The Equestrian Time Lord

by Knox Locke

The Beginning Before The Beginning, Part 1

That familiar vworping sound the TARDIS produced filled the air in the small town of Ponyville. It was the dead of night, if the Doctor had arrived on schedule (which it was fairly likely he didn't). Therefore, most of the townsfolk should be asleep right now.

The Doctor was here on a mission. If history is accurate, Nightmare Moon returns within the next couple days. Trouble is, the Doctor caught wind that somepony wants to steal the Elements of Harmony, which would obviously end in catastrophy.

"OK, OK, OK," the Doctor said aloud as he exited the TARDIS. "First step. Ponyville library, I should say."

As per his word, he began to slowly trot through the streets of Ponyville in search of the library. He was only walking for five minutes before the sun began to rise.

"Great," he mumbled. "I must've arrived at least four hours later than expected."

"Look out!" somepony yelled as the Doctor was plowed down to the ground.

Upon further investigation, it seemed the object that had him pinned to the ground was a pegasus. It was more than likely that this gray pegasus mare was the pony who yelled a warning to him a tad too late. Sandy blonde mane filled his face, obscuring his view of most of her body. He knew it was a mare by the voice alone.

"Excuse me," he said, though it was muffled by the mystery-mare's mane, "would you mind too terribly?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, mister," said the mare as she scrambled to her hooves.

"Not a problem at all," the doctor replied, springing to his feet. "Hardly hurt a bit."

Now that he got a good look at the mare that had crash-landed on him, the Doctor noticed three things. One, this mare's eyes faced in ever-so-slightly different directions. Two, her cutie mark was a bunch of bubbles. Three, she still looked embarrassed, probably about the whole "first impression is to crash land on a stranger" thing.

"Are you sure you're not hurt?" the mysterious mare asked.

Her speech was drawn out and almost rhythmic in nature, but her voice carried a vibe that he could only come up with one word to describe. She sounded... ditzy. Yeah, that's how he'd describe her voice. Ditzy. It actually sounded quite cute, which was somewhat surprising coming from a grown mare.

"Yes, I'm quite certain," the Doctor replied. "I'm afraid it takes a bit more than that to break me."

The pegasus' face lit up with the Doctor's confirmation.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I haven't asked for your name yet."

"You can just call me the Doctor," he said, holding out a hoof for her to shake.

"Doctor who?" she asked, completing the hoofshake.

"Exactly."

The Doctor always enjoyed the quizzical expressions he received when he shared the name he went by, but this ditzy mare's was on a completely different level. Her lazy eye made her cocking her head to the side look thoroughly adorable. The Doctor chuckled. Compared to a lot of the expressions he'd received in the past, her easily took the cake.

Ooh, speaking of cake, the Doctor noticed he was a bit peckish. Maybe he should ask for directions to a local restaurant before getting directions to the library.

"Well, I'm Derpy," said the mare .

'Well, that sounds offensive,' the Doctor thought.

"But a lot of my friends think it sounds offensive," she continued, "so they call me either Ditzy or Muffins instead."

Hmmm... Ditzy? Wasn't that the same word the Doctor had used to describe her voice?

"OK, then," said the Doctor. "I'll just call you Ditzy, then. Is that alright?"

"Sure thing, doc."

"If you don't mind me asking, Ms. Ditzy, do you happen to know of a good place to eat around here?"

"Wow doc," Ditzy said, "I didn't think anypony but me ate this early in the morning."

"Do I look like anypony to you?"

"No," she said, drawing out the syllable and adopting a smile. "You look like the Doctor, silly!"

"Good," he replied.

Derpy then showed him the way to a bakery she called Sugarcube Corner.

"They have really good breakfast foods here," Derpy said, licking her lips as they entered the establishment.

"Very well then. Allons-y!" proclaimed the Doctor.

"All in what?" Ditzy asked, once again cocking her head adorably to the side.

'Great Celestia's ghost,' he thought. 'That's not gonna get old.'

"Allons-y," the Doctor repeated. "It means 'Let's go'."

"Oh, hello there dearie," said a slightly pudgy earth mare as she came out of what the Doctor assumed to be the kitchen. "What can I do for ya?"

