Galactic Harmony
Octavia Melody was running. She was always running in these types of dreams though the environment changed constantly. She ran through grand cloisters with the sound of bells constantly ringing in her ears and clattering through her brain, or across a field of red glass that sprung up like grass cutting her hooves when she moved or atop enormous, grand cliffs perched precariously above white raging waters. Throughout it all two things never changed, wherever she went she was always running and she always ran to the music.
In every dream she would find herself running as fast as her hooves could carry her. Every step would feel like slogging through mud, but she’d continued to run until she was breathless, and until her lungs felt like fire; and in every dream the loud panicked strains of her cello would follow her. ‘It’ would follow her.
It was colorless and transparent, but like an all-consuming storm cloud constantly billowed behind her gaining closer and closer as the music of the cello shot through her heart. Even worse it seemed to be conscious, following her no matter which way she darted or where she sprinted and no matter how much she tried to block it out the music stayed with her.
The dream always ended the same way, Octavia would collapse onto the ground and just as she could feel the cold wisps of black smoke licking at her, it would pull back. She would take a deep breath in relief before the scream of another pony would pierce her ears.
“Vinyl?” she would ask panicked. It was at this point that Octavia Melody always woke up.
The mares’ eyes slowly creaked open. It appeared that this latest dream was no exception. The moon still shone brightly outside as a warm comforting Ponyville breeze drifted through her open window. Rolling over in her bed she slammed it shut in annoyance.
She found it odd, almost frighteningly so that these dreams no longer scared her, how they had become so routine. Was she really so callus? Shaking off the thought she closed her eyes again in an attempt to go back to sleep. She rolled over and lay there. Then rolled again. After shifting position for the eighth time she let out an angry huff, scratched her bed hair, hauled herself out of bed and walked towards the hallway.
“Filth, abject filth,” she grumbled to herself upon passing the door of her roommate. She paused and dared to look inside the un-natural disaster area that was the living quarters of Vinyl Scratch. Octavia sighed as she spied the empty bed. “Probably out on another one of her late night composing excursions.”
It wasn’t uncommon for Vinyl to be ‘taken by the muse’ as Octavia liked to put it and disappear for days on end only to resurface with a new song that would somehow be deemed genius by the common culture. Octavia only wished her own composition could be half as successful but for now she’d have to be content performing the work of other ponies at dinner parties as whatnot.
Of course she couldn’t be angry with Vinyl, despite the mares constant jabs and name calling which usually involved some horrible pun about cellos. Vinyl may have her rough edges but the duo had always encouraged each other with their music. They’d been best friends ever since that one memorable and physically painful day in music class.
Octavia shook her head, slowly backing away from the room, the overpowering smell of cheap hair gel and stale cheese crackers must have been making her nostalgic. She walked past the photos on the wall containing similar fun or painful memories and descended into the kitchen, letting out a yawn while reaching for her glass when suddenly…there was a knock at the door.
She stiffened at the sound, as most sane people would do upon hearing a knock at the door at approximately three in the morning. Its okay, she tried to convince herself. Vinyl’s probably just locked herself out, again. Of course when that happened the hyperactive DJ would usually just slip through the second floor window her brain rationalized to late as Octavia felt her hoof turning the handle.
She pulled the door open cautiously and peered into the moonlit night. There standing before her was a single earth pony. He carried himself with an air of humility, a perfectly ordinary yet elegant look. He wouldn’t have looked out of place in Canterlot, but then again he wouldn’t have looked out of place in well…anywhere.
“Hello, I am the Doctor,” he greeted cordially. “I’m going to have to ask you to run. You’re in very grave danger I’m afraid.”
Octavia blinked, mouth open hung agape as the pony let himself in with nothing more than a tip of his hat. As he brushed she was able to get a better look at him. A beige vest outlined in red with nary a wrinkle on it, a similarly colored hat with a bold red stripe running around it and…good Celestia was that…celery? Despite the oddities of his clothes his light sandy brown coat and amiable blue eyes made him seem like a perfectly ordinary gentlecolt. Of course nothing in his dress or demeanor explained why he’d barged into her house.
“Hold on a minute, danger?” she asked suddenly.
“Yes, mortal and imminent.” He answered non-chalantly looking around.
Crossing the threshold into the living room he did a quick scan before making towards the stairs. Octavia blinked before finally coming to her senses. She turned and sprinted after him, half a million things running through her head.
“You can’t go up there” she exclaimed, shouting the first thing that popped into the forefront of her mind! “Company really is more of Vinyl’s thing…”
“A long time friend I assume?” the stranger asked briefly glancing at the photos on the wall.
“W-what, of course, surely you’ve heard of her, that’s Vinyl, Vinyl Scratch.” She stopped herself mid sentence. This pony had barged his way into her house on vague pretenses of danger and started asking questions of her personal life. Why was she giving him the time of day? As she prepared a different course of action the stallion suddenly took a hard right into Vinyl’s room.
“Don’t!” Octavia demanded as she rushed up to the doorway. “Listen SIR, I don’t care who you are, I don’t care who you think you are, but if you persist on trespassing within my own home I will have no choice, but to call the authorities.” Once again, Octavia was forced to question the wisdom of her own words. In reality the first thing she should’ve done was fetched her neighbors as soon as this pony intruded in her house. She cursed Vinyl silently for convincing her to take the house on the edge of town.
“I’m sorry, I truly am,” the stallion replied breathlessly as he rummaged through the trash heap that was Vinyl’s floor. Octavia grimaced; she’d planned on tackling her roommate’s floor one of these days, but only with a biohazard suit and perhaps several members of the princess’ personal guard.
