HOME | DD

Description
“What is this place?” asked Octavia. The Doctor looked around the room. “This, my friends, is the TARDIS. That’s Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It’s a ship capable of traveling anywhere at any time. It’s the place I call home.” The group looked around. “It’s incredible,” said Amethyst. “But how is this possible? I don’t think any amount of magic could do this.”

The Doctor continued to work the controls. “Time Lord science. It’s rather complicated. I’ll explain later.”

“Time Lord?” asked Lyra.

“Yes. Time Lord. That’s my species.”

Dinky looked at him. “So, you’re an alien?”

“Yep.”

Bon Bon chuckled. “You are not an alien.”

“Yes I am.”

“You look exactly like a pony.”

“I regenerated.”

“You what?”

“I got a new face. Well, a new body form as well, now that I think about it.” He began to trail off. “You know, you would think that two hearts would be very uncomfortable in this form, but it actually feels rather nice.” Bon Bon stared. “You have-? You know what? Forget it. I give up.” Vinyl spoke next. “So how’d you get here, Doc?” The Doctor paused. “Actually, I’m not sure. I should have been ripped to shreds on my way here. I’ll have to look into that after we solve the problem at hand.”

He spun to the other side of the console, and began to type. The group began to wander about the room. Octavia walked to the Doctor’s side. “What happened out there?”

“Back there.”

“What?”

“You mean back there. We moved.” He pulled over a monitor. “See. That’s what’s outside right now.” Octavia looked at the swirling vortex on the monitor. “Okay. What happened back there, then?” The Doctor’s tone became more serious. “Something impossible. Your sun went from a yellow dwarf to a black hole in less than thirty seconds. And according to laws of physics, that is not possible by any means.” He paused. “But, that’s not important right now. Your world is in serious danger. The black hole’s gravity is going to shred the entirety of the solar system apart. We need to stop the one who caused this before it’s too late.”

There was a long pause. “Why do you want to help?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if your machine does what you say it does, you could go anywhere or do anything. Why stop here to help?”

“There’s no way I’m going to let an entire world die. There’s a reason I’m called the Doctor. A Doctor helps others, helps to keep them alive.” He paused. “Even when it seems like an impossible task.”

“I see.” There was a pause. Octavia turned and went to wander around with the others. The Doctor kept his eyes on the monitor and continued typing. “Black Hole Sun. Why does that sound familiar?” He pressed a button. Text appeared on the screen: INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM THE DIMENSIONAL REGION. DATABASES UPDATED.

The Doctor typed in the dark mare’s name. A list of data sources appeared on screen. He selected the first one. A short story popped up, and realization struck the Doctor. “Oh, of course,” he said to himself. He jumped back. “That’s it!” His friends looked over at him. They all grouped around him to see what he was looking at. “What is it, Doc?” said Vinyl. “I know what we need to defeat Black hole Sun!”

“What?”

“We need to find something known as the Elements of Harmony.”

“What are the Elements of Harmony?”

“I have absolutely no idea.”

“Well, where do we find them?”

“I have absolutely no idea.”

“We’re doomed.”

“Now, hold on. Just let me do a little research and dig up some information. Give me a second.” The Doctor began to type. After about a minute, he stopped. His friends looked at him. “Well?” asked Derpy. “I found an article that briefly discusses the subject.”

“What’s it say?”

“There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Effervescence, Expressiveness, Subtlety, Passion, and Tolerance. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now the Everfree Forest.” A collective gasp came from his friends behind him. “The Everfree Forest?” They said in unison. “What? Is that bad?”

“You have no idea,” said Bon Bon. “Anypony who has gone in has never come out!”
“Oh. Well luckily, we won’t have to go in. I’ll just land the TARDIS on the castle’s coordinates.” He spun to the other side of the console and started to hit buttons and flick switches. The engines began to roar. The column started to move. “Andia-” He was cut off by the shaking of the room. The group was knocked to the ground. The room turned and shook. The engines’ noise stuttered. A deep bell began to ring. The Doctor struggled to the console. He managed to fiddle with some controls. The room went still and quiet. The group began to pick themselves off the ground. The Doctor looked at the central column. “Oi! What was that all about?” He pulled a monitor to his face.

“Doctor, what happened?” asked Octavia. The Doctor turned to his friends. “It seems that our desired location is inaccessible. That point in space and time is locked off, meaning that whatever happens there is a fixed point.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are some points in time that can be altered. Like, if you ate a sandwich for lunch. You could change it so that you had a salad instead. But some points in time are fixed. Events have to happen a certain way. Any attempt to change anything would rip a hole in the universe.”

“So what do we do?”

The Doctor paced for a second. “Well, if we can’t get there the easy way, we’ll have to go in the hard way.”

“Which is?”

