Lazy, late afternoon sunlight pilfered through the plain window blinds. Dust particles danced back and forth within the sunbeams. Pages, fluttered, silently as a young unicorn sat in the quiet book store reading. She laid her head down against her hoof, the other turning the pages.
"War and Peace..." she mumbled.
She sighed quietly, closing the book, and tucking it back into place on the shelf using a bit of her magic. She sat back down, pushing her long black mane out of her face. She opened her small note book and began to write.
"Chapter One: The Lost Ark
Pink clouds floated aimlessly along the neon orange afternoon sky. High Tides the pirate watched the slow sea as his crew sailed the boat toward the small island. He stepped away from the forecastle and back down onto the lower deck, preparing his crew to board the island. 'I need all hooves on deck, everypony is going to be busy.' High Tides commanded, 'I have a feeling it'll be here....' "
She pushed the note book away from her, and rubbed her temples with her hoof. The bell over the entrance chimed.
"Welcome to Nooks and Crannys, I'm Penny Dreadful, how may I help you?" she greeted across the counter, cheerfully.
A young looking light brown stallion took his eyes away from the shelves of books to look at her. His eyes held a funny glow as the late light hit them. The light made them an impossible shade of blue, like the whole universe was watching her, ensnaring her.
"I just like to come here to look at the books." he said back, a British accent to his voice.
Penny nodded, "Well if you need anything, I'll be right here. Don't be too shy to ask."
She dragged her note book back to her and went back to writing. The stallion moved around from shelf to shelf just watching the books. Never touching, never pulling a book away to read it's description or look at the cover art. His strange eyes landed upon her note book.
"You're a writer?" he asked.
Penny blushed lightly, "Well, I try...I mostly do it to keep myself from getting bored. I rarely get business in here. I'm not very good at writing."
He smiled, "Oh, I doubt that. I bet you're brilliant."
She blushed deeper, pushing her fallen mane back into place.
"Mind if I read it?" the stallion nudged toward her note book.
Penny Dreadful fidgeted with it momentarily, running her hoof across the worn cover. "I don't know..."
"Oh, come on, what could it hurt? I could even help you out with ideas."
"Well, you're a stranger, I juse met you, I don't even know your name."
The stallion reached up, with a smile, and straightened his tie, "I'm the Doctor."
Penny hesitantly pushed her note book toward him, a light pink tinting her grey muzzle. The Doctor quickly read and re-read the few paragraphs she had written down. He looked at her with a large smile, his universal eyes brighter than ever.
"You're going to be a Manehattan Best Seller."
She cocked her head, her purple eyes staring wide in disbelief, "Excuse me?"
He sat down the note book carefully, "You might not believe me, Ms Dreadful, but I've read all your published works. I even have a few that you've autographed."
Penny Dreadful took a few steps away from the counter. "Sir, you must be mistaken, I've never published my stories. I've never even thought about it.
"I'm quite certain it's you," The Doctor laughed quietly, "You will publish more than fifty stories and poems in your lifetime. earn a few awards, even meet Princess Celestia yourself. She's a big fan of your work. "
"Sir- Doctor- you're most certainly mad."
He gave her a coy smile, "I'm nothing more than a mad stallion with a blue box. Would you care to see it?"
She sighed heavily, "You know what? Why not? I almost believed you about my being famous, why not believe you about this 'blue box'? I do believe you're mad, however."
"You'd be surprised."
The Doctor led her a couple of streets past her shop and into an alley. Other ponies seem completely oblivious to the random police box sitting between a flower shop and a family owned bakery. They kept walking right on by, some in groups, some alone, none even bothering to care to look to the side and see the awkward pair in front of the strange object. Penny still wasn't impressed.
"You dragged me away from work to show me some old phone booth?"
The brown stallion grinned and cracked open the door, "Follow me."
She slowly stepped inside behind him and had to keep her jaw from slamming into the floor.
The inside of the police box was enormous. There was a large control console of buttons and levers in the middle, an upper level that led out into a hallway, -
"And there's a library, a swimming pool. I'm still finding new rooms myself."
Penny shook her head.
"What's the matter?"
"This is...Impossible."
She walked out, circled it, and poked her head back through, "Completely, and totally, impossible! There's no way such a small box can contain all this!"
The Doctor smiled, "One would say it's bigger on the inside."
"What is this thing?" Penny gingerly walked along the glass floor, staring at the glowing console.
"Why, it's my time machine, my TARDIS, stands for Time And Relative Dimension in Space."
"Yes but.....What does it do? This 'TARDIS'? What's it's function?"
"Anything you want."
She raised a brow, "Anything?"
"You can travel to anywhere in space and time, to any time period- past, present, or future. You could meet Princess Celestia when she was just a filly, experience the Beatles for yourself. You can see what Equestria will be like in 10, 15, 20 years. You can go to the furthest corners of the universe. All you have to do is take my hoof and hold on tight." The Doctor held a hoof out to her, his eyes so unbelievably bright and drawing her in like a pool.
She sighed deeply and took his hoof. A small smile upon her snout, her purple eyes bright.
"I'm in."
