"Hello," said the bashful yellow pegasus filly to the not nearly as bashful grey pegasus filly.

"Hi!" the other pegasus said with a smile, "I'm Ditzy Doo. Wanna go explorin' and treasure hunting and searching for the mysterious Moon Princess of the Whitetail Woods?"

The yellow pegasus, having been born and raised on the clouds above, had never been one for exploring, or meeting new ponies. It was only very recently that she had discovered Equestria's forests and its many adorable, loveable creatures. This however, was her first time actually meeting a pegasus pony, or any pony, on Equestria's surface. While she had been in the thick of the Whitetail Woods before, she certainly had never considered the possibility of finding another pony there. And Ditzy Doo certainly wasn't a shy pony.

The yellow pegasus struggled to make herself speak as loudly as she could, which honestly, was barely above a whisper. "Pardon me," the shy pegasus shyly asked, "but why is a moon princess living in a forest? Wouldn't she want to live on the moon? I'm- I… wait, no, I upset you didn't I? Now you hate me don't you? Please don't hate me I didn't mean to be mean. I knew I shouldn't have opened my mouth, I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" Great, she bemoaned mournfully, she already hates me.

The grey filly was taken aback. "Uh, wow, um, it's ok! Really, don't worry about it. Oh, and to answer your question, it's a summer villa, cause everypony knows it gets cold on the moon. Now come on, we have a princess to find!"

The yellow pegasus knew it would only make things worse to decline. "Ok, if you know the way…"

Of course Ditzy didn't know the way. That would be silly, if she knew the way, then what would be the point of searching for it in the first place? But she had it under good authority from a not particularly nice griffon that the mythical Moon Princess lived in the forest. And if she found the princess, maybe she'd get a treat, like moon candy! Or maybe she'd even get her own cutie mark! The yellow pegasus had already discovered her cutie mark, much to Ditzy's adoration. "What's your name by the way?"

The other pony's feathers ruffled. "O-Oh, I'm, my name is Fluttershy. It's nice to meet-"

A loud bang akin to the sound of lightning, only worse, shattered the calm serenity of the sunny Equestrian sky and shook both ponies momentarily off their hoofs. Clouds suddenly formed and just as quickly parted as something akin to a comet, only rectangular and blue, pierced the sky. It spiraled out of control, and to the distress of both ponies, was heading in their direction. Fluttershy looked on in terror, her body frozen stiff as the strange object tumbled towards her. It was Ditzy Doo that pushed Fluttershy and shook her out of her stupor. "The Moon Princess is attacking, fly away!" yelled the grey pegasus.

The strange box-comet bounced and skirted across a long distance of forest canopy before finally smashing through several dozen trees and coming to a complete stop on a particularly thick oak tree. Or what was left of the oak tree, which was now little more than a collection of splintered branches and descending leaves. Ditzy Doo was first to inch her way closer to the strange comet-box. The shaking Fluttershy hid behind her.

Ditzy was awed at the thing that had fallen from the skies. It was certainly blue, a very nice shade of it painted over a wooden frame, which wasn't the least damaged even though the thing had smashed through what Ditzy estimated to be about 20 bajillion trees, give or take one or two. Scrolled across the top of the box, and in very clear, white lettering, were the words "Police Public Call Box". Just what that meant neither pony knew. Maybe it was simply a moon thing.

The door opened, both ponies watched in anticipation. Or intense fear. Was it the Moon Princess, a moon demon? Something not moon-related at all?

A young mare with a scarf wrapped awkwardly around her body stepped out of the box. Or rather, she hobbled out. She was a grey pegasus pony, with her coat being the same shade of grey as Ditzy's, and her blonde hair just as blonde. But she did have a bubble cutie mark, something Ditzy didn't have.

"OK," started the mare, barely holding herself steady on the doorway of the box, with her eyes all crossed up and whirly, "now…. where did that muffin go?" The mare fainted, collapsing on a bed of settled leaves and disturbed soil.

Neither one of the fillies had any clue in particular as to what to do next. Ditzy tilted her head. "I think she's dead."

"The Moon Princess sure has a small villa," squeaked Fluttershy.

Ditzy gasped. "Dibs on the villa!"

THE DOCTOR

DITZY "DERPY HOOVES" DOO

DITZY "DINKY" DOO

AND

FLUTTERSHY

IN

MY LITTLE TIME LORD:

THE PEGASUS STARLIGHT

The Doctor's vision was blurred for only a moment. There was something strange in front of him, like a glimmer of something he once knew, something familiar. It vanished with the return of his eyesight's proper clarity. The giggle of a very young child caught his attention. Sarah Jane, where's Sarah Jane? he wondered. No, not her, Amy, or, was it Rose? No, he recalled finally, as he grunted from the throbbing pain at the back of his head, they were from different lives you daft old man. Herubbed the bruise, though not that it mattered, the TARDIS's diagnostic systems were adequate enough to heal something as minor as a bump to the cranium. Still, had Ditzy Doo kicked him? Over the dereliction of his muffin duties? "One single trip to a muffinless future and she has to go berserk on me. Bloody muffin love."

"I love muffins too! Not bloody ones. Ew. Are you a moon prince?" asked a high pitched voice.

Had a child gotten into the TARDIS? He turned to see the grey pegasus child, flapping her wings as she looked at him quizzically. "Hello there," he sad, himself puzzled, "haven't I seen you somewhere before? Not on Earth, you're too fidgety to be that lot. I'm the Doctor by the way, not a moon prince. Pleasure to meet you. Actually I don't think Princess Luna ever married, but I might be wrong about that."