Octavia shook her head and stamped a foot on the ground in an attempt to gain control of the situation. Then, before she could utter a single word the stallion turned around with a raised eyebrow.
“This, Vinyl Scratch, where is she?” he questioned. Octavia glared at him, hoping that the audacity of his actions would speak for themselves. The look the stallion gave her was odd to say the least. He looked sad and sheepish yet he still held an air of confidence. “I ask because from what I’ve seen she doesn’t go anywhere without these does she?”
Octavia felt a chill wash over her as he held up a pair of sunglasses. Vinyl’s sunglasses, the same pair that she wore whenever she went out. There was no reason, at least no immediately conceivable reason why her roommate would ever leave the glasses behind. Her anger gave way to panic as she burst into the room to examine the glasses. She looked at the stallions face as if praying that this was all some hoax. Perhaps Vinyl had set the whole thing up as some sort of joke. The look on the strangers face shattered this hope; he wore the same sorrowful expression.
Octavia gritted her teeth. She knew the story behind the glasses, she’d given…Octavia stopped herself and glanced carefully up at the intruding stranger. She almost felt her hoof ball into a fist.
“Vinyl’s not just my roommate she’s also my friend, my best friend now tell me,” Octavia said quickly in a dangerously calm voice. “What’s going on?” The stallion looked at her carefully, almost biting his lip before before swiftly turning away and continuing to rummage through the room.
“This site is practically teeming with the after effects from a chronoton event, not that unusual for your anomaly of a sector mind you, I probably wouldn’t even have registered it if it weren’t for the sheer size of the Post Eventum isotopes. Something on this scale simply blew a fissure in the fabric of time itself then vanished leaving nothing but low grade francium and lots and lots of stray chronotons telesponders.” Octavia gawked at the rapid-fire words emerging from his mouth before shaking her head and following him across the room.
“And that would mean?” she pressed angrily still gripping the glasses. Firmly she placed a hoof on his shoulder and spun him around. She looked him dead in the eyes are in commanding him to come up with a better explanation.
“Your friend was here and now she’s gone,” was all he offered, his voice finally descending into a huff, patience wearing thin.
“Vanished? Into thin air” she interrogated stamping her foot on the ground getting further into the stallions face. “This isn’t funny anymore, you’re going to tell me what’s really going on. Ponies don’t just disappear!”
“Well there’s a first time for everything, I’m afraid that in this case she really has simply vanished off of this plane of existence now please if you would be so accommodating as to leave this area immediately you are in danger here.” The stranger pleaded sounding adamant yet desperate as he readjusted his celery. His formerly cordial appearance dropped for a much more stern, perhaps even dangerous countenance. His formerly calm and jovial eyes now seemed like fire as they bored into her. Nevertheless, once glance at the glasses in her hand was enough to convince Octavia to whether anything the stranger could throw at her.
“The only one in danger here is Vinyl and you in about five seconds if you don’t tell me what’s really going on here! What could I possibly be in danger from?” she said, her native Canterlot accent growing thicker by the second as her anger continued to rise.
As if on cue, there was a terrifying howl from the hall. There, at the entrance stood a terrifyingly large creature in a mattered black and white coat of fur. A pair of glowing eyes stared down at the pair before, with one long bellow it burst into the room, taking the better part of the doorway with it.
The strange stallion sprung into action knocking Octavia out of the way and rolling to the side of the creature’s deadly charge. The mare grimaced as the creature collided with Vinyl’s shelf of personalized records. Of if only her roommate were here this creature would have hell to pay.
“Like a Yeti! Now run!” the stallion demanded shoving her towards the monster shaped hole in the wall.
“A Yeti?” Octavia screamed over the howl of the creature. “What do you mean a Yeti? You’ve seen one of these things before?”
“A robot army posing as Yeti’s under the control of an Astral Being bent on conquering the planet, but yes I have faced these things before!” he replied as they blitzed down the stairs. “Mind you they were a mite smaller last time!”
“This is insane,” Octavia continued as the two burst towards the door.
“Well I won’t argue with you!” the stallion replied suddenly scrambling to a halt before doing a full one-eighty and making for the fireplace. Procuring a lighter from his vest he began to flick it desperately.
The Yeti emerged from the staircase, eyes still wild with rage. It raised its arms above its head and bellowed as the stallion redoubled his efforts to get a fire started.
The fireplace didn’t roar to life so much as it sputtered. At first only a lick of flame was visible before it gradually started to consume the log. Quickly the stranger fished it out of the fireplace with his teeth and defiantly waved it at the creature. The Yeti bellowed once again, pulling back and nursing its singed fur. Just as stallion began to circle back around the Yeti and towards the door the creature snapped to attention, its eyes locking back onto him.
“I think you just made it angrier,” Octavia stammered still wide-eyed at the situation that was playing out before her.
“Yes, thank you for that astute observation,” the stallion remarked somewhat snidely with the burning log still in his mouth. Beads of clear sweat dripped down his muzzle as the duo backed out of the house. He grimaced as he suddenly dropped the log onto the ground, turned his head and spat.
“That’s hot,” he muttered as he spat at the ground once again. Octavia quickly scooped up the make shift torch and waved it at the monster.
“I’m guessing that’s why we have hooves,” the line came out extremely blunt. Despite herself, the stranger in her house, her missing best friend and the terrifying creature before her it all seemed…almost normal. She shook off the feeling as instinct forced her to ask the next question on her mind “So what now?”
