Doctor Whooves: Echo

"Alright, Miss Roseluck." The Doctor twirled about the control panel, attempting to impress me by showing off his skill with the machine. "Where do you wanna go?"

"Uh..." I thought for a moment.

"Anywhere, anytime, just tell me and we'll be there before you can say 'space-time continuum,' " he proclaimed proudly.

"Um..." It was quite daunting, really. I can't tell you how many times I thought about visiting somewhere impossible. Of course, now that a golden opportunity was being presented to me, I couldn't think of a single place to go.

"Take your time, it'll come to you."

All at once, the perfect idea popped into my head. "The first Summer Sun Celebration!" I cried.

The Doctor knit his eyebrows. "Erm... how about a time and a place? I honestly have no idea what that is."

"Dawn, first day of year zero," I told him. "It was when Celestia took the throne, over two thousand years ago." The photo Silver Boulder had shown me had the Doctor in it. He was bound to wind up there sooner or later, so why not now?

"Sounds lovely!" The Doctor agreed. He began bounding around the console, flipping switches and pressing buttons as quick as he could manage. It was kind of like watching a one-stallion band.

"You need help?"

"No, no! Done this millions of times. You just sit back and watch the magic."

"Oh, fine," I muttered. There was a beat-up car seat attached to the hoof-rail  with about four rolls of duct tape. I made myself comfortable and watched.

At first, the ride was pretty smooth. There was some pitching and rocking, much like a boat on the ocean, but it was almost soothing. The engine ground and wheezed, but it seemed to carry us just fine.

"Whoops..." The Doctor stood stock still. I felt the pit of my stomach rise into my throat as the TARDIS began to free-fall god knows how far.

The sick wheezing of the engine began to stall and fade away.

"What did you do?!" I demanded, screaming over the sound of the wind whistling around the machine.

"It's these hooves! I-I think I hit the wrong button!"

"Oh, you think?" I spat back. "Well, can't you do something?"

The Doctor didn't have time to answer. The TARDIS hit what I assumed to be the ground and the two of us were flung into the air, landing with solid thuds on the metal catwalk.

The air had been knocked clean out of me, and it took a few shaky breaths for me to regain the ability to speak. As soon as I had, though, the first thing out of my mouth was, "Some alien you are."

"Oi! Respect the captain!" he retorted.

"Guessing we aren't at the Summer Sun Celebration, either." I hauled myself off the floor.

The Doctor grabbed what looked like a television screen attached to the pillar at the center and tilted it towards him. "Huh. Says July thirty-first, 1947. Someplace called... Appleloosa?" He looked over at me. "Sound familiar?"

I shrugged. "Sort of. This was before there were settlements here, so it's probably empty."

"Huh. That's odd." The Doctor peered at the screen.

"What?"

"I think I fixed the Chameleon Circuit."

I blinked. "The what?"

"It's what makes the TARDIS look like a Police Box. It's been broken for years, but... all that bashing about must've fixed it somehow. Stripped away the disguise entirely. Take a look." He swung the screen towards me.

"All I see is a grey blob. Is that what it normally looks like?" I looked at him. He was still staring at the image.

"Yeah. That's odd. Lots of crash landings, but this was the one to fix that thing." He chuckled. "Well! Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Gift pony? Is that offensive?" He looked confused.

"Don't even know what it means," I said truthfully.

"Well, I must refrain from using it. I suppose 'hold your horses' is a no-no, as well?"

I shrugged.

"Never mind that. We've got Appleloosa to explore! You and me! Doctor and companion, as it should be!" He trotted to the door. "Whaddya say? You wanna do the honors?"

I smiled, nodding vigorously and joined him. The door made the exact same satisfactory creaking sound each time it was opened, and this time was no exception.

I threw both doors wide open, looking out at a barren desert. Barren, that is, except for the chain-link fence that surrounded us.

"Huh." The Doctor stepped out onto the cracked earth. "This is an interesting place, eh? Why put a fence up?" he turned back to look at me, but stopped halfway. "Oh."

"Doctor, what is it?" I climbed out, looking in the same direction.

In the distance, there was a little shack no bigger than a typical shed. But what the Doctor was occupied with was right in front of us.

An earth pony, a stallion, stood staring at us, eyes wider than I'd seen on any living thing. He had a cigarette loosely held in the corner of his mouth, which quivered and dropped, still smoking.

