Doctor Whooves: The Re-imagination
by Neoraichu
Part 1: The Magical Teleporting Box
I claim no credit for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic including Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, the Cutie Mark Crudsaders (Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom), Doctor Whooves, or anything from the actual Doctor Who, including the Doctor and Romana.
...
The Cutie Mark Crusaders (before they were known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, actually), aka Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom, were making their way through the White Tail Woods in the perpetual quest for their Cutie Marks. They felt that they still had time to try a few things before the Summer Sun Celebration began, and they well knew that both Applejack and Rarity would both be upset if they should miss it.
"This is so embarrassing," said Sweetie Belle.
"I wonder if we'll ever get our Cutie Marks before everyone else in our class does," sighed Apple Bloom as she looked down at the ground and her own hooves.
"I'm a Pegasus who's stuck on the ground! A Pegasus who can't fly!" moaned Scootaloo, "How could anything be more embarrassing than that?"
"Well, we can't just give up!" said Sweetie Belle.
"Diamond Tiara would never let us live it down!"
But the three of the stopped cold when a noise unlike any noise they had ever heard before split the air around them. Much to their surprise, a blue box appeared from thin air with a spinning light on top. The sides of the box were marked with strange symbols or glyphs the likes of which they had never seen before. Whatever it was, they were facing a door.
"What the hay is that?!" asked Apple Bloom.
"Obviously a magical teleporting box," said Sweetie Belle in a tone of authority and knowledge she was no doubt learning from Rarity.
"Well I ain't ever seen anything like that before."
"Look how small it is," noted Scootaloo, "There's hardly room for one full sized pony in there let alone the three of us."
"Well, I'm gonna knock on the door an see who answers."
"We're right behind you."
So Apple Bloom went up to the door and knocked on it with her hoof. A moment passed without any response, so she knocked again. The door suddenly opened to reveal the head of a very dark brown unicorn. He looked at them with a slightly disturbing smile and brown eyes that looked just a little bit on the crazy side. His mane was slightly darker then his hair, and also very very tightly curled. They looked at his horn, which seemed a little long for the usual unicorn. Around his neck was a multicolored scarf, and based on the number of times it was coiled about his neck, it must have been somewhere in the range of thirty feet long.
"Well hello there," he said with a stallion's voice in a throaty sort of way.
"I told you the knocks were coming from the outside," said a feminine voice from the inside.
"Of course you did," he replied, "but I had to make sure that it was not a result of the Master's act of sabotage against the TARDIS."
"Who are you?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Me?" he asked, "Well, I'm the Doctor."
"He can't be the Doctor," said Scootaloo, "We already have a Doctor in Ponyville."
"Ponyville?" he asked, "Is that a local settlement?"
"Well sure," she replied, "Aren't you from around here?"
"No, we're not," he replied.
"Well d'uh," replied Apple Bloom, "The stallion appears in a magical teleporting box. He could have come from just about anywhere."
"Magical teleporting..." mused the Doctor, "AH! You must be referring to the TARDIS."
"Tardy?" asked Scootaloo, "Where are you late to?"
"No no, not tardy. TAR-DIS. The Time And Relative Dimensions In Space system."
"Whao, you have time and your relatives both in space?!" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Do y'all even know what you just said?" asked Apple Bloom.
"I betcha he's got his Cutie Mark too!" sighed Scootaloo.
"Cutie Mark?" asked the Doctor.
"How can he have a Cutie Mark if he doesn't even know what it is?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Well, if he's from far away, maybe they call their Cutie Marks something else," sighed Apple Bloom.
"Well, if I had a Cutie Mark, where would I find it?" inquired the Doctor.
"Well, it would be on your flank as plain as day. We can't show you ours cause we don't have any yet."
He glanced back and said, "Well, isn't that amusing? I seem to have the TARDIS on my flank wearing my scarf."
"I told you so," said Scootaloo.
"But what does it mean?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Well, if I all had a magical teleporting box, I'd sure want everyone to see that as my Cutie Mark."
"TARDIS..."
"Did you make this?" she asked.
"No, I can't say I've made the TARDIS, but I've pretty much rebuilt almost every part of it by now."
