//-------------------------------------------------------// Warriors of Time: The Stallion (Book 1) -by MLPgirlwriter- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue The blue box was moving frantically through the black hole, getting faster and faster as it spun in all directions! The only occupant in it was following the boxes lead as the metal box went through the black pit that would soon lead to the creature's demise. It was strange on how just a little space outing led to this disaster. The creature had tried desperately to escape and get somewhere safe, but to no avail. There was nothing that could be done; the blue box was out of control, and it's passenger would not slip out of fate's grasp this time.    It was hopeless. The creature braced himself for death, just wanting to get it over with and join his friends in the stars. At last, the box landed. Not in its graceful, smooth, fade-in and fade-out, sort of way though. It had fallen at a parallel angle, skidded across the soft earth, flipped all the way over at least six times, and then gradually slid to a stop in an open field.     Inside of the box, its passenger lay unconscious, but in a completely different form than just a few seconds ago when he was still spinning in the galaxy. //-------------------------------------------------------// The Meeting //-------------------------------------------------------// The Meeting    A gray pegasus was speeding on her hooves to get to the post office as quickly as she could. Some day it had been for Derpy Hooves; she had overslept and didn't have time to make her breakfast, so she went to Sugarcube Corner to get some muffins, but instead got a milkshake on her mailmare uniform the second she came into the threshold of the building. If that wasn't enough, she had to be at work exactly at 7:30a.m. Now, it was 7:36 and her boss was not exactly the forgiving type.   "I am so doomed." Derpy thought as she was all of a sudden knocked to the ground by another pony who also seemed to be in a hurry. Derpy's mailbag had flown off of her and went five feet into the air as some envelopes scattered around her. The mailmare recovered and sat up to tell the other pony off, but when her one good eye came back into focus her mouth opened so much, it could have hit the ground.     The reason behind this action was because of the pony the pegasus had ran into; she could recognize the purple coat, deep blue mane with dark purple and pink streaks with a unicorn horn, and wings any day. It was none other than the new princess, Twilight Sparkle! Judging by the alicorn's expression, she had been upset, too. However, when Twilight saw the winged-pony's face, her expression turned softer as she got up and went to help the opposite mare to her hooves.     "I-I am-s-so sorry, y-your hi-highness! It w-was al-all my fa-fault!" the frantic wall-eyed mare stuttered as she quickly got on her hooves and bowed for the young princess. Derpy could remember when Twilight Sparkle moved to Ponyville. After all, Derpy was at her welcome party the night Twilight came, but she had never actually spoken to the unicorn-turned-alicorn.     "Please don't apologize. I should have been watching where i was going, but I was just so excited because i got some new books from the Canterlot library today and I wasn't looking." Twilight gestured to some books that apparently fell out of her saddlebag, much like the envelopes did. Twilight looked back at Derpy and saw with a frown that the gray pony was still bowed, looking up at her with one eye not exactly "looking" at her. The princess felt really awkward because she didn't like it when ponies bowed for her, it made her feel like she was put on a pillar, while others worshiped her as though she was a goddess when she knew she wasn't.      "Uh...you don't have to do that." Twilight said. Derpy regained her composure as Twilight spoke again, "So, um..... what's your name?" Derpy was stunned. Why would an alicorn, of all ponies, want to know who she was? "I'm Derpy. Derpy Hooves." she said with a smile. //-------------------------------------------------------// A Strange Encounter //-------------------------------------------------------// A Strange Encounter    It truly was an eventful day for Derpy; she had a terrible morning, met a princess, went to work with surprisingly no punishment from her boss, and now she was going to meet Twilight Sparkle at the ponyville library! Earlier that day, Twilight had asked the mailmare if she wanted to hangout with her and her friends for a picnic. Derpy could remember nearly shouting to the entire town, "YES, THANK YOU!!!!"     It was a big deal for the pegasus. Not because she would be hanging out with the princess who saved Equestria half a dozen times, but because this was her one chance at having a real friend. And since she and Twilight were going to hang out with Twilight's friends, it was a chance for her to make several new friends!     The mare couldn't help but smile at the thought, but as the Golden Oaks Library came into view, a new feeling of fear and dread came over her, "What if this is all just a setup for a prank? What if the princess changes her mind and tells me to get lost?" all those thoughts leaked into Derpy's mind like guo. The last thing she wanted was to be humiliated like so many times before.     "DERPY!!!" shouted a cheerful voice. Derpy looked to see that it was Twilight, waving at her with a big grin on her face. "No  turning back now."  thought Derpy as she plastered on a fake smile as she neared Twilight. "Ready?" she asked. The lazy-eyed pony gulped and nodded as they set off for the park where they would meet Twilight's friends. The two walked in an awkward silence for four minutes before Twilight spoke up. "So, sorry about bumping into you this morning." Derpy turned and was relieved that Twilight had started the conversation instead of her. "It's fine. I was running late anyways. I'll tell you, my boss was so upset when I came to work, though. He wouldn't stop his ranting."      