The Return of Doctor Whooves

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Ponyville: The Year 1000 ANM

It was late autumn, a few weeks before the events that would become known to the Doctor and company as "Frightmare Night" in Twilight's hometown of Sleepy Hollow, and a few weeks before Pony-Ten regenerated into Eleven and the Master unveiled his final plan and endgame to unleash chaos on Canterlot by taking Celestia and Luna out of the equation by poisoning them with tiny Griffinstonian Steel darts made from melted down Alicorn killing weapons made directly after the fall of Princess Luna and her horrific transformation into the horrific being known as Nightmare Moon. But for now, all was calm and peaceful in the small town of Ponyville. Multicolored leaves in various shades of red, orange and yellow were falling from the trees along the pathways and onto grassy knolls. In a small backyard bordering Whitetail Woods, there was a house belonging to the town's local Mailmare, Derpy Hooves, and her daughter Dinky Hooves. Despite being one of the clumsiest mares around thanks to her wall eyes, Derpy was the one of the town's best mail deliverers and always got her packages to the right pony, never damaging them, even you could never say the same about herself due to flying into things, through things and the like. She never got paid as well as she would have liked to have been, but her payment was enough to make ends meet and to care for both her and her daughter. Speaking of which, the light grey furred, blond maned mare was watching her daughter play with a small ball in her backyard and kick it around the yard back and forth. Suddenly, Dinky accidently kicked it through a hole in the wooden fence and it rolled away into the Woods.

"My ball!" Dinky cried and tried to rush after it but Derpy quickly flew towards her daughter and grabbed her.

"No, it's getting dark! The other ponies may not believe in that which lurks in the Woods, but I do. HE does exist, your grannymare took quite a few pictures of him and so I know that... that creature exists!" Derpy exclaimed nervously even as she remembered the stories. Foals and fillies had gone missing for years in the Whitetail Woods at night, and some of them had never come back, and the ones that did, well as the rumors went, they were never quite the same. But somehow, Dinky managed to slip out of Derpy's grip and crawl under the hole in the fence and gallop into the woods. With a shout of fear for her daughter, Derpy flew after her, somehow, whether it be to her fear of losing her daughter to that... thing, or just something you couldn't quite explain, she flew perfectly, not crashing into anything for once and managing to keep up with her daughter's every move. She kept her firmly in her sights, but then, Dinky was gone and Derpy skidded to a halt in midair and glanced every which way.

"Dinky!" Derpy shouted, and when she received no response except for various animal noises like the chirping of crickets, she shouted again, this time only louder.

"DINKY!"

This time, there wasn't even the sound of animals. And then she saw IT. A tall stallion, wearing a black suit and tie with a white featureless face and it seemed to have several shadowy black tendrils growing out of it's back. Derpy's eyes widened in horror. She knew what she was looking at, and it's name.

"S-Slendermane..." Derpy said, just barely able to get the words out, and out of pure fear she turned and flew away all the way back to her house, to the safety of her yard, and then broke down out of pure shame and guilt. She hadn't been strong enough, brave enough to be able to save her daughter, her little Muffin, her Dinky. She was the Slender's now, and there was nothing she could do about it. Letting out a mournful wail of despair that only parents who had lost a child could recognize which could be heard throughout the town of Ponyville, it reached a certain blue suited, brown furred stallion who was tinkering away in his box and his ears perked up in interest and he looked up from his console and grabbed his trench coat...

The Present Time: The Belle Residence

In the present day, at the residency of Rarity's parents, the CMC and their friend Twist were having a sleepover while Rarity's parents were out of town for the night. Rarity had already gone to bed for the night, but she had given the foursome explicit warnings to go to bed at 10:00 exactly and not to get too loud and noisy. Of course, fillies will be fillies and not entirely obey the orders of their guardians from time to time. So, speaking in whispering voices.

"So, girls, what do you want to do?" Scootaloo whispered in an excited tone.

