DOCTOR WHOOF: EPISODE 7

EPISODE 7: MINES OF MIST

It was already in the middle of summer. The Doctor had taken off his brown jacket and was up to his usual business: adding features to the TARDIS. Twilight Sparkle was at the monitor checking for increasing or decreasing power levels while the Doctor was beneath the grated floor messing with the wiring.
"So, Doctor," Twilight Sparkle mumbled, "What exactly are we doing anyway?"
"I'm temporarily disconnecting some of the power to unnecessary rooms. Don't worry, the library will still be accessible, and I think the swimming pool should be just fine without a few lights… I think the lighting to the wardrobe should go, though. I don't think any of the clothes would fit any of you regardless."
"Okay," Twilight Sparkle nodded," But what about bringing Fluttershy along?" Fluttershy was looking around nervously, trying to say something, but unable to bring herself to make her thoughts known. "Don't you think it might be a bit dangerous for her?"
"Nonsense," The Doctor affirmed, "I have made sure that this voyage would be one of leisure. I think you both need a little something like that after our last… little mishap."
"You're still trying to apologize for the whole Sontaran invasion?" Twilight Sparkle smirked, raising an eyebrow at the Doctor, "We did get rid of them, Doctor, it was as simple as tricking them into letting those parasprites onto their ship."
"I honestly didn't believe that the gas could stimulate their reproduction process so intensely," The Doctor mused. He lifted himself out of the maintenance hatch and put the cover back on top. Running over to the monitor he punched in a few buttons, put his jacket back on, and pumped a mechanism twice. Then in a single motion he twirled over and shut the doors to the TARDIS, and placed a hoof over the landing brake.
"Are you both ready for takeoff?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Twilight Sparkle beamed.
"R-Ready," Fluttershy mumbled, "I-I guess, if that's alright."
"Then off we go!" The Doctor slammed the landing brake off, and the TARDIS rumbled. Fluttershy squeaked at the sudden takeoff and grabbed hold of the railing near the control panel. Twilight Sparkle was at her usual spot, and the Doctor was watching the monitor, making sure that his wonderful machine followed the correct path in the time vortex
"Where are we going, Doctor?!" Fluttershy screamed as she hung onto the railing.
"Somewhere I promised Twilight Sparkle that we would be going," The Doctor called back over the grinding, "June 16th 604,010!" He smiled and pressed a few buttons that seemed to stabilize their course, and before the two ponies even knew it the Doctor slammed the landing brake back up, and twirled around and kicked the console of the TARDIS. The machine landed with a thud, and the Doctor leapt over the railing, barely avoiding Fluttershy. She ducked with another squeak as he made his way to the door.
"So, you are all about to embark on a journey into your far future. None of you will be alive to see this day, but be thankful that you are… now… well, that didn't soften that image up any better. So what do you say we just go out and look at what's out there, shall we?" Twilight Sparkle nodded, and followed the Doctor as Fluttershy trotted nervously after. The Doctor threw open the doors and was met by a vast expanse of… nothing. All that awaited them was a thin, purple sky, and a barren rock ground.
"The air seems breathable," The Doctor nodded slowly, "but quite thin. I don't recommend any strenuous activity in this atmosphere…"
"Doctor… what's happened to Equestria?" Twilight Sparkle whispered.
"More importantly, "The Doctor corrected, "What's happened to the entire planet? This year, the year 604,010, marks the 406th anniversary of the venture to the stars. That is to say that every pony on this planet has moved on to found other planets, with their own Equestria's. Isn't that just lovely?"
"W-What's happened to this world, then?" Fluttershy asked.
"Every world has its time," The Doctor assured, "The atmosphere is so thin due to increasing solar storms. What used to be so plentiful is now just about stripped bare. No plant life to even be seen; all life on this planet has nearly been extinguished."
"That's just awful," Twilight Sparkle gasped. Suddenly there was a knock from inside the TARDIS. Fluttershy screamed, and ran over to the Doctor, literally grappling his face. The Doctor mumbled something, and Fluttershy lowered herself, completely red with embarrassment.
"Whoever's in the maintenance hatch please get out. I really don't know why you stowed aboard, but there really is no room on the TARDIS for unexpected passengers." A pair of hooves pushed the grating of the maintenance hatch up, lifted it over the side, and lifted a light blue unicorn mare out and over the steel grating. Her mane was a deep blue with a white stripe, and her eyes were of the faintest sapphire. "Who are you, and how did you get into my TARDIS?"
