Time-Space is Magic: When the Doctor drops in…

by Songue

Rating: everyone
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash, Doctor Whooves, Comedy, Random, Adventure, Derpy Hooves, Pinkie Pie, Crossover
Length: 4901

Part 1 of a longer arc of short stories, partly inspired by Andrew Joshua Talon's "Vale Decem

You see, I just read Doctor Whoof: Vale Decem Equis, by Andrew J. Talo, and he wrote the following:

Author's Note: This is not a beginning nor an end to a story. It's more of a bridge in the overall Doctor Whoof fandom metaverse for all the Doctor Whoof stories assuming a number of similarities between them. If it fits for your story, use it. If not, don't. You can write up to it, or write after it. Either way, consider it a gift to Bronies and Whovians alike.

So, this is my take on his story, I hope you people like it!

And I hopefully will write more.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, I do not own My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic or Doctor Who.

Published 2012-09-27 06:44:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-27 06:44:01 UTC

When the Doctor drops in...

Somewhere, under the Everfree Forest...

Electrical sparks and explosions were firing all around the group of creatures running as fast as they could, another corridor in an already mesmerizing maze of metal walls and strange lights.

Behind them, several mechanical shouts of extreme hate, shouts that had been perpetuated through out galaxies and eras, the word that many have heard before their excruciating deaths.

"EXTERMINATE!"

"Doctor!", cried the one on the front, a female purple equine of small stature, possessor of a most significant and powerful horn. "You said the 'random pulse emitter' would paralyze them!"

The one called 'the Doctor' was a colt, of the same height but with brown fur and wearing a blue pinstripe suit and green tie, was running at the back of the group, for the sake of its protection.

He yelled back, rather thrilled: "I said that 'it COULD paralyze them', but – as proven –Daleks can be rather difficult to obstruct for a long period of time."

"Or any time at all!", complemented another equine, this one gifted with wings and a most charming golden hue in her irises, although mismatched in their own sense of direction.

"In my defense, I did my best with what I had to work with", he argued back, slightly offended, searching through his pockets. "Show me someone who could build a better random pulse emitter out of an old oven, a cart and a kettle and you'll probably have found a future version of myself – Aha!"

The Doctor pulled out a silver instrument and pointed at the closed bulk doors ahead of them, flashed at them and getting a clear passage.

When the group of four passed safely through them, the Doctor made another flashing signal, this time not only closing them, but adding a trail of molten metal, running between the doors.

"That's got to buy us some time!", he announced proudly.

Loud pounds followed suit – and the doors started to bend inwards.

"Or rather none at all, I reckon."

A loud clang, followed by another loud and sudden silence.

"Who is it?", gleefully asked another one of the escapees, the pink colored mare that ran back to the doors.

"Pinkie!", the group yelled in unison, realizing their friend stayed behind.

The voice on the other side repeated the same chanting as before – "EXTERMINATE!"

"'Exterminate' who?", she giggly followed.

"Us, Pinkie Pie!", the Doctor yelled, back and pushing the pink pony forward. "But nopony dies today, not if I can help it!"

They took a left turn – the grey Pegasus got it wrong but quickly rejoined the group – and ended up in what appeared to be a cargo area.

"Doctor! Nowhere out!", yelled the purple mare, known as Twilight Sparkle.

"No such a thing, Miss Sparkle!", he said, pointing his sonic screwdriver toward a wall. A small grate popped off down, producing a small ventilation shaft. "There is ALWAYS a way out, with me. Quick, get inside it!"

The grey Pegasus, Ditzy Doo, her wings folded, crawled along with the pink mare, while Twilight Sparkle suddenly stopped midway and wondered: "Why would the Daleks need a ventilation shaft, don't they float around in those closed armored carts?"

"Miss Sparkle, less questioning, more allons-ying, shall we?"

"Oh! Right!"

