MISSING IN EQUESTRIA
A FanFic by VoxelTron
Chapter 1: Piccadilly Circus
It was another normal, busy day in London’s Piccadilly Circus.
With normal people, and their normal lives, doing what they would do normally. Being human. This was when Clara began to panic; she knew why she was there, and what she would be doing. But it didn’t seem like she was needed. There was no panic, no destruction, no Doctor.
The events up to this point were fuzzy to Clara. After the Great Intelligence, tried to destroy the very history of the Doctor, she, of course, saved him. From that moment she knew why it felt right with that strange, yet brilliant, man. She was the one who would die to save him. Every. Single. Time. So where was he?
“Pah, he’ll turn up like he always does” She said to herself to calm her nerves, “In the meantime, why don’t I enjoy the scenery? I think I remember there was a café I liked round the corner”.
Thankfully this reincarnation of her actually had some decent currency for a change, which was more than can be said for the last few Claras. And with her mind made up, she set off down the street with a certain spring in her step. Little did she know, that another set of eyes were watching her in the shadows with great interest.
“So there I was, screaming down the corridor in some refinery on the moon or whatever, with some great bloody beast-thing bearing down on my neck. Turned the corner, and there was the Doctor again, still missing his bowtie. Ran straight into him, both of us sent flying, I bashed my head on an overhead pipe and cracked my skull open. Think I saved him, not too sure, but I wouldn’t be here if he weren’t saved there…”
“That’s nice dearie…”
Clara had been sat in café for over an hour, spreading her misadventures with passers-by, who clearly had other, more important plans than talking to a seeming senile young girl, not that it mattered to Clara. This time it was an old lady, who did pop out to get some milk, but ended being pulled into another one of Clara’s tales about the Doctor, who still hadn’t turned up.
“Well I must be off” started the lady as she got up “Take care of yourself pet”, and with that she was gone.
The time traveller slumped over the chair in front of her and sulked, it was normal for her to be thoroughly confused, but that generally happened while she was running away from something, not sat in a café drinking overpriced cappuccinos. And with still no sign of the Doctor, and the likeliness of him appearing looking slim, Clara got up, placed her tip on the table, and left the café, with the weight of defeat clearly on her shoulders.
“Clara Oswald?”
“Who wants to know?”
As she turned around to see a man wearing a dreary blue suit, and holding a large black briefcase. There was something imposing about him, as though light bent around him. His eyes were emotionless and jet black, never blinking, as though his only purpose was to observe.
“I believe we can help each other, I know who you’re looking for”
Clara decided the best course of action was to keep quiet, lest the dark man in front of her turned out to be more than he seemed.
“Heh” Smirked the man, but the smile was cold and jagged, shaped by some unseen force “I’m glad the guy managed to teach you something about the Time Lords, even if it was just their mannerisms of silence”
“Hold on, you know the Doctor?”
“Knew him, but now’s not the place to talk about it, follow me, quickly”
As quickly as he appeared, the man turned on his heels and walked off, into the bustling crowds of London. It took Clara a few baffling seconds to pull herself back together, shocked by the sudden arrival and departure of this dark figure, but she quickly gave chase.
What intrigued her more about the man wasn’t his connection to the Doctor, but how he was managing to increase the distance between himself and her, regardless of how hard Clara was running through the crowds. And he was still walking, showing little strain or effort on his part. Always staying in sight, for a fleeting moment, just enough for Clara to pick up on the man’s direction, before disappearing into the crowds again. The physical impossibility of this man’s agility hardened Clara’s resolve, as she pushed harder through the dithering crowds of tourists, business men and citizens of the capital. However it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened.
“I lost him?! How could I lose him that quickly? He was just there!”
The hot-headed girl screamed to the sky in anger, causing a few unceremonious looks from those walking by. Not wanting to make more of a scene, Clara located a nearby bench and continued her previous sulking session. After a few minutes she began to gain awareness of the situation.
“Hang on a minute, where exactly is here?”
Looking around trying to figure out where on Earth she was, she soon answered her question “Hmm, that’s the Apollo, which means I’m in Hammersmith, sweet!”
Impressed by the distance that she had walked in such a small amount time ( About 5 miles in under an hour) cheered her up instantly, almost to the point of forgetting why she was there in the first place.
“You got lost”
Clara squeaked in surprise by the voice that appeared so suddenly behind her, she twirled round to face the source, so quickly she almost fell straight off the bench.
“Hey, it’s not my fault you wouldn’t slow down”
Clara mentally slapped herself for the rude reply. Unimpressed, the man turned around and started walking again
“So where were you taking me?” the girl asked, hoping to keep the man in eyesight for allot longer than usual.
“I was taking you somewhere more secure than the middle of a city where anyone could be listening, thankfully for you it’s just over there” claimed the man, pointing towards a normal looking back street. Unperturbed by direction the man pointed in, the time traveller followed him towards the alleyway, as the sun began to go down....