, before turning to search for anything else

There was a pony that had nearly bowled him over, the little foal was going at least 20-30 miles per hour

And when you don't expect that, it can knock you over

The Doctor slowed the quick little foal, "Slow down there Scamp, what's wrong?"

"King Discord has taken my brother! I need some help!"

The Doctor followed the dirty foal, he couldn't even tell which gender it was due to this stage meaning a high voice either way

The more he followed the more he felt as if something was off, he had already been knocked unconscious because he was following someone, and at this moment anything could be false

Furthermore his gut was telling him that this foal was hiding something, his brain dismissed it and his heart told them to shut up so he could figure this out

The Doctor and the foal reached a small house, and there were a few guards with hideous deformities and growths, the Doctor reeled

"Well now isn't this interesting" he said, getting the guards' attention, "You appear to have been through quite the traumatic experience, for which I am sorry, but care to explain why you are carrying that foal?"

"They don't talk, ever" the colt, as the Doctor concluded, said

"Who did this to them?" the Doctor said, "And why kidnap a foal?"

"Experiments, fun I don't know."

"And lastly" the Doctor turned to the colt, "Why have you matured so quickly?"

The colt had already grown into a stallion around Twilight's age, and the dirt began to part

"No… Not now, please!" his voice began to tear apart

Then his front hoof began to take shape of a hand, it was a hideous mutation, and the Doctor rushed forward

"What's his name?" the Doctor asked, "What is that foal's name?"

"I-it's…StarSwirl!" the stallion choked out, then his eyes rolled back into his head

He had died, and only a puppet was left

The Doctor turned to face the strange guards, he walked up calmly and took the foal, then turned around and walked away

The guards were too stunned by this act to react, and they stood dumbfounded as the Doctor simply left

There were things left out of the history books, the Doctor concluded, how else would Equestria remain to be so peaceful? But beyond that the Doctor now knew he had to stop this whole affair from happening, and he knew exactly how.

Chapter 4

The Doctor went up to the rubble of the castle, stepping over the barriers preventing him from entering. The castle was in quite a sorry state, it wasn't even a castle anymore, just a pile of rocks and dust

Now the Doctor distinctly remembered a secret chamber behind the throne, it was built deep under the mountain and was where he first faced off with the Univore

As he searched he found a small hatch, hidden behind a throne nobody dare move

The spiral staircase seemed old even now, and as the Doctor descended he knew to be quiet, lest anyone on top hear him

The lights were freshly lit, and it seemed as if he was being watched, which he put down to being watched

Before he reached the bottom he stopped to listen in

"I told you I think I heard somepony!" a young voice said, Luna

"It's fine Luna" a more mature but higher pitched voice said, "We're safe down here."

"You really think so?" Luna asked

"Of course we are, nopony would think to look here." Celestia soothed

"Okay, if you say so." Luna conceded

StarSwirl cooed

The Doctor winced as everything at attention was now fixed on the stairwell, he had forgotten about the foal he had been carrying on his wing

"Sorry about that" the Doctor poked his head around the corner, "It appears as if StarSwirl isn't very comfortable down here, how are you?"

"Who are you?" Celestia asked, her mane hadn't the rainbow tone it had before, and was now pink

Luna was smaller as well, neither of their manes were flowing and instead simple

"I'm the Doctor" he answered, "And it appears you have a chaotic god infestation."

"Doctor who?" Luna asked

"Just the Doctor, anyway about that Discord fellow." The Doctor pulled a chair over and let StarSwirl on his head, "He's made a mess of things hasn't he?"

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked suspicious

"Well with the total chaos going on up top, I figured I might help." The Doctor explained, "How long has it been?"

"We've been down here for about a year" Luna admitted

"Then I'm late" the Doctor said simply, "You need something to combat Discord's chaotic abilities, any plans already in progress?"

He let himself to the papers it seemed Luna and Celestia had been working on

"No, No, That would never work, No…" the Doctor threw plan after plan behind him, "Yes!"

"What plan have you deemed worthy?" Celestia asked, unamused

"This one!" the Doctor turned the paper so they could see it, "Its special artifacts that allow you to utilize the opposite of chaos within yourself, Harmony!"

"Luna came up with that one" Celestia admitted, "It took her a few days to work out the details."

"Ah but what material should they be made out of?" the Doctor mused, "It would have to be durable, reliable and receptive…"

"We've found gems that react in certain ways to those harmonious feelings within oneself" Luna sounded all business now, "But for the metal we haven't worked that out."

The Doctor grinned, "Oh I know exactly what material to use, give me a bit."

[…]

StarSwirl had been left with Celestia and Luna, while the Doctor trotted back through Canterlot, or whatever Discord renamed it

He entered the TARDIS, and quickly set about gathering metal from various planets. All of this had to be specific, as all of this metal was specially chosen for the elements

As he carried it back to the castle he was almost caught in a hail storm of ice cream, and nearly creamed by a giant rolling ball of cream

"This Discord fellow, sure likes his desserts." The Doctor smiled a bit

[…]

Once he had gotten the metal into the right place he had to forge it into the shape, they used a mold to keep every element necklace in place, although he had chosen a tiara for the sixth element

"Why a tiara, why not another necklace?" Luna asked

"It's the only compatible shape for this specific metal" the Doctor fibbed

At last the crystals and necklaces had been finished, all of the elements of harmony had been successfully forged

"I hope this was worth the trouble" Celestia said, worried

"We'll need six ponies who have the harmony between them strongest." The Doctor mused, "Or some ponies that can wear two necklaces together."

It was decided that Luna would wear laughter and kindness, Celestia got honesty and generosity, the Doctor was offered the last two

"Are you sure?" the Doctor asked, "I'm not sure if it'll work."

"We had special crystals placed in your foal when you were gone" Luna smiled, "Only those two reacted to you."

The Doctor equipped Laughter and the Sixth Element

"Now comes the final part" the Doctor looked at the both of them, "We have to confront Discord and put a stop to him."

"Can we do this?" Luna sounded more than a bit nervous

"We have to" Celestia asserted, "We're more prepared now than we ever will be."

"Well said" the Doctor looked at the stairs, "And I know how to get Discord over here."

[…]

The Doctor was standing in an alleyway, Luna and Celestia were across the street from him

The plan was simple, Discord liked chaos so how to get him over here? Well you'd disrupt your harmonious abilities if you caused chaos, so they had to get him to try and make more chaos

Therefore there had to be an open spot

It quickly became a cleanup of royal guards and the two alicorns, the Doctor stood back and watched as Discord appeared with an annoyed look

"You two again?" he saw the Doctor and the necklaces, "Oh what now? Are you going to stop me with the power of jewelry?"

"Discord, I present you with a choice" the Doctor kept an even tone, "Restore Equestria, and leave peacefully, I can find you a new planet to use chaotically."

"And what if I like it here?"

"Then I'm going to have to stop you" the Doctor signaled Luna and Celestia, "I'm the Doctor."

"The Doctor?" if Discord was alarmed he didn't show it, "A wonderful name, makes you want to ask questions."

Discord then sipped some root beer from a carrot

"You had your warning" the Doctor flicked out his wings, "And I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. But you wrought this on yourself."

The elements began to glow, as the Doctor felt a rush of power surge through him, and then he felt Discord's resistance of chaos, fighting off the harmony

It wasn't strong enough, the Doctor still had ill feelings towards Celestia, leaving the elements weakened

He knew that even though Celestia was the cause of quite a bit of trouble she still did what she thought was right for her subjects, and for that he couldn't hold that grudge any longer

It was as if a mental dam had burst forth, and the elements shot a rainbow right at Discord as he yawned

Discord didn't feel the effects at first but they were evident, he was now a statue, and Equestria was back to normal

Celestia and Luna rushed over to the castle to see their parents

[…]

The Doctor got there to see a panicking pair of princesses, and they both looked at the Doctor

"Discord's magic didn't kill your parents, the building collapse did" the Doctor looked at them both, "I truly am so sorry, there's nothing I can do."

He turned over the elements and right before he left he handed Celestia a little foal

"Take care of StarSwirl, teach him magic or something." He had said, "I know you're a capable teacher."

"How old are you?" Celestia asked

"I'm 1,846" the Doctor answered, "It's been quite a few birthdays since I saw my friends."

He had caught what he was saying, those versions of the ponies were dead, died because of the Univore. He was alone now

[…]

The Doctor was getting ready to exit on the TARDIS but Luna had caught up to him

"Here Doctor, we gift you with this." Luna floated him a necklace

It was sort of an element of his own, a crystal hourglass in some spare metal, the Doctor was astonished

"What element is this one?" the Doctor asked

"We don't know, but it's only ever reacted to you." Luna smiled, "It's the least we can do to say thank you."

"Aw, you don't have to say thank you" the Doctor said, "I defend this place a lot, it's just how things end up."

The Doctor and Luna exchanged a hug and then he was off, bearing his new necklace

[…]

He had gotten it wrong, it wasn't Discord's reign that it happened, so when did the Earth burn?

There were no answers to the many questions the Doctor had

What now?

Where to next?

Who will he meet?

And lastly, what does the Shadow have to do with all this?

Chapter 5

The Doctor was inside the TARDIS trying to decide his next move, he didn't know when the earth had appeared above Equestria, and he didn't know why it had been cremated in a sense

*Ring Ring*

[…]

Rainbowdash was chilling out on a cloud, taking a nap, while Scootaloo was spying on her from a nearby bush

Scootaloo would normally have approached the rainbow maned mare, but recently she had become harsh, and hard to interact with. So the little Pegasus had decided to do some recon and keep an eye on her

Rainbowdash suddenly began to spaz out a bit, tossing and turning before outright screaming and waking up

"Maybe Twilight was right, I should look for a therapist for this…" she muttered

Scootaloo gasped, she could find her idol a therapist and maybe earn her cutie mark, and impress Rainbowdash!

She scootalooed off, or whatever it's called

[…]

Princess Celestia had not turned a deaf ear to this situation, instead watching and not being sure what to do, which wasn't common

Luna had proposed they try and contact him, but Celestia was adamant

"We hadn't needed him in a long time"

"There's always a new moment" Luna had countered

[…]

Rainbowdash went to her house, and wrote down a number in her dream journal, which Twilight insisted she kept

07700 900461

It seemed odd, as there was nothing that this number could correlate to, not anything Rainbow knew of at least

Twilight called to her from down below

"What is it?" Rainbowdash asked

"We found one for you."

[…]

The Doctor trotted up to the console before answering the phone, "Hello?"

"I told you he'd pick up!" a voice whispered harshly, "Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle, I hear you're the best therapist in Equestria?"

