The Start
Hazy early morning light broke over the land of Equestria. Night had passed and nothing had gone bump at all. There had been no fights, incidents, plague outbreaks, disasters or even minor arguments.
Needless to say, several eminent (and probably sleep-deprived) scientists were a bit worried.
In Ponyville, there is a tree into which some enterprising young pony built a house. A house which also functioned at the town library, since the townspeople had needed somewhere to store all those books that seemed to keep pilling up in a town. The library was currently the residence of one Twilight Sparkle, former faithful student to Princess Celestia. Or rather, it would have been the residence of one Twilight Sparkle, but she was elsewhere on buisiness.
Somepony was in the house though. In the spare bed, somepony was sleeping. Well, they were trying to sleep and not having a lot of success. Someone was trying to get their attention, and had been for several minutes. They were persistant.
"Whut?" groaned the pony occupying the bed.
"Are you awake yet?" said the pony not occupying the bed, who to spare on suspense shall now be revealed to be a young stallion.
The first pony didn't respond. But, since they were irritated by the question, they probably were up. This pony rolled out of bed, and turned towards the irritator, to see-
"Vanilla? What in the world are you doing here at...." the first pony, who it transpires is a mare, paused. Partially because Vanilla's reason for being there was obvious, but also because she wasn't sure what time it was. She looked around the room for a clock (there wasn't one) or a stash of watches (placed all around Ponyville, in case of watch emergency). She found one, and checked the time.
"What are you doing in here at eight thirty in the morning?" She checked that time again. Eight thirty, the watch said, with the little hand now slightly past the number six on the watch face.
"Why I am only now being woken up at eight thirty?" She asked, slowly aware of a pain in her head. Vanilla coughed.
"Well, you did ask me to wake you up at seven in the morning when you went out last night, but when I came to wake you up like you asked this morning, you were all" he did an imitation of her sleeping, showcasing his family talent for strangeness, "So I thought maybe I should let you sleep for a bit longer, because you really looked like you needed it" He grinned. Although he always grinned, so it seems a bit pointless to note that.
A quick check revealed that her head hurt, mostly likely a minor headache. And her eyes felt slightly singed as well.
"Vanilla, what exactly was I doing last night?" she groaned. His reaction was to blush. With his cream-colored coat, he looked rather like the current mayor of Ponyville.
"You were... standing on the tables in Sugarcube Corner." He said at a near whisper.
"Yes?" The mare said, moving towards the bathroom.
"And singing." The mare stopped dead.
"Singing what, exactly?"
"Something about hedgehogs. And how they were lucky, compared to certain other animals." She looked at the blush on poor Vanilla's face. Sometimes it was easy to forget he was rather young, considering how quiet and well-behaved he was, especially compared to his siblings.
"Sorry." she muttered. Clearly she'd been drinking, and after she'd promised herself not to. And poor Vanilla had heard her singing, and even worse singing that song. Memories of her making him promise to make sure she got home before two in the morning reared out of the haze. And of course Vanilla had obeyed his promise, like any member of his family would. Because breaking a promise could... no, no, she wasn't going to finish that though, just in case it summoned... Her.
The mare walked into the bathroom. As she brushed her teeth she stared at herself in the mirror. Aside from her hair, everything seemed fine. Her eyes were their normal shade of red and....
"My eyes are orange." she said, to no-one in particular. She sighed, and opened the small medicine cabinet above the sink. She browsed through it, hoping to find some eye drops, stopping only to look at one bottle which proclaimed
'Only to be used after Changeling attack / Pinkie Party'.
She frowned at that one and moved it aside. After several seconds she located the eyedrops.
*****
The stairs were a bit of a problem. She didn't trust her morning legs not to give out on her. It had been such a simple plan. Go round to Sugarcube Corner, have a drink, a bite to eat, maybe see whether she could still dance or not, then duck out before somepony brought out the sound system and the alcoholic beverages, go home, get some sleep and wake up feeling fresh as a daisy in the morning.
