Finale: The Horizon is WEIRD

Pre-Readers/Editors

Sledge115

Doctor Fluffy

Vox Adam

TheIdiot

Jed R

“And… there,” Sergei said, placing the charges. “It won’t be easy. One twitch, and this goes boom.”

“But it will take out a whole bunch of them and make the remainders too disoriented and distracted?” Tatiana confirmed.

“In addition to causing an implosion,” Sergei added with a smirk. “Smoke and fire will do their work too.”

“That and more,” a new voice replied, causing everyone to immediately tense up. Sergei and Yon-Soo picked up their rifles, Tatiana unlocked the safety on the spare pistol she held in her belt, Aquamarine fired up her magic and even Comet assumed a fighting stance.

From the shadows, an earth pony mare emerged. She had a deep golden coat and a flowing yellow-green mane, one of her ebony eyes semi-hidden behind her long bangs. She trotted up to them with a strange smirk on her face with an unnervingly elegant and smooth grace.

“Relax,” she said, her voice a perturbing mixture of deadpan and monotone, “I’m no enemy. Obviously I’d be dead and mutilated beyond recognition already if I was with the PER or the Empire, right?”

The team looked amongst themselves, silently agreeing that the mysterious mare here had a point. However, they didn’t lower their guard still. There was something about her that just didn’t seem… right. And that wasn’t even taking into account the way she barely ever blinked, her gaze piercing. Much less why the HLF would be sparing her. So many questions...

“You’re not PER, but why should we trust you? HLF would’ve butchered you ten ways to next Tuesday either way just for being a pony,” Yon-Soo pointed out.

“Because I have important information for you guys,” the mare replied. “I know where your friends are. Porter Stanley, Firebrand, Blizzard Flurry, Khan Aitmativ, Ivan Melnik, and Mei Ling Yeung, right?”

That got their attention. They looked between themselves, still not entirely sure whether to trust her. After all, she could be trying to lull them into a false sense of security.

“Right now, your friends are being held hostage by that loudmouth Zhou and you’re here to rescue them. Porter is being forced into a gladiator fight to the death for the wannabe warlord’s sick twisted amusement, so time is of the essence. And even without me eavesdropping, I can tell you’re going to blow up a big section of the wall to throw them off guard. I'm here to help with that, and more."

“Wait,” Aquamarine cut in. “Just who are you anyway? And why do you want to help us?"

The mare answered, "My name is Pineapple Cutter. And there are two reasons why I want to help you. The first is simple enough - I actually kinda like you all. You’re nice, and you help each other out. Secondly, we both stand to gain something if we help each other out. You get your friends back, and I get to be free from… this.”

“Free from what?”

Pineapple Cutter’s eyes went wider and the glint stranger, a reflection of some sort of glee to them.

“Well, you see,” she began, “destroying the wall will not only distract them, but open up something bigger. You are aware of the Fourth Wall, yes?”

For a full minute, everyone was quiet and utterly bamboozled.

“...wait, come again?” Aquamarine asked.

“The Fourth Wall,” Pina repeated. “The barrier between us and them.” She was pointing to something in some direction, but all Yon-Soo could see was the wall of the room they were in.

“Who are you pointing to? There’s no one here,” Comet pointed out.

“You can’t see them, but they can see you. They can see everything. You see, we’re in a story of insane proportions, and everything is beginning to unravel. The balance between the worlds has already gone off kilter with Equestria and Earth meeting, and it’s only going to keep getting worse. Realities will bleed into each other, causing disasters of epic proportions. We are being watched by many eyes across the multiverse as the chaos from this conflict spills out. But we can fix it, and once we do, we can all be set free.”

No one really knew how to react to this. For one thing, this strange mare, with a disturbing yet quirky aura, talking about the multiverse, the “Fourth Wall”, and that they were being watched? She couldn’t be serious, right?

“Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s crazy, but go ahead and just blow up the fuse. You’ll see what I mean.”

Everyone else looked at each other, then at the detonator.

The choice was simple.

Or maybe it was the only one they had.

“Do it,” Yon-Soo said firmly. Strangely enough, he was feeling a clear-headedness that he’d never felt before at any time in his life. “I still don’t know how much I can trust her, but things have gotten so crazy, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch. Plus, we got to save our friends.”

Sergei nodded. “Right. First, let’s get as far away as possible before we detonate anything.”

"Alright then, come on!" Pineapple Cutter called out, running past them. "We got things to save, shit to blow up and it’s time to get messy!"

