Chapter 2: Derpy and the Doctor
Gaia, 0 C.E.
The Doctor was glad when the TARDIS finally came to a stop, for this finally gave him time to think. The pegasus named Derpy stopped screaming in panicked terror upon realizing that the ship around her had stopped moving. It was at this moment that the Doctor actually began to realize what was happening around him, though he had initially thought it impossible.
"There's a pegasus in the TARDIS...there's an actual pegasus in the TARDIS!" the Doctor said under his breath. "I was just chased by a manticore! Impossible! They don't exist...in my universe anyway. I've changed form...and yet I know I haven't regenerated, or at least I'm sure I haven't." The Doctor took in a deep breath of air and exhaled. "No dizziness in the head, no post-regeneration side effects, no regenerative energy, not really any new quirks of notice, no slight amnesia. I'm certain that I have not gone through the regeneration process. Then...why have I changed into an equine form? What is this tattoo on my rump? Fascinating! Truly fascinating and...and-"
"Um...excuse me?" said Derpy. The Doctor turned his attention back to the pegasus. "Could you tell me exactly what the hay is-"
"And brilliant!" The Doctor quickly approached Derpy with a huge smile on his face. He came to a halt right in front of her. "Hello! I'm the Doctor!"
"Uh...hello."
"Hello there! You're a pegasus I see!"
"Obviously."
"Brilliant! Just brilliant!" The Doctor pulled a magnifying glass out of one of his suit pockets but he quickly lost hold of it and it fell to the floor. He let out an excited laugh before grasping the magnifying glass between his two hooves and proceeding to examine Derpy through the glass. "Oh! You are a beauty!" Derpy blushed and covered her face with one of her wings.
"Uh...what-"
"Sorry for being a bit blunt earlier. Biological changes tend to do that to a person. I guess you could say I was going through a sense of denial; and a bit a fear for I was being chased by a manticore." The Doctor laughed again. "I was being chased by a manticore! How exciting!" He proceeded to accidentally drop the magnifying glass again. "Oh, bother! How on earth do you even hold objects with these things?" Derpy shuffled her hooves awkwardly. The Doctor turned his attention back to her. "What was your name again? Derpy, right? Funny name. Derpy. Though I can say that it isn't the weirdest-" A hoof came out of nowhere and slapped the Doctor across the face. "Oi! What was that for?!"
"I'm sorry but I'm confused...and that's the only way I could get you to stop talking for a few seconds," Derpy replied as she blushed a bit.
"You could have just asked for me to be quiet! Who told you to jump straight to a slap in the face?!" asked the Doctor as he rubbed his cheek.
"My best friend, Carrot Top."
"I think she's a bad influence on you."
"Don't talk about my friend like that! You don't even know her!"
"Hey! My reasonings are justified if she's going around teaching her friends to slap people to get them to shut up!"
"It worked, didn't it?"
"Ah...well...you see...uh...oh...hmm...shut up." The Doctor ran over to the main console and out of Derpy's reach.
"Can you please tell me what's going on?! Who are you again?"
"I'm the Doctor."
"Doctor? Doctor who?"
"Just the Doctor."
"And you think my name if funny." Derpy lowered her head a bit.
"Look here," said the Doctor in a calming voice. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant that your name is...unique funny."
"Really?"
"Yeah! I mean, you are the first creature I've come across to have that name."
"I guess that makes me special then!"
"Yes you are, my little horse!"
"Pony."
"Come again?"
"It's pony. I'm a pony, not a horse." They were quiet for a moment.
"I see."
"Now, could you please tell me what the hay is going on here?!"
Derpy was ready for answers. She had already spent several minutes getting ogled over by this mysterious and odd Doctor. If Derpy was sure of anything, it was that this stallion needed some serious help. He used such strange terms like people, acted as if pegasi weren't normal, and didn't even know how to pick up objects with his own hooves! Derpy was beginning to wonder if she had accidentally run into some strange pony who had escaped a mental care facility or something.
"I guess I should explain myself...after you explain yourself!" said the Doctor as he pointed a hoof at Derpy.
"Huh? What are you talking about?!" Derpy asked
"Why did you come inside my TARDIS?"
"TARDIS? What's that?"
"It's what you're inside at the moment. Why did you come inside it?"