"Really?" the Doctor asked, "Who told you that?"

"Princess Celestia did, she told us how to contact you."

"Of course she did" the Doctor muttered, "When's the best time I can come around?"

"Tomorrow, if that's alright." Twilight sounded hopeful

The Doctor traced the source of the call and set the TARDIS one day afterward, "See you then, who am I seeing exactly?"

"My best friend Rainbowdash, she'll explain it better to you." Twilight hung up

The Doctor released the handbrake

[…]

It was a Saturday, and the Doctor stepped outside to take a deep breath of that weekend air

"Right then, let's go talk to Miss Dash." He then proceeded to the library

Twilight and Rainbowdash were waiting for him there, Rainbowdash looked nervous and Twilight did as well

"Thank you for coming over on short notice" Twilight said

"Don't worry about it" the Doctor said, "shall we?"

They let him inside, and he sat down on a cushion by the table, taking out a notepad

Twilight had left at the Doctor's request, and Rainbowdash sat on a couch laid out by Rarity earlier that day

"Now then, I'm Doctor Time Turner" the Doctor said, "You've been having bad dreams I hear?"

"Those are a side effect" Rainbow said, "The real problem is mainly in Ponyville and Cloudsdale."

"Really?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Please explain, Miss Dash."

"Yeah, I sometimes see things doubly" Rainbow closed her eyes, "And I see two different things happening."

The Doctor wrote something down, "What are the main differences?"

"A blue box, and a man, I think he called himself…" Rainbow struggled a bit, "The Doctor."

The Doctor felt his hearts increase in speed, "Have you kept a record of this?"

"My dream journal" Rainbow let the Doctor flip through it a bit

"Blue boxes that are bigger on the inside, a timelord, very interesting." The Doctor smiled a bit, "Anything else noticeable?"

"A factory"

The Doctor was worried he might have blanched at that moment

"With another you, and a green pony correct?"

Rainbow's eyes widened, "I didn't write that down; how did you know?"

"Not important" the Doctor said quickly, "Anything worse, that are in your dreams?"

"The Doctor" Rainbowdash explained, "He's like… Fire, and rage, and trust and light and the core of the universe…"

The Doctor closed his notepad, "Universal double vision."

"What?"

"You're seeing moments in your life, one that you never lived." The Doctor explained, "What with the reboot I gave this place."

"But, what's that mean?" Rainbowdash asked

"That something's very wrong here." The Doctor stood up, "That was a full reboot, if you still have your memories then that means I missed something, but what could it be?"

Several pony silhouettes appeared, but the room was lit up perfectly fine

"I forgot to check to see if the room was secure" the Doctor slapped his hoof on his face, "Of course."

"What are they?" Rainbowdash took a fighting stance, "Is it night outside?"

The Doctor checked a window, "No, there are shadows converging on the library."

"What do we do?" Rainbowdash asked, bucking a shadow that leaped at her

"Working on a plan here!" the Doctor took out the sonic screwdriver, "Why did I choose here? This place is made of wood!"

But the shadows didn't lunge at the Doctor, he checked himself to see why not

He pulled his element out of his pocket, and the shadows receded

"They can't handle the elements!" the Doctor smashed a nearby display case, allowing all six elements to fall out

There was a loud cry, the ground beneath their hooves heaved, and the shadows vanished

The Doctor quickly hid his element as Twilight and the others rushed into the library

"Rainbow! Are you okay?"

"I think so, thanks to Doctor Turner here." Rainbowdash smiled, "Thanks for that back there."

"Not a problem" the Doctor said, "If you'll excuse me, I have a few things to investigate."

"Why don't you stay and help around?" Twilight asked, "Rainbow does seem better, but we need to banish those nightmares."

"Hmm… I think I know what to do." The Doctor grinned, "Are you feeling up for a trip Miss Dash?"

"Call me Rainbow" Rainbowdash said, "And sure, I think I'm cool with that Doctor."

[…]

The Doctor showed Rainbow to the TARDIS, smiling as he approached it

"Are there really wonders out there?" Rainbowdash asked

"Of course" the Doctor smiled, and attempted to snap to open the doors

Although he didn't have fingers, the doors responded and opened anyway

"Take a look."

Rainbowdash trotted inside, over the metal grating that lead to the console

The Doctor had redecorated a bit, there was a curved staircase that lead to the underneath of the console, a pathway towards the rooms, four marble pillars that floated on strange platforms attached to the top and bottoms of the console

The Doctor spun one of the pillars by slapping its side with a hoof, "The TARDIS, that's Time And Relative Dimension In Space."

Rainbowdash looked around in awe, however a trace of fear was written on her face

"I invited you for a trip to see the wonders of the universe" the Doctor reassured, "I'll avoid the horrors."

"They just tend to find you don't they Doctor?" Rainbowdash asked

"There's only one thing to do if we find something wrong" the Doctor said grimly, "Stop it and hope for the best."

"I guess so" Rainbowdash sighed, "What is it you say? Allo-something?"

"I say Adelante" the Doctor said, "It's Spanish, for forward."

"What's Spanish?" Rainbowdash asked

"Never mind that" the Doctor looked to the console, "Where do you want to go?"

"Surprise me" Rainbowdash said

The Doctor grinned, before flinging the TARDIS towards adventure

Chapter 6

The TARDIS shook as they landed rather roughly

"Whoa! Why was it that rough?" Rainbowdash asked

"We may or may not have been knocked off course." The Doctor said slowly, assessing the situation

"So you have no idea where we are?" Rainbow rolled her eyes

"Either way, it's still an adventure, just an untold one." The Doctor turned to the door, "Adelante."

[…]

They were on the hatched straw roofs, watching as the two ponies exited the mysterious box, the leader had a glint in her ruby red eyes that signaled new prey, and they began to follow, one slowly licked its sharp fangs

One of the two, the teal one, stopped to take a deep sniff of the air, and his suddenly began to smell of adrenaline

They would have to be wary of this one

[…]

The Doctor smelled them the moment he exited the TARDIS, something was watching them, just to be sure he took a better smell, and his suspicions grew

"What's wrong Doctor?" Rainbowdash asked

"Nothing, let's keep going." The Doctor fiddled with the sonic in his pocket

It would be foolish to talk about it here, especially because he could tell they were being watched

Rainbowdash seemed to pick up on the Doctor's nervous sonic fiddling, as she was tense as they exited the alleyway

They finally got a better view of the area, the houses were stone and wood and straw, similar to the homes in Ponyville, except a bit less advanced

Several ponies milled about, they wore raggedy garments and took little note of the two

One pony suddenly sprang to life, splashing the two head to hoof in water

"Hey! What was that for?" Rainbowdash spluttered

"You came out of the shadows!" the stallion said in a hoarse voice, "Be safe! Be careful! They wait for us all in the shadows!"

The Doctor shook himself off, taking amusement out of Rainbow's annoyance

"So we met a crazy pony, and got soaked." Rainbowdash smiled wryly, "I forgot that your navigation's not the best, you should fix that."

"And lose the adventure?" the Doctor rebutted, "Not even close to happening."

Rainbowdash shook her head slowly

"Let's take a look around, we're before your era so we should be in a place with superstitions." The Doctor thought aloud, "I think that one pony splashed us with holy water."

"But that's ridiculous" Rainbowdash said, "It's not as if there are things like wereponies or anything."

The Doctor looked around, not saying anything

"Is there?" Rainbowdash pressed, "Doctor, are we safe?"

"Around me nobody's been safe" the Doctor muttered, "I think we should think a bit more rationally, talk to some of the locals before jumping to any conclusions."

Rainbowdash nodded, this shouldn't be too hard

Right?

[…]

They watched the two get soaked, they watched and they listened, they knew the teal one was clever, and the multicolored one was brave, these two may cause trouble, they had decided, they must be removed before dawn the next day when they would be safe

It was decided, yes they had chosen to target the brave one, she would be valuable they reasoned, she would be easy to take, they would take her they planned

Yes, as it was decided

[…]

The Doctor had gone off and bought a few trinkets, including a hat from some strange looking vendor, everypony was grimy so it was hard to tell their colors

The Doctor gave Rainbowdash a necklace, "Apparently this keeps dark powers at bay."

Rainbowdash rolled her eyes, "As if, magic may exist but mythical creatures? That's ridiculous!"

The Doctor shrugged, "It's entirely possible, and the universe is a big place."

"Ah! This fellow looks interesting!" the Doctor went off before Rainbow could respond

"Hello! We're doing a survey, is there anything of note that you'd like to talk about?" the Doctor questioned

The stallion looked at the Doctor with dejected eyes, "A royal man? What are you doing in the cursed lands?"

"Just answer his question" Rainbowdash said

"Well, the ones in the shadows…" he then looked alarmed, "I mean nothing! There's nothing!"

"Tell me about the shadows" the Doctor said, the usual wonder out of his voice, "Tell me about the things inside the shadows."

"They wait for you, yes they have you marked!" The stallion's eyes suddenly became crazed, "They wait for you in the shadows, they always catch their prey, both of you will die!"

"I'm not so sure about that" the Doctor said, "We should be able to make it just fine."

"They will catch you! And now they've marked me as well!" the stallion then fled the conversation

"Plenty of interesting ponies we're meeting huh?" Rainbowdash smirked

"Something isn't right" the Doctor said, "There's something more than the things he mentioned."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you noticed everyone is gone?" the Doctor questioned

Rainbowdash looked around, they were the only two ponies on the entire block

"Locked up inside for the night" the Doctor said, "When the shadows grow to engulf the light."

"Doctor…?" Rainbowdash pointed behind him, "What's that?"

The Doctor spun around, he saw the shadows extending towards them, and quite a few pairs of eyes in those shadows, and the faint outline of ponies was visible as their smiled emerged, fanged and jagged

"Rainbowdash…" the Doctor took a few steps backwards, "Run!"

The two ponies turned tail and fled, right as the screeches of the creatures behind them let loose, piercing the air

As they fled down the block the Doctor was assessing the best place to run to, there was a strange looking tower on the end of their path

"Quickly!" the Doctor shouted, "In there!"

They reached the door, which was locked, the Doctor took out the sonic screwdriver and began to work on the metal door

[…]

They were getting closer, their prey was in their sights, the prey had gotten themselves cornered, as it was useless to resist them, they would catch them, the door was locked, they grabbed at the multicolor

Something on the multicolor burned them, they fell backwards and screeched in pain, the door opened and the prey escaped into the home

[…]

The Doctor was breathing heavily, as was Rainbowdash

"What…was…that?" the Doctor asked

"I think…it was…the necklace…" Rainbowdash caught her breath

"I told you didn't I?" the Doctor said, "That necklace was a great idea!"

