> The Doctor saves the timelines > by Snakes0 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "This is my first journal entry. Most would write about their lives or how things are going day to day. But as a Timelord I write because I don't know if or when I won't be able to. I might die permanently. I might regenerate without my current memories... But I supposed I should start at the beginning so that if I do regenerate in Equestria I might have something to fall back on. I am known as "The Doctor". I learned later that ponies were very suspicious of that name so I created an alias: "Time Turner" or "Doctor Whooves". How did I get here? Good question! The Flux Capacitor destabilized the TARDIS's quantum movement through Time and space while mid-travel. The TARDIS ended up crashing into a reality I never knew existed. I hadn't even heard of Equestria before. I was worried for a while about if I had crashed into a lower dimension and become part of some children's TV show. It was a hard crash and I was sent flying out of the TARDIS when I looked down at my hands I saw they had turned to hooves and I had a strange tattoo on my flank which looked like an hourglass. I later learned that it was called a "Cutie Mark". Why they call it that I will never understand. My initial observations were that the gender ratio of mares to stallions was 10:1. There were four kinds of ponies. Ones with horns that use magic (Still need to investigate what exactly is "magic") called unicorns, ones with wings called Pegasi (Like my current assistant Derpy Hooves), and Earth Ponies which have neither wings nor horns (I appear to be this kind), and then there are ones with both wings and horns known as Alicorns. Said to be Immortal though Ponykind is still primitive and doesn't understand the difference between long-lived and immortal so that's up for debate. Side note: This is a fantasy world why no Bicorns or Thestrals? Future edit: There appears to be a race of bat-ponies that serves as Luna's night guards. Every time I ask about where they fit in the four kinds of ponies everyone (or everypony as they say) tells me to "not worry about it". Good news! I finally got the TARDIS back online! I'm just going to chalk it up to Deus Ex Machina. Derpy has been a grand help in learning how to blend in with the locals. I made some Bits (The currency of this world) and was able to make a laboratory. 3 years of peace. I laughed with new friends. I saw that this place is not all sunshine and rainbows. I'm not used to this kind of peace for this long. I'm starting to become less homesick and more like this place could be my home. I'm not giving up Time Travel. This is my last entry before I start up the TARDIS and get back to adventures so it might be a while before I write back if I even do. Derpy Hooves has decided to journey with me and I am happy to have her. I'm... Scared. The saying on Earth does justice here: "If something seems too good to be true.... Then it probably is". I don't want to lose this place. EveryonePONY is kind (most of them) and unlike other races, I have seen like Humans, they aren't as greedy and they are very slow to war, and even when they do it is because somepony is behind the scenes manipulating and putting these ideas into their heads. Chrysalis, Discord, Grogar, and Sombra are usually the ones who are the real evil. Anyway, I fear that eventually there will be a time that Friendship will not be able to save the day. There are multiverse travels causing rifts, parallel timelines, and realities influencing each other. So I must go and stabilize this Equestria I have come to love by traveling through other Equestrian realities and making it more like this one so that their influence will be kept to a minimum." Doctor Whooves drops the pen from his mouth. He looks back at Equestria before turning back to the TARDIS and Derpy who is sitting on top of it. "Allons-y?" asks Derpy with a smile and a head tilt. The Doctor nods with a grin, "Indeed. Allons-y! Let's save some alternate Equestrian realities." And so they both go into the TARDIS which was much larger on the inside than on the outside. After pressing some buttons the TARDIS begins to shake. There were many many realities to save so it didn't matter to him which one he starts with. Derpy walks around and tries not to touch anything as she knows she tends to break stuff unintendedly. "Doctor? Where are we going? Are we going to the future?" Doctor Whooves chuckles as he explains, "Not quite, Derpy. We are going to another Equestria. I guess we are going to their future so in a way yes. But we must not forget that this is not our Equestria. At least not exactly how we may remember it. There should still be ponies, and magic, and still be in the Steam Era. It will however be in a state of crisis and our job is to handle it or to help guide them to solve it. I don't know exactly the issues they might have. Maybe a food shortage? Maybe a Necromancer though I doubt that last one." Derpy thinks and asks, "Oh! I see. What if it is super dangerous?" "That's part of the fun. We'll find a way. I promise. Besides. I'm the Doctor. I faced Daleks, Cybermen, other timelords, Weeping Angels, The Celestial Toymaker, etc. The list goes on. However... I'm worried more about your safety. So unless I confirm that you can leave the TARDIS... I don't want you to go outside. I hope you understand." Doctor Whooves says reflecting on his past adventures. "I know! I'll wait for the all clear!" Derpy says saluting. Next Time: My Little Pony: When Day Breaks. > Chapter 2: When Day Breaks > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This time the TARDIS does not crash land into a tree like the first time it entered into Equestria after the flux capacitor destabilized. They appear on the outskirts of Ponyville during the night. "Doctor, do you think we'll see another version of you?" Derpy asks curiously. "No. We shouldn't. As I am not originally from the Equestrian reality, I have no counterpart. It would concern me if there were. I had enough headaches facing other timelords traveling and altering timelines." Doctor Whooves answers right away. Derpy nods and looks around. She sees from a distance there are many ponies still up "Hm... There are a lot of ponies up right now. Shouldn't they be