Ponds, Crusaders, and a Doctor
Part 1
Amy Pond's eyes shot open as her bed shook violently. She looked around but the room was so dark that she couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. She moved her head to look over what she felt was the edge of her top bunk. "Rory? Did you feel that?" she asked into the darkness.
A tired groan emanated from the bed beneath her. "What?" asked the groggy voice of her husband, Rory Williams. The room shook again and the force was so strong this time that it knocked Amy out of the top bunk and down to the floor below. "Amy?!" Rory got up and felt his way over to the light switch. He flipped it on to see his wife lying on the floor, an annoyed look on her face. "Amy?! Are you alright?!" He ran over to her and helped her up.
"I've had better wake-up calls."
"What was that shaking about?"
Their room shook again and they listened as the excited, childish yells of a madman echoed down the outside hallway. Amy and Rory turned to each other and said, "The Doctor."
The Doctor was laughing gleefully as he tried his best to work the controls of the TARDIS. The ship was beginning to shake all around him and, while he was curious as to what was happening, he was having the time of his life. "Come on, old girl! Where are you going?" he asked as he pulled down the nearest lever. A wheezing, grinding sound emanated from the main console as the ship veered dangerously to the left.
Amy and Rory nearly fell out of the hallway and into the control room. "Doctor?! What the hell is going on?!" Amy snapped.
"Ah! Good morning, Ponds!" The Doctor pressed on three random buttons and held down on a red lever.
"Is it really the morning already?" asked Rory as he held onto the control console.
"Well we're technically passing over 19th century Peru at ten o'clock at night, but who needs to get technical?" the Doctor replied.
The TARDIS jerked again and the Doctor and the Ponds held on tightly. "Well why is the TARDIS flipping out?" Amy asked.
"That, Amy, is a very good question." The Doctor began to examine the main console curiously.
"You can't figure out what the problem is and you've been flying this ship for how long?"
"Sometimes the old girl decides to do something unexpected! You can't blame me for that!"
"Since you're the pilot, yes I can."
"That's enough for now, Pond! I need to concentrate!"
Amy let out a surprised yelp as the TARDIS leaned at a dangerous angle. Sparks rained down from the ceiling, Rory held onto the console, and the Doctor pulled down a gray lever that was refusing to go down. "HOLD ON!" the Doctor ordered as he slammed the lever down. The lights flickered and the whole ship began to vibrate like a massage chair strapped to the exterior of a jet.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Rory stated as he tried to keep a steady position.
"Don't you dare get sick near me, Rory Williams!" Amy snapped as she stood up and grabbed onto the console.
"I think we're coming in for a landing!" the Doctor exclaimed as the lights flickered once more.
"Where?" Amy asked.
The Doctor looked up at Amy with an excited grin on his face. "I have absolutely NO IDEA!"
"It's so boring!" exclaimed Scootaloo as she looked up at the blue, cloudless sky. She was lying on the ground alongside friends Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.
"There's gotta be something we can do today," Apple Bloom sighed.
"Everypony's busy, there's nothing special happening in town, and I think we've tried almost everything we can think of to try and get our cutie marks!" Sweetie Belle stated.
The three fillies each let out a deep sigh as they stared up at the clear sky. "At least it's a nice day," said Apple Bloom.
"Yeah! Rainbow Dash must have cleared the sky up with her awesomeness!" Scootaloo stated with a grin as she stretched one of her forelegs up and moved it in a fast, flying motion.
"I think it was Cloud Kicker's turn to clear the sky today." Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom and gave her a stare that pierced through her body. "Nevermind!"
Sweetie Belle jumped up and stretched her legs. "Come on, girls! There must be something to do in town! Oh! Maybe Rarity has a job that we can do!" she exclaimed.
"No thanks!" Scootaloo replied as she stood up. "I'm not in the mood for five hours of dress up."
"Why don't we head over to the library and see what Spike's doing?" Apple Bloom suggested.
Scootaloo grinned at Apple Bloom with a raised eyebrow. "Eager to see your boyfriend again?"
Apple Bloom simultaneously frowned and blushed in response. "What?! It's nothing like that! Spike and I are just friends!"