Comet shrugged and said, "Well, what's the worst that could happen? Let's go!"

It took a good few minutes of coordinated sneaking around, which was easier thanks in part by Cutter’s knowledge of this area’s layout and encountering nearly no guards. It was very convenient; whether this was just a lucky coincidence or something else, Yon-Soo was not sure. But he sure as hell was not going to complain.

Eventually, they had reached a safe spot, a little ways away from the blast zone.

“You ready?” Aquamarine asked Sergei.

“As ready as I think I’ll ever be.” With a deep breath, he brought his finger down on the detonation button.

Over the line, they could see the explosion.

And with that boom, it all became weird.

With a roar, Porter drove the knife right into the challenger's eye, blood splattering everywhere. The other man screamed momentarily in pain before going silent and limp as Porter nudged the knife upward, a sickening squishing sound emitting from the wound.

"Come on, Mister Warlord, is that the best you got?! Are you not entertained?!" he yelled out, posing in a taunting motion towards Zhou, waving the knives around. His arms were stretched upward, clearly invoking the famous gladiator pose.

Zhou growled, but was careful not to show his annoyance. He knew Porter was fueled primarily by the desire to spite him. But he knew the other man was still only human and had limits. It was only a matter of time before he broke down…

*KABLAM*

“What the hell?!” Zhou hissed in aggravation. His other captives, Porter’s teammates and friends who had all been tied up and only able to helplessly watch as Porter was forced to fight for his life, turned over, hope now glimmering in their eyes.

And then he turned to see what was going on over at where the explosion happened, and his jaw dropped in utter confusion and bewilderment.

A massive stampede of things burst forth from the portal that came into being at the explosion site. There were massive 50 foot tall robots of varying colors releasing missiles and rockets from compartments in their shoulders and chests; kaiju-like monsters, from a massive dinosaur screeching a roar as it unleashed an energy beam out of its mouth, to a giant moth of all things, and a massive gorilla, all stomped on and smashed everything in their path, sending the Blood Tigers and Solar Empire cronies scrambling and screaming for their lives.

There were spaceships and star cruisers of varying sizes, shapes, and colors. They swirled through the sky, shooting lasers all over the place, destroying buildings and barracks, unleashing explosions that would make Michael Bay jizz himself.

Human fighters like brightly colored ninja warriors, all of the Power Rangers, superheroes of all kinds, wizards with long beards and big staffs glowing with magic, gun-toting cowboys, sword wielding pirates, and… was that Abraham Lincoln dual wielding a pair of AK-47s?!

Monsters and beasts and all manner of odd creatures, from armies of orcs, elves, dwarves, and dragons, ran all over the landscape, trampling over everything before them. Nothing and no one was safe.

Except for our heroes, of course.

“Haha! Take that, you ruffian!” a man’s voice yelled out from behind Zhou, suddenly plunging a sword into the warlord’s chest before he could react. Zhou could only stammer and stumble aimlessly in confusion and pain as life drained from him before he fell down dead.

Zhou’s killer looked like some kind of pirate, laughing as he wiped the blood off his sword before turning to the others, seeing they were restrained. "Well that won't do, will it?" He said before he took out a dagger and cut the ropes around Aitmatov's wrists. Once he was free, the pirate winked and then ran off to rejoin in the rest of the chaos.

Porter meanwhile could only look on in amazement, when he wasn’t running around or ducking for cover. It was like every epic crossover he’d ever wanted as a kid just came to life. He would be excitedly fanboying over this, in fact, if he wasn’t plain confused and a bit scared for his life right now.

“Porter, over here!” he heard Blizzard, now untied, saying behind him. She was flying towards him, forelegs outstretched. With a nod, he grabbed onto her hooves and she flew up high, taking him to a spot outside of the mayhem alongside Melnik, Aitmatov, Hyong-Jin, Mei Ling, and Firebrand, where they all just watched it all play out in astonishment from a distance.

“So… anyone have any theories for what the actual fuck is going on out there?” Porter asked. No one (even Porter himself) was sure if he was seriously asking or was just being rhetorical.

Hyong-Jin replied, “Well, one thing’s for sure, we need to find the others.”

“Good idea. But how do we do that?”

As if on cue, a grey and teal spaceship parked on the ground next to them. It opened up to reveal a skinny elderly man with frizzy silver hair clad in a white labcoat and a brown-haired teenage boy in jeans and a yellow shirt.

“Come on in!” the scientist said, belching. Pointing to a monitor, he continued, “We got your friends’ location right here!”

