It's Bigger on the Inside

It’s Bigger on the Inside

Chapter 6: The Wrong Order

The purple aura subsided from the respective bags of the six ponies boarding the royal train. Once the aura subsided, Twilight Sparkle joined her friends in the passenger carriage just as the train’s whistle went off, signaling their departure. Everypony was swarming The Doctor, practically dying to know more about him. One question stuck out in particular to both Twilight and The Doctor.

“What’s it like on your planet?” Silence fell as everypony else was wondering the same thing. They all waited for an answer from The Doctor.

“It was… beautiful. The skies were a deep auburn color; the tree’s had silver leaves that shone brightly in the moonlight. They used to call it the Shining World of the Seven Systems, and on the continent of Wild Endeavour, in the mountains of Solace and Solitude; there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords. A magnificent tower that was once a home to all Time Lords on Gallifrey, it reached far above the grey clouds, a glorious, transparent dome encompassing its entirety. It was so beautiful that the Time Lords recreated it eight times.” The Doctor trailed off, obviously reminiscing of home.

“How come you said that all in the past tense?” Pinkie Pie asked, curious as ever. The Doctor’s expression darkened. He seemed to be more serious than ever.

“Because it’s gone; all of it gone, my people, my home, all destroyed. I’m the last Time Lord.” The frantic questioning stopped after this solemn moment. Everyone remained silent for a while, even Pinkie Pie. About halfway through the trip the conversation slowly started up again. Twilight, being curious as to how his people recreated an entire planet, struck up a conversation with The Doctor.

“How did the Time Lords recreate an entire planet.” Twilight asked, not wanting to bring up the bad memories The Doctor had of his homeworld. The Doctor looked up at Twilight and paused a moment before speaking.

“They used a process called Crypto-forming. I’m not really sure how it works, but it changes another planet so much that it becomes exactly like you want it to be. They created the Nine Homeworlds as a form of protection and strategy. A cunning ruse if I’ve ever seen one.”

“That’s amazing.” Twilight replied at a complete loss for words. A moment later the train came to a halt in front of Canterlot station. The seven ponies exited the train and acquired their luggage. They loaded it onto a taxi carriage and made their way towards Canterlot castle. The Doctor admired the castle built into a mountainside as the carriage bounced along the road.

“Building into the side of a mountain, why didn’t we think of that? It’s brilliant.”

Soon the taxi arrived outside of Canterlot castle. The royal guards at the gate recognized Twilight and her associated friends and let them through. They were then escorted to the throne room by a couple more guards. Once the seven ponies arrived at the towering doors to the throne room, they were ushered in by a few guards.

“Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student, it’s so good to see you.” Twilight approached the princess and leaned into her.

“It’s good to see you too Princess.” Twilight responded, backing away from the princess to stand at an appropriate speaking distance. Princess Celestia looked up from Twilight to the group of six ponies. Her eyes fell upon a brown colt with an hourglass cutie mark. She puzzled for a moment, trying to recall who this pony resembled.

“Doctor, Is that really you? You’re the pony that invited Twilight to travel the universe?” The Doctor looked around wondering if the Princess was addressing him. He finally realized this was the case and responded accordingly.

“I’m sorry have we met before? Being a time traveler and all, things tend to happen in the wrong order.” The Doctor replied almost methodically as this situation seemed to pop up often.

“Oh. I see, well then, I hope you’ll see the past me soon.”

“Likewise.” The Doctor answered.

“Well Twilight, seeing as I already know this pony, I think it’d be more than acceptable to have you travel with The Doctor, I trust him completely.”

“If you don’t mind me asking Celestia how do you know him?” Twilight asked her mentor with those eyes, eyes seeking knowledge. Celestia couldn’t refuse.

“It’s highly classified information, but I suppose I could tell you ponies.” she said just before waving the guards out of the room. Once they had left and the door was shut she began to tell the story of how she and Luna knew The Doctor.

