> The Equestrian Time Lord
>  by Knox Locke
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Origin Story (Prologue)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

He hardly remembers it anymore: the way he was before. It was so long ago now, and he never really enjoyed his life back then anyways. Why else would he have signed up to volunteer for experimental medical magic testing. Back then he thought of it as a small way to give back to the world around him. If he can help others, then why shouldn't he?

The company running the experiments specialized in creating new feats of magic. Time Turner took notice of a few other experiments they were running before he was led to the wing in which medical trials were being run. The mare leading him seemed to be the doctor in charge of the tests. She was a purple unicorn with long yellow mane and tail. She wore a stark white lab coat.

"Uh, hey doc?" Time asked the mare he was following. "What exactly do these tests entail?"

All he'd known prior to this was that he was helping test a medical process dealing with the heart.

"Well, Mr. Turner," the mare began in turn, "This experimental treatment you've signed up for is supposed to result in a seamless heart transplant using magic. If all goes as planned, we won't even have to open you up."

Time gulped. "If all goes as planned?"

Despite his worries, he stood strong. He was never one to back down from things, and he was wholeheartedly prepared to help test this process that could save hundreds, if not thousands, of ponies in the future.

"There's truly nothing to worry about," explained the doctor. "If anything goes wrong, we pull the plug and stop the process."

"Well, that's good to know."

The mare in the lab coat led him to a heavy metal door, which she slowly pushed open.

"I'm afraid this is where we part ways," she said.

"What? I thought you were in charge of this experiment."

"Well, I am," she continued, "but I'm not an expert at actually using magic, so my place during the procedure is the observation deck."

She waved a purple hoof towards a nearby door, which would apparently lead to the observation deck overlooking the testing area. Two ponies, a charcoal unicorn stallion and an amber-colored unicorn mare, approached from the other side of the large metal door, which still hung open.

"Ah," the doctor acknowledged them, "Mr. Turner, this is Grey Matter and Amber Flash. They're two of the doctors actually inside the room with you during the procedure."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Time said to the new arrivals.

"Likewise," replied Grey Matter, the stallion.

"Ditto!" Amber chimed in cheerfully.

"Well, I've got to get ready in observation," the purple mare said as she turned to leave.

"Hey wait," said Time, catching her attention. "I don't think I ever caught your name."

"Dr. Storm," she said nonchalantly before heading for the observation deck once more.

Turning back towards the other two doctors, he finally got a good look at the two of them. Grey was a deep charcoal color, and his eyes were a bizarre orange. He didn't have much in the way of a mane. Time could barely make out short black stubble on his scalp. He didn't seem to have that much in the way of personality, either. Amber, however, was jittering with excitement, causing her curly auburn locks to bounce up and down slightly. Her light pink eyes also betrayed her excitement. They were both wearing lab coats similar to Dr. Storm's.

Time let out a light chuckle at the display of enthusiasm before he was ushered into the testing room.





As Amber set up a heart in a jar nearby, Grey strapped electrodes to Time's head.

"Um, I thought this was a heart operation," Time began, gesturing loosely towards Amber's jarred heart to emphasize his point. "Why do you need to be hooked up to my brain?"

"It's a part of the procedure," Grey explained. "When we stimulate the brain using magic, it should be better able to adjust to having a new heart."

"I see..." Time said, lying.

"Just fair warning," Amber chimed into the conversation, "there are some side effects. Specifically, improved cognitive abilities."

"So... I'll be smarter?" he asked. When he received nods from Grey and Amber, he added, "Doesn't sound that bad to me."

There were at least twenty more doctors and nurses in the room with them. A few of them were keeping tabs on the machinery, others were tracking Time's vitals, and most were preparing to cast the intricate series of spells that was this treatment, and one stallion seemed to be sitting back with some kind of blue raspberry slushie.

"OK," said Amber. "I think we're good to go!"

"Ready, Mr. Turner?" asked Grey.

Time took one last look around the room, acknowledging whichever doctors happened to be looking his way with a nod, and took a deep breath.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

There were currently 12 unicorns casting spells on Time Turner. The electrodes around his head absorbing some of the magic. Grey and Amber were not participating in the actual spellcasting. Much like Dr. Storm, it seemed they were geniuses, but not too good with actual spellcasting.