The teen boy added, “Look, I know it’s a lot to take in, but trust me, you have no reason to not trust us. We’re on your side. Generally.”

“Generally?” Firebrand asked, raising an eyebrow at that. “That’s not really reassuring.”

“Just get on,” the scientist said. “Not like you have any options.”

Everyone looked at each other and shrugged. At this point, they were just too tired and confused to care.

And if they died?

Well, they supposed they’d have it coming.

So they boarded the ship, strapping themselves into a chair as the craft began to take off. As they flew overhead, Porter looked out of the window again, watching the pop culture battle of Infinity War level proportions play out.

“What the fuck was that, the movie version of Ready Player One?” Porter asked.

“No! We do not speak of Ready Player One. It makes Twilight look like award-winning literature by comparison,” Melnik spat with a full body shudder.

“The movie was admittedly a bit better though,” Blizzard retorted. “Or at least they got rid of the worst parts of the book while making it.”

“Product placement,” the scientist said with a critical frown. “It is worse than I thought.”

Everyone felt a chill at that. But before they could ask for any elaboration, the craft lowered and landed on the ground. Everyone undid their seatbelts and stood up. When the doors opened, they were greeted by a welcome sight.

“You’re alive!!” Comet screeched happily, jumping up and flying to tackle Blizzard and Firebrand into a hug. The two older pegasi were initially rattled but then smiled and returned the embrace, just as happy to see that she was alive too.

“Okay, seriously though, what the hell happened back there?” Mei Ling asked, pointing to the now destroyed section of the Great Wall. She then turned to the old scientist and the teen boy and asked, “And just who are the two of you anyway?”

The scientist stumbled and said through a slight belch, “Okay fine, I’ll *urp* do the whole intros thing. Hi everyone, I’m Rick. This is my grandson Morty. I already know all your names, so no need to introduce yourselves to me.”

“Okay, hello Rick and Morty,” Mei Ling said cordially. “Now, could you please explain to us what you meant by things being worse than you thought?”

Rick sighed and replied, “Well, like pony April Ludgate was saying here, you all are part of a bigger, wider universe!”

Yon-Soo gritted his teeth in annoyance and replied, “Well we already kinda knew that, but what’s the point you’re trying to get at?”

“This universe is in stasis, but if you come with us, you will live on,” said Morty. “Er, that’s at least the short version. Kind of. It’s complicated.”

Rick shook his head and added, “What he means to say is that a malevolent force of darkness and hate that seeks to only divide and kill is fully infecting everything, and you’re caught up in it.”

“What, it wasn’t already?” Pineapple Cutter asked sardonically, raising an eyebrow.

The teen boy simply replied, “It’s best not to question Rick’s… erm, logic.”

“No, uh, I *URP* mean, you coulda ended up like, uh, that thing, Morty! With, uh, where your universe, uh, converged with another one, but there were too many broken things about this one for them to coexist.”

“That British crossover? The one with the knights and Arthurian myths and power armor?” Morty asked.

“The very same, Morty!”

“Wait, hold on. Are you saying our universe is inherently broken?” Sergei asked.

“I…” Rick looked uncomfortable for a fraction of a second, then brushed it off. “Yeah. Basically, yeah. Not the worst one I’ve ever been in, but, yeah, some cracks here and there. Some small and barely worth a concern, others as big as the Grand Canyon.”

No one really had any idea what they were going on about.

“How can a universe have cracks in it?” Yon-Soo asked, confused.

“Well, you know, a lot of logical inconsistencies. Things that don’t necessarily make sense.”

“Like the HLF?” Morty added.

“No, Morty, that’s-” Rick started. Then stopped. “Actually, good point. Or the fact that, despite the ponies being a m-*URP*-magical e-empire, none of you were faced with magic or anything that posed much of a threat.”

Porter mulled it over and nodded, “You know, he kinda has a point.”

“We’re really going to listen to this?” Yon-Soo asked, confused.

“Well, think about it,” Porter said. “I mean, really think about it. I mean, they rarely use magic besides stealing our guns…”

“And the fact that the Barrier is seemingly the only real threat to anyone,” Aquamarine noted.

Hyong-Jin added, “And you really have to wonder where the HLF would get such a seemingly limitless supply of remorseless psychopaths.”

“I dunno, Liverpool or s-*URP*-something?” Rick asked. “The general audience of William Lind? Look, y-y-you’re missing the point. This universe isn’t going to die like how Alex Warlorn did to G3 MLP, but things here have gotten… too big for its own weight.”

