> Doctor Whooves: The Siege of Canterlot > by BluFeather > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 - Hooves and a Long Face > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aside from the low humming of the vessel, everything was silent; Silent and dim. The Time Lord opened his eyes to the familiar brass-like interior of his TARDIS, emanating with the slight green glow of all the various lights and screens. “What's this?” he blinked as he looked at his arm... Only it wasn't quite an arm. This appendage lacked fingers. With concern, he attempted to bring himself to his feet, but he could only stumble and fall clumsily to the floor. Unsure what was wrong with him, The Doctor dragged himself slowly, though steadily to a small number of stairs which he would have to regrettably let himself drop down. A short thud later, he found himself able to look into a mirror. He paused and nodded his head in disbelief and confusion. “What?”, he blinked and looked at his mane. “What?” he stared at his ears,”... Whot.” It would be the longest thirty seconds he felt in a while. “I have HOOVES and a LONG FACE!” How and why eluded The Doctor. He browsed the many monitors of his vessel, though they revealed nothing of his situation. The outdoor camera screen read “OFFLINE” showing nothing about where the TARDIS brought its victim, though the radiation level dial reported that outside was relatively alright. The time traveler stared at the various levers and knobs of his machine and pondered leaving, though curiosity had him better. What was outside and where did he end up? What happened to his body and more importantly, could he get back into his humanoid form? But first, adventure. Quite slowly, The Doctor trotted to the doors of his ship while taking a moment to get used to his strange new walking pattern. He reached for the door, then, “oh.”. His near flat hooves offered him no obvious way to turn the little knob of the door. He tried turning the small thing with one hoof to each side of the knob, but his grip was too poor. Finally, he resorted to using his teeth. Staring down an alley way, a nearby colt stood still only observing a mysterious blue box that looked nothing like anything he'd seen before. Perhaps it was an outhouse, but an outhouse that simply fades into existence? The door rattled and bumped back and forth in it's frame. Finally, the colt saw a brown stallion open the door and bring his head up. The stranger stared at the time traveler with still, but somewhat shocked eyes. The Doctor smiled, “Hello!”. In response, the colt blinked with his mouth very slightly gaped before looking off to the side and walking elsewhere. “Alright.” The timelord said to himself as he closed his door partway, and went to retrieve his sonic screwdriver. He picked it up sideways in his mouth before putting it in a small bag he secured to his side. Finally, he stepped outside into the strange new land of Canterlot, Equestria. > Chapter 2 - Welcome to the City of Canterlot > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Doctor walked down the road amongst the crowds of ponies going about their lives. The walkways were raised and 'paved' with very well compacted, tinted dirt it seemed. It appeared green, with a hint of aqua which complemented the various buildings all colored shades of white, blue, and purple with trimmings of gold. The architecture was quite tall and rounded with every building topped with a colored flag, typically either pink, purple, or blue. He beheld the grandeur of what appeared to be just an ordinary street in Canterlot. Who would have thought that Equines of all creatures could build something like this, He found it quite Brilliant! At first, he recognized the challenges of building such immense buildings with only hooves until he noticed that amongst regular ponies, there were winged and horned ponies. Winged seemed to glide, but only walk when they were with groups of others. The horned ones... had telekinesis?! A fashionable, wealthy looking mare next to him carried, or rather floated, two bags stuffed with apparel. “Pardon me, but... How do you do that with the horn on your head? It glows and your items float.” The timelord asked with a somewhat excited tone in his voice. “Haven't you ever seen a Unicorn before boy?” the mare replied rather snobbishly. He was undeterred. “Say that hypothetically, I have not. What would you say?” He smiled awaiting her response. “Only because you're cute”, she gave a small breath. “I'd tell you that unicorns learn to use magic to pick up things starting at a young age. But I would think that this should be obvious.” “Alright.” he said as he began to outpace the lady. She was a bit rude to him, but to be fair, he did come off as strange to the lady. His question probably was very weird for a fully grown stallion to be asking in this world. As The Doctor wandered around, taking in the unique world and observing its occupants, he felt himself become excessively hungry. It was probably the new body, and it was not pleased with its lack of substance. He would hazard the question “What does a pony eat” but he decided the better way to answer his question was to go to what seemed to be a restaurant across from him. Crossing the roadway was easy. This city consisted mostly of on-hoof-traffic aside from few carriages which too were powered by the horses pulling it. It was better than what he'd see when he was on Earth where it could be dangerous to cross when metal cars would speed down paved roads. It was almost a requirement for pedestrians to stay on sidewalks and cross via predesignated lanes. Arriving to the front doors of the restaurant, The Doctor was about to open a door when a gray mare attempted to open the door next to him. She missed