Something had gone wrong, the TARDIS wasn't flying right, swaying back and forth like she was confused. The Doctor scrambled around the control panel trying to stabilize their wild flight, kicking himself internally for not realizing that the TARDIS had no references for this universe. Panels sprayed sparks and warning klaxon blasted away.
"Doctor, what's wrong?" Vinyl asked, covering her ears with her foreclosed.
"New universe! The TARDIS doesn't know where she is right now!" He flipped another switch and the TARDIS landed.
The screens were all flashing red, and the Doctor had his screwdriver out and was scanning them, looking for any faults the new malfunction may have caused. He set the TARDIS's navigational module to map the universe using the Time Vortex. At least enough to know where they were and how to get back to the present.
"Well, that will take some time, we may as well explore a little while we're here."
"Where are we Doctor?" Vinyl asked.
"No clue, but certainly not where we wanted to be." Octavia was a little disappointed, but they had just time traveled! How cool was that?
"Well, there's no sense in staying cooped up in here, let's go explore, shall we?" The two mares smiled excitedly, following him to the exterior door.
The Doctor opened the door and stepped outside to a sight he hoped never to see again; a battlefield medical station.
Doctor Whooves: A Tale of Two Sisters
By: Gandalf158
Prologue
The smell of death was all around them; ponies were lying on crude bedrolls with crude attempts at battlefield medicine evidenced by most of them being amputees. The dark room was lit up by candles and lanterns, it was apparently night-time wherever they were. Octavia was starting to look sick, and Vinyl was already looking for somewhere to empty the contents of her stomach. The Doctor, after locking the TARDIS doors, began walking around, examining the coughing, groaning soldiers, he had hoped that the ponies of this world would be different, but it seemed their pastel colors and big eyes didn't make them any less violent than any other species he had met.
"Oi! Who are you, and what are ya doin' in this tent?" A short, stocky Pegasus mare in an apron spattered with blood stepped forward them.
"My friend here is sick," the Doctor gestured to Vinyl, who was still retching in the corner, "Is this not a place of medicine?"
"Aye, but not fer civies. How'd ya get here anyway? The city was evacuated hours ago."
The Doctor glanced back at the TARDIS, "We just sort of....stumbled in here by accident. If I may ask, what city was evacuated again?"
"What are ya, stupid?" He grinned nervously and she sighed, "Trottingham? Because the Nightmare is moving to take the city?" She said, and he nodded in fake understanding.
"Well, off we go then. Come along Vinyl, Octavia." He said and trotted outside the tent.
The tent was set up about a half-mile away from the battle raging near the walls of a medium-sized town, the full moon giving surprising amounts of light, enough that the Doctor could see the two opposing armies. The two sides clashed over and over again, swords and pikes and shields sparked from the impacts as pegasi archers rained death from above. The ponies defending the city were wearing gilded armor and had banners emblazoned with a stylized sun flying behind them. They had pikes and polearms, among other assorted Middle Age era weapons. They were obviously well trained, all of them fought like a well oiled machine.
The assailants, on the other hand, were simply terrifying; their front line was made up of hundreds and hundreds of emaciated villagers with sharpened sticks, but behind them were what the Doctor could only describe as monsters. They had wings like bats and eyes like snakes, their obsidian black armor shining purple in the moonlight. The Doctor didn’t want to think about that now, he just wanted to figure out what time period they were in and how not to get involved in this war.
“Come on, we’re getting out of here.” he said, turning away from the clashing armies and looking in the opposite direction, “Which one of you knows more about history?” Octavia stepped forward, having recovered from her momentary sickness, “Do you have any idea when we are?”
His normally fun-loving and quirky demeanor had melted into one that was deadly serious and was starting to scare her, “1000 years ago, back when Nightmare Moon was trying to create eternal night. In a week’s time, the war will be over, and Princess Celestia will banish her to the moon.”
“And where are we?” he said as they walked away from the field.
“Trottingham, back when it was the biggest port town in Equestria. Why?” she had no idea where they were going, and it didn’t look like the Doctor did either.
“Because we need to get out of here. We can’t get involved with this, the results could be disastrous.” he was still walking forward, a determined and regretful look on his face.
“Y-you’re just gonna leave your TARDIS back there?” Vinyl asked, still looking a little green. The Doctor wondered how it was possible for her fur to turn green…
“The door’s locked, nobody’s going to get inside. Doubt anyone would think to try anyway. Even frozen on a 1960’s English police box, the chameleon circuit still does a good job of keeping people from paying much attention to it.” he said, eyes straight ahead.
Suddenly, they were surrounded by soldiers, the ones that wore the gold-colored armor. The soldiers leveled their levitated weapons at the Doctor and his two friends, and a white pegasus soldier separated himself from the group and stepped into the circle.
“The Doctor? As in the Doctor?”
“The genuine article, you could say.” he said, a bit of the old, happy Doctor slipping through.
The guards shared a look, and the one in front took a step forward, “Sir, you’ll have to come with us, her Majesty Princess Celestia is expecting you.” they began to lead them off to the east, away from the city.