"I saw a smoke trail rising up from somewhere in the Everfree Forest. I went into the forest to investigate. I saw that the smoke was coming from your box. I wasn't planning on going inside but I heard the manticore roar and I just came inside to hide." Derpy looked around. "How...how does all this fit inside that tiny box?!"
"I guess I'll take that explanation, for now, and answer your questions. Well, Derpy, this is the TARDIS: Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It's my ship."
"Your ship? It doesn't look much like something somepony would sail across the ocean."
"It's not that kind of ship! It's a...wait a moment. Did you just say...somepony?"
"Yes. What about it?"
"Somepony."
"Yes." The Doctor was quiet for a moment. He then gave a huge smile and a hearty laugh.
"Aha! Somepony she says! That's brilliantly funny!"
"It really isn't. It's just normal terminology." The Doctor let out another laugh.
"Someone, somepony. Anyone, anypony. Everybody, everypony. This is going to be a very interesting world to explore!"
"Can we please get back to you explaining all of this?!" The Doctor nodded and cleared his throat.
"Yes. Sorry," he said. "This is the TARDIS. It's a ship, but not a ship that sails across the sea. It's a spaceship, as well as a time machine."
"Come again?" asked Derpy as her ears perked up.
"This ship allows me to travel anywhere throughout all of time and space. Anything that has ever happened or anything that ever will. Anywhere in the whole universe at anytime." Derpy cocked her head. It was official. She was convinced. This pony was clearly off his rocker.
"You think this box is a spaceship and a time machine?"
"I know it's a bit hard to believe."
"A bit? I can believe that it's bigger on the inside, because I've seen unicorns perform magic like that more times than I care to count, but I find it really hard to believe that this thing can travel all throughout time and space."
"I'll prove it to you."
"How?"
"Well, remember that shaking and rocking that happened just a few moments ago?"
"Yeah."
"That was the TARDIS traveling through either time, space, or both. Outside that door is anywhere in the universe at any time."
"Seriously?"
"Let's see, shall we?" Derpy nodded as she trotted over to the doors of the TARDIS. She pulled them open and her eyes widened in shock. She heard the Doctor chuckle behind her. "Told you."
The Doctor and Derpy stepped through the TARDIS doors. The blue box was no longer parked in the middle of a forest clearing. It was now situated on top of a high castle tower. The castle was constructed from gray bricks, which were all home to cracks. It was nighttime and a bright full moon hung in the center of the black sky. An endless sea of stars seemed to stretch out into beyond infinity. It was a calm and beautiful place. The Doctor couldn't help but smile at Derpy's shocked face.
"Don't worry. You're not the first being to step through those TARDIS doors and be surprised from what waits on both sides," the Doctor said. Derpy turned to look at the Doctor. She was clearly still in shock.
"So...it's true?" she asked.
"Yep!"
"It's all true? We've really traveled...through time?!"
"It appears so."
"Oh my Celestia! This...this is unbelievable!"
"Celestia? Who might that be?" Derpy looked at the Doctor with a dumbfounded expression.
"Where are you from anyway? You don't know how to use your hooves, you don't know who Princess Celestia is, and you think simple words like somepony are strange."
"Well, Derpy, I think it's obvious that I'm not from your world exactly. In fact, now that I think about it, I might not even be from your universe."
"How can you be so sure? The way you talk, it's almost as if you just became a pony."
"That's just it. I'm not just any ordinary pony with a time traveling box. I'm a Time Lord!"
"A Time Lord? Is that your job or-"
"No, it's my species. Back in my universe, I didn't look like a pony. I resembled a human."
"A human? What are those?"
"You don't know what humans are? Now I know I'm in another universe. I'm pretty sure there's not a single species in my universe that doesn't know what a human is."
"What are they?"
"A bit hard to describe in a few sentences. Tell me, do you have monkeys in this universe?"
"Yes, but they live in faraway lands."
"Well imagine a monkey with only hair on its head, above its eyes, and scattered about the body in light patches. That's a crude depiction of a human. They're also bipedal."
"Bipedal?"
"It means that they walk on two legs."
"Oh. We have plenty of bipedal creatures in Equestria already."
"Equestria? Is that the name of your planet or-"
"It's name of the country we are, or were, in. It's sort of like the head state of the entire world. Our planet's name is Gaia and the Equestrian government has some form of control over every other government on the planet."
"I'd say that it's safe to assume that your country works under a monarchy."
"Yes. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna co-rule it."
