> Doctor Whooves: The Search For Derpy > by Jeseille-Hazim > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Doctor and Derpy had just returned from a hectic adventure in the past Germaney where they encountered some Daleks. They were back in the TARDIS, safe and sound. The Doctor leaned against the TARDIS walls. “Well, that was fun, wasn’t it?” the Doctor asked. “Yeah, that was fun, where do we go now?” Derpy replied. “Well, since I chose the last one. How about you choose the place we go to now?” the Doctor replied. “Hmm... How about... Las Pegasus?” Derpy said. “I’m an earth pony, remember? Not a pegasus,” the Doctor chuckled. “Oh, right.” Derpy giggled. “Pick something else,” the Doctor said. “Okay, how about we go see future us?” Derpy suggested. “You sure about that?” the Doctor asked. “Definitely, I want to see how much my friends and I have gotten ahead in life.” Derpy replied. “Okay then, but be warned. The future is not what it seems,” the Doctor replied. “Yeah, yeah, I get it.” Derpy said. The Doctor looked at Derpy with worried eyes. “You okay, Derpy? You seem to be different today,” the Doctor asked. “Yeah. Sorry, but I’ve been time traveling with you for many years. I think I can handle it.” Derpy replied. “Ah, right. Sorry about that,” the Doctor said. “It’s okay, I forgive you, so can we go then?” Derpy asked. “Yep, ready?” the Doctor asked as he walked over to the lever. “Yeah.” Derpy replied. “Allon-sy!” the Doctor yelled as he pulled the lever. The TARDIS started to fade away from where it was in Germaney. A few seconds later and it was gone. On the inside of the TARDIS, it started to shake which made the Doctor and Derpy lose their balance a little. They were used to it by now, especially the Doctor. The TARDIS started to fade into somewhere in the future of Equestria. The TARDIS ended up near the marketplace in Ponyville and was in an alley.The Doctor opened the door when it finally stopped and stepped out. Derpy followed suit and stepped out as well. They looked around from where they were. Equestria changed a lot over the years. New technology, remodeled houses, and lots of new ponies. “Well, here we are,” the Doctor said. “I can see that.” Derpy chuckled. “So, what do you want to do first?” the Doctor asked. “Well, seeing where we end up in the future can wait. Let’s look around for a bit and have some fun.” Derpy replied. “Alright, let’s go,” the Doctor said. The Doctor and Derpy left the alley and began to trot through the marketplace. Ponies were just buying their usual vegetables and other food. It was quite loud as usual with ponies arguing about the prices of the vegetables and other foods. The Doctor and Derpy started to talk, ignoring the sounds of the ponies arguing. “It amazes me how much Equestria has changed over the years,” the Doctor said. “Yeah, it’s amazing.” Derpy replied. The Doctor suddenly got somepony pushed into him. This pony was an male earth pony with a black mane similar to his and gray coat. He recognized him as Clover or Lucky, as ponies call him. The Doctor helped Lucky up and asked if he was okay. “You okay, Lucky?” the Doctor asked. “Yeah, just fine. The ponies who work at the marketplace can be assholes at times.” Lucky replied. “Oh? What happened, then?” the Doctor asked. “This stallion pushed me away when I kept refusing to accept his offer on broccoli.” Lucky replied. “Hmm, I know how much you love your broccoli. Let me talk to him,” the Doctor offered. “He’s right over there.” Lucky pointed his hoof towards the stallion. “Come, Derpy,” the Doctor said. “Okay.” Derpy simply replied. The Doctor trotted towards the stallion that Lucky pointed at, with Derpy following from behind him. The Doctor approached the vegetable stand and observed the stallion. He had a brown coat with a yellow mane. He seemed to be a bigger stallion than the rest of them. He also had a five o'clock shadow on his face. “Need something?” the stallion running the vegetable stand said. “A deep voice, too? Wow. Anyways, you seemed to push my friend Lucky here when you two were making a deal,” the Doctor replied. “Yeah, so? He’s the one not accepting my offer,” the stallion said. “Per se, what was your offer?” the Doctor asked. “10 bits,” the stallion replied. “Last week, it was 5 bits!” Lucky interrupted. The Doctor turned to Lucky. “Lucky, I know you’re my friend and all, but why is this such a big deal? Just pay him 5 extra bits,” he said. “Because I only have 7 bits on me.” Lucky calmed down and replied. “Oh, well I suppose I could spare some bits,” the Doctor offered. “Really? Thanks!” Lucky replied. “No problem, what are friends for?” the Doctor said. The Doctor turned his towards the saddlebag on his back and started to rummage through, trying to find some bits. Derpy suddenly tapped him on his shoulder. He didn’t turn back to face her and instead replied with, “Not now Derpy, I’m busy.” “But...” Derpy said. “Not now!” the Doctor replied. Derpy couldn’t take being yelled at anymore or ignored by the Doctor after the many times that she has and ran off crying. She thought he didn’t care about her anymore. She didn’t know where she would end up either. She thought that she would leave a letter informing the Doctor first. Moments later, the