Episode 1:"The Fluttershy Effect" Part 1
Disclaimer: BBC owns Doctor Who. My Little Pony is owned by Hasbro. I own nothing.
Fluttershy had just returned from feeding her animals and was ready to take time for herself to relax. She was just walking over to her couch to sit down which she was interrupted by the sound of something being pushed through the letterbox of her front door quickly followed by the sound of something or somepony making a hasty exit. Clearly, the deliverer of the unknown item was keen not to be seen.
She walked over to the door and saw an envelope with her name written on it in cursive handwriting. She opened the envelope and looked upon its contents, a smile steadily growing on her face as well as a blush.
Fluttershy turned around to see a orb of light seemingly coming out of nowhere which was slowly growing in size and beginning to engulf the room. The pegasus pony tried to escape but the light was growing at such a rapid rate that there was little she could do. Every time she managed to distance herself from it the space was quickly made up. Whatever was behind it was clearly determined to get to her. Fluttershy came to a dead end in the form of the cottage wall. In a last ditch effort She spread her wings to fly intending to dart through the the open window. It was too little too late as everything went white she began to lose consciousness hearing nothing but the sound of her own scream. She vanished as the envelope fell to the floor and out of it a single red rose.
Opening Credits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PTjYmkj4mA
The Doctor stands alone in his TARDIS as he stares absentmindedly at the screen in the middle of the TARDIS console. His mind is elsewhere, lamenting the events months prior which left him alone again.
In the process of defeating the Daleks, Donna had combined her human DNA with The Doctor's Time Lord DNA when she touched his severed hand which had retained some of his regeneration energy. This process created a human version of The Doctor but also fatally passed on Time Lord knowledge which the human mind was not meant to comprehend. Before long, Donna's mind was beginning to burn up. The Doctor knew there was only one thing he could do to save her and that was to erase her mind of everything she knew about space and time travel... Erase her mind of everything she knew about him. That was the most tragic thing about the entire situation. She would have to forget everything the two had done together, every person she had saved, every act of bravery she had committed. It would be like he had never been in her life at all.
In the end, that's what had made it much more painful than any of the other times he’d had to say goodbye to a companion. Even those, like Rose, that he could never see again, at least he knew that he had made a lasting impact on their lives. In this case, though, she'd go back to being the same woman she had been before she met The Doctor going back to being underestimated and looked down upon by her peers. Unlike those who came before her, she wouldn't have had any personal growth to speak of. It was as though everything they had been through had been for nothing.
He'd had to put a brave face on in front of Donna's family who were obviously worried about her in their own right. When the Doctor dragged his companion’s unconscious body through the door both Donna’s Grandfather AND her mother had rushed to her side. Such an action would seem quite irregular for anyone that knew the Nobles. Anyone that knew of the somewhat ‘frosty’ relationship between the mother and daughter would rightly think the circumstances to be dire. Donna's grandfather had expressed concern of The Doctor Himself wondering if he was going to be okay, The Doctor had brushed it off saying he would carry on travelling. But something about the look in Wilfrid's eyes told him that he knew that something was wrong and that The Doctor was more upset than he was letting on. It must have been grandfather's intuition or something. Of course, The Doctor would know a thing or two about that being a grandfather himself at one point. But his Granddaughter, Susan had even needed to leave him and move on with her life. She was just the first in a long line of traveling companions that would walk into his life only to inevitably leave.
It was the reality of his life as a Timelord travelling with a human companion. Relationships with humans were always fleeting. It was simply his lot in life to be alone -- nothing but the vast expanse of his TARDIS floating in the endless black void of space. It was enough to make a man seem tiny and insignificant.
The Doctor was awoken from his thoughts by a strange orb of light appearing in front of him. Apparently, he had become so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he failed to notice the readings on the screen that picked localised vortex energy. The sphere of light expanded rapidly and before long encompassed the entire room.The last thing The Doctor heard before he blacked out was the clatter of his body striking the metallic floor of his TARDIS.
The Doctor awoke to the sound of a small voice almost like that of a child, obviously female which sounded like they were a combination of confused and afraid.
"H-hello? Where am I?"
"What!?" said the Doctor, taken aback by the intrusion and perplexed at the prospect of hearing the new voice in his TARDIS.
He could hear someone shuffling around at a considerable speed. In his peripheral vision, he could just make out something ducking for cover. The Doctor spun around in order to face the source of the voice but saw no one.
"Who's there?" The Doctor asked still on edge
"Who are you? The timid stranger asked at a barely audible volume, ignoring his question.
Before he could answer The Doctor was met with a hysterical barrage of questions.
“How did I get here? Was it you? P-p-please, let me go.”
Unable to locate the source of the voice, The Doctor decided to check the monitor at the far side of the console in order to scan for internal life signs deciding it to be easier than searching every nook and cranny of his time traveling spaceship. However, his foot made contact with something at the footwell of the console, producing a startled yelp, he looked down to see a pair of cyan eyes lighting up the noir depths underneath.
The Doctor could sense the distress in the mysterious stranger's voice. The Time Lord elected to calm the mystery person as he could deduce from her reaction that she was not here of her own free will. The Doctor pushed his own depression from his companion's recent departure to the back of his mind as he had done so many times before in the face of a new challenge that life is put in front of him.