"Ooh, ooh, I know, we could braid each other's manes!" Sweetie Belle squeaked out. Scootaloo gave her a look.

"Ugh, too girly." The orange pegasus filly fake gagged.

"Puh, if ya ask for mah opinion, you're just afraid of tryin' new things, that's all." Apple Bloom remarked in a dry tone of voice. She and her older sister had used to do each other's manes all the time together. It was something pretty much all sisters did together! Suddenly Scootaloo got an idea and an almost evil smirk came to her face.

"Afraid of trying new things eh...?" Scootaloo asked as she looked at Twist. "Hey, Twist, ever heard of the legend of the Bloody Mary?"

"N-No, I haven't..." Twist whispered back in confusion.

"Scootaloo, don't tell mah you've been listenin' to Rainbow's stories again and fallen for that old chestnut!" Apple Bloom chuckled.

"W-Who's the Bloody Mary?" Twist asked, not sure if she really wanted to know.

"Well, I heard she was a witch that got convicted of well... evil things I don't quite remember and if you say her name three times in a bathroom mirror while in the dark she'll appear before you and claw your eyes out!" Sweetie Belle said nervously and with a touch of embarrassment for not remembering the legend properly. ''...Well, at least that's what I heard."

"So, anypony brave enough to do it?" Scootaloo challenged.

"Y-You know what?" Twist said, as she suddenly spoke up surprising everypony in the room, even herself. She'd been tired of being picked on by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon for being a wimpy little coward, and by doing this, something she'd heard even they'd been too afraid to do, she'd prove she was better then them!

"I'll do it!" Twist proclaimed, and all three members of the CMC stared at her in shock. Surely they hadn't heard right?

"A-Are you sure?" Sweetie Belle asked nervously. "I-I mean, if the legend is true..."

"Puh, it's just a legend!" Scootaloo scoffed as Twist walked up to the upstairs bathroom and looked directly in the mirror and said two words, three times, one after the other.

"Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary..."

Next thing the CMC knew, they heard a scream come from the bathroom and along with a now awake Rarity, arrived to find Twist laying face first on the floor in a pool of blood, when Rarity turned her over, she was horrified to find Twist's eyes completely missing...

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Ponyville Mortuary

Now, as in any small town, like I said before, gossip travels fast, and so, Rainbow Dash, the premier pegasus flyer in Ponyville and leader of the Weather Team found herself doing something she could safely say she never thought she'd be doing, which was standing over a dead body with its eyes missing on a metal table on Hearts and Hooves day.

"So...What happened exactly?" Rainbow asked questioningly and trying to look at any part of Twist except for her bare eye sockets, but always found her gaze drifting back to them. The mortician, one Doctor Bones sitting across from her sighed to himself and thought hard. He was an older pony, at least in his late sixties or so.

"Well, it's possible we could have a brain hemorrhage of some type." Bones replied with a shrug. Rainbow stared.

"...Eh, yeah, pretty sure brain hemorrhages don't cause eyeballs to turn to soup." Rainbow deadpanned.

"You haven't seen what I've seen missy. In my experience, there are a whole lot of things illnesses will do, and a whole lot of them are quite nasty. But still, you may have a point here. Honestly, I've given up on diagnosing this. I just pity the poor sod who has to break this to the family that their daughter's..." He trailed off her and Rainbow finished for him.

"Eyes turned into a liquid you could eat with a spoon?" She asked dryly and with no sense of tact whatsoever. The Doctor may have been rubbing off on her more than she would have liked it seemed, or it may have just been Rainbow being herself. Still confounded as she walked out of the Mortuary and across the snow covered pathways musing to herself how this was not how she wanted her Hearts and Hooves Day to go. She had planned to spend it curled up in bed with Twilight reading Daring Do together. But of course, Spike's death and the aftermath of it had derailed those plans. Now Twilight was spending her days as a recluse, letting nopony inside her home, not even the Princesses or even Rainbow herself. Rainbow stifled back a sob, she was a tough mare and tough mares didn't cry.

