A collection of stories of the Doctor traveling the cosmos with Derpy and a few other guests.
Taking place between chapter three and chapter four of 'Ride On Shooting Star', these three short stories are just some of the many adventures that include the Doctor with Derpy and various other cast members, including allies and enemies!
Chapters go in this order: "Ride On Shooting Star", Chapter 3 "Freeze Up" "Like A Stone" "Night Time" "Ride On Shooting Star", Chapter 4
As soon as the Doctor slammed his hoof on the TARDIS console, the machine came to life. The ship made sounds that were new to his pegasus companion as it began to soar through the stars.
"Now, Derpy," the Doctor began, "this TARDIS here can travel anywhere in the universe as well as any time! With a bit of technological know how, I can take you anywhere you wish!"
The grey mare's eyes lit up, fixed on the stallion, "Anywhere? Someplace cold! Where it's winter! I really like the snow!" Derpy was as giddy as a little schoolfilly.
"I know just the place, my dear!" The Doctor boldly proclaimed while his hoof violently pulled a leaver downwards. Almost immediately, however, the entire console room of the TARDIS shook fiercely. The Doctor kept his stance at the console, while Derpy grabbed onto the railings.
"What was that?" the mare worriedly asked.
"Just a speed bump in time travel. It's very wibbly-wobbly," the brown pony calmly stated as he furiously stared at his console to address the situation. He began to talk to himself, almost making no sense to anypony who could hear while his hooves were jumping from one instrument to another.
Derpy asked another question, still clinging to the railing, "Doctor?"
Amidst his rushing around the console and piloting the TARDIS, the Doctor replied, "Hang on to something sturdy, it's going to be a bit of a bumpy landing."
The TARDIS shook violently yet again. Derpy let out a small yelp at the impact while the Doctor, who braced himself against his console, let out a grunt. The ship seemed to have landed.
"Doctor, are you okay?" the pegasus glided over to the time stallion with a worried expression.
With a smile, he replied, "I'm always alright."
Derpy smiled back as one of her eyes drifted slightly away. This caused the Doctor to laugh lightheartedly and patted her head with his hoof.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's see where our ship as taken us," the Doctor seemed to be excited for his first adventure with a new companion.
Derpy was quick to go to the door. Upon opening, however, her happy appearance turned to one of confusion. The Doctor trotted up behind her and peered out of the door as well. His face was also puzzled.
"Well, seems I made quite a large mistake. So sorry," the Doctor commented, "Shall we try again?"
The yellow-eyed pegasus turned her head to the Doctor and smiled warmly, "It's okay, I would like to visit this planet."
The Doctor gave an uneasy look, "This is a planet I rather not stay on, to be honest. But seeing that we landed quite early in the planet's history, I think we won't have to worry about any Cybermen."
Now with approval, Derpy trotted out of the TARDIS door and on to the alien planet. She looked around the plain, dull and rough landscape of the planet. The atmosphere was icy enough for snow, yet had no evidence of water or moisture. While the cold surface seemed to have nothing of interest to most beings, the pegasus seemed to be just happy to be on another world.
Moments later, the Doctor exited the TARDIS and was wearing something that Derpy immediately recognized. Around his neck, the Doctor was wearing his new scarf.
"You're wearing my scarf?" the mare seemed very ecstatic.
"Of course! It's quite cold out here. You might catch the flu if you're not careful!"
"Is it warm?"
The Doctor smiled, "It brings back many memories and I'm sure it will give me many more."
Derpy gave the stallion a small hug before she continued her exploring. While she looked around the barren land, the Doctor began to speak.
"Ah, I forgot about this small planet. It's a unique little planet called Telos. Native home to the Cryons and colonized by the Cybermen much later on. And during those colonization era, the Cybermen built tombs to house their army, waiting for any poor creature unfortunate to find them. But, I already took care of that quite some time ago," the Doctor seemed to be impressing himself with his own anecdote while Derpy was looking around the rocky area.
"I think I found something!" the mare's voice called out. The Doctor hurried over to see that the pegasus was holding a large, metallic item in her hooves, "What is this?"
"Goodness, it's a cyber-gun! But what in blazes is it doing here and during this time? I mean, we should be the first life-forms to ever stand on this planet," the Doctor began to think.
"What does it do?" Derpy's curiosity was getting the best of her.
"It's a very dangerous energy-based weapon used by a gang of ruffians that I don't like to cross very often. Be very careful with it, we don't know if it's activ-" the Doctor was cut shore by a discharge from the weapon. Somehow, being in contact with Derpy caused the weapon to go off. Instantly, Derpy dropped the gun and another bolt of energy fired off and seemed to hit the TARDIS.
"Derpy, are you alright?" the Doctor was quick to ask.
A little shaken, the mare nodded, "Uh-huh….I'm sorry."
"No need to be. As long as you are okay. Come now, let's get off his icy rock, shall we?"
The two ponies crossed the landscape back to the blue phone box in the middle of the barren ground. However, the doors to the spaceship were sealed shut.
"What's all this then?" the Doctor commented as he rustled the wooden doors in an attempt to enter.
Derpy, with one eye trailing off to the side, pointed her hoof at the lock on the TARDIS, "That?"
Observing the lock, the Doctor noticed it was freshly welded shut.
"It was that cyber-gun blast. Oh, of all the lousy places that burst of energy could it, it would be the lock!"
Meekly, Derpy apologized, "I'm sorry, Doctor…."
