Chapters The TARDIS door creaks open and the lights flash on, revealing a familiar brown stallion approaching the console.
"Well old girl, it's time. I don't particularly like his trip either, but it must be done. Allon..." The TARDIS interrupts him with a sudden, slow beep. "I know girl. Gallopfreyans aren't very welcoming when it comes to me. The Time Lords are even worse, and I have to speak with the Lord President." Rolling his eyes, he adds, "Fun."
A rapid knocking at the door catches the Doctor's attention. He approaches the door, but as soon as he begins opening the door, a blue colored mare pushes her way in and immediately stops, enamoured by the size difference.
"Wow Doc. How'd you manage to make the outside teeny tiny, and the inside super big?" The mare asks.
"What? Minuette?! What are you doing here?" He replies as he picks himself off the floor.
"You haven't returned any of my calls or letters, so I came to make sure you were okay. Are you okay?"
"I'm quite alright, but I must ask. Why did you barge in uninvited? I'm about to go on a big monthly trip, and I much prefer going alone." He begins typing in a set of coordinates.
"To me, "Big Trip" sounds like "Adventure," so I'm in." She leans back in a desk chair.
The Doctor shakes his head. "You misunderstand. I mean this is more of a regular visit to my home planet of sorts in which I must go to a meeting with the Lord President. I don't think she'd like it if I brought someone else with me."
Minuette calmly listens up until he mentions his home planet. "Wait. You're from another planet?"
"Correct."
"Why do you look like a pony then?"
That must be what this universe defaults to."
"You're from another universe?!"
"Yes I don't entirely know how I got to this universe though. In my original universe, I was a human. Tall bipedal beings with no fur"
"Aren't those the things Lyra babbles on about all the time?"
"The very same. Now if you insist on accompanying me-"
"I do."
"Then you'd better grab onto something sturdy. Things are about to get bumpy."
Author's Note
Technically, this story takes place AFTER Unbroken. All my stories do. I just got bored with typing Unbroken, so I decided to type something else. Enjoy.
Minuette looks visibly worried. "What do you mean bumpy?"
"You're about to find out." The Doctor says with a grin. As he pulls the big lever on the console, Minuette desperately clutches the arms of the chair. The TARDIS begins to him, followed by a violent shaking. The Doctor is unfazed and simply watches the screen to make sure he's going where he wants to. His attention is broken only by the crash of a dizzy Minuette collapsing out of her chair.
"Bumpy?! That was an earthquake!" She says as she picks herself up.
"Ha ha, I know! That's why it's so fun! Ponies will believe anything you say as long as you seem trustworthy!" He replies with a laugh.
Minuette scowls. "You're losing MY trust right now, that's for sure."
"Aw come on! I'm Just poking a bit of fun. That's what we do here, so get used to it." He pauses to think. " That is, if you decide to join me on my adventures."
Minuette begins beaming. "Really? I... " She suddenly chokes up and stops talking.
With a grin, the Doctor says, "I'll let you think about it. For now, I'm sure you're very curious about me. Ask away." He takes a seat in another desk chair and turns to face her. She thinks about it for a bit, before asking her first question."
"Who are you?"
"Be more specific. That question could mean a multitude of things, like what my name is, where I'm from, etc."
"Okay. What's your name?"
"I can't tell you that. Bad things would happen if I did. I CAN tell you what others call me. To most of the ponies of Equestria, I'm Time Turner. To the rest of the universe, I'm the Doctor. To you, take your pick."
"I'll call you the Doctor. Next question: where are you from?"
"I'm from another universe, from a planet known as Gallifrey. I ended up stranded here in your universe with no knowledge as to how."
"Where are we going?"
"My home planet. Well... my adopted home planet. Gallopfrey, this universe's counterpart to my real home planet, Gallifrey."
"Why are we going there?"
"I have a rendezvous with the Lord President every month. Discussions, planning, that sort of thing. I've been doing this since I arrived in this universe. This is the Time Lord's way of keeping tabs on all of my activities."