“Well,” the stallion began with a sheepish look, “the chronoton radiation is highly unstable and fades after a certain amount of time.”
“So…” Octavia gawked again as she tried to make sense of the scientific jargon. “It will disappear on its own?”
“Technically yes,” the stallion nodded while keeping his eyes on the cautiously advancing Yeti. “The same thing that displaced it will return it to its proper place, but the mass of energy here means that the problem is…” As soon as the Yeti had appeared it vanished. In the blink of an eye another creature stood before them. It was largely, frighteningly large and green.
The torch fell from Octavia’s hand as she looked up at a hard shell in front of her. A long pointed hard shell of a creature that drove itself into the ground. She looked a little higher when it suddenly dawned on her; it was just a leg, one of ten. Steam emitted from the creatures underbelly as she stated trembling.
“When I say run, run,” the stallion muttered to her. A distinct clicking sound pierced the air. “Run!” With a scream Octavia and the stallion turned around and bolted as fast as their legs would carry them.
“And what’s this now?” Octavia asked. It was a rhetorical question, but the strange pony answered it anyway.
“Cancri DiArthropod otherwise known as the tropical scorpion! I once encountered their very distant cousins whilst adventuring on the planet of Metebelis 3!”
“Spectacular! Your must be so proud!” Octavia shrieked as the pair continued to flee the rapidly advancing scorpion. “Where are we running to?”
“Make for the TARDIS!”
“The what?” Octavia yelled, giving him a look that was usually reserved for Vinyl after her roommate’s late night ice cream binges.
“That blue box,” the stallion nodded to the edge of the woods. Octavia glanced in the direction blowing her black bed hair out of her eyes as she continued to run. Sure enough there stood a stocky blue contianer.
“And what good will that do us?” Octavia demanded.
“Trust me, she’s sturdier than she looks!” he replied using his teeth to pull a key out of his vest. The two screeched to a halt as the stallion slid the key into the hole delicately, almost to delicately for Octavia’s taste.
“I don’t mean to rush you,” she said stomping her hooves in an agitated fashion casting an anxious look back at the rapidly approaching scorpion. The door suddenly creaked open as the stallion shoved her into the box before throwing it shut behind them.
“Light?” Octavia’s asked. Why was it light inside a completely enclosed container in the middle of the night? She looked up from the floor before her eyes went wide. Instead of a cramped, dark, stuffy box she’d suddenly found herself in a nicely lit spacious room. Suddenly she seemed content to simply sit on the floor, speechless. The stallion paid her no mind though, he was already at work furiously fidgeting with levers and buttons.
“I’ve managed to lock onto the chronoton mass surrounding the creature. Hang on, I’m taking us and that thing to higher ground.” The stallion gasped as he tried to operate his machinery while capturing his breath.
“Lock onto it? Why in Equestria would you lock back onto it?” Octavia just about screamed. As soon as the words came out of her mouth she knew there was going to be a response. This stupid stallion and his stupid hat, strutting around with his celery and beige colored everything. The answer was so obvious and so simple she practically answered along with him word for word.
“Well it’s either take it with us or leave it free down there to rampage around your little hamlet of a village constantly shifting in and out of more confused and probably quite angry creatures. Somehow I doubt that the locals would find that to capital.” Ok, so maybe it wouldn’t have been word for word. The stallion slid around the side of the controls efficiently as he pressed another series of buttons. There was a great growl from the depths of the machine. It was a noise that reminded Octavia of some other foreign beast in the heart of the Everfree Forest.
“Radiations messing with the controls,” the stallion mumbled to himself looking at a chart of readouts as he slowly began to whistle. He looked over at her and with an almost commanding voice said “We’ll have to do this the old fashioned way, open the door and see where we are.” Swiftly, Octavia moved and shoved the door open unsure of what to expect but completely assured that it wouldn’t be normal.
“T-this is Canterlot Castle, v-very high up,” Octavia squeaked. Heights, she hated heights. There was a sudden ear splitting squealing as Octavia looked up to see the Scorpion hovering in mid air. Suddenly, she began to feel a little dizzy.
Perfect, just perfect. Here she was again, flying over the capital of Equestria in an enchanted blue box with a delusional mad-pony who seemed to believe that this was just another day at work.
Yes, this was a dream, definitely another one of her crazy dreams that she would no doubt wake up from just as soon as that insufferable cloud bothered to grab her by the legs again. Yes, she’d wake up with Vinyl standing over her and laughing about her crazy sleeping habits. Octavia felt herself falling into a daze as her hooves gradually started to slip towards the door.
“Miss!” the stallion sounded concerned. “Just hang on, blast it, sorry old girl.” He apologized to the machine as he slammed his hoof down onto a large button before scrambling after Octavia. He yanked the shaking mare away from the door and rolled to the side as the box began to fall.
The machine spiraled through the air as a firm slap to the face from the stallion brought Octavia around. One quick glance out of what she could see of the door made her wish she’d stayed in her trance. The rapidly approaching concrete balcony may provide a roadblock for this insufferable contraption, but she doubted that it would faze the scorpion very much.
Then it happened again. As quickly as it had appeared, the scorpion vanished. In its place was another creature almost as tall as the Yeti but much longer. It resembled a large fish with a set of great teeth. A pair of beady eyes stared out at the machine from beneath its black leather skin. A horrible rasp emerged from its throat just as it collided with the balcony. Dust and bits of concrete flew everywhere as the pair tried to recover from the sudden shock.
