Fall of the Doctor

by Sixes_And_Sevens

Overcast Hearts

The group had a marvelous time that afternoon, soaring over land and sea. They dive-bombed Parliament once or twice, soared over the Albion Mountains toward Griffonstone, and skimmed the surface of the Equatorial Ocean. Scootaloo kept her head hanging out the door into the spray, laughing like a madmare until Dinky pulled her back into the safety of the TARDIS. Even Button seemed to have gotten over his near-accident at the TARDIS console, though the Doctor noticed that the colt kept glancing around nervously before making any movements. Perhaps he'd been a tad harsh on the colt. Oh well, he'd make it up to Button when they landed.

Eventually, they flew over land once more, ocean waves giving way to brown-green grasses and sand. “Whoa,” Sweetie Belle breathed. “Where are we?”

“We're flying in to Timbucktoo, the main international trade city in the Gazelle Empire of Addra, ruled by Emperor… no, sorry, that was over a century ago... Empress Dama Ruficollus. Addra is home to, among other things, the invention of modern track and field events, the basis for modern legal codification, and one of the world’s largest trade centers and hubs of information, namely Timbucktoo itself. I think we’ll land there for lunch, what do you lot say?”

“Ah could go fer a bite,” Apple Bloom agreed.

“That’s settled, then,” the Doctor concluded. “Won’t be a mo’. Look, you can already see it on the horizon!”

It was a gorgeous sight. The buildings were primarily built with bricks of mud and clay, many of which were intricately patterned. Several buildings had more lavish elements incorporated into the design, such as gold and gems. Dinky frowned, noticing long white streaks running down the side of one building, looking almost like frosted glass. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing.

“Salt,” the Doctor replied. “It used to be quite valuable in this part of the world, up until they started dealing with other countries. I believe they’re mainly on the silver standard now, though in some more rural parts, you can still buy a stay in a hotel room for a few shakers worth. And, as you can see, it’s still something of a status symbol, even in places where it’s common enough to put in your food.”

“That’s weird,” Rumble said, wrinkling up his muzzle. “It’s like if Equestrian money was made of apples.”

“You got somethin’ against apples?” Apple Bloom demanded, steel in her voice.

“Uh,” said Rumble.

“It’s not weird,” the Doctor admonished. “It’s perfectly reasonable, really, it was quite rare here up until a couple of centuries ago. Just because something is different doesn’t make it weird.”

He nodded at Rumble, a slight frown on his face. “I’ve seen wars started over things like that,” he said seriously.

“Um… okay, sorry,” Rumble replied, nonplussed.

“Right, ‘old on, we’re coming in for a landing,” the Doctor cried, leaping toward the central console. The lever resisted at first, but eventually popped free. The wheel winched down, and the TARDIS descended— or, some might say, plummeted— toward the bustling marketplace that made up the bulk of the city’s center.

***

The party walked out of the TARDIS, some more wobbly on their pins than others. Sweetie Belle stared at the ground for a moment, then bent down and kissed it. “Ech! Sandy! Bad idea, bad, bad idea,” she sputtered.

Button walked behind a nearby bush, retched a few times, and walked back out hardly any worse for wear. Everypony else mostly just felt dizzy. Ditzy’s eyes were the only ones properly aligned. “...Right,” the Doctor managed. “Evidently, I need to practice this particular function of the TARDIS a bit more.”

After the world stopped spinning quite so much, the party made for the city. Just then, the Doctor paused. “Hold on. You lot go on ahead, I’ve got to take care of the TARDIS. Last time it got parked near a market, it got sold to a— y’know what, that’s another story. Go get lunch, I’ll catch up with you!”

Dinky stopped and looked sharply back at him. “You aren’t going to take off, are you?”

The Doctor looked as though he’d been punched. “I— no, I—”

“Dinky,” Ditzy admonished sharply. “That was very rude.”

The Doctor noted that she didn’t bother to correct the filly. He smiled weakly. “Got enough money?” he asked. “Right. Save me a spot at the restaurant, I’ll just be a minute.” he bolted back into the TARDIS, away from his daughter’s accusing glare and his wife’s sorrowful eyes.

He breathed out. Calm down. They’ve forgiven you. Ditzy has forgiven you, he told himself. Dinky has… sort of forgiven you. Alright, no, she hasn’t. But we can work on that. He sighed, and went to fetch out the placard he had made not long after the Pompeii incident.

***

The rest of the ponies walked in silence toward the city limits, each caught up in their own thoughts. Ditzy was torn, stuck between her love for the Doctor and her love for her daughter and acting on neither. Dinky was silently kicking herself. Why did she hurt him like that? What made her say those words?

