Doctor Whooves (The Doctor in Equestria)

by OneCoolBrony

A Maiden's Maiden Voyage

"So! Choose anywhere you want to go. Any place, any time." The Doctor beamed at his shiny, new companion. She looked stunned at first. Then flabbergasted. Finally she settled on befuddled. Poor, poor, Octavia the musically gifted pony was befuddled. And rightly so, I should say! Who, if anyone, knows how to answer THAT question? "I, uh, I don't know. I figured you were in the middle of something and I sort of interrupted." The Doctor laughed, though not with malice, but glee. "Technically, I interrupted you to save your life." Octavia sort of blushed, though she didn't know why, she wasn't too embarrassed by that whole series of events. "Oh yeah, thank you for that. I'm not sure if I had thanked you." The Doctor tilted his head back thoughtfully. "You know? I don't think you did. But that's alright, it was a sort of life threatening situation. ALSO, you repaid me with that absolutely magnificent impromptu piece you strung together in that throne room! How DID you do that?" Octavia's blush deepened. And she tried to look confident, though she knew she missed it by a mile, easy. "I, I..." She took a breath. "I was just so confused. And awed. And mystified, and, and. I was just so full of emotion, I just put it out there." The Doctor smiled an easy smile. "Well it was brilliant. So, where did you want to go? Anywhere in space and time, just say the word and we can go there." Octavia, looked confused once more. She still had no idea where to go. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I don't even know which way I want to go in time." The Doctor nodded patiently, fully understanding the struggle of a first-timer. He sighed kindly, "That's fine, she'll know where to take us. She has a knack for this part." "She?" Octavia queried. "She." The Doctor confirmed. He then turned to the console and began flipping switches and pressing buttons. When he had decided he had enough of the arbitration, he threw the big switch and the TARDIS rocked noisily, smiling inwardly to herself. She just couldn't wait to show them the place she had thought of.

When the TARDIS' door had creaked open loudly, Octavia had stepped out into the streets of a familiar town, though it was different from when she had left it. Manehattan was a bustle of eighteenth century-esque life. Or, at least, this was how The Doctor saw it. Octavia saw classical majesty. Her childhood hometown looked different, but she saw that it hadn't REALLY changed much. "It's... Manehattan. This is where I grew up. But, why?" The Doctor observed a paper posted on the brick wall next to where the TARDIS had set down. "Well, I think I have a pretty good idea. You in the mood for real classical music? As in, premier performance?" Octavia did something she'd never thought she'd do in all her dignified life. She squealed. It was a squeal of pure excitement and it made The Doctor smile the widest he had since Pinkie had told him that one joke about the dragon and the magic fish.

It was a fairly cold day in the city of Manehattan, but The Doctor refused to stop having wonderful tricks up his sleeve. He had taken Octavia back into the TARDIS when she had shivered. She kept reminding him that she had forgotten, or rather wasn't give the time, to pack a a jacket. The Doctor smiled excitedly, a sign which Octavia had learned to both fear and love. "Alright, Doctor. What is it? You can stop grinning wider than a fool and just show me, if you like." The Doctor was not at all hurt by her words, but nodded energetically, quickly leading her down long, winding corridors of the TARDIS, until eventually the arrived at what she figured was probably their destination. Being lead inside the room, Octavia found herself staring at the vast amounts of apparel in the room. The Doctor too was excited... Until he remembered just which types of creatures the clothing would and would not fit. "Umm, Sexy..." Octavia turned and was fully prepared to bonk him upside the head with her hoof, when she realized he was staring at the ceiling. "... would you mind doing me a favour? Could you put this room in a back-up save file and load a new on based on data gathered about anatomy and fashion trends of this world. Just this world for now, though. We don't want to be here all day. Thank you!"

