We begin with hearing that wonderful Tardis noise. The Tardis lands in Equestria in 1832, in a small town in the middle of the day. The Doctor opens the door and takes a breath of fresh air. “Ah! 1832 in Equestria! It’s just like the eighteen hundreds from my earth, but this time with ponies!” Derpy then walks next to the Doctor and says “earth doesn’t sound too different than Equestria. I mean, I know it has a lot more technology than we do, but there surly are a lot of similarities!” “There sure is. Well come on then! Let’s go check this place out!” said the Doctor. They both walked out of the tardis into the town. Ponykind wasn’t too different from human kind, so the town looked like most small cities in the 1800s, with similar architecture and buildings.
As the Doctor and Derpy were walking, the Doctor said “you know, the only big difference between this eighteen hundreds and earth’s is that during this time in my world, they already were starting to have steam powered technology, locomotives, steam boats, and also other inventions like motion pictures and even light bulbs, but it seems like Euquestria doesn’t figure that stuff out until around your present time.” “I guess that’s true” said Derpy. Then the Doctor said “but then again, you also do have some technology that is far more advanced than steam powered engines, like arcade games, which I find to be very strange.” Derpy thought for a moment “hmm. I guess that is strange.”
The two ponies were walking by a tavern. “Hey!” said Derpy. “Why don’t we go in there? Nothing says eighteen hundreds like an old timey tavern!...I think” “Sure! Why not? Allons-y!" The Doctor said. The Doctor and Derpy walk into the tavern. It’s moderately crowded, but not by much.
There was a pony at the bar wanting another drink, but the bar tender was refusing to give him more “You already had four cups of beer within the past hour! I cannot give you another one!” The pony begged him any way “pleeeeease! Just oooone moooooore!” The bar tender shrugged “you’re clearly drunk, and you must be taken outside. Jim! Mack! Come and take out this drunken pony!” Before two of the employees were able to take him outside, the pony said “I saw…the stallion again!” The bartender looks annoyed “That’s just a pony’s tale that your daughter made up! Stop believing in foal’s stories! Get him out of here!” Jim and Mack then began to drag the drunken pony through the tavern to go outside. They dragged the pony past the Doctor and Derpy, who were staring at the drunken pony, seeing everything that has happened, and the pony looked up at the Doctor and said "help me", then the employees dragged him out of the tavern.
The Doctor and Derpy having watched all of this happen before their eyes, made the Doctor concerned. He went up to the bartender and asked “what was that pony saying about ‘the stallion’ he saw again?” The bartender shrugged and almost laughed “you won’t want to here it.” “Well I think I do” said the Doctor. “It’s just a foal’s tale!” “Try me!” The two of them stared at each other for a moment, but then the bartender said “fine. If you want to know about a silly children’s story, then I’ll tell you. You see, that pony you saw, Gregg, has a kid, who claims that she keeps seeing a stallion sitting on a bench in the woods, on top of a hill. But every time she gets close to the bench, there is nopony there. Gregg claims he saw it too, but he’s probably just saying that to not make his daughter look like a fool.” The Doctor then asked “where exactly is this bench where the stallion is?” “Right outside Greg’s house I think.” The Doctor then said “Thank you for your help” then he and Derpy started to walk away.
The bartender looked confused and said “you don’t actually believe him, do you?” The Doctor turned around and walked back to the bar and said “I have done a lot of traveling in my time, and I’ve learned that not everything is what it seems”. The Doctor and Derpy then walked outside. “Well, now let’s find Greg! Who is probably still drunk…” said the Doctor. “Do you think this filly’s story could actually be true?” said Derpy. The Doctor then replied “well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there? Oh! There he is!" Said the Doctor, looking at the Greg, still drunk. "Hello. I'm the Doctor. And this is my dear friend Derpy. We're here to help you."