sleeping?" "Good eye! There could be many reasons for this. Perhaps it is a night celebration or perhaps a cultural difference that tends to stay up late. Oh! It could be that they evolved to wake up during the night and sleep during the day!" Doctor Whooves rattles on with possible explanations as to why the ponies of Ponyville are all up at night. "Can't we just ask?" Derpy says while yawning. "While we could, it is best that we interfere as little as possible other than solving the crisis. Besides, we can just go around acting naturally and listening. We are bound to overhear somepony talking- DERPY!" The Doctor shouts as Derpy has flown off without him. "I swear... That mare... Derpy! I didn't confirm that this world was safe yet!" Flying headfirst into a signpost and falling Derpy shakes her head to orientate herself. This startled Bon Bon and Lyra, dressed head to hind hoof in clothes. "Oh hi, Bon Bon!" Derpy says with a smile. "Why is everypony up? And why all those clothes?" Bon Bon looks confused seeing Derpy without the same full-body clothing as everypony else, "Um...How do you not know this by now? It's been 5 years since Celestia went mad." "Hurry home! Don't forget to close all the curtains and don't let any sunlight inside! Sunrise is coming!" Lyra says seeing the sky starting to brighten. "I pray that Luna keeps you safe. Celestia won't..." Lyra and Bon Bon start to hurry off. Doctor Whooves comes galloping toward Derpy. "Derpy! You can't just do that! What did I say about leaving the TARDIS? What if this was a reality where Changeling had taken over? You could have been in danger! There is no telling what is or isn't the same!" Doctor Whooves exclaims flailing his hooves in the air like a human would. "Derpy! Do you understand?" "Doctor? I'm sorry... I forgot. But I think they are scared of the day. Something about not letting sunlight inside? And Celestia is mad I think." Derpy says as her ears droop a little. "That's some information I can work with. But Derpy. PLEASE stay by my side. Now let us return to the TARDIS so that we can see if the sunlight is harmful. Perhaps the ozone layer is depleted and the UV radiation is more intense than usual. Though that wouldn't explain why the grass and plants seem fine." Doctor Whooves goes on. "I am sorry. I will stay by your side Doctor." Derpy says wanting to make sure he understands that she is sorry. The two return to the TARDIS just as the first rays of the sun reach Ponyville. They can see through cameras that there is not a single pony outside. The Doctor starts fiddling around and pressing buttons to scan the sun. "Strange... The sun appears to be normal. Perhaps I should-" Doctor Whooves says as he opens the door and is about to walk out into the sunlight. "Doctor! What if it's not sciency bad but magically bad? You told me a few weeks ago that your TARDIS and your funny stick and techy stuff can't detect magic." Derpy says warning him. "That's... Right. I had forgotten that magic was a thing. There is no telling if I can regenerate if magic is at play. I wonder what is going on with Princess Luna and Celestia." Doctor Whooves ponders. "Luna can visit our dreams. We can try talking to her there!" Derpy suggests cheerfully. "Does she? I always block my mind off from other entities so that I can't be influenced so I never knew. Perhaps you should try it," the doctor suggests "Now, you see before you tell me that she only does this at night you have to remember that everypony was up during the night which means they SHOULD be sleeping around now. If Luna does her dream thing when ponies are asleep then now would be the time." Derpy yawns as she stayed up anyway so she is feeling tired. She goes up to Doctor Whooves and lays right there curled up and sleeps. He resists the urge to reach over and pat her head or ruffle her mane. He wants to try and stay professional. He places a couple of probes on her head to measure her brainwaves and then use that data to try and see her dreams. He realizes this is a breach of her privacy so he creates a filter so it only picks up to anything related to Luna. "I am sorry. I'm just curious. I won't ever snoop around in somepony's memories. I'm just setting this up so that I can see your dream too. I'll be sure to fully explain it all to you when you wake up." Doctor Whooves says to the sleeping Derpy. The dream starts and Derpy starts having her dream as she waits for Luna. Derpy knows that Luna's job isn't to check on ponies during their dreams but to vanquish nightmares. And so even though the dream was good and happy Derpy alters her own dream to make it into a nightmare. To Doctor Whooves he sees Derpy dreaming of happily delivering mail while eating muffins. Suddenly a rock was thrown and she falls to the ground hurt. Derpy is surrounded by ponies of her past that bullied her and they laugh at her while throwing junk at her. Doctor Whooves felt bad. He heard Derpy one time talk about being bullied, but seeing it happen makes his blood boil. Eventually after five minutes he could take it no longer and whispers in Derpy's ears leaving suggestions in her ear to change the dream. "You are not alone. You are a kind, strong, and cute mare who is better than those ponies! Dream of me. I won't let you get hurt." Doctor Whooves whispers into her ear. Derpy's dream changes as she dreams of Doctor Whooves standing up for her. He is pleased that it made her dream into a more pleasant one. However Derpy speaks to him within the dream. "Doctor? How are you here? This was supposed to be a memory... This isn't how it ever played out before... I'm... Happy." Doctor Whooves is happy to see her smile and wipe away her tears within the dream while he continues to watch her dream play out through the monitor. Derpy pauses as she remembers that she was supposed to have a nightmare on purpose and that lead her to fear what she might see now. That in turn made her dream reflect that and she sees a tombstone of everypony she knows. Luna appears at that moment and the scene changes. "Thou art being observed by an outside force. If thine observer could be so kind as to stop that would be nice." Luna says tiredly as she notices that something or somepony is watching this dream. "That's probably the Doctor! It's ok! But what happened to the day?" asks