As more magic poured into him, Time began to notice more things around the room. His perception of the area around him was improving. Perhaps this was part of the cognitive enhancements Grey and Amber were talking about?

As he continued learning more about his surroundings, he noticed that something was going to happen. He didn't know what, but it was going to happen in

"27 seconds," he said.

The unicorns covering him with magic as the heart from the jar was fused into his chest paid his words no mind.

"11 seconds," Time said, wincing as he felt his body begin fusing with the foreign heart.

"Prepare for the extraction of the original heart," said Grey to the spellcasters.

"3 seconds," Time said.

"Begin extraction process," Grey said.

"Zero," Time said as one of the many ponies in the room knocked a blue raspberry slushie into the sensitive machinery.

Lightning filled the room. Electricity filled the electrodes on Time's head, and it didn't stop there. Before the next few seconds had passed, the magically-fueled electricity filled Time's body and arced out through the spellcaster's magic fields. Each of the spellcasters writhed in agony as the electricity connected with their horns. Sadly for them, the magic they'd been using was still meant to fuse the new heart to Time. This spell meant to fuse things together combined with the magical electricity, and all 12 of them vanished. The bolt of electricity retreated into Time once more.

Just when it seemed like enough damage had been done, another bolt came out of the electrode on one side of his head and struck another of the doctors. It arced from that doctor's head to the next, until all the doctors left in the room were connected by a chain of lightning. It then arced back to the electrode on the other side of Time's head. All the doctors convulsed, but at least they didn't disappear like the spellcasters. They simply passed out once the electricity had finally left them.





As soon as he could effectively move, he hurried to find the two doctors he'd befriended. The first he found was Grey, but he was out cold no matter how hard he shook him. After finally locating Amber, he gently shook her until he heard her let out a pained groan.

"Ugh," she groaned out, "I don't feel too good."

She slowly opened her eyes, and Time could see there was a glassiness to them that hadn't been there before.

"Are you the doctor?" she asked, perking an eyebrow up at Time Turner.

'What is she talking about?' he thought to himself. 'She's the doctor here. Not me.'

'Maybe she received brain damage during the incident?' asked his own voice within his thoughts.

'That may very well be, but...' his thought trailed off slightly as he caught a glance of a couple other doctors waking up with that same glassy look in their eyes. 'I don't think everypony would be affected the same way if that were the case.'

'Yeah. You're right. Wait, that equipment was meant to boost my cognitive abilities, right?'

'Correct, and brains transfer signals to the body through electrical pulses.'

'So if that magical electricity had a strong enough charge to carry signals from all of their brains, where did those signals end up?'

'Well, I suppose they must of gone through the chain of energy, which started with me and ended with... me.'

'If all their synaptic energy traveled to me, then that means I...'

A dreadful thought now occurred to him. He stole another glance at Amber, who was still looking at him awaiting an answer to her question. Only now, she'd begun smiling. Time began to tear up as his now enhanced mind reached its final conclusion on the subject.

'I stole their brains.'

He looked to Amber, wanting to apologize. He wanted nothing more in that moment than to get rid of that glassy look in her eye. However, even his newly found genius couldn't come up with a solution. He still didn't even know what'd happened to the spellcasters. He looked at Amber, with tears in his eyes, and realized he still hadn't answered her question.

"Yeah," he said, trying to comfort her as much as possible. "Yeah, I'm the doctor."

Even through the glassiness, Time saw her eyes light up slightly. She leapt from the ground and began running around him in circles giggling.

"Doctor, doctor, give me the news!" she cried out happily.

Time couldn't help but laugh at the antics of his acquaintance, but that stopped when Amber suddenly stopped in front of him and adopted a suspicious visage.

"Hey..." she said. "If you're the doctor, then where's your lab coat?"

"Oh, ummm..." Time stammered, not sure how to respond to this grown mare acting like a child.

"Oh, wait," she said, looking down at herself.

'Uh-oh,' Time thought. 'Did she notice something was wrong?'

His expression changed from worry to confusion as Amber began slipping out of her lab coat.

"Here it is, silly!" she said with a bright smile.