“We’ll have to walk through this forest of yours.” His friends gasped. “Are you insane? We’ll all get killed if we go in there!” yelled Bon Bon. The Doctor’s tone became slightly more serious. “Look. Either we take the risk and go through the forest, or we let your world die. It’s your choice.” The group was silent. “We have to go. I’ve already seen a world burn today, and I don’t want to see it twice. I’ll keep you safe. That’s a promise I’ll fight to keep. Do you trust me?” There was a pause. Derpy spoke up. “I trust you.” The Doctor looked at the others. “Do you?” They paused. “I trust you, too,” said Vinyl. One by one, the others eventually gave in as well. “Alright,” said the Doctor.

He turned back to the control console. He typed some coordinates onto the monitor. He pressed the same buttons as before. He pushed on a large lever. The engines started up again. The column rose and fell. “Andiamo!” said the Doctor.

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

On the edge of the forest, a groaning wheeze of the TARDIS could be heard. The blue box began to fade into reality. The noise stopped and the box became solid. The doors swung open. The Doctor poked his head out. He called to his friends inside. “Is this the place?” He walked out of the box. Octavia followed. She looked at the threatening jumble of trees and vines in front of her. She gulped. “Oh yes. This is definitely it.” The others walked out. Derpy turned to her daughters. “I want you two to stay here.” Dinky looked up to her. “But I want to help!”

“I know, sweetie. But it’s safer in the box. Amy will look after you.” Derpy turned to Amethyst, who nodded in agreement. She turned to her sister. “Come on, Dinky. Let’s go.”

“Oh, okay,” said Dinky in defeat. The two sisters walked inside and closed the doors. The Doctor reached into his collar and pulled something out. It was a long, metal tube lined with gold and bronze. He pointed it at the TARDIS and pressed a button. The end lit up with a blue light and a whirring sound came from the device. A click came from the doors. The Doctor placed the device back in his collar. “What was that?” asked Lyra. “My sonic screwdriver,” said the Doctor. “I locked the doors.”

“Wait. Screwdriver? Why a screwdriver?”

“You can do a lot of things with a screwdriver.”

“Hm. Well, I guess you have a point.”

“I rather like this new one, too. Though I admit it’s a shame that my old one broke.”
Vinyl turned to the Doctor. “Why isn’t this place in pieces?”

“The sun’s gravity isn’t as strong as a normal black hole. This particular area hasn’t been caught in its grasp yet. However, that will change if we don’t stop this in time. We have to get going.” The six friends all turned to face the forest. “Andiamo.” The group entered the forest, unsure of what would lay ahead.

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

“Will you turn that thing off?” said Bon Bon to the Doctor. He had his screwdriver out, and was using it as a flashlight. Its continuous whir was getting on his friends’ nerves. “We won’t be able to see anything without it.”

“I could use my magic for light,” said Vinyl. Her horn began to glow with a surrounding aurora. The forest lit up from its magenta glow. The Doctor deactivated his screwdriver and stuffed it in his collar. “Well then,” he said. “There you go.” The group looked around the environment surrounding them. The branches on the trees were either crooked or broken off entirely. The vegetation was covered in a dark, dull green. Vines and moss covered fallen and rotten logs. “This place is so creepy,” said Lyra.

“I’ve seen worse,” said the Doctor nonchalantly.

“What could be worse than this?”

“A haunted pocket universe with nothing but forest, fog, and a monster chasing you.” There was a pause. Lyra continued, “What?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.”

The sounds of the forest echoed throughout the area. Insects chirped and birds screeched. The Doctor remained nonchalant. “I’ll say this, though. This place does have the spook factor mastered.” The group continued on. They came to a small clearing. A layer of fog slightly clouded their view. They looked up at the dark night sky. Gray clouds covered up most of the stars. A gust of wind flew past them. The leaves and branches on the trees shook. “We should probably keep moving,” said Derpy nervously. “Something doesn’t feel right.” The Doctor’s expression grew serious. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go, but stay close, and be on the lookout.”

They kept moving across the clearing. A faint buzzing whir became audible. Bon Bon looked towards the Doctor. “I thought you said you’d turn that thing off.”

“That’s not me,” said the Doctor. The noise grew increasingly louder. “What?” responded Bon Bon.

“My screwdriver is still deactivated.” The noise filled the atmosphere, getting louder and louder. The group huddled together, bracing for what might come. All they could hear was the noise, which was loud enough to block out every other sound in the clearing. “What is that?” yelled Octavia. “What’s happening?” The Doctor opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off. The source of the sound made itself known.

Thousands of flying insects came charging from within the forest. They swarmed around the clearing. The group ducked for cover. The area was lit up by the luminescent glow coming from the eyes and abdomens of the insects. It was an eerie blue-green glow that looked like thousands of tiny flames. The insects hummed their cacophonous tune. The chaotic screech pounded on the group’s ears. “Doctor, what do we do?” yelled Derpy.

“Just keep down! I’m coming up with a plan!”

“Can you come up with a plan a bit faster?”

“I’m trying! It’s hard to think with all this terrible noise!” He reached for his screwdriver. He tried to look around. He saw something surprising. Vinyl was standing up tall. She had an annoyed look on her face. Her horn was shining bright. “Vinyl, what are you doing?”

