//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Ponies! Ponies Everywhere! // Story: Time Bubbles // by Janicethelight //------------------------------// Run! All he could do now was run. Daleks at every turn, his fingers glowing a goldenrod color to remind him how little time he had. After all the times I’ve been through this, you would think I would be able to go one regeneration without running into these things. He thought begrudgingly. He had been alone far too long. He missed his companions. They were his strength when he had none. Yet, he couldn’t bear any more dying. He couldn’t handle it. He ran into the Tardis, punching in coordinates before hearing the familiar whir of the engines. “Last Regeneration, old girl...by only wish, is to live by last life in happiness...After thousands of years of saving people...I want a place to call home…." he laughed, feeling himself slip more by the moment, "A place...like Gallifrey." The Tardis seemed to pick up speed, twisting, twirling, hurling through the cosmos. The Doctor, unable to hold on, was now at the Tardis's Mercy, somewhere between life and death as each cell was replacing itself. Then, as suddenly as it took off, the Tardis stopped with the regeneration only having barely begun. The Doctor's Entire being was swallowed by a golden light just as the Tardis fell from wherever it stopped. The golden light finished at the same moment that the Tardis crashed. The Doctor laid, still tired from his transformation. This regeneration took a lot out of him. He fell into a deep sleep. The Doctor's eyes snapped open as memories swept through of the Tardis's sudden trip to who knows where. He shook his head, still disoriented from the trip. "Well, what have we got this time around...huh...teeth feel a bit...odd...alright, something I'll have to get used to...lets see...what else...two ha-what the-?" The Doctor held up his arms, expecting to see two hands as usual, but there were only two stumps instead, "Wait...what? This isn't right. I should at least have hands! Something is terribly wrong here...for that matter, I'm covered in brown fur...I'm a different creature?! That's extraordinary! And...wait...what is that? Is that...a tail behind me? And some sort of...mark...on my butt? What happened this time to make things so different I wonder." The Doctor stood up carefully, "Let's see, shot by Daleks, went into Tardis, punched in any coordinates but that one...and then...I asked to find a home...I mean, it was a daft idea. Gallifrey of now was saved, but it's no longer the home it was...and I'm not really welcome there anymore...what with keeping my world in a time pocket as long as I have -and I really need to stop talking to myself....Right. Well, If I am going to figure out what I am now and where I am...and why...I need to get out those doors and find out for myself...huh...I seem to be excited. I am. I am absolutely excited. I've never been another creature before..." He gave a giggle, walking slowly to get used to his new form's four-legged canter. He pushed the door open, met with a bright sun and the most vivid colors he had ever seen on any planet. He was in a field by a lake. In the distance was a town. "Well, better see what I look like." he breathed, walking over to the pool of water by his beloved Tardis. He stared at his reflection in awe and amazement. "I'm...I'm an equine...an actual pony! Why in Gallifrey would I be turned into a pony?!" he wondered, staring at his Chestnut main, brown coat and blue eyes. "Well, I can understand what I'm saying...though I find that I'm still talking to myself...which I need to stop...so...NO...No It can't be...can it?" Without thinking, the Doctor ran into town. tripping a few times as he went from the confusion of running with four legs instead of two. He stopped by the edge, looking around. A rainbow of ponies occupied this small town. What was even more fascinating was that some ponies had horns...others had wings. "Ponies, and Unicorns, and Pegusi..oh my!" he giggled giddily. "This...this is the most amazing thing!" He ran to a yellow pegasus with light pink hair, "Excuse me!" he grinned. The yellow Pegasus squeaked in surprised before hiding behind a tree, "Oops...didn't mean to startle her...all well...try, try again, I suppose." he shrugged, looking at all the beautiful ways the ponies decorated their homes until he came upon a Pink pony with a Pink mane, "Pardon, but-" The pony gasped louder and longer than the first, going off as well, "Am I really that startling...?" he wondered. He sat on a bench, thinking, "Maybe there's a greeting I don't know about, and I have offended the ponies...hmmm." he mused. "You alright there, sugar cube?" An orange pony with yellow hair asked in a country accent. They do speak! Wonderful. "Uh, well...I worry that I may have offended two ponies...I was just trying to see what this place was called..." he sighed. "Well, you don' seem offensive to me...maybe those other ponies just had other things they needed to get done...as for where you are, this here is Ponyville! Did you get lost?" "There's a question." The Doctor murmured, "No...no...just...Ponyville, huh." "Yup. Welcome to the town, Mister-" "Uh...The Doctor." "Oh, A doctor! Well, I do hope you love the town, Doctor. Now, If you'll excuse me, I gotta get these here apples to the marketplace." "Oh, right, Thank you-" He started, but the pony ran off, a pulling a large cart of apples behind here. "A village of ponies...named Ponyville...wonder if that means there are other villages in this world with other animals...Is there a bird town, or a bunny-opolis...so many possibilities." he laughed, "Oh I can't wait to explore more of this strange land. So many questions that need answering. So many ponies to know. I wonder how their society works. I'm just so excited that I could-" He let out a whinny before blushing, "Did I just...did I just whinny?! How fascinating! Well, then, new face, new...everything, I suppose, and a new world. This...this will be fun!"