The night was calm and quiet and Tyler stood in front of the easel, putting some paint on it to finish it. Standing now for the finished painting, he glanced upon the motive, his three little girls. Giving it a nod, he rested the brush for a moment and took a step back.
“All men dream... but not equally. Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.” The world blurred behind him and Luna stepped through a portal. Moving his eyes to her and turning his head, he greeted her with a smile as he took a step behind. “This I did... Sir Francis Drake.”

Stopping behind him, the Princess of the Night replied with a smile of her own,
“Wise words indeed, mine beloved. Although I would say this about ponies... Maybe thou and I shall speak about Sir Francis Drake later... I hope I am not disturbing some deeper contemplation?” She waited for him to shake his head and as he did, she continued. “‘Tis three nights since the incident, Tyler... And I sensed a...” Tipping her chin, she looked for the right word. “...disturbance within you.”

With a nod, he signed his piece of art, knowing all too well that it wouldn't be for display whatsoever.
“As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced... Yes... I blew up a complete planet to get free from this trap. A part of me is happy it was only a dream, the other part...”

Inspecting his art, Luna smiled and looked over to him.
“So I take it thou imagined our daughter in this way?” Leaning against him, she looked at the picture again. “What a fine maiden she is.”

Looking at Crescent, Tyler gulped a bit.
“She... was brisk and daring, always playful and looking for the adventure... I miss them.”

“Do I sense a devotion to make that illusion come true?”

Rolling his eyes, Tyler smirked.
“In a manner... The girls are what I intend to make come true. Appleseed is reality already. At least as a pony. I can only hope and try to make good on the role as a father so she turns out just as good as in the dream.”

While encircling him, Luna brushed her rump and tail against him, the tail gently stroking his chin.
“Thou dost know that I would love the idea of carrying thy child... ‘Tis a dream I strongly support and dream myself. But thou cannot obsess with the idea of forcing us to make the three of them come true. Thou must let go of the dream or it will devour thee.”

Nodding in silence, Tyler looked to the front for a long time. After that, he glanced over to Luna and gave her a simple smile.
“Luna? You couldn't enter that dream, could you?” As she shook her head, he took her cheeks into his grasp and looked deeply into her eyes. “Then enter my mind, my love. I'm offering you three decades of dream.”

Giving him a brief nod, Luna gulped a bit and touched his forehead and a short spark of her horn let her see all the things Tyler experienced while under the influence of the Mindling. The contact was short, but enough for the trained alicorn to grasp all the information she needed to see. Looking at him now in wild marvel, her heart began to beat at a faster pace. Still her cheeks rested in his hands and began burning in the mild midnight air, when his calm voice spoke to her.
“All this was a dream... But a dream I want to make reality. Everything I did to you all in there, all the words I said, all the joys I let you see and feel... Let me say and do them to you once more! They tried to cripple me with this... But I only got something to work for now, something to fight for.”

With a giggle Luna bit her bottom lip.
“What thou didst on our 'wedding night' is forbidden, thou knowest?”

He arched his brows in confusion, yet smiled, a bit unsure.
“Forbidden?”

Giggling even louder now, Luna then licked his cheek.
“By three Equestrian laws... But thou seemed to enjoy the extra tightness.”

Now it struck him and he knew what she meant.
“Oh... Uh... That.”

Nuzzling him, Luna then closed her eyes halfway, a look he could dive into for all time.
“It's alright... If it's thee who is doing it to me, I am fine with it. And since our bond was so strong and deep at that point, there is nothing to pardon.” Looking deep into his eyes, hers began to sparkle in the way only hers could. “There is no pleasure too dark I wouldn't grant to someone whose heart is so devoted to mine. If thou winnest me over like that again, I'd be happy to grant thee this illegal pleasure as well. Transformations are, after all, mine expertise.”

Smiling, he raised her chin in preparation to place another kiss on these soft lips of hers.
“I intend to love you girls even more than the last time...”

* * * * *

On the next day Tyler came out of the library in the morning and stretched himself a bit while Twilight levitated a checklist in front of her.
“Another vacation for the Rangers involved in the Mimesis incident, huh? Well, at least you're back and can take care of things here in Ponyville.” Twilight said this with a smirk on her face and bumped her rump into Tyler. “You do know that there are several herds here in Ponyville missing several members because of the Ranger policy?”

Tyler rubbed his neck.
“It's only for security reasons, sweetie... But I will talk to Celestia... Maybe we can get clearance to get more personnel out once in a while.

It was then when he noticed a jumping ball of leather that bounced along the street without losing momentum. As it passed in front of him, it halted and bounced in place like it recognized him, then circled him once before it wreaked some havoc on Applejack’s apple stand and then bounced away.
“What the hay? Come back here, ya stinkin’ vermin!”

Tyler now noticed a brown stallion who jumped after the ball.
“Derpy! Quick! Don’t let it escape!”

And not a moment later said Pegasus mare came flying by on cue.
“I'm on it, Doctor!”

That was the moment Tyler recognized the two of them. It was earlier this year when he saw the two of them in Canterlot after a meeting with Princess Celestia. Now this was the perfect chance to learn more about those two, especially if they were in pursuit of a strange leather ball.
“Come on, Twilight, honey! We can shop later! Now I sense some trouble here...” And with this he began his own pursuit of the two ponies. Twilight noticed this sudden change of plans, rolled her eyes and followed him as well. 'This better be good...'

Rarity was sitting in a cafe with Sweetie Belle, gently sipping on a cup of tea in her latest dress, when the small ball of leather bounced on their table and smashed the tea set into pieces, splattering cake and tea all over the place before it bounced off again. Shortly after, Derpy and the stallion came after it, behind them Tyler and Twilight.

The white unicorn mare wiped her face clean with a handkerchief in front of her little sister.
“Sweetie Belle? Here are some bits for the waiter. Once you’ve paid, you'll bring this dress home to mother at once. She'll know what to do...”

In a mixture of confusion and fear of the boiling rage behind her big sister’s manners, Sweetie looked up.
“And what are you going to do?”

But at this point all the little filly was able to see was the dress her sister was wearing seconds ago slowly floating towards her while Rarity dashed after the little mob.
“I'LL DESTROY IT!!!”

Once the leather ball passed Pinkie Pie, Rachel, Sam and Lyra, it shortly bounced in front of them and seemed to inspect them, before it moved on, the others still in pursuit, not minding the trio much.
“Hey! No one invited us!” Once Pinkie stated that, she began to gallop after them as well. Sam and Lyra nodded at each other with a grin and followed them also. Something was going on here. Shaking her head, Rachel followed as well. 'What now, Jones?'

