Doctor Whooves: Vol XI
Chapter 1: A Bright young Filly (Part 1)
Canterlot, Year 990
As the day drew to a close and Princess Celestia Lowered the Sun, a Young Purple Unicorn was watching the Elegant Royal with a look of awe and respect. Her greatest dream was to be like her. Proud, Honest and Kind. However every night after raising the moon, the young filly noticed that Celestia would sit for a while and stare at the moon, using her binoculars she would observe the royal and notice how sad she looked. She was lucky enough to have met her once and she couldn’t help but notice, despite how young she looked, how bright her smile was, her wise purple eyes looked for older than she did. Soon after Celestia had risen the moon, the filly was urged to go to sleep by her mother. So that night after she was tucked in the young filly would lay awake as the light from the moon would pour into her room lighting it up well enough to see and she would look out her window and look at the stars, her mind wondering about them and what secrets the held, as to this day no pony could explain the stars. They just appeared every night when the sun was gone. After a while the filly would drift to sleep and await till the morning would arrive.
*CRASH!*
The loud sound resonated through the house waking the filly instantly. Looking out the window she saw the moon still high in the night sky with the tower void of the princess. Looking to the door she waited a while for her parents to rush in to see if she was okay…nothing. Silence returned to the house. She then looked up, to where the loud noise came from. It being the dead of night and the filly nearly holding her breath in fear, she could hear a faint noise…a bell, ringing. The filly got out of her warm bed and opened her bedroom door. Slowly the filly looked outside to her right towards her parent’s room and then to her left, wear the entrance to the attic was. She noticed smoke coming from the cracks of the attic entrance and without hesitation she quickly ran to her parent’s room and opened the door before calling for them.
“Mom! Dad!” she called but seconds later froze when she noticed her parents weren’t there. Their bed was neatly made and everything was where it should be. But they weren’t. Visibly frightened the filly looked back to the attic entrance as the smoke continued to build. She was alone, frightened and something in the attic. Her head was screaming at her to run, run for help as the stair leading down where to her left outside her parents bedroom but curiosity creeped it’s way in and Twilight found herself walking towards the attic. Questions buzzed around in her head, where’s my parents? What made that noise? Was it a monster? It may be hurt? It may need help? It might not be a monster? Eventually she used her magic to nudge the switch she couldn’t reach to release the hatch and lower the ladder. The moment she did she leaped back as the ladder made a collection of crashes and bangs as it fell to the ground. Once it was down the filly looked up and the smoke continued to pour down. She took a deep breath and took a step up the ladder. It was something she had never done, she was always told to never go into the attic but she had to see what made that noise, she had to see the source of the ringing bell. Finally at the top she waved her hoof around to clear the smoke away and there it was, laying on its side in a pile of broken wood and plaster with the moon shining upon it via the giant hole in the roof. It was a large blue wooded box. With the word “police public call box” written along the top. Smoke was pouring from several of the cracked windows that lined the box and by the filly’s feet was a cracked lantern with a blue top flicking on and off.
She didn’t know what to think, she had never seen something like it before. Before she could get any closer or as she was thinking about it, leave. The door flew open as a mountain of smoke filled the room. The filly began to cough unable to breathe while noticing another coughing with her in the smoke.
“Is *cough* someone there? *cough cough* a voice called out. Before the filly could answer she saw though the smoke a blue light accompanied with some buzzing. Shortly after the smoke began to pull back and re-enter the box. The sudden rush made the filly close her eyes and within a few moments she head the squeak of old hinges and the click of a lock and she slowly opened her eyes. Looking up she saw bright amber eyes staring back. Standing before her was a young stallion with a light steel blue coat and dull blue messy mane wearing a teared up blue shirt with a ragged red tie “why hello there” the Stallion greeted before kneeling down on his knee’s “I’m the Doctor and what’s your name?” the filly took a step back a little afraid of the stranger but she had seen eyes like that before. The same kind of eyes that stared at the moon every night.
“Twilight, Twilight Sparkle” the filly replied before she tripped on the lantern she was in front of and landed on her flank.
“Are you okay?” the stallion asked in concern as he got up quickly.
“Yea, I’m okay. I just tripped” Twilight replied while looking to the lantern.
“Ah yes, sorry about that. That’s mine, must have fallen off when I crashed” the stallion known as the Doctor apologised as he picked up the lantern with his wing “sorry about you roof as well. Was aiming for a small village a few miles out. But trying to fly a Tardis while it’s on fire ain’t exactly easy” the doctor aimed for the door but withdrew his hoof remembering the large cloud of smoke still inside. He then decided to place the lantern on the side for the mean time “I’ll fix it later”.
“You’re not hurt are you?” Twilight asked as those who crash land don’t usually walk away unscathed.
