The Doctor crashes into Equestria, only to be greeted by everypony's favorite Party Pony. Things only get weirder from here.
The Doctor crashes into Equestria after a severe malfunction with the Tardis. After he is rendered unconscious, he wakes up to find he's become a pony, and as soon as he steps outside, he is greeted by Ponyville's resident Super Duper Party Pony, Pinkie Pie. After a storm of questions, and a hunch, Pinkie informs him of the issue of doppelgangers of the town residents, mostly notable in large crowds. Concerned, he immediately enters the town to solve the problem and he already thinks he knows who is behind it.
“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!?!?!?!?” The Doctor bellowed. “WHY ARE YOU CRASHING?! YOU KNOW I START HAVING PANIC ATTACKS WHEN YOU START CRASHING WITHOUT ME TOUCHING ANYTHING!!”
The TARDIS was falling through the time and space faster than the Doctor could handle. He was running around trying to calm the careening time machine, hyperventilating all the while. With a deafening BOOM, the Doctor was thrown into a wall, and he lost consciousness immediately.
{----}
When finally came ‘round, he was met with a shock. He was startled by his appendages, or rather, the lack of them. At this point he had been stressed to the maximum, so he was remarkably calm for his newest predicament. He stood up, only to fall flat on his face. Then he realized that he wasn’t human anymore, at least not in appearance.
“I get the feeling that getting on my feet, no wait a minute.” He was appalled to see that he no longer had feet, but hooves. “Why hooves,” he moaned. “I can’t pick anything up with hooves! I need fingers! I’m rubbish without fingers! Well I didn't regenerate so that's a plus.”
He decided to observe his surrounding, but to his surprise, he couldn’t. The only working light in the room had finally given out, plunging the Doctor into darkness. “I wish I had a light or something,” he muttered, only to have a greenish light surround him. Confused, he spun around, trying to find the source of the light, and after spinning himself dizzy, he realized it was coming from above. He looked up, to find that a cone-shaped object protruding from his forehead was the source.
“Where did that come from,” he wondered aloud. Then he realized that he was losing energy at an alarming rate. He wished of the light, only to have it stay on.
“Turn off, you blasted light! I'd like to be able to have enough energy to find out what happened.” The room was plunged back into darkness. He felt his around, only to find out the hard way, he ended up in the Swimming Pool Room. Having memorized the Tardis’s current layout, he wandered blindly to the console room, while tripping over fallen debris. When he got the console room, the central column was aglow with a red light. He ran over, tripped, and face-planted into the monitor. He unstuck his face from the monitor and tried to find the light switch. After several minutes, and multiple double-backs, he finally found and flipped the switch. The moment he did, he regretted his decision.
{----}
The console room was in ruins. The central column was cracked, the half the console totaled, and most of the supports were in pieces, scattered around the room. He had known that there was damage, but this was way beyond his expectations. Light began to shine through the door’s windows as the sun rose outside. ‘I might as well go see what planet, or even dimension I’ve crashed into,’ he thought.
The sun was blinding as he stepped through the door. Suddenly a voice out of the blue scared him half to death.
“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?”
As he turned around he saw a pink pony with an even pinker, wildly curly mane and tail standing before him. But the thing that stood out wasn’t the talking, or even all the pink, but rather the three balloons on her flank. Concerned, he looked at his own rump, only to find an hourglass over a gear plastered on his side. Then it all came tumbling out at once.
“What’s that, where am I, who are you, what does this tattoo mean, why do I have it, how are you talking, and what do I look like?”
The pink mare wasn’t fazed in the slightest, and she answered every question with a speed that rivaled the Doctor’s own. “That’s a Cutie Mark, Equestria, Pinkamena Diane Pie but you can call me Pinkie, it explains your special talent, which is probably time-related, because everyone has one, I’ve always been able to talk, and you are gray with a black mane and tail.”
“Ok,” he began, cautiously. “My name is…” He thought for a moment. ‘The pink mare, Pinkie, I think she said, said something about how the mark on my butt was time-related. Hmm… I’ve got it!’
“My name is Chronometer,” the Doctor said. “Now, please explain each individual answer to me, slowly. I’m… not from around here.”
“Let me guess,” Pinkie said. “You’re an alien with two hearts and that box you walked out of is actually a bigger-on-the-inside time machine/spaceship that crashed through the dimensions, bringing you here, all because your ship was damaged by your greatest enemy of all time.” She concluded this with a tone of certainty and the biggest smile the Doctor had ever seen.
“How did you know all that?” Asked the Doctor, stunned.
“Just a hunch,” she replied. “Anyway, the mark on your flank is called a Cutie Mark. It symbolizes your special talent the one thing that makes you special, and since yours is an hourglass on a gear I figured your special talent was either time or things with gears, like clocks.”
“Time,” the Doctor said. “Definitely time.”
"Anywho, you are in Equestria, a country full of ponies. The whole world has ponies, subgroups include Earth Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasi, Crystal Ponies, and the five Alicorn princesses. There are multiple countries and other variations of the sort all over the planet: Equestria, the Crystal Empire, Yakyakistan, Saddle Arabia, Maretonia, Griffonstone, the Arimaspi territory, the Bugbear territory, and the Dragonlands. You are currently in Equestria, in the town of Ponyville. There’s also Canterlot, the capital, Manehatten, Trottingham, Seaddle, Los Pegasus, Cloudsdale, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, Tall Tale, Applelossa, Vanhoover, Dodge City, and my friend Starlight’s old village.”
“Blimey, that’s a lot of puns,” noted the Doctor.
“Yep,” Said Pinkie.
“So… since there must be a reason I’m here, are they any big events coming up, or anything strange going on?” Pinkie stood there for a minute, thinking.
“Well, I’m going to Manehatten with Rarity to see my sister, Maud in a couple of weeks, but other than that no big events going on, but I have noticed something strange going on in Ponyville. Whenever there is a giant crowd, there always seems to be more than one of each pony. When I mentioned this to Twilight, after finding her in the castle library, she started panicking and ranting about…”
“Pinkie.”
“...changelings. I didn’t think it was changelings because everypony has been acting normal, and nice and nopony looked hypnotized. Twilight wouldn’t calm down even after I pointed this out to her, so I suggested a Changeling-Detection spell. As soon as I said this, she began pulling books off the library shelves left and right. Then she cast the spell and it was really, really, really bright…”
“Pinkie.”
“...and then she looked all happy but confused because there were no Changelings apparently…”
“PINKAMENA DIANE PIE!!!!!!”
“And then I said, “Oatmeal? Are you crazy?” Wha… yes?”
The Doctor stood there for a moment, looking extremely confused before he shook himself out of it.
“Show me what you mean by ‘More than one of each pony.’”
{----}
As the perpetually bouncing pink partytastic party horse pulled out her perfectly pleasant looking purple megaphone, the Doctor decided looks can be deceiving and wisely decided to cover his ears in suspicion. Pinkie raised the megaphone to her mouth and shouted at the top of her lungs,
“EVERYPONY IN TOWN CENTER, STAT!!!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! WE HAVE DANGEROUSLY, AND POSSIBLY FATALLY LOW PARTY ATTENDANCE!!!!!”
