Doctor Whooves

Voyage of the Lost

And so begins a brand new season! A triumph over those who wish to remove creativity completely from my life, replacing it with the bane known as Homework. But, in all honesty, I'm really glad to be back in business and relaxing on fall break.

So, let's get cracking! Doctor, you're in for a ride this season.

Also, I think I'm going to stop giving myself deadlines for these, they'll come out once I write them.

The Doctor reached over the controls, pressing the bagel sized button. But the split second he did, a loud foghorn like noise ripped through the air, accompanied with a violent jerk, throwing him back onto the ground. Chunks of the wall came flying off as a large wooden ship forced it's way into the Tardis, a bell rung from somewhere in the distance.

The Doctor got to his hooves, coughing on dust. He looked up at the ship, "What?" Then he looked at his ship, wires were hanging loose and dust was drifting from above. "What?!" He sifted through some of the debris, finding a round life-preserver under a chunk of metal. He flipped it and written in black letters was the name: SS Sunset. The famous first ship to try crossing the ocean, it was never found.

The Doctor looked up at the ship coming through the wall, and summed up the situation in one word, yet again. "What."

He jumped to his hooves, wasting no time to fix the problem. He flipped switches, glancing back at the wound in his ship. Another life preserver had fallen onto the console, he grabbed it's rope in his teeth and tossed it aside. This revealed a crank, he grabbed it with both hooves and spun it rapidly. The walls near where the ship had crashed through began to glow with a golden light. New panels began to appear, folding themselves in the opening, shoving the unwanted object back to wherever it came from.

Another lever thrown and the Tardis landed in the nearest place it could, within the ship. The Doctor trotted to the door and opened it, finding himself in a small room next to a shelf of wine glasses. He looked around the edge of the blue box, making sure its wooden panels were all ship shape again. He gave the Tardis an affectionate pat, closed the door, and set off do to some exploring.

Outside of the small room appeared to be a reception hall, with a deep brown wooden desk. Next to it was a large decorated tree, with colorful baubles and tinsel decorating the bows. Ponies dressed in fancy old clothes with wine glasses milled about, talking and enjoying the drinks. Red velvet chairs draped with gold colored snowflakes were scattered about the room, the port holes were dark but the lights were festive and cast an orange glow over the room.

Along the edges of the room next to the doorways leading to, presumably, ball rooms and living quarters, were golden Pegasus statues in pristine white robes, their wings held high and proud, silver discs hovering above their heads by some sort of magic giving them the appearance of spirits or angels. The Doctor smiled as he passed one, only to be shocked when it turned its head to look at him. He slowly walked past the statue, making sure not to move his gaze, until he was a safe distance away.

A strange voice caught his ear, it sounded high pitched and slightly mechanic. The Doctor looked around to see a small red diamond dog like creature with spikes all down its back and on the top of its head, in a dinner jacket no less, chatting with a mare as they passed. Now, this raised a few red flags, if this was the real SS Sunset, there should not be tiny red spiky dog-like aliens aboard. Or moving golden statues for that matter. Thoroughly confused now, the Time-Pony walked over to one of the portholes and looked outside.

"Oh, right." It made everything clearer, outside were the stars of space and distant galaxies. The light of the planet below bounced off the wooden hull, making the ship shine.

"Attention all passengers," announced a voice. "We are now in orbit of Sol Three, also known as Gaia. Population, pony, dragon, griffin, diamond dog, changeling, and, other. Mares and Gentlecolts, welcome, to Hearth's Warming Eve."

Brand new season! Let's kick it off with a bang!

Peaceful, that was a word to describe it, thought Captain Clear Skies as he patrolled the bridge, watching his fellow sailors in their spiffy black uniforms and white hats. Most worked the computers, silver panels with blinking colored lights and blue screens with images of the ship.

"Nice and steady," the captain said to the stallion at the helm. "Good work, and maintain position." The wheel locked and all the sailors on the bridge turned to face their captain. He smiled a little, "Now then, gentle colts, according to the traditions of the planet below, Hearth's Warming is a time of celebration. I believe you are all entitled to a tot of cider. Ah, just the one. Now then, off you go." They saluted him, smiling, and began filing out, he turned to face the wheel.

Only one remained, a lanky adolescent dragon that was green and yellow. Nervously, he shut the door after the last of his comrades had left. The captain glanced back at him, "And you, what was it?"

"Midshipman Spark sir," the dragon replied, saluting with a claw. "Only just qualified sir, first trip out."

"Then you can stand down midshipman."

"Um, well," Spark stammered, wringing his hand nervously, "R-regulations state the bridge must be manned by two crewmembers at any one time, sir." Captain Skies looked at him, "Well said. Very good." Spark smiled and went straight to the computers, checking the readings eagerly. Skies looked out at the stars, "Well, it should be nice and quiet. A Silent Night I believe they call it. A silent night."

"Capricorn Cruiseliners. The fastest, the furthest, the best. And I should know, after all, my name is Capricorn." The unicorn winked and smiled, his gold tooth flashing like a cartoon's, and the video froze. Capricorn, who must've been the owner of the cruiseline, was a dusty purple grey with slicked-back black hair, in the video he was dressed in a black suit with small grey spots on the lapels. The video itself sat inside a gold-colored picture frame, and hung beside a hall way entrance.

Somewhere down the hallway, familiar verses of Winter Wonderland drifted through the air, sweet smells of the buffet added to the warm atmosphere. The Doctor readjusted his black bowtie, looking from the frozen screen to the festive decorations around him. A large reconstruction of the ship made of blinking blue and purple lights glowed behind him, sailing on a table covered with glittering fabric.

He adjusted the bow tie again, thinking about it's unlucky past, and the fact it was Hearth's Warming, and that this ship was named the SS Sunset. He shook it off, just an extra unlucky coincidence. No way it would actually mean something.

"Happy Hearths Warming," called a voice. He looked up in time to see a waiter pass by, smiling at him. The Doctor grinned, "Happy Hearths Warming!" The bad luck forgotten, he trotted towards the music, finding himself in a wonderfully decorated ball room. A dance floor was set up beneath a giant tree, next to which a band was playing music for ponies to dance to. THe high ceiling left room for a balcony, where couples sat enjoying the music and dinner. As the Doctor walked around "pony-watching", he glanced at a grey pegasus with a well combed pink and green mane who was talking on a extra-futuristic mobile.

"It's not a holiday for me, so long as I've got my vone," the pegasus was saying with a smile. His voice became harsh, "Now do as I say and sell." The Doctor frowned a little, shrugged, and turned. He couldn't do anything but try to enjoy himself, so what if some stickler was trying to work at a party? His eyes landed on one of the golden pegasus statues, it was looking out at the dance floor with a built in smile. He trotted up to it, the pegasus robot looked from the dancing to him with a mechanical twitch.

"Evening," the Doctor said with a smile, "Passenger fifty seven. Terrible memory, remind me, you would be?"

"Information," the robot said, it's voice kind for a machine, "Helpful Host, supplying tourist information." The Doctor nodded, "Good, so tell me, because I am an idiot, where are we from?"

"Information," it began again, "The SS Sunset is en route from the Planet Sto in the Cassavalian Belt. The purpose of the cruise is to experience primitive cultures."

"Sunset, who thought of the name?"

"Information, it was chosen as the most famous vessel of the planet Gaia."

"Did they tell you why it was famous?" he asked.

"Information, all designations are chosen by Mister Capricorn, president of the Cap, Cap, Cap," it twitched, each time it said the word it's voice changed pitch. The Doctor reached into his jacket to get the sonic screwdriver, but just as he did the steward ran over. He put himself between the Host and the Doctor, "It's alright sir, we can handle this." Two others grabbed the robot, the steward smiled awkwardly as they carried it away.

"Software problem, that's all, leave it with us sir," he said. "Happy Hearths Warming." He turned and followed the others, looking back uneasily as the Doctor watched them go. The steward grumbled, "That's another one down, what's with these things?" He sighed, "Alright boys, you know the drill." The three of them hefted the broken robot, now deactivated, into a service lift and rode it down to the lower decks.

When the metal doors opened again, a blast of hot steamy air mixed with the small of sweat and grease flooded in. Earth ponies and unicorns weaved back and forth, carrying broken Hosts and assorted parts. The steward motioned with his hoof and they carried the new one over to a work station. A unicorn with messy light brown hair and a dark brown orange coat looked up at them as they slammed the thing onto his work table.

"That's eight of them now on the blink," the steward snapped. "One mare, she asked a Host to fixed her necklace, it nearly killed her. In first class." The engineer sighed and stood, "I've been over the robotics, nothing's wrong with them. It's like something's got into them, some sort of bug." There was a clacking sound, the engineer looked behind the steward where an earth pony was bringing in another Host on a motorized cart. "Whoa wait wait wait! Over there, bay fifteen!"

The steward sighed, "Listen, if you can't fix 'em, throw them over board." He turned and started to leave, motioning for his subordinates to follow. The new broken Host watched them go with empty eyes.

Clang! The sound of shattering glass and a dropping plater interrupted the music for a moment. Star Shine's peach cheeks flushed red as she looked up at the pegasus she'd run into. He glared at her, "For Tov's sake watch where you're going! This jacket is a genuine Gaia antique!"

"I'm sorry sir," she muttered, ducking her head.

