The warmth of the sunshine reinforced my mood as my excitement was close to bubbling over. Today was the day to top all days. It had been a year since the incident with the Doctor. The very memory made me shudder, and I longed to put it behind me, but that was the least of my concerns. I had talked to Adrian about my plan the day before and he wished me the best of luck. I promised him the best spot at the event. As I walked down the crowded street, the sounds of cars zooming by and unintelligible mumblings of the crowds roaming the streets, I couldn’t help but slip a hand in my pocket. I gripped a box-shaped object and twiddled it nervously in my hand; the contents would change my life forever.

I didn’t dare tell Vinyl or Miss O’Neal, they had big mouths and were bound to tell her before I could bother to get around to it, but the very thought made my heart pump. During that year after the experience with the Doctor, Octavia and I grew much closer. It was only then that I could finally identify what had been churning in my mind since I met her: I loved her. Everything about her was perfect. She was beautiful, her usage of her hand was amazing (in more ways than one), especially when playing the Cello, her personality was sweet and caring but she could care for herself if she needed to, and her deep violet eyes stunned me to no end. It was only recently that I realized that I couldn’t get her out of my mind no matter how much I tried and that led me to my decision.

As I opened the door to the apartment complex, the cool rush of air conditioning hit me and I took the box from my pocket. I tilted the top open, and there sat a silver ring with a small but lovely diamond in place at the very top. I had always feared marriage, something that I was never ready to even think about, let alone actually go through with, but Octavia made me so sure, it was insane not to go through with it. As I walked into the elevator and pressed my floor, the sound of it lifting was strangely soothing, but couldn’t distract me from my mission. What frightened me the most was what if she said no? What then? The awkwardness that would loom from then on would be fucking catastrophic!

A flare of worry seared my chest but I forced it away. What reason would she have to not say yes? She obviously loved me as much as I loved her, right? I finally made it to my floor and to my door, but just as I was about to open it, the door flung open and Adrian bolted out, crashing into me. The ring flew from my grasp and landed on the floor.

“What the fuck, Adrian?” I groaned, rubbing my forehead where he had hit me.

“Your bitch is crazy, man!” he began frantically but suddenly his eyes rolled into the back of his head as the sound of a breaking mug echoed through the hall and I could see the ceramic splinters fly from behind his head. She totally just broke a mug against his head. He fell onto his back, his leg twitching.

I scooped up the ring and slipped it back into my pocket just in time to see Octavia in the doorway, her sides heaving with anger as she stood over him. I could see the fire of burning hatred in her eyes as she lifted another mug, ready to break it on him. I shot up, gripping her arm and snatching the mug from her.

“Give me that before you kill him!” I gasped.

“He started it.” She whined before hugging me and giving me a pleading look. “You believe me, don’t you?”

I despised that look with a passion. Accompanied with a hug or a kiss it was like a figurative leash, getting me to do almost whatever she wanted. I simply rolled my eyes in amusement.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s just see if he’s not dead…” I replied flatly.

I strode over to Adrian before slapping him on the cheek lightly, once he gave an annoyed moan he seemed okay. Honestly, I just hoped she wouldn't be like this if children ever came into the picture. I froze for a moment in mid-thought. Children? How would I even begin to cope with that, and what if she did? I simply shrugged it off for the moment, it would just be one of those things we’d need to talk about. I carefully lifted Adrian’s arm and slung it around my shoulder before shakily carrying him into the apartment and tossing him onto the couch so he could get some rest.

Suddenly my heart began to pound like a rabbit hopping through the prairie as Octavia closed the door. With Adrian unconscious for the umpteenth time, we were totally alone and it was the perfect time to raise the question. I slipped a hand in my pocket as I sheepishly twiddled the box in my hand, how would I even begin?

“Is something the matter?” Octavia sliced my train of thought in two as I noticed she had been staring at me with a worried expression.

I gave a rather uninspiring smile before taking in a sharp breath, “Fine, perfectly fine. Hey, uh, listen…I need to ask you something important.” I began, my voice trembling slightly.

She tilted her head aside a bit before prompting, “Go ahead.”

I paced forward towards the sliding glass door leading the balcony before beckoning her forward. I could feel the wariness emanating off her in waves. She was suspicious, I could tell that much. She obviously didn’t know what was going on, which was good; I had the element of surprise. Once I slid the door open I stepped out, waiting for her to join me.

“What is this about?” she demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

I said nothing at first, only getting to one knee. She glanced around unsure for a moment, blinking cluelessly.

“I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll just say it.” I stammered before pulling out the box from my coat pocket and opening it to reveal the glittering gem. “Octavia, will you marry me?” For the moment she didn’t react I felt my blood freeze solid and the knot that was already tight in my stomach churn. What would she say? How would she react? At first her jaw dropped, staring at me with a blank expression and I was almost certain she’d have said no. As the seconds floated by as slow as decades, a smile crept across her face, beautiful and bright; the most genuine smile I had seen from her maybe even since I met her. This was it.