"Um, thanks," was all Time could muster as he put on the lab coat. Looking down at himself, he had to admit it didn't look bad with the necktie he usually wore.

"Wow," Amber said, circling around him. "That look suits you, doc!"

That's when the door burst open and several security guards came in. Taking check of everypony in the room, they focused in on Time. As they approached, Time's new brain wouldn't stop overanalyzing long enough to actually come up with a plan. For some reason, he was currently picturing the layout of the hallway near the other experiment chambers that he'd seen earlier. That didn't come in handy as the guards literally picked him up and started carrying him away.

"Hey! Let him go you big meanies!" Amber cried out.

"Amber, you stay here. OK sweetie?" Time called back from the shoulders of the guards. "Doctor's orders."

"Aye-aye captain!" she said, giving a little salute with one hoof that seemed adorable despite her being a grown mare.

The guards continued carrying him down different corridors until they were almost at the one his mind had chosen to focus on earlier. Picturing it in his head, he could tell exactly what he'd been attempting to plan.

As they passed into the hallway, Time launched himself off their shoulders and bit down onto the steam pipe on the ceiling above. As expected, his body weight was too much for it to bear. The pipe broke and sprayed burning steam onto the guards as Time dropped back to his hooves.

He ran into one of the experiment bays, knowing they'd already have the main exits blocked. He had to hope there was some way out through here.

He heard the guards angrily running past the bay he'd slipped into. They obviously didn't think much of him in the ways of intelligence. He began looking around the room, taking in all of the prototypes they had there and what each of them was supposed to do. They had also marked whether it was a success or a failure. As he scanned a bench full of small prototypes, one really stood out to him. It didn't look like anything special, but he found himself drawn to its simple appearance. It seemed to be some kind of metal wand with a blue light at the tip. A rubber-like grip was covering part of the metal shaft in order to allow easier muzzle-holding.

He picked the thing up, and almost instantly decided he never wanted to put it down. He checked the information card for it before placing it in the pocket of Amber's lab coat, which he still wore. Apparently, the device was called a "Sonic Screwdriver," and now it was his.

Looking further into the room, he came upon something that seemed quite out of place here. There was an old police phone box in one corner of the room. Upon further investigation, it seemed as though it was one of the experiments. The information card taped to the door said it was a "Time And Relative Dimension In Space" vehicle. Somehow, Time could tell exactly what that meant.

"It's a time machine? In these lunatics hands? I don't think so."

He ran to a nearby computer console and tried to hack in. Even with his new intelligence, he couldn't manage it. That's when he got an interesting idea. He retrieved the sonic screwdriver from his pocket and began using it on the console.

Practically before he knew it, he'd unlocked the console and deleted all their files on Project TARDIS.

TARDIS, eh? He liked that name. Especially since it was the name of his escape route.

He went back to the TARDIS, finding the key haphazardly taped to the back of its info card, and placed the key in the lock.

"Doctor?"

Time turned to find himself face-to-face with Amber. She was teary-eyed.

"Are you leaving?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am."

"But I never even got my checkup," she said, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

This was it. Time never could stand to see a filly cry, even if it was just a grown mare behaving like a filly. He knew he had to relent in some fashion, but there was no way he could stay here much longer.

"How about this," he said. "I have to go right now, but if you keep our friendship a secret, I promise I'll find you someday."

"Then you'll give me a checkup?" she asked hopefully.

"I look forward to it."

He opened the door to the TARDIS and was about to step inside.

"Hey," Amber caught his attention once more. "What's your name?"

Time Turner let out a very light chuckle at that. He turned away from the TARDIS to face his friend once more.

"I told you already," he said, stepping backwards through the TARDIS door, "I'm the Doctor."

With that, he closed the door to the TARDIS and turned to face the inside. His jaw dropped.

"It's bigger on the inside," he stated whimsically, for the inside of the TARDIS took up enough space to fill at least 30 of those police boxes. He could even see that there were hallways stemming off from this main room he found himself in.

Eventually, he finally got the machine to work. With that, he and the TARDIS left Bad Timberwolf Industries behind them.





The first time he worked the TARDIS, Time Turner didn't know how to navigate it. Therefore, he found himself randomly in Griffonstone a few years before he'd escaped Bad Timberwolf's labs. He had fun. He helped a few griffons with a chimera problem.

