Octaves of Time

by KodyMcQ

Re-Orchestrating Time

Starburst knew he'd never see Octavia again. When he told his wife to go to Ponyville, it was out of pure love. The two ponies had grown so close together since The Doctor Died, and now they were going to forget it all. He had lied to Octavia, in effect, The Day Equestria Died was going to be the day they were sent back to, no matter what Vinyl could do about it. The TARDIS was going to pulsate and release it's energy at the same time as Equestria ends, and then time will be re-written to the morning of that day.

Only those conscient of what happened before and why will be able to remember everything, and that was only 3.5 ponies. Starburst, Octavia, Vinyl, and The Dead Doctor. The Dead Doctor only counted for half because he's missed out on a full 10 years. A wonderful 10 years, as Starburst called it.

It was 11:30, Octavia would be a quarter way to Ponyville now. The poor Mare was walking across Equestria in one night, just so she could destroy Equestria. And their Daughter? He knew she was a Time Mare, being born close to the TARDIS. But would she be able to fulfil her duty as a Time Mare, and actually re-write Equestria? She had an active imagination, it wouldn't be hard, but only Octavia has seen what it's like after the death, and from what she's told them, it seems really complicated.

Vinyl had a very distracted feel to her when her and her Father ate their last supper, which was when Starburst finally told her.

“Vinyl dear, I haven't told you everything. Your mother assumed you needed to go with The Doctor to age, but in reality, you don't. The Doctor and you are Time Ponies, so you won't look like you're aging at all. You can stay and DJ in Ponyville for all we care, just, whatever you do, make yourself happy.” He said, putting down his fork and pouring emotion into his words. This was one of the last times he'd be able to talk to his Daughter, he wanted it to count.

“I do dad. I really do. I want to meet The Doctor. I want to escape Equestria's binds, I want to feel some adventure. Sure, for my current life I've been only living up on a mountain, but in my re-written life I have it planned that we are all 3 best friends, and eventually I go off with The Doctor, around The Day Equestria Dies. I've got a stronger mind, dad. I already know we're going to pop out the Morning of The DED, so I won't worry too much. I've told Mom too, she knows you were just trying to reassure her. We all love you.” Vinyl said, tearing up when she mentioned her re-written life. She didn't want to leave this life, it was perfect, but it had to be done.

They both went to bed at 2:00 AM, after hearing of Octavia's success of ariving at the Ponyville Motel. Vinyl dreamed of what Ponyville could look like, while Starburst dreamt of what their future life could be. Octavia dreamed of being a happier pony, as from what Vinyl knew, Octavia was always happy. The Family dreamt happy dreams, as the TARDIS sat in their back yard and thrummed.

All 3 ponies woke up at exactly 10:00, when Octavia was performing at the party, yet tackling the Changeling Doctor in 30 minutes. Vinyl and starburst prepared.

They tied down the TARDIS, knowing how unpredictable it could be, it might fly off and leave The Doctor inside. They waited the next 25 minutes in anticipation, as Explosion drew closer.

Octavia woke up with a boom. She had fallen off of her bed, dreaming of that happy life she will be living in -10 hours. Octavia did up her hair, and did whatever she could to look like the Mare she looked at, which ended Equestria. It was pretty hard to look eighteen when you're thirty three, but Octavia managed, and tied a nice pink bowtie around her neck.

She payed the Ponyville Motel clerk 100 bits for the night, and bid him farewell with a “See you in the afterlife!”

She continued out the door, when she was stopped by a strange sight. She saw The Doctor and Rose, wandering around SugarCube Corner. She galloped up to them, unable to believe it.

“DOCTOR. It has been 10 years since I last saw you. You are supposed to be bucking dead.” Octavia said straight to his face when he turned around.

“I'm sorry what?” He exclaimed, “Who are you? And how do you know me?”

“I'm Octavia. I guess I'm talking to a past version of you. Do you know what's happening today?” She asked, sitting him down on a park bench with her, completely ignoring Faux-Rose's presence.