"You'll be sorry when it comes off your wages sweetheart," he snapped. "Staffed by idiots! No wonder Capricorn is going down the drain!" The pegsaus huffed, turned on his hoof and strode away. Shine looked up, sighed to herself, then got down on her knees and began piucking up the bits of glass with her magic.

"Careful," said a voice, a light brown stallion stooped down to help her, picking up glass in his hooves and dropping it on the platter. "There we go."

"Thank you sir," she said, pushing back her light blue mane, "but I can handle it."

"I never said you couldn't," the stallion countered. "I'm the Doctor by the way."

"Star, sir," she said politely, "Star Shine."

"Nice to meet you Star Shine," the Doctor said with a smile. "Happy Hearths Warming." Star smiled a little, "Happy Hearths Warming sir."

"Just Doctor," he corrected, "not sir." You both got to their hooves, Star levitated up the glass filled platter. She smiled at him, "Are You enjoying the cruise?" Eh thought for a second, "Uh, yeah, I suppose. Dunno, doesn't really quite work, a cruise on your own."

"You're not with anypony?" Star asked curiously.

"No, no, just me," he said distractedly, "just, uh, used to be but er, no." He was silent for a moment, "What about you? Long way from home, Planet Sto." Star smirked, "Doesn't feel that different, spent three years working at a space port diner, traveled all the way out here and I'm still waiting on tables." She turned and walked towards a large window, through which the planet below could be seen. Of course, that's also where somepony had left their empty champagne glasses for her to clean up.

"No shore leave?" asked the Doctor, following her.

"We're not allowed, they can't afford the insurance," she replied sadly, picking up the glasses. "I just wanted to try it, just once. I used to watch ships heading out to the stars and I always dreamt of, it sounds daft."

"You dreamt of another sky," the Doctor said, noticing her galaxy cutie mark. Star looked out at the planet below. "New sun, new air, new life. A whole universe teeming with life. Why stand still when there's all that life out there?" He smiled, and looked down at Gaia, remembering some of his favorite visits. Star cleared her throat, "So uh, you travel a lot?"

"All the time," he replied nonchalantly. "Just for fun, well, that's the plan. Never quite works."

"Must be rich then."

"Haven't got a bit." Star looked at him, he smirked and whispered: "Stowaway."

"You're kidding," she said, eyes wide.

"Seriously."

"No."

"Oh yeah."

"How did you get on board?" she asked, smiling.

"Accident," the Doctor replied. "I've got this, sort of, ship thing. I was just rebuilding her, left the sheilds down, sort of, bumped into the Sunset. Here I am! Thought, hey, seems like a nice party, why not?" Star chewed her lip, "I should report you."

"Go ahead," he said with a smirk. Star glanced behind her, "I'll get you a drink, on the house." She turned and trotted away, looking back and smiling at him. Raucous laughter broke the air, he turned and looked towards it. A table of very posh-looking ponies, each with a goblet of champagne or whatnot in hoof, and each bent double with laughter. They were pointing at the ponies sitting at the next table over.

At said table, there were only two ponies, two rather large ponies. (not to be rude) The mare, who had a light pink coat and a big black beehive up-do, was attempting to hide her face behind the cider bucket. The stallion, who had a white coat and short curly brown hair, was occasionally sending glares over towards the "posh" table. Both were dressed in purple and white western outfits with shimmery fabric and white tassels. The Doctor looked from the laughing stock, to the two ponies they were laughing at, shrugged, and took a seat.

"Something's tickled them," he said with a smile.

"They told us it was fancy dress," the mare explained, motioning to her cowpony outfit. "Very funny I'm sure."

"They're just picking on us 'cause we haven't paid," the stallion added. "We won our tickets in a competition."

"I had to name the five dragons of Hoofie Crystalle in 'By the Light of the Asteroid'," the mare said proudly. "Did you ever watch 'By the light of the Asteroid'?"

"Is, that the one with the twins?" asked the Doctor. She nodded, "That's it, oh it's marvelous."

"But we're not good enough for that lot," the stallion said, "They think we should be in steerage."

"Can't have that can we?" The Doctor reached into his dinner jacket and pulled out the sonic. Careful to keep it hidden, he aimed it at the posh ponys' table and activated it. A loud pop! was heard as the cork in their bottle came flying out, accompanied by a spray of sugary drink. They screamed and tried to block it, trying to save their expensive clothing from further damage. The two looked at each other, then started laughing themselves.

"Did you do that?" asked the mare, between giggles.

"Maybe," the Time-Pony said nonchalantly.

"You're cool," said the stallion. "I'm Morvin Van Hoof, and this is my good mare Pearl." The Doctor smiled, "Pearl. Hello I'm the Doctor."

"I'm going to need a doctor, time I'm finished with that buffet," Pearl remarked. "Have some pie. Their apples must be enormous, just one to a pie." The Doctor chuckled, about to say something when a voice came over the loud speaker. "Attention please, shore leave tickets ruby-six-seven now activated. Ruby-six-seven." Morvin and Pearl reached into their pockets, pulling out a pair of matching red cards.

"Ruby-six-seven," Pearl read, "That's us. Are you ruby-six-seven?"

"Might as well be," the Doctor replied.

"Well come on then," said Morvin, getting to his hooves. "We're going to Gaia!"

Bebeep, bebeep. Midshipman Spark looked down at the computer. He frowned, "Seems to be power diverted to, deck thirty one sir." The screen zoomed in on a mysterious black box down on the thirty first deck, exactly where the power was going. And then suddenly, it stopped. "It, uh, flared up and then it stopped."

"Nothing to worry about," Clear Skies said, looking out the window. "She's an old ship, full of aches and pains." Spark switched the screen as another warning began to beep quietly.

"Uh, p-picking up a meteor shower,bearing west fifty, north two."

"Standard in this part of space," the captain replied. "Miles away."

"We could probably see it," he added, grabbing a pair of high tech binoculars off of a hook on the wall. Putting them to his eyes, he scanned the open space ahead of the ship. Three blue tailed comets were gliding by, glowing ice crystals falling off them.

"Ruby-six-seven!" called an elderly pegasus, waving a red sign over his head. The pegasus, a historian named Dusty Copper, with a coat to match and a thinning grey mai, was standing in front of one of the larger decorated trees, and beside a podium covered with small metal bracelets. He watched, silently amused, asthree more ponies raced towards him, two in purple cowpony outfits, one in a dinner suit.
"Hey, I got you that drink," the Doctor stopped, looking around to see Star Shine with her platter and a glass of cider. He took the tray from her magic and set it on a nearby table, "And I got you a treat." He took her hoof and pulled her to join the crowd, whipping out his psychic paper as he did.

"Ruby-six-seven plus one," he said, pocketing it before the historian could question.

"Quickly sir," Mr. Copper said, "take two teleport bracelets, if you would." He held out two of the bracelets, allowing the Doctor and Star to take one each, slipping them onto their right forehooves.

The pegasus cleared his throat, "To repeat, I am Mister Copper, the ship's historian, and I shall be taking you to old Hoofdon town in the country of Equine-ia, ruled over by the younger sister of the moon." The Doctor made a face, but kept his mouth shut and listened curiously. "Now, ponies worship six stones, a-and their bearers, known as the Crystals of Harmony. Fearsome rock ponies that can shoot rainbows with severe power. Now, every Hearths Warming Eve, the three pony tribes got to war with one another to recreate the ancient duel, two of each tribes are selected from each city, and forced to compete on a stage while others watch."

"Excuse me," the Doctor interupted, "But, uh, where did you get all this from?" Copper looked agahst, "Why, I have a first class degree in Equestrianomics. Now, stand by." He turned to activate the teleport when a little voice piped up, "And me! And me! Ruby-six-seven!" The small, spiky, red diamond dog pushed through the crowd and showed his card to Mister Copper, who smiled.

"Well then, take a bracelet please."

"But, wait, hold on," the Doctor stammered. "What was your name?" The spiky dog looked back at him, "Bannakaffalatta," he answered.

"Okay, Bannakaffalatta," the Doctor repeated. "It's Hearths Warming Eve down there, late night shopping, tons of ponies. He's like a talking conker, no offense, but you'll cause a riot because the streets are going to be packed with shoppers and parties-" He was cut off as the teleport activated, dropping them smack in the middle of an empty street.

Of course, it wasn't some road in the middle of nowhere. It was a full renovated Hoofdon road, with shops and restaraunts all alight with decorations. The only problem was, there was absolutely nopony around. The Doctor spun a complete three sixty, "Oh." Behind him Mister Copper began rattling off something about spending money, but he was too focused on the problem at hoof to listen. Ponies should've been there, it was the year's busiest holiday after all. This was wrong.

"It should be full," he muttered. "It should be busy, something's wrong."

"But, it's beautiful." He looked over at Star Shine, who's crystal blue eyes were wide and sparkling with excitement.

"Really?" he asked. "DO you think so? It's just a street. Canterlot is beautiful, and the Crystal Kingdom."

"But it's a different planet!" she gushed. "I'm standing on a different planet! There's concrete and shops, alien shops, real alien shops! And look, all the stars." She took a deep breath to continue and paused, "And it smells, nice, but different! Oh thank you thank you!" She turned and hugged the Doctor, who despite being surprised, hugged her back.

"Yeah? Well, come on then," he took her hoof with a smile, "Let's have a look." They galloped over to a newstand, where a nice looking pegasus stallion in a ridiculous holiday hat was sitting, reading a newspaper. He looked up at them as they approached.

