It was another taxing day for our hero.... And by that, he was stuck doing taxes.
"Ugh!" Ben groaned, slamming his head to the table. "None of this makes a lick of sense!"
Twilight patted her friend's shoulder. "You'll get through it, Ben. I know you can."
"I don't know math, dang it!" He moaned into the hard, crystalline surface. "Stupid royals and their stupid forms. I'm not an accountant!"
"Stop complaint," Skurd chastised, rolling his eyes. "You need to get this done for your next trial.... which is in three days."
Ben pried his face off the table, picking up the quill and getting back to filling out form after form. "I hate this."
"I know, but the sooner it's done the better off you'll be."
Ben sighed. "What I wouldn't give for a distraction right about now."
As he spoke, a sonic screwdriver dropped onto the table, though it was quite different from the one he was familiar with. Twilight snatched it in her magic before Ben could grab for it, moving it closer to her so she could examine it.
“How strange. It’s obviously a sonic screwdriver like Kat’s, based on the appearance. Yet, it’s also very different. It’s not as a long, nor as bulky. It’s slimmer, sleeker, and I would say it’s much more stylish this way.”
Ben and Skurd rolled their eyes. “Apologies, your highness, but your sense of style is quite lacking. Simple is not always the best choice, you know.”
The pony princess narrowed her eyes at the slimebiot. “Oh hush you.”
A post-it note fluttered down, landing on the screwdriver. /Setting D10/ it said.
“D10?” Skurd asked. “Well now how does that help? That odd little machine doesn’t look like it has a way to alter it. It only has one button!”
“Hmm,” Twilight mused. “Maybe if I use my magic to adjust it a little.” She put on a little pressure, the screwdriver lighting up its blue tip and emitting its familiar sound. “I think… I just about… Got it!”
A hum and groan echoed from outside and a voice yelled out, "Allons-y! Oh no. Not again. Look out!"
“Everybody down!” Ben shouted, tackling Twilight to the ground. As soon as they hit the ground something crashed into the room. Once the dust settled they could see a man step out and look up at the blue box.
"Oh no. The TARDIS... looks like I can't go back until she fixes herself," David groaned before sighing, "Sorry about this."
Twilight sat up with a groan, gasping loudly when she saw the state of the room. “MY CASTLE!!” she cried, looking at the destroyed walls and paperwork that had been scattered everywhere. “Oh come on!! Why does everypony keep attacking my castle?! It’s not fair~!!”
"I'll fix it before I leave. Now...what could have interfered with her," he turned around and looked at Ben and Twilight. "Once again, very sorry."
“Ugh, why does this always have to…” Ben trailed off when he noticed the visitor. There was something oddly familiar about him. “Hey… do I know you?”
"Oh. On Earth my name was David. David Tennant. Your name?" David asked.
“Ben. Ben 10X… wait, David Tennant? The David Tennant, the famous actor?!”
"Indeed," David said, smiling lightly.
“Woah, awesome! I remember when I was four years old, I snuck into Hamlet and saw you perform… never got to finish the show, but it was a lovely play. First one I ever saw.”
"Well, thank you," David smiled before musing, "I probably have a recording of the play in the TARDIS if you ever want to finish it," he offered.
“Ooh, an Earth play?!” Twilight gushed, momentarily forgetting about her destroyed rooms. “I would love to see that!!”
"I can probably bring the theatre to the front while the TARDIS repairs the controls and engines," David said, "but first, where in Equestria is this? I know how Twilight is an alicorn but this castle is new."
“Oh, you’re in Ponyville, Mr. Tennant,” Twilight explained. “This is Castle Harmony, my castle and home.”
"Time never ceases to surprise me," David laughed.
“Oh no,” Ben sighed, putting a hand to his head. “Not time travel again. It was bad enough with Eon.”
"No worries," David said, "I never time travel in other worlds without residential permission and escort."
“Please don’t time travel,” Twilight shuddered. “It’s caused a lot of problems here.”
"Of course. Might I ask what kind of problems?" David said. "I can program the TARDIS to fix it from the present. Without messing up anything else."
