Chapter 2: Four Mares and a Spaceship
Gaia, 1002 C.E.
The sky had begun to turn into a dark orange by the time Derpy, Carrot Top, Lyra, and Bon-Bon began their trek towards the location of the crashed object. Carrot Top walked up next to Derpy.
"We should be on our guard! We don't know what the hay is waiting for us!" she whispered. Derpy turned to her friend and nodded. The air felt warmer than usual and the smell of ash and soot moved through the air. Bon-Bon coughed in reaction to the smell. As they grew closer and closer to the crash site, the air grew foggier, the ground grew darker, and the temperature grew hotter. Derpy noticed small patches of fire in the grass as she walked. The fires weren't strong enough to continue and quickly died out.
"I see something!" said Bon-Bon as she pointed towards an opening between two scorched trees. The four mares passed through the opening and came to a halt. Lyra's and Bon-Bon's jaws dropped. Derpy couldn't help but be both amazed by what she saw and satisfied by Lyra's and Bon-Bon's faces.
Before them stood a grand structure that appeared to be the size of two houses. Derpy knew what the object was. She had seen plenty of them flying around Moonbase One and the Doctor had explained to her all about them.
"A spaceship," Derpy exclaimed under her breath as she took a few steps forward. The ship was mainly silver with a few streaks of gold here and there. It had a large jet engine in the back, two wide wings, and a cylindrical-pointed front with a windshield. Some parts of it were a bit singed from the crash and some parts of it had fallen off. However, the ship looked to be in good condition considering that it had fallen out of the sky while covered in flames. There was no crater underneath it but rather a black circle of ash. Smoke was pouring out of small holes in the ground around the ship.
"By Luna's moon...what the hay is that?!" asked a shocked Lyra. Derpy turned to look at Carrot Top, Lyra, and Bon-Bon.
"It's a spaceship," she stated. "I remember seeing plenty of these when I visited the future." Lyra shook her head and began approaching a door that was located on the side of the ship facing them.
"Let's take a look inside!"
"No! We don't know what could be in there!" stated Bon-Bon.
"Bon-Bon's right. I don't think we should take the risk right now," Carrot Top added.
"Fine. Then wait out here then," Lyra chuckled as she turned around and quickly pulled the door open. Derpy expected Lyra to scream from pain, for she expected the ship to still be hot from the crash, but no scream came. Lyra simply pulled the door open and stepped into the darkness of the ship. Derpy let out an annoyed sigh and trotted after the unicorn. Sure, Derpy wasn't fond of Lyra but that didn't mean that she would let her go inside a potentially dangerous spaceship by herself and possibly get killed by something.
Upon entering the ship, Derpy found herself in complete darkness. She stumbled around in the dark for a few seconds before a dim, lime-colored light appeared out of nowhere. Derpy looked and saw that the light was emanating from Lyra's horn.
"Huh, I though you'd stay out there with Carrot Top and Bon-Bon," said Lyra with a somewhat impressed smirk.
"You may not like me, Lyra, and I may not like you...but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you wander into a spaceship by yourself and possibly get yourself killed," Derpy stated.
"Okay then. Let's do some exploring!" Lyra pushed her chest forward and trotted deeper into the confines of the ship. Derpy followed with caution.
The floor felt cold like ice, which surprised Derpy, and the a strange scent flowed through the air that Derpy could only describe as the smell one encounters while walking through a hospital. There was a resonant echo with each hoofstep that she and Lyra took. Through Lyra's dim light, Derpy could see that the walls and floor looked quite clean.
This must be a very sturdy ship to survive a crash like that, Derpy thought. Just then, the sound of low breathing began emanating from the end of a hallway that Derpy and Lyra had just turned into. Derpy turned to Lyra and whispered, "Do you hear that?" Lyra simply nodded without looking away from the dark abyss of the hallway before them. "Should we go back?" Lyra simply gave a quick shake of the head before slowly continuing down the hallway. Derpy didn't want to but her sense of curiosity urged her to continue.
The breathing grew louder and louder with every passing second. Derpy felt her heart rate increase. She wanted to turn back. She wanted to run out of the ship and join Carrot Top and Bon-Bon on the outside. But she couldn't leave Lyra. If something happened to Lyra due to Derpy running away then the unicorn's blood would be on her hooves. She took a deep breath and trudged on. Soon, the two mares had come to the point where the breathing was right on top of them. They looked up, down, left, and right but there was nothing there. The breathing then immediately stopped. Derpy and Lyra were silent for a moment. Derpy couldn't find the nerve to ask anything and she could tell that Lyra felt the same way. In the end, however, it was Lyra who spoke up first.