"Hello there!" the Doctor said with a smile. "Sorry, obvious question, but where's everypony gone?" The old stallion chuckled, "Oh ho, scared!"

"Right, yes... Scared of what?"

"Where've you been living?" asked the stallion. "Hoofdon? At Hearths Warming? Isn't safe."

"Why?"

"Well it's them, up above," he waved a hoof at the stars. "Look, Hearths Warming before last there was that big spaceship in the sky, last year was that star thingy, electrocuting all over the place, draining the Thames."

"This place is amazing," Star said, listening intently.

"And this year, Celestia knows what! So everypony's scattered, gone to others cities with family and such. All except me, and the princesses themselves." He tapped the newspaper proudly, where there was a picture of both princesses standing in front of the Hoofdon Castle, Buckingham Palace. "We stand vigil!"

"Well, between you and me," the Doctor said, "I think their Majesty's have got it right. Far as I know, nothing to worry about." And then they vanished, the teleport making them reappear on the SS Sunset. The stallion's eyes became as wide as pies, he looked around uneasily, then sank back into his chair. "Then again..."

"I was in mid-sentence!" the Doctor said. Mister Copper rubbed his neck awkwardly, "Yes, I"m sorry about that, a bit of a problem. If I could have your bracelets-"

"Apologies, mares and gentlecolts, and Bannakaffalatta," said the steward, walking up to them with a wide, false smile. Star ducked behind the Doctor, hiding from view. "We seem to have suffered a slight power fluctuation. If you'd like to return to the festivities, and on behalf of Capricorn Cruiseliners, free drinks will be provided." Once he'd turned and left, Star stepped out nervously. She smiled at the Doctor, "That was the best, the best!"

The comets swerved around, turning towards the ship rather than passing by. Spark lowered his binoculars, "That's a bit odd sir. The meteoroids have changed course. Still, we can put the shields up to maximum just in case." he set the binoculars down and reached for the switch. "AS you were midshipman."

"Sir?" Spak asked uneasily. "Y-you're magnetizing the hull, drawing the meters in."

"Port turning planet side."

"I take it that's deliberate. B-bit of a light show for the guests?" Captain Skies looked at him, "Something like that."

"You shouldn't be here, what's your tale?

I ought to, throw you to the whale!

He just smiled and said, let's dance."

The Doctor smiled to, watching the band work their magic on the festive scene. Some ponies slow danced to the song, others were working up a sweat. He looked around, picking out Star Shine among the crowd, doing her job with a new smile. He spotted Bannakaffalatta talking eagerly with the Van Hoof couple.

"He said, borrow or steal, I'll find a way,

to be with my lover this holiday,

so I'll run and I'll roam, I'll cover the ground,

this winter I'll see you,

I'll be around."

For the first time in a few years, it seemed like Hearths Warming Eve would actually go well. But something nagged at the Time-Lord, some underlying superstition that things would follow the pattern they always did. He looked around, spotting one of the talking picture frames, where Cparicorn was rattling off his digital spiel. As nonchalantly as he could manage, the Doctor walked over to the picture frame and pulled out the sonic.

He buzzed it on the frame, making it pop open with a satisfactory click. Behind it were the mechanics for the screen, and controls on what the screen would display. He flipped a few switches and closed the screen again. Now it showed a blue radar screen with the ship, and more importantly, three blips moving at rapid speeds towards said ship without any shields protecting it. He looked out the porthole next to the computer terminal, spotting the comets right away.

He activated the comm, it whistled as the connection was established.

"Is that the bridge?" the Doctor asked. "I need to talk to the captain. You've got meteoroids coming west zero by north two."

"Who is this?" asked a voice he presumed to be the captain.

"Never min that! You shields are down! CHeck your scanners captain, you've got meteoroids coming in and no shielding!"

"You have no authorization," the captain said.

"Yeah? Just look starboard!"

"Come with me sir." the Doctor looked round to see an angry steward. He sighed and was dragged away from the computer.

"But he's right s-sir," stammered Spark. "The shields have been taken offline."

"Step away from there," ordered Clear Skies angrily.

"But we have to re-energize them," the dragon insisted, working frantically.

"I said, step away midshipman." There was a clicking sound, Spark looked up in shock. Skies was aiming a small revolver at him, and he looked intent to kill if necessary.

As they neared the dancefloor, the Doctor pulled free from the crew members and raced towards the stage. He mumbled an apology and stole the microphone from the singer.

"Listen to me! This is an emergency!" he shouted. "Get to the lifeb-" One of the Hosts grabbed him from behind and pulled him away from the mic.

"Look out the windows!" was the last thing he shouted before being dragged out of the ball room. Pearl and Morvin Van Hoof shared uneasy glances and followed, hoping to get the Doctor out of trouble, Bannakaffalatta followed them, and Star Shine led them all.

Elsewhere in the ball room, a pegasus stallion, particularily the one who'd crashed into Star earlier and brought his "vone" with him on vacation, frowned and trotted over to one of the portholes. He squinted out into the starry blackness and spotted the three blue glowing comets racing straight towards them.

Suddenly, a small rock crashed through the window, landing at his hooves. The pegasus turned towards a nearby host, uneasily glancing at the comets.

"You there, has anypony checked the external shielding?" he asked suspiciously. The robot pegasus looked at him, "Information, you are all going to die."

"They promised me old ponies," the captain said somberly.

"I'm, s-sorry sir?" stammered Spark.

"On the crew," he continued. "Sea dogs. Ponies who'd had their time." Spark looked from the gun, to the rapidly approaching scanner blips. Losing one life, his, to save six hundred others?

"I-I'm sorry sir," he said bravely, "but it's my duty!" The captain fired before he even started to move.

"If you don't believe me check the shields yourself!" the Doctor insisted, fighting to get out of the crewmembers' surprisingly powerful grip.

"Sir, I can vouch for him!" shouted Star.

"Look, Steward, he's just had a bit too much to drink," said Morvin, trying to help. Mister Copper looked up as they passed by the teleport station. He thought for a second and followed to, "Sir! Something seems to have gone wrong, none of the teleports are working!"

"Not now!" shouted the steward angrily. The almost parade left the reception hall, just as the pegasus who'd noticed what was going on ran in. He turned to a crew member, "The chief steward, where's he gone?"
"Er, he went that way, sir?" He folowed the sounds of squabble until he found the groupd in one of the maintenance chamber.

"The shield are down! We're going to get hit!" the Doctor was saying.

"Oi! Steward, I'm telling you the shields are down!" the pegasus shouted.

Spark hasped in pain as he tried to sit up. The shot hadn't hit anywhere immediately fatal, now he just had a gaping wound in his side. The blood was already staining his shirt and uniform red. He looked up at the captain, who was standing stoic at the wheel.

"Y-you're going to kill us?" he asked, shocked and utterly terrified.

"I'm dying already," Clear Skies said somberly. "Six months. And they offered me so much money, for my family."

"Capricorn Cruiseliners."

The alarms were silence.

"The fastest, the furthest,"

Ponies went to the windows to watch

"the best. And I should know,"

Nopony suspected anything until the first one hit.

"after all, my name is Capricorn."

Pandemonium broke out across the ship, fires spread rapidly, devouring expensive clothing and furniture. Beams broke, ceilings caved in. The second comet hit ten seconds after the first, and third one second later. Sparks flew and ponies screamed, the ship shook and rocked back and forth, barely keeping it's place in orbit.

Down in the maintenance hall, the Doctor, and the ponies who'd followed were safe. Everything was quiet, except for the ship creaking, and somepony whimpering in fear. Slowly, the Doctor got to his hooves, listening.

"Shh," he said, "It's stopping." He knelt down and helped Star Shine to her hooves, "You alright?"

"I think so," she said, shaking.

"Bad name for a ship," the Doctor said, "either that or this suit is really unlucky." The steward got to his hooves, dusted off his suit, and cleared his throat. "Uh, everypony. Mares and gentle colts, Bannakaffalatta, I must apologize on behalf of Capricorn Cruiseliners. We seem to, uh, have had a, small, collision." The effect was instantaneous, everypony started shouting at once. The steward sighed, "If I could have silence, please, quiet! Thank you. I'm sure Capricorn Cruiseliners will be able to reimburse you for any inconvenience, but first I would like to point out we are very much alive."

Star Shine motioned rapidly for the Doctor, she was help Mister Copper who had a nasty gash on his forehead. The steward sighed again, "The SS Sunset is, after all, a very sturdy ship. Now, if you could all stay here while I, ascertain the, exact nature of the situation." He turned and began to open a nearby hatch. The Doctor glanced up at the last second, "No don't!"

The door was sucked right off its hinges, pulling the steward with it into the vacuum of space. Everypony grabbed hold of something as the suction began pulling them out too. Bannakaffalatta barely managed to grab the control panel before the door flew open. One its screen flashed the words: VACUUM BREACH. The Doctor, fighting the pull, made a leap of faith, catching hold of the control panel as well. He slammed a switch and the suction stopped instantly.

"Oxygen Membrane, stabilized," said the computer mechanically.

"Everypony alright?" he called. "Star?"

"Yeah!"

"Pearl? Morvin?" the two nodded. "Mister Copper?" He raised a tired hoof, letting it flop down again. "Bannakaffalatta?"

"Yes!" the little alien chirped. The Doctor looked up at the pegasus who'd followed them, "You, what's your name?"
"Ice Slate," he said, undoing his bow tie.

"You alright?"

