Ditzy Do was in her kitchen, washing dishes. She plucked them out of the sink, one by one, dunking them in the warm, soapy water and scraping away all of the gunk left behind, setting them out to dry on a nearby dish towel. It was tedious work, but Ditzy didn't mind. It gave her time to think, and she was always thinking.
She heard the pitter patter of little hooves behind her, and turned her head to see her beloved daughter, Dinky Do, standing just outside the hallway that lead to the rest of the house. She was rubbing her eyes, yawning.
"Dinky, what are you doing up this late?" Ditzy gently chastised, setting down her work and drying her hooves on the towel.
"I got thirsty," Dinky used as an excuse, lifting her hooves in a request to be picked up as Ditzy walked over to her.
Ditzy scooped her daughter up, holding her close and tickling her with her nose. Dinky giggled at the contact, and playfully pushed away from Ditzy in an attempt to escape.
Ditzy gave up and let go of Dinky, placing her carefully back on her hooves. She walked over to the sink to fetch a cup of water for Dinky, saying, "You shouldn't stay up this late, you're internal clock will get all out of whack,"
"You're so smart, Mommy," Dinky said, trying to flatter her way into more time to stay up.
Ditzy smiled, seeing right through her game instantly as she filled the glass with water. When it was full, she flipped off the sink and took a sip for herself, happening to look up at the night sky through the window as she did so.
Stars twinkled in the night sky, far, far above, but she focused on one in particular; a slightly bluish star that shone steadily, and that was slowly moving across the sky. She put down the glass and refilled it from what she had drank, her heart filling with a heavy weight as she watched the blue star glide across the black canvas of the sky behind it.
Suddenly, the star went out, and vanished from view.
Ditzy gasped, and her heart skipped a beat. The star did not return. A wave of emotion rushed through her body; fear, excitement, worry, and anticipation, but most of all, love.
"Mommy? What's wrong?" Dinky asked, having seen her mother gasp and drop the cup of water she was pouring had startled her.
Ditzy quickly snapped out of her shocked state, retrieving the glass and refilling it for the third time, "N-nothing, muffin," she lied, quickly placing the glass in her daughter's waiting hooves and shooing her back into the hallway, "Go back to sleep," she instructed gently, kissing her daughter on top of her head. Dinky let out a whine, but walked down the hall back to her room anyway.
Ditzy waited until she was safely in her room, then took in a deep, slow breath, turning back to the window and searching up and down for the blue star, thinking she had just been seeing things. Undeniably so, the star had simply vanished, and it worried and enthralled Ditzy to no end, because she knew what that star was. And what it was, wasn't a star. It was a time engine, orbiting the planet way up high in the atmosphere, and it had shut down.
And that meant the time lock had been disabled.
Memories flooded Ditzy's mind as she remembered why she had put it up there in the first place.
The Doctor groaned, slowly becoming conscious again. Ditzy Do watched him way up, bleary eyed and confused. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep, yet so troubled when he woke up.
The Doctor's eyes snapped open. Fully awake, he saw Ditzy standing in front of a control panel, ten feet away. Behind her, there was an enormous room with a large central machine, a wide control board circling it. "Ditzy..." he said, trying to remember what had happened.
Ditzy watched his brow furrow in confusion as he tried to process the scene before him. She already knew exactly where they were; in a Dalek satellite orbiting Equestria. The room behind her housed the Dalek's time engine, and the hallway she was in was one of the many escape pods.
"Ditzy," the Doctor repeated, trying to stand on his hooves. He couldn't, because one of his hooves was chained to a pole nearby. He looked at his prison in confusion, "Handcuffs?" he said questioningly, jangling the chain.
"Hoofcuffs," Ditzy corrected. He was still getting used to all the 'ponified idioms', as the Doctor put it.
The Doctor looked at her in confusion. "Ditzy, why...?" he trailed off, looking at the control board in front of Ditzy. Her hoof was resting on one final lever. His eyes widened, and they darted this way and that to discover that he was chained inside an open escape pod.
