When Vinyl and Octavia are put in jail after a bad night at the club, what happens when two peculiar ponies bust them out and send them on an adventure? adventure, alternate universes and a bad attempt at romance. That's what happens.
Sequel to Just another OctaScratch fic I had no help. I have no-one to edit it. I am probably going to screw it up. And, most likely, it will have more grammatical errors than my 7 year old bro's written work. So just roll with it.
Octavia and Vinyl are a couple. Now they need to learn to work it around their lives. Next door, two new neighbours have moved in: Lyra Heartstrings and Bonbon. Chaos ensues. Now trying to include more characters into my stories so the quality is bound to improve. Eventually.
Now with Derpy and Doctor.
The tag "Alternate Universe" is refering to part of the adventure.
Also, this story can and will be affected by your comments. Just say what you want to see happen and I will make it so. You will also be immortalised in the author's notes if your suggestion is picked.
Octavia opened her blurry eyes. She blinked twice to focus and the ceiling came into view. She noticed the distinct lack of a headache, telling her that she didn't have a hangover. Thank Celestia for that. She stretched her hind legs with a satisfying crack and stood up. The shift of weight on the bed elicited a groan from the sleeping mare next to her: Vinyl Scratch.
"Mornin' Tavi." she said, groggily opening her eyes and slipping on her shades which were residing on the bedside cabinet.
"Good morning, dear." she said back, smiling as she did so. She looked out of the window near the bed. She opened it and stuck her head out, breathing in the fresh morning air. The sounds of the early morning greeted her ears, the tweeting of birds, the sounds of the morning traffic and the sound of the daily bustle of the inner city. She turned away to see Vinyl slowly getting to her hooves. "Breakfast?" she asked.
"If you're cooking, yes." Octavia rolled her eyes.
Octavia carefully balanced two plates with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, plum tomatoes, beans, black pudding and two slices of toast each: the typical Great Braytish breakfast. Vinyl was slouching on the sofa when Octavia entered the room. When she saw the breakfast she perked up immediately and started salivating. Octavia chuckled at this and placed both plates on the table. "Tuck in, Vinyl." Vinyl made no haste in doing so and had demolished half of it before Octavia had even started.
As soon as they had finished, Octavia carried the plates back into the kitchen where she dumped them in the sink before returning to Vinyl. Before she could sit down, there was a knock at the door. "Who in Equestria could that be?" Octavia wondered out loud. She trotted over to the door, Vinyl in tow.
When she opened the door, in front of her stood two mares: One was a cream coloured earth pony with a pink and blue puffy mane and three sweets as a cutie mark. The other was a mint-green unicorn with a mint-green mane to match her fur with white streaks and a lyre as a cutie mark. "Hello!" they both said simultaneously.
"Hello?" responded a rather confused Octavia.
"Hi, I'm Lyra Heartstrings." Said the mint-green one.
"And I'm Bonbon. We're your new neighbours." the cream coloured one said, extending a hoof towards Octavia while Lyra extended hers towards Vinyl. The duo reluctantly shook hooves with the two ponies at their door.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both, Lyra and Bonbon." Octavia said politely.
"Likewise." responded Bonbon.
After finishing sharing pleasantries, Octavia spoke up. "So, uh, would you two like to come in for tea or coffee?" The two at the door exchanged a look before looking back at Vinyl and Octavia and smiling.
"Sure!" they said in tandem. I swear that they practised this beforehoof. Octavia thought.
Vinyl carried a tray in her magic with four steaming cups of tea on them. She placed the tray on the table and sat on the sofa with her marefriend. "So." Lyra broke the tension in the room. "What are your names?"
"Well, I'm Octavia Philharmonica and this is my marefriend, Vinyl Scratch." Bonbon and Lyra gawked at them. "Is there a problem?" Octavia asked, genuinely concerned. Bonbon was the first to react.
"No. No, no, no. Of course not. We just... never expected to meet fillyfoolers, is all." Octavia choked on her tea and it sputtered out onto the table.
"WHAT!?" The guests shrunk into their seats.
"I-I... I didn't mean it like that! Me and bonnie here are also fillyfoolers. We didn't expect to see anypony else who was, never mind our neighbours. So we're just a bit surprised is all." Lyra said sheepishly. Realisation dawned on Octavia and she calmed down immediately.
"Oh, sorry. I lose my temper sometimes." she sighed. "Me and Vinyl have put up with a lot of trouble because of our... sexuality." A tear came to her eye as she spoke. "I just get really defensive when somepony brings it up." Lyra and Bonbon exchanged glances.
"We-We're sorry. We didn't mean to upset you. Is there any way we can pay you back?" They stood up and took a step closer to Octavia to see if she was alright. Vinyl herself seemed to just slouch on the sofa without paying the others any mind. "Vinyl!!!" Lyra shouted. Vinyl jumped up, hitting her head on the ceiling and yelling in pain.
"GAAAAH! What the hay was that for!?"
"Your marefriend is upset, you could at least attempt to comfort her." Octavia was still standing with her head low, oblivious to the world. Oblivious until she felt a reassuring pair of hooves wrap themselves around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. She looked up to see Vinyl making a bad attempt to comfort her.
"There, there, Tavi. It'll be okay, whatever the problem is." Vinyl stayed quiet for a few seconds, thinking of what to say. Damn. I've already run out of things to comfort her. Octavia looked her marefriend in the eyes as she tried to think of something to say. This caused Octavia to giggle a bit. "What? What's so funny?"
"You. Trying to think of what to say." She wiped her eye and pulled her marefriend into a kiss. After about two minutes, they both remembered they had other guests. They broke apart and looked at their guests, blushes appearing on their faces from both embarrassment and from the kiss. Lyra sat there, jaw agape, eyes wide open, horn releasing a few sparks now and then as she tried to say something unintelligible. Bonbon, on the other hoof, was looking everywhere except the couple. They both laughed nervously.
Bonbon looked at Lyra, who was still practically drooling into the carpet. "I take it you two are finished?" she asked, mostly sarcastic. They both nodded sheepishly. "Excellent. I think we should continue with our previous conversation." After the musical duo nodded, Bonbon continued. "So what do you two do for a living?"
Octavia spoke first. "I used to be a cellist but I was fired because of the Grand Galloping Gala fiasco a couple of years ago. Now I'm Vinyl's manager."
Now it was Vinyl's turn. "I'm a DJ. You may know me as DJ-P0n3." At this, the two of them gawked at Vinyl. Lyra piped up.
"Y-you're the famous DJ-P0n3? Omigoshomigoshomigosh CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH!?" Vinyl laughed at the outburst.
"Sure thing. I'm gonna need a pen though." She smiled at Lyra, who was still fanfillying. Lyra beamed at Vinyl before a rich yellow flash of light happened between the two. In the middle, a quill and a piece of paper floated, constrained by a yellow aura emanating from Lyra's horn. Vinyl took the quill in her own magic and scribbled her autograph on the parchment. Lyra made a high pitched squee as she inspected it.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Lyra shouted. Bonbon face-hoofed while trying to hide a smirk at Lyra's childish behaviour.
"Well, seeing as how you've told us what you do, I think it's high time we told you what we do." Bonbon said, politely finishing her cup of tea. "I'm a confectioner. I am currently buying a place a few blocks from here where I can run my own shop." There was an awkward silence. They all looked at Lyra, who was still staring at Vinyl's autograph. Bonbon cleared her throat. "Lyra?" Lyra's head snapped upwards.
"Huh, wha?" Bonbon face-hoofed again.
"Tell them what you do for a living."
"Ohhhh, right." she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm a lyrist. Not a very famous one but I have sold a few albums. I also compose for some quartets."
"Well those are very interesting jobs." Octavia said. "So, how did you two meet?" Bonbon smiled at this.
"I moved to Ponyville for a while to start my business." Bonbon responded.
"No way! I used to live there as well!" Vinyl blurted.
