Doctor Whooves: The Regal Sisters

by Gherkin

Chapter 3: Bow Ties Are Cool

The princess of the night looked down upon the streets of Canterlot, pondering over many things. News had just reached her of some sort of strange disturbance in a theatre in the center of town, however she and her sister had deemed it unimportant. Now, basking in the glow of her moon, she began to think about how she and her sister were going to rule for the next thousand years.

There was a knock on the door. Princess Luna turned around to see her older sister, having let herself in. “Hello, sister,” Luna greeted the sun goddess, who had a worried expression on her face, “May I ask, what is troubling thou?”

Celestia smiled slightly at her sister’s choice of words. “It’s nothing, really,” she answered quickly. Luna’s eye’s narrowed. There was no pointing in lying to her; somehow she always knew when something was wrong. “I’m being troubled by some nightmares I’ve been having lately,” she admitted.

Luna smiled warmly, putting a hoof around her sibling. “Do not be troubled by your dreams, sister, for they exist only within your mind.” She tapped Celestia’s forehead.

“It’s different, Luna,” the older princess explained, “They’re more like visions, visions of you. Something to do with black magic, I-” she choked on the last word, tears streaming down her face.

Princess Luna hugged her older sister in a tight embrace. “You have nothing to fear, big sister. I’m not going anywhere.” She smiled gently.

“There’s something else too,” Celestia said gravely, “Something is coming, very soon.”

Luna let go of her. “What does thou mean?”

“A storm is coming, Luna. An oncoming storm.”

***

“I have one question. What in the whole wide world of Equestria are you wearing?”

The Doctor glanced back towards Twilight, who was walking through the early morning snow that covered the High Street. “Really, Twilight? We’re on a quest to prevent gas monsters from another universe brutally murdering your two princesses, and you’re questioning my choice of wardrobe? Get your priorities right!”

“But they’re so tacky! Where’d you get them from?”

“I bumped into Rarity, a friend of yours, I believe. She insisted that I get some decent clothes,” he answered simply.

Twilight struggled to contain a laugh. “Please! Rarity would never recommend something like that to anypony!”

“Well she didn’t, I chose it myself.”

“Yeah, it shows,” Applejack interjected, “What in the world possessed you to choose a bow tie?”

“Bow ties are cool!” The Time Lord defended, “Now, how far away is this funeral parlour?”

Twilight giggled. “Talking to yourself now, I see.” As if on cue, an ear-shattering scream echoed from a nearby building.

“Never a dull moment, huh?” The Doctor remarked before breaking out into a sprint, galloping around the corner. Sighing, Twilight and her friend followed close behind. The cold early morning air cut into the purple unicorn as she sprinted across the pitch black square. SO much for a peaceful trip back in time, she thought. Reaching the funeral parlour, The Doctor bucked in the door and leapt inside, brandishing his psychic paper to anyone who might have been paying attention.

Finally catching up, Twilight burst inside the barely lit parlour to see a ghostly pale body lying on the floor, stone dead. Standing above the deceased stallion was a mortified young filly backed against the wall, her terrified face stained with tears. The Doctor pocketed the psychic paper and moved closer to her, kneeling down to her eye level. “Hello,” he said in a soothing voice, “I’m The Doctor, what’s your name?”

“Lily,” she sniffed, “Lily Petal.”

The Doctor smiled warmly. “That’s a wonderful name. Where are your mummy and daddy Lily?” At that moment, a burly stallion burst into the room.

“Lily!” he exclaimed, embracing his daughter, “Oh, thanks Celestia you’re OK!”

“What happened?” The Doctor asked.

Lily’s father stood up to face him. “I have a better question. What are you three doing in my house, with my daughter?”

“We heard somepony scream, and came to see what was wrong,” Applejack told him simply, supporting her friend as she caught her breath.

“I heard something when I was in bed,” Lily piped up, “I came down to look and saw poor Mr. Quill just standing there. Then this blue thing came out of his mouth and flew through the window.”

The Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the lifeless body. “Looks like they didn’t want to use Mr. Quill for their dirty deeds then.” He turned to Lily’s father. “I’d say they’re getting picky. What do you think, mister...”

“Tomb Stone,” he responded, oblivious as to what the crazy stallion was talking about.

“Of course it is,” The Doctor mumbled under his breath, before turning back to his companions. “They’re up to something,” he told them, “There isn’t anypony to inhabit between here and the castle, which means they’re making a different play.”