So clearly she'd decided just one little glass of cider wouldn't hurt without bothering to check whether it was alchoholic or not. Thank goodness Vanilla was a pony of his word. Though she was a bit unsure about the sore head, and was beginning to wonder how the stallion had 'convinced' her to leave Sugarcube Corner.
She slunk into the tiny kitchen, where Vanilla was cheerfully making something on the stove. A low groan from her indicated her presence as she slid onto a stool.
"Good morning." He chimed.
"What time did I get home at?" she slurred. Vanilla's everpresent smiled seemed to almost flicker, and he paused. His mane, a rather unusual bright purple, seemed to keep moving though, making her wonder whether she was actually sober yet.
"Before two in the morning." He said, though there was an odd nervousness to it. Then he returned to whatever he was preparing. Her only response was a groan, before burying her head in her legs.
There was a few draining noises, and the sound of something being placed in front of her. She looked up. An odd brownish liquid (well, it looked like a liquid) was in front of her. She stared at it, expecting some variety of strange noise to emenate from it. There were none, and she wasn't sure whether to feel safe or concerned about that. Focusing her disoriented magical mind, she lifted it towards her, and drank.
It did not have a charming taste. She coughed, sputtered, choked, and fell off her perch, before making several graphic comments, and banged her head against the table. After a few seconds of ominous quiet, she finally uttered
"Thanks, Vanilla." The cream-coloured pony merely said 'thank you. There was a sigh from under the table.
"Lot of work to do today." She said, calmly. She rolled onto her hooves, and wandered out into the front room. As she did, there was an odd crunching noise. She looked down.
"Vanilla?" She said, in as sweet a voice as she could managed.
"Yes?" came his voice from the kitchen.
"Why exactly are there lampshades lying on the floor?"
The stallion shuffled into the open doorway. He was blushing again.
"Ah, you see, well..." She raised an eyebrow.
"You were wearing them." He eventually got out.
"Them?"
He pointed. Aside from the one on the floor there was one on the coatrack, another on the otherwise completely unadorned hatrack (which in itself made no sense, as almost nopony in town wore hats, or any clothing at all. She had long ago just decided it was there to start conversations) and one last one was lying on top of a sofa, a massive tear going through it. Memories from last night were slowly coalescing in her head.
"Let me guess," she sighed, "This one is a loose fitting shirt, those two over there a coat and hat, and the one on the sofa my slinky evening dress."
"Yup." Beamed Vanilla. There was a brief pause.
"Do me a favour, hide them, won't you?" This time she didn't sound so sweet. If this was what the rest of her day was going to be like, it was going to be a long day.
*****
Outside she found her mood slightly improved by the nice smell that awaited her. Ponyville always smelt vaguely of apples, along with whatever the Everfree Forest it sat right next to happened to smell of. It smelt to her a lot nicer than boring old Canterlot air, which had always seemed to smell rather... doughy. She streched slightly, enjoying the feel of the morning sun on her back. The first point of business today was checking in the with the doctor. At a brisk walk it would take her five minutes to get there. She smiled. Five minutes getting there, five minutes dealing with the doctor, at the most, gave her plenty of time.
*****
The first thing that one thought about the Doctor's house was that it was blue. Very blue. Very, very, very blue. There was also a bit of black and white on the windows, perhaps just to distract from its sheer blue-ishness. It also seemed to be in a different place than it had been last time she'd visited, although that might have just been her imagination. She walked up to the door and knocked. There was no response. She knocked again. Still no response. She sighed, knowing full well that when she turned around the doctor would be behind her, and she would be smiling. She turned around.
"Hello" said the ginger-haired mare who was now standing in front of her, smiling a somewhat nervous smile. From her almost completely white wardrobe, she looked a bit like she'd been playing an early morning tennis game.
"Doctor, good morning"
"Morning." the ginger one said. Then they both stood there.
"Is there some reason you're here?" she said.
"Yes." For a moment the white-clad mare just looked confused.
