The 26th Cycle of Autumn, Year 3521 ARH
Dear Princess Celestia,
No matter what I do, it seems that I'm destined for absurdity to find me. Then again, perhaps it's not me. I've never had this sort of problem when I was in Canterlot. Perhaps Ponyville is some sort of beacon for the unusual, or maybe it's been near me all along and I've just been too busy sticking my nose into books to notice. I don't know. What I do know is that my break from oddities since the Changeling Invasion in Canterlot has come an end today in the form of a strange blue box.
You see, I was in the Everfree Forest picking viper weed and dragon root for my newest hobby, herbology, when I saw it. From seemingly nowhere it appeared before me, smoke rising from its roof. By this I do not mean I was looking down and then looked up and saw it as if it flew there when I was not looking, I mean it literally appeared before my eyes out of thin air. I've never heard of any sort of teleportation spell that could move something that large, and even if there was, I don't think the occupant could have done it, and you'll soon see why.
The box itself was about twenty-five hooves tall and about twelve by twelve hooves wide. After a second, the door swung open and out of it staggered a brown Earth pony, a colt. His features weren't unusual save for his clothing. I thought bow-ties and fez caps had gone out of style years ago. I'm glad I found him and not Rarity. I do have to admit his suit was pretty nice looking, though.
Before I could ask him who he was, he collapsed onto the forest floor before me. I quickly made my way to his side and found him to be fine for the most part. Still, to be sure I opted to bring him to Ponyville hospital. Before doing so, my curiosity overcame the best of me and I decided to take a peak inside his strange box. However, despite the fact that it was very bright outside, the interior of it failed to illuminate. Only darkness gazed back at me when I gazed inside. Shrugging it off, I decided against performing an illumination spell and carried the pony back to town.
As odd as he was already, the curiosities of this pony did not end at his strange teleportation device. At the hospital, the doctors reported he was going to be fine... and also that he had two hearts. Yes, two hearts. I've never heard such a thing, but if I didn't see his strange means of transportation I might have just labeled it as the doctors did, a medical anomaly. However, I think there's more to him than that. He's currently resting there though I intend to visit in the morning. I know you're busy with royal matters, but I thought it would be prudent to report this oddity to you. Please get back to me as soon as possible.
Your loving student,
Twilight Sparkle.
To my loyal student,
Don't ever think there isn't something worthy of my attention if it comes from your quill. The anomaly that now resides in Everfree was more than worth reporting, and its occupant even moreso. As it so happens, I believe I may know the identity of this strange colt you have referred to. We have met before. I will personally pay the hospital for his charges and meet you there the next cycle. Please try to delay him from leaving if he has recovered by then, though by no means should you attempt to hold him against his will.
Your loving mentor,
Celestia of Nitor
Princess Celestia walked through the halls of Ponyville hospital, the doctors and nurses of it taken in awe at her surprise morning visit, bowing as she walked past. At her side was Twilight, who enthused about this and that as they went, Celestia listening somewhat intently, though it appeared her mind was on other things. Eventually, they turned into a private suite where a brown Earth pony slept peacefully. Celestia walked to his bedside, smiling warmly at him.
"Hello again, old friend," she whispered. "So this is the time when you finally arrive? Fitting it would be at a crossroads."
Twilight glanced back at her, her face riddled with confusion. "Princess? I don't understand. Who is this?"
"An old friend. The Doctor."
The lavendar pony's look did not fade. "Doctor? Doctor who?"
Celestia smirked slightly at this. "Now that is the question."
Twilight stared blankly at her royal majesty. "Wah?"
The 57th Cycle of Autumn, Year 3521 ARH
One Month Later
"Today is the day, Twilight!" the Doctor said excitedly, quickly woofing down a waffle afterwards. In Twilight's kitchen he sat with its respected mare enjoying an early morning's breakfast.
"You say that every day," Twilight groaned.
"Yes, but today I really mean it!" the Doctor exclaimed. "I think I've finally figured out how to fix the TARDIS' power supply!" Finishing with his waffles, a muffin was next to meet his stomach's unsatisfied gaze. "I have to say, I had thought being a vegetarian for even a week was going to kill me. However this food is just so... so good!" To mark his point, he took a large bite of it, his mouth chewing the chunk like a machine before he swallowed it in one large gulp.