As they passed Rainbow and Flynn, the mare nudged Flynn in the ribs and pointed after their running friends.
“Awesome! A race! Come on, Flynn! We partake!” On the way down to the marketplace they met Fluttershy, who was simply dragged along by the two. Meanwhile in Fluttershy's cottage, Grinko's ear twitched.

Finally, at the edge of Ponyville, the ball of leather bounced right inside a blue box, almost the size of a phone booth, that stood at the side of a building. Running inside, the little mob of pursuers quickly came to a halt, due to the fact that the ball bounced right into Tyler's face and caused him to reel back, prompting everyone else to crash with him into a pile of ponies and humans. Slightly dizzy, the ball came to a halt and uncurled into a little animal, similar to some sort of armadillo. But it definitely was no armadillo Tyler had ever seen. While the pile of comrades was on top of him, the little animal was lifted by a brown hoof.
“There we have it... An Umopalasi! Luckily it's in its infant state; a full grown Umopalasi might have attacked somepony. But how did this get onto the planet?” Turning a switch on the command console, the Doctor then gave the Umopalasi a brief tickle on the belly and smiled gently. “Who brought you here, eh? Little predator?” Giving a squeaky little grunt, the critter muttered its reply. “No! Really? I'm sorry, but you can't stay here. I'm bringing you back home, OK?”

Crawling from below the pile of friends, Tyler then stood himself up.
“Speaking about planets... Are you still on Equis or already on Mars? Are you serious that this is an alien creature? But let's start at the beginning: Who are you?”

It was then when the stallion looked up to the shrugging Derpy before turning around.
“What? What are you doing in here? How did you get in?”

Pointing his thumb to the door, Tyler shook his head.
“Saw you running through the streets and followed you. You ran into this box, I followed. And I guess the others simply followed me.” Now the others gradually climbed off from one another and scrambled a bit further into the room.

Now leaning to the side, the stallion arched both his brows as he saw the little group of ponies and humans. Frowning a bit, he then leaned over to Derpy.
“For future travel, please remind me to lock the door behind us.” Derpy gave this a brief nod.

Now circling around the humans, he arched one brow and inspected them a little closer.
“Curious... Normally ponies and humans wonder a bit more about the TARDIS upon first arrival... Especially humans.”

Following him with her eyes, Rachel arched her brows herself.
“So? What's so special about it? It's bigger on the inside. No big deal...”

Sam nodded.
“Yeah, we've seen that before. This here is a simple Bag of Holding. Nothing new...”

Blinking twice, the stallion grumbled a bit before he caressed the command console of the TARDIS.
“Bag of Holding... Pft! Don't you listen to them...”

With a shy smile, Derpy then waved over to Tyler.
“Hi, Mister Jones!”

A little confused, Tyler shook his head once.
“Derpy? What are you doing here with this stallion in this blue box? No, scratch that question... I shouldn't ask.”

While Derpy blushed a bit, the stallion arched a brow.
“Not what you might think, young man...” Looking at the creature in his hooves, he stowed it away in a small container. “We caught this little feller here because he would grow ten times larger and Umopalasi are one of the very few species that are immune to magic. Imagine a predator like that on a rampage.”

Flynn then leaned down to Rainbow Dash.
“I thought she was only the clumsy yet lovable mailmare of Ponyville...”

Rainbow simply shrugged.
“She seems to trust this stallion... And I trust Derpy. She would never be with someone who's up to something. She's a good filly.”

Looking over to the stallion handling some controls on the terminal, Flynn frowned a bit.
“Yeah, but can we trust this guy?”

“Of course you can!” Derpy now stated in a slightly angered voice as she overheard the others talk. “He has saved Equestria so many times and you never even knew he was there. He never stops, he never stays, he never asks to be thanked. I would trust him with my life!” The blonde Pegasus said this while raising her chin and smiling. The others noticed she took personal pride in siding with this stallion.

Arching a brow, Sam looked at Derpy.
“Mh-hm... Yet the question remains: Where is he going with that thing there?”

“The Doctor? In the TARDIS?” Her eyes became dreamy for a moment. “Next stop everywhere!” Shaking her head, Derpy now blushed deeply. “Oh, I must look silly. But if somepony takes you to a planet mostly consisting out of diamonds, you really start to dream a bit.

“Planet mostly consisting of DIAMONDS?!?” Rarity screeched in a mixture of excitement and surprise. Looking around at the others who arched their brows when she got everyone’s attention, she chuckled a bit. “Ahehe.... Erm, Derpy? Darling, you and I should have a little talk about the stallions you spend your time with... Maybe his pets are little ruffians, but his taste in travel locations...”

This caused Tyler to laugh heartily.
“Come on, Rarity... Are you seriously buying that? I mean come on, girls... Magic, alicorns, unicorns, pegasi... I grew accustomed to all that. But now you want to tell me that we're inside a little blue box able to fly around in space? Yeah... Not in a billion years! As far as I know, the question still remains.” Pointing a finger at the stallion, Tyler now frowned. “Who is this guy? As long as I don't get my answer to that, I'm not leaving this box here...”

Just as he leaned at the console, a switch turned over and the TARDIS began to spin around, leaving the time vortex she was currently in. Inside, the friends stumbled over each other once more and only Twilight and the Pegasi were able to remain in mid-air.

Climbing over the others, the stallion now made haste to the position Tyler was leaning against and pulled the switch back again, causing the TARDIS to stabilize.
“You've stopped her travel... Good thing nothing too serious happened...” Now looking slightly angered at Tyler, the stallion frowned a bit. “Hands off my TARDIS command console, young man! Where is a broom when you need one? Now shoo! Back off this terminal before you steer her into a supernova! Or make her the supernova!”

Looking on a screen, the stallion shortly arched his brows before he frowned.
“That's odd... It's the star system of Paretoka, a solar system with one planet and one moon. The Library of Paretoka should be filled to the brim with space travel... But the TARDIS doesn't monitor any ships in space, only a massive field of debris surrounding the star like a space station was destroyed or something.”

Cocking her head, Derpy looked over to him.
“A space station?”

Nodding, the stallion smirked,
“Exactly, Derpy! The system of Paretoka never had a space station. This asks for further scans!”

But as he passed Tyler on his way to another part of the console, Tyler tracked him with his eyes and pointed a finger at him.
“Now hold it right there, buster! I still don't know who you are and I demand an answer to the question I'm now asking you for the third time: Who are you? And while we're at it: Who put you in charge and with what justification?”

