Doctor Whooves Episode 16: A Country at War

by Doctor Perseus

Right Place, Bad Timing

Chapter 1: Right Place, Bad Timing

The Great Plains, Indian Territory, America, Earth, Autumn, 1847 A.D.

"Don't you dare say anything!" snapped the Doctor as he ran through the open prairie with Donna running alongside him and a team of angry Comanche warriors coming up behind him. The TARDIS was just a few more yards ahead of them. Twilight and Derpy were already inside.

"I told you so!" snapped Donna as she ran.

"What did I just say?!" A spear flew past the Doctor's ear as he and Donna neared the blue box.

"Come on!" cried Derpy. "You're almost there!" The Doctor and Donna gave one last push of energy as they ran forward and through the TARDIS doors. Twilight and Derpy quickly shut and locked the doors as the angry warriors approached.

"Could you kindly get us out of here, Doctor?" Twilight asked.

"It would be my pleasure, Ms. Sparkle!" the Doctor said as he pranced over to the main console. Donna was bent over and breathing heavily now.

"It'll be fun you said! There's nothing to worry about you said! I promise that there will be no conflict this time you said!" Donna snapped.

"Well, excuse me, but I did not plan on running across a tribe of Comanche Indians."

"Well you probably should have thought about that before taking us to the middle of North America in the 19th century!"

"Have I said that I'm glad to have you back aboard, Donna?"

"A few times, perhaps."

"Then let me say it again. I'm glad that you're back aboard! There, does that make you feel better?"

"A bit. You still owe me though." A series of shouts and bangs reverberated through the TARDIS doors.

"I think we should get out of here," Derpy suggested.

"Right," said the Doctor as he pulled down the nearest lever. The TARDIS gave off its signature sound and the shouts and bangs fell away. "And...there we go! We're now safely drifting in the Time Vortex!" He turned his attention to Twilight, Derpy, and Donna. "So...where to now?"

"Somewhere relaxing would be nice," said Donna as she leaned against the console. "I mean, these past few trips have been fun but they've almost always ended with somebody chasing us."

"It certainly seems that we've done a bit more running than usual," Derpy said as she stretched her legs and wings.

"Rome, Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Mars, the Festival of Offerings...we've certainly been all over the place since you joined us, Donna," said the Doctor.

"What about Equestria?" Twilight asked suddenly?

"Equestria?" Derpy asked.

"Yeah! Donna's never seen our dimension. And it's almost Hearth's Warming Eve back home. What's more relaxing than a nice winter holiday?"

"Thank you, Twilight!" said the Doctor as he approached Donna. "So? What do you say?"

"A universe where those two come from should be interesting to see. I've been wondering about it for a while now. Sure! Why not?!" Donna replied with a grin. The Doctor smiled with glee as he ran over to the controls.

Silent Forest, South of Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 56 C.E.

Twilight and Donna made their way over to the doors as soon as the TARDIS came to a halt. Twilight opened the doors and beckoned her outside.

"Welcome to Ponyville!" Twilight said gleefully. Donna took a few steps out of the TARDIS and stopped.

"Where's the town?" she asked. The Doctor's ears perked up. He, Derpy, and Twilight rushed through the doors. Upon exiting the TARDIS they found that they were not in Ponyville but were instead in a simple, quiet forest.

"This isn't Ponyville," said Derpy.

"Well this is definitely Equestria," the Doctor stated. "I've checked everything. We're in your universe."

"You just got the location off a bit."

"Probably."

"What about the time?" Twilight asked.

"Does anyone else smell that?" Donna asked suddenly.

"Smell what?" asked Derpy. Donna took another sniff.

"It smells like...ash." The Doctor, Twilight, and Derpy proceeded to sniff the air as well. They could smell it too; the thick, bitter scent of fresh ash.

"A fire must have taken place somewhere near here," Twilight deduced.

"If that were the case...then where's the smoke and the actual ash?" asked the Doctor. The group examined the area around them. Nothing appeared to be burnt and yet the scent of ash was so strong that it was almost as if they were standing in the middle of the remnants of a large bonfire.

"This doesn't feel right," said Donna. As if on cue, everypony and everybody in the group looked up towards the limbs of the trees. "Oh. My. God!" Hanging from the high limbs of the trees were the burnt and mutilated cadavers of ponies. Derpy let out a frightened scream and Twilight nearly lost her lunch.

