Doctor Whooves and the Last of the Timelords
Doctor Whooves
The Last of Timelords
The Doctor awoke, dazed and confused. Where was he? He tried to look around, but his eyes were having trouble adjusting to the strange light from his surroundings. As he struggled to get up, he noted how much his body hurt. What could have caused all this? Slowly, his eyes came back to him. He wished they hadn’t. The sight that greeted him was beyond horror. The TARDIS, his TARDIS, was on fire, and not from the outside. He rushed to put the flames out, but tripped over a small pile of rubble a few feet from where he woke up. He looked back to see what had tripped him, and there, among circuit boards and burnt wood, was Trixie’s signature cape. The realization made his stomach turn. Where were his companions? Where was his wife? Where was his beautiful daughter? He arose as fast as he could and began to frantically call out their names, “Derpy!? Dinky!? Trixie!?” but all that greeted him was silence.
Then, without warning, a voice boomed from the frame of the burning TARDIS, “You, who would destroy us all, crying over a few girls? How pathetic you are, Doctor.”
The Doctor had no idea what was going on, but he knew the being in front of him would give him the answers he wanted, “Where are they?” he shrieked, “Who are you?”
The being looked at him with piercing white eyes and spoke in a whisper that sent a chill straight to the Doctor’s heart, “They are gone Doctor. Tell me, what would you give to have them back? Would you kill another world? Let another race die?”
The Doctor was bewildered, “How do you know any of that?”
The being smiled and let fly a statement that froze the air still, “I know everything about you, Doctor, for I have seen into your mind. I am the Watcher, and I am the last of the Timelords.”
A few days ago.
“Let’s go sweetie! We don’t have all day!” Derpy called as she trotted along the main street of Ponyville.
“I am hurrying, dear. You try handling Dinky when she gets like this.” griped the Doctor. Dinky was crawling all over him, trying to get at his sonic screwdriver. The Doctor’s life had slowed down considerably since the wedding disaster a few months prior. He took up his role as father to Dinky and husband to Derpy with great pride and dignity. He stopped traveling, for the most part, and took to making repairs around the town to earn some extra bits. It was a bit slow for the Doctor, but it was worth it to see the smiling faces he loved every day. The family lived out of Derpy’s home in Ponyville, where he housed the TARDIS, so no pony grew too suspicious of the big, blue box.
After some considerable effort, the Doctor was able to curb Dinky’s curiosity with her favorite coloring book and catch up to Derpy, “So, where are we going dear? I thought all we needed was some apples from AppleJack’s stand?”
“Well yes, but I saw an accessory in Rarity’s boutique the other day that I would like to have another look at,” remarked Derpy with a shy smile.
“And I want to play with Sweetie Bell!” Dinky yelled.
“Of course. May I ask what it is dear?” inquired the Doctor with a nervous chuckle. He knew when Derpy got something into her head; it usually meant something bad for his wallet.
“You will see; it's right around the corner,” Derpy stated. The group went to round the corner, when they found themselves in a mess of wood, wheels, and ponies. The Doctor shielded his mares from the force that struck them, causing him to tear up in pain. He scrambled to his hooves and looked to face his attackers in the face, but he was greeted with the sight of AppleBloom and Scootaloo, spread across a scooter.
They must have been what him, he shook his head at the spectacle. “Are you girls ok? You should really look before rounding a corner like that.”
Scootaloo got up and started to inspect her scooter while AppleBloom addressed the Doctor, “I’m so sorry we hit y’all! We shoulda been more careful about taking that turn so fast. No one got hurt did they?”
“No, no we’re ok AppleBloom. What are you two doing out here today?” questioned Derpy.
“We are on our way to see Sweetie Bell. It’s time for some crusading!” commented Scootaloo.
“Can I come? I want my cutie mark too.” Dinky remarked. She was always shy around other children, but had recently started hanging out with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“Of course. The more the merrier!” said AppleBloom.
The Doctor had enough of the idle chit chat, “Well, we were on our way there as well, would you two like to join us?”