Quickly, the Doctor changed his tone, "Now, now, it's a simple mistake with a simple solution." Out of seemingly nowhere, the Doctor pulled out a small object, his sonic screwdriver.
However, the sonic screwdriver failed to work.
"Oh come on, not now…." the Doctor talked to his device.
After a few minutes of using his screwdriver to no avail, the Doctor leaned his back against the TARDIS and sat down and came to a conclusion, "Good news, we can still get inside, the sonic just needs to charge itself for a bit. The bad news is that it will take a few hours. We're stuck outside until morning."
"Can't you just break the door?" Derpy asked as she sat down her flank next to the stallion, tilting her head.
The Doctor smiled, "Oh, how I wish it were that easy." The stallion raised a hoof and knocked on the door, "These doors can hold back the entire army of Genghis Khan, and it has. If the most vicious army in the universe can't get in, I certainly can't."
Derpy frowned, "I'm sorry for messing up."
"Now who said that you messed up? By all accounts, I say you made this a very memorable first trip as a companion! You're certainly taking this better than Donna or Rose did! Just don't tell them, I'll never hear the end of it!" The Doctor's joking nature seemed to relax Derpy. The brown pony handed an end of the scarf to her, "Here you are, don't want you to get catch a cold. It's bad luck to get sick on the first adventure."
Derpy giggled as she thanked the time stallion and moved closer for them to keep warm. After a bit of silence, the grey pony spoke, "You know what?"
"What?"
"Even if we didn't have the scarf, I'd still be warm because I have you beside me," Derpy leaned on to the Doctor and closed her eyes.
The Doctor smiled and even blushed slightly at her comment. With a soft laugh, the Doctor joked, "Good to know I'm good for something."
Derpy didn't reply. He found that the pegasus had fallen asleep on him. With a soft chuckle, he gave a light kiss to Derpy's forehead before he also drifted to sleep.
A bright beam of sunlight shined upon the two ponies who were huddled against a blue phone box. The brown stallion was first to open his eyes. His first observation upon opening his eyes was that a fresh layer of frost had appeared overnight on the surface of Telos. Both the coat of his companion and his own had a small gleam of frost to it. The Doctor then looked to the sleep grey pegasus next to him.
Lightly shaking her body, the time stallion spoke to the mare, "Rise and shine, Derpy."
The blonde maned pony was a little slow to respond. Opening her eyes, she looked up to the Doctor's eyes before snuggling back up to the brown pony and the scarf, "Morning, Doctor."
The Doctor smiled to the pegasus, "How well did you rest?
"Great! And you?"
"Just fine, despite the dangerously low temperatures. But you can't worry about the small things like that! They just get in the way!" The Doctor stood up onto his hooves and shook his entire body, shaking the frost of his body.
Derpy watched the Doctor before standing up and untangling herself from the scarf to do the same. After shivering from her hooves to the tips of her wings, she noticed the Doctor was fiddling with the door of the TARDIS with his sonic screwdriver.
"What'cha doing, Doctor?" the mare asked, her right eye slowly drifting to the side.
"Oh, just a little of this and a little of that and….there!" as the Doctor's exclaimed, the door of the TARDIS flung open inward.
Excitedly, Derpy flung her front limbs around the stallion's neck, "You did it!"
"Yes, I did, but I couldn't have done it without your help, Derpy," the Doctor explained.
Releasing the brown pony from her embrace, Derpy gave a puzzled look as she trotted into the time machine.
"If it weren't for your scarf of many colors, we wouldn't have stood a chance like an energy being against a Cyberman," the brown stallion knelt down and picked up the scarf with his mouth. Dragging it inside of the TARDIS, he threw the scarf back on its rightful place on the hat stand, next to a wide-brimmed hat.
Derpy immediately felt bashful at the Doctor's comment, despite not understanding the last part of the sentence. She sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck with one of her hooves while softly giggling.
The Doctor looked to her and smiled before he closed the TARDIS doors. In one fluid motion the doctor rushed to the console, pausing only for a moment to pick up a piece of celery on that was lying on the floor to put in his mouth. After pulling a few levers and turning a few knobs, the Doctor looked towards his pegasus companion and spoke, "So, shall we try for planet with snow this time around?"
Derpy excitedly nodded, "Yay! Can we bring Dinky along?"
"I don't see why not," the time stallion replied, flipping a number of switches and chewing on the celery stock, "we can go pick her up in the middle of her classes to come along, the more the merrier!"
With that, the blue phone box made a strange noise as it began to disappear from the cold and rocky surface of Telos.
A blue box slowly faded into view on the surface of a new planet. The landscape was dirty, rocky, and bland. The sunlight shone down on the planet, making it very comfortable for any average organism to set out foot with no ill effects.
The door of the phone box opened. Poking his head out of the spaceship, a brown pony observed the surroundings. Giving a puzzled look, he looked up to see the massive temple towering before him.
"Hm, now that's not supposed to happen. How did we get here?" the Doctor asked himself taking a step out of the TARDIS.
Following closely behind him was a grey pegasus with a blonde mane, "What wasn't supposed to happen?"
"I was trying to take us to Shan Shen, but it seems the old girl doesn't want to cooperate with us," the Doctor trotted around the phone box, examining it as if he was looking for the slightest problem.
Hopping her way out of the TARDIS, a blonde maned and purple-coated unicorn filly stated her opinion, "Could it be that we are here for a reason, Mr. Doctor?"