Much to the Doctor’s surprise, this tactic worked surprising well, but she wasn’t done weaving her web just yet.
“NOW YOU MAYBE ASKING YOURSELF, “What holiday is it today?” WELL, TODAY IS NATIONAL CELEBRATE A RANDOM HOLIDAY HOLIDAY!!!”
At this point, the perpetually puzzling pink party pony was beginning to grow on him, but he also began to question her mental stability. He noticed about 6 other ponies that stood out probably because they run up on stage with a small dragon. He noticed that there was a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane, another pegasus that was yellow with a pink mane, a white unicorn with a blue-purple mane, a pale pink unicorn, (it then occurred to him that was a unicorn, hence the green light earlier), and then, much to his surprise, a purple unicorn with wings.
“Pinkie! What’s wrong,” asked the rainbow pegasus.
“Nothing,” Pinkie replied. “I just needed everypony in one place for him to see.” She gestured at the Doctor. “Oh! You don’t know who this is! Everypony, this is the Doctor. Doctor, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, Applejack, Element of Honesty, Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty, Fluttershy, Element of Kindness, Rarity, Element of Generosity, and Starlight Glimmer.” She pointed at them one by one going from purple to orange, to rainbow, to yellow, to white and ending on the light pink one.
The Doctor pointed at, Starlight was it? “Does she have an element? Is it like, Justice or something?”
Twilight spoke up, “No, she doesn’t have an Element of Harmony. There are only six, Loyalty, Laughter (which is Pinkie), Generosity, Honesty, Kindness, and Magic.”
The Doctor was extremely confused but decided to ignore it for later. “Pinkie briefed me on the way over. There are clones running around Ponyville but it isn’t Changelings, correct?”
“That is correct,” confirmed Twilight.
“Ok then, I have a theory that I’m praying is wrong. But to prove my theory, I’m going to need one of the clones, and the most powerful pony here.”
Twilight and Starlight looked at each other. “Doctor,” Starlight said, “Twilight and I have almost equal magical talent. We both got our Cutie Marks in it. But I suppose Twilight is a bit more powerful than me.”
“Starlight! Don’t belittle yourself! There is no way I could have traveled through time like you did,” said Twilight.
“Then you can both come with…” the Doctor paused. “Did you say ‘travel through time?”
“Yes,” said Twilight, earning a glare from Starlight. “Why do you ask?”
“Dang it! Now the big reveal will be nothing! My special talent isn't special! If anyone can do it magically, then why bother with a box,” moaned the Doctor. “Come on.” The Doctor trudged back to the TARDIS with Starlight and Twilight following him, very confused all the while.
{----}
As he pushed the door open, he walked in leaving Starlight and Twilight’s jaws to hit the floor upon entering. Literally.
“How are you doing that?” asked the Doctor. He began working with the console, pressing buttons and pulling levers left and right, causing the door to close, the room began lighting up, the central column began to glow with the most vibrant colors they had ever seen, and a sound that the pair of bewildered fillies would later describe as sounding like a key being rubbed across piano strings. In the Doctor’s mope, he didn’t even notice that the interior had done itself up to match his equine form, until Twilight said,
“It’s bigger on the inside.”
“Yes, yes it…” he paused, looking around. “...is.” The Console Room was bigger than before, with each panel of the console itself larger to compensate for the hooves. The room itself was a silver dome with white columns along the walls, up along the open hallway that stretched around the top of the room. Above each door was a row of 4 lights. Along the open hallway, in between each column was mossy cobblestone, and above each door was a sign labeling what room it was. There was a bathroom, a library, a pool, a bar, a bedroom, and then an elevator leading up. The central column was filled with a rainbow liquid behaving similarly to a lava lamp, it’s glow fading in and out as they flew.
“I am liking this,” commented the Doctor. “Since I know what you are wondering, I shall answer all of your questions before you ask them. This is the TARDIS, it’s a time machine/spaceship, no it’s not magic, it’s alien, I’m an alien from another dimension, we are going to Town Hall where Pinkie has gathered everyone, and if you’re wondering about the library, yes, you can go look.” Both fillies took off like lightning at this statement. As soon as Starlight passed over the threshold to the library, one of the lights lit up with the color of Starlight’s coat. “Don’t get too comfortable! We’re almost there,” he called, then to himself he added, “I hope I haven’t left Pinkie in the hands, err… hooves, of what I think I left her with. If my suspicions are correct, then Equestria is in some serious trouble. Very serious trouble.”
As Pinkie surveyed the crowd, she noticed that somepony was missing, and the only reason she knew the clones were clones was because none of the clones were stumbling around in a drunken stupor. She asked Rainbow Dash to keep an eye on the duplicates and triplicates while she walked over to the house across the street. She knocked on the door, only to have Piña Colada answer the door.
“Where is your sister?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“Asleep on the couch,” replied Piña. “She accidentally drank one too many ciders at the party last night.”
“I remember,” replied Pinkie. “May I come in? I need her help.”
After being admitted in she walked over to the couch and tried to wake up the unconscious pony, but to no avail. She got a bucket of water from the kitchen and proceeded to walk back into the living room and dump the bucket onto Berry Punch.
“AAAAGGHHHHHHHH! Piña Colada, if that was you so help me, I’ll…” she paused as she realized who had drenched her. “Hey, Pinkie, what’s up?”
“I need your help,” replied Pinkie, extremely serious.
Noticing Pinkie’s demeanor, she got up and followed Pinkie across to the Town Hall.
When they got inside, they heard the most peculiar sound, followed by a bright, slowly flashing light on the stage. When the light dimmed, they saw that a box had appeared. Pinkie, recognizing instantly, ran over to it, with Berry Punch in close pursuit. She went to knock on the door, only to have the Doctor open it, so she ended up knocking not on the door, but his face.
“Ow. Hello, Pinkie,” he said. Looking over to Berry, he asked, “And you are?”
“Berry Punch.”
The Doctor’s face lit up as he shook her hoof. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Berry Punch, it really is, but you and everyo-, everypony, needs to get inside now. We have trouble.
In all the excitement, no one had noticed a good majority of the clones had also recognized the box. They began surging towards the box as the Doctor closed the door, and ran to the scanner. The commotion outside had everyone nervous except for the Doctor.
“Why aren’t you worried?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“Because nopony can get through those doors,” he replied with confidence. But his confidence was dashed because no sooner had the words left his mouth, the room began flashing red, with a gonging sound ringing throughout the TARDIS. The Doctor paled.
“What is that?” asked Starlight.
“The Cloister Bell,” replied the Doctor. “It goes off whenever the TARDIS is in danger and…”
The room was filled with the sound of the TARDIS taking off, and the Doctor paled even more.
“It activates the HADS.”
At this point, everyone was absolutely terrified, and their confusion was only making it worse.
“What is the HADS?” asked a worried Berry Punch.
“Hostile Action Displacement System,” replied the Doctor, as he looked at the scanner. “And it looks as though we’ll be paying a visit to the Princess of the Sun…. In her bedroom.”
