The Doctor was sitting at a table a few rooms off from the console, having it on auto pilot, he was enjoying some nice crispy calamari and some chips

After the events at the Crystal Empire, the Doctor decided to try and find some other places to find adventure rather than Equestria

So the TARDIS was flying through time and space in order to find the most adventurous thing possible

[…]

The TARDIS landed and the Doctor poked his head outside

The air was dirty, and it appeared that he had landed in a back alley of some strange city block, there were sounds of cars and the taste of metal on the air

"Wonder where I ended up this time" the Doctor thought aloud

As he walked out of the alley he could see the sky, it was heavily polluted and not very pleasant to look at. There were two suns in the sky, and several planets were in view

"Out of the way!" some pony tackled the Doctor back into the alley

The Doctor almost protested but decided against it, several ponies in hazmat suits charged past the alley

It was then he got a look at the pony that had pushed him into the alleyway, it turned out that it wasn't a pony at all but a dragon that had been running on all fours

This particular dragon was purple with green scales, no wings and a sharp look in his eyes

'It can't be…' the Doctor thought to himself

"Looks like they're gone" the dragon turned to the Doctor, "You're lucky I hid you, otherwise they would have caught you."

"Ah yes" the Doctor said, "Who are they exactly?"

"Where have you been?" the dragon asked, "They've been sent to gas this sector, cleansing the place so others can move in."

"Did you get time to move out?" the Doctor asked

The dragon scoffed, "It isn't like we even have a choice, where would we go? The only place is the wilderness where we'd be slaughtered."

"Who would end up doing this?" the Doctor asked, "And where do you fit in?"

"The fifth great and bountiful Equestrian Empire" the dragon spat out the words like venom, "And the name's Spike"

"I'm the Doctor" the Doctor grinned, it was shocking but here he was, talking to a dragon thousands of years after meeting him the first time, a bit taller than he was but not as tall as when the Doctor was humanoid

"The Doctor" Spike repeated, "That sounds familiar…"

"I hear something over here!" a voice came from where the hazmat ponies ran past

"Come on, I know where to go from here." Spike hissed

The Doctor followed, not wanting to end up on the bad end of the stick

Spike was here, it seemed as if he was seeing a piece of Equestria out here in the thick of it, fighting to hold on to some amount of his home

The pair passed over a bridge, foul smelling sludge was crossing underneath it, almost making the Doctor gag

"We're almost there" Spike said as they reached a doorway, "You go first."

The Doctor entered the doorway, and what he guessed to be a frying pan knocked him to the ground, dazing him

"Looks like your one-hit KO streak is off" Spike's voice sounded distant

"It's not as if he would normally be able to move anyway" a familiar voice said, but the Doctor couldn't place it

"Tie him up anyway, and search him for anything useful." This voice was instantly recognized

"It can't be…" the Doctor managed to get out, when he looked up his suspicions were confirmed

"Twilight?"

Then it all faded to black

[…]

The Doctor woke up tied to a chair, which was to be suspected, it appeared his captors weren't aware he was awake yet

"He knew my name" Twilight's voice sounded hopelessly confused, "But I haven't used that name for hundreds of years! How could he possibly have known that!?"

"Why don't you ask him" that one voice the Doctor couldn't place suggested

"Ah well worth a shot" the Doctor stretched his neck, "Love a good interrogation, usually I break my captors before they do me."

"First things first" Spike held up the sonic screwdriver, "What is this? A weapon?"

"If I knew I was going to get captured why would I bring a weapon for you to take?" the Doctor countered, seeing Spike's expression he explained, "Oh come on, if you really were saving ponies lives you wouldn't have them go first."

"Then what is it?" Twilight demanded

"It's a sonic device" the Doctor said, "More specifically a sonic screwdriver, my personal favorite."

"Alright then, who are you?" Spike didn't raise his voice

"I'm the Doctor" the timelord answered, "I told you that."

"Doctor who?" Twilight asked the age old question

"It's just the Doctor" the Doctor smiled, "Nothing more nothing less."

"What's the blue box?" the third of the group was in the shadows, typical intimidation tactic

"That's my ship, don't knock it." The Doctor said, "And before you ask, it's a blue box for a reason."

"What are your connections to the empire?" Twilight finished, "We need to know your worth for ransom."

"Oh I'd be nothing to them" the Doctor said, "That's because they don't really know me."

"The Empire knows everypony" Spike asserted, "We have a scanner that we stole from them."

"Then why didn't you say 'we scanned you'?" the Doctor questioned, "Unless you didn't get a match."

The pony in the corner used the scanner on the Doctor, it whirred and Spike crossed his arms confidently

"He is no one"

"What?" Twilight turned around to look at the scanner

"No identification found"

"Like I said" the Doctor smiled warmly, "They don't know me."

"Then who do you work for?" the pony in the corner demanded, her voice betraying her shock

"Ah I'm a bit of a freelancer" the Doctor shrugged despite the ropes, "Usually looking around for some fun, instead I get kidnapped, that's the least of my troubles however."

"What is the worst of your problems?" The pony stepped forward a bit

"Well I'll give you a heads up" the Doctor motioned to Spike, "He's holding a tracker leading the Empire straight to us."

"Spike!?" Twilight whirled, and was knocked back with a swipe of a claw

"I did what I had to" Spike hissed, "To keep us all alive, but then they demanded I hand over any nonentities, and he appeared."

"This has gone on long enough" the mare in the corner shot a bolt of energy that knocked spike to the ground

The Doctor threw off the ropes, as he had plenty of time to untie them

"You killed him…" Twilight was shocked

"That was a kill spell but dragons have tough scales" the Doctor said quickly, his wings twitching, "That'll wear off quickly."

The mare in the corner stepped into the faint light of the small room they were in

"Starlight?"