Children Of Time

I came to several hours later. I no longer felt any pain; the boiling in my blood had subsided, to be replaced with a brutal coldness that was now flowing through my veins. It remained only in my hooves and legs, for now. I knew it would spread, rapidly and when its' icy hand gripped my heart, I would be lost.

"But it hasn't happened yet!" I told himself fiercely. "I can still end this, but first I need to get off this table." I looked at The Keeper and saw that he was awake and struggling.

I looked at the clamps around my wrists thinking wistfully of my sonic screwdriver and knowing that there was no way I could get it out of my pocket, if it was still there, that is.

I looked around the room seeing that our environment was unchanged, save for one thing. The Legion must have examined me when I was unconscious, because the rolling tray of medical tools was much closer. I reached for it, straining against my bonds. A moment later I managed to reach the edge and pull it closer. Once I had done this, I selected a scalpel and set to work picking the lock on the clamp. This wasn't an ordinary lock opened with an ordinary key; it was an electronic clamp, opened with a key code, entered in on a keypad across the room.

There was still a way I could unlock it though. If I was very lucky there would be a small slot that I could insert the scalpel into and with some calculated poking and prodding, I could trip the sensors and open the clamps. Filled with new found hope, I began searching for the slot. After some minutes of not finding what I was looking for I began to lose hope again, thinking I had been wrong. The keeper seeing my discouraged face, he began to cheer me on, telling me never to give up until our last breath. I nodded to him and I ran the scalpel desperately over the clamp. We were delighted when it suddenly dropped an inch or so.

I wiggled the scalpel into the slot and a moment later the clamps sprang open, I was free. I leapt from the table and found to my relief that my sonic screwdriver was still in my pocket. I used it on the locks that had The Keeper trapped. Now all we had to do was find a way of saving the planet below from being destroyed. The coldness has reached my lower back, with mounting apprehension we walked to the door.

I sonicked the door open and entered a corridor, much like the one we had been in when we arrived. “Keep a look out Keeper. We don’t want them sneaking up on us again.” Now that I knew what they were, I could set my screwdriver accordingly. This time when I did a scan for life I found thousands of life forms. I made my way to the greatest concentration of them.

We silently entered the room and hid ourselves. I was in the main control room and there was over a hundred Legion convened there. How did I know this? I counted them of course.

What seemed to be the leader began speak. "Planetary incineration will commence in eleven minutes." it said.

Another creature spoke up. "This Doctor and the companion with him is said to be the Vanguard, the one who provided us with our current technology. Both of them have said they will fight back. Should we not prepare for this eventuality?"

"These ponies are tiny; we have 600 ships ready to burn across this world. We will destroy every last one of them."

At this point I was reeling, 600 ships? How many thousands were on each ship? There were millions of them. How many worlds have they done this to, I wondered with dawning horror. I looked at The Keeper and saw the horror that was on his face too.

We slipped from the room, knowing that we didn't have much time. Planetary incineration in eight minutes and we had no plan, no weapons, no nothing. I wracked my brain for a way of stopping them, anything. As I thought I realized the iciness had now reached my waist and shoulders, I could no longer feel my legs, my sense of urgency increased. With sudden, horrible clarity, I realized what we must do. Determined, I made my way to the back of the ship, with Keeper following close behind me.

I located the control room without too much difficulty and once inside, I hesitated. I knew it had to be done and that was the worst part. Every ship in the fleet was interconnected, destroy one, and destroy them all. It would be so easy to reverse the neutron relay of the engine feed. All the energy powering the ship would turn inward, blow the whole lot to kingdom come. I slammed my hoof down on the console, barely registering the fact that I couldn't feel it.

"Why is it always me?" I said to myself in a hushed tone that was inaudible to Keeper. "Why do I get to decide who lives and who dies, it's not fair…" Suddenly I realized I wasn’t the one who had to make this choice. I looked at The Keeper who was checking the hallway to see if we were still in the clear. He looked at me and gave me a reassuring smile. I had someone else with me, someone else in this infinite wide galaxy that has done more atrocities than me, what’s one more going to be like on his already dead conscious.

However I forgot one crucial detail, that when a person has total amnesia they often start on a clean slate. I forgot that the Keeper was no longer The Vanguard. He wasn’t the omnicidal maniac I once knew. I had totally forgotten about that one important detail and for that I am truly sorry for what I was about to do.

I realized something else at that moment, it wasn’t my responsibility as the last of the Time Lords, or because no one else would, no, I did it for them. The ponies down on that planet, the brave, flawed equestrians I loved so much. It was easy, so easy, press a few buttons, sonic a bit. What was it to me, another genocide, another race gone because of me. At that moment I was looking for a way out and that way out…was The Keeper.

All I had to do was fake like I couldn’t stand up anymore. I couldn’t complete the Flareb and that The Keeper was the one who had to step up and finish the Flareb for me, for once I wasn’t going to be the hero, the hero who had to make a devastating choice in order to save the lives of others. I had done to many times and those choices I’ve made laid heavily on my mind, I couldn’t make this choice again. I couldn’t kill off another race again, I just couldn’t. So I did it. I fell to the ground gaining the attention of The Keeper who immediately came to my aid.

“Doctor? What’s wrong?” The Keeper asked me.

“I can’t stand up anymore. You have to do it. You have to end this Keeper.” I said looking at him pleadingly. He looked at the console and took in the heavy weight of the situation. He nodded to me and quickly ran up to the console and began to press randome buttons and began to rip out wires that looked important. He only stopped upon seeing a big red button, that of course said do not push.

