"Hurry up Doctor!" Midnight called, jumping around by the TARDIS doors.
"I'm coming," he replied. This was Midnights first time leaving the TARDIS since she had decided to come with him and the little filly was very excited.
"Where are we?" She asked as the Doctor and Ditzy trotted towards the door.
"I don't know, actually," he replied, "I haven't been here very long, but I do know we're still on your planet," The idea of planets other than her own still boggled the young ponies mind.
"Well, lets go see then!" Ditzy declared, opening the doors. They all stared.
"We're... under water! How will we breath?"
"Well, the TARDIS has a kind of oxygen field, I mean there's already oxygen in water but she'll filter it for us so we can breath as long as we don't go too far," Midnight smiled and jumped into the water. The Doctor had taught her to swim in the library and she had actually become quite good for her age.
"Hey wait for us!" The Doctor and Ditzy swam up beside her, grinning.
"It's beautiful down here! Look at all the fish! And the coral! And... Oh!"
"What is it midnight?"
"There is a city, over there! See?" She pointed to a shining dome that appeared to be full of houses.
"Well that's different, lets go check it out!" And he promptly went back inside the TARDIS. Midnight and Ditzy stared at him.
"What? The TARDIS oxygen field won't reach that far," the ponies nodded and entered the TARDIS. A few button pressing, lever flipping and whirring sound filled minutes later the Doctor declared "We're here!" And raced over to the door, followed closely by his companions. Outside they found it was indeed a domed city, with beautiful shell-like houses and...
"Merponies! Midnight cried. The city was full of colorful fish tailed ponies swimming back and forth, not noticing the police box that had suddenly appeared. But one did notice the three ponies who had come out of it. The pink merpony emitted a shrill scream and swam away. The trio didn't even have time to wonder why she had been startled when they were surrounded by guards. The guard wore silver armor and had a spear attached to each side. Some broke off from the others to calm the now frantic citizens.
"Come with us," one glaring guard demanded.
"All right!" The Doctor replied cheerily "But, I really need to ask if you could bring that box over there with us," there was a pause before the first guard nodded to four other who scooped up the TARDIS in a net and followed them to a rather large building made of shells that could only be a castle. They were rushed inside to the throne room where a regal pony sat. Her coat was a bright blue and her flowing mane seemed to be made of gold. She waved ber hoof and the guards left, leaving the TARDIS in the corner of the room.
"Queen Prisma!" Midnight said in awe, bowing. Well, bowing as well as she could underwater. Everypony in the room stared at her.
"Well well, I see you know who I am, but I don't have the pleasure of knowing you," the Doctor swam forward awkwardly.
"I am The Doctor and these are my companions, Ditzy Doo and Midnight Star," the queen swam towards the beaming filly.
"Midnight, how do you know me?" Her voice was kind and fluid.
"you're in my storybook! I used to read every night about the merponies! I'm so excited to meet you!"
"Thank you my dear filly," she turned to the face all three ponies. "I am sorry for the rude greeting you have received. We have not had visitors in a very long time and we can be rather, suspicious of outsiders. It is a long story,"
"We have time, if you're willing to tell it," the queen smiled, her eyes glistening as she started her story. Hours seemed to pass as she told of a unicorn named Legerdomain whose coat was blue, his mane was black, and his top hat and cape made him seem a real magician. Every day after the merponies sang on the beach at sunset he would amaze them with tricks and magical feats. They were entranced. After almost a month he had earned their complete trust, except for the queen whose job it is to remain courteous but aware of any possible danger. So he was invited to the city of the merponies and, with the help of a rare breathing underwater potion, amazed the ponies in their own home. But that night he stole the Sea jewel, a powerful magic relic and the merponies most guarded treasure.
"He escaped without a trace and when we realized what had happened many of us were enraged and created a storm that lasted days on end. Ever since then we have been suspicious and even hostile towards outsiders,"
Nopony was quite sure how to respond to the queens story at first.
"Then, maybe, it's time to start rebuilding relations," It was not a question.
"I'm sort Midnight, my subjects would not be kind to you. I wish it weren't so but it is," the fillys face scrunched up in concentration until finally she replied.
"Then lets give them baby steps, let them be friends with outsiders who are merponies,"
"There are no merponies except those who live here," she nodded.
"Midnight, are you saying," the Doctor started, and she nodded again.
"Sweetie, we've been trying to help you with your magic since we first saw you on the TARDIS, but none of us are unicorns. Besides, transformation spells are pretty advanced," but there was no deterring the little alicorn. Finally her friends stopped arguing and Queen Prisma took her to the library to look for a temporary spell.
"Merponies, please gather," the queen called from a balcony on the castle. "I would like you to meet some visitors. Their names are Time Turner, Derpy Whooves, and Quicksilver,"
Hi! Just thought I'd better tell you, although some flashbacks will be in order, not all of them will be. The present day ones will be in sequence however. This is also probably the longest chapter I will ever write, sorry but I don't write very long chapters