Doctor Whooves Episode 11: Parents' Day

by Doctor Perseus

Deja Vu

Chapter 1: Deja Vu

Inside the TARDIS, Time Vortex, Unknown Place, Unknown Time

Rose Tyler leaned against the console. The Doctor sat silently in a nearby chair as he listened to her speak. She was talking about her father, Pete, who died tragically when she was only a baby. He could tell where this conversation was going but, still, he remained quiet and listened.

"So I was thinking, could we? Could we go and see my Dad...when he was still alive?" Rose asked.

"Where's this come from all of a sudden?" the Doctor asked.

"Alright then, if you can't. If it's against the laws of time or something, never mind. Just leave it."

"No, I can do anything. I'm just more worried about you."

"I wanna see him."

"Your wish is my command. But be careful what you wish for!"

The Doctor smiled as he stood up and approached the controls. He flipped a switch and the TARDIS began flying back through time.

Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 996 C.E.

The Doctor felt a familiar, uneasy feeling rise in the pit of his stomach. This was all too familiar to him. He knew this event was important to Applejack and was even more sure that this particular event wasn't a happy one, but he surely wasn't expecting this. Everypony in the group fell silent. Applejack turned back towards the grain silo, watching sadly as her parents walked off together.

"Applejack...I'm so sorry," said Twilight.

"It's alright, Twilight. You don't have to be sorry. None of y'all needs to feel sorry," Applejack replied. Twilight felt bad. She had never given much thought to the topic of what happened to Applejack's parents. Applejack just seemed content enough with the family she had, and it certainly was a big family. The Doctor couldn't help but keep thinking about Rose. Rose and her father, Pete. This scenario just had too many similarities to Rose's situation.

"I hope you don't have any...drastic plans in mind," the Doctor said as he took a step forward.

"No. Ah don't. Ah just wanted to see them one last time."

Applejack began taking a few steps forward. Rainbow Dash quickly walked up to her and grabbed her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm going to talk to my parents."

"I don't think that's a good idea," said Spike. "I mean. You don't look that different from your past self. Wouldn't your parents think it odd to see a future version of their daughter approaching them?"

"Ah guess you're right, Spike."

"She can use these," Trixie said as she handed her hat and cloak over to Applejack. "It's not much but I think you could use them to at least hide your face."

Applejack took the hat and cloak and put them on.

"I guess that works," said Derpy as she cocked her head and inverted her eyes a little bit.

"It's better than nothing," Fluttershy said with a smile.

"That's an odd look for you, Applejack!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed with a forced giggle.

"I don't think it goes with your coat and mane, though. Too polarizing," said Rarity.

"It's not permanent, ya know," Applejack said with a smile. She turned to Trixie and gave a slight nod. "Thank you, Trixie."

"Don't mention it," Trixie replied. Applejack then tipped the hat over her face and ran off towards her parents. The Doctor swallowed hard.

"I have a bad feeling about this," the Doctor admitted.

"Why is that?" Twilight asked.

"Bad memories."

Georgian Road, London, England, Earth, Autumn, 1987 A.D.

The Doctor and Rose stepped out of the TARDIS. The air was cool and breezy outside. The ship had parked in a small, concrete park situated between a patch of small trees and a road of apartments. Birds were chirping, music was emanating from a nearby radio, and the sound of children laughing could be heard in the distance. It was an average autumn day.

"It's so weird. The day my father died," Rose stated as a light breeze brushed against the strands of hair covering her face. "I thought it'd be sort of gloom and stormy. It's just an ordinary day."

"The past is another country. 1987's just the Isle of Wight," said the Doctor. "You're sure about this?"

"Yeah."

The Doctor and Rose quietly turned and walked around the bend. A series of apartment complexes stood across the street. A large, empty intersection stood in front of them. Rose began describing how her father died. The Doctor listened carefully. Pete had been late to a wedding and had gone to pick up a gift: a vase. He got out of his car and became victim of a hit and run. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was dead. He died alone, in the middle of that street. As Rose described the event to the Doctor, a small, green car pulled up and parked on the side of the road. Pete Tyler stepped out of the car. He was an average-sized man with a head of a light, red hair. He walked back to the back seat to grab the vase.

"Oh God, this is it," Rose sighed as a tan car came around the bend a little too quickly. The Doctor held onto Rose's hand tightly. Pete closed the door to the back seat and turned around just in time to see the car rushing towards him. Rose turned her head as the car collided with Pete Tyler's body.

Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 996 C.E.

Applejack trotted across the farm towards the grain silo. Johnny and Emily Apple were talking casually as they opened it with a set of keys. Applejack's heart was pounding. This was it. She was going to talk to her parents again...only they couldn't know who she was. She lowered Trixie's hat over her face as she drew close to them.

"Excuse me," said Applejack, trying to make her voice as deep as possible. Johnny and Emily turned around. They were honestly a little bit surprised by the appearance of the mysterious mare in the starry, purple getup.

"Yes?" Johnny asked.

"Are you Johnny and Emily Apple by any chance?"

"That would be us. And who might you be?" Emily asked with a smile.

"Ah...I'm just a fan. I've heard so much about your farm from friends up in Canterlot. I just had to see where all those delicious apples came from!"

