Chapter 1

Goodbye, Doctor
By Burst Fire
“Hello, Doctor.”

Ditzy would recognize the sound of the screeching engine anywhere in the world. She flutters to her door to go outside to meet her time-travelling companion. However, she smashes into the wall on the side of the door. Then she smashes into the other side. A third time she smashes into the wall beside the door. Finally, she is able to float through the door and towards the blue police box.

Ditzy Doo, with her greyish-blue coat and ice cream yellow mane, wings spread out with joy and eyes derped meets her friend, Doctor Whooves, outside his blue box. His light-brown coat sheens with joy as he sees his bubbly friend float towards him. The darker brown mane on his head looks as if it had been cleaned recently.

“Hello, dear!” Doctor Whooves’ British accent is unmistakable.

“Hi, Doctor! Would you like to come in for some muffins? I just baked a batch this morning!” Ditzy is always very excited about muffins. Doctor accepts the kind invitation and eats some wonderful muffins with Ditzy.

“Are we going on an adventure?” Ditzy asks after the batch of muffins was depleted.

The Doctor simply responds, “Allons-y!”

* * *

TARDIS: Time and Relevant Dimension in Space. The TARDIS is a spectacular piece of work. On the outside, one sees a regular, blue police box, but on the inside is a complicated spaceship capable of not only space travel, but also time travel! The inner workings of the TARDIS are quite complex, with buttons, levers, and even some pull chains. It’s a wonder how Doctor Whooves could ever pilot the machine.

It’s a wonder, indeed. As the TARDIS flies through time and space, the ship spins wildly and throws the duo around. Of course, they always have fun piloting the ship together.

“Where are we going this time?” Ditzy asks excitedly.

“That, my dear, is a surprise,” the Doctor comments.

The easily excitable Ditzy flitters around and accidentally bumps into a wrong lever. The TARDIS tumbles out of control and crashes on a nearby planet.

“I just don’t know what went wrong,” Ditzy whimpers.

“It’s alright, Ditzy. We’re on the right planet, just a few kilometers off course,” Doctor reassures Ditzy that nothing is wrong with the situation. Doctor Whooves begins preparations to vacate the TARDIS to the exact destination when Ditzy looked outside to see a beautiful field of flowers. There are many hues of blue, red, white, yellow, and purple in a sparkling array of color!

She frolics outside without the Doctor’s consent. She is so happy to be surrounded by such beauty. The Doctor sees her outside and halts his efforts. Seeing her happy makes him happy.

So happy…

The Doctor joins her outside and stands there watching Ditzy with caring eyes. Ditzy would trip a few times, but she gets right back up without a care and continues her joyful joviality. The Doctor begins walking in the direction of their true destination, and Ditzy follows while still making merry in the flowers. After a bit of walking, a sandy tan beach comes into view.

“Is that where we’re going?” asks Ditzy intently.

“Almost, although the beach is nothing compared to what I have planned for you!” the Doctor exclaims.

Ditzy becomes very excited at the thought and loses her balance. Down the hill she tumbles. The Doctor runs after her, but he trips and tumbles down as well. The duo lands at the foot of the hill on top of each other. They laugh together in the soft sand in a moment of bliss.

Suddenly, the sand quivers beneath them, startling Ditzy. The Doctor is unmoved, for he knows what is causing it and he expected it.

“Ah, the fun has arrived,” the Doctor remarks. A small building pops up out of the sand. It is roughly the size of the TARDIS; from the outside, that is. “Come, Ditzy, follow me.”

The ponies go inside the small building. It is an elevator. It is a very small elevator. In the confined space the ponies don’t have much choice but to stand very close to each other. The warmth from each other’s bodies could be felt between them. Ditzy wanted to lean closely against the Doctor and just stay there. The elevator stops. Ditzy’s daydream diminishes and she comes back to the real world.

The ponies step out of the elevator and stroll into a cave of immense size, but that isn’t what amazes Ditzy. The cave is filled with glorious and giant crystals!

“Welcome to the Caverns of Lastryc,” Doctor Whooves motions towards the stalactites and stalagmites. Ditzy is awed by the beauty of the crystals. Her admiring gaze, however, is interrupted by a sudden and powerful quake within the rock.