opening it and instead, bumped into the Time Lord, “Sorry mister.” she said as she made eye contact, and shifted her head to move her light, blonde hair back to her left side. > Chapter 3 - Eve of the Invasion > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The mare was an interesting sight to say the least. She wore a blonde mane on her gray body and her eyes... her eyes weren't quite... normal. The mare's left eye was looking up, but her right eye looked down. With her wide smile, she looked rather goofy, but endearing. “Ah, pardon me for getting in the way. You were first.” The Doctor said. He didn't feel he should blame her for anything. “I don't think I've seen you before.” The gray one stated. Does she really know everypony to the extent that she can call out someone new? Her memory must be impeccable! “I see you've noticed. I'm a... traveler of sorts.” He reopened the doors for both the mare and himself. “Oh, well it's nice to meet you... mister...” she looked at the traveler and started to step inside the building. “I'm The Doctor.” the Time Lord filled the blank. “ooo, Doctor of what?” The gray pony raised the question everyone seems to ask. “Just the Doctor.” After getting the formalities out of the way, the stallion tried to figure out what he'd eat. Derpy ultimately suggested The Doctor at least go with the basic hay sandwich, though he really wasn't inclined to eat hay and flowers. Browsing further into his options, he figured that he could substitute the hay for carrots in his meal. Except for the sounds of dining and small talk between other families and groups, everything was silent. He browsed around himself, noting how there was not a single chair in the room. instead, diners sat comfortably on soft, salmon colored pillows outlined with fine ropes of gold threads, and often had their hooves on the lime green table tops. The walls featured violet and deep purple argyles with a emerald bump guard along the lowermost quarter. “Are you ready to order?” a teal waitress pony asked the couple as she turned towards Derpy. “Yes, I'll take the Sweet Sunrise Soup and a Apple Cider.” Derpy decided and looked at her acquaintance. The unicorn waitress brought her pen out and jotted down the first part of the order, “Alright. How about you?” she kept her pen at the ready. Having second thoughts, the Time Lord ordered what the Derpy was getting, in place of the carrot sandwich,”I'll have that as well.” “It should be ready in about 15 minutes. Anything else for ya?” the waitress asked, keeping her visit short. Derpy and the Doctor looked at each other before turning their attentions back to the waitress, “That's everything, thank you!” Derpy said. After the waitress left to forward the order, The Doctor began to ask, “That pony had a image on her rump, though now that I come to think of it, everypony I've seen as of late has had one. Why is this, do equines here like tattoos?” “That's a Cutie Mark silly!” Derpy accompanied with a chuckle, “You have one as well!” The Doctor observed his own flank to see that he had a hourglass as his so-called 'Cutie Mark', “Hmm... It seems I do, though I'm not sure when I got this.” The mare wasn't sure what to make of this pony she sat across from. She already knew he wasn't from around these parts, but if he didn't know what a cutie mark was, she could almost wager that he wasn't from Equestria. To further interest her mind, was it possible that ponies outside Equestria didn't have a unique mark? But then, how did this stallion have one, let alone be unaware that he did? “But, you're fully grown. You don't know what Cutie Marks are?” “I'm a Time Traveler, not a horse!” Derpy gave The Doctor a quizzical look, “...I believe you.” she said in a unreadable tone. Derpy spoke, but in her mind, she didn't know if she meant it. If he was a time traveler as he claimed, it certainly would explain why he didn't have even basic knowledge of pony-kind. The Doctor was doing some pondering of his own. He was used to the TARDIS taking him to eventful points in time. Perhaps this journey from out of the left field was no different, in which case, something was bound to happen if it hadn't already. It wouldn't be much longer until two soups and glass cups filled with a moderate brown liquid floated down in front of the two. “Thank you for your patience, enjoy.” the waitress said with a smile and trotted off into the back. The bowls were white with a blue outline along the rim, bearing soup that had a cinnamon-like aroma, only with a hint of mint to it. Derpy sniffed her soup almost playfully and double-tapped her hooves on the bottom of the table, before lowering her muzzle down to the liquid to silently slurp it. “No spoons?” The Doctor looked at her and all the other tables. “Spoons are just a formality! Get fun coltie!” she said with a grin before dunking back into her bowl. The Doctor found himself enticed with the notion. Usually, he was the one doing something that had everyone looking at him funny, but this time, it was Derpy having him do so. Joining the herd, he dipped the tip of his own muzzle to find that the water was very warm, but not scolding hot. The liquid was mildly thick with small chunks of vegetables in it, adding more substance to an otherwise, very sweet drink. Small sips turned into medium gulps as his throat and fore body began to feel a welcomed warmth inside. “Hmm, I think I could get used to this...” the Time Lord was beginning to think as his mind raised a red flag. *gghhhhhhh* The Doctor thought he felt something underneath his hind-leg's hooves. He took one more sip of his meal. Short moments later, he felt it again, again, and again. The cider in the mug next to his bowl began to ripple, earth trembling below made visually evident.