Time Keeps Wibbling On: A Doctor Whooves Adventure

by Shotoman

Madponies with Boxes

Part 4
Madponies with Boxes

As the newcomers made their way up the stairs to meet the others, Derpy found herself staring at the barn they came out of. It was clearly recognizable as the TARDIS, though there were some subtle differences between this one and hers. "Huh," she said aloud. "There's a TARDIS inside the TARDIS. That is probably the weirdest thing I've ever seen."

"Not normally possible, either," her Doctor added. "There really should be all kinds of flashing lights and and an ominous countdown or something right now."

"Oh, I deactivated those a long time ago," the future Doctor replied. "If I didn't they'd never stop. Still, the sight brings memories, doesn't it Blue Shield?"

"Yeah," Blue Shield replied, a goofy grin on his face. "Memories." This earned him a sharp jab in the ribs from Ripple.

"Do I wanna know?" Derpy asked.

"No," Ripple replied.

"I must say, it is a rather odd sight, even for us," the curly haired Doctor said, suddenly in the middle of the group. "Certainly not something you see everyday. What do you think, Romana?"

The mare that came with him studied the sight before her. "Honestly, Doctor, it makes my senses tingle just looking at it. Still, there's obviously something bending the Laws of Time for our benefit at the moment, so we seem to be safe for now at least. Obviously, though, the sooner we resolve the issue at hoof and send everyone back to when they belong, the better."

"Quite right, quite right!" he responded with that huge smile of his. "So, what say the three of us get to it, eh?" he asked, gesturing to the other two Doctors. "I presume you two are my future selves?"

"That we are," the Ponyville Doctor replied before the other one could. "And as you might imagine, we've been having a rather interesting day."

The newly arrived Doctor nodded. "Yes, so I see. Which ones are you, perchance? Seventh? Eighth?"

"Tenth," the Ponyville Doctor replied. "I am the tenth Doctor."

"Yes. Right. Hello," the Raggedy Doctor said. "That would make me the eleventh."

"Which one are you, Doctor?" Derpy asked.

"Oh, I'm the fourth, if you go by order of regenerations. First if we're going by charm and importance."

"He's definitely you," Ripple said to her Doctor with a grin.

"Oi!"

"Yes, well, my presence here does make things easy, doesn't it?" the Fourth Doctor said, as if he were never interrupted. "With me here, that means the two of you have lived through this already. Twice in your case, Eleven. So... what happens next?"

The Eleventh Doctor opened his mouth with a smile, ready to answer, when he realized, "I... don't know."

"You don't know?" Ten asked indignantly. "How could you...oh. Oh, waitaminute. How could we forget something like this?"

"And to think I of all ponies am to go senile in my old age," Four commented dryly.

"HEY!" the other two Doctors complained simultaneously.

"Is it really such a good idea to aggravate yourselves like this, Doctor?" Romana asked.

"Please, Romana. I'm not aggravating them. I'm getting them to think."

Ten snorted. "And a bloody lot of good you're doing at OW! Derpy!"

"Language, Doctor," Derpy admonished, as the Doctor rubbed the back of his head in irritation. Her head smacks were getting harder, he figured.

"Oh. Oh, wait," Eleven spoke up. "That is good. That is really good. Actually it's quite bad, very bad, but it's brilliant in a very bad way." He started pacing in circles, ranting to himself.

"Mind sharing with us, then?" Ripple asked with an amused smirk.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Pond. This thing. It's more than a memory issue. I remember us crashing in on Ten's place here from when I was him--and you're right it was funny the first time around--and I also remember this moment from Four's perspective--and those are really rude thoughts to have about other ponies I'll have you know--but anything after that is blank, like... like, uh..."

"Like a journal you haven't finished writing yet?" Derpy asked helpfully.

"Yes! Yes, just like that. Except, no not really, but if it helps you imagine it than go ahead and think about it like that."

"Oh, that is rather ominous isn't it?" Four asked.

"What is?" Ripple asked.

"Hm?" Four responded to her question. "Oh, it's just that, had we been thrown together in one of those wonderfully haphazard accidents that seem to happen to me so incredibly often, these two would remember it."

"Yeah," Ten continued. "Remember when I told you about that time I met my past self because I forgot to turn on the temporal dampening fields in the TARDIS?"

Derpy nodded. "Yeah. You were able to fix things, because your past self watched you fix things and you remembered it from that. It was all very timey wimey."

"Quite so. Ontological paradox of the mind, or perhaps a predestination paradox, they're difficult to distinguish at times, like how a lot of ponies confuse irony and poetic justice. Still, it's one of the ways the universe protects itself from such events. Not that they happen often, mind, what with the First Law of Time being a considerably stricter than usual scientific principle, but with a rouge Time Charger running about mucking things up like me, a few extra fail-safes never hurt."

"But!" Eleven cut in, his forelegs flapping about wildly with each point made. "But! There have been times when an outside force purposefully brought my selves together for various ends, both benign and not-so-benign-at-all. Since it's something being actively affected by outside sources, it falls completely outside of the usual predestination rules and leaves us, or me, or them, completely without memory of the event because, to me, it hasn't happened yet. Until a few minutes ago, I never had my future self crash my pad--is that how it's said? Crash my pad? Ech. Never saying it again, so what's it matter? In my history I didn't meet myself here because I never crashed here, nor did I get sidetracked from my trip to Argolis when I was Four."

"So, in short," Four concluded, "the simple fact that all of us are here together, now, with neither of them having any recollection of the events, means that someone or something has brought us together for some very specific purpose."

