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Surprises2,543 words
Doctor Off Balance3,091 words
A Conclave of Time3,444 words

Surprises

Derpy Hooves had never flown this fast in her entire life, mainly because of her lazy eye. If she went too fast everything just blurred together and she would be face first into a tree before she could blink, but right now that wasn’t going to happen.

The day had started like any other: she had woken up, had her breakfast and then set off to deliver the mail. Making her slow but steady way through Ponyville, she had finished her rounds by lunchtime and was about to head home when she spied the backside of a familiar brown stallion sticking out from under a cart in the market square.

Landing softly, she cantered up to the stall, and said, ‘’Hi, Doctor!’’ There was a loud bang, followed by a string of curses from under the cart.

Extracting himself from underneath, the pony known as Doctor Whooves, or simply The Doctor, rubbed the spot where his forehead had contacted the axle. In his teeth he held a whirring silver wand with a glowing blue gemstone at its tip. Derpy immediately recognised his famous ‘’sonic screwdriver’’.

‘’You could have knocked’’, he said. ‘’It’s less painful.’’

‘’Sorry, but I saw your new stall and I had to come check it out.’’

The Doctor’s expression brightened as he forgot the throbbing pain in his forehead and promptly took his place behind the cart.

‘’Well then, allow me to be the first to welcome you to Timey Wimey Timepieces.’’

Derpy raised an eyebrow. ‘’Timey Wimey?’’

‘’Well, I’ve never had to have a business before so it’s a work in progress’’, he said sheepishly. ‘’But these clocks will keep whatever time you wish for as accurate as you want! Observe.’’

He promptly produced several clocks from behind the counter, each one as nonsensical as its creator.

‘’This one,’’ he began, indicating an elaborate silver wall clock with five hands, ‘’will tell you what time important events will occur, for example, right now it’s telling me that your daughter will be joining us in three...two...one.’’

The clock chimed and the pair looked around as, perhaps predictably, nothing happened.

‘’Maybe I got the calibrations wrong’’, he mused, moments before a tiny unicorn filly with a blonde mane snuck up behind him.

‘Boo!’’ she yelled.

‘’GAH!!’’ cried The Doctor, falling over his own hooves in surprise.

Derpy could only lean against the cart laughing as her daughter stood over the stallion and gave a cheeky grin.

‘’Were you surprised?’’ she said in her tiny voice.

‘’Very,’’ replied the irritated stallion. ‘’No one’s managed to sneak up on me like that in over nine hundred years.’’

‘’That’s children for you Doctor’’, replied Derpy as she gave the filly a warm hug. ‘’They can surprise anyone.’’

‘’Apparently so’’, was the indignant reply. ‘’Shouldn’t she be in school?’’

‘’Its Saturday,’’ said Dinky with a smile. ‘’No school today, so I decided to see what you were doing.’’

‘’Well Dinky,’’ answered Derpy. ‘’ The Doctor was showing me his new business.’’

‘’Ooooooooo, is it battling monsters and aliens like in the stories he always tells us?’’

‘’Nothing quite so exciting I’m afraid’’, replied the colt as he took another clock from the counter; this one was bronze and had the star constellations engraved into the face.

‘’I’m selling clocks now, but not the usual kind. Oh no, far too boring. These clocks can tell time, space, age, place, dates and even events. This one for instance can tell us when there is a massive surge in magical energy, but it needs some more work. So far, it’s just a fancy paperweight.’’

‘’So if there was a surge in magic what would it do?’’ asked Derpy as she stared at the clock.

Before anyone could answer, the clock’s hands began to spin uncontrollably before they abruptly stopped on the number twelve. It then gave a chime similar to a grandfather clock before spitting out a line of paper.

‘’It would do something like that’’, said the Doctor as he retrieved the paper. Running his eyes over the numbers he frowned.

“Well, that can’t be right...’’

‘’What can’t be right?’’ asked Derpy, peering at the line of code from over the cart.

‘’This says that we can expect a large amount of chaotic magic. Not just any large amount, mind you, but a universally altering amount of magic. But only one being in the universe could give off that amount of power, and if that were the case then my other...’’

He was cut off as another sound boomed ominously from inside the cart.

In a flash the Doctor had ripped open the cart’s door and was frantically searching amongst his stock.

‘’No, it can’t be, it mustn’t be, it has to be a glitch, it’s got to be a glitch.’’