“Then what are we supposed to do, Doctor?” Applejack asked him, concern in her voice.

The Doctor stared her straight in the eye, a deadly serious look on his face. “We need to get to the castle, now.” Barging through them, he galloped out of the door. Applejack followed him, leaving Twilight to explain to the confused father gawping at her.

“Believe me, even I don’t understand him sometimes.” She quickly ran out the door. Tomb Stone shook the bewildered look off his face and embraced his daughter.

“So what’s the plan?” Twilight called, finally catching up to The Doctor.

“I don’t know!” he called back, a manic smile across his face, “I’ll figure something out!”

Great, Twilight thought, He really is crazy. She’d only been here a matter of hours, and already she was on a quest to stop the whole of history being re-written. No pressure at all, then, she thought. By now they had reached the long, winding stairs that led up to the castle gate. She slowed down to catch a breath, but, much to her chagrin, The Doctor galloped up them undeterred. Groaning, she followed him.

“Where are all the guards?” The Doctor wondered aloud, looking around the deserted courtyard, "I didn't even see any as we walked here. Even the Italian guards back in the Renaissance weren't this lazy."

“Princess Celestia won’t have night guards around here for at least the next five hundred years,” Twilight explained, still gasping for breath. “They all go home after sundown,” she added.

The three of them stared up at the imposing, omnious door that stood before them. Twilight didn’t understand why it made her so fearful now; she had always been in and out of the castle when she lived in Canterlot. Now, however, it felt spooky, as if it sealed some unknown evil inside. Gulping, she strode forward, before being stopped by Applejack.

“Hold on, sugarcube,” she warned, “This whole situation smells kinda fishy.” She glanced over at The Doctor, who was gazing at the door, deep in thought. “You’re the expert here, Doc. What’s in there?”

“The only ponies in the castle at this time are the two princesses and a few butlers,” he told them, trotting closer to the door, “No dead bodies though, that’s the key.” He paused. "Well, at least, there shouldn't be." He tentatively edged the door open, peering inside. The foyer was brightly lit by many different lamps. Multiple points of entry, he thought. It’s never simple, is it? The four of them crept inside. Twilight immediately set off on a brisk canter, heading towards the main staircase.

“Twilight!” The Doctor hissed, “What are you doing?”

“I’ve got to find Princess Celestia,” she whispered back, "I can’t let anything happen to her!”

“Princess Celestia isn’t going to meet you for another thousand years, Twilight,” Applejack pointed out, “We can’t just rush in. Who knows what’ll happen?”

“Applejack’s right.” The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper. “Luckily, you have me to rely on.” He flashed a cheesy grin, before trotting up the stairs.

“Wait! Didn’t you just say not to...” Twilight sighed. “Never mind.” They both trailed close behind. Taking in her surroundings, Twilight noticed that there wasn’t much difference between the castle she saw now and the one she would become accustomed to a thousand years later. She recognized paintings on the wall, even stopping to admire a certain portrait she had enjoyed looking at as a filly.

“Come on!” Applejack called, “Nothing’s gonna slow this one down.” She turned back to The Doctor, who had already turned a corner and disappeared from view.

“Sorry,” Twilight smiled sheepishly, “Had a bit of a nostalgia trip back there.”

They tip-toed down the corridor. The whole castle was like a dense maze of criss-crossing walkways and corridors, and it was easy to get lost. Losing The Doctor was the last thing they needed right now. They were about to follow him around the corner when they heard an elderly voice.

“Excuse me, sir. May I ask, what are you doing roaming the castle at this hour?”

Applejack peeked round the corner to see an elderly butler, traditionally outfitted in a tail coat and bow tie, speaking with The Doctor.

“I’m The Doctor.” She heard him say, “I’m here with my friends to see Princess Celestia. It’s pretty important, so you wouldn’t want to keep us waiting, would you? I doubt Her Majesty will be pleased with that.” The two mares edged around the corner and caught up with him.

The old stallion cleared his throat and straightened a little. “No, of course not.”

The Doctor smiled. “Thank you.” Stepping past the butler, the three of them continued down the corridor. “Nice bow tie, by the way,” The Doctor called out to him, grinning.

“Why, thank you sir,” the butler replied, before noticing a few of the gas lamps flicker. The Doctor stopped dead.