"Oh, yes" she beamed, "That piece of paper that needed translating. Silly old me, forgot all about it. I'll just... step inside and get it." The Doctor zipped inside the blue (and rather box-shaped) house, closing the door behind her before she could see what was there, though she did hear an odd humming noise. After a few seconds, the ginger mare returned, a rolled-up scroll in her mouth. She set it down, allowing the unicorn to pick it up.
"All translated, right?"
"Oh, it took my T... ranslational abilites a bit of a go, but yeah, all translated. Why couldn't ancient ponies speak English, that's what I want to know."
"Translation skills?" said the unicorn, staring at the mare and her Cutie Mark, which was an hourglass, "That's your special talent?"
"My special talent, dear girl, is everything." The older mare said, with a large slice of unrestrained ego thrown in. Then her expression went dark.
"Except parallel parking. Never could figure that one out. Still, fifteen thousand years, I'll figure it out eventually" she smiled again. The unicorn mare was still staring at her.
"How can your talent be everything when you have an hourglass for a cutie mark?"
"Oh," the ginger earth pony laughed, "It's a long and boring and not very interesting story." She gave the unicorn a condescending pat on the head, "Don't you go worry your pointy head about it and start enjoying life" at which point the ginger mare calmly walked into her really blue house and closed the door. The unicorn stood there before remembering that she did have other things to do today. Using her magic she picked up the scroll, briefly bemoaning her lacking saddlebags to place it in, and set off back towards the library. She had her scroll, the key element of her plan. Her plan which she had so long considered, and now it was almost a reality. Unfortunately she was so distracted thinking of her plan that she walked into something. Or rather, someone. A yellow, slighty feathery someone. It was the mayor.
She'd rear-ended the Mayor. Utter panic gripped her.
"Oh." the mayor said, once she'd turned around.
"G' m'rning, m'm'" she muttered.
"I didn't know you were back in Ponyville." the mayor said politely. The unicorn gave no reason to indicate why.
"Is... is everything alright?"
"Y's." The mayor eyed the scroll the unicorn had dropped. Before the pink-maned mare could say anything else she quickly squeaked out a hurried goodbye, grabbed the scroll and rushed away. When she was absolutely certain she'd gotten away from the mare, she ducked into a small alleyway, and waited for her breath to come back.
Had anypony been there, they might have asked why she looked like she was trying desperately not to cry.
*****
Back inside the Doctor's 'house', the mare was pacing around the central room. Something was bothering her and she had no-one to explain everything to. It had started a short few minutes ago, when she'd picked up that odd scroll. It was the sort of thing she felt was going to lead to trouble, she just couldn't tell why.
*****
Meanwhile, a few short miles away in Canterlot, an incredibly important pony was waiting at the train station. True, she didn't actually need to wait for a train, she could just have teleported to where she wanted to go. But then she'd have to make several journeys for all her books, and that would wear her out. It wasn't that she was properly irritated yet, but she had expected the train to be on time, and now it was messing up her vacation schedule. After roughly ten more minutes of going over her schedule, her thought processes were interrupted by the train finally (Finally!) pulling into the station.
*****
Back in Ponyville, the unicorn mare quickly choked down a sandwich. Under normal circumstances she would have been quite happy to eat something more wholesome, like a salad, or perhaps a massive sandwich with a large helping of hay fries, but she was on a time limit, especially if the mayor knew she was in Ponyville. Finally gulping down the last chunk, pausing only to breath, she paid for it and made a largely restrained dash towards the local spa.
*****
The passengers slowly alighted from the train. She motioned to the helpful guards who had offered to help carry her luggage. She walked along the platform to her private carriage, entered and sat down on a rather comfy sofa. Focusing on one of the many bags filled with books, she lifted one chosen at random. She smiled as she saw which one it was. She hadn't read that in a while.
*****
"Well, vhat does madame think?" asked the suspciously-accented spa attendant. True enough she could have dyed her own hair, but the results were rather good. Her normally royal blue fur was now a light lilac colour, though her mane and tail still retained their original colour. Hopefully where she planned to go no-one would ask about that.
