//------------------------------// // Chapter 26: A Travelling Offer // Story: The Recluse // by Live Light //------------------------------// UGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH. Light was sitting the wrong way on the couch... as if the seat was the back rest, and the back rest was the seat... he was sitting upside down, basically... that's how his brain felt anyway. He's finally found a snag in his novel. At the moment, there are armed minions aiming at the Unavenged Stallion and Mare-Do-Well... and he just made it that they can't escape without assistance, and they didn't inform anypony of where they were. He doesn't want it to end like this, he wants the duo to survive the novel, and also, he felt this was a bit too early for an ending. What do I do now!? Do something meta? Like make the minions inexplicably kill themselves or fall asleep or something? NO, because I CAN'T do that. I need this to be realistically possible, except for scenes with Deathelocke and Leeroy! But Deathelocke isn't introduced yet, for whatever reason, and Leeroy is elsewhere, and doesn't actually care about what happens to his minions or their victims, because he's too busy doing... whatever it is I also can't think up! FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU- *Knock* *Knock* UUUUUUUUUUUuuhhhh? Light re-positioned himself on the couch so he was sitting properly, with Angel watching in slight confusion. Light cracked his neck, got off the couch, walked over to the door, and opened it. Suddenly, Doctor. "Hello Light!" He said in that British accent. "...Er. Hi, Doc." Light said. "I'm kind of in the middle of writing something, so if you could come back lat-" "Oh, you're writing? I'd like to see!" The Doctor requested, before thinking, "No, wait, more important matters, how are you doing? You feeling better?" "Yep. A little bit of lovin' from the loveliest mare does that." Light said. "That's another thing, is Fluttershy here right now?" Doc asked, looking around. "She's feeding the animals, she should be done right about... now." Fluttershy walked from the field, and eep'ed when she saw someone unfamiliar at the door. She thought back to where she saw him last. "W-weren't you that... D-doctor from the party that had the glowstick?" "It's a sonic screwdriver, why does everybody here say it's a stick?" The Doctor questioned nopony in particular. "O-oh, I-I'm... sorry..." Fluttershy said, feeling bad about herself. Which made the Doctor feel bad about himself, and sorry for Fluttershy. Light just felt sorry for Fluttershy, and felt bad about the Doctor. "It's alright...I guess it does look a bit like a metal stick..." He apologized. That's right. Nopony hurts Fluttershy's feelings without apologizing. "Anyway... I came here because I have an offer for you both!" The Doctor said. "What kind of offer?" Light asked. "A travelling offer." "Yeah... I know I've spoken to you for some years now, but I've only just met you, and I can't go with anypony who says they're going on holiday, other ponies will wonder where we've been, and even if we tell them, they'll notice the offer's kinda suspicious." "Oh, you won't be gone long. For them, anyway!" "Err... what?" "I have something to show you. Follow me." He said, before walking away from the cottage. Light looked at Fluttershy. They both shrugged, and followed him. ----- Angel Bunny watched them leave with the peculiar pony. "Where are they going now...?" He asked out loud. "You know, talking to yourself is a sign of impeding mental collapse." Came the voice of Fuzzy Ferret. Angel looked back at it him narrowed eyes. "I'm not going crazy, you're just paranoid, so paranoid, in fact, that you'd believe someone if they told you to hold still while the 'mothership' extracted you." "It could happen, Angel." "No! It could not happen!" "Well, that's not very fair, just dismissing probable theories because they sound a little frivolous to you." He insisted. "There are NO aliens in Equestria, Fuzzy!" Angel said through gritted teeth. "No, there's not. They're outside Equestria. That's why their technical name is 'Extra-Terrestrial.'" "Agh, shaddap, don't be a smartass." Angel immediately put a paw to his mouth. "Now look what you made me do!" "I didn't do anything," Fuzzy replied, innocently, "You just let out a little profanity, nothing too bad." "But I don't like saying it in public, it makes me feel like I'm hurting other's feelings willingly!" "And slapping Fluttershy that one time isn't hurting her?" Fuzzy questioned, referencing the day 'New Fluttershy' literally bent the world to her will. "I WANTED MY CARROTS!" Angel yelled in an intimidating manner, which made Fuzzy shrink back in fear, while also theorizing the aliens got into his mind. "Look..." Angel began, calmed down a little, "Let's just... go follow those three, and make sure he isn't going to hurt them, okay?" "Sounds fine..." Fuzzy said. Angel nodded, and ran out of the bush he was hiding in, now hopping over to find his owner and her coltfriend, with Fuzzy scampering behind as quick as he can. Miss Rabbit, who'd seen the scene, hopped after Angel and Fuzzy. "What's going on here?" She asked. "Oh, HI, Miss Rabbit!" Angel said, nearly tripping over losing his concentration, "Er, Fluttershy and Light are going with a weird Earth Pony." "And you're hopping along to