“Um, guys, what do we do then?!” Comet asked in a near panic. “He said our universe is broken!”

“And are they going to get their sequel?!” Morty asked. “You don’t want this to become Asia Side Story Forever!”

“Outdated references as always, Morty! Duke Nukem Forever was released pretty - *URP* recently, you’d be better off making a joke about Half Life Episode 3,” Rick said. “I mean, uh, look at Light Despondent. They never got to Episode 3! Man, did the writer miss out on a good joke there when they were uploading all the unreleased material.”

“So we weren’t in a universe where Duke Nukem Forever was never released?” Morty groaned. “I really wanted to leave that behind in our old universe.”

“What do you care, Morty?! You were too young to play it.”

Morty looked downcast. “Dad was a big fan. He actually thought it was going to be good!”

“...somehow, your father has become even more pathetic,” Rick sighed. “That’s…” he paused. “Actually, that’s one hell of an accomplishment.”

No one had any comment or response to that. The look of indignant anger mixed with silent compliance on Morty’s face spoke enough.

“Why do you want to help us?” Aitmatov piped up. “So far, you’ve been pretty fucking nonchalant about everything, like the fact that our universe is fucking broken! What are you trying to pull?”

“Nothing, I swear!” Rick said steadily, holding his hands up. “I figured that I could give you guys a new thing to go on. Your adventures in this universe aren’t working out, but maybe, out there beyond, you can find the freedom to do what you want.”

That… didn’t sound too bad. Something in this universe had been feeling a bit odd lately. Maybe something new was what they needed. And as long as they had each other to support and have the others’ backs, they would survive anything thrown at them.

Everyone else looked at one another, looking to see if they were on the same page.

Porter then nodded and was the first to speak. “Why the fuck not? We’ve got nothing else left to lose. I just expect a beer. I really fucking need one. A shower would be nice too.” He jumped into the ship and took a seat, strapping himself in.

Yon-Soo followed, adding, "After everything that's happened today, this isn't much stranger. I mean, it's better than staying in something that's breaking apart, right?"

Their words appeared to vocalize everyone else’s thoughts, and they all looked at each other momentarily before nodding and getting into Rick's ship. As they strapped themselves in, Rick exclaimed, “And hey, who knows, maybe your story is being retold in another way!* Now let’s get going, because *urp* we’re going to new horizons, bitches!”

“Horizons are stupid,” Pineapple Cutter quipped, yet she buckled herself in securely.

“Hey, don’t talk shit about my favorite game with the robot dinosaurs!” Rick yelled.

“Are you sure it won't kill us? Going through the wormhole, that is,” Hyong-Jin asked as Rick began revving up the engines of the ship, pushing a few different buttons.

“Eh, other than feeling a little nauseous, no,” Morty replied.

And with a whir and a whoosh, Rick punched in the coordinates, the craft lifted off slowly from the ground and flew them up to the sky and into the wormhole. For the first few minutes, it was quiet and uneventful, but then a notification popped up in Rick’s messages.

After reading it over, he grumbled, “Damn it, what do I look like to her?”

Morty looked at the message and dryly replied, “Well, I mean, she has a point. They deserve to be saved too.”

“Wait, who and what? Are we getting others?” Blizzard asked.

Rick groaned, clearly not wanting to go along with this, but he made a vow and it was one he had to keep to, so he turned and answered, “Yeah, I have to get… uh, let’s see here… Gale, Frost Wind, Snowdrop, Blizzard’s parents, Aitmatov’s daughter, and a couple others.”

Everyone’s blood ran cold at the first name but then Sergei and Aquamarine turned to each other and both said at the exact same time in the same assertive tone of voice, “I think we need to break up.”

Both were dumbfounded initially, as was everyone else. An awkward silence took hold, no one really knowing just what else to say.

Aquamarine was the first to speak as she said, “Honestly, I was just lonely, but… I’m so sorry Sergei, I don’t think I can do this. I like you, but thinking about it now, I think I’ve just jumped into it just to feel something again.”

Sergei shook his head and replied, “No need for you to apologize. I… that was kinda fucked up of me to guilt trip you.”

“You didn’t guilt trip me, I swear.”

“Maybe that’s how you see it, but honestly, I shouldn’t have put that on you. Plus… I gotta wonder if we just kinda came together because of circumstances, you know?”

Aquamarine thought about that and said, “I guess you’ve got a point about that.” After a moment of somber silence, she then asked in a small and somewhat scared voice, “Could we still at least be friends though? Be the Drax to my Mantis?”