“Me? Hurt? Nah! Just regenerated, that’s what trashed the old girl” he said stroking the scorched blue wood “any injuries will heal in a matter of seconds. Kind of surprised that I came out a Pegasus though. Last few times I was Trojan. I’ll get used to it” the doctor rambled taking a look at his wings.
“Regenerated, you mean like cellular Regeneration?” the little filly asked making the Doctors ears perk up before his head snapped to Twilight.
“How old are you?” the Doctor asked.
“7 and a half” she answered innocently.
“Well…you’re very clever Twilight. Your mum and dad must be proud.” the stallion said with a smile before noticing where he was standing “by the way where are we?”
“In our attic, I was asleep when I heard a loud noise” the filly answered as the Doctor looked around noticing the layout of the room and the hole made by his box.
“Ah, I see. Sorry about the hole. I’ll can fix that for you, once I get the old girl back up and running” the Doctor apologised before stepping closer to his box and giving it a stroke. “She took quite the beating. But hey, she’s survived worse.”
“What is that box anyway?” Twilight asked after getting up and walking up to the wooden structure and placing a hoof on it instantly noticing a slight vibration before quickly stepping back.
“She’s called the Tardis, it’s a ship…my ship” the Doctor answered smiling at the filly’s reaction.
“You mean like a boat?” Twilight deduced not knowing of any other kind of ship.
“No, no. it’s a spaceship” the Doctor corrected.
“A what?” Twilight replied confused.
“You know a spaceship, it’s like a boat but instead of sail across water it goes through space” the Doctor explained as basically as he could.
“So it’s a space boat?” Twilight figured but making the Doctor pause before correcting her again.
“No, it’s nothing like a… actually? Well I’ll be, outsmarted by a 7 year old, I’m must be getting old.” The Doctor smirked “we’re are you parents by the way. I imagine that they’d be up here with you. that and I haven’t been slapped since a arrived” he asked with a concerned look as it was bad enough that he was talking to a 7 year old on her own and he just crashed through her roof.
“I don’t know” Twilight replied with a worried tone. “I tried looking for them before I found you up here. I thought you were a monster and you ate them or something” she said recalling the moments before meeting the Doctor, he on the other hand raised an eye brow.
“I don’t know whether you’re brave or stupid. You’re 7 and you think it’s a good idea to go looking for a monster that may have eaten your parents? I’d have run for the hills at your age and on my planet we’ve got some pretty big hills” the Doctor added before heading for the hatch “come on then, let’s go looking for your mum and dad shall we.”
“Wait, you don’t think they’ve been eaten my monsters do you?” Twilight asked as the Doctor hadn’t dismissed the thought.
“I wouldn’t worry too much. One look at me and the monster will spit your folks up and run to its mother. Now let’s see if my hoof-eye coordination is still good” the Doctor replied without worry and attempted to step down and in the blink of an eye the Doctor was gone from Twilight sight quickly followed by a loud thud. With a worried look on her face Twilight ran to the opening and looked down to see the Pegasus on the flood holding one of his back legs.
“You okay mister?” Twilight asked.
“I’m okay! Still getting used to the new legs. Sort of wished crashed in the street now to be honest, ow!” the Doctor winched before Twilight made her way down effortlessly and the Doctor recovered enough to stand up. Looking ahead of him the Doctor saw the door to his left and noticed Twilight’s room written on a sign hung on the door. Further ahead he saw the open door to Twilight’s parent’s room and with the young filly close behind he entered the decently sized room and looked around. He then took a small device out a pocket in his shirt and pointed it around the room. It must have been the same device he used to clear the smoke as it lit up with a bright blue light and gave off a sharp buzzing sound, after he scanned the room with his tool he gave it a good look, then to the filly and smiled “good news kid no, monsters in here” he then said walking past her and going down stairs.
“But that doesn’t mean there weren’t any?” Twilight spoke logically making the stallion smile.
“You know I’m starting to like you Twilight, and your right. But there weren’t any, I scanned foreign technology and recent magical activity, nothing but standard magic, levitation and what not. So unless your parents aren’t unicorns then there’s nothing to worry about.” The Doctor reassured the filly before doing the same to the downstairs living room that the stairs led to.
“So where are my mom and dad?” Twilight asked getting a little frustrated.
“That’s what I’m going to find out, little filly. So relax, let the Doctor to his thing” the Doctor again reassured the young pony and somehow she felt at ease. “Same thing as the bedroom. Only basic magical activity. So why would…?” the Doctor paused for a moment before twitching his nose, taking a few sniffs.
“What is it?” Twilight asked.
“Hungry, need food. Do you mind?” the Doctor asked gesturing to the fridge in the open kitchen with his wing.
