Children Of Time

The General led us down a dim corridor, while Flare trailed behind us. I didn’t trust these ponies, call me crazy but it felt like we were about to do the wrong thing by helping these strangers. It’s probably just the side effects of having amnesia. Being skeptical of people helps you live a little bit longer in my book, especially when you’re on a deadly planet with aliens attacking them. I decided to confirm my suspicions with The Doctor. While we were slowly trotting down the hallway I walked closer towards him and began to whisper to him.

“Hey Doctor, do you actually trust these ponies?” I said in a silent, but serious manner.

“That’s an odd question. Why do you ask?” He said not taking the tone of my voice seriously.

“Come on, don’t you find these ponies to be kind of shady?” The doctor raised an eyebrow at me, showing that he didn’t understand what I meant. “I mean think about it. Since we’ve been here we haven’t heard one bomb or explosion. How can they be at war if there are no enemies to fight?”

“That does make sense, but why would they need a reason to lie to us?” The Doctor asked.

“Uh…what was the reason why everypony lies each other? Oh, yeah. It’s because we can. I bet you five bits that these ponies are up to something.”

“I’ll take not of your cautiousness. Just be alert.” I nodded my head and moved away from him. "So, where are we going, exactly?" asked The Doctor, a bit nervously.

"It's just through here." replied The General, pointing to a door up ahead.

A moment later all four of us passed through the door, into a scene that nearly broke our hearts. The large room was packed with ponies in various states of misery. They were filthy with deep sunken eyes, perpetually widened in terror. An infant was crying horribly nearby. Given how it was looking it was also filthy and appeared to be malnourished.

"How many?" I asked.

"A hundred each room." said The General leading us out and shutting the door behind him.

"How many rooms?" asked The Doctor.

"All of them." replied The General, gesturing to the corridor in front of us.

"That's over a dozen rooms, there must be hundreds, thousands." I exclaimed.

"They are overcrowded and underfed. They come to us when there's nowhere else to go. Some take their chances on the outside, but they don't usually last long. This is the only place people are really safe."

"Can you help us?" asked Flare suddenly. "Please tell me that you can help us. You're our only hope."

The Doctor looked at me and say me shake my head no. He then looked back at Flare and kneeled down to her level. "Yes," said The Doctor. "I can help." I sighed and shook my head. If I knew how to use the Tardis I would gladly use it to go back to Ponyville, but since I didn’t I had to follow him around until he said we could go.

"Well, for starters you can accompany us on the next pickup, we leave in twenty minutes." said The General, turning to go.

"Er, pick up of what?" asked The Doctor falling into step with him as he walked briskly back up the corridor.

"People." replied Sightseerer. "We had a guy come to us last night, told us about a flat full of people, crammed in, kids and everything. He told us that they're starving; they're running out of food and are too afraid to leave the place. It was too late to go last night; we'd never have made it back before dawn, so we’ll go tonight."

"Where is this place?" I asked suspiciously.

"A couple of miles from here, it shouldn't take too long." He replied.

"Yes, but, if they're afraid to leave the house, how do you know they'll go with you?" asked The Doctor.

"Because they have no other option."

"How do you plan on getting back here without being seen?" The Doctor asked him.

"Very carefully." replied The General.

"Right, okay, sounds good." I said finally deciding to play along, following The General into a room bustling with rough looking stallions and mares. They were soldiers, all armed and ready for action. They wore large pairs of night-vision goggles around their necks. They laughed and joked, seemingly unaware of the dangers they were about to face.

"Prepare yourself," said The General to us. "You have ten minutes."

I scanned the room quickly, my eyes falling on a young stallion, quite the opposite of his fellow soldiers. He sat alone, looking terrified. He looked to be in his early adulthood.

"Are you alright?" asked The Doctor sitting down beside him.

"Oh yeah," he said nervously. "I'm fine." I could tell that he was lying, but it was wise not to call him out on it.

"What's your name?" I asked him, trying to put on a smile.

"Silver Day."

"It's alright to be scared, Silver." The Doctor said

"This is my first time out." said Silver, ignoring The Doctor's statement. "I joined just after my Dad died, I wanted to help fight what killed him, Mum said he'd be proud of me. Thing is, these lot have been out so many times, they know what they're doing. What if I mess up, Mum would be so disappointed that I didn't live up to his name y'know." Silver finished speaking, looking incredulous at how much he had said.

The Doctor put his hoof on Silver's shoulder reassuringly. "Everything is going to be fine, this is a routine trip. Just stick with the two of us; you'll be fine, okay?"