"Couldn't you just NOT tell them about some activities?"
I COULD do that, but they scan the records in my TARDIS while I'm out. They act like they don't do it, but I know better." He pauses. "Say, this feels like an interview. Are you interviewing me and writing a biography? While I'm honored, Twilight Sparkle is already working on one, so don't bother."
"Don't flatter yourself." Minuette replies, rolling her eyes.
"If I don't flatter me, who will?"
"Apparently Twilight, if she's writing a biography. Okay, last question." She points at the hourglass cutie mark on the Doctor's flank, then at the identical one on her own. "How do we have the same cutie mark?"
"I honestly don't know. The reason I have it probably has something to do with the fact that I'm a Time Lord."
"Ooooh. Does that mean I'm a Time Lord too?"
" I don't know. Maybe. It's certainly possible. I believe the Time Lords did say they sent infant Gallopfreyans to other planets. By any chance, are you adopted?"
" I am."
" Hmm. I'll bring this up with Romana. Maybe she knows."
" Who's that?"
"Why, she's the Lord President of course. She was brought to this universe through unknown means, same as me. She believes that the one responsible for our predicament is none other than Di..." The Doctor is cut of by the humming of the TARDIS.
Minuette stands up. "Does that mean we made it?"
By the time she finishes asking, the Doctor is already at the door. "What are you waiting for? Allons-y!"
Doctor: Monthly Get Together
The elevator comes to a stop on the top floor of the tower. Stepping out, the Doctor is greeted by a pink mare with a long blonde mane.
"Romana! So good to see you! It's been so long!" The Doctor enthusiastically greets her.
"It's been exactly one month. You come on the same day every month." She responds.
"Lighten up. It's a joke. I know it's been a month. And just like I ask every month, why do I have to come here so often? Why not once a year?"
"We need to keep track of your, ahem, "shenanigans". I know firsthand how out of control you can be."
"Out of control? Me? Nah." The Doctor sarcastically responds.
"Nevertheless, as I ask every month, would you care to start?" Romana says as she takes a seat behind her desk.
"Not without a drink. I'm parched."
"The cups are over there by the sink." Romana points to the back wall. "I presume you'll be drinking water. You never did have much taste for alcohol. Or milk, tea, coffee, or juice."
"I've grown accustomed to them. I actually keep the TARDIS's collection of alcohol hidden in the console room." He says as he prepares himself a glass of water.
"Why hide it?" Romana asks.
"One of my recent companions, a mare by the name of Berry Punch, has an incredible drinking problem. If I kept my alcohol in the fridge like any other person, it's be gone within a day." He finished his glass of water and takes a seat in a chair in front of Romana's desk, and begins describing his latest caper.
~4 weeks ago, on the planet Tara~
The Doctor crouches behind a bush and stares at a large pond. More specifically, the lounging stallion lying next to it. He wears a brown coat and hat, and a hard to miss rainbow striped scarf that reached a length of 20 feet. The stallion had fallen asleep while fishing. The Doctor hears rustling behind him, and turns to see his latest companion, Starlight Glimmer, approaching. He pulls her down behind the bush and continues to watch the stallion. Starlight raises an eyebrow.
"Why are we watching a stallion sleep?" She asks. "Who even is that?"
"It's me, of course. Who else would I watch?" Before he continues, two swordsponies approach the slumbering past-Doctor and wake him up. When he questions why he must go, one of the swordsponies takes the end of the Doctor's scarf off with his sabre. The Doctor then follows them away.
~Present Day~
"Hey." The Doctor says. " You already know that story. You were there."
"Right. Any other adventures in the past month?"
"Well, there was the trip here, but that was pretty uneventful. Just me explaining myself to Minuette."
"The Equissian mare downstairs?"
"Yes. Speaking of Minuette, I wonder how she's doing?"
Minuette slouches in her chair and moans out of boredom. Over the past five minutes, she's been told by the door guard, the elevator guard, and the receptionist to stay seated. She moans again, catching the attention of the receptionist stallion, who raises an eyebrow.
