Chapters A lost universe, a lost child
The lost universe
Long ago, before the great time war, there was a legend. A legend of a different universe where all where at peace and there were no enemies. This legend was told to all the time lords as they grew up, before they looked into the time vortex. As time went on this story was forgotten by all species including the time lords. Except one.
And his name was the Doctor.
“Theme music”
“Let’s go explore old gal,” The Doctor said as he walked into the TARDIS, his hand lingering on the “bigger on the inside than outside” walls.
The doctor had just come back from a nice picnic with River song, and planned to plan out a plan for his next stop. But first he had to find some paper.
“Blast this big mess.” The Doctor grumbled unhappily as he walked into his planning room. It had been weeks since he last came in here and the TARDIS’s bumpy rides didn't help to keep stuff in place.
I really need to clean this up. The Doctor thought to himself. But first I have planning to get done. He shuffled through the heaps of paper, pens, pencils, and old inventions he had never moved to his new invention room since he changed this one into a planning room.
He finally found his old list of places he wanted to visit from his child hood. The paper appeared new thanks to some old Galifray science. The language on the paper was from Galifray as well. The Doctor stood there a moment, remembering when he wrote the paper.
He had been sitting on the peak of his favorite hill that over looked the city just so, that the suns shone perfectly behind it at dawn. It had only been a day since he had been made to look into the vortex. He had seen so many wonderful things in that small glimpse. So he had run. He ran straight home, with wonder in his eyes ready to explore the universe.
The doctor walked out of the planning room, a sad smile on his face. It had been so long since then. What he would give to be that little boy again. No worries or problems. No longing to have just one living thing know how it feels. To understand.
Finally snapping out of his emotional moment, the doctor jogged over to the TARDIS controls to place coordinates from the paper in. he read over it crossing things out and circling others.
“been to Blanardoscipe, definitely not going back to earth, not Adipose 3, Anuras to wet, Exxilons is dead, I blew up Hedron, could go to Hurala, but it’s a bit cold, lvan is run by Sontarans and they hate me…"
The doctor trailed off as he noticed the last place on the page,
“The lost universe.” He whispered. He remembered the story that was told to him as a child. It was said that only the chosen ones can find the hidden passages there. He had dreamed of going there for a long time.
A memory of what he saw in the vortex so long ago flashed through the doctor’s mind. Pictures flashed.
A black hole, an earth like planet, a darkness, a purple equine with black eyes and a horn on its head, that same equine lying dead on the floor, and last of all a large star surrounded by many other smaller ones.
Now the doctor’s train of thought drifted to another memory.
The doctor snuck out of his house, not making any noise so not to wake anyone. He broke into a jog towards the faint shadow of his friend The Master. Together they went into the Master’s new type 25 TARDIS and they took off through time and space. “Where should we go?” The Master had asked.
“Let’s find the lost universe!” The Doctor had burst out excitedly. They had gone to 41 different planets before giving up hope of finding it. That was the first and last time the doctor ever went anywhere with the Master, but it was just the beginning of his many other explorations.
Vroughuuu, Vrouuugh, Vrouuugh.
A noise startled The Doctor out of his lost memories.
“What the???” The TARDIS was starting on its own, going to what The Doctor thought was an unknown location. He jogged over to the console screen to check the location they were traveling to. Too late he saw that the TARDIS was heading straight into a black hole.
“nononononononononononono! no! You can’t do this!” he yelled at his TARDIS, knowing she probably wouldn't listen. He ran around the room tripping and trying to turn his ship around.
“I knew you would be angry if I didn't clean up that custard I spilled in your control panel!” The TARDIS was shaking so hard it flung The Doctor towards the window. He stood shakily, holding onto the wall as much as he could. When he looked out his breath caught.
You smart sexy thing! His TARDIS was brilliant! Suddenly he went flying out of the control room and into his anti gravity room. Other stuff flew around every which way as the TARDIS shook more violently every moment. A sharp pain exploded in the doctor’s stomach, but he was too happy to care.
“Here I come lost universe!” He laughed like he had seen earth for the first time again. The pain in his stomach suddenly skyrocketed and he finally looked down. A pair of scissors where imbedded in his midsection.
“Here I come lost universe” The Doctor said as golden energy started to flow around him. “And here comes number twelvaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”
A unicorn mare rushed through the Everfree forest, her horn alight with magic. A hooded cloak covered her face but her weeping could be heard. As she ran, a blue basket floated above her head. She came to a halt at the front of a cave. She had to do this. It was her only chance to make up for her mistake. For now her child would be safe. She set the basket down behind a rock in the cave like it said to on the note.
“Goodbye sweat little Minuette.” The cloaked mare whispered. A rustle in the bushes startled the mare and she ran, leaving her child.
“She went this way. Follow her.” A gruff voice yelled. Three tall figures ran past the child’s hiding place. Moments later a scream was heard by the child's small ears.
A lost universe, a lost child
Colgate
It was a dark stormy night. The thunder clapped within every few seconds, lighting up the sky momentarily in the dark. Creatures ran in every direction to find shelter except one. That direction was towards the cave.
