Saving Doctor Whooves

by Sylpheed Dashstep

Season One; Episode One: The Cleansing (Part One)

"Okay, so next up on the list is to get cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner...wait, what flavour? Shit, how did I manage to forget to ask that," Tanith mumbled to himself as he scanned the list for any sign that he'd written down what flavour to get.

He briefly thought about just going into the shop and just getting a random flavour, but quickly threw the thought out and turned on his heels. A stallion down the street froze in place and darted towards the nearest vendor stall, the shopkeep giving him a weird look. Tanith probably would have ignored the strange activity and simply blew it off as just random Ponyville antics, if it hadn't been for how the stallion looked. His fur was for the most part grey, with a slight hint of a light brown thrown in, and his mane was the same but with a darker shade of brown hinted at in it. His light blue eyes were probably the weirdest part of him, looking as though they were thrown on at the very last second and whoever had thrown them on had forgot to add the shading.

Tanith turned and pretended to lose interest in the stallion, moving down the street but keeping an eye on the street behind him and watching the stallion as he followed somewhat stealthily behind. Tanith suddenly turned down an alleyway and pressed himself against the wall, waiting for the stallion to come around the corner so he could catch him off guard.

"So," a voice behind him said, accompanied by the crunch of an apple, "what are you waiting on?"

Tanith turned quickly and his cyan irises shrank as he saw the stallion standing right behind him. He quickly jumped further back as his eyes travelled to the stallion's forehead, searching for a horn, moving to his back after he came to the conclusion he had no horn.

"How did you..." he began once he made sure there were no wings either, trailing off in confusion.

"Tell me Tanith," the stallion began, finishing the apple and throwing the core away, "how has your life been lately, good I hope."

"Uhh," Tanith replied, too confused to reply.

"Oh, good, you haven't met me yet, in that case, I have a message for you. If you ever see me again, run. Don't stop to talk with me, don't notice me, just walk on by and ignore me," he said, focusing his gaze on Tanith.

"Wat," Tanith said, his brain now malfunctioning and overloading.

Without waiting to hear what else the stallion had to say to him he turned and hurried off down the street and onto a random street, pausing and leaning against a wall to turn and see if the stallion had followed him. Then he suddenly froze and whipped his head around, the white tips of his bangs getting in his way. He moved the black and white strands out of his vision to reveal nobody there. He let out a sigh of relief and turned around again. His vision scanned the area around him and he even looked around the corner, only to find the stallion completely gone.

He gave a sigh of relief and headed off towards Ariel's house. This would certainly make an interesting story.

---

"Oh, yeah, see, there were going to be cupcakes, but the guy I sent out to get them didn't know what flavour to get, so he just didn't," a feminine voice said loud enough to reach Tanith's ear for the eighth time that night.

He turned his cyan eyes on the mare who had said that, her green eyes meeting his. Her pale fur seemed stuck to her body in some areas but other than that there was no sign of her earlier explosion, resulting in him being pelted with leftover cake batter that got them both a sticky mess. Apparently too stressed over making this party perfect, the mare opted to simply wipe most of the cake batter off of herself rather than take a shower. Tanith on the other hoof enjoyed the warm feeling of the water trickling down on his slender frame, matting down his dark blue fur. He arrived at Ariel's house later to find the rest of the party set up, the cake set out and decorations all hung up, and a giant hoof painted sign made by Pinkie Pie saying "Happy Birthday Mayde".

The rest of the night had been him only half listening for Ariel to find some way to bring up the cupcakes again and watching as Mayde enjoyed her birthday party, the light green mare dancing happily amongst her friends, her pale mane swinging around her head. She didn't even seem to be thinking about where her boyfriend was. Tanith gave a small sigh and turned around, walking away from the main room of the house to the balcony down the hall. The sound of the party slowly faded until he found the beat of the music just barely noticeable from the upper balcony. He lay his chin on the wooden railing of it and let his eyes rest on one of the street lamps, the light burning onto his retina.

