The Doctor stumbled to his feet once the TARDIS had come to a complete stop. He sat up and starting bringing his hands to his face.
"Eyes, check. Nose, wow that's a honker. Face, it seems longer than it should. Hmm. No fingers, well that's new" the Doctor was talking out loud to himself.
"Hair. Oh this is thick, nice thick hair. And I have a beard, wait ... my beard goes all the way up my face!" the Doctor exclaimed. "I'm a Sasquatch!"
The Doctor ran over to the screen that was currently turned off to use as a mirror. In it, where he expected to see some form of Sasquatch, was instead a light brown pony.
"Oh I'm not a Sasquatch, I'm just a pony" the Doctor said in realization as he began to walk away. "Wait! A pony?"
The Doctor ran back over to the screen and started making faces in it. The image copied every move as he did it. The Doctor shrugged and said "ah well, stranger things have happened to me."
He looked at the reflection and started to move his hoof through his mane. "I still got it" he said confidently. "Too bad I'm not ginger. I wonder if they have ginger ponies."
The Doctor decided to have a look see on what planet he was on. He made his way through the doors of the TARDIS and closed them behind him and started walking. He had the key to the TARDIS on a string around his neck that he was wearing when he left. It was the only thing that still fit.
"Grass is green, trees are brown. It looks like Earth. The air is cleaner though, perhaps I am in a more primitive time, perhaps the Paleolithic Age" the Doctor mused.
He walked for less then a minute before he found himself on the outskirts of a town. It was a quaint little town with dirt roads. The Doctor did enjoy these kinds of places.
He walked into town and quickly found the town run by ponies. "Well that's new. Today is just full of surprises" the Doctor said with a smile as he walked further into town.
He walked past a bakery and turned to look inside. He remembered his lack of money started to move on. When he turned from the window however he was face to face with a pony with a grey coat and blonde mane. Though the two most noticeable feature this pony had seemed to be the fact that her eyes were just a little off and she had wings. In fact she was hovering in front of the Doctor with her wings.
"Hi there" the voice of the pony suggested it was female. The Doctor looked at the mare, her sudden appearance startling him.
"You speak English?" asked the Doctor.
"Well, duh. Why wouldn't I?" asked the mare. "My name is Derpy" she said with a smile.
"Uh, hello there Derpy. I am the Doctor" said the Doctor.
"Uh, Doctor? Doctor who?" asked Derpy.
"No actually, it's just the Doctor" he told her.
"Okay then. So you help ponies get better then?"
"Not quite. I'm not that kind of Doctor, Derpy."
"Then what do you do? Your cutie mark is an hourglass, are you a clock doctor?" asked Derpy as she pointed to the hourglass on his flank.
"A what doctor? My what?" asked the Doctor.
"Your cutie mark silly, what does it mean?"
The Doctor looked back and, just as Derpy had said, there was an hour glass image on his backside.
"Well now isn't that something, it's like a tattoo but, what did you call it miss Derpy?"
"A cutie mark, it represents the thing that makes you special. And you are special because heal hour glasses" Derpy said definitively.
"I don't think that's quite right" said the Doctor.
"But what else could it's mean. Your a doctor and your special talent has to do with hourglasses."
"Well I'm not a doctor, my name is the Doctor. And perhaps my, cutie mark was it, is a metaphor of some sort."
"Your weird Doctor" Derpy said.
"And don't you forget it" responded the Doctor, shooting Derpy a smile.
"So what are you doing just standing outside the window Doctor?" Derpy asked.
"Just having a look see" he said as he put on a fake smile.
"That's nonsense Doctor. If you're hungry just say so" Derpy said.
"I never talk nonsense. Well, hardly never" the Doctor told her.
Derpy rolled her eyes, a feat that seemed to take an extreme amount of coordination.
"So who are you Doctor? I mean besides your name" Derpy asked, a light, genuine smile on her face.
The Doctor couldn't say just lie to her, she seemed so nice. "I'm a time traveler. My time machine is out in the woods a little ways."
"What?"
"I travel through time" said the Doctor coolly, not expecting her to believe him.
