• Published 13th Mar 2015
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Within The Nightmare: Side Stories from the Living Nightmare universe - Autum Breeze



Stellar's story was sure an interesting one, but what about the stories in the backgrond. What happened in them?

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Dinky's Origins part 1 Meet The Doctor

Dinky’s Origins

Meet The Doctor

___________________________________________________________

The Doctor slowly walked around his TARDIS’ console, knowing it would be the last time he saw it with his current face.

He stood, lifting his hands and looking at them as the glowed with the golden energy of regeneration.

“I don’t want to go,” he whispered as the glow spread to his face, growing brighter and brighter, before his arms thrust out and his head fell back, golden regeneration energy streaming from him.

It was the biggest force from his regeneration yet and his TARDIS paid the price as pieces of her were blow apart by the force of the energy leaving his body.

Suddenly, the TARDIS jerked to one side and it was as if the interior was wobbling for a moment, during which The Doctor let out a loud scream as, after the healing had completed itself, his whole body shifted, warping into its new form.

The Doctor dropped to the floor, breathing heavily as the warning alarms blared around him.

“O...kay,” he grunted, struggling to push himself up, ignoring th heat from the flames burning where his regeneration energy had made contact. “Why... can’t I... feel my... fingers—?”

The TARDIS jerked again, tossing him against the wall.

___________________________________________________________

The young filly sighed as she looked around her room. It was full of cardboard boxes yet to be unpacked. She and her father had just moved to Ponyville a few days ago and were trying to settle in.

But she hadn’t been outside once. She didn’t know any of the ponies in this town and she was certain they’d tease her for her eyes, just as they had in Cloudsdale. She didn’t know why her eyes didn’t look like everypony else’s. She couldn’t help it.

“I wish I had a friend,” she whispered, holding her teddy bear close as her eyelids drooped, if only to try and coax sleep to come.

Suddenly, a strange sound came from outside. It was a distant, wheezing sound.

Curious, the filly got out of bed and went to the window. She could see something in the sky. It looked like a shooting star.

She’d never seen a real shooting star before. Excited, she hurried out her room and crept down the hall and went outside, stopping in the front yard, watching the sky.

The star was flying across the sky in an odd way. She figured it was just because of her eyes, but it looked like the star kept changing the direction it was going in.

The wheezing sound was louder outside too. It rang across the still night air, making her certain everypony in Ponyville could hear it too.

Then, suddenly, the star turned and started heading right towards her. The filly panicked, running in the opposite direction as the star came closer and closer at high speeds, the wheezing sound seeming to grow louder and louder as it drew nearer.

The filly leaped through the front door, slamming it shut and pressing her body against it as the sound of an explosion rang out and she felt something trying to force the door open.

After several moments it calmed down and the pressure against the door stopped.

Cautiously, the filly opened the door and peeked outside.

Sitting on its side in the middle of the yard was a strange looking blue box.

Curious, she pushed the door open and walked closer, eyeing the strange thing as she walked around it.

As she reached part where there was a pair of doors, she noticed that the box was on its side.

“What in Celestia’s name is this thing?” she murmured.

At once the doors shot open, causing the filly to yelp and back away.

A stallion with a brown coat and a slightly darker brown mane and tail struggled out, heaving heavy breaths.

She blinked, then hurried over, helping him crawl out from the doors.

“Are you okay?” she asked once they’d gotten a few meters from the box.

“Not sure, yet,” he said shaking his head. “Only just getting used to—” he suddenly made a face and started spurting. “Uhg. Teeth. Gah. Huge teeth; really huge. Not nice. Really uncomfortable. Okay, let’s see how my legs are working.”

For some reason he got up on his hind legs, before wobbly frantically.

“Whoa, legs not working— on backwards!” he flopped to the ground, frowning. “Okay, so, just to check, huge teeth, no fingers... and my legs are on backwards. Wonderful start, Doctor.”

“Huh?” she glanced around. Who was this doctor? Did he need one?