“Free muffins from Derpy's stall?” He asked. Obviously, Octavia was the one to hint him about Equestria's doomsday. It made pretty good sense. Every paradox was starting to loosen up.

“No. Listen. Me-Past me, I guess. Past and Future me are going to end Equestria, by past me tackling a changeling version of you and future me looking at her.. Whatever you do, make sure to pick up Octavia-me, from the party at Sugarcube Corner. Take me to the TARDIS, and help me figure out how to stop Equestria from Ending. It's good to see you Doctor, but please, don't tell me what happens. Don't want to create more paradoxes.” She said, with a “Good to see you, and stay alive until you die!”

The Doctor was startled. Rose came over, and sat beside him. She didn't bother asking what she told him, as Faux-Rose knew what was going to happen.

The Doctor's mind raced. He tried to understand what that pony was talking about.

So. One pony, named Octavia, is going to a party. Then Equestria ends. I take this pony and help this pony stop Equestria from Ending. A Second pony, also Octavia, but a future version, is trying to stop Equestria from ending, by tackling a Changeling version of me. Scary. Then, a much much older looking version, is going to talk to that version of her, both Octavias, and they're going to end Equestria. And somehow that is supposed to stop Equestria from ending?

The doctor now understood. 'Stay alive until you die.' The Doctor Died in the past, and he assumed Octavia had to relive the past in a desolate location to avoid creating an infinite paradox. Eventually that Octavia wound up here, ready to end Equestria, and is most likely in posession of the TARDIS, which will reboot Equestria should my dead body be with it. I'm just a Doctor in an alternate universe, while the real Doctor is dead. And the real Octavia is performing at a party. Fascinating!

“Rose, we're going to a party.” He said, standing up and trotting to Sugarcube Corner.

Octavia's heart raced. She couldn't find where she had tackled the Changeling, 10 years ago. Her thirty three year old mind couldn't remember much of what she had for Breakfast, let alone 10 years ago. And it might've been the fact she knows what's going to happen, or the fact she's been hanging around her Husband for too long, but she was surprisingly calm.

She found her home, and double checked that nopony was in there. She darted around the side, as a past version of her trying to solve the mystery darted into her home. Octavia wandered down the path, from her house to Sugarcube corner, where she saw The Doctor Changeling.

'This is it Octavia, you're getting closer.' She told herself, remaining calm and hiding in a bush. Slowly, an Octavia wandered over to The Doctor Changeling and started following it, eventually tackling it to the ground. 'NOW!'

Vinyl was watering the plants when she felt a small rumbling. The TARDIS then emitted a loud, high frequency BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Then the doors of Vinyl's childhood hero opened up. The TARDIS had revealed it's inner wonders to her, as well as the Dead Doctor.

“DAD DAD DAD! Dad, the TARDIS is open! The TARDIS is open!” Vinyl ran into the house as fast as she could, but was stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the scene that was going on inside.

Starburst was facing three weeping angels, who all had the slight look of The Doctor. They then morphed, and looked like statues of Vinyl.

“Sweetie, stare at them for a minute for me, will you? I need to blink.” He asked her, worry seeping into his normally calm voice.

Vinyl uttered an Mhmm then proceeded to stare at the Weeping Angels. The horrifying figures were at least 2 feet away from her Father, and she wasn't about to let them get hold of him. Not at this important time.

Starbust proceeded to leave the scene, worrying Vinyl.

“Dad, where are you going!” She asked, panicked and still staring at the Weeping Angels.

“It's okay Vinyl, just keep staring.” He said, his voice now coming from behind the back door. She almost took a look, had she not remembered she was up against some Weeping Angels.

It took Vinyl a minute or two, but she realized what was going on. Vinyl was wearing her goggles, and could blink whenever she wanted, as long as she continued to stare at the Angels. They didn't know she was blinking under those goggles, and she wanted to keep it that way.

Starburst proceeded to drag out The Doctor's body, still in well shape and form, not rotting or anything. The TARDIS kept it in a time lock, and it was preserved as it was the Day The Doctor Died. He took out the body and laid it in front of the pulsating TARDIS, which was now giving off slow beams of energy, enough to push Starburst over a little.