The two fillies nodded and walked along with the family, making idle conversation here and there. The Doctor tuned it all out. He just wanted to finish up and head back home. He didn’t care much socialization. He did have to remain under the radar after all, seeing as how he wasn’t from this universe.
The Doctor came out of his trance, and realized the group had entered the Carousel Boutique. Rarity pranced up the group, but before she could speak, Sweetie Bell flew into the room.
“Let’s go crusaders! We have some cutie marks to get!” The three crusaders ran out of the room in a hurry. Dinky looked back, and with a nod from her mom, she flew out of the room after her new friends.
Rarity giggled and turned to her customers, “Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Hooves. How can I help you today?”
Derpy smiled at her, “Remember the necklace I was looking at yesterday? I wanted to see it again.” Rarity smiled and walked into the back. While they were waiting, the Doctor decided to have a look around. After some poking around he found a small pocket watch hidden away from the public eye. The watch seemed familiar to the Doctor, but he couldn’t place where he had seen it before.
Rarity came back into the room holding a brilliant golden necklace with a diamond heart in its center. The two mares began to fawn over the necklace, but the Doctor was in a different world. He had to remember-- something about this watch was nagging at him. He turned it over to view the back and the sight that greeted him was like a ton of bricks landing on his back. The writing on the back of the watch--it was Gallifrain. He spun around and interrupted the two mares, “Rarity, where did you get this?”
Rarity looked disgusted, “Ugh, that dreadful Trixie came in here and sold that to me, as well as some of her other effects. She said something about needing money for her wagon that had broken down outside of town.”
“Can I ask how much it is?”
“Of course, Doctor, you can have it for 5 bits.”
“Brilliant! Derpy, dear, we need to go. I have to speak to a traveling magician. Would you mind looking after Dinky for a bit Rarity?”
“I suppose...” said a reluctant Rarity, but it was too late to argue anyway. The Doctor threw the bits onto a nearby counter and ran out the door. Derpy looked at the necklace she had come for and sighed. She turned and ran after her special somepony; the necklace would have to wait.
The Doctor barreled through the town with no regard to anypony’s safety. He had to find out where the arrogant show pony had gotten the pocket watch from. He arrived on the edge of town where Trixie had been seen camping,from time to time. She was out by her campfire working on rebuilding a part of her wagon that had broken when the Doctor ran up to her, “Trixie, where did you get this pocket watch?” He pulled out the watch a laid it at her hooves.
Trixie looked bewildered, “Why should Trixie even associate herself with you? Trixie answers to nopony! Unless, you have something to offer the Great and Powerful Trixie?” Even after her defeat at the hands of Twilight and the Ursa Major, Trixie’s ego was as big as ever.
The Doctor was starting to lose his patience, “I need to know where you got this, it’s extremely important. Please.”
Trixie didn’t looked moved by the Doctor’s request, “Trixie has nothing more to say to you, if you have nothing for her. Be gone!”
The Doctor almost lost it, when his wife spoke up from behind him, “You could always give her a ride in your time machi-“The Doctor put his hoof over Derpy’s mouth. The last thing he needed was Trixie on board the TARDIS.
However, it was too late, Trixie was intrigued, and that’s all it took, “Very well, Trixie will accept this as payment for her story, that and a place to stay tonight. Trixie’s wagon is unsuitable for someone so important.”
The Doctor couldn’t believe what had just happened, “Fine, but first you tell us where you got it. You can come if you want, but don’t get in my way and don’t wander off. Understood?”
“Trixie will do as she pleases. Off we go,” the group of ponies began to walk to the TARDIS while Trixie told them of how she came by the watch, “While Trixie was on tour in Canterlot, she performed for many nobles, including the Princess Celestia. As payment for one of Trixie’s shows, Celestia gave the watch to Trixie. She said it was of great worth to somepony and that Trixie should try and sell it in Ponyville.”
As the arrogant pony finished her story, the group arrived at Derpy’s house, “So the princess knows something about the watch, the question is though, how much does she know?” the Doctor pondered.
He began to pace around when Derpy spoke up, “Doctor, we can’t just leave Dinky here. What should we do?”