"Vinyl. Let her speak." Octavia said sternly.
"Sorry Tavi."
"Anyway," Bonbon continued. "When I was there, I met this mare here when she walked into my store. I know it sounds cheesy but it was practically love at first sight. After a month or two, I found out she was being evicted from her home so I allowed her to stay with me. Eventually, after about a year, we admitted our feelings towards each other. 4 years later and we decided to move to a different place so we chose Manehatten and here we are now."
"Cool story, bro." Vinyl said.
"What?" Octavia asked. "'Bro'? seriously?"
"What? It's in context." Octavia tried to resist the urge to face-hoof but to no avail. After a few seconds silence, a light beeping noise could be heard. Lyra flared her magic to check her phone which she kept in her mane. After scanning the screen she spoke.
"Come on, Bonnie. We need to get to the meeting to finalise the purchase of the confectionery." Bonbon gawked at her marefriend. "What?"
"You...you use big words."
"Yeah, so?"
"I DID IT!!! I'm finally rubbing off on you!" Lyra rolled her eyes.
"Hey, you two should come to one of my gigs." Vinyl said enthusiastically. Lyra sqee'd again. "I'm sure I can get you in for free." Lyra almost fainted when she said that.
"Sure Vinyl, just send us the invitation and we'll be there." Bonbon answered for her marefriend who was now clumsily walking out the door, unable to form a basic sentence.
"Bye, you two." Octavia said as they left.
"Seeya guys." Bonbon responded. After they left, the room was enveloped into an all-too-familiar awkward silence.
Vinyl made her way to the club energetically with a rather tired Octavia in tow. "How *Gasp* much *gasp* longer *gasp* do we *gasp* have *gasp* to go?" Octavia gasped, her face flushed from the long walk which Vinyl didn't seem to have any trouble with.
"Wow, Tavi. You don't exercise much do you?" The mare in question simply glared.
"How are you so energetic?" She continued panting and looking at the ground.
"Well, you're coming to one of my performances again so that's good. And, in case you don't remember, Bonbon and Lyra are coming also." She said with glee.
"Oh, right. Well, this will be fun, then." Octavia responded, sarcasm evident in her tone of voice.
"Oh, lighten up Tavi. We're almost there, anyway. It's literally just around the corner." They walked around the corner, and sure enough, the club was there with patrons flowing inside, most held back by a large white pegasus with muscles bigger than most people's heads but with minuscule wings. Vinyl eagerly trotted up to the club to see the same large pegasus arguing with two familiar mares.
"We're guests of the DJ." Lyra shouted.
"Unless she miraculously walks up to me right now and tells me that you two are her guests, you're not getting in." Vinyl chuckled at the situation.
"Hey, Biceps!" Vinyl shouted. "Those two are with me" The bouncer twisted around to see Vinyl and Octavia approaching him. He sputtered for a moment before speaking.
"Firstly, I'm sorry for the hassle. Secondly, how do you know my name?" Vinyl almost choked on air.
"Wait a minute. Your name is actually biceps?"
"YEEEEAAAAH! *Ahem*, I mean, yes."
Vinyl paused for a moment before saying, "OK. Anyway." She turned to address Lyra and Bonbon. "Come on, you two. Let's go have us a par-tay." The two looked at eachother before following the DJ and the Cellist inside.
Just after opening the front door into the corridor leading to the main club, the heavy thud of bass dropping was evident, shaking the walls and ceiling. As they neared the second set of doors, they could hear the electronically synthesized music supporting the bass climaxing. Vinyl pushed open the double doors just as the music stopped for a beat before the bass dropped. Here we go... Octavia thought. Then, a throaty masculine voice blared over the speakers. "DRRRRRROP THE BASS!" As soon as this was said, the club came alive with the heavy bass and electronic music, the crowd seemingly rippling along with the sound.
Vinyl smiled, her devilish eyes gleaming through the shades. She was in the club. The crowd was cheering. The room was filled with the sound of a pounding bass. She was in her element. As the current DJ finished his set, the crowd visibly deflated. The perfect time for Vinyl to make her entrance. She walked to the stage, where the previous DJ was climbing off.
"Hey Neon." Vinyl greeted. Neon Lights lifted his own shades and greeted Vinyl.
"'Sup Vinyl. Long time no see. How are you?"
"Oh, you know, the usual. Wearing shades, dropping basses, pleasing my marefriend." As soon as she said this, she realised that Neon didn't know she was a fillyfooler. Neon stood there, his jaw agape.
"Wait. I didn't know you were a fillyfooler."
"Neither did I until about two years ago."
"It's been that long, huh?"
"Yup. She's here tonight. You should go meet her! She's the grey one with a black mane and a pink bow-tie and she'll be with two other mares." Neon stood still for a second.
"Sure. I'd love to meet her. I'll go meet her then I'm outta here."
"Sure thing. Nice seeing you again. Gotta get on stage before the crowd gets bored."
"Alright. See ya." With that, Vinyl went on stage while Neon went to find the trio. Speaking of the trio, Octavia, Lyra and Bonbon were at the bar.
"We'll have three Barcolti's, my good stallion." Bonbon said, mocking Octavia's accent. The bartender acknowledged it with a nod and a "Coming right up, darling." From the way he said it, the three of them could guess his sexuality. They watched as the bartender expertly grabbed three glasses and filled them to the brim with Barcolti. He then carried them over in one hoof without spilling a drop. How is he able to balance the three glasses on one hoof? they thought in unison. After he put them down, he instinctively started a tab for them without saying a word.
"So, what do you think?" Octavia asked the other two. "She's good at what she does, isn't she?" Bonbon and Lyra both nodded eagerly, diverting their attention towards the DJ behind the turntables. The DJ in question quickly grabbed a vinyl record from the selection and replaced the current song with a new one so fast that nopony would have guessed there was a gap between the songs.
They were interrupted by a new voice. "Hello, fillies! Name's Neon Lights. I'm a friend of Vinyl's." They turned around to see the DJ in all his glory. He smirked. He extended a hoof towards Octavia. "Ah, you must be Vinyl's marefriend that I've heard so much about." Octavia blinked twice and shook his hoof.
"What did she tell you?"
"Actually, she only said that you were here and that I should go say 'hi'"
"Right. Anyway, these are our new neighbours: Lyra Heartstrings and Bonbon." Neon extended a hoof towards the other two.
"Wait, you're THE Lyra Heartstrings? I really admire some of the work that you've done. I've got all of your compositions on my laptop. You're awesome.2 Lyra could only stare in awe. "And I take it that you're the Bonbon who recently bought a confectionery on the other side of town?" Bonbon nodded at this. Neon then turned his attention towards Octavia. "And what's your name?"
"Octavia Philharmonica."
"Wow. I thought you looked familiar! You used to be a cellist for the quartet that was blamed for the GGG fiasco a couple of years back, didn't you?"
"Yeah." She said glumly. "I got blamed for it and was fired. Then the composer wanted to re-hire me but I declined because he was one of the first to blame me. Now I work as Vinyl's manager."
"Cool! Anyways, I better be off. I need to get home to my wife. She'll be worried sick. Ciao."
"Bye Neon." They all said in unison, to which, Lyra responded by shouting "Jinx!" The other two mares rolled their eyes then took a sip of their drink.
Three hours later, Vinyl was still at the turntables. An inebriated group of mares sat at the bar, namely Octavia, Lyra and Bonbon. "I think *hic* that we should hang out more often." Lyra said, throwing her hooves around in order to exagerate her point and nearly falling off her stool by doing so.
"I con- I conc- I agree." Octavia responded, apparently unable to say 'concur' in her drunken state.
"Hehe I think you meant to shay 'concur' Octy." Bonbon slurred, being able to pronounce the words despite being more of a lightweight when it comes to drinking. At this point, the music hit it's climax as the crowd danced. At the drop of the bass, the dance floor became a frenzy of squirming bodies as various dancers competed for space to move.