Suddenly a cold splash of water from above soaked them, the Doctor seemed unfazed and Rainbowdash only braced from the cold

"You two are real lucky" a voice said from above, "And I mean real lucky, nobody's survived that sort of thing."

[…]

They had failed, she wouldn't be pleased with this, it was a first, but there may be more, she was very angry with those who failed, her ruby eyes showed her disdain, they would be punished

They had to get the smart one, the brave one was protected, the smart one was their only option, as they had to take them

Then victory would be sure, they knew it, it was decided, it was foreseen

Chapter 7

The strange stallion had introduced himself as Mage Marx, but to simply call him Marx, he was a pegasus

He was the one who had discovered that there were indeed vampires in the town, and they were gaining strength for a larger mission, although he wasn't sure what

"So I've been in my tower, trying to figure it out." Marx finished his story

"While the rest of the town panics because you haven't found effective ways to stop them" the Doctor finished

"It's not easy, garlic was our first choice but nothing happened." Marx's eyes darkened, "Besides a few disappearances."

"How many?" the Doctor asked, "How many have gone missing?"

"More than two dozen" Marx answered, "Why?"

"There was about that many just now" Rainbowdash said, "Before you soaked us."

"Its standard, the royal guards are doing it to all visitors at the castle."

This caught a slight bit of attention, "Where are we by the way? Doesn't look familiar."

"We're in the cursed lands" Marx said, "In the Griffon Kingdom, it's where a bunch of the banished from Equestria come to live."

The Doctor took mental note of this

"So they're trying to do something involving griffons." the Doctor thought aloud

"If that's true then there isn't going to be any good ways around" Rainbowdash said, "The Griffon Kingdom isn't very well mapped."

The Doctor thought about this, "Well we've got transport…"

[…]

She listened, after her minions failed she had taken it to herself to take them, these information was useful, they had a way across the cursed lands? But how would they be caught, as it seemed that the prey was starting to piece things together

Her white coat was muddy, in order to hide from the lamplight

[…]

The Doctor had decided to take a look around town once the sun rose, he would try and move the TARDIS somewhere closer to their current base of operations

As he trotted down the alleyway he felt something quickly brush his wing, it was just a brush but it only served to prove his suspicions of being watched

"They neglect us…"

The Doctor clearly heard that one, it was getting louder the closer he got to the TARDIS. The voices weren't natural, he could feel it emanating from the very words, this voice wasn't meant to exist

However this wasn't something to deter the Doctor, as he was used to potentially dangerous situation, but he had to make sure he could get Rainbowdash home safely

The Doctor was only a few yards from the TARDIS now, however he could easily see a pony silhouette standing in his path

The eyes were a ruby red, and the mouth formed a frown of annoyance

"It's about time I got you alone" a female voice said

Before the Doctor could react a snow white hoof lashed and knocked him back several feet

As he sprang up the Doctor attempted to roll backwards, only bumping into another one of the vampires

He had to fight the panic that was quickly rising inside of him, the pony-vampire from behind lunged, the Doctor jumped

He expected to fall back into the situation, but he found himself staying in midair, his wings! He had forgotten that he could use them for something!

It was interesting, he didn't have to think about each wing flapping in order to fly, and instead they were moving as if by instinct

He attempted to escape from the top of the alleyway, only to be struck by the vampony from below

He crashed into the eave of a nearby rooftop, only to slam back down on the cobblestone pathway

His vision was getting black around the edges, he rolled to the side to avoid another blow

These vampires were a challenge, as the Doctor couldn't think of what to do

One of the vamponies pushed him into a wall, and kept its hoof over his throat, cutting off his oxygen

His vision blackened, however he refused to get killed here, if he died how would Rainbowdash get home?

His memories flashed back to when they were inside the TARDIS

"I'll make sure you get home safely" the Doctor had said, "I promise."

[…]

They had him now, but oddly enough the biting didn't affect him, he was still as he was before the biting

They couldn't catch the brave one, they would need to take the smart one, however even though they had him he wasn't taken, and now he was coming to

She was not pleased

[…]

The Doctor felt a throbbing pain in his head and neck, he rolled over before the events of the fight came shooting back into his mind

His eyes flung open and he jumped to his hooves, looking around to assess where he was, which certainly not nearby the TARDIS

"It's about time you woke up" the female voice said, "You know how to take a nap."

The Doctor turned to face the source of the voice, choosing not to say anything

"I think you could help us" the voice continued, "If you're up for it."

"You attacked someone I care about" the Doctor said, controlling his anger, "Give me one good reason I should help you."

"Because if your friend stays here any longer the shadows will take her" the voice said simply, sounding a bit more tomboyish now

"The shadows themselves?" The Doctor asked

"We were infected by the shadows, and they want to take her." The pony stepped into the torchlight

It was none other than Vinyl Scratch, the DJ from a few of the parties the Doctor had observed, she had always put him off

Now he knew why

"You want to take out the Griffons" the Doctor said, "Why would you need…."

It dawned on him, the holy water soaking was ordinary, especially at the castle, and the vamponies were clearly weak towards it, they wouldn't be able to get in

"We need some ponies that can get in" Vinyl said, "But we couldn't get you to do it without incentive."

"So you planned on holding me to the curse, except that didn't work did it?" the Doctor almost laughed, "You can't turn me, can you?"

"The shadows want you dead." Vinyl said simply, "And whoever is helping you, the king has been taken already."

[…]

The ruby vampony was revealing too much, telling the smart one, betraying them! She would not be pleased with the ruby eyed one, they would all have to die now! All of them burning, burning, burning!

[…]

Rainbowdash was beginning to get worried, the Doctor hadn't returned in half a day, and it was almost sunset

He was an alien, so she wasn't sure if he could even get turned into a vampony, she had remembered that the Doctor told her how it happened, all through a bit of an accident

"I wasn't meant to regenerate" he had said, "I'm not sure I can do it again."

If he had died out there, then…

Rainbowdash didn't want to consider it, the Doctor would come back, he always did

*Knock Knock*

Rainbowdash slid open the panel on the massive door, seeing the Doctor on the other side, he looked incredibly worse for wear, cuts bruises and bite marks all over him, his bowtie was still crisp and clean for some odd reason

"Doctor are you alright?" Rainbowdash asked

"More or less, where's Marx?"

"Inside, although he may soak you when he sees the look of you."

"Let me in, I need to talk to the both of you." The Doctor looked behind him

[…]

Marx had soaked the Doctor when he saw him, convinced that he wasn't a dark force they began to talk

"I've gotten some inside information" the Doctor explained, "And I know what the vamponies are after."

"Is that what they're called?" Marx asked

"I made it up, Vampire Ponies." The Doctor answered, "And I think you might want to talk to them about their plans."

"And risk getting caught?" Marx sounded incredulous

"I did, and I'm fine." the Doctor looked himself over, "Relatively."

"And what's protecting you from the curse?" Marx questioned, "Your friend here, she's got the seal."

Rainbowdash looked at her necklace, the symbol of Equestria was emblazoned on the flat circle of silver

The Doctor looked outside, "I think you better give them the scoop, they may be thinking I'm insane."

Vinyl opened the window and climbed inside, "Took you long enough, I was hanging by my hoof-tips."

The Doctor made sure Rainbowdash didn't freak out, Marx was standing defensively, his muddy coat hiding his no doubt tense mini-muscles

"You should explain what's going on" The Doctor restated, "Then maybe we can come to a choice."

[…]

They watched and waited, the ruby eyed one was telling of the plan, they listened and learned, they needed the smart one and the brave one, the magic one was dispensable, they would kill the magic one

She would be pleased when they succeeded, yes they would succeed, they were sure of it

[…]

The Doctor and the others were outside the TARDIS, quite a few vamponies were behind them

"Could we fit in there?" Vinyl asked, "I mean the Doctor and I could squeeze in there but everypony else?"

"Just trust me" the Doctor unlocked the doors, "We'll be fine."

Marx decided to stay behind, he didn't want any part of this

Rainbowdash said it was stupid to stay here, because whatever took the castle already occupied the town

"How old even are you?" Vinyl asked the Doctor, "I've seen some old eyes, but those are some old eyes."

"I'm one thousand eight hundred and sixty four." The Doctor answered

"Looking good for somepony without vampirism."

Rainbowdash ignored this whole conversation, as she felt there were more important things to do, and may have been a little jealous

"Anyway" the Doctor said, pushing open the doors, "Let's take a closer look shall we?"

As the small army of vamponies entered the TARDIS, there were a few sounds of wonderment but ultimately most were sobered by their plan

"Out of the cursed lands, and across to the castle" Vinyl directed

The Doctor began to flip switches and hit levers, beginning to move the TARDIS out and towards the castle

[…]

They saw the smart one leave, in his strange box, she would like to know about this box, they moved quickly, to take the magic one before they went to assist her, as she would need all the help she muster

[…]

The TARDIS touched down and all of the vamponies poured out, the moon had barely begun to rise

"This box is pretty cool" Vinyl said, "Bigger on the inside, and moves."

"The castle is not too far away, we just have to walk a small distance." The Doctor looked around, "Are we up for it?"

And so they walked, it was only over a hill nearby, and the griffon castle stood, tall and proud

"Do we remember the plan?" the Doctor asked

Rainbowdash dumped a bag of dirt over his head

"I guess so, are we ready then?"

Several vamponies bared their fangs and the Doctor turned and ran

[…]

There were several griffon guards, and they easily saw the pegasus pony in a bowtie running for his life from a pack of vamponies

They took up battle positions as they let the pony past, after soaking him in holy water to be safe, and to clean him off he was filthy

"I think… I know… What their plan is…" he wheezed

"Take him to the queen" one guard ordered, "And make sure he's comfortable."

[…]

Marx was sitting inside the top of his tower, wondering if he'd made the right decision, the Doctor and his friend Rainbowdash seemed like a nice pair, although that Rainbowdash made him feel a bit off

Was it her demeanor? The fact that all three of them were pegasi? Or maybe…

Was it the fact they had the same mane color?

The window suddenly smashed, a large shadow stood above him and took the shape of an alicorn, it roared and Marx got into the most painful struggle of his life

[…]

The Doctor stood in front of the griffon queen, she looked at him with cold and calculating eyes, as they exchanged a series of questions and answers

"Why did you let the townsfolk survive on their own?" the Doctor demanded

"It isn't my fault if they can't handle themselves, who are you to ask that?"

"I'm the Doctor"

"The one that was in history?" the queen sounded interested, "Why the princesses of Equestria hate you, or at least old sun-butt does."

"Not my problem" the Doctor said, "This next one's really important."

