Ditzy Do was in her kitchen, washing dishes. She plucked them out of the sink, one by one, dunking them in the warm, soapy water and scraping away all of the gunk left behind, setting them out to dry on a nearby dish towel. It was tedious work, but Ditzy didn't mind. It gave her time to think, and she was always thinking.
She heard the pitter patter of little hooves behind her, and turned her head to see her beloved daughter, Dinky Do, standing just outside the hallway that lead to the rest of the house. She was rubbing her eyes, yawning.
"Dinky, what are you doing up this late?" Ditzy gently chastised, setting down her work and drying her hooves on the towel.
"I got thirsty," Dinky used as an excuse, lifting her hooves in a request to be picked up as Ditzy walked over to her.
Ditzy scooped her daughter up, holding her close and tickling her with her nose. Dinky giggled at the contact, and playfully pushed away from Ditzy in an attempt to escape.
Ditzy gave up and let go of Dinky, placing her carefully back on her hooves. She walked over to the sink to fetch a cup of water for Dinky, saying, "You shouldn't stay up this late, you're internal clock will get all out of whack,"
"You're so smart, Mommy," Dinky said, trying to flatter her way into more time to stay up.
Ditzy smiled, seeing right through her game instantly as she filled the glass with water. When it was full, she flipped off the sink and took a sip for herself, happening to look up at the night sky through the window as she did so.
Stars twinkled in the night sky, far, far above, but she focused on one in particular; a slightly bluish star that shone steadily, and that was slowly moving across the sky. She put down the glass and refilled it from what she had drank, her heart filling with a heavy weight as she watched the blue star glide across the black canvas of the sky behind it.
Suddenly, the star went out, and vanished from view.
Ditzy gasped, and her heart skipped a beat. The star did not return. A wave of emotion rushed through her body; fear, excitement, worry, and anticipation, but most of all, love.
"Mommy? What's wrong?" Dinky asked, having seen her mother gasp and drop the cup of water she was pouring had startled her.
Ditzy quickly snapped out of her shocked state, retrieving the glass and refilling it for the third time, "N-nothing, muffin," she lied, quickly placing the glass in her daughter's waiting hooves and shooing her back into the hallway, "Go back to sleep," she instructed gently, kissing her daughter on top of her head. Dinky let out a whine, but walked down the hall back to her room anyway.
Ditzy waited until she was safely in her room, then took in a deep, slow breath, turning back to the window and searching up and down for the blue star, thinking she had just been seeing things. Undeniably so, the star had simply vanished, and it worried and enthralled Ditzy to no end, because she knew what that star was. And what it was, wasn't a star. It was a time engine, orbiting the planet way up high in the atmosphere, and it had shut down.
And that meant the time lock had been disabled.
Memories flooded Ditzy's mind as she remembered why she had put it up there in the first place.
The Doctor groaned, slowly becoming conscious again. Ditzy Do watched him way up, bleary eyed and confused. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep, yet so troubled when he woke up.
The Doctor's eyes snapped open. Fully awake, he saw Ditzy standing in front of a control panel, ten feet away. Behind her, there was an enormous room with a large central machine, a wide control board circling it. "Ditzy..." he said, trying to remember what had happened.
Ditzy watched his brow furrow in confusion as he tried to process the scene before him. She already knew exactly where they were; in a Dalek satellite orbiting Equestria. The room behind her housed the Dalek's time engine, and the hallway she was in was one of the many escape pods.
"Ditzy," the Doctor repeated, trying to stand on his hooves. He couldn't, because one of his hooves was chained to a pole nearby. He looked at his prison in confusion, "Handcuffs?" he said questioningly, jangling the chain.
"Hoofcuffs," Ditzy corrected. He was still getting used to all the 'ponified idioms', as the Doctor put it.
The Doctor looked at her in confusion. "Ditzy, why...?" he trailed off, looking at the control board in front of Ditzy. Her hoof was resting on one final lever. His eyes widened, and they darted this way and that to discover that he was chained inside an open escape pod.