Twilight smiled at this. "You should try the Cakes' cupcakes. Pinkie really knows her stuff." She then pondered for a second. "You know, why don't you take a day off from your time machine and come hang out with me for once? We can visit Sugarcube for lunch."
"What?! But I'm this close to finishing repairs!" the bow-tie wearing colt protested. "There's just so much I want to see! An entire new, and very unique might I add, universe to explore!"
"And yet you've barely explored what's outside the front door," Twilight remarked. It was a true statement. The Doctor's strange mode of transportation had crashed into Everfree nearly a month ago and Twilight had taken in its strange occupant on the request of Princess Celestia, who for some reason claimed to 'know' him. Celestia had given her a bit of background on him, including the tiny little detail that he could travel through time without magic. And without limits.
He could travel through time without limits and without magic.
Twilight's jaw nearly dropped when she told her that.
It didn't matter though, she didn't mind housing the strange colt even if he was just a regular strange colt and not a 'Time Lord' since he seemed friendly enough. His only problem was he had a one-tracked mind. Twilight frowned. "I swear, you've been here for almost a month and yet I don't think I've ever seen you talk with anyone beside myself and Spike."
"B-But...," the Doctor stuttered.
Twilight's frown subsided. "My friends would just love to meet you! I mean actually talk to you, that is. You're outgoing, funny, and eccentric, and I don't care what Rarity says your bow-tie looks fine. They've been trying to throw a welcome to Ponyville party for you since you came here! But everytime I have to say 'nope, he'll probably be too busy with his TARDIS for that.'"
The hour-glass sporting colt smirked at that. "Say now, I do other things besides repairing the TARDIS all day!"
The lavender pony rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you read history books. I swear sometimes you remind me of my old self. Always learning but never learning what's most important!"
The Doctor sighed, throwing Twilight a smile. "You're right, you're right. I should take a bit of time off. I'm just not used to being around one place for any extended period." His smile then turned mischievous. "How about this? When I'm done repairs maybe we can spend a bit of time together."
Twilight's eyes widened at this. Though the Doctor hadn't mentioned many things about his own universe, he did mention that he often traveled with those he called his 'companions'. "W-Wah? Oh no. I have too much work to do here to go off being one of your assistants."
The Doctor smirked slightly. "Twilight, you're not thinking of it the right way."
Twilight paused, squinting in confusion for a second. Finally, she let out an embaressed laugh. "Oh, of course! Time travel." She could travel with doctor for a year as she perceived it and simply pop right back to the spot where she left a second later.
The Doctor smiled. "Now you've got it! So, do you want to?"
To say Twilight was enthusiastic about the prospect was an understatement. She bounced in the air squealing like a filly who had just gotten her cutie-mark. "Of course! I've always wanted to do something like this! Time travelling magic is just so hard to use and so limited..."
The Doctor raised his eyebrows at this. "I nearly forgot you could do that!" He paused for a second, an excited smile crossing his face, before blasting, "I love this planet!" He then squinted, quriking his head towards the door. "Right then, off to the TARDIS! Today is the day! Allons-y!" he exclaimed, gobbled down his muffin, stood up, and walked towards the treehouse's backdoor.
"Today's the day," Twilight conceded, rolling her eyes slightly.
Before he exited, however, the Doctor paused, turning towards Twilight with an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face. "Twilight, before I go...." He paused a second, gathering his thoughts before saying, "The TARDIS brought me here for a reason. Have you heard of anything... unusual happening lately?"
Twilight shook her head. "Other than an Earth pony falling out of the sky in a time machine, not really. That's actually pretty unusual for this town, that being there's nothing else weird happening."
The Doctor quirked an eyebrow, a hint of concern on his features. "Oh, has something happened recently?"
Twilight threw him an exasperated chuckle. "Where do I begin? Between Discord, Nightmare Moon, Parasprites-"
"Hold it right there," the Doctor interrupted. "Did you just say Nightmare Moon?"
Twilight squinted in curiosity. What could the Doctor be interested in Nightmare Moon for? "Yes. Just recently she was released from her prison. She tried to bring about eternal night, though my friends and I were able to stop her."
The Doctor smirked. "I knew there was something special about you. That horn of yours, you can use it more decently than anyone can't you?"
Twilight smiled. "I do what I can, but I didn't use magic to defeat Nightmare Moon." She paused, rethinking something. A bit of a nostalgic smile crept across her lips. "Well I did, but it wasn't my own magic."
