The Adventures of Doctor Whooves: Series 1

by Time Pony Victorious

The Mystery of Twilight Sparkle

Twilight Sparkle trotted down the street as she always did, with her nose firmly planted in a book, and a saddlebag filled with more books on her back. Her blank flank was a foreign sight, but then again this miniature Twilight, only ten years old, wasn’t the unicorn the Doctor befriended twelve years into the future.

The Doctor watched impassively from a ways away. He tilted a newspaper down just in time to catch little Twilight narrowly avoid a particularly rambunctious group of fillies and colts without averting her gaze from her book. The Time Pony frowned slightly as he waited for something, anything, to happen. Like Twilight shapeshifting into some evil alien or a Zygon ship abducting her, but nothing happened.

He put his newspaper down and sighed explosively. She was, evidently, a perfectly ordinary, if powerful, unicorn. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at Twilight’s direction. It whirred and buzzed in its high-pitched cadence, its dark blue bulb turning on and off.

“What’s that mister?” A high-pitched voice asked from right beside him. The Doctor almost jumped from the sudden filly that appeared to his right. Her sky-blue coat gave an impression of perfect innocence while her silver mane spoke of an inner wisdom. Like Twilight, she was a unicorn. She blinked curiously at the Time Pony, not afraid or concerned about this strange stallion but infinitely curious.

The Doctor straightened his bowtie, cleared his throat and presented the screwdriver to the filly. He knelt slightly so he would be at her eye level and smiled warmly.

“Sonic screwdriver,” he answered, wiggling the screwdriver in front of her. The filly blinked in confusion but a bright smile spread across her face.

“That’s weird!” she said.

“Yes, I suppose it is,” the Doctor agreed.

“What were you doing with it?”

The Doctor shrugged, flicking the sonic and it expanded slightly, revealing the psychic crystal encased within the metallic components. “Temporal scans,” he answered absentmindedly. “Trying to detect any temporal or spatial correlation that may imply… insidious purpose.”

The filly had a blank expression and the Doctor wondered if she was listening. The filly giggled, pointing accusingly at the Doctor. “You’re weird too!”

The Doctor blinked but a warm, genuine smile spread across his face. “Yes, I suppose I am…”

“What’s your name, mister?”

“I’m the Doctor,” he answered, holding a hoof to shake.

The filly took his hoof and shook firmly. “I’m Trixie, Trixie Lulamoon.”

“Brilliant to meet you, Trixie!” he said, grinning. “Now, I’m afraid I have to get going. This version of Twilight Sparkle hasn’t displayed anything anomalous, so, on to the next!”

“Okay, bye, Doctor!”

The Doctor bid Trixie goodbye, turned around and headed into his TARDIS only a few feet away. A moment later, he opened the door and stuck his head out. “Oh, Trixie, you might wanna stick around for what happens next. It’s fantastic!”

He grinned then ducked back into the TARDIS. Trixie waited patiently as the Doctor suggested, waiting for something to happen. A loud lyrical noise emitted from the TARDIS, the sound of wheezing, like an asthmatic, but for some reason it filled Trixie’s heart with joy. The TARDIS, the tall Blue Box, began fading in and out of existence, the bulb on top blinking on and off in time to its dematerialization.

Trixie gasped as the TARDIS, after a few moments, disappeared completely, taking that wonderful sound with it. Her eyes widened and a grin spread across her face. She knew what she wanted to do, she wanted to be fantastic!

Turning around, Trixie ran toward the park where her mother was and tugged at her leg. “Mommy! I’ve decided, I wanna go the school for talented unicorns!”

The Doctor flicked another lever in frustration and the TARDIS adjusted her temporal trajectory accordingly. “Perhaps the next one,” he said wearily as he plopped himself down on the couch.
Psychic feedback buzzed in the Doctor’s mind: trepidation, uncertainty, incredulousness. The Doctor merely rolled his eyes and sighed. “Yes, dear, I know what I’m doing. I wouldn’t investigate Twilight if I wasn’t absolutely sure.”

More psychic messages prodded his mind. “I’m well aware of the paradoxes that could occur, I’m the bloody Doctor!”

A high-pitched screech came from the console and the Doctor recoiled from the sudden shift in volume. “Oh, don’t bring that up again. Rose was only doing what she thought was right. Besides, the Reapers were my fault.”