"The Doctor is just fine when addressing me, Dinky, and I guess that is possible. I should double-check the wiring in the console to double-check my ship. Never hurts," the Doctor admitted.
"Where are we?" Derpy asked, staring straight at the large stone temple.
"We are on the planet Alfava Metraxis, home to the Aplans. Or, at least it was before a powerful force wiped them out. And that temple before you is an Aplan Moraria, better known as a 'maze of the dead'. The tombs are so extensive that getting lost is fairly easy," the Doctor reflected about previous experience he had in such a location, "and if my math is correct, I should be here in about a century or so with two great companions again, just like you two." The Doctor wrapped his front limb around Dinky and Derpy, giving them both a side hug to accompany his final statement.
"It's so cool looking….far different from that planet with the snow and those living trees," Dinky commented, her eyes fixated on the large rock that held the maze.
"Hey now, those trees have feelings you know!" the stallion slightly roughed up Dinky's mane, which she responded with a laugh. "Now then, I should double check on the TARDIS, making sure it's in tip-top traveling shape."
Dinky quickly turned to the Doctor, staring at him with her large saffron eyes, "Can I explore a little while you work? Please?"
Derpy was quick to voice her concern, "Dinky, dear, it's not safe. This isn't a place we know." As the mare spoke, her left eye began to drift slowly to the side, only to be corrected with her eyes blinking.
"But Mr. Doctor said that the Aplans aren't here anymore, right?" Dinky turned for support from the time stallion.
"True…." the Doctor thought. He then replied with a smile, "Alright, you can explore a bit, but promise me this: no picking up strange machines, and no going into the maze. Deal?"
"Deal!" Dinky's face was beaming. She was quick to trot off to explore.
"Please don't go too far, muffin!" Derpy called out as her daughter ran off.
The Doctor trotted over to the mare, "You really should accept she's turning from a curious, little filly into an adventurous mare. Can't stop her from growing up."
"I know, but I still worry."
Smiling, the Doctor planted a soft kiss on Derpy's cheek, "And that is why you are a great mother. Come along, we should check on the ship so we can go someplace more fun."
With her cheeks flushed, Derpy nodded and followed the Doctor inside of the TARDIS, leaving the door open for the little unicorn to return.
The small purple filly, however, was quick to break the promise she made to the Doctor. Her curiosity got the best of her as she made her way to the entrance of the colossal maze. The purple filly noticed four stone statues that decorated the entrance to the maze. She stopped to examine them. She found them to be odd.
"What kind of creature is this? It's like a pegasus, but only stands on two hooves," Dinky asked aloud, "And why are they covering their faces? Are they sad?"
With a smile, Dinky grew tired of looking at them and wanted to go into the labyrinth of tombs. As she entered, the unicorn failed to notice that the very statues she had just inspected were turning their heads to look at her. They watched her enter the massive network of catacombs.
Back at the TARDIS, the Doctor had just finished his inspection of his spaceship, "It seems the ship is in tip-top shape. Can't imagine why we should arrive here of all places."
Derpy trotted up closer to the Doctor at the console, "So are going to go now?"
"I don't see why not, but we are short one little adventurer," the stallion commented.
The grey pegasus' expression turned to worry, "Yes, Dinky should have come back by now….I'm worried, Doctor."
The Doctor gave a reassuring smile to his companion, "Fret not, for we shall go out to find her."
Comforted by the time stallion, Derpy nodded as the two ponies exited the blue phone box and out into the alien planet. A breeze picked up and blew their manes and tails around. While the two called out for the unicorn filly, the wind made it difficult for their voices to be heard.
"Doctor, I don't think she's here. Where could she have gone?" the pegasus asked.
With a sigh, the Doctor replied, "I fear in the maze."
"We have to get her."
"Of course."
The two ponies trotted along to the entrance of the maze of the dead. Pausing before the opening to the tombs, they saw looked at the tall stone structure, towering above them. The stone formation had a slanted and smooth surface to it. A few holes in the wall, creating windows in the maze.
Derpy turned to look at the brown stallion, "Are you alright, Doctor?"
After a hesitant pause, the Doctor replied, "I'm always alright. Come along, Derpy." The Doctor led the way into the Aplan Mortarium.
Inside of the labyrinth, the two ponies stepped carefully. A light from the top shined down and lit up the tombs. As implied from the outer view, the inside was made of stone, carved out from the rock. Walls, bridges, pathways, and statues were all made of the same type of rock that housed the tomb.
Derpy called out her daughter's name into the empty catacombs. No response. She turned to the Doctor, noticing his puzzlement, "Doctor, what is it?"
""I'm getting bad vibes here….the same ones I had a hundred years from now. And something is not right. This place should be pitch black, but there is sunlight shining in. And I'm only counting five floors," the Doctor was examining the maze intensely.
"What should we do?" Derpy tilted her head, one of her eyes drifting to the side.
The Doctor looked up at the light source, "Well, when you see something that looks out of place, it's where you should start."
"Then let's go!" Derpy said excitedly. Spreading her wings, she picked up the Doctor by his front limbs and flew up to the light source. With a smirk, the Doctor hung on to his companion as they flew through the hole in the ceiling.
Emerging on outside and landing on the roof of the Aplan Mortarium, the two ponies landed on their hooves. The Doctor looked across the roof to see what was giving him the bad vibes. On the other side of the roof stood a line of winged, humanoid statues, all covering their faces.
Quietly, the Doctor spoke beneath his breath, "Goodness no….weeping angels."