The Doctor's jaw dropped a bit, but quickly snapped back to his typical grin. "Sorry about this."

~~~~~

"Wh-who... who..." the pony stuttered. He had a caramel coat that matched the dirt almost exactly. His mane was an attractive balance of grey and white, and he had sideburns that nearly met below his chin.

"Call me the Doctor. This is Roseluck, my friend." He was still beaming.

"Are... are you aliens?" the stallion squeaked out.

"Pin a medal on the man! He certainly knows an alien when he sees one!" The Doctor walked up to him and threw a leg around his shoulders. "What gave it away? The grey capsule that came out of the sky?"

"Oh my god! Are you hurt? Did we hit you?" I rushed to him.

The pony slowly shook his head, still staring at the TARDIS.

"Thank god..." I sighed.

"Um... I'd better get Cloudy..." the stallion murmured, pulling away from the Doctor and heading for the shed-like structure.

The Doctor watched as he stumbled off in a daze. "Poor sod..."

"What's so poor about him?" I asked.

"He's in shock. Won't remember a word of this by the time he reaches that building." He sniggered. "Not that he said much, but... come on!"

The Doctor started off at a brisk trot. I galloped to catch up.

"I don't get it. What's going on? What is this place?"

"It's some kind of research center, I'd bet." He sniffed the air. "Dangerous research. I can smell explosives."

"Sure that's not the burning TARDIS?"

He cleared his throat, looking slightly annoyed. "My TARDIS doesn't burn. It just doesn't. And I know C-4 when I smell it." He smiled. "This is exciting! New universe, new planet, new everything! Love it!" He broke into a gallop, swiftly reaching the shed.

"Well, do you think it's secret? O-or illegal?" I wondered.

The Doctor ignored me, tapping a polite hoof on the door. "Hello! Don't mind if I let myself in, do you?"

I could hear raised voices through the thin metal door. "Don't think they heard any of that, Doctor."

He gave the door a gentle shove.

Inside was a grey mare. She had short hair that curled gently around her cheeks, framing her sharp eyes with a dull blue-green. "Igneous, you've lost it!" she was shouting. She seemed to notice us. "Oh. Sorry. Come on in, sit down. I'm sure you've got an explanation for this."

While the Doctor made himself comfortable, I glanced about the room. The whole building was this one area, which wasn't surprising. The walls were lined with tables piled high with lumps of metal, hunks of strange-colored rocks, and oddly-shaped things that I could not give names to.

The Doctor had snagged a chair and was now sitting in it backwards. "Thanks! Hope we didn't cause trouble."

I shook my head, finding an unoccupied seat.

"Huh..." Igneous looked thoughtfully towards the Doctor. "Maybe you're right. He sounds Bittish."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Honestly? Did you really just say that? I sound 'Bittish,' therefore I must be, is that right?"

"Well, are you?" the mare pressed.

The Doctor shrugged. "I could be. You've gotta work for that information."

The mare scowled. "Oh, don't worry. I will."

Igneous rested a hoof on her shoulder. "Deep breaths. This is Cloudy Quartz, my... partner."

"Ah! The stallion's found his voice!" the Doctor exclaimed.

Igneous blushed.

"Quite a cutie mark," I pointed to Igneous. "You too, actually."

"Oh! Yeah, I used to get teased..." Igneous mumbled.

"I'll bet..." a flying saucer, all in shades of grey was pictured on his flank. Grey, that is, except for the dome on top. That was pink. Cloudy's was slightly less embarrassing: a lumpy rock with a glowing pink interior. "Geode?"

"Enough small talk," she demanded.

"Sorry. What do you do here?" I asked.

Igneous sighed. "Well, we're training for jobs with the EBI--"

"Equestrian Bureau of Information!" The Doctor laughed heartily. "That's brilliant!"

Cloudy cleared her throat. "It would be, but we're stuck here with this dead-end research job."

The Doctor took a look about the room. "Oh! I see. You're after the aliens, aren't you?"

Cloudy rolled her eyes.

"I am..." Igneous admitted. "But Cloudy's a bit skeptical of that sort of thing."

"You're crazy," she stated. "All of you."

I scoffed. "Thanks a lot."

Cloudy stuck out her tongue.

The Doctor had turned around to poke at things on the table behind him. Cloudy didn't seem to care in the least, but Igneous winced at the slightest sound. It looked like it was up to me to lead this meeting.

"Um... well, what is it you want?" I asked hesitantly.