Strange crying noises where in that cave, and Fluttershy had said that odd noises could mean predators. No animal wanted to take the risk. What they didn’t know was that in the cave, a small filly in a basket was weeping for its mother. Crying out to be held and fed. The child was lying in her basket, a star covered blanket wrapped around her. She cried at the top of her tiny lungs.
This is horrible. the filly thought. I haven’t been fed since this morning. I hope that lady comes back so I can have more. It was so tasty...zzzz soon the filly fell asleep just to be wakened again by a strange growling noise. The filly looked up to see a massive shadow over her. She could see into its massive mouth. Sharp teeth hung there and saliva dripped down onto the filly’s face.
"Grrrrrrr. roarrrrap!" the creatures roar was cut off suddenly as it went flying to the other wall. It took the filly a moment to notice that a big blue box had hit the creature. Although the filly was new born it managed to slowly crawl towards the open door of the box. Once it was in, it crawled all the way to an open door. Stuff was everywhere. The baby was tired from its crawl so it went to the closest soft thing there was. A small pile of brown string. Once it was curled up, the baby was fast asleep.
"Ughhhuu" The doctor mumbled incoherently under a pile of rubble. His head stuck out so he could breath but the rest of him was stuck. He opened his new eye for the first time, blinking them rapidly to get used to the lighting. Ok. New body new rules. Luckily I’m not colorblind. I can see more so my eyes must be pretty big. he stopped a moment to look at his surroundings so he could find a way out of this predicament.I could just wiggle out if I could flip the gravity switch to low, but I need something long. There is a short pole to my right, a baby sleeping on my hair, and.... the doctor went back over his thoughts and looked over to see that there was, in fact, a baby sleeping in his hair. Not just a human baby though. This was a horse baby. A filly by the looks of it.
"Of course! He shouted, remembering a little too late that the filly was sleeping. “This universe is like a parallel universe to mine. The only differences are that this universe consists of mostly quadruped creatures instead of bipedals. You know it wouldn’t be too bad to settle down here. Get a job. As long as I don’t have to be an architect. I spit on architects if you know what I mean. Time traveling is so much better. Maybe a scientist or a spy. No, spying isn’t as fun. Then again... oh good morning." the doctor stopped his blabbering as he saw the opened eyed filly look at him.
"Thats an odd color for a ... i guess you would call it a mane. You know what your mane reminds me of? Toothpaste. My favorite is that brand that’s really minty. Ummm...Colgate! That’s what I’ll call you!" He looked at the filly and she gurgled in approval. "Now to get me out of this."
One hour and many casualties later...
"NOW! I’m finally out of that. Time to see this new body!" the doctor said excitedly. Colgate lay to the side, sucking her hoof. The doctor got up on wobbly knees and tried to walk.
"I assumed I would still be human. At least now I won’t have to hide from everybody. Or perhaps I should say every pony. At least I believe you’re a pony. A horse would be larger." The doctor’s new mouth spread into a wide smile at his use of words. "I’m going to love it here" he concluded, trotting lopsidedly into his mirror room. He stopped in front of the first one he saw and stared.
" I. Look. Wow.” He had a crazy mess of spiked up hair (or mane). His nose? Snout was average size, he thought, and his teeth where pearly white as always. What caught him off guard where the eyes. They were HUGE. Like take up two thirds of his face huge. Oh. And they where blue. This he liked because they matched the color of the TARDIS. His favorite color.
After finally getting over the eyes he turned to another useful item, his ears. They were simple by a normal pony’s perspective, but of course the doctor was no normal pony.
"Colgate! Come look at my ears! They can move! The only other time I’ve been able to move my ears was in my fifth form, and then only a wiggle. This! this is a flop!"
The doctor stood there like an idiot, flopping his ears back and forth.
"I could do this all day! buuut! I need to check the rest of me!"
Now the doctor, done flopping his ears, turned to his rump to see his new tail. It was a mach to his mane if not a bit darker brown ( sadly neither his mane or tail were ginger) and a bit less spiky. He looked up more to his flank, noticing the timer on there. This caught him a bit off guard, as he never had a tattoo before. Next he looked over his legs quickly noticing nothing wrong, and started to head towards his wardrobes.
"Sorry Colgate, but it wasn’t my choice to change into a naked stallion. Maybe the TARDIS can whip up a quick suit to mach this body.”
Moments later Colgate saw the doctor round the corner in a bright red bowtie, not to mention the fez on his head.
"Would it look better with a fez or a Stetson." the doctor asked, sounding it like a statement. Before the filly could reply, the doctor muttered “Your right. Stetsons are cool, but fezzes are way better." He stood and posed for Colgate to see.
The doctor continued going around, trying new things with his pony form. From this he found he could pick up a sonic screwdriver with his hoof fairly easily to his surprise. Just as the doctor was about to try his taste buds he heard a cry. "Colgate!!! I’m so sorry! new body and all I completely forgot you.... yes of coarse I can....no but I have a crib you can sleep in........no I don't do you?.......well I hope she’s okay. We can look for her after a snack and some sleep...........really? Well I’ll just go see if I can find It."