"Goodbye, Doctor," Ditzy said, her voice not quavering once. She had been practicing.
The Doctor looked at her, bewilderment covered his face, "Ditzy, what-?" his hoof flew to his pocket, but it was empty.
Ditzy withdrew his sonic screwdriver from her own pocket and threw it into the escape pod. It landed just out of the Doctor's reach, and as he stretched his body towards it, he looked at Ditzy again, "What are you-? What? No!"
"You can't stay here, Doctor," Ditzy said, her calm demeanor slowly breaking down, "I can't...I can't keep you here."
The Doctor gave up on trying to reach his sonic, and turned towards Ditzy again, "Ditzy, what are you talking about? What are you doing? Let me out of this thing!" he said, pulling against his cuffs.
"I'm sorry, Doctor," Ditzy said, momentarily taking her hoof off of the lever, "You, you showed me things I've never seen before! You showed me the universe, all the wonders of time and space! And...it's scary. And I'm not ready for it. I can't go with you anymore,"
"Then I'll go with you!" The Doctor bargained, reaching for Ditzy in futility, "Please..."
Ditzy just shook her head, "All those people you showed me, all those creatures you've saved. I...I can't keep you from them,"
"I'm a time traveler!" The Doctor argued, "I can go back to them whenever I want! Please-"
"You're a lot of things, Doctor," Ditzy interrupted, "A hero, a warrior, a doctor...but you're not immortal. You'll run out of time eventually, and...and if I knew I was taking some of that time away from the people who needed it, I'd never be able to live with myself. You have to go."
The Doctor looked into her crooked eyes, reaching for her helplessly. "I need you-"
"And the universe needs you!" Ditzy argued, feeling her legs start to tremble. She fought back tears and put her hoof back on the lever, "I'm sorry, Doctor," she repeated, "This is...this is for the best."
"Ditzy," The Doctor said loudly, fighting against his cuffs more frantically.
Ditzy pulled the lever, and an airlocked door slowly slid between the two of them. Ditzy did not watch it close.
"Ditzy! Ditzy!" The Doctor yelled vainly, "Do not! Don't do this! Do not activate that time lock, Ditzy!"
The door closed, and the Doctor's screams were cut off. Ditzy looked up at the door, the tears she had fought to hold back finally dripping down her cheeks. She saw the Doctor through a window in the middle of the door. He looked through the window at her, unexpressable emotion painting his face. He screamed something, but Ditzy couldn't hear it. He screamed it again, and it looked like he mouthed, "I'll find you,"
Ditzy just shook her head, more tears tracing her face. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pressed the big red button, and the escape pod housing the Doctor was launched into space. She looked through the windows again, watching as the Doctor fought endlessly against his chains, still screaming towards her. He had the TARDIS in that escape pod; it was the place where he had parked when they first arrived. And now, after destroying an entire Dalek fleet before they could ravage Equestria and exterminate all pony life, Ditzy was left alone in the satellite. The Doctor would eventually get out of his chains, jump into his TARDIS, and try to come back. Ditzy had to make sure he couldn't.
Turning on her hooves, and holding back the tears, she walked forwards, towards the time engine.
The Doctor, in his escape pod, continued to rage in futility against his bonds, "Ditzy! No! I'll find you again! Ditzy!" he screamed at the door, watching as the satellite grew further and further away. Autopilot had been engaged, and it was carrying him further and further away.
And then, the time engine activated. And the planet Equestria vanished from view, forever locked away from the rest of the universe.
The Doctor stopped fighting then, and leaned back against the pole he was chained to, staring sadly into space at where the planet had once been.
Ditzy felt tears dripping down her face as she remembered that event. She had locked her entire planet away from the rest of the universe, because she felt they needed the Doctor more than she did.
But now, hearing the familiar vworp vworp outside of her house, she could only think of her daughter, Dinky. She had always been a special pony. She took a deep breath and walked to her front door, wondering how to explain exactly how special Dinky was.
Ditzy looked at the ground, watching her hooves knead the turf below her. Why won't he say anything? She lost track of how long they had been standing there; he was looking at her, and she was looking at the ground. Neither of them had said anything yet.
