Doctor Whooves - Episode 1: Beyond the Limits

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 4

Chapter 1

The TADRIS hummed softly in the background, empty for the time being. Outside the Lava themed walls of the ship, the Daleks were chanting ‘Exterminate!’ their infamous catchphrase. From within, their lasers could be heard firing, then a loud yell by the door. It slammed open and the Doctor fell through, backwards, his chest steaming on both sides. His hair was short and his eyes silver. The doors slammed shut behind him and he struggled to get up, gasping for air.

“Ahh – Activate Emergency protocol five! … Get me the interactive hologram of all my companions.” he struggled to give the order. The TARDIS whirred once and the holograms of the past five companions appeared, beginning with Rose Tyler.

“Doctor, what’s wrong?” asked the hologram, shifting between them. The Doctor groaned, trying to pull himself up from the ground.

“Actually, nevermind them, get me a hologram of you when you were trapped in that body.” he said, collapsing on the ground again. The TARDIS complied, showing the woman.

“My thief, what do you want me to do?” she asked. The Doctor huffed and puffed, trying to get a word out.

“I want you to take control of yourself… go anywhere that isn’t here… open the doors and let someone worthy pilot you. I’m done. I’ve used the last of my regenerative abilities. This is it.” he replied. The TARDIS hologram disappeared and the groaning noise of the ship began to work, taking the Doctor away from the Daleks. He struggled to crawl towards the centre console, climbing up it. As he did so, he climbed on top of it and hugged the cylinder as it pumped up and down into the heart of the TARDIS. The Doctor looked at his hands as they hugged the cylinder, watching as they glowed a bright gold and sparkled in small Huon particles like an aura.

“Well sexy… this is it… I’m going away forever. I don’t want to go… I never want to go. I wonder now, where it is I’m going? Is there something beyond even our knowledge? Are we like the humans in the early fourth century, who believed that there was no life beyond their world? Is there life beyond the galaxy, the universe? Is that where I’ll go?” he asked, his face lighting up in a literal sense.

“Will you come with me?” he asked once more, exploding. Being in close proximity to the TARDIS’ central control caused it to overload and overheat. With a yell, the Doctor gave into the end of his thousand years.

***

Within a large tree was a small library. The Library was kept by a Lavender coated Pony with a Violet mane and tail containing a pink highlight on one side. She had a horn on her forehead, which glowed with a light pink aura, lifting a large pile of books into the air, surrounded by an identical aura. Each book shot towards a random empty space within the bookshelves, the pony sorting them in alphabetical order categorically. She sighed, turning her head toward the couch to see the sleeping purple dragonling with a book in his clawed hand. She smiled gently towards him, taking the book from him so as not to wake him. She placed the book in its place and grabbed a small blanket from his bed, placing it over him as she passed by. She checked the time by noting the placement of the stars and the moon. It was midnight. Twilight sighed, turning her head to see herself in the mirror. Her hair was all over the place, which reminded her of when she turned crazy, having learned nothing on time. She yawned and made her way to her bed, pulling the covers aside with her teeth. As she hopped in, she heard a strange heaving sound from outside.

“Oh, come on! Spike, I keep telling you to just belch the letters out.” she cried, making her way downstairs. “Since Rarity laughed at that large note you burped up, you’ve tried holding it in whenever you’re-.”

“Twilight, I’m right here, and I’m not getting any letters coming up.” said the young sleepy dragonling standing in front of the couch; the heaving sound still audible in the background. Twilight walked cautiously toward her front door, the heaving sound getting closer, and fast. She braved the door, opening it with her magic. The first thing she saw was every pony in Ponyville looking for the source of the heaving sound. She and Spike stepped out, joining the large group.

“Twilight, what’s goin’ on?” asked an orange pony with three apples tattooed on her flanks and a cowgirl hat on her head.

“I was hoping you knew, Applejack. Hey Rainbow Dash, you know what’s happening?” Twilight asked, turning to a cyan Pegasus pony with a rainbow coloured mane and tail. She flapped her wings as she gently landed near them.

“Not a clue. Nopony knows where it’s coming from.” she replied. Without warning, a pale yellow Pony with a light cotton candy coloured mane and tail crept up behind every accessory or stationary object, shaking slightly.

“Oh dear, d-does anypony know what that s-s-sound is?” she asked nervously, settling with hiding underneath Rainbow Dash who spread her wings in surprise, trying to balance herself.

“Sorry Fluttershy, but this is scaring even us.” replied Twilight, looking around. A pink pony with curly hair appeared from behind Applejack and grinned at them.

“I like it! It sounds like an instrument, or an assmatic pony.” Pinkie said, bouncing up and down.

“That’s asthmatic, Pinkie.” said Rainbow Dash.

“Look, up there!” called a white pony with a beautifully cared for purple mane. She pointed toward the sky, a swirling vortex of blue slowly enlarging not twenty feet above them. Every pony gasped as the sound chimed again, the heaving sound scaring some of the younger fillies. The ponies divided into two groups, stepping aside for the oncoming sound.

“Here it comes, it’s gonna be a biggun’.” said Applejack, shoving her little sister behind her, much to her annoyance. As the final heave appeared, a large blue rectangular prism emerged, smoking from one side as it rotated, the light above dimly lit. It flew wonkily, rising and falling every second.

“Oh no!” shouted the Mayor as the big blue box made its way toward the clock tower. Every pony ran after it, curious beyond imagination, what was this strange contraption with no wings that could fly like a Pegasus pony?

***

The TARDIS crashed into the clock tower, throwing the Doctor off the central console. He cried out, still feeling in pain from the shots to his hearts. Feeling slightly better, he made his way to the front door.

“What did you stop for?” he asked, stopping just short of the doorway. It opened on its own, smoke piling out into the atmosphere. The Doctor struggled to reach the edge of the TARDIS’ walls, gripping the bottom of the doorway. As he pulled himself through he saw a large gathering of equine creatures, all of irregular colours. The Doctor smiled, falling from the tower onto the ground. He groaned in pain as he survived the fall.

“Alright!... One more time.” he said, struggling to stand up. The equines gathered around him, closing in.

“You might all want to take a few steps back.” he said, beginning to glow once again.

“Why?” asked one of them. The Doctor, being no stranger to what humanity would call the irregular, smiled.

“I’m still cooking.” he replied, clenching his fists. He felt his two hearts beating in unison, the sound like a pair of gongs banging at a rapid pace. He laughed once, stretching his body as he burst into a hose of golden light, startling every pony into backing off half a yard. As he began to regenerate beyond his limit, he yelled an amalgamation of his past catchphrases.

“Argh! – Alons-y – Come along, Pond!.......A-Argh-you want a jellybaby?... Alright then!” he cringed in on himself, being forced onto all fours. His knuckles hardened and retracted, sewing themselves together, his fingers bunching up into fists. His hind legs bent and broke, changing their structure. His face curved in and stretched outward, his ears growing pointier. Once again his eyes changed colour and the Huon particles faded, revealing a chestnut coloured stallion with dark brown hair and walnut eyes. Every other pony stared at him in shock, waiting for him to do something.

“Right, ‘Allo, I’m – ooh.” he paused, swallowing and moving his jaw. The ponies just stared.

“New voice, new throat, new…larynx! That’s new… Hmm, teeth are more even than I’ve ever had them before, that’s fantastic. Let’s take a look now, shall we?” he said, looking himself over.

“Ooh, a quadruped… that’s new. This is the least human looking form yet. Brilliant! Hazel pelt, brown tail and… and still not ginger! Why am I never ginger? Well at least I’m not blue, that’d be weird. And what in the world is this?” he asked, looking toward his flank. He blew away a few trace Huon particles and saw an hourglass tattooed to his sides.

“A tattoo, I have tattoos! Oh great, I hear getting those hurts, now I don’t have to worry about that cause I already have one, no, wait… two! Hah, I give new meaning to the term ‘hourglass figure’.” he said, wriggling his rump. All the ponies stepped toward him again, suddenly bringing themselves to his attention.

“Um… who are you?” asked a violet pony with purple hair and a tail.

“Ooh, sorry. *clears throat* I’m the Doctor! Who are you?” he asked, looking at her with great amusement.

“Doctor? O-.”

“Yes, Doctor, that’s me why does everyone have to repeat my name after I introduce myself? It’s really annoying!” he said, looking away and thinking the problem over.

“Wait Doctor who? Doctor of what exactly?” the violet one asked.

“Just The Doctor. As for my profession, I’m a doctor of Time, space, physics, metaphysics, alien races, general sciences and a little medical science on the side.” he replied, starting to walk, but he fell down.

“Ah, new legs, new body, new steering method. This could take a while, I’ve never had four legs and no arms before.” he said, trying to stand.

“Wait, Doctor, I-.”

“Hold on, Lavender girl, you need to step back, this is very dangerous.” he began holding his breath in as best he could. The violet pony stepped back and watched as the Doctor exhaled quickly, a few golden flakes escaping his lungs.

“What were those?” The Doctor just cleared his throat, a few more escaping his nose.

“They’re Huon particles. Very dangerous, very powerful, they’re really only used for regeneration or as a power source for a TARDIS, which is right up there… oh, sorry about the tower… I wasn’t really in control, I thought I was going to die. Silly thing took me here instead. Where and when is here?” he asked in a rush. Every pony in Ponyville stared at each other in bewilderment, trying to figure out what was going on.