"Right, the Elements of Harmony," the time traveler said, nodding. "They were used against Nightmare Moon in the distant past, weren't they?"
Twilight nodded. "They were. Princess Celestia and five great ponies of her time, all good friends, banded together and used them to banish Nightmare Moon to our celestial neighbor. There, Princess Luna came to regret her decision to merge with the spirit that had caused her to turn into such a vile creature, Caligo of Nox. She then began an internal battle with it, weakening the creature. When she returned, the Elements were more than enough to free her from its grasp."
The Doctor brought a hoof to his chin, squinting slightly with a strange smile. "Interesting," he said calmly. "And the spirit was only freed, correct? It wasn't completely destroyed? And this was in... Everfree, right?"
Twilight nodded before raising an eyebrow. "Doctor? What's gotten you so interested in this?"
"Oh nothing, nothing. Parasitical aliens are common where I come from," he stated, definitely not trying to not look inconspicuous or anything.
Twilight shook her head. "But she's not an alien, she's a spirit, and not like normal spirits of deceased ponies. She was a spirit who existed before Equstria, before the Great Planes themselves. These spirits are very rare and very powerful."
"So the stories say," the Doctor said slowly. "These other spirits, the ones of fallen ponies. Is there any way to communicate with them?"
Twilight shook her head with a slight chuckle. "Not unless you believe that ghosts walk the world. They exist in the spirit realm."
The Doctor nodded again, and without warning, his expression changed back to its normal chipper state. "Whelp, back to the TARDIS than! With it I can find out just how different this place is from home."
Twilight sighed. "Just try not to stay up too late this time, OK?"
The Doctor threw her a quick salute. "For you? Anything, my lavender friend!"
It was a beautiful day out, really. The sun shined brightly against the Doctor's newly acquired fur as he made his way towards the forest. He had never been in any other form except for humanoid, so being a pony had taken him some getting used to. Apparently, he had been graced with the form of an Earth pony, which meant he had to pretty much manipulate everything with his mouth. It could be a bit of a pain sometimes, but he had gotten used to it.
He continued onward, avoiding the curious glances of the ponies within town. He sighed inwardly. Apparently being anti-social was somewhat of an oddity here. It wasn't as if he didn't want to talk with them, he just wanted to fix his TARDIS. He was a traveler at heart, living a simple life for too long was just too odd for him.
Besides, he had so much to see and do. A whole new universe, one he knew next to little about. The ponies seemed to not know much about their world either, nor the bigger sphere around it, at least from what he inferred from the books in his host's library. Their knowledge of it was primitive as best. They truly believed their world was flat, and there were absolutely no theories to the contrary. However, he was residing on a planet where two immortal ponies who everyone claimed could raise the sun and the moon.
At first he thought it was a farce, two aliens claiming to be deities and taking advantage of the ignorant locals, but then he began to read about Nightmare Moon, and how it was documented extensively that she brought eternal darkness to Equestria for nearly five months while a massive war was fought. And then were newer accounts of Nightmare Moon's latest treachery which involved her extending the night to an unnatural length. Finally, there was the fact that the sun and the moon seemed to be raised at an unnatural speed before his very eyes, and set at an unnatural speed as well.
Bah, simple planetary rotation control. Any advanced species could whip that up, he had said to himself.
However, that wasn't the only thing very unusual about this place. He has occasionally observed the winged ponies, Pegasi, moving clouds about. It seemed they were an organic weather control of some sort.
Meh, some sort of biological enhancements or natural ability. It had to be explainable, he said. Then again, in his own universe in all his travels he had never seen anything like it.
There was also the Unicorn's magic, another peculier thing. At first he thought it was just energy of some sort. However upon careful analysis he couldn't tell exactly what it was. It seemed to be able to create matter out of nowhere, as Twilight demonstrated when she grew a mustache on the Doctor's face as a joke. He had to admit, it would have looked dashing with his fez.... if Twilight hadn't destroyed it previously. Really, was it out of style everywhere at every time? He should have traveled somewhere where they were cool back in his home universe. His eyes widened at his own thought. What was he thinking?! They were cool any time, damn it! Anyway, it didn't seem this magic had simply converted into the mustache, he found no evidence of that. It was as if it had beckoned matter to spawn.