As the song finished, Vinyl walked around to the front of the turntables."All right party ponies!" she shouted to the crowd amidst cheers of 'DJ-P0n3'. When she said this, the crowd burst into cheers, mostly due to most of them being drunk. "Sorry to say, that's the end of my set." The crowd visibly deflated, someof them going 'awww'. "But don't worry! I'm leaving you with a good buddy of mine! Let's give it up for DJ M4TR1X!" She bowed to the audience and left, nodding to the other DJ arriving on the stage.
As she approached the bar where her friends and marefriend were, she noticed they were arguing with a hot pink and bright green stallion.
"Hey! All's I said is that you looked ugly. I was stating a fact and I fail to see a problem." Lyra said to him.
The said irritated stallion hmph'd before saying "Whatever, you crazy bitch." At this, Bonbon gulped. She knew that if there was anything that would annoy Lyra, it would be somepony saying she was bitch.
"Wait, Ly-" she started, but it was too late. Lyra's face contorted in anger, and she snorted, actual smoke billowing out, as she reached for an empty glass.
The bartender saw what wa about to happen and shouted "NO, darling! Don't-" in his high-pitched voice. But he too was too late. Lyra hurtled the glass at the stallion. It impacted him in the back of the skull,sending him collapsing into a particularly large stallion, causing him to spill his drink into the large stallion's lap while the large stallion's drink spilled over the floor.
"Oh, boy." Vinyl started, seeing where this was going before it happened. Inevitably, it started a classic bar fight, which Octavia and Lyra were willing participants in. Octavia flew through the air, clubbing a stallion, who was charging at Lyra, who was fighting several others at once, in the head with her rear hoof, causing him to falter and collapse into a stool. This stool was then used as a weapon by Lyra to bludgeon two advancing stallions.
"I had no idea Lyra and Octavia could fight." Bonbon said, right as the sound of wailing sirens came from outside. The police burst through the double doors, knocking over a mare who was in the process of beating another mare senseless.
One of the officers ran towards the bartender, who was cowering behind his counter. "Sir, do you know who is responsible for all of this?" The bartender wasted no time in pointing towards Lyra, Bonbon, Octavia and Vinyl.
"Those four. The green one, the grey one, the white one and the cream one." He then returned to cowering.
A unicorn officer used a voice amplification spell while four others detained Vinyl, Octavia, Lyra and Bonbon. "EVERYPONY, CALM DOWN OR YOU WILL BE ARRESTED!" The crowd ceased fighting immediately. "Thank you." The four of them were carted out of the door in hoofcuffs.
Octavia, as per usual, was the first to wake up. The fresh sounds of the morning greeted her. She smiled before closing her eyes tighter. Then she realised something: she was not in her room. Or her house for that matter. She was in a cubic room with concrete walls par one, which was a row of bars. She looked to the wall opposite the bars to see a window. Not a glass window, but a smaller row of bars. The wind seeped through the window, sending a chill down her spine. She was in jail.
She looked around and saw the three other mares laid out on the floor. Vinyl had her limbs splayed outwards with her chest facing the ceiling, Bonbon was curled up in the corner and Lyra was lying on the floor with her head supported by the wall. Strange way to sleep. Octavia thought.
She groaned as she stood and stretched her muscles, eliciting a loud pop from somewhere along her spine.
Vinyl wasn't as gracious as she woke. Instead of slowly opening her eyes like Octavia normally does, she woke with a start. She screamed, her muscles spasming in a way that made her jump into the air slightly and smack her head off the cell floor. "OW!" She looked to her right to see a giggling grey mare. Octavia was desperately trying not to laugh. "What's so funny, Tavi?" Octavia was unable to hold it in much longer. She burst out in a fit of laughter, which woke the other two mares.
Bonbon tensed her muscles, hitting her head off the wall due to her foetal position. Lyra jolted to her hooves, suddenly alert, and shouted "NO MORE EVIL WAFFLES!" The cell was quiet for a moment, then Bonbon, Octavia and Vinyl all burst into laughter, rolling on the floor, much to the embarrassment of Lyra.
They were cut off as a low rumble was heard on the other side of the wall opposite the bars. "Come on, you stupid screwdriver, DESTROY THIS WALL!" came the voice of a middle-aged stallion.
This was followed by a high pitched feminine voice. "Doctor, I'm pretty sure that's not how the sonic screwdriver works..."
"Oh, shush you. It does work like this." The four mares sat in silence as this happened. It was silent, save for the cursing of the masculine voice.
Finally, the feminine voice piped up. "Why don't I just use the explosives?" There was a silence for a few seconds.
"Oh." Another few seconds pause. Then the ticking of a bomb started and they backed away from the wall. The wall imploded, filling the new breech with dust. In the dust cloud, two silhouettes stood. One was an earth pony whilst the other was a pegasus. The two shadows stepped into the light, revealing the earth pony to be a light brown stallion with a dark brown mane, blue eyes and an hour-glass as a cutie mark and the pegasus to be a light grey mare with a blonde mane, yellow eyes facing in different directions and a train of bubbles as her cutie mark.
"Hello, fillies!" the stallion said. "I'm going to break you out of here!"
"Umm, who are you, exactly?" Bonbon asked.
"Oh, where are my manners! I'm Doctor Whooves and this is my lovely travelling companion, Derpy Hooves! And our surnames are spelled differently. Mine begins with a 'W' and Derpy's doesn't." The stallion said.
"Anyway, 'Doctor', why are you breaking us out?" The Doctor suddenly changed his expression to a more serious one.
"Because, if you stay in jail, all of Equestria will be in chaos." The four mares in front of him blinked. Then Vinyl spoke, this time towards Derpy.
"Firstly, Derpy, haven't I seen you before? Secondly, what's up with your eyes? Thirdly, hy would Equestria be in chaos if we stayed here?"
Derpy answered quickly. "1. you probably have seen me before. 2. I was born with these eyes but it doesn't change anything. 3. With you and Octavia here in jail, you two don't create the legendary mix of classical music and club music. This style of music made opposing factions stop wanting to fight, but dance instead. It brings peace to the land and all weapons are destroyed, the griffons make peace with ponykind and that made you two responsible for world peace. Strange, I know." Vinyl and Octavia sat in stunned silence.
Derpy continued. "With you two here, you can't create the mix, and there is nothing to stop conflict in Equestria. We need to break you two out and get you to tomorrow, which is when you make the mix." More silence.
"What about me and Bonnie?" Lyra eventually said.
"Um, we'll take you, too." Doctor said.
"How will you get us to tomorrow?" Octavia asked.
"Simple! We'll take the Tardis!"
"What's a Tardis?" Vinyl interrupted.
"It's a time travelling ship that can also turn invisible and shift through different dimensions. It also teleports." Octavia responded. Everypony in the room stared at her. "What?"
"How did you know what it was?" Doctor asked.
"I saw it on television. It's on one of my favourite TV shows called 'Doctor Who'. Actually, now that I think about it, your name does sound a lot like his. Maybe you're him from a different dimension?" The Doctor sat there, perplexed. After a moment, he shrugged.
"I suppose. Anyway, fillies, we have to go now." The four mares looked at each other before nodding in tandem. "Brilliant! Onwards and upwards! Allons-y!" he broke off in a run with Derpy flapping in tow. The other four mares ran behind them.
The six of them trekked through the thick forest. The Doctor, Derpy and Vinyl seemed to be coping perfectly fine, but Octavia, Lyra and Bonbon were slouching and shuffling rather than walking. "Are we there yet?" said Lyra for what seemed like the bazillionth time that journey.
"Just a bit lon- Ah! Here it is." replied The Doctor as they came to a clearing in the forest, where a small blue box, with the words 'Police Box Public Call' inscribed on top of the door, sat. Vinyl stared blankly at the box.
