The Doctor was smart. Extremely smart. He could figure out anything, anywhere, anyhow, armed with nothing but his brain and a couple paperclips. At least in theory. In reality, these days, the Doctor rarely had to actually figure anything out. He had been through so many situations in his long life that whenever he found himself in a bind, he simply needed to think about the last time this happened and do the same thing again.
Of course, this left him with a particular disadvantage in coping with this universe.
"Why are there stars in the sky?" Ditzy said in some disbelief. "Any colt knows that. Are you getting philosophical or something?"
"No," the Doctor said, fiddling with various levers on the TARDIS control panel, "I'm being quite literal. Tell me, what is a star?"
"Really?"
"Bear with me. This is going somewhere."
Ditzy sighed. "A star," she said, "is a small, decorative point of light placed in the sky by Princess Luna."
"Yes, yes," the Doctor said, then realized what he just heard. "Wait, what?"
"How could you not know that?"
The Doctor turned around and stared right into Ditzy's eyes. "Do you really believe that?"
"Yes, I do," Ditzy said, refusing to be intimidated. "Of course, there are some alternate theories, but they lose some validity when you have the goddess of the night herself to consult for answers. And if you don't trust her because, among other things, she was trapped on the moon for 1000 years and probably went insane in the process, I checked the theories out myself. Mathematically, they aren't correct."
"Alternate theories?" the Doctor said. "What kinds of alternate theories?"
"Oh, nothing worth talking about. My favorite is that each star is a huge ball of fire, each with these little round things, planets, I think, orbiting around them. And we live on one of these 'planets.' Absurd, isn't it?"
The Doctor could just blink. "Well, I hate to tell you this, but they're right."
Ditzy would usually defer to the judgment of a time traveler, but this was a bit much. "You're not serious."
"I can prove it," the Doctor said, returning to the control panel. "Watch. I'll show you the planet we're on right now."
"What? In a time machine?"
"It's also a spaceship," the Doctor said. Ditzy looked confused, forcing him to add, "It can travel through space. I'm going to take us to the space directly above the surface of this planet, so we get a good view."
"Right," Ditzy said.
The Doctor fiddled with a large swath of buttons and levers until he reached one large pedal and stopped. "Brace yourself," he said, smiling, and pulled it down.
The TARDIS took off with its typical unceremonial lurch, forcing Ditzy to grab hold of a railing. After an uncomfortably long time, the worst of the shaking stopped and the Doctor double checked a screen to make sure they were in the right place.
"Is it always this rough?" Ditzy said.
"Unfortunately, yes," the Doctor said. "Open the door."
Ditzy obliged, and jerked back in shock. "What on…"
"We are currently in orbit around your planet," the Doctor said, throwing down a useless lever just to look cool. "That, out there, is space."
Ditzy continued looking outside with a blank expression.
"Space is, er, the space between planets. If you look down, you'll see a… round thing. That's your planet."
Ditzy looked down. She looked concerned. "Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. Why?"
"Because that doesn't look at all like Equestria to me."
"How so?"
"Well…. it sort of looks like a giant gaseous ball."
He looked outside. She was right. The planet below was large, definitely large enough to sustain life, but all he could see on it were sickeningly yellow clouds quickly churning everywhere and sending bolts of electricity flying.
"What the…?" It didn't look like this last time he saw it, but then again, the last time he saw it was right after Derpy stepped on the butterfly that unleashed the time change. Since then, he had trouble identifying what time they were in, and a lot could've happened since then. But this? What was this?
Then he saw something that was a bit distressing.
"Oh, look," Ditzy said. "There are the stars. What did I tell you?"
The Doctor could not get anything useful out. Yes, there were stars, but they were on the planet's surface, where they definitely did not belong. Poking out from the swirling mass of yellow clouds was what appeared to be the top of a black dome. The edges were fuzzy, as if it was not quite a solid object. It was massive—the Doctor estimated it must've covered at least a third of the planet's surface. And on its surface were thousands of little stars, placed in arbitrary patterns.
"Those aren't supposed to be down there," the Doctor said. "They're supposed to be…"
"Just admit it. You're wrong."