"That's what they all say," giggled Sweetie Belle. The young unicorn proceeded to rest her head in her forehooves and let out a long sigh. "Besides, you two make such a cute couple!" Scootaloo snorted and fell to the ground, rolling with laughter, next to Sweetie Belle.
Apple Bloom stomped one of her hooves on the ground and her mane flew up as if steam had shot from her ears. "If y'all want to be jerks then I'll just go without ya!" The yellow earth pony turned around and began making her way over to the library.
"Come on, Apple Bloom!" pleaded Scootaloo as she stood up with a sincere look on her face. "We were just teasing you! We didn't mean to hurt your feelings!"
Apple Bloom didn't turn back. She kept going and planned to continue on her way...that is until a heavy force appeared out of nowhere and froze her in place. Her eyes widened and her heart rate increased. For some unknown reason, she couldn't move an inch. The only parts of her body that she could move were her eyes and mouth. "I...I can't move!" she gasped.
"What?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"I can't move! Sweetie Belle, are you using magic or something to keep me still?!"
"Apple Bloom, you know I'm not good with magic yet! I couldn't keep you still even if I wanted to!"
"Then there's somepony else here! There's got to be a unicorn somewhere messing with me!"
"Apple Bloom...we're the only ones here," said Scootaloo. "Besides, if a unicorn were using magic on you, you'd be glowing or something."
"I...I'm not glowing?" Apple Bloom asked. Her eyes moved downwards. It was true. There was no magical glow to be seen. "Then...how in the name of Celestia am I frozen in place?!"
Suddenly, a loud, alien sound began to reverberate through the air around them. "What the hay is that?!" Sweetie Belle asked. None of the fillies had heard a sound like this ever before. It was such a strange and foreign sound compared to any sound that was normally heard during an average day in Equestria.
Apple Bloom gasped as the force around her body became tighter and tighter. "It's becoming stronger! I...I can't breathe!" Apple Bloom yelped.
"Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo cried as she ran towards her friend. She wasn't fast enough. Just before Scootaloo could reach Apple Bloom, a blue transparent box began to appear around her. Scootaloo slammed into the side of the transparent box and tumbled backwards.
"SCOOTALOO! SWEETIE BELLE! SOMEPONY HELP ME!" Apple Bloom cried. The odd, frightening force became stronger with every second as the blue box continued to engulf her. A second wave of pressure pushed against her body and her ability to breathe began to hurriedly fade away as the feeling of water gushing over her body and into her open, shocked mouth washed over her.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo watched in disbelief as the strange box materialized around the screaming Apple Bloom. Within seconds, their friend had faded from view and the box stood in her place.
The sudden stop of the TARDIS sent the Doctor, Amy, and Rory falling to the floor with a series of loud thuds. The Doctor let out an excited and slightly mad laugh as he stood up and examined the steaming console. "Well...that was a nice piece of excitement to wake up to. Eh, Ponds?" the Doctor asked.
"I've had better wake up calls," Rory replied.
"So where are we?" Amy asked as she combed her strewn hair with her hand. The Doctor turned his attention to one of the monitors and gave a serious, concerned expression in response to what he saw. "Uh oh. I've seen that look before, and it's never for a good reason."
The Doctor stepped back from the monitor and moved a hand through his hair while simultaneously grabbing his chin in deep thought. "How could this have happened? How could I have been so foolish to not notice what was going on?" he thought out loud as he glared at the monitor. "It looks like it's happened again."
"What's happened again?" Rory asked.
The Doctor turned to his two companions and scratched the back of his head nervously. "The TARDIS has just passed through the Void," he replied.
"The what?" Amy asked.
"The Void." The Doctor approached the monitor and continued to examine it closely.
"And what's the Void?"
"This isn't the only universe. Beyond the walls of our reality exists billions upon billions of alternate realities. Some only different by a few mild changes such as you choosing to have fish fingers and custard for dinner in one and you deciding to have beans on toast for dinner in another. But others can be vastly different. Theoretically, there's a universe for any possible choice that any creature in any universe can or cannot make up."
"Which means that there's basically an infinite number of universes."
"Exactly, Pond. Now, the Void is the empty space that exists in between these universes. And the TARDIS has just passed through it."
