Running Out of Time

by CluelessBrony

Jumping at Shadows, Part One

Manehattan, 400 years after the return of Princess Luna

The edge of the water was quickly coming into view, its rushing currents strong enough to sweep even a mighty tiger off its feet. This was no problem for Daring Do, however. Even though the great adventurer had a sprained wing, a simple river wasn't enough to stop her!

When she reached the riverbank, the daring adventurer jumped up with all her might and reached for one of the low-hanging vines typical in that region of the forest. She managed to grasp it and swing over to the other side of the river, while Ahuitzotl's bloodthirsty tiger was swept away in the current, screeching in rage.

The small Earth pony mare placed her book down on the coffee table. She looked around and blinked furiously. When had it gotten so dark?

I must have been reading for longer than I thought. I always have loved the classics, after all.

The little yellow mare stood up on wobbly legs, sore from lying down on the couch for so long. With a yawn and a stretch, she decided it was about time for bed. Carefully making her way around in the dark, she felt around for the staircase which led up to the second floor of her suburban home.

Step by step, she made her way up the stairs, careful not to trip in the all-encompassing darkness.

Shoot, I forgot to put Sparky to bed. I'd better check to see how he's doing, she thought. How could I be so irresponsible? Mom's going to kill me!

She was so busy berating herself that she didn't notice the clock on the wall.

4:34 PM.

---

Ponyville, 400 years earlier

Doctor Whooves pushed the broken part of the clock he was fixing back into place. With a small clicking noise, the clock started up again. He finished up and closed up the clock, hiding its intricate, delicate inner workings from the world.

"I really have no idea why your clocks keep breaking, Mayor Mare," the Doctor explained to the pony standing behind him. "It's almost as if somepony has been breaking them on purpose."

The mayor waved a hoof and blushed. "Oh, how strange," she muttered, avoiding looking at the Doctor. "I wonder who could be doing that?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "I have no idea," he lied before bidding the mare goodbye and leaving town hall. It was a bright day out- springtime had just sprung, the birds were back from the south, and only a few lazy clouds hung in the sky. It was an ideal day for any pony in Ponyville.

This place can be so boring, the Doctor thought.

Just as he thought that, he heard a commotion coming from the marketplace. The colt grinned and turned in the direction of the noise. Perhaps the day wouldn't be so uneventful after all?

The Doctor galloped towards the market, swerving in an out of the paths of the ponies frantically running in the other direction. When he arrived at the scene of the commotion, the entire market square was a mess.

The stalls were burned to a crisp. The road was muddy and wet, and debris was littered all over. Hovering above it all, holding a storm cloud in her hooves, was Derpy.

"Uh... oops?"

---

Manehattan

The little yellow mare silently trotted up to her little brother's room. She had been irresponsible enough to lose track of time, and now it was her duty to put Sparky to bed.

The door was slightly ajar when she got there. Pushing it open with a hoof, she poked her head in. The room was a mess, with toys strewn all across the floor and over Sparky's racecar bed. The dresser drawers were all open, and what little clothes her brother owned were lying all over the floor. The closet on the far side of the room was open.

The mare sighed. She never could get Sparky to clean his room, but this was just ridiculous. She stepped inside, intent on giving her little brother a stern talking to before putting him in bed.

"Sparky!" she called out, trying to get her brother's attention. When she got no response, she tried again. "Sparky, where are you?"

She turned around, surveying the room. She walked around, searching behind every object that could be used as a hiding spot. "Sparky, this is not the time for hide and seek!" she called out. She ducked, intent on checking underneath the bed. No sign of him.

She started to worry. "Sparky, where are you?" she called out, a hint of fear crawling into her voice. Before she could call out again, she felt something strange.

She stood up, but quickly squinted her eyes. "I- What?" she sputtered, noticing the now-bright room. Sunlight streamed through the windows as though it wasn't the middle of the night. She whipped her head around to look at the clock and gasped.

