"The moment this brilliant young producer Miss Verity Lambert started telling me about Doctor Who, I was hooked. I remember telling her, "This is going to run for five years." And look what's happened!" - William Hartnell
As Caramel stepped out with his sketchbook, he couldn't help be overtaken by the beauty of the landscape around him. He had been traveling with The Doctor for some time now, but every now and again he still couldn't believe he was actually on another planet. The fields on this world seemed to go on forever. The mountains, reaching into the sky, were possibly the most majestic he had ever seen. After having to battle with the most evil beings in existence, from Discord to The Master, the fact that he could finally let everything sink in was one of the happiest thoughts he ever had. He began to sketch out the landscape, hoping that in some way, shape, or form that this moment could last forever.
Meanwhile in the TARDIS...
The Doctor was overjoyed as well, but for a completely different reason. One could say he was doing a bit of Spring Cleaning, but he preferred to think of it as shopping for a dress. Not for him, mind you, though he liked to keep an open mind. Rather, he had set up a new Console Room for the TARDIS, a bit more stark and white, with a single console in the middle. As he dusted the new console, a smile began to creep up on the 700+ year-old stallion.
Bon Bon, one of The Doctor's dearest friends walked into the room. "Is it done yet?" she asked.
"Yes. Looks rather splendid, doesn't it?" he replied. The Doctor was so happy to be rid of the old one. He didn't hate the old console, it's just that his tastes had changed with his new regeneration. His desire for a new console was no different from that of his newfound passion for the game of cricket.
"So does that mean it's finally going to work right?" Bon Bon challenged.
"Of course, once everything's run in." he explained. He'd never say this out loud, but one of the reasons he didn't travel alone was for the sake of the explanations. They made him feel clever by comparison.
"Wait, did you actually repair anything?" the candy-colored mare asked. It fascinated her how someone so smart could be so foolish.
The Doctor was caught off-guard by this one. "Well, the TARDIS is more than a machine, Bon Bon. It's alive, remember? It needs coaxing, persuading, encouraging."
"That's a no, then."
"Have a little faith in me, Bon Bon." he chuckled. The Doctor reached for a lever. "Observe." He pulled the lever, but nothing actually happened. A look of embarassment crossed his face. He then tried pulling the lever again, to no avail. He then repeated the process, a tad more rapidly.
"Told you." Bon Bon was filled with a smug sense of victory. Chances to one-up The Doctor were rare, but that made them all the better.
The Doctor was left with no other options. He fell to every stallion's default method of repair: Banging his hoof on the console. Fortunately, that worked, and the TARDIS doors opened.
As the two walked out into the field, they were greeted by Caramel.
"It's so peaceful. I feel so calm and relaxed." he said.
"It's the high bombardment of positive ions." The Doctor replied.
"It feels like Equestria right after a thunderstorm." Bon Bon observed.
"Also positive ions." The Doctor said.
Bon Bon looked at him with disdain. Well, as much disdain as she could muster in a place like this. "It's beautiful." she said, returning to her peaceful state.
"Some say that the Eye of Orion is the most tranquil place in the universe. I'm tempted to agree." The Doctor told them. In spite of his love of running, he had to admit, the chance to relax was very appealing.
"Can we just stay here?" Bon Bon pleaded.
That, however, was out of the question. "For a while," he replied. "But we'll need to go eventually."
Elsewhere...
A mysterious pony cloaked in black looked at The Doctor and company on a screen. He stood in a dark room full of mysterious technology, with a large screen and control panel in front of him, and a pentagonal display behind him.
As he spun a dial on the control panel the image on the screen changed. Gone were The Doctor and his compatriots, and a new stallion appeared outside some sort of temple.
What most didn't know however, was that this stallion was also The Doctor. The Original Doctor, prior to his regenerations, and with only one heart. He wore a black jacket and string tie, tied up in a bow. His coat was old and gray, and his curled back mane was a stark white. His eyes were were a tired brown color, still old, still sad. But the most noticeable difference about this version of The Doctor was his cutie mark. The Doctor traveling with Caramel and Bon Bon's hourglass had the sand flowing downward, but mostly evenly divided. The First Doctor, however, had an hourglass mark with almost all of the sand in the top half, the sand flowing further and further down with each regeneration, to
remind him that while he was long-lived, he was not immortal.
The mysterious figure activated a device on the control panel, and a strange sphere of electricity materialized above The First Doctor. As The Doctor turned to look at the sphere, the strange construct swooped downward and captured him in it's lightning web. The trapped Time Lord was lifted into the air and disappeared into energy.
Behind The Doctor's attacker, a single section of the pentagonal display lit up.
Meanwhile on The Eye of Orion...
The Doctor suddenly collapsed in pain, and let out a yell. "Ah!"
His friends rushed over to help him up. "Are you alright? What happened?" Caramel asked.
"J-just a twinge of... of cosmic angst." The Doctor replied, panting.
"Cosmic?" Bon Bon wondered.
"I feel like I.. I've lost something." The Doctor tried to explain.
Little did he realize that the sand at the bottom of his hourglass cutie mark had begun to vanish.
Meanwhile in The Crystal Empire...
Many Crystal ponies were hard at work, trying to make the royal ballroom look better than it ever had before. After all, today was a very important day for the empire. It was Prince Shining Armor's birthday. Sadly, Pinkie Pie had been called back to her rock farm for a 'family emergency', which she had surprisingly refused to go into detail about. Fortunately, she had been nice enough to send Cadance her emergency "I'msuperultramegaspecialsorrythatIcan'tbetherebutI'msurethatShiningArmorwillloveitmegaultraemergencybirthdaypartyplanningemergency"-kit. While Cadance delegated the role to her royal festivities director, she had been given the role of keeping Shining Armor busy. Not like that. That was for after the party. Currently, she was pouring him some crystal berry juice in their private quarters.