The Time Rotor hummed and the Doctor chuckled under his breath, jumping off from the couch and running to the console. “No, I’m not being a grumpy face. Shush.”

The Doctor cranked a lever and inputted some data into the keyboard. Pulling the scanner toward himself, the Doctor looked at the display and noted the time and date. “I suppose this is a good a time as any, alright dear, please land.”

With a customary thud the TARDIS landed, the Time Rotor ceasing its movement. The Doctor smiled, jumping to his hooves and adjusting his bowtie as he ran out of the door. Pausing for a moment, the Doctor frowned and brandished his sonic and pointing it to his face.

“Shimmer!” he shouted, activating the sonic. His entire body shimmered for a moment and he completely changed form. His coat became chestnut brown, his mane a darker shade of brown and long and spikey, but he still wore his customary outfit.

“Wouldn’t want her recognizing me,” the Doctor remarked as he pocketed his sonic and exited the TARDIS.

He ran out of the TARDIS, into the night of the little town, just in time to see everypony head into the town square. Dozens of pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies herded into the building, excitingly chattering about coming events, none of them paid any attention to the strange blue box and the alien that just popped out of it.

The Doctor adjusted his bowtie and consulted his watch. “Right then, two years ago, forty-fifth day of Summer, ooh, Summer Sun Celebration and what’s that?” The Time Lord looked up from his watch and sniffed the air for a moment and recoiled, frowning slightly. “Dangerous point in time… This is a fixed point, better not get any more involved than I am now.”

He tilted his neck slightly, cracking it, and took five steps forward… and slammed right into a pair of ponies. Hooves and limbs went flying in a miniature dust whirlwind, and the Doctor found himself pinned by a bubbly flank and a little unicorn filly.

He groaned as his face was pressed into the earth. Well, quite smooth, eh, Doctor? He thought as the mare on top of him gasped dramatically and quickly got off. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, sir!”

He was helped up and had his coat brushed off but the Doctor focused more on the mare and filly. Her mane was golden-blonde which matched her yellow eyes that moved around independently like googly-eyes and her coat was dust-gray, punctuated by a cutie mark of bubbles and a messy tail. The filly by her side had the same blonde mane and tail but her coat was a light lavender, her diminutive horn and blank-flank indicated her age, probably a year or two younger than the Crusaders?

“Dinky and I didn’t even see you!” the mare said, trying to brush his coat off with her hooves but only managing to smear more dirt into it.

Dinky looked up at the Doctor with a curious expression, the Doctor realized she was looking at his bowtie. He smiled and winked at the filly, fixing his bowtie, before turning to the mare. “No apologies necessary, I’ll simply collect your insurance information later. Do you lot even have that sort of thing, wonder how that would work. Perfectly fine! I’m Clockwork, is this your daughter, Miss, uh?”

The mare tilted her head, her golden eyes jumping around slightly but making an attempt to focus on the Time Lord’s face. “Ditzy Doo,” she answered. “And Dinky isn’t my daughter, silly, she’s my little sister.”

“I’m eight years old!” Dinky relayed with a bright smile.

The Doctor grinned, patting the filly on the head, careful to avoid her horn. “Of course you are.  I’m two-thousand three-hundred!”

Both Dinky and Ditzy laughed at the prospect of this strange earth pony, who looked around 24, claiming to be over two thousand years old, the Doctor shared a knowing grin with the mares then pointed at the Town Square. “So! This is where the Summer Sun Celebration is taking place, eh? Never been to one, should be a barrel of fun!”

He looked up at the moon which twinkled in the night sky, surrounded by a number of glowing constellations. This pollution-free world always allowed for beautiful starry nights, which the Doctor could certainly appreciate. As he looked at the moon, a very distinctive shape of the profile of a mare adorned the side of the moon.

Nightmare Moon, the Doctor guessed, this was before she was released. Well, the Doctor checked his watch, only about ten minutes before she was freed.

“Yeah, it should be fun,” Ditzy said with a grin. “This is also Princess Celestia’s thousandth year of her reign!”

“Yes, certainly a pivotal point in time and space,” the Doctor muttered absentmindedly. “A big juicy fixed point… And Twilight is put in the middle of it.”

