• Member Since 7th Nov, 2011
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Paleo Prints


T

When the TARDIS lands in ancient Ponyland history, Derpy is overwhelmed by the peace and beauty of it. So why is the Doctor so scared of what lurks inside that castle? Now they face a terrifying power that hides behind a regal smile, and she will not be denied.

Dedicated to Lady Moondancer, archivist of G1 MLP.

Amazing vectors created by Kiddysa-Nekovamp, Boomersimon, and Tygerbug.

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 31 )

OBJECTION!
before i read this i have some questions!
1) Where have you been this whole time
2)When will you come out with a sequel to the house of Daring?:trixieshiftright:

3454608
1) Working on article for gaming magazine and NaNoWriMo stuff.
2) Hopefully over Christmas break.

3454623
ohh Nice whats the article about

3454629
Trying to mine one of Lovecraft's lesson known stories for Cthulhu gaming ideas.

To paraphrase an appropriate quote: "Anyone powerful enough to give you everything you want, is powerful enough to take away everything that you have." - Unknown

Also, it seems that Majesty's weakness is that she can make any wish she wants, but only once each.

Comment posted by Blue_Paladin42 deleted Nov 7th, 2013

:rainbowderp:


Yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikes.........

Moondancer.....:pinkiesad2::raritydespair:

This was absolutely beautiful! I loved every bit of this!

"Heck, what's another closed causality loop in time among friends?"
And the best line of the year award goes to...

Very enjoyable little story! Thank you! :twilightsmile:

Wonderful. I love you forever.

Is this in the same continuity as your other Whooves fics, and do I need to read those first?

Clicking her tongue, Majesty announced to the crowd, “I wish the living cloud would turn into cotton candy!”

lol someone has invisible fairy godparents :trollestia:

“Are you sure you’re up time travel today?
needs a "to"
otherwise, it was fantastic.

That was...a... Fantastic story.

Very nicely done! :twilightsmile: Though, poor Moondancer... :pinkiesad2:

3458256
It's totally stand-alone. Fans of the Three Whooves will find it perfectly fits within the life story of Ditzy and the Doctor, but no prior knowledge is necessary to read it.

Although, I think there's a nod to this story I might make in the upcoming "Doctor Whooves and the Mare in the Moon"...

3454876>>3459979>>3454876 Yeah, I decided to give the blogger Lady Moondancer a tribute the way Samuel L. Jackson likes his cameo roles to go.

3459225>>3455829>>3455545>>3455412>>3455129
Thank you all for the kind comments! If you love it, link it somewhere!

3460186
Hold on to your butts...

3460253
Thanks! Tell me how you like Three Whooves, by the way.

“My dear Minty,” he said with a toothy smile, doffing his hat. “There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream; ponies made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, girl. Let’s go!”

Not the right Doctor but I think it might fit ponyland anyway.

Nice to see your Pony version of Leela, Pepermint knives for Janus thorns? Did she end up marrying another Time charger?

Another truly wonderful story. Thank you for all your great work!

P.S. - Do I detect a small reference to "Progress" at the end there? :raritywink:

3454857 I think that was Thomas Jefferson, but then the thread descended into "don't believe everything you read on the internet."
I picked that "one time each" thing up too. Poor Majesty. BBC needs to adopt this for a whole episode. Keep the names the same, just make them humans.
Why does this have so few views? Absolutely disgusting(even worse than my spelling thanks to spellcheck), where can we spam this so it get the attention it deserves?

As entertaining as this was to read, it threw me off that you had Majesty cast spells by making a wish.
Twilight (G1 Twilight that is) was the one that casted spells by making a wish.
Majesty would cast spells by saying a rhyme.

I'd kind of like a link to the relevant RPG.net posts, that sounds interesting.

Also, damn, this got pretty dark.