When he was finished speaking he looked at Octavia. "She asked if we could please leave the room so that she could perform specified requests." He ushered her out the door, and it immediately locked up behind them. She turned to him, not sure what to do. "Well, how long will it take?" The Doctor shrugged. "Never know. It could take fifteen minutes, or it could take an hour." Octavia nodded, then turned to him again. "So, umm, what should we do?" The Doctor turned to her, staring at her blankly for a moment, then snapping to, answering her question. "Oh, umm, there's a pool!" Octavia appeared to enjoy this idea. "Really?! Can we..." WHOOSH! The door in front of them rushed open, revealing a brand new array of clothes that might actually fit the two adventurers. The Doctor smiled at Octavia "Another time, perhaps." With a wink, he lead her into the fresh new wardrobe.

Exiting the TARDIS, Octavia couldn't help adjust her big, poofy dress. As she fiddled with it, a dapper looking Doctor exited the big blue box behind her. "Well," the smartly dressed Doctor addressed a stunning Octavia, "shall we?" He extended gentlemen-like hoof towards his companion, offering her to take it up. She blushed and smiled, locking her own foreleg with his, and allowing him to lead her out of the alley. "Do you even know where we are headed?" Octavia asked as The Doctor led her down the bustling streets and in several circles. "No," he replied, "though when do I ever?" She giggled slightly at that, and gently tugged him, guiding him in the right direction. "So, you say you grew up here, but overhearing the conversations around us, I rarely detect a British accent. Why do you have yours?" Octavia drew in a deep breath. She sat down, forcing The Doctor to stop and sit down beside her. "It's really not that complicated, though it seems to baffle some ponies. My great grandparents moved here from Trottingham, the pony colony in Griffland, and they kept the dialect through the generations. I don't know why, they just did." The Doctor nodded, always interested in hearing about his companions. "Would your family have lived in Manhattan during this time period?" Octavia gasped, clearly worried about disrupting something in the time stream. "Don't worry," The Doctor comforted her, "as long as we don't get heavily involved with any of your family members, we shouldn't run into any problems. Now, are you ready to see a show?" The Doctor stood up, helping her up as well. Smiling to each other, they carried on in the direction of the auditorium.

"Now this is an auditorium. Quite the impressive seating!" Octavia couldn't help but grin. "Yes. Speaking of seating, where were we planning on occupying ourselves?" The Doctor merely smiled, "Why wherever you want, lovely Octavia. Seats are on me!" She gave him a quizzical look, asking for an explanation. The Doctor just smiled at her, "Well, why wouldn't they? I'm the Duke of France after all." She continued to stare at him and he sighed somewhat dejectedly. "I have psychic paper, it shows other ponies what I want them to see." She just continued to look at him like he was a dolt. "Alright," he said defeated, "what have I done wrong?" Octavia just looked at him. "What's France?"

Oh. Right. Ponies. Um, yeesh. What would be the pony name for France? Frolic? No. Dance? Naw. OH! Prance! That would make sense, I think! "Um, maybe I mean... Prance?" Octavia gave a laugh that didn't seem so much cheerful as like a light scoff. "Yes, Prance is a place. Sometimes, Doctor, you seem like the strangest pony in the world. Shall we find our seats?"

The Doctor sat patiently in his seat as Octavia took in her surroundings, barely containing her giddiness. She would periodically mumble something like "Fascinating!" or "I can't believe I'm really here." The Doctor, however, took to observing in a different way, ears perked up as he listened to the conversations going on about himself and his companion. He had hardly shown any recognition for when the audience became no more than hushed whispers as the music began to play. He continued listening intently, while Octavia allowed the music to lull her, leaving her in a contented, trance-like state. She had closed her eyes, letting the music paint a vivid scenario in her head, as she often did when enjoying music. The Doctor however, had gone from distant to wildly amused as a wide grin commandeered his new-ish pony face. He began to nudge at Octavia, attempting to gain her attention quietly as other patrons happily enjoyed the soothing melodies. It took quiet some prodding, as it appeared that Octavia had fallen asleep. As soon as she had been aroused, The Doctor began to share his findings with her. "Magnificent!" He said in a tone that sounded like a whisper, but couldn't entirely be considered one. "I wasn't aware that you ponies had already learned how to manipulate the wavelengths of instruments to resemble vocal resonance." Octavia blinked rapidly a few times, staring blankly at The Doctor. She shook her head clear of any fog and said "I'm sorry, we've done what." The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes, already realizing that perhaps she was not as synonym-ally inclined as he would have preferred her to be. "You can make your instruments talk!" He exclaimed excitedly, grinning madly at a now bewildered Octavia.

