//------------------------------//
// A Running Banana? 
// Story: Doctor Whooves and Assistant: Goin' Bananas 
// by chainchomp7 
//------------------------------//

	It was just another ordinary spring dawn in the quiet little town of Ponyville.. The sun was setting, there were some clouds in the sky, birds chirping, flowers blooming, and... a banana? 
“No no no no NO! Come back here!” A brown stallion sprinted down by Sugarcube Corner and struggled to chase what seemed to be a banana, 'running away.' Well, it was technically levitating away or whatnot since it didn’t have feet. Alright. The stallion continued to sprint as fast as he could, but it was a futile effort.

I just returned to Ponyville from my trip to Canterlot. It was a good day to be outside. I waved to Pinkie Pie and Golden Harvest, who were playing a game of cards. They smiled and waved back at me.
“Hey Jenzy! How did the trip go?” asked Pinkie.
“Uh, the art exhibit I attended was a blast. Hmmm, it might seem a bit random, but I also bought myself a... toothbrush from Minuette!”
“Um. Glad to hear it!” She replied back and smiled. I waved again and continued trotting to my house a few further blocks down.
Lyra walked by and said “Awesome saddlebag!” I waved and continued. Arriving at my medium-sized house, just a few blocks away from Twilight's library, I fumbled for my keys in my saddlebags.
“Come on, where is it- AHA! Nice.” Before I could even get in, somepony called out to me.

“Hey you there! Unicorn with the glasses, green scarf, and um, lyre saddlebag! Oh my... another unicorn!” I'm actually an Earth pony, but I'll explain the horn later. It has something to do with... a power-up. Anyways, I turned my head around, and a brown stallion stared back at me and gave me a look that resembled a mixture of fright and determination. I raised an eyebrow at him.
“Have you seen a banana running anywhere by any chance?” He asked me.
“A running banana? What in Tartarus is that about?” I inquired him.
“The banana is preparing to send the entire town and the royal sisters to the Moon.”
“Whoa-what? What?!” I exclaimed. “Are you loco in the coco?” He shrugged and smiled at me.
“Nah, I'm kidding! I'm not sure yet. It's possible though. Don't worry about it. Or maybe you should.” He paused for a short moment.
“Hmmm... I suggest that you DON'T worry about it. I got this! Carry on.” He trotted away. Now, seeing as all I was gonna do for the rest of the day was do some more artwork and play games in my gaming lounge, I decided to follow him. I guess a little curiosity or adventure could never hurt. I re-locked my door and left.

I caught up with him 5 minutes later by the Sugarcube Corner. “Well hello there mister. Uh, you asked me about a banana earlier... Anyways, who are you? What's your name? You look... so, familiar! Really really familiar!”
“Right. Sorry about that. I'm The Doctor. Nice to meet you.”
“Doctor? Doctor who?” I asked.  He gave me a deadpan stare.
“Oh. Doctor WHO? Well, I’m just The Doctor,” he replied. He continued trotting. I paused for a moment, and took a good look at him. I've started to remember who he was and the article that I read about him a while ago on the Foal Free Express about saving Equestria from a bunch of- Oh dear. What were they? How could I have forgotten! Well, it's amazing that I finally got to talk to him.
“IT'S YOU! I can't believe it's really you! The DOCTOR!” This is the first time we've met. I was really amazed. “I can't believe it! I KNEW IT!” I really surprised him from that outburst.
“Blimey, take it easy! What about me? I've never seen you before...”
“Oh my gosh. Wow. You're brilliant! I've seen you with a grey pegasus on the Foal Free Express Newspaper! Uh, Ditzy Doo? Derpy Hooves? I don't get it!”
“Alright, calm down ol' boy. Take it easy- Wait, what?! They actually published that?! I specifically told them to screw off! Blimey!”
“Well, um. Oh never mind that. You can tell me all the details on how you saved Equestria later, and I have to tell you something Doctor. You are fantastic! Absolutely FANTASTIC!” I remarked.
“Look, that's fine and dandy, but I've got to catch that run-away banana.” The Doctor sprinted once again down by Sugarcube Corner, this time heading outside of town and chasing the banana. I yelled, “What's with it?!” and followed suit.

I had a ton of questions to ask, but I didn’t want to interrupt him. He started searching under fruit stands. I thought he could use some help...
“Uh, do you need any help with that?” I asked him. He got out from under the fruit stand like a hardworking airship mechanic.
“What? No, you can't use my screwdriver,” he said with the device in his mouth.
“Um, why don't you just hold it on your hoof?”
He put it on his hoof and said. “I am holding it with my hoof.”
“But, you just did that now.”
“Yeah. Well, it's not easy to search under these stands like this.”
He continued to search the apple and salad stand, and received a few stares from some other ponies. I smiled and I slightly waved my hoof to the others.
“Uh, Doctor?”
“What is it?”
“I don't think it's here, Doctor. Do you have any other idea how you’ll be able to locate it?” I asked him. The Doctor thought for a moment. 
“Oh yes. Brilliant! To that big ol' blue box!”

