Dr. Whooves- Parallel Complications

The Doctor and Paige were in a large room, the bridge of the mother ship to the scout below. Some of the aliens were working on monitors, and some were staring at the two new arrivals on the ship. One pony at the front of the bridge wore a different color vest, a bright blue, and the Doctor assumed that this alien had to be the captain.

“Paige, don’t move.” The Doctor tried to bow his head quickly, wanting to grab a hold of his sonic screwdriver.

“Do not pick up the device.”

The Doctor stopped when he recognized English, and cautiously raised his head again, leaving the screwdriver where it was. When he looked at the alien in the blue vest, he noticed a small device near the neck that looked like a speaker of some sort.

“Identify yourselves,” the alien said. The audio was not coming out of the alien’s mouth; it was coming from the speaker.

“Doctor,” Paige said. “His mouth doesn’t match what he’s saying. How is he doing that?”

“Ah, basic translator box,” the Doctor said. “At least I can still recognize some technology in this universe. He talks quietly, and the box emits audio of whatever language it needs to translate to. The scout ship must not have had enough resources, but this ship has the technology to scan your language.”

“Wait, Doctor, if all we saw was… the scout, where is this ship?”

“In space.”

“Oh.”

“Enough,” the alien said, stopping the conversation. “Identify yourselves.”

“I’m the Doctor and this is Paige,” the Doctor replied. “And who are we speaking to?”

“I am captain of this vessel,” the captain said. “Now explain why you jumped on to my scout ship.”

“Oh, that’s just me, I tend to jump on things, I’m a bit of a jumper, but you’ve got some explaining to do as well.” The Doctor took a few steps forward. “Because I’m sure if you have a translator box, and basic teleport technology, you could do enough scanning to figure out this planet has no idea that alien life even exists, and making every one scared for their lives by sending a flying disc around isn’t a nice first contact story. So I’m going to ask questions now, why are you here?”

The captain grumbled, disturbed by the amount of knowledge the pony in front of him seemed to have. “As our ship was flying through this system, we detected a massive power fluctuation. There is some sort of power source on this planet that is incredibly high. We want to acquire it.”

“Oh, right, sorry, that was probably my ship falling out of its own universe and yet staying alive,” the Doctor replied, rubbing the back of his head with a front hoof.

“We traced the source to the region our scout ship landed, we will find the power source and take it,” the captain explained. “We are ready to burn this planet to find it.”

“Oh come on, burn the planet for a power source?” the Doctor asked, dumbfounded. He took a few steps back, getting next to Paige again. “You’d kill all the ponies on this planet for one power source? This ship seems to have plenty of power, why do you need to kill?”

“Our planet has fallen to chaos,” the captain told the Doctor. “We have been devastated, and we are barely surviving. This used to be one of our finest ships, now we are scavengers.”

“Look,” the Doctor began, a solemn expression on his face. “I’m sorry about whatever happened to your world, but wiping out an entire species is not the solution,” he continued. “And if you try to do that, I’ll have to stop you.”

“Oh really, Doctor?” the captain replied. “Because you’re stuck here, and I’m about to give the order to teleport down seven dozen of my troops.” The captain nodded at one of the aliens, and the other pushed a button on a consol. A short alarm sounded, and the lights on the bridge flickered for a moment. “There, that’s seven dozen of my troops on the planet below. Now how do you intend to stop me?”

“Funny thing is, a sonic screwdriver only has one button.”

“Excuse me?”

“Just one button,” the Doctor said again. “Most of the time all I have to do is press and think.” The Doctor paused and turned to Paige, giving her a warm smile. She was far too scared to move or say a word, but a hint of a smile back appeared on her face. “And I’ll tell you something else,” he said, still speaking to the captain. “I’ve been teleported a lot of times, in a lot of different time periods, I know how it feels. And your teleport felt pretty basic.” He paused again. “Now back to my sonic screwdriver, if there’s just one button, and all I need is to press and think, then I don’t need hands.” The Doctor sat down, glad to have thoroughly confused the captain. “All I need is a hoof.” The Doctor stepped down on his sonic screwdriver, and it activated.

The lights flickered on the bridge again, and the captain looked up. “What have you done?”

“Basic teleport technology means basic to reverse,” the Doctor added to his explanation. “The lights flickering is seven dozen troops back on the ship, very confused about what just happened.” He picked up his sonic screwdriver in between his front hooves. “Oh, and here’s using my screwdriver to teleport us.” The Doctor pressed down on his screwdriver again, and in a flash of light, he and Paige were teleported.

