The Broken Watch

by Nazkan

Prologue

There are many places in Equestria that have been forgotten by time, left to slowly waste away until all evidence of their existence has been wiped away from the land. Few ponies even remember how to get to them and even less bother to brave the dangers required to visit them. Not that any of this mattered to the strange group of beings that had made this place their home.

Two of the creatures argued with each other, while a third buried its head in a large, metal machine which occupied the centre of the room. The machine was about three pony's high, and two across. To some, it may have resembled a large empty box made of steel, but to one in the know, it was much more. What little light managed to stab through the darkness reflected off of the device, causing the large metal disk bolted to the floor to stick out from the rest. Hundreds of multicoloured wires raced between the box and the circle, tying the two together in an unbreakable union. Despite the polished metal though, smoke bustled out of one of the pipes on the top of the machine and several panels lay scattered on the ground, showcasing the light show caused by the third creature. Creaking was heard as another panel fell form the top of the machine, showering the arguing creatures in loose sparks. Both turned angrily towards the contraption and called out to their friend.
"Arghh. Can't you work any faster, useless worm?" howled the larger of the two, "Our time is nearly exhausted."
The one near the machine pulled its head out and yelled back, "Do you want this thing to explode and take us with it? No? Then perhaps you should stop arguing and come help instead!"
"Hive Mind is correct, worm. We have little time before He arrives, and we would prefer to be ready for him when he does. So quit complaining and get back to work!" barked the second monster.
The third one simply snorted, and turned his head back towards the machine.

Several minutes passed slowly, with the occasional snort from the monster near the machine and the continuous dripping of water being the only sound that echoed through the room. The largest beast, Hive Mind, paced around the room, trying to avoid looking back to the person fixing the machine. The second monster was standing near the large stone doors, keeping an eye out for anyone approaching. Several more minutes passed before Hive Mind called out sympathetically to the others in the lodging.
"Listen, worm. About before..."
Before he could continue, The beast working on the box cut him off, replying confidently, "Don't worry about it, we're all stressed and running out of time, I'd get angry too."
"So how much longer, worm?"
"I HAVE a name you know! I'd prefer you use it. To answer the question, only a little longer. The central feed is still dangerously unstable. It'll take a few more minutes before I can get it working safely." responded the being near the box.
From the door, an ear curling screech broke out. "We'll use your name when you're proven you can be of use to us, now fix the machine!"
"Fine! I'll do my job and you do yours!" He screamed back.

Barely any time had passed since the two argued before a strange noise began to bounce around the room. The one near the door poked it's head out and nearly screamed from fright. A large blue box, with the words "Police Box" written across the top of the door and a blue light, flashing like a siren, resting upon the top was materializing out of the air with a loud, continuous 'Vworrp' sound. The creature quickly spun back around to face the others and asked fearfully, "It's him! Is the machine ready, worm? Or have you failed us?"
The mechanic's face turned pale and he called back, "He's here already? No, no, I need more time! Distract him or something! I need more time!"
"Relax, stay hidden and keep working, if he sees you this will all be for naught." Hive Mind said, "We'll try to distract him as long as possible."
The worker simply nodded and disappeared behind the large box.
"Now open the door for our 'guest'." The heavy stone doors slowly swung open, pulled by a mechanism hidden in the walls, and standing in the doorway was a brown pony, holding a small metal tube with a blue light attached to the end, with it's teeth. His mane cut backwards across his head like a buzz saw and his nose was scrunched up from determination.

"Ohh, you obened the door," the pony said, his words slightly muffled by the device in his mouth. He turned to the person near the door and asked quietly, "Woub you take this please? It makes it rather hard to balk."
The creature reached out with it's hand, and the pony spat the tube out of its mouth.
"Sorry about that, I'm still getting used to not having pockets. I liked pockets."
Hive Mind shambled over to the door and, with fake concern, addressed the visitor, "Are you the one who received our distress signal?"
"Yes, right, the signal." The pony said absent mindedly. He turned his head upwards and looked around, taking in the surroundings. "Why is it so dark in here?" He asked, changing the subject.
"It's a shame, we were unable to fix the lighting when we arrived, and have spent the last few days in darkness. Not that it concerns us," said Hive Mind.
The brown pony looked at the ceiling again, before replying, "Well, that's easy, if we run a pulse through the outer layer we'll have the lights running in no time; then I can get a better look at you." The pony whipped his head back down and faced the creature holding his tube. "If you would, could you point the sonic screwdriver at the lights for me?"
"No! Why should we trust you? You haven't answered Hive Mind's question and we don't even know your name!"
The pony simply nodded, "Well, bit of a temper on him, ah? Got a point though. I'm the Doctor." He said, gesturing to himself with one of his hooves.
"I am Hive Mind." The leader said honestly, while turning to his friend, "Do what the good doctor says."
The monster holding the screwdriver begrudgingly pointed it towards the roof, a quick buzzing sound emitted from the top of the device and the whole room was suddenly covered in light.