Derpy. "... How? There art, not a pony or creature in Equestria that does not know about the event. Thou dreamth of the death of those closest to thee because of the event?" Luna says hoping to remind her. "I'm not from this Equestria! Me and the doctor come from another one! One where ponies sleep during the night!" Derpy states as Doctor Whooves plants a hoof on his face. "Not from this Equestria?" Luna asks confused. Doctor Whooves, seeing that he needs to get involved, places probes on his temple and closes his eyes as he lets his brain waves sync to Derpy's to access her dream. Though it involved him lowering his mental defenses. He appears right beside Derpy in her dream. "Hello Princess Luna! I am the Doctor. What my companion was trying to say is that we aren't from here. We are trying to solve this crisis of yours. So could you explain from the start? What happened?" The Doctor says to Luna who jumps back startled. "H-how art thee here?! ... This is... New. Fine... It all started with us returning as Nightmare Moon. Twilight Sparkle and her friends rushed to use the elements of harmony on us however it was not enough to finish us. Celestia came and took the remaining darkness out of us... Me... Out of me... And she took it into herself. I was redeemed and Celestia was burdened by my darkness.... We lived happily for a while. We were able to Co-rule together. But she was always so tense. The darkness drove her crazy and she lashed out at everypony. She felt so alone... Except for when I was there...I had to leave for a political meeting and that was the final straw.... She became Daybreaker and the sun turned as hostile as she did. She was mad that Nopony tried to help her through her suffering and she thinks I left her... She doesn't even let me see her..." Luna says pouring out her heart. "When you say that the sun turned as hostile as she did what does that mean?" The Doctor asks curious. "... Thou art not being respectful. Ponies don't die if they touch sunlight. They turn into clouds that are still living. Celestia... No... Daybreaker wants to remake Ponykind... Reshape them... We have all called this event... 'When Day Breaks'. The time our sun and our sun princess turned hostile..." Luna says hiding her face so that they don't see her cry. "Well? There surely must be something that can be done." The Doctor says. "We are sorry to hear that this all happened...." Derpy says as she hugs Luna. Doctor Whooves thinks before asking, "She must be stopped. Can't the Mane 6 use the elements of harmony to-" "They art all gone... They were one of many who were outside when it happened... There was no chance to try... And I am not worthy of the Elements. We tried... The Elements don't work anymore... They are faded and gray... I can't even seal her away..." Luna says grimly. Derpy doesn't know what to say. "Hm... Perhaps if we built a reality anchor and somehow permanently attached it to her we can disable her alterations to reality." The doctor states. "Reality... Anchor? We're... Not following." says Luna more confused than ever. "You are all reality warpers. If your claim of moving celestial bodies like the sun and moon are true then that's because you are altering reality. Very inefficient by the way. The point is that I think that magic might actually be reality warping. I can't believe I haven't thought about this sooner! So if we put a Reality Anchor on Celestia she won't be able to alter the sun anymore!" Doctor Whooves explains as he gestures with his hooves. "And can you speak normally? It's a little hard to understand." "Um... So... A magic nullification device? But... Doesn't she have to turn the sun back to normal first?" asks Luna as she tries to mentally adjust fully to speaking as they do. "Oh... I didn't think of that. I know! She trusted you in the past! Go up to her and try to reconnect. Perhaps sisterly bonds can break through. Power of friendship and love and all that. It works for our Equestria." the Doctor suggests. "She DOESN'T want to see me! I told you! I wish it was not so! I DO want to see her! You know NOTHING about the pain I feel! We lived together for over a thousand years! Making this separation even harder for me!" Luna shouts. "Princess Luna... He does know. He isn't a pony. He is a Timelord. He lived a very very long time." Derpy says trying to de-escalate the situation. "I watched entire civilizations collapse... I watched loved ones die. I have seen timelines erased. I have lived more than a few thousand years. So YES. I do indeed know what it is like. I believe you can make things right. Human drama shows are just like this. Celestia might be pushing you away, but you are the one who let yourself give up. She needs somepony there to show her that she is not alone. The power of friendship comes in many forms. I saw that in Equestria that is the strongest force. We came here to stabilize our Equestria by altering the course of history in struggling worlds like this one." The Doctor says with a hint of sadness creeping into his voice. Luna pauses. She lets his words sink in. "You really think that I can... Just go to her and return her to normal if I see her and stand my ground if she tries to push me away? I... You are right... Doctor, you are wiser than I thought. Tonight I will see her. Even if it takes all night. Even if I have to risk the sun's hostile light." Luna leaves the dream. She sets out to prepare. She is tracking Daybreaker Down. The Doctor has his own plans and as soon as he and Derpy wake up he designs a full-body suit that reflects all sunlight for himself and Derpy. He holds out his sonic screwdriver. "We just have to follow Luna to her sister. After that we set up the reality anchor and let Luna do the talking and this Equestria will be saved. What do you think?" He asks Derpy. "Sounds like fun! It sounds like Celestia needs a hug! Maybe I could hug her!" Derpy responds. "Err... Let's do that after I disable her reality alteration. But now I'm hungry so let's make breakfast." he says smiling. The day passes and with the technology available within the TARDIS finding Luna and Daybreaker wasn't difficult. They waited until night when it was safe. Daybreaker was up in the clouds and Derpy had to leave the Doctor who was upset that he wasn't a unicorn or a pegasus. Daybreaker is