The crossing of the narrow passage proved to be quite a feat, even for such small equines (with the occasional bumping of head and horn), but they soon end up in another room, which the Doctor happily pointed as the "Secondary Transmat Control Chamber".

"Brilliant!", he said, using his screwdriver to lock the chamber's door.

Then he noticed everypony staring at him. So, he quickly amended: "It's the Teleportation room."

"A way out!", cheered the purple unicorn, while Pinkie Pie was already at a console, pushing buttons and pulling levers.

"Oooh! Can we take one of this home? Can we? Can we? Imagine all the fun we could have in the parties!"

"PINKIE!", the Doctor yelled, desperate.

"No worries, silly, it's off, look! No blinking lights or funny noises either!"

"'No worries'? Pinkie, if it's off, we cannot use it!", Twilight tried explaining.

"Oh. Than it IS kind of bad, yeah."

"Celestia, give me strength…", Twilight muttered.

Ditzy landed right next to the Doctor, her eyes almost focusing on the console he was now dismantling. "Doctor, can you fix the tras… tans… trasn… the machiney?"

"Not much of a matter of fixing, dear Derpy –"

"Ditzy."

" – if we can't turn it on! The Daleks must have shut down all energy on this section, very smart of them, they must have set the trap after I soniced the bulk doors against them", the Doctor continued. "But! The Daleks made a fortuitous mistake, for we have with us our own alternate power source!"

The mares stared at him and stared among themselves.

Twilight made the connection first.

"Me?"

"Indeed, Miss Sparkle! You – and your pony-horny-magic! Wait, that came out wrong…"

"But, but my magic is not strong enough for magical teleportation – well, not for all of us!"

"Twilight Sparkle, for such a proud student of Princess Celestia and the Holder of the Element of Magic herself, you sell yourself too short!", the Doctor pulled a couple of cables out of the floor and started wrapping it around Twilight's horn. "You may not have the ability to use such powerful spells just yet, but I'm going to tap into your latent reserves of magic, that shall give us enough power to get us to the Moon! Oh, we have to visit the Moon after this is all over!."

Twilight blinked, trying to process this new information about her. "Latent?", she asked confused.

"Are you saying Twilight can get way more awesome with her magic, Doctor?", asked Pinkie Pie with huge eyes.

"Exactly that, my equine companion!"

"Woah…"

"The Force is strong in this one."

The Doctor stopped and stared at the source of those raspy words, Ditzy Doo, also known as 'Derpy Hooves', bubbling excited at the console, now in pieces on the floor.

"What did you just say, dear?", asked the Doctor, stunned.

Ditzy took notice of him, her wall eyes staring at both the ceiling and the floor, a moment of thinking and asked in return: "…muffin?"

The Doctor took in her sincere expression. "Oh, never mind!"

"And I thought Pinkie was the weird one…", commented Twilight. "Doctor, you say I have potential magic, but that's the thing – I don't!"

"And I say you do. Hold still", he buzzed at one of the deactivated transmat platforms, which suddenly sprang into working. "It's only a matter of accessing it"

"Well, how can you then? And on this topic, why can't I?"

"First, we will have to jump start your 'magical engine'!", and, on cue, Pinkie Pie and Ditzy Doo followed, jumping and bouncing by Twilight's sides.

"Not what I meant, fillies!"

"'Jump start my magical', what? What does that even mean?"

The Doctor sighed, rubbing a hoof on his own forehead. "You see, Miss Sparkle, there are ponies, like yourself, who are naturally gifted in magic…"

"I always thought it was my hard-work."

"That's half of it, but it helps to have a body that produces abnormally large quantities of, let's call it 'Magical Radiation'. The reason you don't use it is because you can't, your body is holding you back, protecting you, creating limitations that you'll overcome with years of studying and practicing. Those limitations are good, since, you know, you don't want to spontaneously combust out of excess of magical radiation. However, since we don't have years for you to learn how to tap into your reserves before the Daleks find a way around this room, I'll help you break down those natural limitations."