With some struggle the creature arose and started making for the box.
“Oh and what is this?” Octavia cried, sounding more annoyed than anything else. “An animal comprised of several undersea monsters whose genes have been spliced together by a long forgotten race to create a weapon for the purpose of helping them incite nuclear war?”
“How do you know that?” the stallions wheeled to face her, his countenance being one of bewilderment and confusion. Octavia blinked, then blinked again. Violently she shook her head.
“I-I…I,” she stammered. It had been the oddest sensation, almost as if something had gripped her by the throat and forced her to spit out the words. The creature let out another sound but this time it came as more of a guttural rasp.
“Oh! Hold that thought,” the stallion said pushing her back as the creature advanced. The rough fins of the creature did their best to push it forward and for a while it succeeded, but as the creature continued to rasp then gasp they slowly ground to a halt. Unceremoniously, it flopped onto its side, mouth gaping wide open. The stallion brushed off his hooves looking quite pleased with himself. “You see good things do come to those who wait.”
With that he dashed to the control panel and removed a piece of siding. Quickly, he attempted to pull out an important looking hose, again with his teeth. Octavia wasn’t sure what to make of this stallion, if he was either brilliant or simply had a string of enormously good luck that had kept him alive.
She trotted over to the panel, snagged the valve with her hoof and gave it a firm yank. The valve disconnected with relative ease. Carefully she handed it and the hose connected to it to the stallion with a morose face. He tipped his hat in a very gentlecoltly fashion before rushing out the door and towards the creature.
Without another word he jammed it onto the creatures face and rushed back to the control panel, pressed a few buttons and fell back onto his hindquarters in exhaustion.
“Was this your plan?” Octavia asked, her frustration and anger all bubbling back up. “Just keep running away until it turns into a big fish?”
“Well statistically speaking the chronotons had to release a creature unsuited to a temperate environment at some point so in a manner of speaking…yes. Then all I had to do was get a direct link to the creature with the TARDIS to transform these extra chronotons into harmless matter. The real problem was simply keeping the creature occupied so that no bystanders were hurt.”
“What about Vinyl,” Octavia asked as the stallions countenance suddenly turned serious. “Wasn’t she an innocent bystander?”
“Something has ahold of her, something very powerful,” the stallion tipped his hat upwards as he looked towards the night sky “But I’ll do my best to find your friend Miss, I swear it.” With that he looked back at her with a smile, the fish creature finally disappearing.
“Well this has been a pleasure, but I must be off.”
“What? Oh no, no, no. If Vinyl’s in trouble I’m coming along with you.” Octavia said stamping her hoof on the ground before giving him a softer look. “Please, she’s my best friend, I can’t just sit around knowing that something like…whatever attacked up tonight might have her.”
“Miss I admire your determination and I do enjoy the company of others, but I don’t even known what happened to here. I will not put you in unnecessary danger.” The stallion sighed with a kind smile.
“The same kind of unnecessary danger I was in when you told me to take a look out of the doors of your box?” Octavia asked bluntly. The stallion suddenly looked incredibly sheepish.
“Well you see I am used to having…help,” he offered carefully.
“Or the same kind of danger I was in when you aimed for this balcony with a twenty toned scorpion in tow?”
“Well you see I really had no…”
“Or that Yeti,” Octavia cut in crossing her forelegs. The stallion sputtered as if trying to come up with a suitable response. “Besides you know absolutely nothing about my roommate, how do you expect to figure out who kidnapped her with extra information?” He cast a quick glance at the mare and her raised eyebrow before letting out an exasperated tsk.
“Oh alright but…” he gave in, shaking his head “Never mind, welcome aboard.”
“Right now?” Octavia asked looking around, suddenly apprehensive about the whole business. The noise of the TARDIS colliding with the balcony had sent echoes throughout the city. She glanced over the smooth purple railing looking at the multiple ponies that had been awakened by the noise. Feeling a bit dizzy from the height she looked back towards the mysterious stranger.
“No time like the present,” was the only reply. Just as the stallion had turned around to go back into the TARDIS he paused back with a raised eyebrow, “I’m sorry, I don’t believe I caught your name.”
“Octavia…Melody, Octavia Melody, and…I’m afraid your name has escaped my mind?” the mare offered with an unsure smile.
“Ah, yes well I am the Doctor, pleased to meet you.” The stallion nodded walking through the open door. In the distance Octavia was sure she could hear the metal clanking on guards horseshoes on the smooth tiled floors.
“Vinyl,” was the only word she mumbled out loud, but inside her mind she was burning up. I’m coming for you, I will find you and I will save you. Just hold on. She glanced up at the moon as if swearing on a celestial body sealed her promise in stone.
“Miss Melody?” the self-styled Doctor asked poking his head out of the TARDIS.
“Let’s go!” she shouted firmly, rushing in before quickly adding, “beats staying here and getting arrested at least.
“Arrested…” The Doctor asked more to himself as the clopping of hooves drew closer. “Ah yes, of course. Please make yourself comfortable Miss Melody, we are off!” With that the doors slammed shut as another growl came from deep within the TARDIS before it vanished into the night.
“You’re kidding,” the mare gaped as the Doctor finished the short introduction to his flying blue box. He spun around to face at her, a look of childish glee printed on his face.
“Welcome Miss Octavia Melody to the TARDIS.” He greeted with a formal bow. “Anywhere in time and space, anything you can conceive of and everything you can’t. It is now all at our finger tips…or hooves as the case may be.”
