The Doctor was stuck to his seat by the force of acceleration that the TARDIS was generating. He was aware of the maelstrom outside, and he could feel the TARDIS spinning among the dark colours and the smoke. From time to time, a bolt of lightning would make the ship shake, and he would bounce in his seat without falling out of it. He was yelling from the pain and laughing because of the shaking and bouncing of his ship. The noise and destruction had returned and the whole place was in absolute chaos, with severed cables and bits of machinery flying around. That didn't stop him from staying focused.
If this keeps getting worse I'm going to throw up.
I wonder how fast we're going.
Blimey this hurts.
I guess this is how being in a washing machine feels like.
I hope I'll be able to save my ship.
Are we there yet?
With a lot of effort, he managed to pull himself to the control panels and grabbed the scanner. It seemed the ship had some energy left - probably drawn from some emergency chamber - because the console was the only thing left working, which allowed him to see his surroundings. Outside, he saw nothing but red, black and orange swirling around. For a moment he thought he saw something else in the storm, but he quickly forgot about it as a particularly violent tremor threw him back into his seat. He was still worried, as the TARDIS was not built for this kind of environment and would not be able to survive if they stayed in the maelstrom for much longer.
The chaos seemed to go on forever until the ship slowly stopped spinning. Slowly, the light of the console grew stronger, the shaking became mild vibrations, and the explosions ceased - except from some sparks that flew out of different parts of the control room.
I'm...alive. Even after all this, I'm still alive.
He gave a shaky laugh, and looked at the ceiling. The voice interface reappeared next to him, but the hologram was twisted and the sound system seemed to have taken quite a lot of damage, since it spoke with the same emotionless voice but blurrier.
WARNING. IMMMMPAAAAACT IMMINENT. BRRRRRAAAAAACE YOURSELF-ELF-ELF.
Even though he was going through one hell of an ordeal, the Doctor was curious as to where he was. He managed to grab the scanner, and called out to the ship.
"Show me where I am! I want a visual of the area outside!"
It took a moment but the image slowly focused, as requested, and he was taken by surprise by what he was seeing. He had emerged from the maelstrom, which seemed to have disappeared after he had fallen out, and into familiar territory. The stars were still there, little white dots on the black canvas of the universe, and he seemed to be hurtling towards Earth. Far away from his ship the blue planet was there, with small patches of green showing the land on which humans lived. However, two things puzzled him. First of all, something seemed different about the planet: the land masses weren't shaped the right way and seemed to be larger. Moreover, the colours didn't fit with any of his memories.
Perhaps the power that threw us through space was great enough to send us through time as well? Is this Earth at another time? The past maybe. Jurassic era? Those were the days.
Even with that analysis, the Doctor was still unconvinced. It didn't look or feel the way it should, and it was unlikely that Earth had acquired more land in the future. The second reason was that he seemed to be much too far from the planet to cause an alarm, so what was he heading for? Then the projection showed his true impact target: the moon. The TARDIS was going to crash into the moon.
The Doctor was dreading this for several reasons. He would, first of all, crash several times until the TARDIS could set up a stable gravity. When that was over, he would have to find a way to fix his ship and stay stranded for an undetermined amount of time on the rock. Finally, he would be bored. The Doctor didn't react well to boredom.
I'll worry about that later. Right now, I need to focus on crashing.
He jumped back to his seat, closed his eyes and braced himself, his body ready for the last part of his ordeal. Suddenly his eyes snapped back open as he remembered something: the Vortex Energy was gone, and that he was still flying through space at millions of miles per hour. The good news was that he wouldn't crash into the moon. The bad news was that he would keep going, as the speed would be too great to allow the ship to stop. And he had no defences left.
"Oh, perfect..." he groaned.
Seconds after he realised this, the entire place shook wildly as the TARDIS bounced off the moon, and headed for the planet below. Even though it seemed impossible the exterior of the TARDIS had survived the impact, but it had received even more damage: the windows of the big blue box shattered and flames erupted out from them, starting to burn the outside of the ship.
Even though the inside of the TARDIS was shaking like balls in a bingo machine and imploding as if fireworks had been set off, the Doctor had adapted to his chaotic environment and was back at the controls, trying to make his crash landing a little more bearable. But try as he might, nothing was responding, and sparks kept flying out of the console. Still, amidst all the explosions and despite his current predicament, he realised he had gone through this before, during his previous regeneration. Back then he and his ship seemed doomed, and even though the previous situation wasn't as critical, he had pulled through. He felt relieved, knowing that he would prevail once more.
I'll get through this. Probably. Maybe.
Then, excitement rushed through him: THIS is what he lived for. The adventure, the thrill of discovery, and the challenge of going into the unknown. Because of the sense of déjà-vu and the rush of adrenaline, he ran around the control panel, laughing madly the whole time. After making the final touches, he threw himself on his chair and threw his head back. Taking a deep breath, he shouted at the ceiling.
"GERONIMO!"
************
On the planet below Princess Luna gave a shudder, as if something had crawled up her back. Her sister noticed this and raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?" she asked in a worried tone.
Luna didn't move for a moment, then replied slowly.
