Equestria, present day

Captain Dusk Aegis saluted in front of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna before shaking his head.
“I am sorry, your highness. Neither the Element Bearers nor the humans are to be found. Princess Twilight's assistant has no clue either. Shall I continue to-”

It was then when another guard stormed in with a mare and stopped in front of the princesses.
“Your highness! This mare here claims she knows what happened to them.”

The mare of orange mane and yellow coat nodded as she got the attention of the two alicorn sisters. Celestia eyed her for a second before she nodded.
“Carrot Top... Please tell us what you know.”

Bowing before them, the mare nodded.
“It was three days ago, when I saw Derpy with that stallion in pursuit of an odd leather object. They were followed by the Element Bearers and a small group of Harmony Rangers, all four humans among them. They all ran down the market place and entered a small blue booth similar to Discord's booth-house. And then this booth simply disappeared”

As soon as Celestia heard this, her jaw dropped slightly and she closed her eyes in worry.
“Oh, by the stars...”

Looking over to her older sister, Luna shook her head.
“If they are with him, they are out of reach. Out of reach for us, but also out of reach for our enemies. Still... ‘Tis worrying me that they are... thou knowest... with him. He certainly has many more enemies than we do.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, the TARDIS was flying through the time vortex in a bumpy ride. Several shocks whirled the little ship around, causing it to flip upside down. Inside, however, none of this was noticed as it simply hummed in working order. Steering it with routine, the Doctor still had a concerned look on his face. While some of the girls slept, Rachel sat on some stairs looking around.
“Where are we stopping this time? Just in the past of this library planet?”

Giving her a short glance, the Doctor then shook his head as he continued to watch the screens of the TARDIS.
“No, it wouldn't do us any good to rewind time like this in the hopes of finding the two of them wandering around the planet. No, I will see to it that we check some details first. For that I have to visit some... Well, let's call them useful associates. Friends or companions would be too much, I don't agree with everything they do.”

On the other side of the control room, Twilight and Applejack couldn't find any sleep. Too great were the worries about Tyler and what he might face in the time he now was stranded in, and neither the alicorn nor earth pony mare could find any rest like this.
“Ah must say that Ah'm not fond of knowing Tyler could be in who knows what sort of trouble. Ah mean he's all by himself with Derpy, on a planet that was attacked at some point. Hay! Even to think about it makes mah brain go haywire due to worry. So whatever it is yer doin', Doctor... Do it fast!”

Twilight shot the Doctor a concerned look and he sighed.
“Alright, alright... No distractions, but give me some time to assess the situation. We definitely need to ask some of the authorities.” Not long after this the TARDIS halted and he headed for the TARDIS front door, which woke up the rest of the friends.

Coming to his side, Rachel then nodded.
“Finally... Maybe we can see some real...” But as she opened the door and everyone was heading out, they were greeted by a squad of several, thick figures in heavy black armor, who immediately aimed weapons at the group. One of them had no helmet on, and had a head that one could best describe as some alien sort of rhinoceros. “...some... real... Oh, good God.”

Stepping in front of the group, the Doctor shook his head.
“There is no omnipotent being among the Judoon, Ranger Rachel. Nor is there one in the Shadow Proclamation.”

“Shadow what now?” Rachel asked.

“Proclamation. Outer space police, if you want. Hush now, the officer wants to say something.” With this the Doctor nodded towards the rhinoceros.

Grumbling a bit impatiently, the Judoon then eyed the Doctor.
“Scopo trono frojo kofo todo.”

Answering the glare with one of his own, the Doctor then answered,
“Nobo hosho koro toso. Bokatosa fopapapajo.” Now the armored beings lowered their rifles, which earned them a relieved sigh from the Rangers and Elements, who now lowered their hands and hooves. The Doctor gave them a brief nod. “Maho.”

Several minutes later the group was brought to a completely white pony, emanating a soft yellow, almost golden glow. On her forehead rested a blue jewel, glittering softly.
“A time pony? Here and now? This can only mean that we're in trouble soon or in trouble already without knowing it. Your race is one bad omen for the rest of the universe.”

Rolling his eyes, the Doctor gave a playful smirk.
“Yeah... More to the point, I'm missing a friend or two on Paretoka. I was hoping you could let me into the archives so I could look the incidents there up.”

It was in this moment when Rarity's curiosity broke forth and interrupted the conversation.
“Oh! Oh! I would love to know what you did to your coat to make it shine like that. It's so regal and maybe I can do that to my coat as well.”

Looking over to her, the Doctor smiled as he shook his head.
“Miss Rarity, the constable is a star pony, one of the very few pioneers traveling space. Be nice to her, that coat shines because of the soft background radiation of the universe making it shimmer. Every facet of space travel has star ponies in it. And this gem on her forehead is not jewelry like one could assume; it is her way to communicate with other star ponies even thousands of lightyears away. One could say that the ‘trii’, this blue jewel, is their long range communication system and means for telepathy.”

The constable, however, arched a brow at Rarity, who still eyed her coat and trii in admiration, before she turned to the Doctor once more.
“Doctor, even if you were helpful to Origin and several other planets throughout universal history, I cannot grant you access to those restricted files. Besides, what would it matter? Everything about Paretoka that is left in the archives are cold cases insignificant for you.”

Arching a brow now himself, the Doctor then put on a smirk.
“Cases? What cold cases?”

One Judoon now nodded.
“Vandalism of Paretoka landforms became cold cases as the planet was evacuated.”

Frowning a bit, the Doctor thought for a bit.
“Yes, I know that Paretoka was attacked at some point. Evacuated because of what? Who attacked them?”

Shrugging, the star pony mare shook her head and activated a terminal.
“That's just it, Doctor... You see, someone messed up our archives and deleted everything. The only thing in place of these deleted files is just one sentence.”

Looking down, the Doctor then closed his eyes.
“Darkness is coming...”

The constable's eyes widened with a gasp before her face grew grim.
“How did you know? This interior incident is classified!”

Smirking a bit, the Doctor turned around.
“Yeah... Call it a hunch. Several data crystals and archives throughout the entire universe were altered, so it comes as no surprise. Someone is very thorough in wiping out vital evidence. Do you at least know when these cases of vandalism took place? Or in what corner of Paretoka? Or when your archives were altered?”

