I don't own My Little Pony or Doctor Who in any way, shape, or form.

Chapter 4 Everyone Loves The Circus

"Somewhere fun…" the Doctor muttered as he walked around the TARDIS's center console, pulling levers and pushing buttons, "That's what you said, right Pinkie? You want to go somewhere fun?"

Pinkie nodded. "Yep! Somewhere fun!"

"Well, there're plenty of fun places out in the universe. All sorts of vacation and party planets catering to any and all forms of fun and pleasure. But which one should we go to? Hmm…" The Doctor looked thoughtfully at the ground for a moment. "Ah ha! I've got it!" he said suddenly, "The carnival planet, Relakis!"

"Carnival planet?" Pinkie said, wide eyed.

The Doctor smiled and nodded his head. "The entire planet is one giant carnival, complete with games, rides, sideshows, and all sorts of foods that really shouldn't be deep fried, but are. It's amazing."

"Lets go! Lets go!" Pinkie said excitedly, "I love carnivals!"

"I thought you would," the Doctor smiled as he pushed buttons and pulled levers, "To Relakis!"

"Wait a minute Doctor," Pinkie suddenly said.

"Yes?" the Doctor replied, turning towards her.

"How do you know about planets here? You said that this universe was new for you."

"Ah, yes, well… About that. It's true that this universe is new to me, but at the same time, it's familiar. You see, when I first arrived, I thought that this place would be so vastly different, what with the multicolored talking ponies, that I didn't think I'd see anything recognizable. But seeing the Jallpurian hunter and the Klandians tells me that the planets Jallpis and Klanda exist here. And if they exist, then lots of other planets from my universe are bound to exist here too."

"Oh, I see," Pinkie said nodding, "Makes sense."

"Alright then," the Doctor said hitting a few more buttons, causing the TARDIS to begin whooshing and grinding, "Lets be on our way then."

The TARDIS came to a stop and the two ponies exited. As she stepped out, Pinkie stopped and looked around, eyes wide, mouth hanging open. "Wow…" she said, "It's so bright and flashy!"

"Well, it is a carnival," the Doctor said as he stepped up beside her. The Doctor looked around as well, taking in everything. There were several large, brightly colored tents everywhere. Around and between them were several smaller booths containing carnival food and carnival games. There were large Ferris wheels and roller coasters and other carnival rides spread about as well. As he looked around, the Doctor spotted a small yellow tent off by itself. As he glanced at it, he could see a red pony-like creature walk inside. "Now then," he said, paying no mind to the yellow tent, "What do you want to do first Pinkie?"

"Roller coaster!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing up and down.

"To the roller coaster then. Bonzai! No, that's not quite it either… Lets just go to the roller coaster."

The two ponies spent several hours going from ride to ride, watching the shows inside the tents, playing games and eating ridiculously unhealthy carnival food.

"Ah, this is amazing! I can't remember the last time I had this much fun," the Doctor said as they walked out of a tent, a large stuffed bear on his back.

"I know!" Pinkie said, skipping along beside him, "And this balloon hat that clown made for me is awesome!"

"It is a rather nice balloon hat. Although I still say that clown is up to no good."

"Oh come on Doctor, he was just a clown."

"A creepy clown."

As they walked, they passed by the yellow tent as a scaly blue creature walked in.

"Hmm, curious," the Doctor muttered, glancing at the tent.

"Something wrong?" Pinkie asked, looking at the Doctor.

"Its that tent there," he said, pointing.

"The yellow one?"

The Doctor nodded.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Well, since we arrived, I've seen several people go in."

"So? Whatever's in there must be super cool!"

"Possible, however that's not what's odd. What's odd is that none of them have come back out."

"Well, maybe whatever's in there is so cool that the people inside don't want to came back out."

"Again, possible, but unlikely. Look at the size of the tent. Compared to the other ones, it's tiny. Considering the average size of the performing areas within the other tents and the amount of people I saw go in, there's absolutely no way that tent could hold it all."