Doctor found 3 bits and gave them to Lucky. “There you go, Lucky,” the Doctor said. Lucky took his 7 bits out of his saddlebag and gave his and the Doctor’s bits to the stallion. The stallion accepted the bits and gave the broccoli to Lucky. He took the broccoli and put it in his saddlebag. He thanked the Doctor again and left without another word. “Now then, what did you want Derpy?” the Doctor said as he turned around. The Doctor realized that Derpy wasn’t there anymore. The Doctor trotted back to the TARDIS thinking that Derpy was there. Turns out that she wasn’t. All he found was a note on the door. He thought that it was Derpy’s hoofwriting since pegasi and earth ponies aren’t that good at writing as unicorns are. He noticed that there were tear stains on it as well. He took the letter and started to read it. “Dear Doctor, I’m writing this letter to you because I’m running away. I thought you didn’t care about me anymore because you always yell at me and ignore me. You didn’t use to yell at me or ignore back when we first met on that day Nightmare Moon came back. You can find a new assistant if you want, I won’t mind. Just don’t worry about me, I’ll be safe. Yours Truly, Derpy. P.S. I left a muffin for you if you look down.” By the time the Doctor finished, he was already in tears. The Doctor doesn’t cry too often because he knows that it’s not gonna help with the situation, but this just made his heart ache that he hurt Derpy’s feelings. He looked down and saw that she indeed did leave a muffin. He picked it up with his hoof and started to it. He continued to eat the muffin while still crying. “What have I done?!” the Doctor sobbed. The Doctor finished his muffin and went into the TARDIS. He tried to find a box of tissues but never found one. Instead he used a rag even though it was dirty from fixing the TARDIS earlier today. He couldn’t find anything else, so what else could he use? He dried his eyes of the tears and stopped crying. He trotted out the door, letting the rag fall onto the floor of the TARDIS. “I need to find her,” the Doctor whispered to himself. The Doctor ran out of the alley and ran up to a random mare he’s never seen before. “Excuse me, but have you seen a pegasus mare with a gray coat and blonde mane whose cutie mark is bubbles?” the Doctor asked. “Yeah, she told me that she was running away to there,” the mare pointed towards a mountain in the Everfree Forest. “Ugh, damn it!” the Doctor yelled. “You okay?” the mare asked. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just that I hurt her feelings when I yelled at her and she ran off,” the Doctor replied. “Wanna talk about it?” the mare asked. “Yeah, sure,” the Doctor replied. The mare went over to a wall and sat against it. She hit the ground next to her with her hoof a couple times. The Doctor took this as a hint that she wanted him to sit next to her and did so. “So, what happened between you two?” the mare asked. “Well, we’ve been friends for a couple of years. We’re not in a relationship or anything if you were wondering that. Anyways, we were trotting through the marketplace when all of a sudden I get one of my friends named Lucky pushed into me by this stallion running a vegetable stand,” the Doctor replied. “Wow, how rude,” the mare interrupted. “I know, right?” the Doctor agreed. “Continue,” the mare said. “So the stallion says that the broccoli is 10 bits and he only has 7 bits. I offer to give him 3 bits like the nice pony I am. While I’m in my saddlebag searching for 3 bits, Derpy, which is the pony I’m talking about, taps me on the shoulder. I don’t bother to turn around because I was busy and ended up yelling at her,” the Doctor finished. “Looks like you’ve got yourself in quite a pickle then,” the mare said. “Yeah, I know,” the Doctor replied. “You know, I used to have this friend that a situation happened between us similiar to this one,” the mare said. “Really? What happened?” the Doctor asked. “I don’t like to talk about it,” the mare said. “Oh, come on! We’re all friends here, you can tell me anything. I won’t make fun of you or anything,” the Doctor nudged her. “Okay, we had a fight and one thing led to another. Then we agreed that we would never talk to each other again and that’s how I ended up here. Basically, the short version of it all. I don’t want to waste your time to find your friend,” the mare said. “Ah, okay. Well, I guess I’ll be going then,” the Doctor said as he stood up. The mare also got up. “Good luck finding your friend in the Everfree Forest. That place can be really dangerous and scary at night, which it’s about to be,” the mare said. “Oh, I’m sure I can handle it. I’m the Doctor, I’ve been through way more dangerous and scary things than the Everfree Forest,” the Doctor replied. “The Doctor? Does that mean you work at Ponyville Hospital?” the mare asked. “Nope, I’m a different kind of doctor,” the Doctor replied. “Alright, look Doctor, I don’t know where you’ve been for the past 30 years, but the Everfree Forest has changed a lot,” the mare said. “I guess that means I’ll have more fun than I bargained for,” the Doctor chuckled. “You really are a crazy stallion, you know that?” the mare chuckled as well. “I know I am,” the Doctor winked. “She’s lucky to