Ekndfljnflf. You have no idea how long I have been failing to have enough time to read this. I can't even remember how long it's been at this point. What kind of idiot place priorities on how he spends his free time that blatantly conflict with what he wants to do? This idiot, that's who. Does it even count as free time then? But at long last, I have found my way here. So let's get reading.

“Doctor,” she said with a snort, wings unfurling in amusement as she leaned over a railing. “Are you sure you’re up to time travel today? You don’t seem to be doing too well moving in three dimensions.”

Bah, it's the third dimension that's the tricky one. The fourth dimension is far easier.

“Doctor, it’s a light pole.”

He snorted. “No, it’s a peaceful alien. Look, I think he’s a bit shy, so let’s never mention it again.”

Oh, Tennant. I've missed you. Smith and Capaldi are fine, but they're just not the same.

As she looked away, one of her wings flared up and quickly brushed across her mane, setting it in what she hoped was at least a little attractive.

Silly Ditzy. Any manestyle looks good on you.
Well, unless you comb your forelock over your eye. If you must hide one of your eyes, do it with an eyepatch so you look like a pirate.

Ditzy nodded. “Are we where you wanted us?”

“Precisely.”

Strictly speaking, you're precisely where Sexy wants you two. Sometimes she takes suggestions, but it's important to remember who's the real pilot here.

The Doctor galloped off of the platform, landing with a flourish at the door. Twirling once, he stretched out his tail toward Ditzy as he sang in a surprising deep baritone. “Let’s start at the very beginning!”

Blushing, Ditzy alighted onto the ground and entwined her tail in his As she felt his hair tighten around hers, she nearly swooned. Keep it calm, Ditz.

Oh man, it has been so long since I've said anything crude about tails. It was almost worth the months of never quite finding the time to read fanfiction just for this feeling of coming home.
Although my normal lines don't actually fit here. But I will not let such trivialities ruin my return!

She turned to the Doctor to see him staring at her. Not just turning to look at her, but standing to face her with an appreciative smile. Out of all the things he could possibly look at, Ditzy knew that the Doctor only had eyes for her reaction to paradise. She blushed again.

Well if you're going to give a pretty young mare all of time and space, I should hope you take the time to appreciate your work.

At the castle, Ditzy smiled at the surprised ponies. A small group had been gathered around a blanket, busily engaged in a tea party. They now turned to Ditzy with a blank-eyed stare, and she was too excited to notice that one of them was shivering.

Frankly, I don't trust anypony who is having a tea party. It's like whistling; sometimes it's just what it seems, but overall it's suspiciously innocuous.

Uncontrollably, Ditzy’s mouth started to water at the sumptuous bounty spread over the blanket on flowery plates.

I'd tell you, "If you eat the food, you'll be trapped forever," but it's already too late.

“Hi,” she nearly shouted as she nearly pounced the nearest pony. “I’m Ditzy Doo and I’m from a far bit away and I’d love to learn about your history and culture and muffins?”

"Mostly about your muffins, though. In fact, forget about the history and culture."

In front of her, a yellow pony ran a shaking hoof through her blue main. “Hi?” She scooted away from Ditzy as the rest of the tea party quietly watched. “I’m Tootsie. W-w-what are you doing here?”

You're scaring the poor mare, Ditzy. You just come charging in out of nowhere and crash their tea party; don't you ever think about what the Cultural Ministry will do to them for interacting with outsiders? If they're lucky they'll be put to death.

Inside Ditzy Doo’s mind, a jumble of thoughts buzzed inside her head. In the subconscious part of her brain alone she was simultaneously remembering her cute-ceañera at her Auntie Daring’s mansion, formulating plans for a new peppermint plasma generator, and writing a song using all the prime numbers backwards from 2281. All of that screeched to a halt as a single idea took priority inside Ditzy’s head.

The Doctor is scared.

The Doctor is often scared. He's seen the universe, so he tends to know exactly how scared to be.
Oh, and any chance I could hear that song once it's done?