Ditzy finally broke the silence, "How'd you do it? How'd you come back?" she asked, looking up at him.
He was standing in front of her, leaning his head against that big, blue box of his. He wore an expression of weary, and it broke Ditzy's heart. He looked so young on the outside, but whenever Ditzy looked into his eyes she was reminded of it. That he was much, much older than anything else, and that he had seen and done unbelievable things. Ditzy had once asked him what it was like to live forever, and she hadn't been expecting his answer.
It's a funny thing, Ditzy, he had said, when you spend your entire life running, at the end of it all, you don't feel satisfied, you don't feel joy, you don't feel disappointment. In the end, you just feel tired.
And when Ditzy looked up into his half-lidded gaze, eyes shining in the starlight, he looked tired. She could see the weight of all he had done pressing down on him, and it broke her heart.
"Emergency reverse temporal shift," he finally said, "I basically put it in reverse and slammed it against the timelock until it broke."
Ditzy almost smiled. That was just like him, too. Not many things made him angry, but not being able to control his circumstances was one of them. When he couldn't figure out a clever way to disable the timelock, he had just started hitting it over and over, in desperation.
Desperation.
"How long has it been?" he asked. He didn't sound curious. He sounded apprehensive.
Ditzy almost didn't want to tell him, or at least lie. But no, he would see right through that, and not just because he was psychic. "Six years," she said.
He closed his eyes, and lowered his head. Ditzy watched him intently. He had a bit of a problem with missing dates; how long had he been trying? After what seemed an eternity, he nodded and opened his eyes, "So how is she?"
Ditzy's heart skipped a beat, "W-who?"
The Doctor looked at her, head tilted against his TARDIS. He looked so tired, Ditzy just wanted to hold him and tell him everything would be okay, but she knew it would be more likely of him doing that to her. He didn't say anything, but she could see the gears grinding away in his mind. If he already knew, then he wouldn't force the issue if Ditzy refused to acknowledge it, and Ditzy knew it. Because if she said it, then he would stay. If she even said a single word about it, if she acknowledged Dinky in the slightest, then he would stay. He already couldn't bear losing Ditzy, but he would tear apart time and space in an instant to get to the both of them.
But as long as Ditzy stayed silent, he would leave. She couldn't make him stay, not like this.
"Mommy?" a small voice called from the front door.
Ditzy didn't turn around, because she was looking at him. She saw something in his eyes, something she had never seen there before-at least not in his eyes. She saw love.
"Go back to bed, muffin," Ditzy said firmly, but gently. Dinky didn't listen, and she didn't even need to turn around to see that. She soon felt her beloved daughter pressing herself behind her foreleg, hiding from the stranger and his blue box, who was looking down at her with wide eyes, as if he was just a colt and she was the biggest present under the tree.
"Who's that?" Dinky asked. Oh, Dinky, Ditzy though, It wasn't supposed to happen like this.
But, taking a deep breath through her nose, she went through with it. She pulled Dinky out from under her and bent down to her level, face to face, "Dinky, what have I ever told you about your father?"
Dinky was obviously surprised at the sudden question, her sleepy eyes blinked away as she processed the request, but she repeated what she had been told, "That, um, he was a great pony-the greatest-and that he had a bigger responsibility, to the whole universe!" by the end of her statement, she was riled up with pride in her father that she'd never met.
Ditzy looked up to see the Doctor's reaction. He was still staring with wide eyes, but he wasn't smiling. He hadn't smiled all night.
"That's right, muffin," she said, her eyes filling up with tears. She wiped them away and gently turned her around to face the brown stallion behind her, "So, say hello!"
Dinky's eyes widened as she realized the implication. Not taking her eyes off of the Doctor, she took slow, careful steps forward. The Doctor looked down at her, a wide grin slowly creeping across his face.
And then, unable to contain herself any longer, Dinky ran at him, tackling him in a warm embrace. The Doctor bent down and met her, wrapping his hooves around her.
"Daddy," Dinky whispered, burying her face in his shoulder.
