Something had gone wrong, the TARDIS wasn't flying right, swaying back and forth like she was confused. The Doctor scrambled around the control panel trying to stabilize their wild flight, kicking himself internally for not realizing that the TARDIS had no references for this universe. Panels sprayed sparks and warning klaxon blasted away.
"Doctor, what's wrong?" Vinyl asked, covering her ears with her foreclosed.
"New universe! The TARDIS doesn't know where she is right now!" He flipped another switch and the TARDIS landed.
The screens were all flashing red, and the Doctor had his screwdriver out and was scanning them, looking for any faults the new malfunction may have caused. He set the TARDIS's navigational module to map the universe using the Time Vortex. At least enough to know where they were and how to get back to the present.
"Well, that will take some time, we may as well explore a little while we're here."
"Where are we Doctor?" Vinyl asked.
"No clue, but certainly not where we wanted to be." Octavia was a little disappointed, but they had just time traveled! How cool was that?
"Well, there's no sense in staying cooped up in here, let's go explore, shall we?" The two mares smiled excitedly, following him to the exterior door.
The Doctor opened the door and stepped outside to a sight he hoped never to see again; a battlefield medical station.
Doctor Whooves: A Tale of Two SistersBy: Gandalf158Prologue
The smell of death was all around them; ponies were lying on crude bedrolls with crude attempts at battlefield medicine evidenced by most of them being amputees. The dark room was lit up by candles and lanterns, it was apparently night-time wherever they were. Octavia was starting to look sick, and Vinyl was already looking for somewhere to empty the contents of her stomach. The Doctor, after locking the TARDIS doors, began walking around, examining the coughing, groaning soldiers, he had hoped that the ponies of this world would be different, but it seemed their pastel colors and big eyes didn't make them any less violent than any other species he had met.
"Oi! Who are you, and what are ya doin' in this tent?" A short, stocky Pegasus mare in an apron spattered with blood stepped forward them.
"My friend here is sick," the Doctor gestured to Vinyl, who was still retching in the corner, "Is this not a place of medicine?"
"Aye, but not fer civies. How'd ya get here anyway? The city was evacuated hours ago."
The Doctor glanced back at the TARDIS, "We just sort of....stumbled in here by accident. If I may ask, what city was evacuated again?"
"What are ya, stupid?" He grinned nervously and she sighed, "Trottingham? Because the Nightmare is moving to take the city?" She said, and he nodded in fake understanding.
"Well, off we go then. Come along Vinyl, Octavia." He said and trotted outside the tent.
The tent was set up about a half-mile away from the battle raging near the walls of a medium-sized town, the full moon giving surprising amounts of light, enough that the Doctor could see the two opposing armies. The two sides clashed over and over again, swords and pikes and shields sparked from the impacts as pegasi archers rained death from above. The ponies defending the city were wearing gilded armor and had banners emblazoned with a stylized sun flying behind them. They had pikes and polearms, among other assorted Middle Age era weapons. They were obviously well trained, all of them fought like a well oiled machine.
The assailants, on the other hand, were simply terrifying; their front line was made up of hundreds and hundreds of emaciated villagers with sharpened sticks, but behind them were what the Doctor could only describe as monsters. They had wings like bats and eyes like snakes, their obsidian black armor shining purple in the moonlight. The Doctor didn’t want to think about that now, he just wanted to figure out what time period they were in and how not to get involved in this war.
“Come on, we’re getting out of here.” he said, turning away from the clashing armies and looking in the opposite direction, “Which one of you knows more about history?” Octavia stepped forward, having recovered from her momentary sickness, “Do you have any idea when we are?”
His normally fun-loving and quirky demeanor had melted into one that was deadly serious and was starting to scare her, “1000 years ago, back when Nightmare Moon was trying to create eternal night. In a week’s time, the war will be over, and Princess Celestia will banish her to the moon.”
“And where are we?” he said as they walked away from the field.
“Trottingham, back when it was the biggest port town in Equestria. Why?” she had no idea where they were going, and it didn’t look like the Doctor did either.
“Because we need to get out of here. We can’t get involved with this, the results could be disastrous.” he was still walking forward, a determined and regretful look on his face.
“Y-you’re just gonna leave your TARDIS back there?” Vinyl asked, still looking a little green. The Doctor wondered how it was possible for her fur to turn green…
“The door’s locked, nobody’s going to get inside. Doubt anyone would think to try anyway. Even frozen on a 1960’s English police box, the chameleon circuit still does a good job of keeping people from paying much attention to it.” he said, eyes straight ahead.
Suddenly, they were surrounded by soldiers, the ones that wore the gold-colored armor. The soldiers leveled their levitated weapons at the Doctor and his two friends, and a white pegasus soldier separated himself from the group and stepped into the circle.
“The Doctor? As in the Doctor?”
“The genuine article, you could say.” he said, a bit of the old, happy Doctor slipping through.
The guards shared a look, and the one in front took a step forward, “Sir, you’ll have to come with us, her Majesty Princess Celestia is expecting you.” they began to lead them off to the east, away from the city.