‘’Doctor...’’, said Derpy as uncertainty crept into her heart.

She was cut off as he pulled something large and heavy from inside the cart and dropped it onto the counter.

This clock wasn’t like the others. Whereas they showed the whimsy of The Doctor’s character, this one seemed to be almost evil. It was a dark oak, varnished until it was almost completely black, and carved into the shape of... a serpent?

The body was definitely serpentine, but serpents didn't have mismatched horn's; its head was also more like a pony.

Whatever it was, the creature was coiled around the clock and wore a wicked grin on its face.

Derpy was sure its gemstone eyes were boring into her mind. Both of the clocks hands were spinning wildly and it was booming like church bells on a Sunday.

The Doctor stared at it, horror dawning on his features as he slowly backed away from the cart and moved as close to the grey Pegasus as he could.

‘’Listen to me, because our lives may well depend on it’’, he whispered in a tone that Derpy recognised all too well; even Dinky knew to listen when he was like this.

‘’We need to get to my house, but I need a few things first. So, here’s the plan: Derpy, could you please get me as many metal coat hangers as you can find, and an old TV antenna if possible? I’ll take Dinky with me and get things ready.’’

‘’What?! No!’’ exclaimed Derpy, ‘’Doctor, if this is dangerous we need to stay together.’’

‘’I know that, but if we don’t do this right we will all be in grave danger. This has taken me completely by surprise (Huh, three times in one day, who knew?), and I need time to sort out a solution. Please, do this for me.’’

‘’I don’t know’’, she replied, bringing a hoof to cover her lazy eye.

Gently, The Doctor moved it away.

‘’You can do this,’’ he said, ‘’we have complete faith in you.’’

Derpy felt her daughter wrap her hooves around her.

‘’You can do it mummy.’’

Taking a deep breath she steeled herself. ‘’Alright. I can do this.’’

The Doctor smiled. ‘’Well then, there’s only one thing to say: ALLONS-Y!’’

*******

Within minutes of them parting, the sky had opened, although she wasn’t expecting chocolate rain of all things. Racing home, she had done as instructed and gathered as many coat hangers as she could and was now attempting to reach The Doctor’s cottage ahead of whatever was changing the landscape behind her.

Ponyville was a mess; the roads had become soap, homes were floating off into the sky, and clouds had even become feral; three had attempted to eat her before she even made it to the Everfree Forest.

Racing between the trees she tried not to think about what could have befallen The Doctor and Dinky, given what she had gone through already it was conceivable that anything could have happened to them.

Swerving to the right she narrowly avoided colliding with a large tree, she had to focus, and getting distracted here could mean the end. Squaring both eyes straight ahead she rocketed through the tightly packed trees with skill that would have made Rainbow Dash jealous, erupting from the tree line and into the clearing where The Doctor made his home.

The cottage was almost invisible to those who didn’t know what to look for, the Doctor had put it down to something called a ‘’perception filter’’.

The roof was covered in a multitude of antennae and satellite dishes which jutted skyward at odd angles, thick cables snaked through windows and along walls, connecting the household’s many appliances to whatever powered them and a rose garden ran parallel to the path up to the front door which was painted a deep blue.

Currently the door was open and Derpy could see her daughter waving from to her from it. Ignoring the mess in the living room, she rocketed inside and down the cellar stairs where she stopped dead.

The Doctor’s basement was a mess of metals, papers, gems and technology. Usually they were to do with whatever experiment or project he was working on that week, but the back wall was always kept clear. Against it was a deep blue phone box, formerly used by police ponies until radios had become standard issue. Along the top were the words, POLICE PONY CALL BOX.

This was the Doctor’s famous TARDIS. Once it had carried him through time and space, but now it was little more than an empty shell, its interior always dark, always silent as the grave. Nevertheless, the Time Colt refused to get rid of it.

She was far too special to him.

The Doctor came running out of the time machine’s darkened interior, a large ring of cables around his neck.

‘’I’ve got what you asked for, but I couldn’t find a TV antenna and whatever is changing Equestria is right behind me.’’ she panted

‘’Don’t worry, I found an old one in my bits box, hang everything you have from the antenna on my roof.’’ He tossed her some metallic tape. ‘’This should ensure a good connection.’’

Taking a deep breath the Pegasus flew back out the door and up to the roof. She could see the magic getting closer as trees started to change into candy canes.