"An explanation. That fence is electrocuted. We need to find out how you got here so we can fix holes in security. Iggy here is convinced you're aliens, but I'm sure it's nothing quite so... fanciful." Cloudy spun a chair about and sat in it, facing me.

"Is this some kind of interrogation?" I back up a bit.

"I suppose you could call it that, but that doesn't mean we're trying to arrest you. Start with names." She seemed friendly enough.

"Well, I'm Roseluck. That's the Doctor." I nodded toward him.

"Uh... Doctor... what?"

My fake smile faded. "Wish I knew."

Cloudy stared at the Doctor for a minute or two. "Okay..."

The Doctor lifted a strange slab of rock. "Where'd you get this?"

Igneous rushed over. He explained it's origin with complicated words that meant almost nothing to me.

"Where are you from?" Cloudy brought the focus back to her.

"Well, I'm from Hoofdon originally. I moved to Ponyville about a month back..." I realized that the month I'd spent in Ponyville was actually far in the future. "Ish..."

"And him?" she gestured once again to the Doctor, who was wrestling with Igneous over the slab.

"Uh..." I actually had no idea. "I... I'm not sure."

Cloudy raised her eyebrows. "Do you know anything about him?"

"Um..." I thought about that. Real name? No. Home? Uh-uh. "He's, uh..."

"I see." Cloudy sank in her seat. "Well, how did you get here?"

"In the TARDIS." I pointed at the door. "It's the thing out there."

"So you're saying it's some kind of spaceship?"

"Well, yeah." I muttered. I wasn't going to spring the whole 'time machine' part on her just yet.

" 'TARDIS...' what does that mean?"

I frowned. "Not sure. Hey, Doctor!" I tapped him on the shoulder. He let go of the rock. "What does 'TARDIS' mean, anyway? Cloudy's asking."

"It stands for 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space.' It's a fancy way of saying 'this thing travels in space and time and is it's own dimension.' " The Doctor explained, rather sarcastically.

Cloudy looked more than a little shocked. "How does that work?"

"Oh, like you'd even understand." He snatched the stick back from Igneous.

"Fine." Cloudy took a deep breath. "Do you know what he means by that?"

"Well, it's... it's kind of... alive, I think." I don't know how I knew that. I just seemed to make sense. There was a feeling when you were in the TARDIS, like you could never be harmed as long as it was all around you. It sounds completely daft, but it's true.

"Alive? Can it speak? How do you know this?" she asked as many questions as would fit in a single breath.

I shrugged. "It just is. Probably. But it's also... well, see, the inside is..." I made some odd gestures. I wanted to sound clever when I said it, otherwise she'd never believe me. I gave up. "It's bigger on the inside."

She gave me a look like I was both the stupidest and most intriguing pony on the face of the planet, which I may have been. "Bigger on the inside? And it can travel through time and space? Is this movement limited?"

"N-not that I know of... of course, I don't think it does other dimensions." That made sense. If he could move through dimensions freely, why would he stay here?

"But isn't it a dimension in itself?"

"Well, yes... I think..." I dropped my head. "I don't know. I really don't know."

Cloudy sighed. "Well, time to bring the Doctor over, then. I'd like to talk with him."

I reached over, poking the Doctor in the shoulder several times. "Doctor. Forget about that rock, Cloudy wants to talk with you."

He let go rather easily, his classic grin covering his face. "Sure. I'd love to talk science with this young lady."

"Don't try to flatter me, Doctor. I want answers. First: where are you from?"

"Gallifrey, two lightyears due west of the Pices Supercluster Complex. It's part of a binary star system that makes up the constellation Kasterborous. Enough information for you?"

Cloudy blinked in confusion. "Um... is that a planet?"

"No, it's an alcoholic beverage. Yes, it's a planet!"

Cloudy held up her hooves defensively. "Fine. So, if you're from another planet, why do you have that accent?"

The Doctor's whole form seemed to droop. "Ugh. Why is this such a big deal? Listen-- how many planets do you think there are?"

"In the galaxy?"

"In the universe! Everywhere!"

"Billions? Trillions?" Cloudy guessed.

"That's about one percent of the number you're looking for, but I won't go there. Now how many planets do you think could have life?" The Doctor was smiling a bit, loving his superior mind.

"That's not possible."