"I'm not sure how to explain it...but something...hit the moon?"
Celestia stared at her with wide eyes. That was peculiar, even by her standards.
"What does that mean?"
Luna was about to answer when something caught her eye. Up above, a bright shooting star was sailing through the sky. She quickly rose to her hooves, spreading her wings in case she needed to fly away.
"What is it Luna?" asked Celestia, somewhat agitated by her sister's behaviour.
Luna stared at the star and replied.
"That shooting star..."
Celestia was puzzled. She thought that Luna was the last pony that would be startled by a shooting star.
"Yes, what about it?"
"I didn't summon it."
A small 'boom' was heard, and the ground shook slightly. Celestia's eyes widened, and she too stood tall.
"We need to investigate this. Something is coming."
The two alicorns took off, and followed the path of the mysterious star.
************
A massive 'boom' echoed throughout the TARDIS, which shook violently once more. The Doctor clutched his chair and the handrail, preparing himself for what the sound announced.
And that is the TARDIS entering the planet's atmosphere. Also, the planet has an atmosphere, good to know. Almost there, and here comes the last part.
The last part of the ordeal was the 'landing'. His laughter had died down and he was increasingly worried, because this was the first time he had to land in such dangerous conditions. The Doctor took a deep breath, and exhaled. He thought he was ready, but that idea quickly went away as the big blue box smashed into the ground, and the interior collapsed. Anything that was left from the previous waves of destruction was destroyed, and the interior of the TARDIS shook with the force of an earthquake. The ship bounced forward several times, as a rock would on water, but its momentum wasn't slowed down.
The Doctor's chair was ripped off its base and smashed into the ceiling while he went flying. He was hurled against the wall and yelled out in pain as he landed back-first on the glass floor of the platform, which was the last thing it could take. He fell through a rain of glass shards and onto the floor below.
After what felt like hours, the ship had finally settled down. The walls had gashes in them, flames were burning all over the place, sparks erupted in random spurts from several different spots, debris littered the whole place, and the only thing that had survived the fall through space was the great glass pillar, along with the hexagonal panel that surrounded it. It was covered in cracks now, at the very edge of falling apart, and the control panels were destroyed.
The Doctor lay there, unmoving and breathing slowly among the glass shards, simply choosing to stay still for a moment. He could barely feel the burning room around him, he was exhausted, and any part of his body that he could still feel hurt atrociously.
"At least all this pain...proves that I'm alive. Also, I'm still talking to myself... so everything is perfectly normal. As normal as it gets anyway...and I can hear myself so that's convenient," he muttered.
The first thing to do after going trough a crash-landing is to check if anything is broken, which is exactly what the Doctor did.
"Hands and fingers: 1,2,3,4,5, check," he said, wiggling his digits.
"Which means that the arms..." he continued, raising his arms very slowly," ...are still working. Good."
He touched his head, inspecting every aspect.
"Hair, check. Skull, still in one piece. Nose, still there. Eyes, good. Mouth and teeth," he clicked his tongue once, "alright. Chin, still there? and just as big as before..." he grumbled, after checking his large jaw. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at his chest to examine himself. His clothes were ripped and burned in several places, but nothing seemed to be missing.
"Sight, check. The rest, check for now. Bow-tie...is still there, great," he chuckled, which made him cough roughly.
"...Lungs...check...again."
After confirming that the top half of his body was still working, he started working on the other half.
"...Other parts, still there, I hope. Legs..."
When he tried to move his legs, however, he couldn't do it. He couldn't feel them either. Dread slowly creeped through him.
"Oh, that's not good. That's not good...this is very bad..." he moaned, and shouted in anger.
There he was: the almighty Doctor, broken and stuck on the floor of his equally broken and damaged ship. That fact, among others, had a great impact on him, but the most depressing one was the realisation that he was completely alone. As selfish as it might sound, he wanted to have someone next to him to share the pain with. Moreover, the TARDIS showed no signs of life whatsoever. He was stranded with his thoughts, and he knew that if he didn't die soon they would slowly drive him crazier.
But just before he could think of anything, the sound of his front doors opening and footsteps startled him for several reasons. First off, there were creatures outside. Second, they were coming in. Third, they had opened the TARDIS' doors. That either meant that they were incredibly powerful and intelligent, or that the chances of repairing his ship were getting thinner by the minute.
His greatest shock came when what had entered appeared above him. They seemed to be two large horses, with wings and a horn. While they were both large creatures, one dwarfed the other. The tallest one was snow-white with rainbows flowing out of its head. The smaller one was a very dark navy blue, with darkness and stars coming out of its head. However, their features seemed to be softer and rounder than those of regular horses. At that moment, the Doctor was amazed and speechless; he wanted to laugh but couldn't, simply staring up at the two creatures.
The white one looked around, then down to where he had fallen. And, against all impossible odds, it spoke.
"Luna, look down there."
The Doctor was astonished, because the fact that it spoke could mean three things: the TARDIS was still working, they spoke English, or he had finally lost what was left of his sanity. Out of these possibilities, the latter seemed to be the most probable. He said the first thing that crossed his mind.
"...What?"
The dark one looked down, and gasped before replying.