***

Paige shook her head, dazed from the teleport, then frantically looked around, finding herself still on the ship, but in a new place, some sort of corridor. Looking a bit more she saw the Doctor sitting in front of a monitor, using his front hooves to work his sonic screwdriver.

“What’s going on?” Paige asked, dashing to the Doctor’s side. “I thought when you did the thing and teleported us we’d be back on Earth.”

“I reversed the teleport but they could just go back down again, the planet’s not safe yet,” the Doctor said.

“Doctor…” Paige paused. “All those things you said, knowing about teleports, talking about his planet, different time periods…”

“There’s no time to explain now, it won’t take long for the captain to figure out we didn’t leave his ship. All I could do was guess on where to have the teleport send us, this would be a lot easier if I knew the language of these aliens,” the Doctor said. “With a bit more fiddling, this monitor should tell us how close we are to the engineering section, that’s where we need to go. Ah ha!” A new diagram appeared on the monitor. “We’re not far, I think we go left-“

“Seltum pasha!”

The Doctor flipped his head to the right, seeing three of the aliens on the other end of the corridor. Attached to their vests were pistol shaped objects, pointed right at him and Paige.

“I’m fumbling around with hooves and they can attach guns to their vests?” the Doctor said, his shoulders drooping. “Now that’s not fair.”

One of the lasers fired, and a laser blast zipped towards the Doctor and Paige, leaving a burn mark on the wall. Paige screamed, and the Doctor jumped to his hooves.

“Well, left is our only option now, come on!” Paige turned and ran, and the Doctor kicked his sonic screwdriver a good distance ahead of him, beginning to run as well and snatching his screwdriver with his mouth on the way.

Laser blasts zoomed around the pair’s heads, the aliens in close pursuit. The Doctor led Paige, darting around corner after corner.

“Keep going!” the Doctor shouted, slowly forcing the aliens to lose ground with clever sharp turns. Paige didn’t miss a beat, flying behind the Doctor as he sprinted.

As the two turned down a longer hallway, they saw a door on the left side. The Doctor didn’t think twice, and skidded to a halt in front of it, causing Paige to nearly stumble into him. He examined the pad next to the door, placed his hoof on it, and the door slid open. He jumped in, and just before the aliens came around the corner, Paige jumped in as well.

The door slid shut, and the sound of hooves galloping by came from outside the door. The Doctor and Paige were in darkness, the Doctor’s hoof over Paige’s mouth. When silence fell outside the door, the Doctor relaxed, and released Paige.

“Didn’t know if that would work,” the Doctor whispered. “But we lost them for now.”

Paige collapsed, her adrenaline fading as her mind got a chance to process the entire situation. “This is… too much…” Paige said, placing her front hooves on her temples.

“Paige, listen to me,” the Doctor replied. He brought up Paige’s chin with a hoof. “I’m going to get you out of here. You have my word. But your entire planet could be lost if we don’t stop these aliens first. We need to get to an engineering room, sabotage their energy systems, and then everyone is safe.”

“But all this Doctor… aliens… teleporting without magic… space travel… I’ve gone my whole life just reading about these things in stories. Now they’re real, all around me. How am I supposed to help?”

“Curiosity, Paige,” the Doctor said. “That’s what you have, curiosity and a good heart. You knew that a lot of ponies could get hurt if we didn’t stop these aliens, even if you didn’t realize you were thinking about it. That was your heart. And your curiosity… well, that’s what led you to me in the first place.” Paige sat up a bit more, listening. “I’m curious, and that’s why I do what I do. See new things. Talk to new people. Help people. You get to satisfy your curiosity and fuel your good heart at the same time. How about that?”

Paige slowed her breathing, the Doctor’s words calming her down. “As scared as I am… just like when I jumped to catch you… I couldn’t help but want to see more.”

“That’s the spirit! Now, let’s see where we are. Maybe this is engineer-“

The Doctor fumbled around until his hoof found another panel on the wall, and lights blinked on in the room. The two were in some sort of supply room, and shelves surrounded them. All the shelves held jars of a green, jello like substance.

“You know, some things I’m not curious about.”

“Agreed.”

