//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Doctor Whooves: The Search For Derpy // by Jeseille-Hazim //------------------------------// The Doctor stood in front of the Everfree Forest with a scared look on his face. “It’s okay, Doctor. Maybe it’s not that scary. Remember, you’re doing this for Derpy,” the Doctor said to himself. “One step at a time,” the Doctor said as he took one step towards the forest. Then he took a couple of more steps that he ended up a few inches into the forest. “See? It’s not that bad,” the Doctor said. The Doctor got the hang of it and continued through the forest cautiously, looking at the bushes and trees. He thought he saw some eyes looking at him through the bushes and just went with them being animals in the wilderness. He froze in place when he heard a roar and looked around in all directions. “What was that?” the Doctor questioned. The Doctor continued walking, ignoring the sound. Moments later, the Doctor found a cave and decided to check it out. He looked around, trying to find anypony else who was possibly living in the cave. If he found nopony, then he would just stay here for the night and continue looking for Derpy tomorrow. He found a huge pile of gems and observed them. “Hmm... I wonder who would leave a huge pile of gems in a cave unguarded?” the Doctor pondered. The Doctor heard some breathing behind him. Without even thinking, he turned around and found himself face-to-face with an angry green dragon with smoke coming out of his nostrils. “I guess that answers my question,” he thought aloud. “Hello there, Mr. Green Dragon,” the Doctor greeted. “Get out of my cave, right now!” the green dragon said angrily as he blew more smoke out, which evaporated into thin air. The Doctor coughed and took that as a hint to start running. The dragon started to chase him out of his cave and followed after him. The dragon blew some fire out of his mouth, which got part of the Doctor’s tail burned. The Doctor looked back, noticing that his tail got burnt. “Aw, I loved that tail,” the Doctor said aloud. The dragon then tried to hit the Doctor with his spiky tail, but he dodged the attack. He took this opportunity to run up his tail and onto his back. The dragon saw this and without thinking, he hit his back with his spiky tail. The Doctor jumped off before the spiky tail hit the dragon’s back and landed safely on the ground. He looked back at the dragon who seemed to fall afterwards. The dragon had blood oozing down its back with the tail still stuck there. The dragon was obviously dead. No dragon could survive that. “Brains wins over brawns, I guess,” the Doctor said as he looked upon the scene. The dragon released its last smoke before dying. The Doctor coughed a lot as the smoke went by him. There was so much smoke that the Doctor ended up breathing in a lot of it. He ran deeper into the forest, trying to get away from the smoke, but yet he collapsed on the ground unconscious from breathing in so much of it. The Doctor awoke in a hut and looked around. He saw that had masks, herbs, and a pot all around it. He recognized it as Zecora’s home in the Everfree Forest. He looked down from where he was laying and saw that he was on a bed. He sat up on the bed. “I see that you are awake, Doctor,” Zecora said as she entered the room. “How long was I out?” the Doctor asked as a ran a hoof through his mane. “A few hours,” Zecora replied. “Zecora, what happened?” the Doctor asked. “Well, I was walking around the Everfree Forest and I happened to see a brown pony unconscious next to a dead dragon. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was you. I brought you back to my hut afterwards,” Zecora replied. “Oh, no wonder I ended up here,” the Doctor coughed. “Here, drink this,” Zecora said as she hoofed the Doctor a drink. “What’s this?” the Doctor asked. “I thought that you had breathed in the dragon’s smoke, so I made this for you to clear up your lungs,” Zecora replied. “Oh, well alright,” the Doctor said. He then drank the drink and gulped it down. “Ah, much better!” the Doctor exclaimed. “Great to know,” Zecora said. “Did my tail ever grow back?” the Doctor asked. “Your tail?” Zecora questioned. “Yeah, when I was fighting the dragon, he burned part of my tail off,” the Doctor explained. “Oh, then yes it did. It grew back an hour ago actually, but I was wondering why it had been burned. Look back to see for yourself,” Zecora replied. The Doctor did as Zecora said and looked back at his tail. It had indeed grown back and the Doctor was happy that it did. “I guess I’ll be going then,” the Doctor said as he stood up and left the room. The Doctor and Zecora walked to the door together. The Doctor opened the door. Zecora placed her hoof on the Doctor’s shoulder. “Wait, before you go, why are you even in the Everfree Forest in the first place? And where’s Derpy?” Zecora asked. “She ran away to the Everfree Forest and I’m looking for her,” the Doctor replied. “Oh, well good luck then,” Zecora said. “Thanks and thanks for the drink!” the Doctor yelled as he ran out the door. Zecora walked outside of her hut. “You’re welcome!” Zecora yelled back. His running streak didn’t last for long as he tripped over a rock and fell. “I meant to do that!” the Doctor yelled. He got back up on all four of his hooves and continued to run. Zecora watched him run until he disappeared into the trees.“Oh, Doctor, what have you gotten yourself into?” Zecora said as she went back inside of her hut and closed the door behind her.