have a stallion like you who would go search for her after hurting her feelings. I hope you two do end up in an relationship. You would make the perfect couple,” the mare said. “Uh, thanks? Only time will tell,” the Doctor replied. “Well, go!” the mare yelled. “Right,” the Doctor said as he trotted off to the Everfree Forest, hoping to find Derpy. “He’ll never survive in there,” the mare chuckled and continued her day. > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Doctor stood in front of the Everfree Forest with a scared look on his face. “It’s okay, Doctor. Maybe it’s not that scary. Remember, you’re doing this for Derpy,” the Doctor said to himself. “One step at a time,” the Doctor said as he took one step towards the forest. Then he took a couple of more steps that he ended up a few inches into the forest. “See? It’s not that bad,” the Doctor said. The Doctor got the hang of it and continued through the forest cautiously, looking at the bushes and trees. He thought he saw some eyes looking at him through the bushes and just went with them being animals in the wilderness. He froze in place when he heard a roar and looked around in all directions. “What was that?” the Doctor questioned. The Doctor continued walking, ignoring the sound. Moments later, the Doctor found a cave and decided to check it out. He looked around, trying to find anypony else who was possibly living in the cave. If he found nopony, then he would just stay here for the night and continue looking for Derpy tomorrow. He found a huge pile of gems and observed them. “Hmm... I wonder who would leave a huge pile of gems in a cave unguarded?” the Doctor pondered. The Doctor heard some breathing behind him. Without even thinking, he turned around and found himself face-to-face with an angry green dragon with smoke coming out of his nostrils. “I guess that answers my question,” he thought aloud. “Hello there, Mr. Green Dragon,” the Doctor greeted. “Get out of my cave, right now!” the green dragon said angrily as he blew more smoke out, which evaporated into thin air. The Doctor coughed and took that as a hint to start running. The dragon started to chase him out of his cave and followed after him. The dragon blew some fire out of his mouth, which got part of the Doctor’s tail burned. The Doctor looked back, noticing that his tail got burnt. “Aw, I loved that tail,” the Doctor said aloud. The dragon then tried to hit the Doctor with his spiky tail, but he dodged the attack. He took this opportunity to run up his tail and onto his back. The dragon saw this and without thinking, he hit his back with his spiky tail. The Doctor jumped off before the spiky tail hit the dragon’s back and landed safely on the ground. He looked back at the dragon who seemed to fall afterwards. The dragon had blood oozing down its back with the tail still stuck there. The dragon was obviously dead. No dragon could survive that. “Brains wins over brawns, I guess,” the Doctor said as he looked upon the scene. The dragon released its last smoke before dying. The Doctor coughed a lot as the smoke went by him. There was so much smoke that the Doctor ended up breathing in a lot of it. He ran deeper into the forest, trying to get away from the smoke, but yet he collapsed on the ground unconscious from breathing in so much of it. The Doctor awoke in a hut and looked around. He saw that had masks, herbs, and a pot all around it. He recognized it as Zecora’s home in the Everfree Forest. He looked down from where he was laying and saw that he was on a bed. He sat up on the bed. “I see that you are awake, Doctor,” Zecora said as she entered the room. “How long was I out?” the Doctor asked as a ran a hoof through his mane. “A few hours,” Zecora replied. “Zecora, what happened?” the Doctor asked. “Well, I was walking around the Everfree Forest and I happened to see a brown pony unconscious next to a dead dragon. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was you. I brought you back to my hut afterwards,” Zecora replied. “Oh, no wonder I ended up here,” the Doctor coughed. “Here, drink this,” Zecora said as she hoofed the Doctor a drink. “What’s this?” the Doctor asked. “I thought that you had breathed in the dragon’s smoke, so I made this for you to clear up your lungs,” Zecora replied. “Oh, well alright,” the Doctor said. He then drank the drink and gulped it down. “Ah, much better!” the Doctor exclaimed. “Great to know,” Zecora said. “Did my tail ever grow back?” the Doctor asked. “Your tail?” Zecora questioned. “Yeah, when I was fighting the dragon, he burned part of my tail off,” the Doctor explained. “Oh, then yes it did. It grew back an hour ago actually, but I was wondering why it had been burned. Look back to see for yourself,” Zecora replied. The Doctor did as Zecora said and looked back at his tail. It had indeed grown back and the Doctor was happy that it did. “I guess I’ll be going then,” the Doctor said as he stood up and left the room. The Doctor and Zecora walked to the door together. The Doctor opened the door. Zecora placed her hoof on the Doctor’s shoulder. “Wait, before you go, why are you even in the Everfree Forest in the first place? And where’s Derpy?” Zecora asked. “She ran away to the Everfree Forest and I’m looking for her,” the Doctor replied. “Oh, well good luck then,” Zecora said. “Thanks and thanks for the drink!” the Doctor yelled as he ran out the door. Zecora walked outside of her hut. “You’re welcome!” Zecora yelled back. His running streak didn’t last for long as he tripped over a rock and fell. “I meant to do that!” the Doctor yelled. He got back up on all four of his hooves and continued to run. Zecora watched him run until he disappeared into the trees.