The girl grinned from ear to ear. "So you do know the moon princess!"

The back of his head still ached something fierce. The Doctor let out a rather loud groan as he got back up. Bloody Hell that girl has a mean kick. "Hold on a minute, I didn't regenerate did I? One moment, gotta check myself. I might have fingers again."

"Huh?"

"Oh no, never mind. Still pony me. And here I was hoping for a new set of wings. Anyway, I never got to know Luna very well. Met her sister though. A bit disagreeable. I'm sorry, who were you again?"

"I'm Ditzy Doo!" said the pony, "and that filly over there is Fluttershy. She's kinda shy though, so you gotta be very nice to her."

"Wait, no you are not- oh wait, you are aren't you?" The Doctor spotted her, the little yellow-furred pegasus pony, quivering like a leaf behind the TARDIS control console. He waved his hoof. She squealed, hiding herself entirely behind the console. "Yes, that's her alright, only not the right age. I- hmm. The TARDIS has been invaded by baby pegasi. That's… yeah, that's pretty unusual."

The Doctor ran toward the TARDIS door as the pegasi looked on. "What's a TARDIS?" asked Ditzy, following the colt, "And why is this place so big? Outside your villa is like, the size of a shipping crate. Is it moon magic? Are you a moon wizard?"

He recognized the Whitetail Woods instantly. It was a lovely place, very well managed by the power of pony magic and influence. He had even participated in several Running of the Leaves and other such events during his long stay in Ponyville. Very good exercise. Several acres of forest had been cleared out by what was clearly a crash landing. What a shame.

The Doctor trotted over to the nearest console. The power was out, and would be for quite some time, as he had expected. Travel into Equestria had always been a problematic proposition. Still, he didn't need a scanner to conclude the obvious, that he and Ditzy, the adult one rather, had traveled into Equestria's not too distant past. The Doctor had returned to Equestria. And so had Ditzy Doo. Only, technically Ditzy hadn't left, not yet anyway. The implications were startling.

"Are you?" Ditzy asked again.

"No sorry, just a Doctor. I'll have to leave the sunshiny whimy magicy… somethingy to the unicorns. As for the size, I'll tell you all about it when you grow up." Now was not the time to explain the 20^-dimensional quasi-quantum mechanical workings of a TARDIS to a child he wasn't even supposed to have met yet. It was hard enough explaining things to her future self. Or anyone really.

"What's this?" asked the precocious as ever Ditzy, "Is it a Nightmare Night decoration? Oh my gosh, does this mean she really does come to pick up our candy sacrifices?"

The Doctor looked down at the cracked, stone-like remnants of an old enemy. It was the head of a Weeping Angel, a statue-like creature in the form of, a weeping angel, that moved faster than sight could detect and killed in a myriad of horrible ways, yet only if not looked upon. A single blink could mean life or death when it came to dealing with them.

But they had all been vaporized centuries ago, save for the bits and pieces of a single corpse. The Doctor had kept it on the TARDIS for safe keeping. The crash long ago had destroyed so many of his possessions, he had simply assumed that relic had been among those things lost in the explosion. The head had survived then, possibly stuck somewhere in the TARDIS when the regeneration process had commenced, and had only now been dislodged. It was harmless though, nothing more than a fossil of a long extinct foe. Still, its dead, angry glare sent shivers up the Doctor's spine.

"Don't play with that. I can't guarantee it won't try to eat you." Ditzy quickly backed away from it.

The Doctor trotted over to Fluttershy's location. "Fluttershy, sweetheart, your overprotective parents must be incredibly worried about you, do you think maybe it's time you went home? Or at the least, that you went off to meet new, wonderful bunny friends?"

She wasn't there. She and Ditzy were above him, the shaking yellow pony being led around the TARDIS by the most incorrigible of ponies. "Ditzy, don't you want to go home, have supper with family?" And not contribute to the destruction of the Universe?

Ditzy looped about the central cylinder pumps of the TARDIS control panel with the reluctant Fluttershy in tow. She stopped only to address the Doctor. "Yeah, but I wanna go to the moon first! Come on Fluttershy, tell him we want to go to the moon."

The awkward pony shook her head, muttering something even the Doctor couldn't hear, which was an accomplishment, the Doctor had particularly good senses. Ditzy Doo leaned in on Fluttershy. "Come on Fluttershy, I couldn't even hear you."

The pegasus squeaked another response. The Doctor wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Not the shy Fluttershy part; no, Fluttershy's severe timidity would remain her status quo for the majority of her youth and young adulthood. That was not a new notion for the Doctor. No, it was the madness of all these ponies. Insane ponies driving his TARDIS, corrupted ponies taking over the known cosmos, and pony princesses with all their still unexplainable pony magic. Not to mention the madness of being a pony himself.

The Doctor sighed as Ditzy Doo tried to get Fluttershy to speak. She managed to get a low mumble out of the pony. How had these ponies gotten into the TARDIS anyway? Attila the Hun's rampaging hordes, entire divisions of New Era Roman Legionnaires and Hitler's 3rd Reich had all failed where two oddly coloured mini-ponies had succeeded. And how had the adult Ditzy gotten into the TARDIS in the first place? He needed a drink. Tea, presumably, with apple in it. Some sort of apple tea. "I'm absolutely confounded."