"This certainly isn't Ponyville!" Twilight gagged.

"Who would do something like this?!" asked a shocked Derpy.

"I don't know...but I think it would be wise for us to make our way back into the TARDIS," the Doctor calmly suggested. As they quickly turned back towards the TARDIS, the doors of the blue box proceeded to slam shut and lock. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no! Not now!" The Doctor ran forward and tried to open the TARDIS doors with his key. The doors refused to open. "Why now?!"

"What's going on? Why isn't it letting us in?!" asked Derpy.

"Well...my guess is that the TARDIS wants us to be in this exact place and time for some reason."

"Why does that not make me feel better?" Twilight asked.

"It shouldn't. It means that something's about to-" Donna suddenly let out a loud shh and ducked down.

"Quiet! Something's in the trees!" Twilight looked to see several, shadowy figures moving amongst the trunks of the trees. She proceeded to duck.

"I see them too!" Twilight whispered. The Doctor and Derpy quickly joined Donna and Twilight on the ground.

For a moment or two, the group lay on the ground and listened to the figures walking through the forest. They sounded tired and beaten as they let out a lot of heavy breaths and grunts. Their steps were heavy and the sound of heavy armor clanging rang through the air. Derpy couldn't stop looking up at the burnt corpses hanging from the trees. She couldn't stop thinking about why anypony would have gone out of their way to do such a crime.

"We'll catch those damn Equestrians by surprise," hissed one of the figures. Its voice sounded hoarse, wheezily, and almost insect-like.

"Is this truly a smart idea?" asked another one of the figures. "We need time to recover from the last fight."

"Shut it, weakling! If we succeed, the Queen will give us enough honors to last a lifetime!" snapped another one of the figures. Just then, the sound of crunching leaves emanated from another area in the trees. The figures came to a halt. "What was that?!"

"Prepare yourselves," ordered the first voice. The sound of weapons being drawn could be heard. The Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver. Twilight, Derpy, and Donna held their breaths. For a moment, everything was silent again. Then, without warning, an arrow soared through the air and smashed right into the neck of one of the figures.

"ATTACK!" screamed a deep, commanding voice. The Doctor and his companions watched as a massive group of armored stallions burst from the trees and charged for the dark figures. The dark figures charged for the stallions. Within seconds, a violent battle was waging right before them. A burning arrow soared through the air and landed a few inches from where Twilight was lying.

"Move!" ordered the Doctor.

"What about the TARDIS?!" asked Derpy. The Doctor aimed the Screwdriver at the TARDIS and the blue box proceeded to disappear.

"I've just put it one second out of sync. Now come on!" Donna, Derpy, and Twilight jumped up from the ground and ran into the trees away from the battle.

"What the hell is happening?!" asked Donna.

"There must be a war going on," deduced Twilight. "We must be well into the past! There hasn't been a war in Equestria for centuries!"

"Let's try to find a way out of this forest!" said the Doctor. "Derpy, could you fly up and see how far we are from the edge of this forest?" Derpy nodded, spread her wings, and took off. She flew through the limbs and leaves of the trees until she broke through the canopy. She was happy to see that she and the others weren't far from the edge of the forest. What she saw at the edge of the forest, however, frightened her. A large, burning plain seemed to stretch out into infinity. The plain was covered in arrows, armor, ash, craters, and...the bodies of ponies and changelings. A massive army camp was situated at one side of the plain. A mountain rose from the very edge of the plain and a familiar city was situated on said mountain.

"Canterlot?" Derpy asked herself. It definitely was Canterlot on the mountain but it looked different. It looked somewhat smaller and had a more warlike feel to it. Derpy's attention was then drawn to the plain again. "Changelings? What the hay are changelings-"

"There's another one!" hissed an angry voice. Derpy turned to see a group of changeling soldiers flying towards her. Derpy yelped before ducking back into the trees. She flew back down to where the Doctor, Twilight, and Donna were waiting.

"Well?" asked Donna.

"We don't have far to go but...uh...it's not pretty," Derpy replied.

"I don't like the sound of that," said Twilight.

"But we need to keep moving! There's a group of change-" Derpy felt something hard smash into her and knock her to the ground. The Doctor, Twilight, and Donna jumped as a group of changelings rained down upon them.

"Get the ponies!" hissed one of the changelings.

"Derpy!" cried Twilight. Twilight produced a magical shield that sent a few of the changelings back. Derpy was pinned to the ground by one of the changelings. The changeling lifted her up and proceed to bind her legs together.

