And Suddenly, I'm Fluttershy

Music. Again. Also, Doctor.

Bartholomew

With that bit of unpleasantness out of the way, I decided to get back to what I was doing, namely, carting the cart (heh) back to Vinyl's.

I arrived at the shop within a few minutes, fortunately, and trotted in, pushing the cart.

"Yo dude, why didn't you tell me you were an alien?" asked Vinyl as soon as I walked in.

"Because you probably wouldn't have given me a discount," I quipped.

"You kidding me? Had I know you were an alien, you could've taken all that for free!"

"Well, damn," I replied. "Anyways, here's your cart back."

"Thanks, dude."

I left the shop and headed for the library. There were two primary reasons for doing this. One, I needed to know Equestrian customs, particularly concerning dating. Two, my natural curiosity compelled me to learn as much as I could about this place before I woke up.

Yes, I do still believe that I'm hallucinating.

A brown stallion (still getting used to the term) briskly trotted towards me.

"Fluttershy, I have great news! How would you like to see the the gardens on Reighnum 2... Fluttershy?"

I was merely trying to cope with the fact some random pony was spouting gibberish at me.

"Sir, I believe you have the wrong man," I said.

"Wrong man... You're not Fluttershy," he said, his voice taking an edge.

"No sir, I am not. Now, if you are Fluttershy's boyfriend, I must say, I'm surprised that you haven't heard the news yet. Not the most attentive guy, are we?"

"Whatever you have done to her, I will do to you tenfold!" he got very close, uncomfortably close and stared into my eyes.

I awoke in bed back at the cottage.

"What the hell..?" I asked.

The stallion stood there with a sheepish look on his face, "Weeell."

I thought back to the encounter earlier. Let's see, I looked into his eyes, that never ends well, and then...

Oh God, his eyes.

I involuntarily shuddered.

"Yeah, that tends to happen when someone tries to soul-gaze me. If it's any consolation, that was entirely my fault for jumping to conclusions back there. My name is Clockwork, I'm the local clockmaker and inventor extraordinaire! Well trained in the arts of mental defense, if I do say so myself," he said.

"Bartholomew," I said. "Tell me, where is Gallifrey?"

"Why it's... Well. It seems I've been found out."

"That tends to happen with these things, Doctor."

"I thought I was better than that..."

"You are, but you're a TV show back home."

"Were you human?"

"Yes. And, you had your own TV series."

"Really? What was it called?"

"Doctor Who."

"Ha! I love that line!"

"I surprised you're not freaking out."

"I've seen stranger. It does bother me a bit that there's a universe without me, though. Has anything drastic happened?"

"No."

"Daleks?"

"No."

"Cybermen?"

"No."

"Sontarans?"

"No."

"Really? I'm surprised. That sort of thing happened all the time in my world."

"Not in mine. In fact, my current... condition is probably the strangest thing anyone I know has experienced."

"Hmm. Perhaps if- No, that wouldn't work," he paused.

"Don't tell me you can't help me either!"

"Sorry, not to good at the mental stuff. Gets a bit complicated."

"Well you're helpful."

"I know. I do have a question for you though, how would you like to see the universe?"

"Me? I'm honored, but on what grounds? I'm just some guy, who happens to have his body switched, but still. That's hardly grounds for adventuring."

"Oh come on! I'm giving you the offer of a lifetime, nay, eternity!"

"I would, but I still need to figure out how to get back."

"No time at all will pass! It's the perfect getaway! Leave Ponyville and see the universe!"

"No thank you. This is coming from someone who has spent their entire life learning, there are some things best left hidden, some secrets best kept. I would go, but honestly? I don't want to be omniscient. Takes all the fun out of life. I'm merely happy I live in an age where knowledge is readily available, and the future still uncertain."

"Those are incredibly wise words from a madman. Then again, I espouse wisdom all the time! Nonetheless, you can't be left knowing of- Actually, I had best not tell you."

"What?"

*Flash*

I awoke on the couch.

"How did I..? Oh." The memories came rushing back to me. The Doctor, his offer, and my declination. And then... Fuzziness. Sort of fluffy, too, not unlike a longhaired cat. Wait, where did that come from?

Shaking the thought from my head, I got up. There was still much to be done, first of all, to the library. I needed to catch up on my history.