//------------------------------//
// Chapter Three: New Faces, Old Foes 
// Story: Cranks and Bubbles 
// by guppygirl 
//------------------------------//

   “Another day, another world!” the Doctor declared, tone exuberant as he bounded out of the TARDIS.  As soon as they’d entered the time machine, he’d announced that he had the perfect place in mind for their next visit, and barely given either companion time to respond before taking off.
   Derpy followed a bit more cautiously, hovering behind him.  She didn’t want to land only to wind up buried hock-deep in mud, like last time.  After ascertaining that, yes, the ground really was safe, she landed.  “Where are we this time, Doctor?”
   “New Savannah!”  The Doctor turned to her, giving a somewhat manic grin.  “Home to the Catkind.  Had a bit of a nasty run-in with them in my old universe, but I’m sure the ones here are much nicer!”
   “Um, Doctor?”  Tick Tock emerged from the TARDIS, newly recovered goggles once again in their usual place about his neck.
   “Yes, Tock?”  The Doctor glanced back at the unicorn, pretending not to notice the frustrated look he got from the nickname-hating pony.
   Tick Tock sighed, then asked, “Where, exactly, are they?”
   The Doctor laughed.  “Oh, why that’s easy, they’re right-”  He turned, already pointing with a hoof, to discover something he hadn’t quite expected - a completely deserted town.
   “...What?”




*o*o*o*o*


   “...Maybe they’re just in their houses?” Derpy suggested nervously.
   Before she’d even stopped talking, the Doctor was already shaking his head.  “No, this is the center of town.  At this hour of the day, it should be bustling with activity!”  He pulled his screwdriver from his pocket, scanning what was in front of him and examining the readout.
   Tick Tock, meanwhile, was already walking ahead to examine the buildings themselves.  Sliding his goggles over his eyes to get a clearer image, he studied the ground in front of one of the houses, announcing, “I’d say the most recent hoofprints here are from at least a week ago, possibly longer.”
   “Really?  How can you tell?” Derpy asked, approaching to look at the same marks he was looking at.
   Glancing over, Tick Tock began to explain.  “Well-”
   He was abruptly cut off as a female voice rang out.  “Hey!  Who are you, and what are you doing?”
   Three equine heads snapped around to see a surprisingly feline one staring straight back at them.



   The Doctor grinned.  “Hello!  I’m the Doctor, and these are my assistants, Derpy Hooves and Tick Tock.  Now, what’s your name?”
   The mare… cat… pony blinked at him, obviously startled.  Then she shook her head decisively.  “Nevermind that.  How are you here?”
   “We simply came in our spaceship,” Tick Tock pointed out.
   “How did you get past the quarantine?”  the feline demanded.
   “Wait, quarantine?”  Derpy questioned nervously.  “Like, when ponies get sick?”
   The other mare huffed out an impatient breath.  “Not necessarily.”  Shaking her mane, she drilled them with her emerald stare.  “However you got here, the surface isn’t safe.  Come with me - Pride Leader will decide what to do with you.”  Without another word, she turned and bounded away with a strange hybrid of galloping like a pony and sprinting like a cat.
   The three time-travellers gave one another strange looks, unsure of what to think.  Then the Doctor shrugged.  “Avante!”  He followed the alien pony, his companions behind him.