"No no, not that. You said your time machine was in the forest right?" Derpy asked.
"Well yes but I don't see why that is the thing you are focusing on. I just said I can travel through time" the Doctor looked at Derpy, confusion on his face.
Derpy saw his confusement and elaborated "The Everfree forest is a dangerous place. Full of all sorts of monsters."
"Well that explains why it took me there, thank you for your time Derpy it's been wonderful but I must be off."
"wait, you aren't going back in there alone are you?" Derpy asked.
"Why? Did you want to come?" asked the Doctor.
"I, uh, I don't know' Derpy said nervously.
"Oh come on, it'll be fun"
"If you say so Doctor" Derpy said as she landed and trotted up next to the Doctor as they started to make their way back to his TARDIS.
It was a relatively short walk to the edge of the forest and even though Derpy was nervous she kept moving. It really wasn't all to scary once you were in it. That, and the Doctor practically radiated confidence. They walked in the forest for a few moments before they came across the familiar blue box.
"There she is, my time machine" said the Doctor with much gusto.
"it's made of wood Doctor" Derpy pointed out. "And why does it say police box on top?"
"Here let me show you" the Doctor said. He began to paw at the key around his neck with his hoof, to no avail. Derpy raised an eyebrow.
"Are you alright Doctor?" Derpy asked.
"Of course, a new body's like a new house - takes a little time to settle in, that's all" said the Doctor, still trying to grasp his key with his new hoof.
"Here Doctor, let me help" Derpy said as she lifted the key off his neck with ease and put it into the key hole in the door of the TARDIS. She decided to ignore what his last comment could possible mean, and just wrote it off to his abnormality.
"Thanks Derpy" said the Doctor as he walked over to the door. He tried to grab the key with a hoof but quickly ran into the same trouble. So instead he pinned the key between his two front hoofs and turned it. "ah-ha!" he exclaimed triumphantly.
The Doctor slowly pushed open the door and said "This Derpy, is how I get around the universe. I give you the TARDIS."
The door swung open reviling a large foyer beyond the wooden door. A room far to big to logically fit inside the small, square box.
"It's" Derpy began.
"Yes?" asked the Doctor.
"It's bigger on the inside" Derpy said in awe.
"Oh I love that part" the Doctor said to no pony in particular.
Derpy was flying around the outside of the box for a moment before going inside to make sure it wasn't an illusion.
"It's called a TARDIS. It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space" said the Doctor.
"That isn't a real word" Derpy accused.
"Yes it is. TARDIS' is a ... is a Gaelic word." said the Doctor defensively.
"A what?" Derpy asked.
"It grows on my home planet of Gallifrey" he told her.
"Where is Gallopfrey?" asked Derpy.
"What?" asked the Doctor, not sure if he had heard her right.
"Where is it, is it near Fillydelphia, or how about Baltimare?"
"Fillydelphia? Baltimare?" said the doctor, confused at first but quickly started to giggle uncontrollably.
"What's so funny?" asked Derpy.
"Oh it's nothing Derpy, don't worry about it"
"You sure are a strange pony Doctor" Derpy said as she continued to look around.
Once the Doctor's giggles had subsided he turned to Derpy, watching her look around at every corner, trying to figure it out.
"This is a cool trick and all Doctor, but I don't think this can really travel through time though" Derpy said, turning to face the Doctor.
"Oh yeah? Watch this" said the Doctor as he closed the TARDIS' doors and trotted over to the center console. After flipping a few switches and pulling a large lever there was a loud sound. The sound was unlike any Derpy had ever heard and after a few moment's it stopped and the Doctor lifted the lever back to it's original position.
"Look outside" said the Doctor. He had set it a few hours ahead so it would be night when she opened the doors.
She trotted towards the door and opened them. When she did however she was not met with Princess Luna's night sky in the Everfree Forest; rather she found herself looking out over a large frozen land. There was snow in every direction and just a short walk from the TARDIS was a small mountain.
The Doctor made his way outside the TARDIS and closed the doors. "Well this can't be right, it's day time."
