Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

New Planet

Over 1000 years ago, before the fall of the Crystal Empire....

Prince Soleggiato had just left a meeting with his father and the delicates from the Griffin Kingdom. The yellow unicorn prince enjoyed seeing Razor Claw again, and was deeply honored that he had asked the prince to be his best stallion at his wedding in a few months. That put much of the ceremony's preparation on his half. Soleggiato would have to leave almost immediately to begin some of the preparations. The unicorn purine had observed wedding ceremonies before, and knew they took a lot of work. But never had he before attended one for a pair of griffins, much less as the best stallion!

"You look excited" Radiant Hope popped up beside her nephew, a wide smile on her muzzle, as always.

"I am, auntie" Sunny admitted, but his pleased smile wavered slightly. "But also a bit nervous. What if I mess up? What if I get some part of their cultural ceremony wrong? Or what if I get called away ok some big important mission and miss it?!"

Jumping ahead of the prince and putting a hoof out to stop him, Radiant shot her nephew a look that showed that she thought he was overreacting. "You need to relax, Sunny. I know you'll do fine. You hang out with those griffins more then the dragon's some times. And Razor Claw wouldn't have picked you if he didn't think you could do it."

"And if something comes up?" Soleggiato signed and stepped away from his aunt's hoof to look out one of the Crystal Castle's windows. "Equestria is always on the brink of a war with one species or another, or there's some monster attack or a natural disaster."

Putting a hoof on Soleggiato's shoulder, Radiant switched to 'sweet-caring-aunt' mode. "You worry about the Empire and Equestria too much. You're only 'one' prince, you know. You can rely on others to help you. You mother, father, me, your other aunt, the other princess and princesses, why, I'm sure even Star-Swirl-"

"That old fool only loves to 'cause' more chaos" the yellow unicorn prince interrupted Radiant, his eyes narrowing as he thought about the last time he and the world famous wizard were even in the same room together. Needless to say, the little dinner party ended with both the prince and Star-Swirl storming out, not speaking to each other and a giant mess left for the maids to clean up. "If I never see him again, it will be too soon..."

Before Radiant could say anything else, an odd noise began to fill the room. A noise that Radiant had only heard once before. But it is a sound that echoes throughout all time and space. A sound that has begun to inspire hope in some and fear in others. The sound of the TARDIS.

A big blue box slowly began to appear out of thin air in the hallway of the Crystal Castle, catching the attention of both Soleggiato and Radiant Hope. When the odd looking box appeared solid and stopped making it's 'whooshing' noise, the front door opened and a pony popped out that Soleggiato hoped would never see again. It was none other then Doctor Whooves. Annoyed, Soleggiato sighed and rolled his eyes, wishing anypony, literally 'anypony' would show up, rather then one of Star-Swirl's lackeys.

"Not again" the unicorn prince sighed annoyingly. "I have more important matters to deal with then the likes of you."

"There's no time to explain!" Doctor began to say, ignoring Soleggiato's obvious feelings towards him. "Please, it's a matter of the utmost urgency! I need you to come with me! Please, trust me!"

"How did you guys get in here?" Radiant Hope chimed in. "I mean, neither you or Derpy are unicorns, how did you use magic to pop into the castle?"

"Not magic, my dear Radiant" Doctor began to explain as he opened the door allowing both Soleggiato and his aunt to walk inside. Once inside the TARDIS, the two ponie's jaws dropped at the wonders inside the big blue box. Inside the small box appeared to be a room as big as the castle's thrown room, with rooms attached to it! And at the heart of it all appeared to be a pillar of some sort, made of metal and glass, brought to life by electricity. The big blue box was a lot bigger on the inside the the outside, to say the least! "Science! Science that proved travel through time and space is possible! I give you both, the TARDIS! Time And Relative Dimension In Space!"

Looking around, Radiant was amazed by what she saw, Soleggiato on the other hoof was very questioning of it all. It didn't make sence how somepony could come up with such a thing without the use of magic.

"So it appears Star-Swirl has made you a rather interesting toy box" the yellow unicorn commented, turning a questioning eye towards Doctor and Derpy. "But I've seen such things written down in scrolls before. I even have a small lavender bag that allows me to carry 10,000 times it's normal amount. So forgive me if I don't fall for your-"

"THIS IS SOOOOO COOOOL!!!" Radiant squeaked as she began zooming all around the TARDIS. "You know who would love this, Sunny?! Your father! Wait right here! I'll go and get him!"

Without another word, Radiant Hope dashed out of the TARDIS as fast as she could, eager to show her best friend the coolest thing she's seen all week! But once Radiant stepped out of the TARDIS, Doctor Whooves stomped his right hoof, telepathically ordering the doors to shut.

The prince's heart skipped a beat and kicked into over drive sensing possible danger. Soleggiato narrowed his eyes and slowly turned to the two ponies who he still believed to be working for Star-Swirl the bearded. "I knew it! You two are conspiring against me with that crazy old magician! Release me at once and I'll make sure your cell in the Crystal Dungeon will be comfortable!"