A rustling below him drew his gaze away and as he struggled to see past the image burned into his vision he heard a voice.

"Hello there friend, this wouldn't happen to be the house of Ariel Fraa, would it," the voice asked.

Tanith recognized the voice instantly, it was the voice of the stallion he had met earlier, and once his vision cleared he confirmed what he had thought. Although by some trick of the moonlight he seemed to have more colour than he did earlier, the browns of his fur and mane more pronounced. His eyes were still the exact same eerily enough.

"And who are you," Tanith asked.

"I'm...an old friend, just dropping by to drop off a package," he said, holding up a package of papers.

"And how do you know me then, surely she doesn't tell her old friends about me," he said.

The stallion narrowed his eyes for a second, as if trying to see exactly who he was talking to. Then suddenly his eyes widened and he grew flustered all of a sudden. His mouth opened to say something, but instead ended up simply opening and shutting a few times, looking as though he was a fish on land, before he finally closed his mouth and ran around the corner of the house, towards the front. Tanith responded instantly, moving quickly away from the railing and into the house, heading for the main room of the house and downstairs. He ran into Ariel, much to his annoyance, who immediately stopped him.

"Ariel, move, I have to go," he said.

"No, you need to stay here for your girlfriend's birthday," she replied harshly, glaring at him.

"Look, I don't have time to deal with this, tell Mayde I said happy birthday and that I'm sorry but something came up," he said, skirting around the mare and towards the front door.

"She said she's sorry."

The random comment caused Tanith to pause for a moment and turn back, looking at the mare over his shoulder. "No she didn't. She's too proud and stubborn."

And with that he opened the front door, almost slamming it behind him.

---

Tanith didn't have to go far before he found who he was looking for, the grayish brownish stallion slipping into a...giant blue rectangle with windows and a door. The windows were too high for him to look through so he silently moved up to the door and put his ear up against it. A humming sound came from within the box and he pulled his head back a little, looking to either side of the box to see if he could spot whatever was causing the rather soothing noise. There was nothing. He took a chance and inched the door open a little, gazing into the sm-er, scratch that, the rather large space behind the doorway.

Still looking into the room through the crack he slowly reached a hoof around the right side of the box, reassuring himself there was nothing but air over there. He wasn't all that surprised to be blunt, he was actually starting to become a bit used to the strangeness surrounding the stallion.

"You could always come in for a spot of tea if you ever get tired of simply staring into my humble abode," the stallion's voice said from somewhere Tanith couldn't see from his viewpoint.

He let out a small sigh, trying to get over the shock of being surprised like that, before opening the door fully and stepping inside. The room was even bigger from the inside and as he looked around the room he took in the clash of colours on the walls and the center...panel. That was the easiest way to describe what he was looking at, a collection and mishmash of screens, buttons, knobs, and levers surrounding a structure of tubes that rose into the ceiling.

"Interesting colour palate," Tanith muttered, mostly to himself but still loud enough for the stallion to hear over the dim hum of the room.

"Ah, yes. It was not entirely my choice, I must give credit to the TARDIS and...a friend of mine," he said, giving Tanith a rather inquisitive look. "So, you are Tanith, correct?"

"Yeah, you knew that earlier today though, why aren't you so sure now," Tanith asked, taking a few steps down the stairs from the door and placing his front left hoof onto the floor, only to pull it up a little as small pulses passed under his hooves.

"Oh, so I talked to you earlier, did I," he asked, "and pray tell, what did I say?"

"That if I ever saw you I was to run," Tanith replied.

"Ah, well I suppose that's rational," he mumbled to himself. "Oh whatever, please, do join me for some tea, I do believe that the kett-" He stopped as a whistling noise came from further inside the box, "Well what do you know, there it is. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable, I do believe that you'll find that bean bag over there most comfortable."