"Break down?"

"It doesn't sound safe!", Pinkie added.

"It's only temporarily, of course! And these wires I'm connecting to your horn will serve as a 'lighting rod' towards the perfect thunderstorm we are about to unleash, diverting the magical leak out of your horn and straight to the power converters of the platforms, generating sufficient sustained output to teleport us all the way to Ponyville", the Doctor said, and that would have given Twilight Sparkle so much relief, had he not added: "… hopefully".

"Hopefully?"

"Positive thinking, Miss Sparkle! Visualize success and you'll succeed!"

"What happens if she doesn't, Doctor?", asked a slightly worried Pinkie.

"Well, Miss Pie, we won't have to worry about being exterminated by the Daleks, surely."

"Thanks, Doctor, I feel so positive now…", Twilight added, wide eyed.

"That's the spirit, Twilight! Derpy!"

"Ditzy."

"Stop chewing the cable and stand back. Pinkie Pie, restrain yourself from any sudden urge to burst out singing, we so don't have the time right now for spontaneous and cleverly catchy songs! Everypony, onto the first platform"

The group gathered with enough room for all of them. The Doctor put together the console, gave a satisfactory nod and ran to the side of Twilight.

"Now, Miss Sparkle, the fun part!"

"Fun part?", she asked, before receiving a quick headbutt from the Doctor.

The colt lay down his head, rubbing it with his hooves complaining about "… reinforced cranial structure for the horn, should have known!".

Twilight was silent, eyes out of focus, her fur getting suddenly static. She could feel it, like a very distant thumping noise, getting louder and closer…

"Daleks!", yelled Ditzy Doo, as the locked doors were flung away into the opposite wall.

"Doctor!", Pinkie shouted, pulling back the Pegasus.

The male pony made contact with his sonic screwdriver against his companion's horn, as she started to shine with purple energy.

"Twilight, sparkle away!", the Doctor ordered as soon as the Daleks entered the room, sliding in inside their mechanical casing, pointing their weapons to each pony.

"EXTERMINATE!"

The magic pulse ran along the wires, straight to the console and back beneath their hooves, while simultaneously a blueish beam erupted from a Dalek's 'arm', aiming straight at the Doctor.

In what appeared to be ages, a sudden light enveloped the group of ponies, as the beam went straight toward the Doctor's left heart. The colt recoiled, but the killing blow was stop centimeters away, by the glowing appendage of Twilight.

Pinkie Pie was tossed back along with Ditzy, as if they were caught in an explosion. The Doctor, who did not anticipate Twilight's saving move, was also caught by the blast, rolling backwards.

The Dalek beam split in many other beams, each, contrary to what would be expected, shooting at random direction with many times more power than the original shot.

The light shone the brightest, and Twilight lost focus. She was blind and deaf, the thumping noise echoed all over her body.

She spread her body and her right front hoof was caught by someone. Fearing the Daleks, she instinctively pulled back, but the grip was strong. She tried fighting it, until she heard the combine voices of her friends yelling her name.

"TWILIGHT!"

The unicorn opened her eyes, and could not believe what she was seeing.

"Where… WHERE ARE WE?", she yelled.

Like a tornado, everything around her – whatever it was – twisted and spun, getting pulled apart. And she was at the center of it all, no long attached to the wires, with her friends literally clinging to their dear lives onto her, with the Doctor grabbing her hoof, Pinkie Pie holding on his tail, while Ditzy was the furthest, hanging by Pinkie Pie's tail like a kite caught in a storm.

There were Daleks and pieces of the ship all around them, tossed around by the strange matter that move around, red hot like lava, then purple and fluid, then grey and foggy like thunderclouds.

She could not believe it, watching the mighty Daleks getting crushed like cans or stretched away as if they were made of bubblegum. Explosions happened and unhappened all around, and some chunks of wall, flying around them like comets, instantaneously turned into dust, in a blink of an eye.