"You brought us here. Just to see a box." she deadpanned. Despite her wearing shades, The Doctor could feel her glaring at him.
"No, no, no. This isn't just a box! It's the Tardis! The greatest time-travelling dimension-hopping teleporting ship there ever was!" Vinyl was not amused.
"So why are we here?"
"Simple! Let's just get inside!" As soon as he said this, Derpy flew inside and The Doctor followed, leaving a confused group of mares in silence. After a few seconds, The Doctor stuck his head out in an almost comical way. "Come on, then!" One by one, the mares made their way inside slowly.
The second they were inside, they marvelled at what they saw. The inside of the blue box was remarkably large. In the centre, a large glass tube went straight through the centre of a circular control panel built around it. The room was at least two stories tall, the mares entering through the double doors on the top level. There was a deep yellow tint in the room, reaching every corner from a hard to find light source.
Vinyl, as usual, was the first to break the silence. "Woah."
"Woah." The other three echoed.
"She's a beauty, isn't she?" The Doctor asked, more rhetorical than anything. The four mares nodded their agreement, still throwing wondering glances around the room. "Time to get you to tomorrow!"
Octavia snapped back to attention. "Why are we going to tomorrow?" Now The Doctor seemed confused.
"Aren't you more concerned about time-travelling than the motives behind a small jump? No?" Octavia shook her head. "Huh. Oh well. We are going to tomorrow because the police will be looking for you after a prison break. When they can't find you, the order is given to stop the search at 9:37pm but we may as well go forward a whole day so as not to interrupt any sleeping schedules and so no suspicion is raised at your sudden return with your marefriend and two neighbours immediately after the search party for 4 mares breaking out of a federal institute was called off."
Octavia put her hoof up to retort and opened her mouth, but finding herself unable to respond to such an explanation, she lowered her hoof and closed her jaw. "Okay. But how will this affect the future? Won't there be some sort of paradox with us not existing in a time that we are supposed to?"
"No. Of course not. It's a bit of a wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey thing." He tapped several buttons on the central console and the room started to shake. "Onwards and upwards. Allons-y!" Vinyl and Octavia gave each other a look of concern just as the Tardis disappeared from that time zone.
The Tardis shot through the void, spinning as it did so, the centripetal force apparently not in any way affecting the six occupants. Inside, Derpy flew around, clearly pondering something.
"It shouldn't take this long to arrive at tomorrow, should it, Doctor?" she asked, stroking her chin with a hoof.
The Doctor lifted his head from the consoles he was tampering with. "Huh? I guess, now that you mention it. I wonder where we are headed?" The other four mares, who had been listening intently, said nothing but simply stared. The Doctor walked over to another console. "Now, let me check where we're going." Before he could see, however, the Tardis shook again, sending him off balance and into Derpy, who had just landed less than 2 seconds prior.
"Umm, what was that?" A shaky Octavia asked, backing towards the centre of the room, along with Vinyl, Lyra and Bonbon.
The Doctor stood up, recovering slowly from being sent across the room. "I have no ide-" He was cut off by another shake and several sparks flying around the room. The Tardis started to shake more violently, showing no signs of stopping. The five mares and the stallion were sent tumbling around the room, hitting various objects as they did so.
The Doctor managed to stand up, just in time to see a large panel from the ceiling hurtling towards him. "This is gonna hurt." The panel hit him square in the face.
Darkness.
Vinyl woke with a groan. She had a splitting headache so she put her hand to the affected area, only to feel something warm and sticky on her hoof. Blood? Please no please no please no. Wait, I have digits on my hooves!?!?!? Firstly, blood? she slowly pulled her hoof off her head to inspect it. But instead of being greeted by blood, what she saw was a clear liquid. "Drool? Is some pony drooling on me?" She shifted and rolled over to see that a being who she presumed to be Octavia had landed on her and was presently drooling everywhere.
"I guess I should wake every pony up, then." she said to no-one in particular. She breathed in deeply before screaming, "EVERYPONY GET UP COME ON WE HAVE THINGS TO DO UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP!!!!!!" At this, every pony in the room screamed and shot up, then giving Vinyl simultaneous glares.
"What the hay, Vinnnie?" Lyra asked, digging a hoof in her ear after having her eardrums almost explode.
"Firstly, we crashed and I have no idea where. Secondly, we all apparently have turned into a different species which I can only assume is bipedal due to the fact that it's easier to stay upright by standing on our hind two legs. And lastly, only Tavi gets to call me Vinnie."
Every pony body in the too stared in awe, except for Lyra, who was still freaking out over having hands. "You just..." Octavia started. "You just used the correct terminology and spoke a word more than three syllables. What is going on?"
The Doctor was the first to respond. "I can only presume we are on Earth, judging by the fact that we are in human form. By that, I can assume that we have travelled dimensions considering that Equus is our dimension's version of it."
"But can we assume that we are on Earth and not on another planet, and that we have turned into humans because it is this dimension's version of our own species?" Vinyl responded. Everybody looked surprised at the fact that Vinyl was able to uphold an argument, never mind that she was able to communicate clearly and use terminology used most often by upper-class ponies.
"Indeed. You propose an interesting question. But, if we were on another planet, why not turn us into the species that populate that planet, if any at all? Though, I suppose your argument is superior in that respect, there still may be the chance that my reasoning is correct and we are, in fact, on Earth."
"Quite. I do believe that there is only one way to find out for sure. Octavia, dear, would you mind holding the door open for us all to see what is outside?" Octavia stood up, a bit wobbly as she was still unused to her new form. She said nothing, still stunned by what Vinyl had said. She hobbled over to the door and grabbed the handle with her new digits. When she pulled it open, she was amazed at what she saw.
She saw a vast urban sprawl, nearly identical to Manehatten. Only, instead of ponies inhabiting it's streets, there were more humans. The other five could also see outside. Bonbon, Lyra and Derpy were equally amazed though The Doctor and Vinyl both held equally stoic expressions.
"Let's go," Vinyl said, walking perfectly despite only having being turned into this form less than five minutes prior. after seeing the other five not moving, she dropped her act and said "I said, 'Let's go'. As in, now! I wanna see what we find." The others wasted no time in following, tumbling and tipping in their own way: Lyra and Bonbon leaning against each other for support, Octavia spreading her arms out for balance, Derpy was crawling despite the fact that she had been in this form before and The Doctor walked normally beside Vinyl.
The Doctor leaned in to Vinyl and whispered, "If you ask me, they look like they just escaped from a mental institution." They both snickered to each other and risked a glance back to see the other four attempting to keep up.
"Well, I suppose we should try to earn money so we can find a place to stay." Vinyl pondered out loud.
"Oh, that's no problem!" The Doctor responded cheerfully. "I already have a house in this dimension and more than enough funds!" The group continued walking in silence.
"Where are we going?" Bonbon said after 10 minutes of silence had passed. By now, the others had found the willpower to walk normally.
"I have no ide- Wait! Isn't that your confectionary Bonbon?" Vinyl said.
"I guess it is..." Bonbon started.
"Let's go inside!" Lyra shouted enthusiastically. The other five all nodded in agreement and walked to the shop.
Once inside, they took note of the interior. Sweet buckets lined the walls with small children and adults alike running like a child in a... well, sweet shop. At the far end, there was a counter, identical to the one in Manehatten that Bonbon owned. Behind it was a coffee machine, a cash register, and a door that no doubt lead to the store room. In the centre of the room lay tables and chairs where customers would sit down, chat, drink coffee and eat sweets. They then realised something. Didn't this universe have it's own version of them?
They then payed attention to the people in the room. There were six others in the room. Each of them looked exactly like them and were staring with open jaws towards them. On one table sat two women. One had raven hair, a lightly tanned skin colour and was wearing a tailored suit with a purple bow tie that matched her eyes perfectly. The other was a woman wearing large amethyst goggles, which no doubt had magenta eyes behind them, who had a wildly spiky two-toned blue haircut and a paler complexion than the first woman. She was wearing a tank top matched with skinny jeans, a belt with a buckle the shape of a reversed eighth-note, and some casual pumps. A pair of headphones hung limply from her neck.