The Doctor opened the door to the hall they had run through, and checked both ways for aliens. He waved for Paige to follow, and Paige picked up the sonic screwdriver with her front hooves again, slowly flying behind the Doctor.

“I didn’t get the chance to finish seeing where engineering was, so we’re going to have to wander and guess,” the Doctor said, keeping his voice low.

“What if they find us again?” Paige asked.

“Likely, but we’ve outrun them before, we can do it again.”

The pair ceased their conversation, letting their ears adjust to the sounds of the ship, listening carefully for any changes. They lost themselves in the halls of the ship, finding more supply rooms with stranger items and many rooms that were locked. The Doctor assumed these were personal living quarters. With luck, the two came across another monitor, and the Doctor signaled for his sonic screwdriver. He sat down in front of the monitor like before, and having tried this previously, got to what he was looking for much quicker.

“I don’t understand a single word of their language, but I think I’ve got it,” the Doctor whispered. “Engineering is-“

“Doctor!”

The Doctor looked up when Paige whispered urgently, and then heard the hoof steps she had heard. The pair jumped around a corner, and two crew members came down the hall, walking slowly. Paige held her breath, and the Doctor kept his screwdriver at the ready. After several more seconds, the crew members walked past the corner they had ducked around, and continued moving straight.

Paige let out a sigh of relief, and the Doctor returned to the monitor. “This ship has multiple engineering bays, all relatively small. We’re pretty close to the one we need, which is their energy systems. Follow me.”

Now with a sense of direction the Doctor navigated the halls with newfound confidence, ignoring random doors they passed by instead of checking each and every one. After several minutes, the hall they turned into began to widen, leading to a larger door. The Doctor pointed silently, and approached the door with Paige. Paige placed her hoof on the panel, the Doctor checked inside, and with one last look behind them, they entered and the door slid shut.

“No one in here, perfect,” the Doctor said, raising his voice now. “Everyone’s busy trying to invade a planet. Too bad for them.”

“What do we do?” Paige asked.

“First of all, we find a way to lock this door,” the Doctor replied. The panel to open the door from the inside had two smaller scanners underneath the main one. One panel was green and the other red. “Red, the universe’s way of saying stop,” the Doctor said, pressing the red button. He heard a noticeable click from the door, and when he pressed the main panel, nothing happened. “Perfect. Now we break things.”

***

The captain of the ship had switched off his translator, allowing himself to converse with his crew once more.

“I better stop hearing the words ‘they’re lost’. Find them!”

“Captain, I’ve got something!” a crew member shouted. “Engineering bay 5 just locked. There’s no scheduled maintenance.”

“Get crew down there now and kill them both!”

***

“Paige, keep an eye on the door,” the Doctor said, taking his sonic screwdriver from her. “I need to do some work.”

Paige nodded, and stayed by the door while the Doctor ran to the other side of the room. The engineering room was small; only two or three crew members would be comfortable working in here at the same time. Paige stood on a raised step by the door, observing the Doctor as he crawled under several large, white tubes that glowed and hummed. The rest of the room was filled with button covered panels.

“Ah, we are in the right place!” the Doctor exclaimed. “And I even recognize most of the technology here. Luckily I haven’t gone to a parallel universe so distant that physics have changed.”

The gears in Paige’s head turned as she processed everything the Doctor had said since she met him. She kept coming up with excuses, forcing herself to not belief what her thinking mind tried to prove.

“How long will it take Doctor?” Paige asked.

“Not long, I’m not destroying their energy systems completely,” the Doctor replied as his sonic screwdriver began to buzz. “I’m making it so that they’d be completely out of energy if they continued this assault, and would have no means of getting home.”

Paige jumped when several loud bangs came from outside the door. “They’re here!” Paige yelled, staring at the door, having no idea what to do.

“They’re using similar technology to a species I know, which means there’s no way to unlock that door from the outside! It’s a safety measure in case something harmful to living creatures explodes in here. The door can be locked without any means to open it.”

The bangs on the door were replaced with the sound of a blast. “Doctor, could they shoot through the door?”

“…well, perhaps there’d be one way to open it.”

The Doctor sped up his work, lights beginning to flicker around them. “Almost there, Paige, back away from the door!” Paige kept her eyes on the door, backing up towards the Doctor’s location.

“I can see the burn mark on the door, Doctor! Hurry!”