“Oh, Doctor, what have you gotten yourself into?” Zecora said as she went back inside of her hut and closed the door behind her. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Glad I stopped that dragon, it’s a shame it had to die though, but good thing Zecora was there, the Doctor thought. The Doctor kept moving through the forest, avoiding obstacles here and there. Never once stopping, but then he had to stop when he could barely run anymore. He saw a bunch of trees obviously since it was a forest. He picked a random tree to lie against and catch his breath. He saw a lot of berries on the ground, but decided not to eat them. Curious, he picked up a berry with his hoof. He then examined them and saw that there was moss all around the berry. He was surprised that he could even tell that it was a berry. “Should I?” the Doctor thought to himself as he put the berry close to his mouth, but then he stopped himself. “No! Doctor, what are you thinking?! No way in Tartarus would I eat such a revolting berry such as this. It probably has a bunch of parasites in it.” The Doctor felt his stomach grumble. “Look, I promise I’ll get you food when I’m out of this situation of trying to find Derpy,” the Doctor argued with his stomach. The Doctor got a sudden realization. “Oh my Celestia, I’m going crazy. Look at me, I’m arguing with my stomach. Oh Derpy, I hope I can find you soon,” the Doctor said as he looked up at the night sky. “Wait, maybe I can go back to Zecora’s real quick and see if she has anything I can eat. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. We are good friends after all, plus she’s not that far away,” the Doctor realized. The Doctor dropped the berry and got up from where he was lying down. He then ran back to Zecora’s hut, which was literally five minutes away from where he was. He knocked on the door and waited for Zecora to open it. He got no answer so he decided to knock again. Again, he got no answer. Frustrated and starving, he looked through the so-called window of the hut. He didn’t see Zecora in there. Hmm... She probably went somewhere, the Doctor thought. He pushed the door open and let himself in. He looked around the room, checking everywhere for food. He even looked behind all the vases that were on the shelves. The Doctor calmed himself down a bit. “Now if I were a zebra, where would I put my food?” the Doctor asked himself. “Oh, don’t be silly! Why would a zebra hide their food differently than the rest of us equines? the Doctor conferred. The Doctor looked to his left and saw an apple on the ground. He walked over and picked it up his hoof. “Huh... How come I never noticed this before when I was frantically searching all over the place?” the Doctor wondered. The Doctor looked all over the apple. “Looks safe to eat,” the Doctor observed. He went for it and took a bite out of the apple. “Mmm... Delicious!” the Doctor said as he chewed on the apple. “Good thing Zecora didn’t have pears. I hate pears and I wish they never existed,” the Doctor said as he took another bite of the apple. The Doctor finished the apple a few minutes later and looked around. The place looked like a mess. Since the Doctor knew Zecora would be mad at him for doing this, he decided to clean up the place for her so she wouldn’t have to do it herself. He had to be quick though, Zecora would be back any second. A few moments later and the hut wasn’t a mess anymore. Everything was back to where it originally was before the Doctor trashed the place while in a desperate need of food. “Ah, perfect. Now to get out of here before Zecora comes back,” the Doctor said as he admired his work. The Doctor went outside of the hut and saw Zecora not that far away from it. Thinking quickly, he jumped behind a nearby bush and watched as she came closer to the hut. She looked like she had a few things that she bought from the market. “I guess she still makes trips there,” the Doctor whispered. The Doctor watched as Zecora continued to come closer to the hut. Finally, she got there and opened the door. She opened the door and went inside, closing the door behind her. “Wow, that was almost too easy!” the Doctor exclaimed. Suddenly, Zecora came back outside to see what that sound was. The Doctor got worried and ducked down. Gah, how could you be so stupid, Doctor? the Doctor thought as he mentally slapped himself. Zecora looked around and saw that there was nopony or creature anywhere, not knowing that the Doctor was behind a nearby bush. The Doctor got the feel of relief as he heard the sound of a door closing. He thought that Zecora had gone inside. He got up and saw that she had really gone inside. He went up to the hut and looked in through the window. He saw that Zecora was mixing up some kind of potion. “Now that my work is