Derpy, on the other hoof, was more concerned with something else. In front of the row of angel statues was a small rock statue. It was in a shape she could recognize anywhere in the universe; it was her daughter Dinky. The expression on her face was one of sheer horror.
"Dinky!" the grey pegasus shouted in horror. She was quick to glide over to the stone figure of her daughter.
"Derpy, wait!" the Doctor called out, galloping quickly to follow.
The mare didn't listen to the Doctor. Instead, she threw her front limbs around the statue and held it close to her, crying. "Doctor….why happened to her?"
Taking out a device from seemingly nowhere, the Doctor scanned the petrified Dinky with his sonic screwdriver. Looking at it, he came to a conclusion that made no sense to him whatsoever.
"Doctor?" Derpy asked again, her eyes shut as she held the statue closer to her.
"I don't get it. This doesn't make any sense. The little filly is coated in stone. Not solid stone, but covered in it, like a blanket of snow on tree tops," the Doctor spoke to himself. He began to pace around, thinking. "Dinky isn't gone, but neither alive. Almost a purgatory of sorts….but not. She's still alive, but for how long?"
Derpy finally looked at the Doctor, her yellow eyes were full of tears that were beginning to flow down her cheeks, "What are you talking about?"
The Doctor hit his head with one of his hooves in self-anger, "Why can't I figure this out? What purpose do the angels have with turning victims to stone?"
"Doctor, please! What is happening? Who are the angels?" the pegasus's voice was in distress.
"These creatures over there are called 'weeping angels'. I've encountered them a number of times and to say the least, they are deadly," the Doctor turned his head to keep his eye on the row of angel statues on the far end, "They can only move when you are not looking, and this includes blinking. One wrong blink and you are dead."
"D-dead?"
"One way of putting it pleasant terms, yes," the time stallion continued, "these creatures are the only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely. With one little touch, they will send you back in time, before your birth, to live out your death. They feed off the 'energy', if you will, of the time you would have lived."
The explanation from the Doctor caused the mare to cling to her daughter's statue even more.
"And they can even be worse than that…."
"Such as snapping necks and using the bodies to communicate with other species," a slightly familiar voice spoke.
Both ponies were caught off guard by the seeming disembodied voice.
The Doctor seemed to panic, "Was that…."
"Dinky?" Derpy relinquished her hug on the statue to look at the small unicorn's face.
"Hello, Momma and Mr. Doctor," the voice filly's voice spoke, but her stone body did not move. The voice was certainly Dinky's, however it seemed to be lacking her emotion.
"Dinky, is that really you? Please!" Derpy had tears run down her face at a quicker pace.
"It is me, Momma," Dinky replied.
The Doctor placed the sonic screwdriver to Dinky's stone head and scanned again. Reading the data, he nodded, "It's her alright. She's in there good. While her body seems fine, it is slowly being turned to stone from the outside in. But why?"
Dinky answered, "Because the angels want me to join them. And they want you to join as well."
"Join? Now what's all this then?" the Doctor's ears were perked in disbelief.
The little unicorn's voice answered, "The angels want us to be among them, to be statues."
"But I don't understand, why do they need us to be like them?" the Doctor asked yet another question, "This is nothing like their normal plan of attack. They would have feed off of our energy by now."
"They're dying Doctor. As a species, they are becoming extinct. Corrosion, weathering, decay; they are wasting away, Mr. Doctor. Their colony on this planet is vanishing at an alarming rate," Dinky explained, her voice distant.
"But why do they want us, Dinky?" Derpy cried, clinging on tightly to the stone statue of her daughter.
"Because they need a source of energy, any organism's energy. And if they decay beyond repair, they will need more angels," the Doctor explained, "For quite some time, it became well known that any image of an angel will get the properties of the weeping angel. Without those images, they are slowly dying as a species." The Doctor trotted up to the row of stone angels, examining each statue. The stallion noticed that age had caught up to each stone figure. They were all decaying.
"Correct, Doctor. And with the energy of your TARDIS, we will be able to feed off of it for millenniums, if not more. And we will grow in our numbers," Dinky added.
The grey pegasus sobbed a bit as she spoke, "Dinky, stop saying such weird things! Stop being a statue!" Derpy's cries fell on stone, deaf ears.
The Doctor gritted his teeth and looked at Derpy holding the stone Dinky, "You are not going to succeed, weeping angels. I've dealt with you before, and I can deal with you again."
"While you have dealt with them before, Mr. Doctor, they have had time to prepared for you," the disembodied voice of Dinky replied.
Before the Doctor could ask what she meant, he looked up from the to see the row of weeping angels had taken moved forward drastically and only a foot away from where the Doctor, Derpy, and the statue of Dinky were. Quickly, turning his head around, he looked to see that another wave of angels were beginning close in on them as well.
Quickly, the Doctor turned his attention to Derpy. "Listen to me, we need to run. Now."
Derpy's response was upset, "Not without Dinky!"
"Then grab her and fly! And whatever you do, don't blink!" the Doctor stressed the last statement, "Follow!"
The pegasus wrapped her limbs around the stone unicorn and took off in flight upwards. Using that as a distraction, the Doctor galloped as fast as his hooves could take him. To the Doctor's luck, a few of the angels had made eye contact with each other, quantum-locking them and trapping them.
"Derpy, head to the to the edge of the cliff, and down to the TARDIS. Now!" the Doctor instructed, hustling to the rim of the roof.
