(Disclaimer: This episode of New Friends Forever will not be seen from Doodledraw's perspective, and instead will be viewed from a third person. Also, do not start a flame war about the previous generations of MLP, for without them, we would not have this one. Also, I do not own any of this. All rights go to Lauren Faust, Hasbro, and BBC.)
Twilight Sparkle and Doodledraw were sitting in the park, chatting about things. Suddenly, an idea sparked in the pink earth pony's mind as she asked, "Hey, Twilight? Have you ever thought about the theory of….different universes?"
"Different universes?" the unicorn asked back. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I mean…..have you ever read the Chronicles of Barnia?"
"Yes! It was my favorite book series as a child."
"Haven't you ever thought of adventuring to worlds like that as possible?"
"DD, I know that ponies can travel through time, but there is no way that-!" Suddenly, the two mares were whisked off their hooves by a fast brown blur that grabbed them by their hooves.
"WHOA!" The two shouted as they were thrown into a blue box. The brown blur that'd thrown them in said in a British accent, "Quickly, Ditzy Doo, pull that lever over there!"
"Uh, yeah, we're not Ditzy," Twilight pointed out. The brown stallion told us again, "Well, pull the lever!"
"Already on it!" DD stated, pulling the mentioned lever. The pink earth pony then asked, "So, what's your name, sir?"
"Oh, I'm the Doctor."
"Doctor of what?" asked the purple unicorn, suspicious.
"Really, it's just the Doctor."
"So why are we in this situation, Doctor?"
"Well, I was expecting Ditzy to be at the park, but she must've forgotten, or gotten lost, or-!"
"Wow! This place is smaller on the outside!" The hot pink pony exclaimed, taking notice of her surroundings. The purple unicorn looked around, and realized that the small blue box was, and they were in something that can only be described as a boiler room. "You really know how to maximize space, Doctor."
"Yes, yes I do." he chuckled, getting used to the subversions to a usual person's regular reaction to the TARDIS. He explained, in a nonchalant manner, "This blue box sends me through time and space. Right at this moment, we are going to another dimension, where I have gotten….a distress call of sorts."
"What kind of distress call?"
"Well, it wasn't much of a 'call' as it was a letter." The brown stallion pulled out a letter and Twilight grabbed it and began to read aloud: "Dear Sir or Madam, we cordially invite you to the return of our Queen. We hope you bring gifts of your talent, and invite all of your friends. Sincerely, the Princess." The Doctor explained, "I figured since you've never been run by a queen, and more of a dual monarchy, that this letter came from another world, and somehow ended up in my hands—er, hooves."
Doodledraw, who was going along with this story so far, nodded in understanding. Twilight, however, who was a mare of facts and data, said to the Doctor, "You're a loon!"
"No, I'm a pony," was his response. He then pulled another lever, which opened up the TARDIS' doors to the surrounding area. The two mares walked out first, the Doctor following behind. The hot pink pony gasped, "Whoa…" at the first sights of this strange, new world….
That looked exactly like the park in their original one. The purple unicorn, quite unimpressed, grumbled, "Okay, now this is stupid. We're in the same place we were befor-!"
"Look!" The pink earth pony grabbed her friend as she pointed to two ponies coming up the road. All three of them ducked down to spy on the approaching earth ponies. One was a light blue earth pony, with rainbow-colored streaks in her hair, and a mane so beautifully styled, it would make Rarity jealous. The other was a pale pink earth pony with a blonde and purple mane that was flowing down to the ground, but luckily, she had bows and ribbons that stopped the mane from touching the dirt roads.
"Alright, Fluttershy," the blue one explained, "I only came out here to appreciate the beauty of nature…and get some new fashion ideas from it."
"Hey, Rainbow Dash," The pale pink one began to ask, "Can I get a picture of you right next to the fountain?" The blue one did as she was told, and stood in front of the fountain, only to exclaim in disgust as her hoof landed in something less than desirable. "Ew! I stepped in mud!"
"That's okay. I have the zoom lens on so it only gets your face."
