Author's Note
Hi Solar Force here
First new story in a while, and this is one I've been wanting to do for a while. I'm writing this because, 1, I'm a huge Doctor Who fan, and 2, Season 11 and 12 were so awful! I know that sounds biased and petty, but I can't help I how I feel, and I'm sure any true fans who read this know how I feel. I do hope that anyone who reads this is able to enjoy it, and if not, then that's fine. I'm hoping this story will become the first of an epic series, spanning a few different arcs, and me Mad Page have already thought up some amazing ideas for future instalments.
The Doctor in this story will be my own 13th incarnation of him. Again, I hope you all enjoy.
Bye for now.
Prologue: Crash Down
In a dark, round room, with a narrow walkway around the edge, several bookshelves on the upper level, roundels on the walls, a high, curved ceiling, a white double door in one corner with a backwards sign above the door that read POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX, a six sided control console with a tall glass column in the middle that disappeared up into the ceiling, and two other control consoles on either side of it, a tall, grey haired man, in a slightly scruffy looking suit, stepped up to the console, a sad, tired look in his deep, ancient eyes, which were so much older than his slightly wrinkled, 60 something looking face. He pulled a lever on the console, and the whole room sprang into life. Lights flashed, three circles above the console, patterned with strange round glyph designs, began to spin, and a strange, whooshing, whirring sound filled the room.
Vrrorp!
Vrrorp!
Vrrorp!
He turned to look at one of the screens on the console, which displayed an image of deep space. A bright, distant galaxy, stretching across space like a shimmering, green aura. “Oh, there it is,” the man said in a deep, contemplative voice, with a distinct Scottish accent. “The silly old universe. The more I save it, the more It needs saving.” He paused, raising an eyebrow. “It’s a treadmill.” As he slowly edged his way around the console, a series of beeps and odd warping sounds were heard, and he let out a heavy sigh. “Yes, yes, I know,” He said, as if answering a voice that only he could hear. “They’ll get it all wrong without me.” The glass column in the middle of the console flashed and whirred, as if in answer. “Well, I suppose,” the man said in a quiet, resolute tone, as he went to lean on the console. “One more life, wouldn't kill anyone.” As he leaned against the console, he looked down at his right hand, which began to give off a bright, golden glow. “Except me,” He said sadly.
Suddenly, another sound was heard, a deep, booming bell, from somewhere deep within the bowels of the ancient, incredible machine that had been the man's home for so, so long. He knew this sound well, and he knew what it meant. He spun around on the spot a few times, before dashing over to a small staircase that led up to the upper walkway. “You wait a moment, Doctor,” He said as he reached the top of the stairs. “Let’s get it right.” He began making his way along the walkway, as his speech to the unseen ‘Doctor’ continued. “I’ve got a few things to say to you. Basic stuff first.” He stopped to briefly look out over the room, the deep bell continuing to ring. “Never be cruel! Never be cowardly!” He continued a bit further, before gesturing with his hand. “And never, ever eat pears!” He called out with a jovial smile. He walked even further. “Remember,” He stopped at the top of the staircase on the opposite side of the room. “Hate is always foolish,” He paused, before continuing in a low voice. “And love is always wise.” He descended the stairs, before circling the console once more. “Always try to be nice, but never fail to be kind,” He continued in an emotional voice. He stopped in front of the double doors. “Oh, and you mustn't tell anyone your name.” He gave a wistful smile. “No one would understand it anyway.” He walked past the console again. “Except-” He suddenly collapsed to the floor, groaning in pain, as he clasped a hand to his side. He kept himself steady with his other arm, before carrying on with his speech. “Except children. Children can hear it. Sometimes, if their hearts are in the right place, and the stars are too, children can hear your name.” He reached out a hand to grab the console, letting out a heavy groan, huffing with exertion. “But nobody else.” He finally dragged himself back to his feet. “Nobody else, ever.” He stood and pointed at the console, as his end drew near. “Laugh hard, run fast, be kind.” He remained silent for a few more moments, before, with a look of solemn resignation, he uttered what he knew would be his final words. “Doctor… I let you go.”
