> Mad Mare With a Box. The Twilight Time Lord
>  by Snow ghost pony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the edge of time and space stood the Doctor and his TARDIS. The Doctor opened the smaller door that housed the phone and placed a book.

"Time Travel: A Guide and History" by John Smith

"I guess this is it, old girl." The Doctor said. "All this running coming to a sudden end."

The Doctor closed the small door and placed his hand on the frame.

"Who'd have thought that after all the times I saved the universe, that it would still be on the verge of destruction? I sure didn't. Where would it be without me?"

The Doctor looked up at the windows. They glowed with a warm, welcoming light.

"Without us....All of this hasn't been without it's cost. I'm old, with more scars on my hearts than stars in the sky. And you..."

The Doctor traced his finger accross the cracks on the windows.
"Oh, my TARDIS...My beautiful, sexy TARDIS...You've endured it all with me. Never leaving my side. I could never have asked for anyone better to have traveled the oceans of time and space with me."

The Doctor kissed the door of the TARDIS and stepped back, turning away from the TARDIS. He felt the warm tears falling down his face.

"Now it's time for me to save the universe one last time. To make the ultimate sacrifice for the existence of everyone I have ever loved. I hope you will forgive me."

The Doctor took a few steps away from the TARDIS. He turned and took out his sonic screwdriver. He pointed it at the TARDIS.

"Fly away, my sexy girl. Find yourself a new Thief."

With that the Doctor used his screwdriver. The TARDIS dematerialized.

"...I love you..."
The TARDIS tumbled through the time vortex. Grieving her Thief through all of time and space. There's no way to know how long she grieved. Stars were born and died. Civilizations rose and fell. Yet she paid them no mind and kept crying her non-physical tears.

The TARDIS fell through the many cracks in the universe that were being sealed with the Doctor's blood. The blood of a good, kind man. The blood of the universe's savior.

The universe in where she finally landed seemed to radiate with Artron energy. There must be a Time Lord here.

Where ever she landed was dark and seemingly deserted. Until one day there was a light. A purple unicorn descended the stairs and began to work at a chemistry set. The unicorn paid the TARDIS no mind. She just continued to work until she was satisfied that she had accomplished her task. She turned to leave but stopped. Had she noticed the TARDIS at last?

Suddenly the book that had fallen out of the TARDIS was wrapped in a purple glow and brought towards the unicorn's face. She stared at it for a moment, puzzled. She shrugged and retreated upstairs, taking the book with her.

The lights in the TARDIS windows dimmed to a faint blue as the TARDIS waited. Alone.
> Chapter 1; The Revelation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Twilight, please!"

"NO! I DON'T WAN'T TO HEAR IT!"

The sounds of arguing could be heard throughout the castle as a group of ponies struggled to reason with a purple unicorn. Just hours before, the unicorn had managed to expose the plot to take over Canterlot by Queen Chrysalis and saved the city.  But it had come at a high cost that the others didn't know about as Twilight refused to tell them. She hadn't even left her room after walking out of the hospital...well more like running while crying her eyes out. Just a few minutes before, the doctors had given her news that had pretty much ruined her entire life. Chrysalis's final spell hadn't been meant to physically harm her. Instead it destroyed her connection to the very thing she had devoted her life to studying, her magic. She could never use or access magic ever again.
She sobbed into her pillow, desperately wishing that her friends would just leave her alone while she tried to pick up and fix both her broken mind and heart.

"Come on Twi!" Rainbow Dash called into the locked room, "So you got hit with that spell, big deal. Knowing you and your egghead brain, you can probably study it and be even better at casting shield spells." THAT was what finally sent her over the edge.

"YOU DAMN SELF-ABSORBED, PIG HEADED, FEATHER BRAINED JACKASS!” cursed Twilight. “JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!"

Everypony present just stood there, shocked at the words that came out of the unicorn’s mouth. Twilight had never cursed before, not even when she was angry. This was even more serious than they had thought.

"Twilight! Watch your language!" Rarity spoke once she registered those words.

"Oh, go bother somepony who cares! Your nagging certainly didn't help when I was fighting for my life!" Twilight roared through her tear-filled rage.