"Yes, but I've stepped in the most deplorable substance I can think of! It's so gross!" She whined. The two who were spying thought that sounded awfully familiar. "Fluttershy" calmed her friend down by saying, "It's all right. We'll go home and get that cleaned off. Besides, I don't need those shots until Friday." The pale pink pony picked up her friends dirty hoof, and put it in the fountain. "Rainbow Dash", after getting over the trauma, said, "Thank you, Fluttershy. You really are a good friend." The two then walked off further into the park.
"Okay, what was that about?" Twilight asked herself, finally getting out of the bushes. The Doctor then came out, Doodledraw following. The brown stallion thought out loud, "Well, what do you know. This world seems to be a parallel to yours in that all the same ponies exist at the same moments in time, although this place's history seems to be different."
"Which explains why Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are earth ponies," the hot pink mare cut in. "There seems to be a complete lack of Pegasus here, because the clouds seem to be moving on there own."
"Wait, wait. How are you two suddenly experts on this situation?" The purple unicorn cut in.
"I've been in this kind of situation before," the Doctor explained.
"I just kind of figured it out," Doodledraw said in her defense. "I mean, there aren't any ponies in the EverfreeForest, save Zecora, so I know that the clouds move on their own in that area because of that." Twi's jaw hit the ground with shock by the two earth ponies' perfect alibis. Okay, she was a little suspicious of this doctor fellow, but was stunned by DD's perfect explanation for why this world was different. The hot pink pony then had another brilliant idea. "Hey, Twilight. I bet if there are alternate versions of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, there's an alternate version of you, too!"
"Hold on, DD," Twilight told her friend. "You're actually going to believe that we were transported to some alternate world, where everypony's the same, but different, and that we were all transported here by a crazy stallion with a blue box?!"
"Unless you have a better explanation, that's the story, and I'm sticking to it." The two earth ponies went into town to search for this alternate Twilight, while the Twilight of this dimension followed them. As they went into town, the two passed an apple stand, and the seller looked familiar.
"Applejack!" Twi exclaimed, and ran over to the familiar mare. DD and the Doctor only stared at the familiar, yet different, country mare. She still had blonde hair, although it was very bouncy, and she wore no hat, but had a blue bow on her tail. Her coat was still orange, but her cutie mark now had an extra apple. The purple unicorn ignored all of this as she said, "Look, AJ, I need your help with something."
"It can wait, stranger," The one supposedly named Applejack explained.
"Stranger? I'm no stranger. And doesn't Granny Smith usually run the apple cart?"
"I don't have a granny. She died off years ago." The unicorn gasped, "When….when did that happen?"
"I'm a lot older than most of the ponies in town. Heck, I even remember when Princess Twilight was crowned."
"Princess Twilight? But I'm-!"
"—New in town," Doodledraw butted in to explain. "And me and my friend…er, Glimmer Glam, would love to know where this Princess' castle is located."
"Sure," the orange mare replied, "It's right over—!" as she was pointing to the direction of the aforementioned castle, she lost her balance and fell to the ground. "-there." Twilight, not even bothering to help the fallen mare, asked, "What happened?"
"I've always had three left hooves." The Doctor quietly chuckled at the pony's terminology. DD then helped the fallen earth pony up, who said, "Well, it was nice to meet you, Glimmer Glam. Maybe you can help me at the farm when you're not busy." The trio of travelers hurried to the castle as Applejack-2 waved good-bye. The unicorn then asked her earth pony friend once they were out of earshot, "What was with the fake name?"
"I figured since you're the princess in this dimension, I didn't want everypony making a big deal about you," the hot pink pony answered.
"We're not in another dimension. This is obviously some crazy dream!"
"Oh, really? If it were a crazy dream, could I be able to do this?" The pink earth pony lightly hit her friend on the forearm. She laughed, "Yes, because you doing that in real life would be crazy!"
"Here we are," The Doctor announced, showing a hoof to the castle in front of them. "Princess Twilight's castle." The two earth ponies stopped their bickering to look at the sickingly-sweet and simple exterior of the castle. The three all took notice that two dragons were guarding the drawbridge at the front entrance. The Doctor whispered, let me handle this…" and then greeted the guards, "Hello, good sirs! We would like a meeting with the princess, if that's-!"