"Take us to the moon," the Doctor finally heard the shy pegasus say, if very, very softly. "Are there animals on the moon? Cause I love animals a lot, like kittens and bunnies and capybaras. I don't know what I would do if animals didn't love me back…"

The Doctor knew exactly what Fluttershy would do if animals didn't love her back. It wasn't pleasant. "Speaking of animals, and while we're at it, the moon and muffins," he said, heading to the TARDIS's exit, "there certainly aren't baby moon dragons and baskets full of moon muffins just outside this doorway."

Ditzy gasped. "He's using reverse psychology, there so totally are baby dragons and moon muffins outside!"

The Doctor shrugged, "I said there aren't any, but if you want to take a look, be my guest."

The two fillies dashed out. The Doctor shut the door. "That was easy, if a little disingenuous." Still, not even the accumulated masses of the entire Equestrian filly population would be able to get through that door now, it didn't matter what magic they used.

Something was still amiss, and what it was the Doctor wasn't sure of. He'd have to figure it out on the way back to Earth. Though then again, was he really in a hurry? He hadn't been to Barcelona in awhile. The planet of course, not the city, though he could visit that as well.

"Muffins!" cried out Ditzy Doo, the adult one, from outside the TARDIS.

"Oh damn it!" screamed out the pony Time Lord as he reopened the door. Of all the things to have forgotten, he bemoaned, and of all the things that could have been happening right outside the TARDIS. If Ditzy and Ditzy were so much as hugging, the integrity of the entire fabric of space-time would become compromised. The Doctor's two racing hearts felt like they were lowering into his stomach.

So it was with little exaggeration that when the Doctor opened the TARDIS door, and when he watched the adult Ditzy Doo twirl and toss the smaller Ditzy Doo up and down with her forelegs, that the Doctor, his two hearts once again feeling like they had fallen even lower into his pony body, perhaps into the small intestines, that he became a little concerned. But by just a little. "Well that's wonderful Ditzy, you've just ended the Universe."

Both Ditzys turned to the Doctor, the younger one trying her best to mimic the older Ditzy's wonky-eyed condition. "Huh?" they both said in unison, before they turned their attention back towards each other. The Ditzys continued their tossing game.

Fluttershy, hiding behind the adult mare, apologized for ending the Universe. She looked very solemn, as if to take the responsibility of the Universe on her shoulders. She seemed to be on the verge of crying, at which point, the mare Ditzy Doo hugged her. She directed her ire at the brown colt. "Look a what you did! She's making the choice, you made her cry cause she knew who the murderer was!"

"Huh?" asked both the filly Ditzy and Fluttershy.

"She's upset with me. Which, might I add, is a little absurd," said the Doctor as he wondered how he was going to fend off the inevitable Reaper attack.

"Wow," said the child Ditzy with a giggle, "the moon princess talks funny. Where did you get the muffins from anyway?"

The mare Ditzy shrugged. "I don't know Dinky. Where did I get them?"

"Dinky?" asked the filly Ditzy.

"Yes you, Dinky Doo, my beautiful little girl. I wonder who I married to have you." She turned to the Doctor. "Dinky needs a father."

The colt shook his head in the negative in a very disturbed and frantic way. "Oh wow, no. That's not what's happening. Or happened. Or will happen. No, sorry, oh no no noooo. There's a more important matter at hand, we have a Universe to save."

Fluttershy whimpering grew ever solemn. "My voice ended the Universe? Why did I have to scream? I should never ever make another sound again."

"Well derp Doctor, " said a defensive Ditzy, "Look at you, Mr. The Oncoming Storm, bringing down metal armies and Equestrian Empires but can't manage to get himself a paying job! I bet your degree is honorary too! Oh my Gods!" she squealed excitedly, "I'm nagging, I really am a mom. Oh Dinky, I love you so much!"

Adult Ditzy, with child Ditzy in her forelegs, pounced on the Doctor, and hugged him tightly. The poor child pegasus whined as she felt herself being crushed between the two adult ponies.

"Dinky's going to have the best family ever," said Ditzy. A thought occurred to her. "The TARDIS needs a nursery."

"That's not Dinky. There is no Dinky. I'm not her father! And the nursery blew up awhile ago."

"I'm not Dinky!"

"Um, excuse me, but she's not Dinky. I think, I dunno, I'm still sorry for ending the Universe. I better stop talking…"

The adult Ditzy Doo looked at the struggling pegasus pony in her hooves. Her eyes were normal, perfectly, perfectly normal. She couldn't fly too well yet; she wouldn't be able to for a few years more. A smile grew on her face. "Dinky-"

"My name is Ditzy", asserted the filly.

"Aww," Ditzy responded, "The pieces aren't in order. Come on!" The mare placed the child onto her back and began walking away.

"What?" asked the Doctor as he followed, "where are you going?"

"Starlight wings," said the mare, "I'm taking her home."

Nopony seemed to understand. The Universe was going to end. The Time Lord had no choice; he needed to explain it to somepony, anypony. And he did have one of Equestria's greatest heroes amongst their miniature caravan.

"So Fluttershy," he said, "when two versions of an entity, say, a little Ditzy Doo and a big Ditzy Doo, come in contact with each other, their matter inevitably ends up sharing the same particular space in time. This, because of their extreme proximity, causes a temporal paradox. Understand?"

The girl was barely paying attention. For a single moment she thought she caught sight of another pony galloping behind a tree. A quick look revealed nothing. The Doctor had asked a question, something about timber partridges. "Yes," said Fluttershy with a smile, and then lowering her head in embarrassment. "Um, I mean, no…"

The Doctor had expected as much. "Don't worry about it, the point is, we're going to have to do something about the Reapers. "I guess in simplest terms, you can describe them as dragons."

