Vworp! Vworp!

The sound of the TARDIS's engines groaned and wheezed as it traveled its way through the time vortex, its destination currently in the hooves of a brown-coated Earth pony with a spiky black and mane and tail; an Earth pony whose eyes were as blue as the ocean. And like the ocean, his eyes hid away a mystery that if one were to dive deep into the many fathoms below, they would find just what they would be looking for, for behind these kind, fathomable eyes lied so much anguish and pain. Fire, ice, and lightning raged like a never-ending storm; filled with nothing but sorrow and regret. They were old eyes, eyes that have seen so much over the course of time, eyes that held a stronger emotion than all others combined together, eyes that strongly desired to fill the one emotion he spent all his life feeling: loneliness.

An entire story could be written if one were to get behind these said eyes, the many wondrous and terrible things stored within being seen by those who haven't the concept just how insignificant they are compared to how big the world beyond is. Just being able to have such memories could change the perspective of how one views their life, placing upon them a burden they should never have to carry.

As it was, the brown Earth pony slowly walked around the console unit that was in the center of the room, heaving a heavy sigh as he stared up at the glass cylinder that protected the time column. A small, sad smile formed upon his face as memories of the past flashed through his mind; memories of the many adventures he's been on, memories of the many foes he's faced time and again, memories of the countless companions who have traveled alongside him; companions whom he had come to grow close to only for them to leave or be taken away from him one way or another whether they become trapped in a place he could not go or having their memories erased so that they could live a happy life free from the danger that would cause more suffering for him or even risk their lives all for him. No matter how much he desired to have a traveling companion he could call a friend, fate always caught up with them in the end. And once more would he find himself alone, destined to travel space and time solo.

However, where fate brought about the bad, good things could come of it as well. And fate seemingly gave him a complete turnaround with an unexpected new life to live in a world he had never dreamed to imagine. This new life he had come to know and learn gave him the one thing he had sought for for so long, filling the empty void which loneliness had for so long occupied: a home. And with that home came new friends; friends whom he could protect and never lose in the new world he had arrived in. But of all the cherished friendships he held with each and every one of them, there was one in particular that he cherished more than life itself.

Lowering his gaze, he came to rest upon a picture of four, smiling ponies, one of which was him wearing his trademark green tie and looking quite dashing as he always does. His eyes were brighter and more joyful prior to the saddened, lonely eyes that he wore on a day-by-day basis; all thanks to the other three ponies who he could share his life with.

Starting with the mare on the right, he couldn't help but smile a little as his heartbeat quickened its pace. How special this mare was to him; always giving him the hope he needed when all hope was discouraged in him, always setting him straight whenever he went too far, always giving him a reason to move forward when a situation troubled him greatly. Everything that he thought he wasn't she would show him how wrong he was. It was to this mare he owed such a debt to he would never be able to repay. If it weren't for her, he would not know where he'd be.

From the day he arrived in the strange, new world she was always by his side, teaching him the custom of their daily lives and the difference in speaking terms prior to how he spoke. Ditzy Doo was her name when they first met. She had a lovely coat of gray with a blond mane and tail to match. Upon her flank shone her special talent: a cutie mark of seven bubbles. But the one attribute that distinguished her most from others were her derped up eyes. Ponies all over would talk about the unnatural way her eyes were stating that it was some sort of birth defect, that her mother had done something to cause them to get stuck the way they were. Others would talk about how she got caught in some sort of accident that not only impaired her vision, but altered her state of mind to match. He, however, didn't care how bad they talked about her or what problems she had with her. To him, she was who she was, derpy eyes and all.

His mouth began watering as he imagined the smell of muffins she would bake on a daily basis, causing his stomach to growl. How much he missed the taste of her muffins, especially with butter added to them.

Moving on from Ditzy, he next focused on the filly who sat in front of them in the picture, her coat a pale purplish color while her mane was the same color of her mother's. However, unlike the two of them, him being an Earth pony and Ditzy being a Pegasus, she was a unicorn. It mattered not to him though. She was their daughter; HIS daughter. He remembered how happy and proud he felt the day she was conceived, him and Ditzy settling on the name Dinky Doo.