Turning to Tyler, the stallion then came back and looked him straight in the eye.
“I'm the Doctor, I'm a time pony. I'm from the planet Gallopfrey in the constellation of Kasterborous, I'm 9 hundred and 3 years old, and I'm the stallion who's going to find out what happened to all 3 million ponies on the planet below.” Leaning forward, the Doctor then smirked . “You got a problem with that?” Slightly baffled, Tyler simply shook his head, causing the Doctor to smile and turn towards the control terminal of the TARDIS. “In that case... Allons-y!”

Cocking his head, Tyler looked at the Doctor in mild confusion.
“Did he just... tell me he's 903 years old?” The others fought against the urge to burst into laughter. It didn't happen often that someone could baffle Tyler that easily. Coming to his side, Sam patted his shoulder, which caused Tyler to shrug off the hand. “Whatever... We've wasted enough time with this stuff here. Time to get outside to Ponyville again.” But upon opening the front door, Tyler halted completely. This wasn't Ponyville, this was a field of stars. From the right, a planet of brown and yellow coloration moved with a pale yellow moon; obviously the box was floating and turning around. Falling backwards, Tyler crouched away from the door, his eyes wide. “We are- we are- we are-”

Coming to his side, Derpy hovered in mid-air and looked outside as well.
“We are in space, yes.”

Looking at her with wide eyes, he shook his head once, his voice whispering in panic. How could she be so calm about this?
“Then why aren't we getting sucked out?”

From behind, the Doctor's voice sounded off.
“It's the TARDIS’s force field. It prevents you from getting sucked out. Close the door, you're letting the cold in!”

Approaching the door in disbelief, the others looked out, some of them shaking their heads in confusion. Rachel was the first of them to regain her speech.
“This... this is... A completely different planet!”

“It is.” Derpy said as if it was a completely normal thing, before she kicked the door shut with a gentle move of her hoof and trotted back to the side of the Doctor. While she did that she was humming a happy tune and the others followed her with their eyes before looking at each other. That little clumsy mare was more than met the eye.

Once the surprise was digested, Applejack was the first to eye the Doctor for a moment. Correcting her Stetson, she inspected the stallion from mane to hoof.
“A time pony, huh? So, what's the big deal with time ponies? Ya look like an earth pony.”

The Doctor on the other hand eyed Applejack briefly, before he gave her a smile.
“You look like a time pony.”

Rachel chuckled and leaned forward.
“She means what traits do you have that other kinds of ponies don't have?”

Giving a shrug, the Doctor looked up to Derpy.
“Well, the main things would be the regeneration and two hearts.”

Shaking his head in disbelief when he heard it, Sam smirked.
“Two hearts? Really? That I would like to put to the test.” Rolling his eyes, the Doctor nodded and Sam knelt down to the stallion's chest, listening for the heartbeat. And just as the Doctor had stated before, there were definitely more heartbeats to hear than normally. Four loud beatings instead the usual two echoed to Sam's ear. Looking up to the others, he then nodded. “I'll be damned... It's true, he has two hearts!”

Folding his arms now, Flynn nodded. If one part was true, there was little reason to believe the other one was false.
“And what is the deal with this regeneration thing? Is it like my cell regeneration?”

Raising a short, whirring instrument looking like a pen, the Doctor took a reading of Flynn, before he looked at the data by moving his teeth a bit so the glowing end of the instrument pointed upward.
“No, your regeneration ability is permanently active, mine is only active in near-death situations. My body then repairs itself, and it changes. New body, new personality.”

Rachel gave this a smirk.
“Making assassination attempts harder should the first try be sloppy, eh? That should come in handy, no doubt.”

Tyler looked at the Doctor for a while. This was another big thing for him and the others. 'Shadow ponies, earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi and alicorns... Sure, why not a time travelling time pony race as well?' As he digested the revelation, he sat down at the side of Derpy and eyed her for a bit.
“You look excited, Derpy. Is traveling like this fun?”

“Most of the time it is interesting. I'm privileged to see things normal ponies don't ever see in their entire lifetime on a weekly basis,” she answered.

Looking back at the Doctor, and the others who were asking a lot of questions, Tyler nodded.
“I want to ask you something… How did you meet the Doctor?”

Chuckling a bit nervously, Derpy looked to the side.

“Oh that... Um... That was in my own time-frame. You see, I'm not from the current Equestria you now live in, I'm actually from a point in time that was in the past. But I like the new Equestria. It's bigger and brighter and all the muffins they have there...” Taking a deep breath in, Derpy closed her eyes and smiled. Tyler could see she was imagining herself in a bakery or something like that.

After a moment, she continued.
“You see I come from the time shortly after the end of the Discordian age. We were very poor back then, and had to rebuild the country. Each day we ate simple grass. Grass fries, grass salad, grass soup... Even grass souffles... Buärch! There was nothing so delicious like muffins. Yes, we really were struggling back then, even when the two regal sisters led us through those hard times. That was when I discovered 'them'.”

“Them?”

“The gray gentlecolts…”

“Gray gentlecolts...” Tyler repeated for himself, “That doesn’t sound like much… Who are they? Or who were they, if they're gone now...”

“They are parasites. They convinced the Equestria of my time that everypony needed to save time… to hurry to make the most out of it. But they betrayed everypony for their precious time. For if you struggle to save time, time hastes away from you to them…” With a bit of sorrow in her eyes, Derpy looked down as she remembered the threat she once faced all on her own...

* * * * *

It was night and the blonde mare galloped along a field path, huffing heavily until a sudden flash of light caused her to stop. More and more lights began shining from several lamps right at her in a blinding brightness, surrounding her in the field, until several formal voices spoke.

“You are alone, Miss Hooves…”

“What can you, a mere Pegasus mare, hope to do against us?”

“You could never hope to defeat us!”

“You are a failure!”

“An outcast!”

Holding her ears shut as best as she could, Derpy tried to ignore the insults, not noticing the tears running down her cheeks. She already tried to warn the others, yet nopony believed her. Everypony only believed that she was a crazy mare claiming that beings from beyond the stars are in Equestria to steal from the nation. It was then when she overheard another voice making an offer.
“If you help us find one particular stallion, we might let go of your world... You and the others could return to your old life.”

Stomping her hoof on the ground, Derpy now gritted her teeth.
“Even if... Even if I knew how to find the one you're looking for, I wouldn't help you!”

There was a moment of silence, before the gray stallions approached Derpy from all sides.
“Is that so? In that case you leave us no choice...” Her scream echoed through the night before it was suddenly silenced.