"Baby dragons?" she asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately no, they're more like the regular grown-up type, only much more dangerous. Huge scythes for tails. They can, how do I explain this, they eat reality, starting at the point of the paradox, till there's nothing left. Like an overreaction to an infection. And they do this rather quickly, I'd say in about less than a day."

Fluttershy fainted. Clearly he had explained too much to the wrong Fluttershy. Then again that reaction was rather typical for her, regardless of age. And he was just about to get to the confusing part too.

The Doctor scanned the Ditzys with his screwdriver. They were clearly the same biological entity, just at chronologically different points in time. So the merest touch should have sparked off a paradox. The scans were conclusive on that part. He scanned them again, checking for their temporal signature. There was nothing to suggest that they were even in contact, even though the filly Ditzy was riding ontop of the mare version of herself. It didn't make sense.

"We're here!" said Ditzy, the both of them. Little Ditzy glided off the mare and galloped towards her cottage home. "Papa, I'm home!"

I'm home, thought the mare Ditzy Doo. It was just like the cottage she had grown up in, the same that had burned down during the war and had been rebuilt by the kind ponies of Ponyville. Only, even they hadn't gotten the house exactly right. Here, now, the pink roof was in better shape than during the years after... she didn't want to think about it. He had been the one that used to fix the sinks and do the heavy work, she suddenly remembered. She would try to help, she really had, but she had been too small back then. He always welcomed her help though. He would always come home dead tired from work with a muffin just for her. She hadn't remembered these things, not for the longest while.

It wasn't really her home, this much she understood, because it was Dinky's home. But it was close enough. Hoofsteps, heavy, foreign and yet familiar, sounded their way towards the door. It opened.

Dinky hugged the forelegs of the colt she called papa. That was all she had known him by back then; it was all she had needed to know about him back then. In time, Dinky would learn what papa's real name had been, and would subsequently hide it away.

A white pegasus colt with a blonde mane and a cutie mark consisting of seven gold stars picked up his daughter and embraced her. She kissed his forehead and giggled.

"Where have you been?" said the colt, much to the mare Ditzy's shock, "I'm sorry if she was misbehaving, she can be such a handful sometimes. Hello, my name's-"

"Starlight Doo," interrupted the mare, still shocked at the sight of the white pony. He was still wearing his mailpony hat. "You're Starlight Doo."

"Oh good, Ditzy mentioned my name. Are you alright? You look like you've seen the Nightmare Moon or something."

"She's the Moon Princess papa!" said the filly, "We saw her land in a tiny blue villa. Only it's THIS big in the inside." She spread her forelegs as far as she could.

The older Ditzy could hardly react. "No, I'm fine. I'm D-"

"Derpy Hooves," said the Doctor, "her name is Derpy Hooves."

Ditzy gave the Doctor a stunned look. You didn't.

The Doctor continued. "Sometimes she gets very emotional meeting new family members. She's a distant relative of yours actually, I know, shocking yes? It's a very sordid mess, very back and forth, loopy and complicated. But very simple when you think about it. Name's the Doctor, a pleasure to meet ya. This syncopic young lady on my back is Fluttershy. She's shy. Oh and rest assured, your daughter wasn't up to any mischief. Well, none more than usual, though something tells me she'll be quite the stubborn type when she grows up."

"Now that I think about it," said Starlight Doo, "you do look very familiar. You have the Doo eyes, even if they're a little cross-eyed. I know a colt that can fix that right up. Doctor Who, the local physician, he's very good at with healing all kinds of ailments."

The still dazed mare turned back to Starlight. "Doo eyes…"

"Well, if you three want, you can come in. Stay for lunch, there's always plenty. That filly's OK, right?"

The Doctor accepted the invitation for them, and as they entered the cottage, the mare Ditzy watched the filly hop unto her father's back. He placed his cap on the little filly's head. How adorable, how she remembered him doing that all the time.

"Papa," the older Ditzy whispered to Starlight Doo, oblivious to her words, and with tears flowing down her joyful eyes, "I'm home."

It was past lunchtime, and despite the near constant interaction of the two Ditzy's with each other, the Reapers hadn't come. The Doctor was perplexed, though in a good way. The Universe hadn't ended, and it had been given plenty of time to go ahead and start doing that. He followed his companion closely, never for a moment letting her leave his sight, except for when she used the bathroom. Something was terribly wrong, even if in a wonderful way.

"Doctor, look!" said the excited Ditzy, pointing to a marking by the entrance of what is, was, and would one day be her room, "I used to be this small. See, I think I was just a couple years old when mom measured here. Oh my gosh, do you think my secret hiding place is still here?"

"It's a wonder that anything's still around at all. You still haven't quite grasped the implications of what's happened. And quite frankly I'm still a little cross over getting the back of my head practically bashed in. Time Lords do feel pain, just like anyone else."

"I met my daughter!" she cried out, a bit far too loudly. "She's so cute. I'm gonna call her Dinky."

"Yes," sighed the Doctor, "I've gathered as much, you seem to be in a bit of a loop, you've already mentioned that before. Also, I should point out, that's not your daughter. It would make no chronological sense for you to be your own daughter."

Ditzy looked at the Doctor with sorrowful eyes. "Dad already nailed shut the secret hiding place. I'm never going to get my four bits. I worked so hard for them too. I mowed the lawn. Doctor, I mowed the lawn for those four bits, and now they're gone forever."