Sergei laughed and said, “Of course! I need someone to bounce ideas for my stand-up routine off of and you’ve been the best help I’ve ever had.”

At first, everyone would’ve sighed in relief at how the now ex-lovers were still friendly with each other, but then Comet angrily interjected, “Uh, no! I’m not on board with this!”

The pink filly angrily got out of her seat and said, “You two got together because you loved each other! You were supposed to be a new dad for me!” She pointed at Sergei as she said this.

“A new dad? Comet, be reasonable,” Aquamarine scolded. “You can’t expect Sergei to go from your friend to father figure. That’s unfair to him, and that’s unfair to you.”

Comet then turned to Rick. “You’re seriously rescuing him? You’re really going to take Gale here, after he chose the Empire over his family?”

“Yeah, I’m seriously gonna rescue him, kiddo,” Rick said bluntly. “I mean, come on, your dad, who you loved by the way, was brainwashed. He hasn’t been doing any of this shit out of his own free will so don’t be a brat to him when I retrieve him and break him out of it.”

“Wait, brainwashing? Huh?! What is going on here?!” Hyong-Jin cried. “I’m so confused!”

“Yeah, care to elaborate, Rick?!” Firebrand shot out.

Everyone else was similarly in a tizzy. Pineapple Cutter and Morty were the only ones who weren't caught up in the chaos, as everyone had questions and were now demanding answers.

Rick roared, “Quiet down! Damn it, shut the fuck up, all of you!”

Everyone quieted down and Rick, after taking a deep breath, continued, “Okay, so I’ll explain it in the simplest of terms right now, since you have a right to know. Alright, so basically a point of divergence occurred in your Equestria where an artifact of doom called the Bag of Tirek has corrupted Princess Celestia, turning her into a xenocidal tyrant. The Bag of Tirek is the instrument containing the malice and hatred of the evil centaur Tirek, who’s basically kinda like Darkseid in that he wants to enslave all living beings to his will and kill off everything related to the souls and even consciousness itself. The Bag has also gotten its claws into your Equestria, brainwashing everyone, including Gale. Specifically, he’s being held under an obedience geis, which shouldn’t be too hard to break him out of with the right equipment.”

“Ugghh, my head seriously fucking hurts!” Tatiana bemoaned, massaging her temples as she tried to process this. She spoke for everyone, who agreed that getting doozies of revelations dumped on them in rapid succession was a real pain in the ass, on top of everything else.

Morty sadly nodded and reassured her, “Don’t worry, it’ll get easier.”

“Alrighty, now that we’ve *urp* got that out of the way, let’s get going. I’m sure you’re all as eager for this to stop dragging out as the rest of us are.”

Comet tried to protest, “But-”

“No buts, Comet!” Aquamarine interrupted her daughter sharply. “You heard what Doctor Rick said. Your father is going to be saved and cured of his brainwashing and you’re not going to hold the things he’s done while under it against him. Now sit down, put your seatbelt back on, and think about what you’re going to say to your father.” Her expression then turned a bit lighter and even a bit teasing as she added, “Plus, you heard what he said about Frost Wind. I bet you must miss him a lot.”

Comet tried to talk back against that, but she had nothing, especially as her face began to darken from the blush, mouth agape with embarrassment at how her mother just so casually could talk about Frost in front of everyone. So with that, she deflated and went back to her chair… and thought about him. She really did miss Frost, and maybe, just maybe they could get this right.

And with that, the little crew rode through the cosmos.

For a few minutes, it was generally quiet. And then another whirring sound filled the air, a blue police box materializing in the middle of the ruins.

Two figures stood… somewhere. Perhaps it’s best, given everything that’s happened, not to wonder where, exactly. Both were humanoid: one was a dark-haired man in a Nehru-collar jacket with a blue rosette on his lapel, hands clasped behind his back and a stubbly goatee on his face. The other was a red-headed man in a tweed coat. Behind them was a grandfather clock and the tall, wooden blue box.

“You know,” the man in the Nehru jacket began, “I’m surprised you never got involved with this lot.”

The redhead smiled. “Even with a time machine, one can only be in so many places at once.”

“Hmph,” the man in the Nehru jacket snorted. “And I suppose, Doctor, that Kraber took too much of your attention.”

“That’s hardly fair,” the Doctor said. He sniffed. “Kraber’s ubiquitous. Can’t avoid the man.”

“I thought you liked him.”

