The Adventures of Trotter Grey

Chapters

The First Day
Advice from the Doctors
Everything
Anything
His Fear

The First Day

The world is a strange place. It can be one grand adventure full of excitement and wonder or it could be a relaxing life full of a pleasant calmness and peace. You could be the pony who wants to see it all or just settle down in a small town with some friends and family. Neither of these are the wrong choice, they are both amazing in their own ways. There is only one wrong way to live and that’s living in fear of life. Never be afraid of the world. It’s true it can be scary at some points and things might be hard for a bit, but don’t fear it. All bad things pass, it’s the nature of the world. There will be good times and there will be bad times, everypony has to face them.

Just remember one thing, even if you’re scared of the world, don’t fear it…because you don’t have to face it alone.

****

“Promise me we’ll be friends forever, Trotter…”

“Of course I will be! You’ll my best and only friend!”

“Trotter…”

“Yes?”

“If I was going to be your friend forever…then why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you let me die?”

“…what?”

“You let me die, you killed me, Trotter Grey. You’re the reason I’m dead!”

“I didn’t mean to, it wasn’t…it wasn’t my…fault…”

“Then why did you leave me alone? Why did you leave me there?!”

“I’m sorry…”

“You’re always sorry.”

“Please, forgive me.”

“I can’t and I don’t think I will, not until you-”

****

Trotter Grey awoke from his nap. The train had gone over a bump or something and had shaken him awake. He flinched at the change of lighting and rubbed his eyes. After a minute they finally adjusted to the light and his sight was back to normal. How long had he been asleep for?

Trotter Grey was young unicorn on his way to Ponyville from his hometown, Hollow Shades. Hollow Shades was small hamlet mainly inhabited by unicorns seeking to further their magical talent at the local college. This had been one of several reasons Trotter had left home. Unlike most unicorns local to Hollow Shade, he was absolute garbage at spells and magic. He knew a few of the more basic spells, like levitation or a simple light spell, but compared to the locals he was the lowest grade of unicorn.

Trotter himself was a unicorn of eighteen. Like his father he had a fine, light brown coat and a short, messy, grey mane. He had gotten his mother’s purple eyes and a crimson highlight which hung down the right side of his face. Upon the age of eight, like most foals of his age, he had gotten his cutie mark, a question mark. However, how he earned it was mystery to him, one day it just showed up. At this point in his life he just accepted it, he found it pointless to worry about it.

Trotter looked out the window of the train. The train had just passed over a river and was heading toward the Canterlot Mountain. It was probably sometime around twelve, though he really had no idea. He had gotten on the train maybe an hour or so ago at eleven and it was a four hour trip to Ponyville. He had tried to take a quick nap to pass the time, but now that he was awake it’d be impossible to fall back to sleep.

Trotter yawned. He was still tired from his long night. He had spent all night packing his saddle bags and he hadn’t got much sleep. At least that’s what he wanted to think. Trotter didn’t have a lot of things, not because he couldn’t afford them, but rather he didn’t have need for them. He, in fact, spent most of his night staying up in his bed, he had been way too excited to sleep.

The train shook again. One of Trotter’s saddle bags fell from the overhead and hit the floor. Something metal in the bag had made large clanging noise as it hit ground. Trotter poked his head out to see if any other pony had noticed the loud clanging of his bag. Upon his professional investigation, which he made from his seat, he deduced that he was the only one in the train car so nopony else had been bothered by it.

Trotter let out a sigh of relief and levitated the bag back up to the overhead. He sat back in his seat and looked out the window. He thought of his new life in Ponyville. What would it be like? He knew what he wanted, a nice quiet life, open a nice café and just enjoy his time, but that life didn’t come easy. He didn’t even have a house or a job, all he had was the few bits he earned from his old job.

Trotter shook his head. That wasn’t a productive train of thought. He needed something to get his mind of the stress of starting a new life, he needed…

BANG!

The door furthest from Trotter slammed open and brown earth pony galloped in. Trotter quickly jumped out of his seat and into the aisle. The earth pony slammed the door and then, at least from Trotter’s perspective, whistled at the door. The brown pony turned around and Trotter was able to get a good look at him.

He was a taller, light brown stallion with a darker brown mane that was gelled up. He had bright blue eyes that seemed to smile at Trotter, but they also seemed so old. He was wearing a green tie and had a sliver pen in his mouth, at least it looked like a pen aside from the blue end of it.

The brown earth pony spit his pen into his hoof and smiled at Trotter. “Hello there!” He said quickly and in accent Trotter had never heard before, “Are you alright? Have you seen anything weird, maybe a strange pony in a suit of armor that’s kind of not armor?”

Trotter shook his head, “Um, no? Was I supposed to?”

“I’m not sure yet, but anyways I’m the Doctor and we should probably get going!” The Doctor grabbed Trotter’s hoof and started to pull him down the aisle.

“Whoa! Wait a minute! Wha-why, no, yes, what do you, mean?”

“We really don’t have ti-”

BANG! CRASH!

The door the Doctor had come through exploded violent torrent of electricity. Shards of jagged wood spat out from the explosion severely scratching and wounding the Doctor and Trotter. The cuts stung deep and Trotter was sure that he was bleeding, he could feel it run down his back legs.

In the wake of the doorway a pony in sliver armor stomped in. All around his armor were weird patterns, almost like his armor fit together like puzzle pieces. The pony seemed more like a robot rather than a pony in armor. His horn was still glowing a blackish blue color and above it was a trail of whitish grey smoke. What really scared Trotter were these pony’s eyes, they were two black circles and below them was the symbol of a tear drop.

“Doctor.” The metal pony said in a deep robotic voice, “You are compatible, you must be assimilated.” The voice was very monotone and artificial. “If you resist assimilation you will be deleted.”

The Doctor turned and faced the metal pony. He had a pained expression on his face. He gritted his teeth and looked at this metal pony as though he was the disgusted with it. “Cybermare!” The Doctor shouted, “You’re the last Cybermare in this galaxy, I’m giving you this one chance to transport back to your ship and leave this world in peace!”

Trotter looked surprised. He looked at the Doctor in pure shock. “That thing is a mare?!”

The Doctor looked back at Trotter and shook his head, “There’s a robotic cyber pony who I just said is from space and THAT’S you question?!”

Trotter shrugged, “Sorry, but that was the first question I thought of.”

The Doctor chuckled, “Heh, you’re funny, I like you. What’s your name?”

Trotter tried to smile past the pain in backend, “Oh! Th-Thanks, I’m-”

“Doctor.” The Cybermare said again, “Will you come without resistance?”

The Doctor rolled his eyes and looked back “Excuse me for just one minute! I was talking to this nice pony and didn’t you listen to anything I just said?! I’m giving you one chance to leave!

“Do you decline the assimilation?” The Cybermare asked again. The Cybermare took a few steps forward, her hooves clanking as the stomped a crossed the broken door. Her horn began to spark and the blackish blue glow grew brighter.

The Doctor frowned, “How come nopony ever takes my offer, they always make it so difficult for me.” The Doctor took out his sliver pen and placed it in his mouth. “Mmow then,” The Doctor said, muffled by his pen, “Ooh ight ant to tand ack!”

Trotter took a step forward. “What did you say?”

The Doctor spit his pen back into his hoof, “I said, Now then, you might want to stand back!” The Doctor put his pen back in his mouth and faced the Cybermare.

There was a long moment of silence. The horn of the Cybermare grew brighter and brighter. The blue of the glow had almost completely faded, all that was left was the black. The Doctor’s pen lit up and emitted a strange whistling noise.

Trotter had completely forgotten about the pain in backend, the anticipation of what was about to happen completely overpowered the pain. Every beat of his heart seemed to pound in his chest, if it beat any faster Trotter would have sworn that it would pop right out of his chest.

“Delete.”

There was a flash of light from the Cybermare’s horn followed by a loud whining sound. Trotter flinched at the light and covered his face with his hoof. He kept them closed for what seemed to be forever. Every feeling in his body had left him. There was just nothing.

