Nothing was truly out of the ordinary that day. The birds chirped as they flew over the bustling town of Ponyville. The citizens of the town were doing their daily activities as they have every day. Yes, all was peaceful in the land. All was quiet.
Suddenly, a strange blur sped through the main street, disrupting the peace that the town once had. The creature, whatever it was, didn't seem to take into account the livelihoods it was ruining as it knocked over several stands full of freshly grown fruit. The town was left in a state of confusion as they watched it continue to run down the dirt road. This led them to not pay much attention to the Earth pony that was chasing it, pegasus in tow.
"Wh-what is that thing?" the gray pegasus asked, flustered having to keep up with the surprisingly fast colt.
"I have no idea, Derpy," he said, a look of delight on his face. "Isn't it wonderful?"
"Wonderful? It just demolished half of the marketplace!"
"Like I haven't done worse on a good day. It's wonderful because I've never seen this species before. In all of my travels, I have no memory of anything like it. It's brilliant!"
"If you - OW - say so - OOF!" The poor girl couldn't help but bump into fallen debris. Not being the most coordinated of ponies doesn't help when there are things constantly in your way. She wouldn't try so hard to keep up with him, but after all the time she's been with him, she knows what drives him like this.
This was what he lived for. He had told her so many stories about things he had seen and done. He had lived for such a long time, and seen almost everything you could imagine. That's why he gets so excited when something new comes along. Even when she first ran into him, he was excited just by his own four hooves and the world that was so normal to her.
"Come on! He's getting away!" She heard him call to her and snapped out of it. The colt quickly boosted his speed, leaning into a turn as the thing started running for the Everfree Forest.
"We're gonna lose it in the forest!" she screamed, aware of how thick and monster-infested those woods were.
"Oh no we're not," he said, focus still on the task at hand. "Allons-y!"
---
"Okay, girls. Ah think we can confirm bear wrestlin' has nothin' to do with our cutie marks."
Apple Bloom was sore in places she didn't think could be sore. She and the other crusader barely escaped the clutches of a rather angry bear during their latest attempt to find their place in the world. Sweetie Belle seemed almost in a state of shock from the experience: her pupils small and her face, normally a shade of white anyway, was incredibly pale. Scootaloo seemed the most unaffected by the event, besides the large chunk taken out of her hair.
"H-h-how does Fluttershy do it?" Sweetie Belle said, staring off into nothing. "S-s-she got that bear to s-s-stop so easily."
"Well Fluttershy's got that… animal thing," Scootaloo waved her hoof in the air while trying to describe it.. "But did you see her scare that bear off? It was all 'RAWR!', and Fluttershy was like, 'Nope', and the bear was all like, 'Oh no! The mighty Fluttershy! I must flee!' It was awesome!"
'Is she serious?!' Apple Bloom thought. Walking up to her friend, she said, "How can y'all be so happy right now? We nearly died!"
"Yeah, but we didn't," she rebutted. "Besides, we got so close to wrestling it. We were on its back!"
"Yeah, but it's not like it would let us tackle it to the ground! I mean, look at Sweetie Belle!" She motioned to her barely moving friend. "I'm not even sure she still knows what's goin' on!"
"I… bear… so much… boom!"The poor purple maned filly wasn't even forming complete sentences anymore.
"Also, the last time I checked, your mane wasn't this short," Apple Bloom said, flipping the end of Scootaloo's trimmed mane with her right hoof.
"Okay, I admit it. Trying to wrestle a 200-lb bear wasn't my best idea." she said, walking away from her friends. She started contemplating something, which sent a chill down Apple Bloom's spine. After that last brilliant idea, she didn't know what will come out of her mouth. "Got it!" She turned back to her friends. "Who's up for Cutie Mark Crusader Deep Sea Archery?"
"Y'know what?" Apple Bloom said, faking a yawn. "I'm mighty tired. I should probably just head on home. Maybe we'll do it later, Scoots. See ya!" And with that, she bolted as far away from the current situation as she could.
"Aw. Too bad." said Scootaloo, her head hanging in disappointment. "Well what should we do now, Sweetie Belle?" There wasn't a response. "Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo turned to her friend, and poked her with a hoof. Sweetie then proceeded to collapse to the floor, strangely in the same position as she was standing up.