But Doctor ignored Soleggiato and rushed over to the control panel at the heart of the TARDIS, flipping random switches, pushing different buttons, and constantly checking the screen in front of him.

Nervous about everything that was happening, Derpy flew over to Doctor Whooves and mumbled loud enough for her best friend to hear "Doctor, what's going on? What are we doing?"

"I'm sorry, Derpy" Doctor started to say, but continued to input the coordinates for a certain place and time into the TARDIS's navigational system. "But we need to show Sunny what's going to happen to the Empire before it happened so he can prevent it!"

"What?! But Doctor, I thought you said-" Derpy started to say, but was stopped when the Doctor flipped a toggle switch, causing all the lights to turn off, even the pillar at the center of the TARDIS that always glowed bright green turned dark.

For a long moment, everypony just stood in the dark. Then, just as Soleggiato was about to leave the box the same way he entered, the entire time machine sprang back to life, more so then before! The TARDIS was moving! Not just through time! But through space as well! The entire craft was shaking worse then a tumble weed in a tornado! Grabbing onto whatever they could and holding on with all their might, Doctor, Derpy and Soleggiato braced themselves as best they could.

"What's going on, Doctor?!" Derpy yelled out as she held onto the control panel.

"What madness is this?!" Soleggiato screamed as his body flung in every which way, his hooves holding onto the nearest pipe mounted to the ground.

"I don't know!" Doctor honestly answered, also holding onto the control panel, trying to see where the TARDIS was taking them. "This hasn't happened before! Not this bad, at least!"

"When this is over! I'm going to have you two thrown in chains and that old stallion committed!!!" Soleggiato yelled at the top of his lungs as he held his eyes closed shut.

After a moment longer of being tossed around inside the blue box that's bigger on the inside, the trio suddenly stopped and hit the ground. The TARDIS made a slight 'whooshing' noice once, then almost all the power died down, leaving just the green pillar of light on at the center of the TARDIS.

Getting to their hooves, Derpy and Doctor shook their heads and looked at one another, making sure the other was ok. Just as they were able to conclude that everypony was alright, Doctor half expected to see Soleggiato standing over him with a rather angry glare, ready to toss him and Derpy in a prison cell. To his surprise, though, the prince was standing at the front doors, gazing out at the surroundings with his mouth wide open, jaw dropped almost to the ground.

Getting his footing back, Doctor wobbled with Derpy over to the front doors, where Soleggiato stood mesmerized by their new surroundings. It didn't take Doctor or Derpy long to realize why.

Peering outside the TARDIS's front windows, the trio saw into a world they had never seen before. It appeared to be half a wild jungle, but off in the distance, just beyond a large gorge, stood a city three times the size of the Crystal Empire! Unlike the glistening gem of Equestria, however, this new Metropolis appeared to be made out of a type of metal that shinned in the sun like freshly polished armor!

Stepping out of the TARDIS, Soleggiato was amazed by the new world they had apparently traveled too. "If this is all an illusion that Star-Swirl came up with, I have to give it to him. I thought the old one was losing his touch..."

"Sunny, get back in here this minute!" Doctor called out as the prince was now twenty hooves away from the TARDIS. "We don't know if the air is breathable or not! You could be breathing in poison!"

Something snapped the prince from his trance and cleared away the awe. The yellow unicorn tore his eyes away from the new world before him and shot a cold glance back at Doctor sticking his head just barely out of the TARDIS. "First of all, 'Doctor', if that is your real name, no pony, and I mean NO PONY, is allowed to call me 'Sunny' besides Those I give permission to! The rest of you may call me by the name I was given at birth! Soleggiato, Soleggiato Cavalere! Or the Black Knight! Do I make myself clear?!"

"But you always let us call you Sunny, Sunny" Derpy said, sticking her head out of the TARDIS, her head just below Doctor's.

"I have only met you two clowns twice now, and I don't recall ever giving you permission to call me 'Sunny'" Soleggiato explained.

"We can discuss this more back in the TARDIS, now please, get back in here!" Doctor continued to rush.

But just as Soleggiato was about to argue with the time traveler further, all three heard a scream and a cry for help. Instantly, Soleggiato turned and ran towards the direction the scream had come from. Following the prince was Derpy, followed quickly by Doctor after he locked the front door to the TARDIS, then continued to follow the other two.

The trio of travelers made their way steadily through the thick brush and odd vegetation of the new place they were at and found themselves looking down another edge of a deep gorge. While their side of the gorge was lush with green life, the other was dry and bare, much like a desert. The split between the two sides was deep enough that no pony could even see the bottom. The cries for help appeared to be coming from deep below, from one side of the cavern's wall.

Looking all around, Soleggiato could barely make out the outline of a pony in the darkness. "There! But they're too far for me to throw my magic."

