Canterlot Castle:
Deep inside Canterlot Castle lay the throne room. Lining this room were pillars, and alongside those pillars were many stained glass windows. Each depicted an important part of Equestria’s history. From the founding of the Equestrian Nation and the Joining of the three Tribes (Pegasus, Unicorn, and Earth Pony) to the first ruler of Equestria, Queen Faust. The history continued on after that, from the rise and fall of the Crystal Empire and the unseating of a chaotic tyrant, to the 12-year long Griffon/Equestria Civil War, many days that had gone by were shown upon these walls. But it was one that always drew Princess Celestia’s attention the most. The banishment of her sister.
“Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light? There can only be one princess in Equestria! And that princess... will be me! No… A Princess is hardly a title befitting once such as I. No, a Queen shall be my title. The Queen of the Night.”
“Luna, please, come to your senses! I will not fight you! You must lower the moon! It is your duty!”
“Oh pllllleeeeasse, spare me your sympathy. If you had any of that, you would have shown a ounce of it to me! Look at the ponies, they bask in your precious light, dance and prance about in it but do they give a damn about me?”
“Luna…”
“Luna? Really, you should take your sobbing and begging, and all that pleading with you on the road like a showmare. I for one found it delightful. Sort of a one-pony theater piece, if you will. And really, don’t call me Luna anymore. I for one hardly think it fits my new status. Nightmare Moon… Yes, that works. Nightmare Moon! I have but one royal duty now: to destroy you!”
“Oh, dear sister. I am sorry, but you have given me no choice but to use these.”
Celestia let a small tear slip from her eyes at the memory of Luna’s screams but wiped it away before anypony could notice. She couldn’t afford the luxury of sympathy. A ruler must be strong, resolute, infallible. Emotions weren’t something she could afford to show, at least… Not in public.
“But… But every year it gets harder. It’s been almost 1,000 years since I had to banish my own sister, almost 1,000 years of ruling alone. Immortality, it can be both a boon and a burden. But, in this case, it is the latter. After all, what fun is there in enjoying your life as a Princess of Equestria and protecting your kingdom from harm if you have nopony by your side to share that life with?” Celestia thought to herself. “I’ve made far too many mistakes, trusted the wrong ponies when I shouldn’t have. I can name them all in my head. Bradwr Boltstrike, Spell Nexus, even some of my own personal students. Tartarus, and I can’t believe I’m even saying this, but perhaps my own sister in a way. I trusted them not to lose themselves in their power and ability, and yet they still let their arrogance consume them and turn them into something barely resembling the ponies I knew. If… If I could have stepped in sooner, maybe, just maybe things wouldn’t have turned out the way they have. But you can’t change the past. That is beyond anypony’s ability. Time in a way… I suppose it rots us all.”
“Princess?” A mare’s voice asked, breaking Celestia out of her reveries. “The morning court is waiting for you.”
“Y-Yes, thank you, Raven.” Celestia stammered out slightly as the pure white unicorn mare held up a clipboard in a pinkish aura of magic. Celestia smiled at the mare as Raven adjusted her glasses, she was always there by her side for whatever she needed. Never wavering, never faltering in her duties. She valued loyalty in her little ponies and Raven exemplified that trope.
“Perhaps… Perhaps she is the next bearer of the Element. I will have to start the search soon.” Celestia thought as she got up off her magnificent golden throne and started trotting forwards, casting a small glance to the portrait of Lu-No, Celestia reminded herself, Nightmare Moon. “After all, if the legends really are true… The stars are aligning. In a few months, it’ll be exactly that time. The prophecies all say SHE will return to the world of her birth on the 1000th year when the sun shines brightest.”
“Something on your mind, Princess?” Raven asked as the two walked down the hallways, the doors to the throne room opening with a creaking sound. “If I may speak out of turn, you seem fairly distracted right now.”
“No Raven, you’re not speaking out of turn. You are merely voicing your concerns,” Celestia replied. “But you needn’t worry yourself, My Little Pony, I was just thinking to myself. Earlier this morning, are you aware we had a… visitor of sorts?”
Raven nodded. She remembered the sky breaking open in a white flash of light early in the morning hour and hearing reports of what looked to be an old Trottingham Public Police Call Box flying over the city. She’d dismissed them as just gossip by various ponies with nothing better to do then let their imaginations wander or perhaps drunkards seeing things at the time, but if Celestia herself was concerned…
“Celestia, you honestly don’t think there’s such a thing as Extraequestrians do you? I mean, aliens, honestly!” Raven laughed.
“There are many mysteries about this world which we don’t understand. It’s wonderful, but strange at the same time. Perhaps there is room for things from other worlds as well on Equus. It doesn’t belong to us any more than the eagle owns the sky.” Celestia replied.
“A wise and insightful statement ma’am, but I honestly think that these rumors are simply that. Rumors.” Raven told her. Celestia looked out a window towards the morning sky before whispering these very words.
“Are you so sure?”