"No, look, I've been up in space before and…" He tried to collect his thoughts. "Listen, the fabric of this universe was altered somehow. I was traveling with you—no, not you, another you—and you stepped on this butterfly, and that unleashed some kind of monster that made me separate this solar system from the rest of the universe…"
The Doctor noticed Ditzy glazing over. "Could we talk about this in the morning?" she said. "Sorry, but I don't think I can handle this at the moment."
The Doctor wanted to defend himself, but couldn't think of a reasonable excuse to continue. "Sure," he said, giving up, and Ditzy turned away from the door. The Doctor took one last glance at the dome, his mind full of questions.
– – – –
"Me too."
"What?"
Ditzy looked at the stallion in front of her. He was a pale blue pegasus with dark gray hair. She could have sworn it was Soarin, the star of the Wonderbolts. Then she realized it probably was, because this was the Grand Galloping Gala.
She had been invited quite suddenly a couple weeks earlier. Usually, Ditzy would've been angry to have such short notice, especially during finals week, but she was invited by Celestia herself. That was the opportunity of a lifetime—Celestia never invited anyone anywhere, unless you counted sending people to the dungeon as inviting them there. Ditzy managed to convince an elite fashion designer to make a dress for her, and now here she was, mingling among the country's top aristocrats and entertainers.
Not that any of that provided context for Soarin's outburst. "Me too what?"
"Oh. Um," he stammered, scratching the back of his head. Ditzy had never quite seen anyone so nervous. "Sorry, I just… I just came out to the rest of the Wonderbolts. As straight. Like you. You were my inspiration, actually. After you said that in that interview…"
In an interview a couple months earlier, a reporter had asked Ditzy about rumors she was straight. She halfheartedly confirmed them, and tried to change the subject, but the reporter started drilling her. He asked her why, what could she possibly gain from this. Ditzy, fed up, said, "Why do you think I'm doing this to make some type of political statement? I'm doing this because I like penises. Big, fat, sexy penises. That is my only motivation. This interview is over."
To her dismay, it had quickly become the most popular thing she had said. Despite making it very clear she wanted to remain apolitical, Ditzy was flooded with requests to represent or lead or speak at or manage various straight rights groups, events, orgies, and fundraisers. She turned down all of them, of course, hoping they would let up or at least get angry at her. Ditzy's reputation preceded her, though, and her denials just made the groups more desperate than ever. In absence of any organized way to see her, people started approaching her on the street, asking her questions about what it was like to be straight, was it true straights had to pay 5% more sales tax, and so on. It was clear something needed to be done.
So one day, Ditzy, with her lawyer, worked out a form letter response to anyone who approached her about straight issues, which she immediately took advantage of.
"I'm happy I've given you the courage to come out," Ditzy said automatically. "I hope you find a sweet and tender lover." Ditzy wasn't quite sure about that clause, but her lawyer insisted it was necessary. "But really, I don't think I should be giving advice on…"
"I don't need advice," Soarin said. "I need you."
Ditzy blinked.
Soarin facehoofed. "Oh Celestia, did I just say that?"
Ditzy sighed. The most irritating thing that came out of this debacle, by far, was the sheer amount of stallions hitting on her. Ditzy lost track of the amount of times she had to explain that, no, just because she was straight did not mean she wanted to screw every stallion she saw.
This guy was an exception.
"Oh, why not?"
Soarin paused. "What?"
"Come on. Follow me. I know a place."
Honestly, Ditzy thought, you were obligated to have at least one sexual misadventure at the Gala, and if she waited any longer, Celestia might get to her first.
Ditzy broke away from the party and Soarin followed. She looked around for the object she needed. There. The third potted plant from the right in the hallway behind the dance floor. The pot was, as she read, a slightly darker yellow than the others.
Soarin looked around. "Is this the place?"
"No. Well, maybe," Ditzy said. "I read that… well, this is either going to work fantastically or make me look like a moron."
She braced herself, ran up to the pot, and dove into it.
At this point, at least, she was reasonably sure she had not drank any of Celestia's infamous spiked drinks. Rumor was, if you were sober, the castle walls seemed to move on their own, doors seemed to lead to slightly different rooms depending on what direction you entered them, objects randomly disappeared, and you moved between different floors without climbing stairs. If you were drunk, the castle appeared to behave like a normal building.
