1000-ish words that detail ponies walking.
A copious amount of hoof steps were heard outside of his dingy lab. It was a marching sound of clopping and shuffling. That would explain the dust covering his windows, leaving a few scrapes of rock and dirt on said windows. It was so hard to see outside that if somepony were to ask him what the time is, he'd have to reply 'air pollution'.
Fortunately, he never planned to go out and into the busy town today. But what if this dust storm is a cause for concern? Ponies can get sick or blinded from this. Truth be told, everypony may have already gotten sick or blinded from this.
Darkness was now an everlasting constant as it crept with the rising storm of brown and orange outside. This would've been fine for the Doctor since he always had the lab lit with many sparkling lights. If anything, this isn't that big of a deal. But as fate would have it, the light switch didn't work.
"Why, I'd be a quantum nano engine with zero batteries if there wasn't any reserve power here..." He said to himself as the power chord was located near his desk.
A small plastic button was pressed with a squishy click, igniting the lab in a crimson red. There was a slow light flash on the sirens. If he could hear color, it would be blaring cry. He wondered if the rest of the town had a power outage. Most likely, due to the the unnatural nature of this dust storm. A lot of questions started to bounce inside of his head. Most if not all of them lead back to this mysterious storm brewing outside of his lab.
Soon enough, the wave of scorching heat leaked through the ventilation. This convinced him to leave.
The second he opened his door, the heat intensified. But this warmness didn't seem to come from the sun and it never did. This was... Something else. Even stranger, this heat turned into a sort of smell. An absorbed smell. His pupils had widened, peaking his curiosity.
And then he saw it. Every single pony in Ponyville followed eachother from behind. Without any hesitation, Dr. Whooves found a place within the many trotting denizens. This brought to him an air of excitement due to the happy attitude everyone seemed to have.
"Fascinating parade this is, don't you think? But what is the occasion?" He asked a pony next to him, only smiling as a response. "Lyra Heartstrings, is it? I inquire a short explanation, please." He asked once more but she only trotted in rhythm of whoever was in front.
He shifted his eyes to his right, finally taking notice of how he was enclosed by everypony. The Doctor was confused by this. It appeared as if he and everyone in his row walked straight into the center of the large circle. An endless amount of lively bodies pranced and danced around him behind the other.
Soon enough, after walking for what felt like ten minutes, the Doctor was in the outer circle but on the adjacent sidewalk to where his lab was. He couldn't tell if more ponies joined in or if this were a fixed amount. He was sure that this circle had to end eventually or else nopony would be able to eat or drink... Or sleep... Or be willing to try out a fancy new invention. This thought came into his mind once a familiar face quickly disappeared. She had cement colored fur and a lily shaded mane from what he could remember.
Speaking of memory, the scent from earlier had gotten stronger and the Doctor's mind felt foggy.
He tried to ask Lyra about the swirling chain of the populace but she was gone. How long was she gone? It probably didn't matter. What did matter was the fact he was now back inside of the inner circle. This was where the scent radiated the strongest, feeling as if something rewired his brain to smell that and only that.
More and more walking. He wanted to leave but something compelled him to stay and trot with the others. It was as if the danger sense within was ignored by something taking over. Whatever that something was, surely loved to make him walk.
Boredom started to set in and this led him to stare at the surrounding area. From what little he could see from everypony joining together in this circle, a lot of dust blocked out the sky. He had to squint, unable to use his hooves to rub away dirt in fear of being trampled.
The ground below him was riddled with countless hoofsteps, digging nearly twenty centimeters into the dry earth.
He returned to the outside where it was near impossible to take a good look at the circle's scale. Too many ponies of various heights obstructed any start or beginning to the crowd. Maybe the answer lied within the center of the circle? Even though he had been inside there a few times by now, a few things were bound to be overlooked. As he waited to dive back inside, it was odd to see ponies on the outside circle resting on the floor.
From what he could quickly see inside of the center, a mare with pink hair and yellow fur also took a nap. She was covered in ants as if they were a warm fuzzy blanket. Before he could understand anything from this strange sight, Dr. Whooves found himself back outside of the circle again.
Round and round like a carousel he went. More walking. More hooves making the sound of clopping. Eventually, he found Lyra again. She looked as fatigued and gaunt as all the other ponies around him. He was confused as to why anyone would contiue trotting in this repetitive circle even though it will affect them negatively.
In fact, he had many questions. But those questions would have to wait. There's more walking to do.