* * *

The towering crystals quiver around Ditzy and the Doctor. “Well, that wasn’t on the agenda,” the Doctor states. A large drilling machine emerges from the ground. Canine creatures crawl out of the metal monster and attack the ponies.
They are large, nearly twice the size of the ponies, and covered in thick, matted fur. They wear ragged and dark-colored clothing, along with a spiked collar around their muscular necks. Ditzy and Doctor Whooves are easily overpowered by the brutes. The dogs proceed to blindfold the ponies and carry them into their lair.

The blindfolds are removed, and they are able to analyze their surroundings. Ditzy asks frantically about what just happened. The Doctor remains hesitant to answer, but he begins to explain who those brutes were and why they took him and Ditzy.

“They call themselves the ‘Diamond Dogs,’ and they have a huge hunger for gems of any kind-big, small, medium-sized- it doesn’t matter to them. Although, I thought they didn’t occupy this planet.” The Doctor thinks for a moment then continues, “The Diamond Dogs never did like me very much. It probably has something to do with my foiling their plans for creating Blood Stones.”

“What are ‘Blood Stones’?” Ditzy asks.

“That’s not important. What is important is finding out what they want with you and me,” The Doctor is sharp to reply. He doesn’t like talking about the Blood Stones.

A Diamond Dog grunt comes toward the ponies and grabs them both. The furry mass drags them to their next destination: a monstrous throne room that houses mountains of gems and a Doberman, presumably the pack leader, seated in a throne

“Hello, Doctor, it’s so good to see you again,” the Doberman says. His voice is hard and deep, much like his fur which is a dark brown, almost black, with light brown spots over his eyes and a light brown underbody.

“Hello, Killer, how’ve you been?” The Doctor inquires sarcastically.

“’K-K-Killer’?” Ditzy is frightened by the name. To her, a name tells almost a complete story about a pony, or in this case, a dog.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. He gave himself that name just to be intimidating. He doesn’t have the heart to take a life,” the Doctor reassures Ditzy, who almost immediately becomes calmer.

“Silence! I will not be played by you again, Doctor!” Killer yells. “This time, I will win and you will be the one to suffer through heartache from not being able to achieve your goals!”

“Goals? What goals could I possibly have? I just run around in space and time with my companion,” the Doctor snidely remarks.

“You’ll see, Doctor. Dogs, blindfold them and take them to the ship!” Killer barks at his underlings.

“Ship?” the Doctor is confused by the mention of a ship.

“Yes, Doctor, we’re going into space,” Killer says in a low tone as the Doctor’s blindfold covers his eyes. “I plan to conquer other planets and mine them empty of their gems! You will have to witness the universe you hold so dear to your heart get ripped apart by the Diamond Dogs!” Killer’s voice crescendos at the finale of the declaration of his plans.

* * *

Ditzy and Doctor Whooves could not see the ship, for they were bound together with itchy rope and blindfolded. However, they could feel the cold metal beneath them. The floor clanks as the Diamond Dogs carry them to their cell.

The cell had been specially made for the prisoner to be able to see everything that went on outside the wall-sized window. It was also made with an energy forcefield to keep the prisoner far from ever escaping. It was all light grey minus the forcefield, which was transparent and deep red. The ponies’ blindfolds were removed and the ponies are left in the cell. By now, the ship has taken off and has entered the void of space.

“Don’t worry, Ditzy, the Diamond Dogs are an underground species; they’d never last in space!” the Doctor reasons.

Ditzy retorts, “If they don’t last long in space and we’re in the same ship as them, doesn’t that mean we won’t last long either?”

Doctor loses his courageous expression and thinks about it. He droops down in defeat knowing that Ditzy is right. His defeat was to Ditzy, however, not to the Dogs. He immediately springs back up and looks for any way out of the holding cell. The Diamond Dogs had taken his sonic screwdriver, so he won’t be able to use that.

While the Doctor scurries around looking for a way to escape to no avail, Ditzy gazes out at the stars through the large window. The vastness of the cosmos is beautiful to her, and she wishes she could look at space this closely more often.

“Doctor, I want a window like this to be installed into the TARDIS,” Ditzy wishes. The Doctor acknowledges her request with a nod.

