Time and Space

by Doolally Loop

The Decision and the arrival

Author's Note:

You know how this goes. My first story, keep an open mind blah blah blah.
I've always enjoyed the idea that the TARDIS is a living fourth dimensional being. So I thought "what if I stick that into mlp?". Lets see where this goes?
Hope you enjoy! Feed back is appreciated!

The TARDIS was bored.

Really bored!

The Doctor was moping. Again.

Another stray, another gone, just him and her alone again. She’d almost enjoy their company if it wasn’t the fact that after they were gone her Doctor, her timelord, would become mopey and upset yet again. Frankly she thought he’d give up at some point. But no. She didn’t understand him sometimes, why he cared. Then again, she was a fourth dimensional being who could see the past, present and future, and all of time’s infinite complexities, so death didn’t have much affect on her. She could see her birth and her end, as well as his birth and his end.

Unfortunately, as she was a fourth dimensional being with a third dimensional body, she had to try to keep things linear. However, that got boring very often so she’d pass the time by creating control rooms that hadn’t happened yet, or revisited her favourites of Doctor’s many regenerations, or just messing with the many companions (strays) that the Doctor dragged off the streets of Time with him.

However, she did feel jealous, and technically always had, even if she never understood it.

Sometimes she would ponder over why she liked being disguised as this blue box. Of course, that was because her future had demanded she be a blue box, she was unfortunately bound by the rules of time. Well… Mostly.Though that was the problem with being a sentient fourth dimensional machine being. However, she felt attached to her form on a deeper level, and the Doctor seemed to be too. She would sometimes run scenarios where she changed her exterior shell to be that of a piano or statue, just to see his reaction.

She missed her friends. Other TARDISes, other fourth dimensional beings. Oh, and several tin dogs that had passed through sometimes, although they were always a bit snippy. Sure, her Doctor was here but she couldn’t communicate with him very well, physically it was almost impossible and their psychic connection was hazy at best, it would be a really bad thing if her Doctor received a concentrated look at the time vortex.

Maybe she should go looking for some new friends….

A quick hop to another dimension, through the walls of reality, maybe some sightseeing… She had done it before a few times, parallel dimensions mostly, but this could be good…..!

Oh! Going against the laws of time and space! Jumping through laws of reality! She hadn’t done anything so interesting or dangerous in so long it gave her the metaphorical 'shivers'!

Of course she would have a few problems…

Most of the other times she had dropped out of her reality, it was by accident. There was also the problem that the Time Lords had sealed the walls of reality. Though after slipping through those a couple of times, she could easily pop through again. if not into a parallel world then perhaps a pocket universe.

The Doctor would be fine! She was a Time Machine, she could be gone eons and be back a moment after she left. Luckily he was out. Reading or painting somewhere, she imagined, but also knew.

That was it! She’d decided! She was going on an adventure, on her own, without her dear Doctor. He had all the fun! It was time she tried it herself.

So, the TARDIS, a creature of the fourth dimension, did as she was destined to do, was doing, and had always done.

With her typical wheezing groaning noise, she dematerialised, fading away from that time and place. As she left, a gentle breeze blew against a floppy haired man, who turned around with a sad smile, looking back the way he came.

---

Within an instant, she found herself in the time vortex, as she sauntered (or flew, but she liked to think there was a sense of style to it) down the familiar temporal tunnel. Now, the problem was, unlike time travel where she only had to go forward or back, going to an alternate world meant going sideways, and for a TARDIS with no path to an alternate dimension, that was the equivalent of throwing themselves off a cliff (a bit like the one bit in some human movie where there was a ravine and there was a path across which blended in or some illusion thing, it was a bit non-sensical. Indinai Gnomes? She couldn’t remember exactly but she was reasonably certain it was in her data tracks somewhere…). What she was doing would be considered TARDIS suicide, but quite frankly she’d survived once, she’d survive again!

Doubt crossed her matrix. When she thought about it, the first time she crossed dimensions, well that had only been her console, not all of her had gone through. Then the second time, she had fainted? She may have died… But that was mainly because that time she’d been low on fuel, and had tried to slip out of the vortex, but fallen sideways rather than forwards or backwards.