The mare obeyed her instructions and glided down from to the blue phone box at the bottom of the ledge. The Doctor, on the other hand jumped off the cliff and slid down the slope of structure. A few yelps of pain were heard coming from the Doctor as he went down the grade. Finally, arriving at the bottom of the cliff, the stallion continued his galloping pace into the TARDIS, quickly followed by Derpy with her stone daughter in her hooves.
"Doctor, are you alright?" Derpy asked as soon as she entered the time machine.
"I'm always alright, now close the door! We have to sever the link between the weeping angels and Dinky," the Doctor ordered as he stood at the console, pulling levers and pushing buttons. After the door was closed, the Doctor set the TARDIS into motion, which in vanished from the surface of the alien planet.
Derpy looked at Dinky, who still had her horrified expression on her stone face, "Doctor….Dinky….is she….?" the pegasus's eyes were beginning to well up with tears again.
"What? How?" Derpy was panicking as she stared at the stone statue of her daughter.
The Doctor took the sonic screwdriver to scan Dinky, "I don't understand. She's still turning to stone despite being severed from the angel's influence."
"Doctor, please do something! Help Dinky!" the grey pegasus pleaded.
"Yes, of course, I'm working on it. Let me see, she's trapped with in a rock casing that is caused by the weeping angels. However, with the link to the angels now severed by both time and space, she's still becoming petrified from the outside in. Normally the angel would cause the victim to count down the minutes to their own death, but this is new and strange method," the Doctor began listing off what seemed random and meaningless statements.
"Doctor, please!" Derpy called again.
The Doctor ignored Derpy, trotting around the console at a quick pace, continuing his ramblings, "The angels are predators, one of the universe's first predators at that as well as the one of the first species. They are the lonely assassins, unable to view each other due to their own quantum-lock reaction. They feed off energy from their victims, namely the potential energy of said victim. That's it! To get Dinky out, we need to give the wannabe-angel all the energy we can!"
Derpy, holding the stone Dinky close to her, looked at the Doctor with a confused look with her teary eyes, "What?"
The Doctor jumped down from the console platform and over into the many piles of junk lying around the main room of the TARDIS. "Angel's want to feed on energy, right?" the Doctor asked as he continued his shuffling. He stopped his shuffling as he picked up a large gun with a shield in front of it, "Then let's give the our little friend as much energy as it can hold and then some!"
The mare was horrified at the weapon, "What in Equestria is that?"
"A Liebemann laser, also known as a shield gun. Note to self, remember to thank Leela and Herrick for bring this item on the TARDIS next time I see them," the Doctor explained before pointing the gun at the stone Dinky.
Derpy absolutely objected to the idea, clinging tightly to the statue as she cried, "No! You can't use that on her!"
"I have to, Derpy, it's the only way to break her out."
"No! I don't want you to hurt Dinky! There has to be another way, Doctor!"
"Listen, I'm trying to do what I can to save her. She's incased in a stone coating that is slowly turning her not only in to a statue, but a weeping angel. And when she becomes an angel, she will have the power to kill us and she will." The Doctor's face was dead serious.
Derpy tried to appeal, "But…."
"I don't have much time to do this. In a few more moments, she will be completely stone. Now, please move behind me."
Hugging the statue one last time, Derpy quickly moved behind the time stallion. The Doctor then fired the shield gun at the small unicorn. Releasing as much energy from the laser as he could, praying softly that there would be enough power to overload the angel aspect on Dinky. His eyes were fixated on her stone skin, noticing it was beginning to crack. A small smirk appeared on the Doctor's face as he gave as much energy from the gun as he could.
Suddenly, the rocky exterior on Dinky disappeared. Stopping the laser, the Doctor looked up to see a small purple unicorn lying on the floor of the TARDIS, exhausted. Smiling, the Doctor turned to Derpy and gestured for her to rush to her daughter's aid.
Derpy didn't hesitate, "Dinky!" she called out, rushing over the small filly.
Opening her eyes, Dinky tried to stand up on her own hooves, only to be tightly hugged by her mother. "Momma?"
Tears of joy were streaming down the pegasus's face as they embraced, "Oh, I was so worried about you, Dinky! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"Just tired….very tired…." Dinky said, almost falling asleep in her mother's hold.
The Doctor trotted over to the two. He lightly tapped Dinky on the head, "No drifting off to sleep just yet, my child. Got to make sure you have a clean bill of health." He placed the sonic screwdriver to her forehead and scanned. Dinky smiled up at the Doctor as he finished, "Spotless like a new star. Go ahead and relax, Dinky."
"Thank you, Doctor, and thank you, Momma," Dinky said as she trotted over to a couch to rest upon. Lying down, she closed her eyes and fell asleep quickly.
With a sigh of relief, Derpy went over and lightly kissed her sleeping daughter's forehead. Turning her head to the Doctor, she gave a harsh glare. Trotting back over to him, Derpy raised her hoof and slapped the Doctor across his face. However, she then turned her expression to sorrow and sobbing. Flinging her front limbs around the Doctor, she hugged him as she cried.
The Doctor sighed and gave a small laugh, "I guess I kind of deserved that."
"Thank you, Doctor….thank you…." Derpy spoke between her tears.
With a smirk, the Doctor replied, "Thank you for trusting me."
Derpy laughed slightly between her crying, "Of course, you are the Doctor."
The TARDIS was floating in the vacuum of space. The door to the time machine was open, through which a small lilac unicorn with a messy blonde mane stared out into the vastness of the space. Her eyes lit up as she viewed the planets, stars, asteroids and other wonders of the universe.