"The Time Vortex!", the Doctor shouted, trying to pull Pinkie and Ditzy closer. "We accidentally opened a portal into Time itself! FAN-TAS-TIC!"

"Doctor!", Twilight scream, both angry and terrified.

She felt their comfort zone, floating in the middle of the maelstrom, was starting to slip, as the ponies clinging to her started to weight more and more.

"Pinkie! Are you okay?", Twilight asked worried.

Her friend nodded: "It's always so much fun with the Doctor! Right, Ditzy?"

The Pegasus was humming, very relaxed, despite the fact below her was what seemed to be a rather painfully lethal end.

"Twilight Sparkle, let me just say, you are amazing! Your magical radiation is instinctively creating a stable bubble of personal time, a miniature 'Eye of Harmony' in yourself, that's how amazing you are! We need you to continue releasing your magic like before, as long as you can, all right?"

Twilight nodded, and just as soon as she concentrated in her horn, she could fell the floating sensation again.

"Listen, everypony! We cannot touch the walls of the Vortex since we are not protected against the maelstrom of conflicting parallel timelines. As long as we stay inside the center of the timestorm, we will be fine! Well! Not fine, we might get caught in a time divergence or be rammed by temporal transcending vessels, but I'm fairly sure something like that… yeah, anyhoof, just no touching walls!"

Pinkie Pie asked what Twilight feared to: "What happens when Twilight runs out of power?"

"One problem at a time, Miss Pie", the Doctor said and turned towards Twilight. "Just keep focusing, dear, you're doing just fine! Now, we need to locate some fortuitous opening in the fabric of reality and we can slide off the Time Vortex!"

"What is the chance of that happening?", she asked, the stress starting to show faster than the Doctor had expected.

"Normally?", he gave a little thought. "Just as much as of me suddenly craving for pears."

"Not that good, then", the unicorn already had a little sweat running on her forehead.

"Do you hear that song?", Ditzy asked absentmindedly.

"Pinkie!", the Doctor complained. "I already told you: no songs!"

"It's not me, Doctor! Wait… I can hear it too! Oh, it's such a beautiful voice!", she commented dreamingly. "I can't get the lyrics, but it's…"

"It is, right?", asked Ditzy, and both mares giggled.

"What are you two… talking…", the Doctor's face went from annoyed to astonished. "Oh, brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Miss Sparkle, new plan!"

"What?"

"Stop your magic!"

"WHAT?", she yelled. "But what about the whole 'no touching the Vortex'?"

"That was before. Now, falling into the Vortex is good! Trust me!"

Twilight looked at the Doctor's eyes.

There was no madness there.

Only trust.

"… ok", and as soon as she stopped her magic from flowing, the entire group fell like a rock into the well.

Twilight could see her life flashing through her eyes, the day when she met Princess Celestia, the day she arrived at Ponyville, the eternal night and Nightmare Moon, the Elements of Harmony, awaken.

The day she met the Doctor.

Twilight noticed it, just as they were about to touch a shining part of the Vortex, the song, the one Ditzy heard, than Pinkie, than the Doctor. The song that gave him hope and a new plan.

It was like a collection of voices, actually singing at the same time, with golden notes and sweet chords, verses that had sound, color and even aroma.

The most beautiful and powerful song she had ever heard.

Just as abruptly, she felt her body roll down on a solid metallic surface, the familiar humming noise and warm atmosphere telling her the impossible place she had just arrived.

But that was impossible. Or, rather, as the Doctor would say 'improbable'.

She rose, all her friends counted and still shaken from the fall but none of them hurt. They were inside a ship, but not any kind of ship, a magic ship, bigger on the inside and all.

The TARDIS, the Doctor oldest companion.

Twilight Sparkle realized what had happened, as soon as she had seen the open door, the vortex swirling on the outside. They had fallen, with the perfect timing to get safely inside the TARDIS.