"Have you guys fought monsters before?" asked Silver.

"Yes, I have."

"Did you win?"

"Yes, I did." said The Doctor, smiling slightly. "With help from people like you, that's how I know everything is going to be okay, lots of experience in the field."

"Did you ever get scared?" Silver asked.

"Are you kidding me? I was terrified, every time, scared out of my pants."

"Really?" asked Silver, less nervously than before.

"Trust me, I'm The Doctor."

"Alright men," called The General. "Are you ready?"

The Doctor stood and approached The General who turned on him sternly. "Why are you not armed, guns are on that wall there." he said, pointing to a rack of vicious looking rifles

"I won't be needing one of those, just my sonic screwdriver and I'll be fine. What about you Keeper would you like to pick up a weapon?" The Doctor said looking at me with eyes that told me not to use one.

“Seeing as all you need is that silly looking screwdriver and your wits. I guess I don’t.” The doctor looked at me with an approving smile.

The General looked at us disbelievingly. "Are you two mad?" he asked.

"Quite," replied The Doctor. "Now my screwdriver, if you please."

"Fine," The General said with a little uncertainly in his voice, he turned to the mare on his left. "Diamond, return this stallion's … screwdriver."

Diamond nodded and pulled the screwdriver out of his pocket and handed it to The Doctor. "You've not fiddled with it, have you?" he asked. "Very temperamental, they are."

"No sir." replied Diamond.

"Good." said The Doctor turning back to The General.

"You will need a pair of goggles, unless you can see in complete darkness." The General said.

"Nope, can't do that." The Doctor said cheerfully.

“Unfortunately…” I moaned.

"That cupboard there." said The General pointing across the room.

"Splendid." said The Doctor going to the cupboard and pulling out two large pair of goggles he then tossed me a pair. He then went back to stand with Silver, who was looking much less calm. "Ready, Silver?" he asked.

Silver looked like he was going to be sick and didn't say anything. "Alright," The General shouted. "Let's move out." He led us out of the room and down several corridors. As we walked I realized that the floor was getting steeper and steeper. Minutes later we stopped and the lights clicked off. "Goggles on!" shouted The General.

The Doctor fumbled in the darkness with the mess of straps attached to his pair of goggles. I found this kind of amusing to see. He was getting desperate until I someone took the contraption from him and placed them securely over his eyes. With the goggles on he saw that it was I who had helped him. He flashed me a grateful smile and a… hooves up.

Up ahead we heard a door open, without warning the line of soldiers began moving. Seconds later, The Doctor, Silver and I, side by side, stepped out into the darkness and the unknown.

I blinked a few times, finding it difficult to see with the goggles on. To me everything just looked like muddled green masses. I looked around trying to get my bearings. Noticing my discomfort, Silver leaned over and spoke quietly to me, so that the others couldn't hear. "They take a few minutes to get used to," he said. "Just relax."

"Thanks." I murmured feeling a little gratefully. Sure enough after a few minutes the indecipherable objects around me began to resolve themselves into a perfectly normal street corner. Moments later the group started moving silently.

They were on high alert and moved so quickly that The Doctor seemed to wonder how they managed to stay so quiet. He winced every time he scuffed his hoof or kicked some of the debris that littered the street. When he did he received anxious looks from me and the soldiers. Many minutes passed like this, in tense, near silence. Just as suddenly as they had started, we stopped. Up ahead I saw The General point to a derelict building to his left.

At his command, one by one the soldiers swiftly entered the building. The Doctor and I entered last to find a sorry sight. A dirty flat crowded with people who looked half-starved and terrified. The General was having a whispered conversation with a mare who had a small foal sleeping in her lap. At first she seemed to be disagreeing with him, but after a few minutes hushed arguing she seemed to concede. She stood, holding the still sleeping child, looking determined. With the help of the soldiers she began to round up all of the people in the flat.

In no time we were ready to move out again. The General turned to them;  and put his hoof to his lips and then disappeared through the doorway. Half of the soldiers went first, followed by me and the small knot of ponies, with the second half of the soldiers and The Doctor bringing up the rear. They moved more slowly this time, but thankfully the petrified civilians moved more quietly than The Doctor did. After what seemed like hours We finally saw the base. With a smile of relief The Doctor leaned over to Silver and whispered "We made it." But unfortunately just then everything went horribly wrong.