“What we know is that there was massive vandalism of Paretoka regarding the landforms. One couldn't miss it from orbit or from the surface. That's all our archivists could remember.”

Nodding, the Doctor then headed back to the TARDIS, much to the surprise of the others.
“Aren't we looking into these archives? Maybe we can find something nonetheless?” Rachel asked.

Shaking his head with a smile, the Doctor opened the door to the TARDIS.
“No, we have everything we could get from here.”

Entering the TARDIS one by one, the friends looked at each other. Frowning in annoyance, Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
“Well, that was a waste of time.”

Nodding in agreement, Flynn pointed at the door.
“Yes, why did we take so much time talking to them? I mean all we now know is that someone vandalized the landscape before the planet was attacked.”

“Precisely!” The Doctor now answered, “If you're stranded on an island or in this case a planet you don't belong to, you put in a sign for others to see. Something to stand out. And since the two of them are trying to reach us, I bet these cases of vandalism are Tyler and Derpy. Let's head back to Paretoka, I need to see these signs and assess when they were caused.”

* * * * *

In the meantime, back on Paretoka, Tyler and Derpy went through the Paretokan nightlife. As far as he could remember, he never saw anything so focused on books and knowledge. It seemed that at each street corner was a smaller sub-library where some author or professor published a new book or a group was having a small convention of some sort. Aliens in several forms and shapes crossed their way, yet Tyler tried not to make a big deal out of it. 1 billion years in the future was a long time and who knew of what half of these lifeforms had done in the meantime.

As his thoughts went back to the girls, he shook his head with a gentle smile. 'Oh, Twilight... Where the heck are you? You would completely go nuts on this world' Looking over to Derpy, he gave her a grin.
“Well? What can you tell me about the Doctor?”

Looking up, the gray mare blushed a bit before she looked down with a dreamy expression on her face.
“Th-the Doctor? Oh, he's quite an amazing stallion. I wouldn't know where to start. Sure he has his traits and quirks, but in the end he always has been my hero.”

Arching a brow, he gently shook his head.
“That's not very precise, Derpy. Can't you go more into detail?”

Raising her head once again, she beamed up to him before looking around.
“Well, this is a library planet. I propose you look him up.”

Not an hour later both of them were in a closed part of the library and Tyler read through the user manual for using the fusion archive.
“Well... I don't know, seems to me there goes the command and then the topic you are looking for... Let's give it a shot!” Facing one of the heads of the pedestal, he then uttered his command. “Search! Article: The Doctor”

The head, the pony head of a mare, opened its eyes and looked at them both with a pleasant smile.
“Welcome to the Paretoka Archive. You have selected file B3461 – RZ968 – 745 – Alpha01: Identified entity known as 'The Doctor'
Begin presentation...”

A hologram of one of the curators appeared and began to hold the presentation.
“He is the Doctor, last of the ancient race of Time Ponies, Keeper of the Equestrian Timeline, Defender of the Laws of Time, Protector of Gallopfrey, Confederate of the Solar Empire, Honorary Member of the Lunar Republic...” As the curator spoke, Derpy was certain that the Doctor would chase through time and space to come get her. Right now he would steer the TARDIS with that determined look on his face that would make her heart beat like crazy, just like every time she saw him with that glare.

Dates, historic events, incidents both small and big, video feeds and pictures. More and more holographic articles about the Doctor's adventures on several different planets came up and some quotes in form of audio logs were played as the holograms of different stallions appeared as well, some of them paired with pictures from surveillance cameras.
"I am not an earth pony, I walk an eternity..."

“It's the TARDIS! It's my home.”

“There is no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes.”

“Is nopony interested in history?”

Surrounded by the holograms of the many versions of the Doctor, Tyler's jaw dropped. Who was this stallion, this complete stranger who seemed to come every time there was trouble somewhere in the universe? Or was the trouble following him? He had had his adventures and, from the look of it, escaped the clutches of death quite often with this regeneration of his. Every single one of the stallions shown here had a different face and seemingly a completely different personality. But all had one thing in common: they were out to help those in need and punish those who were threatening others.

In the morning, on the way back to their room, Tyler looked down to the gray mare at his side, not sure if he should envy or pity her for this friendship with the Doctor.
“We really should have a talk about the ponies you frequent with, Derpy. It is a bit concerning that you are so deep in trouble most of the time.”

But she simply snickered it away.
“Aw, it's nice of you to care that much. But I'm trusting the Doctor. So... Have you thought a bit about my proposal for the message we are leaving for the Doctor?”

“I did. But Derpy... Isn't this a bit... off?”

Shrugging, Derpy flapped her wings and hovered in front of him.
“Oh not at all. I bet the Doctor will know for certain that this is my doing.”

Later that day, Tyler was standing outside the balcony. For one day and night the giant spider was sitting on the moon and was staring at the planet. The fear of the population had ceased for now, since no attack followed. And yet the atmosphere on the streets was tense.

Unnoticed by him, however, Derpy held a little electric tool in her hooves as she was sitting in the bathroom, glancing on it in worry.
“Please be negative. Please be negative... Oh please, oh please!” Shortly after that, the little tool beeped twice and gave a green light, showed a happy smiley and displayed a little hologram with the word 'Positive'. Her eyes slowly widened and the adrenaline began to rush through her bloodstream. She had to tell the Doctor, she had to confess what she did. A silent weeping filled the bathroom this evening... What she had done was wrong and she wasn't even sure if she could face the Doctor again with this certainty.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, a couple of thousand years later, the TARDIS re-appeared on the destroyed fields of Paretoka, this time outside. As soon as its doors opened, the stench of the destroyed landscape once more filled the nostrils of the friends. Rarity wrinkled her nose at this.
“Ugh! Was it really necessary that we return to this dirty place? Applejack? Once this is over, remind me never to call your farm a stinking dirt hole again.”

But the country mare simply snickered.
“Yer going to regret that, ya know?” Turning to the Doctor now, Applejack arched a brow. “So Doctor... Uh... Yer sure ya know what yer doin'?”

But the Doctor simply smiled at her.
“Fascinating!”