"It's exactly what I was hoping for." she remarked. This seemed to please the attendant. Money and goodbyes were exchanged. She stepped out into the street, feeling strangely excited. She was ready. The first part of the plan was over. However, she did also have a rising feeling in the back of her mind. She wandered to a tree near the front door to the spa, and looked for a hollow in it. She found it, and removed an emergency watch from it. What she saw chilled her blood. She was behind schedule. Quickly, she rushed back to the library.
*****
There was a knock on the door of her private carriage. She looked up from her book. A light blue-furred mare was standing there, her old and somewhat battered pointy hat slightly askew on her head.
"Guess who?" the mare smiled.
"Tricia." she tried not to smirk at the irritated expression on the mare's face.
"You know, fifteen years and I still have no idea how in Tartarus I got saddled with that name" She did a theatrical sigh.
"You don't mind me barging in here, do you?"
"No, no. Barge away."
"Thank you, Trixie shall" she sniffed, wandering over to where a complimentary bottle of wine rested, completely ignored and unwanted.
"Drink?" Trixie offered. She waved a hoof.
"Not before six PM" Trixie laughed at that. She briefly shot a glance at what the other mare was reading, then to the mare herself.
"Are you okay?" she asked. There was a sudden silence.
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, because frankly you look like crap."
She shuffled awkwardly, her wings fluttering against the back of the chair.
"I've... I've just got a lot on my mind, right now, is all."
Trixie just nodded slowly. If she noticed the undercurrent to her voice, she didn't seem to be making a big deal of it. Her eyes darted to the book.
"What's the book about?" she inquired.
"Oh, it's a Daring Do book" Trixie raised an eyebrow.
"Which one?"
A blush overcame the mare's face.
"Darin' Do and the Altar of Sacrifice."
Trixe's smirk grew. "Isn't that the one written by your favourite loudmouthed pegasus guardspony?"
"It might just be."
"... Is it any good?"
"Actually, it's not that bad. A few grammatical errors, one blatant self-insertion (oh, don't laugh), a few moments of preachy faux-philosophical nonsense, but apart from that it's... Readable."
There was a brief silence as the train hurtled across the countryside.
"Readable, eh? Is that your code for 'it's acceptable' or 'I will only read that again if I have brain damage'?"
"What exploded in your breakfast, Trixie?"
"I apologise, but you know Rainbow Dash and I get on like.... two things which do not get on."
"She's still holding a grudge?"
Trixie made a noise that seemed to be both a combination of laughter and sigh.
"Nopony holds a grudge like Rainbow Dash" she said.
*****
Back in Ponyville, the unicorn mare rushed about the library.
"Toothbrush, check"
Vanilla could only watch with growing trepidation. This seemed dangerous. Actually, this was a little beyond dangerous, this was some new sort of term that they didn't have a word for, but still clearly meant bad news for all involved. As he watched the now lilac-colored mare moving about he began to wonder. Maybe the stories he'd heard were true. No, he decided. Just because she was the daughter of one of the most powerful mares in Equestria didn't really mean she was anything like her. Although...
"Towel, check. Sponge, check. Toothpaste, check. Saddlebags, check." the unicorn rolled up the small checklist, eyeing it carefully. She didn't like checklists. She looked at the saddlebags, which were somewhat stuffed by now just with the essential items she would need.
"Everything on the list accounted for. Might as well get the wagon train rolling." She glanced briefly at a nearby clock.
Vanilla coughed.
"So, where are you going, exactly?"
She paused, and stared at him.
"I'm not sure." she said quietly. She stared down at her hooves.
"Maybe somewhere like Dodge Junction, or Appleoosa to start with. Somewhere where no-one expects 'great things' of me. Somewhere where nobody's heard of me, or my mom, or even cares who she is. Somewhere I can just start over, and... be me again."
Vanilla's cheerfulness, already at a worryingly low level by default, especially compared to his mother or his siblings, was near-gone. Maybe he could stop her, maybe he could talk her down.
"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" There was an odd look in her eyes. She was sad.
