A Grey Box

by Lonepone

Repeating the Past

I tackle the Master to the ground of the stolen Tardis. He looks shocked at my sudden outburst. I hit him, hoping to knock him out. He stops resisting, and lays on the floor dazed.

I leave him there, and walk to the main console of the Tardis. I pull out my sonic screwdriver from it’s pocket, and look at how he rewired the time engine to jump between dimensions. With this knowledge, I set it on a timer to jump into the void of inter-universal space, and self destruct. I would’ve loved to take this Tardis, disassemble it, and upgrade mine with the pieces, but then what would I do with him. This planet hasn’t had any alien visitors that look different. They’re not ready.

I hit start for the countdown sequence. I walk out the main doors, right as the Master is getting up.

“Enjoy the trip to nowhere” I tell him. I shut the doors, and insert the master key I have on a chain around my neck. The doors lock permanently. I hear him banging on the door, wanting to be released. “Tough luck, buddy. I hope you enjoy the void”

The blue box screeches, angry at me for making her go to a place with no return.

I walk towards the building I sent Octavia and Vinyl too. The dorm room. I question whether or not I should say farewell. Either way, I’m leaving. I’ve been here for too long, I’m starting to go native. I walk up to my room. Those two are standing there, probably wanting an explanation.

“No, I’m not going to tell you what that was” I tell those two. I remember what I was told earlier about Vinyl’s eminent death. Maybe I can forestall that. As a parting gift. “On second thought, I will. You two, follow me”

“Uhm alright. Not really giving us a chance to speak, are you?” Vinyl sas.

“Sorry, no. That was a Tardis. They can travel through time and space, and that one could jump between universes”

“Haha, real funny. Seriosly, what was that?” Octavia asks disbelievingly.

“Don’t believe me? Walk in that door” I say, pointing my hoof at my silver box. The doors swing open at my gesture. They look in.

“Is it...” Octavia asks half a question.

“Bigger on the inside?” Vinyl Scratch finishes the question.

I smile. “Yup. Look inside” I walk in, and the two of them follow me.

I even take a look around, admiring it. It’s been a while since I’ve been in here. About 150 years. I walk up a flight of steps to the central console and pillar. The steps are steel, along with the railings. The floor is one large sheet of glass. The console is perfectly round, but divided into six segments. There’s a chair on one end.

“How are you feeling, Big Sexy?” I ask the ship.

“Excuse me?” Octavia asks since I was looking in her general direction.

“No, I was talking to the ship” I tell her.

Vinyl Scratch walks up to me from my right. “Ship? What is the purpose of this thing anyways?”

I laugh lightly. “Interdimensional time and space travel. I call it the T.A.R.D.I.S. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. I go places. Do things. I live”

“And why did you bring the two of us in here?” Octavia asks with wonder, and an undertone of fear.

“Well. All of time and infinite space. All alone. So much stuff, but no one else that has seen the things you’ve seen, done the things you’ve done” I say, somewhat avoiding the question.

“Cool” Vinyl says.

Octavia doesn’t buy it, however. “That didn’t answer my question”

I sigh. “Because I’m lonely. I go to all these places, but I have no one to share it with. All this, trapped in one head. One head that isn’t meant to house all this without an output. It’s not healthy. But yeah, I get lonely. So, my proposition. Would you like to come with me?”

“Hell yeah!” Vinyl shouts.

Octavia takes a moment to think. “Is it dangerous?”

“It can be” I say. “But it doesn’t have to be. It’s only dangerous when we can’t get back inside the Tardis. If we come across a place that’s inhospitable, then all we have to do is step back inside, I work the controls, and we’re back somewhere safe”

“I mean is the traveling safe?”

I take a moment to respond. “Completely”

Octavia frowns. “I heard some hesitation, Lonepone. What does that mean?”

I smile, and make sure not to hesitate this time. “Nothing. Just lost in a certain train of thought, is all”

Vinyl turns to Octavia. “Come on, let’s go. Think of the things we can see!”

“I don’t know. This sounds really dangerous. I think-”

I cut her off. “Tell you what. One trip. If you think it’s safe, Octavia, I’ll take you on more. If not, I drop you back off here. Five seconds since when we left”

Vinyl looks at me. “But then what would you do if you dropped us back off?”

I laugh darkly. I open my mouth to talk, but Vinyl starts before I can. “You sure do laugh a lot”

“Yes, I do. Anyways, if I dropped you guys off, I would go on, and maybe find another pony who would like to come with me. Until then... I’d be alone. As I always have been” I’m lost in thought for a moment. I think of my one friend, the one who gave me my life. And what happened. I snap back to reality. “But whatever happens, happens. But before we go, I need to do something. Stay here in the console room, please, I should be back in a few moments” I start to walk to the rear doors that lead into the catacombs that houses the rest of my ship, but I stop. “Actually, Go to your rooms. Grab whatever you think you might need, and come back here”

I wait a few seconds for any questions. When none are presented, I walk through the back doors. The Tardis senses the room I want, and she reconfigures herself so that the first door leads me into the room I want.

It’s a bare, circular room, with a chair in the middle. The chair has metallic clamps on arms and legs, and a machine stands above it. A blood stain covers one wall.

I sit in the chair, and the clamps lock me in place.

A feminine voice speaks. “Injecting pain killer”

A needle from the large machine swings down, and pricks me in the arm. A coolness flows up me, and calms me. I designed the painkiller to be a light sedative also.

The majority of the machine swings down, and faces me.

The female voice speaks again. “Starting termination process”

The machine points a barrel at my face. I hear a click, and then my vision goes to black. Right before I ‘die’, I hold an image of what I want to be after the process is over.

***

A young man stood in wonder in front of a blue police box. A harsh groan filled the air, and smoke streamed from the crater the blue box was in. Suddenly, the doors flew open, and a tall man stood in the doorway.

“Who are you?” The young man asked.

The tall man looked at his hands as if he had never seen them before.

“I said, who are you?” The young man asked.

The tall man looks at the young man in surprise, as if he only just noticed him. “Why hello there. Where would I happen to be?” He asked, oblivious to his question.

“America” The young man told him. “In the middle of a forest. Are you an alien?’

“I suppose I am an alien, from your viewpoint” The tall man said.

“What is that thing?” The young man asked.

“This is my spaceship. I can travel through all of time and space in this” The tall man said boastfully.

The young man nodded. “Would you mind picking up a hitchhiker?” He asked.

“Possibly. But wouldn’t you be missed by your friends and family?” The tall man asked in return.

“No. I have no friends, and my family is gone” The young man said with a sad face.

The tall man nodded in agreement. “Then it seems we are both in the same predicament. You see, I’m just like you. My friends all left me, and my family is a long, long ways away. I’ll tell you what. You come with me, and we’ll be friends” He said.

The young man looks up with a smile. “I would like friend”

Author's Note:

Well, here's the first chapter. After I finish a story I'm working on with a friend, all my attention and energy will be focused on this.

If you liked or disliked this, please comment what you (dis)liked about it. My writing style, grammatical or spelling errors, etc.

Comments

[Chapter 13]

Not bad. A few grammatical errors, but the story seems cool so far.

~ Michael