How is it four forty in the afternoon?! It was nighttime just a few seconds ago! she thought, not knowing how to process this new information. She frantically started looking around, now more worried than ever.

BANG!

She jumped up and turned. The now-closed closet doors sat behind her, a menacing aura around them. She slowly made her way towards them and put forward a trembling hoof towards the handle. Almost... almost...

She opened the doors and jumped back, expecting some horrible monster to pounce out of the closet as soon as she opened it. What she saw, however, was much more surprising.

The closet was completely normal. The creepy feeling she got from it, the darkness, and her fear had all disappeared.

But so had her brother.

---

Ponyville, 400 years earlier

The Doctor and Derpy stepped into the TARDIS, grinning.

"How did you manage to both set fire to and flood the market at the same time?" the Doctor asked, laughing.

Derpy just giggled. "I have no idea what went wrong!" she explained. "I don't think anypony around here wants to see me for a while after that, though. Let's go on an adventure!"

The Doctor made his way to the console that dominated the center of the room. "They don't want to see you for a while, you say? Well then, let's do that. Do you think four hundred years is enough time for them to cool off?"

The Doctor pulled a lever and the TARDIS began to shake. Derpy grabbed on to one of the guardrails for support, and the Doctor fell to the floor. When the ship finally settled down, they both stood back up on wobbly legs, eager to see the future of Ponyville.

They both rushed towards the door out of the TARDIS. Derpy gasped at the sight in front of her, but the Doctor had a confused look on his face. "This isn't Ponyville," he muttered.

They found themselves and the TARDIS in a dirty alleyway, overflowing trash cans on either side of them. Looking out further, tall glass buildings could be seen piercing the sky. Large metal boxes that Derpy couldn't identify practically flew by on the road that could be seen from the alley, and ponies walked along the sidewalks chatting to each other. It was quite a sight to see.

"If this isn't Ponyville, then where is it, Doctor?" she inquired, not recognizing her surroundings.

The Doctor trotted up to one of the grimy brick walls that flanked them on either side. He eyed it suspiciously for a few moments, before moving closer and giving it a long lick. He recoiled at the taste and shuddered. "Eugh! This is definitely Manehattan. I'd recognize this particular blend of dirt and grime anywhere."

The Doctor put a hoof to his chin, thinking. "But why are we here instead of Ponyville?" he wondered aloud. "I definitely put in the coordinates for Ponyville. Did they move Ponyville? No, they don't move Ponyville for another five hundred years..."

As the Doctor continued his babbling, Derpy grabbed his forearm and led him out to the sidewalk. The streets were bustling with ponies and those strange metal boxes. "Come on, Doctor, let's go explore!"

The Doctor stopped his muttering and looked up. "Oh? Oh! Of course, Derpy, that's what we're here for!'

The two made their way up the sidewalk, Derpy looking around eagerly. There were so many new things she had never seen before! Ponies walked around, speaking into little plastic boxes. They sat on benches, waiting to be picked up by more of those large metal machines with wheels. It was astonishing.

"Derpy!"

The mare was snapped out of her reverie when the Doctor waved his hoof in front of her face to get her attention. "Oh, uh, what?" she stammered.

"I asked if you wanted to get something to eat? Manehattan is known for its nice restaurants," the Doctor asked. the growling of Derpy's stomach answered for her, and she blushed.

Ahead of them was a small outdoor café. Ponies sat at table, sipping coffee and eating delicious-looking treats. They all looked to be enjoying themselves. All but one.

The Doctor noticed two mares sitting at a small table near the back of the café, a unicorn and a pegasus. The unicorn had her arm around the other and appeared to be comforting her friend.

The Doctor started to make his way to their table before Derpy grabbed his tail. "Doctor! I know you like helping ponies, but you can't just go up to every crying mare you see!" she said through clenched teeth before spitting out his tail.