As Ditzy stepped out of the small potted plant into another large hallway, she decided, yes, she was definitely sober.
She shook off some soil and yelled, "Okay, it's safe," into the pot. She wondered if her voice would carry through the portal, but regardless, Soarin got the message and quickly tumbled through.
He looked around in shock. "Wha…?"
"The castle apparently has space distortion magic applied to it," Ditzy said. "I never quite believed it until now. It's probably to keep out intruders." Her brow furrowed. "Or to keep them in…"
"Is this legal?"
"I can't imagine why not. If they know we're eloping, I'm sure the princesses will be fine with it. I've heard Celestia sometimes forces couples to sneak off to some bedchamber or other."
Soarin was a bit more skeptical. "If you say so," he said, scanning the surroundings.
Ditzy began walking off, trying to remember the minutia of the route she memorized. There it was. The door.
"Okay," she said, "this is the second step. Go into this room, close the door, wink at the tapestry, then exit."
"Listen, Ditzy, I'm really—"
Soarin was too late. Ditzy had already entered the room. He waited for her to come back out, but she never did. After a while, he figured it would be best to follow her instructions. While he had been to the castle far more than she had, he had never seen this side of it, and had doubts in his ability to get back on his own.
He opened the door, entered the room, and closed it behind him. It took his eyes a while to adjust, but eventually saw a tapestry of Celestia giving him bedroom eyes on the opposite wall.
He winked at it.
Nothing apparent changed, but Soarin knew that meant nothing. He opened the door and found himself in a completely different section of the castle. Ditzy sat on the floor impatiently.
"What took you so long?" she said. "I was beginning to get worried."
Soarin already was worried. He knew that once you began to get this close to Celestia's mind games, things got dangerous. One minute you would be laughing at a goofy painting of her, next thing you knew it would be two weeks later and your appendix would be missing. At least, so he heard. "How much longer?"
"Not much," Ditzy said, standing up slowly. "We just have to jump through a couple trash cans." She walked forward, making sure to gratuitously sway her hips as she did so.
Soarin caught himself staring. Maybe this would be worth it, he thought.
Then he felt it.
Ditzy sensed something was wrong. "Soarin?"
Soarin looked down a hallway. "The wind suddenly…"
"What?"
"They're here."
There was no need to specify who. Ditzy's eyes widened. She stopped in her place. Her confidence completely left her. "What do we…?"
"Hide! Under that bench!"
They both jumped underneath a small, decorative stone bench. They knew it wasn't enough. If the princesses wanted to find them, they would find them. But what else could they do?
The sisters were so quiet that at first, Ditzy doubted Soarin. But then she saw them. She saw their hooves hit the ground, saw their huge wings lay poised at their sides, saw their warped manes make a mockery of perspective and order. She had heard stories, as everyone had, but it was the first time she had seen either in person. She knew this sight would remain with her the rest of her life.
Somehow, the two never noticed Ditzy and Soarin. They were so deeply involved in a personal argument they were not paying attention to their surroundings.
"Come on now. You are going to be late."
"Oh, so that was your game. If I didn't agree with you quickly, I'd be late to my party." Celestia scoffed. "Did you honestly think that would work? Just who do you think I am?"
"Do you not care about your subjects at all?"
"I had tonight all planned out until you butted in."
"You would have created another abomination."
"She is perfect for the game and you know it!"
"So was Starswirl."
"Says Mrs. I-went-and-accidentally-used-the-process-on-my-dominatrix. You know, I'm still wondering, just how do you 'accidentally' use the process? Do you know how many corpses that requires?"
There was a tense silence.
"That… was a mistake. I will admit it. But so was Starswirl. And we cannot erase either. We were able to seal away the orange one with the system, but that will not always be an option. Besides, despite our efforts, it will always be a temporary solution for a permanent problem, and you know it. So tell me, as another immortal… what makes you so sure she will not be another mistake?"
Celestia paused. "In all my years, I've rarely seen anyone so bored with life. And among those, I've never seen anyone channel it into so much power. Even as she is now, she has irreversibly altered the direction of this country. Just imagine what she could do on our level."
