//------------------------------// // The Prospect of Regeneration // Story: Doctor Whooves: Silence Will Fall // by LightOfTriumph //------------------------------// "Doctor," said the Doctor dryly. "Doctor!" said the tall thin man. Applejack was very confused. "Doctor?!" "Yes?" they both said in unison. "You've regenerated," the Doctor said to the man. "How many times?" "Just the once," the man added. "I'm eleven. Technically twelve if you count grumpy face, and we usually don't. Technically thirteen if you count the time that ten cheated." "Oh dear," the Doctor frowned. "Seems your time is nearly up..." "Well," Eleven examined his body. "This old thing has still got a couple of centuries left on it. I don't plan on burning through this one like I did with some of the others." "Most Time Lords live for ten thousand years or more, and you're clocking out at two thousand," the Doctor shook his head. "Anyway, much has happened since you've been gone, we're going to need to catch up. Since you appear to know what's going on and I don't, it would perhaps be best to use the quick way." "Oh..." Eleven deflated. "I bloody hate the quick way. And doing that with a horse skull might burst my cranium open..." "Not horse!" Sweetie Belle interrupted. "Pony, right..." Eleven murmured. "Alright," the Doctor stood directly across from him. "One, two, three...." "Now hold on just a-" WHAM!! The two Doctors slammed their heads together as hard as they could. They both recoiled in pain. "Ahhh!" the Doctor groaned. " I don't remember you having that thick a skull the last regeneration!" "You're one to talk!" Eleven protested. "Where are you up to?" "Pandorica," the Doctor said through gritted teeth. "You?" "Cybermen..." "There's more," they both said in miserable unison. The two Doctors stood directly across from each other again. "Wait!" Applejack protested. "Wait wait wai-" WHAM!!! The two Doctors fell on their backs, looking up in miserable unison. "Married?!" the Doctor said stunned and confused. "We got married?! There was no other way out of that particular scenario? Did you try self-immolation? I mean we could have done worse, but married?!" "Of all the universes the Hand of Omega could have landed," Eleven said dreamily. "It lands in the one filled with magical ponies. Makes a sick sort of sense." They both raised their heads to look at one another. "Good, you're caught up," they said in unison before their heads fell back to the ground. "Alright!" Applejack was so furious she could see the Crusaders cowering from her. "Somepony better start explainin'! Who the hoof is this guy? What did you to just bang your heads together for? And why are there big gaps in our memory?" "Ah!" Eleven shot to his feet and wobbled a bit before righting himself. "Those are all very good questions! The answer to the first one is that I'm the Doctor. The human shaped one you met before. I just have a different face now. The answer to the subquestion you now have is that I regenerated! A process in which Time Lords, like me and Doctor Whooves here, change our bodies in order to keep from dying." "Doctor Whoo-?" the Doctor said with a face of irritated confusion. "Never call me that again!" "I kinda like it!" said Sweetie Belle. "Don't you start!" the Doctor scolded. "The answer to the second question," Eleven continued. "Is that we shared memories in the single most painful way possible, because we are running short on time. And the answer to question three is... Doctor?" The Doctor looked at Eleven. "Silence." "What?" Apple Bloom asked. "Why do you want him to be quiet?" "No," said the Doctor, picking himself up. "That's the answer. Agents of the Silence, a religious order that seems to have issues with Bowtie." "Hey! This is cool," Eleven said, adjusting his bowtie. "Bowties are cool." "Bowties are the direct opposite of cool," the Doctor retorted. "Yeah, keep talking Ascot." "Hold on!" Scootaloo protested. "Why can't we remember stuff?" "We must have caught sight of the priest," the Doctor explained. "You can only remember them when you're looking at them. Because of this any Silent can implant evil little subliminal messages in your head. Which explains this." He rolled up his sleeve to reveal the "keep looking" mark. "The good news is," Eleven said. "I've been here for a week now, I only have one score mark. Therefore there must be only one here. The question is, what is he doing that could concern the White Guardian so much?" "Hmm," the Doctor hummed in agreement. He then caught sight of Applejack, who had been looking at the ground since he had heard of the Tenth Doctor's regeneration. "When were you gonna tell me?" Applejack asked sharply. "Tell you what?" the Doctor said confused. "When were you going to tell me that everythin' about one of my friends could just shift around at any second?" Applejack advanced on the Doctor. "When were you gonna tell me that you were gonna become a whole new pony?" "What?" the Doctor asked. "This happened before, you were there last time. Oh..." The Doctor suddenly realized something. "Right, you were unconscious, weren't you? This must all be a bit of a shock. Listen, I remain the same pony I always was. I may look and act different, but I'm the same stallion. The best parts about me won't change, I promise." Applejack stared intently at the Doctor before calming down. "Alright," Applejack said. "I'll be there, it seems like it would be hard on you too. It just makes me wonder what else you're not telling me..." "A very good point, Applejack," a voice came from all around them. Eleven quickly looked all around the street. "Alright, creepy voice from nowhere," he said cautiously. "Not usually a good sign" "What the Doctor isn't telling you could fill Twilight's thickest books ten times over," the voice continued. "Like what this 'Silence' wants him to keep silent about..." "How do you know that?" the Doctor asked firmly. "On the fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the Eleventh, when no party can speak falsehood or fail to answer, a question will be asked..." "Wait," Applejack looked stunned. "I know that voice..." "The first question," the voice continued. "The question the two of you have been running from all your lives Hidden in plain sight. The question that must never be answered." With a snap, a twisted creature appeared in front of them. A form Applejack knew all to well. "Doctor who?" asked Discord.