Loose Leaf picked up one of the books and inspected it. "What the hey is all this?" she asked, flipping though the pages. "And why do you HAVE them?"

"Why, it's the TARDIS's manual! I thought I'd lost it!" the Doctor answered, the buzzing device gone to wherever he kept such things. He picked up volume fifteen, titled Preventive Maintenance, Part 1. "A TARDIS is a complicated piece of technology! Even somepony like me needs a written reminder now and again of how it works," he insisted.

"Yeah, I would assume," Loose Leaf said, looking around at the surroundings. Complicated didn't even cover half of it. "You don't think that there's a map of where the paint might be?"

"Oh, heavens, no. When she's working right, the TARDIS is always rearranging her internal structure. A map drawn on paper would be useless," the Doctor chuckled. He sat down and leafed through the books in front of him. "But there's probably some paint or paint-like substance further down the way." He waved in the general direction. "On the right, above eye level."

With a bit of skepticism, Loose Leaf followed the Doctor's directions. The further down she went, the darker it became. The lights above were dim if working at all.

"I can't see much of anything, to tell you the truth," Loose Leaf said, squinting in the dark. If only this was all a small-print kind of problem, then she could put on her glasses and everything would be alright. Alas, reading glasses didn't give one low-light vision. However, a couple of minutes down, she came across a shelf full of assorted buckets.

"I think I might have found something Doctor..."

"Marvelous!" the Doctor said without bothering to look up from the manual. "What's the warning label say?" he reminded her.

Loose Leaf thought it was an odd request, but then again, the Doctor WAS odd. Peeking at the small writing, she turned away and stealthy placed her reading glasses on her nose. "Well, let's have a look. Warning: Do not ingest, if so, yada yada, poison control. Don't eat; simple enough. Keep out of reach of children, open flames and household pets..." Loose Leaf squinted in the dark and made a face. "Do not feed after midnight or get wet? Well that's... weird."

Loose Leaf popped open one of the cans and dipped the tip of her hoof in. Felt like paint, looked like it.

"I guess we just... don't feed it?"

"A wise precaution," the Doctor agreed. He closed the manual, stacked all thirty-two of the softcover books back into their box, resealed it, and re-stacked it. "Will those be sufficient, then, Loose Leaf?" he asked, indicating the buckets. Only a few of the containers held the telltale signs of paint cans. A couple were labeled Warning: Explosive, and one was glowing ominously green, with the letters TGRI stencilled on.

"Yep, should do the trick... though I hope you like florescent paint..." Loose Leaf said, started to pack them on her back in a box she found. "Thanks for supplying the supplies. We should take a look of the wall. Get measurements and all that."

"Right you are," the Doctor agreed. "Would you like some help carrying those?" he offered. While he did not doubt that Loose Leaf could carry the paint, he also did not doubt that it was only polite to offer to help with a pony's burdens.

"Yeah, that'd be great," she hissed under the strain of boxes upon boxes of paint. Legs wobbling, and neck down from strain, Loose Leaf slowly inched towards the doctor. "Here...you...go!"

The mare looked up at the doctor, her eyes pleading. In her head, the seconds ticked by that the Doctor WASN'T relieving her strain...

The Doctor carefully took the boxes off of Loose Leaf's back and set them on the floor. "Here's a thought... Why don't we leave the paint here for now, go have a look-see at the wall, then later borrow someone's cart or wagon, and move the paint that way?" he suggested. "It'll do no good hauling these all over the TARDIS on our backs."

"True," Loose Leaf said. She looked back at the paint longingly as they parted, her hoof outstretched momentarily in anguish. A tear slid down her eye. Soon enough, she got over it and continued down the hall way with the Doctor. She hoped he wouldn't get them lost again.

Luckily for Loose Leaf, it was the Doctor who got them lost again. After announcing that the best way to get un-lost was to try to get lost when you were already lost, he managed to lead her to the dormitory area, and point out the corridor that led to the larger swimming pool. The corridor was nearly cylindrical, and the wall curved elegantly. It extended some sixty paces, with only two doors in between the dorm and the pool. "I was thinking some kind of TARDIS timeline thing," the Doctor said. "A visual record of how we've changed, and of the people we brought along since I borrowed her. Is that a good idea?"

"Sure, it sounds wonderful," Loose Leaf said, pulling out a measuring tape she kept in her bag. It was usually there in order to ensure she had the perfect measurements for her art pieces, or if she wanted to grab other materials. She motioned for the Doctor to hold one end of it onto the ground, since the walls were curved. She was going to have to do some math.