Spawning matter out of nowhere wasn't impossible even in his own universe, but he still found it to be a very odd natural ability. What troubled him is that he didn't have any clue how this 'magic' of theres worked, which was with him being the Doctor, very strange.
Bleh! It was just advanced natural abilities. It wasn't 'magic.' He could understand it with time.
But then there were the dragons and all sorts of mythological creatures scattered about. It was like he was in a fairy-tale world. Was this all some sort of mad illusion created by one of his enemies or something of the sort? It wouldn't be the first time it had happened to him. But there was always the possibility he was truly in some sort of magical world where things worked differently from his home universe. Perhaps the princesses really did raise the sun and moon with raw internal abilities, as impossible as that sounded. Perhaps there were many things about this world that were simply unexplainable.
He sighed, shrugging off the thought. He just hoped that if this universe's fundamental laws of physics weren't so completely different from his own that the TARDIS wouldn't be able easily compensate. He knew it would work eventually, because apparently Princess Celestia had met a future version of him in the past at some point (time travel was confusing). He just didn't know how easy it would be to tweak it for this universe.
At times, he just wished he could go back home. He missed Amy, Rory (the Roman), and River Song. However, even if he knew a way his curiosity of this new land was getting the best of him. He had traveled his universe so much that he knew it in and out to a certain extent, but here was an entire new universe and its history ready to be explored. He didn't want to leave as badly as he thought he should have.
Also, the people, er ponies, here were really nice.
No really, they were bloody nice. Humans were all around decent a lot of times, but ponies... they were just little balls of joy, especially the pink one he had run into once or twice. Everyone around was as social as if this were Woodstock (something of a crappy concert, but the people were interesting), and they seemed to go out of their ways to make life better for others around themselves. Naturally, there didn't seem to be much if any crime, and he had barely seen any police ponies in town. For an early industrial society it was absolutely remarkable how much harmony these creatures seemed to have with not only each other, but with nature, the animals around them, and even the soil they stood on. Plus, they all looked absolutely adorable, even himself. He cringed at the thought of his former companions cooing over him.
He made a note to make this planet his central base of operations, just as he had done with Earth in his universe. He was already planning on taking the unicorn, Twilight, with him. He might as well go a step further.
Speaking of the purple pony, the Doctor saw everything within her that he saw in the best of his companions. She was smart, curious, caring, and rational. Plus, she had one thing his other companions didn't. She had magic. And that was really cool. Not as cool as his fez and bow-tie, but still pretty cool. She did seem a little... high-strung, a very orderly pony, but that was alright. He just hoped she'd mind the mess that was the TARDIS' control room.
He continued walking, and along the way heard someone shout, "Hey everypony! There's an awesome sale down at Sugarcube Corner!"
And then there were the puns. Good lord, there were so many puns being said by everypony...
A beat.
His eyes widened. Good lord, now he was saying them too! He was catching punititis!
Punititis. Terrible pun. The ponies were clearly better at making them. He was going to need to step up his game. Before he could come up with some cool pony puns, a voice interrupted him from behind.
"Hey, Doc!"
The Doctor quickly spun around to meet the origin of said voice. Flying high above the ground was none other than one of Twilight's friends, Rainbow Smash or something along those lines. Ponies had such weird names. It was like something a gay wrestler would call himself. Then again, he did call himself 'The Doctor.'
"Oh, hello there!" the Doctor said to the self proclaimed 'fastest flier in Equestria', indicating in his tone that he had other matters to attend to.
The blue pony cocked her head curiously at him. "Watchu up to?"
"Oh just going on a walk into the forest. Have to keep up with exercise and all that!" Again, he glanced towards Everfree somewhat uregently, hoping she'd get the message that he didn't want to talk.
"Exercise!? That's awesome! But... why do it in Everfree? It's dangerous to go alone. You should take me!" she beamed, flying down towards the Doctor.
The Doctor squinted at her curiously. "You want to... exercise with me? But I thought you did wing training or something along those lines."
"Yeah, but lately I've been working these legs of mine!" She made a rather weak muscle with one of them. "Common, it'll be safer with the two of us! Like I said, it's dangerous in there. There's all kinds of horrible things that could eat you up! Giant snakes! Giant bears! Giant snakebears! Some even say that Nightmare Moon still haunnnnntsss theeeessee wooooooooods," she said all creepy like.