After finishing his conversation with Colgate, the doctor trotted out the doors like he had done it his whole life. He looked around until he found a basket. Inside the basket was a star covered blanket and a note just like the filly had said. He tossed the blanket over his back to take to the filly and held the note in one hoof to read. As he read it he could feel emotions overwhelming him.
Dear doctor,
I have followed the directions on the note to this place and time. I hope you know what you’re doing and for some strange reason I trust that you do. My dear Minuette, or as you call her Colgate, only faintly explained your travels to me. Although I am worried that harm may come to her, I have no other choice. Some things for you to know are that she could be allergic to pears and she needs a nap time frequently. She should be able to get by now with a normal food schedule. My little filly. I put her life in your hooves doctor. If you choose not to take her there is a friend of mine that will oblige, but then she wouldn't have much time to give Minuette any attention. Lyra is a busy pony. I am Colgate's mother just so you’re sure who is writing and just so you know I’m in trouble. That’s why I need you to care for her. Thank you so much for helping.
Sincerely, Trixie
A lost universe, a lost child
“Colgate, I now have at least five reasons I have to stay on this planet to settle down awhile.” The doctor shouted so he could be heard from the other room. The brown time stallion had just walked in the TARDIS doors holding a star covered blanket and a paper on his back.
“The lady you told me about, your mother, has left a note to ask me to take care of you.” He walked up and wrapped the filly in her blanket. For the first time he took a good look at her. She was about a foot long with a little bump on her head (the doctor had no idea why). Her coat was light blue and her mane looked like toothpaste freshly squeezed out of a bottle. Her eyes where closed at the moment but the doctor new that they where a beautiful color of TARDIS blue. Just like his own.
“Now that’s just the first reason I must stay.” Continued the doctor. “The TARDIS needs a quick rest after the whole black hole incident. Needs time to gain power. Also I would like to explore this world first. Hopefully we’ll find your mother Trixie in the process.” The doctor trotted around the room grabbing bits and pieces and throwing them together. In a first look it appeared to be some sort of chair. But when the doctor was finished he set a baby holder/saddle on his back.
“Hop on Colgate. First stop the library!”
Twilight Sparkle was at it again, books flying everywhere.
“SPIKE! Where did you put that book on quantum physics!.... Oh. Sorry.” Twilight turned around to see a short baby dragon coming down the stairs.
“Come on Twilight. Even baby dragons need their beauty rest. “Spike muttered groggily.
“Sorry spike. You know how I am in the mornings.” Twilight sighed.
“Yes. Too bad you can’t be like that in the afternoon’s instead.” The baby dragon pouted.
A loud chime alerted Twilight that a customer had come in.
“I’ll be with you in just a moment!” Twilight shouted. She hurried to put the books she had jumbled on the floor away.
“That’s okay. Take your time. I should be able to find my way around.” An unknown voice said. It was a voice twilight had never heard and that was rare. She new everyone in ponyville and almost half of canterlot. He sure is in for a big surprise when he meets pinkie pie. Twilight chuckled to herself as she thought of the party the pink pony would throw. She asked Spike to put up the rest of the books so that she could meet the new guest. This earned a grumble as she trotted towards the front of the library. She trotted up to the brown earth stallion that had come into the library. He was faced towards the shelf in the parenting isle. He had an odd looking basket on his back with a blue, newborn filly in it. The little bump on its head showing its unicorn DNA. For some reason it seemed Twilight had seen this filly before. She shook the feeling off. She couldn’t have ever seen this filly. Twilight looked back at the stallion, noticing he had a hourglass cutie mark on his flank. She had never seen a cutie mark like that before either. What could his special talent be?
“Hello. My na…”
“SHHHHH!” Twilight was cut off from her greeting by a loud shushing noise. The stallion whipped around, a very worried look on his face.
“Please don’t talk so loud.” He begged her, “I would have to regenerate if I had to listen to this constant whine anymore!” his eyes grew at least two sizes larger. She didn’t understand the regeneration part, but the baby part was all too clear. Spike had been just the same.
The doctor had walked into the library ready to read. He planned on going through some parenting books first (which he hadn’t had to do in a LONG time) and then he would read up on history. He also needed to look up possible reasons for the bump on Colgate head. Luckily he hadn’t encountered any pony in the street. He still needed a presentable name and background if he were to settle down. He trotted over to the parenting books and looked around. He was about to try and pick one up with a hoof when a loud “hello” came from behind. He spun around and shushed the pony, worried Colgate would wake up. He now regretted being able to speak baby because Colgate wouldn’t stop whining on their way to the library. He only had just gotten her to sleep. He told this to the librarian (he assumed that’s who he was speaking to) and looked at her. She was a purple pony mare with a tattoo of one big star and five small ones around it on her flank. Her mane and tail where purple with streaks through it. The doctor looked at her face into big purple eyes. Just above them was a horn.