“Who?”

“Nothing. Hope to see you in the future!” the Doctor said with a wide grin. “Stay good.”

Without waiting for a response, the Doctor ran toward the Town Square. He burst into the room just as the entire town gathered in the front of the room, they were chattering in excited, hushed tones but the Doctor didn’t pay them any mind.

Quietly, he brandished his sonic and began scanning the area, but didn’t have to look for long for Twilight.

“Isn’t this exciting?!” Pinkie Pie all but materialized by Twilight’s side with a wide grin on her face as she spoke at a hundred miles per hour. “Are you excited, ‘cause I’m excited, I’ve never been so excited – well, except for the time that I saw you walking into town and I went”—Pinkie paused to gasp dramatically—“But I mean really, who can top that?”

The Doctor smiled wistfully as Twilight, obviously overwhelmed from Pinkie’s hyperactive behavior, took a step back, staring at the Party Pony in complete shock. Before Twilight could answer, however, the music began. Trumpets, drums and a choir of birds chirping and singing in perfect harmony, being orchestrated by Fluttershy who flew nearby with a hint of pride in her
eyes.

The spotlight searched and found Mayor Mare and she began her little speech with the audience enraptured by her. The Doctor took this opportunity, getting closer to Twilight but not too close as to arouse suspicion. He pointed his sonic at her and began scanning… nothing!

Glancing at his screwdriver, the Doctor looked at the readings. Absolutely nothing wrong with her! She was a perfectly normal twenty-year old unicorn. The Doctor scowled, hitting his sonic a few times and checking the readings again, nope, completely normal.

A loud gasp cut through the audience, startling the Doctor out of his thoughts. He looked up to the balcony, where the spotlight was, to find Rarity standing there completely flabbergasted. Everpony went nuts, Princess Celestia was missing?

“This can’t be good,” Twilight muttered besides the Doctor.

“Certainly not,” he muttered back. “But I won’t be able to stick around, not this time.”

He turned around but then more gasps exploded in the audience. The Doctor turned around and saw a familiar dark purple aura materialize on the balcony and the form of Nightmare Moon appeared. Unlike last time, she had a physical form, a tall, lithe obsidian-colored alicorn in silver armor.

The Doctor’s frown turned into a dark and cold glare. He still remembered the intrusive force against his mind as Nightmare Moon wormed her way in and possessed him. Nightmare Moon grinned as she looked around and zeroed in on the Doctor. She gave him a knowing expression, which was impossible, and looked away from him.

Perhaps she was an entity who could see into the future? Or maybe she was just enjoying the look of pure hatred he was giving her, the Doctor wasn’t sure, but he didn’t stick around to ask questions. He pocketed his sonic and walked straight out of the building and toward his TARDIS.

“Fixed point,” he told the TARDIS as he enter, storming toward the console like a General with a purpose. “She’s involved in a fixed point, and not only that, the first fixed point I’ve encountered in this universe!”

The Doctor flipped a switch and the TARDIS hummed, its engines began raring to go but he hadn’t engaged lift-off yet. Instead, in frustration, he glared at the Time Rotor, trying to make sense of it all. Brandishing his sonic, he pointed it at himself, clicked the button, and his form shimmered again and reverted to his original appearance.

“It’s not unlikely,” the Doctor muttered. “Most of my companions have temporal links in them before meeting me. Rose worked in the shop the Nestene operated out of, Martha, the same hospital, Donna, her wedding, Amy and Rory the same town… Clara…”

He walked over to the console, letting that thought hang in the air, and consulted the scanner which showed a live image of the Golden Oaks library. Twilight was inside, cataloguing the books for the twentieth time. She worked in a brisk, if distracted, pace. Worry was evident in her eyes but she allowed herself to be absorbed in her work, with a pep in her step and a song in her voice.

“But this is too much,” he muttered, pointing at Twilight. “The Krynoids didn’t touch her, she’s involved in a fixed point…”

A pleasant ding from the other side of the console grabbed the Doctor’s attention. He trotted over to the other side and inspected a printer-like device producing a sheet of paper that was so long it draped on the floor. He took some of the paper and read it as it continued to print out and frowned.

“Eh? That’s… interesting,” he muttered as he walked over to navigation and inputted the coordinates from the new data and activated the engines. “Let’s see then!”