Derpy looked at the Doctor incredulously, the Doctor just looked over at her and shrugged "I guess my calculations were a little off. Now come on, lets go check out the mountain."
Derpy sighed and moved along side the Doctor as they made their way up the trail. They made it to the top without any mishaps and the Doctor spent the short walk up listening to Derpy explain the secret to making perfect muffins.
When they reached the summit of the small mountain Derpy looked to the Doctor and said "There's nothing here."
The Doctor looked at her then motioned upward with his hoof. Derpy looked upward and saw what appeared to be very big, transparent ponies circling around in the sky, despite not having anything to put their hoofs on or any wings for that matter.
"Hello there!" yelled the Doctor.
The creatures started circling the Doctor now. "My name is the Doctor, and who are you?"
The creatures gave no reply but snow started to fall down on them. "I see. You're determined to be mysterious then? Very well, come on Derpy lets get out of here" the Doctor told Derpy.
The two started to make their way to the trail but the creatures kept circling them so the two started to run. "Here Derpy, take this" said the Doctor as he put his hoof through the string of his key necklace and handed it to Derpy. Derpy took it in her mouth and kept running.
"When we get to the TARDIS I need you to open it as soon as you can" said the Doctor.
Derpy reached the TARDIS first and had the door open as the Doctor had arrived.
"Blimey that was exciting" said the Doctor.
"Lets just go home Doctor" said Derpy.
Once again the Doctor made his way to the center console and flipped a few switches before pulling the large lever, it made the sound again and then Derpy looked outside.
There was no snow but there were a lot of trees. "Hay, where is all the buildings, where is Canterlot?" Derpy asked, pointing the side of a barren mountain side.
"Well it looks like we are back on the right planet but I think we got here a little early" said the Doctor.
"Well then lets get back in your machine" Derpy said.
"Derpy wait" came the Doctor quickly. Derpy stopped then turned to the Doctor and looked at him.
"I think there is something on the back of my head, can you check it for me really quick" asked the Doctor.
Derpy walked over to the Doctor and, sure enough, there was something on his head, it was a smaller one of the transparent creatures. The creature having been caught let go of the Doctor and flew off into the distance far to fast to keep up.
"Um Doctor, is that gonna be a problem" asked Derpy.
"Why I do believe it will be Derpy"
"We should have never gone on the mountain" Derpy said, kicking a hoof.
"You're right, curiosity has always been my downfall. But we might as well move on right, can't do anything about it now" said the Doctor.
"But you have a time machine" Derpy said.
"Time doesn't work that way, we were already there once, we can't cross our own timelines" the Doctor told her. "Well either way we might as well go a few days into the future when that little guy starts making it snow so we can find him easier."
"Good idea Doctor" Derpy said as she made her way to the TARDIS.
The Doctor went inside after her and activated the TARDIS for a third time.
When the TARDIS stopped again Derpy and the Doctor walked outside and looked around. There was a large snowy area not too far off, maybe a half hour walk.
"I think our little friend might be out that way" said the Doctor.
"Really?" asked Derpy sarcastically, giving a small smile at the Doctor. The Doctor laughed a bit.
"To the TARDIS?" she asked.
"Well we could but I might overshoot it again. It's not that far, are you okay with walking?" asked the Doctor.
"Sure, no problem Doctor" Derpy responded.
"Alright then, allons-y!" exclaimed the Doctor.
"A lone what?" asked Derpy.
"Allons-y, it means lets go" said the Doctor.
"Oh, alright then" said Derpy, more than a little confused.
They made their way through the trees towards the snow. Derpy could shake the feeling that it was all familiar. She was so distracted with her thoughts she walked right into a tree.
"Are you alright Derpy?" asked the Doctor. "Not just from the tree but you seem distracted. You know you can wait in the TARDIS if you'd like"
"It's not that Doctor, it's just that this all seems so familiar. I've never seen any creature like that before but it matches a description from an old ponies tale" Derpy said.
"An old ponies-tale?" asked the Doctor before starting to laugh again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry Derpy. What description do they fit" he asked between his laughs as he began to calm himself down. Once he finished laughing he cleared his throat.
