Bubbles and an Hourglass

by LightAndDark

Here's the Problem..

The Doctor was surprised by a warm cloth as Derpy began to clean the mud from his flank.

How interesting that I have a flank!

He wanted to tell the mare it was unnecessary, he could do it himself, but found that he could barely even open his eyes, let alone speak. Instead, his mind began to wander. This wasn't a regeneration, nothing had happened to cause it. Plus, it just didn't feel like it was. The last thing he remembered was nearly ripping a hole in the universe. Maybe he had, and had ended up falling into another, this one. Perhaps something in the space between the two universes had converted his body and possibly even the TARDIS to something that matched this universe.

"Don't worry, Doc." Derpy's voice drifted over him like a fog. "Everything's gonna be fine." The Doctor couldn't help but trust her words.

/

It was late morning, but the mysterious stallion still had not shown any sign of wakefulness. The Doctor was wrapped in a blanket on Derpy's living room carpet, and the mare was worriedly trotting from one side of the room to the other.

What if he dies? What if he never really lost all his memories and he's a serial killer? Oh my, what if he's-

KNOCK KNOCK.

"Derpy? Derpy Hooves?" Derpy gasped at the voice from the other side of the door. AppleJack? She couldn't see this strange colt, how would Derpy explain him? Without second thought, she threw a blanket over the Doctors head, then headed to open the door.

"Hi, Applejack!" Derpy said, attempting her best smile.

"You're the mail pony of Ponyville, right?" Applejack asked politely. Derpy nodded slowly. "I was expecting a letter from my cousin, but there was nothing in my mailbox. Do you think that maybe-"

"Oh, no! I completely forgot..." Derpy's mood plummeted as she realized she hadn't done her job.

"D...Derpy?" Oh no.. Derpy was sure she had turned a bright red as the Doctor's head appeared from the cover of blankets.

"Oh...You're busy!" Applejack gasped. The orange mares eyes were wide in shock and embarrassment. Derpy sighed in relief. At least she wasn't asking where the colt had come fro-

"No, AppleJack! It's not like that!" Derpy gasped as she realized what the earth pony meant.

"No need to explain, Derpy. I'll just go to the post office and get my mail."

She was gone before Derpy could say anything more. The Pegasus shut the door slowly, sliding down to the floor. "Great." She looked closely at the colt on her floor, who was now pulling at the blankets wrapped tightly around him. Why did she bring him into her home? Why did she so readily trust him, anyway?

"What's for breakfast?" The Doctor asked, turning to face the gray mare, who was still slumped against the door. His hair flopped unkempt into his face as he struggled to pull the blankets off. Derpy pushed off from the door and crossed the room slowly to help the colt. He was clumsier than even her, and she wondered again how this was possible. She began to pull the blankets away.

"Thank you." He sighed.

"Who are you?" Derpy questioned, pulling the now empty blankets away from the Doctor.

"I'm the Doctor. I thought I told you that, Miss Hooves?" The Doctor chuckled. He stood uncertainly and turned to inspect the bruises that were dotted all over his body. He stopped suddenly.

"Oh brilliant! Look at my tail!" He exclaimed, swishing the appendage in question excitedly. Derpy rolled her eyes.

"That's not what I mean and you know it!" She huffed. The Doctor looked up from his tail for a moment, guilt and unease mixing together on his face. "You're not a pony, at least not really. You're an earth pony, but you fell from the sky. How does that even happen? Not to mention that crack th-"

"Crack? What crack?" The Doctor interrupted, his ears pricked. He starred intently at Derpy, and waited expectantly for her to explain. His eyes held an intensity that made Derpy uneasy.

"You first. Who are you?" She countered.

The Doctor smirked for a moment, as if admiring her persistence, then returned to seriousness as he spoke. "You're right, I'm not a pony. I'm not from anywhere on this planet. I'm called a Timelord. In fact, I'm the last of the Timelords. I travel through the universe in a blue box called the TARDIS, and I'm particularly fond of a place called Earth. I don't look anything like a pony normally, but something happened. Now if what you said about a crack is correct, something very, very bad has happened. Something that cannot be left to get worse. So tell me, Derpy Hooves; what crack?"

Derpy blinked for a moment, staring uncertainly at the Doctor, before nodding slowly. "It was huge. It stretched halfway across the sky, there were stars in it, but the sun was still setting. Then, a huge bolt of lightening came out, and then...you."

The Doctor's gaze was mixed with worry and determination as he took in what the Pegasus had said. "And that's all? Just me? Not the TARDIS?"

"Nope. Just you. Doc, what's the crack in the sky mean?" Derpy asked. The earth pony seemed to be excited to explain.

"Well," he began, flicking one ear back against his head, "Every universe is like a bubble. Always bumping up against each other, and sometimes they get stuck together. Now sticking isn't the problem, because usually they just sort of stay like that, joined at the hip...although bubbles don't really have hips...Anyways, the sticking isn't the problem. When something passes through two joined universes, it weakens the barrier between them. If that barrier breaks...the amount of impossible paradoxes would destroy everything in both universes..."

The two starred at each other for a good while, in a silence that any sane pony would have found awkward. Then Derpy smiled. "Do you like muffins?" She asked.

"Of course I like- What? I tell you I'm an alien from another universe, and I've just set in motion the destruction of everything you've ever known, and you want to know if I like muffins?"

"Well Doc, you asked what was for breakfast. Everypony knows breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And if we're gonna fix the...uni-verse... well you need to eat some breakfast, right?" She blinked when she was finished speaking, then walked past him, opening the cabinet he had been trying to get into with ease. The doctor smiled. This mare, the only person...er, pony...he knew in an entire universe, was really starting to grow on him.

Author's Note:

Leaving in the / for separation cause it annoys my beta reader >;D
From this point on, things are going to get a little more wibbly, a lot more wobbly....PREPARE FOR TIMEY WIMEY STUFF!

Comments

[NeotheTwilitUnicorn]

Okay, not bad at all. I just have one thing to say, and it might well be just a personal thing. Applejack is one word, one capitalized letter, the 'A', not AppleJack as you have it. Other than that, this is a good looking story, and I'm watching it.

[Anna]

Really interesting story, I love how the Doctor is taking this all in his stride! I look forward to more :)

[LightAndDark]

2050228 Thanks I wasn't sure about that at first :D