“Fixing this.” She pulled her sunglasses over her eyes. The aura on her horn expanded. A similar glow seemed to surround the insects, which stopped midflight. Their horrible hiss settled into a low, vibrating hum. The others stood up slowly. They all stared at the sight. A new series of noises came from the bugs. It was almost like a rhythm. A steady beat formed along with the hum. The Doctor watched his friend work. “What?” he said to himself. Vinyl grinned. “Alright. Now we’re getting somewhere,” she said. Her horn’s aura began to pulse in sync with the rhythm. New sounds added to the growing symphony. A song began to take form. The noise reached a peak, and then paused. Vinyl’s grin widened. “Let’s drop the beat,” she said. In a split second, the sound filled the air. The insects swarmed in a rhythmic swirl. Their buzzes and whirs formed a song that played loud and fast. Vinyl’s horn continued to glow, her head rocked with the beat. The insects swarmed continued to swirl. The rest of the group continued to stare.

Vinyl lifted her glasses. She looked up at her makeshift orchestra. “Alright, guys. Party’s over. Head on home.” Her horn’s aura became solid once more. The swarm rose into the night sky, and then flew off behind the tree line. Their song began to fade before being completely silenced. The clearing was calm once again. Vinyl turned to her friends, who stared at her with dropped jaws. “What?” she asked as if nothing had happened.

“How did you do that?” asked the Doctor. “Actually, the better question would be what did you do?”

“I dropped the beat.”

“That doesn’t really tell us anything,” said Octavia.

“Those were beatles.”

“You don’t say,” said Bon Bon.

“No beatles. With an e-a instead of an e-e. They’re cool little bugs that love to party, as long as you find the right beat. They make great pets.”

“They tried to kill us!”

“Something was wrong with them. That isn’t normal for them.” The Doctor activated his screwdriver and swung it around the clearing. “I’m picking up traces of a bizarre form of energy. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s not normal.” He turned off the device and stuffed it in his collar. He turned to Vinyl. “That was incredible! What do you call that song?”

“It doesn’t have a name. I just made it up. I have sort of a natural talent for these things.”

“That’s incredible.”

Vinyl smiled.

“Well, now that that’s over, shouldn’t we get going?” asked Octavia. The Doctor perked up. “Indeed! Let’s carry on! Andiamo!” The group carried on and went back into the forest.

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

“What happened then?” the Doctor asked Vinyl. “What do you mean?”

“You said that those insects weren’t behaving normally. Any ideas on why they’d want to kill us?” Vinyl put her hoof to her chin. “I’m not sure. They did look different than the ones I’m used to seeing. Maybe it’s just different in the forest.”

“Perhaps. Still, that was amazing how you handled them. You’re a natural pied piper.”
“A what?”

“Oh, um, nothing. It’s a… It’s an alien thing. It’s a compliment”

“If you say so.” The group continued through the dense forest. The sky seemed to grow darker and darker the farther in they went. It was getting difficult to see. The Doctor stopped in his tracks. “Hold up!” he said. His friends stopped walking. “What’s wrong?” asked Lyra. She looked ahead of the Doctor. There was a steep slope that lead into a deep chasm in front of him. “Oh, wow. That would not have been a fun fall.” The other four came and looked over the edge. “We’re going to have to climb down,” said the Doctor.

“Climb down?” said Bon Bon. “That doesn’t look like very stable ground. If we try to climb down the rocks will come loose and we’ll go down with them.” The Doctor kept looking down. “We have to chance it. I can’t see any other way around this. No bridges. No stairs. Nothing. We have to climb.” The five mares exchanged nervous looks, but eventually gave in. The world was going to be destroyed. They had to chance it. The Doctor began his uneasy decent. The others began to follow. He looked down. They were about fifty feet up.

“Be extremely careful with your footing,” he said. They continued their slow climb down. What happened next was catastrophic. A blood-curdling shriek filled the air. The noise so loud that even Vinyl was wincing with pain. The wailing stopped. The rocks beneath the group began to crumble, and in the next moment, they were sliding down the slope, screaming. Rocks and pebbles flew around them. The shriek came again. They covered their ears as they tumbled down the slope. The noise stopped as quickly as last time. Then, the six hit the bottom with a thud.

Each of them groaned as they rubbed their cuts and bruises. “Is everyone okay?” asked Derpy. Everyone except the Doctor nodded. He was still sitting on the ground, wincing with pain as he held his front leg. “Doctor, what’s wrong?” asked Bon Bon. The Doctor gave her a pained look. “My leg. It’s broken,” he said. The group gave a soft gasp. “Oh no! What do we do! You can’t go on with a broken leg!” said Derpy frantically. The Doctor looked at her with a reassuring smile. Or, at least, what little smile he could muster up through his pained expression. “Just give me a second. I’ll be fine.”

“You won’t be fine. You broke your leg!”

“Derpy, please. Just trust me.”

But Derpy kept ignoring him. “Oh, what are we going to do? We can’t just…” She trailed off and looked at the Doctor’s broken leg. It seemed like his veins were glowing a faint gold. The Doctor stood up as it faded away. He swiveled his leg around as if it were never broken. “Ah. That’s much better.” His five friends stared at him. “What?” he asked.