"Only problem is that I don't honestly know the time line, so how am i going to draw it? If you could give me a rough idea of the actions in the mural and pictures of anyone you want - with their names included of course - then I should be able to start fairly soon."

Loose Leaf looked about the corridor, moving about with the Doctor and the tape measure, recording in the folded corner of her sketch book. Under each were a couple of mathematical equations, and a small diagram of the corridor. Each angle was labeled, but not with the measurements she had originally written. She had to make sure the sketches were in ratio to the actual thing.

"So, think you could do that for me?" she asked, looking up from her notes with a smile.

The measuring tape snapped back into it's roll, and was placed back into the art bag.

"Yes," the Doctor said, nodding wistfully in the ceiling's direction. "Yes, I think I can do that. But I'm not so good at describing ponies' faces. Once the TARDIS is fixed, I can find pictures of the people I have in mind in the computer."

"But the actions in the background? Well..." Thus began the Doctor's story, more completely than he had told it to anypony before or since. He spoke of wild ponies, of the end of the world, of daleks, Vanhoover, and a Great Time War. He spoke of Galloprey, and the biggest mistake in the history of the Universe. And he spoke of the ponies who helped him cope, who kept his wrath from boiling over, and who he called "friends."

And "whoa," said Loose Leaf at the end of the Doctor's tale. She blinked a couple of times, mostly to clear the tears that were bubbling up from the tender underbelly of her soul, and looked down at the page of the sketchbook that was open.

The Doctor's tale was etched out, dirty, smeared, and horrifyingly real on the page. The history of a soul lead out in graphite lead. Loose Leaf really didn't know what to say, because after hearing a story like that, there really wasn't anything GOOD enough to say. Instead, she held up the first sketch of the Doctor's mural for him to see.

The Doctor returned from wherever he'd gone during the telling of his story, and turned a sharp eye on the offered pencilwork. Moments passed as his timeless eyes surveyed Loose Leaf's handiwork, flicking this way and that like a predatory beast on the lookout for any sign of weakness. Finally, he nodded. "Brilliant." The easy, almost carefree smile that he normally wore returned to the Doctor's face, and he beamed at the young artist. "Absolutely brilliant."

Loose Leaf made a giddy squeal of delight at the Doctor's obvious fancy. "Really? You like it? I'm so glad!" she started. "I'll make sure to start on it right away. I have a busy day tomorrow, but maybe I can come by later with some color work. Does that sound okay?"

Loose Leaf stashed the sketchbook and pencil back into her art bag, and motioned to the boxes of paint. "You don't mind if I leave them here, do you? That way, they're on hand when I start."

"Of course, of course," the Doctor agreed. "No need to rush things. We still need to borrow a means to get the paint here, after all. Unless... Well, there's still work to be done. Don't worry."

"Come along," he then said, leading Loose Leaf back to the TARDIS's control room and its front door. A quick look at the door's windows revealed that it was still overcast outside. Or possibly evening.

"Thanks Doc, I promise not to let you down. I'll see you around," Loose Leaf said, giving the Doctor a little salute before placing her umbrella saddle on her, just in case.

With another wave, Loose Leaf ventured back out into the evening streets.

--> Exits to business district
This message was last edited by the player at 20:13, Sat 11 Aug 2012.

---

After Loose Leaf left, the Doctor turned on his feet and went straight to the TARDIS's control centre. He pried a panel off and started digging around, recalling the suggestions he'd found in the space/time machine's manual.

Not an hour into this task, he heard a knock on the TARDIS door. Intrigued, the stallion dusted himself off, glanced about for anything Loose Leaf might've left, and opened it.

"Oh. It's you," a small voice accused him from beneath a rain slicker. The voice was not happy. "Just my luck."

"I'm sorry?"

The filly seemed on the edge of anguish, her voice a confused jumble of emotions. "We just moved here, Doctor! And now it's dark and I'm lost and you're here, and what does that mean for my new friends? Er, friendly acquaintances?"

The Time Lord was taken aback. "But..."

"You don't remember me?" she demanded. "Last year?" He shook his head uncertainly. "Vanhoover?" The gears in his head started turning. At wit's end, the filly blurted, "Cyber ponies?!"

Oh no. "Rosebud?"