"The TARDIS has a rope in it, but I doubt it's long big enough to reach" Doctor started to say as he began calculating out the distance in his mind as well as other contributing factors such as the stability of the edge of the gorge, the possible weight of the pony, how sharp the edge of the gorge was.

Soleggiato then turned to the grey mare hovering nervously close by. "Derpy, was it? You'll need to go down there and carry them out."

"W-what?! M-m-me?!" Derpy stuttered, shuffal no her hooves nervously. "I.... I don't know if I can. I'm not that strong. I could drop them!"

"I hate to disagree to such a bold and noble statement" Doctor chimed in. "But Derpy's right. Her coordination could prove... unfavorable, if she did try and lift that foal from their spot, it may do more harm then good."

Another scream came from the gorge followed by the sound of crumbling rocks.

"We have to act fast or that foal will quickly find out what's at the bottom of that cavern" Soleggiato stated then began looking around. "Doctor, what about those!"

The yellow unicorn prince pointed over to the jungle where large, thick vines connected several trees together. The vines appeared to be just slightly thicker then the average rope, but just the perfect size for a pony to put their teeth and or hooves around. Doctor Whooves approached the alien vines and began looking them over.

After a long moment, Doctor turned to his companions with a smile. "Sunny, you're brilliant! This could work!"

"I told you, don't call me Sunny!" After hearing a few more cries for help, Soleggiato turned to Derpy. "While Doctor and I gather the vines and get this all ready, you'll need to fly down there and keep the foal calm. The more they panic, the more whatever support is keeping them from falling will crumble."

"What?! B-but Su-, sr, Mr Prince, I don't think I can-" the blond mare with a wall-eyed stare started to say as she looked down and fidgeted with her hooves even more nervously then before.

"You'll need to" Soleggiato stated firmly. "There's a foal down there who's scared out of their mind with no idea that help has even arrived. You need to fly down there for their sake and keep them calm. Got it?"

"B-but even if I do go down there, and I don't bump into a wall and cause an avalanche or something, what do I say? How do I keep them calm?!" Derpy's heart began to race, she had never expected that somepony would ever need her as much as this mysterious foal did.

"Tell them about where you come from, ask them questions about them, it doesn't matter, just keep them calm" the prince stated as calmly as he could as Doctor went right to work on the vines. Knowing they needed to act fast, he looked Derpy in the eye one last time and told her "I know you have kindness in your heart. I can see it as plain as the sun in the sky. You just need to think about how to use that kindness. Go! That foal needs somepony there for them. We'll throw the vine rope down as soon as we can."

Derpy watched as Soleggiato ran over and started ripping the vines down with Doctor as fast as they could, going right to work making as long and sturdy of a rope as they could. The grey mare then turned her yellow eyes to the gorge, nervously bitting her lip. Derpy was terribly afraid she was going to mess things up again. She may deliver the mail to the wrong address back home, or occasionally cause some structural damage to a building, but she couldn't afford to mess this up. A foal depended on her. As her heart began to race faster and faster with the horrible images of her failure filling Derpy's mind, something Soleggiato said to her silenced her internal storm. 'I know you have kindness in your heart... I can see it...'

Taking one last deep breath, summoning all the courage she could muster, the grey mare dove right into the gorge and began immediately looking around for the foal in question. Derpy's eyes actually came in handy when looking, allowing her to look all around in different angles for the foal. Almost right away, Derpy spotted a little filly hanging on the side of a crumbling ledge about fifty yards down. She was a little green, earth pony filly, with a short brown mane and dark green freckles. Her chest kept raising and falling as her eyes seemed to be glued to the dark chasm beneath her, rivers of tears flowing from them.

"Hey there!" Derpy lightly called out as she flew up to the little filly. The filly was able to tear her eyes away from the darkness below and gazed at Derpy the same way Soleggiato had the world they ended up in. Wonder and amazement as something she had never seen before. "Don't worry, my friends and I are going to get you out."

"Are... are you real?" The filly spoke just barely above a whisper. "A real winged-one?!"

"Yep, sure am" Derpy said with a smile, but as the ground beneath the filly's hooves began to crumble slightly, the grey pegasus remembered Soleggiato told her to keep the filly calm. "Ugh, hey! After we get out of here, how about I treat you to a muffin or two! I know I like having one after a hard day."

"W-what's a muffin?" The filly shot Derpy a questioning look when the ground began to collapse more, shaking the filly, causing her to whimper.

"It's ok, it's going to be ok" Derpy did her best to calm the foal down so she didn't panic more.

"I-I'm scared" the foal admitted as tears began to gather in the corners of her eyes once again.

Derpy tried to think fast, the more the filly panicked,the more she moved and could cause the ground to give way
beneath her. Then Derpy had an idea. "So you've never tried muffins before?"

The little filly shook her head a little, trying not to move and cause herself to fall.