That was what inspired him to use his new intelligence to help ponies, along with other sentient life, all over the world! From Equestria and beyond!

It's been several years now, and his only complaint is that he has yet to give Amber that checkup she asked for all those years ago. He's still worried about what Bad Timberwolf might do to her if they find out she let him escape. He'll find her someday, though.

To make sure he never forgets his promise, he still has her lab coat. It's hanging in the main room of the TARDIS, and in case it ever gets lost, he has another way to remember. Everywhere the TARDIS has taken him, everywhere he's helped somecreature, everywhere he's had an adventure; he's only ever introduced himself... as The Doctor.
> The Beginning Before The Beginning, Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

That familiar vworping sound the TARDIS produced filled the air in the small town of Ponyville. It was the dead of night, if the Doctor had arrived on schedule (which it was fairly likely he didn't). Therefore, most of the townsfolk should be asleep right now.

The Doctor was here on a mission. If history is accurate, Nightmare Moon returns within the next couple days. Trouble is, the Doctor caught wind that somepony wants to steal the Elements of Harmony, which would obviously end in catastrophy.

"OK, OK, OK," the Doctor said aloud as he exited the TARDIS. "First step. Ponyville library, I should say."

As per his word, he began to slowly trot through the streets of Ponyville in search of the library. He was only walking for five minutes before the sun began to rise.

"Great," he mumbled. "I must've arrived at least four hours later than expected."

"Look out!" somepony yelled as the Doctor was plowed down to the ground.

Upon further investigation, it seemed the object that had him pinned to the ground was a pegasus. It was more than likely that this gray pegasus mare was the pony who yelled a warning to him a tad too late. Sandy blonde mane filled his face, obscuring his view of most of her body. He knew it was a mare by the voice alone.

"Excuse me," he said, though it was muffled by the mystery-mare's mane, "would you mind too terribly?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, mister," said the mare as she scrambled to her hooves.

"Not a problem at all," the doctor replied, springing to his feet. "Hardly hurt a bit."

Now that he got a good look at the mare that had crash-landed on him, the Doctor noticed three things. One, this mare's eyes faced in ever-so-slightly different directions. Two, her cutie mark was a bunch of bubbles. Three, she still looked embarrassed, probably about the whole "first impression is to crash land on a stranger" thing.

"Are you sure you're not hurt?" the mysterious mare asked.

Her speech was drawn out and almost rhythmic in nature, but her voice carried a vibe that he could only come up with one word to describe. She sounded... ditzy. Yeah, that's how he'd describe her voice. Ditzy. It actually sounded quite cute, which was somewhat surprising coming from a grown mare.

"Yes, I'm quite certain," the Doctor replied. "I'm afraid it takes a bit more than that to break me."

The pegasus' face lit up with the Doctor's confirmation. 

"I'm sorry," she said, "I haven't asked for your name yet."

"You can just call me the Doctor," he said, holding out a hoof for her to shake.

"Doctor who?" she asked, completing the hoofshake.

"Exactly."

The Doctor always enjoyed the quizzical expressions he received when he shared the name he went by, but this ditzy mare's was on a completely different level. Her lazy eye made her cocking her head to the side look thoroughly adorable. The Doctor chuckled. Compared to a lot of the expressions he'd received in the past, her easily took the cake.

Ooh, speaking of cake, the Doctor noticed he was a bit peckish. Maybe he should ask for directions to a local restaurant before getting directions to the library.

"Well, I'm Derpy," said the mare .

'Well, that sounds offensive,' the Doctor thought.

"But a lot of my friends think it sounds offensive," she continued, "so they call me either Ditzy or Muffins instead."

Hmmm... Ditzy? Wasn't that the same word the Doctor had used to describe her voice?

"OK, then," said the Doctor. "I'll just call you Ditzy, then. Is that alright?"

"Sure thing, doc."

"If you don't mind me asking, Ms. Ditzy, do you happen to know of a good place to eat around here?"

"Wow doc," Ditzy said, "I didn't think anypony but me ate this early in the morning."

"Do I look like anypony to you?"

"No," she said, drawing out the syllable and adopting a smile. "You look like the Doctor, silly!"