"Good heavens, grandfather," The unicorn huffed, "you abandon me on Earth to a war I couldn't even hope to recover from and then you complain after I was stuffed in a cramped maintenance hatch for five minutes; typical of you!"
"…Impossible…" The Doctor stared at her in disbelief
"What? Who is she, Doctor?"
"And another thing," The unicorn went on, "I have been stuck in this regeneration for nearly half a century; is there any way that I can regenerate without being a pony?"
"…Susan?"
"That's Miss Susan Campbell to you, Doctor." Susan smiled, and trotted over to the Doctor. "After all these years, I thought you had forgotten about me, grandfather." Tears began to well up in the eyes of these two Time Lords as they embraced after far too long.
"I don't understand," Twilight Sparkle grumbled.
"Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy," The Doctor smiled, still shedding tears of joy, "This is my granddaughter, Susan. We haven't seen each other in… three or so regenerations."
"Eleven," Susan nearly shrieked, "My goodness, grandfather, you really need to keep out of trouble! You don't want me going over to the Time Lord council just to beg for another set of regenerations, do you?" At the mention of the council the Doctor couldn't keep eye contact with Susan, and turned his head away in shame.
"Grandfather? What did I say? You're not telling me something, are you?"
"What's important right now," The Doctor announced, suddenly full of enthusiasm, "is that we need to find some kind of civilization! My scanner picked up several traces of technology in the world outside, and one of them is directly up north." He rushed back to the door, threw it open, and stepped outside. "Come along, everypony! There's a lot of ground to cover, and not a lot of time to do it in!" Twilight Sparkle and Susan took up after him, followed closely behind by Fluttershy.
The landscape was indeed as barren as what they had seen; no form of life thrived in this thin atmosphere, not even the smallest of plants. As they traveled north the distance was covered in silence. Not even the Doctor uttered a word or remark to help ease the feeling of lifelessness the planet seemed to give off. It was at least half an hour of traveling before Susan decided to say something."
"So, Twilight Sparkle was it?"
"Yes?"
"My grandfather… the Doctor, did he mention anything about me at all?"
"I think he might have," Twilight Sparkle mentioned to be nice. Truth be told, the Doctor did not utter a single word about any Susan Campbell the whole time they had been together.
"I see." Susan remained silent for a second. When she had found a conversation topic, she picked up chatting again. "When I mentioned the Time Lords, the Doctor was unable to respond… did something happen while I was gone?"
"I wouldn't know," Twilight Sparkle replied, trying to avoid the topic, "after all, I'm not even from the dimension the Doctor came from."
"Oh, yes, of course not…"
"Which reminds me," The Doctor spun around to face all three ponies, "How did you get into this dimension? You didn't simply pop in at random, did you?"
"No," Susan affirmed, "I was tossed into this dimension. I was supposed to travel to Velyshaa when I was attacked. Just as I was about to transport myself to safety my vortex manipulator was shot. Normally at an instance like that my atoms should have been scattered all over the universe, but instead I ended up in Ponyville. Sure, I was missing an arm, my internal organs were scrambled and my leg had reappeared inverted, but regenerating took care of that."
"T-That sounds horrible," Fluttershy grimaced.
"It wasn't all that bad. After all, I'm still here."
"Wait a moment," The Doctor muttered, "do any of you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Twilight Sparkle whispered, struggling to listen.
"I hear it, grandfather. Just up north of our direction; engines. Something's coming to meet us from our destination." Sure enough a small shiny vehicle appeared in the distance, hovering on four miniature engines. It looked similar to a large surfboard, with machinery mounted in the front and back for steering. As it came closer they saw that two ponies in heavy desert gear were piloting the ship. Both of them were wearing full face oxygen masks, which were vital in such a thin atmosphere to help balance out the heavy equipment they sported. When they were within a foot's distance of the Doctor and his companions they dismounted the contraption and walked towards them. That was when the Doctor saw that the ponies had hidden guns beneath their saddlebags.
"State your name and designation," The first pony grunted through his oxygen mask. None of them could make out the emotion on the pony's face, as it was obscured by a pair of tinted goggles.
"The Doctor; Doctor."
"Doctor cannot count as your name and your designation! State your name and designation!" The second pony growled.
"Check your records," The Doctor ordered, "And you will see that you are highly mistaken." The pony in front of the Doctor aimed one of its hidden guns at him.