They came from out of nowhere, descending in a vicious swarm. They fired into the little bunch of ponies, scattering them. Up ahead The Doctor and I could hear The General shouting. "Get them to safety, stand your ground men." The Doctor looked to Silver, but he was already running to help get the civilians into the base. "Be careful." The Doctor called to him, he just turned and flashed him a hooves up. I tried to run over to Silver but the next thing I knew I was being dragged out of the fray and behind debris. I turned my head to see that it was The General who had pulled me too safety. "What are you doing?" I shouted over the din. "I have to help Silver."

"No, you don't" replied The General. "You're my responsibility and you're not leaving my sight." The Doctor, seeing where I was at began to run over towards me. I tried to get away, but The General yanked me back forcefully.

I turned on him furiously. "If you think I'm going to leave Silver out there on his own, then you have seriously misjudged me, let me go." I yelled.

"No." as The General spoke. In a split second something cold and metal clamp over my wrist. I looked down and saw that The General had handcuffed me to a pole that was bent and engraved into the ground.

“What the hell are you doing!”The Doctor yelled as he was already upon us. Seeing that I was handcuffed he almost laughed as he reached into his pocket for his sonic screwdriver. However when he took his hoof out he noticed that there was nothing there and he felt a sudden panic grip his hearts.

"Looking for this?" asked The General, holding his screwdriver.

"Give that back to me right now!" The Doctor shouted.

"After the firing's stopped." replied The General.

"It may be too late, you idiot!" I yelled out in anger.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." said The General coldly. Before the doctor could react another soldier who neither one of us had seen snuck up behind the Doctor clapped another set of handcuffs on him, chaining him to the same pole that I was on.

The both of us spent the next several minutes frantically trying to get our hooves free. After what seemed like an eternity, the sound of gunfire stopped. The Doctor immediately held out his hoof. "Give me my sonic, you promised."

The General handed it over and The Doctor snatched it from his hoof and pointed it to the metal bracelet he was wearing. With a blast from the sonic screwdriver he was free, he did same to me.  We quickly leapt to our feet and sprinted away yelling for Silver. We saw many soldiers timidly emerging from their various hiding places, but none was the one we wanted. After a few minutes desperate searching The Doctor spotted a body lying next to a pile of debris. "No!" he cried as he approached. Hearing him I quickly ran over to his direction. When I got closer I saw a familiar face twisted in agony. "Silver." The Doctor whispered as he knelt beside him.

"Doctor…Keeper?" he said hoarsely.

"I'm here, look it's me. You're going to be alright, I promise." I culd tell that the lie tasted bitter on his tongue as he saw the extent of Silver's injuries. By the looks of it Silver had been hiding behind the pile of debris when it had been struck. The force of the impact had sent a nasty piece of shrapnel into Silver's chest. He was bleeding heavily and his breath was coming in short ragged gasps. There was nothing The Doctor could do.

"Doctor." Silver gasped.

"Don't speak," The Doctor said pulling him close. "Save your breath."

"Did I do good?' he asked. At that moment he looked impossibly young. As if he had suddenly losted his adult features and was finally a child again. The Doctor told me a while ago that he thought it was because of how he was, being over nine hundred years no one could blame him for seeing Silver as a child, but at that moment I could see the fragileness and his child like innocence.

"You did amazing." The Doctor told him. "Your Dad would be so proud."

"Really?" he asked, the hope in his voice broke The Doctor's heart.

"Absolutely." said I reassuringly.

"Could you do something for me?" asked Silver feebly.

"Anything." Agreed the Doctor

"Could you find my Mum? She's here, her name is Sunset Leaf. Could you give her this?" he reached up and pulled a pendant from his neck with the last of his strength and held it out to The Doctor. The Doctor took the pendant and held Silver's trembling hand. "Tell her I love her." he said.

He was fading fast, The Doctor held his hoof tighter. "I will, I promise I will." The Doctor said to him.

"I miss the stars." said Silver weakly. "Back home I always wanted to go out there, into space. Do you think that's where I'm going now, into the stars?"

"I know that's where you're going."

"What's it like out there?"

"It's beautiful." said The Doctor softly. "The sky is like black velvet and the stars are so bright, they're like diamonds cut out of the sun. Looking out there you can see it all, the raw power, the majesty of the universe and it is absolutely breath taking."

Silver died in The Doctor's arms before The Doctor could even finish his sentence, with a smile on his face and hope in his heart. The Doctor didn't know how long he sat there, cradling Silver's lifeless corpse, but eventually The General found him. The Doctor stood, wiping the tears from his eyes and faced The General.

"I'm sorry" began The General, but stopped when he saw the look on his face.

"This makes things very simple," he said fiercely. "Because now there is no power in this world that can stop me. Consider this war over, General."