For the longest time, it seemed neither of us really knew what to do. I decided to break the ice a bit and try to see if the Doctor had any clues.

“What happened, exactly?”

“Not sure. While I was trying to get you to come around, I guess Chris became terrified of both you and the Windigo that tried to attack you. He had run out while I tried to make you more comfortable.”

“What happened to the Windigo?”

“Again, not sure. I guess once you snapped out of its hate spell, it just ran away. Anyhow, Lyra had called out to me, saying that Chris had gotten into the TARDIS. I asked her to keep an eye on you and get me if your condition changed, and went out to get him.

“When I knocked on the TARDIS’ front door, he told me to go away, like a sulking child. I told him he’d better get out of there, but he knew I had no way to force him out. He didn’t even believe me when I offered him jelly babies! I guess he must have found the Instruction Manual for the TARDIS—”

I raised an eyebrow. “You keep an Instruction Manual for the TARDIS?”

He glared at me, his teeth gritted. “Sometimes I’m forgetful, all right? And besides that, I’m more surprised he could read it!”

I thought this over a moment. The stranger was definitely from the human dimension. If the Instruction Manual were written in the same language that was written above the TARDIS’ front door, then of course he’d be able to read it.

“So you’re saying he went back and rewrote time?”

“Look outside again and tell me he hasn’t.”

I wanted to smack him, but instead decided to ask other questions. “So if he’s rewritten time, how come we aren’t…”

“Phased out? We used the TARDIS earlier. I imagine we have some kind of time... shield... thingy going on.”

I looked at him, puzzled. “What?”

“We used the TARDIS to travel through time. Therefore, you and I still have some time before we melt away and this reality becomes concrete.”

My eyes widened. “Melt away?”

He walked forward, the fear in his eyes just as apparent as mine. “In a few days’  time, you and I will fade away as this reality takes root in the normal time continuum of your dimension. This new Beta will consume the Alpha, replacing it. And when those few days are up, you. And I. Will cease. To exist.” The volume of his voice dropped to near a whisper. “We will become nothing at all.”

I sat down. “Great Scott,” I exclaimed quietly.

“I know,” said the Doctor, wiping his face nervously, “this is pretty heavy.”

After a few seconds, I had a plan. “OK,” I said. “I have an idea. Let’s go find my friends.”

“Are you so sure that’s a good idea?” he asked. “This IS an alternate reality. They could be anywhere, doing anything. You might not even recognize them, and they might not recognize you.”

I pursed my lips. He had a very strong chance of being right, but what else could we do? I asked him if he had a better idea. “Only one I have right now is to find the TARDIS. I don’t know how we’ll do it, so I’ll just go along with yours for now.”

With that, we left the abandoned building and went back out into this new, wretched city. CWCVille. Even the name was enough to make me feel like gagging.

It took us some time, but we made it to where Sweet Apple Acres was supposed to be. Instead, a large building stood in its place. Upon closer inspection, it was more of a shopping arcade that seemed to stretch for a mile or two. It was similar to the other, sloppily designed buildings, but it still held some air of importance to it. Over its front door was a neon sign depicting the stranger’s head and the words “CWCVILLE MALL”. Ponies were shuffling into and out of the mall in droves.

An obnoxious song was being played over the speakers, the singer’s voice both tone-deaf AND familiar. It was pretty whiny, too, something about SO needing a cute girl his age. As the song finished, the radio’s announcer called it “The Song that Defined a Decade”—"If it did, it must have been a miserable decade," mused the Doctor—after which, an announcement from the “Great Director” to report any “suspicious troll activities to local authorities.”

Applejack apparently was out of the question. We decided to go to Sugarcube Corner—only to discover it had been replaced by a statue of the town’s Great and Wonderful Mayor, standing in a daring pose fit for a superhero. There was an obvious artistic license done to the stranger’s anatomy, as instead of fat and unhealthy, his physique more closely resembled Big Macintosh’s. On the base, the inscription read: “OUR GREAT DIRECTOR.”

The Doctor shook his head in complete disgust. I was beginning to seriously worry. We headed to Fluttershy’s cottage—the only other place we could reach on hoof, as Rainbow Dash lived in the sky—and as we arrived, I noticed that the house was at least still there, although for some reason I couldn’t spot any of Fluttershy’s animals about. The hutches that used to be in her yard were missing completely. The lights were on, as the sun had gone down by now. I ran to the cottage, in the hopes that Fluttershy at least still lived there.

I knocked and waited for a response. After a second, there came a familiar, timid “Who is it?”

“Fluttershy, open up, it’s me.”

Silence. “Me who?” she asked quietly from just behind the door.

The Doctor looked at me. “She probably hasn’t met you in this timeline.”

I shook my head, shushing him. “It’s me, Twilight Sparkle.”

A few seconds’ wait, and the door was unlocked. It slowly opened, Fluttershy peering out awkwardly from behind it.