*o*o*o*o*


   The mare was waiting for them at what appeared to be a den of some kind.  As they entered, however, she pulled a chain, revealing that the back wall of the den was fake.  She waved them all through and, with one last wary glance, followed, closing the door behind her.  Beckoning the trio, she headed off into the tunnel.
   “So… what’s your name?”  Derpy asked finally, in an attempt to break the awkwardly solemn silence.
   The other pony didn’t even look at her.  “That doesn’t matter.”
   “O-Oh.”  Derpy fell silent once more, embarrassed, and slowed to walk beside the two stallions.
   With a merry look in his eyes, the Doctor leaned over and whispered to Derpy, “Jeez, she’s a bundle of sunshine…”
   Derpy couldn’t suppress a snort of laughter as she remembered saying the same thing about Tick Tock the first day they’d met.  At the time, she never would have believed she’d be such good friends with that grumpy pony.
   Tick Tock caught the glance she snuck at him.  “What?”
   Suddenly, the tunnel expanded into a huge chasm.  All three off-worlders stopped to stare.  “Whoa…”
   The room was filled with more cat-ponies of various colorations and patterns than could be easily counted.  They were everywhere: lounging on ledges, bathing one another, casually chatting, or even just sitting by themselves.
   Upon seeing the four ponies enter, one in particular stood.  She drilled the cat-pony they’d met before with her amber eyes, moving with the kind of confidence and quiet authority that left no doubt in anypony’s mind: This was Pride Leader.
   “Rainforest Rose,” Pride Leader greeted the cat pony who’d led them there.  Her voice, however, held no warmth.  “I see you’ve returned from yet another trip to the surface.  Another unauthorized trip, I may add.”
   Her accent was quite interesting - slow and almost rumbling, with faintly rolled r’s.  It would have sounded quite pretty, if not so cold and distant.
Rainforest Rose protested, “Pride Leader, I can’t just leave her-”
“Enough!”  Pride Leader slashed a forehoof through the air, silencing her.  “I have told you several times that it is far too dangerous to search for her!”  She met the smaller pony’s glare equally, and held it until Rainforest Rose looked away.



   When she spoke again, her voice was gentler.  “I know you wish to find her, but I am afraid that, after a week and a half, it is likely far too late for her.  I am sorry.”
   Without looking back, Rainforest Rose hissed, “You know nothing.”  With a lash of her tail, she stalked off.
   Pride Leader watched her go with a sigh.  Then, turning to the others, she smiled graciously.  “Hello, visitors.  My name is Pride Leader Acacia Berry.  Who are you?”
   Once more, the Doctor took over instructions.  “I’m the Doctor, and these two are Derpy Hooves and Tick Tock.”
   Derpy nodded awkwardly, unsure of what to say or how respectful to be.  Tick Tock, meanwhile, simply said, “A pleasure to meet you, good lady.”
   Pride Leader smiled.  “A pleasure to meet you all, as well.  What brings you to our planet?”
   “Erm…”  The Doctor hesitated, uncertain of what to say after discovering that visitors were not welcome at the time.
   With a huffed laugh, Tick Tock cut in with, “Largely, ignorance of the quarantine preventing offworlders from arriving.”
   Derpy jumped in as well.  “We’re really sorry about coming here when we weren’t supposed to!  Our ship’s a bit… weird… so we never knew that a quarantine was happening.”
   Pride Leader waved a hoof, silencing Derpy.  “Do not worry, feathered one.  I’m not angry with you for being here - what’s done is done.”
   “What, exactly, is going on here?” the Doctor asked.
   Pride Leader’s face grew serious.  “We face a threat here greater than any we’ve ever known.”  Turning, she added, “Follow me.  Oak Leaf knows far more about this threat than anypony else here.”  She started off, the three offworlders following.
   The Doctor struck up a conversation with Pride Leader about their world and customs.  Ordinarily, Derpy would have been following the conversation closely.  This time, however, she was suddenly distracted.
   “Tick Tock, do you hear that?” she whispered to the stallion beside her.
   He shot her a quizzical glance.  “Hear what?”
   “It sounds like… a foal crying!”  Derpy’s golden eyes widened, and she turned, taking off after the sound.
   “Derpy, wait!” Tick Tock called after her, reaching out a hoof to catch her.  He was too slow, however, and she ran off anyway.
   The Doctor was so buried in his conversation with Pride Leader that he hadn’t noticed his assistant run off.  Tick Tock hesitated, uncertain of what to do.  They were on a planet they’d never been on before, and Derpy ran the risk of getting lost on her own, but he didn’t want to miss whatever tactical discussion was going to happen about the enemies.
   Derpy had a terrible sense of direction.
   With a sigh, he trotted after her, trying to keep the blonde mare in sight.