“Y….you’re a…. a…a unicorn…” the stunned pony muttered. The pony in question gave him a strange look.
“Yes…and you’re an earth pony. Are you okay?”
“Yes. I think so. New places have strange affect on me…” the doctor wondered in aww at how he could have missed it. The unicorn part now explaining the bump on Colgate's head.
“I thought you where new here.” The unicorn whispered, careful not to wake Colgate.” I know everyone in ponyville and I’ve never met anyone with a cutie mark like that. Well anyways, I’m Twilight Sparkle. Pleased to meet you.”
Now the doctor was truly confused but also exited. He needed to make a new name! John smith wouldn’t work if all pony names were like twilight sparkle. But what the hay was a cutie mark?
“A cutie what?” the doctors question earned him another strange look.
“The picture on your flank. It shows your special talent?” she sighed obviously annoyed.
“Oh yes. Of course. I thought you said um…logy bark. Yes. Yes. Well anyways, what’s yours mean?”The doctor asked to avoid an awkward silence. It was apparent that the unicorn, miss Twilight Sparkle, was overjoyed to share her tale.
“My cutie mark shows the element of magic. I am the most advanced unicorn in ponyville.” She started. The doctor could only assume that ponyville was the town he was in.
“And out of the elements there are five others than me. Those are the smaller stars. Loyalty, honesty, laughter, kindness, and generosity. This middle star is magic. Me.” A grin spread across her face, her eyes filled with curiosity.
“So sir, what does yours mean? And what’s your name?” she asked.
The doctor rushed through his mind thinking of possible names. It would have to be related to his timer cutie mark. Let’s see… umm….I can fix things. This hourglass is somewhat a time device like a clock….
“My name is clock works. Nice to meet you miss twilight. And of course the cutie mark meaning is all in the name. I fix clocks..” and once the doctor got started he couldn’t stop. A whole idea for his life story sprang up.
“I came here for better business. Back home there are too many clock shops, so I supposed a small town like this could use one.” as he finished he looked up to find that twilight had bought the story.
“So what about the little filly on your back. Is it yours?” she asked. A quick reply rocketed out of the doctor’s mouth.
“No. No. No. This here is my niece. Her parents are…gone…and asked me to care for her. It’s complicated.” He looked down in a sad frown, trying to make it seem realistic.
“That’s why I need to borrow some parenting books if you don’t mind. And I also need any type of history or astronomy books you might have. You see, my usual source of this information is down, so books are my answer.” The doctor continued to blabber. He looked up, noticing the confusion in the mare’s face of the sudden mood swing. Together they walked around the library gathering books onto a table for the doctor to read. All the while Colgate slept in her basket.
Finally twilight left as the doctor sat at the table. He watched her out of the corner of his eyes as she went up the stairs, all the while going through book after book in seconds. These books where rubbish. He would have to bring Colgate up the old fashioned way, because he had no help from these. He would bring her up as a time lord (time pony). This would be a blast.
Twilight collapsed on her bed feeling so frustrated. That stallion, Clockworks, was so confusing. The way he just flipped through the books literally in seconds and calls it rubbish. Those where top quality books! And now he was in there talking to his niece Colgate like they were actually having a conversation! Not to mention he was like a newborn colt. How could some pony not know what a cutie mark is? And he was so clumsy. She had handed him a book and not only did he drop it but he couldn’t pick it up! But at the same time she felt sorry for him. He had a little filly to look after on his own and he didn’t know any pony here. Just give him time twilight. She thought. He may be strange but that’s because he’s from somewhere else. Probably Baltimare or Las Pegasus.
“TWILIGHT!!!!” a pink pony flew through the window, scaring twilight half to death.
“Pinkie Pie! How the hay did you get up here?! Its two stories high!” exclaimed Twilight, more surprised than curious. Pinkie pie just ignored the question and hoped to the door to the library.
“Iheardyouhaveanewvisitorthatdidntliveinponyvillecomehereandiwaslikenowaybutijusthadtocomeseesohereiam! Icantwaittothrowhimaparty! Doeshelikecakeorpiebetter...”pinky pie rambled on all the way down the stairs until Twilight couldn’t hear her any more. She slapped a hoof to her face. Clockworks would probably be scared off by pinkie pie before he even set up his clock shop. Suddenly a loud gasp hit her ears.
“Huuuuuuuu!!!!Doctor!!!!!” it was pinkie pies voice of course. Twilight walked to the door, determined to find out if the pink pony had caused Clockworks any trouble.
A lost universe, a lost child
Auntie Pie
Same day....
“Well, yes but there is more in the cloths room…..no, of course not, why would I call it a clos…..”
“DOCTOR!OMGOMGOMG! ITS REALLY YOU!” The doctor was cut off from his conversation with Colgate by a pink, bouncy pony who had somehow heard of him.
“Excuse me. Do I know you? “The doctor asked the crazed pony.