"Yes it is, and I'm your proof. You don't think that of those billions upon trillions of planets with life, not one could have life with a similar accent?"

Cloudy folded her hooves, appearing like a grumpy foal. "Well, when you put it like that..."

"Exactly. That's what life is all about, Miss Quartz. Looking at things like that." He patted her cheek.

"O-okay..."

The Doctor was still grinning. "Love it when others get like that around me. It's rather funny."

"Well, you said you were proof of alien life. How do you plan on proving that?" Cloudy was suddenly confident.

"You got a stethoscope? I'll prove it in a heartbeat." He giggled at his own joke. "Ha. 'Heartbeat.' Get it?" He looked to me for backup.

"I got it."

Cloudy dug about a pile of junk on the table next to her. "I have one, it's got some space dust on it, but it should still work."

"Well enough to hear what you need to." The Doctor removed his coat, puffing out his chest to be examined.

"I never asked. Where did you get that mended? When I first saw you, it was in tatters." I gestured to the jacket on the floor.

"Oh, some unicorn I met in Ponyville. What's-her-name... Clarity? Rarity!"

"Shh! I can't hear!" Cloudy put a hoof over the Doctor's mouth. We were all silent as Cloudy moved the metal disk about the Doctor's chest. "Oh my god..."

"Told you. Alien!"

"I don't get it," I said.

"He's got two hearts..." Cloudy murmured, sounding more angry than awestruck. "Iggy was right all this time..."

Igneous smiled to himself. "Knew it."

I looked over at The Doctor, who beamed as he shrugged his jacket back on. "Two hearts?"

He nodded proudly. "Where do you think I get all this energy?"

"W-what kind of alien are you? A shape-shifter? How advanced is your technology?" Igneous was starting to sway back and forth, growing excited by the aspect of a real, live alien.

"A time lord. Not that you know what that is," he added under his breath, grabbing at more things on the tables. "Ha! You know what this is, right?" He held up a smooth stone with a pink glow radiating from deep inside.

"Haven't gotten there yet." Cloudy took the rock from him, putting it back in it's original place.

"Yeah, well, don't look too far into it. I don't think you want to know." He continued picking things up, tossing aside the ones that didn't interest him.

"Would you keep your hooves off!" Cloudy yelled, smacking his ankles away.

"Sorry..." The Doctor shrank away like a scolded child, which he really was, quite honestly. "I suppose you could call me a shape-shifter..."

"Ooh! Really? Could you show us? Can you sprout wings or a horn or something?" Igneous' grin was as wide as it could possibly get.

"It isn't some parlor trick! I can only change twelve times." He started picking at a loose thread on his jacket.

"And why is that?" Cloudy pressed.

"It's just the rules. Like 'humans can't breathe underwater' and 'ponies should have four legs.' It just is." He chuckled. "I just realized how many times a day I say that. 'It just is.' " He continued laughing.

I stared at him. "Why didn't you mention any of this stuff? They're things I'd like to know!"

"You didn't ask!"

"Well, now I'm asking. Tell me more about the shape-shifting thing." I folded my hooves across my chest.

He sighed. "It's called regeneration. I can have thirteen bodies, and they each live for hundreds of years. At the end of life thirteen, I just... die."

"And... is that how you became a pony?" I asked.

"I knew he wasn't always a pony!" Igneous shouted, pointing at him almost accusingly.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. It's a mystery." He smiled. "I love mysteries! Now, how about technology? Wanna see my ship?"

Igneous nodded vigorously. Cloudy pretended not to be interested. "Yeah, sure."

I leapt up, happy to be doing something instead of just talking about the Doctor. Though, to be fair, I think I learned more about him with Igneous and Cloudy leading the interrogation. Who knew what else he was hiding...

The Doctor sauntered to the door, practically kicking it open, and galloped for the TARDIS. It looked kind of ugly sitting there, wedged in the dirt, so plain and industrial.

"I welcome you," he announced, "to the TARDIS!" He pushed the door open.

"Whoa..." Cloudy marched forward, wanting to explore.

Igneous had to take a moment and pick his jaw up off the ground before wandering inside.

The Doctor waved me through, then cantered to the console. "So... what do you think?"