"Celestia above... Everypony's probably having the time of their lives today but me. And now I get landed with this. This is the Doctor's thing, not mine!" Rainbow mentally ranted, and she did try and bring this to the Doctor's attention, but he, like Twilight had shut himself away in his TARDIS, doing Faust knows what.

"You alright, dearie?" Rarity's voice asked as she walked up. She was dressed in a purple overcoat and winter hat while Rainbow had opted for the simple scarf and booties combo.

"Do I look alright!?!" Rainbow suddenly snapped at her and Rarity took a step back. Rainbow immediately felt guilty.

"I'm sorry Rares, it's just..." Rainbow trailed off and her friend put a hoof on her shoulder in support.

"I know darling, Twilight's... situation, for lack of a better term is affecting us all. Some of us are hiding it better than others, but you can see it in their faces. We're all missing her friendly voice... that kind smile... and that thirst for knowledge of hers and the ability to sprout off obscure facts on a whim." Rarity replied sadly with a chuckle that Rainbow shared, a tear slipping from Rarity's eyes, and for a moment, just a moment, Rainbow could see love in those eyes. She didn't try to understand it, Tartarus she didn't understand why she fell in love with Twilight herself but she could see it in her friend's eyes.

"So, this just a social pep me up call or is there something you need to tell me?" Rainbow asked, changing the subject and getting right back to business. There was something going on in this town, and right now Rainbow was the only qualified pony to solve this mystery, and she planned to get to the bottom of it!

"Yes..." Rarity began slowly. "It's... It's about my sister and those two friends of hers, the... Oh goodness me, I seem to have forgotten their little club's nickname."

"Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Rainbow suggested as Rarity flushed red.

"Yes, them. There seems to be something bothering them." Rarity stated.

"Aside from the obvious?" Rainbow deadpanned.

"Yes, aside from that. They... Well, it's difficult to explain. It's best you come see for yourself." Rarity told her and gestured for her friend to follow. Rarity led Rainbow to her parents' home, where all three members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting on the floor sniffling with reddish orange shock blankets around them. The upstairs bathroom had been sealed off with crime scene tape with the local police investigating every inch of the murder scene from top to bottom. Rainbow noted how Scootaloo's eyes drifted upwards to the crime scene every so often and she looked away very quickly with an expression that almost seemed guilty. Upon noticing this, Rainbow walked over to her fan-girl and put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Hey kiddo, what's wrong?" Rainbow asked softly.

"It's... It's all my fault..." Scootaloo sniffled.

"Hey, it can't be your fault, you couldn't have killed Twist. You don't have it in you. It's... It's like Pinkie Pie going on a mass murdering spree! It simply doesn't happen!" Rainbow replied reassuringly.

"B-But I made her say the name! If I hadn't goaded her into saying it... S-She might still be alive!" Scootaloo blubbered out.

"Scootaloo, don't be ridiculous! It couldn't have been HER! It just couldn't have!" Sweetie Belle squeaked out, although it sounded if she didn't believe her own words. Rainbow gripped Scootaloo by the shoulders very firmly and looked her dead in the eyes.

"Scootaloo, what name did you make her say?" Rainbow asked seriously and Scootaloo looked up at her, terror filling her eyes and whispered the name in a voice of sheer dread.

"Bloody Mary."

Ponyville: The Year 1000 ANM

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The Tenth Doctor had followed the wails of despair to a home outside Whitetail Woods. It was a modest home, nothing fancy and had a muffin painted on the door. The Doctor raised an eyebrow, how curious. He tentatively raised a hoof and knocked on the door and it was answered, after a few moments of the Doctor waiting and hearing nothing but the shuffling of footsteps, by Derpy, who had tears dripping from her eyes.