[End day Two]
This message was last edited by the player at 04:37, Thu 23 Aug 2012.

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Day 8~

A strange, warbling, keening sound pierced the calm of the sunny morning. VWAAARP VWAAARP VWAAAARP VWAAARP~! *thunk* it said.

The mysterious blue box lined with signs had returned. From within strode a brown stallion with an hourglass cutie mark. He glanced about with a critical eye as the door closed and locked behind him. Soon, his face was split with an happy grin. "Ponyville again! Marvelous." he turned to face his beloved companion contraption, touching its side with an hoof gently. "There, there, old girl," he told it. "You did good." he once more surveyed the rather clean and colourful alley. "This is just what I need after that Nightmare Moon debacle. Let's see if we can't get you working again; back in fighting form, eh?"

The blue box did not say anything in return. "Right. Allons-y!"

To Town Square--->

A beautiful fall morning in Ponyville.  Crisp Autumn air.  The golden and red glow of Celestia’s sun taking the place of the brilliant shine of Luna’s moon.  The quiet sounds of the small village waking from its slumber.  The gentle silence was a beautiful thing.

While it lasted.

Just off the edge of the main street that ran through Ponyville’s Residential area, nestled against a lamppost at the end of an alley a faint, pulsing shimmer played along the edge of reality.  Just as anypony nearby would be convinced that they were not in fact seeing things, a sound could be heard for several blocks in any direction that stood out against the peaceful sounds of the town.  A shrill warble pierced the morning like the trill of an off-key bird.

-Ree-ree-reeee… Ree-ree-reee…. Ree-ree-reeee….

The trilling warble was joined by a low screeching sound as the shimmer slowly grew into an intense white light.

Scrrreeeeeeeeee……Scrrreeeeeeeee….. Scrrreeeeeeeeeee……

A faint boxy outline appeared with each pulse as a raspy, -scratchy sound blended into the mix growing louder with each repitiion.  Each pulse showed the ethereal outline in more and more detail, until the box fully materialized with one last thudding sound.

vorrrrp…. Vorrrrp….. VORRRRP…. VORRRRRP!.... … KATHUUUUD.

All was silent.

There, on that nondescript corner, tucked away at the edge of an alley along a row of houses, was now a large blue telephone box.  It stood about six feet in height, and only looked big enough for one pony to fit in comfortably.  Printed across the top above the door were the words “Police Public Call Box”, and smaller signs on the doors gave information for “St. John’s Ambulance” and indicated that all calls would be answered.

Meanwhile, within the confines of the blue Police Box that had just materialized on a street corner in a small rural town without any warning, a chesnut brown stallion dressed in a white collar and blue necktie thumped his hoof on the control panel at the center of the room, seemingly speaking to nopony in particular.

”Hah! … Attagirl, I knew you could do it!  But…. question is where are we?”  He quickly shrugged and corrected himself,  ”Or better yet… when are we?”  He grabbed a large display near him and pulled it closer on its pivoting stand so he could study it better.  The display showed he was in a lightly populated, low-altitude region below the mountains of Canterlot, along the edge of a large forest biome.  Temporal alignment showed it was roughly 1,000 years after the Rise of Nightmare Moon give or take a few years.  He smiled.

”It’s Ponyville alright!  Looks like the right time too!...”  He flipped several switches and pressed a few buttons on the panel in front of him.  ”I think I’ll stay a little while this time…”  His smile faded and he grew more serious as he considered the implications of staying.

He had been running for most of his life, almost a thousand years in fact.  But his frequent visits to Ponyville throughout the small hamlet’s history had always resonated with him.  The ponies there weren’t like ponies anywhere else, or anywhen else for that matter.  Selfish Greed, Violence, Apathy, Wrath… these were commonplace amongst species across the universe, but here in Ponyville they almost seemed…. Alien.  Yes, if there was ever a place that had earned the Doctor’s admiration, it was Ponyville.

The Doctor shook his head, not disturbing a single strand of his spiky brown mane.  His expression of deep introspection vanished as soon as it came, replaced by the familiar wide-eyed smile.”Well then… I think it’s time for a cup of tea… And there’s only one establishment in Ponyville that knows how to make a proper cup of tea….”

He turned and headed for the door, opening it with a screak as he did.  To anypony on the street, it would appear as if a telephone box suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and a brown, spiky-haired stallion just stepped out of its confines.

==I welcome, even encourage, any and all onlookers ^^==