"Come along, Miss Hooves, it's not every day that we get the chance to see the inner workings of the universe in action!" echoed an overjoyed voice in my head like in a distant dream.
"Actually, we do, Doctor. Every single day you take me to some fancy universe stuff that seems to require your urgent attention, even if you could get to it at any time with the TARDIS. Sometimes, I think that ANYTHING related to the 'universe being in action' is a reason for you to grab your freaky machines and excuse yourself from dinner," replied another less enthusiastic, yet still cheerful voice.
Both sounded like they came from very far away, which prevented me from attributing any accurate description to them. It felt like they were being muffled by some sort of fog, yet were still loud enough for me to understand what they were saying. Other than that, I still couldn't pin a face, or even anything too specific on them. Fortunately, I had the feeling the voices were getting closer by the second, so I'd just have to wait and see what would happen.
"Why, it's because it is! Oh, not that I mean that your meals aren't good, far from it. In fact, I toroughly enjoy this little relaxation time every now and then...Just you and me, doing trivial things like eating and talking, just hanging out. Like friends...But I digress. You must understand that I cannot keep myself from all this, especially from all the things that I've never experienced before. I can't just sit there and wait while the universe calls me! I have to get out there and discover what lies ahead. Ahh, Ditzy. The universe truly is a fascinating place, don't you think?" replied the first voice with the same enthralled tone.
"Sure, Doctor. It's always fun to travel with you and discover new planets and people, making friends while we're there. And for the record, I enjoy the down times too. Maybe even more than you..." she whispered. "But...That's only when we're not getting chased by some kind of giant monsters or robot ponies or spaceships or...what do you call them again? Dahl-"
"Daleks," the first one abruptly completed with a more serious tone. "Blasted things didn't have enough of following me through space and time, they actually had to cross over to a completely different dimension to pester me," he mumbled to himself in a much clearer expression.
Strangely, the voices sounded a lot closer than before, like they were standing right next to me. I could even distinguish who was saying what instead of hearing random voices from the other side of a wall. This made the dream sound so much more real. But even then, in my only half-awake state, I truly believed all of this was just a weird dream, so I made no efforts to try and wake up. Any chance I had to get that extra five minutes of sleep before school was more than welcomed. However, even if I didn't really want to focus on it, something felt off in this dream, like I recognized the voices from somewhere but couldn't decide exactly where from. Bah! I'd investigate later. For now, this dream sounded really interesting, so my mind just went to power sleep and straight back into the dialogue again.
"I'm sorry," apologized the woman.
"I'm not sure I follow. Sorry for what exactly?" asked the man in return.
"I'm sorry for killing the mood," she continued. "I just wanted to make up a conversation and I didn't really want to mention the Dal-thingnies and I'm sorry..." she babbled again.
"Aww, it's alright Ditzy. You know could never be mad at you. Besides, I don't recall ever saying that you killed the mood. In fact, I'm even more excited than before! Want to know why?" the man questionned, his playful voice reappearing.
I heard a giggling coming from, I presumed, Miss Hooves, and then a small laugh coming from the Doctor himself, like he was simply happy to see his friend cheering up. They obviously had a very strong complicity, and that showed up in the way they each reveled in the other's joy. Their first gentle laughs degenerated into a full-blown hilarity, simply from being together. That moment of raw and pure happiness made me smile in my sleep, like it was contagious. After a while, Ditzy regained her calm and, once she could finally speak without bursting into laughter again, proceded to bombard him with hypotheses.
"Wait, let me guess. Is it because you're thinking of good moments with friends? Is it because you thought of a funny joke? Is it time for a lunch break? Because I brought muffins with me if you'd like some..."
The Doctor laughed again at the expense of joy emanating from his companion.
"While I'm sure all of that sounds lovely, I assure you it's even more brilliant than that. You see, I'm excited because...I managed to finally lock on a signal leading directly to what could be the anomaly!" he exclaimed like it was the most fantastic thing he'd ever done.
The reaction was not immediate, taking a few seconds to sink in Ditzy's mind apparently. Finally, after what seemed like a long moment, she let out the least convincing 'Yay' I had ever heard in my entire life. It felt like a mix of disapointment and surprise, coupled with incomprehension. Wherever she got that from, it was not from the honest part of herself.