Igneous was silent, just looking slowly about the room, his eyes bugging out far enough to cast a shadow.

Cloudy was trying to control a smile that threatened to curl her lips.

"Cloudy?" the Doctor put a hoof on her shoulder. "What are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking... what was that thing you kept putting your hooves all over inside?"

I glanced over at him. His eyes had widened, and he was unnaturally quiet for a moment. "Um... it was nothing, really. Just get rid of it, please."

"Why?" Cloudy leaned back against one of the roots.

"Because--"

"Is it dangerous?"

"Not on it's own. Just get rid of it." His voice was barely above a whisper. "It shouldn't be here."

I moved in close to the Doctor, whispering in his ear. "Doctor, what's wrong?"

"I don't know... but it feels wrong." I didn't know the Doctor very well, but his face was a bit crumpled, like he was hurt but he couldn't tell why.

I rubbed his shoulder gently. "It's okay."

He kept staring, trying hard to remember something that wouldn't quite come to him. After a few minutes, he jolted, the smile returning. "So whaddya think? Amazing, eh?"

I frowned. Why was he acting like this? It was the second time he'd done it. The first was when he heard my name... he looked like he was in pain, then just forgot. Half the time, the Doctor was amazing. The other half... he kind of scared me.

"It's CRAZY!" Igneous screamed. "This is-- i-it's-- I can't think of the word!" He bounced around like a foal. He put two hooves on the outer rim of the console. "Hey, what's all this do?"

"Flies it. What do you think?" The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"All of this does?" Cloudy gazed at the hundreds of controls.

"Well... most of it does. I mean, this one does the radio--" He tapped some buttons and flicked a switch. Smooth jazz blasted down from the ceiling. "And that's a phone."

"Really? How does it work? It isn't hooked up to anything." Cloudy scrutinized the rotary phone on the console.

"Like a mobile phone. Wireless."

"What's a mobile phone?" I asked.

The Doctor smacked his forehead. "You don't have mobiles? Ugh, this'll be difficult--"

"How do you stop the radio?" Iggy fooled with the controls.

"Don't touch that!" The Doctor yelled, shoving him away.

Everything happened at once. Iggy went wheeling across the room, his head hit one of the roots and knocked him out. Cloudy was at his side, trying to shake him awake. The TARDIS began to groan, then shake, then backfire. The floor rocketed towards me, and all four of us were pressed against the grating as the TARDIS flew higher and higher. Finally, though, it hit it's peak, slowed down, and flipped over. The music stopped.

Cloudy was the first to scream, followed by me and Iggy. The Doctor just held on tight, telling us over and over that everything was fine.

"The hell, it's fine!" Cloudy shrieked back.

"Just hold on!" he returned, trying not to lose his temper.

"Oh, thanks!" Cloudy answered sarcastically.

The sound of the TARDIS hitting the ground was like nothing I'd ever heard. It was so loud that I couldn't hear anything for a good minute after. In that minute, I took a look around. Remarkably, the interior wasn't damaged at all, although anything loose had been tossed about. This included a few patches of the metal grate below us. Iggy and Cloudy looked okay, if a bit out of it, and I only had some bruises to deal with.

But the Doctor was another story. I'd only spent a total of an hour or two with the stallion, but not once had I seen him look unhappy. Now however, he was scowling, almost glaring, at the little screen attached to the console.

"Doctor?" I called his name. "Doctor?"

He turned to Igneous. "Do you know what you've done?"

"N-no.." he barely breathed, terrified by the fire in the Doctor's eyes.

"You sent a flare. You sent a signal!" The Doctor roared.

"What kind of signal?" Cloudy asked. She didn't seem to notice that she was still clutching Igneous.

"A challenge. And that wouldn't so bad, but now they know exactly where we are! We just made the biggest crash-landing in history!" He started fooling with a keyboard on the console. "There's nothing I can do. They're coming."

"Who's coming?"

"I don't know. And we can't just put the shields back up, they'll attack somewhere else." He looked at the pair of ponies on the floor, holding each other for dear life. Of course, as the Doctor stared, they realized what they were doing, almost leaping away from each other. "Well, then. Guess we'd better see what you have in your little hut."