Doctor Whooves: A Tale of Two SistersBy: Gandalf158Chapter 1: Veni
The Princess’s tent was large, almost as big as the TARDIS’s control room. Inside were a dozen guards, two groups of three wandering around, keeping an eye on the multitude of other ponies dashing to and from the tent to the battlefield, the others flanking the makeshift throne set up at the dead center of the southern wall. Sitting upon the throne was a large, regal looking white alicorn with a long, trailing rosy pink mane that flowed around as if in a breeze, but there wasn’t a draft to be found in the tent. She smiled down at the Doctor, as if greeting an old friend for the first time after a long absence.
“Doctor, you’ve finally arrived. Though, I suspect you won’t remember the promise you made to me all those years ago, you did say it wouldn’t have happened for you yet..” the Doctor should’ve been used to meetings like this, but they still freaked him out.
“I don’t know what I’ve told you, or what I will tell you in the future, but I can’t get involved with this.” the Doctor said.
“You told me that you would be very resistant at first, that you would tell me that you can’t intervene in this war because it is a set point in time, but you also said that it is a set point in time, and you must make sure everything happens as it was meant to.”
The Doctor thought about it for a moment, what could he have promised her? What could be happening that he would have to intervene to keep the set point in motion? What could be so important that he would get involved in another war? He didn’t like this situation, not one bit.
“What do you mean by that? Why do I have to make sure everything happens as it was meant to be?” he asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
She chuckled, “Because, Doctor, we are facing a threat from beyond the stars, and you are somewhat of an expert in these matters.”
“Somewhat of an expert? Somewhat an expert? Your Majesty, I can tell you that I am, beyond any inkling of a shadow of a doubt, that I am the unequivocal king of facing threats from beyond the stars. I am the Doctor, and how can I help?” he asked, smiling broadly.
“But you just said we couldn’t get involved!” Vinyl said, confusion and irritation evident on her finally recovered face.
“Yes, but things have just become much more complicated. How may I be of service to you, Princess?”
The white alicorn smiled and chuckled. She nodded her head towards one of the ponies in the room, a purple unicorn stallion with a long beard and a strange, bell-covered hat. The bearded mage trotted over to the Doctor and took a knee.
“This is my court wizard, Starswirl the Bearded. He will tell you everything you’ll need to know, as well as providing any assistance you may need.” the Princess said, gesturing at the kneeling stallion.
He rose up, looked the Doctor in the eye, and spoke, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Doctor. If you’ll come with me, there is something that you need to see.” he began to walk away, gesturing for the Doctor and company to follow.
He lead them out of the tent through a side flap and out into the field. He kept walking towards the mountains to the east. He walked silently, periodically checking to make sure the three ponies were still following him. He wouldn’t answer when the Doctor asked him where they were going. Eventually, the Doctor gave up and turned to his companions.
“So, no concert, but this certainly is exciting! What do you think Beardy is dragging us out here to see?” he asked them, an eager grin on his face.
They both shrugged, “Aren’t you the alien expert out of the three of us?” Octavia asked, nudging him in the shoulder.
“I don’t know! New universe, new species. This should be very interesting…”
“It’s through there, Doctor.” they had stopped near the entrance to a hidden valley, which Starwswirl was gesturing towards, “Be cautious, it has a tendency to drive people insane.”
The Doctor trotted forward, totally ignoring Starswirl’s warning. Octavia and Vinyl hesitated, but followed him into the valley after a moment. Upon further inspection, the valley was more of a crater, with a large, black, stone in the center. The Doctor walked up to it, being careful not to touch it. Vinyl and Octavia looked on in trepidation behind him.
“What is it, Doctor?” Octavia said, looking at her reflection in the glassy stone.
“It’s a meteorite, it probably landed here a few hundred years ago.” he began scanning it, “Hmm...my screwdriver’s having trouble telling what it’s made of, maybe some element we don’t have back home?” he was thinking out loud by that point, and Starswirl the Bearded had joined them, looking at the rock in fear.
The Doctor looked over to the robed wizard, “Starswirl, you said this rock has a tendency to drive people mad, what did you mean by that?”
“I meant exactly what I said, the last pony to touch that rock went insane. Then she started a war with her big sister.” he said, his face twisted momentarily in grief.
“Ah, well then. Girls, take a few steps back, best not to take any chances with the strange rock from space with a tendency to drive you insane.” they did as he asked, and he turned back towards the stone, “But how, I wonder?”
He took a step further and squinted at his reflection in the stone, “Well, who’s that supposed to be then?”
“That’s you, Doctor.”
“Really?” he gave his reflection the once-over, “That’s what I look like?”
“You mean you don’t know?” Starswirl asked, confused by the pony Time Lord.
“It’s been a long few hours.” he turned to Starswirl, “Do you know anything else about this stone?”
“No. After what happened to Princess Luna, we haven’t let anypony into the valley. It was just too dangerous.”
The Doctor stepped closer to the stone, squinting at it, trying to pry some detail from it to give him a clue as to what exactly it was. He could tell it was no mere stone, it was too perfectly formed for that. But neither were there any tool marks, nor markings of any kind.
“Remarkable,” the Doctor said, raising a forehoof and reaching out towards the stone, “it’s almost like-” his hoof came into contact with the stone, and everything went black.
When he came to his senses, he looked around at his surroundings. He was sitting in what seemed to be a control room. There were what looked like pilot’s chairs spread out around him, each one with a screen covered in rapidly changing symbols.
He stepped over to one of the consoles, and began to read the swirling symbols, “Oh, that isn’t good. Not very good at all…”