done, I can continue looking for Derpy,” the Doctor whispered. He sneaked away from the hut and once he was a safe distance away from it, he ran. He found his way back to the same tree he lied against before. He decided to lie against it again to take a little break. “Wow, what an exhausting day,” the Doctor yawned. “I’m sure Derpy wouldn’t mind waiting a little longer,” the Doctor said. Usually the Doctor would object to this, but now he was just plain tuckered out. “Hopefully no animal will come by and eat me,” the Doctor chuckled. The Doctor found himself closing his eyes and falling into a deep slumber, hoping that nothing bad happens to him while he’s sleeping. > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Huh? Where am I?” the Doctor asked out loud, confused. He surveyed the area and saw some ponies gathering in a field. It looked like they were wearing all black. Curious, he went to see what was going on. He got there and saw that there was actually a funeral going on. He stood there and listened to the ponies who were saying a few words about the pony who died. After they finished, the ponies decided to bury the coffin. Some ponies that volunteered carried the coffin over to the grave and gently laid it down into the grave. Then they started to shovel the dirt back in. Once they were done and had left, the Doctor stayed back. He approached the grave and saw that the tombstone had some words engraved on it. “HERE LIES DERPY” The Doctor was brought to his knees by this. “No... No... NO!” the Doctor shouted out loud, not caring if anypony heard him. “Derpy can’t be dead, she just can’t...” the Doctor sniffled as he wiped away his own tears. Suddenly, a head and two hooves came out of the grave. The Doctor was jumped back by this. “D-Derpy?” the Doctor stammered. “Why didn’t you save me, Doctor? Why?” the dead Derpy called out. “I was going to save you, but then I dozed off!” the Doctor replied. “Now you’re going to pay for what you’ve done... BY COMING WITH ME TO THE GREAT BEYOND!” the dead Derpy shouted. Thinking quickly, he started to run away. It was no use as he felt two hooves grasp his hind legs and start hauling him towards the grave. “Help!” the Doctor called out, hoping somepony would hear him. Somepony did hear him, some ponies in fact. Suddenly, the ponies from earlier came back, but not to help him. Instead, they had rocks in their hooves that they were ready to throw. Without a word, they threw the rocks at the Doctor. He felt pain as most of the rocks landed on his spine and other unmentionable parts. He held on to the edge of the ground with his fore legs. Looking down, he saw fire. Looking back up, he saw a little colt run up to the edge with a evil grin on his face. The little colt used his forelegs to push a hoof off the edge. He succeeded in doing so. The colt moved to his other hoof. “No! Please.. Don’t do it,” the Doctor begged. The colt merely chuckled and pushed his other hoof off the edge. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” the Doctor shouted as he was engulfed in the flames. The Doctor awoke the next morning with a jump. He quickly opened his eyes and looked around to see if he was still in the same spot as last night. It turns out, he was still under the same tree he fell asleep at. Looking down, he saw that he was unharmed. He then saw that there was no traces of burn marks either. Other than some leaves that fell onto him, he was okay. With a sigh of relief, he got onto all four of his hooves. “Oh, thank Celestia it was just a dream!” the Doctor exclaimed. He still felt like rocks had actually been thrown at him. He then heard a voice. He couldn’t tell if it was a mare or stallion so he perked his ears up to listen more intently. Once he had done that, It started to sound like a little colt actually. A colt who was probably lost or something. Being a nice-hearted pony, he decided to help the colt. He trotted closer to where he had heard the voice. Apparently, the voice was coming from behind a bush. He didn’t have to take another step when the colt came out from behind the bush. This colt seemed familiar to him and that’s when he thought back to his dream. He had an image in his head of the colt that pushed him off the edge and they looked pretty much identical. “Wait, he’s real?!” the Doctor whispered to himself. “Hi!” the little colt greeted. “Stay back!” the Doctor yelled as he backed himself up against the tree the farthest he could go. He even stood on his hind legs to see if he could go farther, which resulted in only getting a smidge more. He had sweat going down his face and his irises were pinpricks. “Are you okay, mister?” the little colt asked, worried about this stallion he just met. “No, I’m not okay because you’re going to kill me!” the Doctor yelled causing some saliva to come out of his mouth and onto the colt’s face. The colt wiped the saliva off his face with his hoof. “Why would I want to do that?” the colt asked. “Wait, you’re not going to kill me?” the Doctor asked the colt, slightly calming down. “Of course not,” the colt replied. “Oh, well okay then. Then why are you here in a scary forest like this?” the Doctor asked, completely calming down and standing on all four of his hooves again. “I