And with that he disappeared into the doorway on the opposite side, leaving Tanith standing on the stairs, confused and intrigued. He set a hoof onto the floor once more and forced himself to keep it there as the pulsing passed beneath his hoof, quickly becoming a normal feeling, and even soothing and therapeutic as he placed his other three hooves on the floor. He cautiously made his way over to the blue bean bag chair that the stallion had referenced. It was placed on the raised platform around the center console, pressed against the railing to keep it out of the way of most of the walkway around the console. He sat in it and immediately let out a sigh of relief, the weight lifting off his hooves and shifting onto his back as he leaned into the bean bag, which held up against his weight due to the support of the railing.

The stallion came back with a tray containing two cups, looking rather smug as he carried the tray balanced on top of his head. He passed by Tanith and lowered his head, allowing Tanith to pick up the cup nearest to him. He continued onwards, back to the table and chair he had been at before. He slid the tray onto the table and slipped into his seat, concentrating intently as he picked up the cup between his two forehooves and drank from it. Tanith raised an eyebrow over his cup as he drank out of it, holding it by the handle with one hoof.

"I never understood how you Equestrians did that," the stallion said, staring intently at Tanith's hoof.

"Okay, I think this question has been left alone long enough, who are you and why do you know who I am," Tanith asked.

"Okay, fine, I'll answer the first question you asked, but the second one is complicated," he said.

"Complicated how?"

"Complicated in the way that I'm not allowed to tell you."

"Can't or won't?"

"You really love those cliche lines, don't you?"

"Can't or won't?"

"Okay, fine, a bit of both. I'm not rightfully allowed to tell you due to the Shadow Proclamation and I also don't want to tell you due to spoiling parts of your life in the future." Tanith was silent so he decided to answer his first question. "My name is the Doctor, or Doctor Whooves as some have taken to calling me." The last bit had somewhat of a bitter sound to it, making Tanith instantly file it away. "I come from a planet far far away from here, both in time and space, and I'm from a race of time traveling beings known as Time Lords."

"What's this planet's name?"

"Gallopfrey."

Tanith held back a laugh at the name, but in all honesty, he sort of believed the Doctor, what with all he'd seen so far it kind of made sense.

"So...why exactly is this thing sma-" Tanith began, the Doctor cutting him off.

"She is bigger on the inside," he said, putting an emphasis on the she for some reason.

"Ummm...Okay then," Tanith replied, shifting uncomfortably in the bean bag chair.

"Sorry, I just get a bit defensive when people refer to her as an it," the Doctor replied, a light blush appearing on his cheeks.

"You realise it's not ali-" once again Tanith was cut off, this time from the box as the pipes in the center of the room gave a grinding sound as they moved up and down.

"I don't think she appreciated that," the Doctor commented as the noise died away and the pipes stopped moving.

"You mean to tell me that she's alive," Tanith exclaimed, jumping up.

"Yes, and she's a TARDIS, a machine capable of traveling almost anywhere in space and time," the Doctor explained.

"Almost anywhere?"

"There are a few exceptions."

"Right, well it's been fun but I have a life to get back to," Tanith said, getting up and heading for the door, placing his tea cup on the tray the Doctor had brought as he passed. Before he could get to the door though the pipes in the center of the room began whirring and the TARDIS tilted, throwing Tanith onto his side and knocking the tea cups onto the ground and the Doctor against the table. "DOCTOR WHAT'S HAPPENING," Tanith shouted as he struggled to regain his footing while the TARDIS seemed to bounce around.

"I am inclined to believe that we're traveling time and space," the Doctor replied, seeming only slightly fazed by what was happening.

"DOCTOR IF I END UP SOMEWHERE I'M GOING TO DIE IN I SWEAR I'LL COME BACK AND HAUNT YOU," Tanith yelled, finally managing to regain his balance and work his way over to the staircase leading up to the center console.

"I believe that you already have," the Doctor muttered as the TARDIS slowly stopped rocking and quieted down.

The TARDIS finally settled and the Doctor got up from his seat, making way past Tanith and towards the door.

"Where are you going," Tanith asked, looking wearily at him.

"To go see where we've landed of course," the Doctor replied before stepping outside.