glowing and she hisses. "LUNA! LEAVE!" Daybreaker hisses. "No sister. We made two mistakes. The first was going on that meeting without bringing thee with us. The second one was us leaving after thou became Daybreaker instead of taking a stand and embracing thee. Celestia! Return with us!" Luna says this time with confidence. Either she comes out of this with Celestia or she doesn't come back down at all. "CELESTIA IS GONE! IT'S DAYBREAKER! YOU ARE NO SISTER TO ME!" Daybreaker growls a large ball of flame appears in the air and it was like a miniature sun. "Uh oh!" Derpy says as she holds the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver in her mouth. She remembers Doctor Whooves explaining it to her. She presses a button and a red field surrounds the area and the fireball fizzles out. Daybreaker takes a step back. "WHAT?! What did you do?! IMPOSSIBLE! I am Daybreaker... The most respected and loved!" Daybreaker says with confusion. "NO! Thou art my sister!" Luna says as she goes and hugs Daybreaker. A single tear rolls down Daybreaker's face. "N-no! I'm not! I'm... I'm...Daybreaker! You all broke my heart before! GHA!!! I STILL CAN'T USE MAGIC?! N-no! The darkness! I can't return! Not to that weak Celestia!" Daybreaker starts to flicker out as the darkness in itself is magic and it can't alter Celestia anymore in the Reality Anchor. The darkness disappears and Celestia is left. She cries into Luna's mane. Half an hour later Celestia and Luna descend from the sky holding up thousands of non-flying ponies and creatures with their magic after turning them all back to normal. "Doctor! I did it! I pressed the button and it did a thing! Celestia isn't being creepy!" Derpy exclaims happily. Doctor Whooves hugs her before realizing what he was doing and lets her go before turning and blushing a little, "I... Was worried... You TOOK my Sonic Screwdriver. It has a biometrics scanner so how in Celestia's name did you use it?" Derpy seems really happy to be hugged and doesn't answer. "Oh well. The important thing is that we made this Equestria have a happy ending which means we won't have a 'When Day Breaks' event in our Equestria." He says continuing. "So where to next? Another Equestria but what crisis is next?" asked Derpy. The Doctor sighs before answering, "I swear I told you this before... But I don't know. We'll just have to see!" They both enter the TARDIS and it shakes before disappearing in a flash of light. > Chapter 3: 662 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The TARDIS shakes a little as it passes out of a space-time tunnel. The Doctor sets the TARDIS to land on the ground this time. Derpy smiles and gasps, "Doctor! We didn't land on a tree this time!" "That was the intention. I altered the landing trajectory with the basic assumption that the Equestrias we travel to will have very similar terrain. Now tell me what you won't do this time Derpy." Doctor Whooves says tapping his front hoof and looking Derpy straight in her eyes. "Oh! I'm going to stay here until you tell me it is safe to come out. I promise!" she says. "Thank you. I promise I will not take too long." Doctor Whooves promises. And so the doctor pushes some buttons to scan this dimension from a control panel. "Ah! The air is pure, no Delaks, no Eldritch monster, and pony life seems normal. All signs point to us being able to go outside as normal." Derpy just smiles and waits for the doctor to go out first. Indeed, it was safe to go outside. There didn't seem anything wrong at all. Doctor Whooves looks at Ponyville in confusion as he can't tell this Equestria apart from the one his. He bumps into somepony "accidentally" to scan them with his Sonic Screwdriver and the results claim they are ponies. "What's wrong Doctor?" Derpy asked seeing Whooves's confusion. "That's the problem... There doesn't seem to be anything wrong. But I could have sworn this is an Equestria with an anomaly... I'm sure I didn't make a mistake... Let's go to a library and see if anything in history is different from how we know things in our Equestria." Derpy walks with the doctor to Twilight's rebuilt library. It didn't take long for them to find what was different. " 'Long ago there lived two sisters,' yes... That's normal... Wait... What? This is the newest edition! This was published this year! Yet there is no talk about The Mane 6 anywhere!" "Um... Doctor... I think you missed something important... It says that Nightmare Moon is dead. Does that mean she wasn't purified back into Luna?" The Doctor grabs the book with his hooves and quickly reads and sees for himself that Nightmare Moon was Banished, but when the day of the Summer Sun Celebration came about and the moon aided in the release of Nightmare Moon as was prophesied she came back as a corpse. "I mean... Logically that makes sense... How would you survive on the moon for a thousand years with no food or drink let alone air? But still... That's rather grim. And because she was dead upon arrival... Twilight would never have needed to work together with the ponies that would later become her friends and Elements of Harmony... Discord would remain trapped in stone because Celestia would still be the current holder of the Elements." Doctor Whooves speaks out loud as Derpy nods "That's sad... But... What about Chrysalis? Tirek? Sombra? Cozy Glow? How would they have been handled?" "I don't know. But without the school of friendship... Cozy Glow wouldn't have her misguided idea of friendship. Ember wouldn't be Dragonlord. As for Tirek... He had Discord's help otherwise it would have taken too long for him to recover his power and perhaps he was dealt with before he fully became a threat." Derpy sighs as she has decided she doesn't like this Equestria anymore, "But... Sombra and Chrysalis. They were... Very dangerous... They managed to kidnap Celestia and Luna before... The false wedding... Doctor? Can we leave? I don't like it here very much..." "I agree... It looks peaceful... But it's unsettling that a lot of good didn't get to happen because Twilight didn't get to meet her friends. And there is no reason for them to work together anymore. Don't worry Derpy. We'll figure something out. Let us talk to Princess Celestia about history and work on fixing it from there." The Doctor reassures her with a smile. Celestia