“I thought you said your leg was broken,” said Bon Bon.

“It was.”

“You seem fine.”

“I’m still in the first fifteen hours of my regeneration cycle. Any major wounds I get will heal right back up. Can’t do anything about these cuts and bruises though.”

Bon Bon opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off, as another shriek pierced the night. This one was louder and lasted twice as long. The six covered their ears, but the sound was too loud. They looked for the source of the noise. The rocks crumbled from the slope of the hill. A cloud of dust kicked up. Once the noise paused and the dust settled, they found the source. About fifty feet away, an eerie white glow shined in the dark. It appeared to be coming from a creature.

It looked like a pony, but it was tall and slender. Its body seemed translucent like a ghost. It was draped in ragged cloth and its mane was a complete mess. Its eyes were pure white and seemed to glow brighter than anything else on its body. The group froze where they were. It was a horrifying sight.

The creature held its head high. It opened its mouth wide and let out another, louder shriek. The group clenched their teeth in pain as they covered their ears. They gave each other worried looks, trying to see if any of them had a plan. Bon Bon looked over at the wailing creature. Her expression turned curious. She stood up and began walking towards it. The pain in her ears increased the closer she got, yet she carried on. She got close enough to figure out why it was wailing. Its ruffled wing was being crushed by a large rock.

Bon Bon decided that she would be able to move it with enough force, so she walked over to it, and started to push. The creature was in too much pain to notice her. The rock began to move ever so slightly. Bon Bon continued to push on it. She glanced at her friends, who were still on the ground. She shoved harder, and with a final heave, the rock toppled off of the creature’s wing. The creature noticed the change in pressure and looked down. Its wail began to soften, but its face was still pained. It tried to lift its wing, but winced from the pain it brought.

“You might want to stay off of that wing,” said Bon Bon. The creature looked at her and nodded. The other five had gotten up at that point, and slowly walked over. Bon Bon seemed to get an idea. She waved the Doctor over, and then turned to the creature. “I think my friend here might be able to help.” The Doctor looked curiously at her. “Help? What do you mean?”

“Her wing’s been crushed. It’s broken.”

“Her?”

“Yes. Her. Does it matter?”

“Well, no." He paused. "What do you think I could do?”

“You fixed your broken leg. Can’t you do the same thing to her?” The Doctor gave a look. “That’s easier said than done. I can do that naturally. It’s a whole different process to get the same effects on someone else. I can let out a little bit of regeneration energy, but not enough to heal a broken wing.” Bon Bon gave him a pleading look, as did the creature. “Can’t you at least try?”

The Doctor looked at his friend, and admitted defeat. He let out a short sigh. “Okay. I’ll try.” He turned to the creature. He carefully took its wing in his hooves. He closed his eyes and concentrated. The golden glow returned to his veins. Golden energy flowed out of his hooves and seemed to seep into the blood-stained wing. The Doctor clenched his teeth. The creature’s wing began to slowly but surely return to a normal shape. The blood stains disappeared. In seconds, it seemed good as new. The Doctor pulled his hooves back and the glow stopped. He looked at the wing.

“There. Good as new.” The ghostly creature looked at her wing, then looked at the Doctor. “Thank you,” she said. Her voice was high-pitched and raspy. “You’re welcome,” said the Doctor. “What was with the overdramatic screaming?” Bon Bon gave him a look. “Doctor, how rude!”

“I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant was that rock isn’t the right size or weight to cause that much harm. Why were you screaming that loud?” The creature looked at him. “It felt like a mountain was crushing my wing. The rock was heavier than it seems.”

“But Bon Bon was able to move it.” The creature considered this. He was right. It didn’t make sense. The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and scanned the area where the rock was. “Do you have a name?”

“Ciara.”

“What’s your species, Ciara?”

“What?”

“I’m just curious. I don’t know of any creature that’s capable of producing a sound like that.”

“I’m a banshee.”

The Doctor gave a surprised look. He stopped scanning the area. “A banshee?” He turned to his friends. “You have banshees in this universe? Oh, that’s brilliant!” He looked at his screwdriver, and his look became more serious. “What is it, Doc?” asked Vinyl.

“Two things. One: I’m picking up fluctuations in the gravity fields in the area. Something’s been screwing with the gravitational pull around here. Two: I’m picking up traces of that same bizarre energy as before. Meaning whatever caused the strange behavior of the beatles might have caused these fluctuations.”

“Do you think something’s following us?” asked Octavia.

“I don’t know. But if there is, then whatever it is really wants us dead.” The group turned silent for a moment. The Doctor tucked his screwdriver into his collar. “We have to keep moving,” he said, breaking the silence. The others looked at each other in nervous agreement. Bon Bon turned to Ciara, who gave her a thankful expression. “I can’t thank you enough,” she said in her eerie voice. Bon Bon returned the smile. “I’m happy to help,” she said. Then she turned and joined her friends as they continued on their way through the forest.