just came here to get my ball. I had to come back here several times. You got hit with it most of the times while you were sleeping,” the colt explained. “So that’s why I kept getting hit with rocks from those ponies in my dream and still felt the pain when I woke up,” the Doctor whispered to himself, making sure the colt didn’t hear it. He didn’t want to explain his dream to a colt of young age. “Hey mister, what’s your name?” the little colt asked, curious. “The Doctor,” he replied. “Doctor who? You got a last name?” the colt asked again, still curious. “Nope, it’s just the Doctor,” the Doctor replied. “Oh,” the colt said. “What’s your name?” the Doctor asked. “Brawny Boulder,” the colt replied. “With that kind of name, I can tell you’re going to grow up to be a really strong earth pony,” the Doctor replied. “Heh, thanks!” the colt replied. “No problem,” the Doctor said. The Doctor turned around and saw that the colt’s ball was near a bush. The Doctor then walked over to where it was and picked it up with his hoof. He walked back to where the colt was standing and extended his hoof towards him. The colt took the ball with his own hoof. “See ya around?” the colt asked. “Possibly,” the Doctor replied. The colt then ran off with a smile, leaving the Doctor alone. “I better hurry up and find Derpy, which isn’t possible with all the bad luck I’ve been having. I don’t want to experience another one of those dreams again,” the Doctor said as he rubbed his head with his hoof. “I hope that colt’s going to be okay though. He should at least have some parental supervision,” the Doctor thought as he trotted deeper into the forest. > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Ugh, I keep thinking about that colt. What if he got injured on the way back?” the Doctor asked himself as he continued walking through the forest. “Nah, he’s probably fine,” the Doctor replied to himself. The Doctor, not paying attention to where he was going, bumped into a tree. He looked down at the ground and saw some berries. Then he realized that this was the same tree from earlier. “Are you serious right now?” the Doctor asked himself. “I went around in a circle?!” the Doctor shouted loud enough to wake some owls up from sleeping. The owls glared at him for this. “Heh, sorry,” the Doctor whispered. The owls ignored this and went back to sleep. “Gah! I can’t believe myself!” the Doctor shouted quieter as he sat down and put his head into his hooves. He looked up from his hooves and saw that there was a pond nearby. “A pond? In the Everfree Forest? My brain must be playing tricks on me,” the Doctor pondered. He thought about it for a while and decided that he would go check it out to make sure if it’s real or not. He got up from where he was sitting and started walking cautiously towards it. For all he knew, it could’ve been a trap. He made it to the pond and knelt down. He slowly put his hoof in the water and brought it back out. The water seemed to just drip off his hoof back into the pond. “Nothing happened. Huh...” the Doctor said, surprised that it wasn’t a trap. “Might as well clean myself up. I’ve gotten a bit of mud and leaves on me while being in here so why not?” the Doctor said. Deciding to just jump right in, he walked back a few steps to get a running start. He then ran and jumped into the water, getting every part of his body wet. He emerged out of the water and spit some water out, back into the pond. He relaxed against the end of the pond. After moments of just relaxing there, he grabbed onto the ground and got out of the pond. Obviously seeing that there were no towels or anything to dry himself with, he just shook himself. He got all the water off after a while and stretched. “Well, that was nice, I suppose,” the Doctor said. “Glad nothing bad happened when I was in there,” the Doctor said once again and continued walking. Alas, the Doctor was wrong as the pond started bubbling and something began to climb out. “Oh dear... I had a feeling this wouldn’t end well,” the Doctor said as he turned around to look at the pond. He closed his eyes and braced for the inevitable. When he opened them, he didn’t expect that he would see this. On the ground in front of him was a baby alligator that was way smaller than him. Thinking that it was harmless, he knelt on the ground and reached a hoof over to pet him. However, this wasn’t an ordinary baby alligator since this was the Everfree Forest after all. As soon as he got close to the alligator, its teeth grew to a massive size. The Doctor began scooting away at this. “Yep, I think this might be a good time to run,” the Doctor said with fear visible in his eyes. The Doctor got up and started running away from the alligator. He looked around as he was running for somewhere to hide. He looked behind him at one moment and saw that the alligator was fairly close to him. His legs then started to get tired. The Doctor looked down at his legs. No, I’ve got keep going! The Doctor thought as he forced his legs to keep going even though they started to hurt. The Doctor looked ahead again to continue looking for a place to hide. He saw that same tree again. There’s that damn tree again, the Doctor thought. He looked closer and saw that there was a log in front