Starburst then pulled out his Wife's Gold Laced Cello, and a heart shaped jade. He laid them beside the Doctor, whom he had known and loved. It was hard on him, to be destroying his body like this, but it was worth it.

“Still alright in there Vinyl?” He shouted, hoping his daughter the Time Mare wasn't eaten by Weeping Angels.

“Yup! Good as always, Dad. How much longer do we have?” He heard her voice follow out the Door.

“About a minute. Are you ready?” He asked, not caring the worry was seeping into his voice. He was usually calm, he admitted, but it's pretty hard to be calm when your whole universe is about to be re-written by your daughter, and your family, who shouldn't even exist, only knows about it because a Time Colt died for them.

Starburst prepared himself. He walked back into the room, and patted Vinyl on the shoulder, then continued to stare at the Weeping Angels. Vinyl left the room, a few tears leaving her eyes, as she wished her dad farewell.

“Bye dad, I'll always remember you, no matter what. You will always be my dad. And Mom will always be my mom.” She said, and then stepped into the TARDIS. She felt the ground begin to vibrate and thrum, as a deep bass sound began to resonate around Equestria.

Equestria was ending, for the final time.

Octavia watched herself tackle the changeling Doctor, then darted out of the bushes.

Acting innocent, she cried out “Hey! What's going on over there!” Then galloped and stood right behind herself. Past Octavia stopped everything she was doing, then slowly turned around and faced herself square in the eye. Octavia smiled sadly. Then, everything paused, and the blanket of white covered the old mare and her past self.

The low sound was getting louder and louder as Vinyl waited in the TARDIS.

“Hang in there Dad! Only about 30 more seconds!” She cried out. She knew how much her dad liked to blink, so when he was left in the house against 3 weeping angels, she got worried.

There was no answer. 'Buck dad, I need you to stay alive!'

“Y-yeah Vinyl. I'm hanging in.” His voice slowly fluttered out of the house to the TARDIS. Vinyl sighed with relief, and looked to the direction of Ponyville. Vinyl finally saw it, what her mother had hoped to destroy, yet hoped to cause. The blanket of white film, that was slowly ending Equestria, mile by mile.

“Dad?” Vinyl shouted over the low sound that was still getting louder.

“Yes Vinyl?” He asked. The white film was now at the edge of the Lake.

“I love you.” Vinyl said. Then her head started to hurt from the sound of the low boom. And then, it all stopped. Vinyl could only see white. Vinyl assumed she was in her Mind. Hooray. Now what? She decided it was time to implement all the fake memories she needed to, then all she had to do was remember the word TARDIS.

Octavia recognized the familiar sight of being in her mind. She welcomed it, and decided it was time to give her past self something to think about here.

Welcome to your subconscious, Octavia” She said, knowing that it would be resonating through her younger self's mind. “Do not worry, I’ve done this before. I’m your future self. There’s no paradoxes here, the one we’ve caused is enough. You see, I can’t spoil this any more, but we’re stuck in the same place. Us. In our subconscious, and we need to fix that. What I did was think of my Childhood, think of it vividly. Remember Bass Mountain.”

She knew after saying that her past self would be remembering the Mountain, how the grass dropped steeply off the cliff, into the valley, while the other mountains rose up from the other side of the foggy depths. But this was not what Octavia needed to remember. She needed to remember the TARDIS. The Doctor. Vinyl. Starburst. She thought of every memory they had together, implanting new ones of not their family, but Vinyl, the friendly DJ Pony, and Starburst, her Colt Fiancee.

Starburst was confused by the white milky depths. He'd never been there before, and he could see why Octavia was so startled by it. Slowly, he remembered his wife telling him what to do in here, and he could see the memory vivid as day while he thought ofit.

“Remember Starbust and Vinyl, when you get into your mind, remember that Vinyl is the DJ, and only we know she's a Time Mare, and remember that Me and Starburst are engaged. Remember it, implant new memories, what we remember is what the rest of Equestria will. But most importantly, remember The Doctor.” She said, 2 nights before Equestria Died, at the dinner table for supper. The dark candle light on her face.