The Doctor sweat-dropped. "I think I'll be alright. Really." Not the first time he had heard of this ghost story, though.
"Awww common, please!" She then made puppy-dog eyes. Oh damn it. The Doctor hated the puppy-dog eyes. He was never resistant to doing whatever Twilight wanted when she gave him them, except if it involved not fixing the TARDIS of course. Why did the ponies have to be so damned cute?
Time for a desperate plan. The Doctor quickly pointed a hoof towards the distance behind Rainbow Smash. "Hey look over there, a Wonderous Bolt!"
Rainbow Smash blinked. "A wah?"
The Doctor facepalmed internally for getting it wrong. "Er, I mean A WONDERBOLT!"
The young flier's eyes lit up like a christmas tree at that. "What!? Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" In a flash, she had spun about and was gazing into the distant. In the meantime, the Doctor booked it. "Hey I don't see any...." she then turned about. The Doctor was gone. "Agh! How could I fall for that?!"
A few minutes later and the brown pony had made it to the edge of the Everfree forest. He had to admit, he had been in plenty of forests before, but this was probably one of the creepiest. The ponies seemed think there was something unnatural about it, and Twilight was constantly worrying about him going in alone every day. The trees seemed as old as life itself and the deeper woods chirped with the sounds of an infinite amount of mythical and dangerous animals. To top it off it just didn't... feel right. Like it wasn't supposed to be in this world. Luckily, he didn't need to go in too far, and it wasn't like he was completely alone. Something had been keeping him company the last week or two, and he was beginning to have an idea who it was. Very fitting that it would call these creepy old woods its home.
After a bit of a trek he had made it the TARDIS. He knocked his trust sonic screwdriver out of his saddle-bag, gripped it with his mouth and switched on the small light on the side of it (don't ask how that's possible). In he went to the dark interior before he finally reached the power source of his beloved machine. It was a unique device, it drawing its energy from the quantum vacuum, and this was the first time it had ever been broken. He believed the trip from his universe to this one had taxed it to its extreme. He didn't even know how it had gotten here, as far as he knew the doors of the multi-verse were closed, but the TARDIS being the TARDIS had found a way.
And so he got to work, fiddling with this and testing ideas he had on how to fix it he came up with the previous night at the treehouse. However, it wasn't long before the Doctor's newest 'companion' payed him a visit.
"Hello, Doctor," it whispered from seemingly nowhere. It was a clearly female voice, deep and filled with strength and confidence."Am I interrupting you?"
"Nono, you're fine," the Doctor said, not even bothering to look for the origin of the voice. "A little company never hurt anyone."
As the Doctor spoke, a trail of black mist began to enter the TARDIS from its open door. It soon formed into a black wisp that hovered behind the Time Lord. He knew it wouldn't be too long before she got here, and now it was time to find out the true identity of the self-entitled 'spirit of the forest.'
"Are you making progress with your machine?" it asked.
The Doctor sighed. "I thought today would be the day."
"Do not fret," it spoke. "You'll figure it out soon. You're the Doctor, after all."
"I wish I had as much confidence in myself as you do," he said, finally turning to meet the wisp.
"Well, from what you've told me you've been through some amazing things."
The Doctor waved a hoof dismissively. "Luck is what got me through most of it."
"Ever so humble," she said in an amused tone.
The Doctor chuckled at this. Right, now that the introductions were done it was to start prying her with questions. "You flatter me. So, how have you been? What do spirits even do all day, anyway?"
"Oh this and that. I mainly just guard and fertilize the woods."
"Very interesting. I'd like to see that kind of process sometime. How is it done?"
"Magically, of course."
"Would you mind showing me? I've heard from a few ponies that woodland spirits can hatch a seed and grow a plant in under ten seconds flat."
A pause followed that. "You've heard wrong."
OK, this line of questioning wasn't working. Time for a different approach. With that in mind, a second later the Doctor let loose another sigh.
"What's the matter, Doctor?" the spirit asked, drawing closer to him.
"It's just..." A hint of a coy smirk morphed on his face. "I promised Twilight I'd take her to see some of her people's history. I suppose that will need to wait now, though."
The voice paused for a second. "Twilight? As in... Twilight Sparkle?"
A beat.
The Doctor's smirk widened a bit. "I sense a bit of... agitation in your voice."