"True…"
As Ditzy watched, she realized everything she had heard of the sisters, all of the horror stories, urban legends, shocking exposés—that was them holding back. This was what they were like alone. This was what they really were. Somehow, even though nearly nothing happened, seeing that was worse than all of the terrifying rumors put together.
The sisters walked away, and their conversation became indistinct. Only when the two were sure they were gone did Ditzy emerge from under the chair and double check the hallways. Empty.
"I think we're safe," Ditzy said. She turned to Soarin. "Want to go on, or—"
Soarin immediately lunged at and made out with her.
"Marry me," he said.
"Okay," Ditzy replied.
– – – –
And then Ditzy woke up. She looked around at her surroundings in confusion until she remembered where she was—in one of the bedrooms in the TARDIS.
She rubbed her aching head. Why did she have to dream about something so unpleasant? She wanted to forget about Soarin. But, she had to admit, she also wanted those old days back.
More importantly, that conversation between Celestia and Luna had bugged her for years. She lost track of the amount of times she ran through it in her mind, trying to figure out what it meant. What was the game? The process? The system? What happened to Starswirl? Who was the orange one? Who was "she?" And what did Luna's dominatrix have to do with any of that? Whenever she thought about it, she inevitably grew more confused. Maybe the Doctor would be able to help. She had never told anyone about the incident for fear of getting caught, but Ditzy was reasonably sure even the princesses could not track down a time traveler.
Ditzy then felt something brush against her, and heard a faint thud and crack. The room was still dark, and Ditzy was half asleep, so she started feeling around. On the floor next to the light stand, she felt her glasses, now chipped in one lens. With some embarrassment, Ditzy realized she had knocked them over with her erect wings. She sighed and put them on.
It was just going to be one of those days.
– – – –
Ditzy slowly navigated her way to the control room. Once there, she saw the Doctor underneath the central control unit with some tools, tweaking something. He briefly looked up at her.
"You slept for a while."
"It was a long day," Ditzy said. "And the alcohol probably didn't help." She tried to not let the worst of her hangover show.
The Doctor vaguely nodded and got back to work. "Breakfast is in the kitchen," he said, then added, "The kitchen is three doors down to the left of the hallway connected to the third door on the second hallway at the top of that ladder over there." He paused. "And failing that, all the purple walls are edible. Don't worry, they'll grow back. I think."
Ditzy wasn't listening. "Doctor…"
The Doctor continued fiddling. "Yes?"
"Does the phrase 'the game' mean anything to you?"
The Doctor went out on a limb and assumed she wasn't talking about the one he just lost. "Well, my people, the Time Lords, had something called that. They would take people out of time and force them to compete to the death. It was terribly barbaric. I put a stop to that, of course."
"Anything related to the history of this world?"
"You know more about the history of this world than I do," the Doctor said, expertly screwing something in with his mouth. "I can't even figure out what year it is, to be completely honest."
"What!? I thought you were a time traveler!"
"Really, when you think about it, that just means I've traveled a lot. I've never encountered a place like this before." He poked his head out from under the walkway. "Doesn't that make you feel special? To know this world is one-of-a-kind?" He stopped, and gave Ditzy a disturbed stare.
"What?"
"How long have your glasses been chipped?"
"Since this morning." Ditzy blushed. "I had some… problems."
The Doctor ruffled his hoof through his hair. "Okay, I know this is going to sound crazy, but…" He inhaled. "You're going to need to go down to the basement and meet yourself."
Ditzy blinked. "Myself?"
"It's difficult to explain."
"Try."
"It involves time travel."
"Clearly."
The Doctor tried to construct a logical explanation. "Back when I was traveling with… another version of you… the other you went in the basement and saw herself from the future. According to her, that future self had a British accent and was wearing glasses chipped in one lens." He pointed at Ditzy. "In other words, you."
"So I've got to go back and close the loop?"
"Exactly."
A real time paradox! And on the first day! The only thing containing Ditzy's excitement was her hangover. "When do I do it?"
The Doctor shrugged. "Whenever you want. Just don't fix your glasses."
"And if I don't?" Ditzy wished she had a notepad, but couldn't pass up this opportunity.