She looked different. Her mane and tail were still pink, but they were disheveled and overgrown; her coat was still buttery yellow, but she had no cutie mark. She was also skinnier, as if she barely ate very much now, and her eyes looked deader, hollow. She looked at me up and down as if questioning whether I was really there. “Twilight?” she whispered. “How…?”

I reached out my hoof and touched her foreleg. “It’s OK, Fluttershy. I’m here, everything’s gonna be all right.”

Her eyes began to water as I spoke. As soon as I said “right,” she burst out bawling and fell to my hooves, begging my forgiveness. “What?” I asked. “What do you have to be sorry for?”

“He made me do it!” she cried. “He made me do it! That awful mayor!”

“What did he make you do?”

She continued to bawl and ask me for forgiveness. “Gracious, Fluttershy! YES! YES I FORGIVE YOU, NOW TELL ME WHAT’S GOING ON!”

Her bawling slowed into sniffles. She looked into my eyes. “I have no idea how you’re even here,” she mumbled. “You’re… you’re in the cemetery, with the others. Where you’ve been for the past four years.”

It was like a scene change in a movie. There we were in the graveyard at night, shining lights on the tombstones that bore my name, Pinkie Pie’s, Rainbow Dash’s, Rarity’s, Applejack’s… Not knowing what else I could do, I sat down as tears began to roll down my cheeks. The Doctor rested a forehoof on my shoulder.

I looked at Fluttershy, who’d brought us here. “What happened?”

Fluttershy seemed so broken. Her voice was a creepy monotone, as if her emotions had crumbled away long ago. “It’s against CWCVille law to display a cutie mark. Most of us try not to find out what our talents are, and if we do, we shave off the part of our coats where the cutie marks are.” She looked at me. “This is all done so that the mayor feels better about not having a cutie mark himself.”

The Doctor grunted, muttering how that was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. I’d have to agree. Fluttershy continued. “When all of you got your cutie marks but me, we all decided to keep it quiet. But one slip, one mistake, and he found out. He captured me and forced me to talk, to confess.” Her face became somber and she looked away. “He forced me… to push that button that sent electricity through you and ended your life, Twilight.” Tears streaked down her face as her voice began to crack. “The betrayed look in your eyes is what I see every time I close mine now.”

She began to shake with sobs. “It sounds silly, but at first I thought you’d come back from the dead. To give me one more chance.” I looked at the Doctor, who was equally horrified by this situation. I walked to Fluttershy and put my forehooves around her, telling her I forgave her—for real, this time.

To be honest, I should have expected this. The six Elements of Harmony could have very easily become a threat to the stranger’s oppressive regime, and it only made sense for him to squash a potential enemy before they became a problem. The only question was how the stranger had thought to do this. He didn’t seem the cunning strategist type to me—but on the other hoof, he DID have the huge advantage of time travel...

The Doctor decided to break the dismal silence. “How did things get this bad?”

Fluttershy looked at him, and I could see, even in the dark, that her hollow eyes would haunt him for the rest of his life. “It’s been like this since long before I was even born.”

The Doctor and I shared a glance. It looked like it was time for a history lesson.

The library was a wreck, but at least it was still there. Grafitti, boarded-up windows, and other signs of vandalism implied it wasn’t operational, but there were still lights on. I knocked at the door, only to hear a grouchy young voice inside yell, “Oh, for crying out loud! Who could it be at this hour?!” I heard some shuffling coming from inside. Right behind the door I heard him yell, “Buzz off! Library’s closed!”

“Spike?” I said. “Spike, is that you?”

A few seconds passed. “Twilight Sparkle?”

“Yes, Spike, it’s me.”

The door was unlocked and opened slowly. I fought the urge to recoil in horror. Spike’s face looked burned on one side, his eyelid completely gone. Many of his teeth were missing—and so was his right leg and his left hand, with robotic facsimiles replacing them. Even though he was a child in my original timeline, he looked forty years older here.

“Spike?” I asked, my lips trembling, my voice a thin whisper.

“Twilight?” He walked closer to me, hobbling along on his fake leg. He reached out—my eyes began to water as I noticed he only had two fingers left on this hand—and touched my face. His face softened, and the tears came like a flood. “Celestia’s mane, you’re alive.” He drew me into a hug. “You’re ALIVE!”

I held him closely, fighting the urge to cry. Ever since you left him in my care, Spike has been like a son to me. To see him in this shape, and this evidently unhappy with his life… it tore me to pieces. It was unforgivable. I kissed his head, telling him how much I loved him.

Fluttershy wiped away a tear. The Doctor sighed sadly. He walked closer to the two of us. “Listen,” he said quietly. “I understand the emotions going on here, but we need to get inside before anypony sees our cutie marks.”

It hadn’t occurred to me at that point that our bare flanks were still proclaiming to the world what our talents were. Spike quickly led us inside the library. He asked us so many questions that we hadn’t any time to answer. Instead, I asked for a book on Equestrian history.