uses telekinesis to lift a cup of tea to her face as she takes a sip. Twilight does the same. Twilight does not have her wings as she never ascended to alicornhood. "Princess Celestia... I'm honored to get to sit around and have tea parties with you. I really do... But..." Twilight starts. "But? Go on. I'm all ears Twilight. You don't have to call me Princess. We are close enough that you can just call me Celestia." Celestia says with her eye twitching slightly. She had told Twilight to be casual several times over the last few years to no avail. "Sorry Princess... It's a habit. Oops!" "Sigh... Never mind that. What did you want to say Twilight?" Celestia says forcing a warm smile. "Are you sure we should go to war with the Changelings? We know little to nothing about them. They can't all be bad, can they? I'm sure they have rich history or culture... This feels like a... Genocide." Twilight says the last word fearfully. "Twilight... My most faithful student. You know that I have done my best to make the best decisions for Ponykind. I don't do this out of malice. I fought and met Chrysalis in the past Twilight. Beings like that don't change. I tried negotiations, but they are all a love-sucking power-seeking race. We must strike first and first. She will be surprised as she won't expect us to take the fight to her." Celestia says firmly. "Y-Yes... I... See... Well... They aren't ponies... And they don't act like us... Nor love like us... So they are monsters... Have you waged war before Celestia?" Twilight asks nervously. "Not often. No. And you know I can just ask Perfect Butler for battle advice. He truly is an instant win button." Celestia says as she raises a hoof to her snout and chuckles. "Right... Perfect Butler... I don't really feel needed whenever whatever I can do he can also do..." Twilight says as her ears droop. "He is invaluable but he isn't a normal pony so don't worry and compare yourself to him. You are plenty important to me." "Sigh... I know... I'll just... Go to Ponyville and see if anything is interesting there... I'll give you a full report if I find anything out of order..." Twilight says as she leaves. She doesn't feel useful anymore. Twilight passes a perfectly dressed unicorn. "Is everything in order miss Twilight? You seem distraught." comments the pony. "Sigh... I'm fine Perfect Butler... I feel... Lost... I get to practice and learn all the magic I ever wanted... But... I feel... Empty... And Celestia no longer sends me on missions, making my efforts seem so...." Twilight says. "I believe "lonely" is the word. I apologize if my existence has taken away your purpose. It will do good to get fresh air and try living for yourself. Try something new." Perfect Butler says with both elegance and sympathy. "Sure... But before I go... Why? Why do you let Celestia treat you like that? Like a tool? Doesn't it bother you?" "It does not bother me, Miss Twilight Sparkle. It is my purpose to serve to the best of my ability. It warms my heart that you feel the need to care about my well-being, although misplaced. I am content with serving." Perfect Butler says before Twilight trots away and goes to the royal carriage to travel to Ponyville. "Alright, Derpy! You can start your descent slowly! We are here!" Doctor Whooves tells Derpy who is carrying him with her eyes closed. "Can I open my eyes now? It is strange flying with my eyes closed." Derpy says as she starts to fly down. "We can't risk the TARDIS being discovered so close to Canterlot. Nopony is going to do anything with the TARDIS in Ponyville. Don't open your eyes yet... Oh. You already did..." Doctor Whooves says. Derpy ends up tumbling into a tree with the doctor. "Hehe... I see why you wanted me to close my eyes and guide me." "I'm sorry... I promise we'll get a train next time. I don't want you to feel exploited." "It was fun!" Derpy says smiling. A guard approaches them "Halt! Do not linger at the gates! State your business now. If you don't have an appointment, I'll ask you to leave." "Ah! You see good sir, we have business with Celestia that is rather urgent." Doctor Whooves states after adjusting his bowtie. "I wasn't informed of anypony of your description having an appointment. This isn't a tourist attraction." the guard says annoyed. "I got a package for Twilight!" says Derpy as she holds up a package. "Oooh! So that is why you wanted to stop by the post office first! Way to go planning ahead Derpy!" Doctor Whooves says with a smile. "And the strange earth pony is with you?" the guard asked after reviewing the package and confirming that it is as Derpy claimed. "Yes! The Doctor is a very important pony! We are together!" Derpy said with a smile and the guard blushes at her cute Derpy smile and opens the doors for them to enter. "Here I am... Ponyville. I don't get it. Why did Celestia want me here to make friends? Why here? Sigh... I'll just look around and make a report..." Twilight says to herself. Twilight looks around in the typical places, Sugarcube Corner still has that party-crazy pony Pinkie Pie, Sweet Apple Acres has that hard-working Applejack, Rainbow Dash is punching clouds into oblivion, Rarity is still doing her thing at her boutique, and edge of town the shy pegasus Fluttershy lives alone. All is normal. She then notices a strange blue police box. "Huh? What interesting detail. I... Don't know what I'm looking at." Twilight continues talking to herself. She is feeling excited about finding something strange. She walks around it and still fails to understand its purpose. She pushes what she assumes is a door and the TARDIS door opens. Twilight's jaw drops. She looks in awe at the inside of the TARDIS. "It's bigger on the inside! Spatial manipulation magic?! That's a complicated spell! Everything here is so bizarre! I have NEVER seen anything like this before! Not even in books! It's so... strange! Alien in fact! Oh my gosh! I could write a report about this!" Twilight says with a sparkle in her eyes and with more excitement than she had in a long time. "Spike. I make this discovery in your honor." Twilight proceeds to take photos of the interior using magic to turn her vision into a solid image and she takes notes while fiddling around with everything. She pauses as she is putting together something from all these observations. "There