Chapter One: The Camping Trip
One week after Tardis crash...
"Come on Octy, please", Vinyl whined as she clung to the grey Earth pony cellist. Octavia groaned as she shook the white unicorn DJ off of her and continued walking through the Ponyvile market place. Vinyl ran quickly ran in front of Octavia blocking her path. "You know it'll be fun", she said as she leaned in close to Octavia's face.
"Your version of fun and my version of fun, are two completely different things", Octavia said as she pushed Vinyl out of the way as she continued on her path. Vinyl quickly caught up with Octavia as she trotted next to her.
"Octy, come on, it's just a camping trip", Vinyl pleaded.
Octavia rolled her eyes as she made her way to the cabbage stand. "I'm fine with a simple camping trip, I used to go with my parents on camping trips a lot when I was just a filly", Octavia began looking through the cabbages. Vinyl stepped in front of Octavia again, causing her to backup a few steps.
"So what's the big deal", Vinyl asked as Octavia simply walked away, prompting Vinyl to follow.
"The big deal", Octavia emphasized, "Is where you want to camp", she said as she browsed a nearby jewelry stand. "What's wrong with where I want to camp", Vinyl asked in an innocent tone.
"You want us to camp in the middle of the Everfree Forest", she said loudly causing a few ponies nearby to look in her direction.
Vinyl rolled her eyes behind her glasses.
"You make it sound like its dangerous or something", she said making Octavia get right in her face.
"THAT'S BECAUSE IT IS DANGEROUS", Octavia practically yelled in Vinyls face. Vinyl sniffed the air before a big grin spread across her face. "Is that my new Cherrychanga toothpaste that I smell", Vinyl said, causing Octavia to scoff before turning around and leaving Vinyl giggling to herself before quickly catching up to her.
"Come on Tavi, the Everfree Forest isn't that dangerous. Zecora lives there, and she's just fine", Vinyl stated. "That's because she knows how to deal with what lives in there", Octavia explained as she waved to Applejack who was selling her usual apple products. "Then we'll just camp near her house", Vinyl offered with a smile as she got in to a fighting stance, "That way if anything dangerous try's to hurt you, you can run inside her house while I bravely fend off the beast".
Octavia groaned as she saw no way out of this. "Fine, but if you get eaten, just remember who's idea it was in the first place", Octavia sighed as Vinyl began to hop around Octavia. Octavia sighed as she stuck a hoof out causing Vinyl to trip and run right in to the cabbage stand.
Two days later at 11:00 PM...
Saying that Octavia was jumpy was an understatement. She was absolutely scared out of her mind. Octavia heard of the dangers of the Everfree Forest and made it a point to never go in there, but here she was with her insane marefriend. "Okay Octavia, calm down", she told herself, "Your safe, Zecora's house is just a quick trot away, and Vinyl is right here with me".
That was when she noticed it.
Silence.
Vinyl was never this quiet.
Octavia quickly looked around the camp, seeing no sign of Vinyl.
"Vinyl", Octavia called out, beginning to get worried, "Vinyl where are you".
"HEY OCTY", Vinyl yelled causing Octavia to bleat like a goat and pass out. Vinyl to fell over laughing manically as Octavia began to regain her senses.
"Vinyl, that was not funny", Octavia said as she started hitting Vinyl repeatedly in the shoulder as the DJ continued to laugh. After about ten or so hits in, Octavia stopped and glared at the white unicorn. Vinyl looked up at Octavia still giggling a bit with her glasses askew on her face. Octavia gave her a death glare before looking away.
"Oh come on Tavi, lighten up", Vinyl said as she lifted her glasses off her face and set them on her head above her horn.
"I'm not talking to you", Octavia responded not moving an inch.
"You just did talk to me", Vinyl said as she got up off the forest floor. When Octavia didn't react, Vinyl walked up beside Octavia and sat down beside her.
Octavia scooted away from Vinyl.
Vinyl scooted closer to Octavia.
Octavia turn her back to Vinyl.
Vinyl walked around and sat in front of Octavia and leaned in close to her face.
Octavia turned her head away.
Vinyl leaned in closer.
