The sun shone brightly over the quaint little town of Ponyville. Birds sang, squirrels chittered, and insects buzzed in the sleepy noon-ish quiet. Hardly anypony was up and about, most were relaxing in the comfort of their homes, escaping from the heat. Twilight Sparkle was no exception. She was lounging comfortably on a small sofa. Usually, she'd have a book in her hooves, but not now, not today. Today, there was thinking to do. Much thinking. She had to quite a lot of things to contemplate, things that had gone un-thought about for days. Twilight, being Twilight, made a list of the things she needed to ponder before actually pondering them.
It was a habit, she supposed, and it gave her the feeling of organization she needed. She briefly thought back to the time when her skills of order and organization had failed her, when her letter to Princess Celestia had been late. That had driven the lavender colored mare over the edge, and she had had a bout with insanity. Twilight shuddered and continued with her mental list making.
The first thing the unicorn could think of was one of the biggest shocks that had ever gone through Ponyville-Fluttershy getting a coltfriend. Yes, Fluttershy.. And her coltfriend? None other than Big Macintosh, Applejacks brother. It made sense, in a way. Both mare and stallion were so few of words that they understood each other. Applejack was thrilled about this, so it was unlikely to cause conflict. Twilight was so happy for her Pegasus friend, and made a note to invite Fluttershy over to talk for a little bit. That's what Fluttershy would do, if their roles were switched.
Directly following that was a more....uncomfortable subject. Predictably, Pinkie Pie was involved. Somehow, Pinkie had gotten it into her fluff-filled head that Rainbow Dash was a lesbian. Seriously. She had. And she had made it a point to announce it to everypony at the six friend's weekly lunch. Twilight was 100% certain that her pink friend was wrong though. Okay, maybe 99%. Though Rainbow had told Twilight that she had a crush on Cloudkicker, the second-fastest Pegasus in Ponyville. Naturally, Rainbow was pretty stoked about Pinkie's hunch. Since Pinkie was Pinkie, they weren't exactly having a fight, but there was definitely some tension.
And, no, not sexual tension.
Speaking of fighting, her two other friends, Applejack and Rarity, were in yet another squabble. They refused to talk to each other, or even acknowledge each other's presence. Twilight had no idea what the fight was about, though, so she couldn't really dwell on the subject, or find a way to solve her friends' problem.
So, in summary, Twilight the unicorn had a lot on her mind. Problems to solve, pink ponies to convince, and one very lucky Pegasus. But, even through all that, there was one, certain thing that needed to be sorted out before all the others. One very important thing. This thing was so important, that she was putting it before her friends' problems.
And that 'thing' took the shape of a tall, chestnut, Earth pony standing in front of her.
"Twilight......." the pony began.
Twilight sighed. "Doctor, I know what you're going to ask me, and the answer is still NO!"
"But, Twilight, please!"
"NO, Doctor. Now, leave me alone. I was in the middle of some very important business before you interrupted me."
"Looks to me like you were just sitting there. Thinking deep thoughts? Maybe involving a certain Time Lord pony and a large blue box.......?"
Twilight stood up. "Doctor, you said it yourself. The TARDIS needs a break! You've been working it-"
"Her" he corrected.
"Right, her, pretty hard these last couple of days."
The Doctor sighed, and sat down on the couch. "Yes, I know. It's just-I'm not used to.....sitting still. Doing nothing. How do you ponies stand it?"
"It gets easier. Read a book. Fiddle with your Sonic. Eat something. Go outside. Visit Vinyl Scratch, or one of your other friends. You don't have to just sit around here, you know."
The Doctor stood, filled with new determination. "Why, Twilight, you're absolutely correct. Just sitting here will lead to no good! I'm going to go find something to do!" And with that, the Earth pony marched off. His lavender unicorn friend watched him go with relief. The Doctor was her good friend and all, but sometimes, he was a bit much. She settled back down on the couch, finding her comfortable position again. Then, she let her mind wander.
~<*>~
"Well, I'm bored."
The familiar voice of the Doctor brought Twilight back to reality once again. She looked at the clock on the wall.
"It's been ten minutes!" she exclaimed.
The Doctor looked at the clock as well. "I know! It's been forever! Personally, I'm quite proud that I was able to keep my ADHD pony mind entertained for that long. Honestly, it's ridiculous."
Twilight face-hooved. She would have to find something to keep him busy for a while, so she could get things done. Besides all her serious thinking, she had letters to write, books to study, and grocery shopping to do.
Grocery shopping!
Perfect.
"Well, since you're just so very bored," Twilight began, her voice practically dripping with sarcasm, "do you think you could run some errands for me? I'll make you a list, and you can go off and do that, and I can get some actual work done. Besides, it'll help you get to know Ponyville and the residents better,"
It took some doing, but Twilight finally convinced the Doctor to help her out.
"Here's the list," she said, handing it to him. Predictably, he dropped it, and quickly grabbed it again, muttering something about 'dumb pony hooves'. "Don't get lost, alright?"
"Twilight! Me, get lost? Well, I've never heard of such a notion...."
He trailed off as he realized Twilight was giving him a 'look'. "Fine, I won't."
"Alright." she said, her 'look' changing into a smile. She felt like a mother sending her foal off to their first day of school. And you had to admit, the situations were pretty similar.
The Doctor turned and trotted off, heading for the door. He glanced over his shoulder, then veered off course.
"If you try to get into that basement, I swear I'll deadlock seal your lips together!" Twilight yelled.
A few seconds passed, then Twilight heard the front door open and close, rather meekly.