"Good," he replied.

Derpy then showed him the way to a bakery she called Sugarcube Corner.

"They have really good breakfast foods here," Derpy said, licking her lips as they entered the establishment.

"Very well then. Allons-y!" proclaimed the Doctor.

"All in what?" Ditzy asked, once again cocking her head adorably to the side.

'Great Celestia's ghost,' he thought. 'That's not gonna get old.'

"Allons-y," the Doctor repeated. "It means 'Let's go'."

"Oh, hello there dearie," said a slightly pudgy earth mare as she came out of what the Doctor assumed to be the kitchen. "What can I do for ya?"

"Hi, Mrs. Cake," Derpy greeted the new arrival as The Doctor made a mental note that her name was Mrs. Cake.

"Hello," said the Doctor.

"Oh, your a new face around here, aren't ya?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied. "Just in town on business."

'Wow,' he thought. 'This bakery must be pretty popular if she could tell I was from out of town at a glance.'

"Well, isn't that just a pleasant sight," Mrs. Cake continued. "An out-of-towner takin' interest in our little, old bakery."

Our? The Doctor made a note that Sugarcube Corner is run by at least two ponies. The other one probably being the 'Mr. Cake' to her 'Mrs. Cake'.

"Where'd you say you were originally from?" Mrs. Cake asked.

"I didn't," was the Doctor's only reply.

"Oh, uh, well," Mrs. Cake stumbled with her words slightly before regaining her composure. "I'm Mrs. Cake. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister...?"

"He's the Doctor!" Ditzy proclaimed merrily.

The Doctor chuckled.

"Doctor?" Mrs. Cake questioned. "Doctor who?"

"Exactly," the Doctor and Ditzy said in unison.

Another innocent pony's quizzical reaction later, Mrs. Cake asked for their orders.

"Well let's have a little looksee, shall we?" the Doctor said as he scoured the menu for something that sounded appetizing.

"Ooh, custard!" he said aloud. "I know it's a long shot, but you wouldn't happen to have any fish, would you?"

"Afraid not, dear," Mrs. Cake replied, seeming confused by the request. Not that anypony hasn't been so far.

"Oh, well. I suppose I'll just have the custard then."

Mrs. Cake nodded in approval of this seemingly much more manageable order.

"What would you like, Ms. Ditzy?" the Doctor asked. "Food's on me."

"The usual, dear?" Mrs. Cake asked before Derpy could answer.

"Absolutely, Mrs. Cake!" she replied energetically. "Thanks for the meal, doc!"

The Doctor took note that Ditzy has a usual order at Sugarcube Corner. Details of said order remain to be seen.

"So, what kind of work do you do, Doc?" Ditzy asked while Mrs. Cake was preparing plates behind the counter.

"Well, I suppose you could say I'm here to do some treasure hunting," he replied.

"Oh?" Mrs. Cake voiced. "Any chance you work with that other doctor that came in last night?"

"There's another doctor doing treasure hunting around here?" he asked urgently. "What was his name?"

"Well, if I remember correctly," Mrs. Cake put a hoof to her chin and looked thoughtful for a moment, "it was Dr. Caballeron, or something like that."

"Dr. Caballeron?" the Doctor was shocked.

He'd heard of Caballeron, the infamous treasure hunter said to have lived in this timeframe. There was no doubt he was the one searching for the Elements.

"So you do know him?" Derpy asked.

"No," the Doctor replied, "but I'm going to stop him."

"What was that, dear?" Mrs. Cake asked as she returned to the counter with a bowl of frozen custard and an assortment of muffins.

"Oh, nothing!" the Doctor chimed. Then, he turned his attention towards Ditzy's apparent food of choice. "Muffins?"

"What?" Ditzy said as she held the muffin platter in her wings. "There's a reason my friends sometimes call me Muffins, you know."

"I see. They're your favorite food?"

"No question."

Ditzy led the way to a table in the corner of the bakery, and the Doctor followed. Ditzy had downed four muffins before she spoke again.

"So, Doc, why do you need to stop that Cappy Barrel guy?" she asked.

"That's Caballeron," corrected the Doctor, "and it's because he plans to steal the items that are destined to save this world."