"And what is that?"

"Did you really think I'd buy the whole 'all griffons look the same' trick?" the Doctor asked, "Honestly, they don't even have different body language."

As if by magic, all of the guards in the room turned into more shadowy versions of griffons, with white holes for eyes, and fairly unintimidating teeth

"You may be clever Doctor, but I haven't yet seen someone able to outsmart my shadows!"

"You mean there were others" The Doctor said

"Of course, many a timelord have been lured into this trap" The griffon queen bared her teeth

Why did they have teeth anyway? They had beaks, why teeth?

The Doctor chided himself for getting of track, "And what exactly killed them?"

"They were always alone" the griffon queen said, "And they always died alone."

The glass windows shattered, and in flew about half the army of vamponies

"We got impatient" Vinyl said, "So we secured the castle."

Then all hell broke loose

The shadow griffons struck, and the vamponies quickly struck back

The Doctor crawled out into the hallway, then his hoof hit something metal

He looked to the side, "Perfect."

But he began to wonder, where was Rainbowdash?

[…]

Vinyl quickly got into a scuffle with the queen, as they entered a deadly dance of hooves and claws, swiping and avoiding fairly easily

The vamponies stayed back after they had beaten their individual foes, as they had honor to let Vinyl either die or succeed

She was struck back, Vinyl's head smacked on the stone and the griffon queen quickly had her throat in her claw

"I will kill you now, then that pernicious Doctor too!"

A large gush of water shot out and soaked the queen, she fell backwards and began to cough up quite a bit of blackened shadows, before passing out on the ground

Vinyl had successfully avoided the water and looked to see the Doctor holding the bucket, looking quite relieved

"That was close."

"If it had been anypony else to save me, they'd be dead right now." Vinyl smiled, "Be glad you're you."

"Where's Rainbow?" the Doctor looked around

"Oh, she decided to go and help on another front"

"What other front?" The Doctor quirked an eyebrow

[…]

Marx was getting tired, the shadows still were banging at his door, they were going to get through

He had resigned to his fate, he was going to die here, his only regret was that he was going to do it alone

*Tap tap tap*

He looked over to his window, Rainbowdash was there, he opened the window and let her in

"Here, you might want to take this." Rainbowdash handed him the necklace, "You also might want to find yourself a mare, as you're not very good at taking care of yourself."

Marx nodded, and Rainbowdash left just as quickly as she had arrived

He faced the shadows now, and he knew exactly what to do

[…]

The Doctor had met up with Rainbowdash the next day by the TARDIS

"Glad to see you're safe" they exchanged a hug

"Nice trick with the bucket" Rainbowdash said

Marx trotted up, "I take it you're leaving then?"

"I need to drop her off back home" the Doctor said, "I promised."

"Then please, take this." He handed the Doctor a note, "I was told to deliver it straight to you."

"And thank you Miss Dash, for the necklace." Marx finished

They waved goodbye and entered the TARDIS

As they left Rainbow paced nervously

"I don't think I can let this sit" Rainbowdash said

"What's wrong?"

"I can't go home, not now." Rainbow said, looking at the Doctor

"Why? Is it important?" the Doctor put the TARDIS on autopilot

"Doctor, I never gave him that necklace."

Chapter 8

The Doctor was galloping around the console, the rumbling and shakiness showing the load of stress it was carrying

Rainbowdash was trying to figure out exactly how Marx had received the necklace, when she herself had never given it to him

"Doctor, what do you think?"

"I'm a time traveler" the Doctor said, "Spoilers."

Rainbowdash left it at that

As for the Doctor he knew exactly what was going on, a single crossed timeline might be easy to fix but what if it had happened more than once?

That was a problem, one he didn't want to know much more about

And furthermore, what of the Shadow's affiliations with the Griffon Queen? If he was correct they had been leading in several versions of the Doctor from alternate universes in order to kill them, but why would they need to do that?

Everything he found out only proposed more questions, and no answers for them

The Doctor decided to stop the Shadow, this was the top priority, as without the Shadow out of the way he would have to deal with it while dealing with a tangled timeline

"Right then!" the Doctor pulled on the joystick, typed on the keyboard, "We should fix the Shadow here and now, I think it'd be easy if we can-"

The sentence hadn't left his mouth before he was flung across the console room, before impacting on one of the floating marble pillars

It hadn't fallen over, but the Doctor knew that they had crashed into something, and the TARDIS had locked on so they could step out and take a look around

As the Doctor crashed back into the metal mesh that they always stood on while in flight the Doctor saw that Rainbowdash had fared much better in the landing

Crash landing, the Doctor corrected himself, they would have to be careful because the scanner seemed to have been knocked out cold

"What's out there this time?" Rainbowdash asked, eyeing the door

"No idea, let's find out!" the Doctor grinned and pushed open the doors

[…]

They appeared to be in a back alley of some shops, nobody seemed to have noticed the blue box inside

The Doctor almost strutted into the street to take a better look around, but he could easily smell it, easily taste it on the air, and his gut seemed to drop into a void

"We're on Earth…" the Doctor said

"Is it possible we're on earth?" Rainbowdash asked

The Doctor didn't want to, but he looked upward anyways

"When was the last time the earth was in orbit above Equestria?" the Doctor looked at Rainbowdash

It didn't need to be said, the dead planet

[…]

The man watched the two ponies interact, only one seemed to be native to Equestria, the one with the bowtie popped back into a police box and grabbed a fedora

He lifted a walkie-talkie to his mouth, "We've got a code 9; I repeat we have a code 9."

[…]

The Doctor made sure to grab his fedora, as he felt more comfortable with the situation having it on his head

It wasn't hard to see a few propaganda posters plastered all over the place, one said that they should not 'Oppress the Ponies', another claimed they would 'Curb the hooved menace'

"Doctor, why is earth the dead planet?" Rainbowdash questioned

The Doctor didn't answer

"You know, it's not very difficult for me to know when I'm being snuck up on." The Doctor turned around to face a man in a tuxedo

The man was crisp, and his hair was a slick black, his eyes were dark enough to tell no difference, and his voice matched

"You've certainly mixed it up haven't you Doctor?"

"I want you to explain what you're doing in terms of diplomacy." The Doctor said, "Because it had better be diplomatic."

"The sun princess have not been cooperative with the government" the man said, "She believes we have too much of a potential for harm to her planet, she's been…unhospitable."

"That doesn't sound like princess Celestia at all" Rainbowdash said

But the Doctor understood

"Someone can only become so kind when they've done something that took lives, and have regretted it ever since." The Doctor said

"But the princess would never do something like that!" Rainbowdash protested

"The princess you know hasn't happened yet" the Doctor said sharply, "This one is willing to kill."

Rainbowdash recoiled

The Doctor sighed, "I'm sorry for snapping at you, but this is not the best situation for me to be in right now."

The man looked between the two of them, "I can tell that this is a fixed point, I will not tell you to do anything you would regret."

"Looks like the only political leader we need to really talk to is Celestia." The Doctor said, "Still, could be worse."

The Doctor opened up the TARDIS doors, "She got roughed up in the crash, and therefore the worst that could happen is we're a bit off landing, nothing too harsh."

Rainbowdash decided to give him an earful once they took off, and they did, flying to Equestria

The Doctor sighed, "Rainbow, you know when you look at an old photo of somebody that you know, and it looks like they're not quite finished yet?"

Rainbowdash didn't answer

So the Doctor continued, "Well that's what she is, and if I'm correct, has not experienced that traumatizing event yet, and I can say it wasn't the nightmare moon problem."

"So what will we have to deal with?" Rainbowdash finally asked

Images of when he was shot by the princess flashed through the Doctor's skull

"No idea, but we should be ready." The Doctor locked the handbrake

[…]

When he opened the door there was quite the sight, computers in shop windows and all sorts of technology

"It appears that Celestia removes technology, fascinating." The Doctor said

Rainbowdash shook her head, "This can't be happening, the princess wouldn't do that."

The Doctor didn't respond, he was looking upwards at a small black box on a window, there was a red light

"She knows we're here" the Doctor said, "She must have full coverage of this whole city."

Several guards began to move in towards the two

"They'll have guns" the Doctor looked around, "I think I know what to do, come on!"

Rainbowdash was grabbed by her shoulder and pulled in a direction that she had barely registered

What had the princess hidden from her and her friends for so long? Why was technology removed, and why was the Doctor getting involved?

When she had registered what was going on she saw that they were running through what seemed to be a hailstorm, the Doctor was holding onto his fedora and keeping his head down

"We need to get out of the line of fire!" the Doctor pulled Rainbowdash to the side, the corner of a building

"Doctor, what will we do?" Rainbowdash puffed

The Doctor then felt very aware that they were not in the alley alone, they turned around

The Doctor could easily see that one had a light brown coat, a brown mane, a red bowtie, a fez, and green eyes, his cutie mark confirmed what he already suspected

The Ponyville dentist was behind him, Colgate, the Doctor recalled

"I can't believe it" the stallion said, "Another one?"

"Looks like the griffon queen hadn't been lying" the Doctor said, "As there are clearly other incarnations of myself from alternate universes prancing about."

Colgate and Rainbow looked at each other

"Is this your universe?" Colgate asked

"Yeah, the Doctor wanted to fix my… problems." Rainbowdash didn't elaborate

"Universal double vision" the Doctor did elaborate, "After this universe nearly collapsed."

"Nearly?" Whooves asked

(Calling him Whooves to avoid confusion, as it already was affecting me)

"I stopped it" the Doctor said, "But nobody remembered me, except Rainbowdash here."

"He used to have problems with crashing into other universes" Rainbowdash explained, "And I was with him when he crashed."

"So the memories of the alternate remained inside your head" Whooves had a grin, "Brilliant."

"Weren't we being chased?" Rainbowdash looked around, to see nopony around

"They were simply shooting at us" the Doctor winced as he acknowledged a shot that hit his right wing

"We should get to the castle" Whooves suggested, "We can knock some sense into the Princess' head."

The Doctor nodded, "Afterwards we can deal with the Shadow."

Colgate and Rainbow nodded

"Right then" Whooves straightened his bowtie, "Geronimo."

[…]

Celestia was aware that they were going to come straight to her, so why use any more force than she needed to? They were going to arrive here soon, and she knew exactly what to do then.

She could feel the need to do it, the urge to go out and eliminate them once and for all, but when she saw the pegasus, the dark coated one she thought about it, but it couldn't be him. Not possible.

But she couldn't shake it off, that pegasus was familiar, and she wanted to at least hear him out

'Hmm.' The princess thought, 'I just might be getting kinder.'

