Time Turner stepped away from the statues. He looked from one to another to another. "Not good." He looked around at the guards on the garden's edges. They were still watching the Mares, but they seemed slightly disturbed after hearing the message. Time Turner turned to Rarity. "You should go."

Rarity shook her head. "I'm not leaving you here with these things."

Time Turner smiled and nodded. He turned back to one of the Weeping Mares. "So you all came for a visit? Why have I earned such an honor?" He held up his screwdriver and another breeze blew through the garden.

You have hunted us. Destroyed us.

Time Turner muttered around the screwdriver in his mouth. "And yet you still keep coming back."

You are a scourge on our kind. You must be dealt with.

"So you've come to kill me."

We do not kill. We feast on your life. We feast until you have been drained. We feast until you become one of us.

Time Turner dropped the screwdriver. He took a step back. "Rarity, you need to leave. Now!"

Rarity stood frozen in horror. "They're ponies. All of them!"

Time Turner shook his head. "No. They're Weeping Mares. They stopped being ponies long ago. Now they're monsters. And they mean to take me. You have to leave before that happens."

Rarity shook her head. "I will not abandon you to become one of them."

The stallion smiled. "I don't mean to lose this battle my dear. I man to end these creatures once and for all. Now go! Wait outside the garden."

Rarity opened her mouth to argue, but decided against it. She backed away and left.

Time Turner looked around at the Mares. "You've survived for far too long. It's time to end this." A breeze blew by and he shook his head. "Whatever you're saying is pointless. Do you know why? Because I'm your worst nightmare."

---------------------------------

Rarity paced outside the garden wall. There was complete silence. What was going on? Would the Doctor really be able to stop a whole herd of Weeping Mares? She continued to pace.

---------------------------------

The Doctor has come.

The Mare moved silently.

He will be ours.

It looked around the corner of a hedge wall.

He will be ours.

---------------------------------

Rarity stopped pacing. She felt funny. Like...somepony was watching her.

---------------------------------

Time Turner moved through the garden. He kept pointing his screwdriver at the various statues. "There's got to be a trick to this." He had killed single Mares before, but this many? It was going to be a challenge. A smile formed on his face. He loved a challenge.

You will surrender yourself Doctor.

Time Turner stopped where he was. "And why would I do that?"

Because the mare will die if you don't.

His eyes went wide. "Rarity."

"DOCTOR!!"

Time Turner turned on the spot to see Rarity at the entrance of the garden. A Mare had her by the hoof. Time Turner ran over to her and glared at the statue. "Release her."

Surrender

He shook his head. "Never."

"Doctor. I can't move."

Time Turner looked at Rarity. She was still facing into the garden. And then he noticed the hoof that the Mare was holding. It was slowly turning to stone. He walked around until he could look into Rarity's eyes. "Don't panic. The Mare paralyzed you. It's beginning to drain you of your life energy."

Rarity's mouth twitched as it tried to smile through the paralysis. "Oh. Is that all? Why would I panic over such a silly thing?"

Time Turner gave her a hug. "Don't worry. I'll get you out of this." He backed away and looked at the Mares in the garden. "You've just made the biggest mistake of your life. Scratch that. This is number two. Number one is that you thought it was a good idea to come after me. Now release her before I destroy you all!"

Silence. And then...

Both of you die today.

Time Turner's eyes burned as his anger got the best of him. He pulled out a small glass orb filled with black smoke. He threw it on the ground, glass shattering everywhere. The smoke spread out and the garden went black. That's when the screaming began.

---------------------------------

The guards backed away in horror. The screams were unworldly. And what was worse was that they weren't screams of bloodlust. They were screams of terror. And they were coming from the Weeping Mares. What could strike fear into such terrible creatures?

The screams lessened and lessened. The Mares were growing silent. And then....nothing. The garden became still. It was several more minutes before the smokescreen cleared. When it did, Time Turner was standing with a short, black blade in his mouth. All around him were headless statues, cracked and decaying. Some had already crumbled to the ground.

---------------------------------

Rarity was huddled at the edge of the garden next to what was left of her attacker. She had her eyes closed as she held off the tears. She felt a hoof on her shoulder and winced, expecting the grip of the Mare to return.

"Rarity."

She opened her eyes and looked up. It was the Doctor. She couldn't help it. She embraced him as she began to cry.

---------------------------------

Time Turner closed the cabinet door behind him and walked down the castle hall. Celestia was waiting for him near the stairs.

The princess nodded to him. "How is she?"

Time Turner smiled. "She'll recover. Just shaken up."

Celestia smiled. "It's a good thing she has you."

Time Turner turned away to hide his reddening face. "I'll always rescue her. She's a special mare."

Celestia sighed. "There's something you should know then."

---------------------------------

Rarity looked up as the cabinet door opened. Time Turner stepped inside and smiled. She let out a content sigh. "Are we all done then?

Time Turner nodded. "Indeed we are. Ready to go home? I don't know about you, but I could use some more of that dull life we had earlier today."

Rarity smiled. "Agreed."

Time Turner flipped some switches and the timepiece went into motion. After a few seconds it stopped and the two ponies exited the cabinet.

Rarity looked around the shop and smiled. "I never thought I would be so happy to see a peaceful shop. Why did I ever want to find excitement?"

Time Turner chuckled. "Because we need it every now and then." He looked around the shop. "And sometimes we need the peace and quiet too." He sighed happily. They stood in silence for a moment. Time Turner looked at Rarity and smiled. "I think I've had enough peace and quiet." He trotted back into the cabinet. Rarity stared after him in shock. Was he serious? Time Turner stuck his head out. "You coming?" Rarity giggled and ran after him, shutting the cabinet door behind her.