Doctor Whooves: The Secret of Butterfly Island

by Cyan Hide

The Secret of Butterfly Island Part 1

Ponyville. It was a quaint little village, steeped in history and tradition. It had a reputation of being full of eccentric simple folk. It was a very...innocent place. Equestria as a kingdom was an innocent place, full of ponies happily going about their daily business. Even if they know of the evils that lurk outside their borders, they don’t let it get them down, but keep a vigilant eye on them. It was peaceful, and that’s why a certain traveller of time and space thought it a good place to let raise his granddaughter while he spent his time running. Running from his own race. One day they caught him, and would let him off for the plethora of his crimes against Gallopfreyan law, on one condition...

Colgate sat at her desk, studying this piece of text. It told of a legend of a few higher beings that have stood guard over the world. Only one of them has been known to regularly inhabit one place. The island was called Butterfly Island, and there were apparently no records of it on any map of Equestria or beyond. One line caught her eye; “If you wish for something hard enough, a guardian just might appear...and help you discover the power to make your dreams come true.” She looks up. ‘So that’s why he wants them. What is he up to?’ Colgate’s train of thought was cut short by a knock at the door. She closed the book and got up to answer the door. It was Derpy Hooves, the mailmare. She was always a cheerful soul. Colgate had never seen her unhappy. Every day, she delivered the mail with a smile on her face. Colgate nodded happily, and took her mail. Her eyes went wide.
Derpy looked down at her mail bag. ‘Ooh, goody! It was empty! Work’s over, and me time can start,’ she thought. Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her.

“Hey, wait!”
The Pegasus looked behind her to see the blue, blue and white maned unicorn cantering towards her. Derpy noted that her cutie mark was the same as the symbol on the letter; an hourglass.

“Where did you get that letter?” The unicorn asked.

A brown earth pony pokes his head out from a blue box, and looks around, his ear twitching. Somepony has been talking about him...concerned; he retreats into the blue box. Shortly after, there is a knock on the door. He reaches up and pulls down a TV screen suspended from the ceiling. It’s Colgate!
...And the Mailmare’s with her.

With a sigh, he pulls a lever and the doors open. Colgate trots in; trots right up to the colt and hugs him.

“Doctor! I’m so glad to see you!”

“You too, my dear! How on Equestria have you been? Never mind. We can talk later. Did you read my letter?”

“Um, no. I didn’t get the chance too...”

Derpy was not paying attention to this conversation. She was too busy admiring what lay in front of her. It was a grand spectacle. Glowing white and green panels on the walls, several doorways and catwalks leaving the room, and of course, the massive central column, towering up to the ceiling, and it’s extremely complex looking control panel. The biggest anomaly to her, however, was

“It’s bigger on the inside!”

The Doctor turns away from his conversation with Colgate.

“Ah, yes. It is impressive, and jarring to those not used to it. It’s called the TARDIS. That’s Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. This is Colgate, my granddaughter, though she lives in Ponyville. I take it you two know each other. Now, Colgate. You were saying you had found a book. Do you have it?” Colgate shuffles her hooves nervously.

“Sorry, Doctor.”

“Never mind. I’ll go get it.”

The Doctor trots out of the TARDIS, leaving Colgate and Derpy alone. Colgate speaks up.

“...So what do you think?”

“What is that thing?” She replies, pointing at what looks like a tall pillar-like coffee machine.

“Oh, that’s the food synthesiser. Anything you want, that can synthesise.”
Derpy trots over to it, and pushes a few buttons, a ding ringing out and the slider opening to reveal a muffin.

“So can this create anything at all, or is it just a muffin button?”

“Any food, any drink. Whatever you want. Isn’t it neat?”

At this moment, the Doctor comes in, with an apple in his mouth, which he spits into his hoof.

“Some little filly wouldn’t leave me alone unless I bought an apple. Oh well, an apple a day keeps...”
He clears his throat and puts the apple down, taking the book out of his tail.

“I read it on the way here. If they can indeed grant wishes, then the Master must not be allowed near them.”
The doctor begins cantering round the control panel, pressing switches and pulling levers. Colgate goes to speak. The Doctor stops her.

“I know what you’re going to say, my dear, and the coordinates are on the back of the book, in Gallopfreyan. The higher beings have always had close ties to Rassilon himself.”

“Actually, Doctor, I was going to ask if it’s a good idea to bring Derpy along.”
Derpy is halfway through eating her muffin. She swallows what she has in her mouth and speaks.

“But I want to come! I do! Oh, please let me stay...”
The doctor smiles, and begins cantering round the controls, pushing and pulling the same childlike glee that he had when he first used the TARDIS, the two mares beaming as they set off.

Thistle Whistle was looking out over the gleaming sea. It was a beautiful place. The dense, lush forests filled with colourful and exotic flowers, the rivers, the noise of the waterfall, the sandy beaches, and the picture perfect red sky with a setting sun, accented by a rainbow. Why would anypony want to go anywhere but Butterfly Island? Besides, she hated travelling, and she was...afraid...of clouds. She had friends here, but she still felt...inadequate, and less of a Pegasus then them. They would love to adventure and make new friends. But she does not. Nope. No-sir-ee! She stops. There’s a noise. A strange noise, coming from near the waterfall. Could it be visitors? If there’s one thing Thistle Whistle didn’t like, it was change. She was happy the way she was.