"No. But I don't really have a choice anymore" Her horn glowed, and a scroll lying next to her opened. She moved into the centre of a chalk-outline she'd had Vanilla draw while she was preparing for her journey. She chuckled, and smiled at him, though there was no joy in it, more like weariness.
"Wish me luck"
*****
The train slowly came to a halt in the Ponyville station, though Trixie did not.
"I cannot get over how fast these modern trains are. I remember when it used to take over two hours just to get to Canterlot. Now... it... it..."
"Yeah, I know. Does mean there's less time to read a book."
Trixie wasn't listening, she was sniffing the air.
"Ah, smell that air, that fresh countryside air. Smells like apples" She sniffed again. "Oh, and lemons today, it seems."
"So it does."
The two mares stood there.
"So, Trixie, how are you for lodgings for your stay in Ponyville?"
"Oh, if you're offering to let me stay in your library and reshelve books again, I am going to have to pass." She set off down the road, briefly pausing. "Though I might pop in and visit. If you're lucky"
"See you later Trixie"
"Be seeing you, Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight Sparkle motioned to the two guardponies, who picked up her luggage. It had been so long since she was last in Ponyville. So many years since she had first arrived, made her first friends outside of Spike and Cadance and her B.B.B.F.F. And it still smelt like apples. As she walked through the streets she smiled, thiking of hopping on bubbles made of swamp gas, Pinkie's parties (and there had been so many of those), foiling rampaging gods, messing around with temporal paradox, making friends with Zecora. And now...
"It's good to be home." Twilight Sparkle smiled.
*****
Something was wrong, seriously seriously wrong. Magical buildup was swarming through the room, and a strange wind had picked up. This wasn't how it was supposed to work at all. And now her horn was emitting a strange light.
*****
Twilight walked down the streets, admiring the scenery, and the things that had stayed the same, even after so long. Even though she'd only been away from the town for a few weeks, it still felt like an absolute lifetime. These days more than ever, she thought. She hoped Sugarcube Corner was open, though if she did get hungry she wasn't exactly about to starve. Half the street seemed to be cafes and bars and trendy little restaurants these days. It actually felt both comforting and alien at the same time, like returning to your house after being away for several weeks. And there was this odd static-y feeling in the back of her neck. Then she noticed something. Several ponies kept rushing past, headed in the same direction. They all looked alarmed.
"Nothing changes." she smiled. Then she saw the guard rushing towards her.
"Miss Sparkle, miss Sparkle!" he yelled, as he came closer.
"Something unusual is happening." He gasped, pointing a hoof in the direction he'd came from.
"You're new in Ponyville, aren't you?" Twilight chuckled, though this died out when she saw the look on his face.
"Where?" she said. The guard turned and ran down several streets, turning and twisting, a familiar route that was long since etched into Twilight's mind.
"Oh no" she whispered.
*****
The Ponyville library was still intact, she was surprised to discover. Apparently leaving it in Pinkie's supervision had been the right one. But then, Pinkie always kept her promises (Cross her heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, she had said) Twilight sheepishly noted she had raised her front left hoof, and gently put it back down to stare at the library again. An ominous white-blue glow was coming from the upper windows, and the whole tree seemed to be shaking. Twilight slowly walked towards it.
"HI TWILIGHT!" somepony yelled. She turned to see Pinkie Pie bouncing towards her. Apparently the mare had heard of the phrase 'aging gracefully' and decided she wasn't going to have any of it. She still look almost the same, the same hairstyle, same mad glint in her eyes, same smile (though there were a few wrinkles here and there, especially under the eyes). Behind her was dear Fluttershy (a re-union she sadly admitted she hadn't been looking entirely forward to given recent events) who kept shooting nervous glances at the library windows, as well as a few children with unmistakable bubblegum pink hairstyles like Pinkie, though Twilight had never felt brave enough to ask if they were all her actual children.
"Is this weird the minute you come back to Ponyville there's a big disaster and now we know you're here and we can throw a super-duper-happy-awesome welcome back party! once you've gotten rid of that problem whatever it is!" Pinkie said, not breaking stride for even a single second.
"Um, Twilight?" said Fluttershy, still alternating between staring at her old friend and the library, "What exactly is that?"