"Um, no we can't." She replied, conceiving no other reply to the absurd assertion. The Doctor shook as head playfully, "Don't be foolish, I can hear the it in the music... Can't you?" Octavia paused as she began to listen intently to the vibrations carrying through the air. "Strange," she noted, "I hear them now, but I'm positive I wasn't even aware they existed until just now, when you pointed it out to me." The Doctor brought a hoof to his chin thoughtfully as he pondered this. "Hmm, do any of the other patrons hear it, do you think?" Octavia and he, for the first time since the arrangement had begun, observed their fellow theatre-goers. All had a glazed over expression, with a dumb smile on their face. Aside from each inherent uniqueness of every pony, none of their faces were in any way different. All had glassy eyes and a content smile, staring directly ahead with perfect posture. The Doctor looked around worriedly. Octavia spoke, "Doctor, I think it's the music, it's hypnotizing them." He was about to denounce this theory for all it's absurdity when he realized she may very well be right. Glancing around the room, he saw that even the musicians were gazing off into space, not even letting their eyes roll over their pages so as to follow along in the piece. He knew immediately what he needed to do. "Octavia," he apologized, "I'm so sorry that your first historical concert had to be interrupted like this."

"Wait," Octavia turned to him, "inter-" "OKAY EVERYBODY!" "Everypony," Octavia corrected. "ER, YEAH, EVERYPONY. YOU SHOULD ALL CEASE TO BE LISTENING TO THIS MUSIC AS OF IMMEDIATELY. BELIEVE ME, IT IS IN YOUR BEST INTEREST TO AVOID THE BRAIN-WASHING THAT THIS MUSIC IS DOING TO YOU AT THIS VERY MOMENT. PLEASE STOP BEING HYPNOTIZED NOW."

As The Doctor rambled on, more and more ponies came to, snapping out of their independent trances. Eventually all but a few were now glancing around questioningly, wondering where the past 15 minutes of their existence had gone. The Doctor continued as some of the ponies refused to snap out of their waking slumber. "I'M NOT KIDDING, YOU REALLY SHOULD STOP LISTENING TO THE MUSIC, IT'S BAD FOR YOUR SANITY... OR MORE YOUR INDEPENDENT FREE WILL, REALLY." Before he could continue his eloquent words meant to inspire independent thought, about forty of the remaining hypnotized audiophiles stood up simultaneously, leaving their respective rows and head in down the aisles to the front, approaching the orchestra. As the mind-numbed ponies neared the orchestra, the performers stood up and too began to leave, many of them still playing. The Doctor realized quickly what was happening and rushed out of his own row and out into the aisles, where he darted towards the front, ready to ruin some zombifying instruments. As he made his mad dash, Octavia scooted slowly out of the row of seats, apologizing for both The Doctor and herself. Finally reaching the isle, she took off after him.

As The Doctor was about to reach the soothe-players that led the procession of zombified cattle (or really just ponies, I suppose) a pair of hypnotized ponies stepped into his heroic path, blocking him completely. As they continued staring directly ahead they absolutely blocked his path, mirroring each step and jump and dive, making it impossible to get around them. All he could do was struggle with the two unaware "body guards" as the march of kidnap-in-progress individuals made their way out in the night. When the music had faded to the point where it could no longer be heard, the two who had given The Doctor so much trouble right up until blinked slowly before collapsing to the ground. The Doctor quickly examined them, determining they were alive, then bolted through the stage door, looking around desperately as there was no sign of the little parade anywhere in sight. The Doctor sat on his haunches as he wore a puzzled expression. Octavia quickly followed him through the door, almost running into him upon her exit. As The Doctor sat there pondering, she spoke up. "So, what do we do?" "I suppose," he replied, "that we head back to the TARDIS and attempt to get our bearing from there.