"I'd ask you to focus, but I just feel like my advice won't be heeded. No one ever listens to the nineteen hundred year old Time Lord. Nope."

Ditzy, most suddenly and unexpectedly, gasped. "Martha and Mickey? Why would they be a couple? They have nothing in common. The Face of Boe and Twilight Sparkle dating would make more sense."

"Hmm, yes, completely ignored as usual."

The grey pegasus jumped onto her past self's bed. She began hopping on it. "Come join me, this bed's going to get replaced very soon anyway."

The Doctor, laying his saddlebag by the bed, stretched out his back as he watched the pegasus continue her hopping. "One way or another, I'm sure you've figured out the TARDIS is more than just a time machine."

Ditzy gasped. "The TARDIS is a time machine?"

"…yes. Anyway, you'd think that a ship would be servant to its master, taking him or her where ever he or she sets sail for. But that's not how the TARDIS works. Especially not mine. When it matters the most she'll take me where I need to be, not where I want to go. It's different this time though, isn't it?"

Ditzy stopped jumping on her bed. For the longest moment the wonky-eyed pony gazed intently at the Doctor, perhaps trying her best to connect the dots. "That's right, I already spent those four bits. Silly me." The bed broke under the pony's weight. "So that's why it broke."

"… wonderful! I'm glad you sorted that out."

The sounds of laughter took the grey pony's attention instantly. With a hop off the ruined bed she raced to the window. The doctor in turn moved to watch the filly Ditzy Doo run about the her yard, laughing as her father chased after her via the air. The Doctor's companion watched in silence as her mother lay in the shade of an oak tree. Ditzy tentatively, apprehensively, brushed her hoof against the floor.

"He's alive. Doctor, my papa's alive."

The brown colt, with bated breath, struggled to find the words. "Yes, I suppose he is. But, do you understand why he is? He's alive now, but… later on, he won't be. You do understand that he won't be… around, for much longer, yes?"

She wasn't paying attention. The Doctor looked at the oblivious mare. The bright sunshine highlighted her wild blonde hair and grey, almost glittering coat. With her forehead pressed against the window's glass and a small, blissful smile upon her lips, Ditzy, with dreamy eyes, gazed down at a scene of pure perfection.

"You can't change things. It's been tried before."

A sudden realization struck Ditzy. "She got her father back. They got their parents back. Your companions, the ones before me."

"It's not that simple."

"Because I'm not named after a flower? Because my hair isn't red? Papa and mama and Dinky Doo, that's how it could've been. She'll be happy, because her father won't whisper into the ear of a dying pony forever and ever, saying stuff that isn't true. And mama won't have to cry anymore. You think I don't hear her? Even she doesn't think I can hear her, but I can! It'll be better, Dinky won't have to say idiot things in the streets because nothing's working right, or make her mama worry because she keeps getting into accidents. Dinky will be happy. They'll be happy and he'll teach her how to fly, and she'll be the fastest mailpony ever, just like her dad."

He sat himself by Ditzy. She continued to look out the window as he spoke. "You can be so infuriating sometimes, you know that? What am I supposed to do? All these years-"

"All these years what? You never bothered to tell me who you really were. Who was Doctor Whooves but a fantasy? A lie?" Ditzy bit at her lip, darting her eyes back and forth between the colt outside and the one to her side. "You're such a jerk, urgh. Are you always like this? Even to your friends?"

He didn't respond. They looked away from each other, the two ponies too exasperated, too drained to continue. The sound of laughter persisted. "I'm sorry," she finally said, softly, "for kicking you in the back of the head. I promise it won't happen again."

"Stick a muffin in your eye?" he asked, with a hint of teasing.

Ditzy smiled, though only sadly. "Cross your hearts and hope to fly." Starlight Doo had flown off somewhere, out of Ditzy's vision. Her Dinky, and her mother as well, were no longer to be seen either. "She looked into the eyes of a dying Time Lord. She is not the Badwolf. She sees the atoms of time and space but cannot divide them. She is helpless to control her reality, and destined to die without her father."

Her eyes were vacant, the Time Lord noted. She was in a trance now, her consciousness floating deep in the ether of her tattered mind. But even then, the colt knew she was still there, and would still understand him, even if only distantly. "You're not alone. I'm right here."

"I see everything, and she's so happy." She leaned in on the colt. "It hurts. She's so far away, lost to time. I cried out for him, but he's always so far away. I defy them. I need my Doctor."

Her lips were so close to his, there was barely an inch separating the two. He took her into his front legs, and gently laid her head against his chest. He waited for her to recover her mind. Somewhere outside the Doctor and Ditzy could still hear the laughing of a jovial father and daughter. It was what seemed to sooth Ditzy's mind the most.

"I remember this part…" she said after a moment of prolonged silence. She hopped away from the Doctor and flew out of the room.

"Now where do you think you're off to?" he asked as Ditzy glided down the stairs.

"Dad's going to the market because he forgot to buy oatmeal. Or maybe it was the sugarcubes. But he's going out to the market to get them before they close up. And then… and then, it'll get dark out. The flames and the strange blue box…"

Ditzy looked at the coathanger with some confusion. She could have sworn she had placed her scarf there earlier. She found it by the dinner table. Weird, thought Ditzy, who decided to think little of it and quickly wrapped it around her neck on the way to the front door.