"So what does that mean? Are we in another universe or something?"
"Bingo."
"Well, can't we just go back? I mean, you took us to that bubble universe a while back."
"That was different. That universe was attached to ours and there was a crack that enabled us to pass through. Passing through the Void is different. Nothing is meant to pass through the Void ever."
"But, from what you said earlier, it sounds like you've done this before," said Rory.
"Yes...I have," the Doctor replied.
"So there's a way for us to get back!" Amy stated.
"Yes. The TARDIS needs to rest. A trip through the Void is no easy feat. It'll take a while for her to heal from the trip."
"So then what's there to worry about? We can just head out, explore, come back when the TARDIS is ready, and head back home."
The Doctor looked up at Amy and smiled. "Look at you. All ready to head out and face the unknown."
"Aren't I always?"
"Perhaps a bit too much," Rory replied with a smirk.
The Doctor let out a laugh as he shoved the monitor away and made his way towards the doors. "Come along, Ponds! A new universe waits outside those doors for us to explore!"
Talk about a quick change of face, Rory thought with a smirk as he followed the Doctor and Amy towards the TARDIS doors.
The second after exiting the TARDIS, the Doctor and his companions were all simultaneously met with an incredibly peculiar feeling that could best be described as the sensation of warm jello being washed over their bodies. Their fingers seemed to stick together, their bodies began to feel a bit hairier, parts of their bodies felt like they were growing, their vision became temporarily muddy, and their walking became clumsy and unbalanced. "Wha?!" gasped Amy as she fell forward onto the ground. She tried to stand up again but everything felt wrong. Her legs were at odd angles, it didn't feel natural to walk on her two legs anymore, and her arms looked thicker and hairier. "Doctor...I think something's wrong."
"There's no radiation or harmful chemicals in this world. I checked the monitor," the Doctor replied with a groan.
Finally, Amy's vision began to clear up and what she saw before her equally confused her as much as it made her want to laugh. She could tell that the being standing before her was the Doctor but he no longer resembled a human, he looked like a cartoon horse. He was naked save for the red bow tie wrapped around his neck. His white skin had been replaced by a clean, light gray coat. His hair looked the same except for a few extra, cartoony additions of depth, length, and shininess. A thick, bouncy tail that was a tribute to his hair was sticking out of his rump and an odd hourglass tattoo was situated on both sides of his flank. She awkwardly tried to avoid looking at his flank but soon realized that, despite the Doctor now being technically naked, there was no sign of his nether regions.
She heard a gasp next to her and turned. Her eyes widened when she saw that Rory had turned into a horse as well and was looking over his new body. He too was naked, his skin was now covered in a tan coat, a sandy brown tail stuck from his rump, and his flanks had a tattoo of a sword with a golden handle. "You...you...YOU TWO ARE HORSES!" Amy shrieked in a half shocked, half humored fashion.
"We're not the only ones," said Rory nervously.
Oh no, Amy thought as she jumped up. She felt herself shivering as she found herself being more comfortable with standing on her two sets of legs instead of simply standing on just her hind legs. Amy looked down at her forelegs to see that her skin was now covered in a light yellow coat. A long, red tail extended from her rump and a tattoo of an apple with a smiley face was plastered on her flanks. She also quickly noticed that she too wasn't wearing any clothes. She then fell back on her rump and hastily covered her flat horse chest with her forelegs. "I'm NAKED!"
"But there's nothing there to cover." Rory awkwardly examined himself before turning to his wife.
"We're HORSES!"
The Doctor stroked his forelegs, softly licked one of his hooves, and stretched his neck and legs. "Not horses, Pond. Ponies," he concluded as a giddy grin appeared on his face. "I've never been a pony before." The Doctor then took off in a quick gallop. He ran around the TARDIS, kicked his hind legs upwards, and rose up to shake his forelegs madly in the air. "This is much better than becoming a ginger!" He took another lap around the TARDIS before coming to a stop in front of his two companions. "I like ponies now. Ponies are cool."
"I thought bow ties were cool," said Rory.