“Just how big is the universe?” Octavia asked in wonder glancing at what seemed to be the TARDIS’ sole viewport, spying a singular blue and green ball in the distance.
“Well that is a whole other matter in and of itself. Suffice it to say that you could visit a planet every second every day for the rest of your life and you still wouldn’t have seen them all, and don’t get me started on null space.”
“And ours is but a small part of it,” Octavia marveled silently.
“Oh more important than you think! Especially after the Equestrian Supernova Maelstrom Event.”
“…The Supernova what now?”
“Oh um, uh, well you know how civilizations are, they come and they go.”
“Doctor,” Octavia said with an almost authoritarian tone.
“Sorry, if I gave you all the answers…” the Doctor replied happily skirting around the console as if trying to avoid eye contact.
“If you gave me all the answers what?” Octavia asked with a raised eyebrow, edging him on.
“Well you…you’d, you’d miss out on all the fun…” he paused, glancing at the large hexagon shaped control panel in the middle of the room thoughtfully before muttering. “Or we could end up blowing a hole in time and space again.”
“Doctor…”
“But just think of it! So many secrets of the universe out there! Where do you want to go? There’s so much to see, so much to do and we have all the time…”
“Doctor, don’t we have a somewhat more pressing matter at hand?” Octavia asked sharply.
“Oh…” The Doctor suddenly looked very lost, his eyes sheepishly darted back and forth before he resumed his rapid pace chatter. “Forgive me. I’m so used to simply gallivanting around the universe, dashing to and fro. Force of habit I guess. Very well, where shall we start?”
“I, I don’t know.” She stammered, glancing at him, embarrassed at being put on the spot. His eyes gleamed at her with the same innocence and happiness that Octavia had seen the Apple family’s dog look at her with. “You’re the expert where do you think we should start?”
“Well that’s the trouble isn’t it? Our abductor left very little that we could identify him with and in all of time and space. I suppose we could start with just a little basic information. I gathered from your photographs that you two were…performers of some kind.”
“Musicians,” Octavia acknowledged. “Vinyl was a Disc Jockey, she also made her own, electronic music.” her face involuntarily curled as the last two words slipped out of her mouth.
“And you?”
“Oh, I’m a cellist with Ponyville’s Chamber Quartet,”
“A cellist? Fascinating!” the Doctor’s face lit up as he approached her again, leaving several important looking buttons blinking away on the console. “Tell me…”
“Doctor, as enthralling as this conversation is turning out be…” Octavia pressed gently. The Doctor paused mid trot as a shade of red crossed his muzzle.
“I’m doing it again, aren’t I?…I don’t often get to travel with someone in the upper echelon, if you catch my drift.” It was Octavia’s turn to blush. “I…I mean I’ve travelled with dignitaries before, people whom I’ve been very fond of, but I don’t think I’ve ever truly had the company of a classically trained musician.”
“Well, I’m not really in any position to join the full orchestra yet but, if you like we can go out for tea later and discuss everything…aristocratic.”
“Tea?”
“Focus Doctor,”
“Right, right sorry. A musician then. Well nearly planets and cultures celebrate the arts so naturally singling anyone out will be quite difficult. Which one would want to kidnap your friend? Perhaps we should be asking why they would want to kidnap her. What specific type of artist was your friend, musically?”
“Vinyl’s music? Art?” Octavia answered with a wry smile.
“Naturally,” the Doctor sighed. “But electronic music is a staple on many planets. Let me see 21st century Earth, the founding of Trost, the tech renaissance of Corellia.”
“Like like finding a needle in a stack of hay fries, we need something more substantial to go on,” Octavia muttered. As if on cue the TARDIS was suddenly launched forward. With a swift athletic move, (that Octavia cynically observed in her head must’ve come from experiencing situations like this multiple times) the Doctor latched onto the control panel with his hooves to secure himself.
“Hold on Ms. Melody!” The Doctor shouted in a panic as he desperately tried to pull himself onto the control panel with his hooves. The TARDIS continued to tilt as the Doctor continued to try and get ahold of the controls. His desperate scrapping soon descended into a wild flailing of limbs as he tumbled towards the entrance crashing into Octavia.
Octavia’s could feel a distinct thumping in her head. A chill washed over her only to be followed by a distinct hot flash. Her organs seemed to be trampolining around, causing her to grab her stomach as the interior of the white TARDIS walls began to blur. All sound began to fade leaving the curious tune of the Doctor whistling at the forefront. It was a strange tune, it seemed so very familiar and yet she couldn’t quite place it. Before she could ponder it any more in her half conscious state of mind there was another resounding crash.
As suddenly as the giddiness had set in, it disappeared. Octavia blinked at the sudden clarity, now perfectly aware of her surroundings, which happened to include the stallion sitting on top of her. She glanced at the Doctor to see him still wide eyed and flailing his arms in the air as if still trying to maintain control of the TARDIS.
There was a loud creak as the TARDIS suddenly tilted forward throwing the two away from the door and sprawling onto the spacious white floor.
“Doctor?” Octavia asked still slumped on the ground.
“Yes Miss Melody?” The Doctor replied glancing at her from his backside.
“You’re not actually a pony are you?” she asked feeling the need to confirm the obvious fact that this creature had no idea how to use his limbs.
“Well no,” The Doctor answered offering Octavia a hoof to help her up from off the floor. As soon as she was up the Doctor proceeded to gallop to the control panel began the familiar process of pressing buttons and flipping switches.
“Alien?”