"Giant space meatballs come and eat everything," the Doctor said. "Not necessarily in that order."
– – – –
Ditzy stood in front of the basement door. Apparently, all she had to do was walk in. The Doctor said that since time was warped in a very specific way in that room, it would connect the two points on its own.
Probably.
It was easier to get to than the kitchen, at any rate.
Despite her prodding, she was not able to get him to say any more about the space meatballs.
With no small amount of nervousness, she pushed the door open.
Inside, the room was, in a word, illogical. Despite being called a basement, all it appeared to contain was a large amount of walls jutting out at inconvenient angles. Ditzy walked through it uncomfortably. She didn't want to risk causing a time paradox, even though she had no idea how she could avoid that. She looked at the walls. Just around every corner, it seemed, there were people. They must've been projections of people from different times, Ditzy thought. Just how many people had the Doctor taken in his TARDIS?
Her line of thought was interrupted when someone bumped into her and fell to the ground. Ditzy, flustered, adjusted her glasses and looked down.
It was her.
Well, not exactly her. Her doppelgänger had an identical body, but was not wearing glasses, and had a confused, wide eyed expression completely unlike the stoic look Ditzy was used to seeing on herself. "Oh, sorry about that," Ditzy said, and leaned over to help her up.
She stared at Ditzy for a couple seconds, seemingly trying to make her mind up about something. Then, with no warning whatsoever, she grabbed Ditzy and made out with her.
Ditzy did not enjoy this. For the first three seconds, she tried to relax, but immediately afterwards she backed away, gurgled, and spat on the ground.
"Who are you?" she said. "You're not me."
Then, after flickering a bit, her doppelgänger disappeared.
– – – –
Ditzy rushed into the control room. "What," she yelled, "was that!?"
The Doctor, now sitting on a railing, rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I probably should've told you she made out with you."
"No, that is not the problem!" Ditzy paused. "Well, yes, that is part of the problem, but it is not the problem!"
"What is the problem?"
Ditzy glared. "Who was that?"
The Doctor played innocent. "What do you mean?"
"That was not me. Not from another timeline, or another universe, or whatever. She was completely different."
"How could you possibly know that?"
"I know me. For one, I'm straight as an arrow. There is no way I could kiss another mare like that. Not to mention, she at least knew about time travel, right? Space meatballs or not, would any version of me risk breaking the space-time continuum just to make out with herself!?"
The Doctor almost said yes, but decided against it.
"But that wasn't the half of it. When I looked straight at her she looked like me, but out of the corner of my eye all I could see was this giant dark blob. And that kiss wasn't right either. She looked the same height as me, but was leaning down. And, most important thing last…" Ditzy got in the Doctor's face. "I'd like you to tell me in what universe I have a tongue that long!"
Ditzy stood there, fuming.
The Doctor cleared his throat. "I… also had my suspicions about her."
"I would hope so!"
"That was probably some other being posing as you. I have no idea how or why, but I think we've both noticed that their shapeshifting skills leave a bit to be desired."
"Why didn't you, I don't know, kick her out or something!?"
"I did. But I had to wait for an opportune moment. Look at this." The Doctor pressed some keys and turned one of the monitors towards Ditzy. "This is what the TARDIS produced when it analyzed her composition."
Ditzy's eyes widened. Anyone with knowledge of physics, or even of numbers, could tell you the figures the screen displayed were impossible. The sheer amount of digits alone was mind-boggling. "W-What?"
"That being had enough power to destroy an entire planet. Easily. I had to avoid giving it a reason to use that power."
Ditzy took that in. "So, what I just saw was a godlike alien creature… pretending to be me?"
"That's right."
"Why didn't you—"
"I was going to tell you all about it this morning. Then your glasses broke. I wanted to plug that gap in space-time as quickly as possible. For all I know, if we left it open, she could have used it to come here."
Ditzy calmed down. "I suppose that makes sense."
The Doctor inhaled. "Also… I didn't want to tell you that the imposter killed the original version of you." He gave a melancholy smile. "That's why I went back in time and talked to your parents like that. I wanted to alter your timeline so you didn't end up traveling with me and dying."