“I see the books you’ve been reading. I’m sure you’ve read about me by now. Pinkie dian pie.” Pinkie said.
The doctor searched his memory for the name and remembered that she had a number of hit records and was the element of laughter. He also remembered something about her laughing to make things go away.
“Yes….yes. I remember reading about something like that. Although to me it sounded too familiar with the scary things disappearing part…” the doctor stopped, noticing her wide grin.
“Go on doctor.”
“No. wait. Are you ...”The doctor stuttered.
“yep. Oh. And just so you know you are the one that brought me here. “She giggled. The doctor was lost for words.
“But...But… how are you grown up? I’m pretty sure you where just an tiny thing when the TARDIS picked you up a week ago. And I thought we dropped it off at Vezxard?” His mind raced with questions.
“Wellll. I didn’t want to leave so I grabbed back onto the TARDIS. As for my age, when you went through the black hole I fell off and landed in a different time stream. Now it’s my turn for a question though! Why do you have a filly with you?” Pinkie turned a questioning glare towards Colgate, who again had fallen asleep during the conversation.
“Her parents are having problems. Left her where the TARDIS crashed. Timey-wimey stuff and all, you know? I’m planning to raise her up as a time pony, use the TARDIS as a home. Settle down to raise her a couple years before getting into trouble in a new universe.” The doctor grinned from ear to ear, happy to talk to someone who understood. “But I have one more question miss pinkie. You tenzas usually have a sense of right and wrong. You wouldn’t happen to know if there are more of us. Would you?” the doctor looked to her hopefully, desperate to know if other alien life forms from his own universe could have possibly made it over.
“Sadly no. There isn’t any more as far as I can tell, but you never know. My sensors don’t stretch very far.” At this a sad sigh escaped the doctor, but neither of them was sad for long seeing that they had found each other.
“Doctor! Would you like to come to sugar cube corner and pick out a cake for your 'welcome to ponyville I'm opening a clock shop party'?"
"Pinkie, I would simply love to! We also need to buy a shop for the party to be at. I would rather every pony didn't party in my TARDIS. Oh and by the way call me Clockworks for now. Trying to fit in.“ The doctor said with a wink, ready for the adventure of a normal life. He looked over pinkie pie to the shocked and confused Twilight Sparkle.
"Thank you miss sparkle. I'll be back again tomorrow to read up on equestrian history." Of course there was no reply. The doctor and pinkie walked out the door, Colgate on pinkies back. A few moments later spike walked into the library, mail in hand.
"Guess what twilight! Pinkies having a party! Ohhh. Her parties are the best! I can’t wait to go. I bet it's for that pony that came in...Today.......um....Twilight?" The unicorn had been standing there unmoving except for an eye twitch. Spike new that eye twitch meant that twilight was about to freak out. Last time she did that it had put the whole town in chaos.
"No Twilight. Not again." Spike sighed. This would be a rough week.
On the way to sugar cube corner the doctor and pinkie found a building for the store to be in, talked about raising Colgate (witch pinkie decided to help the doctor with) and food. They talked a lot about food. Both hated pears but loved most any other thing. After pinkie finished giving the doctor a grand tour of sugar cube corner when they arrived, they put Colgate down to rest in miss cakes spare cradle. Afterwards they sat down to share some cherry changes.
“So now that we have found a cake for the party, and you passed out the invitations, what do I need to know about being a pony?” the doctor asked, curious to know pony customs.
“Well, you should know that unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies like us are the three pony races. They are all equal so no questions there……” pinkie continued to go over basic pony behavior and about Equestria. The doctor continued to ask questions. Soon they started up a conversation about Colgate.
“How will she know how to use magic? It’s not like I can teach her that. And what about school?” The doctor asked, worried that he would forget something.
“We have a school here in ponyville run by a supper de duper nice pony named Cheerilee. She teaches just normal school, not magic. Twilight does magic classes during the school year on Sundays if you’re interested. Colgate still wouldn’t start for about five years now but better to make plans early.” Pinkie said. Before the doctor could ask any more questions, a bell rang as a orange earth pony with a Stetson (Stetsons are cool) walked in the store doors.
“Howdy sugar cube. Whose ya friend?” the mare asked pinkie in a thick country accent as she trotted over and sat next to them.
“Hi Applejack. This is the doc…” the doctor gave her a look and she remembered his “settling down” name.
“Clockworks this is AJ. AJ this is clockworks. An old friend of mine. Really old friend of mine.” When pinkie emphasized this the doctor gave her a hurt look while apple jack looked amused.
“Do I really look that old? Its tuff to keep the looks when your 1103. Give or take a few decades of course. Well anyway, nice to meet you madam.” The doctor finished this off when he saw the odd look from apple jack. The group talked about weather and such until they heard Colgate crying in the back room.
“One minute Colgate! I’m in the middle of a conversation!” Shouted the doctor, who listened to the crying a few moments before speaking again.