Apple Bloom just needed to rest for a while. She didn't mean to be so rude to Scootaloo. She meant well and all, but sometimes things just go a bit too extreme. 'Maybe this is just the risk you have to take to get your cutie mark.' she thought. And it made sense to her. If you don't try everything, why try at all?
A small lake was coming up on the left. She stopped a moment and thought she probably could use a bath. Her coat may have gotten dirty in the struggle, and Applejack would be suspicious if she saw her like that. Apple Bloom ran to the lake and saw her reflection. She actually looked pretty clean now that she saw herself. Her face was a bit dirty, though. She stuck her head underwater and moved it around to shake loose the filth. She kept it underwater for a second just to relax and pulled herself out. She could've sworn she heard a whooshing sound as she pulled out. She didn't pull her head out that fast, did she?
One quick look, and she saw her bow was slightly off. She fixed it quick, and everything was as if it didn't happen. She took one last look, and, with eyes closed, turned around and walked toward home.
Her nose hit something hard. It caused her to fall backward and land on her rump. As she looked up to see what got in her way, she saw something almost unnatural. She got back up and walked around it for a closer inspection. It looked like a blue box with windows. There were the words "Police Public Call Box" written on the sides of it. On the part where she bumped into, she saw there were double doors with a sign on the left giving some sort of instructions.
This mysterious item confused her. She knew it wasn't there a second ago. Heck, she was standing in the exact same spot it was now only a minute ago! She looked around. Nopony was around to drop the box off, and she didn't think a unicorn's magic could levitate things that far away.
In any case, the door to the box really made her curious. What could be inside such an out of place thing? Curiosity overwhelming her, she reached a hoof up and touched the handle.
The door shook a little and she jerked her hoof back. Something was in there! She didn't want it to see her. What if it was dangerous? Thinking as quickly as she could, she ran straight into the nearest bush, and peeked at the box as its cargo opened the door wide and stepped out. Her eyes grew wider than she knew they could go. The creature definitely wasn't a pony. To tell the truth, she didn't know what this thing was!
---
"You are NOT getting away from me!" the colt said, still chasing the creature who was now trying to lose him through the Everfree Forest. Not being used to walking on four hooves, the creature was succeeding at throwing him off through the trees. It's not like he hadn't faced tougher trials in the past, but back then he had perfect balance.
Still he was determined to understand what that thing was. He couldn't even get a good look at the poor thing it was moving so fast. He didn't know much, but if there was anything he could tell, this thing was afraid. Of what, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that he wanted to help him in any way he could. He knows what it feels like to be alone and scared.
The creature seemed to realize that he wasn't going to lose this guy. He quickly turned to the left, being disguised by some trees. The colt knew exactly what he was trying to do, and he proceeded to, as quickly as possible, make the very same turn to pursue the beast. He then proceeded to run face first into a tree.
Everything was blurry until he heard the familiar thumps of his companion arriving. She let out a final "ouch" as she made it to help him back up. "Are you okay?" She looked around. "What happened to the monster?"
"It's not a monster," he said, checking to see if his muzzle was still in its socket. "It's alien. And it got away. Not sure how, though. I was watching it clear as day, and it just… disappeared."
Derpy thought about it for a second, and said, "Do you think it could've teleported?"
"No," he said. "It wasn't magical. I would've heard something." He gave another scan of the area, and said, "In any case, it looks like we're at a dead end. We'll wait for it to show its face again, y'know if it has one, and then we'll figure this whole thing out."
"But what if it doesn't show its face again?"
"Oh it will. I've seen this sort of thing enough times to realize that these things pop up again eventually."
As they began their walk back to town, Derpy asked, "Do you really think we can get this thing?"
"Of course," he friend reassured. "Do you remember who you're talking to?"
---
"Barcelona!" The strange creature said as he stepped out of the box. "Finally some time for rest, relaxation, and…" He lowered his sunglasses to show his eyes as he examined the sight in front of him. "… brightly colored… everything."
Apple Bloom didn't know what to make of him. At least she thought it was a colt she was looking at. He stood up on his hind legs like a diamond dog. His body seemed almost completely hairless save for the mane cut short on top of his head. What covered the rest of him beside his head was a brown suit with a buttoned-up shirt under it, strange coverings on his hind legs, some type of shoes, and… a bowtie? Whatever he was, he didn't have very good taste.