****

He could slightly hear the chatter of ponies around him, but they seemed so distant, he could pick out a few words. The voices seemed to be referring to a hospital or somepony who got hurt, but it was hard to say. Within his endless sleep one voice seemed familiar.

“Don’t worry Trotter Grey, everything will be okay.”

Advice from the Doctors

“It’s your move, Trotter Grey.”

Trotter opened his eyes. When he noticed how bright the room was he quickly shut them again.

“Ha! Too bright for you? Hold on let me fix it.”

There was a brief pause. Trotter just sat there with his hooves over his eyes, waiting for something to happen.

“There we go, you can open your eyes now.”

Trotter opened his eyes again. The light had been dimmed. Trotter found himself sitting at small dining table. It reminded him a lot of his grandmother’s cottage. At one end the room there was burning fireplace with a mantle holding several empty picture frames. In another corner of the room there was a couch facing a window. To Trotter’s left there was an open wooden door leading into a kitchen that seemed to be overstocked with food and cooking utensils.

“Do you like it?”

Trotter’s head shot up. He looked around the cottage for the owner of the voice, but he found himself completely alone.

“H-hello?” Trotter called out nervously, “I can hear you, bu-but I can’t see you.”

“Oh I’m sorry, this spell is always tricky, I’m sorry could you give me one more moment please? Thank you very much, Trotter Grey.”

There was another brief pause. During this time Trotter investigated the room further. The table he was sitting at laid upon a fine carpet which bore a black spiral emblem. In front of him sat a chessboard with a game that had already been started. The black side was facing him and it seemed like he was losing. The white side had three of his pawns, a bishop, and a knight. The only he could really move without risk was…nothing...balls…

“Like I said it’s your turn. “ The voice said again, this time it sounded closer. Trotter turned his head and saw the pony that had been talking to him or at least…part of him. The pony wore a cloak that cast a shadow over his face. Trotter could make out very little of him, all that he could really tell was that he was an ash grey earth pony, definitely a stallion, and he defiantly was older. This pony sounded older, almost like a cheery grandfather. “The last pony to play was very bad at this game. She said she had played before, but I doubt it. Hopefully you’ll be a better challenge, I hate being bored.” The hooded pony let out a hearty chuckle. He trotted past Trotter and took his seat at the other end of the table.

Trotter looked around the room. “So-”

“Where are we?” The hooded pony interrupted, “Well, you’re in a bed at a hospital. You were pretty badly injured, but the Doctors and the Doctor were able to patch you up. You were very lucky.”

Trotter continued to look around the room. “But this-”

“Doesn’t look like a hospital? No, you were knocked out in the explosion. You’re asleep in the hospital. This is just a dream. As for why you’re dreaming of here, I thought it would be nice to take you here. This was my grandparent’s house way way way back in the day.”

Trotter opened his mouth, but the hooded pony just shook his head and laughed.

“I know a spell that lets me enter your dreams while you’re in this state. This place is one of my memories, I thought it would be comforting to you. I know you don’t like being alone, so I thought I would join you. Besides I got bored of my last patient.” The pony shook his head again. “I know what you’re thinking, but she’s fine. What kind of doctor would I be if I left a patient while they were still sick?”

Trotter nodded his head, “Thank you, I appreciate it.” Trotter smiled at his new friend and stuck out his hoof, “I’m Trotter Grey, it’s very nice to meet you!”

The hooded pony staggered for a moment. If Trotter had been able to see his face he would have seen the surprise in his face. The pony slowly stuck out his hoof and shook Trotter’s hoof.

“I’m-” The pony started.

“Dear Luna! What happened to your hoof?!” Trotter shouted. “Are you okay?!”

The pony shook his head, “Oh that’s nothing. I’ve had these for as long as I can remember. Anyways, that’s not important right now. Let’s finish our game.”

Trotter looked down at the board. It was his move, though there wasn’t a lot he could do. His king was in check and he could either lose a bishop or another pawn and good spot in order to protect his king.

“You know,” The pony started, “They say you can learn a lot about a pony by playing chess with them. So, I wonder what I’ll learn about you.”

****

“Check mate!”

The pony studied the board, checking to see if there was any move he could make. After a minute he shook his head.

“Well, that WAS an interesting game. A lot of fun, I never had a game quite like it.” The pony looked up at Trotter, “Thank you for that.”

“Ha, it was no problem. I too had a great time. Did you learn anything interesting?”

“Oh, more than you know.” The pony started to look around the room, “Huh, it seems like we finished just on time. You’re waking up.”

Trotter looked around the room with the pony. It looked the same to him. “How can you tell?”

“I just know. It is my spell!”

“Oh, well, when I wake up I’ll be sure to thank you.”

“Haha, you’ll be seeing me soon enough.” There was something sinister about the way he said that. “I’m sure that you’ll be seeing a lot of me. A word of advice though, be ready for anything.”

There was a sudden flash of light and reality came crashing back to Trotter. When he awoke he found himself lying on a hospital bed. The room was almost completely dark, the only light came from a crack in a door at the other end of the room.

How long had he been knocked out? The pain in his flank had died down to just a mild sore. While that pain had almost completely faded he had a new pain in his chest.

Trotter slowly sat up in his bed. There was a slight movement in the room. He wasn’t alone.

“Hello…?” Trotter quietly called, “Is somepony there?”

“Huh?” A tired voice called back, “Tr-Trotter Grey?” A sudden life came to the voice, “YOU’RE AWAKE?!” The voice was cheery and familiar, “Oh, good show. I was worried you were gonna stay in bed another day!”

“Doctor, is that you?” Trotter asked.

The light hovering above Trotter’s bed flashed on, burning Trotter’s eyes. He made a quick flinch which sent a surge of pain through his chest. After a moment Trotter finally was able to open his eyes and actually see.

The hospital room was much different from the one in his home town. This one was larger and it even had a small bookshelf in a corner of the room. His bed was situated in the middle of room. Besides him was one of those weird coat hanging thing where they hung the blood pack, though this one was empty.

From his flank to upper chest, Trotter found himself covered in bandages. The bandages covering his chest had several small red stains. What had happened on the train?

Trotter looked up at the Doctor who had been standing at the foot of his bed, smiling and waiting for Trotter to get his bearings. “So…” Trotter began, “How did I end up here?”

“Ha, you see when the Cybermare charge up his beam I was able to cause a short circuit in his spell with my screwdriver!” The Doctor explained, “Machines and magic make a terrible combination. Though, I am sorry for this, the short circuit caused an explosion and well you got pretty badly injured. I did what could with what I had, but when we arrived in Ponyville you were rushed to the hospital and you’ve been here for the last three days. I think that sums it up!”

“Okay, that’s one question, but I still have more.”

The Doctor chuckled, “Ha, they always do. Ask away!”

Trotter took a large inhale and began to rapidly ask the Doctor his questions. “How did you create an explosion with a screwdriver, what the hay was that thing, was it an alien, was it really a mare, are there more of them, and most importantly WHO EXACTLY ARE YOU?!”

“Oh, that’s a lot of questions.” The Doctor smiled, “I like a lot of questions. That means you’ve got a good head. Well first,” The Doctor mimicked Trotter and took a large inhale, “It’s a sonic screwdriver and before you ask it can manipulate and scan machines, locks, environments, and other things like that. That thing was a half pony half machine cyborg, the Cybermares convert other ponies into their race eliminating all of their emotions. Yes it was an alien. I don’t know if that thing was mare or stallion, it really is impossible to tell, but the collective name of the race is Cybermares. There are defiantly more of them, but that was the last one in this part of the galaxy, it belonged to a scouting party, but I took care of them. And finally, I am the Doctor, I’m an alien from the planet Gallopfrey, home of the Time Lords. I have a time traveling spaceship! And, well, I like to travel, I love foreign food and I like to tinker with machinery. Any other questions?”

Trotter’s mouth dropped. He spent a good amount mouthing words and question, but found himself unable to talk. Eventually he managed sounds, but the sounds lacked context and were just jumbled phrases. The Doctor just stood there at the foot of his bed chuckling.

“I can see you’re having some problems, maybe I’ll try asking you a question. What’s your name?”

“You already know my name, you said it before.”