The other girls were shocked once she said that.

"What are you talking about Twilight?" Fluttershys shy voice spoke out, concerned for the sobbing unicorn.
Twilight didn’t answer.

"My little ponies," said a gentle, motherly voice from behind them as Princess Celestia walked up "Perhaps we should give her some space at the moment."

The rest of the ponies followed her back to the throne room, too shocked to say anything along the way. All of them had one thing on their minds: ' what was she talking about?'

They reached the throne room and saw that all of Twilight’s family had gathered there, along with Princess Cadence and Luna.

Applejack was the first one to speak up, "What the hay just happened?"

Luna looked at them with tired eyes and wearily said "We do not know much, only that whatever's happened has caused young Twilight Sparkle great distress,"

"No offense Princess, but that much was kinda obvious." Dash said, rolling her eyes, and yelping when AJ punched her in the side.

"We shall soon know. I have sent the guards to fetch the doctor that treated her, they should be arriving any second now." The lunar princess was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Ah, there they are now."

The door opened and revealed a guard and the doctor, the latter looking both solemn and nervous at the same time.

The guard spoke first, "Your highness, I went to find Twilight Sparkle and was informed that she left for Canterlot station."

Celestia's eyes widened and she ordered, "Follow her to make sure she stays safe."

The guard saluted and left the room, leaving the doctor behind.

"Doctor I.V., can you tell us what happened after Twilight was treated?" asked Celestia.

"Yeah,” Dash cut in, “she blew up at me when I mentioned her getting better at spells, what's her problem?"

He cleared his throat as he prepared to speak, glaring at Dash as he did.

"Her problem is that the Queen’s spell wasn't meant to be lethal, it was meant to destroy her magic reserves and permanently cripple her."

Everypony froze as the horrible realization set in.

"You mean..." began Celestia

I.V nodded, his face grim. "She can never use magic again."

