Time Bubbles

by Janicethelight

Chapter 7: Inside the buildings

The Doctor went straight to work, trying to fix the Tardis. Panic turned slowly to relief when he saw that the damage was minor. "Don't know where we ended up, but at least what was broken can be fixed." He sighed in relief, "Now, Derpy, you need to be a bit more careful-uh...Derpy? Ditzy?" He realized after a brief moment that the door was open, and he could see the mare curiously exploring the rather stark location, She put her hoof up to the air for some reason. “Uh, Doctor...I don’t think we should stay here…” She stammered, “I want to leave!” The Tardis started up to Whooves surprise. "Wha-? No! Stop!" The Doctor pleaded with it as he saw Derpy running up only to disappear, "We have to go back! Derpy isn't with us! Listen to me!" The Tardis stopped. Outside was the vibrant town of ponyville. The Tardis pushed him out with a sonic wave before closing the door. "Look, I know you're upset, but this is no time to throw a temper tantrum. I promise you that Derpy didn't mean to crash into you, honest, and-is...is that singing?"

Curious, the Doctor trotted up to see what was going on, deciding that giving the Tardis a few minutes to cool off couldn't hurt anything...hopefully.

The pink pony who threw him a party was walking with some sort of parade. "Come on, everypony, smile, smile, smile! Fill my heart up with sunshine! Sunshine! All I really need is a smile, smile, smile from these happy friends of miiiiine!"

The bouncy heartwarming tune was repeated by all the other ponies as if it had been rehearsed a hundred thousand times. The Doctor followed the parade singing along with everypony else, "Smile, smile, smile, smile, smiiiile! Come on and smile! Come one and smile!" The pink mare finished it off, and the other ponies went about their day as if nothing happened. Whooves was at a loss.

"I'm in a bloody musical...I'm in a bloody pastel pony musical." He laughed, before shaking his head to be more focused. It was at that moment that he noticed something odd. There was a brown donkey male in the middle of ponyville. This donkey was as sour as the pink one was happy. His permanent frown and sarcastic wit seemed out of place in such a happy town. "Judging by the carriage, he plans to live here...hmmm, alright, Tardis, old girl, I trust you. I'll follow this out of place donkey, and see where he leads."

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Derpy walked up. There was a strange sensation she didn't notice before like she was walking underwater. That's impossible. I can't breathe underwater... she reasoned. She looked between the two buildings. The one closer to the streetlamp looked like a house of some sort. The further building had more floors and windows. It could be an apartment or workplace. She decided to try the taller red building first. The door opened to a silent main floor with a reception desk. There was a pony manning the desk, turned back, filing paper after paper. The door closed behind Derpy, but the pony didn't flinch. It's grey mane and tail mirrored its body perfectly. At first, Derpy was relieved to find another pony in this small place, but the silence and repetition of it soon gave her an uneasy feeling deep in her heart. "Um, excuse me?" she began, "Can you tell me where I am?" The pony didn't look back. It didn't answer. There was just more sorting of files, "Please, I'm lost, and I need to get back." Nothing. The pony seemed dazed. Derpy bit her lip as the pony kept moving files. Derpy could swear the pony was moving the same files back and forth. "Well, if you're not going to answer me, can I at least look around?" No answer. Derpy wondered if the pony could hear her at all. "O...kay...I'm going up the stairs then..." The pony did nothing to stop Derpy. On the floor above, Hundreds of ponies with the same coloration as the pony below were typing on a typewriter. Their heads were so low that Derpy couldn't see any of their faces. The only sound was the constant clicks of the keys pressing. "Excuse me...can any of you ponies tell me where I am?"

Nopony answered her. The room simply droned on with their typewriters. Frustration filled Derpy's heart. It was one thing if a single pony was too distracted to notice her, but an entire room?! She walked over to

The closest pony to her, “Hey! I try to be a patient pony, but I do not appreciate being ignored. It’s very rude!” The pony didn’t even look up. “Excuse m-“. She had turned the chair, and gasped, flying backwards from the horror before her. The pony had no face. It’s hooves kept up the typing despite moving away from the typewriter. Derpy’s heart caught in her throat. “What...what happened to all you ponies?” She said aloud. Her feet were running before she realized she ran, racing down the steps breathlessly.

The other pony stuck to its task. Derpy didn’t try to talk to it this time. She ran out into the floating snow, trying to catch her breath, “ponies with no faces. Why in Celestia’s name would there be ponies with no faces?!” She breathed, looking to the home like building. “I’m afraid to find the same thing, but...but I have to try.” She tip hoofed up to the smaller building, opening the door with a creak. Inside looked like Hearth's warming had come early. Wreaths and bright decorations filled the home.
Derpy closed the door. She looked around. There was another faceless pony lifting a pan up and putting it back down like it was cooking. Derpy felt her heart raise up to her throat. She tried to swallow it back down. “Uh, hello. My name is Ditzy. Can you...speak equestrian?”
Again no answer. Derpy sighed, “maybe it’s like a magic puppet...”. She reasoned, “but why have so many?”
“Oh. This is a surprise.” Derpy turned to see a grey unicorn stepping down from the stairs. Three of her four hooves looked to be metallic. Her tail had been cut short. Her grey blue eyes showed genuine surprise at the cross eyed pony before her, “how did you come to find me and my...experiments?”
“Ex...experiments?”
“I believe you called them magic puppets.”
“Oh. They’re...a bit creepy...”
“Yes, well, I can’t decide on the best facial design. I’m thinking smaller eyes for one or they have a higher chance of breaking, and something to protect their audio sensors...”
“Are you the only pony here?”
“Well, I was.” The mare smiled, “I am so glad to finally have a bit of company. What’s your name?”
“Ditzy...Ditzy Doo. What’s yours?”
“My name is Velmenni Virtuoso. It’s quite the pleasure.”

Comments

[Fluffy-Boi]

Oooo. Interesting.

[Janicethelight]

Thank you!