“Well…what if I told you I was really a mostly hairless biped with…a sunken muzzle, less pronounced ears and no tail.”
“That sounds horrifying,” said with a dead monotone as she watched the eccentric Doctor running around his console panel.
“Yes I guess we are in a way,” the Doctor pondered, boldly stepping out of the TARDIS. “You know I always love the feeling of…oh,”
“What?”
“We’re still in Equestria, perhaps that TARDIS malfunction simply returned us to the last known coordinates.”
A horrible thought stuck Octavia. “You do know how to pilot this thing correct?
“Hmm, oh off and on,” the Doctor replied as casually as ever. “As long as we don’t encounter any temporal paradoxes, gaping black holes in the sky, creatures from the center of the planet that sort of thing, we should be fine.”
“I can’t quite place it but it feels like…like,” Octavia whispered, stopping short of ‘I’m not supposed to be here’. Just glancing around at the vibrant Ponyville afternoon it didn’t seem like anything could be amiss. Citizens trotted back and forth going about their daily routines as if the blue box that had materialized had been there all their lives. The Doctor himself walked back inside the TARDIS with a curious look on his face. Suddenly, a group of school children ran across Octavia’s view and realization hit her.
“Oh no,”
“Temporal Paradox?” the Doctor asked, head popping back out of the TARDIS in a panicked and yet somehow gleeful voice.
“Middle school,” Octavia answered flatly.
“I’m…sorry, that’s a new one,” the Doctor replied hesitantly as he came up beside her. Octavia raised a hoof in the direction of a lanky looking grey earth pony that seemed to be struggling under the weight of a cello case.
“Oh dear.”
“I’ll admit I wasn’t that graceful,” Octavia began giving him a raised eyebrow. She sighed to herself as she watched a shaggy blue-maned filly burst past her.
“Careful Strings! Maybe next time you pick an instrument that isn’t twice your size.” Vinyl flashed her a cheeky grin before running off leaving the young Octavia with nothing to do but glare and continue to struggle under the weight of her instrument.
“Miss Octavia I think it might be best…” the Doctor began attempting to place a hoof on her side. His brow quickly furrowed as it passed through her. Octavia began to sway as the all to familiar sensations began to wash over her again. Outside noise vanished as her focus zeroed in firmly onto Vinyl and her past self. The Doctor looked panicked as he turned wildly around before rushing back into the TARDIS.
“Shorted out the time differential,” he cried in alarm. “The recall circuit? Oh dear girl please, please, please not now.”
Now in a complete panic, the Doctor threw open the doors and bellowed at the top of his voice. “Miss Octavia. Miss Octavia! Listen to me! This is a paradox. Whatever you do, do not come into contact with your past self. That would be bad! So until I can find you, stay put, and I will find you I promise!” with a whirl and a growl the TARDIS began to disappear.
Octavia only vaguely heard his warnings. For some reason she was reminded of a dream she had when she was younger, where she’d been swimming through an endless vat of chocolate pudding. Her mind felt a lot like that at the moment, straining to find any sort of coherent thought as her body slowly began to move on its own. A fog began to cloud her eyes and her vision slowly began to go white until she could see nothing at all.
Octavia Melody blinked. Her vision and mind were suddenly so crystal clear that the only rational thought that popped into her head was to blink again. After several more rounds of this she shook her head and surveyed the surroundings.
It reminded her somewhat of her dreams. True there may have been no perilous environment or all seeing force chasing her, but still there was something in the air, something dangerous.
Octavia slowly began to take in her surroundings. She appeared to still be in Ponyville only a short time after she had left. It had to be, there was her past self still struggling under the weight of a cello. Hadn’t the Doctor warned her about stuff like this? Doctor?
“Doctor!” she shouted suddenly. Two passing mares glanced at her oddly before snickering as they passed. Octavia blushed as she realized just how much noise she was making. Nope, definitely not a dream.
Octavia took a quick glance back at her younger self, watching the poor filly stumble under the weight of her instrument. Poor girl, Octavia thought to herself. She couldn’t come into contact with her past self, Octavia remembered that much, but would it really be so bad to just follow her? Just to make sure nothing happened to her past...
Octavia stopped herself mid thought. What in the world was she thinking? Of course nothing was going to happen to her or she wouldn’t be around to ask the question. That’s how time travel worked…right? The thought had just creped into her mind so quietly she hadn’t noticed. Octavia suddenly winced while grabbing her head. A familiar sensation seemed to be swimming around her.
“No!” she screamed in her mind “Not again.” She steeled her mind fighting off the suggestions. The more she resisted the more she could feel it, like something worming it’s way across her skull. Octavia bit her tongue to keep from crying out in pain. With her hooves clenched she gave her head a violent shake as the sensation finally dissipated. She took a deep breath and wiped her brow only to find that her coat was almost soaked in sweat.
“What’s happening to me?” she muttered. Her eyes were once again drawn to her past self when she saw it. “That’s not the way home.” Young Octavia had strayed from the beaten path, wandering towards the grove of trees that lay a ways beyond the schoolyard. Octavia stopped, she never went that way, and she hadn’t gone down that path since…
“So that’s what this is all about,” she mumbled to herself. With one last look around she stumbled after herself.
The Canyon, as the local school children had taken to calling it was a gorge that lay just beyond the Ponyville city lines. However, it wasn’t so much of a canyon as it was a ravine. Well even then it wasn’t so much of a ravine as it was a steep miniature valley. Okay so it was a gully, a very large gully lined with boulders and a stream running through it but a gully nonetheless. Not perilous enough to rail off but dangerous enough for mothers to scold their foals for going anywhere near. In other words, just edgy enough for all kinds of dares and dumb challenges young fillies are prone to.