“This is Ponyville, and it’s 1001 A.L.” said the lavender pony.

“A.L?” asked The Doctor, looking slightly confused by the terminology.

“After Luna. It’s been just over a millennia since she was banished to the moon. She’s back now, of course.” she replied, The Doctor considered the reply and sighed.

“Well I suppose if Humans created a timeline based on the birth of an apostle, surely equines can create one based on exile or imprisonment, though I find that rather dreary. How did this Luna breathe on the moon? There’s no air beyond a planet, and a moon is a moon, it is not a planet and oh my god! You have a horn on your head, you’re a unicorn!” The ponies became slightly alarmed at his sudden change of confusing topics. Some backed away, others just looked displeased with him.

“Uh, yeah, there’ve been unicorns and pegasi on Equestria since…forever.” replied a cyan pony with wings and rainbow hair. The Doctor lit up with joy at seeing her.

“Oh, how’d you do your hair, that’s brilliant! Oh but you’re blue… strange, I don’t like blue. I never used to dislike it… Perha- where are my clothes?!” he began to ramble on and on about different subjects and all the ponies were becoming increasingly bored of the strange pony.

“Uh, Doctor?”

“Yes, that’s me, who said my name? Oh lavender girl! You called me?” he began, staring at her with a slight impatience.

“What are you doing?” she asked simply.

“I’m having a case of hysteria infused with a cacophony of mild insanity and rebirth.” he replied simply, allowing no breath to pass between his words.

“Okay, I suppose Twilight got all that, because she’s a nerd, but could you explain it to the normal ponies here?” asked the cyan pony.

“Oh, your name’s Twilight? Sorry. Anyway to answer your question rainbow…whatever. In layman’s terms: My regeneration process is causing me to spaz out. Now where’s the front door to this tower, I need to get back into the TARDIS?” The ponies blinked a few times.

“The what?”

“TARDIS! T-A-R-D-I-S are the initials for Time-And-Relative-Dimensions-In-Space! That big blue box up there is a time machine!” he explained, slightly frustrated.

“Ooh. What’s it do?” asked a light grey pony with a blonde mane and tail with crossing yellow eyes.

“It… travels in time – what part of time machine did you not get?”

“The machine part.” The Doctor stared blankly at her.

“Right, you’re not going to assist me in anything for fear you’ll lose something of mine or… or god, what if she blows up the TARDIS? Oh, that would be very bad. She’d wipe out this half of the galaxy doing that.” he muttered.

“Hey!” the grey pony protested with a hurt expression.

“Oh, right, sorry. Still developing a personality. Regenerating’s kind of like baking a cake, there are different layers that need to work. The body’s done, so now I just need personality and… different tastebuds, why do I have a craving for apples? Two regeneration cycles ago, I hated apples, now I really want some. Maybe I’ve got some up in there, do I have wings? No?”

“No.” every pony replied in unison. The Doctor stared at them for a moment.

“Right then… Um… gimme a lift? Or a key to the door, so I can walk up there?” he asked. The grey one flew into the air and lifted The Doctor up.

“I suppose I asked for this, didn’t I?” Every Pony nodded.

“Of course you did! You said you wanted a lift.” replied the grey one. As they managed to rise to the doorway of the TARDIS, the Doctor saw the centre console begin to light up.

“Oh, no no no no! Quickly, back to the ground, back to the ground! She’s gonna blow!” the grey pony eeped and shot toward the ground, hitting it so hard as to create a hole with both the Dotor’s and her own outline.

“Sorry.” she croaked.

“Well, this is… very animated. Think I’d have preferred the twenty foot fall.” he groaned, struggling to the surface of the crater.

“Caw! I shouldn’t have begun the regeneration process hugging that damned cylinder. Now she’s going to… ooh, nevermind! new desktop, new theme, new room to match the new body! Oh, I hope she makes me a new – Ah! My Sonic Screwdriver, where is it?!” The Doctor began. The grey pony surfaced holding said screwdriver in her hoof, which was anatomically impossible.

“What’s this thing?” she began, receiving a spark from it. She squeaked and threw it upward. The Doctor caught it with his mouth and sighed.

“I can’t believe we landed on it and it-.” as The Doctor spoke, the sonic screwdriver snapped in half, dangling from his mouth by a wire.

“Sorry?” the grey one offered.

“If my TARDIS doesn’t come up with a new Sonic screwdriver… oh you will be sorry.” he grumbled, dropping the device back into the hole.

“No, no! Scratch that, need a different personality, I don’t want to be an ass… We don’t have any donkeys around do we?” he asked. A Pink ponie began bounding up and down.

“Yes, we have two, Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda!” she replied rather chipperly.

“Well if they’re within hearing distance… No offence!” The ponies looked at each other for an explanation. The Doctor sighed and helped the grey pony out of the pony shaped hole.

“Are you alright?” he asked. She shook herself off and nodded, her eyes rolling around.

“Yep! I’ve been through worse. Got caught in one of Pinkie’s Pinkie senses.” she replied. The one known as Twilight shuddered at the thought of the topic.

“I’ll not ask for fear of confusion.” he went on. Above, the TARDIS slammed its doors shut and all was silent.

“Ah, there she goes. Self-repairing, with any luck, she’ll give me a new sonic screwdriver. Wonder what colour it’ll be this time. Green’s not really my thing, please don’t let it be blue. Maybe orange, or something unique.” he began. By now, the ponies had dispersed, leaving Twilight, the grey pony, the cyan one, a yellow one with a shy looking nature, a white one with a strange fashion sense, a pink one with fairy floss for hair and ironically enough, a cowgirl with a hat and a litte baby dragon on her back.

“Anyway… who’s got bacon and eggs? Wait, Equines are herbivorous, they don’t eat meat, which explains the apple craving. Muffins?” he asked. The ponies pointed to the grey pony who lit up like a Christmas tree.

“I love muffins, I love baking them, especially with Pinkie Pie. She adds something super delicious to them. Blueberry muffins are my favourite you should really try the blueberry muffins come with me!” she rushed off quicker than she spoke, dragging the Doctor with her.

“Slow down, I don’t quite know how to walk yet, let alone run or… gallop or whatever you call this.” he said, his hind hoofs scraping along the ground. She lifted him into the air once again and took him to Cloudsdale, a large city of clouds with rainbows falling like waterfalls over the edge. She manoeuvred through and around the clouds, stopping at her letterbox with the name Derpy written badly along the side.

“Here we are, my home.” she began.

“Uh, wait, I don’t have wings. I’d fall right through the CLOUDS!!!!” the Doctor screamed as Derpy dropped him on the cloud, falling right through like he predicted.

“Oops!” she began, shooting down to catch him.

“This isn’t forty feet! This isn’t forty feet!” he yelled, just before Derpy reached him.

“Sorry, Mr. Doctor!” she exclaimed, bringing him to the front door. I forgot Pinkie went through the first time too. I had to lay down carpets so she couldn’t fall through inside.” The Doctor considered this.

“Wait, any pony without wings can fall through the clouds, but inanimate objects can’t? How does that work? It’s scientifically impossible unless you have some sort of flotation device beneath every piece of furniture… which by the look on your face is highly unlikely.” he said, seeing her quizical look. As she opened the frothy door, shag carpet was the first thing to enter his field of vision, followed by a retro fifties themed kitchen.

“Oh dear god, I’ve entered the Twilight zone. Which is actually real, near the edge of the universe.” he began.

“Uni-what?” Derpy asked.

“Nevermind, you can put me down now, you’re chafing my pelt.” Derpy complied with his command and let him stand on the carpet.

“You know, it occurs to me that a Sonic screwdriver would be good for everything I don’t use it for here. I often use it to open doors or unlock things, there was this one time I used it to amplify speakers, then I used two and pointed them to each other, never do that.” he said.

“Doctor, you’re as random as me.” Derpy began.

“I’m genuinely insulted.” he replied blankly. “Right then, Cupcakes!”

“Muffins, Doctor” Derpy corrected him.

“Them too.”

Chapter 2

The Doctor found the muffins surprisingly delicious. His tastebuds had been altered to accept greater flavour from food than before.

“Right, well that was very nice, but I don’t think I can fit any more Derpy… so…” Derpy hovered beside him with a large mountain of muffins. She looked a little uncertain as to what to do with them then.

“Right. Um… maybe I’ll pack them for you, you can eat them whenever then?” she suggested. The Doctor looked around.

“Pack them in what?” he asked. Derpy opened a cupboard in the kitchen and revealed a small plastic box.

“Made these myself. Don’t know what for, but I guess packing muffins is good enough reason, right?” she asked, dumping all the muffins in the small box. Most fell to the floor, but she ignored those as she placed the lid on the box, squashing most of the muffins that made it in.

“Maybe not that box, but yes, I suppose.” he replied. The little grey pony gave him a cheezy grin and offered him the box with her hoof.

“Now how do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“That! That thing with your hooves? How can you grasp things, you need fingers and opposable thumbs in order to hold things, but with hooves… it’s just a stub.” Derpy examined her hoof quizzically, her left eye rendering the gesture redundant.

“I don’t know, I just pick it up, look see?” she said, placing the box on the table and picking it up again.