That was the song of TARDIS, signaling for them, telling them to let go. The song of time itself.

But, there was something different around them. The TARDIS looked and felt… different from those previous times.

It was changed.

"Oh, my, are you alright?", a sweet and caring voice asked, and the ponies stared at the direction from where it came.

Coming down the stairs from the main console, a tall equine trotted closer to them, dark indigo coat, light purple mane, a long horn and short yet strong wings closed.

She wore a straw hat, a 'panama hat', if Twilight remembered from Rarity's comments, with a purple daisy on the side, the same color as her mane.

"No…", the Doctor said, both surprised and delighted.

But it had to be, as the white moon cutie mark proved her identity.

"P-Princess Luna?", asked Twilight, quickly standing up, but not strong enough, falling back on her knees.

"Twilight Sparkle! Pinkie Pie! Ditzy Doo!", Luna cheered. Twilight had never seen the Moon Princess act so… serene. "Oh, I'm so happy to see you fillies again! It's been such a long time!"

"Doctor…"

"Yes, Twilight, I can see that", he said with a smile. "What I lack in the present moment is the capacity to formulate any theories on what is going on, so I suggest we just… 'roll with it'."

The ponies were reasonably speechless. Princess Luna, younger sister of Celestia, was not really a jolly pony. They had seen her happy before, surely, but now, her demeanor had really improved.

Pinkie Pie rambled: "Maybe we landed in an alternate universe, where Princess Luna is real nice, not trying to create an eternal night, and the Doctor has a goatee, therefore he's evil, duh, oh! Would he be the Master instead of the Doctor? But that would make Princess Luna the Nightmare Moon of goodness? Can you have good nightmares?..."

Surprisingly not irritated by those comments, Luna was playing around with Ditzy Doo, messing with her yellow mane while the little Pegasus was firing questions.

"Princess? Where did you get that hat? I've seen it before! Is this really an alternate universe? Do you have alternate universe muffins? Where's the Doctor? Why are you so calm?"

"Princess Luna… brought the TARDIS?", Twilight wondered to her friend.

The Doctor pondered, "No, the TARDIS can only be piloted by Time Lords, not Moon Princesses", then quickly followed, taking in a good look around. "Ditzy, please, don't… overexert our savior",

"Oh, ok… sorry", she added meekly.

"That's quite all right, little Doo. I'm also happy to see you safe and sound. The Doctor told me not to worry, but I just…"

"Now that you mention it, I seem to be missing. Well, future-me, I mean."

Luna gave a happy nod.

"Never distracted, are you, Doctor?"

"You wish…", commented Twilight, which actually made Luna giggle.

Silence in the room, except for the crystal pillar still shifting inside the main console.

"Ooh…", Pinkie Pie punctuated, with awe.

"The Doctor, well, my Doctor told me we were rescuing your younger selves, but I forgot how things used to be, in the early days. I understand you only ever knew me as… a much more reclusive mare."

The Doctor nodded. "Well, at our present time, you've been learning how to be more cheerful after that whole Nightmare Night mess... and less…"

Luna helped him: "The over-the-top egomaniac mare bent on taking over the world?"

"OF COURSE", said the chorus of Ditzy Doo and Pinkie Pie.

That made Luna giggled once more.

"Oh, how delightful is to see you again, so juvenile!"

Pinkie Pie took that comment and became just a tad sadder: "Oh, yeah, that reminds me, sorry again about causing that panic on the foals during the Nightmare Night…"

"No, no, Miss Pinkamena! We have already been through that, no hard feelings! It was a time of learning, for all of us! So cheer up!"

"Ooh, I like Future-Luna a lot, Doctor, oh, yes, I do!"

The Doctor smiled at Pinkie's comment, but gave Luna an inquisitive look.

"But… where IS your Doctor?", asked Twilight Sparkle, as if she had been reading his thoughts.