"Happy Birthday, Shiny." Cadance told him, for about the fiftieth time that day.
"Today's a big day." he said. It wasn't just his birthday, mind you. He had also chosen this day to name who among the royal guard would be taking up his post as Captain, now that he had new responsibilities as co-ruler of the empire. He was sad that he had to step down, but Cadance made it more than worth it. "You know, I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to seeing everypony. My parents, Twily and her friends, my old guard buddies..."
"Yeah, small thing..." Cadance started. She was worried how her husband would react. It was the only major hiccup in the planning outside of Pinkie's absence. "I couldn't figure out how to contact one of your old guard buddies."
"Which one?" he asked, somewhat surprised. He was pretty sure he introduced Cadance to all of his friends, or they were at least aware of who she was. She was a princess after all.
"Your old scientific advisor." she told him, trying to gague his reaction.
"The Doctor? I don't blame you. I don't have any idea what he's up to right now." he replied, much to Cadance's relief.
"Really?" Cadance asked. She figured Shining Armor would be better about keeping in touch with his old friends.
There was a knock at the door. "My lord? My lady?" a voice called out.
"What is it?" Cadance asked.
The Crystal pony peeked his head in through the door. "Forgive my intrustion, but somepony seems to arrived early."
Another voice called out down the hall. "Sir, you're not allowed in there!"
"Rubbish. I'm allowed everywhere."
The unexpected arrival barged into the room. It was a stallion with a deep, charcoal gray coat and a messy black mane atop his head. He wore a black jacket and white shirt, with a purple bow tie, because bow ties are cool. His blue eyes were indicative of a spirit of adventure, and his cutie mark was an hourglass with a bit of sand at the bottom, but mostly at the top. "Nice to see you, Captain Armor, Mrs. Armor, as it were."
"Doctor?" Shining asked. He could hardly believe his eyes. This was The Doctor, to be sure, but not the one he last saw.
"Yes, yes." the Time Lord replied. "For once, I was able to steer the TARDIS right. And, well, here I am."
The crystal guard walked in. "Sir, you really aren't allowed in-"
Cadance cut him off. "That's alright. You're both dismissed." The guard and servant both left.
"Please tell me I'm not too late." The Doctor said.
"For what?" Shining asked.
"For your birthday party of course." The Doctor answered. "What sort of friend would I be if I missed your birthday?"
"How'd you even know about the party?" Cadance asked him.
"Are you kidding? It gets major coverage in Equestria Daily." he explained.
"It hasn't even happened yet." she said, somewhat confused.
"Tomorrow's Equestria Daily." he explained, only serving to confuse her further. "You're also picking a replacement. Wish I could've done that." he said, muttering that last bit.
"Well, you're here, that's what matters." the Captain said.
"Shiny, how about you and The Doctor take a walk, catch up on old times?" Cadance offered.
"You wouldn't mind?" Shining asked.
"No, it's your birthday after all." Cadance told him.
"Well, come along then, Captain. Mrs. Armor, have you redecorated this room recently?" he asked.
"Umm, yes?" she answered, confused yet again.
"I thought so." he said nodding. "I don't like it." He walked out, Shining following with a nervous smile. The Doctor was his friend, sure, but he had a bad habit of running his mouth.
The Crystal Guard walked back into the room. "Who was that stallion, my lady?"
"The Doctor." she told him, somewhat miffed at The Doctor's last remark.
"Doctor?" the guard asked. "Doctor who?"
Outside of the palace, The Doctor and Shining Armor walked along town square, laughing as they reminisced about old adventures.
"Yeah, the Yetis, the Cyberponies. You and I have had quite a time, Doctor." Shining recalled.
"And the Dalek's Masterplan." The Doctor said.
"The what?" Shining asked. He remembered Daleks, to be sure, but the phrase 'Masterplan' had never come up.
"Oh, right, that wasn't you." The Doctor said, not actually answering the question. "Oh! Omega!"
"Like I could forget that one." Shining said. That was the day he finally saw the TARDIS interior, the day all the time travel nonsense really started to make sense. "Speaking of, last I saw you, you were different guy. Three different guys, actually."
"Well, Captain, I'm not exactly breaking the laws of time at the moment, but I am bending them a little." he
explained.
"You never were that good at rules, were you?" Shining said. Suddenly, something in mid-air caught his attention. "Doctor, what is that?"
The Doctor turned up to see for himself. It was yet another sphere of electrical energy. "Captain, when I say run-"
"Run?" Shining replied, finishing The Doctor's sentence for him.
"Exactly." The Doctor replied, somewhat proud. "RUN!!"
As the two ran from the sphere, Shining turned to his old friend. "Doctor, I didn't want to say this to anypony, but part of the reason I'm stepping down is I think I'm getting too old for this!"
"Nonsense! I'm over 500, and just getting started! Now, we need to get to my TARDIS." he replied.
Despite their efforts, the sphere swooped down and captured them both.
Meanwhile on the Eye of Orion...
The Doctor doubled over in pain once more. "Doctor, what is it?" Bon Bon asked, concerned for him.
The Doctor could barely speak. "Fading. All fading."
"Fading?" Caramel tried to confirm.
"My past." the cricketeer replied. "Great chunks of my past, detaching themselves like melting icebergs. Ah!"
The Doctor cried out in pain, and more sand at the bottom of his hourglass disappeared.
"Doctor!" Bon Bon yelled.
The Doctor then sprung up as if nothing was wrong. "No, no. I'm fine. I'm good. I think the worst of it is over now."
There was a short silence amongst the three. The Doctor then promptly collapsed.