"But your TARDIS is super tiny and the inside is bigger then Ponyville."

"True, but that's not the case here."

"Why not?"

"Because the whole bigger on the inside technology of the TARDIS is exclusive to one race and race only. The Time Lords."

"So it's a Time Lord tent then."

"No, haven't you been listening? I just said that it wasn't. There is absolutely no way that tent is Time Lord."

"Well, why not?"

The Doctor sighed and looked away, a faraway look in his eyes. "Because they don't exist here."

Pinkie looked at the Doctor, silent, waiting for him to continue.

"I took a small detour while I was dealing with the Klandian ship," he said after a moment, "I wanted to check on a few planets from my universe. The Time Lord's planet, Gallifrey, was amongst them. Only here, that planet, and the Time Lords, never existed. So, you see why it can't possibly be the Time Lords Pinkie?"

Pinkie nodded. "Yeah, got it. But that still doesn't explain what's going on in there."

"No. No it doesn't. And I really do not like not knowing what's going on."

"We're gonna go investigate it, aren't we?"

"You catch on quick," the Doctor said with a smile, "Yes, we're gonna go check it out. But first, we need to drop our stuff off at the TARDIS before we go. Wouldn't want my bear or your hat to damaged in the inevitable conflict."

"Conflict? Aren't we just investigating a tent?"

"And here I thought you were catching on. Danger seems to follow me around Pinkie. No matter where I go, no matter what I do, there is always a conflict of some kind and I'm always at the center of it. I'm not saying that it's my fault, its just bad things always seem to happen around me, and I really wish that it would stop."

Pinkie looked at the ground, absorbing the Doctors words. "I see," she said after a moment, "Well, maybe I should just stay in the TARDIS then."

"Not a bad idea, but we don't know what's going on in there. I may need your help in there."

Pinkie sighed and shook her head. "Thought so."

With their items safely stored within the Doctors blue box, the two ponies made their way back through the carnival. Reaching the strange tent, the two stood in front, looking it over intently.

"Hmm… Looks like an ordinary tent," the Doctor said, "But it holds a sinister secret."

"And there's something fishy going on inside," Pinkie said.

"A whole oceans worth," the Doctor agreed and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He waved the sonic around a bit then brought it close to his face. "Hmm… Interesting."

"What is it?"

"The sonic can't seem to pick up anything."

"What's that mean?"

"No idea, and you know how I feel about that."

Pinkie nodded, saying, "We're gonna have to go in then, aren't we?"

"Indeed," the Doctor replied with smile, "Forward march! Oh god, that's even worse the last the last one. Ugh, whatever."

They walked into the tent and stopped inside, looking around. The inside of the tent was very bare, the only thing that seemed to be inside being a large round metal disc on the floor.

"Well, not what I expecting," the Doctor said.

"What were you expecting?" Pinkie asked.

"Not sure. Definitely not this though."

"Well, what is this?"

The Doctor leaned down to look at the disc more closely and began to scan it with the sonic. "Well, it appears to large metal disc," he replied standing back up.

"That's it?"

"Like I said before, the sonic isn't picking up anything, and that really worries me."

There was sudden flash of light, blinding the two temporarily. Shaking it off, they looked around and found that they were no longer in the tent.

"Doctor, what just happened? Where are we?" Pinkie said as she looked around.

"No idea," he replied, looking around as well. The new place that they were now at looked to be a large room. The floor, walls, and ceiling were a sparkling white, with large bright lights hanging down. There was an open doorway in one wall that seemed to lead into a hallway. "Well, wherever we are," the Doctor said, "We aren't to find out much standing around here. Come along, we have much to explore. Tally ho!"

The two walked into the hallway, looking around, watching for anything or anyone suspicious.

"Tally ho… Gah, they just keep getting worse and worse," the Doctor muttered as they went.

"What are you doing?" Pinkie asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You keep saying stuff like 'tally ho' and 'forwards' and then mutter about it not being good."

"Oh, that. I'm trying to come up with a catchphrase, and nothing feels right."