On the next table, a man and a woman were staring. The woman had straight blonde hair, a complexion somewhere between that of the first two women, and she had luminous yellow eyes that were facing different directions, even though she was able to stare perfectly fine. She wore a grey t-shirt and normal jeans matched with pumps that looked a lot like the ones the blue-haired woman was wearing. Her counterpart had light brown spiky hair and a complexion the same colour as hers. His eyes shone a bright blue. He wore a black shirt beneath a large beige overcoat, beige trousers that matched his coat and some suit shoes that he somehow managed to pull off.
The other two were not seated. One was behind the counter. She had large puffy hair that was a mix of the colours pink and navy blue. She had a skin tone leering somewhere between the blue-haired woman's and the blonde's. Her eyes were the same colour as the man's. She wore a yellow t-shirt with three sweets printed in the middle of it, skinny jeans, and some shoes that someone might see on a schoolgirl. The final person in the room was a green haired woman with white highlights. Her skin coloration was the same as that of her co-worker behind the counter. She had deep yellow eyes like the blonde. She wore a green t-shirt with jeans matching the woman behind the counter's and the same shoes, too.
The male was first to speak. "Hello Doctor!" he said as he stood up and walked over, extending a hand.
"Hello Doctor!"
"So let me get this straight," The Bonbon from this universe said. "You six are from an alternate dimension where everything named is 'ponified' and everyone is either a pegasus, unicorn, or just a normal earth pony. You travelled here by accident in the Tardis which had a malfunction and ended up here. And you are our alternate counterparts. Am I correct?"
"Yes." replied the Bonbon from Equestria.
"Alright. Well I suppose we should go our separate ways to avoid a paradox?" The Vinyl from this universe said.
"Naturally." The Doctor from Equestria said.
"Ok, well I suppose you should be going now." said the Octavia from this universe. The six from Equestria waved their goodbyes as they left, leaving the other six a new topic for conversation.
"Well, that was awkward." The Doctor said. "I just hope we don't have to run into them again. Now, to our house! Allons-y."
The group of six arrived at a large villa in the outer city limits. It was hidden away from the hustle and bustle of the main city but not completely isolated. It was four stories tall with whitewashed walls, a large perimeter wall with a substantially large gate and a small security force. The guards that weren't guarding the area inside the walls with several types of weapons were stood at checkpoints around the wall. The two guarding the gate, both particularly large men in black suits, sunglasses and concealed weapons in their jackets, stood with a stoic expression portrayed upon their features.
They approached the front gate at a relaxed pace, but the expressions on the women's faces said otherwise. The Doctor simply walked up to them. "Hello, Biceps. And you too, Iron." The two guards acknowledged him by nodding and saying "Good morning, sir." Vinyl leaned into The Doctor.
She whispered "Biceps and Iron?" into his ear.
The Doctor turned around and whispered back. "Yes. Those are my nicknames for them. They remind me of that large white pegasus with the tiny wings from Ponyville and that minotaur bloke who does those semenars. I think they might be their alternate counterparts in this universe."
The two guards moved aside and opened the gates, allowing them to enter. The guard on the right, namely Biceps, spoke up. "If you don't mind me asking, sir, who are these women?" The Doctor stopped in his tracks and turned around with a pleasant smile on his face.
"They are Laura," he said, indicating to Lyra. "Bonnie," pointing to Bonbon. "Vincenza," to Vinyl. "Olivia," to Octavia. "And Denice," to Derpy. "They are my friends from the city and will be staying over for a few days, if that's not a problem."
"Certainly, sir." They allowed the group to enter, closing the gate behind them. They immediately resumed their previous positions of staring at anything that moved until it ran away.
"HAHA! Oh my gosh, Octavia! The name that The Doctor gave you! It's bucking hilarious!" Vinyl said once they were out of earshot. "At least me and Bonbon got to keep our names." At this, Bonbon started snickering after she realised that the name The Doctor had given her was, in fact, her nickname. The other three women all glared at them, but, after realising the humour in the situation, started laughing also.
The Doctor pulled a key out of his overcoat and opened the front door, which was almost twice as tall as he was, even with his slightly lanky frame. The hall of the villa was massive, to say the least. Straight ahead of them was a door leading to a separate room, with a staircase either side of it leading to an elevated platform that formed the balconies surrounding three of the four walls. From the ceiling hung a large chandelier with a gold-alloy trim. The off-gold and light brown walls gave of the impression of elegance and power. Few servants and maids made their way around the house, tending to some matters.
An elderly man in a tuxedo with polished shoes that matched and white gloves approached them from one side of the room.
The Doctor lit up when he saw him. "Jeeves, my good man! How are you? How long has it been?" The Doctor said, firmly shaking the elderly man's hand.
"I'm fine, sir. It's been too long." Jeeves smiled back at him.
The Doctor whipped around to face the five women. "Guys, this is my long-time servant and possibly the greatest friend I ever had, Jeeves." Derpy cleared her throat. "Even compared to you too Derpy." He clamped a hand over his mouth when he realised that he had said her real name.
"No worries, sir." Jeeves said when he saw The Doctor's reaction. "I know all about your dimension-hopping and time-travelling antics. I take it she is the one you told me about from that planet ruled by equines?"
"Yes, she is. The others, from left to right, are Vinyl Scratch, because she doesn't want people to know her real name is Vincenza Staccato, Octavia Philharmonica, Lyra Heartstrings and Bonbon." He said, pointing to each woman in turn. "So, how long have I really been gone?"
"About two weeks, sir."
"Isthat all? Well that is a bit of a wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey thing. Anyway, Jeeves. Would you be so kind as to show each of them their respective rooms? We only need two. Octavia and Vinyl are together, as are Lyra and Bonbon. Derpy will sleep with me. Is that okay?"
"Certainly sir." With that, he turned around and walked off to prepare the rooms for their guests.
The Doctor turned around and clapped his hands to get the attention of the women. "Right then! Who wants to use the pool?" The five women looked at each other with glee before nodding. "Excellent! Follow me to our swimsuit storage, which I still don't know why we have but at least it comes in handy! Allons-y!"
Vinyl and Octavia walked out of their room, now wearing a bathing suit each. Vinyl's matched her slender frame perfectly but Octavia's was quite small around a certain area. "If there's anything I dislike about this form," she said, giving her breasts a squeeze. "It's these weird growths. What is their purpose?"
Vinyl shrugged. "I don't know. But I think they look kinda sexy."
Octavia avoided Vinyl's gaze, trying to hide a blush. "Oh, stop it, you." Vinyl laughed at her embarrassment. She extended a hand towards her.
"Come on. Shall we?" Octavia begrudgingly accepted, holding Vinyl's hand as they made their way outside to the pool. When they arrived, they were greeted by Jeeves.
"Afternoon, mademoiselles." He said, keeping a rigid posture. "Can I get you anything? Compliments of the bar."
Vinyl nodded eagerly. "I'll take the fruitiest, most expensive cocktail you have."
Octavia nudged her marefriend in annoyance. "I'll just have a fruit smoothie."
Jeeves bowed. "Certainly. Your drinks will be here in a minute. Make yourselves comfortable by the pool." The duo nodded their thanks and left towards the pool.
The Doctor sat on a rubber ring in some baggy shorts, bright red sunglasses on his face and he was holding a red cocktail in his left hand. Derpy was relaxing on a sun bed at the poolside. Bonbon was floating on the surface, face up. Lyra was the most active. She ran forwards, jumping onto a diving platform and immediately bouncing a few metres in the air, performing a perfect double backflip and landing gracefully into the water with a light *plop*. Octavia looked to her marefriend,who had pulled a large sign with the number 10 emblazoned on it out of nowhere. She held it up enthusiastically and cheered.