“B-but t-that’s anatomically impossible, you’ve got nothing to prevent the box from losing balance, especially seeing as how you’re not holding it up in the middle but closer to one side. It should just fall off.” He said, waiting for her to put it down. He tried it, managing to lift it roughly two inches before it fell back down.

“D’oh dear… Let’s try it again… Nope, that didn’t work… Oh wait, hang on I think I – no, not that either. Oh why couldn’t I have been a unicorn? That’d have eliminated the need to do this.” he said aloud as he failed and failed again to lift the box.

“You just pick it up, like this!” Derpy exclaimed, lifting the box casually. The Doctor stared in disbelief and annoyance.

“Can all of you do this?” he asked. Derpy nodded, her head waving back and forth. When she stopped, her eyes seemed to align for an instant before she blinked and they returned to their opposing positions.

“Yeah! Rainbow Dash is better at it than me though. She can grab things going really fast. My hoof-eye coordination isn’t that good.” she replied. The Doctor cleared his throat and stood up, lifting the box with his mouth.

“Well…It’sh been great, thanksh for the muffinsh Derby. My TARDISh should be finished by now, so I’ll bid you Adieu.” he said, bowing his head in respect.

“You’re leaving?” Derpy asked, her expression like that of a worried child.

“Yeah, well the TARDISh should be finished by now and I shtill need to get in there.” he replied, placing the box on the table again. “Right, I’m just going to leave that there for now. It’s hurting my new teeth. And causing me to salivate, never done that before.” he added, wiping his mouth. Derpy quickly began scraping her hoof along the carpet suggestively, as if she wanted something.

“Well… Can I come too? I could drop you off at least.” she offered. The Doctor considered her request.

“I don’t see why not. So long as you promise not to touch anything while you’re there.” Derpy gave him a chiding look.

“What would there be to touch? It’s not very big from what I can tell. It can’t be very roomy.” she argued.

“You didn’t see inside when you lifted me up there before?” The Doctor asked, slightly disbelieving. Derpy shook her head.

“Nope, all I saw was smoke.” she replied, batting her wings away from her as if she were being approached by the aforementioned smoke.

“Right, well then you’re in for a big surprise. Come along Derpy.” The Doctor commanded. Upon command, Derpy grabbed the box for him and lifted him into the air.

“Sure as bubblegum!” she said, zooming through the door.

***

“Look Twilight, all I’m saying is this: What we saw fall out of that blue box and what emerged from that golden miasma can’t be the same pony. This… Doctor guy… I can’t even remember everything he said.” the little purple dragon was pacing around, mirroring Twilight as they and their friends held a meeting in the library.

“I don’t know Spike, I saw him turn from that two legged thing into a pony right before my eyes. Those… Huon particles, or whatever he called them seemed beautiful, but like many of my books say, beautiful things can be dangerous, just as he warned. Whatever he is, I don’t think he’s here to hurt us.” she replied.

“Well Gosh, Twilight. This is just too darn confusin’. He seemed to me like one of them scientific types… Kinda like you, but, y’know, better.” Applejack rubbed her head, shifting her hat as she did so. Twilight just groaned, taking offence to that statement.

“Anyway… Rainbow Dash, could you fly over to that blue box of his and take a closer inspection? I’d ask Fluttershy, but she can’t seem to back away from Rarity’s flank.” Twilight indicated to the Powder yellow mare with the pink mane shaking behind Rarity.

“He’s just so… so… I don’t really have a word for him right now.” she said. Rainbow Dash shot up, saluted and flew out the window.

“While she’s doing that, perhaps we can ask that Doctor some questions. Wherever he’s from, they must have some sort of fashion sense. I was examining the rags he left behind when he changed into a Pony and whatever he uses… there’s magic in those clothes. I shoved my whole hoof up to my shoulder in one of his pockets and I still couldn’t feel the bottom.” Rarity traced from the tip of her hoof along her arm to her shoulder as she spoke.

“Did you find balloons?” asked the ever spry Pinkie Pie. Ignoring her question, Twilight just sighed. She began to wonder where he was. The last time she saw him was when Derpy took him to Cloudsdale. As she contemplated the events, Rainbow Dash returned with a grin on her face.

“They’re coming! Derpy’s got the Doctor and she’s bringing him back.” she collapsed on the ground with a giddy smile on her face.

“Why are you so happy?” asked Spike who poked her face. Rainbow Dash chuckled and fell onto her back.

“I’m curious about him. A pony who can fly in a big blue box. I don’t know if I wanna ride in it or race it.” she replied, placing her fore hooves behind her head and relaxed beside Applejack.

“Uh, hate to rain on your parade there sugar cube, but didn’t the Doctor say something about that there box being a Time machine thingy?” Rainbow Dash paused for a moment and groaned.

“Oh yeah.” As the cyan Pegasus began to wallow in disappointment, Twilight raised a hoof.

“I still maintain that such a feat is impossible. I mean you can project yourself into the past for a few moments, but actually traveling as if it were a simple ride from here to Canterlot… impossible to do.”

Suddenly, the front door to the Library opened and Derpy flung The Doctor through the entrance.

“Hang on, I’m trying to get to my TARDIS, why would I need to go to a Library?” the Stallion asked as the derpy grey mare landed poorly in front of him.

“You said you were interested learning the history of Equestria, so where better to learn about the history than the Library? And our resident Librarian, Twilight, is a science girl like you.” the cross-eyed pony pointed a hoof to Twilight who stared at them both.

“Uh, to answer that question, I could learn the history by travelling to the beginning, secondly, you can’t just throw me into someone else’s house.” The Doctor began walking around.

“Still… I suppose hints as to what not to change about the history would be helpful. I wouldn’t want to meddle in fixed points in time. Alright, I talked me into it… where are the history books Starlight?” he asked, looking to the lavender mare.

“Twilight, and they’re right behind you labelled under history.” she replied. She watched as The Doctor turned around and pulled one book out from its place… with his teeth.

“Oh dear, I can’t turn pages with these hooves. Um… you there, the one with fingers, who are you?”

“Spike”

“Well, Spike, could you help me out here? I need you to just flick through the pages as quick as you can. Use your thumb and just make them brush past, sort of like a fan.” The purple dragon picked up the book and flicked the pages over, the book finishing within a few seconds.

“You cannot have finished the book like that.” Twilight protested.

“Course I could. And what sort of a name is Starswirl the Bearded? He’s just asking to be bullied by all the other boys, wait, pony terms… colts? Is that what you call the male youngsters?” not waiting for a reply, The Doctor took out a big red book and began reading with Spike’s help.

“Wait, you’re not allowed to read that, it’s forbidden by Princess Celestia!” Twilight cried out in protest.

“I’ll say, it’s her fillyhood diary. Blimey, was she really that young when she lost her… what’s this world’s term for virginity?” The Doctor placed the book back and grabbed another.

“H-how old was she?” Twilight asked, her face turning red.

“I may read diaries, but I don’t divulge what’s inside them. If you wanna find out, you’ll have to be a bit bad and read it yourself. Ooh, I like this Discord guy; chocolate rain! In all my years, I’ve never heard of chocolate rain. I went to a planet that had chocolate mountains, travelled a year further into the future, tourists turned it into a chocolate Ayers rock. Fat slobs, the lot of them. Ooh, and a rabbit shaped like a giraffe? What happened to this guy? Let’s see, oh. Turned to stone? He doesn’t… move when you blink, does he?” The Doctor waited for a response this time.

“H-how can a statue move? Of course he doesn’t move when you blink, what sort of question is that? What kind of statue moves–.”

“Well let’s just leave it at that then, since that statue doesn’t move you’re probably safe. Although, in case you come across any statues that seem out of place, or look like weeping angels, don’t blink.” The Doctor continued to scan through the books within the History section when a gonging sound began. He stopped what he was doing and ran outside.

“Oh, nonononononono! No! Not good, Derpy, get me up to the TARDIS right now, or it’s going to leave without me.” he said.

“Wait, you’re leaving already?” the seven ponies asked, each with their own emotions tied to the question. Derpy’s was the most noticeable of the seven. The Doctor saw the hurt in her face and sighed.

“Yes, I’m going but it’s only for a bit, I need to get the old girl sorted out, I shouldn’t be gone for more than ten minutes, and trust me, I’m not going to make the same mistake as last time and accidentally travel ten years. I kind of got scolded by someone for doing that. Look, just please help me!” Derpy, after having been asked for help, couldn’t refuse. She picked The Doctor up and flew as fast as she could to his TARDIS. With Rainbow Dash behind her, helping her go faster, She flung the Doctor right through the doorway of the TARDIS just as the doors closed. The two Pegasi watched with awe as the blue box began to flash and disappear. The choking sound it made frightened and amazed them both at the same time. When all was silent and the box was gone completely, they returned to their friends.

“He’s gone. But he’ll be back.” Derpy declared with a lingering doubt. The seven of them stood just below the clock tower, wondering what to do until he returned.

“What did he mean by make that mistake again?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I doubt this is the first time he’s had to run off like that. As for the mistake, he probably time travelled ten years into the future instead of ten minutes.” Twilight replied.

“Ya’ll really don’t like the idea that an Earth Pony can do what a unicorn like you can’t, do you Twilight?” Applejack smiled with satisfaction as Twilight began to look scorned.