~~~~~

"Rock... rock... rock... leaking battery..." The Doctor lifted the item, holding it up to Cloudy's face. "Why do you have this?"

"Ugh... look, it was mostly a scoop of gravel and stuff from where an asteroid landed." Cloudy tossed the battery in a nearby garbage can. "You wouldn't believe some of the other crap we've found in here."

"Rock... rock... this is a load of rubbish!"

Igneous frowned. "It's what we're stuck with, unfortunately."

The Doctor growled under his breath. He then turned to me. "Rose, go check the scanner would you? It's the little screeen in the TARDIS. Make sure there aren't any alarms as of yet."

I nodded, leaving the shack and sprinting for the TARDIS. It took me a minute or two to find the door, as the entire ship was now drab grey concrete without handles or anything else. As soon as it slid open, however, I was bathed in silent yellow light. No alarms.

"Thank god..." I murmured. "Eesh... it's a mess in here..."

It was true. The room had been thrown apart from the multiple crash-landings, and now lay in almost total ruin. The stress of the last time in the TARDIS had blinded me to mess we had made. The missing bits of grate revealed a mess of wire tied in hopeless knots. Some pulsed with light, while others made electric sounds I was sure I hadn't heard before the latest crash.

"What's that?" I said out loud. I had a habit of talking to myself, but only when nopony else was around.

In one bare spot, the wires were a bit thinner. beneath them, I could see what I thought was wood.

I didn't want to go poking my hooves into a sizzling mess of wires, so I resolved to report it to the Doctor. I was sure he knew what it was, but maybe he needed a gentle reminder. Who knew? There could be something useful inside.

I trotted back to the shed, leaning inside. "All clear. What's that box under the wires?"

The Doctor stopped digging through the pile of stones, looking over at me. "What?"

"The grate came loose in a few spots. I saw a box under the wires. Do you know what's in it?"

He pushed away from the table, rubbing the back of his head with his hoof. "Um.. memorabilia, I suppose." I watched as his eyes narrowed. He jumped out of the chair. "Rose! You're a genius!"

"Uh--"

Before I could say anything, the Doctor had grabbed my by the cheeks and given me a peck on the forehead. "I've got stuff to help in there, I'm sure! Just gotta find it..."

"What are we waiting for?" Cloudy ran for the door, nearly plowing into me. "Time to save the world!"

Iggy followed her, then the Doctor. I know it was kind of silly, but after knowing a stallion for less than a day, a kiss (however small) was something to think about.

I shook my head. Bigger fish to fry, Rose. One thing at a time.

I ran after the three of them, the hard earth starting to hurt my hooves after so many times back and forth.

The Doctor dove right into the wires, hauling out not one trunk, but three. "Well, it's only 'N' through 'P,' but it should still help."

"Excuse me?" Cloudy seemed very confused.

"I collect things. Just little souvenirs from the planets I visit," he explained, opening the first dusty trunk.

"Whatever happened to 'leave only footprints, take only pictures?' " Cloudy quipped.

"He follows his own rules," I told her. This much I knew for sure, after only a short time. I mean, time travel in stories always seemed to have a lot of rules. He followed none of them, to my knowledge.

"Yup, that's me. The rebel of the universe. Aha!" He pulled out a green crystal that pulsed with light. " 'P' for 'power cell!' And, if I'm not mistaken..." He tossed a few other strange things from the 'N' trunk, and the three of us had to dodge his reckless throws. "Yes! 'N' for 'Nestinean disrupter!' "

"Um... what's that then?" I asked.

The Doctor started laughing. "Let's just say it'll discourage anything landing on this planet for a while."

"Well, great!" Igneous sprinted to the door.

"There's one last thing I need..." The Doctor smiled a bit.

"What's that?"

"A helping hand-- hoof." The Doctor sighed. " 'Cos even though I don't belong here, I think I should try to make a friend or two."

I ruffled his short mane. "Good to see you're learning."

He smiled shyly, blushing a bit. "Never let it be said that I couldn't acclimate." He cleared his throat. "Iggy, could you get these trunks back under the grate?"

Iggy nodded.

"Rose, put this on the console, please." He passed me the disrupter, which looked rather like a miniature flying saucer. It was surprisingly light for it's size, and was made of thin metal that didn't dent or scuff. "Look for a black wire with a green tip and plug it into the hole with the same shape."

I started digging around on the console, picking apart clumps of wire.

The Doctor addressed Cloudy last. "Listen. I know this is your job and everything, but this disrupter is going to make a mess. It'll probably take down your lab."

Cloudy shrugged. "Greater good, right?"

"That's what I like to hear!"

"Uh... which one is it?" I held up three black wires all with green tips.

"Middle one. Just get it hooked up, I'll be right with you." The Doctor turned back to Cloudy. "There's something else I need to talk to you about. Outside, please?"

The two disappeared outside the TARDIS, leaving me alone with Iggy.

"Why don't you tell her?" I asked suddenly, not looking up from my work.

"Tell who what?" Iggy feigned ignorance.

I giggled. "You know what I'm talking about. Tell Cloudy you like her."

Iggy face flushed red. "Heh... you noticed?"

I gave him a look that said, 'how could I not?'

"Yeah..." He locked the third trunk, pushing it back into the hole. "Well... I've gotta work up my courage, you know?"

I rolled my eyes. "You're facing down aliens, Iggy. If you can't ask her out on a simple date afterwards, you're further gone than I thought."

This time Iggy's face was red with rage. "Well, I will!"

I grinned. "Good. You need somepony like her to... ground you."

"What does that mean?"

"It means your head is always floating out in space, day dreaming about jobs with the government and alien droppings that fall from the sky."

"Hey--"

"Cloudy's just the pony to show you what real life is like."