Princess Celestia was laying in bed, reading ‘Predictions and Prophecies’ when the room lit up with a bright light and it was filled with a very familiar sound.
Once the TARDIS finished materializing, the Doctor stepped out and locked the door.
“Hello, Doctor,” said Celestia.
“Terribly sorry, your… wait a minute. How’d you know my name? Is it a Princess-sense or… no, going by the look on your face, we’ve met before haven’t we?
Celestia giggled. “Yes we have, Doctor. A long time ago, but you did say, and I quote, ‘“You will be meeting me sometime in the distant-ish, or not so distant, future but who can really say. Anyways, in the afore-mentioned future, you will know who I am, but I won’t have the faintest idea who you are. At this point in your conversation, since you will be reciting it to me, you will say for me, “Hello, Past Me! Now I know what you are thinking, oh-no! Time will collapse, yada-yada-yada. But don’t worry! This is an established moment in time, so we’re good. Also Berry, Pinkie and Starlight say hello to their past selves, since they are standing behind you.”
Celestia paused, to allow the Doctor to turn to see Berry, Pinkie and Starlight standing there. She coughed slightly, as if to ask if she continue. The Doctor turned around and gave her a nod. She resumed with,
“Now, this is all fine and dandy so don’t get mad at me. Or you. Whichever. Now, you’ll need to set Celestia’s room as the HADS main destination. Next, you need to go to Twilight’s castle. There is a spell that can help. Lastly, and most important, don’t panic. Everything will be fine, but yes, you are correct in assuming the 'gangers are Zygons.”
The Doctor paled as Celestia finished.
“Did I say anything more?,” asked the Doctor, shaken.
“No, I’m afraid not,” replied Celestia. “Good luck with the Zygons, though.”
The suddenly, Pinkie Pie gasped as though she was going to go diving without an oxygen tank. “Why don’t YOU help us, Princess?”
“I’m afraid that isn’t possible,” said Celestia, dashing the Doctor’s hopes. “I already asked and he said not to interfere anymore than I already have. But I can tell you this. The problem’s solution can only be solved, if you get the forest alchemist involved.” With this Celestia, smiled, and resumed her book.
The Doctor ushered Starlight and Pinkie back inside, where the other five stood waiting, with looks of concern on their faces. The Doctor immediately deduced that they had listened through the scanner. He walked over to the console and punched in the coordinates for outside Twilight’s castle.
“I have just one question,” said Rarity, who had been oddly quiet this whole time. “What did the Princess mean by the forest alchemist?”
Everyone stood there, quietly thinking when Twilight cried,
“I’ve got it! She hid a hint in her clue!”
“Why, whatever do you mean?” asked the Doctor.
”She was rhyming! Who do we know speaks in rhyming riddles?”
“ZECORA!!” cried everyone
“Who?” asked the Doctor.
But before anyone could answer, Rarity began laughing, evilly. “Thank you for that valuable information, you foolish ponies. Now the Zygon high command knows where your little friend lives, so we may dispose of her before you can stop us.”
“How’d you find out she lives in the Everfree forest!?” cried Rainbow.
“Well,” Rarity said, “Now they know where she is. I was going to tell them but now I don’t need to, seeing as how you did it for me.”
Rainbow Dash’s cyan coat paled several shades. “Oops.”
As Rarity began laughing again, she began to transform. It began with her spitting up stuff, and sprouting suckers. She then quickly finished the process revealing her true form.
As soon as she finished, she immediately dived for the closest pony in the room, Fluttershy. Fluttershy screamed, and just before the Zygon made contact, its face smashed into a frying pan that had appeared out of nowhere. It fell to the ground, unconscious, as Starlight poked it with her pan. She looked up to see the Doctor staring at her, mouth agape.
“What?” she asked. “It went to attack Fluttershy, so I hit it with a frying pan.”
“That was…” the Doctor began, “surprisingly effective. At least you didn’t kill it so congrats, I guess. If you’d killed them, you really don’t want to know what happened.”
A sudden gasp broke out as Berry remembered something, “ZECORA! We have to warn her!”
The Doctor calmly walked over to the console with a smile on his face. “Not to worry, Berry! This is a time machine. We’ll just go back in time to her house after we pick up the book from Twilight’s castle.”
Twilight coughed to get the Doctor’s attention. “That wouldn’t be a good idea, Doctor. I went to visit earlier today, and I get the feeling that whatever we need Zecora to do, it’ll take a while. But the Doctor remained unperturbed by this.
“Then we’ll just go back to yesterday,” he said happily. But then his face fell, “But we’ll need to slip into present day Ponyville, grab the book from Twilight’s castle, and whoever does so will need to get in and get out quickly and quietly.”
As the Doctor punched in the coordinates for outside Twilight’s castle, Berry Punch called over Pinkie and Starlight. “Remember what Celestia said? About our future selves saying hi to us?”
“That’s been bugging you too?” asked Starlight.
“Oddly enough, it’s also bothered me, and I’d normally be excited about the prospect of travelling through time,” said Pinkie, frowning. “I mean, I’m all for it, but I get the feeling that the Doctor isn’t telling us something.”
“What’cha talkin’ about?” asked the Doctor, surprising the trio.
“Nothing important,” replied Berry.
“Ok. I just wanted to let you know we’ll be landing soon,” said the Doctor as he went over to talk to Twilight. With this, the trio exchanged concerned and worried looks, wondering if he had overheard them.
The Plan, and how it went Straight to Tartatus Part 1
“Ok, everypony, here’s the game plan,” said the Doctor, as he waved everyone over. “When we land, Starlight, Pinkie, and Twilight will run inside and look for the book. Applejack and Rainbow Dash will cover them. Meanwhile, Berry, Fluttershy, and I will be looking for where Rarity and the other originals are being kept. Everyone got it? We’ll meet back here as soon as possible. I have given Pinkie, Starlight, and Berry keys to the TARDIS so that way you can get in, just incase things go awry. Kapeesh?” He said this as he handed Pinkie, Starlight, and Berry their keys.
“Who will watch the thingy?” asked Berry, gesturing to the unconscious Zygon sitting in a folding chair, tied there by Applejack.
“It should be fine,” said the Doctor.
A whirring sound filled the room as lights on one of the panels began blinking. Then, from a tube in the middle of the panel, a thin, cylindrical object with a purple crystal on the end shot out. The Doctor made a dive for it, but before he could grab it, Twilight grabbed it with her magic.
“You know, Doctor, you could have just used magic to grab it, instead of diving for it.”
The Doctor looked ashamed as he said, “But I don’t know how to use magic.”
“I can teach you later,” volunteered Starlight.
“I’ll hold you to it, but we need to get ready. Now,” said the Doctor.
Five minutes later, everyone was ready. As soon as the TARDIS landed, Pinkie, Starlight, and Applejack ran out, while Twilight and Rainbow flew overhead. The Doctor turned to Berry, who wore an expression of determination, with her key around her neck, while Fluttershy hid behind the town drunk.
The Doctor bent down towards Fluttershy and said, “It’ll be alright. Trust me, I’m the Doctor.”