[…]

The Doctor had made sure to grab everything he would need, and prepare what words he had to say

When they regrouped in front of the castle both versions of the Doctor knew that since they hadn't been arrested yet then that meant they had sealed off all paths other than the castle

As they quickly approached the Doctor chose to make note of everything that could be used in a dangerous situation

Discord's statue was there, and the Doctor could tell that he was watching intently, he could feel chaos emanating from that thing

Whooves seemed to not notice, or simply didn't care, he was focused on the task at hand

The corridors were blocked off for locations they shouldn't go, but it didn't matter as they knew exactly where they were headed

Once they reached the throne room doors the Doctor looked to his comrades

"Are we ready?"

"Your call" Whooves said

The Doctor looked at the doors, "Adelante."

And he pushed the doors wide open

[…]

Celestia was waiting for them, sitting on her golden throne. The glass stained windows were of the history of Equestria, rather than the victories of its heroes

The Doctor went straight up to the throne, stopping ten feet away

"Explain. Now." The Doctor said

"I'm not sure I know what you mean." The Princess' look of glee didn't fade

"The humans, I want you to explain why you're not negotiating." The Doctor demanded

The princess shined one of her hooves, "I have been…hired per say."

Whooves looked alarmed, "Hired by who?"

"Hired by what is a better question" Rainbowdash commented

"I am to flush out the Doctor, the one who killed a colleague of my client." Celestia's eyes flashed, "Which one of you was it?"

The Doctor knew exactly what she was talking about, but decided to change the subject

"The humans, what are your plans for them?"

"They're a nuisance, pests." Celestia waved her hoof dismissively, "If they don't surrender I can't be held responsible for what I'll do."

"You're always held responsible" Whooves said, "No matter how far you run your past will always catch up with you."

The Doctor nodded, "What will your subjects think if you were to do that? Or even more so your sister?"

"Nopony has any right to bring her into this" Celestia snapped

"You already have, simply by being related to her" the Doctor pressed

"She is not, nor will Luna be a part of this." Celestia said, "And the human's best not have contacted her."

Colgate looked at her, "You need to understand, killing them is not an option."

"Killing is always an option" Celestia shrugged, "Nothing new to Equestria."

Then she grinned in a very sadistic manner, "Arrest them, I want each of them searched for weapons."

Chapter 9

As the Doctor hit the cold stone floor of the dungeon cell he could hear the door slam shut behind him

Celestia had thought it best that he wasn't kept in a cell with his counterpart nor any of the companions, so he was on his own inside here

He got up, not wanting to waste any time, they took the sonic screwdriver and his element, possibly planning to execute him for blasphemy or something

Unfortunately the room was practically barren, only a mattress and a toilet, and the chain was missing from the toilet with only a piece of string to use

As the timelord paced a circle in his cell he became aware of a growing sense of being watched, as if whoever was doing it was getting closer

[…]

Luna woke up, as she trotted down to the throne room to see what the commotion was

What she saw wasn't anything she was expecting, she saw four ponies being hustled off by the guards, while a few others; including her sister, were looking at the items they had been stripped of

Two were like a metal and copper rod, while the third and final item rang a bell, a serious bell

It was a light brown hourglass, on a golden necklace

Her memories flashed backwards, to the stallion calling himself the Doctor, defeating Discord, running the kingdom, and to the four ponies hustled out, one fit the description perfectly of the Doctor

Celestia hadn't noticed her, as she was heavily invested in using her magic on the necklace, Luna was able to pick up the copper rod without getting noticed

She then slipped down underneath the castle and into the dungeons

[…]

The Doctor was beginning to feel hopeless, what could they do? Both of the sonic screwdrivers had been taken and they had left him nothing to work with here!

*creak*

The door to the cell was open, and the Doctor could see a familiar face on the other side

"Princess Luna?" He stood up

The princess of the night floated a small device to him, "Come Doctor, my sister has become far too obsessed with the humans, she has lost sight of what is right."

The Doctor took the sonic screwdriver, this one belonged to Whooves, but a Mk VIII sonic screwdriver would have to do

"Right then" the Doctor exited the cell, "What do we have to do?"

"You told me you do not travel alone, where is your assistant?"

The Doctor nodded, "I think they were taken this way, Adelante!"

[…]

Colgate was standing inside her cell, Rainbowdash was sharing her bunk

"What do you think the Doctor's planning for this one?" Rainbowdash asked

Colgate shrugged, "It's hard to tell with him, he never has plans that make any sense."

Rainbowdash continued to lay down on the mattress, not much else to do

"They work, and he saves as many ponies as he can" Rainbowdash said, "He always has a plan."

"Will he be able to save the planet though?" Colgate asked, "In the future there's this…"

"Dead planet" Rainbowdash finished, "It's been there my whole life, then the Doctor showed me what it really was."

"Spoilers"

The door opened, and Whooves was standing there

"Come on, we don't have any time."

[…]

The Doctor and Luna met up with the others in the hallway

"We need a plan" Colgate said, "Has she tried using the elements?"

"Yes, but they no longer respond to her." Luna answered, "My sister's plans may not be pleasant for the human race."

"I have a plan" the Doctor said, "But I can't guarantee anyone's safety."

"Let's hear it Doctor" Rainbowdash said

[…]

Celestia hadn't been able to spark anything even with the element the Doctor had been carrying, she couldn't help but wonder if he had been carrying it even after he left the last time. She began to wonder is he had been defeated by her basic dungeons, had he given up?

"In case you're wondering, no, I'm not giving up" The Doctor was in the room with her

"Doctor" Celestia sneered, "I see you're as crafty as I remember."

"I'm here to talk, are you willing to talk?"

"I will not negotiate with you Doctor" Celestia said, "However I may as well hear you out."

The Doctor nodded, "You want to destroy the human race, but you surely understand that they are not all harmful?"

"You see what they have done to their planet, their technology is beyond their knowledge" Celestia said, "They are pests to be exterminated."

That word sent a chill down the Doctor's spine, but he ignored it and continued

"There is a lot they have done for the betterment of its kind" the Doctor said, "You don't think for even a second that-"

"They are nothing but harmful" Celestia said, "They are not to be negotiated with."

"But you don't have the means to do it do you?" the Doctor half smiled, "You've tried the elements, but you don't have the raw power on your own do you?"

"I am sure that if I can talk to Luna about it, she will surely-"

"Disagree with you" Luna walked in, "I knew you were becoming obsessed, and you're going too far."

"If you do not assist me then I shall do it alone"

The princess of the sun began to crackle with raw power, knocking the Doctor over, Rainbowdash and Colgate arrived as per the plan but this scene wasn't planned for

"The humans will burn for their crimes" Celestia said, her royal Canterlot voice booming

The Doctor backed away, sliding along the ground as each of the windows shattered, and the princess launched into the air

"Oh no…" the Doctor jumped to his hooves, "She's gone to burn the earth!"

Luna broke down, she began to sob as the only family she had left was going to follow in the hoofsteps of her parents

"Luna, it's okay…" Colgate attempted to calm her down

Luna's head shot up, "No, I cannot call somepony like that to be the rightful ruler of Equestria."

The Doctor felt it then, a fixed point in time was forming

"Luna, what do you mean?" Rainbowdash asked

"I shall be the rightful ruler" Luna rose to her hooves, towering over everypony else, "The sun is going to destroy a race, so the moon shall remain in the sky, in everlasting night!"

Rainbowdash backed away, horrified as she understood what was happening, the Doctor stepped in to protect her and his friends/counterparts

"Then what are you calling yourself exactly?" the Doctor demanded

"This is a nightmare…" Whooves had just arrived, after sabotaging the guards quarters as per the plan

"That is what I shall call myself!" the insane pony rose and shouted in her royal Canterlot voice, "I AM NIGHTMARE MOON!"

[…]

Celestia was absorbing the sun's rays, when she let loose a beam so massive that it covered nearly the entire earth, surely roasting anything inside and outside

But she saw something before the beam hit, a child, who had lost his mother in the initial flurry, his face was streaked with tears and dirt, his clothing was covered in burns and his skin was matching

Before she could stop it, she knew that she had become a murderer, there had been innocents as the Doctor had warned her, but the bloodlust had taken advantage of her

Did she truly deserve to rule?

[…]

Colgate had grabbed the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, tossing it to him, and the Doctor tossed Whooves his screwdriver

"I don't like where this is going" the Doctor said, as they had made it to the throne room doors

"The night shall last FOREVER!" Nightmare Moon boomed

That was what they had taken as their cue to run, and ironically enough both of the Doctors had landed their TARDISes fairly close to one another

The Doctor waved a halfhearted goodbye, as Colgate thanked them for helping

"Good luck Doctor" Whooves said

"You too Doctor" the Doctor hadn't lifted his spirits with that remark

As they got inside they pulled their handbrakes at the exact same time

[…]

Celestia watched as the police boxes faded away, she was holding the element of Loyalty in her hoof, wishing she could save her kingdom from the night that had risen not moments before

Wishing, hoping that she could save the kingdom from her own dark side as well, she would never do this crime again, she vowed, she would be accepting of the new, and accepting of the Doctor if she saw him again

Then she noticed something, the element in her hoof was glowing, it was responding to her, she could use them to save her kingdom

Yet her heart for her sister cried out against it, would she be able to?

The princess of the sun sighed, she knew what she had to do

[…]

The Doctor was sitting down, after setting the TARDIS destination

Neither of the two ponies said anything, they had witnessed the destruction of the human race and the creation of Nightmare Moon

"Any loose ends?" the Doctor finally asked

"What?"

"Anything we're missing?" the Doctor rephrased, "Anything that still needs doing?"

Rainbowdash reached into her pocket and found there to be a necklace, one with the Equestrian symbol on it

"Yeah, I think so."

"Right then!" the Doctor seemed to brighten a bit, "Back to adventure!"

Chapter 10

The light was fading over the horizon, the moon was edging its way up the sky, and the lonely pony was walking along down the cobblestone path

The air was cold, and this particular pony hadn't noticed, the chills not penetrating her snow white coat, although she wasn't walking anywhere specific her eyes were clear and alert, despite the late hour

She hadn't had much to feed on lately, but ever since she met that pernicious Doctor she knew that he wouldn't approve of her doing anything to innocent ponies, so she took to feeding on wildlife, not much blood there

Her fellow vamponies had dwindled in numbers since they started feeding on pony blood, either by starvation or lack of influx

Equestria was reaching an age where things were powered by factories, the machines made quite a bit of pollution, however the technological increase continued unabated

There were stories of a pegasus pony with an hourglass cutie mark that had freed this town of the changelings, she had no doubt this was the Doctor

That was when she sensed it: a disturbance; her super-pony speed allowing her to arrive at the scene quickly

A blue box was materializing before her eyes, something she remembered quite well since her last adventure with the time traveler

The doors opened, a huge billowing cloud of smoke poured out of the console room and two coughing ponies stumbled out

"This is the source of the flux" the Doctor managed to get out

"Enough about the flux, what about the TARDIS?" Rainbowdash asked

"She'll be fine, although we should give her a couple of hours." The Doctor answered

"Hey you two" Vinyl revealed herself

(I felt I was going too long without saying her name, which you should have already guessed)

"Vinyl" the Doctor said, surprised, "How did you find us?"