"No thanks to that idiot," he grumbled.

"The steward just died," Star snapped. Slate rolled his eyes, "Then he's a dead idiot." She opened her mouth to say something when the Doctor cut her off. "Alright, just calm down, hold on." Carefully, he walked over to the now open doorway and looked out at the wreckage. Star looked out to, her breath caught. Floating among the bits of charred ship, were what was left of the ponies who'd been sucked out by the vacuum of space.

"H-how many dead?" she stammered.

"We're alive," the Doctor said softly. "Just focus on that. I will get you out of here Star Shine, I promise." She nodded weakly, turning away from the doorway. The Doctor scanned outside, "Now, if we could just get to reception, I've got a spaceship tucked away- oh."

"What is it?" asked Star. "What's wrong?"

"There," he said somberly, "that box. That little blue box." She looked outside, spotting said box drifting through space towards Gaia.

"That's a spaceship," she said sceptically.

"Oi, don't knock it."

"It's a bit small."

"A bit distant." He sighed dejectedly, "Trouble is, once it's sead adrift, it's programmed to lock onto the nearest center of gravity. And that would be, Gaia."

"Deck twenty two to the bridge, deck twenty two to the bridge, is anypony there?" Spark hissed in pain as he got to his feet, keeping as much pressure as he could on his side. Leaning on the computers made activated the comm, "This is the bridge."

"Oh hello sailor! Good to hear you!" said the Doctor. "What's the situation up there?"

"We've got air," Spark answered weakly. "The oxygen field is holding, b-but the captain, he's dead. H-he did it, I watched wh-while he took down the shields, there was nothing I could do-"

"Easy, just stay calm. Tell me your name, what's your name?"

"Midshipman Spark," he answered, swallowing hard.

"Nice to meet you sir. What's the state of the engines?" Spark looked over at the other computer screen, squinting to see if maybe he could read it without moving. But no, it was just at the right angle where it was unreadable unless right on top of it. He sighed, "They're, uh, hold on." With a grunt of effort, he pushed himself over to the other one, earning a gasp of pain.

"Are you injured?" asked the Doctor worriedly.

"I'm alright," Spark lied. He looked at the engine readings, "Oh my Vot, they're cycling down."

"That's a nuclear storm drive yes?"

"Yeah."

"The moment they're gone, we lose orbit."
"The planet-"

"Oh yes, if we hit Gaia, the nuclear storm explodes and wipes out half of whatever kingdom we land in... Midshipman, I need you to fire up the engine containment field and feed it back into the core," the Doctor instructed.

"This is never going to work," Spark said, his voice trembling.

"Trust me, it'll keep the engines going until I can get to the bridge."

"We're going to die?" asked a voice. The Doctor turned around to see Pearl looking at him with wide terrified eyes.

"Are you saying somepony did this on purpose?" asked Mister Copper, aghast. Once again everypony began panicking at once. THe Doctor sighed, 'Okay okay, just calm down everyo]pony, please." They quieted.

"Right, first things first. One, we are going to climb through this ship. B, no, two, we're going to reach the bridge. Three, or C, we're going to save the SS Sunset. And, coming in at a very low four or D, or that little iv they use in hoofnotes, why." Nopony answered him. "Right then, follow me."

"Hang on a minute," Slate snapped, the Doctor turned around and looked at him. "Who put you in charge anyway? And who the hell are you?" The Time-Pony looked at him, behind burned the fires of a sabotaged ship, sparks flew from broken wires but that wasn't going to stop him.

"I'm the Doctor," he began, "I'm a Time-Pony. I'm from the planet Gallopfrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm nine hundred and three years old and I'm the stallion who's going to save your lives and all eight billion on the planet below. You got a problem with that?" Slate looked embarassed, "No."

"In that case, allons-y!" It was slow for the effect to take hold, but soon every pony, and Bannakaffalatta, was following him in earnest, ready to get off the ship. They followed the maintenance corridor as far as it would go before reaching a closed stairway. With Morvin's help, Slate refused, the Doctor pushed open the door. The sound of grinding metal reached him as debris was shoved out of the way. Slowly, they filed in, and up stairwell in single file, pushin debris off the path as they went up.

"Rather ironic," began Copper, who was following behind the Doctor, "But this is very much in the spirit of Hearths Warming. It's a holiday of violence. They say that ponies only survive if they have enough gifts to give."

"Actually, that's not true," the Doctor interrupted. "Hearths Warming is a time or peace, and giving thanks and, oh what am I on about?" He kicked asied a piece of metal, "My holidays are always like this." With both hooves, he pushed aside a fallen metal grate, revealing a crushed Host beneath the fallen metal. He smiled a little, "We've got a Host! Strength of ten, if we can mend it, we can use it to move the rubble."

"We can do robotics!" called Morvin from the back. "Both of us." Pearl nodded eagerly, "We work on the milk market back on Sto, it's all robot staff."

"See if you can get it working. Now, let's have a look." The Doctor motioned with a hoof and they continued to climb up the stairway. Up ahead, a large metal beam had collapsed onto a landing, creating a small triangle shaped opening.

"It's blocked!" Star called.

"So what do we do?" asked the Doctor, not that it was necessary.

"We shift it," she replied.

"That's the attitude. Slate, Mister Copper, and you, Bannakaffalatta. Look, can I just call you Banna? It's going to save a lot of time."

"No," the little red alien said, "Bannakaffalatta."

"Alright then, Bannakaffalatta, there's a gap in the middle, see if you can get through." Bannakaffalatta hopped up to where they were and looked through the gap, "Easy. Good." HE got down on all fours and scampered through the opening. But halfway through, the ship rumbled ominously making more stuff fall on the opening.

"This whole thing could come crashing down at any moment!" Slate shouted angrily.

"Oh, Slate, did you get our message?" the Doctor asked him casually.

"No, what message?"

"SHUT UP!" A call came from the other side of the rubble, "Bannakaffalatta, made it!" Star got as low as she could and began to squeeze through, "I'm small enough, I can fit."

"Careful."
"I'm fine."

"Thing is," began Slat from lower down the stairs, "How are Mister and Mrs Fatty going to get through that gap?"

"We make the gap bigger," the Doctor said stiffly, sending him a glare. "So start." Slate rolled his eyes and stayed where he was, watchign as the others started moving debris. Below, Pearl had paused her work when she'd heard his comment on their size. Morvin looked over at her, pausing his rewiring of the Host's head.

"Hey," he said, "Come on sweetheart. Don't listen to him."

"No, but it's all my fault," she said solemnly, "the tickets."

"We won them fair and square," Morvin reassured her.
"But, I never told you... I dialed the competition line five thousand times. That's five thousand credits, I might as well have paid for the tickets!" Morvin looked at her, mouth hanging slightly ajar but, not angry. "Five thousand credits? You spent, five thousand credits?"

"Don't hate me!" Pearl begged, hiding her face. Morvin looked from the Host he was working on, to the rubble around him, to his wife, and he laughed. Pearl looked up at him, "What's so funny?"

"Five thousand?" he asked with a chuckle.
"We'll never pay it off."

"I know! I'll have to work twenty years you bloody mad mare!"

"You're not cross?"

"Does it matter?" he asked with a huge smile. "Look at us! You drive me barmy, I don't half love you, Mrs Van Hoof. Come here." Pearl got to her hooves, smiling again, and hugged the stallion she loved tighter than ever before. And, with renewed spirits, she began to laugh as well. Slate looked down at them, "What happened, they find a donut?"
"I think I can clear it some from this side!" called Star. "Just, tell me if it starts moving." Using her magic, she began pulling away bits of metal. The other side appeared to be something like a wrecked kitchen, or a maintenance shaft, or both but the wall collapsed between them. She looked back at Bannakaffalatta, who was lying against a large block on the ground. "Bannakaffalatta, are you alright?"

"Shhh," he replied, holding a finger to his mouth.

"What is it?" she walked over to him, kneeling beside.

"Can't say."

"Are you hurt?"

"Ashamed."

"Of what?" The alien sighed, "Poor Bannakaffalatta." He reached under his dinner jacket and pulled up his white shirt, revealing a metal torso with colorful lights. Star looked at him curiously, "You're a cyborg?"

"Had accident, long ago," he explained. "Secret."

"No, but, everything's different now," she said with a small smile. "Cyborg's are getting equal rights on Sto. They passed a law, you can even get married."

"Marry, you?" asked Bannakaffalatta. Star blushed, "Well, you can buy me a drink first. Come on, let's recharge you." She pressed a few buttons on his abdomen, "There. Now just stay still." She got back to her hooves and went back over to the rubble blockage.

"Tell no one?" she heard the cyborg ask. She looked back, "I promise."

"What's going on up there?" called the Doctor. Star peaked through the gap, "I think Bannakaffalatta and I just got engaged."

Towheee! Midshipman Spark looked up in surprise as the comm whistled. He tied the last end of the bandage and closed the first aid kit. Carefully, he walked down over to the computer, keeping pressure on his side with one claw, answering the intercom with the other.

"This is the bridge," he said.

"This is kitchen five," replied a voice, shaky and scared. Soark's eyes lit up, "How many of you are there?"

"Six of us, just about. Are we the only ones left alive sir?"

"No, there's more on deck nineteen. Hold on," he began working on the scanner, "If I reverse the scanner- there are about fifty, sixty ponies still alive all over the ship. Hold on, I can see you, kitchen five. Listen, everypony's headed for the bridge. Don't go portside there's no way, can you make your way starboard?"