Octavia leaned back. Octavia's composure cracked a bit as she tried to hold back a smile.
"Come on Tavi, smile", Vinyl said in a sing-song tone.
"No, I'm still mad at you", Octavia responded.
"Come on", Vinyl cooed.
Octavia's resolve faltered for a second before she broke out in a big grin and pushed Vinyl away making her fall over.
"See, I knew you couldn't stay mad at me for ever", she said as got back and sat next to Octavia.
"I hate you", Octavia said with a big grin on her face.
"Aw, I love you too", responded Vinyl before they both broke out in a fit of laughter.
After a the telling of a few ghost stories, and a brief visit from Zecora, Octavia and Vinyl eventually went inside of her tent and fell asleep. That was until Vinyl started snoring. Octavia laid there with blood shot eyes wide open for a good hour before finally deciding to step outside for air. Octavia walked outside and sat in front of the tents entrance as she looked up in to the night sky. It was beautiful out tonight, as the stars shimmered and shined in the inky blackness. The moon shimmering as a star crossed the sky.
"Wait, what is that", Octavia questioned as squinted at the moving star as it steadily grew brighter. It soon flew over top of her as it made a strange whooshing sound. Octavia watched it as it fell somewhere in the Everfree Forest before she ran inside the tent and tried to wake up Vinyl.
"Vinyl, wake up", she pleaded as the white mare slept soundly. Octavia eventually gave up as she quickly ran outside as she looked over at where she saw the light touch down. She contemplated going back to bed, but her curiosity caused her to throw caution to the wind as she ventured in to the unknown.
After about ten minutes of trotting, Octavia considered on turning back. 'This is stupid, it was probably just a shooting star', she thought to herself as she continued walking.
That was when she saw it.
A big, blue box stood in the middle of the forest. The outside of it was chard, but she could make out the words "Police Public Call Box" written on it. She slowly approached the box when she noticed that the door was open. Her curiosity over rode her better judgement as she made her way inside.
What she saw was a large room with a pillar in the middle of the room, buttons, knobs, and levers covering what seemed to be a console. Though it was she saw at the console that made her stand completely still. Staring right back at her was a light grey changeling with a blue mane and tail as well as an equally blue pair of of eyes and wings. He wore a dark grey sweeter vest over a white shirt with a dark red tie around his neck. The unusual part was that this changeling had an hourglass shaped cutie mark.
The two of them stared at each other for a good minute before one of them spoke.
"Your not supposed to be here", the changing said. That was the last thing Octavia heard before she past out.
Chapter Two: Was It Just a Dream
Darkness was all that could be seen in the Everfree Forest. The foliage from the tress was so thick that even the light from the full moon couldn't penetrate it. This was what made the Everfree Forest so dangerous.
Fortunately, the Doctor could see perfectly in this environment as the darkness was penetrated by the glow from his blue eyes. He could see every detail, from the shapes of the rocks on the ground to leaves on the trees. If he focused hard enough, he could see an ant on a tree several meters away.
He made a note to explore his enhanced eyesight in more detail, but now he had to fix a mistake he so carelessly made.
He looked over his shoulder as he saw the gray mare, slumped over his back, still asleep, as he made his way through the forest. He knew where to go since he read her mind, but he still couldn't believe how careless he was.
"How could I have been so careless-" He cursed at himself as he punched a nearby tree "-I should have known better."
Memories of terrible events flooded his mind, events that he blamed himself for, events that got those around him hurt or worse.
He shook his head, trying to rid himself of these nightmares. They knew what they were getting in to, the Doctor thought, they knew the risks and yet they...
A soft moan tore him away from his thoughts. He looked back over his shoulder to see the mare starting to wake. The Doctor put a hoof to her head as he sifted through her memories again, trying to find anything to help put her back to sleep. He eventually found the thing he needed just as the mares eyes were starting to open. He coughed once as he changed his voices tone to something more feminine.
The Doctor sang softly "Hush little baby don't say a word. Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird."
The mare stared at him through half lidded eyes as he continued to sing. "And if that mockingbird won't sing, Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring."