"Fine, I might as well tag along, I have little else to do, not like I have to save Equestria from temporal collapse or anything."

Ditzy shook her head. "You have to take Fluttershy home. She lives in Cloudsdale, and she needs an escort because she's really shy, especially at her age. I forgot I even met her." She furrowed her brow. "Why don't I remember that happening? Oh! But she's one of Rainbow Dash's friends. We'll talk then."

"And how am I supposed to escort her? I have no wings!"

This one was a riddle for the ages. When had the Doctor spoken of such impossible things?

"Slingshot. Bye!"

The Doctor turned to see the filly Fluttershy shaking under one of the tables. How long had she been hiding there? "Well, hello again. Would you like a jelly baby? It's candy, very lovely. Oh bollocks I forgot, I haven't carried any in a hundred years."

The filly muttered her response. Something about the slingshot plan.

"You're not going to speak any louder are you?"

Something akin to the beet of a goat escaped from the pony before she keeled over and fainted again. "Right, slingshot is out of the question."

It was definitely Ponyville, with its train station and pony buildings, and vibrant open market, only, some things were just a little bit different. Sugarcube Corner was still Sugarcube Corner, though the owners were so much younger. Was Mrs. Cup Cake even married yet? Maybe she was still a Miss, though to be sure she was always a little off. And how long would it be till Pinkie Pie worked there? The streets were filled with the faces of ponies she knew, or would one day know, but younger. Years taken off the mayor, who at this point was just an ambitious counsel-pony running for mayor. She watched Cheerlie canter by humming an old Maredonna song, only it must've just come out, because she was dressed in a leather jacket and wedding gown. And neon jelly bracelets, how truly outrageous!

"Kids these days and their crazy fashions. I'll never get it," said Starlight Doo, as he paid for Ditzy's new hat.

The brown, wide brimmed felt fedora sorta matched the earth tones of her scarf. She would have paid for it herself of course, only she had left her bits in a different decade, and retrieving that money would've taken a considerable amount of time.

"You look like an explorer!" cried out filly Ditzy Doo.

The Ditzys watched as a yellow ribbon and an accompanying little yellow jewel were magically added onto the mare Ditzy Doo's new head attire.

"There," said a passing by white unicorn filly with a violet mane, "now it matches your eyes. Your very weird eyes."

What a familiar pony, thought Ditzy as the unicorn trotted off. The pegasus turned her attention to the nearest mirror. Romana remained firmly draped around her neck, her ends occasionally moved by a slight movement or the soft breeze of a cool summer afternoon. The hat had no name, so obviously it would need one. She thought hard for a moment, admiring the jewel and how it did, indeed, match her eyes.

"No," she said, firmly decided, "you're just a hat. A very pretty hat, but a hat none the less."

She turned around the moment she saw it, or at least, believed she had. Something had struck out at her, something that resembled a grey, clawed hand. There was nothing behind her, except for the busy but calm streets of a younger Ponyville, and the grey filly staring at her like she was the most insane pony on the planet.

"Ok, a crazy explorer, but still an explorer!" amended the filly.

"Everything alright Derpy?" asked Starlight as he paid the shopkeeper.

"Urgh, it's Ditz- oh yeah that's right, Derpy. Derpy Hooves. Cause I'm not Ditzy Doo. Of all the spirits, the Elements of Harmony formed together. He's not a pony at all…. What was I saying?"

The pegasus colt looked at her in complete confusion. " You… write poetry for a living?"

"Yes!" she blurted out, "I mean no! Um, thanks for the hat dad, let's talk about something else instead."

"Dad?"

"Mr. Doo! Because you're Mr. Doo. Hah. Not dad." Wow, it feels so strange saying that.

"He's the bestest, fastest mailpony that ever lived," cried out the filly Ditzy, trotting about with little wings out stretched and flapping.

"Wow…" said the older Ditzy, awe-struck at the thought of it. Somehow she had always known. The greatest flyer in all of Equestria, even counting a future Rainbow Dash. It was strange though, after the initial meeting he wasn't quite what she had remembered. He wasn't as tall as she had remembered, for one thing. And, he was just a little rounder around the waistline, but not by too much. And… was his mane thinning a little? Had she merely imagined how incredible he had been back then? But he still was, the greatest father and mailpony that ever lived!

A group of fillies were playing a game, which little Ditzy decided to join. The mare and her father watched. "The greatest mailpony that ever lived…" said the awed pegasus.

"Huh?" asked Starlight Doo. He chuckled. "Oh yeah, that. My sweet girl, what an angel. She's why I'm quitting my job at the Ponvyille post office. I scored a job at a cloud factory in Cloudsdale, the pay's much better. Plus, it's a much better environment for a pegasus to grow up in. No offense to the unicorn and earth ponies, but you know how those types can be."

How those types can be? What did that mean? And, did he just say he was quitting his job?

"But, you're the greatest mailpony ever, aren't you?" she asked, somewhat distressed.

"Oh come on. You're serious, aren't you? I don't mean to be rude, but you're a little…"

"Hmm?"

"A little slow, aren't you?"

Slow, she said to herself. It stung, what that meant. Even she understood the connotation. "I have a condition. Something happened to me when I was a little filly. I wasn't much older than Dinky."

"You mean Ditzy?"

"Oh…yeah. Ditzy."

The colt's expression changed somewhat. "I don't mean to hurt your feelings, just, I've been noticing. But hey, blood is blood, and you're always welcome in our home. If you're ever in the need of a job, I can help you land a nice and simple one at the post office. Something that won't tax your mind. That's why that doctor's with you, right? To take care of you? Make sure all your needs are met? Somepony like you really shouldn't be left all to herself, it wouldn't be right."

