-Chapter 1-
THE ADVENTURE BEGINS
The blue box opened.
How anything could have survived any of that was beyond the understanding of everypony that was there, but it still happened. As if that wasn’t enough, the blue box apparently had doors that could open in the first place, which had flown outward. The doors were nearly perpendicular to the front of the box, but not quite. Slowly, mellow but entrancing light poured out of the box, golden in color. What looked like endless amounts of shimmering, fluid golden sparks accompanied the golden light which provoked a gasp of amazement from Rarity and filled everypony with wonder.
Their brief moment of awe abruptly ended, however, when a three hooked metal object attached to a rope latched onto the first thing it could find: the stairway railings. They then heard the sound of a mechanical whirring, and out of the blue box appeared a stallion. He was gripping something in his mouth, which he promptly let go of when he got two hooves onto the edge of the box, and pulled himself out. He looked like a magician, albeit with over-sized clothes that looked several sizes too big and oddly misshapen for a pony. He was brown coated, with a spiky black mane and tail. Where his cutie mark would have been was covered by whatever those clothes on him were. Slightly smoking and a huge grin on his face, he looked himself over.
“The regeneration process is always a bit tricky. I always wondered what I would look like as an equine! Even better, I can talk. Cool! Talking is cool, I like talking.” The strange pony went on to say, still examining himself. He then seemed to take notice of the blue box he came out of, and expressed himself to it, which Twilight and her friends found very odd.
“I’m so sorry old girl, I’ve really out done you this time. Please get better.” He said, resting a hoof on the wood of the box. Then, somehow, the doors of his blue box closed by themselves, folding inwards, making a distinct creaking noise and making a resounding click!
“Ahem!” Twilight cleared her throat, catching the attention of the brown coated stallion. He turned to look at the 5 mares and the baby dragon. He looked at the ponies present, and noted that they looked just like his newly regenerated self. Moreover, he noticed that they can talk too! They’re sentient! He just hoped they didn’t want to exterminate him or something.
“I’m sorry, did I bother you?” He said, then finally noticed the crater he was standing in. He also connected the dots, seeing the smoldering rectangular hole and the smoking TARDIS. His grin turned into a forced smile, and he looked first at Twilight, then towards Twilight’s friends who now regarded him with a sympathetic look. He could see his words being processed in the magenta mares’ face. His smile faltered, he grimaced, then braced himself for what he knew was coming, having somewhat experienced the same circumstances. There was a moment of silence, where Twilight’s friends slowly backed away from her, and Twilight’s anger rose to a breaking point.
“Did I bother-? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Twilight began, and stomped a hoof down, making a hoof imprint on the packed dirt road she was currently on. She then walked to the edge of the crater, and took a deep breath.
“You crashed into my home, burning a crater into it.” Twilight said with an eery calm, which only scared everypony more because of her small outburst just seconds before. “You destroyed part of my library.” Then she paused. “Now, tell me this-” Twilight whispered, and then roared with a ferocity that a dragon would recoil at: “DO I LOOK BOTHERED TO YOU?!” The stallion’s ears flapped back involuntarily, all the while looking at Twilight.
“Now, I understand how you feel. Truly sorry ‘bout that. But I can’t really do anything at the moment. Really. I can fix everything, just-” He tried to say, but Twilight wouldn’t have it.
“OH CAN YOU NOW?” She yelled sarcastically, “FIX EVERYTHING YOU SAY? Well I wanna know how exactly you’re going to do that mister, because if you don’t I’ll-” But she was cut off by Applejack, who had courageously walked up and put a hoof on her friend’s back in comfort and calming. She did it with a little bit of caution, however, because they knew just how mad Twilight could be.
“Now hold on there Twilight. Can’t ya see this stallion doesn’t even know what’s happenin’ here? Just calm down.” Applejack said. Twilight turned to look at Applejack, and saw the sincerity in her words. She looked at the stallion, and saw he was bracing himself against his blue box, waiting for the next bout of yelling. He opened one eye, looking to see why Twilight wasn’t shouting anymore, and saw the orange one (Applejack) talking to her. He sighed in relief. He relaxed a little too, but still took a slightly protective stance.