Another moment of pause followed before the wisp spoke again. "It's nothing," she said dismissively.
"Oh I think it's something," the brown colt taunted. He then began to circle about the wisp, eyeing it curiously. "Who are you, really?"
"Oh, just a lonely forest spirit looking for a friend...." it said in a sing-song tone.
"A spirit who happens to inhabit the same forest Nightmare Moon was expelled from her host at, a forest spirit who happens to have a grudge against Twilight. And spirits are supposedly very rare..." The Doctor could practically feel the creature glaring at him at that.
"I'm not Nightmare Moon," it said slowly.
"No, you're not. Nightmare Moon was the creature that was born when you possessed Princess Luna," the Doctor said. "You, however, are known as Caligo of Nox."
"Nor am I Caligo."
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh don't try lying to me. That won't get you anywhere. I suppose it was the only way you could get Princess Luna to meld with you, though. She obviously didn't know what kind of contract she was signing. What a poor thing, her mind twisted by envy to the point where she couldn't think straight. A perfect time for you to take advantage of her."
The wisp kept silent.
"Tell me, how did it feel to be defeated by the power of friendship of all things? Were you laughed at at the spirit water cooler after that?"
"Shut up!" it growled. "I simply underestimated the young mare. Had I been trying instead of just toying with her the entire time..."
The Doctor smiled smugly. "Ahhh, and now the truth is revealed. Now to just figure out what you'd want with little old me. It's obvious you're not here for small talk... perhaps you were attracted by the temporal energies emitted by the TARDIS?" He paused for a second, contemplating something. "Or perhaps you were just curious as to what this box was doing lying about, and once you learned a bit about me you wanted to learn a bit more.... but why?"
Caligo kept silent once again.
If the Doctor had fingers, he'd be snapping them. "Of course! You wanted to get close enough to me to attempt to meld just like you did with Luna, or perhaps you just wanted a ride? You were very close to winning that war years ago as you probably know, or maybe you just wanted to go back in time more recently? Just one little push would be all it would take. You obviously resent what happened, and you can't just let it go, can you? If only you had done this and that... I don't know what the temporal rules are like in this universe but that could be a bit dangerous, you know."
"I know much about the rules of time here, Doctor. I could teach you them if you allow me to travel with you." It paused, before adding in a playful tone, "I won't bite."
"Well, I don't see what choice I have. It seems like you could sit in here all you like and there's nothing I can do to stop you. However, if you do, I warn you that I won't be leaving."
"Nonsense, you're far too complex of a colt to be spending your life with these simple little ponies," it scoffed. "You'll have to leave eventually."
The Doctor shrugged. "Well, I don't know. It is rather nice here. Beautiful town really, beautiful country, beautiful world. So much for me to learn even without the TARDIS' help." He then smirked again. "Or maybe I could just get my friend Twilight to contact her mentor and tell her you're here? There must be something she could do about you."
"She can't do anything," the creature said, its tone growing more and more annoyed.
"Oh I'm pretty sure she can. You sure you want to test that theory after what you did to her sister? I'd be a bit peeved if I were her."
A moment of silence followed as the Doctor and wisp stared at each other. Finally, the wisp chuckled. "Oh you are good! A worthy adversary compared to that purple foal of a Unicorn. Well played, Doctor. I'll leave you to your repairs." With that, it began to deform into a trail of mist and floated towards the door.
"Don't let the door hit you on the bum on the way out," the Doctor called over his shoulder as he turned back to the power source and continued to tweak it with his sonic screwdriver. "Oh, and don't try clinging onto the TARDIS when we get a move on. It may have worked for Jack, but Jack is Jack. Stowaways aren't handled nicely by the time vortex. And the TARDIS' sensors will be able to pick you up when they're back online so don't try hiding anywhere."
"I will find a way, Doctor," it growled.
"Yep, yep, keep thinking that," he said before the whir of the power source could be heard. Soon after, the lights of the TARDIS blared to life. He had finally done it. An idea had formed in his head as he spoke with Caligo, and it seemed to have worked. Time and space were now open to him once again. The Doctor grinned at this. "Because today is the day! Lord, why am I so brilliant?"
He then paused, thinking for a moment.
"Wait, did she just replace fool with foal?!" The Doctor let out a dramatic gasp. "Oh lord, puns control this universe! WHY DO I LOVE IT HERE SO MUCH??!!!"