The filly's mother looked at her from afar before turning to speak with the Doctor, who was admiring himself in the mirror with a red fez on his head, "Do you think Dinky will be okay? I'm worried that she might fall out."
The Doctor, who was styling his mane with his hooves to make it look good with the fez, turned to see Dinky's wonderment with the celestial bodies, "She's perfectly fine. The TARDIS is giving artificial gravity and atmosphere, so she won't be in danger whatsoever."
Derpy still wasn't convinced, "I don't know…."
"How do I look?" the Doctor changed the subject, showing off the fez on his head to the grey pegasus.
The blonde mare could not help but giggle, "You look silly, Doctor!"
"Excellent! That was exactly what I was going for!" the Doctor leapt from his stance next to his companion up to the console, "Now then, Dinky, close the door. Derpy, pick a number between one and one billion!" The stallion began fiddling with the instruments on the console itself.
"Huh?" Derpy was caught off guard, "Uhh….nine thousand eight hundred forty?" she picked a few random numbers and lined them up. Her left eye drifted slightly to the side as she spoke.
"Perfect! Now divide it by five and with a little Time Lord magic," the Doctor pulled a lever and the TARDIS shook violently as the engine came to life, sending the ponies across time and space itself. The three held on to the railings, used to the rocky form of traveling in the time machine.
As the TARDIS came to a rest, the Doctor looked up at his monitor with a satisfied expression, "Close enough for me. Derpy, Dinky, I'd like to be the first to welcome you to the Earth's moon!"
-------------------------
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the moon, there was another blue phone box. Inside of this box were two humanoid figures.
"Are you sure about the location this time, Doctor?" the brunette female human asked. She wore tan clothing, most likely made of animal hide and had a blade on her belt that seemed to have seen combat recently.
The other humanoid figure looked up from the console and with a gentle smile, "Come now, Leela, surely the TARDIS wouldn't lead us astray for the fourth time in a row." He straightened his jacket and adjusted his lengthy scarf that wrapped around him multiple times. "Now then, shall we go out to gather those moon rocks for you to examine?"
"Yes," Leela replied to the Time Lord.
Before the two could move, a small machine drew near to them. The metal machine, in a shape resembling a dog, spoke aloud, "Master, may I please accompany both you and the Mistress out on to the surface of the Earth satellite?"
"No, K9. You need to say here at the TARDIS in the event we need assistance," the Doctor bent down eye level of the metal dog.
"But Master, the odds of such an event occurring in which my assistance will be needed from the TARDIS is very unlikely," K9 stated, his satellite ears moving.
"That's the point, you tin dog. We don't plan to be long here to begin with. The only reason it's taken us so long to get here is because of the TARDIS keeps going to the wrong place," Leela scolded K9.
"Please, Master. I promise that I will be a good dog," K9 begged.
Patting his robot on the muzzle, he stood up and spoke, "I'm afraid Leela is right. We don't want to take longer than we need to here. I promise we won't tarry long."
The Time Lord and the human exited the TARDIS, leaving the metal dog alone in the console room. While crestfallen, K9 did not move or show any emotion on the outside. The only movement was his tail and the satellite ears.
A few minutes passed for the robot before his ears froze in place, "Danger! Threat level is high for the Master and the Mistress! I must venture out and warn them of the danger!" Rolling to the door, K9 pushed the TARDIS door open, and out to the surface of the Earth's moon.
------------------
Elsewhere, Derpy and Dinky stepped carefully out of the TARDIS onto the moon's dusty surface. Behind them, the brown stallion smiled as he watched them slowly adjust to the new surroundings. The landscape was lit up by the distant sun, which also lit up a nearby blue planet.
"Doctor, where are we? It looks like night time, but it's not," Derpy asked, finally feeling comfortable standing on the lunar surface.
"We are on the Earth's moon! About the nineteen-sixties. And while I can't say you are the first beings on the surface, I can reassure you that you are the first ponies!" the Doctor happily explained, "Also, the gravity here is about one-sixth to what you are used to in Equestria. That's due to the lack of atmosphere."
The last statement got Dinky's attention, "No atmosphere?"
"Oh, don't worry, little Dinky! My TARDIS created a safe bubble of atmosphere for us to explore in. Quite a large one, at that. It's similar to the bubble I made for you when you were looking out the door earlier. Smashing, is it not?" the Doctor seemed happy to brag about his machine, "Go ahead and give a little hop!"
Dinky hopped up and the little filly floated high above the surface before returning. With a thrilled expression, he hopped around a few more times, trying to go higher each time.
The Doctor smiled, "That's the spirit, Dinky! Soar high!" Seeing the unicorn filly having fun gave the brown stallion a youthful kick as he jumped up. "Come along, Derpy, let's bounce!"
A little hesitant at first, but the grey pegasus seemed to change her attitude quickly as she bounced with the others. "Wait for me!" she called out as she bounced after the Doctor and her daughter. The Doctor waited for Derpy to catch up and then suggested they hurry to catch the filly, as she was covering a lot more ground then they were.
After a few minutes, Dinky stopped, turned back and called out, "Mr. Doctor! I found something!"
Bouncing to where the purple unicorn was, the Doctor noticed a metal being in front of her. He recognized the shape and make of the machine before her, "Is that who I think it is?!"
"K-9! Goodness, I haven't seen you in….well, I don't know how long it's been!" the Doctor mused as he trotted over to the metal dog, looking at him back and forth, "I would say….from my travels with Leela?"