are beds that seem to be used. Two seats. A photograph of an Earth pony with the cutie mark of an hourglass and the mailmare? This feels like a living space and a laboratory! I haven't heard of ANYTHING like this being here!" Twilight says before she stops and squints at a photo of Doctor Whooves dancing with Derpy at the Great Galloping Gala, but what was odd was that Luna and Celestia were in the background. "Luna? That can't be possible... She's gone. She died on the moon as Nightmare Moon! But... How? It can't be an old picture because I'm in it!" Twilight makes a copy of the picture and then leaves. Something was strange about all of this and she starts to worry that whoever is living here might come back. Twilight focuses and leaves a tracking spell rune on the TARDIS before leaving. "This is going to be one long report." "I am sorry. Twilight Sparkle is not here in Canterlot at this moment. Please leave the package here and be on your way." A guard from the inside tells them. "What?! Not here? This is getting tricky... It might be difficult to talk to Celestia now..." Doctor Whooves says slightly worried. Perfect Butler trots over, "Did you say you need to talk to Celestia? All matters that relate to Celestia go through me. I'll be able to help you with anything that you might need in her place." "Um... Thank you, good sir, but I don't think so. Celestia is the one we have to talk to." "Ah... It has been a while since I heard somepony call me "good sir". Not that it matters. I apologize but Celestia is currently going over her battle plans with her generals." Perfect Butler says with a smile. "Battle? Generals? Is Equestria at war?" Derpy asked curiously. "I'm afraid I can say no more of that matter. Anything beyond that is classified. And good sir, your screwdriver is buzzing." "Huh?" Doctor Whooves says as he looks down and sees his Sonic Screwdriver reacting as it has located an anomaly. He takes it out, waves it around, and sees that Perfect Butler is the anomaly of this world. "Huh... Actually. I think you are right. You might be who we need to talk to. Can we have a moment in private?" The Doctor asked Perfect Butler. "I'm fine with it. I shall notify the guards of your extended stay. However, I must ask that if I am summoned by Celestia that you let me go without stopping me." "A reasonable request." the doctor agrees. And so Derpy and Doctor Whooves follow Perfect Butler into a private room to talk. "You aren't from here are you?" Doctor Whooves says getting straight to the point. "It appears that neither are you. However, you will simply have to give me more context behind your statement." "I think the Doctor wants to know where you are from," Derpy adds trying to be helpful. "If you are trying to imply that I might not be from Equestria then you would be correct. However, before you ask, I do not remember where I come from exactly nor the era." "Ok. Could you tell me your name or how you got here?" "I don't know how I got here. My Equestrian name is "Perfect Butler" and as you can see I am a white-furred stallion unicorn with a Cutie Mark of a silver bell. You have quite the British accent Doctor." Perfect Butler says professionally. "Wait... British? How would you... wait... Earth. Does that word mean anything to you?" The Doctor asked curiously. "Earth. The planet is inhabited by humans. If I had to guess my origins may come from there. However, I can not say for certain." "Ok... And your not Equestrian name?" "Mr. Deeds. However, such a name would be unusual here and I would stand out hence I have given myself the name 'Perfect Butler'." "Well, Mr. Deeds are you aware that you are an anomaly in this world?" "I am aware. Me and the silver bell that summons me are quite the oddities in this world though maybe not as much in a world of magic and talking ponies." "Bell? Like a magic bell?" asked Derpy. "Indeed. Though I don't know if the process is by magic or other means. Celestia is the one with it and she uses my services to great effect. Might I ask what you want to ask Celestia about?" Asked Perfect Butler. "Well. We want to know about what happened in history. Everything after Nightmare Moon." said the doctor. "That's quite a lot. Anything more specific?" "Chrysalis?" says Derpy. "We are currently about to go to her hive and burn it all down. Twilight might not be so eager about that plan. I hope she will find the fresh air in Ponyville to be quite relaxing and to cool off." "She is at Ponyville?! Oh no... Right where I placed the TARDIS... Also, she can't! Changelings can be redeemed! We come from another Equestria where they became redeemed and didn't have to feed on love to survive!" "I was not aware of that fact. I shall mention it to Celestia. Though she is bent on Genocide. I worry that she may have only been going downhill mentally the night Nightmare Moon's body came back." Doctor Whooves panics a little, "N-no! You can't! Things are becoming a lot more complicated now! The fewer ponies know about the multiverse and alternate timelines the better!" "If she asks me I will be forced to tell her. Speak of the alicorn and she will be there." Perfect Butler says as Celestia walks in. "Ah. Derpy. I hope you are happy right now in retirement. You have made so much collateral damage plus horrid package conditions. But that's beside the point. How are you?" Says Celestia with a practiced smile. Tears start to form in Derpy's eyes. "Princess Celestia! That was very untactful! She can't help that her eyes are like that! I would have thought you were kinder than that!" The doctor says jumping to defend Derpy. "And who let you in? You might want to watch your TONE with me my little pony. I am Princess Celestia. Sole ruler of Equestria. Princess of the Sun. I will not tolerate disrespect in my castle." Celestia says annoyed. The Doctor takes a step back reflexively, "T-then perhaps we can sit over a cup of tea and talk like civilized ponies?" Doctor Whooves says giving a shaky forced smile. "I'm not somepony who is pushed around so easily. When I make a mistake the right thing to do is to politely ignore it. If you make a mistake then you apologize." "P-Princess Celestia... You are scaring me..." Derpy says wide-eyed as she isn't used to seeing Celestia acting like this. "Oh, sweet filly. If you get scared