“Hey, I don’t know what’s going on, but that pony can’t travel through time. And that box of his probably just teleports. It’s an invention, nothing more.” As Twilight spoke, the choking sound began again and the box materialised right behind the Lavender pony. A minute later, The Doctor emerged in a black pinstripe jacket with a white overcoat hanging over him. His mane was combed back and he looked healthier than before.

“Sorry I’m late… Had difficulty finding some new threads. Fortunately, I found this. Wound up with a Circus Gorilla in the swimming pool one day. Silly TARDIS picks up anything it fancies. I kicked the gorilla out, but kept the coat in case I regenerated into one at some point. As for the white overcoat, well I can’t remember ever having worn this much white, so I thought I’d try something new. How long was I? Not ten years again, was I?” The ponies just stared at The Doctor, wondering how he could have changed so much in less than ten minutes.

“Uh, Doctor, where did you go?” Twilight asked. “And where did you get the clothes from in that thing?” The Doctor smiled at her and looked to the others.

“I think you girls can be trusted to… not endanger the universe with curious touching… come on in.” he replied, ducking his head back into his TARDIS. The seven ponies looked at each other, Derpy having one eye on the night sky. Cautiously, they all crept into the blue box. What they saw amazed them.

Chapter 3

The interior of the Blue box was bigger, and there was a royal theme to it. To the ponies, it looked like a variation of Canterlot Castle, only the theme was somewhat Chestnut. As the ponies looked around, The Doctor began playing with his new Centre Console.

“Right then! Rule one: Always listen to The Doctor. Rule two: Never touch this console here unless I give you specific instructions on which parts to touch. Rule three: Sometimes I just need a good smack, so if I begin rambling endlessly, just smack me out of it. Rule four: Don’t, I repeat, don’t go out those doors while the TARDIS is travelling. And Rule five, very important this rule, never forget it. He or she who has gas, travels at the back of the pack. Now then; any questions, comments, statements?” The ponies, having scattered to examine the area, looked directly at the Doctor.

“Wh- wha- wha- I-it’s bigger on the inside?” Twilight looked around with her jaw hanging down and her eyes like a bug’s.

“I love it when they say that, and for some reason I want to say: That’s what she said. I think I’m still getting some regenerative aftereffects. Hmm, three days, and I’m still getting bugs in the hardware? Oh well, I guess this is what happens when you exceed the limit.” he uttered the last part to himself.

“Oh, Doctor, I noticed with your old pockets, that they too were bigger on the inside. Could you tell me your secret? I could make a fortune off of those alone, nevermind the beauty and design of my clothes.” Rarity spoke up.

“It’s a basic distortion of space. Think of each pocket as a doorway into another place.” he replied, Rarity just stared at him blankly.

“It’s a wibbly wobbly Time Lord trick, alright?” he clarified.

“Time Lord?” Twilight asked. The Doctor returned to look at her.

“Yes, that’s right, Time Lord. That’s me, hello!” he replied with a wave of his hoof. Pinkie Pie appeared from behind the Lavender pony and waved back.

“Hi!” she exclaimed.

“Wait, what’s a Time Lord?” Twilight demanded. The Doctor just sighed and pointed to himself. “No, I mean… specifics, what are Time Lords in General?” The Doctor paused for a moment and looked Twilight in the eye.

“Extinct.” with that one word, all eyes were on the Chestnut Time Lord. “I’m the last. The only one of my kind left in existence.” he returned to the console and pushed a lever with his hoof, the TARDIS began to whir and choke at the same time, but unlike there used to be, there was no shaking of the platform.

“That must be lonely.” said Derpy, walking up to him. The Doctor paused where he was and looked into the rising and falling glass spiral, shaped like a Unicorn horn.

“Not always. I have companions from time to time. They’d travel with me, have adventures with me. Fall in love with me and then break my hearts. Sometimes my companions would be one at a time, sometimes two or three. You seven are the largest number I’ve had yet.” Rainbow Dash walked up to him and gently punched him on the shoulder.

“Well don’t expect all of us to fall for you.” she teased. The Doctor chuckled.

“No, you got it all wrong. I could never truly be with any of them, yourselves included.” he said.

“Why not?” asked Derpy. The TARDIS stopped making any noise and the horn became still.

“Ah, we’ve arrived!” The Doctor said, ignoring Derpy’s question. He ran to the doorway and smiled at them all.

“Fillies and… nevermind. Beyond these doors, you will find yourselves in a different place in a different time.” he said. The girls, except for Twilight began to look excited. When The Doctor opened the door, a small purple dragon with burn marks all over him walked through. He staggered around, collapsing before Rarity.

“Oh, Spikey! What on Earth happened to you?” she asked, rolling him over gently.

“Hung on… for… dear life.” he replied. The Doctor walked up to the crowded Spike and examined him.

“You hung onto the TARDIS while we went through the Time Vortex? And you survived? That’s new… Only Jack Harkness could have survived something like that, but he’s long gone.” The Doctor pulled out a small device from one of his pockets. It was cylindrical with a red tip. As he held it to the dragon, it began to vibrate and make a high pitched gurgling sound, the tip flashing red. He waved it over the dragon and then flicked it, the cylinder extending slightly.

“That’s very odd. You got away with mild burns and some slight scorching. You’re one lucky baby dragon. Perhaps the TARDIS extended her force field just enough to save you?” he began to trail off, leaving the Ponies to care for Spike.

“Well ladies, the trip’s been postponed for a little bit until I figure out how that child survived travelling through time outside of the TARDIS.” The Doctor stomped his hoof on the ground and the doors slammed closed, locking themselves. They all looked at him as he placed his new sonic screwdriver into his coat pocket and pressed a button.

“Activate Interactive system Protocol seven-dash-nine-three-four-two!” he said. As the ponies stared, a ghost-like figure appeared in the form of a creature on two legs.

“Oi! Stop showing up as Rose Tyler, I’ve long gotten over her. I’m feeling a little nostalgic, show me my tenth Regeneration.” he looked to the ponies as the hologram changed its appearance. “I liked the mole I got when I regenerated into this.” as he finished speaking, his tenth incarnation appeared.

“Allo Doctor!” The Doctor said. The hologram of the Tenth Doctor smiled and replied much the same way.

“Look at you! You’ve gone all native, what is that, an Equine body?” the hologram asked. The Doctor laughed and nodded.

“Yes, but while we’d say I look like a horse, they don’t seem to know what that word means, they just call themselves ponies, so I’m a pony too. God I miss looking like you, I miss the mole under my shoulder, I miss everything.”

“Oh well, I gotta say, you look better like that. Still not Ginger, I see. Better luck next time.” The Doctor laughed, and then paused.

“Actually, that’s a funny thing. I’ve exceeded my regeneration limit, I only got like this with help from you. Are you saying I can regenerate once more after this?”

“I don’t see why not, you looked into my heart and survived, so as far as I’m concerned, you can regenerate thousands of times over. You’ve broken the limit. It’s sort of like a game cheat. Anyway, what did you want, I know you and you never just call up this program to chat.” The hologram flashed slightly.

Oh, yes, about the dragon, did you extend the field to keep him alive?”

“I did. I figured, he’s a friend of at least one of your new companions, so it’d be troublesome for everyone if he were to die.” the Hologram raised its arms as a gesture.

“Doctor, what is that ghost?” Twilight asked. Both the Doctor and the hologram looked at the Lavender pony.

“That’s not a ghost, Twilight, that’s what’s called a hologram.”

“I’m a system designed to verbally interact with the TARDIS’ database. The image you see here is what your Doctor looked like when he was nine hundred and five years old.” the Hologram added. The ponies stared at the Doctor and the Hologram.

“Doctor, how old are you?” Twilight asked.

“He will be twelve hundred and eighteen tomorrow.” the hologram replied.

“Blimey, is it my birthday tomorrow? I’d forgotten all about it. Ooh, I’ll have to go somewhere extra special then.” Pinkie Pie shot into view out of nowhere and began skittering around the platform.

“Ooh, ooh, ooh. I’ll have to do a Birthday Party for you, Doctor. What do Doctor Parties look like? I should add a Time Lordy theme. Ooh, and gifts… what do Time Lords want?”

“A bit of hush, please my excitable pink friend.” The Doctor placed his hooves on Pinkie’s shoulders and stilled her.

“Right, now we know Spikey Wikey’s fine, my beautiful new red sonic screwdriver can attest to that. So, without further ado, I give you Canterlot on the first day of its founding.” Running past the gathered ponies, The Doctor opened the doors to the outside. Hearing his declaration, every pony looked at him. They kept together as they walked outside. The glare from the sun blinded them for a moment and as their eyes adjusted, they laid eyes upon Canterlot Castle in the early stages of its construction. The Doctor walked up beside Twilight and smiled.

“I understand you used to dream about going back to this point in time and just watch Canterlot be built.” he said. Twilight started and looked at him.

“How could you know that?”

“I read your diary. Travelled to the point where you lot were outside watching me appear for the first time. Some juicy gossip about both of the Princesses too. I won’t say a word.” he said, sucking his lips in. Twilight blushed and looked at the castle.

“If you remember correctly, I also wanted to watch it with the princesses.” she added.