This left Applejack stumped for a second.
“Huh?”

“Your accent! I really like it!”

Now Twilight and Applejack both grew grim in their looks.
“Doctor!” both of them yelled at him, causing him to grin nervously and raise one hoof in defense.

“Alright! Alright... I'm on it. Now! The TARDIS suggest that the coordinates for the landmark destruction is right.... behind us!”

When the group turned around, they saw it. Gigantic letters were carved into the mountain wall behind the TARDIS. Correcting her Stetson, Applejack whistled in awe.
“Holy apple tree! Now THAT'S somethin' ya don't see every day.”

Rainbow on the other end snickered.
“It sure suits her to let him write something like this.”

Giving the sight a smirk, the Doctor nodded.
“Only she would choose this word to get my attention...”

In gigantic letters there was the word MUFFIN carved into the giant mountain wall. Twilight's face was buried into her hoof.
“I can't believe he did that...”

Closing his eyes now, the Doctor's smirk slowly turned into a grin.
“Neither can I... What's worse is that somewhere in the future this word is deemed one of the last artifacts of the once glamorous Paretoka. If ponies knew... Alright, time to do what we came here for. Let's assess when these letters were carved in.” And with that, the small group of friends accompanied the Doctor, always careful to watch the surroundings in case another Weeping Pegasi lurked over the barren hills.

* * * * *

In the meantime, Derpy got out of the bathroom again, the tears dried and with a gulp she stepped outside to the balcony, where Tyler still was looking at the gigantic spider.
“Hasn't moved since they found it.” He stated flatly as he shook his head. “The news is going full berserk on this. They speculate whether this is a PR gag to get the attention for a new book or if this is some sort of stupid joke.

But when he turned over to Derpy, he saw her slightly reddened eyes. Frowning, he knelt down to her.
“Did you cry? Hey... I promised to take good care for you, so there is no reason to cry, you hear?”

This made Derpy snicker a bit.
“That's not it... The situation would have to be more dire to make me cry. But thanks for caring so much.” Patting her cheek, Tyler then looked her into the eyes before he nodded with a smile and stood up to go inside once more. Looking after him, Derpy sighed. 'If only he knew. How do I explain this to the Doctor? How do I justify this to the stallion I love? Would he even like me as a companion anymore?' Her train of thought, however was interrupted as the screen in their living room was flickering all of a sudden. And not just theirs, even the screens in the libraries and the streets, every broadcasting system was going haywire for a moment.

Then every monitor and hologram on the entire planet showed only the face of one stallion. A dark smirk rested on his face as he faced the crowds as his voice echoed through the streets and rooms of every place where a planetary transceiver was placed.
“Greetings, citizens of Paretoka. My name is ‘The Master’… I have journeyed through time and space to find your puny little world. Your world is currently shelter to two I am looking for. They may look like you, one male human and one pony mare... But they are in fact far more special than most of you.”

Terror struck the inhabitants of Paretoka. Surely the gigantic spider on the moon was capable of dealing a great amount of damage and this stallion, this 'Master', seemed like somepony able to perform every atrocity.
“To those of you who know of how or where to find them: The fate of this planet rests in your hooves and hands…” By now several Paretokan ponies looked around and conversed and whispered to each other. It seemed some already eyed one another in trying to determine who were the wanted ones. The Master, however, continued. “To the two of them I say this: I have brought along some old friends of the Doctor who just BURN to meet you… Surrender to me, or doom this world for destruction…”

Tyler gave the transmission an angered look before he looked over to Derpy.
“Dooming for destruction... Not a nice guy, this 'Master'... What are we? Part of a war?”

Shaking her head, the gray mare looked up to Tyler with an equally concerned look.
“He's one nutjob of a time pony. In my travels with the Doctor we stumbled upon him several times. And each time the Doctor and I barely escaped his plans. A very dangerous stallion. If we surrender to him, I have no doubt that there will be even more casualties than before. But I wonder who these friends are he's mentioning. Certainly some enemies of the Doctor.”

Giving a nod, Tyler patted her shoulder.
“Even more reason to get the Doctor here as soon as possible. Come on, we'll carve the rest of that message of yours directly into the place we've determined.”

* * * * *

At the same time, high up on the moon, the Master monitored some screens to see the many reactions his speech had received. Behind him, however, a humanoid figure approached him, came to a halt and nodded. Metal plates covered this otherwise human shaped body.
“Master... They become restless. They want to attack.”

Without looking back, the Master now lifted his head and smirked.
“Then let them attack, Mechtoo. But monitor them. If they overdo it, step in. I don't want the interstellar authorities showing up here. Not yet that is. First I need to find 'him'.”

Bowing to the time pony, the cybernetic warrior nodded.
“For every unnecessary victim I shall kill a thousand of them.”

Turning around, the Master now arched a brow as he faced his servant.
“Don't take them lightly... You may have that advantage of yours, but even you can't defeat everything. I will leave the spider with you and return to Barelioth.”

On his way to the spacecraft to Barelioth station, his real base of operation, the Master thought for a moment. 'Mechtoo... Funny name... Human mercenaries and their little kinks. Whatever...' As he entered the shuttle, the Master thought a bit how he'd met Mechtoo. A couple of decades maybe, just before he was contacted... by her. Somehow it was funny how she already knew about him. How she predicted how he would behave. And Mechtoo had been obedient and useful in all these years. An efficient, sober assassin, swift and reliable.

Yet how she could know that he would turn out to be such a reliable asset was beyond the Master's imagination. What she wanted to get rid of, however, was most pleasing. Soon the trap would spring and the Doctor would come to the rescue of his companions. This was something he liked about the Doctor. In certain ways he was predictable.

* * * * *

Down below on the planet, however, Derpy and Tyler had returned from their short venture out into the Paretokan outdoors and Derpy was watching the news while Tyler was taking a shower. As he returned from the bathroom, he looked over to her. Surprised by how easily Derpy took the television invention, both of them have had a little chat about this. Derpy explained to Tyler that with the Doctor one learns a lot of new stuff each adventure and broadcasting systems were nothing new to her for about five years now, yet it was hard to keep that idea for herself in the Equestria they both knew.

