//------------------------------// // Well, this is unexpected. // Story: Bubbles and an Hourglass // by LightAndDark //------------------------------// The Doctor shrugged off his trench coat, flinging it over the rail around the TARDIS's control room before walking up to the console, idly pressing a few buttons. The view-screen beeped, but the Doctor ignored it, instead turning to ascend up the stairs, deeper into the TARDIS. A shudder ran through the TARDIS and he was thrown to the floor. A distraction, he grinned. Standing quickly, he grabbed onto the handles of the console, slipping and sliding his way over to the view-screen. "What? That's impossible!" He grabbed the mallet, striking a few buttons before spinning around, hitting the outer rail only to push off back towards the console, pulling a lever and spinning a dial. The TARDIS continued to shiver for a moment, before finally, everything went silent. The Doctor flopped onto the floor. "Well, that was close. Could've ripped open another hole in the universe! Close one, right?" No reply. He sighed. "Should have-" The floor beneath him rattled ominously. "Wha-" A wave of energy burst through the TARDIS, and the Doctor was knocked unconscious. / Derpy wasn't expecting to go anywhere after her mail run, but when she got home she couldn't help but to feel cramped. Within a few minutes she found herself gliding up towards the clouds, which were a dark gray and completely covering the sky. She burst through them, landing lightly where only a Pegasus could on the puffy clouds. Here, the sun shone brightly, and a few other Pegasus ponies were also enjoying the view or napping on the clouds. As she tried to get her footing, her wall eye drifted, and, distracted, she tripped over her hooves. There was no mistaking the snickers from a few of the other ponies. Derpy's cheeks were hot with embarrassment, and wordlessly she took off again, flying over the sun stained clouds until she was the only pony in sight. BOOM! Derpy opened her eyes at the sound of thunder. By now, the sky was glowing red in a beautiful sunset, though based on the thick, fluffy gray clouds she was laying on, earth and unicorn ponies wouldn't be seeing anything but rain. As she looked up into the sky, a startling and impossible sight overtook the sky above. She gasped in surprise, blinking rapidly, sure she was imagining it. A crack was spreading across the sky! It widened, revealing stars that Derpy did not recognize, and a slowly growing bright light. The mare stood quickly, stiffened by fear. Just as she lifted herself from the clouds, preparing to soar away, a lightening bolt zig-zagged from the crack to cloud carpet, electrifying it. A brown blur was falling from the crack now, fast. There was no mistaking it was a pony. Without second thought, Derpy launched herself towards the limp form, flying as fast as she could, desperate to reach this pony before the ground did. She wrapped all four legs around the earth pony, fluttering desperately to slow the pony's descent. This seemed to only help a bit, and as they passed through the clouds, electricity shocked Derpy, and she almost dropped the strange pony. It was much heavier than her, and the strain was making her light-headed, causing black spots to appear at the edge of her vision. When the two ponies reached ground level, it was a less than soft landing, and as Derpy fell unconscious, the Doctor woke up. / The Doctor gasped as he felt himself smash into the ground, and someone else land on top of him. A shower of rain was making the ground around him extremely uncomfortable. He groaned. "Hel-" Teeth. His teeth were different. Did I die, did I regenerate? His eyes flew open and he managed to drag his hand up to his face. Hoof? I'm a...a... what am I? Another hoof flopped into his line of sight, but this one was not his. Oh, right... "Excuse me, who are you?" The Doctor asked the faceless...creature on his back. It groaned, shuffling slightly, but making no real effort to reply or get off of him. With a sigh, the Doctor flopped back down. Whatever had happened, he felt unsteady and weak, and the fall certainly hadn't helped. Thick raindrops began to fall onto his face. Maybe if he closed his eyes for a little while... / "Hello?" Cold air rushed over the Doctors back. He flipped over, opening his eyes and staring straight up into the face of a pale gray pony, her wide eyes blinking down at him with curiosity and concern. It was dark, the obscured by thick cloud cover, and a light, misting rain was falling. "Are you okay Mister?" The pony questioned. Her eyes unfocused for a moment. "Am I a pony?" The Doctor questioned. "Well, yeah. What else would you be?" The gray pony giggled. She sat down on her rump next to The Doctor, and he slowly lifted himself into a sitting position. "Brilliant. Though I will admit, this is very strange..." He looked up at the other pony. Her bright eyes unfocused from him again, one drifting downward for a moment before snapping back to him. "Are you alright? Your eyes..." The pony blushed and ducked her head to the side, closing her eyes. "I was born like that." She whispered. The Doctor cringed at the pony's sensitivity to this subject, and groped for something else to say. "Whats your name?" He asked suddenly. She blinked, but still wouldn't look at him as she replied. "Derpy." "I'm the Doctor. It's a pleasure to meet you, Derpy." Derpy was silent for a moment, then she stood, and began walking around the Doctor curiously. "What's your cutie mark mean?" She asked, pausing behind him. "My what?" "Your cutie mark, silly. You know, the mark on your flank?" She giggled again, and the Doctor couldn't help but enjoy the sound. The Doctor cast a curious glance to his back legs, giddy with wonder at the fact that he had back legs. On his light brown flank was an hourglass with sand pouring in it. "What's a cutie mark for?" The Doctor asked, though he was sure he already knew the answer. "Are you sure you're a pony? It's what you're good at!" Derpy told him, showing him her own flank. "I'm really good at being myself. Sometimes I wonder what that has to do with bubbles..." The Doctor found himself smiling again at the filly, and attempted to stand. His legs shook with lack of balance and general weakness. "I don't think you should stand up, Doc..." She cautioned. "Nonsense. How hard can it be to walk with four legs?" Awkwardly, the Doctor took two steps with his forelegs, followed by two steps with his back legs. Derpy giggled yet again. "Thats not how you do it, Doc!" "Well it looks like I've got a lot to learn, then." / Derpy tiredly pushed open the door to her cottage, and the Doctor stumbled inside. He was bruised from head to tail, apparently walking wasn't this stallions forte. There had been little talking on the journey back from the Doctors crash site, aside from Derpy asking if he was alright. "I'm just...so used to...two legs..." He panted, standing up again. He had actually made it pretty far since the last time he'd fallen. "What do you mean?" Derpy asked. By now they were both throughly soaked, and Derpy wasted no time in getting a fire going in her fireplace. She turned to the Doctor and sighed. He truly was a sorry sight at the moment. His mane was thick with mud, leaves, and twigs, while his coat was streaked with mud and blotched in bruises. He was too tired to even lift his head off the floor. "Oh, Doc. You need help..."