Chapters The Doctor Derpy and Family: Episode 3: Gallopfrey
The Start of Something Old
All was silent. Dinky Doo was standing next to the engine of the TARDIS. She looked up at it with fascination in her eyes, it was as if the TARDIS was calling to her. She walked closer to the engine. Slowly the centerpiece of the TARDIS with all the controls, started to move, and as steam filled the the room and heat surrounded her body, the little filly walked towards the hole in the floor. There she saw what she could only assume was the Heart of the TARDIS that she had heard the Doctor mention only a few times. It whispered into her ears, told her the secrets of the universe, and so many things she thought her head would explode.
"Dinky?" called a voice.
Dinky shook her head and when she opened her eyes again she was with Amethyst, Derpy, and the Doctor, in the TARDIS, but everything was normal; the Doctor was trotting around looking at different buttons and levers, Derpy close behind, and Amethyst hanging around with Dinky.
"You all right there Dinky?" asked Amethyst, "You were just sort of, zoning out."
"Yeah, I'm fine." she replied still a little dazed. "Um...Doctor?"
The Doctor continued working and without looking up replied, "Yes Dinky?"
"What exactly is it, that is under the engine of the TARDIS?" she asked.
"That would be the Heart of the TARDIS" said the Doctor.
"And what does that mean?" asked Dinky even more curious.
"Well, it's the Time Vortex, which means, all of space and time, every thing that ever was, that is, and that ever will be can be seen through it." answered the Doctor.
"May I see?" asked Dinky.
The Doctor froze, dropped his rubber hammer, stood up and turned to Dinky with a very serious look on his face, "No!" he turned back to his work.
"But why not?" wined Dinky, stomping her hooves on the floor of the TARDIS.
"Because it's not safe!" Replied the Doctor, "Anyone who tried that would have all of space and time floating through their heads, they would quite literally explode. Of course they could control life, death, and the universe itself for a few minutes, but still! No! It's not safe!"
There was a long silence on board the TARDIS, when suddenly the telephone rang. Derpy floated over to it, barely using her wings, and picked it up. "Hello, Doctor's TARDIS. How may I help you?" she nodded as the other end rambled on, "Yes I see...ok...I'll let him know...Doctor, it's princes Luna, she says she needs your assistance immediately." said Derpy as she hung up the phone.
"Well then, Allons-y!"
The TARDIS arrived in the Royal Castle on a dark, cold, and damp night. The air was so moist that you could almost drink it, and it was so cold, especially for a summer night. The dew on the grass was almost frozen.
The Doctor opened the door and stepped out, he cringed a little bit as he stepped out. Something didn't seem right. Something wasn't right. "Quickly!" said the Doctor, "To the Castle!" he said before he turned and ran off.
"Here we go again..." said Amethyst rolling her eyes. "Let's go Dinky. Dinky... Dinky! Dinky?" She looked back to see her sister staring entranced at the engine of the TARDIS, and for a split second, she thought she saw her sister's eye glow a deep golden color. "Dinky?" said Amethyst putting her hoof on her sister's back.
"Yeah! Let's go!" said Dinky enthusiastically as if nothing had happened.
The Doctor Derpy and Family: Episode 3: Gallopfrey
The Doctor, trotted into the throne room with his three companions, "Greetings princesses. No need to worry The Doctor is here." He looked around to see that the Princesses were no where to be seen. "Well phooey! All that pomp and circumstance for nothing?" The Doctor looked around for a bit, then he went up to Celestia's throne and sat in it. He looked down the center hallway, then he noticed something in the design of the room. There were stain glass windows on either side of the hallway, except one side had one less than the other. He had never noticed it before, it was at the very end of the hallway and there were red curtains drawn in front of the space where the window should have been.
The Doctor trotted down from the throne, and headed towards the curtains. He blinked. Suddenly he forgot where he was heading.
"Um, Doctor...What are you doing?" asked Derpy confused.
"I don't know." replied The Doctor. "Waiting for the princesses I guess." he said pacing toward the back of the throne room.
"Well you have a weird way of doing it." Amethyst remarked snootily.
"Amethyst, don't be rude!" Derpy scolded. "Where could they be Doctor?" she asked.
"I don't know." replied The Doctor, his eyes drawn to the corner of the room.
Amethyst turned her head to look behind her, "What? What!? What are you looking at? You're making me paranoid, is there some sort of invisible monster behind me?"
"No it's not that. It's just-" The Doctor started.
"Just what!? Doctor!?" Amethyst said fuming.
"Nothing...geez why so angry all of the sudden?" The Doctor said concerned, pulling out his sonic screwdriver.
"Get that thing away from me Doctor!" Amethyst raged, "If that even is your real name. Doctor! Doctor Wh-"
She was cut off when the Doctor started using his sonic screwdriver. The blue buzzing piece of metal started straying right and left, up and down, looking for something suspicious about the corner of the room. He looked at the screwdriver, "Nothing." he said distraught.
"It's just a blank wall." Amethyst said frustrated.
"Muffin, what's gotten into you?" Derpy asked.
Amethyst opened her mouth to talk when Dinky interrupted, "What about that curtain?"
"What?" Amethyst asked confused.
"You said 'It's just a blank wall' but what about that curtain over it?" the little unicorn asked.