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"So," Octavia began, looking over The Doctor's shoulder as he rifled through some things in a large chest, "what are we doing?" The Doctor just sighed as he threw different things over his shoulder. Strange devices, small and big, some with buttons and/or blinking lights. All things she had NO idea what they did. "Ah-ha! We were looking for this!" The Doctor proclaimed as he held aloft a device that actually resembled something Octavia vaguely recognized, though not that she had ever owned. It resembled a modern Griffish firearm, only with a clear bowl at the end of it. It looked, like a regular Griffish firearm, impractical for pony use as it's shape warranted the use of an apposable paw or talon. Another way it differed from a "gun" was that there where light orange-ish coils wrapped around it and several blinking lights across the top of it. "What is that?" Octavia queried. The Doctor smiled lovingly at the device in his hooves. "This? This is an Observation and Listening Device, with a few modifications, naturally. All I need now is a headset so that I can use them properly." He reached once again into the chest, but emerged far sooner this time. He brandish a black pair of over-ear headphones. Plugging them in, he shoved them over his large ears and larger head. "Alright," he straightened out, a grin growing over his muzzle. "Now let's find some missing persons, er, ponies." Octavia nodded in agreement as she quickly followed down the winding hallways and out the door of the TARDIS.

"Alright," The Doctor began, the duo outside the stage door of the concert hall, "the kidnappers' lair is likely to be somewhere near here, seeing as they'd want to be able to steal away with vast amounts of ponies and with little resistance. It's very likely they're not far from this very spot, so begin looking. Foot, er, hoofprints, um, accidentally discarded instruments. Anything that might point us in the right direction." Octavia nodded in comprehension and began searching the vicinity, while The Doctor adjusted the headphones over his ears. Once they sat comfortably, he began pointing this way and that with the listening device, searching for traces of the hypnotic tune. As he passed over Octavia with the end of the tool, she turned to him. "OVER HERE!" She shouted loudly, trying to make up for the difference and ear blockers. Unfortunately, The Doctor heard her all to well. Having had the tool turned up all the way in anticipation that it would not be easy to hear the instruments, he had failed to account for when his companion would alert him. "GAH!" He shouted, dropping the "gun" to hold his ears, which only effectively made another ring though the headset. "GAAAH!!!" He shouted again, yanking the headset off of his noggin. Ears splayed back he looked up at his tormentor companion. "Yes?" He yelled back feebly. Still feeling pain from the sense overload. "Oh, um, sorry. I just thought you might want to know that I found something!" The Doctor nodded pensively, then proceeding to shake his head in an attempt to trick the pain into being wiggled out of his cranium. Gathering up his things, he trotted over to meet the cellist.

"Yes, Octavia?" He approached the grey mare, asking of her discovery. "I found something," she informed him, "It's a broach, and quite a lovely one, too. I doubt it was easily forgotten if somepony had accidentally dropped it." The Doctor nodded and continued to look around, looking for any more clues. All that were of note was the pile of boxes two metres behind them, and the rather large pile of rubbish with a manhole in front of it. The brick building the pile was supporting looked fresh, as though it were recently built, though it was not without a few signs of minor distress, such as cracks and discoloured splotches here and there. When at last he had searched the entirety of the ally Octavia had lead him to, he sighed and turned, ready to continue the search in the small, paved courtyard. "Wait!" Octavia commanded, to which The Doctor obliged, turning to meet her. "I think I know where the entrance may be!" She declared pointing at the pile of trash, or rather, just in front of it. The Doctor smiled a silly smile as he commended his traveling companion. "You know," he said, approaching the iron grate, "it's so cliche, it may just be the answer." Octavia and he stalked up to the 'probably-an-entrance-to-a-hidden-lair' examining it. Octavia then attempted to force it open, ultimately failing. "Ugh," she panted, "it won't budge." The Doctor smiled knowingly, already aware that he carried the key. "Nonsense," he held up his iconic tool, "you just have to give it the right incentive."