"Yikes! That doesn't sound good!" she yelped. "How are you gonna stop him, Doc?"

"Well, what do you think is the best way to keep somepony from stealing something?" he asked.

The Doctor could practically see the gears turning in Ditzy's head as her face scrunched while she tried to come up with an answer. She looked back to the Doctor, practically begging for the answer with her eyes.

"All you have to do," began the Doctor, "is steal it first."
> The Beginning Before The Beginning, Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the completion of their meal, Ditzy had seemed insistent on showing the Doctor the way to the local library, which she claimed was named the Golden Folks Library. They were trotting through Ponyville towards the library when the Doctor spotted something in the distance.

He grabbed Ditzy by the tail and dragged her around the corner of a nearby house. He held her against the wall with an outstretched hoof across her torso. As if on cue, the pegasus-drawn chariot landed in the town, almost exactly where the Doctor had been.

"What are you doing, Doc?" Ditzy asked, confused by her state of being pinned to a wall.

"Shush!" hissed the Doctor. "We can't let her know we're here."

"Who can't know we're here?"

Off the chariot stepped a purple unicorn and a baby dragon. They thanked the pegasi that had flown them here, perfectly unaware that both of them would one day be able to fly themselves. The Doctor couldn't hear their discussion as they walked down the street. They passed the building Ditzy and the Doctor were hiding behind, but the Doctor put a hoof over her mouth to keep them from being noticed. Eventually, he saw a pink earth pony with a big, poofy mane approaching the unicorn and the dragon.

One of the most emphatic gasps of shock the Doctor had ever heard emanated from the pink mare, and she zoomed past the hidden pair as she left to go plan a fateful welcoming party. Twilight Sparkle and her assistant Spike continued their walk down the road, most likely heading towards the farmland the Doctor could just barely make out in that direction. His best guess would be that the farm was Sweet Apple Acres.

As Twilight and Spike left their view, the Doctor released Ditzy from the wall.

"Who was that, Doc?" she asked upon getting her bearings.

"Spoilers," the Doctor stated.

Ditzy once again cocked her head to the side, wondering how that information could possibly be a spoiler.

"Doctor?" said a voice from above them. Looking up, the Doctor locked eyes with a pink mare who was currently staring down at them from the roof of the building.

"Dear Celestia, not again." the Doctor grumbled before summoning a thin smile and feigned cheery tone. "Pinkie Pie! Don't you have a party to plan?"

"A party?" the pink energy ball replied. "I don't think so. I've just gotta bake a "Welcome To Ponyville" cake for that unicorn you were watching me meet."

"You knew we were watching you?" Ditzy chimed in. "How?"

"It's Pinkie Pie, Ditzy," the Doctor said. "Don't question it."

"So, what's this you were saying about a party?" Pinkie asked with a broad smile.

"Well, um," the Doctor stumbled over his words slightly. "It's been a while since there's been a new arrival here, yes?"

Pinkie seemed to be counting with her hooves, and the Doctor hardly reacted at all when the count exceeded four. After a moment, she nodded in the affirmative.

"So why not go all out?" the Doctor continued. "She's new in town, so she probably needs to make some friends. What better way than with a..."

"Welcoming party!" Pinkie exclaimed, cutting him off. "Ooh, this is going to be so FUN!"

She disappeared from view for a moment only to somehow grab the Doctor from behind and pull him into a hug.

"Thanks, Doc!" she said.

Ditzy looked at Pinkie, bewildered, before looking up at the roof where she'd been moments before. Then, her attention went back to the logic-defying earth pony. This action was repeated several times before Pinkie finally left the pair on their own.

"It was great seeing you! Try to make it to the party!" she called out as she zoomed off into the town. She seemed to be heading the same direction as Sugarcube Corner.

The rest of the trip to the library passed without incident. As they approached the tree-turned-building, the Doctor was in awe of its natural beauty. The sign near the door, contrary to what Ditzy had said, was labelled Golden Oak Library. Once they were inside, it didn't take long to find the book the Doctor was looking for: "The Elements Of Harmony: A Reference Guide."

A cursory search of the book's contents allowed him to learn that the Elements' last known location was the old Castle of the Two Sisters, deep within the Everfree Forest. Armed with this knowledge, he prepared to leave the library. As he reached for the door handle, the door opened from the other side.