The Doctor felt embarrassed. Even through his thousand year life, he overlooked the important details from time to time, “Well dear, could you stay with her? I need to take care of this.” Derpy knew when the Doctor had that tone not to argue with him. She nodded to him, gave him a swift kiss on the cheek, and ran back to see what Dinky was up to. The Doctor turned to Trixie, “Well, let’s get on our way shall we? Follow me.”
Trixie followed the Doctor inside the house to a room that held a large blue box, “What is this thing? If you think Trixie is going to stay here, you are more of a fool than Trixie thought.”
“Just get inside already,” the Doctor said, frustrated. This was going to be a long trip.
Trixie walked into the arch of the box, no sooner had she gone in she ran out screaming, “What magic is this? Trixie has never seen the like! It’s bigger on the inside,” she ran around the outside of the box over and over looking for more space. After failing at her search, she went back into the box and demanded answers, “Just who are you to have such an amazing box?”
The Doctor didn’t have time for this; he had to find out more about the pocket watch. He walked up to Trixie, “I could explain it to you, but it’s easier just to show you.” The Doctor grabbed Trixie’s head, right behind the ears and reared his own head backwards. He then gave her a swift, and painful, head butt. Trixie’s eyes rolled back in her head.
Trixie pulled herself forward to avoid falling over. She put her hoof on her head to soothe the pain the ridiculous pony had just inflicted on her, but when she raised her hoof to her head, she gasped in astonishment. Where her hoof had been, there was now a flat, white protrusion with five digits hanging off of it. Trixie couldn’t believe what she was seeing, her form had completely changed! She found she could no longer walk on all four legs, and that it was easy to stand on two. Her body had elongated and her rear hooves and gone flat with digits as well. She looked around and saw creatures with no fur coats, just pasty skin. They were all walking on two legs as well. Is that what Trixie looked like too? She ran over to some glass in what looked like a store and began screaming, “What happened to Trixie’s beautiful face? And her horn? Where is her horn?”
Just then, someone put their hand on Trixie’s shoulder. She spun around to demand answers, but stopped when she saw the face of the creature in front of her. He was a tall creature with deep brown hair upon his head. He was wearing glasses and a fancy suit with a brown overcoat. He smiled at Trixie, “A bit of a shock isn’t it, to see that there are more species out there, hmm? Oh, I’m the Doctor, by the way.”
He extended his hand to greet Trixie, but was met with a slap in the face, “What did you do to Trixie? What am I?”
Trixie was livid, but the Doctor just smiled at her, “I’m showing you my memories, Trixie. The form you take is the form of this world’s inhabitants. They are called Timelords, and I am one of them. Now brace yourself; you’re about to see some things that will make your head spin.” Trixie put up her hand to argue with the Doctor some more, when the scenery around the couple started to change. She saw so many things flash before her: A blue box that could travel from destination to destination, as well as from time to time, metal men with lasers and electricity streaming from their bodies, tin cans that housed creepy little blobs inside them, and so much more. As the images came and went, names and places streamed through her head: Daleks, Cybermen, Time War, Gallifrey, Rose. Her head was spinning; Trixie just wished she could have a moment to take it all in, when out of the blue, the images froze on a time inside the blue box. The Doctor walked up beside Trixie, “Keep watching, this is how I came to your world,” he said. Even if Trixie wanted to stop, she found she couldn’t. She saw a man running through the box, pressing buttons left and right. The box was shaking violently and the man was screaming. The box came to a sudden stop and the man stepped outside. His pasty skin started to grow brown fur, and his face was elongating. The hands the man possessed balled up and turned into hooves and a tail sprouted out of the man’s backside. Before Trixie could ask what was happening, the pony-man fell over and passed out. A grey coat, blonde maned pony approached the sleeping stallion, but before Trixie could see what happened; her eyes rolled back into her head again.
Trixie pulled her head forward to stop herself from passing out. She looked around and found herself back in the TARDIS and the Doctor was bending over holding his head. He was a pony again, as well. Trixie steadied herself and yelled at the hurting Doctor, “Why did you have to head butt Trixie? Completely unnecessary! Talking would have been acceptable.”