“Yes!” she shrieked, pure joy flooding her voice and making it rise to a higher pitch than normal. I could make out the tears of happiness welling in her eyes as they gradually poured over her cheeks. All the built-up anticipation melted away as that single word left her mouth. I gripped her arm to pull her in close and locked my lips with hers where we held it for quite a while. It was the happiest I’d been in a long time. Suddenly, a familiar scent filled my nose and a cold stone settled in my belly.

T-that's not possible... my mind raced as the memories of the day I had found her shot through my mind as if it had happened yesterday. That smell was…was fudge! I pulled away from her and looked deep into her eyes, I saw only sorry and remorse. She knew more than she let on. What could it be, she obviously knew something about the smell.
Her voice began as a faint tremble before I could actually begin to make it out.

“I-I have to go.” She stuttered.

I blinked, terribly confused. “What? What do you mean?”

“The Doctor…he instructed me not to explain.” She murmured, doing her best to avoid the question.
At that moment anger flashed through me as the pungent smell of chocolate grew more and more apparent.

“To hell with the Doctor!” I snapped, “What’s going on?!”

I instantly regretted it as Octavia visibly flinched but continued to stare me in the eye, the waves of regret and sadness drowning me with each passing second. “We are going back to Equestria…” she started, “After Discord’s human form was destroyed, the binding magic was undone. He told us we would be taken back to Equestria, but he never said when-” She cut off as what seemed like starlight danced around her feet, almost seeming to tease me scornfully. I stared down at it but I just couldn’t believe it. This was too much to take in.

“B-but,” I stammered, doing my best to snuff emotion from my voice with very poor results, “But what about…us?”
The twinkling starlight around her ankles gradually began to rise, becoming brighter with each passing minute. “I can’t thank you, Felix. You are the first human I have ever met and by far the best. I have never truly met someone so wonderfully brilliant…until I met you.” She consoled me. Her voice tender and wistful but she was beginning to sound as if she were echoing. She was being transported; the smell of the fudge was overpowering enough now to confirm that.

“You-you can’t leave, though.” I begged as my vision began to go blurry from the tears beginning to pool in my eyes. I could just feel them rolling down my cheeks before I saw her starry arm reach out and swipe the tear from my cheek. The touch felt mystical and tingly, but it couldn’t even begin the mend the hole that was being torn into my heart right before me. But as the seconds drew on, her ebbing embrace began to wane even more. “What happens now?” I asked, my voice now eerily calm despite the mix of betrayal and longing that clashed inside me, grinding every other emotion I could have felt to a fine dust.

Her starry eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment as if looking through me, her fading visage going blank before returning her attention to me. “Forget. The Doctor said that once the fracture is repaired, every trace of us that once existed will be gone. Like-” her voice trembled for a moment before pressing on, trickles of silver moonlight rolling down her misty cheeks which I could only assume was tears. “Like it never happened.”

“No,” I began, pressing my hands against my ears and squeezing my eyes shut. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it. It was a lie, I was going to open my eyes again it was all going to be a bad dream! But when I reopened them, the same slowly fading body of starshine still stood there before me. “No, no, no, no, no!” I shouted in dismay but it was too real.
Octavia was almost gone before she grabbed my face in her hands, looking me in the eye though at that point I could barely make her out.

“I have to tell you this now before I go back.” She announced suddenly with a determination that made her spirituous figure flicker like a candle before dying out. “Felix Saunders, I lo-” she cut off abruptly as she suddenly burst into dense glimmers of light that lasted only heartbeats before burning themselves out.

My mouth was left agape, staring into the empty spot in which she had stood. And for a moment, part of me wanted to crawl under a rock and stay there until the end of my days, withering away in loneliness. But as seconds turned into minutes I could still remember her clear as day. My mind was reeling. Octavia said I would have forgotten…so why haven’t I? In my stupor, I walked to the railing of the balcony, staring into nothingness as my despair began to eat at me, but my thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a flit of movement down below.

For a moment there was nothing, just a dank alley way but then the familiar sound of a repetitive whizzing tackled my ears. Just then, the famous blue box began to materialize in that same spot and the door opened slowly. For a moment, my hopes soared high above the clouds that perhaps the Doctor took pity on me and brought her back but alas these were only empty dreams. Out walked the Doctor, his new neatly combed hair waving in the cool air as he was backed by Derpy, her wall eyed stare failing to focus on one spot though she seemed to be facing me. Both of them wore a sympathetic expression but the message was clear. They had allowed me to remember.

Thank you, Doctor. At least I can live knowing that I’ll never forget. Thank you so much…

Author's Note

Pssssst...ending it totally a Doctor Who reference. Ending of Rose Tyler as companion.