This got the attention of the others. The Doctor lifted his glass in acknowledgement. Derpy lifted up the sunglasses she was wearing and smiled at them, before returning to her sun bathing. Lyra and Bonbon beckoned them over. Vinyl was the first to react. She charged forwards, jumping just before she fell into the water. She tucked her knees in to her chest and cannonballed into the pool. The effect was like a tsunami. It hit The Doctor almost sending him off balance, but he somehow stayed on without spilling his drink.
Octavia decided to beat what Lyra had done. She ran forwards, gaining as much momentum as possible. She jumped managing a triple backflip with several spins thrown in. She landed in the water without making a sound. The others could only stare in shock. "Woah." Vinyl was the first to speak, Even Derpy had taken a break to see what had just happened. "How did you...?"
"Oh, it's not that hard. I just thought I could do it so I did." Octavia replied with a sheepish smile.
"I can't... It doesn't.... THAT SHOULDN'T HAVE WORKED!" Lyra exclaimed, clearly annoyed at someone beating her dive.
Jeeves arrived at that moment with their drinks. "Miss Scratch, Miss Philharmonica. Your drinks." He put the tray down in-between two sun beds, one with a towel with a reversed eighth note on it and the other with a towel with a treble cleft on it.
"Thanks Jeeves." Octavia and Vinyl said in unison. Then, Octavia spotted a small detail.
"Doctor, when did you get those towels?"
The Doctor didn't even move. "I had them made for you while you were getting changed. You two really took a while."
The two women exchanged a knowing glance at each other, remembering the reason it took them so long. "Umm... We were, um, busy doing, er, something."
The Doctor laughed. "Oh, I already knew that you had had sex before. I just didn't bring it up to keep your privacy. We could here you from here." If it was possible to go redder than blood, then Vinyl and Octavia did it at that moment. The other four laughed at them. Soon, they saw the humour and joined in the laughter.
The next few hours passed in a blur. When they had finally tired themselves out, the had agreed to call it a day, had eaten their dinner and went straight to bed. They all fell asleep almost instantly.
1:06 am in the villa. Everyone was asleep. Not even the servants were awake. Outside the main gate stood Biceps and Iron, their expressions as stoic as ever. Iron lifted his hand to check his watch just as it ticked past 1:07. He put his wrist by his side again and faced forwards. "So." Biceps started, clearly attempting to initiate a conversation. Iron looked at him with a questioning hmm? "Quiet night, huh?"
"Indeed."
"Umm, got anything planned for tomorrow night after our shift? I was thinking of heading to a bar to get something to drink and I'm gonna need a drinking buddy."
"Sure." That was usually how long their conversations lasted. There was hardly ever anything to say. They stayed still, looking forwards.
After 10 minutes, a nearby bush rustled, startling the two guards. After a few seconds, it rustled again. They both pulled out their firearms and slowly walked over to the bush, unsure of what they would find. More rustling. They arrived and pointed their guns at the bush. Biceps leaned forwards, parting the bush but keeping his gun pointed forwards. He parted the last branch, the gun still pointing forwards, only to find a small rabbit. "Haha! It's only a rabbit, Ir-" He stopped when he realised that Iron was no longer there. "Iron?" He said, stiffening his back, swivelling around and pointing his gun in random places as he slowly paced into the open. "Iron, this isn't funny." He turned 180, only to be met by a cloaked figure. Before he could shoot, however, a flash of black metal swung at him, impacting with his temple and putting him out like a light.
Two shadows danced along the walls of the villa, shooting darts at the guards with a poison that would subdue them for a few hours. They arrived just outside the window on the second floor of the villa that was in the hallway where the entrances to the occupants rooms were. One of the shadows produced a glove that it placed on its right hand. The bottom of the glove heated to a temperature that could easily melt the glass. It melted a circle into the glass and removed it silently, allowing both shadows access into the hallway.
Vinyl woke with a start, having just had a brutal nightmare where Octavia had been injured. She panted, clutching her hand to her chest whilst using the other for balance. She looked to her right in a panic, only to find the sleeping form of her marefriend. She sighed in relief and pulled away the covers. She slipped her feet off the side groggily, about to stand up.
Suddenly, the door opened just a crack and a black canister rolled into the room. The door closed just as soon as it opened. "What the..." The canister released a gas with a quiet hiss and the room flooded with the white smoke. Vinyl collapsed onto the bed with a light groan and passed out. The two shadows entered the room, one of them pressing a button on it's wrist to signal to several others that they had successfully infiltrated the villa and were subduing the targets. They both wore gas masks. They picked up the two unconscious women and carried them away into the hall.
They looked around the hall to see four other shadows do the same in the other two rooms. The infiltration had went without a hitch.
Vinyl woke up slowly. She felt a familiar build up in her throat and she coughed, allowing her some comfort at least. She opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, but cleared after a few moments. She was sitting, but not in her pony form. It took her a moment to register everything that had happened. She groaned as she thought, the effort a bit too much after only just waking up. So, there was a club. We got... arrested? Then we were in jail. Then we broke out. No, were broken out. By... Derpy and Doctor. Then something happened and now I'm in this form. And then I woke up in the night, and there was... gas... OH NO, OH CRAP. WHERE AM I!? Then she realised that she couldn't move her arms or her legs. NONONONONONONONO! What happened to Tavi!? She looked around the room. It was a dull gray concrete room, with a steel door on the wall to her right. There were two light fittings on the ceiling.
In the room were six chairs. She was tied to one of them. The other five were occupied by her friends. They were positioned in a semi circle. She struggled against the ropes pressing into her wrists, but to no avail. She grunted as she squirmed, waking the others up. Just as this happened, the door burst open and two people dressed in ninja outfits entered. One held the door open, staring blankly in front of him. The other stood opposite, equally as blank.
Just then, a tall, bulky man in a suit entered the room. He looked quite old, with gray, combed-back hair, red eyes and a goatee. His left incisor extended out of his mouth and he wore an eyepatch on his right eye, covering up what appeared to be a large scar. "Hello, Doctor." he said, a deep Australian accent evident in his voice.
"Dregoborovic." The Doctor replied. He brightened up. "Good to see you, buddy!"
Dregoborovic laughed. "Good to see you too! You two," he said, looking at his guards. "Untie them!" The two ninjas bowed and then threw one shuriken each. They whipped around, severing the ropes that tied them before returning to their throwers, who caught them and neatly tucked them away.
The Doctor stood up. "I must say, you've trained them well. Nice prank, by the way, leading us to believe we were captured."
"Oh, you were. My guys got to them before they escaped with you. They were Leoni's stealth unit. That's why we took you here, because Leoni is after you and would surely use them," he said, indicating to the five women. "As bait. Why he's after you, I'm not sure, but whatever it is, you need to stay hidden."
The Doctor nodded. He turned on his heels to face the others. "Guys, this is my good friend, Dregoborovic. Despite his name being Stalliongradish, I mean, Russian, his heritage is actually Australian. He is a very powerful man. His plan was to bring the world to its knees but he got a marefr- girlfriend, so he changed for her. Now he's trying to help others, as far as I know. It appears we're going to be under his protection for the time being. At least we can still go out, but we need an escort if we do." The five women simply nodded.
"Wait a minute." Vinyl said. "You talk like you've been in this situation before. Care to elaborate?"
"Oh this has happened a lot to me. In this world, I'm a billionaire, one of the richest people in the world. This has frequently lead to people trying to capture me, powerful people, to use my money for their own goals. Luckily, I'm friends with Dregoborovic here."
"Well, that escalated quickly." Vinyl mused. "So what do we do now?"
"Make ourselves at home, I guess."
Two days later...
Vinyl walked alongside Octavia on 5th avenue, a prime location for shopping. Two of Dregoborovic's guards kept close watch over the two as they shopped endlessly with The Doctor's money.