And then, something happened that Ditzy had never seen before.
The Doctor cried.
"My...daughter," he choked, tears spilling out of the corners of his eyes.
Dinky settled back into her bed, wiggling her way into the thick covers, giggling as her father tucked her in. He wrapped the covers tightly around her, patted her shoulders, and stood back up. Dinky suddenly grabbed his elbow as he did so, saying, "You'll still be here when I wake up...won't you?"
"Of course he is," Ditzy said instantly, wrapping a hoof around the Doctor's leg.
The Doctor looked at her as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ditzy gave him a warm smile; he wouldn't be leaving, not now, and Ditzy was okay with that. As long as he was here, they'd be alright. He returned her smile, turned to Dinky, and nodded, "Of course," he agreed.
Dinky smiled, but was interrupted by a big yawn, "That's good," she said, her eyes fluttering shut, "that's good..." within minutes, she was snoring away softly.
Ditzy and the Doctor tiptoed out of the room; he shut the door slowly behind him, then turned towards Ditzy and said, "She's..."
Ditzy nodded, "She's yours," she assured. She had gotten the news not months after she had activated the timelock from her nurse, Redheart. Everypony had been thrilled for her, and had questioned her endlessly about the father. Equestrian time, she had been gone just a month. Her time, she wasn't exactly sure. Rumors of her running off with a handsome stranger spiraled around town for months afterward, but every time the conversation turned towards that, she would simply smile and shrug. Now, she supposed, everypony would be meeting the Doctor. What would she say?
No, she didn't have to worry about that. Not now. As long as the Doctor was here, everything would be fine.
"But that means.." the Doctor said cautiously, "She's...she's half pony, and..."
Ditzy nodded, "She's half timelord, Doctor," she explained, "I guess that's where she got her horn from."
The Doctor wasn't actually a pony, though you wouldn't know if you met him on the road. He was a timelord-an alien. Not just that-Ditzy didn't know how, the Doctor had never told her-but he was the last of the timelords. The only reason the Doctor looked like a pony was because of his TARDIS-it had something called...a chameleon circuit, Ditzy remembered, it was what made his ship look like just a blue police box, but that wasn't the limit of it's capabilities. The Doctor had used it to disguise himself. I biologically engrained the Chameleon Circuit in my DNA-it literally reconstructed my body to be that of an Equine-and I put the controls in my Sonic, the Doctor had explained it once.
He nodded, looking off into space, "Timelords have psychic capabilities-ponies do too, but their capabilities are untapped-perhaps that part of my biology manifested as the horn, which does show similar abilities to..." he looked back at Ditzy, "Sorry, I'm rambling," he said with a smile.
"I like it when you ramble," Ditzy replied lovingly. taking his hoof in her own, she said, "Come on, it's been a while. We should catch up," and lead him away, towards her own room.
Unbeknownst to them, some distance away, a select few individuals had been watching the tearful reunion with malicious intent.
"So that's why he wanted our engines," said the first, "He couldn't break through a Dalek timelock with a TT capsule alone."
"For a self proclaimed protector of Earth," observed the second, "He seems surprisingly willing to remain an Equine. Perhaps he will stay here."
"He won't be leaving this planet, that's for sure," said a third, the leader of the small group, "Because we'll kill him before he gets a chance."
"And how will we do that?" asked the first sarcastically, "You may be the greatest timelord hunter, but even you cannot stop the Doctor. He has a huge, horrible history."
"He will stop at nothing to protect himself and his home," concurred the second, "I do not think we can overpower him."
"We won't need to," said the leader menacingly, eyes focused on the filly in the Doctor's embrace, "He will hand himself over to us willingly, if it was to save his daughter."
His cohorts began laughing as they realized his plan, smiling maliciously.
"His love for all creatures will be his greatest weakness," the second agreed.
"We will go down in history as the slayers of the last timelord," the first dreamed.
"I don't care about that," the leader dismissed, "I care about seeing the Doctor-the predator, the oncoming storm, the destroyer of worlds-groveling. I want him to beg for mercy."