After sonic-ing the large metal lid out of the concrete, the two descended into the dark, a dull blue glow as their torch. After traveling several metres down the wretched smelling tunnel, the pair came across a large oak door. After trying the sonic screwdriver on the handle, The Doctor shook his head. "They're good locks. I can't do much here." Octavia shook her head. "Sometimes, Doctor, I really do believe you're thick. There are more than two ways to open a door." With those wise words, she spun around, lifted her hind legs, and exploded them out, splintering the steady door. "I... How?" It was The Doctor's turn to be awed. Octavia gave him a toothy grin, which was something that even The Doctor had already realized was not a common thing. "You could of done it too, we're Earth ponies. Natural strength." With a flick of her tail, she lead the way through the door-less door way. The Doctor just followed, shaking his head in good humour.

Longing notes reverberated through the hallways, easily indicating the direction the two were meant to go. Winding down the hallways they followed the eerie notes. Fully prepped to pounce on the pony charmer. Here we come, innocent ponies. We are going to rescue you, and no one, er, nopony, will have lost their life. I swear... Odd how Octavia so quickly resorted to smashing that door, though. Much more brutish than I would have expected from her. Oh well. Wow that melody is lovely, I can definitely see the appeal. How long are these hallways? Why is it so far? That music really is nice, though. Hmm. My hoof is starting to ache a bit from all this running... tee hee, my hoof. Boy! That music is really lovely. I am in love. Truly this is art. I must meet the artist. Because, wow! This music. This music. This. Music... THIS MUSIC. The Doctor shot his head up, and shook it violently, clearing his head of the fog the melody had set in place. He turned to see that he hadn't actually made it that far and that he and Octavia had been calmly walking towards it for some time. OCTAVIA! He shouted at his psyche. He then rushed up to his companion, who nonchalantly carried on, a stupid smile on her face. "SNAP OUT OF IT OCTAVIA!" He began to wave his hand frantically in front of her face. "YOU ARE BEING HYPNOTIZED! DO NOT CONTINUE LISTENING! PLEASE! STOP IT!"

Octavia said nothing, nor did she give any sign that his actions were registering. When at last they had come up to another large, wooden door, she complacently lifted a hoof to the knob, and calmly opened the door. Just as coolly as she had opened the door, she entered through it. The Doctor followed closely behind, not willing to leave a companion to just meander to her doom. Through the door, however, The Doctor realized what had inspired this wave of thoughtless drones. Standing at the front of a large room full of zombified ponies, were a group of pony shaped beings. All held the same general features. Large ears atop their head, though their face only displayed a large mouth, which itself only was filled with razor-sharp teeth. The rest of the body resembled that of a pony (save for the lack of a mane and tail) except that at the end of each's long, brown forelegs there was a set of long phalanges, each being used to strum, hold, or press the keys of an instrument being played. The music is trying to hypnotize you. Don't forget that, and you'll be fine.

"Ahhh!" The Doctor announced, loud enough to warrant the attention of the eerie beings, though not cease the music. "It makes sense now! The Fife are what's stealing ponies. That makes so much sense now! Oh no really it does! I'm just gonna ask you to... wait." The Doctor finally registered the large quantity of beings in the room. "You haven't eaten any, have you." It was worded like a question but spoken like a statement. "You're not here just to feed yourselves. You're planning on domination, not sustenance." As he finished his epiphany, two Pegasus ponies seized him from behind holding him by the forelegs so as to restrict movement. Bringing him to the front the winged equines presented him to the Fife. "Really," he spoke up as one of them approached him, "you don't want to eat me. Honestly, I've absorbed a lot of excess artron and I have to assume that radiation doesn't really leave a good taste." The Fife then began to pat him down with it's unsettling 'fingers'. "What? Oh. Yeah don't worry about me. I didn't really plan on anything to stop you with so I didn't bring a metronome or anyth..." He stopped as it drew his sonic screwdriver from his tie pocket. "Oh. That?" He struggled to come up with an excuse. "That, uh. That's just a door opener." Tossing it to the side, the Fife indicated to a pit where it wanted the two Pegasi to deposit him. "Oh no. It's alright really. You can just let me go. I won't try to STOP YOU!"