"Check the records, Flame Tempest," The pony said, "And be sure to go over the secure files if necessary."
"Roger, Sugar Savory," Flame Tempest nodded, and jumped back onto the transport to check the computer. The Doctor snickered, and turned to face Susan.
"I still can't get over some of these names," The Doctor managed to whisper. Sugar Savory, the female of the two ponies, edged closer to the Doctor, arms at the ready. "I really distaste guns," The Doctor muttered.
"Maybe you should have thought of that before you decided to come within range of our compound without authorization. What were you ponies doing inside quarantine space, anyway? There hasn't been a single point of interest out there for nearly two hundred years!"
"Maybe you can tell us?" The Doctor replied blankly.
"Watch your mouth, mister Doctor," Sugar Savory barked, "This isn't exactly a run of the mill operation we have going on here." Flame Tempest jumped off of the transport and tapped on Sugar Savory's shoulder.
"This pony checks out," Flame Tempest muttered, "His records date all the way back to Princess Celestia of the first empire of Equestria."
"What?" Sugar Savory gasped, "How is that even possible that the records date him back that far?!"
"It has him listed as a time traveler," Flame nodded slowly, "a pony of Gallifrey. He served his time as a personal guard of all of Equestria, and if that isn't exactly satisfying your curiosity then I would like to point out that one of the ponies behind him is a student of Celestia." Sugar Savory stared at her associate for some time.
"That can't be right," She finally managed to say.
"Check it yourself," Flame Tempest motioned to the vehicle, "I have the records still pulled up on the main screen." Sugar pushed past him and up onto the vehicle. Flame Tempest walked over to the Doctor and courteously bowed. "My apologies, Doctor; she's a little bit headstrong, but she gets the job done. I'm Flame Tempest, as you heard before, and she's Sugar Savory. We're both guards stationed on the outskirts of Outpost Twenty. Mining operations here are in the high, as of late, and with luck we'll be in good standing in the next forty or so years."
"And I didn't even have to use the psychic paper once," The Doctor whispered braggingly to Twilight Sparkle and Susan, then turned around to face Flame once more, "I'm sorry, what did you mention about mining?"
"Oh, we're beginning operations to restore the atmosphere," Flame Tempest boasted, "The sun's not all done yet, so we're taking back the planet for a couple more thousand years! Outpost Twenty is the central link between all outposts, and is the largest outpost in this region."
"Alright," Sugar Savory jumped off of the vehicle and landed beside Flame, "All of his information checks out, and that's a miracle in itself… sorry for being so rude, Doctor, but protocol states that we need to examine everyone's records before they enter the sector."
"Not a problem," The Doctor smiled, "now, since you mentioned an outpost do you mind taking us there? I don't think that I and my companions really do enjoy staying out here in the desert, what with the atmosphere being so devoid of oxygen." Despite the Doctor and Susan being perfectly fine the other two were showing signs of sickness from oxygen deprivation. Twilight Sparkle struggled to stay awake, and Fluttershy had already passed out.
"Sugar," Flame motioned to their transport, "get the spare masks from the back."
"Already on it," Sugar jumped back on the vessel and was rummaging through the supply bags.
"Oh, before we do leave," The Doctor mentioned, "I left my TARDIS back there all alone, do you mind making a quick stop to go and pick it up?"
It was a difficult task hooking up the TARDIS to their skiff, but the tether held, and so they dragged the capsule over the barren grounds toward Outpost Twenty. They knew the instant they saw the outpost, because it was built right in the side of a natural volcano.
"So, that's outpost twenty?" Twilight Sparkle asked in awe.
"Yep, that's outpost twenty, alright," Sugar grinned under her mask, "a remarkable piece of machinery. We built it in the year 604,002, and finished construction two years after. See those pipes near the front?" Sugar Savory pointed to the large machines that seemed to endlessly pump gas into the air at a sluggish pace. "Those are the exhaust ports. The main facility doesn't send enough of the essential gasses into the air, so we feed it out with extra equipment. Not entirely the best solution, but it works for us." The transport kept its course to the main entrance of Outpost Twenty, where they were met by the two guards stationed there as well.
"What do we got here, Flame Tempest?" one of the guards grumbled.
"Relax, Cheery Shimmer," He responded, "we just got a group of four coming in, with authorization, and their machine as well. Both me and Sugar Savory checked them out." The guards both nodded and punched in the security code to open the massive steel doors leading into the volcano.