Dinky was quite the adventurous pony like he was, making friends with ease, always seeking something new to do, and spreading her kindness and compassion to others, including those who always bullied. He was proud of how she never let the little things bother her such as her cutie markless flank or how she was the daughter of an Earth pony and a Pegasus.

"We may not be the same type of race, but doesn't that show what Pony Ville is about?" she had asked at one time. His heart could not have soared higher at that moment. Here was a filly who understood the true representation of what Pony Ville stood for. He knew that she would grow up carrying on the knowledge she came to learn for future generations. Not to mention carrying on her mother's tradition of muffin baking and delivering mail. Sure it may not have been space and time traveling, but at least she was in an environment friendly area, surrounded by ponies she knew and would come to know. And some day she would come to find a suitable stallion to marry. The mere thought of that made him chuckle.

"Getting rather ahead of myself, aren't I?" he thought to himself. After all, he had to make sure that the stallion she would one day marry treated her with respect. Her wellbeing and happiness was all that mattered to him, just as much as his wife's and other daughter's.

Speaking of his other daughter, his gaze shifted to the final pony in the picture sitting on the other side of him, her coat pink with a floral lavender streak running through her purple mane and tail. He remembered the many conversations he had had with Derpy- a nickname other ponies came up with due to her clumsiness- about having another daughter, only the conversations were more about adopting than conceiving. Derpy had the forethought of adopting an older pony for Dinky to look up to when they both weren't around.

Dinky's birthday had come soon after that, providing them both the opportunity to visit an adoption agency for a surprise birthday gift for her upon her return from school. The reaction she beheld confirmed that their newest addition to the family was the best choice they could have made. Derpy always did have an eye for the special kinds of ponies.

Having spent the hour observing each of the fillies during the recess break, one would point out a filly they thought would make a great addition to the family, only for the other to disagree. Disappointment was at hoof as time drew short, their search coming to an end as the fillies were all called back in. With all hope despaired, they made way to leave when Derpy's derped eyes transfixed upon a lone pony who was slightly older than the others. He knew the moment her eyes caught that particular pony that their search had come to an end. It was a complete surprise for her that she was at last being adopted. And so Sparkler, the name of their newly adopted daughter, came to be a part of the family, living out a life nonrelated to space and time traveling; a well-grounded mare for Dinky to take after.

It was rather rough in the beginning not long after Sparkler was brought home, but with time things smoothed out, strengthening their family bond. He remembered those events like they only happened yesterday. If he were to do everything again like he had done the first time he would do so in a heartbeat. Since then, Sparkler had helped keep Dinky level-headed so long as he didn't take her traveling that often; not that Dinky wasn't level-headed. As much as she loved getting to travel, it was important for her to socialize with other fillies her age so she wouldn't be out of place. Derpy always found it silly that he would worry about such things.

"She's just as normal as anypony else," she would say. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps he had worried whether or not Dinky would make friends. But it was all a part of what being a father was about.

He gave a half-hearted sigh as his gaze lingered upon the picture, his heart filling with a sudden feeling of desire to return home. "It feels like a lifetime ago since I've been home," he thought to himself.

True to his thoughts, it had been quite a while even though it hadn't felt like so. His most recent adventures had brought him to the Crystal Empire where he had met a lovely Crystal pony by the name of Bristle Brush.

Bristle Brush had a lovely coat of lavender with a mane and tail of silver. Her cutie mark, oddly enough, was a hairbrush due to the fact that she worked as a mane stylist at the spa. He soon found her, the first Crystal pony ever, to be his newest and latest companion upon an investigation. However, just like all the others before her, after the many adventures they had together, she, too, was gone before long, leaving him alone once again. But not entirely.

Raising a hoof, he grasped a lever, pausing momentarily. "No more," he said with a sigh. "No more traveling. I'm tired of always finding myself alone. It's time I retire from all this and live the life I should have been living." Satisfied with his choice, he pulled the lever, setting his course for home.

KA-BOOM!

