A Tale of Two Doctors

The next reasonable course of action to The Doctor seemed to be speaking with Twilight Sparkle-well, technically it was Princess Twilight Sparkle now-the personal protégé of Celestia, Element of Magic, and younger sister of the former Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard.

It was for these exact reasons that the Changeling was hesitant to see her, given how possessive she was of her brother and her fierce loyalty to the Princess, he was certain that this encounter would not end well.

“Do you have a name?” The Doctor asked as they stepped out of the TARDIS and in front of the library.

“No-why would I?”

“Because everyone has a name; how else would Chrysalis and the other Changelings identify you if you don’t have a name?”

“Because,” he sighed. “There are unique pheromones that each Changeling’s body emits that help us identify one another-names would just be redundant-besides, all that really matters is rank, knowing whose orders to follow and who to give orders to.”

“You still need a name.”

“Why?”

“If you want to integrate into Pony society, then you need a way to identify and establish yourself as an individual.” The Doctor replied adamantly.

“Besides, I can’t just go around calling you ‘Changeling’ all the time-it sounds racist-which completely defeats the purpose of all this.”

“What makes you think I want to become a part of Pony society?” he challenged.

“Well, after you’ve liberated your fellow Changelings and get your long sought after revenge-what other plans could you have?” The Doctor countered.

The Changeling cursed under his breath.

“Fine, just call me…I don’t know or even really care-I’ve never been good with names-just don’t make it anything stupid.”

“John Smith it is, then.”

“WHAT!?”

“You said I could come up with a name as long as it wasn’t stupid.” The Doctor pointed out.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t even sound like a pony name!” The Changeling exclaimed.

Well, that was definitely true as his old alias never worked out for him when he first tried getting past the royal guards, as well as the reason he had adopted the name ‘Time Turner’ for those who wouldn’t accept ‘The Doctor’ as a real name.

The Doctor just shook his head and knocked on the wooden door of the Golden Oaks library.

Twilight opened the door to see The Doctor standing before her.

“Oh, hello there…” her eyes shifted to the dark, menacing figure next to him.

“Doctor, look out!” she shouted as she charged up her horn.

He pushed John Smith out of the way as a magical blast of lavender hit the area they were standing and leaving a scorched mark on the ground.

“Doctor, why did you push him out of the way?” she demanded. “Can’t you see that he’s a Changeling!?”

“Yes, that’s why I brought him here?”

“But…why would you do that?” asked a puzzled Twilight.

“Because he-”

“Unless you’re a Changeling, too!” she concluded, eyeing The Doctor suspiciously.

Without warning she pounced on him, pinning him to the ground with the tip of her horn aimed directly at his face as it glowed with magical power.

“You better tell me what you’ve done with the real Doctor, right now!” she demanded.

“Twilight, stop! It’s me!” he choked.

“Prove it.” She growled.

“Remember when we first met…I stumbled out of the TARDIS in the middle of the night right in front of this very same library asking you where Rainbow Dash was?”

The energy she had been charging faded as she backed off.

“Doctor?”

“Yes?”

“What are you doing with that…thing?”

John Smith flinched at being called a ‘thing’ especially in a way that was filled with such contempt.

“As I tried to explain before you attacked me; this is John Smith, we met outside the Everfree forest…”

“Uh, Doctor?” John Smith asked. “Can we maybe continue this discussion inside? People are starting to stare…”

He looked around and realized there were indeed ponies that were normally going by their everyday routines before catching sight of a Changeling standing with The Doctor and Princess Twilight Sparkle in front of the local library.

“I think that might be a good idea.”

As the trio entered they noted that there were books scattered everywhere as well as a copy of ‘Magical Mysteries and Practical Potions’ with what appeared to have had some sort of juice spilled over it sometime in the past.

“Sorry, the place is a mess…” Twilight apologized. “I was reorganizing and I wasn’t expecting any visitors today.”

“Oh, that’s okay.” John Smith replied casually, earning him a death glare from the young librarian.

“I wasn’t talking to you.” She said coldly.

He gave The Doctor a nervous look at which he could just shrug.

That was when John Smith noticed a familiar cyan Pegasus with a prismatic mane who had utilized a particularly brutal fighting style against the Changelings during the assault on Canterlot, but for the most part she only seemed to be attacking those who went after the yellow mare Pegasus with the pink mane and immediately alarms were going off inside his head.

He had seen firsthand how dangerous the combination of legendary Pegasus strength and brutality mixed with fearsome loyalty could be and based on what he’d heard of this particular Element bearer, she was by far the most violent and impulsive…especially when she thought her friends were in danger.

She was reading a book with another Pegasus on the cover; this one was a light shade of brown with a black mane, and dressed up in an archeological outfit and a cocky grin reaching out for what appeared to be some sort of goblet or chalice with a large threatening shadowy owl figure looming behind her.

The reading Pegasus was holding the book at an angle so he had to tilt his head slightly to make out the title; ‘Daring Do and the Sapphire Star’ which meant that the archeological pony on the cover must have been the titular ‘Daring Do’ character and the physical similarities between the two Pegasi portrayed by the cover artist was not lost on him either.

She casually glanced up from her book as the trio approached her.

“Hey Twi-WHOAH!”

Upon the seeing the Changeling before her she immediately shot up into the air, dropping the book as she flapped her wings to keep her distance from him.

“Guys! There’s a Changeling right behind you!” she shouted, her voice full of alarm. “Don’t worry! You guys pin it down and I’ll go get a rock to smash its head in before it can do any real damage!”

“Rainbow Dash, wait!” Twilight shouted as the Pegasus screeched to a halt in mid-flight.

“What?” she demanded, as she turned to face her with a tone filled with irritation.

“The Doctor says he wants to talk to us…so we shouldn’t attack him…yet.” She added.

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms and raised a skeptical eyebrow as her wings flapped keeping her steady in one place.

“About what?”