For a moment, centuries of the Doctor’s frustration at travelling companions who never listened melted away. This one is special, he thought for the first time in about a half hour.

More than you even know.

Then he saw the soap bubbles.

Behind Ditzy, a cloud of the greenish bubbles rose out of the moat. They rose over her, combining into a smaller cloud of larger bubbles.

Well, it would hardly be worth being so scared about if you could simply leave.

One pink pegasus threw a hoof across her eyes and fainted dead. The indignant white unicorn hoarsely said, “Is that... a wand?

“It is!” The white one screamed in terror. “He’s a wizard! Run!”

Silly little pony. He's no mere wizard. He's the last of the Time Chargers. He's the Oncoming Storm. Wizards run when a good stallion goes to war, and he is a good stallion. Pray he does not go to war.

The Doctor turned slowly, always wanting to be a bit scary when first meeting the ones who know why bad things happened.

Image is important. Titles don't matter, but appearances do.

He only stared straight ahead, mind racing as he watched the levitating prison that held a girl who, even now, waved to him with a brave smile as she was pulled to her fate.

'Tis better to have lived and lost than never to have lived at all.

Don’t worry. And, as out of character as this is, don’t run. You’ll just irritate her.

Oh dear. This is serious.

Among the statues, Ditzy kept noticing sculptures of some kind of terrified hairless clothed ape. Most of them had their arms lifted, frozen in the act of covering their faces while screaming.

So much for remembering Queen Megan in a positive light. Forgive me for my weak grasp of pre-Equestrian history, but weren't humans only able to come to Dream Valley if specifically brought? Bringing destruction upon them seems unwarranted under the circumstances.

“Sheesh,” Ditzy said while blowing her bangs out of her eyes. “Who does she think she is?”

I can see why Ditzy is such a keeper. Ponies who don't know how to speak their minds are so very boring.

Crossing her forelimbs with a restrained giggle, Majesty nodded. “Already making demands, are we?” She looked into one of Ditzy’s eyes as nodded. “I wish... we had a muffin.”

It would be rather odd if he weren't making demands. No respect for authority, that Time Charger.

“Magic,” he said with a touch of embarrassment, shuffling on his feet.

Muffin in hoof, Ditzy stopped right before her teeth sunk in. “Really?” She raised an amused eyebrow. “Are you actually admitting it’s magic?

“Fine,” she nearly snapped, “it’s a conscious manipulation of quarks on the level of the quantum soup with a yet unknown means of transferring and transmuting energy. There, does that sound any better?”

That's very big of you to admit you don't know.

As Ditzy shrugged, Majesty said firmly “I wish the muffin was on fire.”

That says rather a lot about you, wouldn't you say? You probably enjoy random acts of cruelty. You may well prefer to make them occur based on the actions of the victim, though it is well within your power to make them happen as pure diving intervention (so to speak). You're not afraid of uncontrolled fire.

Two purple dragons, heads lowered from the weight of their golden collars and chains, pulling a familiar blue booth into the courtroom.“Does this device not mark you as the Wizard of the Travelling Box?”

As the crowd murmured around him, the Doctor blew a breath out. “Oh, how I hate that nickname.”

I don't know, it sounds like a pretty nice nickname in general to me. It's just inconvenient in a few cases. I'd still call it a net positive.

Majesty rose to her hooves, languidly walking towards the box. “We dislike wizards here. Across the world, they all seem to have some sort of use for pony slaves. We have done our fair part to keep our land free of the foul things. Any wizard who intends to kidnap ponies is eternally and usually briefly our adversary.” Moving an admiring hoof down the front door of the TARDIS, she snorted. “Such as you did with Minty... Doctor.”

What would it take to pry that story out of you, Doctor? Did you end up dropping her off in some less-totalitarian locale of her choice, or were you forced to leave her behind?

Here we go again, Ditzy thought. “So, she knows you, Doctor?” She paused before giving a sour look his way. “Tell me she’s not an old girlfriend.”