Her eyes slowly began to shut as the Doctor began to softly hum the rest of the lullaby. Eventually, the mare was once again asleep.
The Doctor smiled as he continued on his way towards the camp site.
A few minutes later, the Doctor arrived at the campsite in the middle of a clearing disguised as a zebra that he observed when he looked through her memories. He softly walked over to the front of the tent and slowly laid her down in front of it. He stood there as he looked at her sleeping face. He slowly turned around as he made his way back in to the forest.
He began thinking about what had happened. About all the good times he had with his previous companies. Of all the adventures they had. He stopped as he looked back to see that the mare had woken up and was staring his direction. He was sure that she couldn't see anything but it still unnerved him. She then let out a yawn and walked inside the tent. The Doctor let out a breath that he didn't realize that he was holding.
The Doctor made his way back through the forest with a happy smile on his face. His smile soon faded when he realized that he was once again alone. A life of solidarity was all that he knew and he planned on keeping it that way. He didn't want to go through the pain of seeing those around him hurt.
Though he knew it was only a matter of time when someone came around. When he'd have someone else to share the experience of his adventures.
He looked up just in time to stop himself from walking right in to the Tardis.
He had been mindlessly wandering, pondering on the past, and he almost didn't see what was right in front of him.
He chuckled at the metaphor personified as he opened the door. He took one look behind him and smiled before he walked in to the Tardis and closed the door as the blues box slowly began to fade away.
~~~~~~~~~~
Octavia's surroundings were blurred as she tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes, the soft rays of Celestia's sun bleed through the tents fabric. She looked over to her right and was greeted by the sight of Vinyl, sleeping soundly and snoring as loud as her music.
"Good morning," Octavia greeted the sleeping mare as she gave her a kiss on the head.
Octavia slowly got up and walked outside where she began to stretch her limbs. I have to admit that was a strange dream that I had last night, Octavia thought to herself as she wandered over to a nearby camping bag, completely oblivious to the extra set of hoof prints that led deeper in to the forest.
The first thing that came to the doctors mind was pain. An aching pain as if his body was pulled and stretched like taffy. He coughed a bit to clear his lungs of the smoke he inhaled while unconscious. As he looked around the interior of the Tardis seeing scorch marks and blown out consoles. He tried to remember what had happened before the crash. He remembered that an unknown force dragged the Tardis towards some sort of singularity. He remembered trying to steer away from it but ended up loosing control. He remembered being slammed against the console and was electrocuted. He couldn't remember anything after that.
He tried to move his body but something felt off. He tried to move his fingers but quickly realized that he couldn't feel his fingers anymore. As he raised his arm up, the look on his face went from confusion, to shock, to curiosity, all in a few seconds. His hands had turned in to hooves. Ignoring the pain, he struggled to get up finding that he could no longer stand on two legs.
He slowly walked, unsteadily, towards a piece of reflective metal, looking over his new form. As he look himself over, he was fascinated by his new body. He appeared equine in nature, but that was were the similarities stopped. Light gray fur covered his new form from head to toe. His mane and tail were a vibrant blue as well as a pair of insect like wings on his back and a pair of glowing compound eyes. His legs had a few small holes in them as well as a sharp, light gray horn on his head. He licked his teeth, feeling sharp fangs brush against his tongue.
As he looked over himself his fascination became frustration as he spoke for the first time since he awoke from the crash. "Blast, still not a ginger", he said angrily to himself, "Why can't I be a ginger just once". He stomped a hoof angrily on the floor, wishing that he was a ginger, when he suddenly burst in to blue flames. He jumped back in surprise as the flames quickly subsided. He quickly checked his appearance as he saw his once blue mane and tail were now a bright orange.
He looked at himself closely as he saw that he was now a ginger. He became giddy as he danced in place. His confusion soon over took his glee as he stopped dancing and tried to understand how he became ginger all of the sudden. Another flash of blue flame engulfed and quickly disappeared as his mane and tail was back to being blue.
He was fascinated by this but decided to investigate this at another time. He felt tired, and so he wandered through the Tardis until he came across the library and fell asleep in one of the nearby chairs.