The news was full of sightings of the giant spider high up on the moon as one of the newscaster was given a note.
“I'm just receiving info that our planet is receiving yet another transmission from the orbit of Paretoka. It is emitting from a fleet that is approaching from behind the dark side of the moon. We will put it through now.”

What followed was an unpleasant, mechanical voice, far from everything euphonic. Monotone and without emotion it barked its only message like a battle cry.
“*EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!*”

Gulping down with a concerned look on his face, Tyler grimaced.
“That doesn’t sound very good at all!”

“No…” Shaking her head, Derpy backed away in fear. “Oh no!!!”

Looking behind, Tyler couldn't help but notice the distress Derpy now showed as the transmission simply continued.
“What is it? Derpy, do you know what's coming down the planet?”

Derpy now looked up to him, tears in her eyes.
“He won't be here in time. I’m sorry… but without the Doctor… we’re dead!”

Tyler didn't know the extent of the approaching threat, but whatever it was, it had to be horribly bad due to Derpy's reaction. He had to see this, had to assess this threat. Running out to one balcony of the building, he looked up into the sky. And there they were. Flying by the spider and the moon, flying saucers now filled the sky over the planet and opened fire to the ground. Blue energy beams flashed in the night sky and each hit resulted in a fierce detonation. Ponies and humans as well as other alien races ran in wild panic. This was not an attack with the intend to take prisoners; this was pure annihilation.

He had to return to Derpy and bring her to safety. On his way back to her, several explosions went off behind him. But this was of little to no concern to Tyler. Only one thing was important now: Derpy had to survive this with him, they had to escape the fate Paretoka was facing. This planet was doomed for destruction in the first place. They had already seen the result. In his understanding of time, this marked it determined to happen. But him and Derpy could still evade this, they were not bound to this fate.

* * * * *

On the bridge of one of the flying saucers, several big mechanical bodies glided over the the floor as one turned around to the others, its long eyestalk facing its fellow aliens. With every syllable the two lamps on its robotic head flashed up.
“*DALEK FLEET IN BATTLE FORMATION.*”

“*ALL WEAPON SYSTEMS CHARGED AND READY.*” said another one.

“*STRATAGEM SUCCESS CHANCE IS RISING TO EIGHTY-NINE PERCENT.*” the first one stated.

“*THE PONY EXTERMINATION WILL COMMENCE!*” a third Dalek exclaimed.

Down on Paretoka, a stallion in military uniform stood his ground in a command center as several other ponies coordinated the quickly dwindling defenses of the planet to repel the attack as best as they could. Sirens were howling and several screens were blinking in a wild frenzy as the entire planet was under attack at once.
“Activate every last one of the mobile fortresses! Inform the Star Queen to send help! Ladies and gentlecolts, Paretoka Library is under siege!”

On one of the Dalek ships, one Dalek turned around and faced a doorway.
“*SUPREME DALEK ON THE BRIDGE!*”

As the door opened, steam vented out as a Dalek in red varnish entered the bridge and looked around to its fellow Daleks.
“*THE MASTER'S INFORMATION TURNED OUT VALID. WE HAVE FOUND THE EYE OF TIME AND THE TIME-SCOURGE. WE HAVE WAITED LONG FOR THIS ULTIMATE VICTORY. SOON THE DALEKS WILL REVERT ALL OF CREATION!*”

In unison, the Daleks then proclaimed their intentions.
“*DALEKS WILL REVERT ALL OF CREATION! DALEKS WILL REVERT ALL OF CREATION!*”

When Tyler opened the door to their room, Derpy jumped up with a surprised yelp, but collected herself quite fast as she recognized him.
“Tyler! It's just you...”

“We are leaving, Derpy. Right now! There's only bedlam outside and if we wait for these guys to come down, it will be too late. Our best chance will be to get out of the city. Preferably towards the spot where we left our mark.” Both nodded at each other and left their apartment without further ado. While the sirens were howling and the Dalek ships were bombarding the city, they headed for the eastern city limits. The road was blocked once with fallen debris from the skyscrapers and Derpy spotted that behind the obstacles the road was blocked for several miles with further debris, cars and crashed air crafts.

Spotting stairs into the ground, Tyler waved her down again.
“This way! With some luck, the subway stations will still be functional.” As they climbed down the stairs, there were some minor quakes in the distance. Pretty soon it became dark and gloomy and the electric lights flickered as they descended deeper inside. Approaching a terminal, Tyler tried to get it to work, sadly to no avail.

It was then when Derpy heard something.
“Tyler! The train is coming!” Beaming as she hovered at the departure platform, the sound of a train became audible for Tyler as well and he stood beside the gray mare. But when the train came into sight, Tyler recognized an odd shine from it, gently pulling Derpy back. What followed was a blistering heat as the burning train passed the station without breaking or colliding with anything. Fire was bursting out of every window the wagons had.

Once the train had passed, Derpy silently began to weep, causing Tyler to gently pat her back as she cried into his chest.
“Now, now... It could have been worse. Fortunately we weren't on that train before. Now come... We will have to go through the tunnels...”

* * * * *

On the bridge of the Dalek flagship, the Supreme Dalek coordinated the invasion strike force as several screens and holograms were active in front of it.
“COMMENCE THE LANDINGS! BRING THE EYE OF TIME AND TIME SCOURGE HERE! PREPARE THE EXTRACTION PROCESS!”

From the shadows of the Dalek ship bridge a red single visor emitted a weak red light as the figure stepped out from the dark.
“Supreme Dalek? Are there any news to report?”

Now facing the humanoid figure, the Supreme Dalek shortly glared at it before its response came.
“PARETOKA AND ITS INFERIOR SPECIES IS FALLING TO OUR FLEET.”

Slowly shaking its head, the dark figure, the voice betraying it as male, came even closer.
“I mean: Is there any news from 'him'?”

Looking back to the screens in front of him, the Supreme Dalek now paid attention to them.
“NEGATIVE! THE DOCTOR IS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. OUR STRATAGEM WILL BE OVER BEFORE HE EVEN ARRIVES. THE MASTER'S PREDICTION ABOUT HIS ARRIVAL IS OVERDUE BY 9001 RELS.”