Somepony like me… he thinks… I'm somepony like me… And after all, she had barely held on to her job as a mailpony, a job she had taken because the ponies at the post office had been kind enough to give her a shot, because… because her dad had been a mailpony too. She had tried, she understood now, even though she had hidden away the memories of her father after the accident, she had tried to be just like him, and had failed completely, without even knowing she had.

And her father thought she was the type of pony that couldn't take care of herself, somepony that needed a helping hand, because she couldn't do anything right. The worst part was, regardless of who he was, he was right.

Ditzy looked into the mirror once more, and stared into the face of not an explorer, but of a dumb pony with dull, crossed, idiot eyes, wearing a stupid cheap hat and somepony else's old scarf. How embarrassed she felt now that she understood the truth, for the first time in her life, regarding who she really was.

"That's the wonderful thing about Equestria, isn't it?" she said to Fluttershy, "on most other planets, parents would be put in prison for letting their kids wander about the land without some sort of supervision. But here, it's completely different. It's… I don't know, a little piece of ponified Heaven."

Fluttershy rode on the Doctor's back, smiling nervously as she listened to him speak the most unbelievable things. Curiosity got the better of her though. "So, Doctor, um, what happened to all the dragons? You said there would be lots and lots of mean dragons everywhere. Not that I want that to happen, but I don't see any. Maybe, if I were to maybe talk to the dragons, I could probably get them to not," at this point she gulped, "eat everypony?"

The Doctor smiled. "You're a brave little one aren't you? Underneath that pink hair lie the eyes of a hero. That's just gorgeous! Oh you wonderful ponies, you'll drive me mad yet."

She don't understand, but he sure sounded really passionate… about something.

"Yes, I know, you don't understand. You will though, one day, just don't worry about it for now. It's not the first time ponykind has completely defied expectations. That's what you lot are good at. The impossible little ponies of Equestria. Take the Universe you all will. Unbelievable."

Fluttershy hid her face under her mane, a single eye darting from the canopy above to the Doctor's coat. Then she noticed it from the corner of her eye, again, a pony galloping. Only, when she turned, it wasn't there.

"Fluttershy?" asked the Doctor.

"Huh? Oh, um, ok…"

"Still rambling like a madman aren't I? Force of habit, I tend to talk to myself quite a bit, since I'm pretty much the smartest living being, man or otherwise, on any given planet. Not to brag of course, I just am. So… yeah, you're a big fan of the animal thing, correct?"

The little pony smiled, perking up her eyes and posture. "Oh yes. I love taking care of all my forest friends. We have a special connection, I can understand them in a way other ponies can't."

The Doctor looked up at the trees of the Whitetail woods. This forest had neither the grandiosity of the silver trees of his homeland, nor did they have that untamed mysteriousness of the Everfree Forest, but as he continued gazing up at the canopy and the beaming sunlight that found its way through the branches and leaves, he couldn't help but smile.

"Do, do you like the forest too?" asked Fluttershy. "I mean, I know you do, I can tell… I love the forest too! Ever sense I discovered it, and all the creatures that live here. Helping animals is my special talent, it's how I got my cutie mark. One day, I want to live here, and raise bunnies and birds, and help the sick and hurt, and maybe make some friends who won't mind that I'm not the best flier, or not the most talkative, or even that I'm kinda a scaredy cat…"

The Doctor's smile grew wider. "Oh you don't have to worry about those things, cause you'll get all that one day. And more. As for scaredy catery, trust me, I, as a pony of the most cowardly type-"

"You are?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh yes, I'm the biggest coward you'll ever meet, so trust me when I say, you're definitely no coward. What's inside you, that's certainly no weakness. I'd hate to be corny but there's something you have that very few other ponies do."

"What's that?"

"I think it's best you figure that part on your own. That's how these sort of things should be found out, it's the pony way after all. But, in a lot of ways we all have our roles to play. What those are is maybe the biggest mystery. That's the comforting thing about a cutie mark isn't it? A nice cute guide, firmly representative of who we are, unmistakable and very clear. Even then, it only says so much about what we'll end up accomplishing. Everyone's important, but the roles of some are more clear than the roles of others. I-"

"Doctor…"

"Please just a moment, I'm trying to tie it all together, it's a very lovel-"

"D-D-Doctor…"

The doctor stopped mid-pontification. He kept his causal pace, daring neither to stop, nor to run, nor to gaze towards the quivering filly upon his back. He sensed it, something he had long expected never to sense again. "No," he whispered, barely out of Fluttershy's hearing, "it can't be."

"Doctor, there's… there's…."

"Something's out there," he said in little more than whisper, "something's following us, isn't there?"

The little filly, shaking and clinging to the Doctor's mane, could no longer hope to speak. With barely an eye glancing backwards, he whispered to the filly. "Is there someone following us?"

The scared filly, with her mouth shut tight, slowly nodded, the poor girl whimpering and struggling not to cry.

"Is it another pony?"

The filly, slowly turning her head towards the forest behind them, gazed into a direction the Doctor could not see. Slowly she turned her head back. The terrified pony, her eyes wide open, her face in an expression of shock, forced herself to motion her head from side to side.

"Can you fly sweetheart?"

Again she shook her head.