"No trespassers," the dragons said in unison. The one on the left said, "Yeah, we can't let you in unless the Princess says so…"
"And even then, you'd need an invitation from the princess to get in." The other one growled in a deeper tone than the first. The stallion said smoothly, "Well, then what does this look like?" He pulled out his letter from the princess, and immediately, the two guards assessed it. Fortunately for them, the dragons couldn't read, and could only make out the princess' name.
"Access granted," the two said in unison again, letting the trio through and into the castle. The trio walked straight into the throne room, where they laid their eyes on a light pink unicorn that had a purple mane with white streaks in it, which was a clear sign she was getting old. She wore a dress with a hot pink front and a long sweeping back that had a star in the middle of it.
"Mom?!" Twilight exclaimed. Her friend put a hoof over her mouth to protect from any more sudden out bursts, and she told the Doctor, "Listen, can you explain to the Princess why we're here, Doctor?" The stallion did so, and Doodledraw took the unicorn out into the hallway, quick to shout to her, "What were you thinking?!" She took her hoof off the purple mare's mouth to hear what she had to say, which was, "She looks like my mom. And from what AJ said earlier, she's probably the same age as her."
"Alright, now that we've got that covered up…" The two mares went back in, their dignity back in tact. DD explained to the Princess, "I don't know if my friend here has mentioned, but we're moving in here from the country, and we were wondering what the history of this place is."
"He has mentioned," Princess Twi stated, and went onto explain, "The land of DreamValley was founded many years ago, and many creatures flocked here. The creatures that we had found peace with when I was a young mare soon became violent in nature. I wished to become ruler of this great land…and I did. I led a mighty army, where many of those who I had close relationships with…died. But, we eventually drove out all of the beasts that once plagued our land. Now, we have the happy town of Ponyville, capital of the land known as DreamValley."
"DreamValley? No, it's Eque-!" Once again, somepony put a hoof over Twilight's mouth. This time, it was the Doctor.
"What Glimmer Glam means is that we come from a place far, far away from here called Equestria," the stallion told the light pink princess. Twilight took the brown stallion's hoof off her mouth and asked, "So, have you found the Elements of Harmony?"
"What are these 'Elements' you speak of?"
"You know: Honesty, Laughter, Loyalty, Generosity, Magic, also known as friendship-!"
"And what is this 'friendship'?" The trio, even the Doctor, gasped when she asked that. DD questioned her smartness by saying, "You don't know what friendship is?" The princess just shook her head in reply. "Well, it's like having someone who's close to you. Who knows just about everything about you and you share everything with. Please tell me you've known somepony like that."
"I have," Princess Twilight actually made some response, "but they all passed away in the war…." Tears started to fill her eyes as she said, "I would like you all to leave. Thank you for your time." The Doctor quietly led them out, knowing all too well to do as you're told by a monarch the first time.
The three ponies decided to break for lunch, where they found out that Pinkie Pie owned the local café. Well, at least Pinkie's the same in this dimension, Doodledraw thought to herself. Twilight explained to the Doctor, "Look, you need to get us home. I don't care if you are a complete nut job! I want to GO HOME!" Her sudden outburst had everypony's eyes in the café on her. The three stood completely still until the ponies turned back to their other conversations. Afterwards, the Doctor said, "Look, the TARDIS, my blue box, sent me here, because I'm positive something will happen at this coming of the Queen event I somehow got an invitation to."
"Well, I don't care what happens!" the unicorn said angrily. "I'm not part of this story, and I want to get home."
"There are no accidents in the universe," DD cut in, trying to sound philosophical. The brown stallion nodded in agreement with this. The purple mare, not calmed at all by her friend's words, pointed to the Doctor as she replied, "Well, apparently, he did. So, whoever-the-heck-you-are, get me and my friend home!"
"Alright! Alright! Let me just reconfigure the TARDIS, and you two can go back to your normal lives," the Doctor finally agreed. As the trio left the bake shop, Doodledraw asked her friend, "Aren't you used to these situations by now?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, the Elements have stood up to the worst of monsters: you've defeated hydras, Cerberus, Nightmare Moon; even Discord, for Pete's sake!"
"Well, that last one was a tough one, but-!"
"Look, if the Doctor says something's going to happen when this queen comes back, then I suggest you be a real Element and save the day." The hot pink pony started to walk away when her friend earnestly replied, "I can't."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if this is an alternate dimension, isn't it up to the Elements of this dimension to save the day, and us not to interfere?"