The Doctor looked up and tried to laugh it off, “Yes it would have been, but we would still be talking, and you may not have believed me. This way, all that explanation only took a seconds time, and we can get on our way.” The Doctor whipped around and slammed a switch on the center console. Having seen his memories, Trixie know what that switch did and hung onto a nearby bar for dear life. The TARDIS lurched and turned, throwing the two companions around like ragdolls. Trixie started to feel sick, and just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. The TARDIS slammed down at its destination leaving Trixie a tangled mess of robes and hair.
She looked up at the Doctor “You could have given Trixie a little warning.”
“Oh now where’s the fun in that?” asked the Doctor with a coy smile. He walked over to the door of the TARDIS and pushed it open, “Welcome to Canterlot, Trixie.”
Trixie stepped out into the sunlight. At first it blinded her; she had no idea where she was. Then, as her eyes adjusted, she found herself in a back alley of the huge city. She couldn’t believe it. Even with the Doctor’s memories, she didn’t expect the box to actually move. She turned at looked at the stallion, who was standing in front of his box, “So, where are you taking Trixie? This is a big city after all.”
“Oh that’s easy. You said you got the watch from Celestia didn’t you? Then to the palace we go!” The Doctor strolled off without another word. Trixie was dumbfounded. How did a simple no pony like the Doctor hope to get into the palace?
After a short walk the pair came to the front gates of the royal palace and were stopped by an old face, “Halt, what business do you have with the Princess?”
The Doctor smiled up and the gallant stallion in front of him, “Hello Shining Armor. Remember me? I was at your wedding. The Doctor, remember?”
Shining Armor squinted at the stallion, “Hmm, I do remember you, though we didn’t have much of a chance to talk. What brings you here today Doctor?”
“My companion and I need to talk to Princess Celestia immediately, if you would be so kind.”
“I’m sorry sir, but the Princess is in the middle of brunch and has asked that she not be disturbed. If you come back later, I’m sure she would be happy to see you.”
The Doctor just kept on smiling, “Well, normally I would, but you see I’m in a bit of a rush, so let’s skip all this shall we? OI, LUNA! ARE YOU UP THERE?”
Shining Armor went to push the intruders back away from the gate, when a large shade slammed to the ground in front of him. Shining Armor stumbled back as Princess Luna stared at the couple in front of her, boy were they in for the hurt now. Instead, she smiled and gave the Doctor a hug, “Hello my old friend! How have you been?”
“Oh just fine Luna, and yourself? Oh, this is Trixie, my traveling companion.” Trixie gave a small bow of the head to address the princess and the group began walking towards the palace, leaving a befuddled Shining Armor to guard the gates. “Can I ask why the Captain of the Royal Guard is guarding the front gates like a new recruit?”
“Oh, ever since we had that changeling scare, there have been less and less guards reporting for duty. Captain or not, someone has the guard the gates.” Responded Luna, with a shake of her head; she obviously didn’t care much for the cowardice of the ponies who never showed up for work. “Enough about that, may I ask why you and your companion are here Doctor?”
“Well, I have this neat little watch that Trixie got for a show she put on here awhile back,” the Doctor held up the watch for Luna to see, “and I need to see where Celestia got it from.”
Luna gave the watch a close inspection, but after a few moments shook her head, “I’ve never seen anything like it. I sure hope my sister can help you.”
“As do I, Miss Luna,” the Doctor remarked. He had to find out where the watch came from, no matter the cost.
The group of ponies arrived at the grand door that led to the central chamber where Celestia would take her brunch. The Doctor leaned forward to give a polite knock, when Luna kicked the door open with some of her brute strength. Celestia was atop her throne, eating a small piece of cake. She looked astounded, and a bit upset, “What is the meaning of this Luna? Who are these ponies? Why have you seen fit to interrupt my brunch?”
The Doctor and Trixie began to bow to the princess when Luna spoke up, “Well my friend, the Doctor, needs your help with something, dear sister.”