of it. When was that there? the Doctor wondered. The Doctor took a chance and used the log as a way to get onto one of the branches. He jumped on the log and then jumped onto the branch. Now the Doctor wasn’t very good at aerobics so he only got his forelegs on the branch. He pulled the rest of himself up and held onto the branch for dear life. He looked down and saw that the alligator was trying to get on the tree too, but failed to do so. The alligator growled at the Doctor and went back into the pond. “I’m actually glad to see you for once,” the Doctor said as he wiped his forehead of sweat from running. “Well, it was stupid and pointless of me to go in that pond for two reasons. I just nearly got killed by a baby alligator and now I’m sweaty again,” the Doctor said as he pointed out the obvious. “At this rate, I’m never gonna find Derpy if I keep going around in circles,” the Doctor said as he got rid of some tears that came down his face. “Doctor!” called out somepony familiar. “Derpy?!” the Doctor called out as well. “I’m over here, Doctor!” Derpy called out again. The Doctor got down from the tree and starting running towards the sound of Derpy’s voice. He turned around the corner and saw Derpy standing there. He ran towards her and gave her a hug. “Oh, Derpy... You have no idea how sorry I am,” the Doctor said with tears running down his face. “It’s too bad you don’t know who I really am,” Derpy said. The Doctor had a confused look on his face as he pulled away from the hug. “Huh? What do you mean, Derpy?” the Doctor asked. The pony who he thought was Derpy suddenly turned into a changeling. The Doctor looked around the area and saw that changelings were coming out from trees and bushes. They were soon ganging up on him. “Crap,” the Doctor said before he was knocked out. > Chapter 5 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Doctor... Please wake up,” Derpy pleaded. “Ugh, five more minutes,” the Doctor mumbled in his sleep. Derpy was upset that he wasn’t waking up. She had made a few attempts at this already. Having enough of this, she started nudging the Doctor. Even though she loved the Doctor and wouldn’t do this usually, he had to wake up somehow. The Doctor finally woke up and got up. He looked around and took in his surroundings. He was in a jail cell guarded by a changeling. While looking around, he saw that Derpy was in the cell with him. Then he remembered how he got here in first place. “You! You’re the reason why I’m stuck in this stupid cell!” the Doctor shouted while pointing an accusing hoof at Derpy. Derpy thought about this for a moment. Then she realized what he was talking about because she too had the same thing happen to her. “Doctor, I’m the real one. You have to believe me,” Derpy replied in a calm voice. The Doctor sat down for a moment and thought about this. Should I trust her or should I not? Some part of the Doctor’s brain was telling him that this was the real Derpy. While another part of his brain was telling him that this was another fake one. Meanwhile, Derpy was waiting for the Doctor to make up his mind. She knew him for doing this kind of thing ever since she met him a couple of years ago. Hopefully, he would listen to her. The Doctor then realized something. Wait, if it’s really a changeling then why would it be in a cell with me? Gah! What’s seriously wrong with me? “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” the Doctor yelled at himself as he hit himself in the head. “Doctor, stop!” Derpy yelled out as she ran over to him. Derpy grabbed the hooves that the Doctor was using to hit himself and stopped him. “Listen Doctor, I’m not sure if you trust me or not but you are honestly the most smartest stallion I know. Even though we’ve both had horrible experiences when time traveling, you somehow end up saving both of us. So please think of a plan to get us out of here. I know you can do it.” Derpy said. “Wow, Derpy. That’s probably the most inspirational thing you’ve ever said to me,” the Doctor said. “So, do you believe that I’m the real one?” Derpy asked. The Doctor nodded his head with a smile. Then he brought in Derpy for a hug, which she gladly accepted. “It’s great to have you back, Derpy,” the Doctor said. The Doctor broke out of the hug after a while. “We still gotta figure out how to get out of here though,” the Doctor whispered so the changeling guard wouldn’t hear him. Just as he whispered that, the changeling got up and left. The changeling left a note saying that it was time for its lunch break in its place. “Wow, you would think that the changelings would be more professional,” the Doctor said. “Do you have your sonic screwdriver with you, Doctor?” Derpy asked. “Always,” the Doctor said as he pulled it out and flashed a grin. The Doctor went up to the front of the cell and looked at the lock on the other side. “It’s a metal lock, looking a bit rusty. Probably been banged up over all these years. It should be an easy job though,” the Doctor said. The Doctor turned on the sonic screwdriver and pointed it towards the lock. Then he pressed the button on it and the sonic screwdriver worked its magic on the lock. The lock fell onto the ground with a clang. Hoping one of the changelings didn’t hear that, he