The Doctor opens the doors, and the two mares peek out with a few stifles ‘oohs and ‘aahs. It was a beautiful and magnificent sight, definitely worthy of such a powerful and majestic creature as a guardian. They were a race, the doctor said, that were older than Alicorns, and much older than Time Lords.

“Well, we’re here,” the Doctor said, and gestured the mares to leave. They needed no persuasion. They galloped out like two fillies on their birthday. The doctor chuckled, and followed them out.

Thistle Whistle watched the strangers from the bushes. There was a pegasi, a wingless pegasi and a horned wingless pegasi, and they all just came out a box that could barely hold all three of them. She had a bad feeling about these ponies. She had better tell Starcatcher. She backs away slowly.

*Snap!*

“What was that?” asked Colgate, looking to where the sound was coming from. She used her magic to part the bushes, revealing the blue coated, pink and yellow maned pegasi pony, who whistles nervously and shrinks down. Derpy trots to her.

“It’s ok. We’re friends.”

“Friends? No-sir-ee! I’ve never seen you before. Nope.”
The odd Pegasus gallops away and Derpy immediately follows.

“Hey, wait up!”
The Doctor and Colgate watch them go. The doctor chuckles and starts trotting uphill.

“Well, the mailmare has found a friend.”

“Who was that Pegasus?”

“I imagine a resident of the island. Not a guardian, just a regular Pegasus. I imagine there are more pegasi further up the island.”

“Well, you can find Starcatcher, but I doubt the Master would be that way. If he’s here at all. I’m going to do a sweep of the island, just in case.”

“Good thinking my dear. Be careful, and if you see him, come straight back to me.”
The doctor kisses Colgate on the forehead and she canters off. The doctor sighs, and continues on uphill.

Thistle Whistle stops, out of breath. Derpy catches up to her.

“You’re right. We aren’t friends yet. Let me introduce myself. My name’s Derpy Hooves. What’s yours?”
Thistle Whistle shuffles her hooves and whistles nervously.
“I’m Thistle Whistle.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. Tell me about yourself.”
Thistle Whistle looks up at the happy, smiling Pegasus. The other pegasi on the island were always saying she should make more of an effort. She nervously whistles.

“Well, I don’t like going to new places. I don’t like meeting new people. I really don’t like clouds. Nope. Don’t like clouds...What about yourself? Let’s talk about you.”

“Well, I like everypony, I like delivering mail, I like muffins, and I love smiling! When you smile, you make everypony else happy!”

“Huh.”
The Pegasus whistles again. They were almost polar opposites. This was going to be a long conversation...

Starcatcher, the butterfly winged guardian, was sitting aside a ledge, staring straight down into the sea. The Doctor approaches her. She turns round.
“Greetings, Doctor. Rassilon told me you would be come. He told me there was a renegade who had his eye on this island by the name of The Master.”
“That’s right, Starcatcher. He might be planning to make a wish.”
“It does not work like that.”
“Forgive me, Starcatcher, but how does it work?”
Starcatcher pauses. It wasn’t that it was a difficult question to answer; it was that it was a difficult answer to give to a stranger.

“Well, if one truly wishes hard for something, I have the power to grant that wish. It cannot be anything selfish or evil. I must consent to grant it. This Master will not be able to get me to grant his wish. He cannot even hypnotise me. Guardians are higher beings than Time Lords. We can resist such techniques.”

“Be careful. He always has a trick up his sleeve. There are few as crafty and devoid of morality as him. I’d even test a theory out, but I do not wish for nothing hard enough. Just...make sure not to ‘humour him’, and if you do, make sure you know damn well what he’s wishing for. No loopholes.”

“I will keep that in mind, Doctor.”

“Thank you, Starcatcher. Oh, one more thing, before I explore this island and meet the rest of the pegasi; where did the pegasi come from? Did they fly here? There are no males. If they were born here, then...where are the males?”

“You are quite bright, Doctor. There is a magical passage through the waterfall. Our males are warriors. They fly off to fight.”

“I see...and do they never fly to land the normal way?”

“Normal way? Ah, you mean flying from this island to another landmass?”
Starcatcher paused, and looked puzzled.

“That thought has never occurred to me before, but it should have...”

“...A perception filter! This was a Time Lord’s doing! But why?”
Starcatcher turned away, deep in thought. It was clear she had nothing to say on the matter, or at least nothing she wanted to share. The Doctor sighed, and headed back inland. He was going to investigate this.

The Doctor trots onto the beach. It is now just past dusk, and the air is crisp and salty from the sea. It was also bloody cold! The Doctor reaches the water’s edge. ‘So there is likely a perception filter at play here. Is the Master behind this? What is he trying to hide beyond here?’ The doctor begins to wade through the cold, crystal clear sea. When he can no longer wade, he begins swimming. He’s out a fair couple of meters now...

Pain! Sudden pain ripped across every cell in his body. It felt like he was in the process of being erased. It was one of the most unpleasant feelings he had ever felt, and there were a lot to choose from. In a spit second, he instinctively moved back. Safe, at least he was safe. His vision was going blurry. That was NOT a good sign...

Colgate emerged from the bushes, at the very same beach, having finished her sweep for the Master but having found nothing. She sees the doctor writhe in pain, then lost consciousness and sink.

“DOCTOR!”

Author's Note:

I had fun writing this, and I write for fun, but any constructive criticism is welcome. I'm always looking to improve.

Updates won't be regular. The only promise I can make is that part 2 will get done in the month. Hopefully.

Comments

[YatzSliversword]

Finally a G3 fic, with Star Catcher no less! Very nice! Please continue.