"Do you require anything, Equissian?" He asks.
"I'd rather you not call me that. My name is Minuette."
The receptionist rolls his eyes. "Do you require anything, Minuette?" He says sarcastically.
"There IS something I need."
"What?"
She smiles sheepishly. "Where's the bathroom?"
Rolling his eyes again, the receptionist calls over the elevator guard. "Escort the Equissian to the lavatory." The guard nods, and starts down a nearby hallway, motioning for Minuette to follow. He leads her to the third door on the left and takes position next to it. Minuette nods to him and walks in.
Once inside, she immediately begins searching for an air duct to climb out through, and is dismayed to find that the only duct is too small. She then resorts to plan B, and uses her magic to pull a sink off of the wall. She opens the door and immediately hits the guard over the head with it, knocking him unconscious. She sets the sink down gently, and sneaks her way down the hall and the lobby to the now unguarded elevator. The receptionist glances up to catch sight of Minuette attempting to escape.
"Hey!" He yells, catching the door guard's attention. "Stop her!"
The guard starts toward the elevator, prompting Minuette to start rapidly pressing buttons on the elevator panel. The doors finally close as the guard reaches the elevator. Minuette checks to see where she's going.
"Whoops. Wrong floor. Don't want to go to the top floor." She says as the elevator stops on the Doctor's floor. When the door opens, she catches sight of the Doctor and a mare walk out into the hallway, deep in discussion. The elevator dings, catching the attention of the two ponies in the hallway. Minuette cringes at the sound and begins rapidly pressing buttons on the elevator panel. Just as the doors close, she makes eye contact with the Doctor, prompting a nervous smile to appear on her face.
"Whew. That was close." Checking the panel, she sees that she's going to floor 78. "Oooh. I wonder what's there." The elevator opens up, and Minuette is greeted by a sign that reads, "Weapons Testing".
"Time to have some fun."
Doctor: A Question Needing An Answer
"Speaking of Minuette, I wonder how she is?" The Doctor wonders aloud.
"I'm sure she's fine." Replies Romana. The guards are fully capable of keeping an eye on her."
"I don't doubt that. I'm just wondering how she's doing. It must be incredibly boring down there. That receptionist is is quite the barrel of laughs."
"Santillick may be bland and condescending, but he's effective."
"I don't care for him."
"You're never here, so your input doesn't matter."
"How right you are." Standing up, he stretches and begins walking towards the door. "I need to stretch my legs. I'll be wandering the halls if you need me."
"Not without me." Romana trots over to catch up with him. "You came here to talk about your month. Besides, someone needs to monitor you."
"Oooh. Are you coming on to me?" The Doctor teases.
"Absolutely not. What ever got you thinking that?"
"Relax Ms. Buzzkill. I'm only joking. So what are you wanting to talk about now?"
"I don't know. I think you've discussed all that you have done this past month."
"Hmm. You're right. I wonder what we can talk abou..."
They are interrupted by the ding of the elevator at the end of the hall. The elevator closes immediately afterwards, but the Doctor manages to make eye contact with its occupant moments before.
"Whaa... Was that? No, It couldn't be."
"What?"
"The pony in that elevator looked suspiciously like Minuette, but it couldn't be her because you said the guards were capable of keeping an eye on her."
Romana's comms device buzzes. On the other line is Santillick, who seems worried.
"We seem to have a problem, Lady Romanadvoratrelundar."
"What is it Santillick?"
"The Equissian mare seems to have... uhh... escaped."
"What? How?"
"It seems that when she was escorted to the lavatory, she hit her guard over the head with a sink." This prompts a chuckle from the Doctor.
"Thank you for reporting this Santillick." Romana ends the call. "And what are you giggling about?"
"Just that you praised the effectiveness of your guards, and one was knocked out cold with a sink to the head."
" Whatever. I need to broadcast a message to the whole tower about your missing friend." The Doctor follows Romana back into her office, and sits back down on the couch.