“Just… about…”

The door blew apart, pieces of it landing all over the floor. Several crew members, all with the same weapon vests from before, stood outside. Paige leapt to the side as a burn mark etched into the wall where her head just was. The Doctor rolled out from underneath the tubing, biting on his screwdriver and scrambling to his hooves. He stood up on his hind legs, putting his front hooves up in the air, hoping this was a sign of surrender.

Paige did the same, and the weapons lowered. One of the aliens stepped closer, and pantomimed spitting out something, telling the Doctor to release his sonic screwdriver. The Doctor took a deep breath, staying as he was. The alien acted out spitting again, this time arming his weapon at the same time. The Doctor bit on his sonic screwdriver, and he and Paige blinked away.

***

Surprised, the captain spun around when he heard the sound of a teleport. He clicked on his translator again. “You have destroyed us, Doctor!”

“No, I’ve only partially destroyed you,” the Doctor replied. “I left you just enough power and engineering systems to get a good distance away from this planet and call for help. I say a good distance,” the Doctor paused, this time walking right up to the captain. “Because if I ever find you near this planet again, I won’t give you a chance to run away. If you try to kill us before we leave the ship, I guarantee I can cripple you first.” He glared straight in to the captain’s eyes, and the captain glared back. With a grunt, the captain nodded at a crewmate, and the staff on the bridge began to set a course away from the planet.

“The scout ship will return now,” the captain said as he turned from the Doctor. He used a hoof to hold the translator box away from his neck, giving an order in his own language to a crewmate. He turned back to the Doctor, his face full of anger. “You have left me no choice.”

“Good,” the Doctor replied, stepping back. “Remember me the next time you want to kill just to acquire a power source.” He began to raise his voice. “Even if some of you don’t have translator boxes on right now, ask the one next to you what I’m saying, because I’m going to speak to all of you. Remember this day. Remember that killing will not get you anywhere. Remember, that even when you’re lost, stranded, confused…” the Doctor turned to Paige, who looked up at him in return. Her eyes glistened, and the Doctor grinned, nodding at her. “All it takes is someone by your side to help.” Paige blushed, turning her head.

The Doctor walked back to Paige, sliding his sonic screwdriver underneath his front hoof. “So, alien ponies that I didn’t learn the name of, it would be a bit awkward to ask now, seeing that I just wrecked part of your ship,” the Doctor shrugged. “Instead of being all high and mighty and kill to survive, get out there, and just ask. You’d be surprised.”

“I don’t think you understand the nature of what has happened on our planet, Doctor. We are far beyond desperate,” the captain said, his face still full of anger.

“No, I don’t,” the Doctor replied. “But there’s always a choice, captain.” With that, the Doctor stepped down on his sonic screwdriver, and teleported Paige and himself off the ship.

The captain inhaled deeply, preventing himself from screaming in rage. He turned off the translator box, and began speaking in his own language to his crew.

“How many could we teleport down and still have enough power to get in communication range with our sister ship?” he asked.

“It’s very risky sir…” a crew member replied. “I wouldn’t send down more than one, especially since we need a round trip teleport.”

“Then send just one down,” the captain replied. “The female seems to be less aware. Follow her, and kill that Doctor.”

“Understood, sir.”

***

“We’re back on Earth.”

“Yes.”

“And we’re in London.”

“Yes.”

“And we’re right next to your blue box.”

“It’s called the TARDIS, and yes. That really was a basic level teleport, very easy to use via sonic screwdiver.”

Paige leaned against the TARDIS, letting out a sigh as she looked around. “Everypony is safe because of you,” she said.

The Doctor nodded. “Don’t count yourself out, you helped quite a bit.”

Paige looked at the Doctor, realizing that this was the first time she was really looking at him. “So, let me get a few things straight in my head Doctor. You’re not actually a pony.”

“No.”

“You’re an alien from… what did you call it… a parallel universe?”

“Yes, this entire universe is new to me.”

“You didn’t used to look like a pony, but for some reason when you crashed here, now you do.”

“One of my unanswered questions.”

“Do you travel to whole other universes often?”

“Usually it’s impossible, but sometimes it works, and when it works that means that something bad is happening. Another unanswered question.”

“So, what do you normally do?”

“I travel in the TARDIS, through space and time.”

“Through space and… hold on, that’s a time machine too?” Paige’s eyes widened.

“Yes it is,” the Doctor replied.

“It looked like it could barely do anything.”

“I told you, it’s normally a lot nicer, and she’s been busy while we were away. I don’t even know what’s in store for us behind those doors. Want to take a look?”