"Oh they still are." The Doctor calmly adjusted his bow tie. "Ponies are just cool too." He then raised one of his hooves up and began to scratch his chin. "Now the question is which is cooler: bow ties or ponies?" He proceeded to sit down on his rump and continued to scratch his chin. "The impossible question."
"How can you two be taking this so calmly?! We're ponies!" Amy snapped. She took a quick look at the Doctor and tilted her head a bit. "Okay, I can get why you would take this so calmly, Doctor." She turned to look up at her husband. "But you, Rory?"
"Oh don't worry," replied Rory with a sigh. "I'm screaming on the inside."
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo eyed the strangers from behind a bush they had taken shelter behind. "Those are some strange ponies," said Sweetie Belle. "Something must be wrong with their heads. They're talking as if they just became ponies."
Scootaloo let out a worried, annoyed sigh. "I don't see Apple Bloom anywhere," she said. "They must be keeping her inside that weird box of theirs!" She turned around and began pulling on one of the branches of a small tree.
Sweetie Belle turned to face her with a raised eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"Getting...a...weapon!" The branch snapped off and a smile of pride appeared on the pegasus's face. "We need some way to defend ourselves if they turn out to be dangerous." Scootaloo walked back over to Sweetie Belle and peered over the top of the bush at the strangers.
"I don't know, Scootaloo." Sweetie crossed her forelegs and started rubbing them nervously. "Maybe we should get somepony's help. Twilight? Applejack? Rainbow Dash? Rarity?"
"They might be gone by the time we get back, Sweetie Belle! We've got to act now!"
"Can we at least think this out first?"
Scootaloo's heart began to pound as she noticed the strange ponies begin to make their way back towards the entrance of the box. "No time!" She jumped over the bush and charged towards the trio of earth ponies. She jumped on the back of the nearest one, a tan stallion, and grabbed onto his mane. "Where's Apple Bloom?!"
"What the hell?!" asked the surprised stallion as he rose his forelegs into the air. He was then met with a slap in the face from the small stick held in Scootaloo's hoof. "Ow!" The stallion began to struggle but Scootaloo held on tightly and continued to slap the stallion with her stick.
"Where's Apple Bloom?! Give Apple Bloom back! GIVE HER BACK!" Scootaloo cried angrily.
"Get off him!" cried the yellow mare as she ran forward and attempted to get Scootaloo off the stallion's back. The stallion with the bow tie was walking around the tan stallion, the mare, and Scootaloo and appeared to be simultaneously trying to figure out a way to get Scootaloo off his friend while also eyeing Scootaloo with an expression of childish excitement and wonder.
Sweetie blushed a bit before running out after her friend. "Scootaloo! Stop! I don't think they're dangerous!" she cried.
"I give! I surrender! There's no Apple Bloom here! We have no Apple Bloom!" pleaded the tan stallion as he proceeded to cover his face from Scootaloo's attacks. Scootaloo slowed down and this allowed the yellow mare to grab her and pull her away from the tan stallion. She hastily took the stick from Scootaloo's hoof and tossed it several feet away.
"Now don't hurt it, Amy!" said the stallion with the bow tie.
"Don't hurt it? It was doing just fine hurting Rory!" snapped the mare known as Amy.
"It took me by surprise!" argued the stallion known as Rory as he stood up and rubbed his slightly bruised head.
"Excuse me, my name's not It. It's Scootaloo!" Scootaloo snapped as she shook against Amy's hold on her. "Now can you let me go and give Apple Bloom back?"
"Amy, let her go," said the stallion with the bow tie.
"What if she goes nuts again?" Amy asked.
"I don't think she will. This is all just one, large misunderstanding. Now just let her go."
Amy rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine." She proceeded to glare suspiciously at Scootaloo as she let her down. "You better not try anything funny."
Scootaloo ran over to Sweetie's side. "I told you that we should have thought this out," Sweetie whispered into her friend's ear.
"Oh shut up," Scootaloo snarled back.
"Now," said the gray stallion as he adjusted his bow tie. "I think introductions are in order."
"I'm Sweetie Belle, and this is Scootaloo," said Sweetie with a large, cute grin.
"Hello, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. I'm the Doctor, and these are the Ponds: Amy and Rory." The stallion known as the Doctor began to closely examine the two fillies as a look of wonder appeared on his face. "Beautiful."