Now the red glow of the visor got stronger, letting it shine in a fierce hellish red.
“I'm warning you, supreme one... Your task here is to extract these two individuals from the planet, not to turn this planet into a wasteland!” Raising a sword up to the eyestalk of the Supreme Dalek, the unnamed stranger eyed him as he cocked his head. “If you disobey, I'm here to make you remember your place. Never forget that!”

The sword was then lowered and Mechtoo turned around on the spot, leaving the bridge. Silently, the Supreme Dalek waited until the doors were closed behind the humanoid henchman before he raised his voice.

“THE ABOMINATION IS BECOMING A NUISANCE. WE SHOULD KEEP AN EYESTALK ON HIM.”

“THE ABOMINATION HAS A PECULIAR KNOWLEDGE OF THE FUTURE. SUPREME ONE! WHAT SHOULD WE DO?”

“THE MASTER IS NOT TRUSTWORTHY. NO TIME PONY IS. THE DOCTOR, WITH HIS MANY LOSSES OF COMPANIONS, GIVES PROOF TO THAT.”

* * * * *

Down on Paretoka, Tyler raised his head up and peeked at the street, probing carefully if it was safe to be outside. But when Derpy came to his side, he gently pushed her back down the stairs.
“No! You stay down there where nothing can harm you. Whatever happens to us... I want it to happen to me first.” After she nodded, Derpy descended a bit down the stairs and Tyler carefully crawled up to the street.

And already he saw them. On one side of the street, the corpses of ponies and aliens were stacked by two prisoners as one single Dalek guarded them.
“THE TIME SCOURGE IS NOT AMONG THE CORPSES HERE. YOU HAVE SERVED YOUR PURPOSE.” Two shots were fired and the pony and alien collapsed lifeless to the ground. 'Bastard...' Tyler thought. 'Worse than Nazi scum...'

But as he focussed his attention towards the Dalek while trying to sneak by, he didn't see the loose stone he was stepping on. Alerted by the sudden sound the Dalek turned around.
“HALT! HALT OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!” Halting in his movement, Tyler immediately gazed at the mechanic alien. This thing, whatever it was, it had to be part of the invasion force attacking the planet.

Raising his hands to the head, Tyler waited for the
“So what are you waiting for? Why don't you just kill me? Like all the others over here!”

“I CAN'T.” the Dalek answered.

This left Tyler stumped and he shook his head in confusion.
“You killed half the freaking planet and now you can't kill me? Then why do all this? If you can't harm me, what do you want with me? Why can't you kill me?”

“BECAUSE YOU ARE FIXED.”

'Fixed? Now what the hell does that mean?' Slowly Tyler's hands descended again.
“You know? If you can't kill me...” With that a detonation wave emitted from Tyler in a 45 degree and hurled the Dalek against the wall.

The light in the eyestalk flickered for a bit, yet the Dalek reanimated itself rather quickly.
“SYSTEMS RESTORING. YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

As it was out to move again, Tyler stepped his boot against it and pressed it into the wall once more as he grabbed the eyestalk.
“Fat chance, buster. You just said that you can't kill me. So let's try out how much damage I can do to you to kill or destroy you.”

The eyestalk in his grip as well as the longer of the arms were trying to move, but Tyler was more concerned about the energy weapon that was being directed at him. But somehow, like a complete miracle, the devastating blow that would end his life in a second never came.
“RECORDS INDICATE THAT YOU WON'T KILL A DEFENSELESS BEING. YOU ARE AN ASSOCIATE OF THE DOCTOR.”

Scoffing into the eyestalk, Tyler sneered into the robotic blue eye.
“I'm Tyler Jones. Check your stupid records once more!”

There was a certain pause between him and the Dalek before the lamps on its head flashed up once more.
“MERCY!”

Now Tyler was stumped beyond measure. Was this Dalek really afraid of him right now? 'What the hell will I do in the future that such a race of destroyers fears me?'
“What did you just say?”

“MERCY!!”

A dark blue flickering occurred in Tyler's eyes as he gazed deep into the eyestalk of the Dalek, a sadistic grin on his face growing wider and wider.
“Now isn't that interesting?”

“MERCYYYYYY!!!”

A few more minutes later Tyler came down the stairs to the subway station where Derpy jumped up and embraced him dearly.
“Tyler! Oh Celestia be thanked, you are alive and unharmed! When I heard the Dalek energy weapon I was so afraid for you!” As she loosened the embrace, she looked up to him. “What happened to the Dalek that threatened you?”

Yet Tyler simply shrugged.
“Which part of it?”

This left Derpy more than surprised and her jaw dropped.
“You destroyed it? How?”

“Magical pressure wave, concentrated into the eyestalk. Not that it fought back much. It said it couldn't kill me. That I was fixed. What does that mean?”

Derpy gasped for a while, but immediately recollected herself.
“The Daleks have an archive they can access through time and space. If they can't kill you now, it means that at some point in the future... YOUR future, there are things that have to happen. Even the Doctor said that there are things and events in the universe bound to happen. Nopony and no creature can prevent that without risking the entire universe as time would go haywire. The Daleks may be dangerous, but not stupid.

This Tyler rewarded with a nod.
“So basically, regarding the Daleks, I have a life insurance that could be over any minute? I mean if this thing I'm supposed to do would be in an hour, the Daleks would be able again to kill me?” Once Derpy nodded, he grimaced. “I'm not sure if this is a great advantage, but let's make the best of it” The gray mare nodded once more while Tyler was looking around. “I can kill one of them, but surely not that entire fleet. I have to get you off this planet.”

But just as they went a few steps a wall detonated in front of them and six eyestalks lit up in front of them. “HALT!” Sighing in frustration, Tyler shook his head and cracked his knuckles. He had killed one of them, six more shouldn't be such a great difference since he now knew about their weak spot. As they surrounded them, one of them stopped a few meters away, supervising the scene.
“INFORM THE FLEET! WE HAVE ARRESTED THE TARGETS!”

Another Dalek approached the two of them and pointed its energy weapon at them.
“MOVE! MOVE OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Tyler pointed a finger at the Daleks.
“Spare me the threats, tin can army! I know from that last Dalek that you guys can't kill me. That I am destined to do something first. So if you can't kill me, I won't cooperate with you! So if you don't have any objections, then I'll transform you guys into scrap metal now.”