"See? I knew you'd be excited!" the Doctor added, completely oblivious to what had just happened.
As he said that, he turned around and headed straight ahead with a determined look. Or what I assumed to be a determined look, since someone in the dream department of life apparently had forgotten to plug in the video. This dream was rolling audio only. Not that it mattered, since anything was better than waking up. Anyway. Snapping out of her confusion, Ditzy let out a quiet laugh and simply followed her friend foward, like she was used to that sort of things. I guessed they had known each other for a very long time if she just accepted his lack of attention to details like that. Overally, it just contributed to the nice feeling of this dream, even if it was a little weird.
Speaking of which, or dreaming of which, in this case, the feeling I had earlier about something being off had just intensified. I didn't know if it was because I was closer to waking up or something, but more and more details seemed familiar. The voices, the names, even the TARDIS thing sounded like they were connected. Now, since it was a very nice and relaxing dream, I didn't really want to try to connect the dots and solve the mystery. All I wanted to do was enjoy it a little longer while I lay in bed before the day started. Unfortunately, in some dark corner of my mind, something still put the clues together and formed a coherent thought out of them: it was one of those Doctor Who / My Little Pony crossover videos I had been listening to on my laptop the night before and one of them was probably playing faintly in the background, causing this dream.
With a raspy grunt, I half-heartedly reached over to my bedside table, hoping to find my open laptop and shutting it down in order to finally be able to go back to sleep. Of course, following Murphy's Law, I had to knock over a few empty glasses and send my clock to the ground before finding the the damn thing and ultimately closing it. With a tired sigh, I pushed myself up in a sitting position, letting my legs dangle loosely off the side of my bed. After this weird dream, waking up so fast left me a bit confused as to what was going on around me. Deciding that the best course of action would be to check the time, I reached for my cellphone, which was laying screen down against my table. I simply found it easier to grab that instead of picking up my clock, that was still on the ground in a pile of paper sheets and empty bottles.
I pressed a button on the keyboard, and then waited a few seconds for the screen to light up and the logos to flash in my face before finding out what time it was. Luckily, it looked like I still had a good hour of sleep left ahead of me before I really had to get up. With a last angry fist-shaking motion towards my computer for waking me up so early, I let myself fall face first into my pillow, gratefuly accepting it's soft embrace. At that moment, the plan was to go back to sleep and use up that entire hour to get as much rest as I could. Yeah, let's just say that all did NOT go according to plan. A tiny little stray thought sent that plan tumbling downhill towards it's impending doom. For a split second, a fraction of a moment, I found myself wishing to go back to that weird dream, remembering how it sounded so strangely appealing. That small speck of an instant was just enough to set the whole chain of event on.
"Ahh there it is!" said a familiar voice in a relieved tone. "I was sure I had lost it, but the signal's back. This thing is really easier to handle with actual hands."
"Those things again," tiredly mumbled Ditzy for herself. "Anyway, that's great, Doctor. That means we get to find this anomaly thing faster and get back home for dinner in time."
"Ditzy, please. Stop focusing on your stomach and start focusing more on the events. This is a unique chance that we have here to see an interdimensional rift opening up for a split second and you want to waste it eating?"
"Just admit it, Doctor. You don't like my cooking."
"What?!" he yelped in an indignated tone. "I never said anything of that sort. How dare you accuse me of..."
My eyes shot open, more out of frustration than of surprise, cutting them off in the middle of their argument. That stupid computer was doing his thing again, preventing me from sleeping and pissing me off to a new degree. I angrily pushed back my sheets and reached once again for my table with the serious intention to crush my laptop to bits. This time, I found it in an instant, which apeased me just enough to exclude the crushing of the solution. But I still wanted the sound cut off, so I set it on my chest as I laid back unto my pillow.
"I thought I shut that damn thing off!" I growled as I was opening it, only to find the screen pitch-black. "What the hell? I DID? Then where are those voices coming from?" I wondered out loud.
As soon as I said that, a strange noise started to reverberate around my room. At first, it sounded like a faint humming coming from everywhere at once, but then it slowly grew in intensity until it was almost deafening. Completely confused and slightly panicking, I covered my ears to try to lessen the pain it caused me. Suddenly, out of all that buzzing, a single voice, loud and clear, echoed directly in my mind.