Meanwhile, when the Doctor awoke he found himself in someplace dark, and from the sounds of water dripping from someplace out of sight, damp as well. He grimaced, not exactly the warmest welcome he’d been given, was it? His ears twitched at the sound of singing coming from somewhere nearby. It was a soft, mournful singing. Who was doing it, the Doctor couldn’t even begin to guess, but never-the-less he pressed his head to a nearby stone wall and listened.
“Baptised in the water
You're draining the well
You built up your Heaven
On the back of Hell
Divine is the daughter
The dream that you sell
You built up your Heaven
On the back of Hell
The hybrid face of time and space
And all that's in between
Dimensions twist and turn amidst
the whims of one foreseen…” The voice sung in a Northern accent. Well, what the Doctor guessed what passed for Northern on this planet. Lots of planets had a North after all.
“Course, there are some who don’t actually have a north as such. Defies all logistics, yes, but nothing’s really that impossible. Well, except for Robin Hood,” The Doctor mused as he adjusted his eyes to the low light. He was in a cell, a dungeon of some sort if he had to guess. “Well, one good thing about my predicament is that I seem to have regenerated well, no issues to speak of…”
The Doctor then tried to stand, but then found himself fumbling to the ground. He sighed to himself.
“...Course, that doesn’t mean that there could be other issues as well. This… This is going to take some getting used to. Never regenerated into an entirely new species before. That’s got to be a Time Lord first.”
The Doctor’s ears twitched again as he heard the sound of… Hoofsteps?
“Right… A planet full of ponies, gotta keep that in mind,” The Doctor chastised himself before letting out a mental exclamation of “Oh yes! Discovering a new species, as sentient, walking talking ponies with their own culture can be considered that, always fun! Doctor, oh you beauty!”
The Doctor simply sat in his cell as the guards approached. All of them were clad in regal gold armor, Roman-like if the Last of the Time Lords had to make a comparison, and all but one had white fur. Two of them were pegasi, one white furred and the other orange. The third, and obviously the commander judging by his fancier purple adorned armor was a unicorn.
“You know, I’ve always wanted to say this, but take me to your leader,” The Doctor remarked before chuckling at his own joke and the irony of it all. “Honestly, I must have words with him or her. Taking me captive with no trial? Rude!” He sing-songed.
“Actually…” The unicorn answered him. “Only reason you’re locked up is because of possible insanity. A danger to everypony all around you, if what Mr. Rich (The Doctor had to hide his sniggers with a hoof at the name) had to say was correct. You’re trouble, simply put.”
The Doctor chuckled.
“Trouble's just the bits in-between! Besides, you don’t know who I really am do you?” The Doctor asked. “For all you know, I could be a humble pony. But then again, you could ask am I funny? Am I sarcastic? Sexy? Right old misery? Life and soul? Right-handed? Left-handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor or a liar? A nervous wreck?”
“You’ve got a mouth on you, that’s for sure,” The unicorn deadpanned. “And you keep on digging your grave deeper. For all we do know, you could be right. You could be a liar or a traitor. I know you are a “Right old misery” as you put it, that’s for sure.”
“Oh, back and forth, I do love that Shiny! Reminds me of the old days!” The northern accented voice exclaimed from his cell. “Shiny” gestured to his orange furred compatriot to walk over to the cell. Next thing the Doctor heard was the sound of metal against metal and a nervous stuttered shout of “S-shut it, you!”
“Lack of confidence, how the mighty have fallen. Step down from your father, Flashy. The North Wind’s coming, so better batten down the hatches.” The voice taunted and then there was the sound of an angered growl and a whispered: “Shut up.”
The Doctor looked highly amused by all of this.
“What’s so funny?” “Shiny” growled.
“Oh… Nothing, don’t really have to leave my cell for a good time when I’ve got you lot. Like a peanut gallery, you are.” The Doctor remarked.
“Who are you?” The unicorn asked. The Doctor simply smiled.
“I’m the Doctor, that’s who.”
“Doctor Who?” The unicorn asked and his captive burst out laughing, throwing his head back in sheer joy.
“Oh, now there’s a question I haven’t heard in a long time,” He chortled unable to contain his amusement. “Really far too long, actually.”
“Filthy was right, you are nuts.” The unicorn decided before gesturing to his men to come with him. As the small platoon walked off, the Doctor called after him.
“Just something to think about, if you see anything strange, anything out of the ordinary, ponies start dying and you don’t know why, come see me! There’s a reason I’m called the Doctor, I help out. Maybe bumble a bit along the way, but I do like to help when needed.” He yelled and the unicorn looked back at him.
“Oh, I’ve seen strange and out of the ordinary today.” He remarked.
“Really?” The Doctor asked gleefully. “Where? Just point me to it!”
“I’m looking right at it.” The unicorn deadpanned.
“...Suppose I set myself up for that one…” The Doctor mumbled to himself as the troops walked off. Unknown to him though, his words resonated in the unknown unicorn’s head…
“Should we contact the Pine Tops Mental Institute for this one?” The orange coated pegasus guard asked.
“Honestly… I don’t know.” His captain trailed off, really quite unsure of what to make of this new arrival to Equestria...