"When we get you of here, we'll have you try all kinds of muffins! Like Banana nut, chocolate chip, chocolate chocolate chip, poppyseed, blue berry" the grey pegasus went on and on about the many different kinds of muffins with a small smile on her muzzle.

"I-I've never even heard of any of those things before" the filly tried to focus on the mare floating before her.

Just then, a rope made of vines fell from above. Derpy grabbed hold of it and reached out to the little green filly. Just then, as the filly reached it with her hoof to grab Derpy's, the cliff beneither her hooves gave way, and the filly began to plummet into the darkness below!

As the filly began to scream, her body jerked as something caught her. Gathering enough courage to open her eyes, the filly was surprised and glad to see that the 'winged-one' she had just met was holding her and lifting her up slowly with all the might her grey wings could muster. Little did the filly realize the struggle for Derpy wasn't just with the extra weight, but also against her natural clumsiness. It took everything Derpy had to keep herself steadily raising up back to the edge of the vine rope Doctor and Soleggiato had made. The end of it was just slightly out of her reach. But after several long moments, the grey pegasus reached her destination and quickly grabbed the rope and pulled herself and the filly as close as she could to it before looking up towards the mouth of the gorge and yelling at her two companions "PULL!"

With that signal, Doctor Whooves and Soleggiato began pulling the rope up with all their strength. Soleggiato even cast a spell on himself to give him the strength of several earth ponies, causing his whole body to become incased in his magical green aura. It would take several moments, but the two stallion's were going to pull their friend and the filly out.

"T-thank you Ma'am" the filly finally said as she clung to Derpy for dear life, her hooves wrapped tightly around her grey body.

Seeing how the little filly was still very scared and shaking, Derpy continued to try her best to help the little pony relax. Stretching out her wings and wrapping them around the filly as an extra shield, Derpy then began to hum a lullaby her mother sang to her when she was a scared little filly. By the time Doctor and Soleggiato got Derpy and the filly to the top and out of danger, the filly had been free from her fears for quite some time.

"Thank you all so much!" The filly cheered as she continued to hug Derpy.

"Thank you all indeed" a mare's voice came from the bushes just behind the group of time travelers. Stepping out of the bushes was a mare disguised in various leaves and vines, with some kind of tribal markings on her muzzle. Accompanying her were two other ponies, a mare and a stallion, both dressed similarly to the mare that spoke up. The little green filly ran over to the leading mare and gave her a hug.

"Mommy! These three saved me!" The filly cheered and pointed to Doctor, Derpy, and prince Soleggiato with her hoof.

"I saw that" the mare smiled at her daughter, which quickly turned to a frown. "I told you never to play around here! What if the kaleds had seen you?!"

"I... I'm sorry mom... I just thought..." the filly' ears sunk to the side of her head as her eyes fell to the ground.

The mare didn't continue her lecture, thinking how traumatized her daughter might be, but instead pulled the filly a hug, holding her as tight as she could. "I was so worried about you. I'm glad you're ok..."

Something struck at Soleggiato, giving him a strong case of the feels, forcing him to avert his eyes from the heart warming scene.

"Greetings, I'm Doctor, Doctor Whooves. These are my two companions, Derpy Hooves and Su, er, Prince Soleggiato. On behalf of our home world of Equestria, I offer my hoof in friendship." Doctor stuck out his hoof to the mare in charge, who looked from his hoof to the metal city and sneered.

"We're all in danger here, come" the mare informed the trio, picking up her daughter and tossing her on her back. "We'll talk back at camp. Let's go!"

On her word, the other two ponies who accompanied the wild looking mare began to blend back into the forest and disappeared. Doctor and Derpy hesitated for a moment, but Soleggiato jumped and began to follow the jungle adapted mare. Following suit, Derpy and Doctor ventured into the jungle as well, never aware that they were all being watched...

The trio from Equestria were lead through the thick jungle, over a lake of boiling water, past many boobytraps, and eventually found themselves at a small clearing near the mouth of a cave of a small mountain. Once there, the mare leading the team made a wild bird call unlike any the three ponies have ever heard, signaling others of her group. Everypony watched as the scenery began to shift, all the surrounding trees and bushes began to break away from their various poses, revealing their true forms. Like the mare and her accomplices, the rest of their group appeared to be earth-ponies dressed in leaves and vines of various types allowing them not only to blend into their jungle surroundings, but to disappear all together! Once everypony was in sight, the inhabitants of the jungle stared at the trio of time travelers in awe, mostly of Derpy, smiles growing on their muzzles as they whispered amongst themselves.

"Welcome friends, this is our village, we are the Thals, or all that remains" the mare's voice was proud and strong until she muttered that last verse. She quickly regained her composure and smiled brightly as she addressed her 'village'. "These strangers arrived in a magical blue box and saved my daughter! Not only have they for-filled the prophecy! But they have shown comparison and bravery by saving her from the bottomless gorge! Tonight we celebrate in their honor! Bring our finest food and drinks!"