"You're coming with me, pony. I could use a prisoner of my own," chuckled the changeling.

"Oi! Put the pegasus down!" snapped Donna as she approached the changeling. The changeling tilted its head.

"And...what are you?" Donna ran forward and proceeded to kick the changeling hard in the gut, sending him flying back into a nearby bush.

"I'm a human! Don't forget that!" Donna knelt down and began untying Derpy.

"Thanks," said Derpy.

"Don't mention it."

"Donna! Derpy!" cried Twilight. Donna turned just in time to get knocked over by three changelings. The Doctor and Twilight tried to help their friends but they found their path blocked by an increasing number of changelings. Twilight tried to blast her way through the changelings but a few of them could perform some magic of their own and created shields to deflect her attacks.

"Let go of us!" Donna ordered as she and Derpy were tied together.

"You're coming with us," said one of the changeling soldiers as he examined Donna closely. "I don't know what you are...but I'm sure our queen will take an interest in you."

"Donna! Derpy!" cried the Doctor as he aimed his Screwdriver at the changelings. Some sparks flew off some of their armor but they managed to make a quick getaway into the trees with Derpy and Donna.

"No! Bring them back!" Twilight ordered. Twilight and the Doctor quickly found themselves surrounded by changelings.

"These two bore me," stated the obvious leader of the group. "Kill them."

"Any ideas?" Twilight whispered to the Doctor.

"Get past these changelings and rescue Donna and Derpy," the Doctor whispered back.

"And how are we to go about doing that?"

"Fight like hell." The changelings were beginning to gang up on them when a series of yells emanated through the air. The group of stallions that the Doctor and Twilight had seen earlier burst into the clearing and tackled the changelings. Two particularly strong stallions walked over to the Doctor and Twilight and began dragging them away.

"You need to come with us. We'll get you to safety," said one of the stallions.

"Our friends were taken by the changelings! We need to save them!" Twilight argued.

"There's still a chance for us to save your friends. Just thank Celestia that they weren't killed."

"Where are they being taken?" asked the Doctor.

"To the Changeling Cave, their main camp."

"And where are you taking us?"

"To Princess Celestia. She's been waiting for you for a while, Doctor. We all have."

Comments

[Perceptive Key]

YAY! I was hoping that Donna (my personal favorite companion) would remain in human form!
Can't wait to see how Celestia handles her.

[MariusIoannesP]

2532390 I was hoping she'd be a pony. I was looking forward to that.

[MariusIoannesP]

Donna has the best lines in this! She's a great addition to the story.

[MariusIoannesP]

Additional thought

"And...what are you?" Donna ran forward and proceeded to kick the changeling hard in the gut, sending him flying back into a nearby bush.
"I'm a human! Don't forget that!" Donna knelt down and began untying Derpy.

This is one of the most awesome lines in this series!

[Spirit Shift]

ATTENTION THIS COMMENT HAS BEEN PUT ONE SECOND OUT OF SYNC WITH THIS SITE IF YOU CAN READ IT THEN CONGRATULATIONS
You Are A Time Lord

[IamShadowDash]

"Fight like hell." Ha!!! Hey, guys, sound familiar?!
yeah... when Max was--
ooohhhhh I remember!!! Back in the Clone War! Luke and I were surrounded by Blue-Jays, and he asked how we were gonna get out and I said-
"Fight like hell." I loved that.
you would, you bloodthirsty insane maniac.
thanks!()
but we didn't have any other Rebels around when we got attacked... I remember getting captured. But we took out, like--
pretty much all of them! The only reason we got caught was-
because when they cought him, they threatened to kill Doc.
yeah... But it was still the coolest ever! And then we were at Lord Malo's base, and I was almost killed, and we escaped OMIC SOO MUCCHHH EPICNESSS
quick! Get a sedative! She's gone nova!!!
what sedative is strong enough!?
let's try the elephant tranqs! That might work...

hey! That's not... Faaaiirrrrrrrhhhhhhhh bbbuuukkkkk yyyouurrrgghhhhhhhhh
well.... That's taken care of. MUFFINS.
'm not getting you any buckin' muffins.
MUFFINS!!!!
fine. *grumbleeee*
--MM/J

[Daring Cammie Do]

Stop it, Doc. You're making me squee so hard, I'm worried I may split my face open. Too much amazingness!