“Yes, I do know it. I needed to go through stuff to find some id to check you into the hospital. I’d still like a proper introduction though, it seems like the right thing to do!”

“Ha, I think I understand. I’m Trotter Grey, it’s a pleasure to meet you Doctor…what did you say your name was?”

“Just the Doctor and it’s a pleasure to meet you!” The Doctor trotted over and patted Trotter on the shoulder. “I know you don’t have a lot of money, I saw what you had.” The Doctor gave a quick frown, however it quickly faded into a large smile. “But don’t worry, the train company and the hospital owed me some favors so don’t worry about the bills!”

Trotter gave large grin, “Really?! Thank you, Doctor!” Trotter leaned out of bed and gave the Doctor a tight hug, though Trotter quickly regretted it because of another surge of pain that entered his body. He quickly receded back into his bed and gave a pained smile to the Doctor. “Guess I can’t do too much hugging yet.”

“Oh yeah! I had another quest-”

Knock, knock, knock!

A knocking came at the door interrupting the Doctor. The two of them looked to the door and then back at each other.

“Were you expecting someone?” The Doctor asked.

“No, I don’t know anypony here, what about you? Were you expecting somepony?”

“No, I don’t think so. Though I never do know…Any-who, I’ll get it.”

“Thank you, I’m not really in the mood to get up right now.”

“COME ON IN!” The Doctor shouted from the bedside.

“Well I could have done that!”

“Why didn’t you then?”

“Because-”

“He’s awake!” A purple unicorn exclaimed as she entered the room.

The unicorn was followed by a blue pegasus and an orange earth pony. The three of them seemed very happy to see Trotter, but Trotter had never seen any of these mare before in his life. Was it his birthday?

“Looks like you owe me twenty bits, sugarcube!” The orange pony said to the pegasus. She had the accent of a cowgirl, almost like the ponies of Appleloosa. She had a long blonde mane and wore a cowboy hat. Her eyes were a bright green and had a certain confidence to them.

The blue pegasus let out an annoyed groan, “Oh come on, we both thought he wouldn’t wake up for another two days. Look at this colt!” The blue pegasus fly over to Trotter and motioned to him, “He looks soft, we really couldn’t have known he would wake up this early!” This pegasus was a bright sky blue and a colorful rainbow mane and matching tail. Her eyes were a darkish purple, similar to Trotter’s eyes.

“You two stop it, you’re being rude!” The purple one complained. It was at this time that Trotter realized that this was not just a unicorn, this mare was an alicorn. She had her wings tucked in, but he had somehow missed them. The alicorn looked over to Trotter and gave a nice smile, “I’m sorry about them, they’re a bit competitive. I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight Sparkle pointed up at the blue pegasus who was still hovering by the bedside, “That’s Rainbow Dash.” She then pointed to the orange earth pony, “And this is Applejack!”

“Oh…um well it’s nice to meet you?” Trotter smiled back at Twilight Sparkle, “But-uh…” Trotter’s smile quickly faded, “I don’t mean to sound rude, but why are you here. I’ve never met any of you before, have I?”

“Well kind of.” The Doctor started, “When I got you to Ponyville these three helped me carry you to the hospital and they’ve been coming back every day since to check up on you.”

“That’s a lot less than what you’ve been doing, partner!” Applejack stepped forward, “This pony has been staying here while y’all were asleep, he never once left your side!”

“Oh…ha…” Trotter was taken back, never before had he received such kindness from strangers before. “Th-thank you, thank you all.” Trotter looked at them, completely shocked, not the bad kind of shock, but a good shock. “Thank you all so much.” Trotter could feel a tear start to form in his eye. Why? He wasn’t sad, why would he cry?

“Hey, don’t get all sappy on us!” Rainbow Dash flew over and slapped Trotter on the back sending a surge of pain through his back. “Oh, whoops!” Rainbow Dash flew slightly back and grinned nervously. “That was my bad. Heh…uh-you okay? Yeah! Of course you are! Anypony who can take a beating like that and wake up in a few days has to be strong!”

“Oh dear.” The Doctor started. At least he had noticed how painful that must have been for Trotter. “Hey you lot, why don’t we leave this one alone, he looks like he could use some rest. He just woke up a few minutes ago and he should just take it easy now. It’s the Doctor’s orders.”

“I think he’s right, girls. Glad to see you awake Trotter!” Twilight Sparkle said as she backed up to the door.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash made a similar statement and followed behind her. Before the Doctor left he did a few last checkups on Trotter to make sure he was alright. Trotter had insisted that regular doctors could have done so, but the Doctor insisted that he could he take care of it. After a few minutes the Doctor was sure that he was alright and decided to let Trotter be.

“Doctor!” Trotter called before he left, “Just one more quick question.”

“Of course, but before I did have a question I never got to ask, would it be okay if I asked mine first?”

“Sure.” Trotter smirked, “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Ha, that was clever. Well anyways, you see, I do a lot of traveling and you seem like a clever colt.” Trotter looked confused, he tilted his head at the Doctor. “What I’m trying to say is, I get lonely and usually travel with a companion and I was wondering if maybe, you would want to travel around with me? You seem like an adventurous sort and I thought maybe you’d like to come along.”

“Wow…” Trotter’s face rapidly changed between a smile and confused frown, “That’s quite the offer. I just planning move here and you want me travel along with you? That’s a bit sudden, you barely know me, why would you want me to come along?”

“Because you seem brilliant, you ask questions, you very funny and I can tell you like a good adventure!”

“I don’t know, I had just come here to move and I don’t even have a place to stay yet. I just really don’t know.”

“Ohhhh, don’t worry about that. Just one adventure when you’re feeling better and you’ll see. Will you accompany me on one adventure?”

“Just one?”

“Just one and after that one, if you never want to go on another with I’ll leave you alone. Deal?”

“Okay, Doctor. Deal.”

“Brilliant, just brilliant! Well, I’ll get my ship ready for you! Get better soon!” The Doctor turned and began to gallop to the door.

“Doctor, wait!”

The Doctor turned his head back, “Hmmm? What?”

“I still have my question.”

The Doctor fully turned around, “Oh yeah, that’s right. What did you want to know?”

“When I was knocked out a there was a hooded pony in my dreams, he said he was there via a spell and he was a doctor here. Do you know where he is?”

“Um, no? I didn’t see anypony like that in any of three days you were asleep. What did he look like?”

“He was wearing a hood, um, he was an earth pony and he had a grey coat. Oh! He sounded older, like he was in his sixties maybe late fifties, but he seemed very cheery up until the end. That’s really all I remember. I think there was something else, but can’t really remember.”

The Doctor shook his head, “I’m sorry, but I haven’t seen anypony like that and that doesn’t sound like a doctor. It was probably just a dream.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Who knows what crazy things you can dream about when you’re knocked out?”

“Yeah, well I got to go! I need to get ready! I’ll see you very soon! Some advice though! Be ready for everything!”

The Doctor galloped out of the room and down the hall. Trotter adjusted himself in his bed and tried to rest. As much as he tried to resist the thought he kept thinking back to the dream. What did he forgot? What was it, something about his hoof, there was something wrong with his hoof.

“OH!”

He had it. The hood pony’s hoof had been covered in a bandage. The more Trotter thought about he slowly remembered it wasn’t just his hoof. His entire body had been covered in bandages.

Who was that?

Everything

“No way, that’s impossible!” Trotter gasped. He galloped outside and circled the blue box. “T-that, that, but I-I…what? This is-is impossible!” Trotter galloped back inside and stared at the Doctor. At this point Trotter lost his ability to speak and just kept making the same mouth moment. How?

“This is the TARDIS, my time traveling spaceship!”

“B-but, it’s bigger on the inside…that’s not possible.”

“Time Lord Technology, it’s always bigger on the inside! So what do you think of my ship?”

“It’s, it’s so, ha.” Trotter began laughing, “This is, ha ha ha hah, oh jeez, oh dear Luna, this is so wonderfully brilliant and crazy! No words can describe, ha ha ha!”

“HAHA! Wonderful, I’m glad you like it!