Everypony cheered, even Derpy, who wasn't entirely sure of what was going on except that everypony was happy. Doctor and Soleggiato shot each other questioning looks as if asking each other 'can we trust these ponies?' But unltimatly, Soleggiato shrugged off his worry and smiled. What harm could it do to celebrate a little after all?

As the food was brought out, Doctor leaned over to the mare who was obviously in charge and spoke just above a whisper "if you don't mind, miss, er... I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your name."

"I'm sorry, I forget my mannars. We just haven't had visitors in, well, ever" the mare spoke with a large smile still on her muzzle as she motioned to herself and her younger daughter who sat beside her. "I am chief Prim Rose, and this mischievous little one is my daughter, Rose Bud."

"A pleasure, Chief Prim Rose" Soleggiato spoke up and extended his hoof. "I am prince Soleggiato Cavelere, of the Crystal Empire."

"A Kaled prince, eh?" Prom Rose commented with a grin. "Good to see they still hold strong to their noble titles."

"A what?" Doctor asked, raising a brow as he watched Derpy dance with the foals off in the distance around the camp fire. "What is a 'Kaled'?"

"It is what we call the ones with horns who use their minds to create" Prim Rose motioned to Sunny's horn. "They are the Kaleds. We,who create with our hooves, are called the Thals. And the race who create and control the weather with their wings, like your friend over there dancing with others over by the fire, we call a winged-one."

"Interesting..." Doctor commented as he patted his chin with his hoof, wishing he had a quill and some parchment to write all this down. "We call them 'unicorns', 'earth-ponies' and 'pegusi', well, at least where we come from."

"Which brings up another good question" Soleggiato spoke up again. "Where exactly are we? I know we are nowhere near Equestria, the whole sun feels... different. And well... there are three moons."

Doctor paused and looked up into the night sky. He was shocked to not only see one large moon, but a medium and smaller one accompanying it in the sky! "My word, how long have those been up there?!"

"About two hours after the sun finished setting" Soleggiato commented, knowing exactly when the time changed.

"It sounds like you three come from an entirely different planet" Prim Rose noted with a half smile. "That just proves the prophecy is at long last, finally coming true."

"And what is this 'prophesy'?" Doctor asked before Soleggiato had a chance to.

"It was prophesied long ago that the three tribes, the Thals, the Kelads, and the winged-ones, would be reunited once more by a trio from the stars who would guide the way and lead us to our once harmonious existence, and teach the three tribes how to work once again as a whole." The mare's eyes shinned as she told the tale that her tribe had carried down for generations.

"How long have the tribes been separated?" Soleggiato looked around, trying to think of how any of the three pony tribes could survive without working with one another.

"A little over two hundred years" Prim Rose answered. "We survived and were able to grow our own food source without the aid of the good weather from the winged ones, nor the regularity of a set night and day from the kelads, but.... everything has a price."

"Ewww!" Derpy spat out a bite of fruit she was offered. Turning to her, Doctor and Soleggiato could see the fruit was dark green, almost black in color, and even from where they stood, they could smell it's horrid stench.

"My word, has that fruit gone bad?!" Doctor pinched the base of his nostrils, feeling as though he was going to be sick.

"It reminds me of when the Empire first put in a sewage system..." the prince added, covering his own nose.

"I'm afraid not much grows without decent weather or rest at night, or the regular heat of the day" Prim Rose sighed. "Our tribe survives on these fruits as best we can... but even the freshest of them smell and look like, well, you know..."

"Dirty Jim socks?" Derpy noted as she passed the fruit back to the filly who offered it to her. The filly sighed and took it back reluctantly, also very tired of the horrid fruit.

"So where are the other tribes?" Soleggiato wanted to get right to the point and aid these Thals before they had to stomach much more of those horrible fruits.

"The winged-ones, I'm afraid, left long ago... the Thals and the Kelads were at war with one another, and the winged-ones watched from above as we destroyed the land we fought over." Prim Rose gazed into the fire as she recalled her mother telling her the horrific tale of their origins. "The Thals were skilled guardians and warriors, even though most of us were farmers and bakers, our bodies are stronger and more suitable for combat. But the Kaleds made up for their lack of body strength with their magic and science. They built walls and traps to keep the Thals out, and had weapons ready for when the Thals broke into their metal cities.

"During the final days of the 100 year war, the Thals stole one of the Kelad's greatest weapons, and planned to use it on their capital, the city you all saw earlier. It was a type of cannon that harnesses the power of sunlight and could fire what it gathered." Prim Rose paused to point over to the direction of the gorge where they came from. "But the Kelads had a brilliant scientist working for them. And he created a weapon that would counter, and over power the ones the Thals stole. Both weapons were fired, but the collision caused great destruction to the planet, and caused all the winged-ones to disappear without a trace.