"Welcome to Outpost Twenty," Cheery Shimmer announced with sudden enthusiasm. The Doctor smiled back and waved as they entered the facility.
The outside of Outpost Twenty was nothing like its interior. What had looked like a massive metal structure stuffed into a small, rock space was in actuality a sterilized complex. Scientists and guards running around incessantly, all of them seemed like they knew exactly what their task for the day was. The transport moved along an empty clearing until it came to a hangar bay where it was parked. Flame Tempest made a few gestures with his hooves, and a crane came down and picked the TARDIS up. It lifted it a small distance away from the transports and onto the walk path.
"This shouldn't get in the way too much," The Doctor smirked in approval, "so, first things first: Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy here need a tour of the facility. Can you help me with that, Flame Tempest and Sugar Savory?"
"We got this covered," Flame Tempest nodded before Sugar could object, "and if we're going to do it we might as well get rid of our gear." Flame undid a few buckles behind his head, and the mask fell slowly off of his face. He tugged at it, and then stuffed it into one of his saddlebags. Tempest had dark gray fur, and a mane of the brightest crimson. Sugar Savory sighed, and removed her mask as well. She was completely white, save for her bright pink eyes and dark tinted mane. They both took off most of their equipment, leaving on the vests with the hidden guns.
"Sorry, girls," Savory shrugged, "protocol still needs to be followed no matter what."
"I'm fine with that," Twilight Sparkle smiled.
"While you both get yourself acquainted with this place," The Doctor continued, "I will be here with Susan, making sure that the TARDIS comes to no harm."
"It'll come into more harm under his use than any other Time Lord."
"Oi," The Doctor whispered, "knock it off." The two Time Lords laughed at this, and both proceeded into the time capsule. Susan had just been in a happy mood when she saw that the Doctor had his ear pressed up against the door.
"Grandfather; what's going on now?" As soon as the Doctor lifted his ear from the door he walked over to the console and leaned against it. He ran a hoof through his mane and sighed before looking back at his confused granddaughter.
"There's so much I need to tell you, Susan," The Doctor began, "and I think it's better for you to know than anything else…"

Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy were being given the tour of Outpost Twenty, which was a rather choppy tour to say the least. Flame Tempest and Sugar Savory had no knowledge of how to even conduct a tour, but it was not their fault; Twilight was sure it wasn't even on the job requirements list to begin with. Even so, they conducted the tour as best they could.
"Over here is where we extract natural gasses from inside the planet." Flame Tempest pointed to a massive machine that lit up in a bright orange light. It was several hundred feet tall, and it had pipes that fed deep into the volcano. Despite the warm glow that the contraption seemed to give off there was little to no heat in the room. "It's a slow process, but it doesn't always yield efficient results. Usually we just get shipments in from off world."
"I see Twilight Sparkle nodded as they trotted along the catwalk to the next section of the facility. They approached a gigantic set of tanks that had pipes leading into the gas extractor as well as several other areas. The tanks were four times the size of a pony, and were stacked on top of each other, possibly to save room.
"Over here," Sugar Savory went on, "is the central cooling system. Without this machine here, the entire facility would boil from the inside out! We have maintenance crews stationed around this area at all times, so there's no need to worry about that causing any harm." They kept moving without further description, and that was when Fluttershy heard it. There was a sort of rumbling that came from deep inside the exhaust vents. When she leaned in closer to catch a trace of where it was coming from, she squeaked and backed away. The sound coming from the vents was the sound of breathing. Whatever it was, it was alive. And it was big.
"U-Uh, excuse me," Fluttershy murmured, "I-I have to go and ask the Doctor something, if that's okay with you."
"No problem at all," Twilight Sparkle nodded, "I'll just continue the rest of the tour on my own. You go on and check on the Doctor, see if he hasn't blown up the TARDIS yet." When the three ponies turned their backs to Fluttershy to recommence the tour, she took off running back to the capsule. The only thing rushing through her mind was the oncoming danger that could be behind that breathing.
Fluttershy reached the Doctor's machine within a minute of taking off, and when she got there she noticed that the doors were ajar. She figured that since it was urgent she needed to get the information to the Doctor right away. Making her way quietly to the entrance of the TARDIS she peeked inside, to see that the Doctor and Susan were talking. No, they weren't just talking, they were weeping. Susan was crying uncontrollably, while the Doctor had streaks of tears on his face as he talked. That was when Susan stood up, and for a moment the Doctor and Susan locked eyes. Then she stormed toward the entrance, slamming the door out of her way. The door smacked Fluttershy across the muzzle, and she screamed silently as the pain entered the rest of her face. As she held her nose in pain the Doctor swung open the other door.