He leaned back, his arms spread wide, as his whole body was suddenly engulfed in an explosion of golden light. Ribbons of energy flared from his head and hands, as the room was suddenly filled with sparks and smoke. The energy picked up in intensity, as the console room continued to flare and spark, until, suddenly, everything seemed to warp and blur, and time seemed to slow to a crawl. For a moment, everything was suspended, as if someone watching the events had hit the pause button. Then, there was a blinding flash, before time resumed. The man's face began to change in an extraordinary way, becoming rounder, and younger. His eyes seemed to become bigger and wider. His nose became smaller and almost pointed. His skin colour seemed to change to an almost unnatural hue. His hair became longer, stretching down slightly past his shoulders, also changing colour. He also became slightly shorter too.
At last, the transformation ended, as the ribbons of golden energy dissipated.
There stood the new man, as he gazed wide eyed at his surroundings. The console was burnt and smoking, and everything else was a bit of a mess, but besides that, he couldn’t help feeling something was off. The room basically looked the same, but something was different about it, something… odd. But that wasn’t his priority right now. He stumbled to the console and pulled one of the monitors toward him, which was buzzing slightly with static, to take his first look at his new face. What he saw almost made him recoil in shock. Staring back at him was a young man. Very young, almost a boy. In human years, he probably looked somewhere between 20 and 25 years old. But he had looked young before, so that wasn’t the most shocking thing. The most shocking thing was everything else about his face. He slowly raised his hand to his cheek, eyes wide in disbelief. His skin colour was… a deep, sunburnt orange! His eyes looked almost comically big, and were a shimmering emerald green. His nose was tiny! Even his ears looked smaller and more round. His hair was now longer, a little bit scruffy looking, and a slightly lighter shade of… His face split in a wild, delirious smile, as he began to snicker, then chuckle, before he threw back his head and laughed, loud and long.
“AHH, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!! GINGER!!” He yelled in absolute joy. “I’M FINALLY GINGER!!” He ran his new hands through his new hair, admiring his shiny new auburn locks. “Oh, I’ve been waiting so long for this!” He then paused to examine himself more closely. “Well, still though, this is pretty weird. I look like a child coloured me in with a really large orange crayon! What’s that about? As for the rest of me, why do I look like so… almost… cutesy? And come on, why do I look so young? I’m practically baby faced. How will anyone take me seriously like this?” His musing about his appearance was cut short, when he heard the deep, booming bell still sounding all around him. “Oh, right, yes!” He pressed a button on the console… and everything lurched violently as the whole room was bathed in red emergency lights, and warning alarms rang all around him. He was thrown back from the console against the railing behind him, as the whole room shook and tilted in all directions. Books flew off their shelves. Assorted objects placed around the upper level fell to the floor, smashing to pieces. The console sparked and smoked even worse than before, as long cracks appeared in the central glass column. It was chaos!
And amidst it all, the newly regenerated Time Lord, known simply as The Doctor, held on for dear life, grinning like a madman.
“Well! Here we go again!”
Outside, in the vacuum of space, a small blue box tumbled end over end, as it plummeted down toward a small, mostly blue planet.
In a small, but cosy apartment, a young, teenage girl, with amber coloured skin, fiery red hair with yellow streaks, and turquoise coloured eyes, was getting ready for bed. She was dressed in light purple/pink pyjamas with orange and yellow stripes on each leg, a red collar, and a red and yellow sun emblem on her top. It had been a long day for her, and she was looking forward to a good night's sleep. She climbed the steps up to the small loft which acted as her bedroom, and slumped down on her bed.
“Oh, man, that test today was a killer,” she muttered. “And Pinkie setting off those party poppers in class wasn’t exactly helpful.” She rolled her eyes. “You’d think she could tone it down every once in a while.” But then she gave a small smile and chuckled. “He, he, nah, if she did that, she wouldn’t be Pinkie Pie anymore. And really, I wouldn’t have her any other way.” Her smile became soft and warm. “Not her, or any of my friends. Besides, it’s the weekend. Tomorrow, I can just relax and hang out with the girls.” She then let out a long yawn. “But, before that, time for sleep.” She sat up, pulled back the covers, and slipped underneath them. She laid her head on her pillow, let out a weary sigh, and closed her eyes.