"Some say the winged-ones flew to the stars and watch down on us, hoping for peace one day" the first explanation was so light hearted it even caused Soleggiato to relax a bit. But Prim Rose's expression turned hard in a flash "Others claim the exploration did something to them... there were legends of statues of the winged-ones found in the waste lands, just standing there. But when no pony was looking, or in the blackest of nights when you can't see your hoof in front of your own muzzle, they strike! The statues move and when they touch you, you disappear! Never to be seen again!"

"Hey Doctor! That sounds like the weeping pegusi, didn't it?" Derpy said as she started passing out muffins she had from a huge basket.

"Derpy, where did you get all those muffins?!" Doctor asked as he watched all the Thal foals, elderly, and everypony in between line up and graciously took one, overjoyed with the wonderful taste.

"I had a feeling a giant basket of muffins might come in handy, so I pack one for every trip!" Derpy said with a smile as she handed one to Prim Rose.

The Thal leader looked at the muffin for a moment, unsure of what to make of it. She sniffed it for a moment, then stuck her tongue out on it and tasted the Carmel glazed outside. Her eyes went wide as her taste buds did a joyful back flip. The stoic leader became a filly again as she took a large bite of the 'muffin' and enjoyed every second it melted in her mouth. "It's... it's the greatest thing I've ever had..."

"Seeing what you have to stomach, I'm not supposed" Soleggiato commented then looked in the direction of metal city.

"The stars shine brightly on us tonight my tribe!" Prim Rose stood up and addressed all the Thouls present. "Not only has the legendary trio come to bring harmony to the planet Skaro once more! But the first winged-one to descend to us had brought us the greatest gift we have received in over 100 years!"

"A dessert you can eat for breakfast!" Derpy yelled out, causing the entire crowd to erupt into stomping applause and cheers.

As the Thals cheered and celebrated with Derpy around the camp fire, singing and performing their native dances, Doctor and Soleggiato looked through the trees and over at the metal city that remained dark in the night.

"We need to help them" Soleggiato said as he kept his eyes locked on the dark city.

"We have other matters to attend to" Doctor stated. "I presume by now you know that we're not who you thought we are, and all of this is real."

"Not even that crazy old wizard could create something as beautiful, as wonderful, and horrific as all of this." Soleggiato shot Doctor a half smile. "Besides, he hates Sci-fi."

"Good, now we have another matter to attend to" Doctor started to say.

"First we need to get into that city and speak to the Kaled leaders" Soleggiato interrupted.

"'We' have more important matters to deal with" Doctor put his hoof down, getting rather annoyed. "Your subjects, the ponies of the Crystal Empire, are in danger."

"My father can handle it" Soleggiato stated again, little to no worry in his voice. "He is at good health once more. Nopony can harm the Empire now."

"'Your father 'is' the reason for concern!" Doctor was starting to lose his patience, and would have said more if somepony hadn't popped up beside them.

"Is all well, friends?" Prim Rose appeared, then noticed where the two stallion's eyes had drifted to. "Ah, I see. Hard at work planning to bring our tribes to feather once more. I shouldn't have expected any less from the heroes of prophecy. But come! We celebrate tonight, then in the morning, we make peace with the Kelads!"

Watching the village chief run off and joint the others, Doctor waited until Soleggiato and he were alone to continue the conversation.

"If we don't act fast, the Crystal Empire will fall" Doctor stated, shoring Soleggiato a hard look. "Doesn't that mean anything to you?!"

"My father is a great king, a knight worthy of his place in the hall of greatness, and stands strong with the rest of the Crystal Guards" Soleggiato repeated himself. "The Empire will be fine. But these ponies, they need us to help set things right. I can't help but feel like we were brought here for a reason."

"We weren't" Doctor stomped his hoof. "It was all a mistake, the TARDIS has been acting up lately. This was all just a mistake. We need to focus on the ponies of Equestria! To those who should matter the most to 'you'. Their prince!"

Taking a deep breath and looking Doctor right in the eye, Soleggiato's green eyes never seemed more firm as emerald, yet passionate as fire. "Everypony matters, Doctor, not just the ones you see everyday, or the ones you live next door to. But everypony. I would think somepony such as yourself would know that, given your profession."

That shook the brown earth pony for a moment, softening hit tone. "Actually, I'm not a 'doctor', per say. I'm a scientist, not a physician."

"And for what purpose to you study 'Science'?" Now Soleggiato's tone and expression relaxed.

"Well... I just enjoy it. I enjoy studying and exploring things, discovering answers and means to reach end results them without the use of magic" Doctor started to explain his reasoning. Not a lot of ponies ever really talked to him, much less sat down and asked him such questions. Outside Derpy and Sunny, Doctor never really had 'friends'.