Description
“What is this place?” asked Octavia. The Doctor looked around the room. “This, my friends, is the TARDIS. That’s Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It’s a ship capable of traveling anywhere at any time. It’s the place I call home.” The group looked around. “It’s incredible,” said Amethyst. “But how is this possible? I don’t think any amount of magic could do this.”

The Doctor continued to work the controls. “Time Lord science. It’s rather complicated. I’ll explain later.”

“Time Lord?” asked Lyra.

“Yes. Time Lord. That’s my species.”

Dinky looked at him. “So, you’re an alien?”

“Yep.”

Bon Bon chuckled. “You are not an alien.”

“Yes I am.”

“You look exactly like a pony.”

“I regenerated.”

“You what?”

“I got a new face. Well, a new body form as well, now that I think about it.” He began to trail off. “You know, you would think that two hearts would be very uncomfortable in this form, but it actually feels rather nice.” Bon Bon stared. “You have-? You know what? Forget it. I give up.” Vinyl spoke next. “So how’d you get here, Doc?” The Doctor paused. “Actually, I’m not sure. I should have been ripped to shreds on my way here. I’ll have to look into that after we solve the problem at hand.”

He spun to the other side of the console, and began to type. The group began to wander about the room. Octavia walked to the Doctor’s side. “What happened out there?”

“Back there.”

“What?”

“You mean back there. We moved.” He pulled over a monitor. “See. That’s what’s outside right now.” Octavia looked at the swirling vortex on the monitor. “Okay. What happened back there, then?” The Doctor’s tone became more serious. “Something impossible. Your sun went from a yellow dwarf to a black hole in less than thirty seconds. And according to laws of physics, that is not possible by any means.” He paused. “But, that’s not important right now. Your world is in serious danger. The black hole’s gravity is going to shred the entirety of the solar system apart. We need to stop the one who caused this before it’s too late.”

There was a long pause. “Why do you want to help?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if your machine does what you say it does, you could go anywhere or do anything. Why stop here to help?”

“There’s no way I’m going to let an entire world die. There’s a reason I’m called the Doctor. A Doctor helps others, helps to keep them alive.” He paused. “Even when it seems like an impossible task.”

“I see.” There was a pause. Octavia turned and went to wander around with the others. The Doctor kept his eyes on the monitor and continued typing. “Black Hole Sun. Why does that sound familiar?” He pressed a button. Text appeared on the screen: INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM THE DIMENSIONAL REGION. DATABASES UPDATED.

The Doctor typed in the dark mare’s name. A list of data sources appeared on screen. He selected the first one. A short story popped up, and realization struck the Doctor. “Oh, of course,” he said to himself. He jumped back. “That’s it!” His friends looked over at him. They all grouped around him to see what he was looking at. “What is it, Doc?” said Vinyl. “I know what we need to defeat Black hole Sun!”

“What?”

“We need to find something known as the Elements of Harmony.”

“What are the Elements of Harmony?”

“I have absolutely no idea.”

“Well, where do we find them?”

“I have absolutely no idea.”

“We’re doomed.”

“Now, hold on. Just let me do a little research and dig up some information. Give me a second.” The Doctor began to type. After about a minute, he stopped. His friends looked at him. “Well?” asked Derpy. “I found an article that briefly discusses the subject.”

“What’s it say?”

“There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Effervescence, Expressiveness, Subtlety, Passion, and Tolerance. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now the Everfree Forest.” A collective gasp came from his friends behind him. “The Everfree Forest?” They said in unison. “What? Is that bad?”

“You have no idea,” said Bon Bon. “Anypony who has gone in has never come out!”
“Oh. Well luckily, we won’t have to go in. I’ll just land the TARDIS on the castle’s coordinates.” He spun to the other side of the console and started to hit buttons and flick switches. The engines began to roar. The column started to move. “Andia-” He was cut off by the shaking of the room. The group was knocked to the ground. The room turned and shook. The engines’ noise stuttered. A deep bell began to ring. The Doctor struggled to the console. He managed to fiddle with some controls. The room went still and quiet. The group began to pick themselves off the ground. The Doctor looked at the central column. “Oi! What was that all about?” He pulled a monitor to his face.

“Doctor, what happened?” asked Octavia. The Doctor turned to his friends. “It seems that our desired location is inaccessible. That point in space and time is locked off, meaning that whatever happens there is a fixed point.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are some points in time that can be altered. Like, if you ate a sandwich for lunch. You could change it so that you had a salad instead. But some points in time are fixed. Events have to happen a certain way. Any attempt to change anything would rip a hole in the universe.”

“So what do we do?”

The Doctor paced for a second. “Well, if we can’t get there the easy way, we’ll have to go in the hard way.”

“Which is?”

