I believe it all is coming to an end
Oh well, I guess we're gonna pretend
The stars went out two years ago.
Amelia Pond can remember back when she was a little girl, seven years old, uprooted from Scotland and replaced in dull old Leadworth. The only thing that comforted her about the move was the sky, particularly at night - it was the same one as back home.
She'd sit out in the garden far into the night, just staring up at the clusters of stars and constellations and even planets, she'd learn later. Little Amelia would imagine flying up there in a spaceship and touching the stars for herself.
She took books about stars out of the library, immersing herself in the pictures of galaxies and nebulas and stars. She'd dream about moving to America to join NASA and becoming an astronaut. As she grew older, though, Amelia (Amy, actually, at this point) decided she'd be an astronomer instead; she'd discover new stars and planets and nebulas and pass on her love of the night to those younger than her.
One night, when she was 19, Amy was watching the night sky when something horrifying happened: stars slowly started to flicker out, like old light bulbs that needed changing.
The news was in a flurry; astronomers and scientists were fighting back and forth over what was causing it. Days slowly but surely started getting shorter, colder.
People stopped caring what caused the stars going out and focused more on what could be done to fix it and if they would be able to survive.
What if the sun goes out?
That's impossible. A star as large as the sun would take years and years to go out.
The sun went out on the 26th of June, 2010.
Amy Pond wandered around the dark of England, plastic torch clutched firmly in hand, as bundled up as she could get - long johns, sweatpants, longsleeved shirt, two jumpers, mittens, knit cap, boots, blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders. She still couldn't get used to the gnawing cold left in the wake of the sun. She was puzzling over how anyone managed to live this long when a peculiar sound filled the dead silence of the abandoned street.
A blue police public call box wheezed into existence less than twenty feet away. Amy was about to take a step towards it when the doors suddenly swung inwards and a man stumbled out. The man was as peculiar as the box; he wore thin-looking trousers, a pink and white stripped button-up under a tweed jacket, braces, and, of all things, a red bow-tie. The only thing that looked warm about him were his boots; they were dark and looked sturdy, perfect for running in.
"Ah, hello!" he called when he spotted Amy. "Could you tell me what the date is? Is it winter?"
"No," Amy said slowly. "It's the 20th of August, 2010."
The man's brow furrowed. "No, it can't be. The temperature out is -12 degrees Celsius. It couldn't possibly be the end of summer."
"It's always this cold out," Amy said, mimicking the man's confused expression. "Ever since the sun went out back in Ju-"
"I'm sorry, the sun went out?"
"Where have you been, living in another universe or something?" she asked, forcing herself not to stammer. The cold was starting to seep in now that she'd stopped moving.
"Something like that," the man muttered, turning back to stare at his blue box, whose doors were now closed. Before Amy could ask what he meant, he turned around to look at Amy again. "What's your name?"
"Amelia Pond," she answered quickly. "But, uh, call me Amy."
"Are we in Scotland?"
"Uh, I don't think so. I mean, I've been wandering for a bit - no one's really working anymore except heating and power companies - so I guess it's possible."
"Amy, what's the exact date the sun went out?"
"T-26th of June of this year," Amy recited, still confused. "How do you not know this?"
The man ignored her and looked up into the inky blankness that was now the night sky.
"Where are the stars?"
"Those went out two years ago!" she yelled, impatient. "How the bloody hell don't you know this?!"
"I'm, ah, not exactly from this universe," the man explained quietly.
A silence passed between the two before Amy barked out a laugh.
"You're joking."
"Did you happen to watch the TARDIS -" Amy assumed he was talking about the box "- materialize?"
"W-Well, yeah, I guess I did," she stammered, switching the weight back and forth between her feet to get her legs moving.
"A box appears out of nowhere in an abandoned street in a starless Possible-England-Possible-Scotland, and you're questioning my ability to be from another universe?"
"Who are you?" she breathed.
"I'm the Doctor," he said with a smile. "And you know what I'm going to do, Amelia Pond?"
"Amy," she corrected, but the Doctor (what kind of rubbish name was that, anyway?) didn't seem to hear her.
"I'm gonna find out where the stars went."
So this was only going to be a one-shot, but I kinda like the idea. Think I should continue?
I don't own Doctor Who; song lyrics from How Far We've Come by Matchbox Twenty.