> Chapter 2; The Broken Tooth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2
Golden Oaks Library was normally a picture of cleanliness and organization. This was due to the fact that it was Twilight Sparkle's home for the past year, but now it was a wreck as said purple unicorn tore through it in an attempt to find the book that might solve her problem.
"Where is it?" She screamed in frustration of her fruitless search.
"Who." hooted her owl assistant Owlowisious.
"The book!" Twilight all but screeched as she tore through books at speeds that would make Rainbow Dash jealous.
She whipped her head around to look at Owlowisious and froze as a book cover entered her vision. Owlowisious looked a bit smug as he dangled the book that she had been looking for in front of her, highly amused at the dumbfounded look on the purple unicorn’s face that slowly spread into a grin that threatened to overtake it. She snatched the book from the owl and started practically dancing around the piles of books to the table, making an even bigger mess as she slammed the book down on the table, causing inkwells and stacked books to fall off.
"Starswirl the Bearded should have the answer!" Twilight quickly opened the book to the page with magic curses and drainage. Her excitement quickly turned to despair at the passage.
Although I have extensively studied the matter of unicorns having their magic cut off or removed, it was in a vain attempt to find a way to restore the magic they held. Once cut off or removed, a unicorn cannot have their magic connections reactivated. All attempts to do so have led to one of three results: nothing happening, becoming comatose, or death. Thus I am forced to cease this area of study. Though it pains me to admit, those poor souls will never cast even basic levitation ever again. The only thing that will help a magic-less unicorn is removing the horn to prevent magical build up in the brain that will eventually kill them.
Twilight stared at the passage, her earlier elation now turned to horror.
“R-r-remove my horn?”
The horrible thought echoed through her head. The very idea sent tremors down her spine and made her sick to her stomach. Removing her horn would mean removing everything that she stood for. Her horrified staring quickly turned to rage.
“RAGH!” she slammed the book shut, then turned around and punched the shelf behind her.
WHAM!
She yelped in both pain and surprise at the impact before she blacked out.
When she woke up, Owlowisious was staring down at her, worry clear in his big yellow eyes.
“I’m okay, Owlowisious.” Twilight groaned as she sat up, “But what hit me?”
She looked beside her and saw a book, the same book she had found in the basement several months ago.
“Time travel by John Smith?”
She picked the book up only to have something fall out of the cover. Twilight quickly grabbed it and took a look. Her confusion only increased as she realized that it was a key.
“What’s a key doing in a book on time travel?” she asked herself out loud.
She licked her lips as she started to contemplate the possible reasons, only to stop as she felt her top teeth. She looked back down at the spot her head had been, which confirmed her suspicions. Twilight groaned as she saw the piece of the tooth on the floor.
“Great. Now I have to go get this fixed.” She started to grab her saddlebags and bag of bits but paused when she picked up the book and key.
“Might as well take it with me. Gives me something to read during the wait.”
Now ready to go, she turned around and started walking towards the door, unaware that she had activated the key.
In the basement the blue box that had mourned for all of time was jolted out of its grief. Its key had been found by someone. Now it just needed to wait for them to find its doors and steal them away.
Twilight walked towards the dentist’s office, her recent discoveries still weighing heavily on her mind.
‘What am I going to do if I can never use magic again? What can I do?’ Her thoughts then went to the book. ‘Why would a book on time travel have a key in it? Never mind that, who is John Smith? That doesn’t sound like a pony name. But it-’
She was jolted out of her thoughts by a sudden pain in her muzzle as she ran into the sign for the dentist. Twilight shook the stars out of her vision and entered the dentist office.
“Welcome to Colgate’s Dentistry, where we make your teeth shine in ten Minuettes or less!” A blue unicorn with a half blue, half white mane greeted brightly. “Oh, hello Twilight.”
“Hey Colgate, how are you?” Twilight asked conversationally.
“Great! So what brings you here?” the dentist asked curiously. As far as she could tell, Twilight took as much care of her teeth as she did everything else. She also didn’t have an appointment for another one month...two days three hours and forty-three minutes. So what was she doing here?
“I had an accident and broke my tooth,” Twilight stated, opening her mouth to show her, “I know I don’t have an appointment, but do you have the time to fix it?”
“I have the time!” The blue unicorn was practically jumping like Pinkie Pie in a sugar rush.
Twilight was so startled that she jumped backwards a good three feet.  Colgate looked really sheepish.
“Sorry, it’s just that most of the other ponies don’t care enough to visit and get their teeth checked. I’ve only had a total of twelve customers, and they all had terrible excuses as to why they didn’t brush their teeth.” Sighed Colgate.
She really loved being a dentist, but the lack of work prevented her from making a lot of money to keep her house and shop aloft. She even had to take a second job making and tuning clocks.
“But enough about my problems! Let’s get that tooth fixed!” Colgate said, beaming.
Twilight removed her saddlebags and put them on the table beside her then slid into the dentist chair. Colgate quickly got to work on the tooth, using her magic to fix the break and doing a bit of a check-up while that was happening.