He groaned, sitting up and looked down at himself. “Wait a minute. Well, this is new. No wonder I can’t feel my fingers, I don’t have any. Hmm, these look like hooves. Equine in nature, if I’m not mistaken. Never had hooves before. Well, let’s see.” He started looking around at his body. “Hmm, never had fur before. That is different. Brown, chestnut, I think.” He glanced up at his mane and sighed, looking very depressed. “That was my last one. Looks like I’m never gonna be ginger.”

Just as suddenly as he seemed sad he perked right up again.

“Alright. Mopping over. Let’s see what else there is. Ooh, I like the tail; short (that’ll be good for running). Very nice and— Huh? What’s this hourglass doing on my rump?”

The filly frowned. “Mr, it’s your Cutie Mark.”

It was only now the stallion seemed to notice her again. “Oh, my word. Another equine. Hmm, you don’t look like a horse. Your head’s too big and you’re a bit to stocky for that. That makes you a pony, yes? Yes. Huh? You've got wings? But that would make you a Pegasus!" he chuckled. "What do ya know; the human's were onto something for once. Wait a minute. You talked! You’re a pony and you talked! But what language is that? I speak pony and that is not pony.”

“Umm, I don’t understand,” she said, backing up a bit.

“Oh, dear me, where are my manners? Hope I didn’t leave them in my last self, though he was rude, so what kind of manners did he really have. Whoops, rambling. Anyway, give me a moment. It’s not quite clear.”

She cocked her head to the side.

“Ah, yes!” he suddenly exclaimed, making her jump, before he held out a hoof. “I’m The Doctor. What might your name be, little talking pony?”

“D-D-D-Derpy Hooves,” she said, returning the hoofshake. “Doctor who?”

“Oh, I do love it when they say that,” he murmured. “Just The Doctor, or Doctor, if you prefer, Miss Hooves. So sorry for crashing my ship in your yard.”

“Ship?” Derpy was very confused.

The Doctor indicated to the blue box. “Yep. My ship. The TARDIS.”

“TARDIS?”

“Yes, TARDIS. T-A-R-D-I-S. It stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. TARDIS.”

Derpy stood there for several moments, trying to understand how a small blue box could be a ship. It might float, being made of wood, but that didn’t make it a ship.

“Strange planet, this,” The Doctor said, pulling her attention to him as he looked around. “Almost like Earth; tastes like Earth too, but clearly isn’t. Hmm. And sentient ponies? I’ve never heard of such a planet before and I know my planets.”

He frowned at the sky for a moment, then blinked, his frown becoming curious as he looked back to Derpy. “By the way, why’re your eyes like that?”

Derpy wilted, lowering her head. “I... have strabis— strabis—”

“Strabismus?” The Doctor offered.

Derpy nodded sadly. “Ponies were teasing me about it in our old town, so Daddy moved us here. I hate my eyes.”

The Doctor shook his head. “You should never hate any part of yourself. Look at me. This was my last chance at being ginger, and yet I’m chestnut brown.” He tussled her mane. “Never hate any part of you, Derpy.”

Derpy looked up at him and gave a small smile. “Thanks.”

The Doctor nodded with a warm smile. “Not a problem, Derpy.” He blinked. “Wait. What did you call this hourglass on my rump?”

Derpy raised an eyebrow. “Your Cutie Mark. All ponies get them. Even me.” She turned a bit, showing her Cutie Mark of seven bubbles. “They mean what’s special about you; your special talent.”

“My... talent?” The Doctor looked at her a very puzzled expression.

Derpy nodded. “Well, yeah. Mine’s for my bubbly pero— perso— way I look at things.” She looked at his Cutie Mark. “Hmm. Hourglass, hourglass... Is your special talent time?”

The Doctor smirked. “Well, yes. I can time travel— wait a moment? My butt knows what I do?”

Derpy nodded. “Uh-huh.” Then she blinked, realizing what he’d just said. “Wait. You can travel through time?”

The Doctor seemed to recover from learning something even foals knew and smiled. “Why, yes, Miss Derpy. Indeed I can. Past, present, future; I can visit them all.”

Derpy looked down at the ground and began pawing at it. “Could you....? No, never mind.”

“What is it, Derpy?” he asked, leaning down, a kind smile on his face.

A few tears came to Derpy’s eyes. “My... my mommy died when I was really little. I... I never really knew her. Could... could you take me to go see her... before she died, so I can at least meet her.”