How could it be though? The outside of the TARDIS was just a blue police box, but the inside, the inside was completely amazing. On the inside it was so much bigger and filled with wonderful devices and machines. All along the walls were circular lights that lit up the TARDIS. In the middle of the TARDIS was a large console full of levers, switches and buttons that flashed in a plethora of colors, as well as an assortment of miscellaneous household objects that seemed to be hooked up to the console. In the middle of console was a circular glass container that stretched to ceiling of the TARDIS. Inside the glass container was a strangely shaped, bulb like object, whatever it was it looked completely amazing. However, the floor of the TARDIS was somewhat less desirable. It was copper colored, metal grate-like floor, something that could probably be found in a city or a metal building. With every step the Doctor or Trotter took it would quickly be met with a loud clanking that seemed to echo. Below the grate floor there seemed to be more devices and metal boxes with wires spreading a crossed the floor. In the far end of the room a door with strange symbol sat leading to Celestia knows where.

“So!” The Doctor said distracting the gapping Trotter from the incredible ship, “You should know that this ship can go anywhere in the universe at any point in time. Anywhere you could ever want to go is right outside the door! So I need to ask you a question!”

“What possible question could you have for me?!” Trotter asked, “I should be the one asking questions!”

“Haha, alright alright, you can ask your questions afterwards. My question to you is where do you want to go? Another planet, back in time, forward in time, maybe a different dimension? Anywhere and everywhere await you, Trotter Grey, all you need to do is ask!”

Trotter took a step back. He opened his mouth and shook his head. Anywhere and everywhere? There definitely plenty of options. He had always wanted to see how Equestria had started, though….the future of Equestria was just as alluring. Then of course there was another planet! Trotter smirked. He knew his choice.

“I want to see something…something that has only happened once in all of the history of the universe!”

The Doctor grinned, “I knew I’d like you! OKAY!” The Doctor galloped over to the center console and started pressing buttons and pulling levers with his mouth and hooves. “Something that has only happened once coming up!” The Doctor let go of a switch and the entire hull of the ship began to shake rapidly. The sound of a mechanical whooshing echoed all around the TARDIS. It was a strange sound, but at the same time it was wonderful.

As the TARDIS shook Trotter lost his balance and fell flat on the floor. Over the loud whooshing sound of the TARDIS he could hear the Doctor snicker at him. He looked up at the Doctor who was still pulling switches and levers. Surprisingly the Doctor had no trouble moving around the rattling ship.

“How do you-?!” Trotter yelled over the whooshing sound.

“I’ve got loads of practice!” The Doctor interrupted, “Nine hundred years to be exact! Though I usually have some problems with where I want to go, huh…”

Trotter managed to force himself to somewhat steady, standing position. He chuckled and grinned at the Doctor, “Hahaha, I think I’m getting the hang of thi-” The TARDIS let out another rapid shake making Trotter fall flat on his face, again. Trotter let out a pained groan. “I think I’m just gonna lay here till we get there if that’s alright.”

“Oh come on, Trotter Grey! Live a little! Don’t let me down now!”

Trotter let out another groan. “Ugh, okay, I’ll try…”

Trotter tried to stand again. This time however he managed a steadier stand. “Okay.” He whispered to himself. He looked down at his shaking hooves and smiled. “Okay…I think I got it. Heh.” He looked up at the Doctor who was just checking a pull down monitor. “Hey Doctor! Look at me! I’m standing!”

“Ha, good for you, now try to get over here!”

“Um…alright?”

Trotter looked around the TARDIS for something to lean against. The only thing he could find was hand rail that circled around the raised platform the center console sat upon. Sadly Trotter found that was too far for him to reach without losing his balance.

Trotter shook his head. He could do this. He took one step forward. Good. He took another. Still standing. After his third step he managed to get into a steady walk toward the Doctor. Finally, and very surprising to Trotter, he made it the Doctor who was chuckling at him.

“What’s funny? What happened?” Trotter asked.

“The TARDIS stopped a minute ago.” The Doctor held back a smile as he watched Trotter’s mouth dropped open.

It had been in fact true, but even though the TARDIS had stopped shaking Trotter’s legs had not. He let out a sigh and dropped to the floor.

“Doctor….” He moaned, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because it was funny and you looked so happy, how could I ruin that?” The Doctor jumped over Trotter and galloped to the door they entered from. “Now come on! Outside this door is something that’ll only happen once. It has been voted by many planets that this is one of the most beautiful moments in all of history!”

Trotter quickly got up from the floor and hurried over to the doors. “So what is it?!”

The Doctor smirked and opened the door of the TARDIS. If Trotter didn’t know any better he would have said that his jaw hit the ground. Outside the door was a beautiful, bright green and blue planet. All around the planet were swirls of white clouds. Never before had Trotter or anypony else he knew seen a planet from this angle. Even more than that was the stars. He had never seen stars like this before. The shinning balls of light illuminated the empty blackness. They seemed to move, almost dance across the sky.

“Doctor…” Trotter whispered, “This is so-”

“Just wait for it!”

“Wait for-”

Just as the words left his mouth the sky lit up with an explosion of a crimson red light. The stars in sky seem to come to together to form letters. The letters became words and the words became a question.

Will you marry me?

“I would like to say at this time,” The Doctor started, “I am not proposing to you. A pony down there at that planet is moving the stars to propose to his love.”

A tear began to form in Trotter’s eye, “Heh, that’s a way to do I guess. It’d be embarrassing if she said no.”

“She didn’t, but just keep watching. It gets so much better!”

“How could it-”

There was another flash of light. An explosion of color erupted from behind the proposal. Every color Trotter could have thought of was there. Blue, yellow, red, green, purple, orange! All of these colors in so many different shades, they were all there. And then it hit Trotter. Somepony, some regular pony did this. The love they had for their special somepony. He knew why this was such a beautiful moment. Trotter spent a long time admiring this, enjoying this moment.

Trotter looked over to the Doctor. “Thank you for this, Doctor, thank you so much.”

“It was my pleasure, so…” The Doctor started back for the control console, “Will you be coming with me?”

It was Trotter’s turn to laugh now. “Hahaha, how is that even a question?!”

“HAHA! Wonderful.” The Doctor made his way to a lever. He took hold the lever, “Well then, we have a lot to see, Trotter! ALLONS-Y!”

****

And so my friend Trotter spent the next month traveling the universe with the Doctor, going on adventures, facing dangerous and wonderful creatures from other planets, seeing all of time and space. There were many times in between the adventures when he had returned to Ponyville to get a slice of real life and relax. He quickly made friends with the kind locals and spent the rest of his free time with them, that or doing odds and ends all around Ponyville for bits. It was during these times when my companions and I watched him closest. He needed time to grow, time to mature, to forget the dreams and nightmares he had, but now, I finally think he is ready. But we’ll see…we’ll see if his life should continue.

****

“Excuse me?”

Trotter stopped. He searched the street for whoever called him. All around him the ponies of Ponyville trotted along, talking and laughing. The voice that had called him sounded young, definitely a colt, but where was he?

Trotter felt a tug at his hind leg. Trotter turned around and found a small colt looking up at him with two big tear filled eyes. The colt had a shiny black mane, a dark blue coat, and two big yellow eyes. He was very young, maybe seven or eight and he had yet to receive his cutie mark.

“Excuse me, Mister?” The colt said in sad voice. Tears began to run down his face. “I-I’ve l-lost my s-sister! Could y-you help me?”

Trotter lowered himself to the same level as the colt and gave him a soft smile. “Of course I can help you.” Trotter spoke in quiet soothing voice, “What’s your name? Where did you last see your sister?”

“M-my name is…” The colt began to sniffle, “My name is-is G-Golden Gaze. My friends j-just call me Gazer.”

“Alright Gazer, what about your sis? Where did you see her last?”

“She, um, she s-said she was going to the E-Everfree Forest.”

Trotter’s heart sank. He had fought terrifying creatures with the Doctor, had dinner with Fluttershy and Discord, he had even restocked the entire basement supply of Twilight’s library. None of his experiences in the last month compared with the Everfree Forest. He had gone through the forest on three separate occasions to drop of supplies to Zecora. On all three occasions at least four things tried to kill him.

