//------------------------------//
// I Wonder... 
// Story: Allons-y! 
// by Sixes_And_Sevens 
//------------------------------//

It was a disconcerted and ponderous Dinky Doo that trotted into the Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse. The rest of the CMC— Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Rumble, and Button Mash— had already arrived. Apple Bloom acknowledged Dinky with a nod as she walked in, proceeding to strike the ground with the gavel she had kept from the ‘Cutie Mark Crusader Justice System’ incident. “Alright, Crusaders,” she said, “What’re we gonna do today?”
“Cutie Mark Crusader Stunt Fliers!”
“Cutie Mark Crusader Beat Poets!”
“Cutie Mark Crusader Diamond Miners!”
“We did all of that last month!”
Finally, Dinky spoke up. “Cutie Mark Crusader Alien Investigators.” she said firmly.
There was a lengthy pause. “Didn’t we do that back in July?” Sweetie finally asked.
“This time is different!” Dinky insisted. “There’s actually an alien to investigate!”
“Really?” Button asked, curious. “How do you know?”
Dinky took a deep breath and began to explain everything she knew about the TARDIS, the Doctor, and their relation to her mother. There was a long moment of silence once she had finished. No one doubted that she was telling the truth. She seemed far too serious for it to be a mere joke or exaggeration. Besides, Crusaders stuck together no matter what!
Anyway, it was hardly the weirdest thing that had happened in Ponyville.
So, when Rumble spoke up a moment later, it was not to mock or tease his friend, but merely to ask, “So… does that make you half-alien?”
This had not been one of Dinky’s primary considerations, but she decided that it was a good point. “I… guess,” she shrugged. “But that’s not really what’s important right now. The important thing is the fact that my father, the time-travelling, shapeshifting, centuries old LORD OF TIME has just WALTZED back into my life after TEN YEARS!”
The others sat in silence, taken aback by their normally reserved friend’s sudden outburst. Apple Bloom gingerly reached out and patted her shoulder. “Feel better now?” she asked.
Dinky snuffled faintly and nodded. “Cutie Mark Crusader Alien Investigators?” she asked hoarsely.
Glances were exchanged. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER ALIEN INVESTIGATORS! YAY!”


***


The Doctor trotted through town, drinking in the sights with interest. “Over there’s Sugarcube Corner,” Ditzy said, continuing her steady commentary. “It’s a very popular bakery. They’re the best! Pinkie does fantastic pastries.”
“Oh?” the Doctor asked, peering in through the windows. “Does she run it? The architecture is… well, it certainly seems her style.”
Ditzy giggled. “That’s true, but no. It’s owned by the Cakes, Cup and Carrot. Pinkie just works here as a baker and nanny for the twins.”
The Doctor stared in a little longer. “Is that… a banana cream pie?” he asked.
Ditzy smiled. “Hungry?”
“A bit peckish. Come on, let’s have a bite. I think I’ve got a few pounds…” he reached for a pocket, then blinked at his hoof hit his flank. “No pockets. Right. How did that trick work again?”
“My treat, then,” Ditzy said.
“Oh, I couldn’t…” the Doctor said, distressed.
“Take me somewhere nice in the TARDIS, and we’ll call it even, how ‘bout that?” Ditzy riposted, opening the doors. “Besides, I’m hungry too.”
The two trotted up to the counter, neither one paying much attention to the two foals sitting at a table against the wall. “What’s a tar-diss?” Button whispered to Sweetie, who shrugged.
“I think she said something about taking her somewhere. Maybe it’s his spaceship?” she whispered back.
“Oh, yeah. Wait, they’re talking again!”
“Two slices of banana cream pie, please,” Ditzy requested at the counter.
“Coming right up,” Mrs. Cake replied, turning to the glass case. “Out on a date, dearie?”
The two ponies exchanged nervous glances. This had not been anticipated. “Not… exactly,” the Doctor said. “Well. I mean, sort of. Well. You could call it that…”
“It’s complicated,” Ditzy said.
“Yes, I can tell,” Mrs. Cake said with a grin. “That’ll be six bits, please.”
“Here you go,” Ditzy replied, laying a hooffull of coins on the counter. “Have a nice day!”
Mrs. Cake’s smile had faded slightly. Being as she was something of a traditionalist, she did not entirely approve of a mare paying for a date. Especially not Ditzy who, Celestia knows, was hardly well-off. “Yes,” she said, slightly coolly. “Have a nice day, Ditzy.”
“I don’t think she likes me,” the Doctor muttered as the two trotted over to a table with their pie.
Ditzy smiled. “Don’t be silly. Mrs. Cake likes everypony! And you are a very likable…” she trailed off. “Not technically a pony,” she said thoughtfully. “You look like one right now, but what was that you said earlier? What you actually look like?”
Sweetie leaned forward. “This could be important!” she hissed. Button stared hard at the couple across the way, slurping thoughtfully at his milkshake.
“It’s called a perception filter,” the Doctor was saying. “Usually, I set it to a humanoid default, that’s a sort of… a tall, mostly hairless ape. In clothes. Usually pretty questionable clothes. What I look like under that is…” he cleared his throat. “Hard to describe in any language off Gallifrey.”
Ditzy wrinkled her snout up. “Weird.”
He shrugged. “Most would probably say the same about a world filled with talking, technicolor equines.”
“Well, maybe, but that’s normal!” She paused, then frowned. “...right?”
The Doctor shrugged.  “In this universe… a bit, yeah. It’s not uncommon, anyway. In my universe, no.”
“His universe?” Sweetie mouthed to Button. It was at this point that she noticed that her fellow spy was no longer sitting next to her. She sighed and peered over the edge of the table. The colt lay curled in a ball, eyes squeezed shut and an expression of exquisite pain on his face. “Every time,” Sweetie sighed, glaring at her friend. “Really, Button, just drink a little slower!”
The colt cracked an eye open and stared up at his friend. “But… milkshake!” he protested.
Sweetie sighed and sat back. The targets had left while she was distracted. Grimly, she bit into a cupcake as she stared after their retreating forms. They hadn’t found out much. But there would be others…