“I… I think she’s right, Twilight. I don’t think bursting your bubble will help with matters.” Rarity agreed. She also walked up to Twilight, and Twilight looked at her too. She saw the worry and fear in her friends’ eyes, and she calmed a little bit down. She then looked away and back at the stallion. With some rage still left inside of her, she fixed him with a deathly glare. The stallion then looked at them sheepishly.
“Really, truly am sorry. I’m the Doctor and I swear, I will fix your home… Er- library.” The Doctor said. He took a few steps forward and then he swayed dangerously to the left and right. His vision was tunneling, and he fought to maintain consciousness. He tried to steady himself by spreading his hooves,but it only caused him to stumble even more. Shaking his head, he kept trying to stay awake and tried to explain, yet all that came out was a bunch of gibberish that even he didn’t understand.
“W- whoa! Feeling… A bit… Woozzzy… I can fix everything just as soon... As... I…” And the Doctor suddenly collapsed to the ground. Rainbow flew over to him to check and see if he was okay. The Doctor, as he said his name was, was out cold. He seemed to have collapsed from exhaustion, but there was no evidence anywhere that could support that. Just then, golden mist, of the same quality as the light that poured out of the Doctor’s box escaped from his muzzle and dissipated.
“Whoa! That is weird.” Rainbow said, and the 5 mares plus Spike all closed in on the unconscious Doctor’s body. They then looked at each other, raised eyebrows and questioning looks all over the place. They each found this new pony mysterious and intriguing in their own way, but for now all Twilight could see was somepony that crashed into her life (literally!) and turned a perfectly good day upside down.
“So… What do we do now?” Rainbow asked, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof. They just stood thinking for a few seconds before Pinkie Pie piped up.
“Isn’t it obvious? We wake him back up and throw a party! He could be the ‘party crasher!’” Pinkie exclaimed. Rainbow facehoofed, Applejack chuckled, Rarity snorted, and Twilight deadpanned. They were now all in varying degrees of disagreement and humiliation now, each of them still trying to grasp how Pinkie could be this erratic. After years of being her friend (or for Twilight, a year), they still couldn’t figure out why, or how. Seriously, Pinkie was so comical sometimes. Some would call her insane.
“Pinkie, we’re not going to throw him a party.” Twilight said, rubbing her temples as she sat down to think. Her favourite reading cushion had been directly where the box had crashed: right near the window to the right of the library door, so she couldn’t really sit anywhere comfy anymore which was a real bummer.
“He may have punctured a hole into my home, but I’m obligated to take care of him.” Twilight thought out loud, and the mares nodded in agreement. She shook her head, and felt something rising in her throat. Grrr! She just wanted to scream! This daft pony was going to be the absolute death of her. She looked around at her damaged home. Books lay everywhere. Some were still intact, while some were soaking wet. She saw several more that had caught fire and burned while others were still catching sparks. The blue box itself had done a great deal of damage on it’s own.
The blue box had writing in several places. The most prominent being the words “POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX” on all three visible sides, each at the top of the box and the words on a front panel under the left window that said “PULL TO OPEN.” She could also see smaller writing above it, but she was too fog-minded to read. The most messed up thing about it (to her at least) was that there was not a single scratch on it. No scorch marks, no burn marks, no indents and no scratches. Even with all the damage it had done. A crater with burning splintered wood everywhere, a gouge from where the box had skidded to a halt, and a missing sitting cushion. She could see her table in 4 separate pieces, the book she had been reading sopping wet. She could also see the shattered porcelain that once was her tea and the remnant (a shred of fabric) of what once was her favorite cushion (man, she really liked that cushion!). She could only sit down and silently mourn over the damage that had been done to her home. She then remembered something, something she had read just a little while ago.
I will be meeting you very soon so please, be kind.
