The TARDIS hurtled through the vortex of time and space like a car hurtling down the track of a rollercoaster. Inside the time-travelling ship, Derpy Hooves stood opposite of the Doctor, a stallion whom she had just met and agreed to take her travelling with him in this spaceship-disguised-as-a-blue-box.
“You’re gonna love this one!” the Doctor called out over the whirring of the TARDIS engines, “We’ve landed just on the other side of the Canterlot mountains, in the sprawling metropolis of New Canterlot!”
“Wonderful!” Derpy said, as the TARDIS settled with a thump and jolted her forward.
“If I timed it right, it ought to be right around the turn of the 31st century, give or take a few decades on either side.”
He clapped his front hooves together, and adjusted the collar of his leather jacket. Derpy had never seen ponies wearing leather coats before; but then again, the Doctor wasn’t even a pony to begin with.
“Open up that door, and step out into another time,” he said, offering the way to Derpy, “It’s fantastic!”
“Have you ever been to this time before?” Derpy asked.
“No,” the Doctor replied simply, raising both of his eyebrows, “This’ll be fresh to both you and me.”
****
As Derpy opened up the doors of the TARDIS, she was greeted with the sight of a side alley, made of stone and rather unremarkable save for a touch of graffiti. Derpy frowned. This wasn't what she had expected at all.
“Doctor?”
“Wouldn’t want to park the TARDIS in the middle of a busy street now, would I?”
The two of them moved out of the alley and onto one of the main strips. The boring side-street was replaced with a grand vista of the cityscape, and for the first time Derpy was able to take in the beauty of Equestria’s future.
Carriages for earth ponies and unicorns zoomed through the air, and shops lined the street on other side, featuring bright displays advertising deals and sales that seemed to materialize in thin air. The ponies milling about seemed mostly normal save for unusual mane cuts and accessories, but the most interesting change was their companions. For every pony she could see around her Derpy could also spot an accompanying robot, decked out and customized to meet that pony’s needs.
“They have personal robots that follow you around?” Derpy asked, turning around to face the Doctor.
“Yeah, isn’t it fantastic?” he replied, “Though I’ll bet they’re a tad expensive. No matter, Canterlot is the premier high class destination.”
Derpy began to walk down the road with the Doctor, glancing wildly in different directions at the new sights, taking in the familiar yet different smells, and listening to the ambience. She caught a whiff of a scent she recognized: freshly baked goods!
“Doctor I smell muffins!” she exclaimed, flapping her wings and comically floating through the air toward the bakery. The Doctor followed on hoof, reaching for the door to the shop to let her in. Instead the door whooshed open, retracting into the wall long enough for them both to enter.
At the counter, a robotic cashier stood waiting. It was stylized and it’s metal painted a bright pink, complete with a fake blue mane. Rather than eyes, it’s optics were in the shape of a single visor. The Doctor smiled as he approached it.
“Alright, a bit of grub, then? Derpy, what kind of muffins do you want?”
The blonde pegasus was nearly bouncing off the walls in excitement, looking in display cases and promotional posters and an electronic bulletin board hanging on the wall that flashed notices.
“Chocolate chip!” she called over.
“Two chocolate chip muffins,” he ordered. The robot raised it’s head, looking at him through a glowing blue optic.
“Identify account,” it spoke in a voice that sounded completely and totally artificial.
“Erm, I don’t have an account, do you take cash?”
“This company no longer accepts cash payments,” it replied, generating an automatic prompt, “would you like to open a free account now?”
“....sure,” the Doctor said, growing wary.
“Temporary account created. Please state your name and cutie mark.”
“Time Turner, hourglass.”
Derpy stopped what she was doing and snapped her head. Time Turner?
“Vocal patterns match: Time Turner. Your total is five bit credits.”
“Thank you,” he said, scooping up the two muffins the robot placed on the counter. He gave one to Derpy, and sat down at one of the simplistic tables in the corner.
“Doctor, who’s Time Turner?” Derpy asked between bites, her mouth still full.
“Alias. I travelled to the 2840’s a while ago, and I made an account during my visit. Vocal patterns, everything.”
“If this is 2984.... why is that account still active?”
“Must not have deleted it,” the Doctor said simply, taking a bite out of his muffin.
“Doctor, nopony would keep an account open for over a century like that, especially if it hasn’t been used in decades.”
At that very moment, the doors of the bakery zoomed open, and an entire squad of blue pegasus drones entered, all identical and uniform. The Doctor grinned, and Derpy hid herself under the table as the drones surrounded them.
“Don’t worry Derpy, they’re not gonna shoot. They’re not armed.”
“Vocal identification confirms as Time Turner, Hourglass Cutie Mark, Earth Pony!” said the mechanical voice of one of the drones.
“Well, I wouldn’t say that myself,” the Doctor replied glibly, “What, is this the debt collectors of the future? Get a load of this Derpy, they’re after me for 140 year old debts!”
“Your presence is requested at the Canterlot Castle. You will accompany us.”
The drones began to glow, as did Derpy and the Doctor, and in the blink of an eye all of them had vanished entirely from the shop, leaving their half-eaten muffins behind and rematerializing in an expansive throne room, one that Derpy recognized as Princess Celestia’s!
“Oi! What was all that about?” the Doctor said, looking about.
“They’ve taken me to see the Princess herself... This is just fantastic! I wonder what she wants this time.”
“You’ve met the princess before?” Derpy asked, looking at him with one of her eyes.
“Yep.”
Celestia entered, her mane flowing with an array of colors as it always had. Despite the passage of time, she did not look much older than before, though the weariness was slightly present in the tone of her smooth voice as she spoke.
“Doctor?” she expressed, looking and sounding completely surprised, “You don’t look a day older than when we last met, and that was.... dear me.... that was centuries ago.”
“Doesn’t it feel just like yesterday?” he replied, “For what reason was my presence so urgently... no, that sounds too silly and formal. Who talks like that? Anyways, I was enjoying a muffin with Miss Derpy here when these drones went and whisked me away.”
Celestia frowned.
“I simply called for a clocksmith, I didn’t request you specifically. I asked my security guard to fetch me a clocksmith, not whisk somepony away in the middle of a meal.”
“Apologies,” replied the mechanical voice of the floating guard, “I merely thought that since you two had a connection?”
“You thought? Don’t be silly, robots can’t think for themselves, it’s all programming.”
It was the Doctor’s turn to frown now. He had visited the 31st century and the 29th century in turn. The 29th used robots similar to these, but never had he heard one identify itself using the pronoun ‘I’, nor had one ever claimed to have been capable of abstract thought. Of course, by the 31st century robots were considered individuals; had it already started?
“Where’s the clock that needs fixing, your highness?” the Doctor asked.
“In my sitting room, over the mantlepiece. It’s an old clock, and it fell from it’s place this morning during the earthquake, and something inside must’ve been knocked out of place.”
“Earthquake?” Derpy repeated, floating past the Doctor and landing at his side.
“Yes, the Earthquake, didn’t you two feel it this morning?”
“Must’ve slept right through it,” responded the Doctor, shooting the princess a quick grin, “I’ll take a look at the clock and see what I can do.”
He trotted off in the direction of the sitting room, followed by Derpy flying behind him.