"Attention all tower personnel. There is an Equissian mare currently somewhere in the tower. She must be captured and brought to my office." As she hangs up, the Doctor suddenly springs up from his seat.
"I have a very important question for you. A question in desperate need of an answer."
"What is it?"
"You once told me that Gallopfrey sent away several Time Lord children, right?"
"Correct."
"Did they happen to send any to Equis?"
"Actually, yes. Two. A male and a female."
"With hourglass cutie marks?"
"When they were sent off, they didn't have cutie marks, but Time Lord children are destined to have time related cutie marks."
"So that's why I have an hourglass, you have a sun dial, and the Master has a pocket watch. And only Time Lords have these marks?"
"From what we've observed, yes. No Equissians have been recorded as having these specific marks. Why are you asking these questions?"
"Minuette has an hourglass cutie mark, identical to mine."
"Oh. But then that means..."
"Minuette is a Time Lord."
"Uhh... Hi."
Minuette smiles meekly at the fact that she was caught. The Doctor smiles back and helps her to her hooves.
"I knew you wouldn't stay put for very long. Romana was of the mindset that those two guards and that grumpy receptionist would keep you down there." He breaks out in a fit of laughter. "The way you hit that guard with a bathroom sink, hilarious!"
"You were watching me?" Minuette responds nervously.
"Oh, no. That grumpy receptionist called. He said you had a guard escort you to the bathroom, and hit them with a sink. Was that your plan from the get go?"
"Nope. I was gonna climb through an air vent, but it was too small."
"A bit cliche, don't you think?" Romana chimed in.
"Cliche doesn't necessarily mean bad." The Doctor responds. "I get involved with cliche things all the time."
'Like what?" Minuette asks.
"Ehh... I can't think of anything at the moment, but believe me, there are some."
"Well, what now?"
"My meeting with Romana is now over, so I guess we're leaving."
"Aww, already? I didn't get to play with all the weapons yet."
"Wait, what?"
"She must have reached the weapon testing room on the 78th floor." Romana answers him. "If you want, I can escort you down there and let you test more weapons."
"Oooh. Can we Doc? Can we please?" Minuette`crouches and begs.
"Alright. I'd be pretty fun to test out some Time Lord weaponry. Lead the way, Ms. Romanadvoratrelundar." The Doctor winks at the Lady President. As they make their way down to the 78th floor, Minuette trots to the Doctor's side.
"Wait. Romana-vor-at-re-lundar?"
"My full Time Lord name." Romana answers.
" I shortened it to Romana back when we traveled together." The Doctor adds.
"Oh. Do you have a full name? Why are you called the Doctor?" Minuette asks.
"I do have a full name, but I can't tell you. Bad things happen when my name is spoken aloud. As for why I'm called the Doctor, I don't exactly remember. According to the Master, I decided to call myself that out of my desire to help others. I don't trust him very much, so take that statement with a grain of salt."
"We're here." Romana announces. When they enter, they are greeted by one of the trio of guards that Minuette encountered while sneaking through.
"Lady Romanadvoratrelundar. I did not expect to see you here. Much less with guests..." He stops when his gaze falls on Minuette. "The Equissian mare!"
"Stand down Frantiel." Romana holds her hoof out to block the guard. "She is a friend of the Doctor, and as such, is a friend of mine. Now leave and rejoin your patrol."
"Of course, Lady Romanadvoratrelundar." Frantiel practically sprints out of the room. The Doctor is awestruck by the vast amount of weapons hanging on the wall.
"What should we use first?"
-Later-
"That was rather enjoyable, if I do say so myself." The Doctor opens the TARDIS doors for Minuette, then enters himself.
"The best part was when you shot a hole through Romana's robe! She was so mad!" Minuette falls back into a chair.
"It was. Such a shame we had to leave afterwards." He chuckles. "Ready to go home.?"
"Yes. Galactic travel is fun but exhausting."
"Very well." The Doctor positions himself by the console and prepares to pull the lever.