“Sorry madams, my niece is hungry and the smell of baked foods is overpowering her.” The doctor trotted into the back room for a moment. When he came out the chair thing was situated on his back with a blue filly in it. The doctor trotted to the door calling his farewells. Just before leaving the filly made a gurgling noise and he stopped. He turned towards pinkie with a wide grin on his face.
“Colgate wants to know if it’s okay for her to call you auntie pinkie pie.” Pinkie smiled even larger than before (which must have really hurt).
“I would be honored Colgate.” she cooed to the baby. Farewells where again said and the two retreated to their cave in the everfree forest.
A lost universe, a lost child
Babies first words
Next day, 11:00 P.M
(technically night)
“Crank up that beat DJ-PON3!!!!”
Ponies danced and chatted, having a blast at pinkies latest party. The music was cranked up loud, shaking the whole room. To the side of the room stood a brown stallion with a red bowtie and a fez next to a little blue filly lying in a cradle.
"You know Colgate; I never enjoyed parties that much. To loud and crazy. At this he chuckled. The baby making a garbling noise, seeming to understand him. “Usual what I do is much more crazy than a simple party. But now I guess this is the craziest thing we’ll get for a while." He sighed, wishing he could be back in his TARDIS flying about this new universe.
"Actually, what surprised me the most," the stallion continued to his young companion. "Is that I got stuck on earth again. Out of all the different planets in a lost, parallel universe, I get stuck with earth. I’ll be stuck with it quite a while at this rate. The TARDIS won’t be ready to travel for almost six more years! By then you should know enough stuff that you can travel with me. That’s about the age I had to look into the time vortex. Of course I might have to wait a little longer for you so your second heart can grow in. I still cant believe you get to be a time lord! Well technically a time pony, but still! I won’t be the only one anymore. You can travel with me and everything!" the stallion would have kept on going but just then a pink pony hopped over to them (literally hopped).
"Hiya Clockworks! Can you come meet some of my friends?" she shouted over the music, almost breaking clockworks eardrums.
"Sure pinkie. I would love to!" he scooped up Colgate and set her onto his back, carful so not to drop her. They trotted over to a group of five mares at a table. Clockworks looked over them. One was a unicorn with a white coat and purple mane. Clockworks could tell right off the bat that she was a fashionista. Her sparkly, silk gown dress said it all. The next one was the orange earth pony, Applejack, who Clockworks had met the other day at sugar cube corner. On the other side of Applejack sat a blue Pegasus with a rainbow like mane due. She was tomboyish looking and only wore a simple party hat. Next to her sat a calm yellow Pegasus. She smelled outdoorsy clockworks thought and she seemed a bit shy. The last in the row was Twilight sparkle the librarian, who had been the first pony clockworks had met when he got there other than Colgate.
He decided from his readings that these must be the elements of harmony. A small dragon looking creature with purple scales and green spikes stood to the side.
A symphony of hellos and howdy s greeted Clockworks, pinkie and Colgate as they came up to the table.
"Oh my goodness! Darling you simply can’t wear that hideous fez! And that bow-tie! It should be a crime to wear such a thing! I must make you a new outfit when I have time."
The white unicorn had said this. Clockworks of course was a bit hurt by the remark.
"But fezzes and bow-ties are cool." he pouted under his breath. Pinkie pie went around introducing the mares to Clockworks.
"This is Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow dash, Fluttershy, and you already know Twilight. Every pony this is my old friend clockworks. He’s from a long ways away. This is goanna be his new clock shop, and this is his niece Colgate. She’s a unicorn, and she calls me auntie pinkie! And clockworks is taking care of her, and when she gets old enough she’s goanna go to Cheerilees school and twilight you can train her in magic!" the pink party pony went on and on until she finally ran out of breath. A loud wub scared Colgate and she began to cry.
"I’ll go tell vinyl to turn it down a bit." pinkie volunteered.
The doctor looked around at the five mares left. An awkward silence invoked them until the doctor broke it.
"I should take her home and get her to rest. It’s nice to meet you." Clockworks said, trotting off. As he left he seemed to speak to the baby.
"Yes, yes I know. I don't like the sound either but no reason to cry like a baby..... Yeah good excuse." the duo walked out the door.
"That there's one strange pony." Applejack stated once they were gone.
"Tell me about it. That mane style is so last Tuesday!" rarity exclaimed. All five laughed. Twilight leaned in so the mares could hear her.
"He came to the library this morning to finish his books from yesterday and all he did was flip the pages." she whispered.
"Ain’t you supposed to do that so you can see what’s on the next page?" asked a confused AJ.
"Yes but no. he flipped through them in seconds and tossed them aside like he had studied the whole thing! Not only that but he was talked to pinkie pie so weird. I didn't understand half of it. He even got pinkie pie to calm down!"
"Now THAT is an achievement." rainbow exhaled dramatically.
"I....I...um..Kind of like him." Fluttershy whispered.
"Well. I guess he’s okay. But he sure sounds suspicious. I think he’s lyen." Applejack spoke up, hesitant to share the last bit.