In Town Square, there’s a blue box by a tree that stood out from plain sight. We trotted up to it from the fountain and The Doctor opened it hastily.
“Right! Welcome to the TARDIS,” I took a look around and I couldn't speak. I was absolutely speechless. What was this place? The Doctor decided to speak what was on the back of my mind.
“It's...”
“Go one. Say it!” The Doctor replied with excitement.
“It's Bigger-” before I could finish, he decided finished my sentence.
“Bigger on the Inside! Wow, really? I didn't notice that. Fascinating isn't it?”
“Yeah. Just... Wow.”
“Okie dokie. Now, just sit down somewhere. Hang on. Now let's see here...” He checked the screen to find the location of the banana.
“Ah! There it is!” he exclaimed. 
“Wait a minute,” he continued. “That's the Everfree Forest. Why is it heading into the forest? Well at least I know where it is now. Hmmm...”
Sifting through my saddlebag, I remembered about the sonic toothbrush that I had bought from Canterlot. “Oh yeah. Um, Doctor. I have a sonic like your screwdriver.” I blurted out. He was too busy staring at the screen to pay attention to me.
“Yeah, that's great. Now, can't you see I'm trying to figure out-” 
“It's a toothbrush. It's telescopic! I like that! Oh right. You're busy. My bad.”
“Come on! Can't you just, wait- what?! You're kidding me. You have a sonic?!” 
“Oh. Well, It doesn't really work like yours. It only makes the sound and light that screwdriver of yours can do.”
I took out the toothbrush and told myself, “I wish it really did work.”
“Huh. Fancy that! Well why don't you join me and find this banana? You can be my temporary companion. I might just make that toothbrush of yours very useful. What's your name anyway lad?” I had the stupidest grin on my face.
“Yes! Thank you! Eh, right. Now that you’ve asked. My name is Jenzy.”
“Interesting name Jenzy. Alright new temporary companion. Ready to chase that banana?” I almost said something completely ridiculous in response...
“Woo! It's gonna be 'findey winde--eh forget that. This is going to be a blast.” The Doctor giggled, then laughed
“Findey whatty?! Pfffft! Haha ha! Oh... Heehee... Mm-mm...”
“It's not that funny.” I rolled my eyes.
“Yes. Right. We’re going… NOW! Hang on to something!” Said The Doctor. The TARDIS made a loud noise and started to 'move.' 
“OH! It can teleport to many different places! Right?” 
“I guess you can say that. It de-materializes and re-materializes elsewhere.” The Doctor explained. “Yes indeed! We're in Ponyville now, and we’re off into the Everfree Forest!”

Re-materializing in the middle of the forest, I opened the door and stepped outside. It was clearly supposed to be a nice orange-skied dawn, but it was almost as dark as night here. Right now, in the outside, to any other pony, I would seem like I was confident and ready to take on the world. But on the inside, I was a bit frightened. This was the Everfree Forest, after all. He shined his sonic screwdriver, illuminating the path ahead and scanning. I brought my flashlight as well and turned it on.
“Well, this is gonna take a while. This forest is huge, and we're right in the heart of it.”
“Doctor?”
“Alright. What is it lad?”
“You didn't tell me anything about the banana. What's so important about it?”
“I'm trying to get to it properly so I can investigate.”
“Can't you scan it with your screwdriver?”
“Well yes! Still unsure how bad it is... It's speedy. I can’t get a good reading of it.”
“Well, this is gonna take a while... And why did you take us to the center?”
“Well, that's what the TARDIS is showing. It went in the forest. It's got to be here somewhere... Right?”
My flashlight flickered on and off slightly... The doctor noticed the flicker.
“What was that?” The Doctor exclaimed.
“Uh...” I turned and shined at some... statue. “WAH!” I exclaimed and shined the flashlight onto some sort of pony statue.
“Wha?” Then he laughed. He remembered something.
“Hahaha ha ha ha ha!!! Fancy that! This reminds me of the part me and Derpy met the Cyberponies! Or at least before I came to this world.”
“Not funny Doctor! Wait did you just say Derpy? And CyberPONIES?!”
“You're right. Um... yeah. Cyberponies. Ah. I'll explain all that later. Derpy, er Ditzy. We were having an argument.”
“What?!”
“She told me to look for a new assistant. Bah. This isn't right. I'll come back for her. Really, I will.”
“You should. Sorry for jumping in with ya.”
“Not your fault. Not sure if you should be with me anyway. I'm not really looking for a different companion. I'm just taking a break.”
“Told you about my toothbrush and you said you'd get it working if I helped catch the banana.”
“Don't worry about it! I will! Everything will end up just fine Jenzy. We'll get that banana and... Um...”
Before he could finish, I then blurted, “Still in scary dark forest with strange statues. Getting closer to us...” The flashlight continued to flicker every few seconds.
“Right... Wow, I sure talk a lot. Sorry about that.”
“Absolutely no problem at all...” I replied. The Doctor then paused for 2 seconds.

“Alright. Jenzy! Do. NOT. Blink!”

TO BE CONTINUED…