over every little thing then you should go see somepony about that. If I wanted to be scary then you would know what "scary" really means." "What happened?! How did you become like this?! What happened to love your ponies and your loving aura?" Says the doctor stressed and a little frightened. "I lost my heart when I lost my sister. Thankfully I got over it quickly and realized I was holding myself back with all my moping around for a thousand years waiting for Nightmare Moon to show up. That's when I found Perfect Butler. He is perfect in every way. He would never betray me. He was even willing and did end up dying for me and never complains, nor asks to be paid. He is skilled with magic, and there don't seem to be many limits to his power. A perfect replacement for my traitorous sister who couldn't control her dark impulses and he is helpful unlike her." Celestia says half monologuing. The Doctor's eye twitches and he stands up to her, "Very mature of you. You could have coped in many ways and instead, you chose to blame it on everypony else. I'm disappointed in this version of you. Twilight Sparkle would make a better princess." "Twilight? HAHAHAHAHA! THAT riddled mess? She can BARELY keep her cool and breaks down over the smallest of things and I swoop down and hug her with my wings and tell her that it's all ok. Honestly, it is getting on my nerves. And so are YOU. Perfect Butler. Please take them to the Canterlot Dungeon." Perfect Butler grabs Doctor Whooves and Derpy and starts dragging them to the prison and takes away Doctor Whooves's Sonic Screwdriver. "Huh?! How did you bring us down here so fast?! I blinked and we were here! And give me back my sonic screwdriver!" shouts the Doctor. "I am sorry. However, I am compelled to follow the orders of the pony who rings my silver bell. I appreciate the attempt to make her see reason. But she is in denial." Twilight has returned to Canterlot "Perfect Butler? Are you nearby?" Twilight calls out. "Of course miss Twilight. I am always available. Did you enjoy your outing?" Perfect Butler says as he walks out from the dungeon basement. "I saw something really interesting. I'm not sure what I saw... But I'm in a good mood. Can you double-check my report? I already checked it twenty times, but I'm not sure..." "Of course. Let me take a look." Perfect Butler looks over Twilight's report and the pictures. He pauses when he sees the picture of Derpy and The Doctor. "They were kind ponies. Not exactly from here, but they were interesting to talk with." "Wait... You know them?" Twilight says excitedly. "I sent them to the dungeon just now. Princess Celestia's orders." "W-what? Something isn't right... Did they do anything to warrant that?" "I am afraid Princess Celestia is in a foul mood. Again. How about I take your report to her? You don't need to be an outlet for her mood. That's why I'm here." "Perfect Butler... You are a pony... Just like me... Why? It's not ok that you get worked to the bone...." "Twilight. After talking with those ponies you happen to have a photo of... I might not be a pony. I know you asked me many questions about my past and I could answer none of them for reasons I don't know... But That's ok. I will calm Princess Celestia. I have done it when she was grieving over the loss of her sister and I can do it now." Perfect Butler assures Twilight as he levitates the papers and brings them with him to Celestia. Twilight was curious. She decided to go down and see the ponies first hoof. Being Celestia's pupil she had clearance to go down there. She sees an earth pony and a crossed-eyed pegasus. They were the ponies from the pictures. "Gasp! Doctor! It's Twilight!" says Derpy. "Huh? Princess? Eeerr! I mean Twilight!" Doctor Whooves says hoping she didn't notice his slip-up. "Do you know me? I saw your blue box and your gala picture." Twilight presses. Doctor Whooves gasps, "It's more than a mere box! It's the TARDIS. But never mind that... You have to free us." "Ok... But first, tell me. Why was I in that picture? And Luna. That photo isn't possible. And your... TARDIS... Who are you?" Derpy answers for The Doctor, "He is the wonderful Doctor! Doctor Whooves! Sometimes he goes by Time Turner! The kindest and best doctor ever!" "Aw... Thank you, Derpy. Sigh... The cat is out of the bag. Twilight Sparkle. We are not from this Equestria. We come from another version of this timeline. One where Nightmare Moon came back alive and you and your friends purified her to her original form." "Time travel?! Interdimensional travel?! Wow! That's so awesome! But I doubt that. I don't have friends." Twilight says with a flat expression toward the end. "That's because Nightmare Moon never caused problems. You didn't have to save Equestria and thus you never had to work together with a bunch of random ponies who would eventually become your friends and define your fate. You at this time would have become the princess of friendship and accomplished peace with many non-pony races," The Doctor answers. "Defined my fate... It's too late for that... I missed the timing." Twilight says now realizing how empty her life is that she never met her friends that would change her life. "No Twilight. It is never too late to make friends. Never! Just try!" Derpy says with an encouraging smile. Doctor Whooves adds to Derpy's words, "Take it from Derpy. She was alone for a long long time. She was bullied for her eyes. She could have closed her heart, but she didn't. She was kind to everypony no matter what even if they made fun of her. Now she has many friends!" Twilight stands there baffled, "You really think so? I used to think Friendship was a waste of time... That magic was all I needed... I can do so many things now... I'm at the level of Star Swirl the Bearded... And yet I'm alone and can't share my achievements with anypony..." Derpy and The Doctor said at the same time, "The magic of friendship!" "Do you think... That friendship can heal Celestia's heart? She has become so cold..." "Of course. With the power of friendship, there is nothing you can't do." "Princess Celestia. Your faithful student has brought you a report from Ponyville," says Perfect Butler. "Oh? Sigh... The overachiever. I'm not her mom. I can't always give her praise for every little thing she does." Celestia says sighing as she