"If you like," said the White Guardian softly. "I can stop this... This doesn't have to happen now."
"Nah," said the Doctor, waving his hoof dismissively. "It has to happen eventually. Why not now? Anyways. Like I said, I'm excited! A whole new me, a whole new start. Only bit I'm not looking forward to is the tingling... It tingles. Like when your foot falls asleep but far far worse."
"If you're sure," said the White Guardian.
"I am," the Doctor smiled. The tingling came on in force and he grimaced. "Although... Could you give me another hour? There are some ponies I have to talk to. You for a start."
"Done," smiled the White Guardian. "What do you want to speak to me about?"
The Doctor felt his regeneration slow. He straightened up. "Yes, well," the Doctor coughed. He lifted up the Key to Time. "As to what you do with this..."
"All of your... acquaintances," the White Guardian said tactfully. "Have been sent back where they came. The planet is safe."
"One more thing," said the Doctor. "Applejack's orchard."
The White Guardian raised a single eyebrow. "Now Doctor...," she frowned. "I can't fix everything. It would be an abuse of my power. The beings I protect must learn to pass through the hardships themselves."
"Applejack has done that with every hardship thrown at her!" snapped the Doctor. "I owe her more then a few favors. And since this is the second time I've collected this blasted thing for you, I figure you owe me one."
The White Guardian paused for a moment. Then nodded. "So I do," she Smiled. "Consider it done. Anything else."
"Uh... Sod off!" said the Doctor cheerfully. "And split the Key back apart and wake them all up in about... oh... fifteen minutes? There's something I want to do first."
The White Guardian laughed quietly to herself. "So be it." She turned to leave. "Goodbye, Doctor," she said sadly.
"Not goodbye!" said the Doctor cheerfully. "See you next time!" The Doctor shot the White Guardian a wink.
The White Guardian smiled, and once again the Doctor was alone with his thoughts. Looking around him, he could see Applejack, the Crusaders, Spike, and the others all unconscious on the floor.
He flipped a switch on the console and started recording. "Hello Doctor!" he said brightly. "A little bit of advice from a younger you..."
Applejack started to come to slowly. Everything seemed quieter now. She could hear a voice say "Keep that in mind, and you should be alright."
The dog cleared from her eyes to see the speaker. "Doctor?"
"Oh! Gotta go!" the Doctor smiled. "So long, Doctor!" He flipped a switch on the console. "Congratulations!" he smiled at Applejack. "We beat'em! All of'em! The world is saved thanks to the Doctor and the Key to Time! Not bad for one day's work!"
Applejack looked around her and saw her friends slowly rising. All of them looked out of it. She looked back at the Doctor. "Who were you talkin' to?"
"Oh," the Doctor smiled. "Just some old fool... How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been hit by a train," Applejack laughed. "What about you? Are you alright?"
"Will be in a couple of minutes," the Doctor smiled. "Well... Not quite. It may take me a bit to stop being silly. Or perhaps I'll stay a bit silly! I've been silly before. Not a bad thing to be silly."
"What're you...," Applejack started. But she was interrupted by Rarity.
"Well!" she said, trying to act dignified, but stumbling on the way to the Doctor. She brushed it off as if nothing had happened. "I can assume the day is ours?"
"You can indeed," the Doctor said brightly. "Oh, and before I forget..." The Doctor took out his gold pocket watch from his breast pocket. "Here you are. All fixed. Just like I promised!"
"What...?" Rarity was puzzled. "But Doctor... I gave this to you..."
"Because you thought it would go with the outfit, yes," the Doctor smiled. "I'm afraid however, that after today my fashion sense might change... Along with almost everything else."
Applejack finally put two and two together. "No..." Applejack said. "Not now..."
"Soon," the Doctor nodded. He slowly removed the blue ascot around his neck. "I don't suppose I'll like these anymore... Pity. Wholly underrated garment, the ascot...."
"What's he talking about?" asked Rainbow Dash.
Applejack was about to answer when the Cutie Mark Crusaders burst into the room. "It's all right!" Apple Bloom cried. "All the other crusaders are alright and..." Apple Bloom stopped. "Doctor? Why is you're hoof glowing?"