"OH, hey Doc!" Pinkie Pie greeted them. "A little early for the party, aren't you?"

"Actually, we were just doing a bit of research," the Doctor explained. "If we have time tonight, we'll be sure to stop by your party."

"Okie dokie low-key!" Pinkie beamed.

As they left Pinkie in the library, the Doctor suddenly had a thought. Perhaps he should make sure they'll find that same book in time. I mean, how embarrassing would it be if he'd saved the Elements only for them to never be found?

"Pinkie," he said, catching the party pony's attention immediately. "If you're ever searching for a book in here, just remember this. It's under 'E'."

"Got it, Doc!" she yelled over her shoulder before returning to her decorating.

With that, the Doctor left the Golden Oak Library and began his trek to the Everfree Forest.

"Ms. Ditzy," he said to the mare that was still following him. "I'm not lost anymore. You can go about your day."

"Why would I do that, Doc?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Why wouldn't you?" the Doctor countered.

"Because, silly," she said, beginning to laugh, "I want to help you! Duh!"

The Doctor thought this over for a moment before breaking out into a grin.

"Very well then," he said, continuing towards the forest. "Allons-y!"
> The Beginning Before The Beginning, Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Say, Ditzy, I don't suppose you've been to the castle of the two sisters?" the Doctor inquired.

"Sorry, Doc," Ditzy replied. "I didn't even know there was a castle in the Everfree Forest."

"Well, I suppose that explains a few things."

"Like what, Doc?"

"Like how we got so completely and utterly lost."

The Doctor and his new friend looked around them once again, trying to determine which way to go. After a moment, Ditzy walked over to a nearby tree and looked closely at its trunk.

"Ditzy, what could you possibly be doing right now?" asked the Doctor.

"I think this tree looks familiar, Doc," she explained. "Do you have anything we could use to mark it or something?"

"I'm afraid the only thing I brought along was my sonic screwdriver," the Doctor replied, slipping the sonic out of the pocket he'd sewn into the back of his necktie.

"Well, can't we use that?" Ditzy asked.

"It doesn't do wood," the Doctor stated bluntly.

"That sound like a very glaring issue, Doc."

"Oy, don't diss the sonic!"

"But Doc-"

"Shush!" the Doctor exclaimed loudly enough for his order for silence to be ironic. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what, Doc?" Ditzy asked, cocking her head to the side.

The Doctor held a hoof to her mouth and held perfectly still listening to his surroundings. There was something he'd thought he heard, and sure enough he heard it again after several seconds.

SPLASH!

"There's water nearby, and it's not uninhabited," he whispered. "If whatever's there is friendly, we might be able to ask directions. This way!"

And so the Doctor set off towards whatever body of water was here in the dreaded Everfree Forest, hoping for some kind of lucky break. As he and Ditzy reached the foliage by the side of what appeared to be a river, the Doctor took note of his surroundings.

The river wasn't too wide and could easily be waded across by the looks of it. There were also an abundance of rocks sticking out above the waters surface that could possibly be used as an even easier path across the river. He couldn't trace hide nor hair of whatever had been splashing around in the river, but he could see what seemed to be the top of an old ruin over the treetops on the opposite side. If he were to guess, the ruins that lie beyond the river were most likely the remains of the castle they sought.

"OK, Ditzy," he said to his companion, "I believe it's safe."

"Alrighty, Doc!" Ditzy chimed happily, walking up to the river's edge.

The Doctor followed closely behind. Upon reaching the riverbank, he hopped to the rock nearest the bank. He held a hoof out to Ditzy, but as she was reaching out to grab it the rock under him moved slightly. The sudden motion caused the Doctor to tip forward and fall into the water right in front of Ditzy. He grumbled to himself as he wiped the grimy water from his eyes. Ditzy just laughed, but the Doctor became worried when the laughter suddenly stopped.

As he opened his eyes, he froze in shock. Out of the water in front of him rose a reptilian monstrosity with razor sharp teeth jutting from its vice-like jaw. Upon its back were several rock-like protrusions that could easily be mistaken for large stones if the rest of the creature were submerged in murky water.