“T-The Everfree?” Trotter stuttered, “Why is there?”

Gazer began to sob, “S-she’s l-l-looking for my d-dad.” Gazer collapsed into a fit of tears. All around the two of them ponies began to take notice of the crying colt.

“Hey now! You gotta chin up, we’ll find them both!” Trotter said this more so trying to convince himself rather than Gazer, “Come on, I’ve been there a few times. If we work together we’ll find them in no time!”

Light looked up at Trotter and gave him an uneasy smile, “Okay...”

Anything

“Gazer! Gazer! Get back here!”

It was pointless. Gazer had already disappeared into the endless thicket of the Everfree. He had mistaken one of the many strange sounds of the forest as a cry for help from his sister. Trotter had tried to catch up with him, but Gazer was quicker than a colt his age should be.

The forest around him was terrifying. Worse than any of the other parts he had seen before. The trees here seemed dead and lifeless. They bore no leaves of any sort and they all had roots that seemed to reach out and try and grab him. Though they had no leaves the branches of trees created a thick canopy, blocking out all light.

Trotter had only been in forest for maybe an hour, but he had no way to tell the time. It seemed like it was night, but when he left it was still midday. Trotter had needed to cast a weak light spell in order to see where he was going, though this only made the forest that much worse. The shadows his light casted formed terrifying shapes and outlines.

Trotter wished there was somepony there with him, but all of his closest friends were away or busy. The Doctor was busy doing some maintenance on the TARDIS and then he had some other business that he said he needed to take care of. Twilight Sparkle and Spike were in Canterlot doing some royal business. Rainbow Dash was in Cloudsdale on a date with Soarin. Fluttershy and Applejack were in Appleloosa helping with a rat infestation that was eating all of their apples. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were in Manehatten doing some fashion show, party thingy…Trotter actually didn’t know the details on that one. Any one of these ponies Trotter would have wanted here with him now, anything to not be alone.

“Gazer, please…” Trotter was begging now. He needed somepony here so he wouldn’t be alone. “Come back, it’s dangerous to be here alone!”

It was pointless. Trotter was alone. Alone with the horrid blackish brown trees and the endless thicket of thorns and vines and who knew what creatures stalked him. Trotter fell to the ground and put his hooves over his head. The light from his horn slowly began to fade. Memories of Hollow Shade flashed in his head, memories of his family and friends and….

They all screamed at him. He was alone and nothing he could do would change that. He would be here forever, trapped alone with this awful forest.

“Are you just going to leave Gazer alone?”

Trotter lifted his head. She was right. He couldn’t leave somepony like Gazer alone in this forest. The light from his horn regained its formal brightness, recasting those terrible shadows, but he ignored them. He stood up and started for the direction Gazer ran off in.

“Gazer! Come on! We need to-” Trotter turned around a voice called him from a bush behind him.

“Trotter Grey…” A dark blue mare with an even darker blue mane walked out of the bush. Part of her mane fell in front of her face, covering half of her face. She stared at Trotter through her mane with her cold, light blue eyes. A very blue pony all together, the only thing not blue about this pony was a red gemmed necklace she wore loosely around her neck.

Trotter took a few steps over some roots towards this mare. “Are you Gazer’s sister? Did he find you? Did you find your dad?”

The mare closed her eyes and smirked. “You’re not very smart, are you? I don’t see what’s so great about you.” Her voice sounded strange. Almost like a soft echo, like there were two voices speaking in the same tone at the same time.

“I agree…I don’t see why father thinks so highly of you.” A new voice said from behind Trotter. This voice had the same echo tone to it, but this time it sounded younger, like foal’s voice.

Trotter turned and there stood Gazer. Something about him was different though. He wasn’t that sad colt Trotter had met before, he seemed…indifferent. He had no facial reaction at all, just an unimpressed gaze.

“Gazer…” Trotter started, “What’s wrong? Is this your sister? Did something happen? What happened to your voice?”

“Heh, you’re so pathetic.” Gazer said bitterly, “You really are the most pathetic and idiotic pony I have ever met. It may be a mystery to me as to why Father is so interested in you, but what’s more confusing is why you still go on living. Ponies like you should be dead.”

Trotter took a few steps back. “Wha-What?” He tripped over a root and fell onto his flank. He didn’t flinch though, he kept eye contact with Gazer. “Gazer…why would you…”

“That’s another thing I hate.” Gazer looked up at the branches and began to move towards Trotter. His head swayed to the left and right as he slowly went forward. “You still think that’s my name. How stupid could you be? What do you think, Nightmare?”

“I think you’re right.” The mare agreed, “Though, I think you should careful to questions Father’s judgment.”

Finally Gazer’s face had a touch of emotion, but this…this was worse. He was smiling, but this smile was the most sinister thing he had ever seen and then there was his eyes…His eyes seemed to glow in the dark of the Everfree. “Ha, you would never tattle on me! You know what happened to our other siblings who did!” Gazer snickered a bit, “And the ones who just annoyed me.”

“O-of course…” Nightmare stuttered. She seemed more afraid of Gazer than Trotter was.

“What’s going on?” Trotter asked looking back and forth between the two of them.

“You know…” A new voice said. Trotter couldn’t tell where it came from, but it sounded familiar. “Light, you should really watch your mouth. You know I hate it when you talk about your siblings like they’re not your family.”

Gazer looked around the forest. He looked terrified, more terrified than Nightmare looked when he threatened her. “Y-yes, I’m sorry, father…”

“That’s my boy!” The voice replied loudly and with great enthusiasm, “Now then! Trotter, it’s been awhile!”

“No….” Trotter whispered, slowly realizing who was, “That was j-just a dream.”

“Hahaha!” The voice laughed, “I still owe you a game of chess, but that’s not important now.” The voice grew darker, it had morbid tone to it. “We need to go now…”

“Go? Go wher-?” Trotter grew faint, tired. His sight became blurry. Staying awake became more and more difficult. “Wha-what d-did you do t-to me, me? Where a-are we, are we g-going?”

Trotter fainted or fell asleep. It was impossible to tell. He wasn’t dead, he knew that. He split in and out of consciousness. He could feel himself being carried or rather…dragged to somewhere. Only faintly could he hear the chatter of four ponies around him. They were talking about a new brother or something.

There was something else though. There was another voice. It wasn’t a voice around him, it was a voice in his head. Something in the back of his mind. A mare’s voice…a friend’s voice.

“Come on, Trotter, let’s go! It’ll be fun!”

“I don’t know, I’m kinda scared. Could we just walk around town?”

“Noooooo! There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m here with you and I’ll always be there for you. You have nothing to worry about.”

“Alright…if you say so.”

“Come on, let’s go!”

****

Trotter awoke from sleep in a complete daze. Everything was still blurry and his head was throbbing. His entire body ached, almost like he had fallen down a flight of stairs.

Wherever he was it wasn’t the forest. As his sight slowly returned to him the more he could get a feel of where he was. He was in some sort of old hallway, maybe it belonged to a castle or old keep? It was defiantly a stone passage of some kind. At least that’s how the floor felt. The passage was completely black, Trotter could barely even see his hooves. The only way he actually knew it was a passage or hallway was the echoing of hoof beats coming from further down this corridor.

“Hello!” Trotter called out weakly. He quickly discovered that his throat was aching and dry. “Please!” Trotter let out a barrage of coughs, “Please-help!” Trotter spat out what he could only assume was blood onto his hoof.

“Oh Trotter…” A familiar voice echoed down the hall, “Trotter, Trotter, Trotter…” There was slight chuckle at the end of each of his sentences. “I didn’t expect you to have this reaction, especially after how you handled it last time.”

Trotter slowly stood up. His entire body shook. His front left hoof was badly hurt, he could barely stand on it.

“Please…” Trotter coughed, “I’m hurt, please can you help me.” Trotter said as loud as his dried voice would allow him.

“Oh I am sorry. Light can be so….hmmm, how would you put it? Rough.” The voice let out a laugh that sent a chill down his spine, “Haha, oh I never know what he’ll do next! But if you really can’t stand the pain than here!”