"He said he was sorry, but he could not meet you all at the present moment, at the risk of causing a paradox."

"'Pair-a-docs'?", asked Ditzy, then she giggled, towards her colt friend. "You're silly! Of course there would be a pair of Docs, one Doctor-from-Today and one Doctor-from-the Future! Two 'Docs' make a pair of 'Docs'!"

The Doctor smiled at the little joke, then turned to Luna.

"All right, then!", he proudly stomped at the floor, going at Twilight to examine her. "I was never a big fan of meeting myself in the future, anyway. Ooh, you've had this place redecorated, haven't you? I like it! Not coral, still, brilliant!"

The Doctor made a quick scan with the sonic screwdriver over the purple unicorn's horn and smiled.

"You have a clean bill of health, Miss Sparkle. Magical radiation is back to normal levels – normal to you, I mean. Though, no more tearing the fabric of time-space for the next few weeks. Or decades, just to be safe."

"Doctor's orders?", she joked.

Luna replied before the colt: "Well, you could always go for a second opinion, but my Doctor is not really inclined to show up any time soon, sorry."

"That's ok", Twilight said, taking a bow. "Still, I'd like to thank both of you for saving us, Princess Luna."

"Oh, my dear, think nothing of it. You, fillies, have saved me so many times, I can only repay my eternal debt to all of you. And for the Doctor..."

"I know, 'that's what he does'."

There was a sudden shift in the gravity.

"We have landed", the Doctor declared. "Future-me certainly knows how to set the autopilot-geary-thingy much better than me. Tell him… tell him I said… 'to days to come'.", he gave a short nod.

The Princess smiled and replied: "And he told me to respond 'and all my love to long ago'."

The Doctor smiled and turned around.

"Well, fillies! I don't know about you, but I'm peckish! Who wants some banana cupcakes?"

"CUPCAKES? YAY!"

"Oh, and banana muffins too, Miss Doo! My treat!"

Pinkie Pie was already leaving the TARDIS, Twilight trying to catch up to her, but not without taking another bow to her Princess before exiting.

The Doctor followed them, with Ditzy Doo close behind him. The little Pegasus stopped for a moment and looked back.

The Princess smiled at her, but it wasn't completely honest, the filly knew it.

"Goodbye", she said, her wings a little lower.

The door closed behind them, and the Princess was caught by surprise to see the grayish brown coated colt beside her.

His face was serious, a sadness that could fulfill the entirety of the TARDIS, had the Doctor decided to lead a life of no companionship.

Moments before…

"Doctor? Where are you?", Luna asked, trotting down the stairs to the main console room.

A loud bang and a following 'Ouch!' indicated the Time Lord's current location, just below the console.

"What are you doing down there?"

"Well, Luna-Dear, currently I… am in pain", he rose his front left leg. "How do ponies manage to hammer nails with hooves?"

"You are asking me that? Asking an allicorn Princess, a member of Equestria's royalty, who happened to have spent a thousand years on a sterile moon… if she knows how to 'hammer nails'?"

"… point taken, Miss Moon. When did you start being such a smart-mouth, anyway?"

"And when did you start being such a grumpy old pony? And why did you use a hammer, why not the sonic screwdriver."

The Doctor patted the front pocket of his tweed jacket. "Doesn't work on wood, no sets for that, don't you remember?"

"Oh!", she did recall and smiled. "I forgot about it completely, so sorry… but what WERE you doing down here in the first place, Doctor?"

"Oh, I was just trying to understand why this old ship just stopped mid-travel."

Luna looked worried for a second. "Mid-travel?"

"Yes! We are currently dead stopped at the nexus of time-space. Tried every jiggly-lever and whee-wonkers up there and down here. The only conclusion is, everything IS in order, it's just 'Sexy' who does not want to go anywhere right now..."

"Hm. Curious, indeed… oh! I almost forgot, Doctor!"

"What?"

"I was going through the closet and I found this beautiful hat of yours, look!"