"Your box created a disturbance, only the really cute can hear it."

"Don't you mean acute?" Rainbowdash asked

"Who said I did?" Vinyl countered

The Doctor looked around awkwardly

"So what brings you two around here? It's been a while since we last met." Vinyl questioned

"We're on a bit of a hunt" the Doctor answered, "It's a bit of a long story, I can tell you later."

"I think I know where we can talk" Vinyl suggested, "I was a DJ at one point and I have a house."

"Then let's hurry" Rainbowdash looked around furtively, "They could appear any minute now."

The Doctor nodded, "Show the way Vinyl."

[…]

The DJs home wasn't what anyone would expect in this day and age, as it was still the wood and thatched roofing of an old Ponyville house

"I'll get something for us to drink" Rainbowdash said, "The Doctor can start."

The Doctor sat down on one of the couches, rubbing his temples, "Okay, here's how it began."

[]

The TARDIS slammed to a halt in midflight, flinging the Doctor into the console and causing him to accidently hit the joystick, as the TARDIS spun out of control the Doctor worked like a maniac to regain control of the travelling box

Now the TARDIS was heading towards a wall of the universe at top speed, and the Doctor knew what would happen if they hit it, either they would splat like a bug or get flung into the Void with no chance of finding their way back

Rainbowdash had taken to hanging onto the railing, as to not get flung around the console as the Doctor was doing, instead she was attempting on figuring out how she would help

The TARDIS slammed to a jarring stop once again, slamming the rainbow maned pony into the console, almost breaking a rib on one of the levers

The TARDIS lunged the other direction, and the time machine had locked its controls in order to protect itself

The Doctor only had control over what direction they would crash, and he chose closer to the core of the universe that way they could hit one of the passing planets

As they flew the TARDIS like they never past their tests, the Doctor fired off controls for Rainbowdash to hit, and she would

It was in this sort of manner that they ended up crashing into a planet that the Doctor would have been very happy staying away from, or more accurately a moon

They had crash landed on the moon

[]

(Flashback Arrows)

"What's wrong with the moon?" Vinyl asked

"There's something on the moon, a place where Luna lived out her insanity that she suffered" the Doctor answered, "It was a sort of solitary confinement thing."

Rainbowdash came into the room with a plate of sandwiches, giving Vinyl an old blood bag

The Doctor didn't pick one up, instead favoring finishing the story

[]

The Doctor stepped outside and took a deep sniff of that old lunar air, they weren't too far off their last timeframe, only by about 900 years or so the Doctor estimated

"I remember the last time I was here" the Doctor said, "Actually I was here in the future."

Rainbowdash rolled her eyes at the fact he was still making jokes

"We should take a look around, sounds like a plan right?" the Doctor said, "We might as well."

[…]

The timelord and his pony companion had made it to the lunar village, the air was cool and they could see some crowd gathering in the distance

The Doctor and Rainbowdash approached the back, as Rainbowdash fluttered up to see what the commotion was about

The Doctor stretched his wings awkwardly, he still hadn't gotten the hang of them quite yet, but gave it a go anyway

They sat on a roof, as they could now see the lunar princess standing before something that looked to be a giant sapling of a tree

"Well isn't this fascinating…" the Doctor muttered, "She's building herself an ark."

Luna's head snapped up, likely recognizing the Doctor's voice

"It is finally time, Doctor." Luna didn't look angry, simply calm, "I shall leave this moon, my people, and go claim back my home planet."

The Doctor cocked his head to the side, "But why? You have everything you need here."

"There is a plague infecting those at my home" Luna answered, "I must go, even if my insanity takes me."

"But you can't do that!" Rainbowdash protested, "What about your people? They love and care for you, you deserve those that care for you."

"If my home dies because I cannot handle it, then I never deserved to rule my children here." Luna said, "I'm sorry."

Then a light began to flare, and Luna was enveloped before firing like a rocket back to the planet

"Rainbow" the Doctor looked around, seeing what he feared would be there

Several shadows of ponies were there, and they had the jaws that he remembered, the ones that had so mercilessly bitten into him so many times

But it wasn't his own safety that he was worried for, he didn't want Rainbowdash to put up with what he already had to

Rainbowdash looked around, seeing the same creatures, memories of the darkened console flashed back into her mind, the creature that hunted her through the bowels of the TARDIS

"We should run" the Doctor said

Rainbowdash nodded silently

The Doctor stretched his wings a bit, "Let's take these for a spin shall we?"

The two of them took off back for the TARDIS

[…]

The Doctor had just locked the door when the howls and raged cries came back from the outside

The Doctor sighed and took to looking at the console, the TARDIS had locked all higher functions

"Then why allow me to control the most basic operations hmm?" the Doctor pondered, "Unless…"

"PAH!" the Doctor slapped his hoof on his forehead, "The basic controls can only be accessed from here! Someone has been messing with the higher functions!"

"So we've got to go and find them?" Rainbowdash cracked her neck

"No, I've got a better idea." The Doctor said

[…]

The TARDIS console was dark, and the pony silhouette walked into the room, furtively looking for something specific, trying to access the console but being locked out

The lights suddenly snapped on, catching the pony in plain view

The Doctor felt one of his hearts slow down, "It can't be…"

Chapter 11

The Doctor grabbed the console's handrails in an attempt to slow down his forward momentum, nearly knocking himself over and down into the lower parts of the control room

Rainbowdash was in midair and avoiding the sudden shakes by not making physical contact with anything, but heeded what the Doctor said next

"Rainbow! Pull the emergency handbrake!"

As soon as she had smacked the handbrake the TARDIS suddenly stopped shaking and went still

The Doctor caught his breath, "That must have been quite the power supply if it made the TARDIS do that."

Rainbowdash helped the hanging Doctor back up towards the door, before the two looked at said doors apprehensively

"Well" the Doctor said, "Adelante."

[…]

It was safe to say that the land outside looked rather awful, the town looked completely decimated, not a single pony stood around the small little village

The eerie familiarity of the area chilled the Doctor, it was as if he was missing something important

"What happened?" Rainbowdash asked, looking at the slightly green overcast sky, "Is it Nightmare Night or something?"

The Doctor stayed silent, before bursting out loud

"Of course!" he exclaimed, "There must have been a cataclysmic event that caused a ripple in time; that would cause a huge surge of power!"

Rainbowdash had been doing a brief flyover of the town, before delivering the chilling news

"Doctor, I think this is Ponyville."

[…]

They watched and saw, the blue box had appeared after long last! Oh how she would be pleased to have her revenge at long last!

But they would need to watch, they would need to listen for they needed to succeed this time

So they hid, as the two looked for clues, they would wait and watch

[…]

"Is it just me or does it seem like there was a nuclear apocalypse while we were gone?" the Doctor asked suddenly, "The landscape fits."

"What's nuclear mean?" Rainbowdash asked

"Right no technology of that caliber was available to you" the Doctor nodded, "That cancels that out of the picture, what could it be…?"

Rainbowdash saw a pony in the distance, looking completely fine and dandy, she nudged the Doctor and got his attention

As he looked up the Doctor felt a growing sense of dread, it was getting closer, and it was becoming more and more apparent that it was no normal pony

It had claws, straight and marred with blood, its mane was pink and straight, the eyes were what really got at the Doctor, the actual eye was missing however a bright purple dot was how it obtained its sight

Rainbowdash tensed for sudden flight

It was now 20 meters away, that was when its jerky movements became more noticeable, as did the cutie mark

Two blue balloons accompanied by one yellow balloon

"Pinkie Pie…?" Rainbowdash had tears streaking down her face

The figured stopped ten feet away, seemingly evaluating the pair

Right then it lunged forward, a shriek erupting from its throat, the Doctor could've sworn it sounded like a pony having their vocal cords being slowly dissolved by acid

Rainbowdash took off, and the Doctor's instinct to run kicked in, launching off into the maze of houses and rubble

The Doctor quickly lost sight of Rainbowdash but was positive that she could take care of herself in the air, for now he had to focus on getting himself into a safe position

He jumped over a small fence, before catapulting himself into a small kitchen, which he guessed was Sugarcube Corner

The monstrosity that was once Pinkie Pie had followed him into the bakery, slowing down now that it had lost sight of him

The grunting and panting of the creature only served to make the Doctor nervous, as he was hidden in a cupboard not ten feet from it

It slammed some pots over, slowly exiting the bakery as far as the Doctor could tell

Where was Rainbowdash? The Doctor wondered, was she alright? He must've diverted the pink thing but what if there were any more of them?

[…]

Rainbowdash had done one of the things that helped her best avoid Pinkie Pie before, hiding inside a cloud

Now she didn't know where the Doctor went, so she decided to look for him and avoid any further trouble

As she touched down on the soft dirt road she began to wonder if Twilight and the rest of her friends were okay, but the chances were slim

A lone paper blew in the wind, Rainbowdash caught it and read the date

"Wha…What?"

It was only a few days after she had left with the Doctor in terms of her 'therapy treatment', what had happened in that time?

The rest of the text was illegible, besides an article about a few ponies going missing, but that point was moot now, all of the ponies were missing

There was no sign of anypony living here for ages, but that paper wasn't the best source for time due to its current state, even so with the state of the town it could just be a day old

There were too many questions and not enough answers, Rainbowdash simply decided to go and look for Twilight, she would know what to do

That was assuming Twilight was okay, Rainbow hoped for the best but with what had happened to Pinkie…

She shook her head clear, she would have to go and look for the rest of her friends; it was her responsibility

She started for Twilight's tree, and what she found there was quite astounding

"Well Doc, you wanted to see your power source." Rainbowdash breathed, "Well you found it."

[…]

The Doctor felt as if the coast was clear, and took the time to go and look for clues in Pinkie's room

Once he got up there it was apparent that the change had been gradual, the slashes in the wall were new, as was the baby crocodile corpse, but a few scribbling messages on the wall seemed a day or two old

There was even a diary, which told of the changes Pinkie had gone through, and a few startling developments

Pinkie's Log

Twilight's been going bonkers again, but I'm sure she'll be fine, she thinks she saw a blue box vanish into thin air! Wouldn't that be fun! It's not good how she's been obsessing over it, and it kind of scares me, I'll still be as bubbly as I can to make her feel better!