"We should keep an eye on him. I told pinkie I would teach Colgate magic when she’s old enough....." twilight stopped as pinkie came back with cake all over her face and the music turned up louder than before.
"I asked them to quiet down a bit but some pony must have really wanted me to eat cake right then because they threw it in my face. Then I saw that doct...I mean Clockworks was taking Colgate home so I said never mind and now here I am!!! Let’s go partay!!!!" pinkie grabbed Rainbowdash and pulled her onto the dance floor. The rest of the mares followed, ready to party and forget their worries over the new stallion.
The next day clockworks trotted into his new clock shop to find all types of time telling machines. They aligned the walls just like pinkie told him the workers would do. He went up and down the walls checking for any damage to the devices. There were none. With Colgate in the care of auntie pinkie and nothing else to do, he trotted into the back room and tinkered with some objects. By time his first customer came in, Clockworks had made a new sonic screwdriver (accommodated with a new hoof grip) and a small cyber man figurine for Colgate to play with.
The rest of the day, ponies came in and out every ten or so minuts, looking to meet the new town clock smith or get a clock fixed. Pinkie dropped Colgate off a quarter past six right before the store closed. Afterwards clockworks took Colgate home with takeout pizza for dinner.
"Id much prefers fish fingers but these ponies apparently don't eat meat." clockworks huffed.
"You know Colgate. Today a filly and her mother came into the shop today. The filly said her first words when I asked her to. She was just a bit younger than you. You should try." he opened the doors to the TARDIS, trotting in and setting Colgate down on the floor. She had learned how to crawl much better now thanks to aunty pinkie and kept following Clockworks.
"Let’s hear It." he encouraged the filly. “We’ll start with something simple...doctor. Let’s start with doctor. At least then you can address me. Clockworks is just a weird name to go by. So go on. try." he looked down at the filly.
She crinkled her brow in concentration. Slowly she moved her mouth, gurgling noises coming through until a word similar to doctor could be heard
"d...doter....doter...hehehe...doter!" the little filly giggled with glee. The doctor also laughed, proud that his companion could now talk.
He trotted to her side and sat down. He tickled her tummy, making her squeal in delight.
"One moment." he went over to the TARDIS console and came back, a shiny figure and what he thought was a pretty good replica of him in human form in his mouth. Dropping them, he smiled.
"Here you go Colgate. I got me and a cyber man here for you to play with. The cyber man has a light on his arm. Every time it hits me it will change my face to one of my past regeneration forms. Cool isn't it?"
"Doter. Doter. yber men. Doter yber men." Colgate mumbled happily.
"You know Colgate. This is the longest I've gone without an adventure. Calmest place I've ever been. I’m ready for the calmest six years of my life!" he grinned.
A lost universe, a lost child
"Colgate! Stop wiggling and let me put you in!"
The Doctor struggled to get Colgate into the walker that he had made for her. He had made it in his spare time the day before at his clock shop.
"Dotor, ybermen, dotor." Colgate continued to wriggle, trying to stuff the toy Doctor into her mouth.
"NO! The Doctor is not for chewing on!" The Doctor snatched the toy away and dropped it to the floor. He held Colgate tighter and stuffed her into the walker, his frustration starting to get the better of him.
"Now we have some progress! Let’s get you to Lyra's house and I can go get some more information from that librarian, the um, miss... Twilight, yes. That's it." The Doctor scrambled to the TARDIS door, Colgate in her walker in tow.
"I need to read up on my pony physics and astronomy. Also I would like to know how advanced these equines are in their technology. Pinkie only told me the basics of all that stuff, not going into much of a history as I would like. Might as well scourge the whole library while I'm at it; see if I can find any good pony myth... I'm sorry but I was NOT blabbering. I was simply bro voiding you with my schedule so you would know that when I was done with all this stuff, which could take quite a while, that I would take you out for a cupcake. Of course, if you disagree.... Ok, it's settled then. Allonsy!
The Doctor sighed as he trotted away from Lyra’s house. She had agreed to take Colgate for the day without much question, but the curious side of her shot out when she heard him remark about how much easier it would be to pick stuff up with fingers. Apparently she had just suddenly known about humans when she was a filly. She didn't remember how she knew, she just did. He had finely gotten away when Lyra had rushed to her basement to get her hoof made fingers. He felt bad about giving her the slip, but he had to go study up on this new place, and his new body.
He was walking towards the library, when a filly suddenly burst into his path.
"You sir! Care to buy some apples?"
The Doctor looked over, trying to mask the disgust on his face.
"Uh... No thanks" apples are such rubbish. Just the thought of them had deepened his voice in disgust.
The Doctor started forward again and suddenly the little yellow filly popped out of the cart there spontaneously.
"Neighhhh! No I have plenty at home!" The Doctor started to back up a bit. Did I just whinny in surprise?
"Are ya sure?" The filly was now right behind him. Where did she keep coming from?!
"Yes I'm pretty sure..."
"You’re pretty sure, but you’re not absolutely, positively, completely sure, are ya?" The strange filly kept backing him up, putting him in a tight spot. She sure was starting to freak him out.