"Why do you need a catchphrase?"

"Because I always have a catchphrase."

"Well, why not just use one of your old ones then?"

"It wouldn't feel right. Every new body gets anew catchphrase. And, now that I think about it, a new outfit as well, and this saddlebag doesn't count. I'm going to need to do something about that when we get back to the TARDIS."

Pinkie looked at the Doctor a little confusedly as they continued down the hallway. The hallway was empty, the walls bare of doors and windows. They continued forward in silence, the hallway stretching endlessly forward.

"What is with this place?" the Doctor said after a moment, "This hallway never ends!"

"I think I know why Doctor," Pinkie said, stopping.

"Oh? Whys that?" he asked, stopping as well.

"Look behind us."

The Doctor turned and stared at what was behind them, eyes wide, mouth hanging open

"What? How is that even…" the Doctor said, trying to contemplate what he was seeing. Just behind them, not more then a couple of feet away, was the doorway that they had come through. "That's impossible!" he said, "We walked away from that! For several minutes! There's no way it should be that close to us!"

"Something is seriously wrong here Doctor."

"Most definitely. If only I could figure out what it was." The Doctor walked back through the door and looked around the room. Seeing that nothing had changed, he walked back out and stood next to Pinkie. He glared down the hallway and pulled out the sonic. He pointed it down the hallway for a moment, looked at it, than put it away with a sigh.

"Nothing?" Pinkie asked.

"Nothing," he replied, "What is going on here? Nothing about this makes sense."

"But in a way, not making sense does make sense," said a new voice from behind them.

Turning, they saw a clown standing in the doorway, smiling at them. The clown's body was pony-like, in that it had four legs that ended in hooves. The clown's head was large and round, almost bulbous, with a rainbow colored Afro wig sitting atop it. He had no coat, it's pale blue skin exposed in the places not covered by the brightly colored clown suit he wore.

"Hey, you're the clown that gave me the balloon hat!" Pinkie exclaimed upon seeing him.

"Indeed I am," he replied cheerfully, "I see that you are not wearing it though. I thought you liked it."

"I do!" Pinkie said, "I really do like it. I just didn't want it to get damaged in the inevitable conflict."

"Conflict? What conflict?" the clown asked confused.

"The conflict that's inevitably gonna break out."

"And why would you think something like that is going to happen?"

"Because there's always conflict around the Doctor," she gestured to the Doctor as she spoke, "Or, that what he says at least."

The clown looked at the Doctor and nodded his head. "I remember you," he said, "You were glaring at the whole time I was making your friend her balloon hat."

"Because I didn't trust you," the Doctor replied, eyes narrowing, "And it seems I was right not to. You're involved in whatever it is that's going on here, aren't you?"

"But of course," the clown said with a slight bow.

"Tell me then, what is it you're doing?"

"Oh now where would be the fun in that? You're going to have to figure that out for yourself."

"Fine, have it your way," the Doctor said turning back towards the hallway, "First things first. This hallway."

"Ah, yes, the first of many mysteries," the clown said moving next to the Doctor, "The endless hallway. However does it work?"

"Well, it's rather obvious. We aren't actually moving when we walk forward."

"Very good, very good. Now why aren't you moving?"

The Doctor looked down the hallway, deep in thought. He turned to the clown and smiled. "It's the floor," he said, "When we move forward, it moves backwards, like a conveyer belt, and keeps us in place."

"Ding ding ding!" the clown exclaimed, "Exactly right! Now then if you'll follow me, the next mystery awaits!"

The clown walked down the hallway, humming to himself as he did. The Doctor and Pinkie looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and followed the clown down the hall, actually moving through it as they did.

They followed the clown for a short while before arriving in a new room that looked exactly like the first room they arrived in.

"Well now, this is curious," the clown said, looking around, "This is the room you first arrived in, but we walked away from it. How can this be?"

"It's not the same room," the Doctor said with a sigh, "It's just a room made to look like the first room."

"Ding ding ding!" the clown exclaimed, "Correct! You're good at this."