Paige was at a loss for words yet again. She had no clue how the box could get any better without them being there, but then again, a lot had happened today that she couldn’t explain. “Yes,” was all she needed to say.

“That’s what I was hoping for.” The Doctor grinned, and walked in front of the TARDIS doors, pushing one open. “You first.”

Paige nervously rounded the side of the TARDIS, turning to face the now open door. Her eyes filled with wonder, and she tried her best to take everything in at once. The Doctor soon followed, wanting to see his new TARDIS.

There were no more scraps of metal, or sparks shooting. The walls of the control room were a brilliant gold, and shined perfectly. Gallifreyan text was engraved all over the walls, adding to the luster. The consol was now lower down, and the center of the TARDIS glowed brilliantly once more, ready for travel.

“Look at that,” the Doctor said, moving to the consol. “You made it shorter for me, old girl, you’re brilliant,” he told the TARDIS. “And look! Hoof sized buttons!” The Doctor began running around the consol, looking at every little detail. “Oh, I can’t wait.”

“Doctor, this is…” Paige desperately tried once again to formulate a sentence.

“This is the TARDIS, it’s a living time machine, and you’re invited on board,” the Doctor said.

“I’m… what?” Paige stared at the Doctor.

“You’re curious, you’re brave, and I love that,” the Doctor said. “You’re brilliant, and as much as you love books, working in a library must get awful boring at times. So, how about it, all of time and space, past, present and future. Have I spiked your curiosity?”

Paige bowed her head, a million thoughts swirling around at once. “I… I don’t know what to say. I mean, I wouldn’t be leaving much behind, you’re right…”

“But before I ask you again, you must understand, it can be dangerous,” the Doctor said, speaking seriously again. “Today was just the beginning, there’s a whole universe teeming with life out there, more than that I’m not from this universe, so I have no idea what could be out there, I am yet to see anything this universe has to offer-“

“You’re smiling wider the more you talk,” Paige said, giggling.

“Sorry,” the Doctor replied. “The more I think about it, it’s rather exciting. There’s so much here that’s brand new, and believe me, absolutely one hundred percent brand new can be difficult when you have the ability to travel through all of space and time.”

Paige paused again, then looked back at the Doctor. “I’ve never been more frightened in my life than today, but today has been more amazing than any other. I understand that it will be dangerous, but I think you need someone to catch you when you decide to jump on to a spaceship.”

The Doctor grinned. “I have to figure out how I became a pony, how the TARDIS still functions in this universe, and how to get back to my own universe,” he explained. “Those are some big questions, and my curiosity is peaked. How about yours?”

At last, Paige beamed. “Let me get a couple things? I’ll be back quick as I can, remember I can fly.”

“I’ll wait right here.”

Paige jumped slightly with glee, dashing out of the TARDIS quick as she could. The Doctor leaned on the consol, quite content with his current circumstances. He turned, beginning to navigate the new consol, pressing some buttons and preparing the new TARDIS for her first flight. Ten or so minutes passed, and the Doctor heard a knock on the door. “Come in!” he shouted, glad to see Paige again with a wide grin on her face.

“I brought a bag of mine and some books,” Paige said. The Doctor froze, his eyes locked on Paige. “I figured since I can carry this bag and still fly, we can put your screwdriver thing in it.” Paige noticed the Doctor’s look. “Doctor, are you alright?”

Behind Paige was the open TARDIS door, and outside the open door was one of the aliens, a gun at the ready.

“No!”

The Doctor bolted across the room, the alien charged the gun, the Doctor pushed Paige out of harm’s way, the alien fired.

The blast hit the Doctor.

With a yell of pain, the Doctor collapsed to the floor. The alien smirked, and teleported away, gone for good.

“Doctor!” Paige screamed, only just able to have seen what happened. She flew and slammed the TARDIS door shut, then landed at the Doctor’s side, rolling him on to his back.

“Paige…” the Doctor coughed, just barely opening his eyes. “Are you alright?” he asked, his voice weak.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Paige said, her voice hasty. “What about you?”

“Not… so good…” the Doctor forced his eyes to focus on Paige’s face, and he used all his strength to smile. “Paige… I’m sorry…”

“You just saved everypony on this planet, and then you saved my life, there’s nothing to be sorry about.” A tear filled Paige’s eye, and slowly ran down her face.