Pinkie's Log

Twilight's been testing some new spells, from inside a book that was called Arcane something, she tested it on me which is fine because we're friends like that, but I've been feeling weird, and not the good weird, the bad weird

Pinkie's Log

I don't know if this will be my last log, but my hooves…There's something wrong with them, they're sharper and a I can't help but look at my friend's necks, thinking of the juicy meat that they have…No! I have to find out what's happening! Maybe Twilight will know…

That was the last entry, one for three days across, so it had been three days for Pinkie Pie to convert into whatever it was she was now, Twilight had something to do with this, and he had to go find out how to fix it

[…]

Before Rainbowdash could go inside she found a small little reptile body, one she recognized instantly

"Spike!?" she bent down and picked him up, there were no signs of life, "Who did this to you?"

"That would be me" a dark purple alicorn stood in the doorway, "Please, come in; I've just put the tea on."

Rainbowdash knew she had no way of getting answers without going inside, so she did, looking out to see if the Doctor was anywhere close, or even alive for that matter

Twilight looked more shadow than pony at this point, a bright green haze going off from her now red irises, the whites of her eyes were now a normal purple

She sat down on a stool, inviting Rainbowdash to sit on the other one

As Rainbowdash sat down, she saw that the alicorn before her was watching her intently

"You're awfully clean for someone in this town" Twilight said calmly, "It's no surprise how you've come out of that blue box."

"How long have I been gone?" Rainbowdash asked bluntly

"Four days" Twilight took a sip of the tea, "You and your 'therapist' must've had quite the time in that small box."

Rainbowdash had to hold herself back from smacking her best friend across the face

"But of course that stallion must have been well trained in the arcane arts" Twilight continued, "So I trained to match"

"What did you do to Pinkie Pie?" Rainbowdash demanded

"Watch your tone Rainbow" Twilight warned caustically

Rainbowdash gulped, Twilight wasn't going to be reasoned with, likely beneath that calm demeanor was a highly unstable pony

"She was a…test." Twilight finally said, "It was necessary in order to see my abilities."

"And of the rest of Ponyville?"

"That was…collateral damage." Twilight said, "However I am quite pleased with the state of Equestria now."

Rainbowdash felt her breath get caught in her throat, all of Equestria was like this now?

And where was the Doctor? Had Pinkie Pie caught up with him? That chilling thought only served to steel her sense of commitment to stop Twilight's homicidal reign

Twilight was examining Rainbowdash a bit more than Rainbow was comfortable with, before a sadistic smile crept along her face

Rainbowdash felt it before she saw it, a purple aura enveloping her entire body, preventing her from moving

She was dragged down into the basement, before being laid out on a laboratory experimentation table

"After Pinkie Pie came to see me on what was wrong with her, I kindly let her down here with a few of our friends." Twilight said, holding the decapitated head of Scootaloo

Rainbowdash felt the tears streaking down her face, but couldn't bring herself to allow Twilight the pleasure of hearing her scream

The crazed alicorn began to fire a perpetual magical beam, effectively making a laser that was slowly going to carve at the rainbow mare's body

But then a metal girder creaked, and crashed down right on top of Twilight, the Doctor stood on top

"Well then" the Doctor said, breaking Rainbow's restraints, "What are you waiting for? RUN!"

The pair ran up the stairs and out of the library, but not long before Pinkie Pie saw them, and gave chase

They reached the TARDIS doors, Rainbowdash went in first, followed by the timelord

He slammed the doors shut, and quickly disengaged the emergency handbrake

But the Doctor knew that it wasn't going to be over, he ran up and saw what he dreaded at that very moment

The Shadow Twilight had figured out the fact that if she could survive time travel as a unicorn then it stood to reason that as an alicorn she could survive practically anything, so she grabbed hold of the TARDIS

The Doctor knew what he had to do, even though it wasn't going to be pleasant for neither him nor his companion

Rainbowdash looked at the Doctor, apparently aware he was going to do something

"Rainbowdash, I promised to show you the universe" the Doctor said sadly, "I was going to show you so much, but it looks like nothing wants to go my way for these things."

The timelord kicked the futon angrily

"Doctor, what do you mean?" Rainbowdash asked

"Twilight isn't going to let us go, right now she's trying to come with us wherever we go." The Doctor gritted his teeth, "We need to stop this from its source, and I'm sorry, I am truly so sorry. But there isn't any other way."

"Doctor" Rainbowdash looked him straight in the eye, "What are you thinking?"

The Doctor put his hooves on the sides of her head, "Before you go, I want you to know that you were absolutely brilliant, just fantastic. I couldn't think of anyone more capable than you to take along."

Rainbowdash could feel it now, the memories of their adventures, before and after, fade away. The feelings of sorrow and anger were tangible from the Doctor, and Rainbowdash knew there was no way to talk him out of this

"Doctor" Rainbowdash smiled slightly, "Thank you."

And then she collapsed to the floor

[…]

Rainbowdash woke with a start, grabbing her dream journal. Twilight had suggested that she keep one ever since her double vision had faded and these new dreams started to occur, she could see it clearly, his face, and the most recent loss that he had suffered

Her mind was drawing a blank on what his name was, but she knew it was important to write what she did remember of this mysterious pony, to try and find him again someday

The curves and points of his face, his smile, the way he wore a bowtie and fedora, the time they had saved the day from vampire ponies, every dream she had and every entry of her journal, what would she call it?

Then a sudden burst of thought and she remembered his name, or what she called him, the Doctor, and this was her journal of impossible things

A/N: Happy October everybody. I can't trust myself to write a chapter on Halloween itself, so here's your Halloween chapter, eight days early. Please leave feedback and let me know what you think, and any suggestions are welcome!

Chapter 12

The castle was silent, the darkness of night had fallen over the peaceful city of Canterlot. The guards were doing their nightly rounds about the castle, and princess Celestia was asleep. There hadn't been anything in recent times to call for any drastic measures, Luna was out in the Crystal Empire with Twilight and her friends for a visit; everything seemed to be just fine.

But all this peace was a façade

Directly behind the throne of Celestia a thin crack of bright white light began to open, and a small metal container fell through, before the crack sealed once more. It wouldn't take too long to get noticed; it was bound to happen soon

Then everything would fall into place

[…]

The following day Celestia woke up and raised the sun, before going about her morning schedule. Before she could settle in to do any of the things she had planned for that day, a small metal container was presented to her

"We do not know what it is your highness" the guard had said, "But we know it is not dangerous."

From the small glass sides she could see a human-like hand floating in a light blue bubbling liquid, it was maddeningly familiar, however any attempt to remember ended in frustration

As little that the princess could remember she still had the two cents to try and use her magic to get some sort of reading on it

This proved to be a vital mistake

[…]

Once the alicorn princess Celestia used her magic the entity knew that this was the opportune moment, the most delicate part of the whole operation

It jumped, through the magical aura and into the princess, all had worked

It quickly shut out any panic or any inclination to call the guards, it knew that taking the mind completely would take mere moments

'Perfect…' Celestia couldn't help thinking, 'Now for that pesky Doctor…'

[…]

Twilight and her friends were having a great time out visiting the Empire, they knew they could trust Princess Celestia on her own, as she had done that for 1,000 years

Luna had been dragged along because Celestia insisted she needed some time to relax. Although Luna had only agreed if she would still raise and lower the moon from the Empire

There hadn't been any problems for a while now, and Shining Armor had decided that a better look at the Empire might increase commerce between it and the rest of Equestria

Rainbowdash was flying through the clouds and stretching her wings, Applejack was looking over the local fruit, Celestia knows where Pinkie got off to, Twilight and Cadence were talking, and Fluttershy was with the animals of course

Of course none of them knew they had been played for fools; the Shadow itself was absolutely positive that there was no escaping from this fate. This universe would burn, everything the Doctor cared about was going to die, it would be seen to nicely.

As Twilight and Cadence ate some of the local delicacy their conversation shifted off from casual

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked

"There's no doubt" Cadence answered, "The same stallion that helped save the Empire fits the description you told me!"

"But why now-AH!" Twilight clutched her horn

"A magic surge" Cadence looked around, "We'll have to keep on our hoof-tips."

This surge wasn't just felt by the unicorns of the Empire, nor the ponies of Equestria. For at that very moment all sentient life around Equestria began to move away

[…]

Rainbowdash also felt this, as if the winds had shifted against her wings. Her flight had instantly began to go wild, and an inevitable crash into the ground commenced.

As she hit the ground a surge of pain spiked through her body, as she managed to drag herself to her hooves she could see a large amount of panic going on in the crowds of the Empire, she wasn't the only one to have felt it

As the mane six gathered to try and figure out what was going on not too far off from the group was a small wooden blue box sitting inconspicuously in one of the castle rooms

[…]

"No doubting it" the Doctor said out loud, "That surge originated from-"

He looked around, remembering that he was alone in the console room

He would have to exit the TARDIS to get a better look, but staying out of sight would be in his best interest because if anybody recognized him he might have a few issues

Once outside the little blue box he was able to hide in a dark doorway while five of Twilight's friends rushed to the throne room

He would have to go and tell them what he found, but face-to-face would be stupid. No, he needed to find some alternate method of warning them about-

"Excuse me sir" a guard tapped his shoulder, "But I'm going to have to ask you to move your box."

[…]

Twilight and the rest of her friends were all inside the throne room, it was no surprise that the surge had interrupted what all of them were doing

Twilight was looking over Rainbowdash, the crash had nearly broken her wing as far as she could tell

"You really need to see a doctor" Twilight insisted, "I can't tell if you've gotten any internal damage."

A guard walked in at that moment, "Funny, I just finished talking with one."

"Really?" Shining Armor raised an eyebrow

"Yeah, blue-green, red bowtie, had a blue box that he needed to move." The guard smiled slightly, "He never gave his name."

"Any idea where he went?" Rainbowdash asked

"Not really, he just went to go look for a shadow or something." The guard shrugged, "Then talked a bunch of gibberish I didn't really catch as he walked off."

There were exchanged looks around the room, mainly of confusion, but Rainbowdash decided to move things along

"So where is this pulse from?" Rainbowdash asked, "If we can find that then we can put a stop to it!"

"Canterlot Castle"

All heads turned to see Luna, she looked like she had been asleep

Rainbowdash remembered that Luna was practically nocturnal

"I can recognize my sister's magic print anywhere" Luna said, "I knew I shouldn't have left."

"No point beating yourself up about it princess!" Applejack said, "We just have to fix it."