"What is?"
"You two. You're just...beautiful."
Sweetie Belle began to blush as well as feel a bit awkward. "R...really?"
"Yes! I've never seen a unicorn or a pegasus before! A whole wide universe to explore, and a few extra ones here and there, and I've never come across a real unicorn or pegasus. I could just hug you two!"
"Please don't," said Scootaloo with a deadpan look on her face.
"Yes...don't worry. I won't," said the Doctor as he rubbed his hoof through his hair. "But, could you two answer a few questions for me?"
"What kind of questions?" Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.
"Simple ones. Questions that you'll surely know and will no doubt make my companions and I look like utter fools but the reason for that is because we're...new around here."
"Okay then. Ask away."
"Thank you. Firstly, where are we?"
"You're in Ponyville!" replied Sweetie Belle.
"That's a town, I'm guessing."
"Yeah! You can see some of the homes over there!" Sweetie pointed into the distance where a series of simple cottages were happily situated.
"That's nice. And what country is this? What planet?"
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo gave each other odd looks. "The country you're in is called Equestria. The planet is called Gaia. How come you don't know about any this?"
"Like I said. We're new here," the Doctor replied. "Anyway, you mentioned earlier that you were looking for something."
"Somepony," Scootaloo corrected.
A smile formed on the Doctor's face. "What? Did you just say somepony?"
"Yeah. We're not looking for something. We're looking for somepony."
The Doctor's smile grew wider as he appeared to attempt to hold back a good laugh. "I think I'm starting to take a liking to this world." Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo exchanged another glance and looked as if to say: Yep. It's official. He's nuts. The Doctor cleared his throat, adjusted his bow tie, and continued his questioning. "So who's this some...pony that you're looking for?"
"Her name's Apple Bloom. She's our friend," Sweetie Belle replied.
"And where did you last see her?" asked the Doctor.
"When you teleported that blue box of yours around her!" Scootaloo replied.
The Doctor's eyes went wide as he turned back towards the blue box. "Oh dear. This just got a bit more complicated."
Apple Bloom held her breath as the massive volume of water suddenly surrounded her and the feeling of warm pudding washing over her body coursed across her nerves. As she started swimming towards the surface of the body of water that now encompassed her, she began to notice something weird happening to her body. Her hooves felt like they were splitting apart into smaller, thinner appendages. Parts of her body became thinner and longer and she felt clothes appear out of nowhere and attach to her coat. She swung her legs back and forth frantically until she finally broke through the surface.
A loud gasp and a strong cry for air escaped Apple Bloom's mouth as she smashed through the water's surface. The smell of chlorine penetrated her nose and her eyes were watering from their exposure to the water. Her vision was blurry but she could see a ledge a few feet away. She hastily swam towards the ledge and pulled herself up. As she fell onto solid ground, her breathing now quick and slightly relaxed, she took notice to the fact that her body felt incredibly different from what it had previously felt like. Her limbs hung at odd angles, odd appendages seemed to be sticking from her hooves, and it was truly clear now that she was indeed wearing clothes. What the hay is going on? Apple Bloom asked in thought as she tried to gather her senses. She raised one of her forehooves in front of her eyes as her vision began to clear and found herself staring not at a hoof but at something that looked like a claw and yet was not a claw. She gasped and sat up, and this is when she got a good look at the rest of her body.
Her yellow coat was gone and was replaced by plain, white skin. Her mane was the same color and felt the same but was slightly thicker and a bit longer. Her tail was gone and she was dressed in a yellow shirt with jeans overalls, clothing that Apple Bloom had seen before at "formal" country gatherings. Her heart began to race as she examined her new form. She flexed the appendages on her hands before crawling towards the water's edge. She looked into the water to see a different creature looking back at her. Through her reflection, she could see that her muzzle had shrunk abnormally and her face had flattened out. She reached her clawlike hoof towards the water and just barely touched the surface. Several quick ripples emanated from the spot where she made contact. "What...what am I?!" Apple Bloom asked before looking up to see where she was. She couldn't help but give an expression of frightened awe as she looked out upon the gargantuan swimming pool before her that was situated beneath an ocean of sparkling stars. "Where am I?!"