"Ditzy! Look up, it's starting! Stop making that grumpy face and rummaging through your saddlebags for muffins and look at the sky!" ordered the unmistakenly familiar voice of the Doctor.
"Alright, alright, I'm looking. No need to fret over a simple space thiii-...Woah, that is BEAUTIFUL!" squealed Ditzy in excitement.
"See, I told you you'd like it. You should trust me more often. I am the Doctor after all..."
At first, I had no clue why the voices in my head sounded like they were in plain amazement at whatever was threatening to make me go completely mad, but then it all became clear. Litterally. My darkened room was suddenly lit up with a bright rainbow of colors, bouncing around and reflecting on everything, giving every object a strange feeling of happiness. It was as hypnotizingly fantastic as it was blinding. It stung my eyes like daggers, and yet I couldn't divert my gaze from the floating multichromatic light source. I probably would have been just as awed at this sight as the people in my mind were if it wouldn't have been for the horrifying sound that came along with the phenomenon. To the loud humming added itself what I would describe as the sound of the world being torn appart. A mix of metal twisting and bending coupled with buildings breaking down and bones being crushed filled my room for an instant. Then, just as I thought I was going to lose my shit, the rainbow simply exploded all around me, entangling me in it's light like ropes wrapping around all my exposed limbs and then pulling me straight into the source of it all. Just as I felt myself being ripped to a molecular level -and trust me, you can feel it very clearly, and it hurts...a lot- Ditzy's voice echoed in my head again.
"That really is awesome, Doctor. I'm glad that I decided to follow you and... Wait, what is that in the center?"
"I...I must admit I don't know." replied the Doctor with uncertainty. "That is certainly not supposed to be in there. It looks like something's coming through, but that's absolutely impossible. That would mean that the rift is large enough to allow the passage of matter, but that makes no sense. It's supposed to be just a tiny little hole in between this dimension and the Void! And even if it was large enough, there is NOTHING in the Void anyway!" he brainstormed to himself, confusion easily distinguishable in his voice.
"Well, I don't know what it is, but it looks like it's getting bigger...Hey, is it just me or does it look like it's...moving? It is! Sweet Celestia, Doctor, that thing is alive!" Ditzy screamed in horror.
The worst part about going through a hole infinitely smaller than you is probably when you reappear on the other side. Since there is just so much of you that can go through that hole, you don't simply blink from one side to the other. You can actually feel your body reforming atom by atom on the other end, while still seeing the parts that haven't gone through yet. One word: Terrible. It's like the two parts of your body are separated by a distance equivalent to an entire universe. It does NOT feel good. The only good thing about it doesn't last more than a second or so. But in that time, you feel more pain than you could in your entire life. So if any of you had any plans of moving to another dimension, I'd advise not using the same method as me. Just sayin'.
And then, just as fast as it had started, the pain and the restraints I felt subsided, letting me loose and, from what I could feel, still in one piece. A wave of relief went through me, but it was very short lived, because as soon as I opened my eyes, I noticed that I was hovering several meters above the ground. No, hovering would not be the right term...falling would be more accurate. For the second it took to my brain to register that information, I was already screaming as I tumbled towards the ground like a rock. And just like a rock, I feared the impact would not feel very gentle. Just as I was about to hit the ground, I noticed out of the corner of my eye the two shapes that were simply standing there in complete shock, staring at me with awe as I was about to lose the challenge I issued to gravity. I barely had the time to take note of their four legs and equine shapes, as well as their brown and grey furs before colliding with the earth at mach speed and blacking out from the impact.
Author's Note
Okay, writing in English is freaking hard when you're not used to it. First story I've ever written in this language actually, appart from the few texts I had to do in school. If there is anything that doesn't sound right, or words that shouldn't go together, you just have to tell me, I'll try to fix it. Remember that it's a work in progress too, so it's subject to changes. On that note, if anybody ever wants to work with me to make sure every sentence makes sense before releasing a chapter, I'd be glad to have some help.
On a different note, I know everything seems weird at the moment, but I assure you it will all be explained in the next chapter. And even if this doesn't get very popular (which it probably won't), I'll keep writing it until I've lost interest. Fear not, inexistant readers, I won't let you down.
