Gentle air filled the atmosphere around Canterlot on a sunny afternoon as the resident ponies went about their daily business throughout the magnificent moutainside city. Light chatter could be heard here and there as the ponies sauntered about, but one pony had accumulated a lump of worry in her throat over her daughter, who two weeks ago had run off yet again with a strange man in a mysterious disappearing blue box. She hadn’t seen or heard from either of them since. She wasn’t sure what to think of the man. He was obviously clever, but the stories Roseluck had told about her previous journey with him made it quite clear that he was dangerous. So far, Roseluck had been safe, but the last two weeks had been especially quiet.
Then she heard something, but not just any something. It was the all-too-familiar iconic wooshing sound she had come to associate with the blue box Roseluck and the dangerous stallion always seemed to disappear inside of. They were finally back!
Overjoyed, Lily stopped cooking her supper and immediately ran for her door, opened it, and immediately lost all her worry when she saw the blue Pony Box across from her doorway. She had already begun a mad dash for it as the doors swung open and out stepped a male Earth Pony with a grayish amber-colored coat, a short, brown, disheveled mane and tail, and an hourglass cutie mark Lily hadn’t quite understood until she learned what the blue box could do. Behind him was none other than Lily’s beloved daughter, Roseluck, another Earth Pony with a pale yellow coat, a raspberry mane and tail accentuated with lighter streaks, and a rose cutie mark.
Roseluck looked just as happy to see her mother as Lily was to see her, and the brown-colored pony stepped aside as the two shared a hug not only worthy of the worry Lily had been put through, but also long enough to make up for the months Roseluck had really been gone.
“It’s so good to see you again!” Lily exclaimed happily. She let the moment soak in for another minute or so before turning to look somewhat angrily at the other pony. “And who do you think you are dragging my daughter around in your disappearing closet?”
“Stop it, mum!” Roseluck said, “It’s not his fault!”
The male pony shook his head. “It’s quite alright, Rose. I get this kind of reaction quite often. It turns out you get used to it after a while and with all the timey wimeyness I get to travel though, I get to see it twice as often!”
“Oh, shut up,” Lily interjected, “That’s all you do is talk, isn’t it?”
“Come one, mum, shouldn’t we go inside?” Roseluck thought it best to just change the subject. Her mother was always the one to win an argument even if she was probably wrong. Not to mention she herself had a way about “talking too much” as she accused Roseluck’s friend of.
“Oh, right! I still have supper on the stove,” Lily remembered, and she started back for the still-open door to her house. Roseluck followed and motioned to the brown Earth Pony to do the same. Whether her mother knew or not, she wasn’t about to let him disappear on her quite so easily.
“What’s your name, anyway?” Lily asked. She had met the pony last time he visited Canterlot and never got an answer she could be satisfied with.
“I am the Doctor,” he responded matter-of-factly.
“What do you mean ‘Doctor’? Doctor Who?” Lily returned.
“Exactly,” he replied. He tried and failed to keep from grinning as she rolled her eyes and stepped into her house. Lily only turned back to the stove and moved the pot holding her supper onto a potholder she had set to the right of it.
It was rather roomy inside. Lots of flowers, which was sensible considering both of their cutie marks meant their “special talent” had something to do with them. He just felt it a bit much to have so many in one home, but he was quick to look beyond that and take note of what he knew was a bit more urgent.
“Something’s off in here,” he speculated. Lily and Roseluck looked at each other, puzzled, then looked back at him.
“What?” Roseluck asked.
“Stop for a moment,” he closed his eyes as the room fell silent, save for the boiling pot on the stove. Then he opened them again. Lily wasn’t particularly amused. “Something’s not right, can’t you feel it?”
“Oh, what’s he going on about now?” Lily asked, annoyed. Roseluck didn’t have an answer, but the Doctor sure seemed to knew what he was talking about as he suddenly began speaking faster than either of them could follow.
“Right-o, I’m off!” was all Lily could understand out of all his words before the Doctor galloped out the door. Roseluck caught a bit more, but still didn’t have any idea what he was talking about. That was one of her favorite things about him. He could explain to her everything that was going on and she could still be surprised to see what they were about to face. It drew her in and she couldn’t help but want to follow him wherever he was going.
“Oh, you’re not leaving with him again, are you?” Lily asked as Roseluck started for the door. Roseluck only smiled and ran out, but unfortunately couldn’t find where the Doctor had run off to. He did say something about a building amidst his word salad paragraph, but she wasn’t sure which one. She turned back and closed the door behind her as she returned to the kitchen with her mother. She hadn’t seen her in quite a while. Now would be as good a time as ever to spend time together after Roseluck’s absence. She was quite sure she would be leaving with the Doctor once again after her visit there, anyway.