Just as quickly as he left it, the thing went right back into the box. She could hear him doing stuff inside. He seemed to be talking to himself.
"I know I specifically set the controls to Barcelona. This isn't Barcelona. This isn't even the CITY Barcelona! Kind of a letdown, to be honest. Where are we anyway?"
We? Is there somepony else in there with him? How could somepony even fit in that thing with him?
"Well this can't be right." He started talking again, so Apple Bloom redirected her attention. "According to this, I'm nowhere near where I set the coordinates. In fact, I don't think I've ever been to this part of the universe." There was a short pause, and then he started talking quieter. "A new world to explore. Not passing this up."
He stepped back outside of the box, and said, "Alright, Not Barcelona, what secrets do you hold." He gave the area a quick look around. "The environment seems almost Earth-like, but the colors are much more vibrant."
He approached a tree, and started feeling it with his front hoof. "The trees feel very… treeish. I really don't know what I was expecting." He left the tree and bent down to the ground. "The grass is apparently much greener on the other side of the universe, and the dirt taste…" He scraped the ground and put an appendage coming out of his hoof to his mouth. "… like dirt. Which is sort of a good thing… but a bit disappointing." He wiped his tongue of leftover ground on it. "Not to mention disgusting.
"Overall this place just seems like a more stylized Earth, as if I walked into some sort of cartoo… wait." The colt paused for a moment. "Something doesn't feel right." He tapped the ground with his right hind hoof. "The planet isn't turning." He went back to the ground and put his ear to it. "The planet is absolutely still in it's orbit. But that makes no sense." He looked back up. "The Sun is clearly moving across the sky at a relatively normal pace. How can that… unless… no…" He stared up at the sky for a little longer, and almost seemed stunned. "Unless the Sun is orbiting the planet. That's a new one."
Apple Bloom couldn't have been more confused. This guy just seemed to be shouting a lot of nonsense and eating dirt. She figured he wasn't any kind of danger. It was more like he was a loon. Then again, a crazy person could be dangerous.
Seeing if she could maybe try talking to it since it obviously could talk, she left the bushes and slowly walked towards the creature. She wasn't sure how he was going to behave once she met with him, but from the way he was acting he'd probably try sticking her in his mouth. …With that thought in her head, she turned around and started to walk away.
"Well hello there."
She froze in place. Was he addressing her? She turned her head to face the colt, who was now looking directly at her. There wasn't any escaping now.
"It's okay," he said. "I'm friendly. You don't have anything to worry about. Come on."
She slowly turned around, and started walking towards him. He bent low to the ground and stretched out his forelegs and kept motivating her to come to him. She didn't know why she trusted him so much, but she just… did. She couldn't explain it.
As she finally got close enough to the thing, he reached out his right foreleg and started to rub her head. It seemed weird to her, but she wasn't going to tell him to stop. It felt really good. "You seem equine in nature. Quite smaller than the ones on Earth, muzzle a little shorter, eyes wider, but still equine all in all. Who would've known I'd be finding alien horses on my vacation trip."
Horse?! "Hey!" she screamed. "Ah am not a horse! Ah'm a pony!"
This seemed to surprise him. He almost seemed at a loss of words, which was a surprise to her as well. "Scratch what I just said. I found talking alien ponies on my trip." He stopped rubbing her head (which saddened her a little) and sat down. "So… you speak English. At least I'm pretty sure since the TARDIS doesn't seem to be translating right now."
"TARDIS?" Apple Bloom asked. "And why is it such a shock I can talk? Ah'm not a baby!"
"That's not what I meant, and it doesn't matter," the colt said. "I've seen a lot of things talk. This isn't that big of a surprise. So tell me, my little pony. What's your name?"
She looked at the ground for a second? Was it smart to give this guy her name? He just walked out of a box and ate dirt? In any case, it seemed like he could be trusted. "A-Apple Bloom. Who're you?"
The man gave a snide smile at these words. "Who am I?
"I'm the Doctor."
"I'm the Doctor."
The Doctor
Apple Bloom
Doctor Whooves
Derpy Hooves
in
The Equine Doctor
Written by CTOONfan1