He answered with a snort. “I’ve got a better chance with Celestia herself. Shush, Ditzy. I’m trying to figure out why no one else recognizes me here.”

“Oh.” She considered for a moment. “Tell me Celestia’s not an old girlfriend.”

I've read that fanfic in more than one place.

“Dead,” he said simply. “Long ago and far away, in a place of her own choosing. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Everypony dies sooner or later (with a few exceptions). For a time traveler, from a certain point of view, everypony is dead far away and long ago. The best you can ask for is that it be in a place of her own choosing.

Ditzy screamed as the Doctor fell to the floor, convulsing. Sweat poured out of his coat as he twitched. One of the audience fainted as the Doctor’s limbs twisted not entirely naturally. Suddenly, with a crack, he raised himself up on shaky hooves.

I wouldn't worry about him so long as Majesty is intent on torturing him. When you get to be his age, one thing you find is that you have always been through worse before. Her imagination will run out before she comes up with anything new.

Take him to the Holding Cells of Happiness, so that I may meditate upon the punishment that may most strike fear in the hearts of his monstrous confederates.

Really, Majesty? Mixing euphemism levels just makes you sound amateurish, like you wanted to hide the destination but weren't clever enough to fool so much as a lobotomized diamond dog. Sure, something like "take him to the Happiness Room" would not have hidden the context at all, but at least it doesn't come off so half-plotted. Yes, something like "take him to the Holding Cells of Despair" can sometimes come off like you're insecure and trying too hard to be intimidating, but even if that does happen it's still better than the alternative.

As the two dragons advanced on the shaking Doctor, Ditzy leapt into the air in front of them, snarling. They look at each other sheepishly.

“Please, Miss,” a spiked-scale beast the size of two carts said quietly. “I’ll carry him gently, I promise.”

Come on, Ditzster, don't blame the slaves for what they have to do. It's questionable whether anypony or anything in this Luna-forsaken valley can truly be said to act on its own will rather than Majesty's.

Ditzy Doo had been travelling with the Doctor on-and-off since shortly after getting her cutie mark, and in that time she assumed she had seen every type of dungeon. From jail cells carved into comets to the oozing dungeons of the early Changeling Empire, she thought she had seen it all. If she had to make a list now, however, Dream Castle’s dungeon would be at the top of the recommended list.

I would totally sign up if you offered a guided tour of the universe's dungeons.

“Aside from everything?” Ditzy chirped up, eyes spinning faster. “Well, what if she wished ponies were different? Like, maybe they thought different. Maybe they didn’t think about things she didn’t want them to think about.”

Moondancer calmly poured herself another cup. “I’ll more gladly kill everyone in the room, myself included, than have you suggest that to her.”

“Ah-ha!” The Doctor sprang to his feet, grinning. “That’s the pony spirit I know! Brilliant act, then! Glorious! Calm and collected, the rebel behind the throne. I have just one question, Moondancer.” He walked around the table, staring straight into her eyes as he rested his hooves on the bars. “If you did that, could she bring you back?”

That doesn't presage a good future for Moondancer. In fact, it doesn't look very positive for anypony. Unless Majesty changed quite drastically (which is not impossible, were she tricked into making the right wish) the fact that nopony recorded her reign of terror implies that none of her subjects outlived her to write it.

“Still?” Ditzy squinted. “You think she’s going to try one day?”

The silence hung in the air, suspended as the three ponies looked from one to another.

“Tell me about death, Doctor,” Moondancer said. “Before I trust you, tell me about Minty.”

The sense I get is not "one day she'll try bringing back those who die of other causes." The sense I get is "one day, Majesty will stop being afraid to kill ponies just because they're useful to her alive."

As the two disappeared into the distance, the observer grinned. She peered over the hilltop, a lithe and athletic mare with a light green coat. She lay close to the ground, one hoof hovering over a bandoleer full of peppermint knives.