The Doctor stops short of pulling the lever. Minuette realizes they aren't moving, and gets up.
"What's the matter Doc? How come we aren't moving?" She asks. The Doctor sighs.
"I was told something by Romana that you should know." He instantly brightens up. "But instead of simply telling you, I'm gonna explain various things relating to the topic and let you put the pieces together."
"Ooh, fun. I'm pretty smart, so don't make it easy."
"What fun would easy be?" The Doctor grins. "First off, Romana said the Time Lords sent several children away many years ago. They were sent to various planets across the galaxy, one of them being Equis. Two children were sent to Equis, a male and a female. They currently have tabs on the male, but lost track of the female."
"Okay? I'm not following. Why do I need to know about a missing Time Lord?"
"Hold on, I haven't finished. And the correct term is Time Lady."
"Whatever. Get to the part that applies to me."
"One more thing that should bring all of this info together. Have you seen any ponies besides us that have any time-related cutie marks?"
"No."
"There's a reason for that. My excuse is that I'm a Time lord. Why do you think you have the same cutie mark?"
"Hmm. I don't know. My talents lie in dentistry. I don't know what an hourglass has to do wi..." She stops, and looks shocked as she finally reaches the answer.
"I'm a Time Lord too?"
"Time Lady, but yes, you are." The Doctor is tackled to the floor by an increasingly excited Minuette.
"REALLY?!"
"Absolutely."
"YAY!!" Minuette begins bouncing around the room Pinkie Pie-style, before coming to a sudden halt in front of the Doctor.
"Which brings me to my next point." The Doctor says as he pulls the lever to get going. "On our trip TO Gallopfrey, I offered you a spot as my companion in the TARDIS. Now, on the trip FROM Gallopfrey, the offer still stands." He grins. "Care to join me?"
"Of course! Why would I say no?! We can be Time Lord buddies!"
"Of course, It won't be on a 24 hour basis. If I'm going on an adventure, I'll give you a call, okay?"
"Okay."
"It won't be every time though. I have many part-time companions. I usually draw a name out of a hat or something. Strangely enough, I draw Derpy Hooves quite often. I think the TARDIS is rigging the draw. She does enjoy Derpy's company." He strokes the side of the console. "Don't you girl?" The TARDIS hums in reponse.
"You have conversations with your box?That's... pretty weird."
"If you're here very often, you'll start talking to her too. Derpy talks with her at least once a week."
"How would I even know what the response is?"
"You just do. Some sort of psychic link. Time Lord technology I'm not familiar with." Upon hearing the TARDIS hum, he adds, "What did she say?
"She called me an idiot."
"Don't worry about it. She'll eventually get used to you." The Doctor chuckles, and adds in a hushed, "Maybe."
"She did it again! Doc, make box stop being mean!" The Doctor simply laughs in response.
"It's not funny!" Minuette starts arguing with the TARDIS, while the TARDIS simply hums back. Meanwhile, the Doctor takes a seat nearby, and thinks to himself.
"We'll certainly have some fun times together."
Author's Note
My first fully completed story. Hooray. Hope you enjoyed, and I'll try and put my focus on Unbroken now. Goodbye.
As the Doctor waits patiently outside the door, Minuette slowly steps out of the TARDIS and marvels at the massive city.
"Wow. This place is huge. How come the city is covered with a giant dome?"
"It keeps out the harsh dryland weather. Otherwise we'd be living underground on account of the heat and lack of anything habitable for miles.The one thing I share with the Time Lords is my desire to NOT live in the desert. Any other questions before we move on?"
"Are we going up there?" She points to the top of the tallest tower.
"I am. You're going down there." The Doctor in turn points at the bottom of the same tower.
"What!? Where's the fun in that. I don't want to wait there."
"Sorry. Not my rules, and the Time Lords get rather grouchy when I don't follow rules. Now let's go. I shouldn't keep Romana waiting."
"Fine."
As they make their way down the street, Minuette takes in the sights.
"Wow. You grew up here?" She asks.