* * * * *

Raising her head, Derpy then looked at Tyler with underped eyes, her right eye slowly beginning to emit a slight glow.
"They did this to me in order to find the Doctor… Ever since then, I can see temporal anomalies… My left eye is my good eye, but my right eye always looks at things that are heavily amiss in the continuum of time and space. I saw that your arrival in Equestria altered the timeline. I can’t say if this is a bad or good thing, but I know you mean well. You are a nice guy and you always were polite to me.”

With a smile, Tyler shook his head.
“Why of course, Derpy. You're a nice pony.”

Shaking her own head, Derpy smiled.
“That's not what I meant... You know, because of my eyes. Ponies often treat me like a dumb idiot, a moron who doesn't know better. But not you... And not the Doctor.”

Tyler's smile withered now. He could imagine how hard the clumsy mare's life would be due to how others treated her. Personally he’d never had the experience of being in a situation like this, nature fortunately spared him that. Treating others badly because of their biological disadvantages, however, was wrong and he would speak out for anyone being attacked in such a way. Even if such an individual would otherwise be a total jerk. There were things civilized beings shouldn't make fun of.

Before he could ask another question, the TARDIS gave out a sudden loud noise and all eyes turned to the Doctor.
“Down safe and sound. Alright, everyone! Out we go! Paretoka is waiting...”

But when they stepped outside, a wasteland of ruins and deserted cities lied in front of them. A dark cloudy sky made the gray skyline even more grim. The TARDIS itself was standing on a platform that was once surrounded by walls, yet these walls were heavily damaged and broken, giving sight to the ruined outside landscape. Rachel shook her head while grimacing at the scene, when thunder cracked in the distance.
“Doctor pony, I think this planet has waited far too long for something... Looks like a bomb had impacted here or something.

Sam looked down to his feet as he took a careful step onto the alien planet. The ground was almost completely layered with ash, even when no ash was falling from the sky.
“We definitely aren't in Kansas anymore... or Equestria.”

“Alright... Doctor, we need to get back to the Equestria we came from. I don't like being absent from it one bit!” Tyler demanded as he came to the side of the stallion.

Giving Tyler a sly smile, Rachel patted his shoulder.

“Relax, Jones... We all know you are worried. Who wouldn't be at this sight? But if I get this right, this is a full-fledged time machine and spacecraft in one. So there is literally no hurry. We have all the time in the universe to go back.”

Tyler nodded, yet reluctantly so. It was true, having a time machine meant that they could search for a year and the time they would have been absent would only be five minutes. But still a certain feeling befell him, causing the hairs on his neck to stand up. Something compelled him to urge for a return.
“Still... I don't like this place.”

Giving a grin, Rachel looked over to him.
“Why not? I mean is it the fact that all this here seems to be one giant ruin or ancient battlefield, or the fact that we are millions, maybe even billions of years ahead of our time?”

Glancing around, Tyler then looked to the others.
“I don't know... It's like... I shouldn't be here. Like I could learn something I shouldn't learn...”

Coming to their side, the Doctor looked around a bit before holding up a short whirring tool, seemingly scanning the area. The routine manner in which he did that didn't find much sympathy with Tyler. Somehow he got the idea that this would be a common thing if one would stick around with this particular stallion,
“It's chronophobia. Pretty rare thing among time travelers... The fear of time or in the case of time travel the fear of altering something to an irreversible state. For now this might be a good thing. One less careless human I have to worry about. And the year? From what the TARDIS display showed, we are in the year 1.075.370.574 from your point in time.”

Looking into the cloudy night sky, Flynn shook his head.
“Swell... Over a billion years ahead of our time.”

Rachel wrinkled her nose in a mixture of repulsion and sorrow.
“Yeah... And the future sure doesn't look good for this library planet...” Her eyes then wandered over to Tyler. “Not in a billion years... Eh, Jones?” Tyler only shook his head and shrugged.

Bumping her rear against Flynn, Rainbow grinned.
“You sure take me to the nicest places, big boy...” This prompted several of them to grin despite the grim surroundings.

Giving the Doctor a glare, Tyler's expression darkened.
“Like I intended to go into the future. Alright, Doctor...” Coming to his side, Tyler looked upon the ruins of what what once was an impressive skyline of a city. “What do you think happened to this place? The Darkness Sisters?”

Shaking his head, the Doctor looked around.
“No... This was something different. If we're dealing with something magical, this place wouldn't be so destroyed. No, this was technology at its finest.”

Twilight looked around and shook her head, failing to understand.
“You mean a war took place here? But if this is a library planet... Who would ever attack a library? This is awful!”

Taking more 'scans', the Doctor seemed to find more and more orientation, since he headed in a specific direction.
“Someone who wants knowledge. But not just any knowledge... Knowledge so forbidden that some creatures in the universe would kill for it.”

Looking at the Doctor, Sam leaned against a massive rock.
“Knowledge you say... But if it is forbidden knowledge, why should it be in a mere library? Shouldn't it be... Heck, I don't know, guarded by an army or something?”

“Precisely! The three big questions are: Who came here and attacked? When did it happen? And what were they looking for?”

Now Sam leaned forward and tapped the Doctor on the shoulder.
“Excuse me, but what the heck are you doing there all the time? Is that some sort of scanner?”

Looking at the short instrument he held skillfully in between his teeth even while speaking, the Doctor shifted it aside every time he spoke while holding it. It reminded Sam of someone speaking with a cigar clenched between their teeth.
“Don't be ridiculous! That's not a scanner, it's a screwdriver.”

This left Sam stumped.
“A... a screwdriver?”

“Yes, it's sonic. And don't give me that 'why are you holding it like that' thing. Unlike you, I have no hands to hold it otherwise.”

“A sonic... screwdriver... OK, what can it do?”

“A better question would be: What can't it do? But hush now, I need to do some more readings... Maybe inside the library I can get a few more better readings to determine what weapons were fired...”

While Sam muttered a simple “I sure could use one of those,” to Lyra, Flynn gave the Doctor a doubting look while speaking to the others.
“How is he going to do that? I don't see any weapons lying around here or any remains of the battlefield like armor or military equipment.”

Raising a finger, Rachel gave a smile and closed her eyes.
“Depending on how good that thing is he's holding there, I think it's some sort of molecule scanning device... thing, and he's using it to scan these blasts to determine which weapon was fired due to the residue. Like powder residue from a pistol, you know?”

Turning around, the Doctor gave her a smile and nodded slowly.
“Clever girl...”

When the others looked slightly surprised at her, Rachel simply shrugged.
“What? You think the Marine Corps consists of idiots knowing only how to fire a weapon?”

Coming to the Doctor’s side, his assistant showed great concern about the surroundings.
“Doctor? I don't like this... Remember the last time we were in a library?”