"We're stuck!" the cook explained, a hint of frustration in their voice. "The doors have sealed, we can't get out. Wait, no, it's opening, there's somepony on the other side... Host! We've got Host! They're still working!"
"Oh that's brilliant, ask them to clear a path up to the bridge," said Spark. No reply. "Did you get that?" Silence. "Kitchen five report, hello?" The sound of screaming came through the comm link, and all over the digital ship, the life signs began blinking out. Except for a few in one of the stairwells.

"Almost done!" shouted Morvin.

"Good," replied the Doctor, activating the comms. "Mister Spark, how's things?"

"Doctor, I've got life signs all over the ship but they're going out one by one."

"What is it? Are they losing air?" asked the Time-Pony worriedly.

"No, one of them said it's the Host. It's something to do with the Host!" Just then, the Host below snapped it's head up.

"It's working!" called Morvin.

"Kill." Both of the robot's hooves shot forward, grabbing Morvin's head and attempting to break his neck.

"Turn it off!" shouted the Doctor, jumping down the stairs towards them. PEarl tried to, pulling at wires on it's exposed circuitry, "I can't Doctor!"

"Go!" he ordered, pulliung out the sonic screwdriver and scanning it on the robot. "GAH! DOuble deadlock!" With the device in his mouth, he pulled the Host's hooves off of Morvin, allowing him to run after Pearl.

"Shlate!" the Doctor shouted, "Get dem trough!"
"Not a chance!" he replied, ducking under the rubble. Mr. Copepr shouted after him, but to no effect. Pearl took one look at the gap, "I'm not going to fit through there!"

"Yes you are, let me go first," said Mr Copper reassuringly, before crawling through himself. The Doctor let go of the Host and turned, barely dodging what would've been a nasty blow to the head. He raced up to the comms, "Spark! It's the Host! They've gone berserk! Are you safe up there?"

"I'm stuck!" Pearl shouted.

"Come on! You can do it!" Star said, as encouraging as she could manage. There was a grinding sound as a large chunk of metal began sliding across the opening.

"It's going to collapse!" Mr. Copper said, grabbing the only thing keeping it up, an iron pipe. Pearl squeezed through, allowing Morvin to begin following. Mr. Copper glared at Slate, "Slate! Vot damn it help me!"

"No, way," the pegasus snapped.

"Morvin get through!" shouted the Doctor, ducking to avoid another hit.

"Doctor he's stuck!" Star called. The Doctor inwardly groaned but raced up towards his friends. "Mister Van Hoof I know we've only just met but you'll have to excuse me." Using all his strength, he pushed on Morvin's back end , allowing him to pop through the hole.

"Doctor come on!" called Star. But as he was halfway through, he turned to face the approaching Host. "Information override you will tell me the point of origin of your command structure!"

"I can't hold it!" groaned Mister Copper.

"Information, deck thirty one."

"Thank you," the Doctor said, getting out from under the rubble just as it collapsed completely, crushing the hopeless Host.

"Spark! It's the Host! They've gone berserk! Are you safe up there?" Just as he said that, a chorus of robot voices reached the dragon from the hallway outside the deck. "Kill, kill, kill." He panicked, racing towards the door as the golden pegasus machines reached the opening. He spun a dial beside the opening, a large metal door slid across it, closing. Spark relaxed for a second, until he saw a gloved hoof sticking through.

Spark screamed, spinning the lever so much the door clamped shut, cutting off the robotic hoof completely. He staggered away from the door, looking up at the porthole. A Host watched him through it, it's built in smile now more frightening than anything.

"Mister Spark, are you still there?" asked a voice over the intercom. Keeping his eyes locked on the Host outside, Spark made his way over to the computers. He answered, "yes sir, but I've got Host outside, I've sealed the door."

"They've been programmed to kill, why would anypony do that?"

"That's not the only problem Doctor," Spark continued. "I had to use a maximum deadlock on the door, which means no pony can get in. I'm sealed off. Even if you can fix the Sunset, you can't get to the bridge"

"Right, okay, fine. One problem at a time. What's on deck thirty one?"

"Uh," Spark thought for a moment. "That's down below, it's nothing. Just Host storage, it's where we keep the robots."

"Well what's that?" asked the Doctor, tapping his hoof against the screen. On deck thirty one was a rectangle of black. "Do you see that panel? Black, registering nothing. No power, no heat, no light."

"I've, never seen it before," replied Spark.

"One hundred percent shielded, what's down there?"

"I'll try intensifying the scan."

"Let me know if you fine anything, and keep those engines going!" AS he said this, the Doctor felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Star Shine with a small plate in her magic. Behind her, the others (except for Slate) were gladly eating the small sandwiches off an abandoned tea trolley. She offered him the plate, "I saved you some. You might be a Time-Horse from Ganymede but you still need to eat." The Doctor smiled, "Oh, thanks."

They sat down under the computer on a pair of boxes.

"So, you look good for nine hundred and three," Star remarked.

"You should see me in the mornings," the Time-Pony replied through a bite of sandwich. "Okay." He looked up at her, eyes wide with utter surprise. She had said that without any hesitation whatsoever. They were both distracted when somepony cleared their throat, it was Mr. Copper.

"Doctor," he began, "It must be well past midnight Gaia time. Hearths Warming day."

"So it is, Happy Hearths Warming," he replied.

"This Hearths Warming thing, what's it all about?" asked Star curiously.

"Long story. I should know, I've been in the play at least three times."

"But, if that planet's waking up, couldn't we signal them?" asked Mr. Copper. "They could send up a rocket or something."

"They don't have spaceships," the Doctor said.

"Oh yes, I read about it, they have, oh, what the blazes was it called?"

"Mister Copper, this degree in Gaianomics, where's it from?" The elderly pony looked at him uneasily, "Honestly?"

"Just between us." Mr. Copper sighed, "Mrs. Golightly's Happy Traveling University and Dry Cleaners." He sat down on the third box as Star and the Doctor shared a glance.

"You lied to the company to get the job?" asked Star, aghast.

"I wasted my life on Sto," he protested. "I was a travelling salespony, always on the road, and I reached retirement with nothing to show for it. Not even a home. And Gaia seemed so exotic." The Doctor smiled a little to himself, "Yeah, I suppose it is."

"How come you know it so well?" asked Star with a quizzical expression.

"I was, sort of, a long time ago, I was sort of made, well, homeless. And, uh, there was Gaia," the Doctor stammered, memories of long ago tugging at him.

"The thing is," Mr. Copper continued, "If we survive this, there'll be police and all sorts of investigations. Now, the minimum penalty for space lane fraud if ten years in jail. I'm an old stallion, I won't survive ten years." The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, a loud banging came from the rubble pile they'd escaped through.

"A Host!" he shouted, jumping to his hooves. "Come on move!" Moving as fast as they could, the group raced after the Doctor. He charged through an open doorway and stopped short. Ahead of them was something straight out of a Daring Do adventure.

Spanning the distance across an giant split was a thin walkway of metal. Beneath it churned the engines, belching out hot smoke and steam. Pipes, bent and straight, covered the walls in every direction. The engines looked like balls of fire, with large rings spinning around them and a slight blue shimmer over the orange light.

"Is that the only way across?" asked Slate.

"On the other hoof it is a way across," the Doctor countered.

"The engines are open," Star said, looking down at the massive nuclear machine.

"Nuclear Storm Drive, as soon as it stops, the Sunset Falls," the Doctor said somberly.

"That thing will never take our weight!" Morvin exclaimed.

"You're going last mate," Slate growled.

"It's nitrofin steel, stronger than it looks," the Doctor said, trying to boost their nodded and stepped forward, "All the same, Slate's right, me and Pearl should go-" The steel under his hooves bent sharply, the railing snapped, and before anypony could gasp, Morvin was gone. Pearl dropped to her knees, staring at the disappearing dot that was her falling husband. The Doctor galloped to her side, wrapping his hooves around her as she began to cry.

"I told you!" shouted Slate, "I told you!"

"Just shut up!" snapped Mr. Copper.

"Bring him back," begged Pearl through tears, "Can't you bring him back? Bring him back Doctor!"

"I'm can't," he said, "I'm sorry but I can't."

"You promised me!"

"I know and I'm sorry." In the distance, they could hear the chant of the approaching Host.

"Doctor, I rather think those things have got our scent!" said Mr. Copper uneasily.

"I"m not waiting!" Slate announced, he turned and started across the pathway. (Yes, he is a pegasus and yes he could've flown, but the heat and wind coming off the engines made it more practical to just walk across the pathway.)

"Careful! Take it slow!" the Doctor called, getting to his hooves. Star knelt beside Pearl, trying her best to comfort her. The ship shook ominously, causing Slate to drop to his knees on the steel beam. He huddled there, terrified to make a move.

"You're okay!" the Doctor called. "One step at a time! Come on, you can do it!"

"Doctor, they're getting nearer!" warned Mister Coper. Without thinking, the Doctor pulled out his sonic, activated it on the door, and sealed the bulkhead, "Sealed us in."

"Leaving us trapped," Mr. Copper added.

"Never say trapped, just say, inconveniently circumstanced." The two of them, and Bannakaffalatta, watched as Slate worked his way across. Star Shine was still comforting Pearl.

"Maybe he's alright," the heartbroken mare was stammering. "Maybe, maybe there's a gravity curve down there or something. I don't know, maybe he's just unconscious!"