“We’ll have to walk through this forest of yours.” His friends gasped. “Are you insane? We’ll all get killed if we go in there!” yelled Bon Bon. The Doctor’s tone became slightly more serious. “Look. Either we take the risk and go through the forest, or we let your world die. It’s your choice.” The group was silent. “We have to go. I’ve already seen a world burn today, and I don’t want to see it twice. I’ll keep you safe. That’s a promise I’ll fight to keep. Do you trust me?” There was a pause. Derpy spoke up. “I trust you.” The Doctor looked at the others. “Do you?” They paused. “I trust you, too,” said Vinyl. One by one, the others eventually gave in as well. “Alright,” said the Doctor.

He turned back to the control console. He typed some coordinates onto the monitor. He pressed the same buttons as before. He pushed on a large lever. The engines started up again. The column rose and fell. “Andiamo!” said the Doctor.

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

On the edge of the forest, a groaning wheeze of the TARDIS could be heard. The blue box began to fade into reality. The noise stopped and the box became solid. The doors swung open. The Doctor poked his head out. He called to his friends inside. “Is this the place?” He walked out of the box. Octavia followed. She looked at the threatening jumble of trees and vines in front of her. She gulped. “Oh yes. This is definitely it.” The others walked out. Derpy turned to her daughters. “I want you two to stay here.” Dinky looked up to her. “But I want to help!”

“I know, sweetie. But it’s safer in the box. Amy will look after you.” Derpy turned to Amethyst, who nodded in agreement. She turned to her sister. “Come on, Dinky. Let’s go.”

“Oh, okay,” said Dinky in defeat. The two sisters walked inside and closed the doors. The Doctor reached into his collar and pulled something out. It was a long, metal tube lined with gold and bronze. He pointed it at the TARDIS and pressed a button. The end lit up with a blue light and a whirring sound came from the device. A click came from the doors. The Doctor placed the device back in his collar. “What was that?” asked Lyra. “My sonic screwdriver,” said the Doctor. “I locked the doors.”

“Wait. Screwdriver? Why a screwdriver?”

“You can do a lot of things with a screwdriver.”

“Hm. Well, I guess you have a point.”

“I rather like this new one, too. Though I admit it’s a shame that my old one broke.”
Vinyl turned to the Doctor. “Why isn’t this place in pieces?”

“The sun’s gravity isn’t as strong as a normal black hole. This particular area hasn’t been caught in its grasp yet. However, that will change if we don’t stop this in time. We have to get going.” The six friends all turned to face the forest. “Andiamo.” The group entered the forest, unsure of what would lay ahead.

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

“Will you turn that thing off?” said Bon Bon to the Doctor. He had his screwdriver out, and was using it as a flashlight. Its continuous whir was getting on his friends’ nerves. “We won’t be able to see anything without it.”

“I could use my magic for light,” said Vinyl. Her horn began to glow with a surrounding aurora. The forest lit up from its magenta glow. The Doctor deactivated his screwdriver and stuffed it in his collar. “Well then,” he said. “There you go.” The group looked around the environment surrounding them. The branches on the trees were either crooked or broken off entirely. The vegetation was covered in a dark, dull green. Vines and moss covered fallen and rotten logs. “This place is so creepy,” said Lyra.

“I’ve seen worse,” said the Doctor nonchalantly.

“What could be worse than this?”

“A haunted pocket universe with nothing but forest, fog, and a monster chasing you.” There was a pause. Lyra continued, “What?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.”

The sounds of the forest echoed throughout the area. Insects chirped and birds screeched. The Doctor remained nonchalant. “I’ll say this, though. This place does have the spook factor mastered.” The group continued on. They came to a small clearing. A layer of fog slightly clouded their view. They looked up at the dark night sky. Gray clouds covered up most of the stars. A gust of wind flew past them. The leaves and branches on the trees shook. “We should probably keep moving,” said Derpy nervously. “Something doesn’t feel right.” The Doctor’s expression grew serious. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go, but stay close, and be on the lookout.”

They kept moving across the clearing. A faint buzzing whir became audible. Bon Bon looked towards the Doctor. “I thought you said you’d turn that thing off.”

“That’s not me,” said the Doctor. The noise grew increasingly louder. “What?” responded Bon Bon.

“My screwdriver is still deactivated.” The noise filled the atmosphere, getting louder and louder. The group huddled together, bracing for what might come. All they could hear was the noise, which was loud enough to block out every other sound in the clearing. “What is that?” yelled Octavia. “What’s happening?” The Doctor opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off. The source of the sound made itself known.

Thousands of flying insects came charging from within the forest. They swarmed around the clearing. The group ducked for cover. The area was lit up by the luminescent glow coming from the eyes and abdomens of the insects. It was an eerie blue-green glow that looked like thousands of tiny flames. The insects hummed their cacophonous tune. The chaotic screech pounded on the group’s ears. “Doctor, what do we do?” yelled Derpy.

“Just keep down! I’m coming up with a plan!”

“Can you come up with a plan a bit faster?”

“I’m trying! It’s hard to think with all this terrible noise!” He reached for his screwdriver. He tried to look around. He saw something surprising. Vinyl was standing up tall. She had an annoyed look on her face. Her horn was shining bright. “Vinyl, what are you doing?”

