The Return of Doctor Whooves

Whitetail Woods

Whitetail Woods, normally one of the most peaceful woodland locations in all of Equestria. It was a beautiful place, full of tall snow covered trees that swayed in the wintery winds. Animals ran to and fro while bears slept in their caves for their yearly hibernation. It was a calm day, perfect for a walk, which two very particular ponies were taking right now. One, a mare named Apple Fritter, a member of the Apple Family was yellow furred with an green mane tied in ponytails with apple fritters for her Cutie Mark. Her cousin, Red Delicious, a buttermellow pony with an light blue mane and a bright red apple for his Cutie Mark had joined her on their walk through the snow covered woods. Sadly, they had found themselves lost, and neither was none too pleased about it.

"Well, now ya've gone and done it ya idjit!" Apple Fritter exclaimed angrily. She was normally a calm pony, but she was chilled to the bones and lost to boot, so she was understandably displeased with her cousin to say the least for getting them lost and losing the map they had bought from two twin brother ponies named Flim and Flam. Apple Fritter had warned her cousin against trusting them, but he said that they could be trusted like a good apple pie warming you up in the cold of winter.

"And now look what's happened!" Fritter thought to herself. "Shame on both of us for trusting them two damn salesponies!"

Now Apple Fritter felt a new concern, the pangs of hunger. She wondered if Red Delicious hadn't eaten all the food they'd brought for their picnic in the woods. Her guess was, he probably had. He so loved food after all. To see if her suspicions were correct, she checked the picnic basket. Sure enough, it was empty and barren.

"Now look what you've done!" She exclaimed, even more furious than before. " That was for our lunch, and now you've eaten it all, ya big pig! Ah should find you a pig pen so you can eat from a troft like the pig ya are!"

"Well, Ah'm sorry, but I was hungrier than a horse!" Delicious argued, now getting angry himself for being blamed for everything that had went wrong today.

"Ya are a horse, ya idjit!" Fritter shouted back. Suddenly, as they continued their walk, they found themselves in front of an olden looking wooden house with an old mare, probably somepony's grandmare sitting harmlessly in the rocking chair, a warm looking pie sitting in the table besides her.

"Excuse me, but did I hear you two lovely children say that you two were hungry?" The mare asked. She was dark brown furred, with a grey manestyle tied up in a bun with a pie for her Cutie Mark.

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Both Apple Family members admitted to the mare that they were both feeling hungry, so they were led inside with a creaking of the door handle and found themselves in a warm and inviting household, with a fire burning nicely in the fireplace and food of all kinds sitting on a tablecloth covered table.

"Go on, eat up!" The mare said kindly.

"But we don't even know ya name." Apple Fritter responded. She, for some reason didn't trust this mare. She had never seen her before, or this house that she lived in for that matter either. But she was feeling hungry, so she and her cousin did sit down and began to eat the food placed in front of them.

"Oh, my name's not really important." The unknown mare replied to Apple Fritter. She noted that Red Delicious seemed to be really enjoying the food, especially the Apple Pie.

"I see you like my food, it's good eating isn't it?" She said, as Red Delicious responded with a muffled "Uh-huh." caused from the food in his mouth. Then, to Apple Fritter's surprise, the grandmare began reaching for a knife that had been set on the stove and lunged for Red Delicious with surprising strength that no mare her age should have possessed, launching him onto a nearby couch and began plunging the knife into him multiple times splattering the couch and the mare with blood while Apple Fritter screamed "No, no! Please, stop!" and the mare who was currently killing her cousin just laughed and said "Don't worry, this will all be over in a second..." while outside a window, a little mare with a black mane and a red ribbon in her hair just watched the gory scene and smiled serenely....

Ponyville:

Now, as anyone who lives in a small town where everybody knows everybody else, gossip travels fast. And so, it was inevitable really that the word about the brutal events that occurred in Whitetail Woods would reach Applejack. There she was, just walking through the streets of Ponyville when she overheard the local flower ponies, Roseluck and Lily Valley talking about it.

"...Well, guess we'd better find some funeral flowers." Lily muttered to herself, and Applejack's ears peaked up in interest.

"I know... Celestia above. When Applejack finds out..." Roseluck responded, before both ponies realized who was standing next to them.