"Doesn't anybody-"
"Anypony."
"Does anypony rule over them? Is there a king or queen of sorts?"
"No. It's just them."
"Then shouldn't they be queens?"
"Uh...well-" Just then, a shower of lights appeared off in the distance. "Ooh! What's that?!" Derpy ran to the edge of the tower and looked at the lights. "Fireworks?"
"No. Those don't look like fireworks." Derpy took a closer look and nodded.
"You're right. Those aren't fireworks."
"Do you know what they are?"
"It's definitely some form of incredibly powerful magic." The Doctor thought back to Derpy mentioning unicorns earlier. His mind began to race with a desire to find out about what other sorts of creatures lived in this alternate universe. His thoughts were discontinued when he noticed a massive fireball appear out of nowhere and start hurtling towards the castle.
"Derpy! Run!" the Doctor ordered as he grabbed onto one of Derpy's wings and pulled her back into the TARDIS. Derpy quickly shut the doors behind her and the Doctor. The Doctor ran over to the main console and began working the controls. "Yep! Definitely some powerful magic at work!" The Doctor pulled the lever down but nothing happened. "Oh come on! Why now?! You get me away from a manticore but not from a ball of fire hurtling straight towards you and me?! You really need to work out your priorities you bloody box!"
"Are you talking to...the ship?" asked Derpy.
"As a matter of fact, I am, and she deserves a great big scolding right now!"
"And it's a she?"
"What's wrong with-" The sound of an explosion ripped through the air and the TARDIS proceeded to fall. The sound of scraping metal, crumbling rocks, and shattering glass pounded against the Doctor's eardrums. The TARDIS proceeded to spin around a few times, hit the ground hard, and then flip back into an upright position. The Doctor's head was spinning something fierce.
"That was fun," the Doctor said in a dazed voice. A feeling of unconsciousness began to wash over him. "Uh oh. Here I go again!"
Derpy regained her balance just in time to see the Doctor black out. She rushed over to him and proceeded to shake him like a rag doll.
"Come on, you crazy stallion! You can't black out on me now!" she cried. In a moment of desperation, she began to paintbrush the unconscious Doctor. She exhaled a word of worry with each slap. "Come! On! Wake! Up! This! Is! No! Time! For! A! Nap!" She stopped once she realized that she wasn't doing any good. She turned towards the doors. She was curious as to what had happened outside. She ran over to the doors and opened them. All she could see outside was smoke, dust, and ash. She cautiously exited the TARDIS and took a few steps forward. The ground felt hot underneath her hooves and the air was thick with dirt. "Where are we?!" Suddenly, a commanding voice spoke from the depths of the smoke.
"Stay where you are, fellow pegasus!" ordered a male voice. Derpy froze in her place. Through the smoke emerged a group of what appeared to be Canterlot guards, only they were wearing white armor rather than yellow. The one in the lead was a gray pegasus with a flowing black mane, yellow eyes, a spear cutie mark, and a scar over his right eye. "Who are you and what is your business here?" Derpy didn't know what to say. She was sure that they would think she was crazy if she claimed that she had traveled through time. Instead, she decided to play dumb.
"Uh...I don't remember," lied Derpy.
"What?"
"I don't know who or where I am. What is this place?"
"You are on the premises of the Castle of the Regal Sisters, or Regal Sister at this point."
"What do you mean?"
"Captain Iroh! Nightmare Moon has launched another attack!" called a guard from upstairs.
"We must take shelter!" said Captain Iroh as he grabbed Derpy and began pulling her away from the TARDIS. She looked back at the blue box to see that the doors had closed and locked behind her. She sighed happily with the thought that at least the guards wouldn't be able to discover the Doctor or the interior of the TARDIS for some time. She then thought back to what the guard had said. Nightmare Moon was attacking. Did they mean Luna? They couldn't mean her. Princess Luna had been returned to normal following the defeat of her Nightmare Moon persona by Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Unless...no...they couldn't have.
Captain Iroh and Derpy began walking up a flight of stairs that led towards the entrance to the castle. Derpy looked and was finally able to make out the source of the lights: Princess Celestia, surrounded in a golden glow, fighting against her corrupted sister Luna, who was surrounded by a dark blue glow.
"It is," said Derpy under her breath. Captain Iroh eyed her with confused suspicion. "This is the day Princess Luna was banished to the Moon."