“Okay…just got to put the tooth back in place.. aaannndd… done!”  She put her tools away and pulled out a mirror. “You just have to stay here for a few minutes so I can make sure that it’s repaired properly, and then you can be on your way!”
Twilight looked in the mirror that she had been provided and grinned. You couldn’t even tell that the tooth had been broken in the first place!
“Wow! It looks good as new! I can’t wait to tell my...friends...”
The dentist looked concerned as her patients enthusiasm faded to the same mood she had outside.
“What's wrong?” Colgate inquired.
Twilight sigh and simply told the entire story to her. The blue unicorn listened intently as Twilight relayed the events from the day before and earlier that day to her. She simply sat there and waited as the distraught purple unicorn poured everything out. Colgate was almost brought to tears when Twilight informed her of her condition. After all, a unicorn without their horn is like a pegasus without it’s wings.
Colgate just sat there in shock for a few seconds, then pulled Twilight into a hug. She tried as hard as she could to help ease the pain the poor girl felt.
Her friends had always been helpful and faithful to her and this was how she repaid them? By being extremely rude to them, insulting and ridiculing them to their faces, and going to someone who didn’t know her half as well for comfort? Twilight had finished her rather embarrassing cry, but remained in the hug, grateful for it’s comfort.
"Well, I don't pretend to be an expert on these things, but it sounds like both you and your friends mucked it up big time." Colgate replied, still holding the other mare in a tender embrace. "They should've asked about the problem and you should of let them try to help."
"I *sniff* know! but I was just so mad and...and, first, they walk out on me when I was trying to warn them about the invasion, then I get told that I can't ever use magic again. *sniff* Now I have to c-c-cut off my horn because the very thing I devoted my life to studying is now *sniff, sniff* killing me. I just needed to get away from everything, so I came home.  I was just gonna find how to fix my magic and everything would be ok. Until I found that passage." Twilight stopped before she went into another crying fit.
Twilight just sat there, thinking about the passage that had ruined her life, not even hearing Colgate talking.. She did, however, notice when the blue unicorn stopped talking and started staring at her saddlebags.
"Colgate?" She asked, curious as to why the other mare had stopped talking.
Colgate didn't answer. She instead used her magic to pull out the book and key that Twilight found earlier.
Colgate just stared at the book in obvious interest and asked, "Twilight, Where did you get these?"
"That book fell on my head and broke my tooth and the key was inside. Why?" Twilight asked, confused as to why her friend was acting odd.
"They're radiating Artron energy." Colgate answered still gazing at the book.
"Artron energy?" Twilight asked, her natural curiosity getting the better of her.
"Artron energy is the energy that is associated with travel through the time vortex.. In other words time travel energy." Colgate told her. "Where did you find this?"
"In my basement, why?"
"Because I'll bet that wherever this came from is in there. Let's go check it out!"
Colgate was getting excited, not only because she was going on an adventure, but because the Artron energy radiating from the key was acting like a shot of espresso to her.
Twilight retrieved her bags, then both unicorns walked back to the treehouse. When they arrived, Twilight put her saddlebags aside.
In the basement the blue box was waking up. The key was near and getting closer. It was only a matter of time before she stole them and begun surfing the time vortex once more.
"The basements this way." The purple unicorn said, already going down the stairs.
Colgate followed her down, the feeling of Atron energy increasing with each step she took. There was certainly something down here, they just needed to find it.
"Okay, something's definitely down here. Let's split up and find it." Colgate said to Twilight, getting a nod of agreement.
Twilight took the left side, Colgate took the right. As they searched, Twilight thought about where she found the book. Maybe that would be a good place to look. Or maybe she should have turned the lights on, she thought irritably after tripping over a couple beakers and bumping into a wall.
She began grumbling to herself but froze. Wait, she didn't have wooden walls in the basement. They were all stone.
"Colgate, can you get the lights?  I think I may have found something." The librarian called to her friend, and turned around to see what she had run into. The lights came on and her excitement was quickly replaced with confusion.
Sitting right in front of her was…..a box. It was tall and blue, with a light on the top. The words “POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX” were displayed on the top, above two little windows. There was an open panel on the front that had instructions and a strange device which Twilight had never seen before. There was also a lock.
'Well that was anticlimactic.’ thought Twilight. ‘I was expecting something else. And how did this get into my basement?'
Her attention was shifted to a light coming through the keyhole.
'Wait, a lock? Maybe the key I found earlier goes in there.' Twilight thought with excitement.
She grabbed the key and put it in the lock. The last thing she saw before blacking out was a bright flash of golden light.
> Memories of the Mad Man
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Darkness. Everywhere there was quiet darkness. Then a golden light appeared that seem to flow like a liquid. From that point stepped a tall creature that walked on two legs and was wearing a lot of clothes.