"It's funny, Doctor" Soleggiato continued as he looked from Doctor Whooves to the ponies around the campfire. "You seem to have a thirst for knowlage, and know so much, but your mind is a closed library. A fountain of knowledge that you wish to keep all to yourself and shut everypony out. If only you could see the good you could bring to others."

"That's what I'm trying to do" Doctor was now speaking though his teeth. "You think the Empire is safe and well, but according to a book I borrowed from the Canterlot royal library, the day I picked you up in my TARDIS was the day before it fell! We need to-"

"Shake your tail!!" Derpy jumped in and grabbed Doctor by the hips forcing him to now be the new lead in a conga line!

"W-what is the meaning of this! No! No! No! I don't dance!" Doctor began to protest, although his hoof and leg movements would suggest otherwise.

"Enjoy a dance or two, Doctor!" Soleggiato yelled over the crowd with a half grin as he watched the scientist pony continue to conga.

Hours seem to fly by before Doctor could get away from the dancing, the gracious hoof shaking, the curious foal or two, and of course the various ways the Thals seemed to prepare that foul smelling fruit! But when he did, Doctor noticed Soleggiato was passed out asleep, sleeping with his back against a large rock and one of the Thal's spears in his hooves. A blanket made of a large leaf was placed around him by one of the Thals themselves.

"That prince you travel with, he's an interesting one" Prim Rose appeared to be awake still even after most of the others were partied out.

"You have no idea" Doctor agreed and shook his head, annoyed that they were losing time. Despite having a machine that could 'theoretically' take you anywhen you want to go, Doctor had no idea if he could actually program it to take them back to the desired time to prevent the fall of the Crystal Empire.

"You are troubled?" Prom Rose asked, looking at Doctor with very concerned eyes. "Perhaps you should take a lesson from your mare friend over there..."

Looking over near the campfire site, Doctor was surprised to see Derpy asleep with several of the foals all cuddled around her, her wings doing their best to safely wrap them in close to her.

"She's truly amazing, isn't she?" Doctor smiled at the sight, never wanting to take his eyes off her. "Before today, I've never seen her go so far out of her way, try so hard and achieve such results for other ponies."

"She isn't as popular where 'you' come from?" Prom rose asked, a little shocked.

"Well... Derpy isn't the most fortunate when it comes to getting things done. She's a little, well, klutzy, and other ponies... they grow rather annoyed with her, really fast." Doctor began to explain, trying to be nice about his friend's tendencies.

"Really?! She seemed to do so well on her hooves when dancing, and she passed out those wonderful 'muffins' without dropping or crumbling any of them." The Thal village leader thought back to the party.

This forced Doctor to refresh the entire party in his mind. "You know... I think you're right."

"Do you think coming here might have done something to her?" Prom Rose suggested.

"Possible, maybe the change in climate, or the differance in gravitational pull between Skaro and it's moons could-" Doctor began to ramble on about possible theories before Prim Rose interrupted him.

"No, I mean, do you think getting away from where you are from, and coming here and being appreciated had anything to do with it?" The village leader clarified her statement.

"Oh?... no, not likely" Doctor flatly answered. "We've been on numerous trips before, from one end of the time stream to the next, but this one is the first that Derpy seems to be doing her best."

"I see" Prim Rose softly spoke, then turned and looked over at the sleeping yellow unicorn. "Do you think the Kelad prince you travel with had anything to do with it? One of my watchers told me he saw him speak with Derpy before she dove in to save my daughter."

"Did he?" Doctor turned his attention back to Soleggiato once again, watching him sleep, Doctor could see a big difference between who he is now, as opposed to who he will become when he starts his life in Ponyville. He seems so solid, so secluded and refined, like a sword. Back in Ponyville, Doctor took note that he was just a goof ball, fun loving, regular, care free stallion like most in town. Where did the change happen?

"He is an interesting Kelad, I must admit" Prim Rose added. "All the stories about them said they used magic to solve their problems, preferring their minds to their hooves. But not once has he used a single spell."

"Sunny doesn't use spells often" Doctor replied, then cracked a half smile. "But it was thanks to him that I have my TARDIS and can travel all of time and space."

"He helped you to do that?" Prom Rose was slightly astonished.

"He did indeed" Doctor proudly noted. "That's why I've come back to help him in the past. To prevent something terrible from happening. He's... he's my friend."

"Well, you have a great-" Prim Rose started to say with a smile but her expression turned grim as she looked up and saw that Soleggiato was no longer at his post! "Where did he go?"

Looking over, Doctor simply shrugged. "To the bathroom, maybe. He did consume a lot at the party."

"No! That's not good! There are all kinds of dangers in the jungle! Monsters that mutated after the war! They aren't safe!" Prom Rose's face turned several shades lighter with fear.

"We need to find him!" Doctor's expression turned slightly more urgent as he realized the danger.

"I'll wake up some of my watchers and trackers, they'll find your friend" Prim Rose started to say, but before she could do so, she ran into an awakened Derpy.