"He must be a mechanic."
"If he was a mechanic," asked Apple Bloom, "Then why the heck would he call himself the Doctor?"
"Actually, I'm a Doctor of Science, so I suppose tinkering comes with the job."
"An who's that mare in there with you?" she asked, "I mean, you look like you barely fit in there by yerself let alone having a mare in there with you."
"Oh where are my manners?" he asked, "This is my assistant..."
"Companion!" shouted the mare.
"My companion, Romana."
"That's Romanadvoratrelundar!"
"I told you, it's Romana or Fred."
"Call me Fred!"
"That's what I thought, Romana."
"But she just said..." said Apple Bloom.
He simply smiled at the three and said, "Now where were we? Oh yes, Romana: Why don't you come out here and say 'hello' to these locals?"
"I'm not coming out, Doctor!" she snarled, "I'm naked and I'm hideous!"
"Well, you look perfectly normal compared to these three. They aren't wearing clothes and they don't seem to miss them."
"Why would we wear clothes in the woods? It ain't nothin special," said Apple Bloom.
"I'm sure we can find something for you in the wardrobe," answered the Doctor, then turning back to the three as he apologized, "Could you please wait a few minutes while Romana makes herself... more presentable?"
"Well, don't take too long," said Scootaloo, "We have to get back in time for the start of the Summer Sun Celebration."
"Summer Sun Celebration?" he asked, "Is that important?"
"Oh yes, it's very very important. It's been like a real long time since Princess Celestia raised the Summer Sun in Ponyville."
"Raise the sun?" asked Romana, "That's crazy."
"She does it every year."
"How does she do this?" asked the Doctor.
"Well d'uh, it's the Princesses' Magic."
"Ah..." he mused, "Magic. I would very much like to see this magic." He then smiled broadly.
"Well, I reckon we can take you to the Celebration in Ponyville."
"You won't be long, will you?" asked Sweetie Belle, "My big sister Rarity takes forever to dress for such occasions."
"Oh, I'm sure this won't take very long at tall. Just how far away are we from this Ponyville?"
"It's only a few miles," said Scootaloo, "Can't we just take your magical teleporting box?"
"That won't do," said the Doctor, "I've never been to Ponyville, and I wouldn't want to appear some place that's in the way or inconvenient for the locals."
"Oh, I see."
"Very good, Romana and I should be out as soon as possible." He ducked back in and closed the door without waiting for their response.
…
True to his word, more or less, the Doctor returned with a unicorn mare. She had brown eyes like the Doctor, and a brown mane which was longer than his, but only somewhat wavy. Her coat coat was an off-white color. Or at least the part of her coat that they could see. From her neck down past her flank, she was wearing a snow while cloak with gold trim and an elaborate headpiece that looked a bit like an impressionistic view of a three-leaf clover. It also covered her Cutie Mark.
"Like I said, this is Romana," said the Doctor.
"Howdy ma'am," said Apple Bloom, "I don't know what you were worried about. You are very pretty."
"I told you that you looked fine."
"Well, I couldn't see them at the time. After all, I'm used to Gallifrey standards of beauty."
"Gallifrey?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Yes," he answered, "That's the place that the Time Lords hail from."
"Time Lords?"
"You look like Unicorns to us," said Scootaloo.
"Well, perhaps a little demonstration is in order." He leaned down to the three and said, "Why don't one of you put your ear to my chest and tell me what you hear?"
"Put our ear against your barrel?"
"Indeed."
Apple Bloom looked at the other two before she leaned in and placed her ear against the Doctor's chest.
"Well, you breath a little heavy. You ain't no pervert, are you?"
"No, just keep listening."
"Well, I hear your heart... and... What in tarnation?!"
"What is it?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"I can hear TWO heartbeats!"
"TWO?"
"That's right, every Time Lord is born with two hearts, among other things."
"That all is amazing!" said Apple Bloom as she stepped back.
"So, shall we go to this Summer Sun Celebration?"
"Sure."
"You are going to lock the TARDIS, aren't you?" asked Romana.
"Of course," he replied.
"Of course," she replied a little sarcastically, "How do you plan to hold your sonic screwdriver? In your mouth?"