The Dalek in front of him eyed him and the flashlights on its head activated.
“NO, WE CAN'T KILL YOU. BUT WE CAN KILL THE PONY. YOU WILL OBEY OR SHE WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

Gritting his teeth, Tyler then reluctantly nodded.
“You won't harm her! If you do, I will rip you garbage bins apart one by one!” As more and more Daleks surrounded them, Tyler rested a hand on Derpy's shoulders. “Unfortunately I will have to do what they want, Derpy. I can't let anything happen to you.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile in outer space, the TARDIS entered the current time and the Doctor steered her closer towards the Paretoka system. Frowning a bit, he looked to the humans.
“You know, you didn't need to punch him.”

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Rachel folded her arms.
“He was asking for it! I don't know what business you had with him, but this Harkness guy had his hands in the danger zone for a few seconds too long.”

As the Doctor looked at Flynn and Sam, both simply shrugged.
“What? Doc, we don't swing that way. I can tolerate a lot, but if they get too close, I remind them to keep their distance.”

Flynn nodded in agreement, pointing at Sam.
“Yeah... What he said.”

Looking over to the mares, the Doctor arched a brow, only to see them nodding in agreement.
“Ya know...” Applejack began, “It's not like he was rude or impolite or somethin'... But if he messes with a mare and friend of ours, Ah think a beatin’ is in order.”

During the conversation Rarity had a hoof over Fluttershy and comforted her.
“Now dear, you don't need to fret, you didn't fall for it.”

Fluttershy remained unusually calm, unlike the others.
“I know. I just... um... thought what Grinko would have done to the Captain if he would have been present at that moment.”

While the others grimaced a bit at the thought, the Doctor then had Paretoka on one of his dispays. Coming to his side, Rachel frowned a bit.
“These things there... These flashes... They don't look like thunderstorms... Are they...?”

The face of the Doctor grew grim in a couple of seconds.
“Energy weapons...”

* * * * *

In the meantime, Tyler and Derpy were escorted to one of the Dalek ships and brought off the planet, where they were brought to the Supreme Dalek. Smirking a bit, Tyler looked around.
“Nice little armada... Only for the two of us? Aw, you shouldn't have!”

Passing by several other Daleks, the red Supreme Dalek now faced Tyler and Derpy.
“THE HUMAN WILL REMAIN SILENT! WE WILL HAVE TO ADAPT TO THIS NEW SITUATION.”

Smirking, Tyler rolled his eyes. He had to play along for a while now. If they couldn't do him harm, they might spare them for now.
“Oh yeah, right! You can't kill me so you're just going to place me here on a pedestal to collect some dust.”

Looking to the other Daleks, the Supreme Dalek raised its voice again.
“HOW IS IT THAT THIS HUMAN TARGET IS THE ONE PERSON WE CAN'T EXTERMINATE NOW? WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR ARCHIVES?”

Another Dalek turned around from a console.
“OUR ARCHIVES HAVE BEEN ALTERED! IT ONLY SAYS: 'DARKNESS IS COMING'!”

This made Derpy gasp in shock.
“Doctor...”

Now several Daleks turned around to them as the Supreme Dalek spoke up.
“TIME PONY TREACHERY! THE MASTER BETRAYED US AND THE DOCTOR ALTERED OUR ARCHIVES TO FALL FOR THIS!”

Leaning over to Derpy, Tyler grinned nervously.
“Stay behind me, I'm the one they won't kill, so maybe I can shield you. And for goodness sake, tell me you know what they are talking about!”

It was then when the Supreme Dalek shot an energy beam directly to the ground before Tyler's feet.
“YOU ARE A PART OF THIS! YOU KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE! EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!! EXPLAIN!!!

It was right when the Supreme Dalek aimed for Derpy's head that another Dalek glided to their side.
“ALERT! ALERT! INCOMING SHIP DETECTED!”

As the Daleks turned around, the Supreme Dalek replied with its conclusion,
“IT IS THE DOCTOR! HE HAS LOCATED US! OPEN COMMUNICATION CHANNEL!”

One other Dalek glided over to Tyler and Derpy and pointed its energy weapon at them.
“THE HOSTAGES WILL STAND! STAND!”

When the communication channel was established, the human Rangers gasped at the sight of the Daleks.
“Who... WHAT are those things?” Rachel asked.

Sam was the first to chuckle a bit.
“They look like pepper shakers.”

“The most despicable race of ethnic cleansers the universe has ever seen...” The Doctor answered, his voice growing cold and unkind all of a sudden. With a sober “Oh...” The expressions of the humans grew more disgusted.

Now coming into view, the Supreme Dalek looked directly at the screen in front of it.
“I WILL TALK TO THE DOCTOR!”

Fighting the urge to burst out in laughter, the Doctor simply smirked.
“Oh that's a new one! Daleks with an urge to chat. Well then: Hello!”

“THE INVASION OF PARETOKA WAS A SUCCESS. YOU WILL NOT INTERVENE!”

“Oh is that so? And what would stop me from doing so?”

“BECAUSE OUR PRIZE IS RIGHT HERE. WE HAVE TWO OF YOUR ASSOCIATES. YOU WILL NOT MOVE YOUR SHIP AND OBEY OR SHE WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

Leaning over to Applejack, Rainbow lowered her voice,
“Why are they only threatening to kill Derpy?”

“Beats me... Maybe he's too important for their plans?”

The Doctor now glared silently at the Daleks and thought of a plan until he suddenly smiled.
“Alright! I won't move the ship through space. But if there's one thing you should have been doing right now, it's being a bit more precise with your demand, you lot. Bye!” With that he switched over a lever and the TARDIS vanished in space, only to appear around Tyler and Derpy, who looked around in wonder as the friends suddenly stood around them.

While Derpy ran over to the Doctor, Applejack and Twilight hugged Tyler dearly while he looked up.
“Doc, you are late!”

Patting Derpy's mane for a bit, the Doctor then smirked over to Tyler.
“I know, I know! But the TARDIS needed a shield to take less damage during the rescue.”