“Shall I kill them Doctor?” She ran a hoof across her white-and-pink mane to keep her vision clear. “They stalk like drunk ogres!”

She doesn't seem like a subject Majesty would much like. I wonder if Majesty's opinion on the whole thing would be anything other than "good riddance" if not for her desire to pin more charges on the Doctor?

The odd pony that sat on the hill that day was a far cry from the Doctor that Lady Moondancer would one day have jail-time tea with. His coat was a close color to the one that Ditzy knew, but the similarities ended there. His teeth were much larger, and the spiky mane of his later years was then a curly mass crowned by a floppy brown hat. Impossibly, he had eluded the castle guards while wearing a rainbow scarf, the ridiculously long fabric wound around his neck several times and still nearly dragging along the ground.

He's well before my time, but even I know 4 when I see him. Tom Baker is undeniably a classic. Not that I know much about what sort of Doctor 4 was.

“My dear Minty,” he said with a toothy smile, doffing his hat. “There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream; ponies made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, girl. Let’s go!”

As he ran across the field toward the blue box, Minty smiled. She had decided to chase after the Doctor.

Well of course. How does one say no to a pitch like that?

He snorted. “It’s hard to imagine anything that could kill Minty if she didn’t want it to. She died many years later, surrounded by awards, grandchildren, and the glow of past glories. She died the best way possible, Moondancer. She died by living.”

So basically what you're saying is that you're like an angel. An angel who sometimes takes requests (and then usually lands somewhen completely different).

“Tell us, Moondancer,” he suddenly said. “Tell her what happened to Galaxy.”

Well that's going to be a weighty question, in total. Just don't let anypony catch you answering.

Majesty giggled as she walked down the hallway, two of her subjects in tow. “Did Peaches really say that about Blossom’s mane?”

“Absolutely,” replied the turquoise pegasus, who snickered as her green friend nearly fell apart laughing. “Could you believe it?”

Wow, that sounds so . . . non-coerced. I guess being a spoiled child was something Majesty grew into, rather than how she was born. And I suppose we'll know why by the time we're done with the unofficial Galaxy story.
I don't think it's going to be a feel-good story.

The two ponies at her side curtseyed as she left. Once Majesty disappeared into the far room, the pegasus’ knees bent as she nearly fell over.

“I-I-I... ,” she stammered, tears welling in her eyes. “I can’t... ”

“Shh,” Seashell whispered into her ear. “She might hear you.” Seashell carefully pulled Medley into an unoccupied castle bedroom.

Color me impressed. It's so rare for despots to find good actors, especially in a place like Dream Valley, which seems to be relatively small.

He made me remember Galaxy.

This is not where I thought we were. Do you have a map? Apparently, I'm lost.

“I should have watched you more carefully,” she said at last. “So many worries and duties inside one mare. You know, my Lady Moondancer, you often seem to be burning the candle at both ends. One day, you’ll just burn yourself out.”

Blue flame shot up Majesty’s horn as she leaned over, lighting the wick that tumbled out of the end of Moondancer’s horn. With a single glance at the unchanging face with the waxy smile and teardrops frozen in mid-journey, Majesty walked away.

Ugh. I hate villains who think they're so clever. Nopony appreciates your punishments but you.
And I'm not sorry! You deserve to be punished too!

As Majesty galloped through the castle, the hair of her coat rose, standing on end. Her nostrils were assaulted by the smell of lightning-struck ground. Majesty knew that scent well, having struck a wizard or two down with lightning in her day. Relief filled her when no smell of burning flesh rose to greet her.

And I thought you knew the Doctor.

Majesty started to say something before she slipped on the look of unaffected determination that is the blessing and curse of all royalty. “Gather all ponies into the throne room.” Her gentle command brooked no argument. “Let them see what I do to monsters that come to Ponyland.”

I'd like to see, yes. I've still got plenty to learn from how you treat your enemies. And now's your chance to prove that you're not all bad. Aren't you excited?