"Hi, Mrs. Cake," Derpy greeted the new arrival as The Doctor made a mental note that her name was Mrs. Cake.

"Hello," said the Doctor.

"Oh, your a new face around here, aren't ya?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied. "Just in town on business."

'Wow,' he thought. 'This bakery must be pretty popular if she could tell I was from out of town at a glance.'

"Well, isn't that just a pleasant sight," Mrs. Cake continued. "An out-of-towner takin' interest in our little, old bakery."

Our? The Doctor made a note that Sugarcube Corner is run by at least two ponies. The other one probably being the 'Mr. Cake' to her 'Mrs. Cake'.

"Where'd you say you were originally from?" Mrs. Cake asked.

"I didn't," was the Doctor's only reply.

"Oh, uh, well," Mrs. Cake stumbled with her words slightly before regaining her composure. "I'm Mrs. Cake. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister...?"

"He's the Doctor!" Ditzy proclaimed merrily.

The Doctor chuckled.

"Doctor?" Mrs. Cake questioned. "Doctor who?"

"Exactly," the Doctor and Ditzy said in unison.

Another innocent pony's quizzical reaction later, Mrs. Cake asked for their orders.

"Well let's have a little looksee, shall we?" the Doctor said as he scoured the menu for something that sounded appetizing.

"Ooh, custard!" he said aloud. "I know it's a long shot, but you wouldn't happen to have any fish, would you?"

"Afraid not, dear," Mrs. Cake replied, seeming confused by the request. Not that anypony hasn't been so far.

"Oh, well. I suppose I'll just have the custard then."

Mrs. Cake nodded in approval of this seemingly much more manageable order.

"What would you like, Ms. Ditzy?" the Doctor asked. "Food's on me."

"The usual, dear?" Mrs. Cake asked before Derpy could answer.

"Absolutely, Mrs. Cake!" she replied energetically. "Thanks for the meal, doc!"

The Doctor took note that Ditzy has a usual order at Sugarcube Corner. Details of said order remain to be seen.

"So, what kind of work do you do, Doc?" Ditzy asked while Mrs. Cake was preparing plates behind the counter.

"Well, I suppose you could say I'm here to do some treasure hunting," he replied.

"Oh?" Mrs. Cake voiced. "Any chance you work with that other doctor that came in last night?"

"There's another doctor doing treasure hunting around here?" he asked urgently. "What was his name?"

"Well, if I remember correctly," Mrs. Cake put a hoof to her chin and looked thoughtful for a moment, "it was Dr. Caballeron, or something like that."

"Dr. Caballeron?" the Doctor was shocked.

He'd heard of Caballeron, the infamous treasure hunter said to have lived in this timeframe. There was no doubt he was the one searching for the Elements.

"So you do know him?" Derpy asked.

"No," the Doctor replied, "but I'm going to stop him."

"What was that, dear?" Mrs. Cake asked as she returned to the counter with a bowl of frozen custard and an assortment of muffins.

"Oh, nothing!" the Doctor chimed. Then, he turned his attention towards Ditzy's apparent food of choice. "Muffins?"

"What?" Ditzy said as she held the muffin platter in her wings. "There's a reason my friends sometimes call me Muffins, you know."

"I see. They're your favorite food?"

"No question."

Ditzy led the way to a table in the corner of the bakery, and the Doctor followed. Ditzy had downed four muffins before she spoke again.

"So, Doc, why do you need to stop that Cappy Barrel guy?" she asked.

"That's Caballeron," corrected the Doctor, "and it's because he plans to steal the items that are destined to save this world."

"Yikes! That doesn't sound good!" she yelped. "How are you gonna stop him, Doc?"

"Well, what do you think is the best way to keep somepony from stealing something?" he asked.

The Doctor could practically see the gears turning in Ditzy's head as her face scrunched while she tried to come up with an answer. She looked back to the Doctor, practically begging for the answer with her eyes.

"All you have to do," began the Doctor, "is steal it first."

Author's Note:

I hope y'all like Doctor Who references, because this story's gonna be chock full of 'em. Despite it not technically being a crossover story!

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"All you have to do," began the Doctor, "is steal it first."

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