"A cragodile?!" the Doctor both screamed and questioned. "Why didn't anypony tell me there were cragodiles in the era? They were supposed to be extinct 200 years ago!"

His rant ended when the cragodile in question lunged towards him. The Doctor felt a tug on the back of his neck as Ditzy just barely managed to drag him out of the way of the cragodile's strike.

"I don't thuppothe your thonic threwdrither workth on thtone," Ditzy asked with a mouth full of the Doctor's mane as she continued dragging him further away from the river.

"Well, it does work on stone," stated the Doctor, "but there's a problem."

"What's that?" Ditzy asked, having finally dropped his mane.

"You see, a cragodile looks to be a crocodile-like creature with rocks on its back, but those rocks are actually made of the creature's own biological material," the Doctor calmly explained as the two scrambled to evade another lunge by the now land-bound cragodile.

"In Ponish, please, Doc!" Ditzy screamed as she ducked under a snapping set of jaws that could crush a pony's head in an instant.

"It's not actually stone, so it won't work."

"And how exactly is that thing so useful, again?"

"If we weren't in mortal peril right now, I would be very offended!" the Doctor yelled as he evaded the rocky tail of the cragodile.

'Calm down' he thought. 'Think. How can we both get out of this?'

He looked frantically from Ditzy, to the cragodile, and back to Ditzy. Then, he facehoofed.

"Ditzy, get this thing's attention. While it's chasing you, I'll get away."

"WHAT?!" Ditzy screamed, obviously not pleased with this.

"Ditzy, you're forgetting something," the Doctor said. "It won't catch you."

"How do you know that?" she asked, clearly panicking.

"You have wings!" the Doctor stated before making a beeline for the river.

Ditzy froze in place for a moment. The gears in her brain slowly turned until something clicked.

"Oh," she said with a light chuckle. "Yeah, duh."

With that, she jumped over another cragodile lunge and spread her wings. She saw that the Doctor had already waded into the water and was slowly making his way across the river. However, due to her eyes facing different directions, she could simultaneously see the cragodile turning its attention from her back towards him.

Fast as an arrow, and as inaccurately as a bent arrow, she flew towards the Doctor. Instead of reaching him, she crashed into the water about five feet ahead of him. Both the Doctor and the cragodile winced at the SPLAT! sound the impact made.

In both pain and a panic, Derpy scrambled to her hooves and ran to the Doctor's side. Grabbing hold of his torso, she took off once again. The cragodile now seemed to be watching them with one rock-like eyebrow raised slightly. Ditzy flapped with all of her might towards the castle ruins.

Less than a minute later, Ditzy was running on fumes. Seeing the state she was in, the Doctor looked around. They were now significantly closer to the castle, about to go over a canyon. Not trusting that Ditzy's wings could last long enough, he looked closer until he spotted a bridge.

"Ditzy," he called, "do you think you can get us near this side of that bridge?"

He gestured his hoof towards the bridge, and Ditzy followed his gesture with one of her eyes.

"Sure... thing... Doc," she managed to say through labored breaths.

Well, she didn't get them near this side of the bridge. In fact, she overshot the entire canyon. The pair ended up crashing to the ground at the very edge of the other side of the canyon. As they crashed, they slammed forcefully into one of the wooden poles this side of the bridge was tied to. As the Doctor stood up and made a mental list of every part of his body that hurt (chest, right foreleg, rear left hoof, tailbone, crown of the head, and one heart), he noticed that the rope holding this side of the bridge up had loosened when he and Ditzy hit the pole. He cautiously went to go secure the rope, but as soon as he took a step towards the bridge, the rope snapped. The entire side of the bridge nearest the castle fell, leaving only the opposite end connected to anything.

"Well, that'll be fun for Caballeron," he said, smiling slightly at the thought.

He then joined Ditzy and once again started making his way towards the castle of the two sisters.





[Not Long After]

"We're almost there!" exclaimed the purple unicorn on a mission.

Her exclamation was cut short, however, as she almost fell from a cliff for the second time tonight.

Luckily, a pony who would soon become a close friend was nearby, and pulled her back onto solid ground by yanking her tail.

"What's with you and falling off cliffs today?" the rainbow-maned pegasus asked sarcastically.