"Finds out about what?" Applejack asked nervously. Hearing the words "Funeral Flowers" and her name mentioned in the same conversation made her worry and go into all sorts of horrific possibilities.

"Well... Uh... There's no easy way to tell you this, but there was an attack in Whitetail Woods." Lily began nervously while Roseluck whispered "The horror, the horror!" and about nearly fainted dead away as Applejack's eyes widened. She remembered that Apple Fritter and Red Delicious had mentioned to the rest of her family that they were going on a picnic lunch together in the Woods.

"Like something out of Hansel and Gretel. Only much more violent." Roseluck put in. "This seemingly sweet old granny mare chopped up Red and nearly got to Apple Fritter as well! She's in the hospital right now. She's stable, but-"

Applejack had already ran off, tears beginning to form in her eyes. But she didn't have time to mourn now. Something was afoot in Ponyville, something strange, and there was only one expert in town on the strange. It was time to meet the Doctor.

Golden Oaks Library

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Rainbow Dash, who had also heard what had happened to Red Delicious through the grape vine, met up with the Doctor and Applejack and almost at once they rushed to the one place in Ponyville where they could find the one pony who was smart enough to figure out what strange events were going on around the small town and exactly why they were happening in the first place. This pony's name was of course, Twilight Sparkle.

Knock! Knock! went the Doctor's hoof as he rapped on the door with two sharp, urgent knocks. It unnerved him that even he couldn't figure out why things from fairy tales were happening around town. First the Three Little Pigs, and now Hansel and Gretel as well.

"Hey Twi, open up!" Rainbow Dash impatiently yelled to the door in front of her expecting it to open at once. "We need your help!"

"Alright already, I'm coming, so just hold your horses!" A very annoyed voice came from behind the door. The Doctor figured Twilight had been interrupted reading a book or something, as that seemed to be her favorite hobby from what the Time Pony had observed.

"Yes?" Twilight answered before she saw who was before her. Her face lit up when she saw Rainbow Dash, even more then usual even if she didn't exactly know why. Ever since the events of the adventure that had become known as "Frightmare Night", she had been getting strange feelings every time she was around Rainbow. And then she noticed Applejack, who looked to be on the verge of crying. Twilight almost at once wondered what had happened, as she very rarely saw Applejack like this. In fact actually, she had NEVER seen her friend like this before. Applejack began to immediately explain what had happened, and Twilight felt shock overcome her. A character from a fairy tale reenacting Hansel and Gretel? That was very strange indeed, and now she could she why the Doctor was there as well. Something like this was sure to catch his attention.

"Twilight, Ah, no we need your help!" Applejack pleaded passionately with tears rolling down her face as the Doctor stood nearby, along with Rainbow Dash watching as Applejack began to show the signs of breaking down. They both knew she was a tough pony, and almost nothing, except thinking about losing a member of her family made her cry, like she did with her parents when she was just a young filly and now her cousin Red Delicious and almost Apple Fritter as well due to a seemingly harmless old lady straight out of the fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel" who had only been killed by a stroke of pure luck when Apple Fritter struggled with her and the unknown mare's head landed on the fireplace and cracked open.

"I'm sorry Applejack, I really am, but... no." Twilight whispered sadly as she looked away in shame. "I... I just can't help you. N-Not after what happened in... in that town."

"But why Twilight?" Rainbow Dash inquired angrily. "Applejack's one of our best friends! She needs your help!"

"You know perfectly well why I can't help you! I lost someone very dear to me and you know perfectly well who!" Twilight shouted angrily at her friend. She felt guilty for not wanting to help her friends and the Doctor but she just couldn't. She just couldn't get wrapped up in another adventure with the Doctor and risk losing somebody close to her, maybe this time one of her friends.