“’Ello there,” greeted The Doctor in the friendliest voice he could muster "why don't you come on out so we can have a little chat and maybe figure out what happened here, hmm?"
He got no response aside from a muffled squeak which caused The Doctor to wonder whether he had happened upon some kind of super intelligent species of rodent. It was, after all, a big universe and anything was possible.
The "unexpected guest" began to slowly reveal itself, gingerly inching out from under the highly sophisticated Galifraen Technology. It was at this moment that The Doctor took in the visage of an alien unlike any he'd ever met.
The creature he saw was stunning; a pegasus pony with a light yellow coat, a long flowing pink mane and tail and three butterflies which adorned the pony’s flank. (The Doctor hypothesized that this badge-like symbol likely held some special significance in her culture.) The most striking feature, though, was her large teal eyes, which she tried to hide behind her abundance of hair. She was shy, The Doctor could tell that much.
"Ello, what's your name, sweetheart?" He asked, putting on his warmest, most comforting smile and leaning down so as not to loom over the small, shy pony.
"Mmm...ershy" came the quiet, muttered response.
"Pardon?" enquired the Time Lord.
"Mmm...uttershy," she mumbled again, slightly clearer this time.
"Sorry, my hearing must be going in my old age" he gestured for her to try again, angling his head towards her muzzle so that she could speak directly into his ear.
enough
"I'm Fluttershy" came an introduction finally loud enough for him to hear.
"Nice to meet you Fluttershy, I'm The Doctor!" came the boisterous response, which caused the shy one to flinch.
The Doctor deduced, judging by this pony's name, that her anxiety was not simply a result of the current predicament but rather an ongoing issue that was exasperated by the situation. An issue which appeared to have characterised her amongst her own kind.
Wanting to learn more about this fascinating creature—in particular, where she came from, how she could talk, and how she came to be in his TARDIS—he decided to quickly scan her with his sonic screwdriver.
Fluttershy had become spooked when she saw The Doctor advancing towards her with his bizarre whirring implement. She backed away out of fear.
“N-no!” She squeaked.
Fluttershy made a beeline for the exit, using her wings to propel her in one fluid motion out the double doors of the TARDIS. She came to a sudden stop when she realised that there was nothing out there apart from the pitch black abyss of space, with nothing but the violet glow of distant nebulae to light up the void. she could see nothing but could feel the the distant unseen galaxies calling out to her.
She froze in place, mesmerized by the beauty and eerie calm that emanated from the near pitch-black plane in front of her. The universe was almost an entity unto itself. All the elements and the celestial bodies seemed to work together with one another in perfect harmony and felt like they could stare into her very soul. It was a feeling almost indescribable. Elegance and beauty yet cold and intimidating. She wanted to flee but dared not look away. She was honoured in a way knowing that nopony had ever had an experience like this. the universe worked in mysterious ways and here she was at a point where she could swear that she could hear its beating heart.
Fluttershy floated in that one spot for a long moment taking in the splendor of her surroundings. She was abruptly snapped out of her trance as she began to choke...
She panicked as the realisation hit her that she had become exposed to the vacuum of space. She panicked as she began to gasp for air. her eyes went wide as she began to cough and splutter. Fluttershy saw her vision growing hazy for the second time that day.
The Doctor watched the entire scene of Fluttershy's first encounter with the wider universe since she burst through his doors. To The Doctor, playing spectator to another's first interaction with the universe's true majesty brought back happy childhood memories of when he’d first looked into The Untempered Schism. It was that day, like so many Timelords before him, that he’d known his life's calling. He was snapped back to reality when he heard his new charge coughing (a symptom of the TARDIS’ telepathic field) and saw her erratic motion. He instantly knew what was wrong: the TARDIS' temporary oxygen forcefield which she had been standing under had just run out.
In a moment of quick thinking, The Doctor grabbed a hold of Shy's hind hoof with one hand steadying himself in the doorway with the other as she happened to still be near the TARDIS in reaching distance. He yanked her back in one swift motion pulling her back into his waiting arms within the safety of his ship. He pulled her close to his chest. To The Doctor's surprise, she threw her forelegs around him tightly in some kind of hug gently sobbing. She was clearly shaken by the near death experience.
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't be so quick to display such affection to a stranger but at this point, she was looking for any kind of consolation she could get. He slowly and awkwardly returned the panicked mare's embrace. He hushed her as she sobbed and gradually moved his hand to run it through her mane.
The Doctor began to feel his parental instincts beginning to surface again which he rarely got a chance to show to others. He had become emotionally distant from those around him due to having people walk into and out of his life on a constant basis. He did try to show compassion to others and put their mind at rest during times of uncertainty but often left signs of physical affection and consolation to his companions. Those companions were ironically often times themselves the recipients of these rare displays of affection.
"Sshh, shh, everything's gonna be okay..." The Doctor comforted in a hushed tone.
After a few minutes, Fluttershy relaxed into the hug and her crying slowed to a stop. Fluttershy had not felt so secure since she was a young filly being held by her mother after a nightmare or a horrific day being tormented at flight camp.
After a few more moments he set her down and she sat there as he began to tinker with the TARDIS console. Both of them took a moment of silence to digest everything that just happened...