//------------------------------// // Brilliant Ponies // Story: The Doctor's Arrival // by ThatFriendlyBronie //------------------------------// Watching and documenting every movement from afar, a lone figure smirked to itself. Everything had worked perfectly. The legendary Doctor has arrived in Equestria. ... The more The Doctor saw of this strange new world, the more he could notice eerie similarities between it and earth. Walking down the soft dirt path, he could see countless examples shared traits – Daisies looked, smelt, felt, and even tasted the same. Quite delicious, as always; Why didn’t humans eat daises, anyway? On that note, what composed these equine’s diets? Judging by Zecora’s teeth, he doubted they are carnivores, but, it hardly seemed like creatures that intelligent would be content on just nibbling grass. Are there pony chefs? Hrmf. All this thinking about food was getting him hungry. The Doctor moved his eyes from the flowers in front of his hooves to the surrounding area. He noticed the plant life was thinning just a squick, signaling his steady approach to the exit of the forest. The tree species also seemed to change a smidgen as well – From jagged, angled branches to gentle curves, from clay-sodden, mud brown to more painterly shades of brown and green. Small pinpricks of sunlight shifted into wide patches as they filtered though the magnificent green leaves, polka-dotting the path with splotches of light. A flash of color caught his attention, his blue eyes shooting up towards the sky with inhuman speed. He was met with the most peculiar sight; a bright cyan smudge spearheading a rainbow, shooting just a few meters above his head. “Blimey! What in the blazes was --” the Doctor yelped in surprise as a strong gust of wind blew through the forest, knocking leaves from branches and the unprepared Doctor on his face. Muzzle. Whatever. Being assaulted by rainbows. That’s certainly a new one! After somehow managing to get onto his hooves without anyone’s help, the brown colt turned his head to the sky. A rainbow- Wait. No. That isn’t a rainbow. It’s way to bright, way to vivid! That rainbow isn’t even translucent, almost like it’s a solid! And last time I checked, Rainbows weren’t straight either! Tracing the length of the peculiar rainbow with his eyes, he quickly spotted that blur of cyan again. It was traveling quickly, there was certainly no doubt about that. But, then again, fast things were hardly rare in the universe. What was really interesting was the trail. Not unlike a comet’s trail, but instead of imitating the color of the body, a vibrant rainbow followed the blur wherever it went. Could it be an emission of some sort? A smoke trail of sorts, but instead of smog, a cloud of photons? No, that’s not possible, photons would disperse. Mist clouds so thick it creates a spectrum that vivid? No, that isn’t right either; it would still cause a curve… Well, whatever it was, it was long gone now, even if the Doctor wanted to investigate properly. And besides, it was heading in the same direction as himself; he knew, with his knack for stumbling upon the unusual, it was probably just a matter of time until he uncovered whatever that smudge of blue was. If that didn’t happen, he could always do a quick look-around after he checked out this library. A library. Brilliant Equines! Oh, I wonder if they have discovered electricity yet? How exciting… The Doctor smiled himself, instantly forgetting the strange sight as he got lost in all the fantastic possibilities of this new world. ... The first house the Doctor stumbled upon was similar to Zecora’s, but a smidgen more quaint. It stood just on the boundary of the… what was it called? Whoops, he forgot to ask Zecora for the forest’s name. Anyway – the house and the surrounding area was a stark contrast to the dark gloominess of the almost claustrophobic forest. The image of a pack of wolves surrounding their prey sprung to mind. More like a cottage then a house, and more like a pet shelter then a cottage, it seemed to be carved out of a tree, just like Zecora’s. But the tree itself was much less menacing; like an overgrown bonsai tree, but not quite. A single, small window and a simple, but somehow elegant wooden door were both guarded by a small garden on either side. But the house didn’t need much decoration, seeing it was, you know, a tree and all. Animals of all sorts scampered on and around it, a few holes drilled in the bark to allow small animals to enter and leave as they please. Of course, now, out of the forest, the house wasn’t the only thing he spotted. The Doctor could see quite far without trees blocking his sight; and the sight ahead of him was one to behold, indeed. This land seemed to be in a valley of sorts, but much more wide. To put it a tad more accurate, it seemed…sprinkled with mountains. They didn’t seem to form any ranges – just a few to his left, one behind him, ominously towering above the forest, and one to his right-ish. The rightmost one seemed a little odd, a big overhang of rock just there, almost impossib- Wait. It was to far to get a proper look, but the overhang seemed almost man made, glints of gold flashing from the tip of it. Could that be Ponyville? No, that doesn’t seem right. Instinct told him that, and it was a rare occasion that his instincts were ever off. Besides, the ‘-ville’ implied something much smaller then an… overhanging city of some sort, whatever