“I know. Just wait a minute.” he said, standing as he watched the first tower come together through the magic of building Unicorns.

“Ah, here they are now.” he said. Every Pony turned toward a white carriage with golden inlay. As it landed beside the TARDIS, two alicorns exited with royal grace. One was a Dusk blue pony with a cyan mane, the other a snow white with a cherry blossom mane. Each had a Diadem around their horns. As soon as they got out, they looked to The Doctor.

“Ah, right on time. Welcome Princesses Celestia and Luna. I’ve been expecting you.” The ponies, especially Twilight were gobsmacked as their royal princesses approached with puzzled looks on their faces.

“Are you The Doctor?” Celestia asked. The Doctor smiled and waved his hoof.

“Allo!” Twilight smacked him with her hoof and then proceeded to bow before the princesses.

“Doctor, bow!” she urged, pulling on his coat.

“You forget, Twilight, that I am a Lord. For all intensive purposes, I am essentially equal to the Princesses.” Those said Princesses approached and stopped just short of him.

“We got your notice, Doctor. What did you want to see us for?” the dark princess asked.

“I called you here to fulfil a young mare’s dream. A dream of watching Canterlot castle constructed with the two Princesses of Equestria. Would you please help?” he asked, standing before them with his own majestic aura. The Princesses looked around.

“But there are seven of them.” Luna replied.

“Ah, the other six will be coming with me.” he grabbed Twilight and pulled her forward.

“Princesses Celestia and Luna, meet Twilight… River.” Twilight gave The Doctor a chided look and blushed in front of the two royal mares.

“I’m not familiar with that name, and I’m sure I’ve memorised the names of every pony in Equestria.” Celestia said.

“If that were the case, you would have known about me, wouldn’t you?” The Doctor winked at the two Princesses who leaned back. Suddenly, a small pink mare bounced in-between the four and began giggling.

“Oh boy, it’s so super-duper awesomely awesome to see young Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the young one is less scary than the full grown one.” As Pinkie Pie began spouting things that gave away the future, Twilight grabbed The Doctor.

“Doctor, she’s going to ruin everything! Do something.” The Doctor smiled at Twilight.

“Well this sometimes works.” he turned to Pinkie Pie and tapped her on the shoulder. As she stopped bouncing and turned around, The Doctor placed his hoof to his lips and shushed her. She blinked a couple of times and went to speak again, but found she couldn’t.

“What did she mean by the full grown one? And how was I scary?” Luna asked.

“She spoke of a nightmare she had about you two. Don’t pay it any heed.” The Doctor said as he grabbed Pinkie Pie and threw her back to the others. The princesses looked to each other and then to Twilight.

“We’ll help this mare fulfil her wish. Miss Twilight River, would you like to watch Canterlot’s construction with us?” Celestia asked. Twilight’s eyes lit up like fireflies as her smile appeared.

“Oh, yes! That would be… it would be an honour, Princess Celestia.” she replied.

“Right then, you go on and play, I’ll take the annoying pink pony with verbal Diarrhoea and… look around. I can see some stalls over yonder. Come on everypony, let’s go shopping.” as they all cheered, the Doctor suddenly whined.

“Oh balls, I don’t have any money. SEXY!!!” he shouted, running into the TARDIS. He emerged a few seconds later with a sack full of bits.

“God I love this ship.” he uttered as he ran off.

“Bye Starlight, meet you in the TARDIS and don’t worry about other ponies stealing it, it’s Isomorphic so the doors will only open to you, me and the others.” he soon went out of range and Twilight steamed.

“IT’S TWILIGHT, DOCTOR!!!” she screamed, forgetting for a moment who she was with. She turned around and sheepishly looked at her idols.

“Sorry, your majesties. He always gets my name wrong and I sort of… hate it.” she tried to explain.

“We understand, Twilight. I assume we’d feel likewise were our names mistaken.” Luna replied. Twilight smiled at her.

“So, what would you like to do, Princesses?” as the lavender pony asked, Celestia circled around her.

“I can see you’re very fit, Twilight, yet you have the aroma of books suggesting you’re a reader, and not very sport orientated. Am I wrong?” the white mare asked. Twilight blushed.

“I-I eat healthy which makes up for my lack of exercise.” Twilight began feeling overweight.

“There’s no need to feel embarrassed, Twilight. Come with us and we’ll show you why.” Celestia urged the nervous mare into their carriage. As they all entered, it rode off to the old castle of the Sisters. Where Twilight once faced off against Nightmare Moon.

Chapter 5

"What’s a Dalek?” Applejack asked, scratching her head.

“Primitive beings would call them demons. They’re the deadliest creatures to ever exist in the universe. They were made to feel no emotion except for rage and hatred. They’re cold calculating monsters whose sole purpose is to destroy every living thing that isn’t a Dalek. I’ve fought against these things nearly all my life and just when I think I’m free of them once and for all, they just COME BACK!” The Doctor hit the arm of his chair, cracking the wood. Derpy jumped back, startled by his sudden aggression. He relaxed slightly, closing his eyes.

“I never used to have a problem keeping secrets. I’d wait at least a day before telling people who and what I am. Now, I haven’t even known you lot for a day and I’m already telling you about the Daleks.” He rested his face in his hooves.

“D-Doctor, how do we stop the Dalek from hurting everyone?” Fluttershy asked. The Doctor just burst out laughing, tears coming to his eyes.

“You can’t stop a Dalek, you can’t reason with it, you can’t appeal to its sense of mercy because it doesn’t have one. They are death in layers of metal. Their emotions are just as monotone as their voices. When you face a Dalek, you run, try to turn corners and get out of its field of vision because if it sees you, it will judge you as either temporarily useful or expendable in which case it will kill you.” The Doctor leaned forward and hit a button on the console. A hologram of a Dalek appeared. It looked real enough. Clad in black metal with black hemispheres unlike what the ponies had seen The Doctor fearing.

“Who are you?!” it demanded, its voice high pitched, distorted and scary. Fluttershy shot behind The Doctor while the others leaned away from it.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie.” the pink mare stated.

“Well she’s dead.” The Doctor muttered as the Dalek approached her, its body whirring as it moved.

“You do not fear me?!” the dalek asked.

“Why would I?” she asked in turn.

“I am Dalek Sec of the Cult of Skaro! You will obey or be exterminated! Obey! Obey!” The Dalek responded. Pinkie bowed and grinned sheepishly.

“Okey-Dokey-Lokey!” she replied. The Doctor just stared at the pink mare, as did Sec.

“What does she mean?! Explain! Explain!” Sec turned to The Doctor who gave him a disgusted look.

“I don’t think anyone can explain that pony’s words.” Dalek Sec examined The Doctor his eye stalk zooming in and out.

“State your name!” he commanded.

“Oh you don’t wanna know who I am Sec.” he replied.

“Your name! Your name!” Sec urged. Startling Fluttershy, The Doctor jumped out of his seat and stood right up to the Dalek.

“I am The Doctor! You know me Dalek Sec, because I have beaten you every time you’ve shown yourself.” Dalek Sec backed away.

“Doctor!” he cried, backing over the stairs. The hologram faded and disappeared entirely. The ponies stared at where the Dalek had been, then looked at The Doctor who stood with an enraged look on his face.

“So the message is this Pinkie. You fear the Daleks and they fear me. If you don’t fear them, you’re all idiots. If they don’t fear me…” he stopped and just left them with that cliffhanger.

An hour had passed and the girls were discussing what to do.

“This kind of thing never happened in our history. It’s as though his appearance has changed everything.” said Spike.

“Not everything.” Twilight uttered.

“Um… I think it would be best if we stayed around him. That black Dalek backed away from him pretty quickly. Even before he’d finished saying his name, that thing ran.” Fluttershy said.

“Ya’h may be right there sugar cube, but Ah gotta wonder just who this Doctor is. If what he says is true and them Dalek things are the worst creatures in the universe, then what is he? To be able to scare something so evil… Wouldn’t he be worse?” Applejack removed her hat and rubbed her forehead.

“No, he seems to like harmony in the universe. I think he just hates Daleks and they know it. Clearly, even if they’re hateful creatures, they can sense greater hatred in him.” Rainbow Dash replied. Derpy looked toward where The Doctor had disappeared.

“So why does he hate them? What did they do to him?” Every pony sat in silence. Without warning, the room began ringing with a loud noise. The seven ponies covered their ears to try and drown the sound out, but it just went right through them. The Doctor emerged in a rush, his seemingly spiteful expression replaced with concern. Fiddling with the controls, the alarm went off and the ponies gathered together.

“What was that, Doctor?” asked Spike. The purple dragon jumped up and sat on Twilight’s back, leaning forward to see The Doctor staring at a screen.

“I’m not sure… and believe me, that’s very rare; me not being sure. I asked the TARDIS to scan Equestria for any familiar anomalies, such as Dalek energy readings and the likes. The thing that boggles my mind right now is that it’s not reading as Dalek.” he replied. Derpy walked up to him and looked at the screen, careful not to touch anything.

“What’s a… weeping…angel?” she asked. The Doctor leaned closer to her.

“Where’s it say that?” as his neck touched against hers, Derpy held her breath Nopony had been so close to her in that manner. With her face going red, The Doctor brushed her hoof as he reached for a button. She gasped, drawing The Doctor’s attention.