"I'm sorry Pearl," Star said, "He's gone." Pearl sobbed, "What am I going to do without him?" and hugged Star tighter. Just then, Slate made it to the opposite side of the ravine. He jumped to hsi hooves, "Oh yeah! Yes! Who's good!?"

"Bannakaffalatta, you go next," ordered the Doctor. The little alien nodded, "Bannakaffalatta small." He started to scamped across the beam when the Doctor shouted, "Slowly!" Loud slams began to join the sound of the engines and the Host pounded the bulkhead door.

"They've found us!" Mr. Copped shouted, panicking.

"Star, get across now!" the Doctor ordered. She took one last look as Pearl and got up, hurrying onto the pathway, "What about you?"

"Just do it," the Time-Pony said. 'Mr. Copper, we can't wait."

"No, but we-"

"Don't argue." He turned to Pearl, "Pearl please, you've got to get across right now."

"What for?" she asked sadly. "What am I going to do without Morvin?"

"Doctor! The door's locked!" Slate called.

"Just think, what would he want?" the Doctor asked her, ignoring the other stallion.

"He don't want anything he's dead!" she snapped.

"Doctor! I can't open the door! We need you blue thingy!"

"I can't leave her," he shouted.

"She'll get us all killed if we can't get out!" He looked from everypony on the metal beam to the mare he was trying to comfort. He sighed, looked her in the eye, and said: "Mrs. Van Hoof, I am coming back for you. Alright?" She nodded weakly, watching as he climbed onto metal beam and followed the others. The bridge groaned a little.

"Too many ponies!" shouted Bannakaffalatta from the front of the group.

"OI! Don't get spiky with me, keep going!" the Doctor called. Bannakaffalatta hopped across a thinner area, offering his paw to Star and helping her across. The Metal groaned again, sliding down a little much to everypony's horror.

"It's going to fall!" Star screamed.

"It's just settling, keep going," the Doctor said. Then they stopped, something was different. The pounding on the door, it'd stopped.

"They've stopped," said Star uneasily.

"Gone away?" asked Bannakaffalatta.

"Never mind that, keep coming!" called Slate.

"Where have they gone though?" asked the Doctor, looking around. "Where are the Host." Mr. Copper looked above them, and when he spoke, his voice trembled with fear. "I'm afraid we've forgotten something fairly obvious, the pegasus, have wings!" All eyes shot upwards, to where six Helpful Hosts were floating down towards them, surrounding the ponies.

"Information," said one, "Kill."

"Arm yourselves!" the Doctor cried, picking up an iron pipe in his teeth. Bannakaffalatta grabbed a large metal plate, Mr. Copped and Star Shine did the same as the Doctor. They watched as the Host pulled off their silver halos, and began to fling the discs at them. With each halo tossed, it was batted away by the pony it was aimed at. They fought hard, until things began to fall apart. The Doctor was the first to get hit, a halo struck his shoulder from behind slicing through his suit and scratching a nasty gash in his arm. Mr. Copper was hit in his wing, Star on her back, Bannakaffalatta was barely dodging.

Star dropped to her knees, watching fearfully as a Host prepared to kill her. Bannakaffalatta threw down his defensive weapon, "Bannakaffalatta stop! Bannakaffalatta, proud. Bannakaffalatta, CYBORG!" He ripped off his shirt and slammed a button, sending out a wave of blue electricity that shot across the room. Each Host if hit began to twitch and spazz, until they sparked and fell out of the air, five out of six dropping into the engine. The sixth landed on the pathway, dead as, well, a deactivated robot.

"Electromagnetic pulse took out the robot," the Doctor exclaimed. "Oh Bannakaffalatta that was brilliant!"

There was another clatter as Bannakaffalatta collapsed onto the bridge. Star made her way over to him. She knelt and checked his mechanics, "Oh no, he's used all his power!"

"Did, good?" asked Bannakaffalatta weakly.

"You saved our lives," Star said.

"Bannakaffalatta, happy," he replied with a sad smile.

"We can recharge you, get you to a power point and just plug you in-"

"Too late."

"No, but, you've got to get me that drink remember?" Bannakaffalatta smiled, "Shining Star." And with that, he said no more. Star closed her eyes tight, putting a hoof over her mouth to hold back a sob. Using her magic, she started to button his shit but Mr. Copper put a hoof on her shoulder and made her stop. He pressed one of the buttons and a small metal tube popped out. "No, leave him-"

"It's the EMP transmitter," Copper explained, carefully holding it between his hooves. "Bannakaffalatta would've wanted us to use it. I, used to sell these things. They'd always give me a bed for the night in the cyborg caravans. Good ponies. But, if we can, recharge it, we can use it as a weapon against the Host. He might've saved us all."

"You thinK?" shouted Slate. "Tell that to her!" He raied a hoof and pointed at the fallen Host, who was beginning to repair. As it stood, Slat shouted: "Use the EMP!"

"It's dead!" Copper called. The Doctor backed away from the killed Host, his mind raced for a solution. "No, hold on, Override loophole. Uh, security protocol ten," nothing, "six six six. Uh, twenty one? Four, five, six seven eight, I don't know, forty two? Er, one!" The Host lowered it's halo. "Information, state request."

"Good," the Doctor said, glancing back at his friends. "Right, you've been ordered to kill the survivors, but why?"

"Information, no witnesses."

"But this ship is going to fall onto Gaia and obliterate Equestria. The planet has nothing to do with the SS Sunset, so that contravenes your orders yes?"

"Information, no."

"But why do you want to destroy Equestria?"

"Information, it is the plan."

"What plan?"

"Information, protocol grants you only three questions, these three question have been used." THe Doctor made a face, "Well you could've told me."

"Information, now you will die." But before the robot could raise it's weapon, a rope looped itself around its large wings. It tightened hard.

"You're coming with me," a very angry Pearl growled, making sure the knot was tight. SHe met the Doctor's eyes, and despite his cry, jumped off the steel beam. The Host was pulled after her, and it wouldn't bother anypony Doctor stared at the spot where they had stood, eyes wide with horror. His expression hardened, "No more."

Without saying anything, he ushered Star and Mister Copper off of the metal beam, unlocking the door to the next passage without a word. They were back in the maintenance shafts, the Doctor's eyes scanned the dimly lit room as a plan pulled itself together in his mind.

"Right," he began, "Get yourselves up to Reception One. Once you're there, Mister Copper, you've got staff access to the computer. Try to send an SOS." He turned to Star, "Star Sine, you're in charge of this," he held up the EMP, "Once it's powered up it'll take out a Host within fifty yards but then it needs sixty seconds to recharge. Got it?" She nodded, taking the device in her magic. The Doctor turned to Slate, pulling out his sonic screwdriver, "Slate, take this, I've preset it. Just hold down that button and it'll open doors. Do not lose it. You got that? NOw go and open the next door. Go on, go!" The pegasus looked slightly flustered, but her took the sonic and galloped to find the next locked door.

"Mister Copper I need you fighting fit," the Doctor continued, picking up a first air kit and handing it to him. "Where're the power points?" Star pointed to the comms unit, "Under the comms," she replied. They went over, the Doctor positioned the EMP transmitter in her magic and put it up so it'd start to charge. A blue light flashed on.

"See, when it's ready that blue light comes on there," he explained.

"You're talking like you're not coming with us," Star said, looking over at him.

"There' something down on deck thirty one, I'm going to find out what it is," the Time-Pony replied.

"What if you run into a Host?"

"Well, then I guess I'll just have some fun."

"Sound like you do this kind of thing all the time."

"Not by choice. All I do is travel, that's what I am, just a traveller. Imagine it, no tax no bills no boss." He smiled nostalgically, "Just the open sky." Star looked at him and cleared her throat, "Um, I"m sort of, unemployed no. I was thinking your blue box looks a little small, but I could squeeze in, like a stowaway."

"It's not always safe," the Doctor warned.

"So you need somepony to look after you," Star replied. "I've got nothing back on Sto. No family, just me. So, what do you think? Can I come with you?" The Doctor was silent for a moment, then the smile that bloomed across his face could've lit up a city, "Yeah, I'd love for you to come." A loud bang! rocked the ship. The Doctor leapt to his hooves and activated the comms. "MIster Spark are you still with us?"

"It's the engines!" the dragon cried, fear edging into his voice, "Final phace, there's nothing more I can do! We've only got eight minutes left!"

"Don't worry I'll get there," the Doctor assured him.

"But the bridge is sealed off."

"Yeah, working on it. I'll get there Spark, somehow." The Doctor turned to star, "All charged up?" She nodded. "Mister Copper, looked after her. Star, look after him. Both of you make sure Slate actually helps. I'll see you again, I promise." Star gasped, "Wait a second, there's an old tradition on Sto."

"I've really got to go," the Doctor insisted. She looked around, snatched the large first aid kit from mister Copper and set it in front of the Doctor. She put her front hooves on it, raising her up the few inches she needed to be equal height, leaned in and kissed the Doctor. His face flushed bright red, but you couldn't tell in the lighting. She pulled away, smiling a little.

"Ah, that's a um, very old tradition yeah," he stammered.

"See you later," Star said. The Doctor smiled, "Oh yes!" With that, the two teams split off, one racing to climb towards the bridge, the other heading for the belly of the beast.