“I do, but the point stands,” the Doctor said. “Besides,” he added, gesturing expansively. “This lot didn’t need my help.”

“You could say the same for this whole world,” the man in the Nehru jacket pointed out. “And yet you stayed for so long.”

The Doctor smiled again. “Yup.” His smile faded. “Maybe too long. There was a lot in this world that was… painful.”

“And yet it’s clear why you stayed,” the other man said. “It's your stubborn streak, Doctor, combined with that foolish desire of yours to do something, even when ‘something’ is some vague notion of sacrificing yourself for some imagined greater good.” He tutted. “One wonders whether you have a persecution complex, a martyr complex, or both.”

The Doctor snorted. “I still can't believe They sent you as their messenger boy.”

The other man shrugged. “They granted me a reprieve and a few spare regenerations in exchange. I suspect They’ll regret it in due course, but it's not my business.”

The Doctor frowned. “Well. Did you really have to…”

“Enact Their punishment on your alternate self?” the man said with a smirk. “Of course. The weapon I used allowed him to regenerate. I'm sure he's off doing something else. In the meantime, I managed to track you down before you came here.”

“And tell me it's all futile,” the Doctor lamented. “Temporal instability, changing histories… this world’s collapsing under its own weight and there's nothing I can do. I hate that it's come to this.”

The man in the Nehru jacket shrugged. “For myself, Doctor, I suggest you do something simpler. Return to some variant of our timeline, fight some Daleks, and step back from this madness.”

“Is that what you're going to do?” the Doctor asked.

“Well, I’m going back to my own timeline, yes,” the man said with a slow smile. “I'm going to finish the job of taking over our cosmos before I start going out to other ones.”

“Odd, that you’d limit your ambition,” the Doctor said with a snort.

“Not limit, merely set reasonable goals,” the man replied. “One cannot run before one walks. One cannot Master a multiverse if one cannot rule a universe.”

The Doctor laughed. “You're incorrigible, no matter which ‘you’ it is.”

The Master shrugged. “I am, like you, a man of my own convictions. It pains me that yours have led you to such ends as this… squalid little place.”

“Oh, I wouldn't call it squalid,” the Doctor argued back with a wistful smile. He put his hands in his pockets. “I actually enjoyed being here. Sometimes. It was fun in the beginning. And maybe it will be fun in the end.”

The Master snorted. “In any case. What will you do?”

The Doctor looked thoughtful for a moment.

“Well, whatever I do,” he finally said, “it’ll be for me. No more obligations to other people. At least not for a while. Whatever I do, whoever I do it with, it’ll be my choice.”

The Master nodded. “I look forward to our next meeting. I trust you’ll put your best foot forward.”

“Always,” the Doctor said, inclining his head. “And you.”

“Inevitably,” the Master said. “Until then.”

He walked away, disappearing into the grandfather clock, which disappeared in a wheezing cacophony a moment later. A few moments after that, the Doctor sighed.

“One day,” he said to no one in particular, “I might come back. I might come see if there's something new to find here. Some new people to meet. Some new story to hear. Some way to help. I tried to help here, and I thought, for a while, that I might have… but not really.” He sighed again. “It's a shame. I was looking forward to seeing how they finally defeated Tirek. If they could save Queen Celestia.” He smirked. “Vinyl Scratch’s big party as well, if she even lived to see it. Ah, and the Weaver. Yes, that would have been interesting to see - and to see how everyone else reacted.” His smile faded. “It was an interesting time, but maybe this was inevitable. Crushed under its own weight.” He looked up at the sky. “One day, I might come back. And when I do, we’ll see what happens. Maybe, somewhere out there, the same story is being told a different way.”

He smiled, and this time he looked right at you.

“Let's go have a look, eh?” he asked you. Then he blinked. “Oh, don't look so surprised. Of course I knew you were there. I was sitting there with you for a very long time, long before I decided to step in and add my two pence.” He smiled. “It's been a ride, hasn't it? But all rides end. But then, new rides start up again. Everything ends, and everything begins.” He winked at you. “Until next time. Have fun, you lot. Enjoy whatever comes next however you like, and be kind, whatever you do.”

He went back into his TARDIS and the blue box began to fade away. The story went on, even if no one was around to tell it. The heroes and the villains fought, and one won.

Life continued.

Author's Note

* Yeah, that one hasn't aged like milk left out in the Tucson July.

Hope you enjoy this little ending I decided to whip up.

Read my blog and/or PM me if you want more explained.