"But the Twilight of this dimension has little knowledge of what friendship is and means! That means that this Twilight," she pointed to the purple unicorn, "is going to have to show some initiative."
"But wouldn't that-!"
"Here we are: back at the TARDIS," announced the brown stallion. He went in first, the two mares deciding to stay back. From outside, they could hear the Doctor complaining on how "this won't work," and that "this'll never do." Finally, the pink mare stuck her head inside the TARDIS doors and asked, "What's the problem?"
"Well, the problem is this: the TARDIS refuses to move."
"What?!" The unicorn mare shouted, starting to yell at the stallion. "You mean we're stuck here with no means of getting out, and we're going to be stuck here conditionally until you get this blue hunk of junk fixed?!"
"Pretty much," The Doctor responded, "and do not call the TARDIS a hunk of junk. It got you here, didn't it?" Twilight let out a frustrated, "ARGH!" snatched the letter from the Doctor, and headed out. The pink earth pony asked the brown stallion, "Can I have a look at that?"
Twilight headed into the Castle, where a crowd had gathered for the arrival of this queen. The purple unicorn actually noticed somepony familiar in the crowd of strangers. She saw Pinkie Pie (Well, the one of this dimension) and headed for her. The unicorn nudged the earth pony, who turned around and greeted her, "Hello."
"Hi, Pinkie Pie," Twi greeted back. "Look, I'm sorry for causing a scene at your café this afternoon."
"It's okay. I could see you were really frustrated with that stallion. So, what's your name?"
"It's Twi—er, Glimmer Glam," the unicorn corrected herself, remembering what DD said before.
"Well, it's nice to meet you. Where are you from? I've never seen you around Ponyville."
"We're just passing through town. We don't know how long it'll be staying. I've actually never heard of this event. Tell me, why is your queen coming back?"
"It's derived from this long legend that says that DreamValley was once ruled by a magnificent queen called 'Star Mane.' She raised the sun and moon, and was very powerful. She made sure that everypony lived in peace and harmony, until the power became too much for her. She said she had to leave the valley and return to the heavens above, for that was where she came from."
"Wow. That almost sounds like the tale of Nightm—!"
"Oh, look! The ceremony's starting!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as the curtains opened to reveal Princess Twilight in a dark blue dress. The princess announced, "Tonight marks the arrival of Queen Estrellena. Once the moon and sun line up, creating a lunar eclipse, it will signal the arrival of the queen." Ponies cheered as the purple unicorn thought, That's funny. That almost sounds like how Nightmare Moon came back.
The silence returned as everypony focused their attention to a stained glass behind the princess. A circle in the middle of it, depicting an eclipse, was coenciding with the actual eclipse in the sky. The two lined up perfectly, and it made a horrible black shadow fill the spot where the queen should've been. The shadows formed into a monsterous being, one that towered over everypony in the room, and shocked the princess on the stage.
It was an allicorn, almost as tall as Princess Celestia. She was jet black, and her hair was as red as blood. The armor she wore was orangish-gold, and was a sign of her power. The mysterious mare said, "Oh, it's been so long since I've seen another pony. And it's been so long since I've seen you, darling." Her eyes focused on Princess Twilight.
"I-I don't think I've ever met you," The princess said, still shocked.
"You should remember how you defeated me with your light when you were just a teenager, and look at you now: all grown up, and nowhere to run." The unicorn princess stared into the allicorn's eyes, and realized that only one being could be filled with that much hate in thier eyes. "You-you're Tirek."
"Yes, you remember now. I'm the only reason your queen left. I started as a little piece of darkness in her heart, and before long, she left to make sure I wouldn't hurt you. But now, the eclipse has drawn me power; enough power to come back, and bring back the everlasting night." The ponies all noticed from the stained glass that outside, it had become suprisingly dark. All of these events caused Twilight to flash back, and even moreso as Tirek chuckled, "Remember this day as your last, little ponies, for from this moment forth...
The night...
Will last...
FOREVER!" As a cackle of maniacal laughter and dramatic thunder filled the main room of the castle, Twilight knew she had to gather the Elements of Harmony in this world.