“Ok…..” said Fluttershy.
“Right,” cried the Doctor. He ran out the door followed closely by Berry and Fluttershy, yelling, “GERONIMOOOOOOOOOO!”
{-----}
As the three ran through the library, with Pinkie bouncing along and Rainbow flying overhead, they burst into the library, where immediately Twilight and Starlight deshelved whole rows of books, looking through them as the floated by, while Pinkie used a trampoline to bounce up, grab a book, flip through on the descent, bounce back up, put the first book back and grab the next one, all while AJ and Rainbow stood guard at the library entrance. After about three-quarters of the books had been searched Starlight cried,
“I think I found it!”
Everyone ran over to look at Starlight’s discovery. There, circled in a red marker, was a revealing spell that need to be combined with a potion. At this point, Zecora’s role was made crystal clear. As they cheered, their victory was short-lived. Since AJ and Rainbow had abandoned their positions at the library entrance, Zygons had been able to breach the castle and locate the five of them. In a moment of spontaneous thinking, Twilight immediately teleported herself, AJ, and Pinkie to outside the TARDIS, where they proceeded to try and open the lock with Pinkie’s key. Meanwhile, Starlight and Rainbow were fending of the Zygons with karate moves and the crystal spell Starlight had previously used on Twilight, when they heard the familiar sound of the TARDIS, and to their relief, it was materializing around them. When it had finished, they stood inside the console room, to find AJ, Twilight, and Pinkie, all unconscious with Rarity standing near them, Starlight’s frying pan in her magic. She grinned insanely and said,
“Time for a taste of your own medicine, dear.” With this, she charged towards Starlight, pan held in front of her like a sword.
“Doctor, if we escape, I’m going to slap you,” muttered Starlight as she began casting a spell.
“Oh no, you don’t!” yelled Rarity as she swung the pan to hit Starlight, but she was too late. Starlight and Rainbow had vanished.
“Oh well. I’ll just do what I did last time and track them down,” said the Zygon, but as she touched the console, it gave off an electric shock, knocking her out cold.
The Plan, and how it went Straight to Tartatus Part 2
Berry Punch was tired of the cage. She was trapped with the Doctor, who wouldn’t stop yelling about his demand to speak to whomever was in charge of the invasion, and Fluttershy who sat curled up beside her, scared stiff. All Berry wanted right now was a nice, big keg of Sweet Apple Acres cider. The hadn’t even made it 30 feet, they had been caught and thrown into the cage in the basement of Town Hall, where all the originals had been locked up.
“FINALLY!” yelled the Doctor, scaring Berry half to death. “I’ve been couped up in here, calling for whoever is in charge of this infernal invasion process.”
But it wasn’t a Zygon, but Starlight and Rainbow Dash.
“We’ve come to rescue you,” said Starlight.
“Wait,” said the Doctor as Berry and Fluttershy jumped to their feet. “How do we know you’re not a Zygon?” Starlight rolled her eyes and presented the key to the TARDIS.
“Ok, you’re clean,” said the Doctor, earning confused looks from the ponies around him, causing him to sigh. “I rigged the key to give off an electric shock if someone were to try and impersonate Starlight, Pinkie, Berry, or myself, and try to take the key,” he explained. “I had Princess Twilight cast the spell for me.”
As Starlight unlocked the door and let everyone out, the Doctor walked over to the cage holding the CMC and Rarity, while he had the others go and unlock the other cages. He pulled out a paper clip, unbent it some, stuck it in the lock, and wiggled it around until the lock sprang open. The CMC bolted out to go help everyone escape while Rarity walked over and said,
“Thank you, kind sir. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”
The Doctor began, “Oh, no thanks is required, Miss…”
“Rarity,” she said. “And there must be something I can do for you. I know! I have an outfit that will look just dashing on you!”
“Works for me, Miss Rarity,” replied the Doctor. “But I’m afraid that I won’t be able to take you up on that offer just yet. I have to take care of the Zygons.”
Rarity smiled and said, “Worry not, darling! I just so happened to have the outfit in a box, when I was snagged by those… creatures a couple days ago. Ah! There it is!”
The alabaster unicorn ran over to a blue chest, opened it, and pulled out a purple-blue top hat with a blue band, and a yellow scarf with 2 black stripes every couple inches.
“Here you go,” said Rarity as she put the hat and scarf on the Doctor. “You look just wonderful! Here, I never leave home without a mirror.”
She held up the mirror so the Doctor could see himself, and he had to admit, it did suit him.
“Thank you, Miss Rarity. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some business to take care of.”
“You’re welcome, Mr… Um, I don’t believe I caught your name.”
“My name is Chronometer Whooves. That’s Whooves with a W-.”
With this he ran off to meet up with Starlight, Berry, and the others. When he found them, they were directing Ponyville’s citizens to go hide at Sweet Apple Acres and the schoolhouse, having Big Mac lead half to the farm, while Cheerilee took the rest to the schoolhouse, and it’s cellar, AKA the Foal-Free Press printing room.
When they were the only ones left, Starlight said,
“Fluttershy, why don’t you go to your cottage. You’ve been through enough.”
Fluttershy nodded slightly as she flew away.
“And, Rainbow, go with her. Make sure she gets there, and stay there with her.”
Rainbow saluted and flew off, leaving Starlight, Berry, and the Doctor. Starlight looked at the other two ponies standing with her and said, “We need to get to the TARDIS.” With that, she turned and slapped the Doctor.
“OW!” he yelled. “WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?!?!?”
“I’ll explain later,” replied Starlight, while both her and Berry both struggled to stifle their laughter.
When they exited Town Hall, they knew things were wrong immediately. It was dark outside, almost as if something was blotting out the sun. But when they looked up, they didn’t see anything. As they ran through town, they noticed it was oddly barren. Not even Zygons were on patrol which worried the Doctor even more that the shadow of an invisible something. When they got to the TARDIS, they noticed the door propped open. The console room was nearly pitch black, with the only light coming from the emergency lights that had come one when the HADS had activated and the the central column. The Doctor had to admit, he was scared. It was uncharacteristically dark and creepy but what really put him off was the lumps on the floor. They became silhouettes every time the red lights faded on. As his companions stood motionless with terror, the Doctor walked over to the console, very slowly, found what he was looking for by the light of the rainbow-filled column, pulled the required lever, and light suddenly flooded the room. To everyone’s horror, the lumps on the floor were the bodies of Pinkie, Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity. He immediately ran over to Pinkie, and checked for a pulse. Much to his obvious relief, Pinkie had one. As he checked the others, he confirmed that they were alive but unconscious. Starlight and Berry walked over and began moving the comatose ponies to a couch off to the side. As Starlight began levitating Pinkie, the pink pony shot up, wide awake, startling Starlight.
“Ack!” cried the pale-pink unicorn.
“Oh, hi Starlight,” said Pinkie. “Um… as much as I like floating, could you please put me down?”
Starlight shook off the shock and lowered the the pink earth pony back to the ground. As soon as she touched the ground, Pinkie shot off like a rocket towards the bathroom. As Pinkie ran past, Berry walked over to the Doctor and said,
“What do we do now?”