Greg was an earth pony with red fur, a dark brown mane, with an old ragged brown coat and a newsboy hat. Greg looked up at the Doctor and said "You can't help me. Nopony can..." The Doctor then insisted "listen to me. That stallion you were talking about, the one on the hill on the bench. Where is it?" Greg looked surprised "You- you know about the stallion? How do you know about the stallion? Are you here to help my daughter!" Greg began to get too excited and loud, so Derpy tried to calm things down by saying "yes we are, but right now we need to take you home. Now where is home from here?" Greg then tried to point to his house, although his aim wasn't perfect being still drunk. "It's over there, by the hill" Greg said. It was a small little white house with a dark gray tiled roof. It wasn't too big, but big enough for a small family.
Derpy and the Doctor took Greg to his home, where they saw his daughter, a pegasus pony who was only a filly no older than Scootaloo, and she was playing outside her house. She had white fur and a light blue mane with a bit of green highlights. She didn't even have her cutie mark yet. She saw her father walking home and exclaimed "daddy!" the second she first saw him. But then she noticed that he was walking slowly, and was probably drunk again as he needed help from two strangers. She then started to loose her excitement, but was still glad that he was home.
The Doctor and Derpy walked up to her "Hello. I am the Doctor, and this is my friend Derpy. We are here to help your father." "You are a doctor? Are you here to make my daddy better?" asked the filly. "Well, I'm not that kind of Doctor, technically." Derpy jumped in "we heard that you keep seeing a pony up on the hill on a bench. But when you go up there, nopony is there, right?" "That's right" said the filly. Derpy then said "if what you are saying is true, we can help you. You see, the Doctor, he helps ponies." Then the Doctor interrupted "yes, but right now we need to help your father. Can you take us to his room?" Greg was almost passed out by now by being drunk for so long.
They took Greg up to his room and put him on his bed. "I'm sorry, what was your name miss?" Asked the Doctor. "Vapor Skies. My name is Vapor Skies." The Doctor looked glad to meet her "pleased to meet you Vapor Skies. Now, how about we go and see the stallion on the hill...shall we?"
Author's Note
This story is actually based on an experience that I had as a kid. Whenever my parents and I would drive by this one hill with a bench on it on our way going to cub scouts/boy scouts, my brother and I would sometimes claim that we could see a man sitting on the bench on the hill, and sometimes he was waving at us! We would always call him "the man", which is why in this story he is called "the stallion". The rest of my family thought it was an illusion in the leaves or something, because they could never see him. And one time we went up there after my brother and I saw him and there wasn't anyone there. Sometimes we could see him on the hill, and sometimes he wasn't there. Looking back at it now, I'm not sure what I saw. My logic says that it was just an illusion or my eyes playing tricks on me, but there were times when I was 100% sure I saw someone up there, always sitting on the bench. He was sometimes wearing blue jeans and a red jacket, but it could have been just from seeing the red leaves in the fall. I'm still not sure what I saw. It's so mysterious. I always thought it could make an interesting story.
The Doctor, Derpy and Vapor Skies began to leave the room where Gregg was. "Are you sure it's okay if we leave your father in there?" asked Derpy. "Yes. It's...fine" said Vapor Skies, then she began to show them where the sighting of the stallion was. As they were walking outside toward the hill, the Doctor said "Vapor Skies, I'm sorry." Vapor looked confused and a bit concerned "about what?" "Your father" said the Doctor, sighing a bit. "He really needs a real Doctor, and I'm not the right one. How long has he been like this?" "You mean the drinking?" asked Vapor Skies. "As long as I can remember...He isn't always like this. There's times when he goes a few days or weeks without alcohol. A few times he even went a month or so without it. But most of the time, he goes to that tavern and spends every last bit we have."
Derpy then asked "how do you have money to pay for this house? Or for food?" "We inherited money from my grandpa, who...died a long time ago..." "Oh. I'm sorry" said Derpy. "It's okay" said Vapor. "He died before I was even born, so I never even met him." There was a moment of silence, then Vapor asked the Doctor "by the way, how did you know my father had a drinking problem? I mean you saw him today, but that could have been a one time thing" The Doctor looked at Vapor and said "I could see it in your eyes. The way you saw your father walking drunk down the road, made it seem like this has happened before."