*o*o*o*o*


   “Here we are.”  Pride Leader stopped outside of a depression in the rock.  Inside, a white pony with black stripes was working.  For a moment, the Doctor almost mistook the pony in question for a zebra before realizing what the pattern really was - an albino tiger.
   Turning, Pride Look gave the Doctor a confused look.  “Where are your two friends?”
   “What?”  The Doctor glanced back, surprised to find only empty air where his assistants had previously stood.  With a sigh, he shook his head, muttering something about “rule number one.”  Looking back at Pride Leader, he forced a smile.  “It’s fine, they wander off all the time.  They’ll find their way back.”  He trotted past her, and into the den.  “Oak Leaf, was it?  What have you learned?”


*o*o*o*o*


   “Remind me again why we’re doing this?” Tick Tock demanded, having finally caught up to Derpy.  “We don’t know our way around this planet, and the foal probably has an adult with them.”
   Derpy shook her mane, annoyed.  “I didn’t exactly ask you to come with me…”
   The search for the foal had led them both far from the congregation of cat-ponies, and deep into the network of stone tunnels.  As much as she hated to admit it, Derpy couldn’t help but think that Tick Tock was probably right, and they should head back to the Doctor.
   They rounded the corner, and immediately those thoughts left her mind.
   There stood the foal whose crying they’d been following.  She was tawny-coated and spotted, with large, tufted ears reminiscent of a lynx.



   “Hey!”  Derpy quickly trotted up to the foal, who looked up at her.  She seemed startled for a moment at the sight of a non-cat-pony, but there was no mistaking the kindness in the mare’s wall-eyed gaze.  “What’s the matter?  Are you lost?”
   The little one nodded, sniffling quietly.
   With a soft smile, Derpy reassured the foal, “Don’t worry, we’ll get you back to your mommy and daddy, I promise.”  Turning back, she gave Tick Tock a “I told you so” look.
   He blew out an annoyed breath and turned to face the way they’d come.  “They’re back this way, come on.”
   The two ponies had just begun to follow him, though, when a metallic clanking filled the air.  Confused, Tick Tock asked, “Do you hear that?”  Throwing a glance back, he saw Derpy frozen, a fearful look on her face.
   “Erm, Derpy?” he asked, turning back again to face her.
   Suddenly, the mare’s head snapped around, and she began heading towards a depression in the wall.  “Quick, in here!”  She ushered the foal into the shadows and shoved a confused Tick Tock inside, quickly following.
   The tight space was too narrow to turn around, leaving her facing the wall and attempting to watch over her shoulder what happened in the hallway behind her.
   “D-Derpy-”
   “Sh!”  Without paying attention, she jabbed out a hoof, blocking his mouth.  She continued to stare out of their hiding spot, her gaze hardening as a familiar sight entered her limited view.


*o*o*o*o*


   Oak Leaf started at a pony entering his workspace, but a quick glance at Pride Leader assured him there was nothing to worry about.  Shuffling through his papers, he answered, “Not much, I’m afraid.  Any time we try to send somepony out there to see what’s going on, they don’t come back, or if they do, they’re… changed.  All we know is that they call themselves…”
   “Cyberponies.”
   A mix of fear and anger filled the usually friendly mare’s tone as she hissed out the word.  As the troops marched past their hiding spot, she found herself hardly daring to breathe.  Finally, the last went by, and with a quiet sigh of relief, she turned her glance back ahead of her.
   And found that Tick Tock was lying flat on his back on the floor, having fallen when she pushed him in, and she was now more or less trapping him in place by standing over him.
   Biting back a squeal of embarrassment, she quickly scrambled backwards.  “Sorry!”
   Blushing furiously, Tick Tock slowly struggled to his hooves.  “A-Are they gone?” he asked, quickly trying to change the topic.
   “I think so?”  Derpy turned her glance once more to the mouth of the opening they’d found themselves in.
   All three ponies’ expressions quickly changed from ones of relief to horror as another metal pony entered their view.  "HALT OR YOU SHALL BE DELETED."