“Ah well I would be happy to help but, wait, what did you say his name was?” Celestia was giving them her full attention now, something had sparked her interest.
“Well his name is the Doctor and…”
The Doctor walked forward, cutting Luna short, “Hello, Celestia. It’s been awhile.”
Normally Celestia was calm, cool, and collected in front of all ponies; but something the Doctor had said set her off. Her face grew red with rage and she stood to address the ponies before her, “How dare you pretend to know me, Doctor. No pony should ever, ever take his name! Begone with you!”
Luna and Trixie were taken aback by Celestia’s outburst, but the Doctor just stood there with a blank face, “But it is me Celestia. I’ve been meaning to talk to you for some time now. I’m sorry I couldn’t save them. Really, I am.”
The princess’s enraged face suddenly grew cold and distant, as if she was remembering an old memory, “How could you, but, I don’t,” Celestia was having trouble processing what the pony had said, “That, that would make you over a thousand years old.”
“Well, I am about, mmm, twelve hundred and sixteen now, give or take a few years,” the Doctor was smiling again at the princess.
Luna and Trixie were confused, and annoyed, “Would somepony care to explain what’s going on?” Trixie said with an annoyed tone.
The Doctor looked up to the Princess and nodded his head, she took a deep breath and looked at Trixie and Luna, “Luna, do you remember when Discord attacked our family?”
“How could I forget? That was the day we lost our parents. Why do you ask, sister?”
“That was the day I first met the Doctor.” The ponies around her, princess, magician, and guard alike all gave her a confused look. They watched as she began her ancient tale, “While you were out, finding the Elements of Harmony, Discord attacked our home. He came in the night; he knew our plan, and he wasn’t going to allow us to succeed. Mother, Father, and I fought for as long as we could, but eventually, his madness overpowered us. Just before he was about to strike me down, a small brown pony jumped in between us. I’m not sure what the two said to each other, but the pony distracted Discord, and led him away from us. I got up after a few minutes of rest and checked Mother and Father, but they were gone. The brown pony returned after some time away and told me his name was the Doctor. He comforted me and told me about himself until I fell asleep, and that was the last I saw of him.”
Celestia looked down as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Recalling the memory had been hard on her, so the Doctor took over from there, “I was that pony. I actually wanted to see the day that the princesses beat Discord, but my calculations were off and I ended up on the day your parents died. I’m sorry, I wanted to save them, but we regular ponies couldn’t do a thing to stand up to Discord.”
Trixie and Luna were in shock, this average pony in front of them was responsible for keeping Equestria safe, and they never knew. Celestia gave a small chuckle and looked at the Doctor, “I think we all know you are now just ‘some average pony.’ Thank you for your words Doctor, now what can I help you with?”
It was back to business, “Yes, I need you to tell me where you got this pocket watch,” he pulled out the silver watch and showed it to the room, “I need to know Celestia. It belonged to one of my people.”
The princess’s face grew grave as she nodded to the noble pony. She knew what that meant and that this was no time to play around, “I gave that to young Miss Trixie a few years back as payment for her performance.”
“Yes, I knew that much, but where did you get it?” the Doctor was getting impatient and everypony could see it.
“I was getting there, Doctor. Long ago while visiting a foster home, the family taking care of the filly gave me the watch. They said it spoke to them, told them to take it away from the filly, that the time wasn’t right.”
The Doctor had heard of this before, all he needed was one last detail, “Where is the child now? Who is she?”
“She resides in Ponyville, as she always has. I can’t seem to remember her name, although I do recall her having a blue mane..”
Suddenly it all made sense to the Doctor. He had seen the blue mare around before, but had never given her any attention, even though their cutie marks were the same. He knew what had to be done. He turned away from the princesses and started to walk towards the door, “Thanks for your time and help princesses, but I must be off now. Come on Trixie, we are leaving.”
“No one orders Trixie around!”