“Alright!” Tyler started, “Now let's get out of here and return to our point in time. Back to Equestria!”

“Not yet!” The Doctor said, much to the surprise of everyone else.

Stomping her hoof on the ground, Twilight shook her head.
“Doctor! On behalf of everypony else here: I insist that you bring us home!

Yet the Doctor gave Twilight an equally stern look as he shook his head as well.
“I don't take orders from Princess Celestia, what makes you think I take orders from you?” Stumped by his bluntness, her eyebrows arched high up. But before she could say anything else, the Doctor grinned over to her. “You above all should know that friendship isn't forcing others to do your bidding, right?”

Tyler now leaned in, resting a hand on Twilight's shoulders.
“Still... Doc, what holds us here? Do you want to save Paretoka from the Daleks?

“The Daleks are only a figure in this game of chess here.” The Doctor flatly stated. “The real player is someone or somepony else.”

Coming to his side, Derpy looked into his face.
“The Master?”

Tipping his chin, the Doctor hummed for a while. “Possibly... Yet I'm not sure. The last pieces of the puzzle are still missing. And Paretoka is our place to look.”

* * * * *

The sirens in the distance were still howling and the horizon emanated the hellish glow as the cities of Paretoka were burning. In his lone library on a mountain in one of the smaller villages, a lone old stallion looked at the catastrophe hitting his planet. Behind him a certain technical moaning became audible before a door opened and several steps from hooves and boots could be heard. Closing his eyes, the old stallion and curator smiled.
“Without turning around, I can tell who you are... I don't know your name, but whosoever does? Only one stallion in the entire universe uses a TARDIS like this one.” Turning around, an old stallion looked at the Doctor and smiled a little tired. “I greet you, Doctor. Surely you are here to solve the problem we are facing right now?”

Looking down with a regretful impression, the Doctor reluctantly shook his head.
“I already saw the planet destroyed... So... there is little I can do.”

“I see. Yes, the laws of time.” As the girls looked down one by one, the old stallion smiled and shook his head. “Oh, don't fret like this. Ponies come and go, my friends... But knowledge needs to be preserved. And during all these many years, the curators of Paretoka have preserved many topics and plenty of knowledge. Some say Paretokan ponies are the ones with the greatest memory. In fact I've yet to see one who can remember more.”

Giving a gentle and kind smile, the Doctor nodded.
“The equine version of a quantum computer... The perfect planet for a library.”

Agreeing with a nod and smile himself, the curator looked at the Doctor.
“Indeed. For millions of generations, we Paretokans have preserved history. Some through technology, others through telling the stories over and over again. Our children have to learn early to know them by heart. But why someone would attack us of all planets is beyond me.”

The smile of the Doctor now withered as he arched a brow.
“Oh, don't be so modest. What can you tell me about the Darkness Sisters?”

In the next moment, the friends all looked at the Doctor, who exchanged stern looks with the curator. The Paretokan pony then finally sighed after half a minute and lowered his head.
“These are dark times you want to know about, my friend…” With an even heavier sigh the old curator then looked at the Doctor again, his eyes showed clearly that this was knowledge he wasn't parting from eagerly. “Times without hope… What motivates a pony to investigate times that most of us would want to forget?”

Looking to the ground, the Doctor smiled a bit.
“An old friend from the past needs my help to aid her with some much older enemies. So you do know about the Darkness Sisters. And their history.”

“Only a few facts. Much of the Chronicles of the Six Sovereigns is gone now. All at once, all archives, all datalinks in our vast library concerning them disappeared.” The curator answered.

This made the Doctor frown for a bit. 'Six Sovereigns... Queen Celestia and Luna and four others? Or maybe something even higher? A royal herd no doubt, but with who...?' Looking up from his thought, the Doctor then nodded.
“So at one point these chronicles were still there... Who or what do you think took them?”

The curator simply shook his head.
“That I don't know... We only read the first chapter before they disappeared. Cataloging books in our mind is a tedious procedure and can only be done at a slow pace. Especially for such an old book. It is... Or rather it was written that in the depths of the Heart of Darkness a pure-hearted warrior had to withstand the powers of the Princess of Malice.”

Now shaking her head, Twilight arched a brow.
“Princess of Malice…”

“Yes… Not an official title I suppose… The Equestrians never had such a princess. It has to be a self-given title.”

“The Darkness Sisters.” The Doctor now mused before he faced the old stallion again. “I came across a peculiar being... Alicorn artifacts are powerful devices… Could they by any chance grant the power of five alicorns?”

Blinking baffled and surprised at the Doctor, the mane six, the humans gasped a little, yet the curator shook his head,
“No. No single artifact could grant more power than that of a single alicorn… but… Maybe the one you talk about had more than one artifact? Given that the six Elements of Harmony once surpassed the power of a single alicorn as well? Maybe even more alicorns at once.”

Now the Doctor felt like someone had slapped him. Of course, this was a possibility as well… These alicorn amulets Princess Celestia talked about granted the power of one alicorn. But this one entity had the power of five alicorns. But wearing five amulets at once? That would have been a silly idea. It had to be something different. But now the sleep deprivation problem got a bit clearer for him now. His mind knew about these artifacts somehow, yet the memories had to resurface to him again.

But this train of thought was abruptly ended as a metal object slammed into the library. Raising a shield in reflex, Tyler immediately was in front of the girls.
“A bomb?”

Raising his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor did a short scan before he shook his head.
“No... It's a communication probe. Someone is making a call.”

A small hatch opened and the hologram of an all too familiar face smirked at them all.
“Ah! I see you are all together again.” the Master started, “Good! Good... Just like I predicted. You sure don't fail to be on schedule more or less Doctor. Reliable, predictable... And fortunately obsessed over rules and even more rules.”

Tyler's eyes grew cold as he glared at the hologram.
“So you're the one responsible for the Dalek attack on Paretoka? The Daleks said you tricked them.”

“They've had their value in this plan, but now they are nothing than a liability...” As the Master looked at Tyler, his eyes stabbed him with a glare unforgiving and frightening. “I see you've found my reason for being here. Well done! Saves me the time looking for him among the Daleks. This one I noticed above all as soon as I saw him, as you did yourself, Doctor, didn't you?. The tri-faced time scourge of Tilerions. He's just the right companion for you, the killer of our own kind...”