The Doctor turned to look at her and said, “We go find Zecora.” As he walked over to the console, he began typing into the keyboard, but stopped. He looked over at Berry and asked, “Um… what… er… species… is Zecora?”
“She is a zebra,” replied Berry. The Doctor resumed his typing, and when he had finished, he pulled the red-knobbed lever that began the takeoff. As they flew, the Doctor turned to his companions as Pinkie walked out of the bathrooms. He took a deep breath and said,
“I know what you’re thinking. And I don’t know what we’re going to do. Currently, we are traveling back to three hours ago to get the potion from Zecora. That is just before you“raided” Twilight’s library.”
“Umm… Doctor?” said Starlight. “I saw Zecora leaving the Town Hall cellar when we liberated everypony. From how she looked compared to everypony else, I’d say she’d only been there a few hours at most.”
The Doctor looked confused but then realization struck him. When they got there, Zecora would’ve have already been captured by the Zygons. He began looking around desperately.
“Does anyone know potion-making?” he asked. Pinkie raised her hoof.
“I’m a baker. Does that work?”
The Doctor sighed, not coming up with any better ideas. He slowly nodded as the TARDIS landed. As they walked out of the box into the Everfree Forest, they saw Zecora’s hut just up ahead. They broke into a run, and stormed inside. The hut was devoid of life, with broken bottles and things overturned. The Doctor pulled the book from under his hat where he stuck it after he picked it up off the floor. He gave it to Pinkie and asked Starlight to help her.
“Doctor?” said Starlight.
“Yes?”
“Umm… it says here that we need Poison Joke, Black Iris, Sticky Sap, and Purple Mushrooms, along with Chernoberries and artichokes.”
The Doctor stood where he was, only knowing what artichokes were. He shook himself out of his confused daze and looked at his companions,
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, except for artichokes. Berry, I’ll need your help. Starlight, Pinkie, you two stay here and see if you can find any of the other ingredients. I’ll pop into the TARDIS and grab the artichokes. Berry, see what you need to go find and then go and find it, but please be quick about it. We are in a hurry.”
The Doctor ran out of the hut and back into the TARDIS. Berry turned to the two ponies rummaging around trying to find any of the ingredients.
“How can I help?” asked Berry.
“Well,” began Starlight. “Zecora seems to be out of Poison Joke and Sticky Sap, and I have no idea what Chernoberries are or where you can find them.”
“Oh, I know what Chernoberries are,” said Pinkie. “I never leave home without some!” And with that, she used the front curl of her mane like an appendage, reached into her mane, and pulled out raspberry-shaped berries, but green, and glowing. She dropped them into the cauldron, and they thumped against the metal bottom.
“Do you know where we can find Poison Joke,” asked Berry, still stunned about the Chernoberries.
“Yep! My friends and I ran into a patch once,” replied Pinkie. “Follow me!” Pinkie bounced out of the hut. Berry looked over at Starlight.
“Go with her,” said Starlight. “I can have the Doctor help me when he gets back.”
Berry nodded and trotted out the door. As Starlight magically grabbed a bucket of water, the Doctor burst into the room, carrying a basket of artichokes. His abrupt entrance almost made Starlight drop the bucket.
“What the heck!” yelled Starlight. “You almost….”
“SHHHHHHH!!!!” interrupted the Doctor. “We have unwelcome guests.”
Starlight looked out the window and saw that Cloudchaser and Lily Valley were snooping around out front. Based on their current activity, she immediately deducted that these weren’t Cloudchaser and Lily Valley, but Zygons. She tip-toed back over to the cauldron and softly put in the Black Iris, artichokes, and Purple Mushrooms next to the Chernoberries.
“We need to distract them,” whispered Starlight. “I sent out Pinkie and Berry to go get Poison Joke and Sticky Sap.”
The Doctor paled. “Why did you do that?” whispered the Doctor.
“Zecora must have been out to get some when she was captured. She must have gone out to get them because she ran out,” replied Starlight.
The Doctor peeked through the curtains. “You’re right about the distraction,” he said. “And I know just what to do. Do you know how to make holographic images of ponies,” he asked with a sly grin.
Starlight returned the grin, as her horn began to glow. “Why yes, yes I do,” she replied.
{-----}
As Berry and Pinkie trekked through the forest, Berry looked over at Pinkie, who seemed less bouncy than usual. She was about to ask what was wrong when Pinkie suddenly perked up, and tackled Berry.
“What was that for?!” cried Berry.
Pinkie put a hoof to Berry’s mouth to silence her and pointed over the bush she had tackled Berry behind. Berry looked over and saw what she could only assume what was Poison Joke, but what worried her was the pegasus standing guard. With a glance she recognized the pegasus as Blossomforth. She noticed a couple of bushes near the white pegasus and formulated a plan. As she told Pinkie about her plan, Pinkie looked more and more nervous. Berry snuck over to one of the bushes close to Blossomforth. When the pegasus’ back was turned, she leaped out of the bushes and tackled Blossomforth away from the blue flower, leaving room for Pinkie to run over and snag a couple with her gloved mane-appendage. As the purple earth pony grappled with the pegasus, she managed to land a hoof into Blossomforth’s eye. As Pinkie ran past the pair of fighting ponies towards a tree with a shiny substance on its bark, she pulled out a vial and scooped up some of the sap.
“Come on, Berry!” called Pinkie.
Berry abandoned the scuffle and began to run after the pink pony as fast she could. She winced with pain, as Blossomforth had managed to hit her in the shin, rather hard. But she dismissed the throbbing pain as she ran with Pinkie back to the hut.
{-----}
The hologram had worked splendidly. Starlight had managed to capture the Doctor in his exact likeness. Using the hologram she had distracted the Zygons by having the puppet bounce up and down near the side of the hut, yelling,
“Over here, you ninnies!!!”
The Zygons had chased the hologram into the woods when Starlight cut the spell.
“That should leave them occupied for awhile,” said Starlight. No sooner had the words left her mouth, Pinkie and Berry came running in, and slammed the door behind them. Berry barricaded the door with her body as she nursed her wounded leg. Pinkie ran over to the cauldron, dumped in the last ingredients, grabbed a spoon and the book, and began stirring. The Doctor rushed over to see if Berry was ok as he asked her,
“What happened?”
Pinkie paused her stirring and said, “She fought of a Zygon disguised as Blossomforth so I could grab the Poison Joke and sap.”
The Doctor turned back to Berry as Pinkie resumed her stirring.
“Let me see it,” the Doctor said. Berry reluctantly lifted her foreleg for him to see. She gasped in pain as he poked with his hoof.
“Just as I thought,” he said. “Broken. You got into quite a nasty scuffle, I’d imagine.”
Berry nodded. Starlight walked over with some bandages and began binding Berry’s leg.
“Done!” cried Pinkie.
“Great! Now, back to the TARDIS!”
Starlight carried Berry on her back as the Doctor poured the potion into a bottle with Pinkie’s help. Then the group hurried out of the hut and towards the TARDIS. As the Doctor opened the door as a shrill whine filled the air. It suddenly cut out, leaving the forest silent for a split second before Zecora’s hut exploded.