"Affirmative, Master," K-9 replied, his eyes lighting up.
The Doctor smiled brightly, "Oh, how I missed that line." Turning around, the Doctor faced Derpy and Dinky, "Ladies, allow me to introduce you to one of my favorite companions in the TARDIS, K-9 Mark I!"
"Greetings, Mistresses," the machine spoke rolling forward to the ponies.
While the pegasus was slightly hesitant, little Dinky trotted forward and began to pet K-9 on his head, "Hiya, K-9! I'm Dinky!"
The dog came to life as lights on his back turned on and off, as the satellites on his head moved and as his tail wagged, "Pleased to make your acquaintance, mistress Dinky."
"Come now, Derpy, no need to be shy! K-9 is just as eager to meet you as you are to him," the Doctor spoke warmly, petting the metal dog.
After a brief moment, Derpy smiled and began to pat K-9 on his muzzle. However, she was still a bit nervous when the machine came to life and spoke to her, "Greetings, Mistress."
The Doctor couldn't help but have a small laugh with Derpy being startled, "What brings you to the Earthian moon, K-9? I assume I have to stay away from myself to prevent a paradox."
"Affirmative," the robot spoke, "I also come bearing a message of warning. Hostile entity is approaching. Two hundred meters, and closing, Master."
"Hostile?" the Doctor echoed before he heard an all to familiar voice.
"EXTERMINATE!"
The ponies turned to see a metal robot that looked like a garbage can with a few household tools attached to him moving cross the lunar surface.
"Oh, so you mean a Dalek. Yes, I could see why you said it was a hostile entity. Good boy, K-9," the Doctor stated calmly.
Derpy, however, was puzzled as she was scared, "Doctor, what is that?"
"Just something that is quite dangerous. I think that's all we need to worry about for the moment. In the meantime, I think I should worry about coming up with a plan," the Doctor was quick to explain.
"What's the plan?" the small unicorn asked.
"It's one of my favorite plans; run!"
At his words, the three ponies and the robotic dog dashed across the moon's surface as fast as they could. Derpy, who was gliding, picked up the Doctor by his front limbs to help them move faster.
"Brilliant, Derpy! K-9, pick up Dinky and roll with her riding on your back, no child left behind now!" the Doctor called down.
"Affirmative!" K-9 replied as he swooped in and picked up Dinky and rolled faster with the little filly on his back. The metal dog made haste and caught up quickly to where the Doctor and Derpy were.
After outrunning the Dalek, the ponies paused behind a lunar formation to catch their breath. It was here, K-9 continued speaking.
"Master, I still have news of hostile entities," K-9 spoke, his satellite ears moving around.
The Doctor looked to the metal dog, "More Daleks?"
"Negative."
Before the Doctor could ask for details, another voice familiar to the Doctor was heard, "The Doctor has been identified. The Doctor and his companions will be upgraded."
The ponies all turned around to see six metal humanoid beings, marching in a v-formation towards them.
The Doctor was annoyed beyond belief, "Cybermen? Oh, come on! Who else is here, the Soltarans?"
"What are the Cybermen doing here on the moon? For that matter, why are the Daleks?" the Doctor asked allowed
"Unknown, Master. However, I suggest we flee," K-9 answered, "Scans report that outcome looks grim."
The ponies and metal dog were being closed in by the metal humanoids with a moon formation blocking them in from behind. The six Cybermen stood still and one began to speak.
"You might not appear to be the Doctor, but scans confirm that you are indeed the Doctor," the Cyberman raised a hand and pointed at the brown stallion.
The Doctor boldly stepped forward and gave a reassuring look to Derpy, letting her know he knew what he was doing, "And you do look like it, and your speech confirms that you are the Cybermen. Excellent! Now we got the formalities out of the way!"
"The Doctor and his companions will be upgraded," another Cyberman spoke.
"Yeah, I just don't see the perks of that. Never really understood why you all are so bent on upgrading," the brown stallion began to trot back and forth.
"Upgrading is superior. It destroys emotions before those emotions can destroy," a different Cyberman answered.
The Doctor rebutted, "They might, yes, but they sure make things more interesting. Like the emotion of hope, as well as happiness, and definitely love. Especially when you have a certain creature to share that love with."
"The Doctor will cease speaking. Do you surrender?" the original speaking Cyberman commanded and asked.
"Sure, why not. Playing cat and mouse can be tedious when you're going across time and space," the Doctor jested.
"Doctor!" Derpy cried out in surprise.
"Please Mr. Doctor! They're scary!" Dinky was cling on to one of the Doctor's back limbs, pleading with him.
"Fret not, youngling. Upgrading will rid you of all emotions, including fear."
"Now, hold on. Wait a minute, I never said we would be upgraded, I just said we surrendered. But there is another here who is not so keen on losing and giving up," the brown stallion had a smirk on his face.
Before any realized what the Doctor meant by his words, a loud, piercing screech was heard in the form of a robotic voice: "EXTERMINATE!"
A few laser blasts from the Dalek were fired and hit one of the Cybermen, deactivating him. The other Cybermen held out their arms, weapons ready and spoke loudly, "Identify yourself."
"Daleks do not take orders!" the lone alien shouted at the group of metal humanoids.
"Species confirmed: Dalek."
"Records indicate you are an inferior species known as the Cybermen. Daleks are supreme!"
"All hostile elements will be deleted."