She didn’t know whether that letter had survived or not, but the thought of the letter itself was pushed away as other thoughts came flooding in. Could this be the pony that had sent her that letter? How could he have done it? They had only just met! He didn’t even know who Twilight was or where he himself was. Could he possibly have…?
No, she thought. That’s not possible. Time travel was not possible, so he couldn’t be possible. He’s not possible! It isn’t possible. If that were the case, he wouldn’t even be here, so she dismissed the thought of time travel as well. It just… wasn’t possible. Then she remembered the events of a few months back, when she met herself from the future. Still, she had gotten stuck in a time loop. One she was sure that was still going. All these thoughts were starting to hurt her head, a pounding beginning to reach her ears. Before more thoughts could prevail her mind, however, her friends’ voices came rushing back to her.
“-okay Twilight? Twilight? Twilight? Are you okay?” Rarity was saying, and she saw the worried looks of her close friends. Even Pinkie, who wasn’t bouncing anymore and didn’t have her usual smile, looked at Twilight with concern. She was out of it a lot longer than she thought.
“Yes, yes I’m fine. Sorry.” Twilight said and she could visibly see some of her friends sigh. However, Applejack and Spike still looked at Twilight with those same looks. Applejack being the Element of Honesty, she knew that she would see through the lie, and Spike being her oldest friend, well, enough said.
“What’s wrong Twi?” Applejack asked. Spike nodded at Twilight, there being no need to repeat the question and eager to know and to take some of the burden off of her. She was so glad she had friends like Applejack and Spike. It made going through life that much easier.
“I guess…” Twilight started to say, then sighed. “I guess it’s just that my house has just been destroyed. Maybe not entirely, but it’s still damage. There are a lot of memories in this place.”
She looked at each one of her friends, who each nodded in agreement and gave her smiles that only a friend who has seen their friend suffer. She then noticed something. Something she hadn’t noticed right away, something that had been bothering her but she hadn’t been able to acknowledge it in all this action. Where was Fluttershy? She should be here, should’ve been here, should’ve helped her with the fire and be here right now, comforting her. Deciding to go visit her later to see if she was alright, Twilight got to her hooves.
“Alright Spike, help me get the Doctor to my bed.”
Her friends, seeing the opportunity, gave her looks of encouragement that implied dirty behaviour, all the while trying not to laugh. Twilight could only gag and throw a disgusted “shut your face or you’re going to hear it” look at them before she began up the stairs.
Friends sometimes, am I right?
Twilight knocked on Fluttershy’s door four times. Her friends had gone their separate ways for the time being, with Spike watching the Doctor at the Golden Oaks Library. Good ol’ Spike. You could always count on him to get the job done. Her friends had also decided to meet up again later if anything else happened. On the topic of her home, there was still a gaping hole in the side of the library. However, the tree was living and magical so it had started re-growing as soon as the sparks had smoldered and died off. She was going to miss her favourite cushion. The Library was not going to feel the same ever again… Well, maybe. Besides, who goes to the Library anyway? Only her, that’s who. Bookhorse her friends called her. It was actually a pretty accurate description of her. Oh well.
She could visibly see the neglect and drabness of Fluttershy’s cottage. It just so happened that Fluttershy’s cottage usually accompanied Fluttershy’s mood. If she was sad and wanted to be alone, the cottage would eventually (usually in a few hours or at least a day) respond by looking as if no one had cared for it for a long while. Such was the case with Fluttershy’s Cottage but it still looked normal, albeit the colours were a little more grey than usual which was still a very big difference given Fluttershy’s cheerful and kind mood. She really wanted to know what was up and what was wrong with her friend. She knocked again, hoping for any sign of Fluttershy. She still hadn’t responded yet, so she waited.
After a few minutes of waiting, she could hear shuffling behind the doorway. Knowing Fluttershy, she could see Fluttershy worrying about who it might be. Finally, she saw the curtain in the window beside the door ruffle, and saw a pair of big blue eyes peeking out. She could audibly hear Fluttershy’s sigh of relief at the sight of her friend and not somepony else. She still opened the door with caution however. Oh Fluttershy. Old habits die hard, Twilight thought.