"This is all far to easy," the Doctor said, "Anyone can figure this stuff out. If this is the best you can do, then this fun house isn't going to be very fun for me."

"Fun house?" Pinkie asked, confused.

"Yes. This is a fun house. Isn't that right clown?"

"Indeed," the clown said smiling, "You figured that very quickly. Good job."

"It was rather obvious actually. The tent leading here, the clown guide, the 'mysteries'. This is just a fun house for tourists."

"Then, there's nothing bad going on here?" Pinkie asked.

"Nope."

"But what about the people who didn't come out?"

"Ah, yes. Why is that?" the Doctor asked, turning to face the clown.

"Whatever do you mean?" the clown said, sounding innocent.

"I saw people go into the tent, but not come out. Where are they?"

"Oh, there is no need to worry about them. They are perfectly fine. They've all made it through here and are back out in the carnival."

"But I never saw them leave the tent. Explain that."

"The exit of the fun house leads to a different tent in a different part of the carnival."

"I see. So there's nothing sinister or nefarious going on here?"

"Of course not Doctor!" the clown laughed, "This is the carnival planet Relakis! Our only goal here is to entertain."

"I see. Lead us to exit then, I would like to leave."

"To reach the exit, you must solve all of the mysteries. It is the rule."

The Doctor sighed and shook his head. "Lead on then."

It took roughly twenty minutes for the Doctor to solve the remaining mysteries of the fun house and reach the final room.

"This is it then?" the Doctor asked as they stepped into the room.

"Indeed it is," the clown replied with a smile, "Thank you for coming. We hope to see you again."

"Doubtful" the Doctor said, "Come along Pinkie. Lets get out of here."

"Okie Doki Loki!" Pinkie replied moving next to the Doctor, "Bye Mr. Clown! See you later!"

There was bright flash of light and the two found themselves inside of a tent much the yellow one. They walked outside and found themselves standing in front of another small yellow tent in a different area of the carnival.

"Seems that clown was telling the truth," the Doctor noted, "Oh well, come on Pinkie. Lets get back to the TARDIS."

It didn't take long for the two to reach he TARDIS, as the second tent's location was fairly close.

"That was a lot of fun Doctor!" Pinkie said as they stepped inside.

"If by 'fun', you mean 'a complete waste of time', then yes. It was loads of fun," the Doctor replied with a sigh.

"Oh, come on! It wasn't that bad. There wasn't a conflict or anything."

"I guess that's true. I'd gotten so used to conflicts erupting around me, I'd almost forgotten that sometimes they don't. Now then, I'll be right back. I need to find some clothes to wear."

The Doctor walked off into the TARDIS, going down one of it's many hallways. Pinkie wandered around the console for a few minutes, waiting for him to return. When he did, he stopped in the doorway, striking a dramatic pose.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked, smiling. The Doctor now wore a black silk vest over the front part of his body. A small gold chain ran from a small loop into a pocket where the top part of pocket watch poked out.

"A vest?" Pinkie said, sounding less then impressed.

"Yes, a vest. Well it's true that I have a rather large collection of clothes, only a very small portion of those clothes can be worn by a pony. And of that very limited selection, this vest seemed to be the best choice."

"If you say so."

"I do. Now then, new outfit, but no catchphrase. Oh well, it'll come in time. For right now, we have a lot more to see and do. Lets be on our way."

"Okie Doki Loki! Just, one thing before we go."

"Yes? What is it?"

"Earlier, you said that the TARDIS is Time Lord technology, right?"

"Yes. I did say that. Why?"

"Well, I was just wondering, how'd you get the TARDIS?"

The Doctor sighed and gestured to a row of chairs against one of the walls. "Have a seat Pinkie."

"Um, ok," Pinkie said sitting in one of the chairs.

The Doctor walked over and sat down next to her. He stared silently at the ground for a moment before looking at her. "I'm going tell you a story Pinkie Pie, about a planet called Gallifrey, and a Time Lord called the Doctor."

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