"So you're from Canterlot?" Johnny asked. "Funny. We don't get many ponies from Canterlot here in little old Ponyville that often."

"Well...I'm not from Canterlot. I'm a traveler."

"Well I can see that! I know a southern accent when I hear one!" Emily stated. "I may be from Manehattan but I've spent enough time around this husband of mine and his folk to know how to recognize it. I can even speak it myself."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I try not to though because I don't want to lose my old Manehattan roots. I've attempted to teach my children some old Manehattan lingo but none of them are interested. They'd just prefer talking like their father here."

"And is that a bad thing?" asked Johnny with a teasing smirk.

"I haven't decided yet. Maybe dear Apple Bloom will have more of an interest in learning about my side of the family."

"She'll need to have a lot of patience for that."

"Oh shut up, you!"

Johnny and Emily turned back towards Applejack and blushed.

"Oh look at us! Joking around and taking up your time!" Johnny said as he walked over to a nearby barrel of apples. He plucked one, shiny, red apple from the barrel and tossed it to Applejack. Applejack caught the apple while making sure to keep her hat over her face. "It's on the house. No need to pay for it."

"Thank you," said Applejack.

"Is something wrong with your face, ma'am? You're keeping that hat over most of your head," Emily stated.

"Uh...yeah. Ah got myself into a bad patch of berries. It's not pretty. Trust me!"

"Oh. I've been there before. Well ah hope you have a safe journey and, when you return to Canterlot, make sure to thank your friends there for promoting us!" Johnny said as he disappeared into the grain silo.

"I'll make sure to do that!"

"Good day," said Emily.

"Good day, Mrs. Apple."

Emily disappeared into the grain silo and shut the door behind her. Applejack kept the apple close to her as she trotted back to the place where the others were hiding.

"So...how did it go?" Rainbow asked as Applejack took the hat and cloak off.

"Good. Better than ah expected it to go," Applejack replied.

"Whatcha got there?" asked Pinkie as she saw the apple.

"An apple. My father just gave it to me for free."

"They look like they were really nice ponies," said Twilight.

"They were...and they are."

"So is everypony ready to head home?" the Doctor asked suddenly. He didn't mean to blurt the question out like that but the uneasy feeling in his stomach was causing him to become paranoid.

"Uh...sure," Trixie said as she put her hat and cloak back on.

"I hope you don't mind me asking...but how exactly did your parents die, Applejack?" Rarity asked.

"How about we all talk about it in the TARDIS?!" the Doctor asked.

"Okay! Okay! We're going!" said Spike.

"Is something wrong, Doctor?" Derpy asked.

"I just think we should get out of here before anything goes awry," the Doctor replied. Just then, a loud band rang through the air. Everypony turned to see that a large storm cloud had appeared out of nowhere, above the grain silo. A group of pegasi were attempting to keep the cloud under control. From the looks of things, something had caused the cloud to go out of control. Lightning bolts were shooting out of the cloud like bullets. But that wasn't the biggest problem. The grain silo was on fire! Applejack's muscles tightened again. All of the memories were flooding back to her.

Applejack the younger and Big Mac had stopped working and were running towards the grain silo. Granny Smith was sitting on the porch with Apple Bloom looking on at the burning tower in horror.

"Applejack! Big Mac! Stay away from there!" Granny yelled. Big Mac stayed but Applejack the younger kept running.

"Mom! Dad!" she cried. Big Mac was forced to grab his younger sister and hold her down.

"It's too dangerous!" he stated.

"But! Mom and Dad! Ah saw them go in there! They're inside, Big Mac! We have to save them!"

A part of the grain silo's roof caved in. A group of pegasi tried to ward off the storm cloud while others tried to douse the fire. It was no use. The fire was clearly out of control.

"Oh Celestia, this is it," Applejack the elder stated. She tried to look away but she couldn't. Her parents were dying and she had to stand there and deal with that fact...or did she? Applejack turned back towards the Doctor. The Doctor could only think of Rose when Applejack turned back to face him.

"Applejack," he said. "Don't you da-"

Applejack didn't stick around to listen. She turned around and broke into a run, heading straight for the burning grain silo. The apple she had received from her father fell to the ground in front of the Doctor with a soft thud. The Doctor's eyes widened and one of his hearts skipped a beat as he took off after the earth pony.

Comments

[raqelita123]

DISASTER HAS STRUCK!!!!! THIS IS THE MOST WORST POSSIBLE THING

[MariusIoannesP]

At this point, it seems like a rehash of Father's Day with some moments from said episode to highlight the similarities. However, we will come to see that this story takes quite a clever turn with the concept.

[Hekate Sketch]

AJ, rule 2 of travel with the doc: always listen to him. with what you just did, you basically bitch-slapped time in the face. it will now want to correct this...in the form of Reapers! and with the reapers, comes this extroardinary offer of a holy church for safe haven from certain death! it can be yours, free! with a perchase of the doctor ceasing to exist! dont play dumbass AJ.

[TacoBlend]

"I have a bad feeling about this," the Doctor admitted.

"I don't sense anything," interjected Qui-gon Ginn.