that was. So where is Ponyville then? Certainly, this house couldn’t be the entirety of a town – that would just be plain silly. Tracing the path he currently stood on, he followed it with his eyes until it branched off. One path lead over a small bridge – Brilliant! Bridges! – which lead to the cute little cottage from earlier. Resisting his urge to gallop over, bust down the door and have a poke around, the Doctor examined the other split. It seemed to crest over a hill, and what was beyond it, the Doctor couldn’t tell. But hey – If it just lead into another forest, he could always turn back and look over this little abode. Halfway up the hill, the Doctor began to feel that familiar feeling. His tail twitched with excitement, his new hooves tingled, and he felt a smile creeping across his face. Oh, this was going to be good. Excitedly, he slowly trotted to the top of the hill staring down… It was almost like a surprise birthday party for the Time Lord. You see, he had, at one point another, met, battled, and/or killed almost every single species in the entire universe. Ever. Sure, he constantly discovered new things about them…but now; he was suddenly dropped into a new world, a new place, full of a new species. A brilliant species, it was absolutely, amazingly, wonderful. From his perch atop the hill, he could see the entire town. The architecture was surprisingly human; even going so far to say it had a British feel to it. The Doctor had just assumed until this point that all the houses were carved trees, but this just blew his expectations to the moon. If he didn’t know better, it could be human; however, everything was just so much more vibrant. It was like a rainbow just landed on a small town and made it into every child’s wonderland. There even appeared a gingerbread house, for Pete’s sake! But those were just the passing facts he absorbed; all his focus was not on the town, but the inhabitants. Ponies peacefully trotted in the streets, their fur every known shade of the rainbow. Vibrant reds, neon oranges, simple tans, even a few flashes of pink colored coats were everywhere. More often then not, their mane was a completely different color then their coat, giving them a strangely artistic mix-and-match feel. Fascinating! Is this their form of fashion? It makes sense, not having clothes and – wait! No, that fancy looking one is wearing a tie, and in that restaurant there are a few dresses… Dresses on ponies. What a interesting thought! Fluttering about the town, there was some strange sort of overgrown bird. Gracefully swooping about the town, various baskets or scrolls in their mouths, some even seemed to have some sort of bag slung over them. Domesticated birds, the Doctor guessed. Only after trotting forward a few more meters, Ponyville gave him his second surprise. “Pegasi!” After his squeal of delight, the Doctor just couldn’t resist any longer. He ran off in full gallop, towards the woefully unprepared town. And as most of his assistants knew, once a certain Time Lord gets excited, there is just about nothing that could possibly stop him. ... A lone figure watched the brown colt from nearby tree, grinning to itself. "Oh my, this was going even better then expected!" Nibbling on some fresh popcorn, they could only chuckle in delight. The transition made the Doctor quite the handsome colt, even if his hide was a little bland. ... Standing in the direct center of town, the Doctor did nothing but try to just take it all in. This was beyond amazing. A lost species, a lost planet – one that even rivaled humanity. Currency was changing hands, a full-blown economy of trade and services. Not only that, but pegasi that had the ability to actually fly – he made a mental note to examine the bone structure of the wings later. It wasn't long before he noticed some ponies with strange protrusions of a horn sprouting from their foreheads. Bloody unicorns! Not long ago, he had passed a market; a market that was thriving and bustling with ponies, each stand selling a different crop. Working agricultural system. By equines. Brilliant. His train of thought was cut off by one of the most annoying traits of his body. Any body. Hunger. Stupid food! Concentrating again, his eyes landed on yet another strange building. The only tree-house in town, by the looks of it. Much larger then Zecora’s, or the cottage, standing at about four stories high. Heck, it was even one of the bigger buildings in the town. What could possibly be ins- Errgrggguuurgle…. Frowning, the Doctor shot his stomach a mean look. “Fine then. We can get food. Just be bloody quiet, ‘ya stupid stomach,” he growled, turning back the way he had came. It was just a matter of finding that market again, finding an apple or something some unfortunate guy - err - pony dropped, and getting back to investigating the town. Gently trotting, the Doctor changed his focus onto the individual buildings as he went along. The majority of them seemed to be shops, with a second floor with what he assumed would be living quarters. It was surprising what an average pony could apparently need, judging by the shops. Instead of words, the shops had simple images that worked just as well. A heart sign in front of what appeared to be a medical facility, a flower in front of a florist, so on. One seemed a tad strange though. Quills and furniture, sold in the same place? Who knew there was a joint market for