“What’s wrong with you? You look… are you running a fever?” He placed his hoof over her head and searched for any change in her temperature. Derpy just grew redder.

“I knew I should have studied Equine anatomy and health at some point in my life. Such fascinating creatures, you ponies. You can run for miles and barely show any signs of fatigue… or is that different here?” he asked.

“Well I don’t know about the others, but I could fly on all day.” Rainbow Dash jumped in, taking to the air. She flew circles around the console well out of reach of the controls.

“Right… Twilight, you’re familiar with your kind’s anatomy and health, what’s with Derpy?” Twilight examined Derpy’s face, which grew redder as she approached. The Doctor, being a snoopy pony, followed suit and examined her closely, if only to learn from practical observation. Derpy grew as red as she could get, then she fainted. With a thud, The Doctor lost interest.

“Ah, I get it now… Must be that time of the month.” he walked back to the console.

“That’s not it, Doctor, she was… nervous.” Twilight followed him, stopping him as he went to turn a dial.

“No, Fluttershy gets nervous, I know nervous. It’s your Equine appearances, it’s going to take me a few hours to learn the expressions.” he argued.

“Alright, well I’m not going to tell you what that was. She’ll tell you in her own time, but don’t worry, she’s not sick… a little scatterbrained, maybe, but healthy as ever.” Twilight walked off, taking the girls with her.

“Now you let us know if there’s anything you need us to do, Doctor.” Applejack spoke up as Twilight urged her and the other five through the doorway. As they disappeared from view, The Doctor looked at the screen again with a light smile on his face.

“I can’t remember every being this frustrated and excited when there wasn’t imminent danger staring me in the face. What am I saying? Weeping angels are on the screen. Thank goodness I removed all the images, otherwise, they’d be inside the TARDIS.” as he spoke, he glanced over to Derpy who had curled up on the cold floor beside him. He ignored what he was doing and tried to lift her up over his back. He walked over to his chair and gently sat her in it, throwing a blanket over her to keep her warm.

“It’s gonna be cold in space, my new friend.” he whispered as he returned to the console. The quiet hum of the TARDIS continued as he began to teleport the blue box into outer space.

***

The six ponies huddled together in Twilight’s room, which had been fashioned after her Library. Pinkie Pie was pulling the books out to make sure they were real. She didn’t bother to replace them. Applejack was speaking with Twilight while Rainbow Dash relaxed on a cloud she’d brought in from her room. Spike was trying to scare Fluttershy with his own-made rumours of the Doctor and the Daleks, much to Flutterhsy’s displeasure, and Rarity began replacing the books Pinkie was throwing.

“Okay everypony, so The Doctor’s a good guy, we all agree, and the Daleks he hates are evil. They’re the most frightening things in the universe, yet they fear him. As Rainbow Dash said before, it’s actually his hatred of them that they fear. Anything else?” Twilight began.

“Well I’m not really all that good at puttin’ pieces together like this Twi, but something just clicks between his hatred of them Daleks and him being the last of the Time Lords. Whatchu, think?” the farm mare asked. Twilight crossed her hooves in thought.

“There’s always the possibility. So he hates the Daleks with a passion because they had something to do with his kind’s extinction. Anything else we can add to this mystery?” Fluttershy stepped around Spike and crawled up beside Applejack.

“Um… there was that thing Derpy said before she fainted. Something about a Weeping Angel? Could that be linked to the Daleks?”

“Maybe the Angels are in cahoots with the Daleks and they want to take over Equestria!!!” Spike teased, frightening Fluttershy behind Applejack.

“Gosh Darn it, Spike! The last thing I want is Fluttershy vibratin’ so fast against ma’h backside!” Applejack threw her hat at the purple dragon who laughed and dodged the projectile.

“Guys, please… I’m trying to figure this out.” Twilight began pacing back and forth, her mind trying its hardest to work out the problem.

“I’m telling you Twi, they’re working together.” Spike interrupted. Twilight shook her head.

“No, The Doctor said Daleks don’t work with anything that isn’t one of them. Which doesn’t discount using the angels for some purpose. The Doctor is intelligent. Given his hatred and obvious fear of them, it’s probably safe to assume that they are equally intelligent if not more so. Argh, I just arrive at more questions. If The Doctor is right about the Daleks, then they’d waste no time trying to wipe Equestria off the map. So why aren’t they?” The ponies all took the time to think about an answer.

“Maybe they’re fighting each other?” suggested Rainbow Dash.

“An excellent point, Dash. Personally, I’m hoping that’s the outcome because it would be a stalemate between the two. A Weeping Angel can’t move when it’s being looked at and a Dalek can’t kill it because the stone the angels are made of is as impenetrable as the TARDIS. If the Dalek looked away, it would be sent back in time to live the rest of its life up to the day it was sent back.” The Doctor entered the room, startling everypony.

“So we’re essentially safe until the Dalek looks away?” Spike asked.

“Sadly, no. There are multiple outcomes that could ensue. One: The Dalek, presuming it received enough energy from the storm, could teleport to another location before the Angel unfroze, freeing both to attack Equestria. Two: The Dalek doesn’t care about time the same way we do. If it wants to destroy Equestria, it would simply do it in the time the Angel sent it. Thankfully, that hasn’t happened. If it did, we’d know about it. And this is only if they’re staring at each other. I have to know what the Dalek is doing. The Weeping Angel can wait. I can rectify its time-meddling after I’ve saved the world… again.”

An alarm went off throughout the TARDIS. The Doctor’s surprised face unnerved everypony as they all ran to the console together. The Doctor skidded to a halt as he began flicking levers and bashing buttons.

“Twilight, you see that big blue wheel in front of you, spin that about several times.” he said. Twilight complied and as she did so, several screens emerged, each with separate sections of Equestria. Canterlot, Ponyville, Cloudsdale, Manehattan, Appleoosa, The Griffon Kingdom and Stalliongrad. Each area was aflame, hundreds of Daleks flew in the air, destroying houses and exterminating ponies.

“No!” they all cried. The Doctor frowned as he began twisting knobs and turning dials. The TARDIS made a jerk, knocking everypony over.

“Doctor, where are we going?” Twilight asked. The Doctor ignored them and pulled a final lever. The TARDIS jerked once more and everything, including The Doctor was still.

“Doctor?”

“All of you. This is where you leave. I’ve brought you to a month prior to the attack. You’ll be safe here until I’ve… dealt with the Daleks.” He stomped on the ground and the doors opened.

“Wait, we’re not leaving you to fight them alone. This is our world, Doctor. We have a right to defend it. Tell us everything you know and we’ll help you beat them.” Twilight closed the doors with her magic and faced him.

“This isn’t the time, miss Sparkle. The Daleks are my problem, not yours.”

“Well, they’re hurtin’ all them folks in Equestria. That makes it our problem. And if you don’t like it, y’all can just get out and we’ll deal with them.” Applejack stepped forward, eyeing The Doctor.

“Doctor,” The Doctor, looked to his right to see Derpy with folded ears and a sad expression. “Please?” Between the aggressive expression on Applejack’s face and the pleading one on Derpy’s. The Doctor was caged between them and his feelings about the whole situation. Suddenly, the answer popped into his head.

“A Delta wave.” he blurted out. The ponies stared at him.

“What’s a Delta Wave?” Rainbow Dash asked, thinking it sounded cool.

“A delta wave is a brain wave associated with deep sleep. What I need to do is create something to project the wave with. The projector generates a wave of energy that will destroy the brain patterns of all living creatures within its field of effect. I could use your help designing the projector. I’d need to calibrate it so it will only affect Daleks and not ponies.” The Doctor grinned as he pulled another lever on his machine and took them all back another two months.

Chapter 6

“Doctor, something doesn’t add up.” Twilight said as she handed him one of the many devices from the Doctor’s scrap pile. The Doctor took it in his teeth and placed it with a small collection of other devises positioned to look like a small satellite dish.

“And what might that be, Starlight?” he asked, pulling out his sonic Screwdriver.

“It’s Twilight! And why did the Daleks attack now? Why not immediately after that one that crashed awoke?” The Doctor traced his screwdriver over the satellite. The metal began to creak and combine into one solid structure.

“They haven’t. Technically, the Daleks won’t attack for another two months. I love Time Travel. The question we should be asking ourselves is where the other daleks came from. Though there’s never just one. Except that one time in that pompous American’s museum, whose name escapes me… not that it’s important.” Twilight stood where she was, watching the Doctor work.

“So… where did the others come from?” she asked with hesitation in her voice. The Doctor stopped what he was doing and pointed his Sonic Screwdriver up into the sky.

“Where does any creature alien to a world come from? However, since there aren’t any ships revolving around this world that the TARDIS can detect, the question becomes, when did they come here, and where were they at the time? The Dalek that awoke in the storm crashed in the middle of a forest. So clearly it was headed somewhere, but where? There must be a place nearby where the Daleks could stand by unnoticed. But looking at the map there’s nowhere that they could possibly g–.” he stopped, his eyes shifting from left to right as though reading an invisible book.

“Doctor?” Twilight asked worriedly, causing everypony to stop what they were doing and look towards them. The Doctor smiled and gasped as he came to a brilliant revelation.