The pain in Trotter was suddenly lifted. It was although it never existed. It wasn’t magic, there was no sign of a colored light from a spell nor was there any sign that something affected his body. It was like it was never there.

When Trotter spoke again he found dryness in his throat had left him. “T-thank you!” Trotter called out, “But who-how did you-?”

“Oh yes, introductions! They should come first! I never really introduced myself last time we met. Though in my defense our time was limited. At least now we can have a proper chat. I’ve got a question that needs answering! It’s very important, at least I think so! You might have a different opinion!” The voice and its footsteps took a long pause. There was what seemed like a seamlessly endless silence.

It finally came back to Trotter. The voice. Who this pony was. It was that bandaged pony he met weeks before when he first met the Doctor. The one from his dream, the one he played chess with.

“You’re-!”

“WELL! AREN’T YOU GOING TO ASK WHAT THE QUESTION IS?!” The bandaged pony yelled from the dark interrupting Trotter.

Trotter jumped back, surprised at the sudden increase in his volume. “Oh, um-uh….what’s the question?” Trotter asked nervously.

“AH-HAHAHAHA!!! You’re a funny one, Trotter Grey! I like you! I really hope I don’t have to kill you! That’d be a shame, but then again I’d only kill you if you disappointed me! And the only way you could really disappoint me is if you answer my question wrong! So I think your odds are in your favor at the moment!”

Something about that phrase caused Trotter’s stomach to churn. Not so much the killing him, but rather the question. Something about that caused him to stir.

In most situations a regular pony would be terrified of this entire predicament, but Trotter knew better. During his travels with the Doctor he had faced many dangers and he had learned that in these situations it was best to keep a cool head. He knew that of course…but then again…it was so much easier said than done.

“So…” Trotter said quietly, “What’s the question then?”

There was another long silence. Trotter stared into the darkness, hoping his eyes would adjust and the identity of the bandaged pony would be revealed. He had no such luck however, this darkness was eternal. It was then Trotter remembered he still had his light spell.

With a wince and a grunt an orb of light appeared above Trotter’s horn. The bobbing orb of light quickly revealed the passage. It was made from a greyish cobblestone. A few loose bricks and other debris decorated the hall. There a few spots along the wall where bricks were missing. Filling that emptiness was only more darkness that his light failed to reveal. Even with all of this revealed the bandaged pony’s face remained a mystery.

“Heh heh heh…oh Trotter, you mustn’t always do as your told. You’re missing the big questions! Ask those! Please try again!” He replied in a mocking tone. “Oh, and while you’re thinking about questions to ask feel free to explore. You might find something that interests you. Then again, you might not.”

“What?”

His voice grew grimmer this time, it wasn’t the cheery tone that it usually spoke in. “I said go for a walk and think about a different question. You’d be wise to ask quickly. You won’t get a chance like this anytime soon.”

This time Trotter didn’t hesitate. He quickly galloped down the hall, his hoof beats echoing behind him. Over his hoof beats he could hear the pony’s laughter, obviously pleased that he had managed to scare him.

After a couple minutes of galloping Trotter was finally out of breath. Galloping had never been one of his fortes and usually caused him trouble when traveling with the Doctor.

Slowing down, Trotter was able to catch his breath and think about a question he could ask. It also gave him chance to think about why this pony wanted him here and what he was possibly planning.

“Heh, okay…you want a question, I have few, heh…” Trotter said out of breath, “Where, where exactly are we?”

“Ha, not a bad question. You’re somewhere sa-.” The voice had once again returned to its cheery yet sinister state. “At least I think you’re safe…I hope you are. You should be safe. I told Light to keep you safe, but, well…you met him. He can be very…unpredictable.”

“But...?”

“As for where you are now…you’re in the same place you were when we met. Well, not the same place, but the same place. We’re in your head, but this place is one of my memories. You remember that spell, don’t you?” He sighed, “Don’t feel like you have to answer that. There are still a few questions I want you to ask.”

“I-if you know what questions you want me to ask, why don’t you just answer them for me?”

“Oh, that’s a bad question, try again. I’ll give you three more chances before I ask mine.”

Trotter gulped. Something still bothered him about the question he needed to answer. Why didn’t this pony just ask it? Why was this question so terrifying to him?

That didn’t stop Trotter though, he kept moving forward through the stone passage. For the most part it was the same thing and showed no sign of leading him to anything different. Even the debris scattered across the floor seemed to repeat itself.

It slowly came to him. He was walking in a circle or a loop, or something. Either way it seemed to go on forever.

“You answered where we are, so then, who are you, how can you be doing this?”

“Two questions, well colored me impressed.” He chuckled, “Well then. Since I forgot for a second time to introduce myself, I am Fear. I know what you’re thinking. What kind of parents names their foal Fear? What kind of name is that?” His laugh echoed down the passage again, “No, don’t worry, my parents didn’t name me that, though….Imagine if they did! Oh my, the problems I would have had…I digress…again. No, that was not my original name, I gave myself that name. My parent’s probably gave me a normal name like Sliver Mane or Silent Strider or Janet, I don’t know…I don’t remember.” For a moment Fear’s voice seemed sad, almost disappointed.

“So your name is-?”

“DON’T INTERRUPT ME!” Fear screamed down the hall, his voice sounding demonic or possessed. Trotter quickly ducked his head down, partly expecting something to come out of the shadows. “Anyways!” He continued in his regular voice, “I still haven’t answered your other question! How am I doing this? I’ve been around a long time. A very long time and I’ve learned a few tricks in my day, so this is just a spell I picked up. Okay? Okay. You’re probably wondering how an earth pony can do this, right? Probably, well it doesn’t matter how I can, I just can, so don’t asked. You can ask your other questions now, remember, you only have two left.”

Trotter slowly lifted his head from under his hooves. He looked straight ahead at the darkness. He still wasn’t there. This time, however, this time he could feel a presence lurking on the edge of the shadows. He was there. Just beyond his field of vision.

Trotter got back up and started off down the passage again, this time a little slower and with more caution. Something still seemed to wait along the edge of the shadows, it seemed to follow in Trotter’s wake.

“Two more you said?” Trotter paused. “Not including these two? Right?”

“You know what?! You’ve done pretty well so far! I usually end up killing or least maiming a pony by now, so I’ll give you a few more!”

Trotter smiled, pleased with himself. He wasn’t sure why he pleased with himself, he had managed to impress an obvious psychopath, but still, that probably wasn’t easy.

“Heh, okay then…um, w-why are you called Fear?” Trotter asked hoping this question would be suitable like the rest.

Fear snickered, “Heh, that’s a long story. I suppose the best way to explain is…hmmm, I actually haven’t explained this in a while.” Fear took a long pause. Trotter could hear him humming a familiar tune from the darkness while thinking. It sounded familiar, like an old nursery rhyme or foal’s song. After a short bit Fear finally stopped and spoke again. “Well, you’ve met Discord before, yes? Don’t answer that either, I know you have. Well he’s the embodiment of discord, so I’m basically the embodiment of fear. Though my creation was different. He became what he through an accident, an experiment gone wrong. I…I chose my path.”

“Then who were those two ponies I met before, Gazer and that mare?”

“Oh those were two of my children, my two favorite children. Of all my children they hold the most power and each of them represent a different aspect of fear. Last Light, or as you know him, Gazer is the embodiment of natural fear, like the fear of pain or death. Nightmare is more the embodiment of personal fears, like phobias or just basic things you’re afraid of.”

“So…they’re your children?”

“Oh…eh, that’s a crappy question…try another…there is still two questions you’re missing. You’ve done where you are, who I am, and who my students were, so where does that leave you?”

There was a sudden shift in the passageway. The passage began to rapidly shake. Debris and bricks fell from the ceiling and soon the floor collapsed beneath him. He fell into an endless dark. He thought he’d fall forever until he final landed hard on a cold floor.

He had landed on his back. It felt as though he had broken it, as well as one of his back hooves. He could something drip down his face. His whole body screamed with pain.