“It’s already been fixed, Mr. Tennant,” Ben sighed. “That’s all been dealt with, thankfully.”
"Alright. Figured I should offer being stuck here for a bit. And good for you, and luck for me. Very well, I'll do nothing to interfere with this world. The castle will be fixed before I leave," David said.
“How are you here anyway?” Ben asked, fiddling with the screwdriver. “And why do you have a TARDIS? Only the Doctor has that and last I checked, he’s a pony.”
"Typical alternate world annoyances. I'm known as The Doctor back home," David sighed, "otherwise I call myself David."
“Why would anyone call you ‘The Doctor’?”
"I played him. On my Earth it was a TV show. I got a TARDIS from a vendor and here I am," he sighed again.
“I’ve never heard of a TV show with the TARDIS or the Doctor.”
"Probably didn't exist on your Earth, or it wasn't as popular."
“I’m gonna say it didn’t exist, because I think I’ve heard of a few other people mentioning something similar before. So… you got Displaced, huh? ...this yours then?” He held up the screwdriver.
"Yes. I felt the urge to make a new setting and suddenly it copied itself and the extras disappeared," David said, "very strange."
“It must be your token,” Ben said idly, playing with the screwdriver. “I’m kinda hoping this works. I’d love to be able to show my sister that I got one of my own now.”
"It might. Try aiming it at all the papers," David said.
Ben hesitated. “I’d rather not… those are kind of important forms… despite how much I despise them.”
"Toss it here then."
He shrugged and tossed it to the former actor. “Sure, why not.”
"Alright," he catches it and pulls out his sonic which whirrs for a moment. "Yup. Fully operational."
“Sweet!” Ben cheered. “Now this… this is better than taxes that I don’t know how to do.”
"Taxes? Ugh."
“That’s how I feel. But, I need to get them sorted for my next trial in a few days. Just my luck,” Ben sighed, Skurd moving up and patting his shoulder.
“There, there, dear boy. You’ll get through this! We shall persevere as a team!” the slimebiot proclaimed.
"Want to put them through the TARDIS? It can auto fill them out."
“Now that’s just lazy!” Twilight admonished. “One must fill out their own forms to the letter to prevent any mistakes from--”
“DEAL!!” Ben shouted, shoving all of the papers into the box.
Twilight face-desked… hard. “Why do I even try?”
"Twilight. The TARDIS knows all events. They will be done how Ben would have done them," David says.
“It’s not the same!” she screamed. “It’s cheating and I don’t approve one bit! Ack.” She moaned, going into a coughing fit.
Ben rubbed her back, getting the mare to calm down. “Cool it Twi. Don’t need to damage your throat anymore than it is.”
"Lozenge? Jelly baby?" David offers, holding them out in his hand.
“Nah, it’s Twi’s injuries acting up again. She can’t raise her voice very well without going into a coughing fit.”
"There's some medical stuff in the storage room if you need it," David said.
“It’s a permanent wound,” Twilight rasped. “Sorry, Mr. Tennant.”
"Time Lord tech is much higher than yours," David said, "At the very least it can make it less."
Twilight coughed more, each worse than the last. “I’ll… I’ll try anything.”
"I'll bring the medical room to the front," David opened the TARDIS doors and stepped inside.
Ben picked up Twilight in his arms and carried her inside. “...Wow, really is bigger on the inside… I don’t like it.”
"Makes for good storage space. There's a galactic cluster somewhere in the storage," David said, fiddling with some levers and such. "Now, this is imperitent, I need to know what caused the injury so the TARDIS can treat it."
“A changeling slit her throat a few years ago,” Ben told, Twilight unable to speak from her pain.
"That's it? Ah. TARDIS can fix that," David gestured towards a door that had appeared. "Follow me. I'll explain before hand. This machine you'll be put into rewrites DNA and tissue in the specified area. Essentially, as long as one cell remains alive I can heal someone."
“No… don’t….” Twilight wheezed. “Too much… magic…”