"Okay. I have good news and bad news," the Doctor said as he turned away from the TARDIS to make full eye contact with the ponies known as Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "Good news: your friend Apple Bloom is alive." Sweetie Belle let out relieved sigh. "Bad news: she's lost and we've got to find her."
"Lost? Where?" Scootaloo asked.
The Doctor pointed back at the blue box. "Inside the TARDIS."
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at the TARDIS and each raised an eyebrow in response. "How can she be lost in there?"
"Trust us, it may look small but it's really not," said Amy.
"Yeah. Sure," Scootaloo chuckled as she began to approach the box. Suddenly, the loud sound of a ringing cloister bell began to emanate from the TARDIS.
"Doctor, what does that mean?" Rory asked.
The Doctor unexpectedly broke into a run, ran over to the TARDIS, pulled the doors open, and flew into the interior of the blue box while Amy, Rory, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo looked on in confusion. Just then, the sound of a young girl's confused cries started to call out alongside the rings of the TARDIS cloister bell. "I...I don't know where I am! I don't know where I am! Where am I?!" called the voice of the frightened girl. "Sweetie Belle?! Scootaloo?! Where are you guys?! Come out! Please! I don't know where I am! I'm scared!"
"Apple Bloom!" cried Scootaloo as she raced towards the TARDIS and passed through doors after the Doctor.
"Hey wait a minute!" called Amy as she ran back into the TARDIS after Scootaloo. Rory and Sweetie Belle turned to each other awkwardly and began to make their way towards the entrance into the TARDIS when the doors unexpectedly shut and locked on their own accord.
"What the hell?!" gasped a shocked Rory as he ran up to the doors and began banging on them. "Amy?! Doctor?! The doors are locked! What's happening?!"
As Rory pounded on the locked doors with his hooves, a surge of magical energy shot out of the light on top of the TARDIS and hit Rory square in the chest, which sent him flying back several feet. Sweetie Belle screamed as Rory hit the ground. "Oh my Celestia! Are you alright?!" Sweetie Belle asked as she ran to Rory's side.
"I've had worse. Trust me...on that," Rory replied weakly before he proceeded to lose consciousness.
Amy turned back towards the closed entrance doors of the TARDIS and tried to open them. "Doctor! The doors are locked!" Amy stated as her heart started to race.
"I know," the Doctor replied grimly as he circled around the console. Amy turned to look at the Doctor and noticed that he was back to looking like a human again, tweed jacket and all. Amy looked down and smiled as she saw that she had turned back into a human.
"Oh thank God!" Amy cried as she hugged herself.
"What...what happened?" asked a familiar voice from nearby. Amy looked to see a young girl sitting on the floor a couple feet from her. She had white, tan skin; purple hair; and was wearing an orange t-shirt along with a pair of short, purple jogging pants.
"No way." Amy approached the girl and knelt down next to her. The girl looked at Amy with a look of rebellious suspicion. "Scootaloo...right?"
"Yeah? That's me." The girl that was Scootaloo looked around the interior of the TARDIS's control room. Her eyes started spinning and her face turning slightly green as if she were about to be sick. "Whoa. What's happening? The inside of this box looks like it's bigger on the inside."
"Actually...it is."
Scootaloo grabbed her head and shook it. A faint sparkle in her eyes acted as a signal to Amy that the young girl could now see clearly. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped by quite an impressive amount. "No way. This can't be the inside of that tiny box!" She then turned to Amy and jumped. "AH! Who are you?! What are you?!"
"I'm Amy. Remember? The yellow pony with the red hair." Amy proceeded to twirl some of her hair with her fingers.
"What...but...what happened to you?!"
"I turned back into my what I really am. I'm not a pony, I'm a human. You should learn a bit more about them because you're one too now."
"Wait...what?!" Scootaloo tried to stand up but found herself quickly falling back down to the floor. As she sat up, she looked at her hands and began to shake. "What...what are these?!"
"Those are hands," Amy replied.
Scootaloo wiggled her fingers and her entire body shook in response to the new, unfamiliar feelings she was experiencing. "What am I?!" she asked as her breaths quickened.