"So," Ditzy said, raising an eyebrow, "doesn't that mean I'm just going to die again?"
"Oh, no!" the Doctor said. "That was just that one timeline. Yours is so completely different it couldn't possibly happen that way again. Yes, traveling with me is risky, but you're definitely not predestined to that death."
"How comforting." Ditzy looked at the control panel. She wasn't quite sure if she wanted to, but she asked, "You don't think you could show me where this happened, do you?"
– – – –
The Doctor pushed open the door. Outside, there was a dense forest, and in the distance they could see a small town. "Ponyville! Circa… I have no idea." The Doctor looked embarrassed. "I would take you to when it actually happened, but since I altered your timeline, I don't think that point in time exists anymore. Also, if it did, I don't think it would be a good idea to have two mes and three yous in the same place at the same time."
"No, it's fine," Ditzy said, only vaguely paying attention. "Where did it happen?"
The Doctor pointed at some indeterminate spot. "There. I think. The foliage has changed a bit."
Ditzy walked over to it and looked down. It just looked like any other spot in the forest. She wasn't sure why she had expected anything else. Nothing had happened here yet, and according to the Doctor, nothing ever would. But still—this was the spot where she had died. Where she would die if the Doctor hadn't intervened. It was humbling. It was one thing to teach time travel, but another to witness its consequences. She burned the image of that clearing into her mind as a reminder of the dangers of her voyage.
They stood there in silence for a while.
Eventually, the Doctor cleared his throat. "Ready?"
"Yes," Ditzy said. "I believe so."
– – – –
"Ponyville wasn't always a college town," the Doctor said as they walked through the marketplace. "In all the other timelines, it stays like this. Small, quaint, agricultural. I'm surprised that one conversation with your parents changed so much, honestly."
"What makes you so sure it was that?"
The Doctor looked confused. "Well, I didn't change anything else."
"But couldn't you have unintentionally manipulated something that caused that?"
"Probably not. If time was that fragile, we wouldn't be able to time travel at all," the Doctor said. "Different events are… well, fated to a different degree. Some are extremely malleable. Some are nearly impossible to stop. But most will happen in a roughly similar way no matter what you do."
Ditzy blinked. "Fated."
"I don't mean anything spiritual by that. That's just the best word I could think of. There's really no logic to how malleable an event is. Sometimes, a thousand year war can be caused and prevented by a single pen running out of ink, but no change you make, save destroying the planet, can prevent one man from burying a loaf of bread at a certain time."
Ditzy looked out at the crowd. "I take it my fate is extremely malleable."
"It must be. It's not often a single person can exert that much control over a world, even if it is mostly by a series of bizarrely timed coincidences. But then again, this world is strange. Nearly everything you see was caused by a past version of you stepping on a single butterfly."
"What!?"
"I'm not sure exactly what that caused, but whatever it did, it forced me to, at some point, use a device that sealed off this solar system at every point in space and time simultaneously. That's why nothing exists outside this and a couple other planets."
Ditzy scoffed. "Back to the planets again. Your universe must have been pretty strange."
"Imagine what this world seems like to me. It works in a way completely contrary to everything I've experienced." At that, the Doctor stopped. They had walked far past the marketplace and were now in front of the library. "Speaking of which, it would probably be a good idea for me to consult this world's history some more."
"There's something depressing about a time traveler forced to consult history books."
The Doctor glared at her. "You can walk around town if you want."
"I think I will."
They split up.
– – – –
"That'll be 10 bits."
Ditzy set them on the counter.
The cashier looked at them, looked up, and continued staring at Ditzy until she cleared her throat. "Extra sales tax?"
Ditzy begrudgingly set another bit on the counter. "How, exactly, could you tell?"
"We can tell," the cashier said, pointing at her head. "We know these things."
Ditzy was not quite sure what she meant by "we" or "things," or even "know" for that matter, but decided to not explore the matter further. Instead, she took the hat she had just bought, put it on, and walked outside.
Well, discrimination wasn't a new thing, at least. Ditzy had trouble deciding whether that was comforting or not.
Ponyville lost a bit of its novelty when Ditzy realized, with the exception of the University and some slightly updated architecture, the town was largely unchanged from her time. She figured she might as well get something from this trip, though, and decided to buy a fancy hat as a memento.