“Fixing this.” She pulled her sunglasses over her eyes. The aura on her horn expanded. A similar glow seemed to surround the insects, which stopped midflight. Their horrible hiss settled into a low, vibrating hum. The others stood up slowly. They all stared at the sight. A new series of noises came from the bugs. It was almost like a rhythm. A steady beat formed along with the hum. The Doctor watched his friend work. “What?” he said to himself. Vinyl grinned. “Alright. Now we’re getting somewhere,” she said. Her horn’s aura began to pulse in sync with the rhythm. New sounds added to the growing symphony. A song began to take form. The noise reached a peak, and then paused. Vinyl’s grin widened. “Let’s drop the beat,” she said. In a split second, the sound filled the air. The insects swarmed in a rhythmic swirl. Their buzzes and whirs formed a song that played loud and fast. Vinyl’s horn continued to glow, her head rocked with the beat. The insects swarmed continued to swirl. The rest of the group continued to stare.

Vinyl lifted her glasses. She looked up at her makeshift orchestra. “Alright, guys. Party’s over. Head on home.” Her horn’s aura became solid once more. The swarm rose into the night sky, and then flew off behind the tree line. Their song began to fade before being completely silenced. The clearing was calm once again. Vinyl turned to her friends, who stared at her with dropped jaws. “What?” she asked as if nothing had happened.

“How did you do that?” asked the Doctor. “Actually, the better question would be what did you do?”

“I dropped the beat.”

“That doesn’t really tell us anything,” said Octavia.

“Those were beatles.”

“You don’t say,” said Bon Bon.

“No beatles. With an e-a instead of an e-e. They’re cool little bugs that love to party, as long as you find the right beat. They make great pets.”

“They tried to kill us!”

“Something was wrong with them. That isn’t normal for them.” The Doctor activated his screwdriver and swung it around the clearing. “I’m picking up traces of a bizarre form of energy. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s not normal.” He turned off the device and stuffed it in his collar. He turned to Vinyl. “That was incredible! What do you call that song?”

“It doesn’t have a name. I just made it up. I have sort of a natural talent for these things.”

“That’s incredible.”

Vinyl smiled.

“Well, now that that’s over, shouldn’t we get going?” asked Octavia. The Doctor perked up. “Indeed! Let’s carry on! Andiamo!” The group carried on and went back into the forest.

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

“What happened then?” the Doctor asked Vinyl. “What do you mean?”

“You said that those insects weren’t behaving normally. Any ideas on why they’d want to kill us?” Vinyl put her hoof to her chin. “I’m not sure. They did look different than the ones I’m used to seeing. Maybe it’s just different in the forest.”

“Perhaps. Still, that was amazing how you handled them. You’re a natural pied piper.”
“A what?”

“Oh, um, nothing. It’s a… It’s an alien thing. It’s a compliment”

“If you say so.” The group continued through the dense forest. The sky seemed to grow darker and darker the farther in they went. It was getting difficult to see. The Doctor stopped in his tracks. “Hold up!” he said. His friends stopped walking. “What’s wrong?” asked Lyra. She looked ahead of the Doctor. There was a steep slope that lead into a deep chasm in front of him. “Oh, wow. That would not have been a fun fall.” The other four came and looked over the edge. “We’re going to have to climb down,” said the Doctor.

“Climb down?” said Bon Bon. “That doesn’t look like very stable ground. If we try to climb down the rocks will come loose and we’ll go down with them.” The Doctor kept looking down. “We have to chance it. I can’t see any other way around this. No bridges. No stairs. Nothing. We have to climb.” The five mares exchanged nervous looks, but eventually gave in. The world was going to be destroyed. They had to chance it. The Doctor began his uneasy decent. The others began to follow. He looked down. They were about fifty feet up.

“Be extremely careful with your footing,” he said. They continued their slow climb down. What happened next was catastrophic. A blood-curdling shriek filled the air. The noise so loud that even Vinyl was wincing with pain. The wailing stopped. The rocks beneath the group began to crumble, and in the next moment, they were sliding down the slope, screaming. Rocks and pebbles flew around them. The shriek came again. They covered their ears as they tumbled down the slope. The noise stopped as quickly as last time. Then, the six hit the bottom with a thud.

Each of them groaned as they rubbed their cuts and bruises. “Is everyone okay?” asked Derpy. Everyone except the Doctor nodded. He was still sitting on the ground, wincing with pain as he held his front leg. “Doctor, what’s wrong?” asked Bon Bon. The Doctor gave her a pained look. “My leg. It’s broken,” he said. The group gave a soft gasp. “Oh no! What do we do! You can’t go on with a broken leg!” said Derpy frantically. The Doctor looked at her with a reassuring smile. Or, at least, what little smile he could muster up through his pained expression. “Just give me a second. I’ll be fine.”

“You won’t be fine. You broke your leg!”

“Derpy, please. Just trust me.”

But Derpy kept ignoring him. “Oh, what are we going to do? We can’t just…” She trailed off and looked at the Doctor’s broken leg. It seemed like his veins were glowing a faint gold. The Doctor stood up as it faded away. He swiveled his leg around as if it were never broken. “Ah. That’s much better.” His five friends stared at him. “What?” he asked.