Amy reached into her pocket and pulled out a small mirror. She then approached Scootaloo and situated the mirror in front of her face. "You're a human, just like me."
Scootaloo looked at her reflection in Amy's mirror and let out a surprisingly girly screech. Within seconds, she was frantically feeling and examining every part of her body. "My muzzle! My hooves! My coat! My tail! Where did these clothes come from?! What are these wiggly things?!"
"Fingers. The ones on your feet are called toes."
Scootaloo's eyes seemed to flash in every direction as they passed over Amy, the interior of the TARDIS control room, and the Doctor, who was currently busy going over the monitors on the control console. "What the hay is going on?!" Scootaloo asked.
Amy stood up and once again tried to open the TARDIS doors. Again, she was met with no luck. "That's what I would like to know," she replied as she turned back towards the Doctor.
The Doctor looked up from one of the monitors with a grim look on his face. "We need to find that pony quickly," he said.
"Why? What's happened?"
The Doctor and Amy met eye-to-eye. "Something bad."
Apple Bloom grabbed a towel from a nearby tower of towels and hastily dried herself off to the best of her abilities. She was having trouble getting used to this new body of hers. She stumbled her way along the border of the humongous pool until she came across a doorway that was located at the upper tip of the pool.
Apple Bloom peered through the doorway to see a long, metal corridor stretch off in both directions. She glanced back towards the open-air pool to see that there were no other exits. I guess this is my only way out of here, Apple Bloom deduced in thought as she stumbled through the doorway and into the hallway.
A cold chill made its way down Apple Bloom's spine as she clumsily walked down the hallway. Though her new body made it feel unnatural for her to continue walking on four legs, walking on two legs felt just as unnatural to her. She reached out and clung to the wall with her upper appendages. She looked at her changed forehooves and tried to figure out what to call them. Claws? No. They weren't claws. They were...something less than claws. As Apple Bloom began to balance herself, several random words flashed through her mind. Hands. Fingers. Arms. Feet. Toes. She examined her altered body and mentally placed each new word to each changed body part. "Fingers," Apple Bloom uttered softly as she wiggled the appendages on the hands that had replaced her forehooves.
Suddenly, a childish giggle echoed through the corridor. Apple Bloom spun around to see where the giggle had come from. At first, there was no sign of anypony or anything in sight. Then, after a few seconds, she noticed a dark figure in the distance. "You look lost," chuckled the figure, who had an oddly familiar voice. "That's never fun."
Apple Bloom tilted her head in confusion as the figure turned a corner and vanished. "Wait! Who are you?! Where am I?!" Apple Bloom asked before she began to hastily, yet clumsily, run after the shadowy figure. She turned the corner to see the figure running away from her at a brisk pace. "Please! Come back!" Apple Bloom chased after the figure. The stranger led her around many turns and down several, long corridors. As she ran, the air in the corridors seemed to progressively change from lukewarm to cold to hot and then lukewarm again. The corridors mostly remained the same: green-silver walls, floors, and ceilings with the occasional pipe jutting out. The faint sound of metal expanding and shrinking could be heard. It made the whole structure that Apple Bloom was lost in seem to almost be...alive in some way.
Eventually, the figure led Apple Bloom through a brown, metal door. What resided on the other side of said door made Apple Bloom's heart stop out of shock. It was her bedroom. Sunlight was pouring in through the open window and the expansion of Sweet Apple Acres spread out into the surrounding hills. Apple Bloom couldn't find any words to say as she stared at her simple, messy room. How could her room be here in this mysterious place of corridors and gargantuan swimming pools? "Do you feel more comfortable now?" asked that voice again. Apple Bloom looked to see the figure standing next to the opposite wall. Now, however, the figure was no longer shadowy and Apple Bloom could now see what the figure was.
It was a girl who appeared to be the same creature that Apple Bloom had found herself to have turned into. She had tan skin and short red hair. A few freckles dotted her face and she was wearing a green hoodie, torn jean shorts, and a pair of white sneakers. The girl cracked a smile and blew a stray bang of hair out of one of her eyes. Apple Bloom's mind began to race as she began to put the pieces together and find out who exactly the person standing before her was. Then...it hit her. The similar physical traits. The little recognizable habits. The familiar voice. It couldn't be...but it was. "Babs?" Apple Bloom asked in shock.