During his fall his light spell had dispersed and had left him alone in the dark. He couldn’t see where he was, but it felt like he was outdoors. He could feel the grass slowly rub against his back. There was a slight cool breeze that gave him a little comfort. Other than that he had no idea where he was. There was no moon or stars to light where he was and he was in too much pain to recast his spell. Though at least it wasn’t as dark as before, Trotter could still make out the outline of strange shapes that were sticking out of the ground.

“Ho ho! I hope I didn’t hurt you too much!” Fear laughed from the dark. “I know it hurts, but you have to try and stand, I know I didn’t break anything, I made sure of that.”

“Wh-what did you do to me?” Trotter called out weakly, “Where are we now?”

“Dear me…you’re in so much pain and still asking good questions. I knew you were a good choice!” Fear chuckled. “To answer both your questions, I made you fall into another memory and the impact did this to you.”

“C-can you help? Like, like you did before? Please…”

“Come on Trotter! Begging and a bad question! That answer is obvious! I can…but will I? Nah! I don’t think so.”

Trotter slowly rolled over to his stomach. Every move he made seemed to make the pain worse. He stomped one hoof on the ground and slowly lifted himself up. He breathed heavily. He stomped his other hoof down and managed to stand. This was hard, harder than his first time standing in the TARDIS.

“There we are, your parents must be so proud.”

“You are….ugh…” Trotter trembled from the pain.

“What’s wrong? Too hurt to try and offend me? Pity. Why not try those questions again?”

Trotter sighed, “Oka-okay, eh, why me? Why are you…ugh, why are you doing this to me? What c-could I have done to you?”

“Why not?! Really there’s no reason.”

“…what?”

“Why not you? It was more so of a random selection. I could have chosen anypony from that hospital, but I just chose you. Though, I’m very happy I chose you, you’re an interesting colt.”

Trotter smiled and started to laugh even though it hurt his chest. It was the first time he actually laughed this hard in a while. Most of them were weak, pained laughs, but still, he was laughing. “Ha, I guess, heh…I was a little lucky. Hahaha-heh, Of all the ponies you chose me. Ha-heh-haha, that requires some amount of luck, heh, I could use some of that luck now…You’re a real jerk, you know that Fear?”

“AND THAT’S WHY I LIKE YOU! You can still laugh even with an ancient all powerful force torturing you! You’re great!”

“H-happy to have your approval.”

“And I’m glad you’re glad.”

“So, heh, I’m still missing one more important question?”

“Yes, one question you’ve been staring right in the face, a question you may have not seen.”

Trotter’s heart dropped. That moment of laughter seemed pointless now, that confidence he had from asking good questions had faded. Trotter tried to look around the new area, but it was too dark, again.

Trotter stomped his right hoof down and squinted his eyes. His whole body began to shake. A faint glowing started to form around his horn. Soon a weak flickering light appeared above his horn.

His heart sank even further, it was although it had fallen out and had been thrown down a well. All around him stood the stone monuments to the dead. He was completely surrounded by gravestones. The grass seemed less comforting as their blackish brown color was revealed. There was also seemed to be a thick layer of grey mist that still made it difficult to see. But even with all of this revealed there was still something more terrifying that he had forgotten, something he had missed.

Trotter gulped. “Where are you?”

Trotter felt something brush up beside him. He could feel his breath on the back of his neck. “I’ve been behind you all along.” Fear chuckled, “Boo.”

His Fear

“There was a once a young colt who sat alone in the forest. He was crying, he was scared to death with the fear that he would be there forever. He was so far from home, his friends, and his family. For the first time in this colt’s life he thought he was going to die, for the first time he was aware of his own mortality. This wasn’t his worst day, it was still a few years away, but at that point in his short life it was his worst experience. It wasn’t until he was found did he realize that he had experienced his first true fear. Do you know who I am talking about, Trotter?”

Fear stepped away from Trotter’s side and took a place a few paces away from where Trotter stood. He examined his prey, his face and the look of terror that filled it. He might have gone too far with scaring Trotter. He hadn’t moved or said anything since Fear revealed his location to him.

“Oh dear me, are you broken?” Fear asked with a smirk.

Trotter just stood there, frozen with fear. He hadn’t even been aware of what Fear had said to him. He still needed to process the fact that this pony here before him was the most terrifying thing he had ever faced.

This was the first time Trotter had actually gotten a good look at him. Fear was dark grey pony with a slick black mane. His entire body was covered with fresh white bandages. There only a few spots where the bandages didn’t cover including part of his neck, face and parts of his stomach. Though what really got to Trotter were Fear’s eyes. There was no color or any sign of pupils, they were just completely black. An endless black, it felt as though he could fall into them and drown in their blackness.

Trotter finally was able to shake himself out of his frozen state. He slowly realized that he had to run. He had to get out of there, somehow he had to break out of this spell.

So much for keeping a cool head…

Trotter took a few steps back, but stumbled over a small loose gravestone. He laughed nervously at Fear who was giving him a curious look. Trotter let his light spell fade and the darkness surround him. Then, with a quick glow of his horn, Trotter levitated the loose gravestone and threw it at the spot he had last seen Fear. Trotter didn’t wait to see if his attack had actually been effective, he just turn and galloped.

He ran fast, faster than he had ever run before. He had to try and dodge the outlines of gravestones and other objects in the dark. He ignored the echoing laughter of Fear as he galloped toward the unknown. In the corner of the eye he could see something following him behind some gravestones, but he ignored that too. He was too busy trying to find something to run to, preferably an exit or a place to hide, but there was nothing except these gravestones.

Behind him Fear was calling something to him, but Trotter didn’t hear him. He had found something that he could at least hide in. A crypt. Somehow that was less comforting than all of the gravestones. He skidded to stop in front of it and evaluated whether or not it was a good idea to trap himself inside a small stone room with the dead body of some poor pony.

Trotter looked around at the misty surrounding. He could make out the shadowy figure of Fear walking around, searching for him. It was now that Trotter could hear what Fear had been calling out.

He was calling out in a sing-song voice, “Trotterrrr, oh Trotterrrr! Where did you pop off to? Come on out and play! I still have my question to ask!”

Trotter let out a silent gulp. What choice did he have? He slowly and silently made his way to the crypt. He pushed the heavy stone door open as gently as he could and then shut it behind him.

The crypt was incredibly dark like the rest of his terrible place. Trotter sighed. He was tired, but there was so little he could do. With another hoof stomp and a good amount of strain Trotter managed to cast his light spell once more. His light spell was weak, but it was enough to rid the inside of crypt of its darkness.

Trotter turned away from the door and faced the innards of the crypt. Everything after that seemed to go in slow motion. Every feeling in his body became amplified. The beats of his heart, the pain in stomach and hooves, the sweat at the back of his neck. He wanted to laugh at how his situation was similar to a horror movie but he couldn’t find the nerve to talk let alone laugh.

There before Trotter stood Fear. He had been leaning on a raised stone coffin, staring right at Trotter, watching his every move. He looked bored or unimpressed, like foal would look when watching the clock in a boring class at school.

Fear let out a yawn and smacked his lips together, “I’m really not a fan of all this running. It really is boring.”

Trotter’s breathes grew heavy, though he dared not speak.

“You know…” Fear went on as he walked away from the coffin, “I didn’t really appreciate that whole tombstone-to-the-face thing you did. That kind of thing could make anypony angry. But I’m a forgiving guy, Trotter.” Fear was gradually growing closer and closer to Trotter. Trotter’s body yelled at him to run or fight or do anything, but his hooves felt like cement. “I don’t consider myself an evil pony, or the bad guy, or heh, whatever you want to call me. No. I think my actions are more for, pfft…how would you say it…? I’m not sure the word I’m looking for?” Fear was now close enough to touch him, just a few feet away from his face. “Come on, Trotter, what word am I looking for?” Fear took a place next to Trotter and put his hoof around him. He gave Trotter a little shake, “Trotter?” He asked in a high pitched voice, “What do you think?” He gave Trotter an expecting look followed by an eye roll and a disappointed frown, “What’s-a-matter, buddy?” His voice returned to normal, “Fun, my actions are for my own amusement. I never really know what I’ll do next.” Fear took his hoof off of Trotter and began to walk away. “But, heh…” Fear started to snicker, “Heh heh, but that’s not what we’re talking about now. I still have a question for you.”