Things seemed okay enough outside, they had landed on a cobbled road in the middle of a rather quiet town, which didn't seem to be on fire or in any imminent danger. Until...the Doctor paused, allowing the sounds of his hoof steps to fade away, listening for any other sounds, only to find none. Things were deathly silent, the sounds of hoof steps off in the distance, ponies working on repairing something or another, and the general sounds of everyday life completely non-existent. The Doctor was instantly on alert, peering into the windows of the surrounding buildings before turning around to get Tanith, only to find the TARDIS missing entirely.

"Great," he muttered, "now I have to go looking for wherever they disappeared off to."

Author's Note:

So, new story, some old characters, one new one, for my old followers you guys should be able to figure out who is who (although I tweaked a few characteristics on one character). I realize that posting this intro alone isn't exactly the smartest idea, but I felt that it would be better to break the premier up into two parts like an actual tv show. So far I'm planning out two seasons of this with about eight episodes per season, counting the split premiers/finales. Although depending on how it's actually received I may just not continue it. So I guess that's me telling you to leave a comment down below telling me if you want me to actually continue this little series I'd started. And I realized that this felt extremely fast paced in the beginning, and I'll admit that I may have been rushing the rather boring parts so I could hurry up and get to the part of the story I'd actually like to write but I promise that future chapters will actually be more fleshed out and won't have too fast of a pace.

Comments

[MrPengu1n]

eh I mean it's okay, it's a good story, but it's kinda just, "well here we are. Oh bother it's the Doctor. Oh bother hooves. Oh bother we're travelling in spacetime. Ah well let's just get this thing started so it will end"
Just reads a little flat, you know? Readers like a dynamic scene.
Exhibit A: my Doctor Whooves story. 257 likes can't be wrong, can they?
Also, in my personal taste, I don't really like it when people change plot elements like the Doctor's species or Gallopfrey and all that. I mean it's okay if you want to do the alternate universe kinda thing, but then there's the reason why th e Doctor looks like a pony. More often than not, the reason is just because poni. Or the Doctor was just always like that. And for some reason that doesn't sit well with me: if people want to read about the Doctor, give them the bucking Doctor! Not a cheap cop-out.
No offense to your story in particular, just in general. Know what I mean?
In my Doctor Whooves fic, I got around this little problem by way of something people tend to skip over, the chameleon circuit! Because if the chameleon ciruit can cloak the most highly advanced piece of Gallifreyan technology, mayhaps it can cloak a Gallifreyan?

[Sylpheed Dashstep]

4807676

I want to start my reply first off by thanking you for actually explaining your down vote and will next explain the reason for the way my Doctor is. I will say that this is an entirely separate universe in which the Gallifreyan's are a race of equines (and I understand that some don't like that but that's how it will be for this story as, having the Doctor being from the universe with Earth and having him had past adventures would throw in elements that I would rather not tinker with, and what I'm stating here will make more sense if I get to season two), and I threw in 'Gallopfrey' as a little pun, but I suppose it fell flat.

And as for the whole 'How do hoof' thing, it was going to be explained later on in the story but I suppose there's no harm in tossing it out right now. As a cop-out (yes, I'll admit it's a cop-out) to the whole 'hooves can't grab/hold objects' problem, I simply made it so that Equestrians have a force at the end of their hooves that allows them to handle objects, while the Gallifrey race didn't acquire such traits, creating machines to allow them to hold objects using thought processes. It's a cheesy concept, and I'll admit I stole the Equestrian portion from My Little GLaDOS, but it was a loophole to get past problems later on in the story.

[MrPengu1n]

4807771 I suppose I can deal with that, and you're not the first one to come up with Gallopfrey, it's a perfectly flat pun
I suppose, then, ghat I will watch this story and see what comes out of it! I hope it becomes as popular as mine sorry not sorry

[Sylpheed Dashstep]

4807845

I know that I'm not the first one to come up with Gallopfrey and now I'm trying to think of who I ripped it off of and I highly doubt this will get popular, as one of the few stories I've written that I'm actually proud of (link here) barely even got noticed.