Chapter 1: Roam
A brown stallion was standing around a hexagonal table panel, fiddling with the levers and switches all over the top of it. In a fluid motion, he went from one side of the platform to another to do the same motions with the instruments on that side.
“I must say, fiddling with the TARDIS’ controls are a bit more of a challenge when you don’t have hands,” the pony said to himself as he continued his manic frenzy around the platform. “Now I just need to bring this old girl in for a smooth landing….” as the Doctor spoke, the entire TARDIS violently shook around him, “Right, smooth….”
The machine died down as the Doctor looked at one of the screens on his console. Reading the data aloud, he hopped down from the platform where the console was held, “Equestria, present day, Ponyville, a pleasant location to take a small break. And in my current incarnation, I won’t get weird looks from the locals. Honestly, it was like if all of Satellite Five had never seen an alien pony before. The nerve of them all!”
Opening the doors of the TARDIS, the Doctor took a step out and took a deep breath of the crisp, clean air, “As much as I love the TARDIS, there is nothing quite like taking in a lungful of fresh air. Sure, the TARDIS has a swimming pool, but does it have it’s own atmosphere?” The Doctor started to trot towards town as he answered himself, “Actually, it might. I didn’t read the instruction manual after, but how dare it question me!”
The brown pony continued talking to himself as he left his machine unattended on the side of the road.
Coming from the town were three young fillies who passed by the Doctor. The girls, however, were lost in their own conversation to pay him any mind.
“I don’t think that was the best way to try and get our cutie marks….” Sweetie Belle stated.
“Well, if we can’t get our cutie marks in sheep herding, what can we get it in?” Scootaloo asked.
“If that was our special talent, ah would of gotten it a long time ago,” Applebloom commented, “Besides, what made ya think that was yer talent, Scootaloo?”
The orange pegasus shrugged, “Because I’m running out of ideas?”
Sweetie Belle added, “But those sheep were mean! They didn’t listen to us at all.”
“That’s because ya kept ‘baaing’ like a sheep,” the earth pony pointed out.
“I was talking to them. I was trying to see if they could help us by working with us!” the unicorn exclaimed.
Scootaloo stopped in her tracks as something big and blue caught her eye, “Whoa….check it out.”
“Check what out?” Applebloom spoke before she also saw the target, “Oh mah….”
Finally, Sweetie Belle also saw the large, blue figure before them, “What is it?”
“There are some words at the top,” the yellow filly pointed with her hoof.
“Pony….box….pony box?” Scootaloo read and then echoed, “What’s a pony box?”
“Ooo! Maybe it’s one of those boxes that really rich ponies use to store their fancy clothing! Rarity told me a lot of ponies in Canterlot have them,” Sweetie Belle mused happily at her thought.
“I don’t think that’s what it is, Sweetie Belle. It’s too….weird.” Scootaloo said.
“Where do ya think it came from?” Applebloom trotted around the blue box.
Sweetie Belle raised her hoof in the air like an eager schoolfilly wanting to answer, “Maybe it fell from the sky!”
Scootaloo gave a disbelieving stare to her unicorn friend, “How does that make sense?”
The unicorn tilted her head, “We were trying to make sense?”
As her two friends were talking, Applebloom touched one of the sides of the blue box. At first, she touched part of it and quickly moved her hoof away the moment the side gave way. However, she then touched it again, realizing it was door. “Hey, girls….it’s open.”
“What? Cool, let’s go in!” the orange filly proclaimed. From behind, she shoved her friends into what they believed to be a small wooden box.
As they entered, the three ponies were amazed to see how large the insides of the box were. They looked around to see a platform in the middle of the huge room with some sort of big table at the top of it. The shape of the room alone baffled the fillies along with how messy and unkempt it was.
Sweetie Belle spoke first, “It’s bigger….”
“….on the inside….” Scootaloo finished the thought they were all thinking.
“What is this place? It’s so….weird lookin’….” Applebloom spoke as her head moved around, trying to take in all of the oddities before her.
“It looks neat!” Sweetie Belle happily stated as she galloped forward and up onto the platform, “Look at how cool all of this stuff is!”
The pegasus followed suit, “It sure does!” Standing up on the platform with Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo looked down at the wires and what not below through the glass floors, “Just imagine what this thing does!”
Applebloom trotted up to the platform as well, “What do ya think it does?”
Both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shrugged, having no idea. “Let’s find out!” the unicorn said as she started to mess around with the switches on the console. With her meddling, the machine came to life.
Scootaloo walked up to one part of the console as well, “That’s not how you make this machine work! This is how!” The pegasus started to flip switches and pull levers on her side as well. The machine started to speed up, becoming more frantic.
Finally, the earth pony trotted up to yet another side of the hexagonal console, “That’s not how ya start the machine! Ya’ll aren’t pressin’ enough buttons!” With that, Applebloom started to press all sort of buttons in a fury with her hooves.
With each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders fiddling with the TARDIS console, the engine began to whir up and make a distinctive sound. The noise caused the fillies to step away from the console.
“What’s happening?” Sweetie Belle shouted over the noise, clinging to the railing around the platform.
“The machine, it’s alive!” Applebloom shouted out in fear.
All of the fillies screamed for their lives as the entire TARDIS began to violently rumble.
Outside, the brown stallion had returned to his TARDIS to hear the same whirring noise. “Oh no. No, no no, no. How is this possible?” Rapidly galloping towards his machine, he leapt through the open door just as the machine vanished from the surface of Equestria.