pulled the cell door open. Both of them left the cell and looked around for a way to escape. Then they suddenly realized how dark it was. Other than a few lanterns on the wall, there was no other source of light. The Doctor turned on his sonic screwdriver again and used that as a light source. They started walking slowly, trying to find an exit. Have to find some way to get out of here without getting caught. Celestia knows that wouldn’t end well. “Try to find an exit, Derpy,” the Doctor whispered. “Okay,” Derpy whispered back. About a half hour later, Derpy spotted a faint source of light at the end of the path. “Doctor, look! Over there!” Derpy whispered. The Doctor squinted his eyes to see the light and it turned out that Derpy was right. “Great job, Derpy! Let’s hurry up and get out of here,” the Doctor whispered. They ran towards the light source and quickly got out of there before anything else could happen. It was over yet though as Queen Chrysalis had appeared before their very eyes. “Think you could escape that easily?” Chrysalis questioned. “What do you want, Chrysalis? I’ve dealt with you enough times already” the Doctor asked, anger obvious. This was true, the Doctor had dealt with Chrysalis many times in the past before. “Why, nothing at all, Doctor,” Chrysalis answered him with a smug look on her face. “Then why did you capture Derpy and I?” the Doctor asked. “Because I always love to mess with you, I also see that you saved your friend from this predicament as well. Maybe if I messed with her more often, then I’d see you mad more often. Mm, that would be amusing,” Chrysalis said. “You leave Derpy out of this!” the Doctor yelled, getting into a fighting stance in front of Derpy. “Doctor...” Derpy said quietly. “Oh? And what are you going to do about it?” Chrysalis asked. “I’m going to... to...”the Doctor said, but then he stopped himself, not knowing exactly what he was going to do. “Exactly,” Chrysalis replied. “Wait, now I know what I’m going to do, I’m going to do what I’ve always done over all these years I’ve been a time traveler...” the Doctor said. “Well, what is it, Doctor?” Chrysalis said. “I’m going to... RUN!” the Doctor yelled out as he started running. Derpy also started running as he said this. Chrysalis started to run after them. “You won’t get away, Doctor!” Chrysalis said while chasing after them. Unfortunately, as they were running, Derpy ended up tripping over an unseen branch that had fallen on the ground. The Doctor suddenly stopped and looked back. “Get up, Derpy!” the Doctor yelled. “I don’t think I can, Doctor,” Derpy said. The Doctor sighed and slid his head under Derpy so that she would end up on his back. He then stood up and looked forward. He saw that Chrysalis was gaining on them and started running in the opposite direction. He kept running until he reached town and reached the alley where he had left the TARDIS in. He quickly turned and hid behind a dumpster that had been there. When he was hiding, he waited for Chrysalis to leave and thanked Celestia that he had turned the cloaking device on for the TARDIS. Meanwhile, Chrysalis reached the alley herself and surveyed it. “Hmm, they must’ve gotten away,” Chrysalis said. Chrysalis went back into the forest. The Doctor and Derpy then waited a few minutes just to be safe. Once those minutes were up, the Doctor got up from where he was sitting. “Your leg feeling better, Derpy?” the Doctor asked as he offered a hoof to help her up. “Yeah,” Derpy said as she took his hoof. The Doctor helped her up and then they walked towards the TARDIS. It then uncloaked itself as they got closer to it. The Doctor opened the door and held it open for Derpy. “After you, Derpy,” the Doctor said with a smile. “Thank you, Doctor,” Derpy said as she stepped in. The Doctor followed in after Derpy and closed the door. As the Doctor turned around, Derpy suddenly kissed him. Not knowing what to do because he didn’t want to upset Derpy, he gave in to the kiss. After a minute or so later, they broke the kiss. The Doctor was the first to speak. “Well, that was interesting. What happened just now and the adventure.” “Hehe, yeah,” Derpy said with a blush. “Derpy, have you had a crush on me for a while?” the Doctor asked with a slight grin. “Maybe?” Derpy replied. “Well, the truth is that I’ve also had a crush on you. After all these years we’ve worked together, I suppose it’s developed over time,” the Doctor said. “Same here,” Derpy said. There was an awkward silence for some time. “So do you really love me, Doctor?” Derpy asked. “Of course I do... Do you really love me, Derpy?” the Doctor asked. “Yes, a million times yes actually,” Derpy replied with a smile. “Well, then Derpy, would you like to go on a date with me?” the Doctor asked. “YES!” Derpy yelled out and grabbed his face to kiss him again. They broke the kiss after some time. “Well, let’s go home so we can have that date then,” the Doctor said. He set the destination to Ponyville in the present time and pulled the lever. The TARDIS then faded away from it’s future Ponyville spot until it was completely gone. The Doctor and Derpy were both excited to return home and have their date. They were also excited for many more dates and possibly something more.