The three adult ponies looked at each other, looked at little Dinky, and then drew their attention to the wall. Sure enough there was a curtain there. How had he not noticed that sooner, the Doctor wondered. "Let's find out what's behind it." said the Doctor. he gripped the rope in his mouth and yanked the curtain open. Behind it was a large stained glass window, like the others around the room. It showed an orange circle amid the dark night sky, and around it there seemed to be little...squares trailed by streaks of yellow. "No...th-this can't be! It can't!" the Doctor immediately started racing away.
"What Doctor?" Derpy asked flying after him.
Amethyst and Dinky ran after them.
"Firstly what the hay was up with that wall?" Asked Amethyst, "Why couldn't any of us see the curtain except for Dinky"
"It was a perception filter, you can only see what whomever set it up wants you to see, it can even trick a Timelord." he paused while continuing to run towards the TARDIS. "As for why it didn't trick Dinky...I don't know." He kept running.
"Doctor!" Amethyst screeched, "Wait! Look at this! What is it Doctor!?"
The Doctor stopped running, he turned around to look at what Amethyst was talking about. He looked in shock and horror after following Amethyst's gaze over to Dinky's flank which was no longer blank. Her newly appeared cutie mark was a bunch of circles, dots, and lines all inside a larger circle.
"What is it Doctor?" Derpy asked concerned.
"We need to get back to the TARDIS!" The Doctor said.
The Doctor Derpy and Family: Episode 3: Gallopfrey
The Doctor, Derpy, and her Family were sitting, and waiting. The Doctor had tried to fly out of the, whatever it was they were in. They sat for what seemed to be so long, that they could almost see the paint on the TARDIS interior start to flake and fall off. But that wasn't possible of course since it wasn't actually paint. Then what was it? Time energy?
They waited, and waited, and waited, until eventually Amethyst got tired of waiting and burst out, "Where are we Doctor!? Or should I say when are we?"
"It's not important." said The Doctor, turning his head away from hers.
"Doctor, you're the one who told us that there's no such thing as someplace, something, or somepony that isn't important. So tell me...What is outside of those doors?"
The Doctor then gave a stare to Amethyst so deep and intense, it shook her to her very core, she felt as if the universe itself would collapse on top of her if she kept looking into his eyes. Time and space stopped in this single moment, this gaze between the two of them. She could see in his eyes the suffering of all of reality, as The Doctor seemed to hold every emotion possible in his eyes. He broke this glare with a single word, "Home." he paused for what seemed like an eternity longer than the time they were waiting in the TARDIS, "Beyond those doors, is my home planet, Gallopfrey."
"But...Doctor," Interrupted Derpy, "You told me that your home planet was destroyed in a war."
"Is it possible that the TARDIS took us to Gallopfrey before the war started?" asked little Dinky Doo.
"No..."replied The Doctor, "It's Time-Locked. This shouldn't even be possible that we're here."
"Well then this is a good thing right?" asked Derpy, "You'll get to see all your old friends again, right?"
The Doctor turned and stared at her blankly, and didn't say anything for a while, "Well then..." he finally exclaimed, "Allonz-y!"
The Doctor Derpy and Family: Episode 3: Gallopfrey
The Doctor and his companions ran to the TARDIS at full speed. "What does it mean Doctor?" asked Derpy. "Dinky's Cutie Mark I mean."
"Wait!" Dinky said in a high pitch squeal, "I have my Cutie Mark!?" the little filly looked around frantically at her flank, straining to see her newly earned cutie mark.
"Yes muffin, but we don't quite-" started Derpy before she was interrupted by a squeal from her daughter and an enthusiastic hoof pump.
They reached the TARDIS and the doors swung open. The Doctor trotted over to his monitors and frantically started pulling levers and pushing buttons. "No no no no no no no! This is bad, very very bad!" panicked the Doctor. Amethyst was about to ask a question when the TARDIS started shaking violently. Loud noises from all the devices started and stopped, on and off in a cataclysmic frenzy of sound. Sparks flew from the control panel, and a fire broke out on it. The Doctor continued to run around the circular control panel of the TARDIS, ignoring his companion's questions. The TARDIS continued to fly out of control.
"Doctor!" Shouted Amethyst. "Doctor!" The Doctor turned his head. "Doctor, where is the TARDIS taking us!?"
The Doctor looked back at her with nothing but fear in his old eyes. "My home planet."
"But Doctor," said Derpy, "That's impossible. What about the War? Didn't you say it burned?"
"It did!" shouted the Doctor. "They all burned, along with the whole planet." he added quietly.
"Then how can it be taking us there?" asked Amethyst.
"It can't!" shouted the Doctor, "That's why this is bad! It's going to cause a paradox that could engulf all of existence!"
"Then stop it!" ordered Amethyst.
"I'm trying!" he snapped back. The Doctor then pulled out his sonic screwdriver. The blue light at the tip glowing and the the buzzing noise barely making it to their ears over everything else going on around them. He aimed it at the central engine of the TARDIS for a few seconds. The TARDIS stopped vibrating. The alarms switched off. The fire on the control panel subsided. All was silent.
The Doctor put away his sonic screwdriver and started panting deeply.
"Where are we?" asked Dinky.
"Excellent question, little one." replied the Doctor. "Derpy, what are you doing?"
Derpy had started to walk towards the door. "I'm checking where we are Doctor."
"Don't stick your head out the door, we don't know where we are." the Doctor scolded, "I'll use the monitor."
"But, that's never stopped you from just rushing out Doctor, and you never use the monitor to check our location." Derpy said concerned.
"...I'll use the monitor." repeated the Doctor. He pulled down the monitor and looked at the screen. He stared at it blankly for a few moments, then turned to them. "Whatever you do, don't go out that door."