"I recognize that...," said Scootaloo.
"Oh no..." Sweetie Belle was starting to tear up.
"That's right!" the Doctor smacked his head. "You three have already seen a regeneration, haven't you! The death of Time Turner, and the Birth of the Doctor! Well... It will be a bit different this time."
"'Regeneration'?" asked Pinkie Pie.
"It means..." Applejack was choking back tears.
"It means I'm going to change," the Doctor said frankly. "I'm going to look a bit different. Act a bit different. Think a bit different. This is what Time Lords do instead of die. Change up our face. Mind you, the first time I got to pick and choose. This time..."
"Can we stop it,?!" asked Twilight frantically.
"I don't want to," the Doctor smiled. "Not this time."
"Aren't you scared?" asked Fluttershy.
The Doctor thought for a moment. "No," he said, a tone of surprise in his voice. "It's funny. Usually I am. If not outwardly... I'm afraid of who I'll become. Bits of me get shuffled around. It's only a matter of time before the worst of me comes to the front. But I'm confident that won't happen this time. I can even tell you why.... No, better idea. Spike!"
The dragon child looked up.
"Take a letter."
Spike took out a quill and parchment, and the Doctor began to dictate. "Dear Princess Celestia," the Doctor began. "Everyone goes through changes. We all are unrecognizable to our past selves. We look different, we act different, we may even think differently. That's fine. Change is a part of life. You just have to make sure that those changes aren't for the worse. You can't do that on your own. You need the help of good friends who remember who you were to shape who you'll become.
"I am about to undergo a change. That is normally a frightening prospect.
"But I look around this room, and I'm not afraid. My friends won't let me be a bad person."
Everyone else in the room gave the Doctor a soft smile.
"Wishing you the best. Ever your servant," the Doctor wrapped up. "The first horse Doctor."
Spike sent the letter off, and the glow around the Doctor's hoof intensified.
"Well," the Doctor strained. "That's it for the First Equestrian Doctor..."
The glow started to overtake the Time Lord.
"Let's meet the second, eh?"
The regeneration took hold. The orange light surrounded the Doctor and blinded the TARDIS other passengers. When Applejack was able to see again, she took a look at the Doctor...
He was older now. Old enough to be AJ's father. He had bags under his wild eyes. He was also a little shorter. He had an eggshell coat and a red mane and tail.
"Ginger!" he said looking at his tail. "At bloody last!" He stared at his tail for a moment. "I don't like it..."
Then many things happened at once.
The first thing that happened was a bright flash. After that a stallion was in the middle of the room. He had a gray coat, green mane, and poor taste in body art. "Doctor!" He called out.
"Hey!" smiled Pinkie Pie. "You helped us out of the cages by locking us in them!" Pinkie looked confused for a moment. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!"
"Hi!" said the stallion. "My name issssss---- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" The Stallion craned his neck and his eyes turned blood red. "Meaningless!" hissed another voice from the stallion's mouth. "Send for your Time Lord! You cannot--" The stallion craned his neck again. "Will you shut up?! Good GRANNY, all you do is talk! Shut up!"
The Doctor seemed to just take notice of the stallion that had just ported into his TARDIS."Oh, hello!" said the new Doctor. "You must be 'B'... You need my help with something?"
"My name is Blue!" The stallion held out his foreleg to show the Doctor the snake tattoo on it. "Please tell me you recognize this..."
The Doctor looked it over. "Mandy!" the Doctor said proudly. "Mindy? Mary?.... Marcus?.... Mara! That's it! Mara... Oh. Oh my dear boy, you've got a condition."
"How did you get here?!" said Rainbow Dash.
"Honestly?" The stallion glared at his watch. "Trial and error..."
"No time for that!" the new Doctor wobbled around the TARDIS. "We're about to make landfall!"
"Landfall?!" asked Applejack frantically. "Where are we landin'?!"
"Applejack!" the new Doctor poot his hooves on AJ's shoulders. "That's the best part..."
"I have no idea!"