Deck twenty nine, that meant the Doctor had to climb through two decks to get to thirty one. He was searching deck thirty for the stairs when he found himself in a kitchen. Pots and pans littered the floor, a cooking fire had been left burning on the stove and the air smelled of smoke. The door behind him slammed open, as did the one in front, each allowing two Hoist to march in. The Doctor picked up a frying pan in his mouth and prepared to fight. But then he remembered the three questions protocol one allowed him to use.

"Wait wait wait!" he called, dropping the pan. "Security protocol one! DO you hear me? ONE!" The Hosts relaxed, letting go of their halos. He let out a small sigh of relief, "Okay, three questions to save my life am I right?"

"Information, correct."

"No! That wasn't one of them, that's not fair, can I start again?"

"Information, no."

"NO! No no no no, that wasn't one either." He looked at the surrounding robots, "Blimey, one question left. One question." He thought for a second, "So, you've been ordered to kill the survivors. But, therefore, survivors must be members of staff or passengers. But not me, I'm not a passenger and I'm not staff. Go on, scan me. You must have bio records." He watched the nearest Host look him up and down, scanning, and for effect said, "No such pony on board.

"I dont' exist. Therefore, you can't kill me. Therefore, I'm a stowaway. And stowaways needs to be taken to the nearest figure of authority. And I reckon, that nearest figure of authority is on deck thirty one. Final question." He looked the Host in the eyes, "Am I right?" The robotic pegasus processed the data, "Information, correct."

"Brilliant," the Doctor said with a small smile. "Take me to your leader... I've always wanted to say that."

Slate buzzed open the door and charged through. Three Host stood in the way. His hooves slid asx he tried to turn back around. "Blast them!" Star slammed the button on the EMP and a wave of blue light beamed out, knocking the Host down. Mister Copper stared at the device and began to laugh, Slate smiled and whooped, Star jumped up and down excitedly. This cold actually work!

They galloped onward, charging up the stairs as fart as they could go before having to find another route. Soon, the large double doors that lead to reception were in their view. Carefuly, Slate unlocked the door and looked inside, Six Host were piling what looked like large lumps of charcoal behind the desk. He swallowed hard, praying those weren't bodies. He glanced back at Star, who nodded and held up a glowing blue transmitter.

The minutes a Host looked over and saw them, Star punched the button on the transmitter and knocked them flat. There was a moment of silence as the trio looked around the reception. The once festive decorations and expensive furniture were blackened and covered with ash. Everything was a mess, what was worse was Star and Mister Copper knew this place well.

"Slate," Star Shine said after a moment, "Seal the doors, make the room secure. Mister Copper, keep an eye on the Host. I need to check the computer, we need that SOS." She galloped over to the computer, placing the EMP beside it. She frowned when the screen wouldn't light up. (But really, it was an electronic and unless it had some sort of special hardware or a deadlock, the EMP would've shut it down.) Beside it though, she saw the rack of teleport bracelets.

The bracelets themselves weren't teleports, but a computer elsewhere on the ship controlled where they went. Hopefully, even after the EMP, they'd still be working. She activated the comms, "Bridge this is reception one."

"Who's there?" asked Spark.

"Star Shine," she stammered. "I-I was with the Doctor. Tell me, can you divert power to the teleport system?"

"No way, I'm using everything I've got to keep the engines running," Spark said.

"It's just one trip, I need to get to deck thirty one."

"And I'm telling you, no."

"Midshipman Spark, this is for the Doctor. He's gone down there on his own and I, I can't just leave him. He's done everything he can to save us, it's time we did something to help him." Spark thought it over and sighed, "Giving you power." THe bracelets glowed to life. Star grabbed one in her magic and slipped it around her hoof. She looked up at Mister Copper, who looked at her curiously. "I'm going to find him, Mr. Copper."

"Good luck," the elder pony replied, watching as she vanished in a flash of blue.

The churning of the engines mixed with the sound of crunching metal filled the air of deck thirty one. Just a few meters below, the nuclear storm drive powered away, giving the room an orange glow. The Doctor looked around nodding to himself at the fallen bits of metal and debris. He looked up and whistled, "Wow, now that is what you call a fixer upper." A giant hole had been blasted in the metal, reaching all the way to the upper floors where the group had made their way across the ravine.

The Host leading him stopped, forcing the Doctor to do the same. He looked aorund at them, "Come on then, Host with the Most, this ultimate authority of yours, who is it?" There was a sliding sound. The Time-Pony spun around to see two pulling open the doors of a large black chamber.
"Oh ho, that's clever," he muttered. "That's an omnostate impact chamber. Indestructible. You can survive anything in there, sit through a supernova, or a shipwreck. Only one pony can have the power and the money to hide themselves aboard like this. And I should know, because-"

"My name is Capricorn," the pony finished, smiling dastardly, his gold tooth glinting.

"It really does that?" the Doctor muttered, looking at the stallion behind it all. Well, at this point, Capricorn couldn't really be classified as a pony. More like a pony head wired inside a big box, a big red box on wheels with air pumps and flashing lights. A tangle of wires was connected to the glass box surrounding the head, some glowing with an unknown substance. Capricorn looked more or less the same otherwise, same slicked back black hair, same grey coat and purple eyes, although, one of his eyes had misted over with a cataract or something of the like.

"Who the hell is this?" the cyborg asked impatiently.

"I'm the Doctor, 'ello!"

"Information," stated a Host, "Stowaway."

"Kill him," ordered Capricorn.

"Oh no no no," he stammered, "Wait but you can't! Not now, come on, Cap, you've given me so much good material. Like, how to get a head in business." He smiled, expecting some sort of reaction. Capricorn laughed, "Oh ho ho, the office joker. I like a funny stallion. No, pony's been funny with me for years."

"I can't think why," the Doctor admitted.

"A hundred and six years or running the company have taken their toll!"

"Yeah but, nice wheels."

"No, a life support system," Capricorn corrected stiffly. "In a society that despises cyborgs no less. I've had to hide for years, running the company by hologram." Capricorn paused, listening. "Host, situation report."

"Information, SS Sunset is still in orbit."

"Let me see." The cyborg rolled past the Doctor over to a ledge where there was a perfect view of the engines below. "We should've crashed by now. What's gone wrong? THe engines are still running! They should've stopped!"

"When they do part of Gaia gets roasted, what've they got to do with it?" asked the Doctor. Capricorn glared at him, "This interview is terminated."

"No! No no no n-no," the Doctor stammered galloping in front of him. "Hold on, just hold on. I can work it out, it's like a task. I'm your apprentice, just watch me." He paused for a moment, thinking. "So, business is failing and you wreck the ship so that makes things even worse." An idea began to form in his mind, "Oh yes! No, ye-es! The business isn't failing, it's failed, past tense."

"My own board voted me out stabbed me in the back!" Capricorn said.

"If you had a back," the Doctor muttered. "So, you scupper the ship, wipe out any survivors inc ase somepony's rumbled you, and the board finds their shares halved in value. Oh but that's not enough is it? Because if a Capricorn ship hits Gaia, wipes out an entire kingdom, outrage back home! Scandal!"

"And the entire board will be thrown in jail for murder!" the cyborg said with a twisted smile. "It'd take a miracle to get them out of it."

"While you sit here, safe in the impact chamber," the Doctor's tone turned ive cold.

"I have ponies, waiting to dig me out of the wreckage and enough money in off-world accounts to retire me to Penhaxico Two! Where the mares, so I've hear, are quite fond of metal."

"So that's it then, a retirement plan," the Doctor growled. "Two thouse ponies on this ship, eight billon on the planet below, all slaughtered and why? Because Capricorn is a loser."

"I never lose," the cyborg snapped.

"You can't even get rid of the SS Sunset!"

"Oh but I can Doctor! I can cancel the engines from here!" In that moment, lights began flashing, sirens wailed, the hum of the engines died instantly.
"You can't do this!" the Doctor snapped.

"Host, hold him," the powerful pegasus grabbed the Doctor's forehooves, he struggled agaisnt their grip but couldn't pull away.

"Not so clever now Doctor," sneered Capricorn. "A shame we couldn't work together, you'd make a miraculous partner. All that banter and not a word wasted. Time for me to retire. The sun is setting, the sky will burn, let the Hearths Warming inferno begin." HE started to roll away, and with a last word he said, "Oh and Host, kill him would you?"

"Mister Capricorn!" a voice called out. The Doctor looked towards it, to see Star standing on top of a large metal cart, her magic glowing around the whole thing. "I, quit."

Using her magic, she charged the cart forward, smacking into Capricorn so hard he skid back about a yard. Capricorn's wheels began to smoke as he tried furiously to push back. One of the Host pulled off it's Halo, throwing it at Star. She ducked, losing her concentration for a split second. Something hit with a thud before she could get back in control again.

"Star! You're caught!" called the Doctor, spotting a large chunk of metal connecting the two. They were going nowhere fast and the Sunset was crashing, Star has only one choice if she wanted to get rid of this fiend. She looked over at the Doctor, he shook his head furiously and she mouthed: "I'm sorry." Using the last bit of her energy, she lift Capricorn of his wheels and they raced forward, charging straight through the guard rail, over the edge, and towards the engines. The Host released the Doctor, he raced over to look and see, nothing. Star was gone before he'd gotten over.

He sighed, slowly getting to his hooves. The Host stood behind, watching him, waiting for something. The Time-Pony turned and began to walk away from the edge. Fire flared up behind him as the engines clung to last bit of life. This, ended, now. The Doctor raised a hoof and motioned for the Host to come over, and with out him saying a word, the each took a hoof, and began to fly.