“I said now!” the Doctor had no time to put up with Trixies’ antics. Luna moved to say something to the Doctor, but Celestia stopped her. She knew what had upset the Doctor and that this was something he had to do. The whole castle watched as the seemingly unimportant pony barged his way out of the Castle and back into town. Having just been relieved from guard duty, Shining Armor gave chase after the ponies to see what they had discussed with the princess. He rounded a back alley corner just in time to see the faint silhouette of the TARDIS disappear from the street. Shining Armor knew the Doctor was no average pony, but now he knew just how special he was.
The TARDIS slammed down in the backroom of Derpy’s house. The Doctor and Trixie emerged from the ship to be greeted by Dinky and Derpy. Dinky went to jump onto her dad, but he narrowly avoided her, “I know who the watch belongs to.”
“Who does it belong to? Anypony we know?” Derpy inquired.
“Yes, Trixie would like to know as well. This rude pony wouldn’t answer any of Trixies’ questions on the way back.”
“You’ll all see when we get there, now come one. Let’s go see history unfold.” The Doctor trotted out of the house without another word. The three mares each gave a shrug and followed their leader to the unknown destination.
After a short walk down the street, the Doctor stopped at one of Ponyville’s similar houses and knocked on the door. A blue mare answered in a moment’s time, “Yes, may I help you?”
“Colgate,” said the Doctor, “May we come inside? We need to have a talk.” Colgate had met the Doctor a few times in passing, so she let him and his companions into her home. Everyone sat down and made themselves comfortable for what the Doctor had to say. He pulled out the watch and looked at Colgate, “Do you know what this is?”
Colgate stared at the watch, but shook her head, “I have never seen any pocket watch like this before. Why do you ask?”
“What do you know of other worlds, Colgate?”
The Doctor watched Colgate’s every expression. She wasn’t surprised by his question which he found very odd, “Well, I’m sure there are others out there, but what has that got to do with me?”
The Doctor’s face grew grim, “What if I told you, you were from another world, another dimension? That you aren’t a pony at all?”
Colgate started to sound like she was getting anxious, “I would say you were crazy Doctor, I mean I look like a pony, I’ve lived here all my life, I…”
The Doctor stopped her mid sentence, “Yes, this is true you were raised here, but you are not a pony. You are a Timelord. This watch holds all of your memories as well as the collective data of our civilization. If you open it, you will remember everything.”
Colgate was at a loss for words; she just sat and stared at the Doctor. Derpy walked over to her husband, “Dear, maybe we should let her think about it. Maybe she doesn’t want to be a Timelord.”
The Doctor looked over to protest, but stopped short when Dinky looked up at him. It was that look she gave him when he was being too demanding; when he stopped being himself. He sighed and turned to tell Colgate that he would give her time to mull it over, but he froze at the sight that met him.
Colgate had the watch in her hoof and there was pressure on the release, “Let’s see if you are right, Doctor.” She opened the watch. At first nothing happened, just silence, and then a great plume of gold spewed forth from the watch. It enveloped Colgate and twisted around her like a cyclone. The mist made a cocoon around the mare and twisted around her for what seemed like an eternity. The Doctor and his friends just watched, and as suddenly as it had appeared, the golden haze was gone. Colgate was standing there, nothing had changed. Then she moved to speak, “Well, it’s great to be back. Hello everyone, my name is the Watcher, nice to meet you.”
No one moved, except the Doctor who started to jump in delight, “I’m so happy I found you!”
Colgate gave the Doctor a hug, “It is great to have my old mind back, but perhaps we should go check on my TARDIS before you tell me why you are here, Doctor.”
“You have a TARDIS?!”
“Why of course, how else would I have gotten here?”
Colgate walked out the front door and motioned for the others to follow. The Doctor and his family did without hesitation, while Trixie was left to bring up the rear, “Trixie has a bad feeling about this.”
The group walked a few meters from the Watcher’s home to an old abandoned well. The Watcher pulled a small silver key out of her pouch and opened the lock on the well. Everyone followed her down the well into what looked to be another TARDIS. This model was very different from the Doctor’s, however. It was much more modern and was in bad shape. The years of neglect had left the TARDIS hollow and dark, “It’s not much, but I should have it up and running again soon,” remarked the Watcher.