see why?" "Yeah, pretty much. Wanna come with?" Angel asked. "Sure." Miss Rabbit answered. "Good, you don't need me anymore," Fuzzy said, "I'll tell everyone where you went." And with that he changed course and headed back. "FUZZY!" Angel called back, in his intimidating way again, but that just made Fuzzy run faster. "Cheer up, Angel, at least the two of us aren't afraid of any mad goings on." Miss Rabbit said. "I guess. Let's go a bit quieter now, I can see them ahead of us." Angel suggested. "Good plan." Miss Rabbit said. The two started sneaking around to see what the peculiar earth pony was up to. ----- Light and Fluttershy followed the Doctor through some fields, with Fluttrershy looking curious, and Light looking a little annoyed, and a little curious himself. "We're almost there!" The Doctor declared. The group got to the point where a blue rectangular box with...a ... siren on the head. When they reached it, the Doctor stood next to it. "What do you think?" He asked. "I'm not sure." Light said. "Is this some sort of tourist attraction I'm supposed to have heard of?" "Well, hopefully not," he replied, "That could very well happen in some years." "...U-um... why?" Fluttershy asked. "Perhaps you should step inside, then you'll see!" "...Something of that capacity looks like it fits only one..." Light commented. "It couldn't hurt to try." The Doctor commented. "I like that line of thinking, usually," Light replied, "But that seems too serious." "Um... maybe we should try..." Fluttershy said, "Maybe there's a present in there..." "...Alright. I'll go first, in case, on the off chance, this is a trap of some sort." Light said, opening the door and walking in. ... ... ... ... ... ... Light peeked his head out of the door. "Hey, Fluttershy, I found something." "Oh... okay... will I fit?" She asked. "Definitely. I checked." "Alright..." She said, walking in to join Light in the box. The Doctor smiled to himself, and walked inside the box, so he could see the two's reactions. The interior of the apparently-not-really-a-police-box was massive. At the center of the room were a bunch of control panels with buttons and levers and thingies, and there were a few doors to other sections of the large... whatever it is. "It's..." Fluttershy began, "Bigger..." Light continued. "On the inside?" Came a familiar, pleasant voice from a mare. The two looked to the source of the voice, and were even more surprised to see Ditzy Doo walk out from behind the control panels. "I noticed." She said with a smile. "Hey, Ditzy... err... what're you... doing here?" Light asked, mostly confused by her presence more than anything else. "I'm the Doctor's travelling companion! Remember when I said I'd tell you how we got rid of the changeling someday? You'll find this is part of how we did it." "Travelling... companion? Is this some sort of... house/vehicle... hybrid?" Fluttershy asked. "Sort of. This is the TARDIS." The Doctor said. "What's... a TARDIS?" Light asked. "It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. If you've read Science Fiction and all that, the easy explanation for the TARDIS is that she's a time machine." "Ooookaaaaaay." Light said, ignoring the fact the Doctor called his Time Machine 'she.' "Basically, you can go where-ever you want, whenever. That is, whenever as in, any time you want, past present or future." The Doctor explained. "R-really?" Fluttershy asked. The Doctor nodded in response. Fluttershy looked as if she had an idea of where to go, as she went up to Light and whispered in his ear. After listening, he smiles, liking the idea. He looks to the Doctor, and asks, "Know any good planets with romantic views?" "Oh, surely. I'll just take a look at what's least dangerous." The Doctor said, looking to the control panels and fiddling with them. "Wait!" Fluttershy cried. "I need to tell my friends and animals where I'm going! I know you said we could return 5 seconds later in their time, but what if we come back days, months or even years later?" The Doctor thinks for a moment. It -has- been a problem before... a lot of times. "Alright then. You can go say a quick goodbye to your friends." Fluttershy nodded, then quickly gave Light a peck on the cheek, before running off to tell who she needed to tell. Light, Doctor and Ditzy waited. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... "So, Light, feeling better?" Ditzy asked. "Yeah. Turns out love was the cure." Light replied. "Wow. ...Bonus, I guess." Ditzy said. "Yeah... wouldn't really say that, though. I don't want it to seem like I take her for granted." "Yeah, guess not..." Fluttershy entered again. "That was fast." Light said, with a smile. "Pinkie was there, I asked her to spread the word." She replied. "Ah, right." "Alright, everyone... we ready to go?" The Doctor asked. "Yup!" Ditzy said. "Yeah." Light said. "Yes..." Fluttershy said. "Course set..." Doctor began... "ALLONS-Y!" ----- Angel and Miss Rabbit hid somewhere in the TARDIS, with Angel blinking rapidly, and Miss Rabbit looking at him with dim eyes. "It's not -that- big, Angel." She said. _______________________________________________________________________________ Alright, I finally got around to doing it. Very sorry for the late chapter. Procrastination happens a lot when your mind momentarily blanks. There is nothing witty here. Good-day sir.