AS the Sunset crashed, they raced straight upwards. And as the ceiling neared, the Host put up their hooves and smashed right through. The hole created was big enough for the Doctor to climb through. He looked around, spotting a young yellow dragon staring at him in shock from beside the wheel.

"Ah, Midshipman Spark, at last," the Doctor said.

"B-but the Host," Spark stammered, pointing a claw at the peaceful robots.

"Controller dead, they divert to the next highest authority, and that's me," he replied. Spark nodded, getting to his feet, he watched as the Doctor started punching buttons and took the wheel. "There's nothing we can do. There's no power, the ship's going to fall." The Doctor was quiet for a moment.

"What's your first name?" he asked. Spark made a face, "Uh, Alonso, sir." The Doctor slowly looked up to him, "You're kidding me."

"What?"

"That's something else I've always wanted to say," he broke into a smile, "Alons-y Alonso!" He took the wheel with both hooves and spun it wildly, turning the Sunset as it began to lose orbit. He kept turning until it was facing nose down into the atmosphere. Spark grabbed hold of the computer console and held on for dear life as the fall really began.

Gravity took hold and the Sunset dove towards the planet. The hull began to glow orange as the ship raced downwards, atmospheric friction creating heat against the reinforced steel-wood the ship was made of. The sky began to turn from black to blue rapidly as they approached, clouds raiced past at alarming speed.

While trying to wrestle the controls, the Doctor looked over at the computer, which was in the process of pinpointing their landing point. When the result popped up he groaned, "You can't be serious!" Keeping one hoof on the wheel, he reached over and grabbed the phone, dialing for the operator.

"Yes! Could you get me Buckingham palace?" he shouted over the din. Once the phone actually picked up on the royal line he shouted: "Listen to me! Security code seven seven one get out of there!" He dropped the phone as the shaking and shuddering got worse the thicker the atmosphere became. The heat seeped through the window, which was filled with the fire of reentry, and something clicked. A hum of energy raced through the ship as the engines flared back to life.

The Doctor pulled back hard on the steering wheel, and unbeknownst to him, just barely missed the top of the palace where the Princesses had been staying. They soared skyward again and the Doctor laughed in triumph. Spark peeked over the console, and when he saw the clouds of the sky, his whole face lit up bright with new hope. Laughter filled the bridge, and Reception One, as the four survivors rejoiced.

Spark sat against the wall, watching at the stars once again filling the window. The Doctor sat down beside him and smile, "Used the ehat of re-entry to fire up the secondary storm drive. Unsinkable, that's me."

"We made it," said Spark with a tiny smile. The Doctor sighed, "Not all of us... Teleport! She was wearing a teleport!" The Doctor got to his hooves so fast he left Spark in the dust. The dragon got to his feet and followed after him. They hurried down to Reception One, where Slat and Mister Copper were still recovering from having their lives saved.

"Slate! Sonic!" the pegasus clumsily tossed him the device, the Doctor caught it expertly and raced over to the teleports. "Mister Coppa, de telepors, have dey got emergency settins?"

"I don't know, they should have," Mister Copper replied.

"She fell, Mister Coppa, she fell, whats da emergency cobe?"

"Er, let me see."

"What are you doing?" asked Slate, watching them work.

"We can bring her back!" the Doctor said, punching codes on the teleport hub.

"If a passenger has an accidnet while on shore leave, and they're still wearing their teleport bracelet, their molecules are automatically suspended and held in stasis, so if we can just trigger the shift-"

"There!" the Doctor called triumphantly, spinning around. The lights dimmed, a blue shimmer appeared in the center of the room, forming into a faint image of Star.

"I'm falling," she said, looking around scared, but not quite focusing on anything.

"Only halfway there," the Doctor muttered turning back to the controls. He tried to add extra power sparks flew from the base of the controls as it shorted out. "Feedback the molecule grid, no no no! Need more phase containment!"

"Doctor," Mr. Copper said gently.

"No! I can just link up the surface suspension."

"Doctor, she's gone."

"I just need to override the safety, I can do this I can-"

"Doctor, let her go." THe Time-Pony growled, he kicked the stand hard, "I can do anything!" Mister Copper sighed, putting a hoof on the Doctor's shoulder, "There's not enough left. The system was too badly damaged." They looked at Star, sharing a look of sorrow, "She's just atoms Doctor. An echo with the ghost of consciousness. She's star dust." The Doctor's shoulders dropped, he walked forward and stood in front of the hologram his friend had become. Her crystal blue eys searched, as if she knew he was there but not quite.

"Star Shine," he began quietly, "citizen of Sto. A mare who looked at the stars and dreamt of another world, another sky. There's, an old tradition you showed me." Carefully, he leaned in, and gave her one more kiss. It was gentler than before, she could barely tell he was there and he could barely feel her there. But it worked. Because when the Doctor back away, she was smiling.

"Now you can travel forever," he said, pulling out the sonic. When he activated it, one of the windows opened. Star's image sparkled brighter, dissolving into glowing bits of light. The sparkles, each looking like a tiny star, swirled towards the window, flying out into the night sky "You're not falling Star Shine, you're flying."

"The engines have stabilized," Spark reported, adjusting his jacket as he returned to reception. "We're holding steady till we get help, and I've sent the SOS. A rescue ship should be here in twenty minutes. And they're digging out the records on Capricorn, should be quite a story."

"They'll want to talk to all of us I suppose," Mr. Copper said somberly, glancing at the DOctor who he was sitting by.

"I'd think so, yeah."

"Well, I think, one or two inconvenient truths may, come to light," Mr. Copper continued. "Still, I supposed jail is better than dying." The Doctor did not reply, his gaze was lingering on the starry sky outside a porthole. He looked up as Slate walked over, smiling a little.

"Doctor, I never said thank you," he said. Slate chuckled, "The funny thing is, I said Capricorn was falling apart, and just before the crash, I sold all my shares, transferred to his rivals. It's made me rich." Before he could continue, his phone rang. Somehow it was still working. He answered and strode away, completely missing the look Mr. Copper shot him. The pegasus sighed, "Of all the ponies to survive, he's not the one you would've chosen, is he? But, if you could choose Doctor, choose who lives and who dies, that'd make you a monster."

Slyly, the Doctor looked at his friend, and smiled a little. He turned and grabbed two teleports from the rack, "Mister Copper, I think you deserve one of these." Mister Copper looked from the bracelet, to the Doctor and began to laugh. The put on their bracelets, and Spark noticed. But instead of trying to stop them, he raised a claw and saluted. The Doctor raised a hoof in a small salute as they vanished from the SS Sunset.

It was only a few hours later, a cool snow had begun to drift down from the clouds above the city of Hoofdon. It crunched under-hoof as the Doctor and Mister Copper made their way across a park to where the Tardis had parked itself.

"So, Equestria-a is it's own kingdom next to Griffinia and Zebria," Mister Copper was saying.

"Well, technically it's Griffinalia, but close enough," the Doctor corrected.

"Oh, and, they're all at war with the Crystal King-e-dom."

"No, well, not yet, uh, could argue that one." The Doctor smiled as he finally reached his faithful blue box, he pat the wood affectionately. "There she is, survive anything." Mister Copper looked up at the sky, "You know, just between you and me, I don't even think this snow is realy. I think it's the ballast from the Sunset's salvage burning up in the atmosphere."

"Yeah, one year they'll get real snow," the Doctor muttered, look up as well.

"So, I-I supposed you'll be off then," said Mister Copper somberly.

"The open sky."

"And uh, what about me?"

"I travel alone, it's safer that way."

"What am I supposed to do?" The Doctor thought for a moment, "Give me that credit card." Mister Copper pulled out the card and handed over.

"It's just petty cash, spending money. It's all done by computer," he explained. "I didn't really know the currency so I thought a million would cover it." The Doctor's eyes widened in shock and he stared at the other stallion. "Mister Copper, a million pounds is worth fifty million credits." There was a moment of silence as Mister Copper processed the information, "How much?"

"Fifty million and fifty six," the Doctor said, handing him the card.

"I've, got money."

"Yes you have."

"Oh, my word," Mister Copper stammered. "Oh my Vot! Oh my goodness me! YEEHA!" He laughed aloud, just glad to have something, and so much of something too!

"It's all yours, Equestria," the Doctor said proudly. "Now that's a retirement plan. But you be careful though."

"I will I will!" he cried.

"No interfering, I don't want any trouble. Just, have a nice life."

"But I can have a house!" Mister Copper cried, turning on his hoof and starting to skip away. The Doctor watch him with a quizzical look on his face, "Uh, where are you going?"

"I have no idea!" he cried. He stopped skipping and looked back, "But Doctor, I won't forget her!" The Time-Pony smiled and watched his friend leave, then he looked up at the sky. Through a break in the clouds, a shimmer of blue streaked across the sky. He sighed, "Happy Hearths Warming Star Shine."

To be continued in, Partners in Crime...

ME: Alright everypony! Season four is under way. Thanks to everypony who's been waiting patiently for this next one. (Life, you know, it's overrated sometimes) ((Joking! That was a joke!))
Right, well, My Little Pony is owned by Hasbro, Doctor Who by the BBC. Cover art is by Xain-Russell on deviant art with one small change by me.

Right then, who'd ready for adventure? Onwards and Upwards!