“Uhh…sure, I guess” Twilight allowed before jumping on the couch.
“Thanks. Regeneration does leave one famished” the Doctor thanked before opening the fridge and inspecting the goods. “You lot are vegetarian aren’t you?” the Doctor asked looking to the filly.
“Yea, why?” the little filly asked as many thoughts ran thought the Doctors head.
“Nothing, I’ll just have to make do with what we have…let’s see here. Eggs, milk and… butter? Hmm…yea. That should do it.” the Doctor spoke to himself before taking the eggs, milk and butter out the fridge and laying it on the counter “you hungry kid?” the Doctor asked looking to Twilight who was just sitting there staring at him.
“What are you making?” the filly asked.
“It involves eggs, any objections?” the Doctor asked as the filly shook her head.
“I’m okay with eggs and milk. It’s just meat I don’t eat, never tried it though” Twilight admitted, it wasn’t surprising not many ponies eat meat and those that do tend to stay quiet about it. It’s normally a dish reserved for other species, mostly pets like dogs and cats.
“It’s always good to try something, and hey if you don’t like it then you don’t have to eat It.” the Doctor replied as Twilight leaned on the back of the couch so she could see the doctor who had his back to her.
“I just don’t see what good comes hurting an animal just to eat it. It seems wrong” Twilight added.
“Everyone has their morals. It’s a test of character of how long you will stick by those morals. Some will eat for pleasure, others for survival and others for the experience.” the Doctor then turned around with two plates each with what looked like some kind of pancake “here try this. And you’ll see what I mean” the Doctor added handing the filly her plate and the stallion sat down next to her.
“Thanks, mister” Twilight spoke politely before trying to lift the fork on the plate with her magic.
“Just call me Doctor, kid. And what are you doing?” the doctor asked noticing the filly’s horn sparking beside him.
“Practicing magic. I’m trying to get good enough to be accepted into the S.G.U.”
“S.G.U.?” the Doctor asked confused as Twilight stopped her attempts and took a deep breath a little exhausted.
“The School for Gifted Unicorns. But I can barely lift a fork let alone cast spells. My mom say’s I’ll get better in time but I’ve been practicing for a while now” Twilight explained before picking up her fork manually and taking a small bite from her meal. Her eyes then widened at the flavour “wow! What is this? It’s delicious!” Twilight exclaimed before wolfing it down.
“It’s an omelette, easy to make and customisable. That’s just a basic one, glad you like it. it won’t be invented for a while yet” the Doctor answered with a smile “Oh! I found out where your parents ran off to” the Doctor mentioned making the filly stop half way and look up to him with her mouth open. Before a word could be spoken the stallion used his fork to close the filly’s “finish that mouthful first” mere seconds later Twilight swallowed what was in her mouth and begun her sentence anew.
“Where are they?” she asked nearly shouting.
“Out” the Doctor answered simply.
“Out?”
“Yea, out” he repeated.
“Out, where?” she asked, the answer being too simple to make sense.
“When I was cooking, I checked the calendar. We’re in February, there are wine glasses by the sink, the newspaper in front of us is dated 14th and the time is eleven o’clock thanks to your clock up on the wall. Its hearts and hooves day, so in short you parents are out.” The Doctor deduced with Twilight unsure of how to react.
“So they just left me here alone?” she said with a sad tone.
“Don’t take it personally, your folk are just taking a break as you sleep. Raising a kid is no easy feat and I can tell you’re not an only child, the photos and his door behind the attic ladders. He’s probably out with a girl of his own. I’m guessing your foal sitter but there’s no way to know for sure. Is she pink?” he asked as Twilight nodded still feeling a bit down “anyway I’m getting off topic. The fact they left you alone at all means that they trust you enough to be okay for a few hours. Kinda hoping they don’t come home anytime soon. It’s either going to be a punch to the face or a slap from ya mum.”
“But what if you were a monster or you crashed into my room. What could have happened?” Twilight asked looking to the stallion still enjoying his omelette.
“Now you’re just overthinking it. The Tardis is a smart girl so she probably did her best to not hit your bedroom and if I was a monster then you would most certainly be minced filly but the key point is that it didn’t happen. Instead, a box falls out the sky, a colt falls out a box and look at you. Just sitting there, eating omelette with a stranger who could for all you know be out to get you.” the Doctor rambled as Twilight listened “so take at this situation as it is, not what it could have been… cause that’s a whole other headache I do not have to deal with.”
“Where are you from?” the filly asked.
“Why do you ask?” the Doctor replied.
“You said you fell out the sky, the hole in the roof proves that. But you sound like someone in my class. You say things differently like the word mom, for example” Twilight explained using some deductive prowess of her own.