Looking around, the Doctor gave his assistant a brief nod.
“I can ease your concerns, Derpy. I have checked the planet from orbit for Vashta Nerada activity with the TARDIS sensors, no data whatsoever. Relax... For once, we might have a nice trip.” Both the time pony and the gray mare looked at each other in a very sober way until the Doctor sighed. “Alright, I don't think this will be a good one either. Be careful and don't wander off too much.”

Looking around, Twilight grinned widely, much to the notice of the others. The librarian and alicorn shook her head in awe while flying through the halls of a complete library planet.
“Imagine... All of these books will be written some day by ponies, griffins or humans of some sort. It's so tempting to read some of them...”

Tyler looked over to Twilight and shook his head.
“If you can read them that is... These are books in a library of an alien planet.”

“That shouldn't be the main problem...” The Doctor flatly stated, catching everyone's attention. “The TARDIS has a universal translator that will translate everything for you. But I doubt you will have the proper understanding of poetry one billion years ahead of your time. It might sound like gibberish to you. And nonfiction books? For one, the technological understanding will be out of reach for you and I strongly recommend that you don't take anything with you... Otherwise I'll have to leave you at the nearest populated point in time and space we find to preserve your history. Also, there is a third reason why you probably can't read these books here anyway...

“What is that?” Twilight halted in motion as she turned to the Doctor, her hoof gently stretching out to one of the books. When she touched it, the book collapsed into a mess of dust and old paper. Looking down at the little dust cloud she caused, she said the next word synchronously with the Doctor. “Age...”

Sighing, the Doctor nodded.
“Yes, the readings showed that there was weapon fire about 5000 years ago, making it harder to analyze. I am sorry, but all books here are not in a reading condition.”

“I think we should split up. That way we can cover more ground. What do you say, Doctor? A little companion-swap?” Tyler now proposed to the Doctor and the others.

Looking briefly at Derpy, the Doctor then smirked.
“I would prefer Derpy as an assistant, but let us see what an alicorn princess can do...” This statement earned him an arched brow from Twilight.

Rainbow then nodded and pointed her hoof at several ponies and humans.
“Alright, then let's do this: Flynn and I make a team, Derpy and Tyler make the second team, Sam, Pinkie and Lyra make another. Twilight, Applejack and the Doc make a team as well, and Rachel, Fluttershy and Rarity make the last one.”

Giving a smirk to Sam, Lyra then nodded up to Rainbow.
“Sounds like a decent plan to me. We should meet here again in what? Half an hour?”

“Yes, that sounds good,” Rachel agreed. “This should give us opportunity to scout the area while at the same time lessening the chance of us getting lost by wandering too far.”

Coming out of the TARDIS once more, the Doctor brought some devices with him.
“Before we go, here are some flashlights and some communicators for each team.”

Shaking his head, Sam arched his brows at the sight of the communicators.
“Those are telephone earphones...”

Giving a look to each of them, the Doctor smirked.
“No flies on the human... You just speak into those, remember that the bigger end is the end you speak into.”

Shooting Tyler a short glimpse and arched brow, Twilight nodded to him. Obviously he had some more questions about this Doctor, and Derpy was his best way to get some answers without confronting the stallion himself. On the other hand, she and AJ could probably expect some questions themselves.
“Be careful, Tyler...”

Coming to her side, Applejack corrected her Stetson.
“Yeah... Ya sure watch it in here. We’ll keep an eye out ourselves. This place is givin' me the Heebie-jeebies.”

While the three herd mates gave each other concerned glances, the Doctor opened a doorway for Applejack and Twilight.
“Alright then, your majesty? Right this way!” And with this the groups went off in different directions.

* * * * *

Ten minutes later the trio of Rarity, Rachel and Fluttershy scouted the area. That is, Rachel scouted, Fluttershy most of the time hid behind her and Rarity wrinkled her nose with closed eyes.
“I was expecting a planet consisting of diamonds and what do I get? Ashes, dust and dirt. This Doctor sure isn't a gentlecolt!”

Rolling her eyes, Rachel smiled and nudged Fluttershy, winking at her.
“That's true, Rarity, but think of what you could learn from this. Futuristic designs!”

Gasping for a bit, Rarity's new found enthusiasm quickly withered again.
“No... Although you are right, knowing what will be chic in a billion years won't do me any favors.”

Just when Rachel wanted to go with a second attempt, a gentle nudge from Fluttershy halted her. The timid Pegasus shook her head, pointing out to let go of the topic. Giving a smile, Rachel nodded and looked up, before she saw it. It caused her smile to wither away in an instant. In front of her was a sentence, carved into the stone wall.

A yelp later, Fluttershy hid behind Rachel and looked around.
“Beware of who?”

Taking the communicator, Rachel looked at the words again.
“Uh... folks? Do you see these messages on the walls as well?”

Standing in front of a 'Don't turn around!', Sam nodded and looked at Pinkie and Lyra while speaking into the communicator.
“Yeah, weird stuff. Looks like someone left some messages. Doctor, is this a quarantined planet?”

Flynn now joined in over the communicator.
“This is weird alright. This one here says 'Blinking equals Death!' What's that supposed to mean?”

Within the blink of an eye, the Doctor froze and closed his eyes.
“No... For the sake of the universe, no!” Turning around, the Doctor looked at Twilight and Applejack while raising the communicator; his eyes showed great concern now. “If you see a statue, don't take your eyes off of it!” The order made the two mares wonder a bit, but the serious and concerned tone of his voice made them believe that a threat could be nearby.

Flynn and Rainbow frowned at this command as they heard it in the communicator.
“Statues?” Flynn asked before they turned around a corner, seeing one of them. “Yeah... Doc? We got one here. Kind of a sad picture. A Pegasus crying. Or at least I suppose so. Holding its hooves in front of the face. Maybe the artist had problems with faces...”

The Doctor's face now grew very grim.
“Now listen closely: What you have in front of you is nothing like an ordinary statue. It's a Weeping Pegasus! It's only a statue if you look at it. If you don't look at it, it's fast, really, really fast! Think of it as the most lethal predator that can not be seen. And this I mean literally. They are quantum-locked. As soon as any living creature looks at them or a part of them, they turn into a statue. The lonely assassins they are called. That's why they cover their eyes with their hooves or wings. They are not weeping, they try to avoid looking at each other.”

Taking the communicator to her ear, Rachel looked around and joined the conversation again.
“Each other? Do you mean there is more than one of them?”

