//------------------------------// // 4: Care to Explain a Few Things? // Story: Doctor Whooves and Assistant: Hello Sweetie // by CrackedInkWell //------------------------------// “Excuse me, Doctor,” -Tick Tock said as he, the Doctor, and a few guards entered the TARDIS for both the purpose of getting out supplies from the ship and keeping an eye on them- “don't think of me as intruding when I ask this, but would you mind explain about this “wife” of yours?” “Why would you want to know? And please don't touch that!” the last sentence was to a guard who was near the panel. “Well, Doctor. Neither I or Ditzy ever thought that you're married. Given the profession that you have.” “We'll need these wires. Plenty of wires, and some of these too.” Said the Doctor as he picks up the bits and pieces over the guards. “I didn't think it was that important to mention it.” “But since your wife is indeed here, I ought to think this is the perfect time to mention that.” _*_ “River, can I ask you something?” Luna asked. River and Ditzy were still with Luna in her room, waiting for the Doctor and Tick Tock to return. “Yes, dear?” “That stallion with an hourglass cutie mark. Is he really the Doctor from your stories? Who has a blue box that's much bigger on the inside?” River nodded. “Oh yes. The very same Doctor that I know.” “So, what's the blue book for?” Ditzy asked. River holds up the book in question: “This thing here is a diary. Since because I'm a time traveler, I and my husband tend to meet up at different periods in our lives. So I write in this to prevent a few paradoxes. But enough about me, let's talk about you two. So Ditzy, how long have you known the Doctor?” “For quite a while.” “And what about the red-haired unicorn?” “Tick Tock? He's been traveling with us just recently. Having a few adventures here and there.” “So, has the Doctor told you why your traveling with him?” “Well, it's because I was the very first pony he's ever met when he came here.” “And what about Tick Tock?” “Well, he's really smart. He has invented several things ahead of his time like he made the can opener before the can.” “Really? Using what?” Ditzy shrugged, “I don't know, whatever he can get his hooves on. I guess.” “So he's a ponyfied version of MacGyver?” “What?” “Never mind. Luna, what about you?” _*_ “Yes, we'll need that too.” Tick Tock answered the guard before putting the parts for a primitive battery into his bags. He turned back to the Doctor: “So let me get this straight, your wife is a time travel too, but the last time you saw her was at a place called the singing towers, which was an event in her timeline right before she died?” “Yes.” “And the reason you're not exactly your eccentric self is that you thought you would never see her again, correct?” “Quite. I didn't expect her to end up here at all.” “And Doctor, there's something about her that has been bothering me.” “What is it?” “When she first got her, she said that she escaped from prison. Why was she in prison to begin with?” _*_ “So Ditzy, what do you think of the Doctor?” “Other then he talks a lot?” “Oh, he's talkative this time?” Ditzy tilt her head to the side: “This time?” “Oh, I remember!” Luna squeaked, “Every time the Doctor dies, he turns into somepony else.” “No,” -said River- “close but no. Neither of us actually dies, it's when we're really hurt, every last cell in our bodies get replaced. That, and we get a slight change in personality but still keep the same memories as before. I've actually met his first nine selves before.” “Really, what were they like?” Ditzy asked, now intrigued. “The first was boring; the second I didn't like at all; third was fun to talk to; fourth was okay except he had a scarf obsession; fifth was alright; sixth was completely bonkers with a look that he was a clown thrown into a woodchipper; seventh was alright for being surprisingly Scottish; eighth was very elegant and cultured; and ninth, well, let's just say we didn't get along very well.” As River was talking, she noticed that one of Ditzy's eyes was twitching. “Are you alright dear?” “Yeah. I am.” It didn't take River very long to put the pieces together, the devastated way she asked to confirm she's married, the fact she's the first to jump into something when the Doctor asked, and now the twitch. “Ditzy,” -she said- “are you jealous of me?” The pegasus was caught off completely by surprise prove it further. “What! Me? Jealous? I-I'm not jealous. Who's jealous? I-I mean, why would I?” River and Luna looked at each other. “She's jealous.” they both said. “I AM NOT!!!” _*_ “That should be everything.” The Doctor said he put the last piece in the oversized bags. “Now back to the castle everyone.” The guards struggled to walk from the heavy loads on their backs as the four of them made their way back to the castle. “So if River is actually innocent, why did she keep returning to prison?” “Would it surprise you that there are some out there that want me dead.” “Not really.” “She kept returning to prison for my safety. To convince the ones who sent her to kill me think that I'm dead. But in her timeline now, it looks like she hasn't been pardoned yet.” “So is this her first escape from prison then?” “Of course not! She and I used to go on dates now and then, like that picnic in Asgard. Or visiting Easter Island (that was an interesting one). But I never expected she would end up here of all places.” “Perhaps now you need to spend as much time as you can with her.” Tick Tock suggested. The Doctor nodded. “Especially for how we're going to help Luna. So come on then! The sun's going down!”