'Three-faced time scourge...' Tyler repeated in his mind while frowning at it in thought, 'I wonder what that means.' It certainly wasn't a very positive nickname he had among these two time ponies.
“Why? Why am I so important? For the timelines? What the hell about the timelines?”

Both the Doctor and the Master now looked at Tyler and the Master began to smile. It was not a good smile, and Derpy knew that the mad time pony stallion had wicked plans for the Doctor and his friends.
“Well, go on, Doctor. Tell your new friend why he's so important and dangerous.” Closing his eyes, the Master began to chuckle in a manner that made the blood of everyone else freeze. “Fear him, his mere existence in our universe killed hundreds of time ponies!"

While the others looked quite shocked at Tyler, the Doctor was ever so untouched as he looked at the Master,
"Fear me, I've killed all of them..." With that the Doctor raised his sonic screwdriver and deactivated the probe.

Looking after him, Rachel shook her head.
“This 'Master' guy is an asshole.”

As the stallion headed for the TARDIS, Tyler looked after him.
"Doctor, what does that mean, that my mere existence here killed hundreds of time ponies?" The Doctor remained silent, what only enraged Tyler even more. “Answer me!!!”

Finally, the stallion looked back to Tyler.
“You changed the timeline with your mere arrival in our universe. This brought up events that changed even several minor fixed points. Fixed points in time I remember. Now those points are gone, they never occurred. And you can't change fixed points without the universe collapsing to a mess of things all at the same time. Yet here we are, unharmed despite several fixed points changing. Whatever you did, with or without knowledge of it, it is something that surpasses even time pony knowledge. For that even the alicorns of Equis feared you. And this is the very reason why I as a time pony should destroy you on the spot.”

Tyler and the Doctor stared at each other for quite some time before Tyler asked the next question.
“Will you?”

“No... The universe continues to exist and I want to know why. Killing you might actually destroy a key element to solve this mystery. You are an impossible man, Tyler Jones. I begin to like you.”

Derpy cocked her head as she looked at the Doctor.
“But why are these Daleks interested into ponies and their magic? What do they hope to achieve with this, when all they can control is technology?”

The curator shook his head with a tired look.
“One of our sub-curators heard the Daleks say something about the Abarasion spell. We know very little about it, but one thing we do know and that is enough. The Reversal of the Abarasion spell holds only one thing: The end of creation itself...” The Doctor began to shiver ever so slightly. This was the ultimate prize for the Daleks. This spell was the very reason they were here today. Yet Tyler, their target, knew nothing about it. Or did he? Eying the human a bit, the Doctor began to think even faster.

Tyler's blood on the other hand began to freeze in his veins,
"Abarasion spell... Us! They think we know it! Or that I'm charged with it."

Giving Tyler a sober look, the Doctor then kindly smirked as he shook his head.
"No, don't be stupid, that was cast by the queen of all alicorns herself, that spell would fry your brain and overcharge you before even a fraction of it was stored into you." Jumping up to his hind legs, the Doctor then grabbed Tyler and rested his front hooves on Tyler's temples. "You were connected with Princess Celestia. Deep within this big human brain of yours... That's where the Daleks expect remnants of Celestia's memory and maybe some information about this spell. So yeah... they won't shoot you."

This prompted Tyler to smile. At least he was safe in a confrontation with the Daleks and could face them head on.
“That's good!”

Giggling a bit, Derpy bumped her rump into Tyler.
“Yeah, they will suck that information out of your brain along with all life of your body."

Tyler's smile immediately withered.
“That's not so good...”

“Oh, but this is brilliant! Now that I have you all back on the TARDIS and have all information I need, we can lure the Daleks away from Paretoka!”

But just as he wanted to start the TARDIS up for time travel, the ship rumbled and quaked as if incapable. Arching both his brows, the Doctor then looked up.
“Oh no... Girl, don't do that to me now...” As the TARDIS refused to do a time travel once more, the conclusion sprang to the Doctor's mind. 'Time lock!' looking to the displays, he then steered the TARDIS towards the space station.

After a short while Pinkie pointed a hoof at one of the screens of the TARDIS.
“Oh, look! We are flying to that moon!”

“This is no moon. It is a space station.” the Doctor flatly stated. “He has activated a time lock around the entire solar system. The TARDIS can't escape all these Dalek ships with such a lock around. We need to get to the lock, open it and get away.”

Shrugging, Sam pointed at the growing orb of metal they were approaching.
“Which basically means we are going for that station and cause some chaos?”

Thinking a bit, the Doctor then nodded with a smirk.
“Basically... yes. It depends on what you imagine under chaos.”

Right in that moment the TARDIS screen began to beep a bit and the Doctor frowned a bit before switching a few levers and pressing some buttons. In front of them all, a monitor then showed the face of the Master as another communication was opened.
“There you all are. Guess who?”

Rachel looked up at the Master and her eyebrow twitched a bit in anger.
“The nerve... He seems rather relaxed for a stallion whose ass we're about to kick.”

Looking over to her, the time pony waved the thought away before he looked at the others.
“Me? Oh don't be stupid. You won't lay a finger on me. You all are only here, because she wanted it this way. Well then, Doctor. With this time lock, you know as well as I do that we have no choice but to see this through. I am well prepared for her. Are you?”

“Who are you talking about? Who is she?”

An evil smirk came onto the face of the time pony. That grin grew even wider once a fierce roar sounded off in the distance behind him.
“Do you hear that, Doctor? Do you know what that means?” A dark chuckle now escaped his throat. “Darkness... is coming!” The chuckle went into full force and became a maniac laughter. Gritting his teeth, the Doctor now knew that this was a trap set by the Master directly for him. Lurking through the centuries, his greatest adversary had waited like a spider in its net, aided by a yet unknown force who was out to get him to erase even the last remnants of warning for the rest of the universe. The reason still unknown, the Daleks on his tail and nowhere to run with the TARDIS, he had no choice but to spring the trap as the TARDIS steered directly towards the space station where his destiny, maybe even his own demise, waited for him and his companions.