//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Doctor Whooves & Professor Whooves // by GreenDeath //------------------------------// Doctor Whooves & Professor Whooves Chapter 1 ~O~Clara~O~ Clara was sitting at a table that was definitely not made with humans in mind, but she didn't mind sitting on the floor for once. The cup of nice scented tea that Celestia, as the big white horse had introduced herself, had offered her was certainly helping to calm her nerves. The Doctor and the Professor, which was apparently the name of that other mare that had assaulted him upon stepping out of the TARDIS, had been taken to a separate room a few minutes earlier. Celestia, who seemed to be the ruler of whatever land they had landed in this time, had politely asked one of her royal guards to bring the two squabbling equines to one of the guest rooms. Clara smiled, remembering the slight twitch in Celestia’s left eye as they had left. Even her patience seemed to be at its limits when it came to the Doctor.         "So..." Celestia began, looking her right in the eye from the opposite side of the table. "You are a... human, you say? I can't say I've ever heard of your species, but that can wait for later. More importantly, why did you crash into my bedroom in the middle of the night? You could have seriously hurt me there." The young teacher blushed a little as she tried to find the right words. Honestly, she didn't know how they had ended up here, or what exactly was going on. All she knew was that the Doctor had regenerated, and that something had hit the TARDIS. Whatever that something was could be responsible for them being here, but there was no way for her to know for sure. The TARDIS itself would surely be able to give her the answers she needed, if it could talk that was. Not to mention if she could get inside. Clara had tried after the Doctor had left, but the doors had not opened for her. The lock had even resisted her key. It couldn't have been more obvious. The TARDIS simply didn't like her.         "I... I don't know honestly. I don't really know much about how all that time travel stuff works, so..." she began, only to be interrupted by a cough from Celestia that suspiciously sounded as if she had tried to suppress a laugh.         "Oh great..." Clara thought and began to explain as calmly as she could, imagining she was explaining it to a class of students. ~O~Luna~O~ Luna folded her wings shut as she landed silently near one of the crash sites near the Everfree Forest. Her hooves barely made a sound, as she moved from shadow to shadow. Already she could hear the ponyies of Ponyville coming to investigate, and she wanted to get there before they did in case it was anything dangerous. As soon as the first burning fragments came into view, the Princess of the night hid, letting her magic wash over the strange objects she saw. They were made of some sort of metal that she had never seen before. Parts were blackened by the flames, while others looked as if they had been painted that way deliberately. A strange kind of energy flowed through the wreckage. Something she had only felt during a thunderstorm so far. Was that was had happened? Some strange kind of airship being hit by lightning? No. That couldn't be it. The sky was clear tonight and, besides, she had never seen anything like this. If it was an airship, then where were the occupants and the balloon? It was then that Luna felt something. Something barely alive. She tried to touch it with her magic, and immediately recoiled from the sense of dread she was feeling. The midnight blue mare was not a pony to be frightened easily, but this was beyond anything she had ever felt. Whatever the being in this wreck was, it was purely evil. Its only intent was to destroy and kill everything that it came across. The Alicorn shook her head, trying to suppress the impulse to run away as fast as her hooves could carry her. Behind her, she could already make out the lanterns of the ponyies of Ponyville. She had to do something, and she had to do it quickly. A moment later, Luna launched herself into the air with one powerful flap of her wings. It wasn't hard for her to locate the life-form she had found earlier and, as she got closer, she noticed that there were several others. How had she not noticed them up until now? Their black metal casings were dotted with golden half spheres. Was that some kind of armor? The Princess of the night stopped in midair, looking around in shock as she found herself surrounded by the strange beings. The strange pipes that extruded from the upper part of their cylindrical forms glowed blue in the dark night, all of them pointing directly at her.         “EXTERMINATE!” they shouted in unison as a howling screech filled the air and Luna’s vision filled with an ominous blue light.... ~O~Professor~O~         “And I tell ya, you're an idiot!” the Professor groaned, slumping down on one of the couches in the palace.s guest quarters. She rubbed her temples with her hooves as that infuriatingly stubborn stallion trotted up and down in front of her, still wearing his oversized suit. He didn't even seem to notice that he was ruining the carpet with all the water that was still dripping off of him.         “Oh, so I'm the stupid one? Sorry, and I thought you were just trying to explain to me that there is no Time Vortex, and that everything in this world is run by magic. But clearly, I'm the idiot here.” he replied sarcastically.         “Look, Doctor, I recognize a time traveler when I see one but...” she said, pulling her sonic wrench out of her coat pocket and quickly scanning the Doctor while he was pacing.         “... but I don't think that the term “time traveler” even applies to ya, now does it?” she finished as she examined the readouts of the device. Yep. No doubt about it. The pony in front of her had not a single ounce of inherent magic in him, nor did his dimensional wavelength match up with her own. Of course she knew about alternative realities, but if all ponies there were like this buck, she would do everything in her power to never actually go there.         “Thanks for stating the obvious. I regenerate as a pony and...” the Doctor began to say, before his eyes rolled back in their sockets and he dropped to the floor where he stood. The Professor could only stare in shock as a wisp of regeneration energy floated out of his muzzle.         “No... could it be that you...” she thought, staring at this strange stallion with a new kind of curiosity. She had, until now, thought she was the last of the Time Guardians. Was this stallion actually one of her own from a different reality or even.... ~O~Celestia~O~ A shock went through Celestia’s horn as she tried to lift her teacup to her lips with her magic. An infinite sadness overcame her almost immediately, as the beautifully decorated cup began to fall and hot liquid splashed onto the white tablecloth, staining it a deep red...