“I thought you said your leg was broken,” said Bon Bon.

“It was.”

“You seem fine.”

“I’m still in the first fifteen hours of my regeneration cycle. Any major wounds I get will heal right back up. Can’t do anything about these cuts and bruises though.”

Bon Bon opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off, as another shriek pierced the night. This one was louder and lasted twice as long. The six covered their ears, but the sound was too loud. They looked for the source of the noise. The rocks crumbled from the slope of the hill. A cloud of dust kicked up. Once the noise paused and the dust settled, they found the source. About fifty feet away, an eerie white glow shined in the dark. It appeared to be coming from a creature.

It looked like a pony, but it was tall and slender. Its body seemed translucent like a ghost. It was draped in ragged cloth and its mane was a complete mess. Its eyes were pure white and seemed to glow brighter than anything else on its body. The group froze where they were. It was a horrifying sight.

The creature held its head high. It opened its mouth wide and let out another, louder shriek. The group clenched their teeth in pain as they covered their ears. They gave each other worried looks, trying to see if any of them had a plan. Bon Bon looked over at the wailing creature. Her expression turned curious. She stood up and began walking towards it. The pain in her ears increased the closer she got, yet she carried on. She got close enough to figure out why it was wailing. Its ruffled wing was being crushed by a large rock.

Bon Bon decided that she would be able to move it with enough force, so she walked over to it, and started to push. The creature was in too much pain to notice her. The rock began to move ever so slightly. Bon Bon continued to push on it. She glanced at her friends, who were still on the ground. She shoved harder, and with a final heave, the rock toppled off of the creature’s wing. The creature noticed the change in pressure and looked down. Its wail began to soften, but its face was still pained. It tried to lift its wing, but winced from the pain it brought.

“You might want to stay off of that wing,” said Bon Bon. The creature looked at her and nodded. The other five had gotten up at that point, and slowly walked over. Bon Bon seemed to get an idea. She waved the Doctor over, and then turned to the creature. “I think my friend here might be able to help.” The Doctor looked curiously at her. “Help? What do you mean?”

“Her wing’s been crushed. It’s broken.”

“Her?”

“Yes. Her. Does it matter?”

“Well, no." He paused. "What do you think I could do?”

“You fixed your broken leg. Can’t you do the same thing to her?” The Doctor gave a look. “That’s easier said than done. I can do that naturally. It’s a whole different process to get the same effects on someone else. I can let out a little bit of regeneration energy, but not enough to heal a broken wing.” Bon Bon gave him a pleading look, as did the creature. “Can’t you at least try?”

The Doctor looked at his friend, and admitted defeat. He let out a short sigh. “Okay. I’ll try.” He turned to the creature. He carefully took its wing in his hooves. He closed his eyes and concentrated. The golden glow returned to his veins. Golden energy flowed out of his hooves and seemed to seep into the blood-stained wing. The Doctor clenched his teeth. The creature’s wing began to slowly but surely return to a normal shape. The blood stains disappeared. In seconds, it seemed good as new. The Doctor pulled his hooves back and the glow stopped. He looked at the wing.

“There. Good as new.” The ghostly creature looked at her wing, then looked at the Doctor. “Thank you,” she said. Her voice was high-pitched and raspy. “You’re welcome,” said the Doctor. “What was with the overdramatic screaming?” Bon Bon gave him a look. “Doctor, how rude!”

“I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant was that rock isn’t the right size or weight to cause that much harm. Why were you screaming that loud?” The creature looked at him. “It felt like a mountain was crushing my wing. The rock was heavier than it seems.”

“But Bon Bon was able to move it.” The creature considered this. He was right. It didn’t make sense. The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and scanned the area where the rock was. “Do you have a name?”

“Ciara.”

“What’s your species, Ciara?”

“What?”

“I’m just curious. I don’t know of any creature that’s capable of producing a sound like that.”

“I’m a banshee.”

The Doctor gave a surprised look. He stopped scanning the area. “A banshee?” He turned to his friends. “You have banshees in this universe? Oh, that’s brilliant!” He looked at his screwdriver, and his look became more serious. “What is it, Doc?” asked Vinyl.

“Two things. One: I’m picking up fluctuations in the gravity fields in the area. Something’s been screwing with the gravitational pull around here. Two: I’m picking up traces of that same bizarre energy as before. Meaning whatever caused the strange behavior of the beatles might have caused these fluctuations.”

“Do you think something’s following us?” asked Octavia.

“I don’t know. But if there is, then whatever it is really wants us dead.” The group turned silent for a moment. The Doctor tucked his screwdriver into his collar. “We have to keep moving,” he said, breaking the silence. The others looked at each other in nervous agreement. Bon Bon turned to Ciara, who gave her a thankful expression. “I can’t thank you enough,” she said in her eerie voice. Bon Bon returned the smile. “I’m happy to help,” she said. Then she turned and joined her friends as they continued on their way through the forest.