"Alright Fluttershy, hold on to my mane, and don't you let go. We'll have this sorted out in no time. No time. Heh." He gave the scared filly a wink and a smile. "I've got a few tricks up my saddlebag." With a swoop he plunged his head into the bag, and pulling his head back out with all swift haste, turned around and aimed his sonic screwdriver at what lay before them.

"On guard! Whoever's out there, just know, I have a sonic screwdriver between my teeth and a bag full of potassium rich bananas, and that's just about the worst case scenario you can ever possibly imagine. So show yourself, Time Lord."

"It's astonishing," said a voice among the trees, accented with a very proper Gallifreyian inflection, "that your irreverent humor would continue to fall flat after all this time. Intentionality serves no proper excuse." Was the voice coming from behind that tree? Or was it that one? "I think even you Doctor, should know better than to continue your juvenescent antics with the likes of me. That particular illation of course, is directly contingent on you actually identifying my personage. I wonder how good your memory is."

The Doctored huffed. "Let me venture at a guess. Let's see, a pompous, arrogant, cold-hearted Time Lord subject to blazon pleonasms. Who knows me personally. No, will be me. It's been far too long, Valeyard."

The Valeyard clapped his hands. The claps echoed, as if coming from every direction at once. Still in Gallifreyian form then, thought the Doctor, and once more, he wants me to know it.

"Very good Doctor," he finally said, "your equestrian handicap and uncharacteristically long life have failed to slow down the mind of a most flippant rebel. Though perhaps that's more a of detriment."

"Come out Valeyard. You and I, we'll talk, Time Lord to Time Lord. No trials, no children, just you and I, we'll even engaged in our customary slander, I know you enjoy that the most. What do you say?"

A storm was brewing up above, forming far too quickly for it to have been the work of pegasi. The wind began to blow, picking up leaves and debris from the forest and canopy above. A single bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, accompanied by a thunderclap so loud it made Fluttershy shriek. "Hold on tight," the Doctor said as she buried her head in his mane.

"As you can see," cried out the Valeyard, still hiding behind a veil of wood and leaf, "you're not exactly in the most optimal position to be making demands. Don't worry, we'll be meeting again. If you survive that is."

He was gone. He knew because he couldn't sense him anymore. But the storm had not passed; it had only gotten worse. He scanned the sky. Temporal distortions rapidly building in every direction. The paradox had finally begun to do its damage. Only, it was happening all wrong.

"Alright Fluttershy," yelled the Doctor, trying his best not to be drowned out by the growing windstorm, "he's gone. We're heading to the TARDIS right now, we'll be safe there, I promise."

"DOCTOR!" screamed the filly. She screamed louder than he had ever heard her scream before, as the pony saw something even the Doctor hadn't been prepared for. The Time Lord kept his screwdriver clenched tightly between his teeth. He kept his eyes on the stony silhouette of a long dead foe, her wings spread in frozen anticipation, her hands covering her weeping face. Another thunderbolt lit the monster from the Doctor's past in an eerie glow. The Weeping Angel had returned from the forever of its extinction. He walked backwards, daring not break sight with the creature. A single blink of his eye would spell their deaths.

Another one of Fluttershy's screams pierced through the howling shrieks of the raging storm. There was a second Weeping Angel, off to the corner of his eye, her arms extended as if to swipe. Another caught his sight, and then another. He lost sight of one, by the time he regained sight of her she was barely a foot away. And still more, each advancing each time he lost sight of them for a single moment. The forest caught fire, snow and hail began to pelt them. It was like the world truly was ending.

"Fluttershy, listen me, he said to the screeching filly. "open your eyes! These creatures move only if you lose sight of them. Pay attention please! Open your eyes, and don't blink! Don't blink!"

Something strange was happening, though what it was Ditzy couldn't discern. "Order in the court!" she shouted, slamming her hoof against the dirt. She hopped onto a salecolt's apple pie cart and smacked a pot at the cart like gable. "The court is now in session, the princess will now plead guilty. Give me the seven or I'll call a mistrial!"

"Derpy, what's wrong?" asked Starlight. "Take a seat, I think your condition is acting up. Are you taking medication, something to calm you down?"

"Hey, she's ruining my pie cart!" cried out the distressed pie salescolt.

"Dad," she whispered, quivering under the concerned colt's gaze. Something was horribly wrong, she could barely see anything at all. It was all a blinding yellow glare.

"No, it's me, Starlight Doo, look, we'll take you back to your doctor friend ok? Come on, Derpy, come one!"

"No!" she squealed, "Daddy, I can still remember the first time you took me to the Summer Sun Celebration. My ice cream fell on the floor, and I cried. But you shared yours with me. And mom was so upset because you spoiled my dinner, but she forgave you, because she loves you. You told me about the stars. Orion the Hunter, the Ursas Minor and Major. We even made one up."

The colt stared at her, both fearful and confused. "How did you…why do you keep calling me dad? Who are you?"

A set of tears ran down Ditzy's cheeks. She couldn't make the light blinding her mind go away, no matter how hard she tried. "Red flames scorching pony flesh. Oh Gods, the flames. It's me papa, I'm Ditzy Doo."

"That's impossible," he muttered, "you can't be. But you look so much like her. Derpy?"

Starlight glared into the eyes of the mad pony. It was like her mind was no longer there.

The clock tower erupted into a ball of pure red flames. Screams filled the air. Starlight Doo covered the comatose mare with his own body, and about the madness around him, realized his daughter was no where to be found. "Ditzy? Ditzy Doo? DITZY!"

To be Continued.