The group spread out and started to examine anything and everything. Trixie didn’t care for the spectacle, so she left to wait outside. The Doctor was having a field day examining the new TARDIS when he heard the Watcher hitting the center console and swearing up a storm. He looked over to see her trying to get the TARDIS to turn on, with no luck. He walked up beside her and whispered, “Sometimes, you just have to give the old girl some inspiration.” The Doctor moved his hoof over the console and suddenly, it lit up like a Christmas tree.
Slowly, all the lights flickered back on; the internal gears and mechanisms started to turn again. Trixie ran in from outside and yelled, “Doctor! The well! It just turned into a big blue box! Just like yours!”
The Watcher laughed, “No doubt some of his TARDIS’ energy just rubbed off on mine. Oh well, if no one ever noticed yours then I am sure they won’t notice mine.”
The Doctor said nothing in return; he was examining the damage of the TARDIS. It was much worse than her feared: Most of the circuit breakers were fried, the restrictor plating on the TARDIS’ soul was gone, and the capacitor that helped to direct the TARDIS was damaged beyond repair. If anyone tried to fly this thing, it would be disastrous. He turned to the Watcher, ‘So can you tell us how you got here?”
“Oh I was a volunteer. It was the middle of the Time War with the Daleks, and the scientists wanted to see if we could break through to another dimension on a whim. I volunteered for the job and they sent me off in the TARDIS, but when I got here, I found I had no way to return. The only logical thing to do was to wipe my memories and assimilate until a search party came by. Luckily, I was taken in by a foster family and I have been here ever since.”
The Watcher was beaming from the story, but the Doctor was troubled, “They let a child come here? All by herself?”
“Well, it did help that my Mom and Dad were the developers of this TARDIS. So tell me, Doctor, what happened? We won, right?”
The Doctor had been dreading this question, there was no way to tell how she would react. He thought it best to avoid it for the time being, “So, how do you expect to fix the TARDIS hmm? I could help if you want.”
The Watcher’s face grew grim as she repeated the question, “I asked what happened, Doctor.”
Trixie decided that it was her moment to shine, “He destroyed them. All of them.”
“All of who, exactly?”
There was no way out of it now, so the Doctor just decided to wing it, “Whole planets were dying and time was tearing at the seams. I sealed both the Daleks and Timelords away. Gone forever.”
The Watcher’s face melted at the statement; she began to sob uncontrollably. The Doctor moved in to comfort her, but she grabbed him and head butted him as hard as she could. The two stumbled back in pain, “I see now, you just did it to save yourself! How could you kill our people Doctor?”
Dinky ran up to the Watcher, “My Papa saved the whole universe! You leave him alone!”
The Watcher was in a panic, “I know, I’ll just go back and save them. That’s right, that’s what I’ll do.”
She moved towards the main console, and the Doctor screamed, “No, don’t! It’s too broken, all you will do is destroy your TARDIS,” but it was too late. She pulled the switch to activate the TARDIS and it roared to life. Not the normal happy hum of the TARDIS, but a beastly, dying roar. The Doctor grabbed his companions and held on to a nearby support beam. The TARDIS began to suck in everything that wasn’t nailed to the ground. No pony was meant to go into the soul of a TARDIS; anything that got sucked it was destroyed.
The Doctor lost sight of the Watcher and figured she had fallen into the TARDIS. He tried to move to the door of the TARDIS, but the suction was too strong. Suddenly, Trixie jumped in front of the light and cast a magical barrier around it, “Go Doctor! Get your family out of here! I can hold this off until you do!”
“But, if we leave you here, you’ll get sucked into the TARDIS as well! We can’t do that!”
“Doctor, it's ok,” Trixie looked at peace with herself, “Trixie…I’ve been alone all my life, just like you, Doctor. I know the emptiness you feel. It’s too late for me, but you have a family, a home, to go back to. So please, just go.”
The Doctor looked at this family; Dinky was crying and Derpy was hanging her head low to the ground. Trixie was right, he had to save them. He looked to her and from the bottom of his heart said, “Thank you.”
