Question and Answer 1! · 8:14pm Sep 5th, 2014
Ladies and gentlemen, you asked the questions and I have the answers. Sadly, it adds up to a grand total of two askers, but hey—that's something. And I am still accepting questions, so ask away!
A review of the asking rules:
1: Send your questions via PM to me. In these PMs, please indicate whether you'd like me to answer as myself (the author) or whether you'd like to ask a character, and if so, which one. You can ask any character I've included thus far in either the main or the side stories. (You can also specify if you'd like the question to be asked anonymously.)
2: Please note that I may not be able to answer every question. I mean, I may want to, but if something gets into spoiler territory I won't be able to say much, if anything. Oh, and if a question is really offensive or it has curse words in it or something then I probably can't answer it either.
And now, here are your questions and here are your answers!
Unknownlight said:
Q: Hi Doctor. A big part of your personality throughout all your adventures spanning a thousand years is that you're wild and free—you explore the universe to its fullest and when your companions can no longer keep up with you, you say goodbye to them. Now you're in a parallel world with a brand new universe to explore! What's to stop you from ditching your friends when you finish your new TARDIS like you have all your friends before? Are you willing to give up so much of who you are for the sake of not hurting people's feelings?
And the Doctor had this to say in response:
Oh, okay, I “ditch” all my friends. That's nice, yeah. Really, um, tactful.
Just to set the record straight, I never leave people behind just because they can't “keep up”, whatever that means. Some go home because they must, some because they should, and others because they—not me, that's the crux of the thing, they—want to. And some... don't go home.
… moving on, why on Equestria—or off it—would I want to abandon my friends so I could see the universe? What kind of dichotomy is that? Because let me tell you right now, it takes two to TARDIS (or six, as the case may be—the more, the merrier). Imagine how much poorer an experience it would be if left unshared.
And one last thing—it's just as often a question of me keeping up with them as it is the other way round.
(I think you touched a nerve.)
Anyway, our next questioner asked to remain anonymous, and they had this to say:
What gave you the idea for the Betaurans, both as a species and a [war-mongering] race? Similarly, that they have magic alongside technology. Can you expound on the nature of their magic?
Why the 10th doctor as your template?
To Bon Bon: Milk, dark, bittersweet, or unsweetened chocolate?
This is your author speaking. Strap in, because this will be a long answer.
Betaurans got a few things mixed together, actually. The obvious influence is Doctor Who's Sontarans—a bunch of war-mongering aliens who are somewhat shorter than humans/Equestrians. But honestly, the notion of all Sontarans being warmongering is great for satire, but a little awkward if you actually wanna meet and interact with them non-antagonistically. So it eventually came to pass that Betaurans were a war-loving race until recently. As stated in the chapters, they've just had their Last Grand Unifying War a few decades ago, and the crew of the Duchy are part of the first generation of Betaurans to grow up during peacetime. I hope I did a decent job of exploring how that might affect them individually (Qeta feels like it's a brand new world brimming with possibility, whereas Luso is trying to recapture what he sees as the glory of the past, for example).
Also, I kinda wanted this story to feel like Doctor Who, and when you've got aliens in Doctor Who, they're often people in suits—so the obvious analogue would be something quadrupedal for an Equestrian Doctor Who. Oh, and the last bit is the name: Beta + Taurus. Hence, double the normal number of horns. Wordplay is the best.
Oh, and incidentally, there is no Betauran analogue for a pegasus. I'm not sure when I decided that, but that's the way it is. Even their alicorn analogues don't have wings (these being the Archdukes: you may see them much later).
Now, as for their magic and technology... well, the way I wrote them, their magic is generally weaker and less all-purpose than Equestrian. Rarity probably has a finer control of hers than Luso ever did. And, of course, there's more magic geared toward fighting or medicine or whatever (such as Lorio's healing spell). But overall, it's weaker, which I guess could explain why they went for the route of technological advancement so much more than Equestria did... to be honest, I didn't really think of that. But I did now! So it's canon.
And why the Tenth Doctor? Because I like the Tenth Doctor. (And because fanon says he's the brown one who's associated with Derpy.)
Whoo, that was hefty. I almost forgot to let Bon Bon answer her question! So, Bon Bon, what is your favorite type of chocolate?
… oh, okay. She's telling me to do something anatomically unlikely to myself. That, or Hershey's has gotten very explicit in their chocolate flavors.
Heh. She's also yelling at me to not write that down, and comparing me to the end of a donkey. Well, maybe if she wanted to write something down herself then I wouldn't
Mint, actually. Jackhole.
Update: She stole my pencil, wrote that down, and then threw the pencil out the window—thank goodness I buy in bulk. Sorry, she's, uh... well, sometimes she has better days and sometimes she has worse days, and today is a worse day. Maybe I should have waited to mention the whole chocolate thing until later—she gets touchy about dessert foods.
Anyway, uh... there you have it! You asked the questions, I have the answers, and remember: I am still accepting new questions, so ask away!
(Oh, and expect to see something else today, too.)