"Susan, wait!" The Doctor called out to her, but she would hear no word of it. He turned to enter the TARDIS when he saw Fluttershy holding her muzzle.
"How long have you been out here," The Doctor asked.
"Not too long," Fluttershy whispered, despite her pain. She looked out and tried to find Susan. "Is she going to be all right?"
"None of us are all right," The Doctor mumbled. He sulkily walked back into the TARDIS, and Fluttershy followed after him. As soon as he got to the console the Doctor fell to the ground, refusing to get back up.
"Doctor, what's wrong?"
"Everything… everything's wrong." The Doctor lowered his head as Fluttershy made her way around the console to face him. "It's not every day that you're told that your race has been dead for many years… It's a totally different thing to hear that your own flesh and blood was the one responsible for killing them."
"Susan killed the Time Lords?!" Fluttershy gasped.
"No… no she didn't." There was a silence as Fluttershy realized what it was the Doctor was talking about. The silence was deep, and it cut the Doctor deeper than any pain he had felt before in his lifetime.
"Doctor," Fluttershy finally spoke, "This may not be the time to say this, but there are more important things to deal with right now."
"More important… what could be more important?"
"I was taking the tour with Twilight, and I noticed something coming up from the vents. It sounded like something was breathing down there."
"It all sounds like breathing," The Doctor muttered, "It all sounds the same." That was when Fluttershy slammed a hoof into the ground. She grabbed the startled Doctor's face in her hooves and looked at him straight in the eye.
"Now you listen to me, mister," Fluttershy whispered sternly, "I am an expert when it comes to animals, and when I say I heard breathing I mean it. There is something breathing beneath our feet, and it is big. If we do not investigate this right away people could get hurt. I know that you and Susan are not on good terms right now, but you have to look at the bigger picture, right here and now!" The Doctor looked deep into Fluttershy's eyes.
"Well," He managed to gasp, "That's new." Fluttershy dropped the Doctor back onto the grated floor.
"That's better," She smiled.

The three ponies had just gotten back from their tour when the Doctor sprang out of his TARDIS, eyeing Flame Tempest and Sugar Savory. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and activated it on them, causing their guns to malfunction.
"What in the world?!" Flame Tempest tugged at his weapon, but it didn't respond.
"Doctor, what are you doing?!" Twilight Sparkle practically screamed.
"Doing what I think will save me a lot of trouble in a couple of minutes," The Doctor smiled, "now, my friend here is telling me that she heard something down in the vents, something breathy and alive. Now if I were in any other situation I would have ignored this lead, but I happen to be here, so do you know where that puts me?" The Doctor looked at Flame Tempest, Then at Sugar Savory, then at Twilight Sparkle, and finally at Fluttershy. "That puts me in a monsters den. Show me where you keep the beastie." It was at that exact moment, without having to even utter another word that the alarm went off. The Doctor looked at Sugar Savory, who sighed and eyed the Doctor in contempt.
"Looks like someone beat you too it, Doctor," She grumbled.
All five ponies rushed to a large metal door beneath the facility, where several other guards had already massed. The door to what seemed to be a gigantic storage area had been thrown wide open, and Susan was there, trembling and crying.
"This little one belong to you, Doctor?" one of the guards grunted.
"Susan!" The Doctor rushed over to her and held her in his arms. She did not even bother to react this time; her eyes were fixated on something in front of her. "Don't you ever run off like that, Susan, you know better than to…" The Doctor followed her eyes to what lay behind the metal door. A great, massive beast was lying beneath an array of scaffolding, and in its mouth were several massive pipes. The pipes were labeled 'toxic,' and yet the beast showed no signs of being in pain. Rather, it was enjoying being fed these noxious fumes. The monster was a massive crab, feeding on the gasses.
"Macra," The Doctor muttered," You've got Macra living down here."