"Easier said than done" Twilight said, "I think we should divide and conquer, Shining Armor, Princess Luna and Cadence should stay here and get the Crystal Ponies to stop panicking. Rainbowdash and I'll look for that Doctor the guard was talking about. Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Applejack take the train."

The group all agreed and then went about their assigned stations, it was go time

Chapter 13

As the duo of Rainbow and Twilight went about their search they had passed right by the infamous blue box, the Doctor was inside and using the TARDIS scanner to get a basic reading of the raw power that the pulse had

It was enough to fully charge the TARDIS engines in three seconds, that was more power than a dimensional rift

The Doctor began to hit switches and pull levers, but before he could release the handbrake he could hear a knock at the door

'Oh dear' he thought to himself

Well there was always the option to not open it for them, but he forgot to lock the doors on his way back in. They could always open it and if he tried to lock it they would be able to see it on their end

He opened the doors and saw the pair he was expecting to see, Twilight and Rainbowdash

'Well this is just perfect.' The Doctor thought annoyed

"What's with the box?" Twilight asked

"It's my transport." The Doctor said simply, "Look, if it's not terribly important I've got an evil force to stop from taking over all of Equestria and most likely burning it in the fires of the Void."

The silence that followed contained of Rainbowdash trying to figure out what he just said, but Twilight was busy trying to peek over his shoulder, what she saw made her head hurt

"What do you know of the pulse?" Rainbowdash demanded

"It's from Canterlot, now if you'll excuse me…" the Doctor attempted to close the doors

Twilight stuck her hoof in the way, an unamused expression on her face

'This is not going to end well' the Doctor thought to himself

"You think you're just going to go and save Equestria and all will be fine?" Rainbowdash asked

"Nothing ever is that simple" the Doctor said, "Listen, the longer you stall me the later this problem will get solved."

"Then let's take a look inside the box" Twilight said, in truth she just wanted to investigate what she expected to be an optical illusion

"I really haven't got the ti-" the Doctor was cut off by Twilight teleporting behind him

In the moment the Doctor had used to turn around Rainbowdash dashed past him, and the pair were now inside

Twilight marveled at the strange machinery, but Rainbowdash was silent

The Doctor knew what was going on, she was fitting pieces of the puzzle together. This wouldn't be a good situation, especially considering how delicate it was

Twilight looked at her friend, then at the Doctor

"What is this thing?"

"It's called the TARDIS" Rainbowdash said

"You mean the one from…" Twilight looked at the Doctor for confirmation

"I'd assume she has a dream journal, I didn't have the time for a full wipe." He answered

"In the journal" Twilight looked at the controls, "It said this thing can travel."

"I could get us to Canterlot in less than a second, or five minutes ago." The Doctor said, "But I think you two should take the long route."

"Can't we come with you?" Rainbowdash asked

"I've had so many faces, so many friends." The Doctor looked away, "I've lost all of them; I don't want to risk that happening again."

The TARDIS lurched to the side, knocking the three ponies to the ground

The Doctor scrambled to his hooves, and checked the scanner, the TARDIS was being picked up by some force pulling them to Canterlot

"Looks like we're moving anyway!" the Doctor grabbed a hunk of metal and tech he had stashed under the floor panels, "This extrapolator should give us a small boost!"

Once he hit it with a mallet the TARDIS bumped, moving over

Then the console room went silent, only the quiet thrumming of the TARDIS was audible

"Whatever cause the pulse dragged the TARDIS to Canterlot" the Doctor said, "I'm guessing through the engines, which is how it got powered up so quickly."

"So what's out there?" Rainbowdash asked

"That boost I gave us must've moved us about a block or two away from the source, I'd say we're not far off from a Canterlot park." The Doctor answered

"It'd take Applejack and the others a day to get here on the train." Twilight said, "Can't we wait for them?"

"By then the whole universe will have burned." The Doctor said, "The Void, why does that pop up around the Shadow so often…?"

"What is the Shadow anyway?" Twilight questioned

"Something that wants the Doctor dead" Rainbowdash answered, "It's been trying for a long time now."

"Still hasn't gotten me" the Doctor grinned, "And it won't get Equestria if I can help it."

"Why would it suddenly change from targeting you to Equestria anyway?" Twilight asked, "It just doesn't make sense."

"Fair point" the Doctor thought about it, "Well, the longer we stay in here the more time we waste. Adelante!"

[…]

The sunlight cascaded across the grass and buildings of the city, the air was fresh with a slight chill as autumn approached

The Doctor stepped out and looked around, ponies were looking slightly panicked and in a small amount of disarray, the pulse had just passed

"We bumped slightly into the past" the Doctor said, "Let's get to the castle then."

"Princess Celestia wouldn't have made a pulse like that on purpose" Twilight reasoned as they walked

"That's exactly what I'm worried about."

Rainbowdash was sure there was something that she was missing, but every time she looked at the Doctor he looked so… freshly burned. Like something had happened to him just recently

"Why are we going straight there anyway?" Rainbow asked, "That's not your usual style"

"I've been running all my life" the Doctor said simply, "I'm tired of running."

He said it with a finality that sent a shiver down Rainbow's back, almost as if he had no intent of coming back

The castle appeared before them, a sense of danger and evil seemed to be exuding from it. Not a single castle guard was in sight

"Stay alert, and don't knock anything over." The Doctor warned

The timelord was almost certain bringing Twilight and Rainbowdash in was a bad idea, but they were certainly not going to sit back when he'd go in on his own

[…]

Everything had fallen into place, the Shadow now had a body, and the elements had been separated and therefore useless, and the Doctor was on his way

'All the little things have come together' the Shadow thought malevolently

Those guards had made a nice little cure for how peckish she had become, a whole battalion had to do, but a quick snack was all she needed at the time

They were close, two of the elements and the timelord, and one of them was his former companion! Oh this victory would be sweet!

The doors to the throne room burst open, and there stood her adversary for such a long time

The Doctor had arrived

[…]

The Doctor was clearly able to see that Princess Celestia had lost her form to the devious Shadow

"It's so good to see you face to face Doctor" the Shadow said, "This time you won't get away from me."

"Whatever it is you're planning you can bet I'm going to stop it." The Doctor said, "There has been too many deaths by your hand."

"Yeah! You're going down!" Rainbowdash pumped a hoof in the air

"Oh, I don't believe I'm the one who is 'going down'." The Shadow smiled, "But it is rather an ally that is going up."

"Oh… I get it now." The Doctor began to piece it together, "A revenge quest, but what did I ever do? I killed the Univore; that's what I did!"

The Shadow nodded slowly

"What is that thing inside of the princess?" Twilight asked

"Some people call it the Howling, this world calls it the Shadow, my people called it the Void, and some people call it Hell." The Doctor said

"Ooh you clever boy" The Shadow sneered, "But all too late."

"But the Void is inactive on its own" the Doctor's eyes lit up, "So the intelligence, OF COURSE!"

"What, what is it?" Rainbowdash prodded her ear after that outburst

"The King of Shadow! King Sombra! He wasn't killed he was launched into the Void!" the Doctor spoke quickly and excitedly, "The Void took it over, and manifested into this!"

"Now to feed and watch your precious worlds burn." The Shadow grinned with malice

"You and the Univore had a deal, it would feed and you'd get some more leg room!" the Doctor frowned, "Billions of lives lost, for food!"

"Billions" Twilight repeated, "Is that what it's going to do to us?"

"Where did the guards go?" Rainbowdash asked suddenly, "All those families lost a member, and will never know."

"That's what this thing does!" the Doctor's voice raised, "It eats and eats, not caring for life lost. It chooses who lives and who dies."

"I transcend your parameters of time and space" the Shadow frowned, "You are nothing, bugs to be squashed."

"Then what needs to be done is simple." The Doctor said, "Very simple."

"What's your plan then Doctor?" The entity from the Void questioned, "No plan, no way of stopping me."

"I am going to stop you" the timelord from Gallifrey vowed, "Just you watch."

The Shadow began to form a portal, "I'll see you at the Empire, where this all began."

Rainbowdash jumped after her, Twilight attempted to stop her but was dragged through as well

The Doctor rushed outside and back to the TARDIS, "I've got a plan, oh you wouldn't believe the kind of plan I've got."

[…]

The skies over the Crystal Empire began to darken, Twilight and Rainbowdash found themselves right by the town square, likely left to watch the fireworks

"What do you think the Doctor's going to do?" Twilight asked

"He'd sooner die than let Equestria get destroyed" Rainbowdash answered, "Which is exactly what I'm afraid of."

Cadence had rushed down to find them, and now they stood on the balcony as they watched a large dark cloud approach seemingly from nowhere

Twilight knew better, the forces were coming from outside the universe. Not a single doubt about it, it was time.

The clouds were not 100 feet away when there was a small blue box flying straight on

"What is he doing?" Shining Armor asked incredulously

"Not running." Twilight answered, finally getting it

The Doctor was rushing around the console, flipping switches and banging levers, it was finally time he stopped sitting on his flank and did something about this Shadow issue

"Adelante" the Doctor said, flipping the handbrake

[…]

Rainbowdash could see it clearly, the TARDIS was slamming face-first into the head of the black cloud, forcing it back

It was simple from there, the inertia had smacked the intelligence from the Shadow, dropping Celestia down in a field at the edge of the Empire, and the little blue box was nowhere to be found

"He died in the name of Equestria" Shining Armor said, "We should all be so lucky."

"As little as I knew of him" Twilight had said, "He was a good stallion, Equestria has lost him."

Rainbowdash had almost been too choked with tears to speak, but she went up and spoke anyway

"The Doctor was a wonderful stallion, one who would go to the edges of the universe to protect those he cares about." She said sadly, "But now he died doing what he does best, and we may see him again. But he won't see us."

[…]

The silent thrum of the TARDIS was strong, and the timelord sat up, keenly remembering what had happened

The Doctor quickly stood up, needing to regain his balance by flailing his arms

Wait…Arms…?

He did a quick bodily check, he had legs and arms, toes and his bowtie and fedora

"Fascinating, my coat appears to have crossed as well." The Doctor checked himself, and saw that he was wearing a blue-green trench coat, a dark brown two piece suit underneath

He checked his pocket and found his sonic screwdriver, safe and sound

Then he went to the scanner, he could see the endless possibilities of the Void stretching before him, all of time and space in any reality, where to start?

A/N: Well this one's done, and about time too. I can't say this was a chore but it lost its joy for me about halfway through, closer to the end. Thank you for all the support that was given to me and maybe I'll make another story like this, until then I've got school and finals coming up. Along with so many other stories to complete, this is turning out to be a good life.