“Oh, they are clever! I mean they were always clever, and I’m always more so, but they’ve outdone themselves this time.” He made his way to the TARDIS and opened the door, motioning the ponies to follow. As they all entered the blue box, the Doctor laughed as he played around with the console. The TARDIS jerked and swayed from side to side, causing the inhabitants to fall and crash into each other, Pinkie Pie falling in the pool in the kitchen. Then it stopped with one final jerk and the hazel pony ran for the door, pulling his screwdriver out. The other ponies followed him and looked around to where they were.

“Doctor, what are we doing in the Everfree forest?” Spike asked, jumping onto Twilight’s haunches and shuffling up her back to rest over her mid-section.

“Well, Spike, I’m in the forest so I can search for Hemispheric Energy Particles in the soil. Why you’re all out here and not still inside the TARDIS is for you to answer.” he replied with casual abandon.

“Hemi-what-now?” Derpy asked, trotting up beside the Time Lord.

“Hemispheric Energy Particles, or H.E.P if you will. For those of you who are lazy, just say Hep. They’re a sort of radioactive residue that’s left behind when Daleks are desperate. Think of it as like… a faint trail of perfume– da– Pinkie! Stop giggling to Hep!” Pinkie Pie covered her mouth to try and silence herself, but couldn’t contain her laughter and exploded with a symphony of joy. The Doctor sighed and shook his head.

“The fact that she takes everything so lightly just… infuriates me. I’ve never been so easily angered.” Derpy giggled at his comment and patted his head.

“You get used to it, Doctor.” she claimed, sticking close to him.

“Right then! Let’s search for H.E.P, shall we?” a snort was his response, followed by Pinkie uttering ‘Hep’ once more. With a groan of contempt, the Doctor pointed the screwdriver towards the ground and activated it. It whirred with a steady gurgle and as he moved it around, it began to warble like a beacon. The ponies followed closely as he tracked the invisible particles to their source. After roughly a kilometre, he made a sharp right turn and stopped, scaring every pony as he jumped up with glee.

“Aha!!” he yelled, sticking his screwdriver back into his pocket.

“What is it?” Applejack asked, prying Fluttershy from her side.

“I knew it! The Daleks were already here when the first one awoke. Something or someone drove the Daleks to desperation and they performed a Continuum Jump where they ended up underground.” he replied.

“All I got was underground.” Spike said. Twilight shook her head, trying to fathom the wording.

“But Doctor, if they appeared underground, wouldn’t they have fused with the stone and been stuck in one place?” The Doctor smiled at her and shook his head.

“All the evidence suggests otherwise, Flashlight.”

“Twilight! And what evidence?”

Well for starters, the hemispheres that marketeer had on his possession were of an old make, meaning that these Daleks are very old indeed. I’d go so far as to say they’re the oldest I’ve ever seen. So they’re not as advanced as I’ve dealt with, but that makes them slightly more dangerous. Secondly–.”

“Hold on Doctor… how are they more dangerous if they’re less advanced than what you’re used to. Shouldn’t you have the advantage?” asked Rainbow Dash. The Doctor just sighed.

“These Daleks don’t know who I am. I’d go so far as to say that they’re not even aware of many other races. The Daleks wouldn’t have crashed if they were experienced in space flight. They’re like children… genocidal children.” Rainbow Dash shut up and joined Fluttershy beside Applejack.

“As I was saying, they’re old. Secondly, the fact that they will eventually awaken and destroy Equestria means that there was no ground where they landed. They must have crashed on the surface and the earth grew over their ship in time. So they’ve been here from the very beginning. I imagine the H.E.P is what actually grew this forest and why it’s self-sustaining without the aid of Pegasi or magic.” The ponies all gasped and drew closer to the Doctor.

“So you’re saying that the forest is some mutated alien creation?” Rarity asked, shaking like Fluttershy.

“Now that I think about it, it does look kind of like the plant life on Skaro,” the Doctor muttered as he examined a thorny vine. “Only alive and…not metal.” he added, chuckling.

“What’s so funny?” Twilight demanded. The Doctor gave her a big grin.

“Ancient Daleks, a half-finished Delta Wave beacon, several companions and another month remaining… this is… it’s just so…” He was having trouble finding the right word.

“Scary?” Fluttershy asked.

“Dangerous?” Rainbow Dash kicked in.

“Ghastly?” Rarity chided in.

“Fascinating?” Twilight enquired.

“Mighty weird?” Applejack suggested.

“Exciting?!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“Creepy?” Spike uttered.

“Muffins? Wait, what’re we talking about?” The whole group looked at Derpy.

“We’re talkin’ about the overall problem, sugarcube.” Applejack replied, reaching a hoof out to touch her sympathetically.

“FANTASTIC!!!” The Doctor shouted in a loud burst of excitement. The ponies jumped, Fluttershy landing on her back with a high pitched squeak.

“Now this is why I travel! It’s all so fantastic! I’m about to see what could possibly be the very first Daleks in existence. Davros’ lot were not the originals. They just used him like a puppet to make more, but these guys. Oh yes! This is absolutely, utterly and unquestionably Fantastic!!!” he began to pace with excitement as the ponies watched him.

“How can you be so cheery? You’ve basically expressed joy towards the fact that these Daleks don’t know you, which I still don’t understand how that makes them more dangerous.” Twilight growled at the Time Lord. He just stopped and grinned at her.

“Ms Sparkle… these Daleks don’t know who I am, therefore they don’t fear me, which makes them that much more aggressive towards me. The Daleks that do know me, know what I’ve done to them and their predecessors hesitate and miss the obvious. Since they don’t know me, they won’t make those mistakes and will focus directly on trying to exterminate every living thing that isn’t them without fear or hesitation, as they were bred to do.” The Doctor was bordering on insane cackling as he hurried back to the TARDIS and slammed the first two buttons he saw. Fluttershy just made it inside when the doors slammed shut and the Time machine began to shake like a rollercoaster back to the Moon, where they prepared to finish the Delta Wave beacon.

Chapter 4

The remaining six ponies, along with The Doctor, began racing through market stalls. Pinkie Pie began buying party items, most likely for her Time Lordy party as she called it. Rarity bought rolls of fabrics which she carried in the air above her head. Applejack bought a few dozen apples with an Easter theme. She called them Zap Apples. Fluttershy bought nothing as she was too afraid to deal with strangers, even though some were her ancestors. Rainbow Dash bought an original Wonderbolts costume and tried it on immediately. She began zooming above the market, cheering with delight. Derpy bought a pair of glasses that seemed useless to her. They were small and square, just resting on the tip of her nose.

“Now I’m the doctor.” she teased, winking at the chestnut stallion. In return, he just snorted with amusement and broke out in laughter.

“Live for over a thousand years and nearly die five thousand times within each of those years, then you can say that you’re me.” he challenged. Derpy just giggled and fixed her new glasses, which surprisingly straightened her eyes.

“So you’ve nearly died so many times? Don’t you ever fear the next encounter?” she asked. The Doctor just shrugged and smiled.

“What’s life when all there is, is fear of the next day? Besides, it’s the near-death experiences that make me feel alive. The thrill of adventure and all the dangers that come with it. It also helps me to boast my cleverness.” with that, he pulled out his own pair of glasses and placed them on his face. They looked even sillier than Derpy’s and she laughed her head off in response.

“I see you got a new sonic doohickie?” Derpy pointed to The Doctor’s inside pocket.

“Yes, my screwdriver. And it’s red, I always wanted a red one. I think the next one I’ll want might be… orange. Don’t ask me why because I don’t really know.” as they walked together through the market, buying various things. The Doctor stopped to notice something very odd; out of place even. It was a golden sphere no bigger than a baseball. He swooped over to the bench the sphere was on and began examining it.

“No, that’s not possible. Who owns this stall?” he called out. A surly Stallion with a super villain moustache suddenly rose from behind the table.

“How can I help you, sir?” he asked. His accent was very posh. The Doctor tried to pick the sphere up, but failed in his attempts. He looked to Derpy for help. As she raised it, she had to put it down immediately afterward. She then struggled to lift it once more.

“That sphere, where did you find it?” The stall owner looked closely at the sphere and smiled.

“Sir, I cannot divulge the location of this item’s origins –.”

“Where!” The Doctor shouter, startling all the ponies around him. The main five and Derpy drew in closer, slightly rattled by The Doctor’s sudden change in personality.

“Uh… In the Everfree forest. There were a couple dozen of them. We took them and tried to melt them into bits, but no matter the heat, they wouldn’t melt.” he replied. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began pointing it around the sphere, the screwdriver emitting that high pitched warble as he did so.

“Doctor?” Fluttershy squeaked.

“Those orbs, were they attached to anything? Some sort of bronze plating?” The Doctor urged. The stall owner began to hesitate.

“Tell me!!!” he yelled.

“Y-yes! They were all attached to some sort of strange metal statue. It looked broken, there was dirt all over it. We saw the gold and took it, it was quite easy.” the owner began to shiver and behind the stall, he was wetting himself. The Doctor flicked his screwdriver and looked at its readings. He paused, falling to his haunches.

“The ball’s inert. Oh thank goodness.” he said. He began to laugh, dropping his screwdriver. Derpy picked it up and patted him on the shoulder.

“Doctor, what’s wrong. I haven’t known you for long but this is weird, even for you.” she said, handing him the screwdriver. He took it and placed it back in his pocket.