"What is that?"
They spoke. They actually spoke. And one of them is called Luna, what a fantastic name.
"...What!?"
"And it speaks! Equestrian no less!"
"WH-"
Before he could say anything else, exhaustion got the better of him and he fell unconscious.
************
The royal sisters watched as the mysterious object crashed into a field, then skipped several times before forming a crater further away. For a moment they didn't move, until they agreed it was safe to find out what had landed. At the bottom of the crater lay what appeared to be a large blue wardrobe. It was covered in dirt and ash, and flames could be seen burning from the windows and on some parts of the exterior. They walked down the slope formed by the crater, and approached the box. It seemed to have two large doors, with small windows at the top and a slightly charred sign on it.
"Celestia? Do you have any idea what this might be?" asked Luna, in a slightly nervous voice.
When Celestia didn't answer she looked up, seeing her sister stare at something. Luna followed her sister's eyes, and found the most peculiar thing. Above the doors, a rectangular black panel read in white letters:
POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX
"No Luna, I don't have the faintest. This is definitely something new."
Luna was puzzled. If this came from beyond the stars, how could there be a sign written in Equestrian? And what was this 'police'?
She looked at the big blue box some more, and stood in front of the doors. Hesitantly, she laid a hoof on one of them. It swung inward with a creaking noise, revealing the inside. Luna was bewildered: she was staring at a very large room, filled with smoke, debris and fire. A glass pillar, with holes in several places, stood in the middle of a small platform surrounded by several broken metal panels. Although that room was peculiar, it was the fact that she was staring at a very large place in the first place that shocked her. How could such a large room fit in such a small box? This box was, for lack of a better term, impossible. She walked around the box once, stared at the room again, then went around the cabin a second time. She then turned to her sister, who had left the reconnaissance to her sibling.
"It seems to be bigger on-"
She was interrupted by a loud noise from the inside of the contraption, and immediately jumped next to her sister, wings flared and magic ready. Celestia, however, walked towards the entrance with a neutral expression.
"Celestia what are you doing? It might be dangerous!"
Celestia kept walking, but replied with a calm voice.
"Whatever 'it' is, we need to make sure it isn't hurt."
"Hurt? How could a box be hurt?"
Celestia stopped, then looked back at her sister.
"I don't know exactly what this is Luna, but this is not just a box. I sense...life within it. Moreover, there is something else in there, and it shouted out in pain. Therefore, we need to help it."
Luna stood there, confused by her sister's behaviour, then followed her older sibling, knowing that everything Celestia did was always thought through. And so, they entered the impossible box and observed their surroundings. The whole place seemed dead, apart from the fire that had spread throughout the room. Everything they saw was either burning or burnt, breaking or broken, and it was all too quiet, except for the crackling of the fire.
Celestia saw a small staircase that led to the platform and signalled Luna to follow, choosing to remain quiet until they could safely talk. They both walked up the steps, then stopped. What could once be identified as a floor was gone, bits of glass jutting out from the edges of the platform. After observing the large glass pillar, she looked down the hole and saw something peculiar. On a bed of shattered glass, a strange creature seemed to wriggling in discomfort. It was hairless, apart from some fur on what appeared to be its head. It wore strange clothing, albeit ripped and burnt, and seemed to be bipedal. If Celestia were to describe its general appearance, she would say it looked like a hairless minotaur. And said minotaur was staring at them.
"Luna, look down there."
The minotaur seemed to be bewildered, and - amazingly enough - it spoke.
"...What?"
Luna looked down, then gasped.
"What in Equestria is that?" she shouted, slightly panicked.
The creature spoke once more, astonishment clear in its voice.
"...What?!"
Luna was amazed at this point.
"And it speaks! Equestrian no less!"
"WH-"
The creature was about to reply before it shuddered, then stopped moving. The two sisters looked down on it, before Luna spoke up.
"Is it...dead?"
Celestia looked down at it for a moment, before replying.
"No. It just seems to have...fainted."
"...What should we do with it?"
Celestia closed her eyes to concentrate, then spoke.
"This box does not appear to be a threat. Rather, it doesn't seem to be able to threaten us or anything that comes in contact with it, for now. As for this creature, it is clearly wounded, and it doesn't seem to be a threat either. Again, for now. What I think we should do is bring it back to the castle. We can't bring it to a common hospital, since it would spread fear in the population, and we can't just leave it here. We do, however, need to secure this box. I need you to bring any night-guard available here and keep an eye on this place, while I bring this creature back to the castle."
Luna nodded, then went out of the room and flew towards Canterlot.
Celestia remained there for a moment, then used her magic to fire a beam of light at the console, which glowed for a few seconds before it went back to its former state. She then lifted the Doctor up off the floor and brought him in front of her. She stared at him for a moment, then smiled.
"So, you finally showed up. Just like you said you would. Let's get you home."
Placing the Doctor on her back, she left the TARDIS and took off towards the castle. A moment after she left, the lamp on top of the TARDIS glowed faintly, and the doors slammed shut. A clicking noise, and they were were locked. It did not move afterwards, not even when Luna returned with her guards. And, try as they might, it would stay locked until the Doctor returned.