“Well you see, the Griffins aren’t actually from this planet.” she paused, thinking about what to say next. “About one-thousand two hundred years ago the last of the Griffin’s appeared on Equestria, The Doctor was close behind. The Griffin’s were actually once a highly advanced society who lived on a planet very far from Equestria. They were almost destroyed by a race known as the Daleks, and when they arrived they were extremely hostile towards us ponies, seeing themselves superior to us. They attempted to take over Equestria and rebuild their society. However, The Doctor stopped them and diffused hostilities. The Griffins were integrated into our society and we have been living peacefully ever since.”

“Wow. I had no idea.” Twilight said, slightly astounded that such a big piece of history was missing from the books.

“Good, you were supposed to.” The Princess said, winking at Twilight.

“In your letter you mentioned you used to travel the universe. How? You don’t seem to have the technology capable of intergalactic travel.” The Doctor asked, wondering how Celestia had traveled the universe without a Time-Space Vessel.

“Well yes, I did, after you helped with the Griffins you took Luna and I on a couple trips.” Celestia responded.

“I hate when things happen in the wrong order.” Everypony laughed and conversed for a while more, before heading off to the rooms that Celestia had prepared.

********

The Doctor awoke in the middle of the night; he couldn’t sleep a wink. He remembered Twilight mentioning an observatory in the castle, so he asked some of the night guards where he might find it, and they were hesitant until they received word that he was with Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony. When the guards mentioned the term “Elements of Harmony” The Doctor made a mental note to ask Twilight what they were. Within a few minutes The Doctor arrived at the observatory to find another alicorn, much like Princess Celestia. She possessed a dark grey-blue coat and a flowing mane, also akin to Celestia’s, that seemed to hold the night sky itself within it. He approached silently, not wanting to disturb the mare, who seemed to be studying the night sky.

“You don’t have to be so quiet.” the mare said as The Doctor watched from the entrance. She set down her quill and turned. As her eyes fell on The Doctor her expression changed. A smile spread across her face and her eyes seemed to beam with the light of a supernova. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you Doctor…”

“Well I’m sorry to inform you, I’ve never met you before. I’m sure you understand that as a time traveler things tend to happen in the wrong order.”

“Well in that case I’m Princess Luna, please forgo the title, I find it too formal.” The Princess said as the Doctor approached the table where she was working. He eyed her notes on approach, noticing her study of a constellation that he knew could be seen from this planet. This constellation in particular was the Kasterborous constellation.

“You seem to be studying constellations. Any reason in particular you were studying this one?” The Doctor questioned, placing his hoof on a diagram the mare had drawn.

“Oh this? I was just thinking of naming it. Being Celestia’s co-ruler, I have command over the moon and night, which in this case also includes stars and constellations. Most astronomers ask me to name their discoveries.

“Might I suggest a name?” The Doctor puzzled, anticipating a response from Luna.

“Why the sudden interest in this constellation?” Luna responded, answering The Doctor’s question with a question. The brown earth pony paused a moment and looked down at his hooves. It was always a touchy subject; he was always wondering how to put it.

“Well, you see Luna, this constellation is where my home planet resided. The Time Lords already have a name for it. It’s called Kasterborous.”

“When you say resided do you mean that your home planet does not reside there anymore? What happened to it?”

“It was destroyed in a great war, The Last Great Time War. I’m the last of my people.” The Doctor answered for what seemed like the tenth time that day; each time as solemn as the last.

“I’m so sorry Doctor. What kept you from telling me such a thing when we traveled together?” Luna questioned.

“Like I said, wrong order, I had already told you; just now.”

“Right.” Luna returned, affirming her understanding of the situation. “So what brings you to the observatory at such a time? The only ponies usually awake at such an hour are the night guards, scholars studying late into the night, and myself.”

“I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to stargaze. This planet is – interesting - I wanted to study it.”

Luna thought for a moment before deciding to put forth a proposition. “Well I could give you a crash course if you’d like. I rarely ever get any company during the night, and the guards are such bores. Always ‘Your Majesty’ this and ‘Princess’ that, never any relaxation it seems.” The Doctor pondered her offer for a moment before giving an answer.

“That sounds quite alright.” Luna and The Doctor looked into the night sky for hours, sharing their knowledge about the universe. Eventually The Doctor grew drowsy and retired to his room. The Doctor would need his sleep. They departed tomorrow.