The Doctor’s eyes softened. “Of course, Derpy. However, I do have rules. Not that anyone usually follows them,” he muttered. “First, you cannot stop you mother from dying. If we do that then our meeting will have never happened and we’ll disappear... not to mention Time Reapers appearing out of thin air and eating everything in sight.”

Derpy eeped.

“Second, if I tell you to run, you run, got it?”

She nodded.

“Finally, do whatever I tell you, even if it sounds like a bad idea, okay?”

Derpy nodded again.

The Doctor grinned. “Very well, then. Let’s be off. First stop—”

He went quiet at the sound of a gonging sound from within the blue box.

“Oh, no, no-no-no-NO!” he cried, running towards it, kneeling down, opening the doors and looking in.

“What is it?” Derpy asked anxiously.

“I've got to get back in there,” he said, glancing back. “The engines are phasing. It's going to burn!”

“But it's just a box.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes. “It's not just a box. It's my time machine.”

Derpy’s eyes widened. “What, a real one? You've got a real time machine?

“Well, how else do you think I travel through time, walk through the vortex unprotected? But I won’t have one for much longer if I can't get her stabilized. A five minute hop into the future should do it.

Derpy grinned. “Can I come?”

The Doctor grunted as he pushed the box onto its back, making it so that the doors had to be opened upwards, then looked back to her and shook his head. “Not safe in here. Not yet. Five minutes. Give me five minutes, I'll be right back.”

Derpy frowned. “Promise you’ll come back?”

The Doctor nodded. “Promise. I’ll be right back.”

Derpy smiled. “Okay.”

The Doctor grinned, climbing up onto the box, struggling to push the doors open. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck,” Derpy giggled. “See you in five minutes.”

“Count on it,” The Doctor nodded then jumped down, disappearing as he shouted, “Geronimo!”

Derpy noticed that his voice sounded like he was falling, followed by a splashing sound, before the doors closed on their own. The wheezing sound started up again and Derpy watched in amazement as the box seemed to fade away until there was nothing where it had been expect the big hole it made when it fell.

Grinning, Derpy ran inside, packed a few things into her saddlebags and hurried back outside and sat, waiting for the sound to return and for The Doctor to take her to see her mommy, just as he promised he would.

___________________________________________________________

The yard was still and quiet in the afternoon sunlight, a few birds pecking at the ground, looking for worms.

Suddenly, a loud wheezing sound could be heard and a wind picked up from nowhere, startling the birds, causing them to fly away.
Where the birds had been a blue box slowly faded into existence, standing up straight, steam coming off of it. Once it was no longer see-though in anyway the doors opened and The Doctor stepped out, coughing.

Cough, cough, cough. “Whoa. That was a bit much. Okay, Derpy, sorry, but we'll have to wait before we leave. We’ll give her about twenty minutes, give or take and we should be ready... to... go?”

He looked around. The yard was different. All the markings the TARDIS had left when it crash-landed were gone. That didn’t make sense. Also, it was daytime now.

“Derpy?” The Doctor glanced around. "Miss Hooves?"

The yard looked more lived with than it had before. There were some bushes of flowers he didn’t remember seeing before.

“Oh, dear. I don’t think it was five minutes.” He sighed. “Well, a few hours are alright, I guess.”

He walked up to the front door and knocked on it.

“Miss Hooves?” he called, not stopping his knocking. “Miss Hooves, are you there? Sorry I was a bit late. I thought it would just be five minutes, but I guess it was more like hours. Do you still want to come with me?”

The door swung open and, for a brief moment, The Doctor’s smile grew, before it withered under the harsh glare from the pony’s face that had come right up to his, filled with anger.

“Do I look like a Miss Hooves, buster?!” he demanded, his eyes telling The Doctor he’d be wise to leave.

The stallion (The Doctor took his physic and his memory of what the young filly had said into account and guessed the whole world was filled with ponies similar to her) was old, grumpy old. He had a dull brown coat and a cup for a Cutie Mark. His mane was grey and ratty, telling that he didn’t really care much for personal hygiene.

“Oh, I-I do apologize,” he began, backing away for some personal space. “Last time I was here a filly by the name of Derpy Hooves lived in this house. Could you please tell me where she is?”