"Ah yes, hello! I'm just the local Neighborhood Watch! Name's Alec Hardy." The Doctor greeted in his usual cheerful manner, before flashing his psychic paper and studying the mare in front of him. He'd never quite seen eyes like that on a pony before. "Heard your wails of despair, and I thought, oh what the Hell, might as well and go have a little-looksee and see what's gone wrong."

Derpy studied the rather odd and cheerful stallion with his sticky-uppy mane style and brown trench-coat and blue suit. Alec Hardy, odd name for a pony. Didn't sound like anypony's name she'd ever heard before. Then she took a gander at his "ID" and saw it was just an old and yellowed library card, with the picture of an old and grey stallion on it with balding white hair. She raised an eyebrow and the Doctor took a look at his psychic paper and sighed to himself before muttering "Not again... Always getting these two mixed up."

"Alright, so you got me, I'm not the Neighborhood Watch nor is my name Alec Hardy. I'm the Doctor, hello!" He greeted, still in the same cheerful tone of voice.

"W-Wait, the Doctor? As in that strange stallion with the Blue Box? The one which you pull ponies into and snog them?" Derpy asked questioningly.

"It's... It's not a snog box! And for the record, that has happened only once! And someone did that to me, not the other way round!" The Doctor snapped, affronted and somewhat offended that his TARDIS had been comparing to something as simple as a kissing booth! And it wasn't his fault that Princess Amore JUST happened to fall in love with him!

"I'll be the judge of that, sunshine." Derpy remarked before her cheerful demeanor vanished once she remembered what had happened only an hour earlier and she resumed her sobbing. The Doctor put his forelegs around her.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. What's wrong? You can tell me." The Doctor said in a calm and comforting tone of voice as he let Derpy sob into his shoulder. For some reason, it just felt wrong to see these normally happy and cheerful ponies sad, and it tugged at his heartstrings more than it did with humans.

"C-Come inside, I'll explain everything." Derpy said and led the Last of the Time Lords inside her home. It was messy, disorganized with children's toys lying everywhere, and smelled of freshly cooked muffins, but it was a very nice place to be all the same.

"Muffins?" Derpy asked as she brought out a tray of blueberry muffins from her oven and sat them on the kitchen table where the Doctor had pulled up a chair and then retrieved a small wooden box from a nearby table.

"So... What seems to be the trouble Miss..." The Doctor asked, suddenly finding himself at a loss for a name.

"Derpy Hooves... A-And the trouble is, my daughter's been taken, by this." Derpy answered and opened the box and fished out a couple of pictures while the Doctor calmly bit into a muffin before wincing at how hot it was and blowing on it to cool it off and muttering to himself "Think I burned my tongue..."

The Doctor then studied the pictures. In the background of each one, lurked a figure, tall and imposing with a blank sheer white face. The affect unnerved even the Doctor.

"He's called the Slendermane. Been around for centuries, possibly longer than Ponyville itself's been around. Some say he's as old as the Two Sisters, maybe even older." Derpy explained, with the Doctor hanging on her every word.

"Great! Always love a good mystery!" The Doctor cried, gleefully rubbing his front two hooves together when he saw the look on Derpy's face and remembered what exactly the Slendermane had done and at once felt guilty with himself as Nine mentally smacked him on the back of the head.

"So... Uh, where does the Slendermane live exactly?" The Doctor inquired and Derpy gestured outside her window to Whitetail Woods.

"In there." She said fearfully, and the next thing she knew, as the sun was setting, she'd somehow found herself and the Doctor at the entrance to the woods. The Doctor stared into the inky blackness and nervously adjusted his tie and fiddled with it.

"You know sometimes when you have that feeling to just go for a walk in the woods in the middle of the night? ...I don't have it." The Doctor laughed nervously before swallowing.

"Oh well, you know what they say. Nothing ventured, nothing gained..." He said with a shrug before he and Derpy slowly walked into the darkened forest, not knowing what lay in wait for them inside...