"Morning everypony" Derpy said with a smile. "What's for breakfast? Should I grab the second basket of muffins?"

"You have more?!" Prim Rose asked with a wide smile, temporarily forgetting about Soleggiato.

"Derpy, we need to hurry! Sunny went off into the jungle! He could get lost or eaten!" Doctor's voice awoke some of the Thal watchers and trackers for Prim Rose. Some woke up when they heard the words 'more' and 'muffins' spoken.

One of the trackers was already hard at work and found a set of hoof prints, male, starting from where Soleggiato was sleeping and leading into the forest. "I found his tracks! Let's hurry! They're still fresh!"

The group of Doctor, Derpy, Prim Rose, two frackers and three watchers all moves as swiftly as they could trough the wild jungle. It reminded Doctor and Derpy heavily of the Everfree forest back in Equestria, minus the cool old castle at it's heart or the wise shaman zebra. It didn't take the group long to find where the tracks lead to.

The group had followed Soleggiato's hoof tracks back to the gorge where they first found Rose Bud. Soleggiato's tracks lead to the gorge, disappeared as a large log was carefully placed, stretching over the gorge, reaching over to the other side. The hoof prints continued from there, leading towards the metal city of the Keldeks.

"I guess we have no choice, we have to go to the city" Doctor said, an annoyed since in his voice.

"Yeah! An adventure right in the morning! Good thing I packed more muffins!" Derpy said as she pulled out a smaller basket of muffins.

"We wish we could accompany you two, but the prophecy clearly stated that only the trio may enter the city without conflict. If we even accompanied you to the front doors, I fear we would begin another war" Prim Rose and the other Thals bowed and kneeled. "We wish you the best of luck on your journey. Our fates are in your hooves..."

"Ugh, right..." Doctor didn't know why, but he didn't like the feeling that the weight of a possible war rested with him. 'This is the kind of thing a princess could handle. I'm just a scientist. I rather be at home, inventing a new kind of screwdriver.'

"Don't worry! We'll get this all sorted out! Then we can all enjoy muffins in the morning, together!" Derpy proclaimed with glee, earning another cheer from the other Thals.

"Oh glory to the trio!" One Thal cried out with great bravado.

"GLORY TO THE TRIO!" The others repeated.

"Be safe on your quest, my friends" Prim Rose smiled at both Doctor and Derpy.

"We will, thank you!" Doctor replied hastily as he pulled on Derpy's tail, instructing her to hurry along. 'Ok, new plan. Get Sunny, force him back to the TARDIS, take him back, show him what happens to the Crystal Empire, help him save 'those' ponies. This war is not ours to fight, and to be honest, I can't stand war.'

Doctor and Derpy steadily made their way across the desert, hoping with all luck that Sunny was ok, not knowing that the watchful eye of an enemy tracked their every move....

In a dark room, somepony sat in a machanical wheel chair, the eyes the individual was born with were sealed shut, but one mechanical eye in the middle of their forehead remained wide and watched as two ponies moved across the screen before them. The big blue mechanical eye watched as the grey Pegasus and brown earth-pony traveled across the desert. The watchful eye took great interest in the brown earth-pony's cutie mark.

"Well well, it seems we meet again, Doctor..." the pony in the wheel chair said with spiteful glee. "You can change your muzzle but not your cutie mark. I'll finally have a chance to repay you for what you did to me and my children before..."

With the one free front hoof, the pony in a wheel chair slammed down a mechanical like appendage that replaced his organic hoof. The artificial appendage hit a button, bringing several blue glowing lights alive all around the disabled pony.

"We have a guest" the disabled pony stated. "Go and welcome him and his newest companions."

"WE OBAY!" Mechanized voices yelled as the blue lights moved and shadows shifted in the darkness.

Author's Note:

To those who aren't Doctor Who fans, this chapter and the next are slight parodies of two different episodes. One of the original episode archs with the first doctor where they land on a planet that is just as I described above and in the next chapter. Half a wild jungle filled with all kinds of danger, the other a desilent wasteland with a capital city made of metal, and ruled by the greatest enemy of the Doctor, the Daleks. The other episode is Genesis of the daleks, a personal favorite, where the scientist, Davros, introduces a new mini tank to the other Kelads.

The idea came to me when I thought about a Doctor Whooves chapter.

Make the earth-ponies Thals, since the Thals become a warrior/farmer type group after the Great War on Skaro.

Make the Unicorns of the planet Kelads, since they were more technically advanced.

and just for fun, I made the explosion from the war in this universe one that transformed the Pegasus ponies of the planet, the Winged-ones, into weeping Pegasi!

That aside, I loved writing with Derpy in this one, and I can't wait to use her more down the road.

I knew Doctor Whooves had to be the pony to interact with the past Sunny, just because it showed Doctor who he was in a sence. A pony who secluded himself, but yet, Soleggiato always pushed to help others. You'll see more of this conflict in the next chapter.