They didn’t stay closed for long. They opened slowly, as a strange noise reached her ears, a whooshing, rushing noise, as if something was moving very, very fast. She tried to ignore it and fall asleep, but the noise just got louder and louder, until it came to an abrupt halt, ending with an almighty CRASH!!, followed by the loud, high pitched squeal of a car alarm. She sat up with a jolt, her eyes wide with shock. “What in Celestia’s name was that?!” She shouted. “It sounded like a plane crash or something!” She jumped out of bed, put on her slippers, and headed down to the lower living area of her apartment. She looked all around, inspecting for any damage. A couple of her belongings had been a bit dislodged, but otherwise, everything seemed fine. She then groaned as the car alarm continued to whine. “Oh, shut up, I’ll be right there,” She muttered as she went to grab her car keys, and headed outside.
Once she stepped out of her front door, she stepped down to the sidewalk, brandishing her keys, and pressing the button on the fob, the alarm fizzling out. She was about to head back into her apartment, when she stopped in her tracks and turned back toward the road, her eyes going wide in shock. “What the hell?! What happened to my car?!” Indeed, the small 2 seat car that was parked beside the sidewalk was a wreck. The windscreen and windows were smashed, and the roof had caved in slightly. But the most shocking thing of all was what was perched on top of the wreck. A tall, blue, wooden box? “What the hell?” She whispered. Could this have been from that crash she heard? But how could that be? She looked up at the sign above the double doors. “What’s a Police Public Call Box?” She slowly reached up for the handle on the double doors, when suddenly, the left hand door swung open with an audible creak, and a plume of smoke came billowing out into the cool night air. The girl coughed and sputtered, trying to blow the smoke away with her hands. As the smoke cleared, she got another shock, as someone stumbled out of the door. It was a young man, with deep orange skin, bright green eyes, and long, slightly shaggy, deep ginger, almost red hair. He was dressed in a dark, slightly scruffy suit, which she couldn’t help noticing, looked at least one, maybe two sizes too big for him. All she could do was stare as the man's eyes met hers, as he looked down at her, and he gave her a slightly manic grin.
“Oh, hello,” He said in an odd accent. “You're a curious thing, aren’t you? What pretty colours you are. Is that natural of your species?” Before Sunset could answer, he thrust his hand out for her to shake. “Nice to meet you. I’m the… I’m the…” His eyes suddenly rolled back into his head, as he fell out of the door, collapsing to the ground in a heap. As soon as he hit the ground, the box door swung shut by itself, and a click was heard, indicating it was now locked.
The girl quickly got to her knees, examining the man's face with worry, and checking his pulse with her fingers. “Hey? Hey! Are you alright?” The man didn’t respond. He was definitely alive, but he was out cold. She had found his pulse, but it was strange, his heart seemed to be beating particularly fast. Almost too fast, the rhythm seemed wrong. She looked up and down the street wondering what she should do. There was no one else about. Should she call for an ambulance? Under normal circumstances, she would do just that, but these were not normal circumstances. This whole situation was just raising too many questions. Who was this man? What was he doing in that blue box? Where had both he and the box come from? From all the visible evidence, it was like they had just… fallen out of the sky. She suddenly felt a burst of anger. If they fall from the sky, why did they have to fall on her car? She’d only just gotten it! She shook herself to clear her head. She’d deal with that problem later. But right now, there was definitely something very strange going on here, and if there was one thing she and her friends knew about, it was strange things happening. There was only one thing to do. Grabbing his arm, and placing it over her shoulders, lifting him up from the ground, groaning. “Geez, I wish Applejack was here right now,” She grumbled as she dragged him into her apartment.
Once she got back inside, she dragged the man over to her couch, and carefully dropped him on it, huffing in exhaustion. “Huh, who would think someone so slim would be so heavy,” She muttered, looking down at the oddly dressed stranger now sprawled out on her couch. “What am I supposed to do now? I guess there’s nothing to do until you wake up.” She then let out a heavy yawn. “Speaking of waking up.” She looked down at her unexpected house guest and frowned. “You owe me for this, and for my car.” She then headed over to the stairs, heading back up to the loft and flopped down on her bed. “I’ll call the girls in the morning. This could be something I’ll need their help with.” She pulled the covers back over herself, and quickly fell asleep.
Down on her couch, the new Doctor appeared to be sleeping, as wisps of golden mist seeped from his lips.
Outside the apartment, on a rooftop on the opposite side of the street, stood a tall statue, in the shape of a woman, wearing a long flowing dress, and with large wings, like an angel. She had her hands over her eyes, like she was weeping.
One moment, the statue was there.
The next, It had vanished.
To Be Continued...