“T- Twilight? What brings you here?” Fluttershy asked with a hint of fear, her voice barely audible. Twilight gave an encouraging smile and made her body posture as casual as possible so her friend didn’t feel uncomfortable. Wow, a lot of rhyming is going on there.
“I just wanted to see if you were okay. There was... An incident in Ponyville and we were all wondering where you were.” Twilight explained to Fluttershy, and Fluttershy nodded. Fluttershy then darted her eyes around, as if looking for any more signs of danger.
“I- I got scared by the sounds! They were so loud, and they scared all the animals too. Even Angel was a- afraid.” Fluttershy said, and Twilight nodded. Fluttershy will be Fluttershy. Scared of her own shadow, it came as no surprise to Twilight that Fluttershy would hunker down in her cottage with the comfort of her animals. However, she, nor anypony for that matter, had seen Fluttershy out of her cottage lately. The only times they have were when she was out buying groceries, and she would then immediately make a bee-line for her cottage. It was already well known that Fluttershy was, well, shy, but this was way over the top. It had only been happening the past couple days, but it was a couple days too long.
Just as she was about to ask about the state her friend was in however, she heard a muffled cry somewhere in the cottage and gave Fluttershy a startled look. Fluttershy winced at the sound as well, and looked like all the blood had just drained from her face.
“Fluttershy, is there something you’re not telling us?” Twilight inquired, but Fluttershy gave no response. Instead, Fluttershy squeaked and tried to close the door. Twilight, seeing what her friend was doing put her hoof in between the door and the frame, effectively blocking the door from closing. Fluttershy could only look at Twilight’s hoof, then at Twilight, then at her hoof again, and gave a resigned sigh.
“It’s Angel. He was injured when that thing appeared in the sky, and he tried to run away but he fell into the river and broke something.” Fluttershy told Twilight, and Twilight nodded, taking her hoof away.
“Why didn’t you just say so? I’m sure if I come in I can-”
“No!” Fluttershy said, louder than she usually talked, cutting off Twilight and silencing her friend.
“I- I mean, it would be better if I just tended to him. He should be fine real soon, but thanks for the offer.” Fluttershy explained, and, once again, attempted to close the door but this time she succeeded. Twilight could only keep looking straight now only seeing a door, surprised at her friends’ suddenly distant and abnormal behaviour. She began walking away from Fluttershy’s Cottage, thinking about what had just happened.
Was it something she had said? No, it couldn’t have been. She didn’t say anything that could have provoked that behaviour. Then there was that muffled scream… Like a pony that was gagged. She then realized rabbits and bunnies usually don’t make noises. No screams or any sounds of any kind. How could that have been Angel then? Who or what could it possibly have-? Her thoughts were interrupted when a pink blur suddenly crashed into her. Pinkie Pie had been running as fast as she could, looking for Twilight all across Ponyville. Pinkie began moving her mouth and trying to speak, but she was only huffing out words that Twilight couldn’t make out.
“..ke…..ct….is….w.ke…” Pinkie tried to say, but all Twilight could hear was her friend wheezing air in and out.
“Sorry, didn’t quite catch that. What’re you trying to say?” Twilight said, and Pinkie raised a hoof up, catching her breath. Once she had done so, with Twilight patiently waiting, Pinkie spoke up again.
“Spike. He told me to get you real quick! The Doctor is waking up!”
“And how long ago was this?” Twilight asked, curious to know.
“About-” Pinkie began, and checked her hoof as if she were checking the time. She had no watch however, and she continued after glancing at her hoof “-probably… 2 seconds ago?”
Wow. Pinkie really can run.
Not wasting any more time, she grabbed Pinkie’s left forehoof and her horn glowed, teleporting them in a field of raw magical energy to the Library. Arriving at the doorstep to the library, they hastily made their way to her room (which was really just a indoor balcony over-looking the library itself) they found Spike sitting on a stool, looking expectantly at the Doctor who was shuffling in bed. He was shocked to see Pinkie and Twilight back already, but was even more startled when the Doctor stopped moving completely and woke up. He immediately burst upright, startling Spike and causing his stool to tip over, in turn making Spike fall to the ground. The Doctor then looked around, noted the two mares standing at the top of the stairwell and saw Spike on the ground, recovering from his (painful) fall.