Nodding, the Doctor eyed the doors of the room for possible signs of Weeping Pegasi.
“Possibly, yes. I'm sure of it. Otherwise this one wouldn't cover its eyes. Derpy and I met them before, troublesome stuff. Whatever you do… Don't blink! Don't turn away, don't look away and DON'T blink!”

Both staring at the Weeping Pegasi, Flynn and Rainbow slowly backed away. Looking over to Flynn, Rainbow arched a brow.
“Do you think we should take him seriously on this?”

Flynn answered by grimacing a bit.
“The real question, Rainbow, is: Can we afford not to take him seriously? I mean who would come up with a story as unbelievable as this? Living statues, I wouldn't think of-” Unconsciously, Flynn blinked once, causing the statue in front of them to move incredibly fast and almost reach them, startling both of them into jumping back at the sight of its fangs. “Holy shit!”

Rainbow gulped deeply, looked at the statue and raised the communicator while Flynn kept staring.
“Uh.... folks? The Doc's not joking. We, uh... we need to get out of here! And fast!”

“Everyone back to the TARDIS at once!” Rachel barked into the communication device before the friends made haste to their meeting point.

Running along the hallways, Tyler once in a while looked over to Derpy, who was flying right next to him.
“Is it always like this? You step out of that TARDIS and sooner or later stuff is going to happen?”

Giving a smile, Derpy stretched out her tongue.
“Well, what can I say? The monsters and the Doctor. You can't have one without the other! But I wouldn't have it any other way...”

While running, Tyler took the communicator and spoke into it.
“Doctor, what are these Weeping Pegasi after anyway? They're not here for a little snack, are they? I mean, this planet is dead already. Or were they the cause of this?”

“No, they are not after individual lifeforms, at least they don't target individuals like that. And these creatures don't use weapons. They are after the TARDIS. They didn't wait for it though. My take is that whatever happened on this planet, these Pegasi feasted on the remains, on the last survivors. Now that the TARDIS is here, they are after it. They go for the strongest energy source they can sense. Inside the TARDIS is an endless supply of time energy, they could feed from it forever, but the damage they could cause with this could switch off a sun. They must never get inside of it.” Looking over to the TARDIS, the time pony sighed a bit in relief. It was good that three of them already were at the TARDIS and could move it away, should it be necessary.

Tyler's running came to a sudden halt when he and Derpy came across a door that was highly unlike the rest of the library planet. It was clean and the wood was unharmed by age or fire. When Derpy recognized his stopping movement, she came back and looked at the door.
“Why is this door so much more preserved?” she asked. Smiling at the Pegasus beside him, Tyler raised his hand to the doorknob, before Derpy's hoof intervened. “Better not, some doors are not meant to be opened again. We should return to the others.”

Nodding, Tyler looked up at her.
“Yet we should see why this is the only place preserved. Maybe the only one on the entire planet. Also, we should see if we can find a way to the others through here.” And with this he opened the door.

This part of the library seemed far more preserved than the rest of it. A large rotunda with a light coming from the ceiling that shined down. The construction wasn't as nearly as demolished as everywhere else and the books were in way better condition. Was it technology of some sort? Tyler heard a mild humming nearby, maybe a generator was running even now. Maybe some sort of magic by the inhabitants? As Tyler entered, he saw the figures in the dark that revealed themselves as human or humanoid busts, strangely looking alive. Resting on pillars they encircled one single pillar, on which a scroll was placed and which was the only thing in the light of this place. The funny idea of some ancient secret occurred to him and he chuckled as he came closer. Looking around, Derpy followed Tyler closely, always aware of looking for a Pegasus statue.

Tyler then stood in front of the scroll and unrolled it. Was it an ancient recipe? A diary of someone perhaps? Maybe a powerful spell someone developed... But as he unrolled the scroll, only one sentence was written in the scroll and Tyler leaned in to read it out loud.
“Malice will fall once Willpower awakens.”

There was a white flash and a sudden darkness and Tyler found himself on the ground, gaining consciousness again. 'What the living fuck happened?’ It felt like he was knocked out for some time and the busts on the pillars all were burned now as if electrocuted beyond recognition. The smell of smoke and burned flesh hung in the air, causing him to wrinkle his nose. What happened? And whatever happened, how long was he out? As he got up to his knees, he recognized Derpy at his side. Shaking her shoulder, he looked around before he saw it. Another Weeping Pegasus was standing in the hallway right out of the open door in front of him, its back turned to the two of them. Taking a gulp, Tyler's shaking of Derpy's shoulder now intensified, his eyes fixed on the statue.
“Derpy! For crying out loud, wake up!”

Mumbling a bit, the gray mare then blinked a bit and woke up slowly.
“Breakfast already? Oh good! I'll take a muffin!”

Looking briefly at her, Tyler shook his head.
“No, God damn it! We are in-” When he looked at the door once again, the Pegasus already turned around, facing both of them. The adrenaline began pumping in him now. “Derpy! Get the fuck up, we are in serious trouble!”

Hearing the distress in his voice, the mare's inner alarm bells began to ring. Looking up, Derpy now recognized the Weeping Pegasus. Within seconds she was in the air again.
“Sweet Celestia!”

Slowly backing away, Tyler kept his eyes fixed on the statue in front of him.
“Derpy! While I keep track of this one here... Look for an exit, we need an exit!”

While the gray mare flew around in the room, looking for another exit, Tyler stared at the doorway, where the statue stared back at him. Cold sweat ran down his forehead as he fought the urge to blink. First it was just looking at the Pegasus, then the looking turned into a concentrated stare, yet after a few seconds, it turned into a chore of concentration. Finally, he couldn't do it any longer and blinked, causing the statue to move closer to him by two meters. Already he saw two more Weeping Pegasi at the door, making three of them.

Above him, he could hear Derpy flap her wings as she came to his side,
“There's only one door leading into another room behind us with many holes in the walls and some... Well, I think plant-life. Mushrooms or something.”

Gritting his teeth, Tyler kept looking at the Pegasi.
“Great... From one big room trapped in a little hole like rats. This is just great.” While he slowly backed away with her, he patted her back. “OK, here's what we'll do from now on. If we have to blink, we'll tap each other twice so the other one knows that they have to take a turn. So we can-” it was then when Tyler recognized it: Right after he blinked the last time, one of the Weeping Pegasi had pointed its hoof at the wall. “What? Why is he pointing there?”

Derpy's breath became more frequent.
“They have located the generator behind the wall!”

There was a loud banging in the distance and Tyler slowly shook his head as the light began to flicker.
“No... Fuck no!”