Apple Bloom was in awe of the skyscraping buildings of brick and clay that seemed ready to pare a cloud in two. Scootaloo was still internally freaking out over the fact that she had gotten to fly, Sweetie Belle was desperately trying not to think about the landing, Rumble was wondering whether he would enjoy the food here, and Button…

Button watched as a group of gazelles worked on a construction site, leaping from one support to another, easy as walking. In his mind, he could see it as a sort of game, jumping from platform to platform, could see with perfect clarity what the goal was, how the game ought to be played, strategies that could be used to win it. And he knew that, in reality, he could never do anything close to what those construction workers seemed to come by naturally. He looked away.

“Well, kids,” Ditzy said with a joviality that she didn’t really feel, as a cool breeze ruffled her hair. “Let’s all be on the lookout for someplace to have lunch. Maybe afterwards we can go looking for souvenirs!”

As long as they aren’t too expensive, she thought privately. A mailmare’s salary only stretched so far, even with a time-traveler for a husband. Especially with a time-traveler for a husband, she thought, remembering the contraption he’d constructed from the family toaster, an alarm clock, and other sundry items that seemed to be alien in origin.

“Mom?” Dinky asked.

It went “beep”, and every so often, “bing”. The Doctor was quite vague about its function, saying only that if it ever started to go “BONG”, that he should be fetched immediately. Ditzy was less annoyed about the toaster than she was the principle of the matter.

“Mom?” Dinky repeated, louder this time.

Pocket Watch would never have done anything like that. He might have disassembled the toaster and been unable to fix it, but he would have asked first!

Ditzy reflected momentarily as the breeze died down. Well, no, he wouldn’t have, actually. Where had she been going with this?

“Mom!”

Ditzy blinked and turned to her little muffin. “Dinky, you don’t have to shout,” she reprimanded gently. “I’m right here.”

Dinky looked as though she were about to argue, but then took a deep breath, visibly restraining herself. “We found a restaurant,” she said after a long moment. “They mostly serve grass and rice, with lots of grains that I’ve never heard of. It smells good, though.”

Ditzy smiled. “That sounds perfect,” she decided, shaking off the last of her sudden malaise. “Let’s eat.”

***

Meanwhile, back at the TARDIS, the Doctor had finally recovered his protective camouflage. He held it proudly aloft in his teeth— a large sheet of cardboard plainly stating “Not For Sale”. He also had one saying “Out of Service” for when he landed in London in the ‘50s, and a third saying “Do Not Disturb” for use on the pleasure planet Polis, where the bathing-machines looked almost precisely like the police boxes of Earth, apart from the slight difference in spelling and the message on the door sign. So caught up with recollections of Polis, that he almost missed the big flashing orange light on the console.

Almost, but not quite.

“What in the world?” the Doctor muttered, staring at the screen. “That’s not right.”

For on the radar, there was a massive grey-blue blob heading straight towards Timbucktoo.

Comments

[Coyote de La Mancha]

Nothing against the other characters by any means, but Ditzy and Dinky are wonderful characters in their own right, as well as helping to further show depth in the Doctor’s character, and vice versa. I especially appreciate the struggle that Dinky is going through. Poor kid.

[SunflowerSwirl]

“We're flying in to Timbucktoo, the main international trade city in the Gazelle Empire of Addra, ruled by Emperor… no, sorry, that was over a century ago... Empress Dama Ruficollus. Addra is home to, among other things, the invention of modern track and field events, the basis for modern legal codification, and one of the world’s largest trade centers and hubs of information, namely Timbucktoo itself. I think we’ll land there for lunch, what do you lot say?”

'into' should go there instead as it indicates movement, unless this is from their dialect.

Button walked behind a nearby bush, retched a few times, and walked back out hardly any worse for wear. Everypony else mostly just felt dizzy. Ditzy’s eyes were the only ones properly aligned. “...Right,” the Doctor managed. “Evidently, I need to practice this particular function of the TARDIS a bit more.”

As in it fixed her wandering eye temporarily? Probably scientifically impossible, but I love it nevertheless.

The rest of the ponies walked in silence toward the city limits, each caught up in their own thoughts. Ditzy was torn, stuck between her love for the Doctor and her love for her daughter and acting on neither. Dinky was silently kicking herself. Why did she hurt him like that? What made her say those words?

Nice to see that the issue isn't as bad, but it didn't disappear. I like how you did that for the Doctor and Blueblood as well.