It may have seemed like Twilight was just being stubborn as a mule, but Twilight had a reason for her reluctance to go on another adventure with the Doctor. It happened more then a year ago. It took place in what was a small town in a part of Equestria during a night in which the wind whipped through the hollows and thunder rolled in the skies as lightning flashed in the night. The Doctor, and his collection of companions for what was originally supposed to be a relaxing trip for the holiday known as Nightmare Night which turned into a horrifying adventure in which the Doctor, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Princess Cadence, her coltfriend and Captain of the Royal Guard Shining Armor along with the stagemare calling herself the Great and Powerful Trixie found themselves faced with what was only thought to be a legend from years past, the Headless Horse. It wanted to exact it's vengeance upon the town and the descendants of those who had killed it and it's lover Ichabod Crane, a simple farmer who wanted nothing more then to love the Headless Horse, then known when it was alive as the mare Blue Berry before she was killed by her father. It took an unexpected team up of the Doctor, his companions, Trixie and Twilight's dearly beloved aunt Cherry Berry to stop the Headless Horse from killing everypony that was ever related to her father. The Horse was stopped in the end, but not without a grave cost, the death of somepony dearly close to Twilight, AKA her aunt Cherry.

Sleepy Hollow: Nightmare Night

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"What do you want?" The Horse hissed in it's raspy voice.

"To say something that should have been said a long time ago. To say... I'm sorry." Cherry whispered, but the Horse still heard her.

"SORRY!?!" She roared. "Sorry can't make up for what's been done to me!"

With that, she plunged her sword into Cherry's chest as the Doctor let out a shout of "NO!" and Twilight heard him and exclaimed "What's happening? DOCTOR!" but Cherry still somehow found the strength to talk even as she coughed up blood.

"Maybe it can't, but maybe it can. There's something that should have been done long ago, something that should have been done on the night you first rose from the after-worlds to haunt this town with your curse. You had family, and you still do in me. What your father did was horrible, and a unforgivable act but I still want to make things right. M-My family, your family, forgives you and yet we u-understand you as well. You and I-Ichabod should have had a h-happy life, and i-it was taken from you. For that, me and all those who are descended from your father are very, truly sorry." Cherry coughed up before her eyes closed for the last time but her words had reached the Horse. It felt very, very ashamed of itself, and if it had a head would have been sobbing for all the meaningless deaths it had inflicted, either related to her father by blood somehow or not. And then, with a flash of flame and a final screech it was gone leaving only ashes in it's wake with Cherry's body crumpling to the ground no trace of the sword which had pierced her.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Twilight asked again, her mind considering the worst possibilities imaginable. The Doctor closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"It's over, it's finally over. The Horse, along... Along with your aunt are gone. I'm sorry Twilight." He whispered in sorrow. This whole night, it had been meaningless, hadn't it? Had he really achieved anything besides getting somepony very close to one of his friends killed? Twilight knew where his thoughts were heading, and even as she sobbed in mourning for her aunt reassured him.

"It wasn't meaningless Doctor, not really. You stopped a curse, and laid a pony to rest." She said and the Doctor chuckled sadly.

"No, it wasn't me who did this, it was Cherry. Your aunt, she may have had her faults but in the end she proved to be a pony to be admired... In the end." The Doctor said sadly, and for that Twilight had nothing to respond to.

As Twilight explained her story of woe to the three gathered ponies, Rainbow and the Doctor shared nods of understanding. They should have known their friend may not have still completed her mourning process yet, and they felt immediately guilty for wanting to drag her into another adventure that she obviously didn't want to take part in. Applejack on the other hoof felt sorry for Twilight as well, but mostly angry. Here was Twilight Sparkle, somepony who had faced down both Nightmare Moon and the mad chaos god Discord, saving Equestria twice!

"Ah don't believe you!' Applejack suddenly exclaimed in anger and fury. "Here ya are, a hero of Equestria and a bearer of the Element of Magic, and yet ya don't want to help mah or the Doctor solve a mystery that's murderin ponies right and left!" She continued with her rant, and Twilight felt immediately guilty, but she, no matter what did NOT want to take part in this adventure, not when she could lose a friend to one of these strange occurrences.

"Ah... Ah understand Twi. Ya have yer reasons." Applejack said sadly, suddenly seemingly changing her attitude before she began to walk off sadly. "Come on y'all, if Twilight doesn't want to help us, we'll just have to solve this here mystery ourselves."

As Applejack walked out the front door, slamming it shut in anger, the Doctor and Rainbow both looked at Twilight with expressions of pity. She needed time, and they'd give her that. For now though, they had a mystery to solve...