One particularly nice thing about this hat was how much of her vision it blocked. No matter how she turned it, it always drooped over half of her eyes, rendering her unable to see anything but the ground directly in front of her. After the last couple days, she figured it would be nice to not see some things.
At least until a stallion ran by and nearly hit her straight into a wall.
"Watch it!" she said.
"Sorry," the stallion replied, then stared at her. Or, at least, Ditzy assumed he was staring at her, because all she could see were his brown legs. "Do I know you from somewhere?"
"I don't know!"
"In a strange way, you sound just like… but wait, she's… oh great, I lost them. Real genius, Doctor." He ran off.
Ditzy froze. "Doctor?" She turned around, lifted the brim of her hat up with her hoof, and looked at him. She caught just a fleeting glimpse, but that was definitely the Doctor.
"What's he doing?"
– – – –
When Ditzy reached the library, the Doctor was waiting in front, impatiently looking around. When he saw her, he rushed over, smiling.
"Nice hat," he said, poking one of the tassels.
Ditzy was unimpressed. "What's with you? Just a bit ago you didn't even recognize me in this."
"What are you talking about? I just got out of the library."
"Don't play dumb. You just ran off that way."
"I did not."
"Come on, don't try to prank—" At that moment, Ditzy was overcome by a searing migraine. "AAAGH!"
She nearly collapsed, but the Doctor caught her. "What? What is it?"
"My head… suddenly… it's like when I study for too long and…"
The Doctor knew that feeling. It was the headache caused by significant timeline changes. But what could've happened? To the best of his knowledge, after his change, nothing happened in Ponyville, unless…
The Doctor froze.
"What… is it?"
"I didn't park the TARDIS there."
Ditzy caught a glimpse of it. There, skillfully hid between two buildings, was the TARDIS.
"Did it… move?"
"It can't move on its own. And the only time I parked it there was…"
Ditzy screamed. "AAAAH! Doctor! It's getting worse!"
The Doctor bounded towards the forest, dragging Ditzy behind him. In record time, they reached the TARDIS and the Doctor shoved Ditzy inside. He followed, and closed and locked the door behind him.
Ditzy rocked on the floor, nursing her head. "What was that?" she said.
"You saw me."
"Yes, but—"
"You saw another me, when I time traveled to this town before. I was running, looking for someone, wasn't I?"
"Yes, I seem to remember—"
"Dammit!" The Doctor ran to the control panel and madly started pulling levers and buttons. The TARDIS rocked.
Ditzy grabbed hold of a railing. "What—?"
"Usually the TARDIS automatically avoids situations like this, but clearly that doesn't work in this world! Dammit! Dammit! This is serious!"
Ditzy was losing patience. "What is serious!?"
"That was when I talked to your parents!"
Ditzy's heart stopped. "What…?" Did that mean she had blocked his route to her parents? But that conversation had changed everything! That conversation defined every aspect of her life! "That—"
"We have to go back to your present and see how much damage has been done! Maybe there's still some hope!"
Hope? Her migraine was proof something had been erased, wasn't it?
The TARDIS landed with a deafening roar. The two stared at the doorway. Their hearts pounded. The Doctor approached it slowly. "This is Ponyville in your present. I can't land this thing incredibly accurately, but it should be in roughly the right time. Are you ready?"
Ditzy would never be ready in her entire life, but she nodded. The Doctor opened the door.
Before them was a nearly identical Ponyville, no university in sight.
Ditzy could do nothing but stare at the spectacle, her jaw slack.
The Doctor approached some pedestrians. "Excuse me, have you ever heard of Dr. Ditzy Do here?"
"Did you just come out of—"
"Just answer me!"
"Can't say I have. Why?"
"Okay. Thanks. Listen, this might seem like a strange thing to ask, but was there ever a strange corpse found in the forest around here?"
"Yeah. A couple years back. The Nightmare Night murder, they call it. Gruesome thing. Personally, I think one of the princesses got bored. That all?"
The Doctor nodded. The pedestrians moved on. Neither the Doctor or Ditzy moved.
"Doctor… we can go back and fix this, right?"
"…right?"