Doctor Whooves - Part 2: An Elder Race

The Dungeon

The Doctor, Black Mist, and Fluttershy walked in a line, side by side. They followed the three Daleks in front of them, and were followed by the three Daleks behind them. The Daleks led the ponies down to the castle's dungeon. There was no sound except the ponies' hoofsteps, a low whirring from the Daleks, and Mist softly comforting the whimpering Fluttershy.

They came to a cell and the Daleks formed a semicircle around the ponies. "Enter," one of the Daleks commanded.

Mist and Fluttershy walked into the cell. The Doctor began to follow them, but the Dalek that had spoken before stopped him. "Remove your bags," it said.

"My what?" the Doctor asked.

"Remove your bags," the Dalek replied.

Then the Doctor remembered the saddle bags he was wearing. He had forgotten about them. Reluctantly, he slipped his bags off, picked them up with his mouth, and hung them over the plunger-looking part of the Dalek. Then, he entered the cell.

The cell door slammed shut behind him, then the Daleks left.

The Doctor turned to Mist and Fluttershy. "Don't worry," he said. "We'll get out of this." Then he turned towards the cell door. "If they hadn't taken my bags, I might have been able to use my sonic."

"Doctor?" a new voice asked from the cell across the hall, filled with hope.

The Doctor looked towards the opposite cell. Standing there was Lyra Heartstrings.

"Harpstrings!" the Doctor exclaimed in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I didn't really want to be 'exterminated'," she replied, with just a hint of a smile.

"Lyra," another pony said from the cell. Then, Lyra was joined by Bon Bon and Vinyl Scratch. Bon Bon, who had spoken, continued. "I thought you said his name was 'Time Turner'."

"Well, it is... I mean, it's not... but," Lyra stammered, not sure what to say.

"'Time Turner' is just my alias," the Doctor said. "I'm actually called the Doctor. I'm from another dimension, where I was born on the planet Gallifrey. A beautiful planet with twin suns and red grass. I'm the last of the race known as the Time Lords. I travel through time and space in my TARDIS. I save people, because that's what I do."

There was a moment of silence while Bon Bon processed this. Then, she asked, "You save? So, you can save us from those... things?"

"Those 'things' are called Daleks. They come from the planet Skaro. They are creatures of hate and one of my oldest enemies. Luckily, they don't know I'm me... yet."

There was another silence, then Lyra said, "You mentioned 'people'. Do you mean, like, humans?"

"Yes, of course I mean hu..." the Doctor began, but stopped. "Wait a minute. How do you know about humans?"

Lyra thought for a second, then she said, "I'm not sure. I don't really remember."

"How do you not remember?" the Doctor asked in disbelief. "Humans don't even exist here!"

"I know Doctor. It's just, I've thought about them since I was little. I don't know how I know, but I know."

They got silent after that, and the Doctor began pacing the cell, trying to think of a way out. Then, he looked over at Fluttershy and Black Mist, who were sitting against the far wall. Mist was holding Fluttershy, who was leaning into his chest. She was just beginning to calm down.

After a couple of seconds, Mist asked her, "Do you remember when we were foals back in Cloudsdale?"

"Yeah," she replied. "How about you? What do you remember?"

"Not much," Mist admitted. "But I do remember you, me, and Rainbow Dash were inseparable. We were great friends, even back then."

"Remember that one time when we gave each other nicknames?"

"Oh yeah," Mist said, smiling at the memory. "You were 'Flutters,' and Rainbow Dash was 'Dashie'."

"She hated that," Fluttershy replied, now also smiling.

"Yeah. She thought it was too girly."

"And we called you 'Misty.' You were mad because you thought it was a girl name."

"I still think it's a girl name."

By now, they were both laughing a little.

"At least someone's able to stay cheerful," thought the Doctor. He looked back at the door. "If only I still had my sonic."

"Wait a minute" Mist said. He stood up and walked over to the cell door. "Did anypony try this?"

He pushed the door, and it swung open.