The Doctor and his companions stood there, gasping at the flaming wreckage that used to be Zecora’s home. To the Doctor’s horror, Zygons cam crawling around from the wreckage. One of the shouted,
“Enjoy our bomb, Doctor? No? Well then, maybe this one will be more to your taste!” As the Zygon said this, he threw what looked like a cupcake with a fuse attached to it. As it landed in front of the 4 shocked ponies, they were met with a sight that paled them all. The fuse was about an inch from the cupcake, and moving fast.
“INSIDE, NOW!!” yelled the Doctor, shoving his friends inside. He had barely locked the door when a BOOM rocked the TARDIS. But, much to the surprise of Starlight, Pinkie, and Berry, it remained standing, but they remained confused.
“Why haven’t the HADS activated?” asked Starlight.
The Doctor trotted to the console and began typing into the keyboard and pulling a lever to his right. “I turned it off,” he said simply. “The Princess asked me to until we finished our current adventure. I just hope we can finish it without any calamities.” He finished this sentence with what could only be described as depressed. Pinkie noticed it immediately and concerned, she asked,
“Doctor, what’s wrong? You seem to have lost your usual perkiness.”
“Nothing, Pinkie,” he replied shortly.
“That’s a lie,” said Berry. “Something is obviously eating at you.”
The Doctor sighed in resignation. “Follow me,” he said. He pulled a lever that began the takeoff of the TARDIS and began walking towards the hallway labeled ‘LOUNGE’. The three mares followed him down the hall that lead into a giant domed room filled with couches that lined the walls with a giant, circular table in the middle. In the middle of the table, there was a small fountain. The Doctor sat on the couch closest to the door, and the others sat on the couch across the doorway. He turned to them, sighed, and said,
“Do you know what a war is?”
His closest friends nodded slowly, knowing full well what a war was and its implications, but not wanting to think about it.
“Well, I have fought in one, and it explains the sad look in my eyes so many people have commented on.”
Pinkie raised a hoof. “I noticed that look, but I got the feeling you didn’t want to talk about it.”
The Doctor nodded gravely, “You’re right. I don’t want to talk about it, but you deserve to know. As you know, I am a Time Lord. I told you this, correct? Well, if not, then to put it simply, I am an from an alien race called Time Lords. They “ruled” over time and space, and kept order in the universe. Very, very posh. Didn’t like them much. But that’s besides the point. The point is I’m not just a Time Lord. I’m the last of the Time Lords. I am the only one left. There is no one else.”
Starlight raised her hoof and asked, “What does this have to do with a war?”
“I’m getting there,” the Doctor replied sadly. “There was another race that held themselves above others. But unlike the Time Lords, who decided to observe and not interfere, these creatures killed anyone and everyone who was different, if even one cell was off, boom, dead. They hated all other races, but me especially, and by extent, all other Time Lords. These creatures were called Daleks. The went to war with my people. A war that ravaged all of time and space. It was called the Time Wars. Oh yes, there wasn’t just one, there were many, many Time Wars. And in the last days of the Last Great Time War, my people and the Daleks had used everything they could against each other. All weapons except one. The Moment. On the last day of the Last Great Time War, as Arcadia, Gallifrey’s second city burned, a Time Lord took his TARDIS into the Omega Arsenal, where all the previously forbidden weapons were kept, as the Time Lords had used all of them, and he stole the Moment. He took it to a desert planet, and there he used the Moment to end the war.”
“So you guys won?” asked Berry.
“No,” replied the Doctor. “Nobody won. Both sides had suffered severe casualties. No. Nobody won. In fact, the Moment was also called the Galaxy-eater. And when that Time Lord pushed that big red button, everyone burned. Everyone. All the Daleks, and Time Lords, but the thing that hurt him most, was the children he had just massacred. He had just killed everyone he had ever loved. His entire race, and his enemies too. But the Daleks managed to escape and they kept coming back, even though they were supposed to be dead. And he has had to live with that guilt for the rest of his life.”
The three mares looked at the Doctor sadly when Pinkie asked,
“How do you know what the other Time Lord was feeling? Did he tell you?”
The Doctor looked like he wanted to just cry until the day he died. “No, Pinkie,” he said quietly. “I didn’t find out how he was feeling because he told me. That’s a nice thought though. But no, the reason I know how he felt is because the Time Lord who ended the War by killing his own people is me. I was the one who killed them all. And it has haunted me forever since. It still does.”
He stood up and walked out of the room as the three mares looked at him with shock plastered to their faces.
As Pinkie walked back into the console room, followed closely by Starlight and Berry Punch, she noticed that the console room was vacant. As she scanned the lights above each of the doors, she noticed that the blue light above the entrance to the bedroom hallway was aglow, signifying the Doctor’s location. She signaled to the others to follow her as she trotted down the hall, stopping in front of the door that led into the Doctor’s bedroom. She heard a noise coming from inside that sounded like soft sobbing. She pressed her against the door and her suspicions were confirmed. The Doctor, the stalwart stallion with a heart of gold, was crying. Pinkie’s heart melted. If there was one thing she hated more than anything else, it was when her friends were sad or, Celestia forbid, crying. She gently opened the door to see the Doctor laying on his bed, crying into a pillow. She walked over to the bed and sat down. She looked over and watched as Starlight and Berry entered, looking visibly uncomfortable at entering the Doctor’s bedroom. The Doctor’s sobs stopped as he sat up and looked at the three intruders. He wiped his eyes with a hoof and sniffed.
“Sorry you had to see me like that. I don’t kno… whoompf!”
The Doctor was interuptted by a sudden embrace from the pink pony who sat on the end of his bed. He smiled slightly and hugged back. Starlight and Berry came over and joined in the embrace.
“This is nice,” he began but was shushed by Pinkie.
“Just hug. No talking,” said Pinkie.
The four of the sat there and hugged for a good couple minutes but was ended as the Doctor pulled out of the arms of his friends.
“Thank you,” he said. “I didn’t realize how much I needed that.”
“Everypony needs a hug every once in awhile,” said Pinkie. “And besides, your eyes didn’t only show sadness. They showed loneliness.
And we just want you to know that you don’t have to be alone, not while we’re here.” Berry and Starlight nodded.
The Doctor looked at the three of them and smiled.
“So you three have decided that you’re going to be my friends and companions whether I like it or not, huh?”
“Yep!” said Pinkie happily, a giant grin on her face.
“Well, expect no arguments here, but I do have rules, but we can go over those later. Right now, we have a Zygon invasion to deal with. Geronimo!”
With his final word, he ran out his room to the console room, followed closely by his new companions.
“Now we need a distraction to draw out the Zygons,” the Doctor was saying. “Pinkie?”
“Don’t worry, Doctor,” said Pinkie with a sly grin. “I know exactly what to do.”
The Doctor smiled “Why do I get the feeling I’m gonna want to see this?”