After reading it, the Doctor and I were equally mortified. History had changed so much. After a few hours, we decided on which pages we wanted to keep for this report. Attached to this general report are some of the historical documents, but here is a summary of the more-important events.

THE FOUNDING AND GENERAL HISTORY OF CWCVILLE

“Our beloved town was founded in the year XXXX, when Celestia rewarded our Beloved Mayor with land near the Everfree Forest for helping her in the fight against Discord. It was not long before it became a bustling burg thanks to our Mayor’s soup hotel ideas taking root in every town. With this money he received for his wonderful and creative ideas, our Mayor created many new jobs and tightened our town’s security—and that’s how we became bigger, better, and safer.”

THE BATTLE AGAINST NIGHTMARE MOON

“When the thousand-year curse ended and Nightmare Moon broke free from her lunar prison, who was there to stop her but our wonderful Mayor. With his Magic Blue Wand, he was able to cast her back into the darkness from whence she came. Nopony is as STRONG as our Mayor!”

THE BATTLE AGAINST CELESTIA

“With Nightmare Moon defeated, Equestria was once again safe. However, it seemed as though its current Princess was unable to deal with the public opinion siding with our Mayor’s favor. In jealousy, the Princess decided to wage a war against our Mayor, but even though it was an expensive and exhaustive war, our beloved city came out on top, and the tyrannical Princess was toppled.”

After having read the last attached document, I finally wept. The news that you had met a terrible fate—after learning what happened to Spike and my friends—was just too much for me to handle. My beloved mentor… reduced to the historical villain role, a mere footnote in the history of this tyranny.

The Doctor became angry and began to pace the library. “He stole my screwdriver,” he muttered. “He stole. MY. Screwdriver.”

Snapping out of his tantrum, the Doctor tried to comfort me by saying that the stranger was obviously rewriting history the way he saw fit. After all, he evidently won the war against you; he could say whatever it was he wanted. He theorized that the Mayor had killed Luna (maybe even by accident) to "banish" Nightmare Moon, and that you—or this version of you—in your grief, declared war over it.

His voice fell quiet as he looked into my somber eyes. "I-I'm sorry," he said.

“How are we going to stop him?” I asked. “Before, he was just a thoughtless moron, but now he has so much power…”

The Doctor, Fluttershy, and Spike all looked at each other. This situation was hopeless. Before anypony could say anything, lights turned on outside. We heard the sound of sirens, flooding us from all directions. The library had been completely surrounded!

Before any of us could react, the door was broken down and armed ponies swept into the room like a deluge. Some even jumped through the windows. Their weapons were all aimed at us. For a few seconds, nopony said anything. Fluttershy laid flat on the ground, covering her head and saying a silent prayer. Spike held both his arms in the air. The Doctor and I stood closer together.

For a few moments, that was all that had happened. It was as if time had frozen and we had become a painting that depicted hopelessness. Slowly, heavy hoofsteps entered the library. A few of the armed ponies bowed. “Captain Macintosh, the violators have been successfully apprehended,” said one.

I stifled a gasp. Their Captain was none other than Big Macintosh, now decked out in what looked like the kind of armor you’d see in a science fiction convention. His features, like everypony else’s, was noticeably different: his eyes lacked that gentleness and friendliness I remembered, although the sharp intelligence remained. His tousled blonde mane I’d fantasized about had been chopped down to a cru-cut, and his chiseled face lacked the silent warmth I was familiar with. He also lacked a cutie mark.

“Good work, Troll Busters.” He walked toward us menacingly, his smug expression never changing. His voice was what I remembered—rich and deep—but there was so much malice in it now. He looked to Fluttershy. “Why, hello again, Miss Fluttershy.” She whimpered. “Seems you have a hard time stayin’ outta trouble. First the cutie mark violators from four years ago, and now I find you hangin’ with these…” His voice trailed as he looked at the Doctor and me.

It then snapped together. I had forgotten everypony thought we were dead. Heck, the Doctor had only been reported dead earlier that day. I grinned. This was my chance. “Thought you killed me, huh?” I said. “It takes more than the electric chair to stop somepony as powerful as I.”

Big Macintosh began to stammer. He finally fixed himself and began to read our rights: “Y-You have the right to remain… uh, dead. Anything you say or do will be considered very strange because you’re dead. You have the right to an attorney, but it won’t do you any good because you’re dead. Do you understand these rights that have been read to you?”

I responded by casting my teleportation spell. “Shoot her!” he bellowed, evidently changing his mind. “Kill her again!”

But before anypony could fire, I had teleported us outside the library. Without hesitation, we ran as the armed ponies began to give chase. We disappeared into an alley, hoping to hide. All we really did was find ourselves further into the bloated intestines of CWCville.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Before any of you make the obvious joke regarding how Chris learned to operate the TARDIS, allow me:

"If you need instructions on how to use the TARDIS to fuck up the time-space continuum, check out the enclosed instruction book!" Next Chapter: 12. Don't Send in the Clowns Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 45 Minutes