Smooth As Clockwork

She wandered down the empty, long halls aimlessly. Something was pulling her deeper and deeper into the TARDIS. As the time she wandered lengthened, the halls darkened more and more and soon enough, it was dark except for the occasional green light attached to the walls. Although she had a fear of the dark, she felt as if something was with her; protecting her.

Her golden mismatched eyes were darting at each door, looking for the right one. When her eyes landed on an oak door, something inside of her told her it was the right door, but at the same time, she shouldn't enter. TARDIS doors are always the same. Always. Each and every door is made of metal and has curved edges. Though, this one was oak, and had soft edges and a dull shine. It looked like it is rarely used, and the creak it made when she pushed it open proved that.

Inside, it was dark and faint outlines of tall bookshelves were all she could see. Her hoof fumbled against the wall next to the door, and managed to find a light-switch, which she still did not completely trust. Light flooded the room at 299, 792 kilometres per second. When she tried to see the end of the room, she couldn't find it. She observed her surroundings and found strange miscellaneous objects, that from any other ponies pontiff view, would've been junk. Not her; she's travelled enough times with the Doctor to know that every object has an owner, and every owner has a story, and every story is based off of memory or truth, and each truth or memory is tied back to an object.

On the first bookshelf she found, there were books and the ones that seemed to have been used recently, were Pandora's Box (whatever that was) and a series of strange fairytales(?) involving sontarans and daleks and such. She sat down to read each book, and with each page turned, time was slipping from her frame of mind, and each minute she spent quickly ran into hours. When she had finally read each book, she carefully placed them back in their spots after blowing away the dust. It had taken her a while to read the books, because she had accidentally strained her eyes, so she decided not to read any other books.

She totted behind a few bookshelves before finding chests and glass cabinets. In one of the glass cabinets, she found a nearly-wilted rose, an apple that had a smiley face carved into it that draped a smile to her lips. There were endless more objects that made her frown, laugh and confused her. Most of all, the cradle.

She had past endless chests and things until she found a dark, dark corner there sat a lonely cradle that made her curious. Whose is this? Does the Doctor have a f- alien child or something? Why does the Doctor have this in, uh, this room?

It looked ancient, and at any touch, it could collapse. Dust blanketed the entire cradle, and the paint had mostly chipped away leaving old grey wood. There was a mobile attached to the cradle that had tiny planets and stars attached by strings. I brought my hoof up and gently let it play with the mobile. The sound it made was a light tinkle that made me smile. All though it had obviously aged, the stars and planets were sparkling ever so slightly. I looked closely at the sides, and notice a slight glint from underneath the dust. I blew some air onto the patch of heavy dust and it flew in all directions, especially into my lungs; I coughed it away, and rubbed the dust away from my eyes. There were circles layered atop each other that looked so intricate that I couldn't stop staring at it.

The circles kept on flickering, in the way the TARDIS did when it was trying to translate something. It obviously wasn't working; but why not? I thought the TARDIS could translate anything... So why not this?

Suddenly, the entire room began shaking haphazardly. The objects on the shelves and inside the chests began clicking together harshly and some glass things fell to the floor, leaving no chance for me to save them. I galloped outside of the room, slamming the oak door behind me. I tried to get my eyes to focus, but it was no use. Extreme panic only worsened the effect...

I looked right, left and forward and chose right. I galloped down the hall, trying to keep my balance in the shaking halls. Quickly, I found myself back in the console. I blinked. That was much shorter than the first time I ventured down there; so how could I have gotten here so quickly?

Oh, no use questioning the TARDIS; it's impossible to find an answer. Unless you're the Doctor; then it's possible... Only barely...

"What's going on Doctor?!" I yelled above the loud rumbling that seemed to originate from the main console that had swapped its normal gold aura for an unearthly crimson. It made me shiver. And it made the Doctor frown. He was running around the console, occasionally tripping over his hooves like a little foal who had only just learnt how to walk. That, I guess is true...

He didn't answer; and maybe it was for the best. I clamped my front hooves around the railings and prayed for the best. Nothing too bad could happen...

Right?

Tall sparkling brass towers spiked through the fluffy clouds with a sense of purpose. Pegasi zipped past large zeppelins that sent a whirring noise to pass through the city. Buildings nestled against each other leaving no gaps, made of different metal plates and the odd wood. Each store, cafe, restaurant, business corporation or boutique had it's own personality, easily portrayed in its shop windows.

A few favourites, included the large white corporate building near the heart of the city marked with a large red T, a small hidden clockworks store not far from the edges, a homely yet elegant dress-makers and the arcade that sat straight across from the private eye. These few stores, not to mention the others, had bundles of potential, and even more stories to tell.

The morning sun beamed proudly across the large city with a gentle charm, letting the rain residue on birds wings sparkle. Ponies were already out and about, running on errands, wandering about on their daily walk, setting up for opening hours or even sneaking behind larger ponies than their own. Smiles were rare in this city, despite its resources being plentiful and they have every reason to be happy, they just weren't. though, it isn't that hard to believe why.