The TARDIS materialized a few hundred feet in the air on silent mode. The Blue Box wobbled and shook slightly from the temporal turbulence but the Doctor opened the door and stuck his head out regardless.

He was flying over Canterlot Gardens, the Doctor realized, on a particularly boring day. Looking down at the Maze below, he spotted six familiar ponies reach the entrance of the labyrinth. The Doctor fumbled with his coat and pulled out a mini spyglass and looked through it to get a closer look.

Fluttershy was one of the first to reach the Maze and she stopped just short of the entrance, whimpering at the impressive hedge. “W-We have to go in there?” she asked.

“Nope!” Rainbow answered confidently, strolling right up with a cocky grin on her face. “Dopey Discord forgot about these babies!”

The Cyan Pegasus flared her wings to demonstrate them and the Doctor couldn’t help but smile at her confident demeanor and cocky prose. She shot up in the air and began flying over the Maze with ease. “I’ll just have a quick fly-over and we’ll have the Elements in no time!”

Mid-flight, however, her wings disappeared in a bright flash of light. Yelping in surprise, Rainbow fell to the ground, hard, and slammed face-first into the dirt. “My wings!” she shrieked.

Fluttershy flashed in a brilliant light as well, her wings disappearing just as easily. The poor pegasus cried out at the disappearance of her lovely wings. Twilight and Rarity were next, their horns flashing and disappearing. The two former unicorns looked at each other in surprise, “Your horn!” they cried in unison then looked up. “My horn!”

Chaos all but descended in the pony group as each of them (save Applejack and Pinkie Pie who stood off to the side, unimpressed at the fact that their friends were suddenly made into earth ponies) freaked out over their respective body-parts.

Then a bright light exploded in front of them and in a flashy display of theatrics that would rival the Master, Discord appeared. The Doctor had heard a lot about the Spirit of Chaos but he had never actually had the pleasure of meeting him.

He was a weird conglomerate of other animals, vaguely reminding the Doctor of a chimera, the only thing that was pony-like was his face which had mismatched eyes and a wicked smile. He appeared in a brilliant flash of light, thunder clouds immediately gathered and lightning flashed as he laughed maliciously.

The Doctor frowned and pointed his sonic at the clouds, scanning it for a moment. “Back to normal,” he muttered. “Weather-changer but not to the extent I’ve seen from the pegasi, it’s more like he changes them with his will alone.”

Discord continued laughing but it turned from evil to pure joy as he guffawed at the Mane Six. “Y-you should see the looks on your faces!” Discord said breathlessly. “Priceless!”

Twilight wasn’t amused by Discord’s antics and took a step forward, glaring at him darkly. “Give us our wings and horns back!”

Discord landed on the ground soundlessly and waved his lion’s paw dismissively. “You’ll get them back in good time…” He disappeared in a bright light, causing the Doctor to stumble slightly as he pointed his sonic at the Trickster. Discord reappeared behind Applejack. “I simply took them to ensure there’s no cheating! You see this is the first rule of our game: no flying and no magic.”

He said all of this as he slithered around and in-between the girls like a mischievous snake, poking and prodding each of them.

The Doctor frowned and ran back into his TARDIS. The door was left precariously open as the TARDIS floated just above the maze as Discord and the girls bantered about. The Doctor raced to the console and tapped its controls, running around quickly and inputted pieces of data into the machine and consulted the display.

“Draconequus,” the Doctor muttered as Discord’s readings appeared on-screen. “Nothing else here, it says they are mostly a myth and…”
The data buzzed, reading an error of insufficient data. The Doctor frowned, unsurprised by this, there was very little information on this Discord. The only thing that bothered him was the fact that Twilight and her friends were, yet again, involved in another scuffle with an extremely powerful entity and won.

The Doctor looked at the scanner which displayed Discord explaining the rules to the game to the girls with that mischievous smile on his face. The Time Pony frowned, “Like the Toymaker,” he muttered to himself, noting the disturbing similarity between the two.

More and more mystery surrounded Twilight the more the Doctor investigated. There were far too many questions being raised and very little answers.

“Blimey, even Clara wasn’t this difficult to figure out,” he grumbled, pulling the lever causing the TARDIS to enter transit space. “Where to?”