Pinkie’s grin widened, “Oh, trust me. You do.” Pinkie trotted off to her bedroom to prepare. They had stopped in Pinkie’s room at Sugarcube Corner so Pinkie could grab some things. She had come back in with a cardboard box on her back which she immediately took into her room. Needless to say, everypony else was extremely anxious to find out what was in the box. The Doctor turned to Starlight,
“You’ll keep them wrangled in one location, right?”
Starlight nodded absent-mindedly, as she was thinking how she was going to accomplish her task.
“What am I supposed to do?” asked Berry.
The Doctor smiled and said, “You’re going to keep the Zygons from organizing themselves.”
“And how do I do that?”
“Get drunk and angry,” replied the Doctor with a grin.
Berry smiled slyly. “Get me into a room with a barrel of cider and my sister, and you’re good to go.”
The Doctor nodded and turned to the console. He punched in the coordinates for Berry’s house.
{-----}
After dropping off Berry to get into a drunken rage, the Doctor parked the TARDIS in the middle of town square.
“Pinkie, you’re on!!” called the Doctor.
Pinkie walked into the room wearing a dozen instrument. The Doctor noticed a tuba, an accordion, and a banjo.
“What are you wearing?” asked the Doctor, completely aghast.
“My instrument suit,” replied Pinkie matter-of-factly. “I used it when we had that Parasprite infestation, and later when we had to trick Trixie. In fact, I’ll be using the music I used on the Parasprites to draw out the Zygons.” Pinkie proceeded to walk out the doors, playing all 10 instruments at once. The Doctor, still baffled, decided he would try and figure out Pinkie’s newest shenanigan later as he turned to Starlight.
“Got a plan, Starlight?” asked the Doctor.
“Yep,” replied Starlight. “When all the Zygons are gathered, I will cast a spell creating a shield that will allow any creature through, except Zygons. This is so any ponies who aren’t Zygons can leave, not to mention all the different insects and things.”
A cry came from outside, “Starlight? ANY TIME NOW!!”
Starlight bolted out the door and began her spell.
The Doctor punched in the coordinates for Berry’s house, and upon arriving was met with a horde of banging on the door with Berry screaming at the top of her lungs,
“YOU KNOCKED OVER MY BEER YOU JERK!!!!!”
The Doctor sighed and pushed a button to open the door. Berry came tearing in with a fire in her eyes followed by who the Doctor could only assume was Berry Punch’s sister.
“Nice box,” said the filly.
“Thank you?”
“Any time,” replied the small pink pony.
The Doctor stared at the filly for a moment before asking, “Who are you and why are you in here? Not to sound confrontational, but I am curious.”
“My name is Piña Colada, Berry’s sister. The reason I’m here is to calm her down. I’m the only one who can restrain her whilst she’s in one of her drunken rages.”
The Doctor stared at the filly, who was surprisingly calm, considering who her sister was practically fuming behind her. But the more surprising thing was she almost looked bored. The Doctor shook himself out of his stupor and pulled the switch labelled “Fast-Return”. When they arrived, The Doctor looked at the furious drunken horse and her bored-looking sister and said, “Ready?”
The small filly nodded, and with a small smile climbed onto her sister’s back. “Ready,” she said.
The Doctor leaned over and pushed the button to open the door. As soon as the door opened, the three TARDIS occupants saw a horde of ponies staring at them, while forming a ring around them. Pinkie was still at it with her polka, looking nervous while Starlight strained to maintain the spell. The Doctor looked on in a terrified awe as the small filly, perched upon Berry’s back noticed one of the ponies who had slipped into the ring, crawling towards Pinkie. She pointed at him and shouted, “He prefers white wine over a hard bottle of cider!” Berry’s rage became directed at the poor stallion that Piña had called out. Berry bolted for him and while at first the stallion laughed mockingly as if to say, “Oh, I’m sooo scared," but quickly came to realise just how dangerous that statement was.
“BONZAI!!!!!!!!!!!!” Berry dived onto the stallion,her hooves swinging, with Piña still on Berry’s back the entire time, whacking the stallion every once in awhile with a frying pan she’d pulled out out of somewhere. Pinkie bounced her way over to the Doctor, who had walked out. She paused her polka to lean over to the Doctor and say,
“I’ll be right back.” She then pulled out a phonograph, and as soon as she set it down it began playing the polka Pinkie had been playing just a moment ago. The pink pony then walked inside and closed the door. He surveyed the horde of Zygons and noticed, with some amusement that Berry had begun chasing the stallion she had tackled earlier through the crowd as she shoved ponies out of the way to get to him. The stallion had taken such a beating he wasn’t even wearing his disguise anymore. The rubbery, sucker-covered pony was currently trying to hide from Berry to no avail. Meanwhile, Starlight was trying to maintain the spell, but the Doctor could tell it wasn’t going to last long. Then suddenly, a loud bang mixed with party noisemakers exploded from the direction of the TARDIS. Everyone stopped and turned to see that Pinkie was leaning on a cannon while examining her hoof. She put her hoof down, seemingly satisfied and said,
“Alright, Zygons. Listen up! You’re all going to sit down and let the Doctor speak, or else.”
A blue stallion spoke up with a snide tone.
“Or what?
Pinkie began pushing her cannon over to the smirking stallion. When she got there, she shoved him into the cannon head-first, so his rump was sticking out the end. She swiveled the cannon around and aimed at a giant target that had appeared out of nowhere. She fired the cannon and, with a bunch of confetti, the stallion went flying out of the cannon, snout smoking, and hit the bullseye. He broke through the target and ended up stuck halfway through. Pinkie turned around to look back at the crowd who had gained a newfound fear-induced respect of the party pony. Pinkie leaned forward a bit, pointed at the stallion stuck in the target,
“That.”
Everypony immediately sat down and looked towards the Doctor.
“Now, when the Doctor asks you a question, you will raise you hoof and wait to be called on.” Pinkie smiled and bounced over to the Doctor. The Doctor and Berry stared at Pinkie. Even Piña seemed slightly surprised. Starlight dropped her shield and looked over, confused.
“Why are they all sitting like little schoolfillies?” asked Starlight.
“I’ll tell you later,” said the Doctor.
The Doctor walked over to stand in front of the zygons.
“One, you can drop your disguises… actually, on second thought, don’t. It’ll be easier to point you out.”
The Doctor paused, and looked around.
“Ok! Question one: why are you here? To invade and replace? To conquer?”
A pale brown mare with a yellow mane raised her hoof.
“You there,” the Doctor said as he pointed.
“Because we need a planet, and this has the perfect environment,” she said.
“What happened to your old planet?”
A light green stallion with a two-color mane of dark green on the top and brown on the bottom raised his hoof.
The Doctor pointed at him, and much to the Doctor’s surprise, began speaking with what sounded almost like an Irish accent,
“Because our planet is gone,” he stated.
“What do you mean ‘gone’?” asked the Doctor.
“It’s gone,” the stallion replied. “Vanished.”
“Are you sure you went looking in the right place?”
“Yep. I’m the ship’s pilot. I’m positive we were exactly where we should’ve been, but it wasn’t there, so we decided to come and live here. We slowly integrated into the town, and have been living here ever since.”