Vinyl had relative ease with making up all these memories, not only because she was a Time Mare, or because she was basing them off of her current experience, but because of her wild imagination. She figured she got it from her happy hyper mom, and she liked it. She wanted to keep Octavia happy. Octavia was now her friend, and all she really needed to know was that Octavia was the real woman to give birth to Vinyl. And Starburst was her dad. And the Doctor, she didn't have much to remember of. So she didn't spend much time on him.

Vinyl fabricated childhood stories, of how her, Lyra, and Tavi would go up to Bass Mountain together to play music, back in the days when Vinyl played French Horn. She remembered the day she heard her first Bass Drop, when Octavia accidentally played a low note at a performance at the wrong time, and Vinyl fell in love with it.

Octavia remembered a few different memories, probably being implanted to her by Vinyl. How they would go up Bass Mountain and giggle while playing tunes, Vinyl on the French Horn, Octavia on her Cello, and Lyra on the Lyre. How embarrased Octavia felt when she played the wrong note at the wrong time during a trio performance, and how everyone, including Vinyl, loved it. Octavia metaphorically smiled.

Octavia began to fabricate memories of her and Starburst, of how they met. Octavia was playing at the Grand Galloping Gala, and after the 6 ponies completely trashed the party, Starburst saved her from being stuck under a pedestal. Starburst brought her home, and bought her a new Cello, after hers was destroyed in the incident. They had been in love for 2 years.

Starburst felt a flood of joy when he saw new memories coming in, form Vinyl and Octavia. Specifically, the Gala one. Where he was hanging out with a rare-formal-looking Vinyl, and Lyra watching Octavia perform. Octavia had never really noticed him there until she got trapped under a falling pedestal, and he had bucked it off her and brought her home, buying a new Cello for her to express his feelings for her.

Starburst then fabricated a small memory for himself, buying a lovely white dress, a heart shaped jade, and getting some cloth from Sweet Apple Acres, and having the intention to leave it on Octavia's front door, with a mental checklist to buy a ring for the party.

Vinyl fabricated a few sad stories, of how her parents died. On the train from Canterlot to Ponyville, off to see one of her performances, the train had hit a dragon, who was perfectly fine after, yet took the train with him and dropped it into the ocean. When they finally found the train 2 years later, they had announced that everyone was accounted for, and all dead. Vinyl slowly, yet metaphorically cried at this thought, making it feel so real.

Octavia's memory of her parents was the opposite, with the wish of them wanting to completely get rid of Weeping Angels, her parents were never sent back to live to death. Instead, they finally welcomed Octavia's love of music and watched her perform at every occasion. Her parents were still alive, and had told her 2 days before DED that they would be going to Pinkie's party, and bringing Starburst with them.

Finally, all three metaphorical ponies had their stories set straight. No more paradoxes, no more random adventures, no more weeping angels. Just... Normal. All at once, the ponies sent their ready signals. Vinyl, the memory of a broken disk, Octavia, the memory of a Cello Bow, and Starburst, the memory of a ring. When all 3 signals were recieved, they all thought the same word at once.

“DOCTOR.”

The white bled into black. The nausea striking hard. They were completely re-writing Equestria's history, and bringing the whole population of Equestria back to life, including The Doctor.

Vinyl awoke in the TARDIS, where she last remembered herself.

Octavia found herself in a cheery gold bed, her home being hapilly decorated and pictures of her, Lyra, Vinyl, and Starburst dotted the nightstand beside her.

Starburst woke up in a room in the Ponyville Motel, where he was remembering himself staying for the Hearts and Hooves party.

The Doctor found himself alive. Right beside Vinyl.

Comments

[KodyMcQ]

There we go! Main story done, I'm now finishing up the Epilogue.

And yes, I will continue this from a Vinyl/Whooves story sometime. Cause you know, Vinyl being a Time Mare is too good of an opportunity to pass up on

[Changeling]

That was good looking forward to the epilogue