"Goodbye, Doctor," Ditzy said, her voice not quavering once. She had been practicing.
The Doctor looked at her, bewilderment covered his face, "Ditzy, what-?" his hoof flew to his pocket, but it was empty.
Ditzy withdrew his sonic screwdriver from her own pocket and threw it into the escape pod. It landed just out of the Doctor's reach, and as he stretched his body towards it, he looked at Ditzy again, "What are you-? What? No!"
"You can't stay here, Doctor," Ditzy said, her calm demeanor slowly breaking down, "I can't...I can't keep you here."
The Doctor gave up on trying to reach his sonic, and turned towards Ditzy again, "Ditzy, what are you talking about? What are you doing? Let me out of this thing!" he said, pulling against his cuffs.
"I'm sorry, Doctor," Ditzy said, momentarily taking her hoof off of the lever, "You, you showed me things I've never seen before! You showed me the universe, all the wonders of time and space! And...it's scary. And I'm not ready for it. I can't go with you anymore,"
"Then I'll go with you!" The Doctor bargained, reaching for Ditzy in futility, "Please..."
Ditzy just shook her head, "All those people you showed me, all those creatures you've saved. I...I can't keep you from them,"
"I'm a time traveler!" The Doctor argued, "I can go back to them whenever I want! Please-"
"You're a lot of things, Doctor," Ditzy interrupted, "A hero, a warrior, a doctor...but you're not immortal. You'll run out of time eventually, and...and if I knew I was taking some of that time away from the people who needed it, I'd never be able to live with myself. You have to go."
The Doctor looked into her crooked eyes, reaching for her helplessly. "I need you-"
"And the universe needs you!" Ditzy argued, feeling her legs start to tremble. She fought back tears and put her hoof back on the lever, "I'm sorry, Doctor," she repeated, "This is...this is for the best."
"Ditzy," The Doctor said loudly, fighting against his cuffs more frantically.
Ditzy pulled the lever, and an airlocked door slowly slid between the two of them. Ditzy did not watch it close.
"Ditzy! Ditzy!" The Doctor yelled vainly, "Do not! Don't do this! Do not activate that time lock, Ditzy!"
The door closed, and the Doctor's screams were cut off. Ditzy looked up at the door, the tears she had fought to hold back finally dripping down her cheeks. She saw the Doctor through a window in the middle of the door. He looked through the window at her, unexpressable emotion painting his face. He screamed something, but Ditzy couldn't hear it. He screamed it again, and it looked like he mouthed, "I'll find you,"
Ditzy just shook her head, more tears tracing her face. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pressed the big red button, and the escape pod housing the Doctor was launched into space. She looked through the windows again, watching as the Doctor fought endlessly against his chains, still screaming towards her. He had the TARDIS in that escape pod; it was the place where he had parked when they first arrived. And now, after destroying an entire Dalek fleet before they could ravage Equestria and exterminate all pony life, Ditzy was left alone in the satellite. The Doctor would eventually get out of his chains, jump into his TARDIS, and try to come back. Ditzy had to make sure he couldn't.
Turning on her hooves, and holding back the tears, she walked forwards, towards the time engine.
The Doctor, in his escape pod, continued to rage in futility against his bonds, "Ditzy! No! I'll find you again! Ditzy!" he screamed at the door, watching as the satellite grew further and further away. Autopilot had been engaged, and it was carrying him further and further away.
And then, the time engine activated. And the planet Equestria vanished from view, forever locked away from the rest of the universe.
The Doctor stopped fighting then, and leaned back against the pole he was chained to, staring sadly into space at where the planet had once been.
Ditzy felt tears dripping down her face as she remembered that event. She had locked her entire planet away from the rest of the universe, because she felt they needed the Doctor more than she did.
But now, hearing the familiar vworp vworp outside of her house, she could only think of her daughter, Dinky. She had always been a special pony. She took a deep breath and walked to her front door, wondering how to explain exactly how special Dinky was.