The ship reaches its first destination. Doctor recognizes it as Zendon IV. It’s not a frequent visiting place for the Doctor, but it is still precious to him. All planets and life forms are precious to the Doctor. He and Ditzy watch as many cruisers swoop down onto the planet’s surface. The cruisers disappear in the distance.

The Diamond Dogs are notorious for wreaking havoc on civilization and being extremely quick and skilled miners. Within hours the cruisers come back filled with ore. The Doctor could only imagine what sort of chaos they caused while on the surface.

Just as the cruisers are hovering back into the ship to unload the gems, a voice speaks via the intercom throughout the ship. A buzzing voice says, “Prepare for cannon fire.” The Doctor thinks that the ship is being attacked, but he soon realized he is far from correct.

The ship vibrates as something very large shifts on the exterior of the vessel. Before the Doctor could draw conclusions, a massive burst of energy shoots from the top of the rig and aims toward the doomed planet. Ditzy watches in horror as the debris scatters into space. The Doctor stands there in disbelief at what he just witnessed. All of those inhabitants never even had a chance to escape the sudden catastrophe.

Ditzy knows there’s absolutely nothing she can say or do to cheer him up, so she just leaves him be.

Planet after planet, the same process ensues. Doctor Whooves becomes more depressed each time he feels the loss of billions of lives. Ditzy, feeling his sorrow and anger, becomes equally dispirited.

“All I wanted was to show you a good time and have fun with you,” the Doctor says, making a sudden reach for conversation. “I never wished for such terrible events to befall on us.” His voice is cracking. He is trying his best to fight back tears. Ditzy says nothing, but moved to sit down next to him and put her head on his shoulder. She is unsure of what to say after everything they just witnessed, so she puts words aside and just tries to comfort him with her own presence.

A crude voice buzzes through the intercom again, “The ship is entering an electric storm. All personnel are to be careful until the ship passes through and the All Clear is given.”

The Doctor immediately perks up and leaps to the forcefield. Ditzy is confused by his excitement. “It’s just an electric storm,” she says.

“Yes, but it may be enough to slightly weaken the forcefield generator so that I may jump through somewhat unscathed!” the Doctor says.

“’Somewhat unscathed’?” Ditzy isn’t sure that this is a good idea but it may be the only chance they get.

The lights flicker as the ship passes through the storm. Doctor takes that as a queue to lunge forward. To the amazement of both of the ponies, though the Doctor wouldn’t show his, he managed to get through without killing himself. Doctor Whooves smashes the controls and the forcefield dissipates, enabling Ditzy to escape.

With the situation under his control now, Doctor Whooves proclaims, “Allons-y.”

* * *

Ditzy and Doctor Whooves race down the hall of the massive vessel. They have no clue of where they are headed.

“My ‘Doctor Sense’ is telling me to go this way,” the Doctor claims.

“’Doctor Sense’?” Ditzy questions his authenticity, “I’ve never heard of that.”

“Neither have I! I’m just winging it!” the Doctor cheerfully admits.

The ponies reach a fork in the hallway. The lights are still flickering, signaling that the ship has yet to come out of the electric storm. They decide to turn right since there are windows along the right wall showing the outside. The storm clouds are very thick. The ponies think for sure that this hall will lead somewhere. They gallop through the hall. They haven’t seen any guards, so they remain cautious.

Ditzy and Doctor Whooves notice when the ship exits the electric storm. The lights go back to normal and the “All Clear” is issued over the intercom. Ditzy stops as she notices something in the distance. At first, it is hardly noticeable, but when she looks harder she recognizes the large black void. Doctor rushes her to keep up, but then he notices it, too: a black hole.

The duo must hurry now, not just to save their selves, but to save the whole ship and its crew from a catastrophic event. They are apparently going in the right direction since it didn’t take long to reach a room that appears to be the bridge. They see Killer atop his throne and a few guard Dogs. They also spy the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver on a pedestal next to Killer’s throne.

Doctor Whooves throws caution to the wind as he gallops to the Diamond Dogs in a frantic attempt to warn them of the impending doom. Since the Dogs know next to nothing about space travel, they believe Doctor’s story to be a hoax to distract them from their goal.

“Guards, put them back in their cell. I will hear nothing about this ‘black hole’ you claim exists, Doctor,” Killer says, not believing the existence of such a destructive force.