More and more the light began to flicker and Tyler had to shine at the statues with his flashlight in order to keep sight of them. Backing away into the other room, they were now trapped when suddenly something crawled up Tyler's leg and prompted him to look down.
“What the serious hell?” Distracted for a second, he quickly turned his head up again, only to find four pegasi statues in front of him spread out and their fangs bared wide enough to barely be fully in the cone of light. With the back against the wall, he tried to shine at them, but inching closer with every second, they were only meters away from him and Derpy...

Before they simply stopped moving.

Tyler's breath halted for a moment as he tried to grasp the situation. He was blinking in wonder, yet still none of them moved. Some of them were out of the cone of light and still refused to move.
“What's happening? Why aren't they moving anymore?” Coming a bit closer, he observed the statue aliens in front of him a bit more. “Why aren't you...” It was then when he recognized some mild lights on the floor to his sides, crouching barely over it. Looking down he recognized that the Weeping Pegasi stepped into the path of some glowing ants which now crawled all over them in the hundreds. 'Fluorescent ants... That's what crawled up my leg. And the flashlight made them visible and illuminates the statues for them to see these pegasi monsters.' Shaking his head, he grinned directly into the face of the monster in front of him. “Well I'll be damned! Big lonely assassins getting stopped by a thousand tiny eyes, huh? Have fun getting rid of them! Derpy? Come on, let's go.”

Derpy first looked back at the Weeping Pegasi behind them, wondered if these creatures now pleaded for help as they would not move for a very long time. But disregarding this, she placed a muffin on the head of each statue and stretched out her tongue before she galloped after Tyler. It was a minor price to pay for some safety and those ants deserved a treat for saving them.

Meanwhile Lyra, Sam and Pinkie hurried down a hallway as they spotted the Pegasi.
“Watch out!” Lyra screamed in rising terror, before she crawled backwards to the others, her eyes wide open. The stone Pegasi, already showing fangs, gazed at them like prey.

Coming to her side, Sam went in front of the girls as they slowly backed away.
“Pinkie? I know you're prepared for almost every ridiculous situation... Do you have a grenade launcher at hand right now?”

Giggling wildly, the pink mare only made grimaces at the Pegasi.
“No, silly! I don't need explosives for my parties to start with a bang.”

Rolling her eyes, Lyra looked over to her.
“Glad you find the time to joke in a situation like this...”

“You're welcome!”

Still staring at the statue in front of him, Sam sighed.
“Alright, I can't stare at these assholes forever, sooner or later I'm going to blink. Now let me rephrase the question: I need a weapon right now. Have you-” It then occurred to him. “Do you have a spray can with you?”

“A spray can? Oh! I have one with me just in case of spray can emergency! Don't want your party in the wrong colors!” With that the pink mare pulled one out of her puffy mane and gave it to Sam.

Looking quite baffled at Sam, Lyra overlooked Pinkie's randomness for now since Sam outdid her this time.
“A spray can? That's a weapon on Earth?” Then she helped Sam with looking at the statue.

Grinning a bit at the obvious lie, Sam raised the can and sprayed the statue in the face.
“Yeah, um... We use them to fight walls!”

Shaking her head in disbelief, Lyra now frowned.
“You have to have pretty dangerous walls on Earth!”

Spraying all over the statues eyes, Sam covered them with pink paint.
“We may be unable to kill them, but if they can't see us due to the paint, they can't pursue us that easily, right?”

Grinning nervously, Lyra shook her head.
“Hay, as if I know! It could also make them especially mad.” Once finished, they slowly backed away, before they made haste down the hallway, always remembering to keep one pair of eyes in the direction they came from.

* * * * *

A few minutes later, all friends were back at the TARDIS and the Doctor. All but Tyler and Derpy. Slamming the door shut behind them, Rachel braced against it before Twilight and Rarity barricaded it with magic and some shelves they levitated over to her. Not long after that there was a bang against the doors and Rachel gritted her teeth.
“I wish I would have my guns with me now. Or at least Sam's stuff.” As soon as she had said that, several attacks were made on the door. Obviously the Pegasi were kicking at the door from the other side.

Locking down the TARDIS, the Doctor was standing with his back to the others.
“From my personal experience, weapons make more problems than they solve...” He then gave her an inspecting look from head to toes. “Very human...”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“It means that Derpy and I had traveled for half a year in search for some answers to the Darkness Sisters after we ran into some... major problems. Ever since then we looked out for the cause of it and each time we stumbled upon you humans... No offense to you, but your race has this urge to solve problems with guns... That's sad! You can do so much better!”

While still bracing herself against the barricades, Rachel nodded towards the doors.
“Yeah... But right now some statue monsters are after us. I would like to shoot at them, can you blame me for wanting to get rid of a threat?”

It was then when Twilight's eyes opened wide.
“You mean you looked for some information about the Darkness Sisters for half a year of time travel and never found something like a clue?”

“No... It's like someone or something was covering the tracks.”

Shaking her head in disbelief, Twilight then looked at the Doctor.
“But who would benefit from us not knowing about the future?” Halting there for a second, she added a short “Besides us I mean.”

The Doctor then looked at Twilight in silence. There was an answer to this in his mind, but at this point it was nothing more than a hunch, nothing solid. 'Were they really so desperate to let these ponies and humans run into the unknown? No clue, no hint, no help whatsoever? But for what purpose?' His mind began racing. Surely, they were humans gifted with magic enhancements... surely not knowing the future was always better for the fabrics of time and space but not even hints...? What were they up to? How deep was this plan he had discovered, yet only scratched on the surface? Shaking his head while closing his eyes, he then turned away. “I don't know...” '...yet for sure...'

Rainbow Dash on the other hand grunted, displeased.
“Alright, whatever! We have a time machine and some friends out there to help. T-man and Derpy are still out there! We should simply leave this place and time.”

It was then when the communicator sounded off with Tyler's voice in it.
“Doctor? Guys, do you copy me?”

Answering now, the Doctor looked at the others as he stood in front of the TARDIS.
“Yes, we hear you.”

Tyler's voice was calm and collected.
“Rainbow Dash is right. If these creatures are after your TARDIS in order to feed from it, we have to get you to it and pilot it and us out of their reach. Everything else is expendable.”

The Doctor knew only two kinds of lifeforms with this tone in their voice: Someone who was prepared to die or someone with a plan. Looking to the door, he was hoping Tyler was the second type.
“Well, we're already at the TARDIS. First thing's first: We have to get you two out of there and back to the TARDIS as well!”

Looking to the tunnels blocked with Weeping Pegasi, Tyler gave the grim situation an exhausted smirk.
“Like I said... Everything else is expendable. There are dozens of statues between us and you. The hallway is filled with them. We would never make it. You're the ones with the time machine, go find a way to fix this!” With this he looked back to the gray mare at his side. “Derpy, do you trust me?”