flips through the papers not even reading before using telekinesis to throw the report into the flame. Suddenly her mind processed the gala picture and she reached her hooves into the fire in a panic and pulled it out. Being an alicorn of the sun the flames hardly even scorch her. She pulls it out and sees a picture of Luna and her holding hooves at a gala that never happened. "... This... Luna... This... This... It... How?... It can't be faked... Nopony but me remembers how she truly looks and that pose... That's... My sister... But how? And... Twilight is there... This... Is what I have always wanted..." Celestia says while tears flow down her face and she holds the picture close to her chest with her hoof. Celestia pulls the burning report out of the fire using her magic and reverses the flow of time of only the report making it unburn. She starts to carefully read every detail. From her theories of its purpose and theories of the photo. "Alternate Timelines... Hehe... HAHAHAHA! Luna yet lives in other realities?! and she only dies in this one?! PERFECT BUTLER! Bring me the two ponies in this photo!" "Yes, Princess Celestia. I shall do it at once," he says as he bows before trotting away to do her will. Celestia wipes the tears from her eyes with a hoof and smiles, "Hehe... Sister... I can't wait to see you again... Why should any other Celestia have their sister? They don't know the pain of having to not only banish their sister for a thousand moons but be the reason she was dead and suffer alone! Timelines~ All there... Just WAITING for me... I can have it all... All back... Yes... I deserve it... I promise you, Luna. I will have you back... and I will never forsake you again. I will never let you go or let you become Nightmare Moon!" Doctor Whooves sees Perfect Butler. Twilight is currently racing back to Ponyville to try and make friends for real. Talking to the party pony, the hard-working pony, the fashionable pony, the shy pony, and the fast pony. She didn't know what friendship was and she hoped to learn. "Doctor. Derpy. Princess Celestia wishes to see you. She has an interest in you. I suspect it was the photo of the alternate Gala with Luna in the background that made her change her mind." he says. "No! She wants to use me and my TARDIS! Good Sir! You don't need to do this!" "I must. I gave you as much time as I could. I didn't use my other method of travel and walked here by hoof. Twilight, Celestia is overjoyed. She has cried and expressed more emotion than she had in a long time." Perfect Butler says. "Must you be a slave to the bell?" asked the doctor. "I can refuse her requests if they are unreasonable. Ringing the bell merely summons me and makes me change who I serve." "Ok. Derpy. I have a plan." "I trust you Doctor!" she says with a smile. Perfect Butler takes the two to Celestia who is humming. "I'm SO sorry for snapping and being so nasty! I was still in the process of grieving and lied about moving past my sister's death. I figured you out. You are from another Equestria! Please! Tell me EVERYTHING!" Celestia says with hope and a warm smile. "H-how?! Ugh... I should have locked the doors on the TARDIS... I'm too used to having Derpy fly in and out..." "Sorry..." "No no! It's fine Derpy! It's my bad!" Celestia's eye twitches, "I am STILL here you know. Let's not waste each other's time. I want to see these other versions and timelines of Equestria." "No," said Doctor Whooves. "I will not." "How cruel. I lost my sister you know. I would SURE love to see her again." "Your sister met her end and that won't change. I know a thing or two about grief. And I can't let you use my TARDIS." Doctor Whooves takes out his Sonic Screwdriver and makes it shoot out a small laser that hits and rings the silver bell that is currently hung. "Did you call?" asked Perfect Butler. "I don't care how you do it... You seem to be able to do so much and there is very little you won't and can't do. Make him get the TARDIS working and force him to bring me to other versions of Equestria!" Celestia orders. "I apologize Celestia. I did enjoy serving you and I know you are a good pony deep down. But currently-" "P-Perfect Butler... Y-you are betraying me? B-but... WHY?!" Celestia screams. "The bell. I serve whoever rings the bell. I promise this is not a betrayal. Now Mr. Whooves, how might I serve you?" "Use your anomalous powers to knock Celestia out!" Derpy says and the doctor nods. "What foolishness is this-" Celestia says before Perfect Butler neck strikes her unconscious. "It was for her own good. I'm surprised you both realized I could do that." "I think we will be taking your bell with us. For safekeeping. I was thinking how Celestia could get this far without the mane 6 and she always seemed to use you so I figured that she has been abusing your properties and that led her to have a power trip to cope with loss." "I want to see how Twilight is doing!" says Derpy. "Then let's go! Mr. Deeds, can you take care of Celestia and make sure she doesn't go to war or do anything crazy?" "Please. Call me Perfect Butler. It's my Equestrian name. I shall do my best. If I fail then I'll send a magical beacon using all the unicorn magic that I possess." "Everypony... You would all really be friends with me? For real?" asked Twilight to Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy. "Ya bet, sugarcube! I'm sorry ya took so long and became so lonely!" said Applejack smiling. "Sure, why not?" said Rainbow Dash. "Darling, it is never too late for friendships," said Rarity. "I-If you want... Then... Ok...." said Fluttershy timidly. "Okie Dokie Loki!" said Pinkie Pie. Derpy and Doctor Whooves arrive. Derpy crashes into the ground. "Ugh... We got to work on your landings..." "Hehe... Sorry Doctor!" "Twilight! It looks like you made friends after all! That's great! I'm going to leave Equestria in your hands I know that you will do what needs to be done to make this Equestria a better place!" Doctor Whooves says. "I will! With the power of friendship! Thank you! You helped me find what I was missing in life!" Twilight says smiling. And with that Derpy and The Doctor go back to the TARDIS and leave knowing that this Equestria is in good hooves. They leave with the Silver Bell. They miss the beacon of magic that Perfect Butler made as they left.