"Yes, we have Macra converting the gasses," Flame Tempest sighed, "We had to use them. Some time ago, back in the days of Princess Celestia, the Macra fell from the sky. We harvested them after they became too plentiful, and used them as laborers. That didn't work out too well, since the Macra were unwilling to work. We tried everything we could to integrate them into our society, but we always fell short of a solution. It wasn't until the atmosphere was blown away that we came back to them for help. They agreed to our request, and so we built this facility, along with all the others, to replenish our atmosphere. The Macra take in the deadly gasses, and they expel clean air."
"Peaceful Macra," The Doctor mused, "That's a first." The Macra, which had been resting when the doors were opened, was now awakening. Its eyestalks extended out ward, and it stretched out its claws. The scaffolding that held the giant crab in place stayed put despite all that movement. The Macra then lowered its eyestalks, and moved them back up again in a repetitive motion. The movements seem to be directed to Twilight Sparkle.
"Doctor," Fluttershy whispered, "I think it wants Twilight to step forward."
"What?" Twilight Sparkle whispered back, "Why me?"
"The Macra has spoken," The Doctor smiled, "I think you should go over and see what it wants. You should be fine with me back here." Twilight Sparkle nodded, and proceeded slowly toward the Macra. When she got within touching distance of the massive crab it slowly moved its armored claw toward her. She took a step back, slightly frightened, but the crab did not touch her. It simply held its claw out to her. Twilight Sparkle turned back nervously to the Doctor. Fluttershy was making a stepping motion with her hoof, then a reaching out motion. Twilight Sparkle acknowledged, and slowly placed a hoof upon the claw. When the two touched, Twilight Sparkle's eyes immediately clamped shut. Her horn began to glow, and several images rocketed across her mind. She saw terrible things in her mind; horrible things. Ponies of steel, monsters of metal, and in the center of everything… there was the Doctor. She could see his TARDIS float up into the air, then explode, causing a massive rupture across the land. As soon as the vision had ceased, she fell to the ground.
"Twilight!" The Doctor shouted, then ran over to her. The Macra simply retracted its claw back, and its eyestalks shrank down. The beast was practically back to sleep when the Doctor finally reached her. "Twilight Sparkle, are you alright?"
"Doctor," She huffed, "I had a vision, a terrifying vision!" Tears began to form at the corner of her eyes as she embraced the Doctor. Words attempted to form from her mouth, but all that managed to come out were painful sobs. The Doctor patted her on the back reassuringly.
"It's all right," The Doctor nodded, "Everything is fine."
"M-M-M," Twilight Struggled to speak, "M-Metal ponies!" The Doctor looked at her, his eyes suddenly wide.
"What did you say, Twilight?"
"Back home right now," She sobbed, "Metal ponies! And after everything it all ends!" Every pony looked at her and the Doctor as they sat there. They couldn't hear what they were saying, being so far away, but they all knew that something bad was going to happen. "Time is leaking, Doctor. The events that have already happened are happening now." The Doctor could only watch wordlessly as he heard her weeping about madness, and the end of all things.
As Twilight Sparkle lay asleep in the TARDIS Fluttershy and the Doctor were getting back on board. The Doctor just wanted to say his farewells before they took off.
"Well, this looks like goodbye, Flame. Tell Sugar that we're leaving on some important past business… hopefully nothing of too great a consequence."
"No problem, Doctor," Flame Tempest smirked, "I'll tell her when we resume our shift. You take care now, Doc." He saluted, and trotted off down the walkway. The Doctor was just about to close the door when Susan came romping back inside. The opening door smashed the Doctor's muzzle, but he yelled out in surprise more than pain.
"I thought you decided you didn't want to come with me!" The Doctor said.
"Well, we're the only ones left, remember?" Susan twirled around the console, examining every switch and panel. "Time Lords have to stick together. Besides, I can always come to terms with this later. There are more important things to do, right Fluttershy?" The Doctor looked at Fluttershy, who merely winked. The Doctor returned the gesture, and laughed his usual, incredible, boyish laugh.
"Back home we go, everypony! Back home we go!" The Doctor threw the switch on the console and they were off to Ponyville, where something dark and sinister awaited them upon their return…


Dear Princess Celestia,

The Doctor needs our help more than ever now. I had a vision on our last voyage in time, and I fear that something beyond even the Doctor's control is coming for us all. I saw images of strange creatures, of death and chaos. I want to believe that the Doctor and all of us can overcome this threat, but the fear… the fear I felt was overwhelming. Please Princess Celestia, please contact me as soon as you possibly can. A great darkness is about to fall upon us… and I fear the Doctor will die before it is all over.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.