The two part robotic aliens continued their verbal battle. With a sly smirk, the Doctor was quite pleased with himself.
"Doctor? What's going on?" Derpy asked puzzled of the scene playing out in front of her.
"Two of the most powerful species in the universe, bickering like little schoolchildren on the playground," the stallion explained.
Dinky was still confused, "Why are they fighting like that?"
"They don't like anything that is not like their own kind. Quite sad really. Two warring species that share one thing, they cannot touch or feel beyond their metal cage," the Doctor took a pause before turning to his faithful, metal friend, "K-9, run an assessment of this situation and tell me when the time is right. Got it?"
"Affirmative, Master!"
The Dalek's voice became loud once again, "Social interaction will cease! Which of you captives is of least importance?" The robotic suit rolled forward towards the ponies, through the line of Cybermen.
"That would be me," the Doctor stated calmly.
"Incorrect. You are the Doctor. You are target and must be preserved above all costs."
"Eh, I got a few more lives to fall back on."
"Silence! You will be taken back to Skaro after your companions are exterminated," the Dalek explained.
"Incorrect. The Doctor will be taken into Cybermen custody," one of the Cybermen stated.
"Silence, inferior technology!"
"Our technology is compatible."
"The Cybermen will cease communicating!" the fighting between the two alien species began again.
"Order is not from a Cyber-leader. Conclusion: no need to obey."
"You are superior to Dalek-kind in only one respect," the Dalek continued.
"What is that?" a Cyberman asked.
"You are better at dying!"
The Doctor finally stepped in, interrupting the argument, "As much as I hate to butt in this wonderful conversation, I do believe it's time we make our leave."
"And how do you plan to do that?" one of the metal humanoids asked.
"With this wonderful, little device!" the stallion held up a small cylinder.
"A sonic probe?" the Dalek questioned the pony.
"Anyone else getting déjà vu? It's a screwdriver. And quite frankly, I'm surprised you even had to ask."
Quickly, K-9 interjected, "Now would be prudent, Master!"
"Right! Allons-y!" With a flash, the sonic screwdriver whirred to life and short-circuited the hardware of both the lone Dalek and the Cybermen. The alien's bodies feel lifeless to the lunar surface and were finally still, "Good boy, K-9."
Derpy and Dinky were understandably confused. "Mr. Doctor?" the filly asked, "What happened?"
"My faithful friend here amplified my sonic screwdriver's frequency to such a high level that it deactivated the robotics of the Cybermen and the Dalek. Quite brilliant, if I say so myself," the Doctor mused as he put the sonic screwdriver away.
"What do we do now?" the grey pegasus asked, one of her eyes drifting to the side.
"One of my favorite plans, run before back-up arrives!" the Doctor spoke as he gestured the others run with him back to the TARDIS.
The three ponies and the robotic dog rushed across the lunar landscape, back to a familiar blue phone box. Stopping right at the door, the Doctor turned to his metal companion.
"K-9, any danger or threats nearby?" the brown stallion was panting.
"Negative, Master. All hostile threats have ceased," the satellite ears on K-9 moved as he spoke.
"Excellent!"
"However, a temporal threat is possible," K-9 continued.
"Huh? How Mr. K-9?" Dinky asked, looking at the metal machine with a puzzled look.
"There are currently two Doctors on the surface of the moon. If they were to interact, an anomaly will occur."
Derpy was also puzzled, "But the Doctor told me has met himself plenty of times before, and they even worked together to save the day."
The Doctor spoke, "But I knew I would each time, save a few times. But now that I am the last of the Time Lords, and for that matter, a pony. While I trust my past self, it's too much of a risk. So, I hate to say this, but we have to part ways from K-9 here."
Dinky was surprised. She wrapped her front limbs around K-9's neck, "I don't want to leave him. I like K-9!"
A small smile appeared on the Doctor's face, "I do too," he trotted over to the two and patted him on the head, "he's a very good dog."
"Affirmative!" K-9 cheerfully expressed.
"And I'm going to miss him just as much, Dinky," the Doctor continued, trying to quickly wipe a single tear from his eye, "Come along, everypony back in the TARDIS."
"Okay. Bye-bye, Mr. K-9," Dinky gave one last hug to the metal dog. The little unicorn's mother joined in the hug as well.
"Farewell, Mistress," the metal dog replied in crestfallen tone.
Derpy led her daughter through the TARDIS doors, leaving the Doctor and his metal dog.
"K-9."
"Yes, Master?"
"I know this is highly unlike me to do, but I want you to keep this little adventure to yourself. Don't tell a soul about this. The results could be….well, who knows, right?"
"Understood. This event will be kept private."
Despite his sad eyes, a smile reappeared to the stallion's face, "You are a very good dog."
"Thank you, Master."
Overcome with emotion, the Doctor gave a hug to the robot. He held tight to K-9, knowing it would most likely be the last chance he would ever get to do so. Breaking the hug, the Doctor finally bided farewell to his old, trusted friend. He then turned to enter the TARDIS and closed the door behind him.
The phone box slowly disappeared as the engines came to life, leaving just the metal dog on the lunar surface to watch the TARDIS go. K-9 then came into life as he rolled across the moon to another blue phone box. With his muzzle, he pushed the doors opened and let himself in.
K-9 parked himself inside the console room and waited for the return of the Doctor he knew. Within a few moments, the Doctor returned to the TARDIS with Leela.
"Hello, hello! Did you enjoy yourself here, K-9?" the Doctor asked, taking off his hat and lengthy scarf.