Octavia Melody on the other hand, came to the Canyon for a different reason. The grove of maple trees that grew near the steep incline provided just enough shade to keep one cool except on the hottest of Equestrian days. From the edge of the slope one could easily see clear to the other side where the Evermore Forest, the much tamer sister of the Everfree grew.
Octavia sighed to herself, crashing on the grass beneath her, undisturbed by the stifling presence of the cello case on her back as she started peacefully off into the distance. Finally she was alone, with nothing but her thoughts, her cello and the snickering that came from an upper branch of a nearby maple tree…Wait.
“Hey Strings, what’s up?” a cheeky voice drifted down. Octavia recognized the voice at once, letting out a long sigh she looked upwards to spy her fellow school filly Vinyl.
“What in the name of Mahler’s great ghost are you doing here?” she almost bellowed.
“I live here,” Vinyl replied smugly.
“What? Really?” Octavia was taken aback. Why had she never seen her out here?
“No, not really,” Vinyl replied a stupid grin still plastered on her face. Octavia’s face fell back into a look of absolute hate as gave the other mare a long hard look. She and Vinyl weren’t exactly enemies but the last thing anyone would expect them to be was friends’. It was no secret that Vinyl thought Octavia was about as interesting as dirt and she in turn would rather eat said dirt than spend a day with Vinyl. The angry look Octavia was giving her must’ve settled in because Vinyl suddenly turned serious. The two glared at each other for a moment before Vinyl turned her head in a huff.
“Look, I don’t like you and you don’t like me. Why don’t you just putter back on home, drop off your violin…”
“Cello,”
“Sure, why not,” Vinyl muttered waving her hand before continuing, “by the time you come back I’ll be gone.” Octavia paused, that suggestion actually made sense. A hundred arguments and comebacks crossed her tired mind, but deciding that she should at least try to match the others civility she stood up slowly, turned with her head held high and walked wordlessly away. Vinyl watched the other girl in annoyance as she left before leaning back against her tree.
“Snob” she muttered a bit loudly. Octavia paused and shot the tree an angry look.
“Vulgar brute,” she replied, giving into the game of schoolyard insults.
“Self righteous snit,” Vinyl shot back.
“Filthy, social neophyte!” Octavia yelled trotting back to the tree. There was a pause as Vinyl looked back down, now equally as angry.
“…Jerk,”
“You…you, disrespectful, lazy, worthless…” Octavia’s face was red, letting her cello case slip off of her back she turned and kicked the tree the small maple tree as hard as she could. The force of her young legs wasn’t much, but for a small instant the tree shook. Vinyl, suddenly off guard tumbled to the ground. Ignoring how close she’d come to slipping off the edge of the Canyon, Vinyl simply picked herself up and shook the dust from her mane.
Octavia backed up slowly, suddenly feeling a little bit silly. She thought about apologizing but she quickly shook off the thought. Averting her eyes as Vinyl checked herself for bruises Octavia considered just taking her cello and leaving.
‘No,’ she told herself, ‘She started this, she can be the first to leave.’ Only briefly realizing the childishness of the situation, Octavia lifted her head again and glanced at the other mare condescendingly.
“If you spent half as much time studying, as you do messing with those records of yours you’d be a decent musician,” she said simply.
“You know,” the other filly began, her voice brimming with bile. “If you spent half as much time working on your social skills as you did your kicks you might have more friends.”
That did it.
“Loudmouthed little…” Octavia said, feeling her eyes start the water a bit. She lifted her front hooves and shoved Vinyl in her chest.
“Spoiled brat,” Vinyl yelled back, catching her balance before delivering a swift punch (though for her age really much more of a tap) in return. Octavia gritted her teeth as she tumbled back into the dust. Vinyl stepped forward, mouth open about to continue when, with a growl Octavia picked herself back up and delivered a swift punch to her gut.
Vinyl felt the wind leave her body; it suddenly felt like her stomach had completely collapsed onto itself. Slightly dazed, she stumbled backwards. Without realizing how close she was to the edge of the Canyon, Vinyl took one step to far backwards. The pebble beneath her hoof slipped off and a split second later her rear hoof disappeared, the rest of her body quickly following.
Octavia was still breathing heavily as she watched the other mare slip. She blinked once as the realization of what she’d just done set in. Then she did the only rational thing she could thing of, panic.
“Oh, no, no, no, no,” there was a queasy feeling in her stomach, like she wanted to throw up. She began trotting nervously in place, as her face grew hot. “Please, oh please, oh Celestia I didn’t mean to kill her…”
“Well!” a strained, exhausted voice barked from beyond the edge. “If you help me out, I might just call us even.” Octavia rushed over to the edge and glanced down. There was Vinyl desperately clutching the earth cliff face, eyes squeezed shut. Ignoring the fact that Vinyl shouldn’t have been able to hold onto anything after her fall, Octavia nervously went into survival mode.
“Hold on!” she shouted rushing over to her cello case.
“Yeah! No! Take your time!” Vinyl yelled back, sounding equally panicked.
Reaching for the nearest object she could get her hoofs on Octavia grabbed her cello case and rushed over to the edge. Lowering the slim end of the case down the mare nervously waved it in front of Vinyl’s face.