There was a moment's hesitation before he flipped the final switch; he then suddenly realized that we wouldn't make it out before the ship went up. This was a really pressing moment. I could see the anxiety that was on his face as ponder on what to do. He took a large breath and began to think for what seemed like five minutes. He stood there by the switch, just staring at it. Leaving me wondering what he was thinking. I imagined him thinking about how a day ago he he had now idea who he was and was most likely going to die be for he could even find out who he was. Without another thought, he flipped the switch.

Flare had been waiting patiently, or as close to patient as she could be, for hours. She knew that we were probably dead, but she still had hope. She was in the depths of her despair when she heard it. A series of massive explosions, the room began to shake, heaving and shuddering violently.

"This is it." she thought. "They're finally coming to destroy us." she crouched on the floor, huddled against the wall and waited, resigned. After several long minutes, or hours, she couldn't really tell, it stopped. Surprised to find herself still breathing, she left the room to assess the damage. She was even more surprised to find none.

Approaching a soldier near her, she asked him. "What's going on, what's happened?"

"I got word from the surface, they're gone." he said looking utterly astonished by his own words. "The ships, they just blew up, they're gone."

"Doctor." said Flare more to herself. She turned and ran, leaving the soldier staring blankly after her. She turned a corner at breakneck speed. She bolted down the last corridor and out into the darkness. "Doctor!" she called desperately. "Doctor!"

I opened my eyes to a familiar sight. I was in the T.A.R.D.I.S, the sickbay, to be precise. More importantly, I could once again, feel my legs. Sitting up, I realized I was lying in the stasis chamber. Lay on one long enough and everything goes back to normal, factory settings. Clambering out of the chamber, I wondered how I had gotten there. The last thing I remembered before blacking out were the sounds of sirens and alarms, proof of their imminent demise. Thinking back, there had been another sound, the most beautiful sound in the entire galaxy. The T.A.R.D.I.S, she must have materialized around him, got him off that ship and healed us. I reached out and patted the nearest bit of wall.

"Thanks Dear." I said smiling. I looked around to see The Keeper looking staring at the ceiling. I called out to him and noticed what was going on. He had the thousand yard stare. When a person has just gone through some sort of trauma, they will often have an unfocused, vacant stare into a vast abyss of nothingness, slipping into shock and weariness from which it is very hard to shake. I called out to him but it appeared like he couldn’t hear me. He only responded a few moments later by nodding his head. Just looking at him I could tell that he was no longer the same.

Flare had been sitting outside the base in the dark, waiting. She'd got a message from her father a little while ago. He was fine, just taking care of some things. The streets that had been desolate for so long were now full of people with flashlights and lanterns, reclaiming the world they thought they'd lost. Flare tried to feel happy too, but she just couldn't manage it. She knew something must have gone wrong; The Doctor should have been back by now she thought. She had nearly convinced herself that I was never coming back, when she heard a strange sound, a wheezing sort of whine. With realization she was off, tearing through the semi-darkened streets toward that sound.

She found us a few blocks away, Keeper leaning casually against my blue box and me grinning like a mad man.

"You're late." she said unable to surpass a grin of her own. "You did it, you stopped them."

"I said I would, didn't I?" The Doctor replied. Keeper groaned, noticing that I was taking all the credit. “Ahhh, It was actually The Keeper who saved you.”

“That’s right, you were there just looking pretty.”

"When the ships blew up, I thought you two were…" Flare trailed off.

"Nope." I said cheerily. "Never been better. Anyway, we just came to say goodbye and thanks."

"You're leaving?" Flare asked.

"I've got to, I've been running from something for a very long time, from the future and I realized that you can't ever run from your future, not really. It always has a way of catching up to you in the end. There's something I've been meaning to do, someone I've been wanting to see."

"I didn't know you made house calls." said Flare teasingly. "This person are they a friend of yours?"

"Yes, he is and I'd like to see him again, before it's too late." I said sadly.

"Too late for what?" asked Flare.

"Spoilers."

"Thank you." said Flare. "You saved us." She now looking at the Keeper.

"Don't mention it." replied The Keeper with a grin.

"There's something else I can do, as well. Just you wait." I raised a hoof and with a wave and a smile we walk back into the T.A.R.D.I.S. A moment later the little blue box vanished in a flash of light.

Flare waited, staring expectantly at the sky. Several minutes later after we had vanished there was a click and everywhere was suddenly bathed in light. The General appeared next to her then, and she turned to him.

"He fixed them Dad, he fixed the lights."

"Bless that man, whoever he is." said The General smiling for the first time in a very long time.

Looking to the sky, Flare and her Dad stood hoof in hoof and saw a blue box flying across the sky, heading out into the distance. She raised a hoof and waved.

"Goodbye Doctor." she whispered so quietly her Dad couldn't hear her. They stood like that a moment longer, before turning and heading back, back home.

Back in the T.A.R.D.I.S. I began to sigh as I realized we had really dodged a bullet. I looked over to The Keeper who was staring at me intensely. “What?” I said with a small laugh. “That was a fun little adventure right? I’ll admit I actually wanted to show you something else but the T.A.R.D.I.S. had other plans. I hope you’re not mad about almost dying to me.”

“No, it’s not that…” He said while staying quiet for a few moments. “You lied to me.”