The pony snorted, his glare not moving from his face. “Don’t know ’er, don’t care. If’n you wanna find somepony go inta town. Maybe you’ll find her there. Now buzz off!” and with that he slammed the door in The Doctor’s face.

He frowned at the closed door. “Well, that was unnecessarily rude.” He turned and walked back to the TARDIS and placed a hoof on her. “Just rest, sweetie. Once you’re ready we’ll head off, okay?”

After a moment he turned and, deciding to take the only good advice that grumpy stallion had offered, started off towards what looked like a town not too far off, walking wobbly.

___________________________________________________________

The Doctor stared in fascination as he stumbled through the town, still getting used to being a quadruped for the first time in his thirteen lives.

“Amazing,” he murmured as he passed a forge, where he could see a tanned pony used his mouth to bang a hammer against some metal. “Sentient talking ponies with a society identical to humans in every way aside from them being ponies and everything with a bit of a pony theme. Fantastic.”

He was also surprised to learn humans were right about several myths. Not only were there pegasi, like Derpy, but unicorns as well!
From what he could observe, the unicorns’ magics varied from pony to pony and the pegasi were able to somehow control the weather, he’d dropped to the ground when he’d seen several of them pulling and pushing clouds, something he knew shouldn’t be possible.

He shrugged. “Well, maybe it is possible. Shouldn’t judge a book by its—”

“Watch out! Coming in for a landing!”

“Huh? Wha—AAH?!”

The Doctor turned, only for a blurry grey something to full out of the sky, crash into him and tumble for several moments, before hitting a wall.

“Ow!” he said, rubbing his head with a hoof. “What just hit me?”

“Um, sorry, Mr,” a voice spoke.

The Doctor opened his eyes and saw a grey Pegasus get up in front of him. Her mane was blonde, as was her tail and her eyes were golden coloured. By pony standards he assumed she was about ten or so years.

“Oh, that’s quite alright,” he began, getting up.

However, no sooner had he gotten to all fours again then he found himself pinned against the wall, the Pegasus glaring at him.
“You! How is this even possible?!”

“Um, excuse me?” he asked, very uncertain about this young filly’s sanity. She sounded female and her body structure was that of all the female ponies he’d been seeing as he walked through town, so he was going on the assumption she was female.

The young filly stepped back, shaking her head violently. “No, no, no-no-no,” she murmured. “This... this has to be a dream. You can’t be real.”

The Doctor frowned. “Now, hold on a minute. I can understand you being angry at me for... well, I suppose not listening when you told me to watch out, but telling me I can’t be real? Now that’s just rude.”

“You were rude first!” she snapped.

The Doctor shook his head. “Oh, really. And just how was I the first one to be rude.”

“You told me five minutes!”

The Doctor’s face went blank as he stared at the young filly. She sort of looked like... he moved his eyes towards her flank— before they shot open. On her flank, clear as day, were seven bubbles. Seven bubbles he’d seen before.

“What?” he said, glancing from the bubbles to the young filly’s face and back. “What?”

The young filly huffed and turned, starting to walk away.

“What?” he hurried after her, though she didn’t slow down. “Derpy? Little Derpy Hooves? The filly I met when I crashed? But how?”

“Five years.”

“Huh?”

Derpy whirled around, glaring at the stallion. “You told me you’d be back in five minutes, but you never did. My dad found me outside the next morning and I told him I was waiting for a stallion to come who'd let me see Mom again. Do you have any idea how that sounded to him?!”

“Um... with that wording... I’m guessing... bad?” he suggested, grinning sheepishly.

Derpy’s glared hardened. “He was horrified! He kept me inside for weeks and wouldn’t even let me go to school on my own! He even got the Town’s Royal Guard to keep an eye out for somepony like you!” She turned away and The Doctor heard a small sob escape the young filly. “I thought you were my friend, then you left me.”

The Doctor stepped forward and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Listen, Derpy, I’m sorry I didn’t come back when I said I would. I thought I was gone just five minutes, not five years. I’m so sorry. The TARDIS doesn’t always make an exact landing and she was pretty damaged when that happened.”

Derpy turned, confusion on her face. “She?”