"Hellooo?" said the creature. "Oh, there you are."

The creature walked closer and knelt down. Its eyes looked both welcoming and exhausted.

"A little horse? A pony, even. I didn't see that coming. Oh TARDIS, you do have an eye for the weird ones. Let's see...Oh, you are intelligent. That's good. Very intelligent in fact, one of the smartest...Twilight Sparkle...Good name."

The creature stood up and began to pace as he talked.

"Well, Ms. Sparkle. I'm the Doctor and you're unconscious. All of this, including me, is a dream. Weeell, actually it's a sort of message thing I'm leaving for those who find the TARDIS."

With that the blue box from the basement appeared behind the Doctor. He looked at it.

"Ain't she a beaut'? Anyway, I sent the TARDIS away because...well because I had to die to save the universe. I couldn't just leave her there. Yes HER, the TARDIS is very much alive and she is beautiful. I sent her to find a new person, or pony in this case, to travel with. This is where she ended up."

The blackness became the basement. The Doctor walked up to the TARDIS and opened the doors. The same golden light from before began to flow out. The Doctor turned around.

"I fitted the doors of my TARDIS with a chameleon arch. This won't sound familiar yet, but long story short, it stored all my memories and blasted them into your pony noggin. Normally this would kill any normal creature but I'm clever. I fixed the chameleon arch to do a little extra. It gave you the mental capacity of a Time Lord. Don't worry about what a Time Lord is, they kinda die with me. Just take my TARDIS and go. Bring her to see the universe. My TARDIS is in your hands...or hooves. Good luck."

Everything faded back into darkness as Twilight awoke. She was back in the basement and had a wicked headache.

"Oohh, what the heck was that?" She groggily asked.

"Twilight! Twilight!"

Colgate's worried voice blasted her out of her daze. She turned around just in time to get a face full of blue and white fur. Colgate was hugging her and practically smothering her in worry, while Twilight just stared at the box. Was the being just a dream? She was snapped out of her thoughts when the key in her hoof gave a pulse, bringing her attention to it. It was giving off a bright glow and seemed to be nudging her towards the box.

Twilight hesitated, torn between staying and trying to find a cure or satisfying her curiosity of this box... TARDIS...the creature had called it a TARDIS.. Eventually, her curiosity won out. Colgate jumped a bit in surprise when Twilight suddenly stood up and made her way to the half open door of the box. She carefully pushed it open, but there was no flash this time, and then she saw the interior. Her jaw dropped as she saw the very laws of physics be broken in her own basement, a feat she thought only Pinkie Pie was capable of accomplishing.

"I-I-it's bigger on the inside!" was the first thing that Twilight had the ability  to say as she just stood there dumbfounded at the sheer impossibility that was in front of her.

The ceiling alone had to stand at least twenty feet high, and the walls were impossibly far apart. Her stupefied state didn't last long, as a sharp pain in her head forced her to the ground with a yelp of pain. Her mind was suddenly filled with memories and knowledge that didn't belong to her, and at the same time did. The basics of the TARDIS controls then got shoved to the front of her mind, making her moan in pain.

The pain stopped as the memories slowed, and the unicorn was able to stand up again. Twilight stood up on wobbly hooves, her balance a little skewed as she now had memories of how to walk on two legs. Then she realized what she now had at her disposal. Twilight gave a grin that rivaled that of Pinkie Pie, as she started contemplating on how to use the TARDIS. The Doctor had told her it was now hers, and from the looks of the memories, it could go anywhere and most importantly anywhen.

Twilight was in a better mood now than she had been for the past few days. She now had a way to explore and learn even more about both history and the universe than books could supply. Her new memories indicated a library on board, so she definitely wouldn't run out of reading material. As it was, she now had a mental processing and capacity far beyond that of even Celestia herself.

Twilight frowned at the thought that had crossed her mind. She was still really sore about the wedding. Then she realized that this was a perfect opportunity to get away from it all, and let years of tension loose. She was then jerked out of her thoughts by the sound of someone calling her.

Colgate couldn't help but be worried about her fellow unicorn. She had been standing in the same spot for the past ten minutes, and still hadn't moved. "Twilight?" she cautiously asked, jerking the other unicorn out of her thoughts. Said unicorn turned around quickly, appearing startled, then her eyes focused on Colgate. Twilight stared for a moment, then gave a goofy grin.

"Colgate, I think this is my ticket to finally cut loose." Twilight told the slightly confused dentist. She answered the questioning look with an almost goofy flourish. "In other words, I’m going exploring, to see the universe! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm not going to waste it by sitting around moping. I'm gonna get out. Blinking, step into the sun. There is more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than-No, hold on….Sorry that’s the Lion King… Regardless, I'm gonna enjoy every second of freedom that I have!"

Colgate just stood there, and for a second Twilight started to get worried, then she broke out into a smile. "Just what I'd expect from the new Doctor. I'm going with you."

