Doctor Whooves Episode 15: The Christmas Ponies

by Doctor Perseus


The Lady Time-Lord

Chapter 7: The Lady Time-Lord

Under the Grounds of the Beckwithshaw Hotel, Outskirts of Harrogate, England, Earth, Winter, 2010 A.D.

Twilight and Donna ran as fast as they could as the hands continued to grab at their feet. Donna's heart raced like nothing she had experienced in a long time and adrenaline pumped through her body like a raging river. She suddenly found herself letting out a giddy laugh as she ran.
"Why are you laughing?!" asked Twilight as she jumped over a small crowd of hands.
"Is it bad if I say that I've missed this?" asked Donna as she ducked under a reaching arm.
"I dunno. Probably."
"Well I don't give a damn!" Donna laughed again as she and Twilight continued to run. It was upon making a sudden turn down another long tunnel that Donna remembered the Sonic Screwdriver bouncing around in her coat pocket. She pulled the Screwdriver out and pointed it at the arms in front of her and Twilight. "Doctor, don't let me down now!" She clicked the button and the Screwdriver's familiar ring ran out. The arms squirmed and shook upon being attacked by the Screwdriver's sonic waves. Some retreated back into the icy walls while some even exploded into clouds of snow.
"Nice one!" Twilight complimented.
"You keep doing what you're doing and I'll keep doing what I'm doing!" Donna exclaimed.
"Sounds good!" Twilight fired a magical blast at a few of the hands while Donna continued to use the Screwdriver. This helped them get down the tunnel, through another turn, and into a third leg of the ice cavern. But that's where everything went wrong.
Twilight and Donna had little time to react as tons of arms reached up through the floor all at once and proceeded to tear the ground out from beneath them.
"Hold on!" cried Donna as she grabbed one of Twilight's hooves with her hand. They suddenly found themselves falling down into a tunnel that had been located underneath the tunnel they had been in previously. The walls were slimier in this tunnel and were easy to slide on.
"There has to be something to grab onto!" Twilight yelled. But there was nothing. The ice walls in this tunnel were incredibly smooth and slick. There was nothing to get traction on. Donna looked ahead and noticed that the end of the tunnel was fast approaching. Then her heart stopped. The entire exit of the tunnel was bordered by rows of sharp teeth. They were going to slide out of the tunnel and into the belly of some foul beast. Donna tightened her grip on Twilight's hoof.
"Twilight! Do something!" Twilight aimed her horn at mouth at the exit of the tunnel and fired a few various blasts of magic. None of them had any effect. That's when Donna saw it: a jagged limb of ice webbing sticking out of the otherwise smooth and slick wall. This was her and Twilight's last chance. Donna quickly shoved the Sonic Screwdriver back into her coat pocket, thus freeing her other hand, and grabbed onto the ice limb in the nick of time. For a moment, Donna felt relieved that she had saved her and Twilight...but this feeling didn't last for long. She quickly realized that now she and Twilight were trapped. There was no way out instead through the monster's mouth. The teeth chewed away at the exit of the tunnel while a series of long, wet tongues began to crawl out of the mouth and up the tunnel towards Twilight and Donna. Donna looked down at Twilight. "Any ideas?"
"I'm trying to think! This creature seems to be impervious to magic in some aspects; but it has to have a weakness! Everything has a weakness!" Twilight looked around frantically. Then she remembered something. She looked up at Donna. "Donna! Where did you put the Sonic Screwdriver?!"
"In my upper left coat pocket!" Twilight focused on the pocket that Donna had identified. Her horn began to glow and the Screwdriver slowly levitated out of Donna's pocket. Twilight aimed the Screwdriver at the mouth.
"My magic has no effect...but let's see what Time Lord technology does!" Using her magic, Twilight activated the Screwdriver. The monster screamed and snarled as the Screwdriver's waves pounded against its mouth. "It's working!" She spoke too soon. The creature suddenly stretched one of its tongues upward and knocked the Screwdriver away. "NO!" Twilight tried to call the Screwdriver back to her but the monster managed to keep it out of her magical grip. Twilight stared in shock as the monster swallowed the Screwdriver. "Donna...I'm sorry."
"Don't worry yourself. We'll find a way out. Either that or the Doctor will save us," Donna said with a shaky voice. Twilight gulped. Two tongues grabbed onto Twilight's lower legs. Donna grunted as she felt her grip on Twilight's hoof loosening.
"Just let me go!" Twilight pleaded.
"Oh no! Don't give me that! If this creature's going to take us then I'm going to give it one hell of a fight beforehand!" Twilight smiled up at Donna with admiration.
"I can see why he chose you as a companion." Donna smiled down at Twilight.
"Thanks. The feeling is mutual." Twilight laughed just before the tongues gave another, heavy tug. Donna couldn't hold on any longer. Donna's heart skipped a beat as she found her link with the unicorn severed. The world seemed to fall silent as Donna watched Twilight fall down into the creature's mouth. Donna was screaming and yelling for Twilight and Twilight was yelling back, but Donna couldn't hear anything. She felt like she was going into shock. Donna kicked and yelled as the tongues began wrapping around her legs. She could feel the ice limb that she was hanging onto beginning to break. Donna closed her eyes. "This can't be the end. This can't be the end. This can't be the end." She was about to let go when she heard it: the sound of the Sonic Screwdriver echoing from deep within the creature. The creature began to cry and scream and thrash around angrily. Donna had no idea what was going on. The creature suddenly froze and then began to shake like an earthquake. Donna looked deep into the creature's mouth and could make out a geyser of green liquid rising up from deep within. She looked up, rolled her eyes, and sighed, "Allons-y."