“Was it just me, it did those lamps just flicker on and off?”

“Don’t worry sir, they’re always on the fritz.” The butler went to inspect one of them.

“Don’t go near it,” The Doctor warned, but to no avail. What appeared to be a cloud of blue smoke burst out of the lamp. Inhaling it, the butler coughed.

“What the...” The butler doubled over in a violent coughing fit, thrashing around, before dropping to his knees and groaning in pain. Frozen by fear, the three of them could only watch as another entity seemed to possess the aged pony, turning his face icy pale.

“The Gelth...” Twilight muttered, “I though the could only possess dead bodies, Doctor!”

“They must have evolved.” The sudden realisation struck him. “This whole thing, it’s been a trick.”

“So what are we gonna do, Doc?” Applejack said worriedly, as the now undead butler advanced towards them.

“Well, when I say run, we, uh, run.”

"Oh, brilliant plan," Applejack snarked.

"Simplicity works best sometimes," he said, still backing away from the elderly stallion.

The butler continued to walk slowly towards them, not taking his eyes off The Doctor for a second.

“Shall we run now?” Twilight began to panic.

“It’s as good a time as any!” The three of them turned around and galloped for their lives. Running in no particular direction, Applejack noticed a large pair of double doors and decided to burst through them, the other two closely in tow. Tripping over her own hooves in panic, the farmpony tumbled over onto the floor, taking The Doctor and Twilight with her.

“Ugh, horseapples,” she muttered, before looking up. What met her eyes were the stunned faces of none other than Princess Celestia and Luna.

“Sister, remind me again why we don’t employ guards at night?” Luna whispered in her older sister’s ear.

The Doctor stood up quickly, shaking himself off. “Princesses! How coincidental! Right, no time to explain, there’s some inter-dimensional aliens about to make an attempt on your lives.”

The possessed butler slowly entered the room, the same blank expression on his face. “Alright then, you lot!” The Doctor called, “Where are the rest of you?”

“I am the only one,” the butler replied, his voice horrifically distorted.

“What happened to the others in the theatre?” The Doctor stood defensively in front of Celestia and Luna. “There were three of you.”

“Your sonic device managed to kill them, for they were still weak.”

“Then what’s the point?” The Doctor edged a bit closer towards him, “There’s only one of you now. Please don’t tell me you think you still have a chance with this!”

“Our plan was never to attack this land’s rulers.” The usual blank expression turned into an evil smirk, “But to attack you, Doctor, for what happened on Earth.”

“Oh that's great. Another psychotic revenge plot. Change the record, please. You can’t get in here.” The Doctor tapped his forehead, smiling smugly, “People have tried, believe me.”

“We don’t plan to attack your mind, time lord. We’re going to attack your heart.” The butler collapsed suddenly.

Princess Celestia pushed forward past The Doctor, kneeling down next to the dead stallion. Solemnly, she shut his eyes and rose to face The Doctor. “I knew something like this would be coming.” She sighed. “It was foolish of me to think that this was the only populated planet in our universe.”

“Well, you might be. I don’t know, but what I do know is that they are from another universe,” The Doctor told her, “and I also know that they’re still here somewhere.”

“Doctor, they said they were going to attack your heart,” Twilight said, “What did they mean by that?”

The Doctor though for a moment. “Well, the obviously don’t mean it literally, otherwise they’d have used a plural.” He put a hoof to his chin. “I don’t know. Really, I don’t.” He looked at the princesses, who were still shocked from the experience. “Applejack, what do you think?” He turned around. His eyes widened and his face lost colour.

“Oh no...”

Comments

[Sonicbrony66]

Wassa Applejackl? Is it a jackal that eats apples?

[LandUnderWave]

I remember reading this a while back, but I think it had a lot of errors then. It's nice to see it all fixed up... unless I'm remembering wrong.
There's one error thing that's left that I found, though. The filly Lily Petal is referred to as Rose once. Just once, but, just letting you know.

[Gherkin]

64658 Thanks for pointing that out. She was originally going to be called "Rose Petal" but I felt the reference was a bit forced. Will fix that asap.

[SP00KY NINJA-PON3]

Wait. This never happe-AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

ALONZY ALONSO!!!

[NLRPony]

Well, that excelated quickly, OF CORSE WE"RE GOING TO ATTACK YOUR HEART MEANS ATTACK HIS LOVED ONES HERE! She's dead jim. :(