The Pegasus looked into Tyler’s eyes, before her face grew determined and she nodded.
“I do!” But as he looked across the tunnels, she looked at him. “Although I don’t know what you’re planning to do. What are you up to?”

His eyes nailed on the statues in front of him, Tyler gulped as he fought the urge to blink.
“What did the Doctor say about the Weeping Pegasi?”

As he tapped her twice Derpy nodded and concentrated herself in order not to blink.
“That we shouldn’t blink when they come for us because they’re super-duper-fast?”

Now she tapped his leg twice and he nodded, concentrating once more.
“They go for the strongest energy source they sense!”

“So?”

“SO I will make sure I’ll become the center of attention!” With that he instantly supercharged and the hall he and Derpy were in was highly illuminated.

The blonde-maned Pegasus shook her head in terror.
“What the hay are you doing?!?”

Stepping right into the center of the hallway, Tyler then yelled over to the Weeping Pegasi.
“HEY!!! STATUE FREAKS!!! You look quite ugly in bright light! And you have pigeon droppings all over you!”

Meanwhile the Doctor slammed down his communicator in anger.
“Damn it, boy! You're either super clever or the stupidest human I've ever encountered!”

Shaking her head, Twilight tried to grasp the situation.
“I don't understand. What’s he doing?”

“He’s luring them to him by becoming the strongest energy source.” The Doctor's eyes now grew determined. “He’d better watch out for her, because if he doesn't, I will hunt him down! Into the TARDIS, everyone!”

As the friends one by one entered the TARDIS, Twilight looked at the Doctor.
“You mean he's playing the bait? We are going to help though, aren't we?”

Pointing a hoof into the TARDIS, the Doctor nodded.
“Of course we are, but not here and not now. They will send him back in time, so that is where we are going.”

While entering the TARDIS, Rainbow Dash looked back at the others.
“You know, folks? I somehow regret chasing after that ball...”

Flynn shook his head and pulled her in so she rested on his shoulders.
“Not helping, Sweetie. None of us wanted this to happen. But if they are sent back through time, a time machine would truly be the best choice to help them. Tyler's not an idiot. He wouldn't give up so easily without a backup plan. And the Doctor seems to be that backup plan.”

Despite the words of the others, Twilight still recognized the Doctor's odd look.
“Doctor? What is it? You still look concerned.”

“Because I am concerned, Twilight. I'm worried for Derpy.” There was a moment of silence when the Doctor looked down. “Ponies have traveled with me and I've lost them... Lost them all!” Slowly the Mane Six and Rangers gazed at each other. This wasn't good news. But with a determined look the Doctor then looked up again. “Never again!” And with this, he switched a lever and started up the TARDIS.

While looking at the statues in front of them, Tyler pulled Derpy in and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“They’re at the TARDIS, Derpy… Wherever these things send us, the others can find us… Meanwhile I will protect you in place of the Doctor.”

Derpy simply nodded and closed her eyes. Soon the terrors of the Weeping Pegasi would be over.

* * * * *

Moments later, a gentle shaking on her shoulder made her aware that it had happened already.
“Derpy... Derpy, come on!”

Shaking her head to get clear, the blonde Pegasus looked around.
“We're in the past?”

Tyler first looked around, then ceased the overcharge. The air wasn't smelling like debris, it was a fresh and warm breeze coming from outside the window.
“It appears so... But don't you worry. If you are right about this Doctor, he will come for us, right?” When there was no answer from her, he looked down to her again. “He can do that with the TARDIS, right?”

Looking up to him with a determined smile, Derpy gave him a nod.
“Mh-hm! It will be child-play for him. I bet he'll find a way. The Doctor never leaves his companions behind, if he can save them.”

“Oh, good... In the meantime, let us see how far we were sent...” As they walked out of the building, the skyline of a futuristic city stretched out in front of them. Tyler's eyes slowly opened wide with a smile. “Well, would you look at that...?” A small glider flashed by and went into the distance, before it united with the heavy air traffic the planet was in. Smiling at this, Tyler looked down to Derpy. “What do you think? I think we can actually take advantage of this.”

The blonde mare gave this a smile and a nod.
“You're right, maybe we can find some answers here.”

In the evening, they managed to get a room in a hotel and went to the elevator. Once inside, Derpy shot Tyler a disapproving glare.
“I better not ask where you got the 'credits' for that room. That's a penthouse room near the roof. I may not be a manehattan filly, but this I know: These are very expensive, no matter what time-frame you're in!”

Chuckling a bit, Tyler patted her shoulder.
“Just a little trickery to get around. Don't forget that we're stranded here with no means to return until the Doctor finds us. I think by tomorrow, we should go to the outskirts of town and do something outstanding. Something the history books will write about. Something so massive the Doctor will know that it has to be us.”

Laughing a bit, Derpy then gave him an easygoing smile.
“I already have something in mind. The Doctor once told me to make it big and unmistakably my sign.”

That night, Tyler found little to no sleep at all. Still the horrors of the once-abandoned library halls echoed in his mind and he was worried for the others. This Doctor was a stallion who was around whenever there were problems. Or maybe the problems came to him? It would be wise in the future to talk with Celestia about this guy. 'Future... Yeah right... First I have to get myself and the others back to our own time and space.'

Grumbling a bit, Tyler stood up. There was no chance to get sleep now and he was thirsty. Fetching a glass of water, he then went out to the balcony. At least he hoped it was normal water. Who could know? Maybe in the future they could have liquid hamburger or something. While drinking at the balcony, his head leaned back a bit in the process and looked up to the moon. What he saw then prompted him to spit out the water in his mouth.

There it was. High up in space a gigantic spider crawled over the moon like it was one giant cocoon. On one of the roofs Derpy Hooves looked up to the moon, her eyes both looking straight at the spider. Her right eye began to glow yellow as her face grew darker and more concerned.
“It’s him…”

On the moon, the mechanical spider then faced the planet. Red lamps activated on its bridge as a stallion with a blonde mane stepped forth. A dark smirk formed on his face as several screens zoomed in to the planet’s surface and showed Tyler and Derpy looking up to the moon.

“The tri-faced time scourge, and the Eye of Time… Well, Doctor… my old friend and enemy, it seems like I finally found the assistant you hold so dear…” A grim laugh echoed through the hallways of the spider-shaped ship as it crawled over the moon, several flying saucers slowly closing in from behind it…

Author's Notes:

Proofread by Shwaggy