"I don't know yet." said Twilight. Pinkie gasped.
"I mean, it looks familar, I just... can't remember from where."
"I think I might be able to help." said a voice. All three mares turned to look. Doctor Whooves was standing there, a look of complete shame on her face. Pinkie cheered at what she'd said.
"You see, a few days ago a young mare came to me, asking for my help translating an ancient scroll she'd found. And to put a mildly dull story short, I did." She stopped. The three mares continued staring at her.
"And?"
"Well, I wasn't entirely satisfied with my translating, which was not my fault, you ponies speak such strange mishmash languages, and... well..."
"Yes?" Said Fluttershy.
There was a sudden bang as the upper window of the library shattered. They could now hear somepony screaming.
"What was it a spell for?" Yelled Twilight.
"Time travel. One way." the ginger-haired mare blurted.
There was a crash from the upper floor.
Pinkie moved towards the mare, fury blazing in her eyes, a rare and always alarming sight.
"My. Son. Is. In. There." she hissed.
"I didn't think anypony would actually be mad enough to use it!" though even to the ginger mare it sounded hollow.
Twilight hadn't been listening. She was by the door. She lowered her horn to the lock. A brief flash of magic was followed by the door unlocking, at which point she kicked the door in. A cream coloured stallion dashed out.
"Vanilla!" cried Pinkie, hugging her twenty-third child.
"I'm sorry, she just showed up a few days ago, wouldn't say why, just said she wanted to get away."
"Who?"
"Twilight Sparkle's daughter."
*****
Twilight found it hard to move, like walking through swamp mud, each step seemed to take more and more effort, and the wind, if it was wind, was stinging her eyes. And that strange light was making it hard to see. She remembered the time she had used a time-travel spell. It had only worked for a minute and a half, and hadn't needed anywhere near this level of buildup. Gradually she forced her way across the room, dodging flying books and furniture, slowly moving up the stairs. She opened the door to the bedroom, and quickly jumped through.
The light was really building, but she could see the outline of a mare in the middle of the room, the light pouring forth from her horn. She moved closer, outright ignoring the wind now. And then she got to the mare.
"Twinkle?"
"I'm sorry." the young mare whispered.
"What have you done?!" She didn't finish, as there was an amazingly bright flash, and a blast. She felt herself thrown against the wall, and she was certain she heard a scream.
After a few moments, she heard hoovesteps. Pinkie and Fluttershy, no doubt. She opened her eyes again, ignoring the swirling patterns of light. As her vision improved, she could see the remains of a chalk outline in the floor, and in the exact centre of it, four burnt-in hoof-prints.
"Oh no" that was Fluttershy speaking.
"What happened?" gaped Pinkie Pie.
"She's gone..." Twilight whispered.
"She's gone."
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Critique. Doctor Whooves is a Stalion. Not a mare. Unless this is a Rule 63 Universe.
2081953 I was going by the idea that at some point 'he' regenerated and switched genders, as time lords apparently can do.
female ginger doctor
well the doctor wanted to be ginger so he got it
I like it, but it really does need some more spacing between paragraphs. It made it a little hard to read.
And also, some context here or there, as in, why is the doctor a female ginger now (I assume that in the time travelling backwards, we end up seeing it somehow. If that is the case, well played.)
2083739 Has that actually 8een shown in the canon? I only know of three time lords who have actually regener8ted within the canon, although I've only seen the first three series of the original, assorted other episodes, and all of NuWho.
~Vriska Serket
4695334 unrelated to the story but...
Spider troll is best troll.
I thought the Doctor was a man.
4695334 Uh yes. In "The Doctor's Wife" it mentiones a Timelord switching genders. So it is indeed possible, and if switching to a race with a skewed gender ratio, it kinda makes sense.
This is written in a very disorienting way. Not confusing, I understood what was going on quite well, just jumbled and disorienting. Still, not too bad for a first time.
her twenty-third child
With who. Flutters, Cheese Sandwich, Rarity...Who is the father/second mother.