Vinyl was currently drooling at a window display at an electronic music store. "OH MY GOSH, TAVI1 THEY HAVE A MIXMASTER 7000X ON SALE HERE!!!!! CANIHAVEITCANIHAVEITCANIHAVEIT!?" Vinyl screamed, attracting a few curious glances, not that Octavia noticed.
"Fine. But you have to carry it." Octavia said.
"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" Vinyl screamed hugging Octavia and planting kisses all over her face. They walked inside the store. Well, Octavia walked, Vinyl was bouncing on her tiptoes.
The store was well maintained. The walls that weren't covered in posters of various musicians and singers were a light turquoise colour. The roof was pure white with a few light fittings and the occasional fan to cool the room down. The floor they stood on was a navy blue carpet. The store was lined with various isles containing different genres of music and music equipment. The counter was on the far wall. Behind the counter were a few shelves containing headphones, CD players and various other music-themed devices. A medium-height man with short, spiky hair, eyes concealed by sunglasses, casual clothing and a welcoming smile stood behind the counter.
"Hello and welcome to my store! What can I do for you?" He said, still smiling.
"Yes, we would like to purchase-" Octavia was cut off by Vinyl.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY MIXMASTER 7000X'S IN STOCK!?" Vinyl shouted, startling the man at the counter. Octavia glared at Vinyl. Vinyl coughed. "Please." Octavia rolled her eyes.
The shopkeeper realigned his sunglasses. "Certainly! Tell you what, you seem really excited about it right?" Vinyl nodded. "So, I'll do you a deal: I'll knock off 50% of the price and throw in some of our finest headphones and a few tracks for free. Just because you seem excited about it." The truth was, he did knock off some of the price because of her excitement, but mostly because it was overpriced, in his opinion.
He left the room and entered the storage room, where he had one ready to go. Octavia and the guards waited patiently whilst Vinyl squealed and was hopping from foot to foot.After a few minutes, the shopkeeper returned with a large box, with two smaller boxes on top. "Ok, this is the actual turntables," he said, motioning towards the larger box. "And these are the headphones and tracks." Vinyl was nearly fainting from excitement at this point. "And that'll be $300, please." Octavia handed over the money. "Thank you and have a nice day. Wait a minute."
Octavia and Vinyl turned around. "I'm sure I know you two from somewhere." he said. He turned his head to the right to see a large poster. It was Vinyl's human form standing behind some turntables, a blue hoodie covering her head, her arms crossed and the words "DJ-1NS4N3" inscribed on it. Next to that poster was a magazine cover-turned-poster of Octavia's human form. She stood, poised behind her cello and the words "Octavia Philharmonica: Musician of the year." written besides her.
"Oh. My. God." The shopkeeper said in awe. Vinyl and Octavia were also shocked. "Can I please have your autographs!?" He shouted, fumbling for a pen and paper.
Vinyl shrugged before saying, "Why not?" Octavia followed suit. They both walked back to the counter, where he was waiting with the pen and paper. "What's your name?" Vinyl asked him.
"Oh, it's Neon. Neon Lights." he responded. Vinyl scribbled on the paper. It read "To my best buddy in the world, Neon. Keep up the good work. DJ-1NS4N3." which was followed by her signature. Octavia took the pen and wrote "To my good friend Neon. You're doing well so I don't think you need any luck from me but you have it nevertheless. Octavia." which was, too, followed by her signature. She smiled before turning around.
"So, Vinyl. How do intend on transporting this?" Octavia asked.
"Simple." Vinyl responded. She walked away. Then, without warning, a blue aura surrounded the three boxes and lifted it up with ease. Vinyl walked to the door. Then she realised no-one was following. She turned around to see the shocked faces of Octavia, the guards and Neon. "What?"
"You... how did you... I can't...Huh?" Octavia responded. "How are you lifting those boxes?"
Then Vinyl realised she was in human form. That meant she didn't have a horn. She looked down for some sort of explanation, only to see that a light blue glow was coming from her hands.
"Uh... Magic?"
"But... how?"
"I don't know. I sorta just did what I normally do when I was a unicorn and then this happened." Neon fainted. They stood in silence for a minute.
"I think we better get back to the safehouse before anything else strange happens." Octavia broke the silence.
The group stood in a semi-circle in one of the rooms in Dregoborovic's complex. They were all murmuring but their general focus was on Vinyl.
"Tell me again," The Doctor asked. "How exactly did you get your powers back?" He had asked 5 times already and it was starting to annoy Vinyl.
"Like I said," she said, venom dripping from her words. "I just did what I would do if I was in unicorn state and it just happened. Okay?" The Doctor only nodded before producing a notepad and a pen from nowhere. He sat on the floor and started taking notes. That was when Dregoborovic entered.
"G'day mates." he said, purposefully following the stereotype. "I hear you had some trouble today, something about Vinyl using 'magic'?" The five women nodded. "Well now you've piqued my interests. Care to give a demonstration?"
Vinyl nodded. She stretched out her hands and they were enveloped in a blue aura. Then, the sidearm beneath Dregoborvic's arm flew out of its holster and flew around the room, before returning. "Happy?"
"Quite, but did you have to use my gun?"
"There was nothing else in the room." Vinyl countered.
"So, how do explain it?"
"Science we don't understand yet? Actual magic? Who knows?"
Dregoborovic shrugged. "Okay then. Well, you should pr-" he was cut off as The Doctor shouted "Eureka", turning all attention in the room towards him.
"I think I've figured out how she does it!" The six others in the room leaned in intently. "Well, when we arrived at this universe, we were turned into this form, but we weren't altered on a deeper molecular and chemical level. We still kept our own brains with our own thoughts so the level it works at didn't change. This allows me to deduce that Vinyl's powers came from her brain, it being the only thing that hasn't changed. Her current form left her bereft of a horn, so it had to find another way of releasing the magical/science-we-don't-yet-understand energies, henceforth, the energy being released from her hands. This theory also proves that there is a link between the unicorn brain and the magical energies its host body can release. Lyra should be able to do the same though I don't think she's figured it out yet. Further analysis on a biometric scale would help me to figure out if this is true." He gasped for air. The 5 women and one man stared at him incredulously. "What?"
After a few seconds, Vinyl spoke. "Am I the only one who understood that?"
Her friends replies were cut short by a large explosion rocking the building.
"No time for that!" Dregoborovic shouted. "We need to get you six into the bunker. You should be safe there." He jogged around the corner, clearly a sign that the others should follow.
The seven of them ran down to the bunker amidst shouts of pain and several weapons discharging. They rounded a corner to where the bunker should be, only only to be knocked back by a large explosion. The bunker was destroyed.
Octavia's head was blurry from the impact. Smoke clouded her vision. She crawled away from where she though the initial explosion had happened. Suddenly, the sound of boot steps on concrete came from nearby. She looked up to see an average sized man in black full-body armour and a gas mask that covered his entire head approach. She reached out a hand to see if he would help, only to have her hand knocked to the side. He kicked her in the gut and she almost passed out. To weak to struggle she could only look as he raised a boot, clearly intending to kick her in the face. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.
Then, a shout of "hey!" was heard. Being unable to move her head, she simply stared at the man, who had snapped his head to his left to see where the noise came from. A split-second later, a large desk coated in a blue aura slammed into his head, sending him crashing into the far wall, where the only signs of life he showed was steady breathing. Finally gaining some strength, she looked down to see Vinyl leaning against the wall, a blue aura dying down on one outstretched hand while the other clutched a wound on her stomach which was clearly bleeding.
Seconds later, another man dressed in similar armour ran around the corner. Before Vinyl could react, he hit her in the temple, knocking her out. He fumbled for a sidearm. Then, everything went in slow motion. She spotted a once concealed weapon lying in front of her, supposedly from the first attacker. She leapt forward and grabbed the weapon in her hand. She spun around. Everything was still in slow motion. The man almost had the gun pointed at Vinyl's head. She aimed the gun and fired two shots. The first one just about missed his head. The second caught him in the back, paralysing him instantly. He crumpled to the ground. Then, everything went back to normal speed.