"Uh... If I buy some apples will you please leave me alone?" The Doctor was so desperate to get away that he was willing to give away his bits for a crummy apple.
"Alright!" The filly exclaimed. The Doctor tossed the older mare at the apple stand some bits, barely registering that the mare was in fact Applejack, and grabbed an apple, galloping away.
Soon the Doctor came to the tree that ironically was also the library. The sign on the door said open so he trotted in, hoping that he wasn't intruding.
"Anyone here?" He called out, looking around for the librarian or the short dragon creature. None seemed to be around at the time so he made his way to the mythology section, curious to see if any legends of what he would do in the past(his future) were already published. As he went past a trashcan, he gingerly tossed his apple into it. Next he would go through pony physics and biology, then history, and finish it off with a bit of astronomy and other spacey stuff.
He took books one by one from the shelf and laid them to the table he would soon occupy.
"First book is ..." He flipped through the pages, pausing only for a second to gaze at a rather menaceing image of a cockatrice. He continued this for a time until all of his mythology books where read. He had only seen one possible appearance of himself, but it seemed like a dead end. Maybe history would provide better enlightenment.
Twilight groaned as she watched the Doctor from her perch. When she had notice that he entered the library, she had decided to simply observe.
"Well blimey! I think I understand it now! My new form must be adapted to pony life automatically! Although somehow I have been stuck with little quips from my past couple of regenerations... I still don't get why I'm not in any textbooks though..."
Twilight's mind was getting confused listening to him talk, and why was he so interested in space and mythical books when he was a clock maker? It made as much sense as Rarity walking in and asking for a book on how to fight a manticore with only a shoe string and a corn cob(a true book by the way). Twilight was fed up with this stallion’s attitude towards her precious books and she was ready to ask some questions.
"Hey you!" She shouted, trotting down the stairs casually as to not draw the suspicion that she had already been watching from above. The Doctor looked over and waved a hoof in welcome.
"Hello miss Sparkle. I was just knocking about, looking for some good old information. Although it’s hard to translate most of this equestrian language, silly TARDIS is so tired... Sorry, was I blabbering again? Colgate says that I blabber all the time; I just can’t help it really. Or maybe it’s called rambling? I guess rambling dose sound better than..."
"SHUT UP!" Twilight burst, her annoyance, rage, and mild curiosity couldn't take all this nonsense that the stallion before her was spouting. He looked a bit taken aback by her outburst, but she didn’t care. It was time for some questions.
The Doctor looked around, surprised that they were here so fast. After Twilight had exploded, she had called Pinkies name, which appeared instantaneously out of a glass jar. It was obvious that the pink pony had wanted to talk to him when her eyes welled up to two times their size when she saw him, but Twilight had cut her off. 'I need to use your equipment' she said. The Doctor had no idea about what she meant, but the look Pinkie gave him when she said that was one of pity. Then suddenly in a flash of purple they where there, in a room as dark as night besides the blinding lamp trained right on the Doctor’s face. Twilight stood in front of him, covered in shadows, but still seeable.
"Where were you on July twenty-first?"
"What?" the Doctor was beginning to understand that this was in fact an interrogation.
"Never mind. What’s your name?"
"Clockworks." This was going to be too simple.
"What is your job?"
"Clock making and fixing of course."
"Then why, tell me, where you reading so much about space and pony physics in my library?"
"Because...um...” this was going to be a hard one.
"I was trying to, impress...a mare. Yes impress a mare that is very smart, so that she would ...like...me?" the Doctor watched as Twilights face grew from a scowl to a grin and then she blushed before her face changed back to a scowl.
"Who is this mare?"
"Um... No offence but really this doesn’t seem like any of your business." This got Twilight good as she began to look surprised and a blush began to grow on her face.
"Yes, well...”
"You could have just asked me instead of tying me to a chair for an interrogation."
"Yea, but...”
"No buts, I demand my privacy and have to leave anyways because I’ve been here for three hours and forty two minutes when I promised Colgate that I would take her out for a cupcake in three hours and twenty minutes. She could be worrying that I got trapped by some...some...Nevermind, you wouldnt understand. Just untie me and let me go!"Twilight instantly did what he said, teleporting them both back to the library.
"One more question! Please?" Twilight begged him.
"Alright."
"Who are Colgate’s real parents?" this question caught the Doctor off guard. So they really hadn’t believed part of his cover up story? He thought for a moment and sighed.
"I don’t truly know. The only clue I have is that the mother was named Trixy. It didn’t say anything else." Before the librarian could ask any more questions, the Doctor looked her straight in the eyes.
"Twilight sparkle. You’ll learn who I am eventually, maybe five years, maybe more, maybe less. One day you’ll know who I am and that day I’m going to regret so much because this place is going to fall apart. Until then I’m clockworks the local clock maker, don’t forget it." The Doctor turned to leave, faintly catching Twilight's last words before he went out the door.
"Your eyes are so...old."