They then got to the bottom of the hill. "There is the bench, right there." Said Vapor Skies pointing to the bench on top of the hill with her hoof. Derpy looked intently, then said "I don't see anypony up there." "He isn't always there. But when he is there, he's easy to spot" Vapor said. "How do you know it's a stallion? From this far away, couldn't it also be a mare?" asked the Doctor. "Well it looks like a stallion to me" Vapor said. "Well then, let's take a closer look then, shall we?" said the Doctor, then he and Derpy began to walk up the hill, but Vapor didn't move and looked scared. "But-" she said stopping herself. The Doctor and Derpy turned around and looked at her. "'But' what?" asked Derpy. Vapor looked scared and nervous, but she began to come to her senses and said "it's haunted." Derpy looked concerned "You mean, you think the pony you are seeing is a- ghost?"
Vapor Skies looked a bit scared and said "I'm pretty sure it's the ghost of my grandpa Applemac, who died in these woods." Derpy then asked "how did he die? If you don't mind me asking." "Honestly, we don't know" Vapor said. "All we know is that the last time anypony saw him, he was hiking in these woods around his house, the same one my dad and I live in today. Then after that, nopony saw him again. Most of us think a bear or some ferocious animal got to him, or maybe some creature from the Everfree Forrest got out." "But did anypony find his body?" asked the Doctor. "No. It's almost like he disappeared" Vapor Skies answered. "How strange" Derpy said. "Anyway" said Vapor, trying to get back to the point "I know it's the ghost of my grandpa because when I see the stallion on the bench, it looks just like him! My Dad doesn't see the resemblance, but when I see photos of my grandpa, I'm sure it's him! So that's why we shouldn't go up that hill."
The Doctor then walked up to Vapor Skies and said softly "listen to me. If what you are saying is true, then maybe we can help. I'm the Doctor. We can walk you back to your house and then Derpy and I can go on the hill together and check things out." Derpy then interrupted "besides, you said that your grandpa isn't there when anypony is close, right?" "Right..." said Vapor Skies. "Then we should be fine" assured the Doctor. Then Derpy and the Doctor walked Vapor back to her house, and began to walk back towards the hill.
As they were walking, Derpy asked the Doctor "so, do you think this could actually be true? I mean, ghosts aren't real...right?" "Well no. But then again, the universe is often full of surprises..." said the Doctor. Derpy then said "the name of Vapor's grandpa is Applemac. It sounds a lot like Applejack. Do you think they could be related?" "I think there's a good chance that they are" said the Doctor. "Applemac also sounds like a certain computer from earth" said the Doctor, under his breath.
They were getting close to the hill, but they were still a good distance away. Derpy looked up at the hill at the bench and she saw...somepony up there. "Look! There he is! Sitting on the bench!" Said Derpy, frightened. "What!? I don't see anything" said the Doctor, looking intently at the hill. Derpy still looked at the hill "There he is! Oh wait, now he's gone!" "Did you see him walk away? It could have just been a normal pony up there." "No! I'm sure it was him! He was there one moment, and then gone the next." Said Derpy. The Doctor looked concerned and said "well...at least now we know that she was telling the truth..."
They then got to the bottom of the hill...again. "Well miss Hooves, are you ready?" asked the Doctor. "As I'll ever be" Derpy said, still a little frightened from seeing the stallion. "Are you sure you want to do this? You can go back to the house with Vapor Skies." assured the Doctor. "I don't want to leave you behind. If something happened to you and I wasn't there to help you, I don't know what I would do!" Derpy said. "Well then, if you want to go, then I suppose we should" said the Doctor. Then they began to walk up the hill to where the bench is. They were both a little sacred, Derpy especially, but they went anyway to see if they could help this family.