The room itself was mostly round, except for large pillars that went up alongside the walls and into the roof. Moss crept along the floor and a pool of water gathered on the far end of the room. The Doctors attention, however, was quickly pulled to the machine in the middle. He galloped over to it and started investigating the many pipes connecting the plate to the box.
"Is this your ship?" He wondered, before cutting off Hive Mind's answer, "No it couldn't be. You've got an extraction beam connected to a purifier and a chameleon arch. So what does that make you, machine?" He glanced back at the two creatures near the door and shouted back to them with a smile,
"Could you bring my screwdriver over here please, and yes, I picked up your signal while flying over the Daydra galaxy. Nice galaxy, used to have a race of sentient cacti living in it. Amazing creatures, shame about what happened to them.
After receiving his screwdriver back, Doctor turned his attention back to the box. Pointing his device at it, a high pitched buzzing was heard again, and the top of the screwdriver popped open. The Doctor placed it on the ground and took a long look into it before facing the leader again.

"Hive Mind, two questions, two very, important questions, how did your ship crash? And are we the only ones who know you're here?"
"We do not know what happened to the ship, it simply stopped working while we were observing the creatures of this world. As for your second question, only my college and I know about the ship." Hive Mind said quietly.
The Doctor looked back at the machine, speaking just loud enough for the others to hear, "Well, that's interesting then, because your device here has an unstable central feed. Something like that needs someone to maintain it, else, it'd explode and kill us all." He wandered closer to the machine, basically pushing his nose into it, before saying. "You don't mind if I take a look, do you?"
"Of course we would! Get away from our machine!" The second creature yelled. Too late, as the Doctor was already working his way around the box.
"Hive Mind, if you need my help, I need you to tell me the truth. What was this machine used for? At most, all it would do is grind flour, why bring it?" He said fearfully.
"Truthfully Doctor, we had planned to use it on you; we need the help of a time lord to complete our plan." Hive Mind replied.
The Doctor spun around and started walking back towards the front of the machine, unfazed by this truth. "Well, I was afraid you might say that, however, there was one thing you forgot while setting up this trap." The Doctor said, nonchalantly.
Hive Mind replied, confused, "And what would that be Doctor?"
"This!" The Doctor shouted, slamming his hoof onto the bottom of his screwdriver, sending it flying upwards into his mouth. Spinning around, he pointed the screwdriver at the machine and turned it on.

An explosion rocked through the room, and the Doctor was blown backwards, holding what remained of his sonic screwdriver in his mouth. Smoke drifted out of the hole at the tip, joining the smoke that was already in the room. The smaller of the two creatures walked over to the Doctor.
"As you can see, 'Doctor', we have prepared for all possible outcomes." He said with contempt. "WORM! Place him on the machine."
The Doctor struggled to find the energy to talk, pleading weakly, "You don't....need....to do this. I can.....help.
"Oh Doctor," The second one sneered, watching the Doctor as he got pulled onto the metal plate, "You're already helping more than you know."

Nearby, a lonely zebra was gathering herbs late at night, lamenting her life and wondering why the ground was shaking slightly. She said nothing as she worked, instead taking in the darkened surroundings of her home, before wandering back to her shack in the woods. A strange sound managed to collide with her ears, a sound that wasn't of the forest. If the zebra were more gullible, she might have confused it for screaming. That was impossible, of course. After all, she was the only pony in the whole Everfree.

Comments

[Nazkan]

So here's another Doctor Who crossover.
Next chapter should be up soon, and...
That's pretty much all there is to say.
Enjoy the read.

[PeaceColt112]

It's pretty good, even tough i noticed several spelling mistakes 4/5

[MagicMissingno]

As overdone as a Doctor Who x MLP:FiM crossover is, they always have a charm when done right. I think I'll track this to see if you are one that can ponyfy The Doctor right.

[Glassed]

I'm seriously torn between Pinkie and Doctor Whooves as my favorite pony
It would seem like you can write Whooves somewhat right. I'll keep reading to see how it goes
-Glassed

[badassgrunt]

ZECORA, YOU ASSHOLE! GET BACK AND HELP THE DOCTOR!

[MyLittleChichi57]

Sounds very interesting. MUST READ.