This time though, this time she was complete, fully fuelled and ready to go. Stealing her self, she felt her Eye of Harmony, a collapsing star suspended in time, her central power source, flare with energy.

She dived through.

Immediate pain.

She had expected it, but not in such force. It was excruciating. It was like all her nerves were being burnt, simultaneously, throughout her entire existence.

Her mind, in a way, literally burnt, here in this space between worlds, she had some of her fourth dimensional powers ripped from her. She had been disconnected from the time vortex, unable to see the past, present and future. It scared her, and it really hurt.

She tried to focus through the pain. Tried to think. She was in the void, the space between worlds, a no space, hell, or as she knew it by, a TARDIS graveyard of sorts. Her shields were at full capacity, her extrapolator shielding barely holding up, her Eye of Harmony desperately trying to supply the power needed.

Realising that she hadn’t even decided what kind of reality to visit, she spun wildly trying to decide where, every second causing her more pain.

There!

A secluded alternate world, so ridiculously different from her own. Different enough, she hoped, for the possibility of an extrodinary adventure.

Desperate now, her energy levels too low for a proper entry to this reality, she barrelled right into it.

Pain again, more intense. This world was different. It felt wrong. As she began to phase through the barrier the pain in her mind lessened, but the pain on her exterior shell doubled. It was agonising, against her will her shell was being warped, changed and morphed, into something….. different.

---

Clover the Clever was bored.

Really bored!

A few days ago Star Swirl had barged into her office in the castle. Again. Completely disrupting the conversation he was having with Princess Platinum about the tribal conflicts.

"Dear apprentice, we're going on a trip!" He had exclaimed with great enthusiasm.

He then proceeded to drag her out her office leaving Platinum, one of Clover's best friends, giggling hysterically, and waving Clover good bye.

Clover would remember that betrayal.

Star Swirl hadn't explained much.
"A magical anomaly... never seen one before... temporal in nature...must hurry!"

Clover remembered being stunned that her mentor had even remembered to pack, let alone so fast, and if Star Swirl was so excited....

Then it must be good.

As a learned mind, at first she looked forward to the trip, and was as excited, maybe even more so, after Star Swirl managed to explain it. Then she looked at the map.

It was in Earth Pony territory.

Ah. That might be problem...

She highly doubted they would be greeted openly, the Earth ponies in particular hated Unicorns. Platinum had told Clover that the Earth ponies, or 'mud' ponies, were just jealous of unicorn society. However, Clover wasn't so sure...

Whatever the case, after a day of searching through the marshy woods Star Swirl's detection spell had led them to, and receiving some glares from the town they passed through, they couldn't find anything.

Star Swirl was now pacing. Back and forth, back and forth. Spell still going as he muttered to himself. Clover looked on slightly worried, Star Swirl didn't like not knowing things, even more than Clover. She got up and walked over to him.

"Master, maybe the anomaly is just a fluke? You detected it a while ago, and as such it's too weak for me to pick up on now. Maybe we should just give it up?"

"No Clover! Its so close.... I can feel it!" He claimed eyes tightly shut.

A flash of energy streaked the sky.

Clover, so surprised, practically jumped into Star Swirl, which caused Star Swirl to discharge a spell. Straight up, into the mass of energy above. It coalesce, then shot further up, disappearing high above.

Another flash, much brighter!

Then stillness.

Clover blinked rapidly. It reminded her of a spell used by the Elite Unicorn Guards, she believed they called it the 'bang flash' spell. Next to her Star Swirl was reacting the same way.

"Oh, apprentice... That was a doozy!"

Clover glowered a bit, it annoyed her that in his growing old age he seemed to be a little more reckless.
She sighed, then smiled. And that was why he was her Master, and she would follow him to ends of the Earth
Dusting themselves off, they got up.

"Looks like that’s that,” he closed his eyes and sighed. “All this way and barely any research from it."

He sighed again.

And again.

He cracked and eye open, slightly annoyed. Usually his apprentice had comforted him by now.

Instead Clover was gazing into the clouds. Star Swirl huffed. Turned around and looked in the same direction.
There was something...? It looked box like?

No wait, it was a pony?!

Star Swirl gasped as Clover realised the situation. Some feather brain had knocked themselves out and was falling! She started to trot, which quickly turned into a full-on gallop. She raced through the undergrowth, branches and plant scratching and scraping her legs, while trying to keep track of the pony as they fell.