Donna closed her eyes and held her breath as the geyser of green sludge shot up into the downward tunnel and knocked her away from the ice limb. The liquid felt hot, cold, smooth, and chunky all at the same time. She didn't even want to think about what the liquid consisted of. She could hear Twilight's cries in the distance but couldn't make heads or tails of where she was going. She didn't know if she was shooting back up the tunnel, being pulled deep into the creature, or just being tossed around like a piece of garbage.
Eventually, after what must have felt like an eternity, everything came to a stop. Donna let out a gasp of air as she found herself landing on a solid stone surface. She quickly turned around to get a look at her surroundings. She looked above her to see a tunnel exit protruding out of a curved wall of ice webbing. She assumed that had been the tunnel she and Twilight had come through. However, her attention was quickly drawn to another sight that made her skin crawl. She was lying in the middle of a large underground chamber about the size of two ballrooms. In the center of the chamber there was a fairly large pool of water. Rising out of that pool of water was what appeared to be a massive, pink, icy worm. The worm's skin was reflective like glass but also looked chipped and torn. Donna gasped as she saw that hundreds, if not thousands, or rotted icy hands were protruding from the worm's skin. The hands hadn't belonged to several creatures...they were all part of one creature. Donna felt her body going into shock as she took in the reality of what she was seeing. A stream of green sludge was pouring out of the worm's mouth. Donna looked and noticed that Twilight was lying on the ground just a few yards away. She also noticed that there were several peculiar objects lying about: various toys, pieces of cars, and several other miscellaneous objects. However, Donna's eyes quickly fell on a license plate that had landed next to her...it was the license plate that had come from her and Shaun's car.
"No," Donna choked. "No...Shaun." She then looked up again as the worm stopped puking. It turned its attention on Donna. Its mouth was huge, almost the size of a cave entrance, and its eyes were the size of monster truck tires. Donna couldn't stop staring into its eyes. Its black and frightening eyes. Then it spoke to her.
"The Lady Time-Lord. You must be destroyed! You will ruin my love's reunion!" stated the worm. Donna began crawling back and pressed her hand forward as the worm started to bend down towards her.
"No! Get back! Get back! Leave me alone!" Donna cried. She suddenly found her head and her outstretched hand growing slightly hot. "My...my head!" Just as the worm was about to devour her, a blast of gold and purple energy shot out of Donna's hand and slammed straight into the depths of the worm's open mouth. The worm screamed and roared in pain. Several of its icy hands disintegrated. Donna watched as the worm quickly retreated back into the pool in the center of the room and disappeared. For a few seconds, Donna was in shock. She felt an intense pain ringing out from her hand that had fired the blast. She looked at her palm to see that it was slightly burnt. "How...how did I do that?" She didn't have much time to think about this for at that moment Donna decided to turn her attention to Twilight. Donna stood up and ran over to the unicorn. "Twilight? Twilight, are you okay?!" Twilight moaned in response and sat up, scraping some of the sludge out of her mane.
"Did...did I just get puked out by a giant worm?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah." Donna said this with a loud sigh and an awkward nod.
"Good...that means I'm not drugged." Donna and Twilight couldn't help but laugh at her remark. Twilight then turned her attention to Donna's burnt hand. "Donna...how in the name of Celestia did you do that?"
"I have no idea. I was just really scared and...it just happened." Donna looked at her hand and felt her head. "Something strange is going on, Twilight. I feel like...something inside me is escaping...or leaving or...dying."
"What could it be?"
"I don't know; but we can think about it once we find the Doctor." Donna stood up and helped Twilight get back onto her hooves. "That was quick thinking on your part, Twilight. Finding the Sonic Screwdriver in the worm's stomach and activating it. That was a smart move." Twilight looked at Donna with a bit of confusion on her face.
"That's just it. I'm not the one who used the Sonic Screwdriver." Donna fell silent.
"Well...if you didn't use it then who the hell did?!" At that moment, Donna and Twilight heard a groan from nearby. They turned to see a figure lying in the sludge a few feet away. It was a human: a man to specific. The Sonic Screwdriver was held firmly in his hand. The man lifted himself off the ground and turned to Donna and Twilight. Donna gasped and a huge smile appeared on her face.
Shaun Temple, in a dazed and shocked state, presented the Screwdriver and said, "I think I'm the one you're looking for."