“I suppose it’s only understandable. They did take my last regeneration. I’ve a right to fear them. Oh god, I haven’t been this angry and this afraid since…” he stopped. As he wiped his face, he turned to the stall owner.

“Listen, don’t sell this thing. Gather your friends and whoever they sold these things to and encase them in a box and bury them as deep as you can. Alright?” The Stall owner nodded, standing back up.

“But Sir, before I do, could you tell me what we took?” The Doctor looked at the orb again and shuddered.

“You took pieces of armour.” he replied, walking away. As the six ponies followed him, the owner began to pack up his stall, hiding the orb from everypony. The Doctor made his way back to the TARDIS, which was now surrounded by the Equestrian equivalent of Law enforcement.

“I really wish I’d fixed that cloaking system now.” he said. As he and his six followers approached, one of the lawful ponies tried to buck the door open. In response, he just hurt his hooves.

“Oi! Stop kicking my home!” The Doctor called. The enforcers then surrounded the seven of them.

“And what exactly is this thing? It’s no home I’ve ever seen. And it seems a bit small to house you.” The chief approached with blind authority.

“Oi, you’re the ones known for selling out doughnut stores, not me. And since when have I gone to your homes and tried to kick the doors in, then critique the décor?” The Chief ignored The Doctor’s comments and looked to the others. His eyes rested on Derpy.

“I see you bought my son’s reading glasses. I’ve asked him to get rid of them for months and get a new set. Nice to see he went half way through it.” he said. Derpy just showed her new glasses off proudly.

“Please, Officer. I need to get my rolls of material inside before it rains. I can see storm clouds coming and I just got these.” Rarity spoke up. The Chief turned to her.

“I’d like to let you Ma’am, but the doors just won’t open.” he replied. The Doctor just snorted and walked around the Chief.

“Of course they won’t open for you. They’re Isomorphic, which means only certain ponies, such as myself and seven others can get in. The doors only open to our touch. Example.” As the Doctor spoke, he opened the doors. Just as the officers went to storm through, he closed the doors behind him, preventing their entry.

The other six ponies remained outside, surrounded by the officers. They watched as the TARDIS began to disappear. Grouping together, their vision became distorted as The Doctor re-emerged the TARDIS around them. The six of them were startled as the walls of the TARDIS surrounded them. There stood The Doctor with his white coat over one of the hand rails, his hooves frantically pressing buttons and flipping handles.

“Right then, that’s you six cleared. Your police have run with their tails between their legs and now we just wait on Twilight. I’ve taken the liberty of setting up rooms for each of you. I’ve labelled them in your names. Just go down that hall, past the Library and the petting zoo, around the Swimming Pool, make sure none of my kitchenware falls in. It’s annoying having to pick bits of plates out of the water. Even more so when I have to drain the pool and fill it up again.”

“There’s a pool in your kitchen?” Rarity asked.

“No. Yes! Well it’s more of a giant sink, there’s a plug hole with a cork plug and everything. Look, just walk through there, I’ll fiddle with the gravity and you can all just fly to your rooms.” The six ponies did as he said, and walked through a corridor. Within a minute, the gravity disappeared and they were all weightless. Fluttershy tried to run to a hiding place, but the attempt was useless. Applejack began to kick her legs as if swimming, enjoying having gone nowhere. Rarity used her magic to bring her rolls closer to her, then she formed a magic hand to pull her forward Each Pony grabbed something and used it as leverage to move forward.

“This is so awesome! I just wish I could fly through gravity using my wings, not propulsion.” The other six looked at her.

“What? I read a little with Twilight. So sue me.” As Rainbow Dash endured their teasing stares, Twilight stepped through the front door with a giddy smile on her face.

“Ah, welcome back Twilight. Had a productive time, I presume?” The Doctor asked, giving her a quick glance before returning to his work at the console. Twilight stopped beside him and bumped him playfully.

“You knew what would happen, didn’t you?” she asked, looking him in the eye.

“Of course, it was in her Diary. Now then, our friends are back there enjoying weightlessness, there’s a storm brewing and coincidentally, there’s a dimensional rift riding alongside it, so I’ll be staying here to absorb the energy, kind of like giving the TARDIS a drink after such a long trek, or filling up a tank.” Twilight’s mood dropped as he began raving on about stuff she didn’t understand.

“What’s a dimensional rift?”

“Think of reality as a corridor with hundreds of doors. You open one door and step through it to find yourself in a similar corridor, but slightly different. That’s another reality. You know it’s another reality because there is another you about to head toward another door.” Twilight rubbed her head as she tried to contemplate what he was saying.

“Alright, consider a wall in reality, you break down that wall, and you find slight differences behind that wall.”

“Okay.”

“Well it’s nothing like that.” Twilight collapsed at that comment.

“A dimension is everything around you, everything you do defines the dimension. Another dimension is the result of a choice you or someone else made that would have changed your life. Think of it as a ‘What If?’ timeline in your life. There could be a dimension where you’re not Celestia’s student, where you never met your friends. You could potentially be a threat to this world, its new ruler, you could be alone and miserable, you could be married.” The Doctor flicked a switch and a tree line appeared as a hologram, showing examples.

“Probably should have lead with this. Okay, you see your first major decision. Do you warn Celestia of her sister’s return, or do you let it be and go on about your day. As you know, you warned Celestia and gained friends. What you didn’t do is the beginning of an alternate dimension. Your decisions branch off into different outcomes. This is what’s called an alternate dimension. Do you understand?” Twilight looked at the hologram and nodded.

“I get it. So what does this dimensional rift do?” The Doctor flicked the switch again and a violet line began appearing between every tree line.

“Basically this. It’s a storm that rips through time and space. Like tearing your way into another room through a door made of fabric. People, or in this case, ponies could potentially stumble into the rift and end up in their alternate or random dimensions. Which could be disastrous if in another dimension, they are dead, or a most wanted criminal.” The Doctor flicked the switch once more and everything disappeared.

“I need to close that rift as well, because there’s the possibility that the creature the hemisphere belonged to is still alive and is attacking Equestria in its own dimension. If it gets through the Dimensional rift, it could end up here… And I can’t let that happen.” Twilight became confused yet again.

“Wait, what hemisphere? What creature?” she asked. The Doctor ignored her and continued to press buttons on his console. Before she could urge him, the others entered. When they saw Twilight, they ran towards her and began flooding her with questions and information. The Doctor finished what he was doing on the centre console and went to sit down in a comfy chair. He was joined a minute later by Derpy, who seemed bored.

“How can I help you, my dear?” he asked. Derpy just shrugged and sat beside him, shoving him to one side.

“Alright then.” he uttered as he grabbed a book from his pocket and positioned it on his leg. An hour later, the storm had begun, the girls stopped what they were doing and were dining around the makeshift fireplace that the TARDIS had generated. In order to keep a calm environment, The Doctor had allowed the raining sound to penetrate the usually sound-proof walls, giving it that homey feeling. Derpy had fallen asleep beside him and he was going through his seventieth book. He yawned and tossed the book away.

“Oh Bella, I’d have gone for the warm werewolf instead of the cold sparkling vampire boy. Least there’d have been no chance of his kid killing you during childbirth.” he mumbled. Gently sliding past Derpy he returned to his console and checked on the Dimensional rift. It had closed completely and the TARDIS was now fully powered. In his mind, he could hear the distorted and monotone voice of the Dalek calling out ‘Exterminate!’ With a shudder, he came to a decision. He pulled a lever down on the console and it jerked, startling every Pony. Hitting every button on his side of the board, The Doctor began to travel to a new destination. The startled ponies went up to him and began asking jumbled questions. When the TARDIS stopped moving, The Doctor leaped over the ring of mares and headed out the door.

Outside the TARDIS was a small crater with bits of metallic objects sticking through Closely examining the crater further, he found the imprint of what he was looking for, but not the object. The Dalek had been resurrected through the lightning of the storm. His hearts began to pound at rapid paces as his greatest fear came to life. He yelled into the sky.

“NO!!!” Running back into his ship, he flew past the ponies who had just made it to the doors.

“Doctor, what’s outside?” Rainbow Dash said, about to stick her head out for a peek. The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out and pointed it at the doors. The sound rang and before Rainbow Dash could see anything, the doors closed on her, deadlocking themselves.

“Doctor!” Twilight yelled. He just replaced his screwdriver and began searching for something on the console. A screen appeared and began showing every city in Equestria. Nothing had changed.

“What?” The Doctor began, examining every city. He expected total destruction, some damage at least, but nothing had changed.

“That’s not right, where are you?” he asked as he shut off the hologram and sat back in his chair, clearly in thought. Derpy went up to him and placed a hoof in his.

“Doctor, something’s wrong. What is it?” she asked. The Doctor looked at her hoof, then to her. Her eyes, fixed with the glasses, looked directly into his.

“That’s just it. Nothing’s wrong, nothing’s happening out there and that’s what the problem is.” Every pony looked at each other, confused as to his meaning. The Doctor just sighed.

“That golden orb I was freaking out over before at the market. It’s called a Hemisphere. It’s one of fifty-four. They’re a part of a mechanical suit of armour that holds a creature inside called a Dalek.” Just the name made every pony shudder.