Dr Whooves and the Missing Companion

by Paganbrony

Part Two: Companion Lost And Found.

Part Two: Companion Lost And Found.

So far Octavia’s recent luck had been a mix of good, weird and just plain terrifying, at the point she now awakened she was understandably upset scared and above all in the dark.

Literally it turned out as she grasped her surroundings slowly figuring out she was laying on a bed under the covers on incredibly soft pillows, but she knew it wasn’t her own bed since it lacked the four posts and red curtains she had at home…

With the utmost of effort she calmly continued to take stock, the room was nearly pitch black but a crack of light crept through what she took for curtains and dimly lit the room enough to know it was a small room comparable to a closet in her families mansion.

The pain in her head lanced through her whole body as she sat up feeling nauseous balking slightly she reached out slowly for the edge of the mattress as her hoof instead clipped a glass that was sat on a stool next to the bed.

The resulting smash along with the now pulsing pain in her head made her curse before her blood pressure went sky high causing a fresh rush of nausea as the sound of hooves reached her ears.

Not sure what she could do even if a monster was about to burst through the door she assumed was there, Octavia shielded her eyes as it opened but there was no light from the other side however the voice that boomed out caused even more upset for her fragile state.

“Hey you’re awake! That’s awesome!”

“P-Please… Not so loud… My head is making me feel sick…”

“…Oh sorry...”

“Can you tell me please, where am I? Why haven’t I been taken to a Doctor?”

Octavia barely registered the irony of that statement given her recent and more current circumstances.

“I wish I could but it’s been snowing flat out for a week! The weather ponies can’t get it under control… It’s a snowstorm even the Wonderbolts couldn’t get through.”

“Can you light a candle please I can’t see you.”

“Oh yeah sorry… Wait why did you say candle?”

With a clicking sound light instantly lit the room and Octavia squeaked in surprise and flinched as it forced her eyes to shut in response.
Octavia slowly lowered her hooves shielding her eyes as they adjusted to the intrusion of light, in front of her stood a white unicorn mare with a brilliant blue mane wearing a green jumper of some form that appeared to have a hood attached at the back with pockets on the stomach.

Something caught her eye and she looked up at the mares face before asking.

“What kind of glasses are those?”

The white mare cocked her head slightly before replying.

“These? They’re just my sunglasses, I had them especially made.”

Octavia had never seen sunglasses and the white frame with colored lenses that hid the eyes fascinated her.

“How do you see through them?”

Looking through the door Octavia could see little as everything beyond the room she was in was in darkness.

The White mare shrugged and replied.

“I just do, like I said especially made.”

Octavia decided not to push further as the mare held out her hoof.

“My names Scratch, Vinyl Scratch, my handle is DJ PON-3, I found you outside after your screaming, you’re lucky I was changing records when you did or I might not have heard you!”

By her tone and general manner Octavia could tell the mare who appeared to be around the same age as her was no threat at least on first impressions, but as she processed what had been said the grey mare stalled in her response as she shook hooves with Vinyl.

“Miss Octavia Melody… I don’t understand what you mean by ‘handle?’ but I thank you none the less, it appears I owe you my life.”

“It’s no problem, glad to help… Hang on did you say Melody? You must have hit your head really hard.”

Octavia noted the frown on the other mare’s face who was clearly trying to figure out whether she was lying or joking.

“You’re telling me your one of those toffs who lives near Canterlot castle? Huh I should charge for bed and board.”

Bristling at the toff comment and sore in places she wasn’t familiar with, along with everything else included Octavia remembered her situation, the fact there might be future relations of hers paled in comparison to being stuck out of her time!

“Sorry I don’t know any of them… I um am sort of related… But…”

Vinyl sensed her attitude had hurt the grey mare so she changed tack.

“How come you ended up in the snow with your skull bashed in?”

Wincing Vinyl gave her best smile as she apologized profusely.

“I hit my head while traveling with a mad pony and then he disappeared…”

Octavia searched her returning memories of the last moments with the Doctor, in her last seconds of consciousness she’d seen his face as the door had shut on his box.

“Has a big blue box appeared outside the shop while I’ve been struck down?”

Vinyl cocked her head at that one.

“No, I haven’t seen anything like that… Are you like a magician’s assistant? Though you do sound posh like a toff I mean.”

“Most certainly not, I am a Cellist; I studied at the Canterlot University of Music! I… I… I was going to perform at the Royal opera house… I was going to play my first Solo piece.”

The white mare scoffed loudly as she once again probed for answers, real answers…

“I don’t know what game you’re playing but there’s no Melody’s left in Canterlot they died out ages ago, all that’s left is their old mansion, it’s been empty since like forever, and the only Royal opera house in Canterlot, that burnt down like a hundred years ago...”

Vinyl narrowed her eyes as she continued…

“Now it’s a monument to the lives lost in the fire, I learned that when I attended the Canterlot University of Music... And I know all of the students for the past five years and since I only graduated only last month, unless ‘you’ attended before you were twelve, you’re lying to me.”

“I… It was destroyed… I… Oh my…”

For the grey mare the news destroyed all of her hopes… As the reality sunk in she couldn’t ignore the other mare any longer, especially since Vinyl had begun tapping her hoof impatiently yet with bewilderment at Octavia’s shattered demeanor.

Octavia paused to wipe her tears as she tried to decide how to best explain, the mare in front of her didn’t look like she could be dissuaded let alone tricked, and so honesty ruled the day so the grey mare told the white mare all.

After taking a seat at the end of the bed Scratch was speechless at the open way her guest spilled the events leading to her injury.

“Wow… You’re really telling the truth… I mean you really believe you are.”

Octavia nodded.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do but I just know he will be back for me… Its weird but I just know… But it could be a while… Or no time at all…”

As the two mares continued to talk Vinyl slowly began to warm to the grey mare, her doubts remained without absolute proof but as it continued to snow outside there was no sign of the blue box.

Elsewhere…

The Doctor was also lamenting that fact as he faced the one who had summoned him across time and all kinds of other barriers, upon landing the Tardis had locked him out and then promptly disappeared.

The one who had summoned him rubbed his fore hooves together while the Doctor looked him up and down; with a goofy grin the unknown stallion straightened his bowtie as he flashed his cutie mark, a gold hourglass.

The Doctor rescued his chin from the floor as he finally registered the familiar looking large blue box tilted at a strange angle behind the mystery stallion.

A million questions flew through the Doctors mind but it came to rest on the one bugging him the most.

“Why a fez? I mean I like fezzes but really?”

“Fezzes are cool.”

“…Not cool… Really not… …Cool.”