"Nope. I grew up in a little farmhouse outside the city. When I say little, I mean little. Well, little to me, average to you. Maybe slightly below average. In relative terms, the farmhouse is about the size of half Applejack's barn. Maybe a bit smaller..." Before he continues rambling, Minuette grabs his shoulder and turns him toward her.
"Doc, I get it. It was small. You have more important things to worry about right now." Looking ahead past the Doctor, she adds, "Like them."
Suddenly, two stallions grab onto the Doctor from behind and spin him around towards the tower.
"Lady Romanadvoratrelundar requests your immediate presence." The first says.
"She says you have been lollygagging for too long." Adds the second.
"I was getting there. My friend and I were taking a look around first. Visitor from Equis. It's her first time to Gallopfrey." He points to Minuette, and one of the stallions grab her arm and pull her along as well.
"Hey! I can walk myself!" She tries to resist, but eventually relents.
They approach the main entrance to the tower, and the stallions release their grips.
"The Doctor is to immediately head up to Lady Romanadvoratrelundar's office. The Equissian mare is to stay in the lobby." The escorts announce, before leaving through the front entrance.
"Wait. Equissian mare? What's that mean?" Minuette asks.
"Mare from Equis. I thought that was rather obvious. Anyways, have fun. I've got a meeting to get to." The Doctor enters the elevator and gives one last wave, before the doors close.
Minuette sighs. "Fun. Ha. The only fun I could have would be sneaking up the tower." She quickly looks up, a smirk growing on her face. "Welp. Looks like I know what I'm gonna do today."
Minuette takes another glance at the weapon testing sign, and starts walking down the hall. Upon hearing hoofsteps down the next hall, she dives into the closest room. It's a conference room. She hides behind the table as three guards walk in and sit down.
"Patrolling these halls are boring." The first guard says.
"It doesn't matter if it's boring or not, as long as you get paid." The second replies.
"Yeah, deal with it." The third chimes in.
"At least we can mess around with the weapons in Weapon Testing." The first says.
At that moment, a mare's voice erupts over the intercom.
"Attention all tower personnel. There is an Equissian mare currently somewhere in the tower. She must be captured and brought to my office."
"Let's get moving." The first guard says. The three guards put their helmets on and run out the door.
"Oh boy. They're searching for me. Best to have fun while time lasts." Minuette runs down the opposite hall as the guards, and follows the large wall signs towards Weapons Testing. She briefly slips into another side room when a pair of guards runs past, before she reaches the weapons room.
"Here we go." She says as she enters. Upon entry, she's amazed at the wide array of guns, swords, and other assorted weapons hanging on a wall. The other side of the room has rows of stuffed dummies full of bullet holes and slashes. "This will be fun."
She pulls a random gun off of the wall and aims at one of the dummies. She pulls the trigger and gets thrown backwards by the pushback. She grabs the gun before it hits the floor to prevent the loud bang. She puts the gun up, and grabs a set of throwing knives. She throws the knives at the dummies, hitting them all in the hearts with deadly accuracy.
"Hmm. I could make a very effective assassin. That would be fun." She smiles at the thought. "Yeah. Fun."
Suddenly, the three guards from the conference room run in. Minuette jumps at their sudden appearance, dropping the sword she was holding. It hit the floor with a loud clank, alerting the guards.
"The Equissian mare! Get her!" The first guard says. As they approach, Minuette uses her magic to teleport behind them. She runs down the hallway, narrowly avoiding the pair of guards from the hall. She dives into the elevator and presses a random button rapidly, the doors closing just before the guards reach the doors.
"Whew." Minuette says. She checks the floor she's going to, before frowning. "Crap."
The elevator opens up on the top floor, and Minuette tiptoes out.
"No going back down there." She says. "I'll sneak around up here. There should be a lot of fun stuff to find up here. This is the Lord President's floor, after all."
She crawls down the hall a mere five feet before bumping into something. She glances up to meet the eyes of both The Doctor and a very ornate dressed mare.
"Uhh... Hi."