In minutes she had finished her task and flew back inside, the cables she had seen wrapped around the Doctor were now plugged into the rooftop's control box and snaked their way downstairs through the TARDIS door. Inside, The Doctor had ripped panels from the central console and was frantically attempting to re-wire his beloved time machine.

‘’Come on, old girl, you never failed me before and sweet Celestia you will not fail me now’’, he muttered frantically as his sonic screwdriver whirred around a set of cables he had wired to the salvaged TV antenna.

A few more whirrs and clicks from the screwdriver and he was done. Grabbing the antenna in his teeth he galloped upstairs to where Dinky had been standing watch at the front door.

The wave of magic was very close now, with animals fleeing in droves before it.

Setting it the antenna on the floor, the Doctor turned to mother and daughter.

‘’Now here’s where I need your help. I can save us from that,’’ (he waved a hoof out the door) ‘’but I need a spark of magic, and Dinky is the only unicorn here.’’

Derpy pulled her daughter close. ‘’Will she be alright?’’

‘’I promise she will be fine,’’ said the Doctor.

‘’Pinkie Pie swear,’’ replied Derpy.

‘’Cross my heart and hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye’’, he replied going through the motions.

Apparently satisfied, Derpy let her daughter go to the stallion.

‘’Keep watch’’, he said and Derpy turned to the door, one eye on her daughter.

Setting up the antenna, The Doctor turned to the unicorn filly.

‘’Now Dinky, I need you to cast a spell. Anything will do, but I need a spark of magic, just a spark.’’

‘’I don’t know Doctor,’’ said Dinky, ‘’I’ve never been good at magic. I always make a mess.’’

‘’That doesn’t matter here, just focus on the object in front of you and cast a spell. If it fails, even better: We could use the extra magic. Please Dinky, we need your help.’’

With a glance to her mother, who nodded confidently, Dinky began to cast a sparking spell, her tiny face screwed up in concentration as she tried to focus the magic into her horn.

It glowed dimly as the magic built.

Concentrating hard she drew more magic until she felt like her horn was on fire. Opening her eyes she sighted on the antenna and released the spell.

The explosion blew out all the ground floor windows and kicked up enough dust to blanket the Buffalo plains from one end to the other.

Coughing and spluttering, Derpy pulled herself to her daughter, who was cowering at what she had done.

‘’I’m sorry mummy,’’ she whispered as Derpy pulled her close.

‘’Sorry... sorry, that was brilliant!’’ quipped The Doctor as he popped up from behind his overturned sofa.

Staggering over to the door, he looked outside.

‘’You did it Dinky! You did it! Take a look out there!’’

Cautiously, Derpy and her daughter peered outside.

The Doctor’s cottage was now surrounded by chaotic magic. Trees were turning into anything from lamp posts to gingerbread and some had even gotten up and walked away entirely.

But it never went beyond the front gate; from the front door to the end of the garden everything was completely normal. Slowly stepping outside they noticed a magical bubble was encasing the cottage, emanating from the multitude of antenna on the roof.

‘’It worked!’’ The Doctor was practically bouncing around the garden in glee. ‘’It worked, it worked, it worked! Well, of course, I knew it would work, well, hoped it would work but still, it worked, it worked, it worked!”

‘’What worked?’’ asked Derpy, finally finding her voice.

‘’Well, the TARDIS is equipped with a powerful anti magic shield. It protects her when she’s surfing the currents of the time vortex. I just connected it to my home and then used Dinky's spell magic to jump start the circuit, not bad for a few minutes’’, he said with a touch of pride.

It took a few seconds for Derpy's mind to process what he had just said. When it finally caught up she blinked a few times before speaking.

‘’So you saved us from that chaotic magic?’’

‘’Yup.’’

‘’But now what?’’

The Doctor paused.

‘’I don’t know, but we need to find the source of this magic and put a stop to it.’’

‘’Oh, it would be you spoiling my fun, now wouldn’t it, Doctor?’’

A third voice entered the conversation from beyond the bubble, The Doctor froze. Slowly turning his gaze upwards his eyes met a pair of mismatched pupils. Derpy had to stop herself from screaming.

It was the monster from the clock.

‘’Hello Discord.’’

Author's Note:

I wrote this ages ago but never finished the story, at the request of a fan of my other Doctor Whooves fiction I am going to endeavour to finish this story and hopefully use it as a way to set up my next idea for Doctor Whooves

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