"We just hold things in our hooves," said Scootaloo.
"Hold things in your hooves? That's patently..."
But the Doctor had already pulled his sonic screwdriver with his hoof from an unseen pocket, leaving Romana flabbergasted at the sight.
"What?" he asked innocently, "When in Rome..."
"But..." she spluttered, "but... the hoof?! The pocket?!"
The wand-like device was pointed at the blue box, making another strange high-pitched noise the girls had never heard before.
"What kind of crazy key is that?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Well, it's technically a sonic screwdriver," he replied, "but it also works as the TADIS key."
"That there must be a heck of a magic key."
"Well, it's science, but I suppose we can call it magic for the moment. Well, the TARDIS is secure, and we can be on the way."
"You said something about a Master and sabotage earlier," said Scootaloo.
"Ah, the Master," replied the Doctor, "Well, we don't agree on things."
"He's the Doctor's mortal enemy," added Romana.
"But as long as we're in a random alternate dimension, I don't think he's going to bother us. In fact, he probably hopes we we're destroyed by a black hole or some such phenomenon."
"He sounds like a meanie."
"Well, he is. You should check your pockets before we leave."
"Pockets?" she asked, "I have no idea where..."
But the Doctor had already found her pockets and pulled her own sonic screwdriver.
"Here it is," he said simply.
She looked dismayed again. He put it back.
Sweetie Belle looked at the sky, and said, "The sun's going down soon. We better get back to the Carousel Boutique before Rarity gets upset at us."
"The Summer Sun Celebration hasn't started yet?" he asked.
"Yes, but the official ceremony is tomorrow morning."
"I see."
The Doctor set off behind the girls, but Romana was falling a bit behind.
"How can you walk like this?" she asked.
"I learned Venusian Aikido, and I don't even have two pairs of arms. This is a walk in the park by comparison, my dear. I'm sure you'll get used to it."
"I hope so."
"Walk like what?" asked Scootaloo.
"Oh, I'm sure she means on two legs," said the Doctor.
"Ponies can walk on two legs?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Heck, I can do that," said Apple Bloom as she stood on her hind legs.
"You can't walk very far like that," said Scootaloo, "It's not natural."
"Applejack does that with her rope tricks all the time. I hope I'll be as good as her some day."
"I'm sure it will just take practice, my dear," offered the Doctor, "And as young as you appear to be, I'm sure you have plenty of time to do that."
"Thanks mister. Y'all sound real learned like."
"I believe I am at that."
By the time they had reached the Carousel Boutique, the land was only lit by the fading afterglow of the sunset. The door burst open as Rarity said, "Sweetie Belle! Where have you been? I've been worried sick about you!"
"Don't be upset, madam," said the Doctor, "I've been escorting them back from... uh, where were we again?"
"The White Tail Woods," offered Apple Bloom.
"Who are you?" she asked as she looked into the Doctor's slightly crazy broad smile.
"He's the Doctor!" shouted Scootaloo.
"He can't be the Doctor," she replied, "We already have..."
"He all is a Doctor of Science!" said Apple Bloom.
"A Doctor of what? What kind of nonsense is that?"
"He's got a magical blue box that teleports!" said Sweetie Belle.
"Are you making up?.."
"I assure you, miss... that the children here have not made up anything."
"This here is Miss Rarity," said Apple Bloom.
"As it has been said, I am the Doctor and this is my companion, Romana."
Romana groaned at that point.
"She all says her name is Romanadvoratrelundar."
"Well at least someone gets it right," she huffed.
"If I said that every time she was in danger, she'd be dead before I finished," said the Doctor.
"You get in trouble a lot?" asked Rarity.
"Yes," said Romana, "He certainly does."
"So we all brought them here for the Summer Sun Celebration tomorrow," said Apple Bloom.
"Well where are you staying?" she asked.
"Well he just has to stay here. His magical teleporting blue box is so small, he can hardly stand upright in it."
"Actually,.." began the Doctor.
"Fine, they can use the guest room. Pinkie Pie is dragging me over to a surprise party at that new unicorn's place this evening. I really hope she won't keep us up all night again."