“Good ears, you’ve got there. The accent is from Trottingham but I am from somewhere different entirely” the Doctor answered.
“Like what?” the filly asked now curious.
“A different planet” the Doctor revealed with an emphasis on the t at the end.
“What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked the answer not making much sense to her.
“Come on! You’re supposed to be clever. Out there!” the Doctor retorted pointing to the night sky and the full moon visible through the living room window.
“That’s the moon” Twilight added thinking the stallion was pointing at the symbol of the night making the Doctor look at here with a black expression.
“Around the moon, the stars. That’s there I’m from, out there…somewhere” he clarified before adding a bit of wonder to it.
“You’re from the stars?” Twilight asked now sort of getting what the Doctor was trying to say.
“In a broad term yes. But for every star you have a hand full of planets like this one and on thousands of them are people and creatures of all kinds, great and small.” The Doctor explained further.
“What are stars exactly?” Twilight asked earning a surprised look from the stallion before he figured out why she wouldn’t know.
“Ah, yes its 990, the 10th century. You lot don’t get into astronomy proper for another 20 years yet.” the Doctor explained more for himself that Twilight.
“Astronomy?” Twilight asked having learnt a new word.
“The science of the universe on a physical level. Planets, moons, stars and the like.” Twilight was about to ask another question but was interrupted before she could ask “the universe if everything in existence as a single thing. Imagine a glass, now imagine everything that has ever existed and will ever exist and what exists right now and put it in that glass that is the universe. I could show you a better example if you like, show you those stars up close” those words resonated through Twilight and focused her mind on one thing.
“Really! You would?” Twilight exclaimed excitedly with a big smile which fuelled the stallions smile as he nodded his head.
“Sure of course, as soon as my ship can fly. I could take to you see all sorts of places.” the Doctor offered making the filly’s eyes shine bright with wonder and curiosity but then a thought cross her mind that dampened her fantasies.
“What about my parents. They won’t exactly let a Stranger take me away.” Twilight pointed out but the Doctor didn’t seem too bothered.
“Oh don’t worry about that! The thing is…” before the Doctor could continue a familiar sound echoed throughout the house “hold on….” Both ponies fell silent as the sound of a large bell echoed once more and the Doctors eyes widened in fear “no, no, no, no, no!” the Doctor yelled as he bolted back up the stairs with Twilight watching him run before following him, once the Doctor reached the attic ladders, rather than climb them he flapped his wings hard enough to launch him straight into the attic and he rushed to tend to his box, shortly after Twilight had her head in the attic watching the Doctor trying to open the door.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked as the Doctor opened the door inwards and poked his head in to have a look. Whatever was happening was going on so quickly Twilight didn’t noticed that the cloud of smoke that should have flooded the attic hadn’t appeared. The doctor then stood back out and began to pace.
“The engines…there still going! Argh! The crash it must have shorted the lock-down mechanism. The Tardis is trying to move but she can’t, I’ve got to get in there. Release the mechanism. Unfortunately the Tardis is going to shoot off when I do, she’ll mostly likely rush into the future but then I’ll be able to engage an emergency landing, shut down the engines for repair.”
“Mister what do you mean rush into the future, what are you talking about?” Twilight asked trying to get an explanation.
“I was about to mention, the Tardis, she’s a Time Machine, a badly damaged time machine and I neglected her to long. Now her engines are running continually while on neutral. If I don’t do something now she’ll blow. Quick hop into the future should do it, I’ll have to go for a bit, give or take a few days but I’ll be back. OK?” The Doctor explained while grabbing some tools left around by Twilight's father.
“What if you don’t?” Twilight asked making the Doctor stop and look to Twilight. He then knelt down like he did an hour ago and look her dead in the eye.
“You’re over thinking it again. There is nothing to worry about, Twilight.” The Doctor reassured once again “here, take this” the Doctor took out his strange device and placed it in Twilight's hoof. “This is my sonic screwdriver, I’ve had it since I was a boy. I’ll want this back but in the meantime keep an eye on it for me would you” looking at the strange device Twilight pressed the button built into the casing and was mesmerised by the bright blue glow “as long as you keep it on you, I’ll always be able to find you again, K?” looking up into the Doctors amber eyes the little filly nodded before the stallion stood up and entered the blue box and shut the door behind him. After a few moments a loud sound like that of a drum echoed in Twilight's ears before another sound began to go off in sequence. it was a strange sound like the box was wheezing but as the sound continued the box was fading in and out before it eventually vanished and once it did the lantern the Doctor placed on top fell to the ground shattering the glass even further. Moments passed and Twilight heard another door open downstairs.
“Twilight, Sweetie! are you up past bedtime?” Twilight’s mother called out as she noticed the left over from the Doctor’s omelettes on the table.