The Doctor’s expression firmed. “Yes. She’s a she. Actually, that’s another rule I should have told you. Never refer to the TARDIS as an it. She’s a lady and deserves our respect.”

Derpy’s expression returned to the one from before. “You still think I want to go with you? How can I know you weren’t lying when you said your box was a time machine?”

“I swear on my life, she is a time machine,” The Doctor said, putting a hoof to his chest.

“Pinkie Promise?”

The Doctor blinked, then glanced down at the hoof he’d lifted. “Um, I don’t think I can make that kind of promise with hooves. No fingers.”

Derpy’s frown turned to one of confusion. “Fingers? What are fingers and what do they have to do with a Pinkie Promise?”

“Uh... right,” he said, scratching at his neck. “Um, maybe you could show me how you’d make a Pinkie Promise. I think it has a different connotation compared to where I’m from.”

“Conna-what now?” Derpy raised an eyebrow. “And how do you not know what a Pinkie Promise is?”

He grinned sheepishly. “Well, I am technically new around here, so...”

Derpy huffed. “Fine. But watch closely.”

The Doctor watched with his full attention as Derpy made a crossing motion over where her heart would be, flapped her forelegs like wings (though, since she had real wings The Doctor didn’t understand why she hadn’t just used them), then made a motion of putting a hoof to her eye.

When she’d finished, she looked firmly at The Doctor. “Now you.”

The Doctor nodded. “Very well. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye— ow!” he said, going through all the motions she’d shown, but pushed too hard on his eye in the haste.

Derpy nodded, her expression turning smooth. “Alright, Doctor. I believe you. Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise.”

“No... pony?” he asked slowly, before he had to stifle his chuckles.

“What?”

“N-nothing. Nothing, Miss Hooves,” he struggled to say through his giggles. He managed to get control of himself and cleared his throat. “Very well, Miss Hooves. So, shall we go?”

Derpy looked sceptically at him, then nodded. “Let’s do this.”

Several minutes later they’d returned to where the TARDIS had landed.

Derpy hesitated before following, whispering, “This is Grumpy Lumpy’s house now. If he catches us...”

“Oh, yes. That angry stallion that answered the door,” The Doctor nodded. “Yes, I remember him. Not a very nice fellow.”

“You knocked on his door?!” Derpy’s eyes widened.

“Well, what else would I have done?” he replied. “I didn’t know it was five years instead of minutes. I thought you still lived here. Don’t worry, though. We just need to go inside and he won’t know any better.”

They crept through the yard to the front of the TARDIS and The Doctor knocked on its doors. A moment later he winced, reached back and pulled a golden glowing key from on his back.

“Well, looks like she’s ready.” He turned the key in the hole and the doors opened. The Doctor grinned. “Oh, baby. Looking good.”

Derpy followed him in to find a huge room coloured silver and looking like it was made of metal, with glowing circular lights around the circular edges of the room.

The Doctor grinned at the slack-jawed look on Derpy’s face, before she ran out the doors and the sound of her running around the TARDIS several times could be heard before she returned, her eyes wide.

“It’s... It’s...” she said, her eyes looking all around them.

“Go ahead,” The Doctor grinned, leaning against the console. “What d'ya think? You can say it. Most everyone does. I’ve heard them all before.”

Derpy looked right at him. “It’s... smaller on the outside.”

The Doctor’s face became blank. “Okay. That is a first.” Then he grinned, whirling around and started throwing switches. “Anyway, to make up for my being so late, how about an extra trip? Let’s say, over a thousand years into the future? Geronimo!”

He pulled a final leaver and the room began shaking as the TARDIS took its first trip with the new desktop.

Author's Note:

Here is it, part 1 of Dinky's origins, the first story in the side stories of Living Nightmare.

Let's start by addressing the elephant in the room. Yes, i based The Doctor and Derpy's meeting om the season 5 opener of Doctor Who with The Doctor meeting Amelia as a child.

So, what adventures will The Doctor and Derpy have where they're going and how is it linked to Dinky's origins?

FInd out as this first side story goes on. In fact, part two is done, so go ahead and get into it, why don't ya?

Hope you like this and... i'm not going to say it because part two is already up. see you there