//------------------------------//
// Strange Meeting 
// Story: Doctor's Journey without the TARDIS 
// by TimeLord_Whooves 
//------------------------------//

Derpy looked up at the large regal looking estate that had just appeared as they reached the top of the hill with awe, the Doctor was used to such buildings, it even gave him nostalgia.  They walked up to the door together and as they got closer, the Doctor noticed there was a bright purple pegasus stallion with a grey mane and matching eyes was standing there waiting for them.
“Serenity!” the stallion called out to them, “Are you alright?  When the carriage never came I grew worried.”
Serenity, the blue mare, ran up to him and nuzzled him affectionately.  “I’m fine, Bright Shield, and so is our daughter.” Serenity said pointing a hoof at Derpy.
The stallion looked over at Derpy and said after a moment, “Aren’t you going to come and give me a hug like always?”
Derpy looked at him for a second, walked over and gave him a quick hug.  “Well this isn’t like you Sweetness.  You usually hug me as tight as you possibly can, is something wrong?”
“N-no, nothing’s wrong, really.  I’m just…” Derpy said and looked over at the Doctor, “I’m a little dazed from what happened.”
Bright Shield looked over at the Doctor, a questioning look passed over his face.  “Who is this?” he turned to ask Serenity.
“Apparently he’s a friend of Sweetness’, he’s been traveling and he saved our lives today after the carriage lost control.” she answered him in a whisper.
“Saved you and a friend of our daughter’s?” he said incredulously, “Well that is something.”
Derpy was looking between the two whispering ponies and the Doctor, trying to figure out why they were calling her Sweetness and wondering what they were going to do.
Bright Shield turned to the Doctor, “Thank you for saving my family, my wife says you’ve been traveling and have nowhere to stay?”
“Yes.” the Doctor said tentatively.
“Well we have room, you can stay here if you’d like.  After all you did, I owe you.  If I may ask, what is your name?”
“Time Turner.”
“Then welcome Time Turner, we’ll get you a room set up and dinner will be ready shortly.” Bright Shield said as he led them all into the house.
The Doctor followed him, walking next to Derpy.  He gave her a quick reassuring look and walked into the dining hall.  The Doctor wasn’t completely sure of what was going on but he didn’t want Derpy to freak out or feel uncomfortable.
They all took a seat at the long table, Bright Shield and Serenity sitting across from each other and the Doctor and Derpy right next to them.  “So tell me, Time Turner, what exactly do you do aside from rescuing mares in distress?”  Bright Shield asked after he had collected some food on his plate.
“Well, I work with clocks, repairs, making, and even repurposing old clocks.” The Doctor answered easily, he had used the same cover in Ponyville for years he was used to answering this question.
“I see, that’s why your mark is an hourglass?” Bright Shield said looking at the Doctor’s flank then back to his meal.
The Doctor swallowed a bit of cupcake he had been eating and said yes.  He looked over at Bright Shield’s flank but he was wearing a long tailored vest that covered it.
“If you’re curious to know what my mark is, it’s simply a shining shield and Serenity’s is an opal.” Bright Shield said simply.
They were finishing up their dinner when the butler brought in a large cake.  The Doctor looked up at this mass of chocolate icing, decorated finely with vanilla swirls.  “What is the occasion for this?” the Doctor asked.
“It’s merely a thank you for saving my family.” Bright Shield said happily.
“That’s too much, you’re already giving me a place to stay, I can’t ask any more of you.” The Doctor said, looking at the cake with wide eyes.
He suddenly remembered how he had gotten here in the first place.  The question he now wanted to ask was formed in his mind but then he thought simply asking to inspect the oven was a rather odd question and so made a mental note to inspect it after everypony was in bed.  He looked over at Derpy to see if she was thinking the same thing but she was just staring at the very delicious looking cake and drooling, he laughed to himself.
After they all had gotten a slice of cake and had eaten it Bright Shield said to the table, “Time for bed everypony.  Let me show you were you’ll be sleeping Mr. Turner.”
They got up and walked down the hall and up the stairs, down another hall and around the corner.  “The room has already been set up for you, the bed should be warm and there should be everything you need in there, see you in the morning.”  Bright Shield said before walking off towards his and Serenity’s room.
Serenity had walked Derpy to her room and tucked her into bed before singing her a lullaby, it was one that she had heard before but couldn’t remember from where.  She closed her eyes and began to make soft snoring sounds, Serenity smiled and kissed her forehead before walking back to her and Bright Shield’s room.
The Doctor looked around his room, the bed was sitting against the wall beneath a window facing the back field which had a running track.  He looked at it feeling weary but he wanted to go see the oven, if his own oven had sent them here maybe this oven could take them back.  He waited a few minutes to make sure everypony was asleep and opened the door.
“Oof!” Derpy had been standing just outside his room when he walked out and bumped into him as they both tried to step through the door.  “My nose… hurts.” she said quietly.
“Derpy what are you doing outside my door?” the Doctor asked in a hushed voice.
“I came to be with you silly.” She said matter of factly, “I didn’t want to be all alone in that big room, besides I figured you wanted to go check out the kitchen.”
“And here I thought you weren’t paying attention, it looked like you were too focused on the cake to think about looking for a way home.”
“Silly Doctor, I never miss a single detail.”  As she spoke she backed into a small table with a vase of blue flowers decorating the hall, the vase spun there for a second before falling.  The Doctor quickly jumped forward and caught it, sighing as he set it back on the table.
“That was close.” He said looking back at Derpy and frowning slightly.
“Nice catch!” she said gleefully.
The Doctor sighed and led the way to the kitchen.  It was a huge room full of pots and fire pits set into the stone walls, a large island in the center for the preparation of the food.  They looked around for the oven, after seeing everything else not expecting the same kind they had at home.  The oven was set into the wall just like the fire pits, a large door that swung open with a little window to see inside covering the hole.
The Doctor opened it and looked inside, almost expecting to just hear the same whooshing sound as before and be sucked back home.  No such thing happened, all it was, was a typical oven, no whoosh.  He looked back at Derpy and she looked at him and gave him a sad look.
“It looks like we’re going to be stuck here for a while,” the Doctor said sadly, “it’s not like we’re going to be able to look through every oven in the world, that wouldn’t even be productive, the only thing we can do from here is see what happens next.”