Vinyl had no time to run her mouth about what was perhaps the least intelligent thing to grab, or how awkward getting her hooves around it would be. She dug her hooves into it as quickly as she could and yanked on it. As soon as Octavia felt herself being yanked forward she planted her gray hooves into the ground, kicking up dust.
“Lousy day to wear my contacts,” Vinyl gibed breathlessly, continuing to pull up as hard as she could, the dust irritating her eyes. Beneath the young blue haired mare a voice grunted as faintly as possible. The elder Octavia, now watching one of the most important events of her life play out in front of her caught one of Vinyl’s flailing hooves again and forced it upwards.
“Come on you hyperactive little snit,” Octavia mumbled to herself. The thought had occurred to her younger self a year or so after the event that she should have had nowhere near the amount of strength needed to drag the mare up from an almost vertical cliff face. In fact it had taken the older Octavia awhile to even find a suitable footing. “I really hope I’m doing the right thing here…wouldn’t want to cause another time…”
Octavia was knocked out of her reverie by one of Vinyl’s hooves kicking her in eye. Angrily throwing subtly to the wind, Octavia scooted up further and practically grabbed Vinyl before throwing her upwards. It did the trick, Octavia, flew backwards, Vinyl grabbed onto the edge, pulling herself up and the cello came crashing down onto older Octavia’s muzzle. Biting her tongue to keep from screaming at the pain she quickly grabbed the case and with all her might threw it back up onto the ledge.
It only occurred to Octavia later that a cello, even her old one from middle school was no light instrument. She doubted she would’ve been strong enough to throw it up on her own…must’ve been the adrenaline she mused.
Landing smack dab in the wannabe river Octavia let herself float downstream a little ways, with a shore face and a thoroughly fed up attitude before swimming to shore.
Meanwhile, the two younger mares had collapsed on their backs, gasping heavily.
“Geez, what have you been lifting?” Vinyl gasped, still trying to catch her breath. “Taxi’s?”
“Cello’s,”
“Oh yeah,” Vinyl said nodding her head as if that should’ve made perfect sense.
“Speaking of which, if it’s damaged in any way…” Octavia began sitting up. She looked around and started to panic again. Where was her cello? If that girl had pulled it down with her…she stopped once again and spied the case lying at the edge. Slowly and tiredly she trotted over and picked it up. “You know…never mind, this was all my fault anyway.”
“Yeah, it kinda was,” came the cheeky reply. Octavia looked back as the blue haired girl opened her gleaming mischievous eyes. For some reason, Octavia began to laugh. “Vinyl, Vinyl Scratch.” “This is what you high class types do right? Formal introductions?”
“Octavia, Octavia Melody,” the other mare answered with a posh flip of her now quite disheveled mane. It was Vinyl’s turn to chuckle.
“Well,” she began, stretching her limbs, “Considering we almost killed each other it might be safer to pick ourselves up and pretend like the other doesn’t exist.”
In the bushes just off the side of the main path, now thoroughly sore and soaking wet picked up Vinyl’s sunglasses that had fallen with her into the river. Remembering just how her story had ended she casually tossed the broken and cracked specs towards the tree. Hearing the noise the two mares turned towards the tree.
“Your glasses,” Octavia began. She looked sympathetically at the other mare; she’d never really seen her without those things. It was almost her trademark.
“Eh, it’s fine I got a spare at home…I think. No big deal.” Vinyl said, attempting to sound casual.
“Come on,” Octavia said grabbing her cello. “I have a pair I can loan you. Black rims, purple lenses, I think you’ll like them.”
“Uh, no, no thanks…I-I’ll manage without them.” Vinyl stuttered. “It just feels to much like charity. You know taking something from the rich…”
“Rich?” Octavia asked incredulously, acting affronted by word. Vinyl stopped cold, her eyes going wider.”
“No, no, I just assumed, I mean you always acted…I just thought.” Octavia didn’t laugh but the practically bubbly smile on her face told Vinyl that she’d been played.
“So you just assumed that because I like to dress nice my family is part of the old Canterlot aristocracy, the landed elite who just sit around all day eating high end carota?” Octavia asked as she and Vinyl began to trot back to Octavia’s house.
“Shut up,” Vinyl said punching Octavia lightly on the shoulder “I don’t know what you’re talking about half the time anyway.”
“Middle school,” the older Octavia grumbled to herself as she watched the two future friends walk off into the woods on good terms, “Never again.”
Almost as soon as she’d finished there was a familiar whirring sound echoing through the air. Looking almost like a shadow at first, then slowly materializing on the edge of the Canyon stood the Doctors TARDIS. The doors creaked open as the stallion stepped out, glancing at her coldly.
“Doctor?” the mare asked taking a cautious step forward.
“Silly me,” the Doctors kept his tone as cold as ice as he glared at her with furrowed eyebrows. “Prattling on about spatial anomalies when there was one sitting in front of me the whole time.”
“W-what does…?” Octavia shuddered under the glare. This trip, the memories, it had all been so much to process. The Doctors look softened as he realized just how worn she looked.
“Well no matter,” he rebounded, tipping his hat up jovially, all traces of anger or suspicion gone. “I’ll figure it out in time. I always do!”
“Doctor?” Octavia’s voice crackled with tinges of anger. The Doctors cold façade was gone, now replaced by the look a filly with his hoof caught in the cookie jar.
“Yes?” he squeaked as Octavia arrived near his face.
“Ever since you left, I fainted twice, arranged my best friendship and apparently developed chronic migraines. Would you care to explain to me just what in blazes is going on?”