"You could say that, but I'd be lying if I said that I was actually your cuz," replied Babs Seed with her usual, smug, Manehattan grin. She bent over and picked up a random shirt from the floor. "You should pick up around here."
"I'm so confused," Apple Bloom groaned as she grasped her head.
"I know. That's why I chose this form. Someone you respected and cared for and yet weren't all that familiar with. The perfect combination of a growing friendship mixed with the casual uncertainties of what the future lies."
"What? Who are you if you're not Babs? How did we end up in my room? What's with all the corridors? What am I?!"
"Whoa. That's a lot of questions, Cuz. Don't worry. I plan to answer them." Babs approached the window and leaned against it. "Firstly, I'm Babs and yet I'm not. I'm everything around you. From the corridors, to the air, to this room, to the time before, during, and after your visit. It's a bit hard to explain. Only my thief will fully understand what I'm talking about. But, I decided to take the form of someone you knew to make you feel a bit more comfortable. I know all about Babs and have all your memories of her. Thus, I have become Babs as you remember her."
"So...you're some...thing that's taken Babs's form based on my memories of her?"
"Pretty much."
"Well...what's your real name and what do you really look like?"
"I told you. I'm everything around you right now. Just call me Babs for now. It'll make things a bit easier for you to comprehend."
Apple Bloom, though confused, still managed to raise an eyebrow with a mix of annoyance and suspicion. "Are ya saying I'm stupid?"
"Not at all. You just wouldn't be able to fully understand what I'd tell you if I really went into a spiel about who I really am. It's not your fault. Your kind just aren't made with ability to understand such knowledge." Apple Bloom kept her eyebrow raised and Babs sighed with a relaxed smile. "I bet you still have a few questions that need answers."
"I think that goes without saying."
"Very well. Now, as you've probably noticed, you're no longer a little pony."
Apple Bloom examined her new body again. "Yeah. What the hay am I?"
"A human."
"A what?"
"Human. It's a species that doesn't exist in your universe. You see, the ship you're in isn't from your universe."
"Ship? What ship? Aren't we in my room?"
"Yes and no. I just manipulated one of the rooms on this ship to appear in the form of your room, just to calm down your nerves."
"Then...this room...those corridors...that pool...it's all in one ship?"
"Precisely, and not the type of ship you're thinking of." Babs beckoned Apple Bloom to follow her as she stepped through the door and back into the corridor. Apple Bloom did as such. "This ship doesn't travel by water but rather through space and time. Anywhere and anywhen."
"You're kidding," Apple Bloom stated.
"I would not kid at a time like this," Babs replied as she led Apple Bloom down the corridor. "Now, getting back to humans, I'm sure you're wondering about how you came to be one. The answer is quite simple. This ship being from another universe, it isn't taking a liking to your reality. You being in here is causing it plenty of stress. To make things easier for it, it simply transformed you into a species that it's most accustomed to being in contact with: that being humans. Well, there's also a Time Lord but you don't want to become one of them. Too much to worry about."
"Am I going to be stuck like this?"
"Don't worry, Cuz. Once you exit this ship, you'll return to your original form."
Apple Bloom gave a sigh of relief. "Thank Celestia. I don't know what I'd do if I were stuck with these the rest of my life," she exclaimed as she stared down at her fingers.
Babs gave an amused chuckle. "You know, I'm starting to see that your kind aren't that different from humans after all," she chuckled.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Both." Apple Bloom and Babs rounded another corner when a distant shriek echoed through the air.
"What was that?!" Apple Bloom began turning around and looking in every which way.
"Nothing good, I'm afraid." Babs grabbed Apple Bloom's hand and pulled her forward. "We need to get you out of here."
"What's going on?!"
"This ship doesn't like your world. It doesn't like you being in it. It's trying to learn more about your world while still keeping bound to its roots. It's not a pleasant experience. Also," Babs came to a quick stop and faced Apple Bloom, "you're letting something in."
"Something in? What is it?"
Babs turned forward. "Something evil."