"How can you say that? You know an alien! We're standing inside a spaceship! This is real!" Iggy clearly didn't get what I was trying to say.

I sighed. "Yes. But it's not all aliens and adventures. You could have a life here, in Equestria, and it could be better than what you see in those rocks."

Iggy's ears drooped a bit. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, stop wishing something would happen and just make it happen."

The doors opened again. Cloudy looked focused, the Doctor looked a little sad.

"What is it?" I asked.

The Doctor sighed. "Just... getting ready."

I shook my head. "Never mind. I got this thing all hooked up like you said."

"Great! I'll finish that up." He whipped the power cell out of his pocket, along with the sonic screwdriver. While he worked, I went back to Cloudy.

"What was he talking to you about?" I asked, just barely a whisper.

"What's gonna happen to us," she said.

" 'Us' who?"

"Iggy and I. Complicated stuff. Hard stuff." She kicked her hoof.

"Oh. Can you tell me about it?"

She shook her head. "You'll find out. I don't want Iggy to hear."

I nodded. "Fine."

A light flashed out of the corner of my eye. It was accompanied by a soft beeping; a tiny pulsing warning that silenced all four of us. Only our chests seemed to move, rising and falling with ragged pants.

We didn't know what would happen. I thought we might die. Did the Doctor think I couldn't handle that? Did he think only Cloudy was privy to that information? I'd practically saved his life. God knows what would've happened if he'd just laid there in the street without my help.

A gentle hoof slipped over mine. "Hold on," whispered the familiar voice.

"What's going to happen?"

He looked at me funny. "Nothing."

I forced out a chuckle. "How can you say that? We're gonna be attacked! What's wrong with you?" I said this all in one breath.

The Doctor waved a hoof at our surroundings. "The TARDIS will keep us safe."

"HA!" Iggy shouted. "Yeah, right! I just walked up and opened this door! What's stopping them?"

"She's alive," The Doctor murmured. "Nothing gets in that she doesn't want."

As if to agree, a dial on the control panel lit up and spun around.

"See?"

I nodded. I wasn't really listening. I was watching Cloudy. She was reaching a hoof out to Iggy, slowly, like she didn't even want him to know.

I could hear it. Just outside. A ship was landing. It was pretty quiet, not as gut-wrenchingly horrifying as I'd expected. But it was there. And it was big.

The Doctor looked over at the scanner. "Oh, no..." He didn't sound serious, just sort of mildly annoyed.

"What?"

"Of course. Of course! Which law did I break this time, eh?" The Doctor stomped to the door, throwing it open the way a child storms to their room and locks themselves away. "I said, 'what'd I do wrong this time?' " he screamed at the ship.

I walked to the door, carefully observing over his shoulder. The ship was tall, skinny and cylindrical, not the flat discus type you see in comics. It had three legs like claws that bit the earth and held it upright. The Doctor looked like an ant as he lurched forward, leaving the TARDIS and marching triumphantly right up to the door.

"Wha--?" I almost ran to get him, but thought better of it. I pulled the door nearly shut, leaving only the smallest crack through which the three of us watched.

"What is he saying?" Cloudy asked.

"I think he's just knocking on the door for somepony to come out." Iggy frowned. Not the most heroic thing he'd seen, for sure.

A speaker popped and fizzed to life. "MO KO BLO SHO FO NO SO HO!" it shouted rhythmically.

"Uh..."

"What's that about?" I asked.

Cloudy shrugged. "Really, really underdeveloped alien language?"

"I guess. Kinda pathetic."

"Oh, come on!" The Doctor screamed back. This was followed by another barrage of words ending with 'oh.'

"This was meant to happen, though! Area 51, the Roswell incident! That's what this is, just... with more ponies." The Doctor retorted. The speakers screamed at him again.

"What's he talking about?" Iggy asked.

I shrugged. "No idea."

The speaker finished. The Doctor seemed to be silent.

"DO!" was the final word from the speakers. They shut off. The ship stayed. The Doctor turned, walking back to the TARDIS.

"Oh, Celestia..." Cloudy whispered. "He was right. Damnit, he was right!"

"Right about what?" Iggy asked, looking scared.

Cloudy grabbed his shoulders. "Listen to me. I'm really sorry, but it's for the best."

"Wh-what?!" Iggy struggled away. "What's happening?"

"Just... just listen to the Doctor. It'll be okay."

Iggy's eyes glistened. "I don't understand."

"It's okay." Cloudy smiled a bit. "I barely do."

The Doctor walked quietly past the three of us, lifting the device he had made from the console.