"Were...were we just hearing things?" Lyra asked with a pinch of hope. Derpy gulped and shook her head.
"That sounded too real to be just a trick of the mind," Derpy replied.
"Then why has the breathing stopped?" Suddenly, a cabinet door behind Lyra opened. A dark creature with long, wide arms grabbed onto the surprised unicorn. Lyra tried to scream but a large, hairy hand covered her mouth. Derpy was frozen with fear. The light from Lyra's horn went out and the next thing Derpy knew her mouth was being covered by a strong, hairy hand.
The Doctor closed the TARDIS doors as he looked to examine the spaceship before him. He didn't know when or where he was but that didn't stop him from being intrigued by the crashed spaceship.
"Well, this is certainly an interesting turn of events," he said to himself. Suddenly, he heard a series of voices emanate from the other side of the ship.
"Should we go in after them?" asked one female voice.
"They sure have been in there for a while," stated a second female voice. The Doctor carefully began making his way around the spaceship, avoiding spots of hot ash and fire. He eventually made his way around the ship and came across two earth pony mares. One had an orange mane, a yellow coat, and a cutie mark of three carrots while the other had a pink and purple mane, a cream-colored coat, and a cutie mark of three candies.
"At least I know I'm still in Equestria," said the Doctor with a sigh of relief. He calmly began to approach the mares. "'Ello there!" The mares turned to look at him. The one with the orange mane widened her eyes and darted towards him.
"DOCTOR?!" she cried as she grabbed the Doctor's forelegs and began shaking him. "IS THAT REALLY YOU, DOCTOR?!"
"Yes! No need for the shaking and yelling!"
"Oops...sorry." The mare took a few steps back. The second mare awkwardly approached them.
"Who's this, Carrot Top?" asked the other mare.
"This is the Doctor that I was telling you about earlier!" The Doctor suddenly remembered something. He turned towards the orange-maned pony.
"You're name's Carrot Top?" he asked.
"Yes!" replied Carrot Top with a nod.
"Carrot Top. Carrot Top. Why does that sound so familiar? Oh! I remember! You're a friend of Derpy's!"
"Yes!" The Doctor suddenly frowned at the mare. "What's wrong?"
"You're the one who taught Derpy that it's okay to slap somebody...er...somepony in order to have them be quiet! Not a really nice thing to teach ponies." Carrot Top blushed a bit.
"Yes...well...anyway, Doctor...have you met me before now?"
"Hmm...no. Can't say that I have."
"Good," said Carrot Top with a sigh. "Then you're the right Doctor."
"The...right Doctor?" asked the Doctor.
"I'll explain everything later. Right now, we could really use your help."
"Well, a friend of Derpy's is a friend of mine. What's the problem?"
"Lyra and Derpy went into that ship several minutes ago and we haven't heard anything from them since!" the other mare stated.
"Sorry, but you are?"
"Bon-Bon, I'm a...uh...an acquaintance of Derpy's."
"Pleasure to meet you. Fitting name. Anyway, so Derpy and this Lyra are in that ship?"
"Yes!" The Doctor looked at the ship. A bad feeling began to creep through his body.
"I think it'd be wise for us to go in and get them out immediately."
"I agree," said Carrot Top.
"Let's hurry! Something's after Derpy and I have a feeling that it's in that ship."
"Wait...something's after Derpy?!"
"I'll explain later!" The Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and made his way through the door. Carrot Top and Bon-Bon followed.
Derpy struggled against the hairy hand but it was too strong. It was definitely hard to fight something in the dark. She could hear Lyra's muffled groans and her heart began to race. What had captured them? Where was it taking them? What was it going to do to them? Derpy heard the creature breathing quickly and heavily. She heard a door open and found herself being thrown into a room. The room, thankfully, wasn't dark. A small lantern was situated in the center of the room. Derpy crawled towards it. Lyra emerged from the darkness a few seconds later and made her way over to the lantern. Derpy heard the door close and lock but their captor remained hidden in the shadows.
"What do you want with us?!" asked Lyra. Their captor emanated a loud shh from its mouth.
"Quiet! He'll hear you!" stated a male voice. Derpy and Lyra proceeded to fall silent.
"Who?" Derpy whispered.
"My captor." Derpy tilted her head a bit. Their captor had a captor? "You're lucky that I found you when I did. You would have been dead if he had found you first."
"Who are you?"
"You don't recognize my voice, Derpy Hooves?" Derpy shook her head in response. A series of loud footsteps reverberated through the darkness. "That's a shame." Their captor appeared in the light. Both Derpy and Lyra gasped. Standing before them was a monkey with green fur, a spiked tail, and four arms. He was wearing a blue space uniform and a warm smile was on his face. "Because I certainly remember you."