Trotter tried to speak, tried to ask him what the question was, but all he could manage was a collection of strange incoherent sounds.

“Hush now, all you need to do is answer my question. Are you ready?” Fear stopped next to the coffin and turned around, “That wasn’t the question by the way.”

Trotter just stood there. He didn’t answer or move. He just waited.

“I’ll take that silence as a yes. So here’s my question…” Fear jumped over to Trotter, putting his face close to Trotter’s. “What is your greatest fear?”

“M-my, my….f-fear?” Trotter finally managed to ask.

“Yes, y-y-your f-fe-fear.” Fear replied in a mocking tone, “What are you most afraid of? And I know what you’re thinking, shouldn’t somepony named Fear know what your fear is? The answer is I do. I’m curious to see what you think it is. So, what is it?”

It took a moment for Trotter to actually understand the question. It didn’t quite click in his head right away like a normal question would. What kind of question was that though? It was not what he expected.

Of course Trotter had fears and things he was afraid of. There was always the ocean, but Trotter wouldn’t consider it his greatest fear, he had always been uncomfortable in the dark, but that wasn’t really a fear. Pain, but who wasn’t? There were so many, it was hard to think of one that was his worst.

Trotter took a few steps back until he backed up into the stone door. He felt sudden pain in his horn. He had been casting this spell too long. He began to feel dizzy or light headed, however he couldn’t let his light go out. The last thing he needed was to be alone in the dark with this pony.

“I-I, I don’t know…”

The bandages around Fear’s body began to untether. They were much longer than Trotter imagined they would be. They were a good six feet long and that wasn’t even all the bandage, there was still a good amount wrapped around his body.

The untethered bandages whipped through the air and spiraled around Fear. Fear just stood there as they did so, glaring at Trotter. One of the spiraling bandages lashed out and wrapped around Trotter’s neck.

It was unbearably tight. It wasn’t tight enough to cut off the air flow, but tight enough to hurt. He was quickly lifted off of the floor and flung into the ceiling. Trotter could swear he heard something break. Before even getting the chance to react he was swung again, this time through the stone door of the crypt and onto the decayed grass outside. He had landed on his stomach facing the opposite direction of the crypt and could no longer keep up his light spell.

He was breathing more rapidly now. With every breath he took a new rush of agony flooded through his body. He knew he had heard something break this time and it wasn’t just the door.

Trotter could hear Fear stomp past the rubble that was once the door of the crypt. Trotter couldn’t see Fear because of the way he landed, but he could feel the way Fear looked at him. He could feel the hatred from those eyes of black.

“Trotter Grey, I am so disappointed in you. YOU DON’T KNOW!?” His voice had become demonic again, like there were several voices overlapping, talking at the same time in dark tone. “YOU REALLY DON’T EVEN HAVE A GUESS!?”

Trotter could feel Fear’s bandages slowly and tightly wrap around his body. He tried to speak, he tried to guess, anything to make this pain stop. It was too great though, the agony, all he could do was gag and cough.

“Oh, and here I thought you might be a good candidate.” Fear’s voice and returned to normal. Trotter could hear him walk back and forth, the dead grass crunching beneath his hooves. “But look at you! Useless, just like so many others. Now what am I supposed to do with you? Huh?”

Trotter muttered something through his coughs and gags, but Fear didn’t hear it.

“I suppose I could just kill you like the rest. That’s super disappointing though! I at least wanted you to guess, everypony usually does. Even if they usually are terrible guesses, but they’re still guesses. You don’t know how ANGRY…that makes me.”

Trotter could feel the bandages tighten around his body, squeezing the life out of him. He tried to mutter something again, this time a little louder for Fear to hear, but was interrupted by a coughing fit.

“Excuse me? Are trying to guess? Now? I’m afraid it’s too late for that Trotter Grey. Heh…I’m afraid….no, that’s not true. It is too late, I’m not afraid at all.”

“I-I…d-don’t...”

“You don’t want to die? Nopony does! That’s one of the reasons why I do this! That and its fun! It’s so much fun, except when ponies make me feel bored or angry, then it’s not fun, it’s boring and upsetting.”

“I don’t…I don’t…”

“Why say what you don’t want? It won’t change what will happen to you.” The bandaged lifted Trotter into the air and dragged him alongside Fear. “After all we went through, after I went into your head, after I showed you two of my children, I even gave you my name! And it’s so….well, I’ve already said all of that before, disappointing. I can’t stress that enough.”

“I don’t want to be…” Trotter whispered, “I don’t want to be alone…”

Fear stopped walking. He stood there for a moment, completely silent. He seemed frozen, like a statue. After a minute he finally turned to Trotter who was still being lifted off the ground.

“Excuse me?”

Tear rolled down Trotter’s face. Not from pain, but from…

“I-I do-don’t want to be-be alone…”

“No-no-no! Not that! I heard that! That was just….a very good guess. I did not expect that.” The pain in Trotter’s body suddenly left him and the bandages around his body loosened causing him to fall to the ground. Fear turned to him and gave Trotter a strange look. “Maybe there is a chance for you…”

Trotter coughed. He had landed on his flank and was staring up at Fear. He looked like a giant compared to Trotter. There was a long moment where the two of them just stared at each other, both surprised at what the other did.

“So…are you going to let me live?” Trotter asked, finally breaking the silence.

Fear smirked. “Of course not. You may have got the question right, but you still gave up to easily. I AM going to kill you, bu-u-ut….I think I will wait for the right time.”

Trotter slowly stood up and faced Fear. He was at a loss words. Only one came to mind. “When?”

“When!? WHEN?! When I feel like it, that’s when! But for now I think I’ll let you go, thank you very much for keeping me entertained. Hopefully next time a tombstone is thrown at my face it’ll be yours.”

Fear shot Trotter one last smirk and stomped his hoof down. There was flash of light from where his hoof stomped down and then, then there was nothing.

****

After a good fifteen minutes the waiter finally brought the Doctor his order of a salad and a small bowl of soup. The Doctor had stopped by a late night café while waiting for Trotter to return from who knows where. This was Trotter’s usually dinner place so he hoped that Trotter would be here soon.

Earlier today, after he had finished working on the TARDIS, he had tried to find Trotter, but had no success. He had asked around town to see if anypony had seen him, but only a few saw him with a young colt. Even fewer actually had actually known that he was helping this colt find his brother or…maybe sister. Even with that information the Doctor still had no luck finding him.

The Doctor thanked the waiter and started at his meal. It wasn’t his favorite place to eat, but it wasn’t that bad. Though, he still didn’t know why Trotter came here so much. It was called The Canterlot Café. The Doctor snickered, what a silly place. They always had a strange assortment of either funny pictures or amazing art.

The Doctor turned his head. The café door’s bell rung and in staggered a brown unicorn with grey and crimson mane. The Doctor shot up from his seat and galloped a crossed the café to his friend.

“Haha! Trotter where in the Tartarus have you been?!”

Trotter gave him a tired smile. “Sorry buddy, was…out, um, heh, needed to answer a question….” Trotter frowned, but then quickly smiled again, “Rather not talk about it. Don’t think you’d be interested in it anyways. I’m fine now, just…uh, personal stuff, ya know.”

The Doctor shook his head. “Mmmmm, nope, I don’t know.” The Doctor’s face suddenly turned from confused to elation, “OH! That’s right! I forgot to say! I think I found you your own place to live! I know you don’t get the best sleep in the TARDIS and you like doing your odds and ends here, so I did a search on places all around Ponyville and found you a great place. Best of all it’s in your price range!”

Trotter gave false smile, “Really? That’s wonderful, what’s it like?”

“Well there are a few conditions, you won’t be there alone, it’s kind of duplex deal. You and another pony are gonna be buying this place. Speaking of which I hope you like dubstep. You know what? Let’s talk about this over some food! Come on! Allons-y!”

The Doctor put his hoof around Trotter and brought him over to his table and for the first time all day, Trotter felt safe.