//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Space Invader 
// Story: Double Vision 
// by Closer-To-The-Sun 
//------------------------------//

 Chapter 2: Space Invader

With the room shaking back and forth, Applejack let out a cry of panic and fear. Clenching on to whatever she could, she held on for dear life as the machine angrily shook and wailed an eerie whirring noise.

After fifteen seconds of this violent ordeal, the trembling ceased and the orange mare opened her eyes. It was then she saw what she was grabbing on to was the brown stallion that she had pursed furiously to scold. Quickly getting to her hooves, she brushed herself off.

“What in Celestia’s name was that?” she demanded an answer.

“Just the TARDIS taking flight,” the brown pony calmly stated as he also got back on his hooves, “by the way, TARDIS stands for Time An-.

Noticing her hat was missing from her head, Applejack continued her questioning as she looked around for her brown hat, interrupting the stallion, “An’ jus’ who do ya think you are? Shovin’ ponies out of the way, claimin’ ta be in some sort of hurry.”

With an infectious smile, the stallion introduced himself, “I’m the Doctor. And my reason for having to be in such a rush, well, it’s a bit of a long story.”

“Doctor Who?” Applejack asked as she found her hat. Placing it on her head, she continued speaking, “Never mind, I don’t have time for this. Yer comin’ with me back to the market an’ helpin’ me clean up the mess ya made.” Grabbing one of his ears, the mare started to drag the Doctor down from the platform and to the door.

“Oww, oww! That hurts you know! Goodness, my body is still sore from regeneration,” the Doctor stated, “Wait, you might not want to use that door.”

Applejack turned to him as she placed her free hoof on the door, “An’ why’s that?”

Just as she opened the door, the mare took a step out but her hoof did not land. Instead of a grassy hill where the blue box was before, Applejack saw that the box was now seemingly floating amongst the stars in space. Letting go of the Doctor’s ear, she started to drift weightlessly.

“Because we aren’t on solid ground,” the brown pony finally answered. Grabbing a line of rope, he tossed it out the door to the orange mare and pulled her back in.

Returning to solid ground after being pulled in by the Doctor, she was breathing heavily from what she had just saw. The Doctor placed a hoof on her back for comfort.

Finally returning to her normal breathing, Applejack realized that the hoof was on her back. She quickly slapped it off, “Don’t ya touch me!”

“Testy, are we?” the Doctor smirked.

Applejack was not in a joking mood, “Jus’ what in tarnation is goin’ on?”

“Do you want the long version or the short version, my dear?”

“Short, an’ mah name’s Applejack.”

The Doctor smiled, “Applejack, such a lovely name. Right, short version. Okay, you know I’m the Doctor. Well, this is my spacecraft and time machine, the TARDIS. I normally just travel around the universe and what not, but while I was on your planet, a wonderful planet I might add, I intercepted an alert from the Judoon that a fugitive has not only escaped custody, but also has taken refuge here. Any questions so far?” Before Applejack could ask one, the Doctor continued, “You see, the Judoon are an alien police force that take their job a wee bit seriously, and that’s why I’m in a bit of a rush to stop them from doing something awful to your planet.”

“Wait, do somethin’ like what?” Applejack finally got a chance to speak.

A nervous expression appeared on his face as the Doctor rubbed the back of his head with a hoof, “Well….they are quite brash and sometimes don’t think about who they kill as long as their job is done.”

“That’s horrible!” the orange mare loudly stated.

“Well, you can’t argue with the success rate, I guess. Anyway, the fugitive is believed to have hidden out on your planet and if the Judoon don’t find him within a set amount of time, they’ll more than likely destroy all of Equestria,” the Doctor explained as he looked out the open door into the space that surrounded Equestria below them.

“Isn’t that a bit of an overkill?”

“As I said, they just care about getting the job done,” the Doctor’s eyes widened as he looked outside of the TARDIS doors to see a few Judoon rockets come into view, “And it looks like they are here to do just that.”

The orange mare also looked out of the doors to see three large spacecrafts hovering over Equestria. The ships had four large rockets to propel it. The ship in the middle seemed to be taking the lead as it lowered itself closer to the planet’s atmosphere before halting.

The console of the TARDIS reacted, causing both ponies to turn their heads to see what was happening. Apparently, the TARDIS had intercepted yet another message from the Judoon. Through the speakers, the message played loudly, echoing through the console room.

“Attention residents of the planet Dramos,” a powerful and bold voice boomed over the intercom, “We are seeking a Zygon fugitive. This criminal is known by the name of Krilath. We have reason to believe that this fugitive has taken refuge on your planet. Return the fugitive within five of your minutes or we shall deal with this matter ourselves.”