A mare with a coat most would call pink, but is more of a paled, paled red galloped past, stray pieces of paper being thrown up at the sudden force of wind. Stallions paused and held onto their hats some with a frown, others with a sad smile watched her gallop before continuing on their way; mares held a more graceful approach, where as the stallions hadn't seen it coming, the mares obviously did. Walking about was routine here, and every pony had a particular street they walked down, the mares who walked down this street commonly held down their dresses and when she passed, pulled their special someponies along.

The mare who had galloped past, sported a short dress dress with small ruffles and patches of snowflakes. It was an incredible shade of pink, well, pale pink; almost white to be exact. Her ruffles were either a shade of pink or white, and the snowflakes glinted blindingly into poor ponies eyes. The sleeves ran down her hooves and at the end, pink silk lined the edges gracefully. Her mane was down up in a tight bun, yet most of it had failed out, leaving strands of her mane to frame her muzzle. Her outfit stood out abnormally, and that was understandable, considering she had just come from a wedding, specifically, a mares' she knew near-to-nothing about.

When she was a few stores away from her destination, she came to an abrupt stop and replaced her gallop with a brisk trot, smile still etched across her face. She was one of the few ponies in this city who smiled constantly. She came to her destination, her favourite cafe, to be exact. For some strange reason, the wedding had been planned before 6 o'clock, which is an extremely odd time to get married, especially in such an easily-agrivated city like Canterlot. Yes, that's its name. She pushed the door open, and a bell rung with a cheery 'ding!' and another mare and two stallions heads swivelled to the door. The mare stood behind the counter, an apron tied around her, and her mane done up in a tight up-do, the name of which she did not know, one of the stallions stood next to her, with freckles speckled on his nose and forehead, and another apron tied around him.

"Good morning!" Their voices rang simultaneously, cheerful eyes that creased near the edges brought smiles to almost everyone who entered. Despite its delicious treats, kind owners and famous resident, this was one of the least popular bakeries out of the 341 that were dotted throughout the city. Despite the cheer in their voices, it wasn't hard to tell they were stressing about financial statements and their newly-born foals, which were being watched over currently by a pink mare upstairs.

"Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" Her voice rang back, eyes setting upon her best friend since, well, forever. His icy-blue eyes peered up at her cautiously over a menu. She rolled her eyes in response to his nervous state.

"Don't worry, it's me." She said, sitting down next to him, yet, his nerves had not yet been reassured. She again, rolled her eyes and sat up straight. Spending enough time at this bakery means you get to know a particular pink mare to a high degree, and her promises, that every pony understands, can not be broken.

"Cross my heart,

Hope to fly,

Stick a cupcake in my eye! Now are you convinced? And do I have to do that every time we meet up?" She sighed at the end, but at least he wasn't nervous anymore.

"Well, you know why I'm so nervous, what with the changelings and all..." His voice was soft and cracking slightly, like he'd spent and entire 48 hours not even speaking. Although his voice was soft and cracking, it was very masculine and one of the things that sent most mares swooning.

Her sigh was long and lingered slightly in the cozy air of the bakery for a couple seconds before a quick 'fine' tumbled out her mouth.

After a certain amount of time had passed, FelineFluff (that is her full name) had exited the bakery, and was now on her home street. The street was lined with odd little brass or copper plated apartment buildings with gears attached to the side for all sorts of purposes. Her hooves were sending light, delightful sounds into the warm mid-day air. Her house was nearing slowly, just the way she liked it.

Her smile was dreamy and her dress was now, slightly damp due to the rain that has started to fall. This didn't quicken or slower her pace, it didn't damper her smile or her starry-eyed expression from drifting away. By the time she got to her apartment building, she was near to being soaked, but she hadn't noticed. A sudden noise caught her attention. It sounded like the sound a faulty gear set-up but with more 'whooshing' and it definitely didn't sound healthy. Her eyes darted to the gears grinding, noticing there wasn't anything wrong with them, her eyes flopped back and (for the first time today) a frown took place. She turned, and in an alleyway, she saw two very confused ponies exit.

Her frown was replaced quickly with a worried expression, and again, for the first time, she shied slightly into the shadow. Not deliberately. Something was off about them, and considering the 'high alert', she had to be sure they weren't changelings. After a few seconds, the two ponies walked forward even more, and a grey mare stumbled upon a pothole in the pathway and onto the other stallion with her, a short yelp escaped from her, and a loud groan was managed from the stallion. With slight reluctance, Feline made her way to the two ponies and helped them up.

The grey mare looked up at Feline, and her eyes where looking different ways... It looked quite cute on her though... She wore a worried expression trying to hide behind a smile. The stallion, looked as though he was in his own world, and his eyebrows were creased in concentration. The mares eyes where glancing at different directions, each glance augmenting her worried expression.

"You two aren't from around here are you?" Feline said softly, eyebrows slightly creased as she observed the two ponies. They looked at each other, like they were communicating through physic link or something... They sure aren't from around here....