"New unicorn?" he asked.
"Yes, I believe it's Twilight... something..."
"It sounds like someone I should meet. What about you, Romana?"
"Well, if I'm going to be up early enough for this Summer Sun Celebration, I most certainly require a bath and a good night's sleep," she replied.
"By the way," mused Rarity to Romana, "I just love your cloak! Where ever did you get it, dahling?"
"This old thing?" she asked back, "It's something I threw on from the Doctor's closet. If I had my own wardrobe, I'm sure I'd be more dazzling than this."
"I could make a whole new line of clothes from this one piece alone!"
"So you're a tailor, I take it?" asked the Doctor.
"Soon to be one of the best in all of Equestria," she answered.
She peered into the fading light as she added, "Well, I see Pinkie Pie coming to collect me. We best be on our way, Doctor."
"We wanna go to," said the future Cutey Mark Crusaders as one.
"You aren't old enough to stay up so late," scolded Rarity, "Can you keep an eye on them for me?" The later part was directed at Romana.
"Well, I'm not very good with..."
"Great!" she replied as she went out with the Doctor to meet Pinkie Pie.
...
Romana answered the door. She was a bit bedraggled because she hardly got a moment's rest from answering the questions of the three fillies. The Doctor and Rarity had returned from the party.
"So how was it?" she asked.
"I don't know," replied the Doctor, "There was in fact a violet unicorn there, but every time I tried to have a word with her, a throng cut me off. Then in the middle of the party, she vanished. The small purple dragon said she was tired, and was turning in early for the Ceremony tomorrow."
"Small purple dragon?!" she asked, "How can you be so casual about such things?"
"Compared to the other ponies, Pegasus and Unicorns I've seen so far, the small purple dragon didn't seem so out of place... What was his name again?"
"Spike," offered Apple Bloom.
"Aren't the Apples expecting you home, Apple Bloom?"
"Naw. I told them I'm having a sleepover here."
"I see. Perhaps someone should have told me too?" she replied as she glared at Sweetie Belle.
"It must have slipped my mind," she replied.
"Well it's late and everyone needs to go to bed," she ordered.
"Yes ma'am," replied the Doctor.
"Well, I wasn't specifically speaking to you, Doctor."
"But it carried across all the same."
"Why can't you three behave like the Doctor here?"
"We're rebellious," answered the three as one.
...
The next morning, the Doctor and Romana attended the opening of the Summer Sun Celebration. They tried to stay in the back as to not draw attention to themselves, but it seemed there was enough visitors to Ponyville to make that essentially a non-issue. But most ponies seemed to be paying attention to the main stage with it's huge red velvet curtains.
Mayor Mare addressed the crowd by saying, "Fillies and gentlecolts, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!"
The crowd cheered to the Mayor's announcement.
She continued, "In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria..."
There was a dramatic pause before the curtains parted, and she continued, "Princess Celestia!"
Murmurs spread through the crowd as they looked at the empty stage.
The Mayor looked about as she announced, "Remain calm, everypony, there must be a reasonable explanation!"
In a cloud of deep blue sparkly purple smoke, an alicorn (a winged unicorn if you don't already know) appeared. But it wasn't Celestia. She was as black as night and wore a helmet of bluish-silver. She had large blue eyes. The crowd gasp at her unexpected appearance.
The alicorn mare looked out over the crowd and said loudly, "My beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces."
A blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail shouted back, "What did you do with our Princess?!" She tried to lunge at the stage, but was grabbed by the tail by an orange pony.
She said in a voice distorted by the fact she had a tail in her mouth, "Whoa there, Nelly..."
The black ailicorn said to the crowd, "Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?" She waited for an answer that was not forthcoming before she continued, "Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"
The Doctor saw the violet unicorn stand forth from the crowd and say to her, "I did. And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon – Nightmare Moon!"
The crowd collectively gasp.
Nightmare Moon announced, "Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here."
The violet unicorn replied, "You're here to... to..." She could not continue, but simple gulped hard.
Nightmare Moon announced, "Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!"
The Doctor simply stared at Nightmare Moon, and said, "Not if the Doctor has anything to say about it!"
[To be continued...]