//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Stars 
// Story: Hitch A Ride 
// by Closer-To-The-Sun 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 4: Stars

“So, what are you exactly, Doctor?” the orange pegasus looked down at the brown stallion as he fiddled with wires below the TARDIS console.

“That’s quite simple,” he joyfully replied, “I’m the Doctor!”

Scootaloo shook her head, “That’s not what I mean. What about this huge machine? And that weird thing you’re using.”

The Doctor pulled himself out from underneath to make eye contact with the filly. Holding up the item she was talking about, the Doctor spoke, “Oi! Don’t diss the sonic screwdriver! This little piece of technology has saved millions of lives!”

“Sure it has,” Scootaloo rolled her eyes before turning the attention back to what she had previously stated, “Anyway, just who are you? And don’t say ‘the Doctor’, or so help me….”

“I’m a Time Lord,” he answered, pulling himself back underneath the console to continue with his repairs.

The pegasus raised an eyebrow, “A Time Lord? What’s that?”

Continuing with his meddling with the console, he answered, “Let me give you a brief overview. “I’m the Doctor, a member of an ancient race of aliens known as Time Lords from the planet of Gallifrey. We were once a proud and powerful civilization, able to travel the universe and all of time. However, after a great war, our entire civilization was all but lost. And now, I am the last of the Time Lords. I journey around with my old TARDIS here, traveling across the stars from one place to another, putting right what once went wrong. Wait, that’s from Quantum Leap….”

“But, I don’t get it, why don’t you go back and save your planet with your time machine?” the little pony asked.

“There are some things that even a Time Lord cannot do, Ace.”

The incorrect naming puzzled Scootaloo, “Ace? Who’s Ace?”

“Come again?”

“You called me Ace, just now.”

“No I didn’t,” the Doctor insisted. 

“Yes, you did.”

The brown pony didn’t miss a beat as he changed the subject, “Scootaloo, can you go fetch me the large black cable from below the platform and bring it up here? I need to fuse it up here to help the zeiton 7 react with the machinery more efficiently.”

With an annoyed sigh, Scootaloo agreed and dropped the subject at hoof. Instead, she asked another question, “So you travel alone?”

The Doctor was a bit hesitant to reply, “Not exactly. I have plenty of individuals who wish to travel the stars with me. Wonderful, fascinating characters.” A smile came to the Doctor’s face as he spoke.

“Where are they? Are they hiding in the ship?” the orange pony asked another question.

“Where’s that cable? I kind of need it so we don’t crash into a star, remember?”

“Oh, right! Coming up!”