“Please! You must believe me! You’re heading towards a void that will kill us all if you don’t change your course!” the Doctor pleads with all of his heart. He doesn’t want to see Ditzy fall victim to the ignorance of the Diamond Dogs.

Two grunts come up behind Ditzy and seize her. Doctor Whooves gallops to them to stop them from harming her, but he, too, is captured by two other grunts. Doctor is strengthened by his emotions for her and breaks away from their grasp to fight off Ditzy’s attackers. Ditzy is freed as well and makes a break for the screwdriver. She flies towards it, but Killer is there and viciously prevented her from taking it.

All the while the ship is steadily getting closer to the black hole, and the inevitable doom is eagerly waiting. The ship trembles as the gravity starts to take effect. Diamond Dog and pony alike are in trouble now…

* * *

The ship’s hull creaks as the intense gravity stretches it. By now, the Dogs are panicking as they realize that the Doctor isn’t lying after all. Even Killer is frantic. Ditzy takes the opportunity to grab the sonic screwdriver and bring it back to Doctor Whooves.

“We should all get to the escape pods! NOW!” the Doctor explains.

“They’re in that direction!” Killer points to a hallway opposite of where the ponies came in from.

Ditzy and the Doctor head towards it. By the time they reach it, the bridge is torn apart and sucked into the black abyss. The Doctor is quick to use his screwdriver to close the hatch at the entrance of the hall so that the vacuum of space couldn’t suck them out, too.

Doctor looks into Ditzy’s eyes and says, “Run.”

The two sprint through the hall to where the escape pods are located. Warning lights are flashing everywhere and sirens are blaring throughout the ship. The ponies reach the escape pods and were about to get into one when the very hall they traveled through is ripped away into the black hole.

Ditzy is too slow to grab something before the vacuum takes her away, too.

Doctor Whooves catches her just before it was too late, but the moment her hooves swept off the floor, it was already too late. The Doctor won’t be able to pull her back in. The combination of the vacuum of space and the gravity of the black hole is too much for Doctor Whooves to fight. He knows this deep in his heart, but he refuses to believe it for a single second.

Ditzy gazed into the Doctor’s eyes, fear clouding her own derped eyes, as the ruthless tug of war strains on her fragile body. Ditzy knows that she won’t come back safely with the Doctor.

Her eyes un-derp for just a few seconds as she speaks in a soft voice to the Doctor.

“Hey… Funny situation, isn’t it?” She tries her best to look up on the situation, but the painful awareness of her own demise is consuming her. She is on the brink of tears, her bashful eyes welling up in fear and pain.

The Doctor can no longer contain his own tears, knowing he is about to lose the best friend he has ever had.

Ditzy murmurs her last words, “Remember to put that window into the TARDIS, okay?”

“*sniff* O-okay, Ditzy, I’ll do that.” The Doctor tries a smile through his tears.

“I… I don’t want to go, Doctor,” Ditzy is no longer able to fight back her tears and they stream down her face in crystal rivulets.

“I know, Ditzy… I know…” Doctor’s tears ran down his face. He reminisces on all the memories he had with her. He wishes he could go back to those times. He wishes he had never taken her to the caverns. He wishes he had never taken her on that first adventure, eliminating all the times she was ever in danger. Eliminating this situation altogether.

“I know what you’re thinking, Doctor. I’m happy that you took me on adventures. Before we met I was just a mail mare, but now-” Ditzy interrupts herself and corrects herself, “then… I had fun and couldn’t ask for anything more than to be with you. All things must come to an end sooner or later…” Ditzy gazes at Doctor Whooves with loving eyes.

The Doctor looks up at her. Her teary eyes look at him now with love rather than fear. Her soft grey fur and her ice cream yellow mane flap behind her. The dark abyss awaits its victim. The Doctor wants nothing more than to go back and stop himself from ever interacting with her, so that this could be avoided.

So that these feelings could be avoided.

With one final choke from her crying, Ditzy finally said, “Goodbye, Doctor.”

With that, she let go of Doctor.

Doctor Whooves softly cries, “Goodbye… Derpy…”

A name means everything to a pony. Even Ditzy Doo.
A.k.a. Derpy Hooves.

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