Ice Tomb Beneath the Beckwithshaw Hotel, Outskirts of Harrogate, England, Earth, Winter, 2010 A.D.

The Doctor and Derpy looked up in shock at the giant worm slithering its way through the walls of the cavern around them. The hands that protruded from its skin clawed away at the icy webbing.
"Doctor?" Derpy asked as she found herself choking on her words. "What the hay is that?!"
"Derpy, I honestly have no clue," the Doctor replied. "And I hate having no clue!" Derpy looked at her mother with a look of disgust.
"You...you married this...this thing?!" Dahlia looked at her daughter and nodded. Derpy shrugged her shoulders a bit.
"You two make a good couple."
"Oh you have no idea, Ditzy. We have such big plans for the three of us," Dahlia replied with a giddy chuckle.
"What sort of plans?"
"Well...first I'll have Jimmy here, I call him Jimmy because his real name is just too hard for my pony mouth to pronounce, perform the procedure that he performed on me on you." Derpy felt a pit form inside her stomach. "I'll make sure to have him do some...alterations to turn you into the perfect daughter. Then, together, the three of us shall turn this planet into our playground, our dream home."
"No! You can't!" the Doctor protested.
"It is already decided, Doctor of Gallifrey," said Jimmy with a snarl. "You cannot change my love's decision."
"Maybe I can't...but I can stop you."
"Just try, Doctor." Jimmy popped his large worm head through the ceiling. Derpy screamed at the sight of it and the Doctor couldn't blame her, for he was an ugly sight to behold. He looked down at Dahlia with a loving smile, which sent chills up the Doctor's spine. "My love, I have already begun to attempt the disposal of the...other half of the problem."
"Good," said Dahlia with a cheeky grin. "The sooner we get this Doctor, that unicorn, and that Noble woman out of our hair, the better." The Doctor felt as if a bomb had just been dropped on his head.
"What did you just say?!" the Doctor asked suddenly. Dahlia turned to the Doctor and chuckled.
"Yes, Doctor. Your old friend Donna Noble is here with us. Jimmy has just telepathically shown me that he...recently attempted to dispose of them. Apparently your companions are much more capable than what was initially expected. No matter. They will be taken care of eventually." The Doctor was in shock. So, his hunch was right. Donna was here! She was really here! But how?! The Doctor knew that Donna would have either been knocked out by his fail-safe or burned up by her returning Time Lord knowledge upon seeing all this, let alone coming across Twilight. Could...could she have somehow survived...and...did she remember? The Doctor had no more time to contemplate this as Jimmy began sending down long tongues to capture him and Derpy. "First you two, then the Lady Time-Lord and her band of annoyances, then the hotel above us, and then-"
"Let me guess. The world?"
"Exactly! I know that sounds clichéd but...I don't really care at the moment." The Doctor grabbed onto Derpy and Dahlia let out another cold laugh as Jimmy's tongues grew ever closer to grabbing onto them.