Twilight was rendered speechless for the second time in less than half an hour. The first thing that came to mind was one thing that even Starswirl himself had said in times of great confusion, "Huh?"

Colgate gave a little giggle at Twilights reaction, then turned serious. "What I am about to tell you is something that even my own parents don't know about me. I will only say this once, and only because I know you won't go around telling everypony about it." Colgate paused and leveled a look at Twilight that made her realize just how much trust Colgate was putting in her. She unconsciously did the Pinkie Promise, effectively swearing herself to secrecy.

Colgate sighed, then started the story, "When I was a little filly, I was fascinated with all things related to time. It was just that fascinating to me, and I always dreamed of being able to travel through time, being able to learn all it's mechanics and laws. One day, after I got home from school, something strange happened..."

FLASHBACK


A young Colgate was sitting in her room, drawing and designing clocks, when a strange tearing sound caused her to look up. The little filly looked around for the source, but noticed something strange about her wall. There was a crack in it, yet the wall didn't seem like it was broken. She got up and sped over to it, ignoring the papers that she stepped on in favor of satisfying her childish curiosity.


The crack wasn't very big, maybe about a sixth of an inch wide, really unnoticeable unless you were looking for it, but impossible to ignore once you did. Colgate looked at it in confusion, wondering how it got there, but then she heard a different sound than before. This sound had a odd tone to it. The sound gave a feeling of being both young and old at the same time and it seemed to be coming from the crack. Colgate was finding it hard to comprehend this very strange noise-like sensation. Then the filly did something that would change her life forever. She looked directly into a crack.


Colgate's eyes widened at the sight she was seeing. It was almost as if she were seeing time and space in its entirety. She was so distracted by this that she didn't notice the small tendrils of golden aura that were creeping towards her. When she finally did notice, it was far too late, for the energy had reached her and she couldn't do anything about it. Colgate's tiny body went rigid as the power seemed to light her entire body on fire...no fire wasn't right...there simply were no words that could describe the agony that she felt, so terrible that she couldn't even scream for help.

After several long minutes it stopped, and Colgate panted as the sweet relief flooded her. She was about to run downstairs and tell her parents about this, but she then felt an odd pressure building up in her horn. The pressure got more and more intense as the buildup of power manifested itself. Colgate was finally able to scream as the pressure released itself in the form of a massive magic surge. The poor filly slumped to the ground as the surge destroyed her room, to tired to even notice the small flash of light that came from her flank. The last thing that came to her mind before she slipped into unconsciousness was the faint echo of what she both saw and heard from the crack. A tall two-legged creature next to a blue box. It seemed to speak to the box, giving it a command.
“Find yourself a new Thief.”
***
"...and when I came to, I was in a hospital bed being treated for magic exhaustion." Colgate finished her explanation, patiently waiting for Twilights reaction.

The purple unicorn was just dumbstruck. Twilight couldn't believe this friendly and quirky dentist was hiding that big of a secret for such a long time. She snapped out of her stunned reverie when Colgate  gave a little cough. Twilight turned to her with a slightly sheepish look on her face.

“So,” Twilight said, “You saw the Doctor send the TARDIS away because you looked into time itself. From that you knew about the Doctor and where the TARDIS would end up?”

Colgate nodded before responding. “I have seen all of time and space. I even saw the events of earlier today in a dream a few years after the incident. I can see these things called fixed points, points in time that cannot be changed in any way. The rest of time is subject to change. I knew all of time for a moment, then it was changed and faded from my memory. Through some odd quirk of unicorn magic, I also gained a sensitivity to Artron energy. Which is how I knew about the key. I could feel the warm Artron energy.”

Twilight nodded and then asked the question that had been bugging her since Colgate started talking, "And now you want to travel with me?"

Colgate smiled and gave a nod. Twilight grinned and started pulling levers and pushing buttons, the TARDIS roared to life.

Without looking up Twilight said, "There's a saying the Doctor used a long time ago."

"Oh, and what would that be?" Colgated asked, tilting her head.

Twilight got onto her hind legs, resting her fore legs on the console. She put a hoof on a far lever and looked Colgate directly in the eyes, grinning widely. She pulled it and the TARDIS came to life.

"ALLONS-Y!"