“Sorry little baby dragon. Won’t happen again. Promise.” The stallion said, and put a hoof up to his chest. He then looked at his hoof with a look of fascinated happiness. He still wore his odd magicians clothing which was rather tattered now, and he had a big huge grin on his face. His cutie mark was still to be determined.
“That’s cool! Hooves are cool! But wait… How will I be able to grab stuff? Scratch that. Hooves, not cool.” The Doctor stated and he jumped off the bed and got on all four feet.
“13, your 11 is showing!” Pinkie exclaimed, and the Doctor paused to look at Pinkie.
“What did you say?” He asked, wondering how Pinkie could know about his numbering system, or if she was even talking about him at all. How could Pinkie possibly know that? Pinkie then non-committedly shrugged.
“Whovians will get it.” Pinkie explained, and the Doctor just shook his head, clearing his mind of the sudden outburst. What? No seriously, this pink pony was becoming more interesting every second he was with her. He would have to investigate her more later, but for now there were more pressing matters at hand. He then tried walking around a little, but found that he was already fairly good at that. After stretching his legs and adjusting the cuffs on his tattered suit (admittedly with some difficulty due to his hooves), he walked over to the two mares.
“Hello ladies! At least, I think you’re ladies… Are you female? Or are you…? You know what? To hell with it. Anywho! I’m now stuck on a world with equines, myself included and now I’ve got a library to fix up! Brilliant, just brilliant.” The Doctor said, and then looked directly at Twilight.
“You thought I would forget, didn’t you?” The Doctor asked, and Twilight only nodded. He then closed the gap between them in one quick stride and (sort of) grabbed Twilight. He then asked her with blazing intensity:
“Am I ginger?”
“... What?” Twilight asked dumbfounded. The Doctor then let go and motioned at his hair.
“Am I ginger?! You know, red hair! Seeing as how your manes are remarkably similar to human hair and your kind seems to fancy every color of the rainbow as hair, there is an increased chance that my hair is red. What color is it?!”
“N-no, you’re not -erm- ginger. It’s just sort of… black. And spiky.” Twilight finally said, still confused and not understanding as to why she was asked that. She then saw the Doctor mumbling to himself, seemingly fussing about his lack of red hair. What was so important about red hair anyways? She just didn’t get it. And for someone who had just woken up from a faint-induced sleep, he seemed very energized and a little too chipper to Twilight. How could anyone just have a short nap (around 1 hour) after having crash landed be healed and completely fine? Nopony was able to do such a feat. Nopony. Well… nopony except maybe Pinkie. Speaking of Pinkie, she now wanted to properly introduce herself and was bouncing erratically everywhere, somehow miraculously not damaging or even moving a single thing out of place in the room. She then stopped in front of the Doctor, but continued to spring up and down.
“Oh! Oh! Hi! My name’s Pinkamena Diane Pie but you can call me Pinkie Pie for short, or just Pinkie! It’s really all up to you, you know? So, who are? Really, who? You’re the Doctor right? Doctor who? Doctor who? Doctor who? Well, who nose, am I right?!” Pinkie burst out. She put a hoof up to her nose and pushed it to the side while saying the last sentence. She then jumped on top of the Doctor, crushing him in a hug. The Doctor was startled by this and didn’t have time to prepare as the pink pony basically jumped into him, knocking some of the wind out of him.
“Hi, uh- Pinkie!” The Doctor said curling his words up, almost sounding like a question. He was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with Pinkie Pie up and personal against him. He was already uncomfortable enough with his new pony body, but even more so with another pony crushing him in a hug
“Would you mind getting off of me now?” The Doctor asked, and Pinkie Pie shook her head.