that? Errrrrgrrrulllle…. Right. Food. Focus. Despite his best efforts, the location of the market seemed to elude him. Where had it gone? It was down this street, right? No? Great, now where in bloody hell was he….Okay, maybe down thi—no, that’s wrong too. This town isn’t even that big! How come I can’t find that market? The Doctor sighed in a mix of frustration and growing impatience. He wanted to be investigating, deep inside the library by now, not lost and looking for food. He ran a hoof through his mane. Seems like his second encounter with a pony would be asking for directions. Fun. Spinning around slowly, the brown stallion took in his options. At first glance, a peculiar pink mare seemed like the best choice – She was blabbering away at two other ponies, which were either just trying to ignore her, or just pretending she wasn’t there. Anyone that talkative must know where everything in town happens, right? When he trotted up to her, however, things got very strange, very fast. The pink pony’s tail twitched softly, then her back knee buckled faintly… and after that, he couldn’t keep track. She just burst into a whirlwind of random movements and spastic flails, body becoming nothing more then a strange blur of movement. The two other pony’s eyes widened to identical, almost ludicrous sizes before darting away like bullets, behind the closest cover they could find. Flailing faster and faster, the blur became an literal whirlwind of activity, a cloud of dust kicking up at the base of it. It grew bigger and bigger, faster and faster until, just as suddenly as it began, it stopped, just like that. The mare was frozen in the air, hovering for a moment, before falling and landing painfully on her rump. She didn’t seem to mind though, just blinking curiously. “Wowzers! I’ve never had that Pinkie Sense Super Spectacular C-C-C-Combo before! And I’ve had like, every combo ever in forever’s never-ending ever history of forever and ever!” The Time Lord blinked, rubbing his eyes. Well, this was certainly new, even in this new world full of new news. “Everything alright?” he softly questioned, poking the pink pony’s flank. “You seemed too have some sort of…spasm.” "Oh silly, don’t worry! It happens to me a lot!” She turned around, a goofy smile on her face – and then she paused, eyes narrowing, like a cat investigating a trapped mouse. The pink pony circled the Doctor, eyeing every detail. As the awkward silence stretched out, she finally stood muzzle to muzzle with him. “….Your new.” She squeaked. “LE GAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSP!” The pink pony did a quite dramatic and extremely loud gasp, before jumping in the air. And somehow hovering there. And then shooting off in the opposite direction without even touching the ground, a blur of pink marking her trail. The Doctor blinked, utterly befuddled. “I hope others will have some less intense reactions.” He muttered hesitantly to himself, scratching the top of his head. What in the world was that? She looked like a slitheen after drinking a gallon of coffee! Time Lord tip of the day: Never give slitheen coffee. “You learn to get used to her.” A soft, melodic voice came from behind him. Quickly turning around, the Doctor recognized the two mares that pink one was terrorizing from earlier. One was a unicorn, her coat a light shade of toothpaste green and had hair to match. Her rear marking appeared to be some sort of string instrument, a harp perhaps, maybe a lyre. Wait a moment…that means these ponies have music! And instruments! This is getting more brilliant by the bloody moment! The other mare, an earth pony, flashed him a warm smile. She had an almost tropical look to her, her dual-colored hair bouncing gently as she trotted up. Some sort of candy treat was her emblem. “Yeah, Lyra is right. Pinkie can be a bit overwhelming at times, but she means well, and she throws great parties, too. Great for my candy shop, with that diet of hers.” “Anyway, who exactly are you? I’ve never seen you around Ponyville before; You from Canterlot or something?” The green mare, apparently ‘Lyra’, questioned, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly. Ah! Now there is a familiar question. “I'm the Doctor. Just… dropping in, really.” Now here comes the inevitable response… “Oh? Well I hope you enjoy your time, then. If you ever feeling a craving for sweets coming along, my shop is just around the corner.” The couple nodded, happily trotting away. No question on my name? Peculiar. EeeeErrrrrrrGgggGulleee! “Wait! Before you two go,” he trotted up besides the duo, “Is there anyplace a person can get food around here? I’m bloody ravenous!” Lyra froze mid trot. After a moment of silence, she spun around to face him eyes wide and an almost maniacal expression on her face. “Did you just say…person?“ She spun again, this time towards the other mare. “HE SAID PERSON!” Her apparent friend frowned, bopping Lyra’s head with a hoof. “Not the time for this, Lyra. Don’t want to scare away the tourist.” The candy pony gave an apologetic smile. “Now, Mr. Doctor, I’m sorry to say that the market closed for the day. And after last week’s parasprite accident, most of the restaurants are closed for the month as they restock.” She scratched her chin. “I would offer you some of ours, but frankly, we are a bit low, too. Oh! Try Rarity!” “Rarity? What’s a Rarity?” … Now hiding atop a cloud, the figure grinned. This was certainly amusing.