Much like a fine blade, love tempered in the fires of passion and hardened by adversity will stand against all trials it may face. However, love sought through anger and violence shall not persist. Can a simple changeling drone learn the true nature of love and will the love that he never knew he could have withstand the tests set before it?

Or will it crack and shatter like brittle steel?

< Coverart done by ShrineHeart >
< ON HAITUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE >

Traveling between parallel universes is impossible, especially during the process of regeneration, but the Tenth Doctor doesn't have time to question the facts. He's just been thrust through a tear in the fabric of reality, gotten a new body, and landed on a planet called Equestria. Specifically, he's landed in the worst possible place in all Equestria – somewhere that's ready to unleash a “big ol' storm of chaos”.

That's just the beginning of the Doctor's strange new lease on life: there's a whole host of mysteries to explore. Who is Derpy Hooves, the gray pegasus who understands more about him than even she knows how to explain? How does Princess Celestia already know him? And what's the truth behind the Order?

Above all, the Doctor needs to discover if this new universe can heal the wounds he suffered in the last. Only one thing is certain: there's an awful lot of running left to do.

(Warning: For those of you who haven't watched up to the Doctor Who episode 'The End of Time'... spoilers. Also, this story begins between Seasons 2 and 3 of FiM, and things start to... diverge from there.)

Side stories can be found at The Merely Mundane Tales (of a Mad-Pony in a Box).

For a thousand years, there was just Celestia. Then Cadance appeared, Luna returned -- and now Twilight has ascended. There are ponies who are very curious about just what happened, why -- and how. Especially the how. Twilight herself is on that list, a freshly-minted princess with far more questions than answers, about to face a brand new one: what truly makes an alicorn?

And what happens if it goes wrong?

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Cover art by Harwick.