“I can’t do that Doctor.” Said Pinkie Pie, and the Doctor just lay there, flabbergasted.
“Why- why not?” The Doctor inquired, seriously wanting to know why a pink pony from a completely different universe and of a completely different race would all of a sudden want to embrace him in a hug.
“Because of your eyes, silly! They’re old and sad. How can your eyes be so old but you look so young, Doctor?” Pinkie stated and asked. The Doctor went silent at this, looking at Pinkie with with bewilderment and surprise. What came next was just as much of a surprise to everyone in the room, except Pinkie. Pinkie, seeing something changing, let go of the Doctor and he promptly nodded, and got up slowly. He looked at Pinkie now with an incredibly dark and brooding sadness which filled the room with air that Twilight had never felt before. He then looked Pinkie in the eyes with a look that could break a million hearts, and audibly whispered:
“A good question for another time my dear Pinkie.”
His mood then changed drastically once again from a dark to cheerful tone, but traces of his previous mood could be seen behind his somewhat false smile.
“Now to answer some of your questions, Pinkie. I think I’ve already said it, but I will say it again. I’m the Doctor. That’s it. Nothing to it. Nothing more, nothing less.” The Doctor said. He then saw the raised eyebrows around the room. Not surprising, seeing how he just revealed some of his deepest darkest self to them, showing them a glimpse of an infinitesimally ever changing Doctor. Heaving a mental sigh of relief however, he saw that they noticed it too and didn’t push the previous matter any further.
“So, you’re a Doctor?” Spike questioned.
“I’m not just any old doctor. I’m the Doctor. The definite article, you might say.” The brown stallion answered. He then locked eyes with Twilight and took a few steps forward, somewhat closing the gap between them and putting them nearly muzzle to muzzle.
“Now tell me Twilight, has there been anything happening recently? Anything you couldn’t explain? I don’t just crash around anywhere you know. There’s always a good reason.”
“Not that I know of. I’m sorry, but what does this have to do with fixing my library?”
“No, that’s not right, there has to be more…” The Doctor said to himself, seemingly having ignored Twilight completely. He then looked at Pinkie, who grinned maniacally at the Doctor.
“Oo! I know! Ponies sometimes disappear nowadays and then they pop up again as if nothing happened! Nopony knows why. I dunno, I’ve just noticed that some ponies are different after they disappear. I would know, because I’ve known everypony in Ponyville since I was a filly, and I mean everypony. By the way, do you like jelly? Oh I love jelly! You know Mr. and Mrs. Cake are...” But the Doctor wasn’t paying attention anymore after that, for he was lost in thought. It seemed odd to him that they would disappear without any reason or motive why, only to then reappear. And then he remembered that Pinkie had said that the ponies would seem different once they returned. As if, they’ve been brainwashed or some… thing…
“Oh no. No no nununununo. That’s not good.” The Doctor finally said in an ominous tone.
Just then, he heard someone yell in desperation.
“No! You’re not taking me too!” The mystery pony said. At this, the Doctor’s eyes lit up, as if to say “adventure(!)” and he ran for the stairs. Seeing how he was in a new pony body however and his old clothes were still dragging around, he tripped and went flying. He then ungraciously crashed into the top most stair muzzle first, and then proceeding to tumble down the stairs making loud bangs and thumps on the wood. Everyone still present in the room cringed at the noises, and released a collective sigh of relief they didn’t know they were holding when the noises stopped and silence filled the air. A voice then wafted up from the bottom of the library.
“Urghhhh… I’ll... be fine…” They heard the Doctor say, and then they heard the clip clop of hooves and the sound of a door opening and closing.
“Whelp! We’d better follow him!” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly, and rolled down the stairs as well but somehow undamaged and with springing noises instead of the expected thump! And bonk! Oh well. Pinkie will be Pinkie.
“Spike, stay here and watch the library, got it?” Twilight commanded, before walking down the stairs.
“Aww! How come I have to stay here while you guys get to go on an adventure?” Spike complained. Twilight could only shake her head and sigh. Oh Spike.