The TARDIS shook violently suddenly, the console exploding with sparks flying everywhere as the lights dimmed. "AAHHH!" the Earth pony cried in surprise as he shielded himself, having to jump back so as not to get burnt. The lights brightened up momentarily before flickering, the TARDIS's engines stalling with an unusual long moan before the room shook violently again. The Earth pony clung to the guardrail as it did, the room slanting at an angle as the shaking threatened to throw him about like a rag doll. After what seemed to be like a millennia, the shaking eventually came to a stop, the room remaining slanted to one side.

The Earth pony remained clinging to the guardrail long after everything settled down on the off chance the shaking started back up. Minutes passed as he kept his grip tight, slowly loosening it as all appeared to be still. Having to keep himself balanced so he wouldn't slide down, the Earth pony climbed his way to the door, hoisting himself out upon managing to open it.

Once outside, he inspected the damage done to his ship, nothing seeming out of the ordinary other than it leaning against a fallen tree. "How odd," he said as he reached a hoof around to his flank and dug into a hidden pocket upon his coat, pulling out a rather strange device and using it to scan the area, a whirring, buzzing sound emitting from it. "Very odd."

Not having detected anything, he followed the trail his ship had made in the earth upon crashing, eventually walking out from within the forest he was in and out into a vast, empty field, coming to a stop from where the TARDIS first skidded. Pointing his odd looking contraption up into the sky, he scanned for anything that might have caused the TARDIS to crash in the first place. Again, nothing was detected before pocketing his device.

"That can't be right," he pondered as he placed a hoof under his chin. "Surely there has to be something here. I couldn't have just hit nothing."

As he sat there pondering, a low groan from nearby reached his ears. Looking around, the Earth pony soon spotted a lone pony lying prone upon the ground, signs of him or her coming to as a hoof was slowly raised up to his or her head. "Goodness!" he exclaimed as he rushed over. "Are you all right there?"

"Hmm?" the pony groaned as the Earth pony looked this particular pony over.

Due to the style his short mane appeared to be in, the Earth pony confirmed this pony to be male. His coat color was a true sky blue that could blend him in well with the sky. An orange streak ran through his yellow tail with orange highlights coloring the tips of his yellow-maned bangs. The image of the sun came to mind as he noticed the pair of wings folded against his body. "Ah!" he thought. "A Pegasus pony!" But the one attribute that piqued his interest was the pair of glasses that was just centimeters from hoof's reach.

Having focus his attention back to the matter at hand, the Earth pony complied with the question he was asked. "I asked if you were all right," he repeated as the Pegasus blinked open his eyes. Locking eyes with him, the Earth pony saw that the Pegasus's eye color was as white as the clouds that floated in the sky above "It's like they sky itself took the form of a pony," he thought to himself as he became transfixed to how comparable this pony was to the sky, almost not hearing the Pegasus's reply.

"I think," he responded with a bit of a moan as his hoof instinctively began searching around for something that he wasn't fully aware of was missing. Figuring that it was the glasses he was searching for, the Earth pony picked them up and handed them to him.

"Here you go," he said. "Figured you were looking for them."

"Yes," the Pegasus replied as he inspected them closely to make sure they weren't damaged before putting them on. "Thank you."

"You're quite welcome," the Earth pony said as the Pegasus slowly clambered onto all four feet. "So what's a pony like you doing out here if I may ask?"

"Um…," the Pegasus replied as he placed a hoof to his head once again to help him remember. "I'm not quite sure." He then clutched his head as pain shot through it, wincing at it.

"You sure you're all right?" the Earth pony asked, pulling out his device so as to scan the Pegasus.

"Y-yeah," the Pegasus replied. "Just hurt my head apparently."

"With a mild concussion no less," the Earth pony said, placing his device away again. "But how on earth did you get one to begin with?" The Pegasus responded with another grunt of pain. "Never mind that. Let's get you fixed up, shall we?"

"Sure, I guess," the Pegasus answered.

"Right!" the Earth pony said. "This way… um…"

"Jet Burn," the Pegasus said. "My name is Jet Burn."

"Nice to meet you Jet Burn! I'm the Doctor!"