“So, my dear, how’s the meal?” the Second Doctor asked her.
Celestia picked at her fish with a fork, taking a chunk out and chewing on it slowly. She smiled and nodded her head, swallowing with a content sigh. “Quite delicious, Doctor. Usually with my dates I worry about ending up in a hospital, so I don’t get to fully enjoy the meals we have.”
The Second Doctor smiled, this version’s face much more jolly than his previous grumpy and serious facade. “Well, I assure you that no surprise hospital visits shall happen on my watch.”
“Many have already made that promise before.”
The Doctor winked, producing from his pocket a recorder. Placing it near his lips, he said, “Well, not many of them are the Doctor now are they?”
Celestia giggled while the Doctor started to play his strange flute, the notes carrying with them a childish demeanor full of joy and easy-going times. Likewise, so was the Doctor’s appearance. He still dressed in an excessive fashion, but with much less pretentiousness than the First. A simple dark coat and pants with pressed blue shirt was his assemble, along with polka dot bowtie proudly displayed. He always had a mischievous grin on his face along with a hooked nose, while his hair resembled a bad haircut that used a bowl to organize it. The strangest thing Celestia could note was that she couldn’t quite place what color his eyes were. They shifted from brown to blue each time she glanced at him.
Celestia looked around herself, her breath still taken away by the spectacular decor that surrounded the two. “Is this truly the lost city of Atlantis?”
“Well, not very lost now, is it?” the Doctor asked, earning another chuckle from Celestia. He placed down his recorder and leaned back in his seat. “As for your question, yes, it is. I’m surprised you know of it.”
“Once you get around to as many immortals as I have, you learn a couple of things. Such as Atlantis being the place of bad mojo.”
“Here, it’s a place of good seafood,” the Doctor said, both immortals sharing a hearty laugh. “But for the most part Atlantis was once one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world. But, like many good things, it was utterly and completely destroyed and its remnants just a shadow of its old self.”
“That… sounds really dark,” Celestia noted.
The Doctor shrugged, clapping his hands together. “It very well might be, but now they have some of the best seafood on the planet.”
From the depths of a nearby pool appeared a stumbling creature of the oddest variety. It was a fish person, since that was the most likely name to call these creatures. With scaly skin, fish-like eyes, along with gills and fins. Though the scales looked glued onto their skin, the eyes resembled goggles, and their gills and fins appeared to be plastic.
One of them placed a plate in front of the Doctor which had a large collection of sushi on it. Popping a rice roll into his mouth, the Doctor winced and shook his head. “Ugh. Too much wasabi.”
“Doctor… where did these fish people come from?” Celestia asked, scooting away from one that had approached a bit too close to her.
“Oh, just by some mad scientist who genetically altered them to collect food from the ocean floor.”
“What?”
“Did I also mention the part where he wants to destroy the world?”
Celestia shook her head and reattached her jaw, which had practically fallen to the floor. “Pardon me for being repetitive, but what?”
“Doctor!” a far off voice shouted, with footsteps signaling whoever yelled was fast approaching.
“Ah, there’s the man of the hour himself, Zaroff,” the Doctor noted. He pulled out his recorder and gave it an expert twirl, tapping it to his temple while winking slyly. “Off his nutter, completely mad, delusionally demented. And an expert seafood expert.”
“Wait, why are you telling me this now?” Celestia asked.
The Doctor sighed, shrugging with a downcast expression on his face. “Well, to be truthful, it’s to scare you off.”
“Wh—wait, no, I can surely come up with a better response than that.” Celestia pouted and tapped her hoof on the table several times. “How about… hold on a moment? Yes, that should do nicely—hold on a moment now!”
“I was hoping that me acting in such a childish manner in front of such complete madness would do you away from being in my presence,” the Doctor said.
“So… you wanted this date to go badly?”
“More like I wanted to save you the trouble of it going badly down the way.” The Doctor patted her hoof reassuringly. “Celestia, you’re a wonderful lady… woman… mare… pony. But in the end, I’m just not searching for a romantic interest at the moment. This me just wants to be with me, with the occasional companion along the way to make things interesting.”
The footsteps got louder, with eccentric yelling and mindless shouting following it closely.
Celestia tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “Wait… so why did we go out on a date then?”
The Doctor picked up another sushi roll and chuckled. “Well, there was too much seafood to eat all by myself, and I wanted to enjoy it with some pleasant company. Which is about to change now that Zaroff is on the way.”
“So what should we do?” Celestia asked.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I think it’s about time you high-tailed it out of here.” The Doctor pulled out a large leather wrist-watched from inside the liner of his coat, throwing the device to Celestia.
Catching it, Celestia asked, “Wait, when did you have that in there? And where did you get this?”
“Tough to explain, but the more important question is when? Which I still can’t properly explain.” The Doctor smiled. “But to explain the most important question that remains unasked and unanswered, just press the button to travel through time. You’ll get home from there… hopefully.”
“Oh, you mean this bu—”
Celestia disappeared, leaving the Doctor alone with a mad scientist out for his head.
Chewing on another extra spicy sushi roll, the Doctor hummed under his breath. “Now… did I set that tricky thing to send her to Equestria or to prehistoric times on Earth? Eh, I’m sure she’ll figure it out… hopefully.”