"That's not a disrupter, is it?" I asked.

The Doctor sighed. "Well, it is. Just not the kind I said. It's a memory disrupter."

Cloudy hung her head.

Iggy turned to her. "You knew about this?" He looked back to the Doctor. "Why?"

"Well, that takes some explaining," The Doctor said. "Look, where I'm from, there was an incident almost exactly like this. I assumed that this was a carbon copy of that incident, just a new universe. Even the date's the same."

"So... what happened?"

"That's just it. Nothing happened. You ponies don't know of the existence of aliens until April 21st, 2012."

"That's so far away..." Iggy murmured.

"Yeah, well, I got caught. That ship out there? Police of the universe. I broke the laws of time by exposing aliens."

"So?" I prodded him. "You break rules all the time. Why is it such a big deal?"

"Because... the last time I broke a big rule..." He looked distant. he didn't speak.

"Doctor?"

"Never mind. A story for another time." He shook his head. "It's okay. I just need to alter your--"

"Our memories?!" Iggy backed away.

Cloudy held him still. "Iggy! Iggy, it's alright!" She looked at the Doctor. "Now! Do it now!"

The Doctor held the device straight out in front of him and fired. The two ponies collapsed. I sniffed, wiping at my eyes. I had no idea how bad this would be, no idea how extreme the erasure was. Would they remember everything but today, or not much more than their names?

I heard the ship outside as its engines fired up and took off.

"We're going to a farm. It's the best cover story." The Doctor started flipping switches.

"Cover story?"

"Yeah. I wrote them a cover story. They'll always think they were farmers."

"T-together?"

"Married." The TARDIS stared to groan.

"Oh." I stared at the bodies of the two ponies. The Doctor was always right... he'd done this a thousand times... "What is wrong with you?!" I couldn't help it.

The Doctor hung his head.

"Well?!"

He took a few breaths that shook with held back tears. "There's nothing more I can do. This is it."

"What was it?" I demanded, fire still in my voice.

"What was what?" the Doctor snapped.

"The rule. The one you broke."

He sighed. "Help people. Don't be cruel or cowardly. Don't give up."

"Why are you giving up, then?"

The TARDIS landed. "Okay. We need to get them outside. Remember: they were in a pesticide accident. That's how they got knocked out."

"Yeah." I grabbed Iggy under the arms and hauled him towards the door. The Doctor did the same for Cloudy, laying both a safe distance from the TARDIS.

"Ohh..." Iggy was the first to come to.

"My god! Are you all right?" The Doctor feigned shock (not very well).

"Mph..." Cloudy was rubbing her forehead. "What happened?"

"You breathed in pesticide. There was somepony down here spraying for cockroaches, and he had a bad batch," I explained.

"Oh..." Cloudy looked confused. "I don't remember that."

The Doctor smiled. "It's alright. That's normal. Just rest up a bit before you get back to work."

"Okay... um, who are you?" Iggy asked.

"Oh, I'm Doctor... Clock. I was just sent down to make sure you were okay. Time for us to go." And he turned and left, me right on his heels. Something had been off about them, though. I couldn't put my hoof on it...

"It changed their cutie marks," The Doctor blurted as soon as we were far enough away. "They just have rocks and picks now."

"Huh. So it was a rock farm?" I guessed.

"Rock farm?" The Doctor stopped short. "How the hell is that supposed to work?"

I opened my mouth to answer that, but realized I didn't know the answer to that question. "I... I have no idea."

"Well, at least they both lost all that pink. That was embarrassing." He laughed.

"Eh, it's bound to turn up somewhere. You can't lose a pink that shade." I giggled.

The Doctor laughed with me. "So then, Rose. Where to next? Any ideas?"

"No." We had just reached the TARDIS and the Doctor pushed open the door.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Before any more trips, I need to understand: what happened when you broke your rule?" I pressed.

He sighed. "A lot. None of it good. Don't want to talk about it."

"Just... just a hint?" I begged.

He sat in the torn-up car seat. "We're all stories, you know? In the end, we're just talked about. If we're lucky, there's a face and good qualities that go with those stories. We're the good guys."

"I don't understand."

"Well, I always stick to that. I want to be the good guy. The man-- stallion who cleans up the universe's problems."

"And?"

"That day... that day, I was the bad guy." He stood. "Enough of that. Let's have another adventure."

A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth, but I knew I put the Doctor in a place he didn't want to be. A sad place. It wasn't a Doctor place.

I stretched up and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'm sorry. Let's go."

He blushed, then grinned. "How's the distant future sound?"