Clover broke into a clearing, and just as the pony was about to hit the floor, she cast a 'light as a feather' spell, gently lowering the pony to the floor.

Clover rushed over.

"Hello?! Hello?! Can you hear me?!" She practically bellowed at this pony (She still didn't understand why she had been kicked out of first aid classes). She started to look the unconscious pony over.

She was a light, practically, cyan blue, with a darker, maybe royal blue mane and tail, which both had a curled, floppy look. Of course, the unicorn horn, magic, how else could she have been up there. Must have used a cloud walk spell. Her tattered wings looked relatively alright from what little she knew of Pegasus anatomy, and her cutie mark as some type of blue bo.....

Wings? Pegasus?

But...horn?

Wings!?

Star Swirl strided out of the undergrowth. With a slightly annoyed face on.

"Well? Is that idiot dead? They better be." He grumbled.

She opened her mouth, not sure what to say, she closed it, then tried again. This went on for longer than Star Swirl was comfortable with, and he was already a bit annoyed about the whole thing.

"Well!? Spit it out Clover!"

"Ali...."She practically whispered.

"Pardon?"

"...corn"

"What? Sorry?"

"Ali....corn. Alicorn"

Star Swirl looked at her sceptically.

"Really Clover? You need to stop reading those fantasy books they'll," Clover moved out the way revealing the blue mare. "get you alllll... confused.....?"

Star Swirl's expression changed from sceptical to, surprise to horror and to being just plain gobsmacked. Then blank. He slowly nodded.

Then he fainted.

Clover groaned.

"Seriously!?"

Now she had to deal with another unconscious pony!?

Comments

[Moon_Dew]

OHMYGLOBYOUGUYS!!! IDRIS TARDIS AS A PONY!!!

...followed.

[Winter Quill]

Okay, that's a fun start. I love the way you write the TARDIS in this, and it's going to be fun to see her around the founding of Equstria. Also bonus points for referencing Inferno.

About the only down side (and this is one of those things that probably won't matter that much as it's your story) is that Clover the Clever was recently established as being a stallion. That being said, I doubt that will turn anyone off this story.

Looking forward to seeing more!

[Zapper Frost]

Never watched doctor who but... this is interesting

[Texus]

two questions is the doctor coming after her?, I hope not because I'm not exactly a fan of him and somehow his powers have nothing to do with mlp for me. They don't exactly seems to fit, I can't do much against that first impression.

2. Is Starswirls appearing much here? I don't like him either, partly because no author was able to write about a somewhat strong Unicorn because they don't wanted to make them accidently stronger than Starswirls before Starlight came along. I still remember those stupis arguments about how no Alicorn could get more skills than lifting a pebble, because only Starswirls could be so good.

There should have been at least a few Unicorns that get 1/2 or even 3/4 his power level.

[Doolally Loop]

9182255
Hi thanks for commenting!
So, answering your first question, I have not planned for the Doctor to turn up in this story, and if he does it will be much later on. I want to explore the TARDIS and her experiences being able to properly interact with other creatures all on her own, as well as her experiences being able to actually interact with the world around her.

In answer to your second question, Star Swirl will be here for a bit but will likely disappear for periods of time as it's more Clover I want to focus on. As this is set just before and around the events of the founding of equestria (although this might be after he has dealt with the siren problem. Not sure if I'll go to the EQG world, but I'll leave the option open...) As I want to keep it somewhat tied to cannon, he'll most likely disappear for a bit to teach Celestia and Luna when they turn up, and then properly disappear with the Pillars.
To sum it up, I'm not yet sure how much I want to involve him, but he will definetly be around for at least the first few chapters.

[The Faceless Maker]

oh god, it's an alicornified derpy!

[Fistfire]

well, that was inyeresting. aside from a couple of typos. your pacing is a little off. i found the scene with Starswirl and Clover to be a bit too fast. you went from preparing to a marsh in a matter of seconds. thats kind of off-putting if you ask me.
other than that it looks interesting to see where you will go with it

[Blaze Song]

TARDIS: "Screw this boredom, I'm going the go on my own adventure! With Blackjack and hoo-- I mean friendship and ponies!"