"Is this going to happen a lot with you three?" Ripple asked, with an eyebrow cocked in amusement. "Finishing each others' thoughts like that when you're trying to sound clever?"

"No, not at all," Eleven responded. "Well, actually, maybe, yeah. Probably. Almost definitely."

"So the question is who brought us all together and why," Blue Shield said.

"Do you think it's one of the Guardians?" Romana asked her Doctor. "They're certainly powerful enough."

"I should hope not!" he replied indignantly. "If they could find me that easily, what was the point of the randomizer?"

"Hmmm... Possible but doubtful," Ten replied thoughtfully. "I haven't had contact with either of them for centuries now. Have a tendency to throw a nice big monkey wrench in their plans, both White and Black, so they've been leaving me more-or-less alone. Not gonna be Borusa, either. Just had a scrap with him last week."

"It's the Old Girl," Derpy said matter-of-fact, causing all the other ponies in the room to look at her blankly.

"What?" Four asked. "You mean the TARDIS? Preposterous."

"Nuh-uh!" She replied. "She just told me. You three were so busy talking you haven't been listening."

Ten and Eleven both laughed, even as Four began sputtering. Ripple cast a confused look at her Raggedy Doctor. "Does that mean she talks to the TARDIS? Like you do? Where she talks back?"

"Yeah, very unique. Never had the TARDIS take to any of my companions as easily as she's taken to her. Even Romana never got her to talk to her and she's a Time Mare."

"I don't think she much likes me," Romana admitted.

"All right, Derpy," Ten said, wiping a tear from his eye. "Why did the Old Girl bring us all together d'you think?"

Derpy shrugged. "Kinda obvious isn't it? She knows the Time Laws better than you do, and wouldn't break the really big ones except for one reason. Something's gonna happen to you."

A new voice interrupted the conversation, coming from the hallway that lead deeper into the TARDIS. "Excellent, Miss. Very good, very astute. I can see why I'll be traveling with you in the future." Everypony turned in surprise to see a new pony--obviously a new Doctor--standing in the doorway. He was grape colored, a shade lighter than Cheerilee, with a chocolate brown curly mane, with bangs that came just shy of obscuring his vision. He was wearing a dark blue great coat that once was very nice, but was now showing signs of wear. He face was young, but had started to show some prominent wrinkles, apparently from exhaustion, though his expression was currently quite amused. He was also dripping wet. "Would somebody mind explaining to me when and why I decided to move the swimming pool into the library?"

Comments

[OrdoPonius]

The ending...
This is getting really good. Keep it up!

[batran]

12th doctor I assume

[DreadedCandiru2]

Oh, goody. Watch the newcomer ask if he's having a midlife crisis.......

[rdaniel_76]

3787156 No, he says that he sees why he will travel with her in the future. I think it's either the 2nd (Patrick Troughton) or the 8th (Paul McGann).

[book_burner]

I feel like I had better start planning to read a chapter with infinite Doctors in it.

[batran]

3787376

well there is a swimming pool in the library

[Meridian Prime]

I can't tell if this is the 8th Doctor or the War Doctor - I suppose we'll find out soon enough! I'm now also desperately curious as to how the Doctor and Derpy separated.

[Tragicom]

Did I see a "The Ten Doctors" reference in there? Love that comic.

[rdaniel_76]

3787599 They are in Eleven's TARDIS, and he asked why there was a pool in the library. If he was Twelve, he would have remembered.

[Shotoman]

3789312
"The Ten Doctors?" I have no idea of which you speak. No idea at all... All my lines are completely original

[batran]

3789913 no he wouldn't.

After the doctors regenerate they usually have temporary memory loss

[Shotoman]

I'm just gonna go on record and say, I'm not using Twelve in this story. At all. We've only seen him on screen a grand total of, like, a minute, and the only time during that minute that wasn't in the middle of regen trauma, he was just a pair of eyes. There's just not enough context to really base his character on just yet.

Since it wasn't supposed to be a mystery anyway, I'm just gonna reveal right now that the new arrival is Eight.

[Seraphem]

Oh my yes, this is going to be amazing. The Doctors all really feel unique, like themselves, but still being "The Doctor." So great job on that. And of course Derpy is best companion ever. Can't wait to see the rest of them ge into things, and how you're going to balance having that many ponies in one story, but it's going to be epic.

Also, thanks for clarifying, I kind of thought it might be two but, that didn't quite feel right, but yeah knowing it's either, I do see it.

[StrigidaeFan]

Wohoo! Eight has arrived!!
Please have Charley or Lucie as Eight's companion, please have Charley or Lucie as Eight's companion, please have Charley or Lucie as Eight's companion, please have Charley or Lucie as Eight's companion!!!!!!

Sorry, but I love Lucie. Charley's cool as well.

[StrigidaeFan]

3790199
Riiight... And Pinkie Pie is a Space version of a Time Lord -a Space Lady, if you were- and fought in the Time War.

(Actually, that's my headcanon. So you're original in my book.)

Since Eight, Four, and Ten appeared, and the others are on their way, does that mean War will appear? (War is the War Doctor. I'm just calling him War, because War Doctor is a bit long to type.)
He's a cool Doctor, and I think we need more of him.
Be especially interesting to see the reactions of One through Eight to learning that they'll regenerate into THAT, as well as War's reaction to Nine.

Speaking of which, are you using the novels or the canonical Big Finish as Eight's backstory?

[supervanman64]

You wrote the 11th Doctor perfectly.

[Mr Jell-O]

I cant place him,
Who is the doctor introduced at the end/hallway bit?
Is it the War Doctor?