Derpy couldn't help but chuckle at the memory of when her boss was too busy ranting to notice a baseball break a nearby window and hit him in the head as he fell face first into a bucket of ice cold water. Soon, Twilight and Derpy were having really good conversations; They told stories, jokes, and gossip. But right in the middle of their talking, they heard a loud crash in a nearby field! The two mares just stood glued to the spot for a few long moments.     Finally, Derpy spoke in a low, weak, and frightened voice, "W-what w-was th-that?" For a moment, Twilight couldn't answer. Her heart was pounding like thunder in a terrible storm. At last, she spoke in a brave and determined voice, "I don't know. But let's find out." before Derpy could protest, Twilight was speeding off, leaving the mare behind. Derpy gave out an exasperated sigh as she flew off in Twilight's direction. However, the trees were not going to let Derpy off the hook that easily. The pegasus kept on running into branches and the thick leaves made it hard to see.      After what felt like an eternity, she finally reached an open field where she saw Twilight standing as still as a stone in front of a large, blue box. Derpy landed next to the princess with her mouth opened in awe. She looked at the top of the metal box to see the words, "Police Box".      "What's a police box?" she asked her companion. "I don't know, but maybe we should open it to see if somepony is inside that is hurt." said Twilight. As much as Derp wanted to protest, she knew Twilight was right. Next thing she knew, she was opening up the box. What the two mares saw when looked inside however, stunned them; what was expected to be a small, blue interior was actually what looked to be the inside of a spaceship!      But something else made Derpy gasp in horror; on a wall that was acting as a floor, she saw a brown stallion, unconscious, and with a small streak of blood coming out of his forehead. Twilight took notice of Derpy's gasp because she too was staring at the stallion in shock and horror. Quickly and delicately, she levitated the stallion out of the box and turned to Derpy with a determined expression on her face as she said, "We need to get him to the hospital." and she galloped off. Before derpy followed Twilight, Derpy turned back to the police box and said, "This day just keeps on getting stranger and stranger." before flying off towards the hospital. //-------------------------------------------------------// The Doctor //-------------------------------------------------------// The Doctor    It all happened so fast; one second the Doctor was spinning through the galaxy, the next he was on the floor of the TARDIS, hurt, and unconscious. He slowly lifted his eyelids to see that the TARDIS was a battlefield; tools, cloths and machines were broken and miss placed. But the Doctor didn't care. All he wanted to do was sleep. He closed his eyes once more, but could have sworn he heard a door open, hear a gasp, and felt like he was being lifted before he blacked out again.    When the Doctor woke up, he was no longer in the TARDIS, but in a comfortable bed in what looked like a hospital room. The sun was shining brightly to the point where he couldn't see. It was then that the Doctor noticed that he couldn't feel his fingers, feet, and that his nose felt strangely bigger. As he looked in a nearby mirror, he was horrified by what he saw; instead of seeing a man staring back at him from the mirror, he saw a pony!    The Doctor gave a little shout as a medical doctor entered the room. "Well, seems you've woken up at last." the doctor said as he started staring at his clipboard that was being levitated by his magic. The Doctor in the bed was shocked! Standing right in front of him was a unicorn! A real, talking unicorn! The Doctor had lived a very long life and never did he meet or hear of anybody meeting a unicorn that could talk!    "Right well, I should go and get the ponies who came to visit you. They will want to know you're alright." commented the medical Doctor as he exited the room. The Doctor was met with even more shock. Visiters. He had visitors? Perhaps they were the ones who saved him from death. "Well, at least I will get a chance to thank my rescuers." the brown stallion thought.    Derpy, Twilight, and the rest of the mane six were all sitting in the waiting room. Twilight had gone to inform her friends of what had happened and they had all insisted on coming with her to the hospital. They were all very nervous, but not as much as Twilight and Derpy were for the stranger.    Finally after what felt like an eternity, the doctor came back in. All the young mares stood up as the doctor spoke, "He will be fine. He's awake now." at those words, everypony in the group gave out relieved sighs. Rainbow dash spoke, "Can we see him." the doctor nodded, but then said, "I think it would be best if the ones who saved him went to see him first, though." Twilight and Derpy gave each other sideways glances as they went to the room the injured pony was in.     When they got into the room, the doctor turned in their direction as they all stood frozen in their places for a few moments. Twilight sensed the stallion studying her as his eyes landed on Derpy. When Derpy felt the Doctor's eyes on her, she couldn't help but feel heat rising up in her cheeks. To her relief, Twilight spoke up, "Ah...hello, there. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, and this is my friend, Derpy." Derpy waved her right hoof as she said, "...Hi..."     The Doctor soon regained his composure as he cleared his throat and spoke, "Oh, well...yes. I just wanted to thank you both for saving me. If you hadn't come, I probably would be dead." The atmosphere in the room soon lifted as Derpy grinned wildly as she went to the Doctor's bedside. "Well, of course! We couldn't just walk away if somepony was hurt." the Doctor couldn't help but chuckle at the pegasus's choice of words.     "So just wondering, but who are you, exactly?" Twilight asked as she joined Derpy. The Doctor hesitated for a moment or two before he decided to answer the purple alicorn's question, "I'm the Doctor." Derpy raised an eyebrow before asking, "The doctor of what?" the brown stallion clarified the answer quickly, "I'm just called the Doctor." at those words, Derpy gave a big smile as she held her hoof out waiting for him to shake it. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Doctor!"     It took a minute for the Doctor to figure out how to shake a hoof without any fingers, before he did the best he could to shake Derpy's own and then shook Twilight's. Still, there was one question that was nagging at the back of his mind, so he asked, "So, do you two know where I am." Twilight raised her eyebrow at the question. How in Celestia's name did this pony not know where he was!? Nevertheless, she answered, "You're in the Ponyville Hospital, in the great land of Equestria." //-------------------------------------------------------// Who Exactly Are You? //-------------------------------------------------------// Who Exactly Are You?    In the next few days, the Doctor was finally released from the hospital, thanks to Twilight. The Doctor was still getting use to the feeling of walking on all fours instead of two; he kept on falling over and tumbling into things. Derpy and Twilight found the scenes amusing to watch, but after a while it wore off. They would then look on in concern as the brown male fell into ponies and other things constantly.   "Uh...should we help him?" Derpy would ask her new alicorn friend, still staring at the Doctor as he tripped into something yet again. "Yeah, but something tells me there is something different about that stallion, Derpy." Twilight would reply. The princess had started getting suspicious about the stallion. She didn't say anything, but she had a hunch that the Doctor was not all he said he was. Finally, she knew she had to speak up.    "Doctor," Twilight began as the Doctor turned to see her and Derpy. "I know that we've only known each other for a few days, but I still feel like Derpy and I still don't know a thing about you. You are obviously not from around here, and I have a feeling that there's more to you than what meets the eye." the alicorn explained.    The Doctor suddenly felt the air around him get thick as sweat dropped down his narrow face. He knew he would have to tell the two mares at some point, but he had hoped to have the TARDIS fixed when he did. Not to mention that he had only known the two girls for a few days, he didn't know if they would try anything. Then again, they did save his life and all they wanted was to know who he was. But he still had doubts; on one hoof they would think he was mental and through him into a funny farm, but on the other hoof they were magical beings who talked. Finally with a great, big sigh, the Doctor told them.     He explained on how he was a being from another planet that traveled through time and space to fix problems that shouldn't happen. He said on how he was actually in a human form instead of a pony form most of the time, and on how he was sucked into a black hole that crash landed him into Equestria.     Derpy and Twilight were both astounded by the news; Derpy was amazed by everything the Doctor spoke of. However, Twilight was a bit skeptical at first, but when the Doctor spoke of humans she knew he was telling the truth. After all, not many ponies knew about humans, only the princesses and herself along with her friends knew, but nopony else did.     When the Doctor finished, Derpy restated his words, "So let me get this straight; you time travel all across the universe in a thing you call the TARDIS, you are some kind of alien that takes the form of something called a 'human', you have something called a sonic screwdriver, and you help save the universe with others that you call,  'companions'?"     The Doctor answered nonchalantly to the lazy-eyed pegasus's statement, "Yeah, pretty much." Derpy squealed in delight, "That is so awesome! Do you think you could take us places and times sometime?!" at that, Twilight stepped in, "Hold on there, Derpy. Do you really think that's safe? You saw what happened to that TARDIS thingy! It could be very dangerous. Besides, I've learned a lesson that messing with time can be very foolish." after the purple mare said that, both the Doctor and Derpy gave her questionable looks before she said, "Don't ask."     For the rest of the day, the Doctor asked questions about Equestria, it's ponies, and the stamps that were plastered onto their rumps. Twilight and Derpy answered gladly for the fascinated stallion to every question. He found it interesting that the stamps were known as "cutie marks" and  that they told you your destiny.     It was getting dark when Twilight's assistant, Spike came rushing towards the trio with a note in claw. "Twilight! I got a letter from the princess!" the alicorn levitated the note away from the dragon as she read out loud,                                         Dear Twilight,                                              A great urgency needs your assistance. Be sure to bring the Doctor and Ms. Derpy Hooves.                                                                                                                                             Yours,                                                                                                                                                   Princess Celestia   Derpy and the Doctor were both shocked; how would the princess of the sun know who they were? Also, why did she want them to come along with Twilight?