“No… I’m sorry that I got you all excited… about all the travel…” the Doctor replied, his voice getting fainter as he spoke.

“Don’t be,” Paige said, fighting to hold back her tears. She sat down, pulling the Doctor’s head in to her lap. “You showed me so much… the world will look so different to me now…” the sobs began to come, and Paige leaned down, hugging the Doctor tightly. “You showed me so much, and now you’re dying!” Her tears grew in volume, and there was no more holding back.

“The curious girl… thank you, Paige…” the Doctor’s went silent, and his eyes closed.

Paige leaned up again, her crying slowing down. The room was silent except for the soft hum of the TARDIS consol. “Doctor?” Paige whispered, sniffling. “Doctor, are you still here?”

A gold aura began to surround the Doctor’s hooves. His eyes opened again, and he looked down. “Oh, that still works when I’m a pony?” he said. “Ok, this is going to be very interesting…”

“Doctor, what’s happening to you?” Paige asked.

“Paige, forget everything I just said, and get back,” the Doctor replied, his voice returning to normal.

“What?”

“You and I are still going to travel together, but I need you to get back.”

The Doctor jumped on to his hooves, making Paige fall back and gasp in surprise. The gold aura surrounded more and more of the Doctor’s body. Paige rose to her hooves and backed up, surprised, confused, and scared.

“Doctor, what’s happening to you?”

“Paige, if I’m about to die, there’s this thing that happens to my body,” the Doctor explained. “I didn’t think it would work because I got turned in to a pony, but it turns out I still have some of me left, and now the thing is about to happen.”

“What’s going to happen to you? Why are you glowing?”

“Just stay back Paige,” the Doctor instructed. “This is going to be a bit strange-“

“Stranger than what I’ve already seen today?”

The Doctor paused, a puzzled look on his face. “Well when you put it that way, not-“

No more words escaped the Doctor’s mouth before the process began. The Doctor was forced to his hind hooves as regeneration energy shot out from every limb of his body. His tail grew shorter, and became more jagged and pointy in places. His mane did the same, shortening and assuming a similar style to the tail, becoming slightly spiked, the spikes pointed away from the Doctor’s face. Something, a shape, an image, formed on the Doctor’s flanks.

The aura subsided, the Doctor’s front hooves landed on the floor with a thump, and his now dark blue eyes were wide. He was no longer the white pony with the yellow mane. “Ok, that was interesting.”

“What…”

The Doctor looked across the room, seeing Paige. “Paige, hello!” he shouted, beaming. He tried to run towards her but cringed and stopped. “Ooh, still cooking, best not run,” he groaned, halting.

“Doctor… what?”

“Paige! I need to ask you something.” The Doctor walked towards Paige, who backed up a few steps, not sure what to think. “My mane and tail, are they ginger? A sort of reddish color.”

Since Paige had no idea what just happened, all she could think to do was answer the Doctor’s question. “No… it’s sort of a dark brown…”

“Aww, that would have been awesome!” the Doctor said, sighing. “A ginger pony, now that would have been a good one. Wait, did I just say awesome? I don’t say awesome now do I? No, no, I’m never saying awesome again, that’s a terrible word. Brilliant, still works.”

“Doctor, what just-“

“So, I’m still a pony, eh?” the Doctor raised a front hoof, examining it. “Oh, kind of a light brown, that should go nicely with my mane then.” The Doctor shook his entire body, then stopped. “Four hooves. Good.” He raised a front hoof again, running it along the back of his neck. “I’ve got a mane…” the Doctor planted his hoof on the ground again, then turned his head, stretching to look behind him. “And a tail, lovely- oh! What’s that?” The Doctor looked again at his rear, seeing something new. “Well look at that, I’ve got a cutie mark now!” he exclaimed, jumping a bit out of joy. “An hourglass… I guess that’s fitting enough, and it’s also a little brownish, I’ve got kind of a brown theme going on, are my eyes brown?” the Doctor walked up to the TARDIS consol, looking in to a monitor to get a faint reflection of himself. “Oh, blue, alright, but that still looks nice, accents all the brown...”

“Doctor, what in the world just happened?” Paige was still standing in the same place, no clue what to say or do after what just took place.

“Paige! Sorry, I’ve been rambling,” the Doctor said, looking at Paige as he began to manipulate some of the TARDIS controls. “We were just about to go on an adventure through space and time, weren’t we?”