Octavia stood up, gun still i hand. she had every mind to shoot both of the attackers for almost killing her and Vinyl. But she simply dropped the gun, head held low. She looked to her right, where the other five were just getting up.
"Quickly, one of you, help me seal up Vinyl's wound. She's unconscious and losing a lot of blood." she said, her voice stern in a way she had never spoke before. There was no room for questioning. It wasn't a request.
The Doctor immediately stepped forward and crouched near Vinyl's body. He tore off a segment of her torn vest and used it as a bandage, tying it around her side away from the wound. "There, that should stem the bleeding. Drego, mind helping me carry her?"
Dregoborovic stepped forwards and grabbed Vinyl by one of her arms, slinging it over his shoulder while The Doctor did the same.
"Where to now?" Lyra asked.
"I have a bullet proof SUV in the garage. We can use that to escape."
"And who are these people who are attacking?"
"Those are Leoni's men."
They half ran to the garage, no-one saying a word. They avoided where they heard the most gun shots coming from and eventually made it to the garage where Vinyl started to regain consciousness.
"Are you ok to walk?" Octavia asked. Vinyl simply nodded. "Okay, then. Let's go!"
"Going somewhere?" came an Italian voice with a slight tinge of American from behind them. They turned around to see a tall man with combed back jet black hair, a black suit and tie and a gun in his hand. Behind him were four of the gas mask clad men with machine guns.
"In the person." Leoni said, before laughing maniacally. The 5 women and 2 men glared at him. Leoni stopped laughing and pointed the gun in his hand at Dregoborovic. "A pity you won't see the world when I'm finished with it." He fired three shots.
Dregoborovic's hand shot up, the bullets reflecting off an invisible shield and hitting two of Leoni's men. "RUN!" he shouted. The group immediately did as they were told while Dregoborovic deflected more bullets. Then, he performed a complex sequence of acrobatics, eventually lifting his hand and slamming it down. The ground in front of him shot up and surged forwards like a wave, destroying everything in it's path.
They all climbed into the SUV as Leoni's men scrambled to their feet. Bullets pinged off the windows and reinforced armour of the car as it sped through the long garage and into daylight.
As they pulled onto the main road, two identical sedans pulled up behind them. More shots were fired as Dregoborovic, who was at the wheel, steered the SUV around a tight bend, throwing all of the passengers to the side of the vehicle and managing to lose one of the pursuing cars. The other sedan was hot on their heels. They sped through Manhatten, avoiding traffic and pedestrians alike. Near Times Square, the unthinkable happened: a large van sped out in front of them and blocked their path. The SUV, being unable to go anywhere else, slammed into it, causing it to stop and to send it's passengers flying forwards. Another van skidded to a halt behind them, making it impossible for them to move.
"Computer, lock the doors, priority 1." Dregoborovic said. Four sedans pulled up outside, all of them loaded with Leoni's men. They pulled out a strange device, which they set up just outside the window. It made several beeping noises before a metal bar pulled back and immediately slammed forwards, cracking the window.
"Window integrity at 67%" the computer said. "Would you like me to activate defence protocols?"
"No, not yet. Put all power into jet function."
Another slam. "Window integrity at 34%"
"Not yet!"
Another. "Window integrity at 1%"
Before there was another slam, he shouted "NOW" and a small minigun popped up between the drivers seat and the passenger seat. He grabbed hold of the handle and fired through the window, slaughtering Leoni's men and destroying the machine. The Doctor, who was in the passenger seat, sighed in relief.
"Thank Celestia we're safe." he said.
"Not just yet." Dregoborovic said, pointing to a lone figure in battle armour. The figure slowly marched towards the SUV. "Computer, how long until jet function is available?"
"17 seconds" The armour got nearer.
"10 seconds." It had almost closed the gap.
"5 seconds." It lifted a heavy, metal fist in the air.
"Jet function available."
Dregoborovic slammed on a large button on the console. The SUV sprang into the air, narrowly avoiding the flying metal fist. The wheels then retracted into the bottom of the vehicle, allowing four jets to power up and propel them away from the area.
"That was way too close!" The Doctor shouted. Th five women in the back were still shocked into silence. "Uhh, I think we broke the women."
There was a moments silence before Lyra spoke. "Wait just a minute. How did you do that thing with the ground back at the complex?"
Dregoborovic turned in his seat. "I can control some aspects of nature and the planet, including weather when I'm at full power, something which people like The Doctor here call chaos magic."
"I still insist it is."
"It isn't. Anyway, I can only use them for small amounts of time, and at large intervals."
Satisfied with the answer, Lyra nodded and leaned back in her seat. "Wait. How are we going to get back to our universe?"
On the outskirts of Manhatten, in the crowded street, a lone figure stood outside the Tardis, laughing to himself before entering.
The flying SUV soared through the clouds. Inside, the seven passengers had settled down, but an awkward silence hung prevalent above their heads.
"Ahem." Lyra broke the silence. The other six occupants turned to look at her. "Doctor, I have a question."
"Shoot." He said. Derpy ducked down and shouted "SNIPER!", scaring everyone except for The Doctor and Dregoborovic, who looked at each other before laughing at the stupidity of the other occupants.
"I meant for you to ask the question. Not that anyone was going to shoot." The Doctor said, sobering slightly.
The other five shared a collective "Oh" before Lyra continued.
"Anyway, Doc, if you're a billionaire here, doesn't that mean that The Doctor from this dimension is also a billionaire?" Everyone was keenly listening to the conversation now.
"Well, yes."
"How do your servants know who's who then?"
"Simple. I wear a pocket on the left of my shirt." The Doctor said, indicating to the pocket in question. "He wears one on the right."
"But... what?... I can't even..." Lyra stuttered, much to the humour of The Doctor.
"You needn't worry, Lyra. You'll learn to understand it given time." The silence lapsed over them once again.
This time, Vinyl broke the silence. "Now I have a question. Is Dregoborovic supposed to be this universe's equivalent to Discord?"
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "It took you long enough to figure out. I mean, come on. Red eyes, one large canine, chaos magic. That makes it pretty obvious."
Vinyl fell silent. Octavia was next to speak. "Okay, we really need something to do or we're gonna die of boredom long before Leoni's men get to us."
They collectively chuckled at that sentiment. Dregoborovic opened his hand and a pack of cards appeared out of seemingly nowhere. "Any of you play poker before?"
"Yes." Bonbon said. "I, too, have a question. If Dregoborovic here is the equivalent of Discord, then why does he have an Australian accent?"
"Because," Dregoborovic started in an Equestrian American accent, shocking everyone in the SUV. "Your 'Discord' has had well over 1000 years in Equestria to change his accent naturally to what it is now whereas I've only had a few years to do so. Australian is my natural accent but I can slip between the two." The other six occupants gave him blank stares. "What?" he said, reverting back to Australian.
"You know what? Never mind. Let's just play poker." The Doctor said.
"Fine by me." Bonbon said. Dregoborovic pressed a few buttons before him, making a table pull up out of nowhere and all of the seats turned to face it.
"We still have about 3 hours until we get to a safehouse, so I put it on autopilot. I'll deal." Dregoborovic said, still holding the cards.
"Ooh ooh, my turn my turn!" Derpy said, raising her hand.
"Uhh.... For what?" Vinyl asked.
"To ask a question, duh. Where did those cards come from?"
Dregoborovic smiled. "Easy, they were..."
The Doctor cut him off. "Created by his chaos magic!"
"No... They were up my sleeve. I don't leave the HQ without them. Now, I'm sure we would all like to play 20 questions but I just think we should play poker."
They all nodded in agreement and Dregoborovic shuffled the deck.