With a flicker of her horn, a small straw hat floated down and landed on her raised hoof. It was old and well-worn, but still in good shape.

"Oh, that old thing? Used to wear it, oh, centuries ago! Try it on, let me see how you look with it!"

"Ok!", she complied happily, making the hat land on top of her head, her horn sticking out on front, but still, a perfect fit. Her purple mane flowed on the side, like an amethyst waterfall.

"How… do I look?", she asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Like a princess!"

"You funny cheek!", she half-complained, half-joked while slightly bumping him with her hoof.

"Well, tell me I'm lying, then!"

A conjured mirror appeared out of thin air, the Princess watching her reflexion, as the mirror floated around her.

"Oh, it is magnificent! But, maybe it needs a little… filly touch", she commented, thinking for a moment until she realized: "Oh, I know!"

Another light flick of her power and a small daisy appeared on the side of the hat, colored purple.

"Much better, see, Doctor? Doctor? What's wrong?"

The colt was staring her, a look of sudden alarm.

"Oh", he finally said. "I know what's wrong!"

"Wrong? With the hat, you mean?"

"The hat? No, no, you're absolutely adorable with it!", he said, her cheeks flushed. "I meant, I know why we have stopped! This is it!"

"What do you mean, Doctor? Wait!", she asked, trying to catch up with the colt, who was already running up the stairs.

"We are about to have guests, Luna-Dear, no worries" he added, while pulling the autopilot-geary-thingy and turning its knobs forward and reverse, "not the Silence kind of guests, good guests, old-young guests, who are going to crash land through the door at any moment now!"

"Guests, Doctor, what do you mean?"

"A potential paradox is about to unfurl, Princess. Here, pull up the octarine lever to open the doors and start the 'safe-catch' protocol I got installed," and he adde annoyed, "since River insists on never getting inside the TARDIS the proper way."

Luna scanned over the console, trying to understand the situation, and guessing which one was the 'octarine' lever. "Wait, why me?"

"You open the doors, I cannot meet them – meet myself – because I did not meet me before."

"But, Doctor!", she said alarmed. "I simply do no understand…"

"Don't worry, Luna-Dear, everything is going to be over very quickly, just do things as I am about to tell you…"

Now…

For such a long time, she had been his companion, his student, his confident, his protector.

'Take care of him, my sister', Celestia asked of her, 'for the time of Silence is at hoof.'

Seeing himself so young and so close to the end of that life, she could feel the pain he felt now, now that he journeyed, as foretold, onto 'The Fall of the Eleventh'.

She gave him a smile, full of pity and compassion.

"I'm sorry, my little pony. I'm so sorry", she said, a hint of tears in her eyes.

The Doctor smiled, however.

"I was so young, wasn't I? If he – if I had seen myself, as I am, I would not have recognized myself, as I used to be around me. But I already guessed as much, you know how I can be, that's how I know."

Luna huffed. "I can hardly understand what you just said, Doctor", the Princess complained, then got a little sadder. "And poor Ditzy, I think she suspected."

"Oh yes, rather clever filly, that Ditzy Doo knows me all too well, no matter the coat."

"Of course, she does", Luna said. "Afterall, she lo–"

Luna's words were lost, as the Doctor was already pulling levers and squeezing buttons in the main console.

"Come along, Pony! Now that we got me out of our backs, where to next?"

Luna skipped a few steps and tapped a hoof on the television screen set above them.

"How about Barcelona?", she asked. "And yes, 'the planet, not the city'. You never managed to get us there once."

"Hey, is it my fault we had distractions? You saw it today, even I can get in my way sometimes!"

"You really are good at getting in the way of others, Doctor. Just ask the Daleks, the Cyberponies, the Zygons…"

"It's a gift", he replied - pushing two black buttons at the same time while pulling a lever with his mouth - before shouting:

"Barcelona, here we go! GERONIMO!"