“How long ago was it when you first came here?”
“About 6 years ago,” replied the stallion.
Berry gasped.
“What?” asked the Doctor.
“6 years ago… that’s when Ponyville had the big population boom, when Twilight first came here, and when all these villains and stuff began really popping up.”
“The population boom must have been us,” said the green unicorn.
“So you just wanted to live here peacefully?” asked the Doctor.
“Yep,” replied the unicorn.
“So why all the sudden hostility?” asked the Doctor. “I mean, you blew up Zecora’s hut.”
“Who did?!” cried out a voice.
The Doctor scanned the crowd until he found the owner of the voice. It was a tan mare with a pink and blue mane.
“Bon Bon?” asked Berry.
“That’s not my actual name,” said ‘Bon Bon’, “but if it makes things easier, you can call me that. I don’t mind.”
“Okay,” said the Doctor, “back to the point. You know about the explosion?”
Bon Bon nodded, “Yes. It was a group of Zygons who were trying to get you to leave. The sudden hostility was because we thought you were going to make us leave. They probably got a little carried away.”
Starlight suddenly spoke up, irritated, “If they got ‘a little carried away’ then why’d they try to kill us with a cupcake bomb!?!?”
“It was a smoke bomb with compressed helium. If you had been outside in the gas, your voice would’ve been squeaky.”
“Oh.” Starlight looked a little embarrassed at her outburst.
“Well then, I have to come to a decision…” the Doctor began.
Everypony leaned forward waiting with with baited breath.
“They can stay. The only reason they were hostile is because they were afraid that we were going to force them to leave their home. I see no reason to make them leave. Besides, I bet they help with the economy. Um… who’s in charge here?”
Bon Bon raised her hoof. “Me.”
“Well then, if you’d be so kind as to follow me, we can get this all sorted out.”
The Doctor walked into the TARDIS, followed by Bon Bon. He stuck his head back out and said,
When they walked inside, the Doctor immediately walked over to the console, and activated something. He picked up a cone with a thin hose attached. He spoke into it saying, “Mr. Green-Pilot-Zygon, if you’d be so kind as to activate a helium-gas bomb next to the TARDIS, that’d be wonderful.” As he spoke, Bon Bon could hear his voice reverberating outside.
{-----}
Outside, the green stallion had done as the Doctor requested. As soon as it detonated, the TARDIS began taking off. A hissing noise filled the air that mingled with the TARDIS noise. Pinkie ran forward into close vicinity of the TARDIS’ recent location. She inhaled deeply, turned around and said in a British impression, “Hello! I’m the Doctor! Wheeee!” Everyone began howling with laughter, both at her impression of the Doctor, and at the fact that she sounded like a mouse at the same time.
{-----}
Bon Bon walked over to the Doctor. “Why’d you have Jack activate that bomb?” she asked. He looked over at her, smiling slightly.
“I’d reactivated the HADS, which is what caused the TARDIS to vanish the first time when you guys mobbed it.”
Bon Bon nodded. “Oh. Sorry about that, by the way.”
The Doctor shrugged. “It’s ok,” he said. “You were scared. Completely logical reaction. You thought I was going to force you to leave. At least no damage was done.”
The TARDIS made a groaning noise. When Bon Bon gave the Doctor a quizzical look, the Doctor smiled nervously. “Nothing,” he said. The TARDIS began it’s wheezing as the machine landed. When the Doctor checked the scanner, he saw Celestia sitting a desk in the corner of the room, looking right at the camera. She waved, letting them know they could come out. The Doctor gestured to Bon Bon to follow, and the pair walked out. Celestia smiled as the walked out of the box.
“Hello, Doctor,” she said.
Bon Bon leaned over and whispered into the Doctor’s ear, “You know the Princess?" The Doctor whispered back, “Long story. I don’t even know all of it.” Bon Bon looked at the Doctor, confused. The Doctor shrugged in reply. He then turned to the Princess.
“Princess Celestia, this is Bon Bon. She is the leader of the group of Zygons that have been living peacefully in Ponyville for the past six years. The only reason there was any hostility was a simple misunderstanding. I brought her here in hopes that you two would be able to work on relations, so that way they don’t have to live in hiding all the time.”
Celestia smiled. “Of course Doctor. Bon Bon, if you follow me, we can get started right away.”
Bon Bon looked at the Doctor, smiling with tears in her eyes. “Thank you, Doctor,” she said. She followed Celestia out of the room. The Doctor remained standing there for a moment.
“You’re welcome, Bon Bon.”
{-----}
When the TARDIS began rematerializing in Ponyville, Starlight, Berry, and Pinkie were all waiting by the time the Doctor stepped out. As he looked at his three friends he smiled sadly.
“Well, I guess this is goodbye,” he said.
“Goodbye?” Pinkie asked.
The Doctor nodded. “I’ve got to get home,” he said.
His three friends looked at him sadly, and nodded.
“Alright,” said Starlight. “Goodbye, Doctor.”
He waved them in. His three friends gave him a giant hug. After a moment, they broke away, all four of them slightly bleary-eyed.
The Doctor sniffed. “I hate goodbyes,” he said.
Berry gave a half-laugh. “Yeah. Don’t we all.”
The Doctor smiled. “It was nice to meet all of you. It really was. I will miss all of you dearly.” And with that he turned around and slowly walked back inside. The trio of mares stood and watched as the blue box slowly faded away. The three sat there for a moment, but soon got up and slowly walked away. Berry began walking home, and Starlight and Pinkie walked to Sugarcube Corner.
“I never got to throw him a welcome party,” said Pinkie.
“I know, Pinkie,” said Starlight. “I know.”
But suddenly, a familiar wheezing, groaning noise filled the air, seemingly magnified. Starlight and Pinkie darted back to where the TARDIS had vanished. Berry joined them a second later. As they watched, the TARDIS began to reappear. When it had completely vanished, the Doctor popped his head with a grin a mile wide.
“Well… I don’t have to leave just yet, I suppose. I mean, Starlight still has to teach me magic, and Pinkie still wanted to throw me a party. Besides, you haven’t seen the rest of my wardrobe.”
He swung the door open, revealing his complete outfit. He still had the hat and scarf on, but he was also wearing goggles on his hat, and he had on a long, brown coat with elbow patches.
“But before we do any of that, fancy an adventure to space in the distant future, or perhaps an ancient civilization, lost to time?” he asked, smirking. He opened the other door, but stood in front. “But just one condition…” he said.
“What?” asked Berry.
He smiled. “It has to be amazing.” and with that and a flourish of his hoof, he stepped aside, and the three mares ran inside.
The Doctor walked over to the console, and asked, “Where first?”
The triumvirate of mares halted suddenly. So many choices, and they couldn’t think of any!
The Doctor laughed. “Don’t know? Put on the spot to suddenly? Well, don’t worry. Since you don’t know, then neither will I!” He grabbed the red-knobbed lever and yanked down. The TARDIS began to take off.
“Where are we going?” asked Pinkie.
The Doctor smiled. “No idea! Let’s find out, eh? GERONIMO!”