"Derpy, when you get as old as I am, you learn to tell the difference between tears of sadness and tears of anguish. Something truly horrible happened to that mare, and I plan on helping her."

"How old are you, anyway?" Derpy asked, taking the Doctor by surprise.

Good question. "I don't quite remember. I should probably check sometime, shouldn't I? No matter! Let's go see what we can do!"

The Doctor pulled up a chair at the sobbing mare's table and sat down. "Hello, I'm the Doctor. Something bad happened to you recently, am I correct? I can help."

The unicorn mare glared at the Doctor, and the sobbing pegasus looked up. "Oh, I-I-I'm sorry, Doctor, b-but I don't think this is s-something you can help me with. My husband was..." she paused to try and calm her breathing. "...f-f-f-foalnapped!"

"Oh, well, I'm not a doctor of medicine! Well, I am a doctor of medicine but I'm also a doctor of crime! What are those called again?" he asked, pausing to think. "Detectives! That's what I am, I'm a detective!" He pulled out a black case with a blank slip of paper on it and showed it to the two mares, who looked closely at it. "See? Here's my badge, which proves that I am, in fact, a detective."

The unicorn glared even more at the Doctor. "With all due respect, sir, none of your friends have managed to even get a lead on poor Gusty's husband, and we have no reason to think you'll be able to do better. Now please, stop bugging us!"

Gusty put a hoof on her friend's side. "It's alright, Sugar. I'd like to hear what he has to say."

Sugar looked like she was about to protest, but stopped before she could say anything.

"Have you gotten any leads, detective?" Gusty asked the Doctor with hope in her eyes.

"Not yet," the Doctor replied, "but anything you know can help. Please, tell me the whole story!"

Comments

[CluelessBrony]

5126301

Heh heh heh It's still being written, just... very slowly. I don't have a cutie mark in time management...

[Nyerguds]

5126497
Hmm. Seems that with the new update, they still haven't fixed the notification problem

Basically, people don't get notifications of replies if the reply isn't in the same chapter as the comment that's being replied to. My comment was made on chapter 1. Your reply, probably made on the main page of the fic, ended up in the last chapter, meaning I got no notification of it. I only found your message because I decided to check back here after a few hours.

So yeah. Keep that in mind when replying to comments

[Nyerguds]

5126497
Ah, don't worry, I'm the same. Was basically just making sure it wasn't another ghost town fic. Your reply was enough for me to decide it's worth investing my time and emotions into.

[Nyerguds]

The mayor waved a hoof and blushed. "Oh, how strange," she muttered, avoiding looking at the Doctor. "I wonder who could be doing that?"

Hah!

The stalls were burned to a crisp. The road was muddy and wet, and debris was littered all over. Hovering above it all, holding a storm cloud in her hooves, was Derpy.

"Uh... oops?"

Never a dull moment with Derpy around. She either saves the day... or plunges it into chaos all by herself!

"They don't want to see you for a while, you say? Well then, let's do that. Do you think four hundred years is enough time for them to cool off?"

This whole thing SO needs to end with a gag of them coming back only a minute after leaving

"No, they don't move Ponyville for another five hundred years..."

I adore these silly time gags

"Oh, well, I'm not a doctor of medicine! Well, I am a doctor of medicine but I'm also a doctor of crime! What are those called again?"

Right, right, but I'm not sure medical degrees from before the banishment of Nightmare Moon are still accepted here. Medical practices evolved a bit since then, you know. Did that even include nano-treatments?

He pulled out a black case with a blank slip of paper on it and showed it to the two mares, who looked closely at it. "See? Here's my badge, which proves that I am, in fact, a detective."

Ohey, the good old psychic paper

Remarks and corrections:
> "How did you manage to both to both set a fire and flood the market at the same time?"
-Double "to both"
-The expression is "to set fire to", so that should be "to both [set fire to] and flood the market"

[CluelessBrony]

5126830

Fixed. And don't worry, the next chapter is being typed up as we speak.