Clicking her tongue, Majesty announced to the crowd, “I wish the living cloud would turn into cotton candy!”

Somewhere far beyond Ponyland in the void of spaces between, S’ngac, the violet gas that leads dreamers through the cosmos, was discomfited by transforming into a sugary concoction. Wishes will travel far to fulfill themselves, after all. Majesty was unaware of this, nor of the great quest undergone by one of Earth’s own dreamers to restore S’ngac to his airy state. All she knew was that the cloud in front of her continued to convulse in spite of her wish, and for the second time her life Queen Majesty knew fear.

Poor S'ngac. Another innocent victim of somepony who's clearly never seen an illusion before.

“Oh, I’m not actually a monster,” he said with a grin. "Well, sometimes I wonder. Well... ” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Anyway, boo. Did I say ‘boo,’ yet?”

Funny word, that. Everyone throws it around like it's an objective measure, but what does it even mean? Often you make decisions about who lives and who dies, usually for reasons that are difficult for others to understand. Does that make you a monster? You've spent much of your life trying to improve the universe wherever you go. Does that make you not a monster?

Looking her in the eye, he pronounced like a disappointed professor, “You’ve failed, Majesty.”

“Indeed?” She burst alight, blue flame wreathing her body. “Before I wish more pain upon you, please explain your nonsense theory to me.”

Dropping to the floor, Ditzy chuckled under her breath. “They always fall for that,” she said.

Every terrible ruler has a huge ego. If they could just let something like "You've failed" go, they wouldn't be nearly so bad.

“Hurts, doesn’t it. Go ahead. Make me hurt.” He sighed, coughing into his hoof. “Then again, you can’t. That’s why you didn’t wipe Moondancer’s memory again the way you erased the memory of Galaxy.”

No repeats?

She was heaving as she said, “I protect them, Doctor. Every pony here I love like they were my children... ”

I pray that I never meet your mother.

“I... ” Majesty shook her head. “I wish... that I could just say... I’m sorry.”

Well, at least you realize that you can't.

The ancient candy garden in the center of the castle was visible, and where the throne had been a patch of iridescent blue flowers grew.

Poison joke? I can't imagine why she would have left poison joke behind.

He nodded. “One of Majesty’s three gifts to her people. The skills to survive, the Poison Joke to keep them from getting too serious, and... ” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “There was a third. I think it came in a pair.”

Ditzy blew a raspberry at him, pulling herself to her feet. “Silly, forgetful Doctor,” she said, but he only smiled knowingly.

So difficult to tell when he's teasing you, and when he's just being a silly forgetful old stallion.

“My lady’s right. We’ll make do. Our little Celestia will be born someplace without monsters or a Majesty. We just have to find it.”

Ditzy stared at them, mouth hanging open as the hopeful couple walked towards their family.

Did you think Majesty would leave them without another leader or two to protect them? Even once they remember how to deal with a spooky cloud, there will always be the occasional problem that merits the big guns.

“In less than a century, those rugged earth ponies will produce Mooncatcher the Hunter, the only mortal Princess Luna ever gave her heart to.”

What did they call Mooncatcher before he caught the moon? Was he enough of a badflank to go by simply "The Hunter"?

“Wow!” Ditzy said as she smiled. “How romantic. Doctor, what happened to him?”

On days like this, he really wished that his memory wasn’t so good. The Doctor took a few steps toward the last of the now decaying candy garden. He reached out, gently passing a hoof along a mint lollipop. At his touch, it cracked and bits of it fell away.

“He died, Ditzy. All mortals do, in the end.”

If you want to give the short version, yeah. But that hardly does the story justice.

My one pet peeve with this story is that Majesty in the official comic, casted spells by saying a rhyme.

The one the casted spells by saying a wish was Twilight (the original Twilight, not G4 Twilight)

This story is INCREDIBLE!

Ach! My two greatest literary weaknesses: backstory and deep lore! :twilightoops:

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