The Doctor flung his back hooves up into the faces of his restrainers, making a severely uncomfortable-sounding POP! resonate out from his front shoulder joints. The two recoiled and dropped him, another POP! exiting from his shoulders as The Doctor landed on all four, pausing and closing his eyes. ".....ow....." The Doctor shot his eyes open and immediately flung himself at his screwdriver. Pouncing on it he picked it up with his teeth. Whipping around, he faced the Fife, all but two still playing their harmony. Those other two were approaching him menacingly, The Doctor seeing the snarl on their mouthfaces. Without hesitation, he clicked the sonic screwdriver on, causing the instruments to immediately start emitting horrific screeches and squeaks, rather than the harmonious lullaby they presented before. Almost as soon as the instruments went awry, the 'audience' snapped out of trance, many ponies uttering "UGH!"s and "WHAT IS THAT IMPETUOUS NOISE?!"s. When the vast majority had become aware of the Fife's presence, a general hush fell over the lot. After a moment or two of silence, screaming and hysteria broke out, everypony making a push to get through the exit and out of wherever the hoof it was that they were.

As many rushed towards the back and out the exit, Octavia struggled against them to get to the front. As soon as she was clear of the mass, she ran to meet The Doctor. Before she could get close enough to him, however, a Fife picked her up from behind, 'finger' curling around her muzzle. She had barely managed a scream before she was silenced, enough that The Doctor had heard and whirled around to see her, however. She didn't struggle much as the Fife expanded it's already massive mouth in order to accompany the presence of a full-grown pony. All she did was continually strike out with her back hooves, missing every time.

The Doctor fretted every nanosecond that he didn't know what to do. He then realized that she wasn't trying to kick free, rather than remind him of a brief lesson that he had been taught. With a realizing smirk, he reared up and bucked the Fife that had been encroaching on him from behind, teeth audibly being shattered. Before he made any progress on that particular Fife, however, he quickly closed the gap between him and the Fife that held Octavia captive, and kicked it (quite hard) in the back legs it was supporting itself on. Dropping the mare, it fell to all fours. Octavia didn't need much time for her reaction as she bucked it back into the band of Fife, then sprinting up the auditorium, pausing only to buck out posts that obviously supported the ceiling. The Doctor trailed closely behind her, sonic-ing the door locked as they exited and continued running down the tunnel and out into the streets and toward freedom.

After climbing out of the manhole and pausing to catch their breath, the two rose back up to high alert as the sound of a massive building crumbling behind them. Exiting out into the alleyway and into the pavement clearing they watched as the dust settled and the air cleared, remnants of the theatre barely existing. Octavia observed a sign that had fallen off of the structure when it had imploded. 'Sugarcube Hill Public Theater'. "Oh. My. Celestia." She dropped to her haunches, barely believing what she was reading. "I'm the saboteur who collapsed the historic Sugarcube Hill Theater. I did that. I can't believe it was me, but in the past. How?" The Doctor was more than happy to provide an explanation, but was halted before he had the opportunity to fill her in. He just pulled her to her hooves and led her out on to the street, fleeing the police, and sprinting back to the TARDIS.

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Slamming the TARDIS door behind him, The Doctor launched himself at the console, already messing with the panels. "And just what do you think you're doing?" Octavia chastised from behind him. He turned to face her, a mad grin prominent on his crazed and wild face. "I've still got some adrenaline left!" He informed her, "I want to GO, now." A large, toothy grin still on his muzzle, he turned and threw 'The Lever', launching the TARDIS into the Time Vortex as he laughed excitedly.