"Well it's like that old story, you know, Hearth's Warming Eve. I think it's a Windigo, Doctor."
"What is a Windigo and how do you stop it. What are they capable of" asked the Doctor.
"Well the only story of them is in the Hearth's Warming Eve story. In it they were destroyed by the Fire of Friendship" Derpy said, trying to remember the old story. She had just seen a play reenacting it last Hearth's Warming Eve in Canterlot.
"The Fire of Friendship. Oh I like the sound of that. What exactly did it do?" asked the Doctor.
"In the story the Fire of Friendship was a magical pink flame that did away with the windigos and their hate-fueled snowstorm" said Derpy confidently.
"Hate-fueled snow storm? No wonder it sounded familiar" said the Doctor.
"Yeah" responded Derpy.
The two made their way to towards the snow storm. The noticed the center of it seemed to be coming from a large mountain. above the mountain there were three, full grown windigos circling the top.
"It would seem the like mountains" said the Doctor.
"Yeah but how come there are three now, and where is the little one?" asked Derpy.
"We might have been gone more than a few days" the Doctor mused.
"This is exactly like the story of the first Hearth's Warming Eve" said Derpy.
"Well then lets go watch the first Hearth's Warming Eve with our own eyes" said the Doctor with a smile.
The duo made their way to the mountain but by the time they were at the base a large, heart-shaped pinkie flame shot from somewhere up on the mountain, melting all the snow and making the windigos disappear to who knows where.
"Aww, we missed it" said the Doctor.
"Come on Doctor, I'll tell you what we missed" said Derpy.
As the two walked back Derpy told the Doctor the whole story of Hearth's Warming Eve. About the dispute of land, and about the three who weren't in charge finding common ground despite everything. They were just about to the TARDIS when Derpy had finished telling the story.
"That is absolutely fantastic. I love the idea of such peace, even during the hardships. Fantastic."
"Glad you liked it" Derpy said. She suddenly stopped in her tracks as she began to realize everything that had just happened. "Doctor, did we-" Derpy wasn't sure how to finish her sentence.
"What we did was give a few good folk the nudge they needed to have peace" said the Doctor with a smile.
"So we started Hearth's Warming Eve?" asked Derpy.
"It would seem so, neat huh? Though I wouldn't go around telling ponies that, they might think you're completely mental" said the Doctor with a smile. They were at the TARDIS now. Derpy opened it up and the two walked inside.
The Doctor went over to the center console and began to fiddle with the controls before pulling down the large lever. The noise started up again and when it stopped Derpy opened the doors and looked outside. The TARDIS was on the outskirts of the forest, the small town of Ponyville was in sight and the moon hung high overhead.
"This is where I was trying to go in the first place" said the Doctor lightly.
"Well that was something else Doctor" Derpy said.
"Are you kidding Derpy, that was easy, those other ponies did all the hard work for us."
"What are you going to do now?" asked Derpy.
"Well I was going to go back to earth but looking up I see the consolations are the same so reason would say that I am on earth" said the Doctor as he was tilting his head upward. "Maybe I'm in an parallel universe of some sort" the Doctor mused.
"So where will you go" asked Derpy.
"Out there Derpy, the universe is a big place, and I haven't seen any of this one yet. I have a feeling I'm going to like this place and it's inhabitants of whimsical talking colorful ponies" said the Doctor.
"When you go inside a town you might want a better name than the Doctor, if gives ponies the wrong idea" said Derpy.
"Oh, and what would you say is an appropriate name for a pony?" asked the Doctor.
Derpy paused for a moment, thinking about what would be a fitting name. "How about Time Turner?" she suggested.
"Sounds great, I've been using John Smith for long enough anyway" said the Doctor.
"Well that sure was fun Doctor" Derpy said.
"You say that like you're done. Are you not coming with me?" asked the Doctor.
"What?" asked Derpy.
"You can come with me, if you want to that is" said the Doctor as he walked over and pushed the TARDIS door open. "Well Derpy, what do you say?"
Derpy smiled wide, and as she ran for the TARDIS door she said "allons-y."