He grabbed his wife and child and made for the door. He was almost there, so close to safety, when the Watcher popped up and kicked Dinky and Derpy away from him. He looked back as the two mares collided with Trixie, causing her spell to break and the suction to resume. The falling ponies were being sucked into the TARDIS and there was nothing he could do. He looked away; he couldn’t bear to see them die. The collision of the ponies with the TARDIS’ soul gave it the final push it needed to go critical. It exploded, sending the Timelords out the door and back into Ponyville.
The Doctor remembered everything now. He looked up at the pony before him and screamed, “Why did you have to kick them? They didn’t do anything to you! They were innocent!”
The Watcher responded, “And what of all the families you killed? All the innocents that died with our world when you sealed it away hmm? How is it any different?”
“Because! Because…they were my family.” The Doctor dropped to his knees and began to weep. He would give anything to have them back.
There was a clunk at his knees. The Doctor looked up to see that the Watcher had thrown a small bracelet at him, “I think you know what this is. It’s a Time Bracelet. It only has enough power for one to and back trip in time. It was to be used as an emergency procedure should I need to get away from any Daleks. It will allow you to cross your own timeline without causing a paradox. So what will it be Doctor? Your family? Or your race?”
The Doctor looked at the watch and began to wonder, "What should I do? I could save the Timelords, which would save Derpy and Dinky. But then, I may never come here and meet Derpy; Dinky will never have been born." The Doctor donned the Time Bracelet and activated it without a second thought. He reappeared right in front of Trixie, just as Derpy and Dinky flew into her. He braced himself and reactivated the bracelet right as they all came in contact.
The Time Bracelet worked, it brought them back to their own time, safe and sound. However, the Watcher was waiting for them, “So you would choose them over us? Why?”
The Doctor looked down at his unconscious friends, “They were innocent and I would gladly sacrifice a thousand worlds for them.”
“I see, in that case, as the last of the Timelords, I will carry out your punishment for destroying us,” The Watcher bent down and put a small pen like object up to each of the ponies heads. The Doctor tried to resist, but jumping in time left him weak and unable to fight back. “There, I wiped their memories. They won’t remember either of us.”
The Doctor managed to stand up and look at his wife and child, “Maybe this is for the best; they may not remember me, but they will be safe. What will we do now?”
“You and I shall be companions and you will right the wrongs in the universe until I think you have atoned for your crimes.”
The Doctor nodded and walked back to his TARDIS with his new companion. He looked back only once to see Derpy starting to wake up. He walked away as a tear ran down his cheek, “Goodbye.”
A few days had passed and everything was same old same old in Ponyville. Derpy and Dinky were out on the streets at the night market, buying some muffins for the house when Dinky turned to her Mom and asked, “Hey Mama, do you ever feel like you forgot something important?”
Derpy responded, “Well yes, but we all feel like that sometimes. Just wait, it will come back to you.”
Dinky smiled at her mom and went on their way. Then, without notice, Derpy heard something in the distance. It was a mechanical noise, but it was so familiar. It was like a siren mixed with a boat horn. She dropped her bags and ran after the noise; she had to know what it was. Dinky called out, “Mama, wait!”
Derpy rounded the corner to a side street, but nothing was there, just a small gust of wind. Derpy moved forward to inspect the area when she noticed a small glimmer on the ground. Upon closer inspection she realized it was a necklace; a gold necklace with a heart shaped diamond in the middle. Under the necklace was a few coloring books and a note that read “To Derpy and Dinky with love.”
Dinky ran up next to her mom and snatched up the books. Derpy picked up the necklace and put it on. It looked great on her, it went with her mane. A tear ran down Derpy’s cheek and Dinky looked up at her mom, “Is something wrong?”
“Oh, no dear, it’s nothing. I don’t know where it came from. Let’s go home, OK?” Dinky nodded and started her trot home. Derpy looked up at the night sky as a bright blue meteor streaked across it. She smiled as more tears ran down her cheeks. Now she felt like she was missing something too, something important, but she couldn’t remember what. “Maybe I need some help remembering,” she thought to herself, “maybe I need a Doctor.”
